tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41896093067023819392023-11-15T13:34:32.509-05:00Colet and Company(formerly <b>Kay Francis Film Festival</b>)<p>Reviews of classic movies from the famous to the obscure, with a particular focus on <b>pre-Code cinema</b> and the films of actress <b>Kay Francis</b>. A growing number are becoming available on VHS or DVD, and <b>Movies Unlimited</b> may have some copies of out-of-print titles. Otherwise, search for upcoming broadcast times on the <b>Turner Classic Movies</b> website (www.tcm.com), and set your recorder.</p>Craig Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340904520617472135noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189609306702381939.post-65571824944205265462012-08-25T00:10:00.000-04:002012-08-25T00:10:19.565-04:00Columbia Pictures Pre-Code Collection: Virtue directed by Edward Buzzell (starring Carole Lombard, Pat O'Brien, Mayo Methot, Shirley Grey, Ward Bond, Jack La Rue)<strong>Virtue</strong> (1932). Screenplay by Robert Riskin from the original story by Ethel Hill. <br /><br />Mae (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Carole+Lombard">Carole Lombard</a></span>) is a sometime con artist who's been banned from New York City for solicitation. Jimmy (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Pat+O'Brien">Pat O'Brien</a></span>) is a cab driver who thinks he knows all about women. They meet when she skips out on her fare as he drives her back into town. They meet again when she returns to pay him, and they fall for each other. <br /><br />As she turns over a new leaf, her biggest fear is that Jimmy will find out about her past. Then it comes back to haunt her in the form of a former colleague (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Shirley+Grey">Shirley Grey</a></span>) who says she needs an operation. Mae borrows the money from Jimmy's fund toward a half-interest in a gas station — his big dream — then has to go back to her old stomping grounds to get it back before he finds out. There she gets in over her head and is arrested for murder.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=product.asp&sku=D59936"><img align=right width=200 src="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/boxcovers/250_Wide/D59936.jpg"></a>O'Brien and Lombard are cute with each other, and their domestic scenes together are particularly romantic. It's their interaction that cements <strong><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=product.asp&sku=D59936">Virtue</a></strong>. Otherwise, this pre-Code is a pretty standard soaper about a "bad" woman redeemed by the love of a good man. <br /><br />Ethel Hill's plot depends too much on contrivances and people not telling the truth to each other (honest communication is best in any marriage), but Robert Riskin's script supplies plenty of good wisecracking dialogue. (The radiant Lombard parading around for a while in a series of flimsy, low-cut tops is another high point.)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Ward+Bond">Ward Bond</a></span> also appears as Jimmy's best friend Frank, and <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Jack+La+Rue">Jack La Rue</a></span> is memorable as Toots, a racketeer with his hands in a couple of different honeypots. <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Mayo+Methot">Mayo Methot</a></span> is particularly good as Lil, probably her largest screen role. (She is best known for being married to <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Humphrey+Bogart">Humphrey Bogart</a></span> when he met <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Lauren+Bacall">Lauren Bacall</a></span>. At the time, they were known as the "Battling Bogarts.")<br /><br />Director <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_director2.asp&search=Edward+Buzzell">Edward Buzzell</a></span> assembles a solid cast and deftly combines the seedy and romantic sides of the story. And the ending, while no surprise, still elicits a smile. All of which makes <strong><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=product.asp&sku=D59936">Virtue</a></strong> a little better than it should be, and one of Carole Lombard's more entertaining early films.Craig Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340904520617472135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189609306702381939.post-34532934517762065522012-08-24T23:48:00.001-04:002016-06-15T09:29:48.936-04:00Forbidden Hollywood, Volume 4: Jewel Robbery directed by William Dieterle (starring William Powell, Kay Francis, Helen Vinson, Henry Kolker)<strong>Jewel Robbery</strong> (1932). Screenplay by Erwin Gelsey from the play <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00085NQ4E/craigsbookc0b-20/">Jewel Robbery</a></span> (<em>Ekszerrablás a Váci-uccában</em>) by Ladislas Fodor (translated by Bertram Bloch).<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Forbidden-Hollywood-Collection-Robbery-Lawyer/dp/B008JEJROE/craigsbookc0b-20/">Jewel Robbery</a></b> is a lighter-than-a-feather romantic comedy starring <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=William+Powell">William Powell</a></span> as a debonair jewel thief and <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Kay+Francis">Kay Francis</a></span> as the wife of one of his victims (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Henry+Kolker">Henry Kolker</a></span>, who would play Francis's cuckolded husband again the next year in <strong><a href="http://kayfrancisfest.blogspot.com/2008/04/keyhole-directed-by-michael-curtiz.html">The Keyhole</a></strong>). Reading of Powell's exploits in the local paper excites Francis (a bored baroness) and her best friend Marianne (funny <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Helen+Vinson">Helen Vinson</a></span>), and actually being present at his next robbery finishes the job. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Forbidden-Hollywood-Collection-Robbery-Lawyer/dp/B008JEJROE/craigsbookc0b-20/"><img align=right width=200 src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B008JEJROE.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg"></a>It was obvious from the opening credits that these two characters would romance each other — <strong>Jewel Robbery</strong> was the fifth film Powell and Francis did together. It's just too bad that the relationship feels forced: the actors have zero chemistry with each other. <br /><br />Luckily, each actor has enough charm individually to make this flaw forgivable. Powell's and Francis's fans are probably busy focusing on their favorite, anyway.<br /><br />Powell is smooth as always, but the easy manner that would carry him through six <strong><a href="http://somebodydies.blogspot.com/2008/03/thin-man-directed-by-ws-van-dyke.html">Thin Man</a></strong> films — that attitude of "Yes, I'm charming, but can we talk about something more interesting?" — has not yet developed. Francis is also just on the cusp of blooming into her persona, with <strong>One Way Passage</strong> and <strong><a href="http://kayfrancisfest.blogspot.com/2006/11/trouble-in-paradise-directed-by-ernst.html">Trouble in Paradise</a></strong> just around the corner, but it's easy to see why they were paired in six movies together.<br /><br />One more point of interest regarding this pre-Code film is the nearly rampant use of marijuana as a comedic point throughout <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Forbidden-Hollywood-Collection-Robbery-Lawyer/dp/B008JEJROE/craigsbookc0b-20/">Jewel Robbery</a></b>. Powell passes the funny cigarettes around to all and sundry, leading to much laughter and silliness from the cast.Craig Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340904520617472135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189609306702381939.post-51303341160652811182010-10-05T04:32:00.001-04:002016-06-15T09:29:49.693-04:00The House on 56th Street directed by Robert Florey (starring Kay Francis, Ricardo Cortez, Gene Raymond, Margaret Lindsay, Frank McHugh)<strong>The House on 56th Street</strong> (1933). Screenplay by Austin Parker and Sheridan Gibney from a story by Joseph Santley. <br />
<br />
In one of five films she made in 1933, actress <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Kay+Francis">Kay Francis</a></span> begins <strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/House-56th-Street-KAY-FRANCIS/dp/B0040BXG4C/craigsbookc0b-20/">The House on 56th Street</a></strong> as Peggy Martin, showgirl on stage in the <em>Follies of 1905</em>. As she dances to "The Merry Month of May," Monte Van Tyle (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Gene+Raymond">Gene Raymond</a></span>) makes eyes at her from a box, while Lyndon Fiske (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Jack+Halliday">Jack Halliday</a></span>) looks possessive from below. (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Frank+McHugh">Frank McHugh</a></span>, a very busy character actor of the day — see <strong><a href="http://kayfrancisfest.blogspot.com/2008/05/crowd-roars-directed-by-howard-hawks.html">The Crowd Roars</a></strong> — plays Monte's friend who is very interested in meeting a blonde.) Then, just in case we didn't pick up on it, between acts the backstage conversation centers entirely on how Peggy doesn't want to have to choose between romantic Monte and financially secure Lyndon. <br />
<br />
The decision is made for her when Monte proposes. Lyndon is not the marrying type and takes the news from Peggy surprisingly well. Monte and honeymoon all across Europe (and discover Peggy's inordinate fascination with gambling, inherited from her father and grandfather), and on their return he carries her across the threshold of their new home on East 56th Street. ("I love it so much, I could just sit down on the floor and pat it.")<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/House-56th-Street-KAY-FRANCIS/dp/B0040BXG4C/craigsbookc0b-20/"><img align=right width=200 src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0040BXG4C.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg"></a>A daughter is born. During a visit to the home of Monte's mother (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Nella+Walker">Nella Walker</a></span>), she introduces Peggy to an old friend of the family: Lyndon Fiske. Fiske is discreet but, alone, plays up his failing health and regrets letting Peggy go. Desperate, he threatens suicide. <br />
<br />
Peggy grabs the gun. It goes off. She gets 20 years.<br />
<br />
From this point <strong>The House on 56th Street</strong> becomes a very different movie — at least on the surface. Underneath, schemes are brewing and history will surely repeat itself. Peggy "Stone" gets involved with Bill Blaine (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Ricardo+Cortez">Ricardo Cortez</a></span> from the original <strong><a href="http://somebodydies.blogspot.com/2008/04/maltese-falcon-1931-directed-by-roy-del.html">Maltese Falcon</a></strong> in his second of four pairings with Francis), a professional gambler. Working with him takes her back, unbelievably, to dealing blackjack in <em>that same house on 56th Street</em>.<br />
<br />
Here, the melodrama swells out of any realistic proportions, leaving the realm of freak coincidences and veering right into karmic predestination, with Peggy meeting her daughter (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Margaret+Lindsay">Margaret Lindsay</a></span>) — who also has a gambling problem — and getting involved in another murder. <br />
<br />
Things get a little ridiculous as these events attempt to twist themselves around into the requisite happy ending, but if you feel like going along for the ride <strong>The House on 56th Street</strong> is a solid drama with decent writing, really good acting (except for Lindsay, who doesn't even act upset realistically), and an imaginative storyline that gives Francis a rare opportunity to show her range. <br />
<br />
Fans should especially check this one out. Even those who only like Francis for her clothes-wearing ability will have to admire how she goes from 1900s to 1930s fashions with ease (with a little gray in her hair and a little darkening around the mouth and below the eyes, she even wears middle-age well). It took two designers to clothe Francis in this film (Earl Luick and Orry-Kelly), and Kay herself said that if <strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/House-56th-Street-KAY-FRANCIS/dp/B0040BXG4C/craigsbookc0b-20/">The House on 56th Street</a></strong> did better at the box office than her other films, it would be "because I parade 36 costumes instead of 16." <br />
<br />
Trivia: Director <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_director2.asp&search=Robert+Florey">Robert Florey</a></span>, and <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_director2.asp&search=Joseph+Santley">Joseph Santley</a></span>, who wrote the original story but was also a director, were the two co-directors on the Marx Brothers' first film, <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=product.asp&sku=D65632">The Cocoanuts</a></span> (which also featured Kay Francis). About them, <strong><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Groucho+Marx">Groucho Marx</a></strong> — who rarely hesitated to insult someone for the sake of a laugh — is reported to have said that "One of them [Florey, who was born in France] didn't understand English, and the other one [Santley] didn't understand comedy." <strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/House-56th-Street-KAY-FRANCIS/dp/B0040BXG4C/craigsbookc0b-20/">The House on 56th Street</a></strong> was remade in 1938 as <strong>The Return of Carol Deane</strong>, starring <strong><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Bebe+Daniels">Bebe Daniels</a></strong> (Cortez's costar in <strong>The Maltese Falcon</strong>).Craig Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340904520617472135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189609306702381939.post-84051752781966617512010-10-04T05:30:00.000-04:002010-10-05T05:20:23.078-04:00Union Depot directed by Alfred E. Green (starring Joan Blondell, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Alan Hale, Guy Kibbee, Frank McHugh)<strong>Union Depot</strong> (1932). Screenplay by Kenyon Nicholson and Walter De Leon, and dialogue by Kubec Glasmon and John Bright, from an unpublished play by Joe Laurie Jr., Gene Fowler, and Douglas Durkin.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Douglas+Fairbanks+Jr.">Douglas Fairbanks Jr.</a></span> stars as Chick, a vagrant just out of jail — and traveling with his partner "Scrap Iron," played by prolific character actor <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Guy+Kibbee">Guy Kibbee</a></span> (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://kayfrancisfest.blogspot.com/2008/05/rain-directed-by-lewis-milestone.html">Rain</a></span>) — who takes advantage of a drunk's forgetfulness to get himself a shave and a change of clothes (and an unexpected pocketful of money) in order to get a hot meal at <strong><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=product.asp&sku=D81221">Union Depot</a></strong>.<br />
<br />
His stomach full, he looks to satisfy another need and propositions Ruth (the cherubic <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Joan+Blondell">Joan Blondell</a></span>) due to her resemblance to a hooker who had just offered her services to him in the diner — and she takes him up on it (nothing explicit is ever mentioned) because she is desperate for money for a train ticket. Chick soon finds out Ruth is not a pro, however, and after he reprimands her, they hit it off romantically.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Alan+Hale">Alan Hale</a></span> (who had a memorable role in <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=product.asp&sku=D15793">It Happened One Night</a></span>, and who was the father of <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Alan+Hale+Jr.">Alan Hale Jr.</a></span>, the Skipper on <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=product.asp&sku=D53673">Gilligan's Island</a></span>) plays a German violinist who turns out to be an American counterfeiter (guess what's in his violin case?). How Chick and Ruth get the case and start inadvertently passing phony money is complex but believable (the police spend the last quarter of the movie trying to figure it all out), as is their burgeoning affair, since they're both such pretty people.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=product.asp&sku=D81221"><img align=right src="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/boxcovers/100_Wide/D81221.jpg"></a><strong>Union Depot</strong> is a lot of fun but it also shines a light on the problems of the Depression — namely a lack of opportunity. Everyone in this film is making their own luck (both good and bad), and since this was made in the pre-Code era it's interesting to see how some crimes are "OK" in this context (Ruth's amateur prostitution and Chick's theft of the drunk's clothes) — since the crimes get them something they genuinely need to get along — and some are not (the counterfeiting, since it just involves greed). This take on relative wrongness would change completely with the enforcement of the Production Code by Joseph Breen in July 1934.<br />
<br />
The story was reportedly a knockoff of the popular play that would inspire <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=product.asp&sku=D63272">Grand Hotel</a></span> (which followed <strong><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=product.asp&sku=D81221">Union Depot</a></strong> into theaters 3 months later), but I feel that the similarities are few and only on the surface. Director <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_director2.asp&search=Alfred+E.+Green">Alfred E. Green</a></span> (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://kayfrancisfest.blogspot.com/2008/03/goose-and-gander-directed-by-alfred-e.html">The Goose and the Gander</a></span>) does an admirable job of making light of Depression-era troubles without being disrespectful. And, best of all, things end the way they <em>should</em> end, not necessarily the way we want them to.Craig Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340904520617472135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189609306702381939.post-87196175401630721902010-10-03T02:55:00.000-04:002010-10-05T05:30:55.882-04:00The Goose and the Gander directed by Alfred E. Green (starring Kay Francis, George Brent)<span style="font-weight:bold;">The Goose and the Gander</span> (1935). <br />
Story and screenplay by Charles Kenyon.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Kay+Francis">Kay Francis</a></span> stars as Georgiana in <strong><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=product.asp&sku=D13032">The Goose and the Gander</a></strong>, a surprisingly racy (given that it was released during the enforcement of the Hays Code) bedroom farce from 1935. Georgiana runs into her ex-husband Ralph Summers (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Ralph+Forbes">Ralph Forbes</a></span>), whose current wife Betty (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Genevieve+Tobin">Genevieve Tobin</a></span>) Georgiana has just seen making plans with her paramour, Bob (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=George+Brent">George Brent</a></span>). In order to show Ralph the kind of woman he left her for, Georgiana schemes to get everyone together at her lodge under false pretenses, so Ralph can discover Betty with Bob. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=product.asp&sku=D13032"><img align=right src="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/boxcovers/100_Wide/D13032.jpg"></a>Ralph agrees because he wants to be alone with Georgiana — remember, what's good for the goose is good for the gander — but things get more complicated when a pair of jewel thieves (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=John+Eldredge">John Eldredge</a></span> and <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Claire+Dodd">Claire Dodd</a></span>) steal Betty's car and are sent to the lodge by mistake, whereupon they pose as "Ralph and Betty Summers." <br />
<br />
Confused yet? Well, eventually the police show up and get everything all mixed up. Georgiana figures things out pretty quickly, though, and deviously plays along to the hilarious discomfort (O, joyous <span style="font-style:italic;">schadenfreude!</span>) of the others. Meanwhile, she takes the opportunity to put the moves on Bob, to his reciprocal glee, but to Betty's chagrin. But it is a comedy, remember, so most everyone ends up happy in the end (even if it doesn't always quite fit with their characters' preceding actions).<br />
<br />
The beautiful and charming Kay Francis, an actress with a vast filmography of which little is available on video, is truly the star here. She is in her element playing a member of polite society with amusingly intentions. She is so in control of all the actions on the screen that the other characters seem to be acting merely as her puppets. <br />
<br />
The acting is solid all around, with the simple direction of <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_director2.asp&search=Alfred+E.+Green">Alfred E. Green</a></span> serving Charles Kenyon's script quite well. At just over an hour, <strong><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=product.asp&sku=D13032">The Goose and the Gander</a></strong> is the ideal length for an afternoon's diversion, and a fine example of the kind of sophisticated comedy in which Hollywood specialized in the 1930s. It's also only one of several films Francis made with Brent, so if this pairing was enjoyable, there are more to seek.Craig Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340904520617472135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189609306702381939.post-838557924199012982010-09-28T06:29:00.000-04:002010-09-29T05:10:18.255-04:00Lady of the Night directed by Monta Bell (starring Norma Shearer)<strong>Lady of the Night</strong> (1925). Screenplay by Alice D.G. Miller from a story by Adela Rogers St. Johns. <br />
<br />
I first became aware of <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=product.asp&sku=D81411">Lady of the Night</a></span> while reading <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://kayfrancisfest.blogspot.com/2008/04/book-review-complicated-women-by-mick.html">Complicated Women</a></span>, where author Mick LaSalle refers to it as the breakthrough of star <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Norma+Shearer">Norma Shearer</a></span>: "After the film's release, MGM stopped lending her to other studios. She was too valuable." He also praises Shearer's collaborations with <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_director2.asp&search=Monta+Bell">Monta Bell</a></span> (the director of this film and several others with the actress) as "delicate, poem-like films with a bite to them." <br />
<br />
I'm not a huge fan of silent films in general, as much as I would like to be, but when I saw that it was going to be broadcast on Turner Classic Movies, I set my recorder. I'm so glad I did. First off, in reference to my previous comment, once <span style="font-weight:bold;">Lady of the Night</span> began, I never once remembered that I was watching a silent film. Not only is the brand new score by Jon Mirsalis wonderfully apt to the point of invisibility, but the story is immensely involving because the characters are so engaging. Monta Bell's direction tops everything off with further storytelling touches using only visuals.<br />
<br />
The plot of <b>Lady of the Night</b> involves two women from the proverbial opposite sides of the tracks: Florence Banning (Shearer) is the daughter of a rich judge/businessman, and Molly Helmer (also Shearer) is the daughter of a man sent to jail for 20 years on the day of her birth. Years later, they both graduate from school, Florence from the "Girls' Select School" and Molly from the "Girls' Reform School." Watch as Bell instantly sets up the different worlds: Florence leaves to much pomp and affection from her classmates, and Molly is kind of pushed out the front gate (of what looks like a prison) with her two friends, who immediately go their own separate ways. On the way home, Molly checks her reflection in a passing vehicle: a hearse.<br />
<br />
Some time later, Molly has set herself up with "Chunky" Dunn (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=George+K.+Arthur">George K. Arthur</a></span>), a milquetoasty "prince of fashion" who introduces her to ambitious inventor Dave Page (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Malcolm+McGregor">Malcolm McGregor</a></span>), whom she instantly falls for, much to Chunky's chagrin. In fact, Molly is attempting to advise (and romance) him when he meets Florence while selling her father his new invention. (One could assume that the similar appearance of Florence and Molly is a consideration, but this is never mentioned in the film.) <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=product.asp&sku=D81411"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 100px;" src="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/boxcovers/100_Wide/D81411.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>One could say that the usual love-triangle conflict occurs, but the characters (especially Molly, one of Shearer's best performances, a true tour de force) are much too complex to be rules by cliches. Though both are played by Shearer, I never imagined Florence and Molly as anything other than two people who look alike. <br />
<br />
Both are around 19 years old, but Shearer plays Molly as more worldly and "older," while Florence is giddy and much "younger." This speaks volumes about Shearer's work in <span style="font-weight:bold;">Lady of the Night</span> and suggests why she was so famous and respected in her heyday — in addition to bringing a sharp focus on the sad fact that so few of her early roles are available on video in any form.<br />
<br />
The special effect of having both women sit together looks impressive even today (I couldn't see the line!). The only flaw is that, when they embrace, we do catch a glimpse of the double in profile. Interestingly enough, this is another famous face: that of a young Lucille LeSueur, still trying to break into the movies. Not long after, MGM would have a contest to rename Miss LeSueur (due to her surname resembling "le sewer"), and she would eventually be crowned "Joan Crawford."<br />
<br />
At just over an hour, the story is tight and succinct, with no wasted film -- ideal for an evening's entertainment with time left over for discussion because the writing, acting, and direction are all top notch. It's only unfortunate that the Academy Awards would not begin for a few more years, or perhaps <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=product.asp&sku=D81411">Lady of the Night</a></span> would be better remembered as the terrific little film that it is.Craig Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340904520617472135noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189609306702381939.post-24766446255338060762009-12-02T03:39:00.001-05:002016-06-15T09:29:50.329-04:00The Bishop's Wife directed by Henry Koster (starring Cary Grant, Loretta Young, David Niven)<strong>The Bishop's Wife</strong> (1947). Screenplay by Leonardo Bercovici and Robert Sherwood from the novel <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00085T9KE/craigsbookc0b-20/">The Bishop's Wife</a></span> by Robert Nathan. (Some scenes were reportedly rewritten uncredited by <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_director2.asp&search=Billy+Wilder">Billy Wilder</a></span> and Charles Brackett.)<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Bishop: Are you expecting a letter? <br />Dudley: Well, you never know. If I did get one, the stamp would certainly be worth saving.</span><br /><br />That's because Dudley (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Cary+Grant">Cary Grant</a></span>) is an angel sent to give guidance to forlorn Bishop Henry Brougham (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=David+Niven">David Niven</a></span>), and who eventually lights up the lives of everyone else in the Bishop's life, especially <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000056HE9/craigsbookc0b-20">The Bishop's Wife</a></span> in this delightful Christmas film from the late 1940s. When the Bishop prays for help in getting a new cathedral built (the local millionairess widow will only give if her late husband's name is prominently displayed), Cary Grant shows up as his "assistant" but soon makes the Bishop even more miserable by charming his wife Julia (radiant <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Loretta+Young">Loretta Young</a></span>), daughter Debby, and even housemaid Matilda (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Elsa+Lanchester">Elsa Lanchester</a></span>, always wonderful).<br /><br /><iframe align=right scrolling="no" style="width:120px;height:240px;" frameborder="0" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=craigsbookc0b-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B000056HE9&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0"></iframe><span style="font-weight:bold;">The Bishop's Wife</span> is truly "heavenly" with Grant playing off his tried-and-true persona. Originally Grant and Niven were supposed to have the opposite roles, but Grant decided he could do more with the angel role — and Grant was a bigger star — so they were exchanged. Good thing, too: I can't imagine Cary playing the indecisive Bishop any more than I can imagine Niven charming a woman away from Cary Grant. <br /><br />Only a few things keep <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Bishop's Wife</span> from being perfect. There is an overlong ice-skating scene that really stretches the believability (I had to keep telling myself, "He's an angel; he can do anything"), and the film runs on about 20 minutes too long. In the beginning, Grant is so taken by Young that, if he weren't an angel, those looks would feel really sleazy. Turns out that Cary is just discovering temptations, which makes the ending all the more noble.<br /><br />I originally saw <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000056HE9/craigsbookc0b-20">The Bishop's Wife</a></span> during the summer months a few years ago in the midst of a Cary Grant festival on Turner Classic Movies. That experience feels a little strange, but the movie is so ... <I>happy</I> that it's easy to slip into the vibe, especially with all the Christmas carols being bandied about like so many candy canes. I'd certainly recommend that fans of the stars watch it at least once (especially since Loretta Young, whom I don't find all that attractive, is made, through Gregg Toland's photography, into a very appealing woman). Niven is rather on the milquetoasty side and his richest scene involves him being stuck in a chair, but the rest of the film is two hours of Christmas joy.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Sharp-eyed viewers may recognize actress <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Karolyn+Grimes">Karolyn Grimes</a></span> (Debby) from her role in another classic Christmas film. The year before <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Bishop's Wife</span>, she played Zuzu in Frank Capra's <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000VDDDVO/craigsbookc0b-20">It's a Wonderful Life</a></span>.</span>Craig Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340904520617472135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189609306702381939.post-62829867924433674092009-12-01T04:53:00.003-05:002016-06-15T09:29:51.003-04:00It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie directed by Kirk R. Thatcher (starring Steve Whitmire, Eric Jacobson, Joan Cusack, David Arquette)<span style="font-style:italic;">This review originally appeared in somewhat different form on <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.greenmanreview.com/">The Green Man Review</a></span>. Copyright 2003. Reprinted with permission.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;">It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie</span> (2002). Teleplay by Tom Martin and Jim Lewis.<br />
<br />
This umpteenth offering from Henson Studios is a parody-laden tribute to <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000HEWEJO/craigsbookc0b-20/">It's a Wonderful Life</a></span> (among others) starring Joan Cusack as villain Rachel Bitterman; David Arquette as Daniel, a social-worker/angel (Heaven is implied, but never said outright) who wants to take Kermit's case; and Whoopi Goldberg as "The Boss" (see?). Also appearing are William H. Macy and Matthew Lillard along with a host of cameos from television personalities (Kelly Ripa, Molly Shannon, Carson Daly, the cast of <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005JNEQ/craigsbookc0b-20/">Scrubs</a></span>), including a misguided appearance from Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and a hilarious turn from Mel Brooks as a lost snowman narrator. <br />
<br />
As a whole, <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B003XURDCC/craigsbookc0b-20/">It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie</a></span> succeeds admirably. The normally frantic Arquette tones it down considerably, settling into a mildly annoying tone that suits the character. And all the muppets are in fine form. Given that I grew up continually exposed to these voice artists, the fact that many of the characters are now embodied by different performers would hardly escape my notice. But I am happy to say that it was not a distraction and, actually, I did not realize that the characters formerly voiced by the legendary Frank Oz (who left the troupe just prior to this to focus on directing) — Fozzie, Miss Piggy, Animal, and Yoda in a cameo — were not Oz himself until doing the research for this review. (Kudos to Eric Jacobson, who makes it seem easy to fill those shoes.)<br />
<br />
<iframe align=right marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" width="120" height="240" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?o=1&l=as1&f=ifr&t=craigsbookc0b-20&p=8&asins=B003XURDCC&IS2=1&fc1=000000&lc1=6633ff&IS2=1<1=_blank"><map NAME="boxmap-p8"><area SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="14, 200, 103, 207" HREF="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" ><area COORDS="0,0,10000,10000" REF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/craigsbookc0b-20" ></MAP><img src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/rcm/120x240.gif" width="120" height="240" border="0" usemap="#boxmap-p8" alt="Shop at Amazon.com"></iframe>But the main thing I noticed about the movie was the amount of sexual innuendo. Not only is the "<em>Voulez vous coucher avec moi, c'est soir</em>" line from <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000SW4DH6/craigsbookc0b-20/">Moulin Rouge</a></span> featured (and given a funny twist) in the "Moulin Scrooge" centerpiece (the highlight of the feature), but lines about topless bars, ogling of cleavage, and a stereotypically "dramatic" gay character (who admires Kermit as he walks away) round out the mix. <br />
<br />
There is also a dark layer to the proceedings that, while seemingly appropriate given the source material, seemed not at all suitable for the target audience. Kermit screaming "I wish I'd never been born" over and over was nothing short of disturbing. <br />
<br />
The story involves the normal crew and their attempts to retain the Muppet Theater by delivering their rent on time to Cusack's Bitterman. Unfortunately, Bitterman changes their contract and the time of delivery of the money is moved up six hours — unbeknownst to the rest until it is almost too late. It is then up to Fozzie to deliver the money before the deadline. This leads up to a painfully funny suspense- and slapstick-filled action sequence involving mistaken identity and various obstacles that eventually ends up ... but that would be giving it away. The eventual solution to the problem, while surely obvious to a town official, escaped me until it was delivered — but it was glossed over in favor of wrapping up the proceedings. <br />
<br />
While it's difficult to recapture the original nostalgic joy that came with <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0009ULBGS/craigsbookc0b-20/">The Muppet Show</a></span> and <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000ATQYTM/craigsbookc0b-20/">The Muppet Movie</a></span> (or even the early days of <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000H6SY8C/craigsbookc0b-20/">Sesame Street</a></span>), anything involving our felt friends is worth a watch. It's always good to see them in action, and <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B003XURDCC/craigsbookc0b-20/">It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie</a></span> is no exception.Craig Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340904520617472135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189609306702381939.post-69059456185372246872009-03-26T05:32:00.001-04:002016-06-15T09:29:51.668-04:00Flying Down to Rio directed by Thornton Freeland (starring Dolores del Rio, Gene Raymond, Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire)<strong>Flying Down to Rio</strong> (1933). Screenplay by Cyril Hume, H.W. Hanemann, and Erwin Gelsey from the play by Anne Caldwell based on a story by Lou Brock.<br /><br /><iframe align=right marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" width="120" height="240" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?o=1&l=as1&f=ifr&t=craigsbookc0b-20&p=8&asins=B000H6SXT2&IS2=1&fc1=000000&lc1=6633ff&IS2=1<1=_blank"><MAP NAME="boxmap-p8"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="14, 200, 103, 207" HREF="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" ><AREA COORDS="0,0,10000,10000" HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/craigsbookc0b-20" ></MAP><img src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/rcm/120x240.gif" width="120" height="240" border="0" usemap="#boxmap-p8" alt="Shop at Amazon.com"></iframe>Most viewers are probably going to come to <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000H6SXT2/craigsbookc0b-20">Flying Down to Rio</a></span> to see the first pairing of one of filmdom's great couple: <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Fred+Astaire">Fred Astaire</a></span> and <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Ginger+Rogers">Ginger Rogers</a></span>. But Astaire and Rogers are actually only supporting players to stars <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Dolores+del+Rio">Dolores del Rio</a></span> and <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Gene+Raymond">Gene Raymond</a></span> in this lighthearted little pre-Code romantic comedy musical. (If you never thought Ginger Rogers was sexy, you have to see her as Honey Hale in this film.)<br /><br />Raymond plays Roger Bond, a bandleader with a reputation for getting his orchestra barred from gigs due to his dalliances with the paying customers. His accordion player and best friend, Fred Ayres (Astaire), tries to keep him in line, but because of a bet with her girlfriends, Brazilian girl Belinha de Rezende (del Rio, actually born in Mexico) seduces him first. (As one of the friends, <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Lucile+Browne">Lucile Browne</a></span> has the best line in the movie. In a wonderful, typically pre-Code jab, she queries the others, "What has that South American got below the equator that we don't?")<br /><br />Since Bond is also conveniently a pilot, he and Belinha go off to get some alone time and end up stranded on an island. Interestingly both his and hers "devils on the shoulder" appear to make sure they take full advantage of the situation though each originally had nixed the idea. They end up falling for each other, but unfortunately she's already part of an arranged marriage to Julio (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Raul+Roulien">Raul Roulien</a></span>) who also happens to be a friend of Roger's. (Roulien's best scene is during his reaction to Roger's story of his new girl; as it quickly dawns on him that their girls are the same one.)<br /><br />Fans of character actors will appreciate <span style="font-weight:bold;">Flying Down to Rio</span>'s fantastic opening scene involving <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Franklin+Pangborn">Franklin Pangborn</a></span>, one of the great pompous asses of cinema, and <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Eric+Blore">Eric Blore</a></span>, best known for his portrayal of elitist butlers. Both are wonderfully cruel, as the hotel manager and his assistant, in their treatment of the band while they wait for the terminally tardy Bond and Ayres to arrive.<br /><br />Astaire and Rogers first show off their chemistry together during a funny and charming dance to "The Carioca" (which some of my generation may recognize from a comedic version played over the opening and closing credits of <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6305840083/craigsbookc0b-20">The Kentucky Fried Movie</a></span>). What follows is a lengthy, 15-minute dance of the multitudes, something that would become a feature of some of the couple's early films. For example, "The Continental" runs around 17 minutes in <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000H6SXTC/craigsbookc0b-20">The Gay Divorcee</a></span> (their first starring vehicle and still my favorite). <br /><br /><iframe align=right marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" width="120" height="240" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?o=1&l=as1&f=ifr&t=craigsbookc0b-20&p=8&asins=B000H6SXME&IS2=1&fc1=000000&lc1=6633ff&IS2=1<1=_blank"><MAP NAME="boxmap-p8"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="14, 200, 103, 207" HREF="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" ><AREA COORDS="0,0,10000,10000" HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/craigsbookc0b-20" ></MAP><img src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/rcm/120x240.gif" width="120" height="240" border="0" usemap="#boxmap-p8" alt="Shop at Amazon.com"></iframe>(A lot of Astaire and Rogers fans pick <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0009NSCQW/craigsbookc0b-20">Top Hat</a></span> as their favorite. But I've never understood this since it's simply a retread of the plot — and cast! — of <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Gay Divorcee</span>. Perhaps it's simply because it contains a lot of songs that are now standards. In any case, fans wanting all three, and more, need only look as far as the <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000H6SXME/craigsbookc0b-20">Astaire & Rogers Ultimate Collector's Edition</a></span>.)<br /><br />On the whole, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Flying Down to Rio</span> is a forgettable trifle, though "The Carioca" is a real earworm — I had it in my head for two weeks after watching — and it's easy to see why Astaire and Rogers became the great screen couple and not del Rio and Raymond. It's all about chemistry, and director <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_director2.asp&search=Thornton+Freeland">Thornton Freeland</a></span> capitalizes on the fact that one couple has it in spades while the other is merely going through the motions (though each certainly has charms of his and her own, as they would show in other films).Craig Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340904520617472135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189609306702381939.post-7295354220192813662009-03-04T04:28:00.001-05:002016-06-15T09:29:52.372-04:00Heaven Can Wait (1943) directed by Ernst Lubitsch (starring Don Ameche, Gene Tierney, Eugene Pallette, Allyn Joslyn, Marjorie Main)<strong>Heaven Can Wait</strong> (1943). Screenplay by Samson Raphaelson based on the play <span style="font-weight:bold;">Birthday</span> by Lazlo Bus-Fekete.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Don+Ameche">Don Ameche</a></span> arrives at the gates of Hell ready to turn himself in for being so ruthless with women. "His Excellency," however, chooses first to hear his story. He finds that Ameche has not been any worse than anyone else (in fact most of his "crimes" were done in the name of love), and so sends him on his way up. <br /><br /><iframe align=right marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" width="120" height="240" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?o=1&l=as1&f=ifr&t=craigsbookc0b-20&p=8&asins=B00092ZLEE&IS2=1&fc1=000000&lc1=6633ff&IS2=1<1=_blank"><MAP NAME="boxmap-p8"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="14, 200, 103, 207" HREF="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" ><AREA COORDS="0,0,10000,10000" HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/craigsbookc0b-20" ></MAP><img src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/rcm/120x240.gif" width="120" height="240" border="0" usemap="#boxmap-p8" alt="Shop at Amazon.com"></iframe>This is the story of <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00092ZLEE/craigsbookc0b-20">Heaven Can Wait</a></span>, yet another confection from director <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_director2.asp&search=Ernst+Lubitsch">Ernst Lubitsch</a></span> and screenwriter Samson Raphaelson (the duo responsible for the fantastic <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://kayfrancisfest.blogspot.com/2006/11/trouble-in-paradise-directed-by-ernst.html">Trouble in Paradise</a></span>). <br /><br />Ameche and <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Gene+Tierney">Gene Tierney</a></span> give fine lead performances. However, the film is stolen out from under them by the supporting cast. <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Allyn+Joslyn">Allyn Joslyn</a></span> (<span style="font-weight:bold;">The Horn Blows at Midnight</span>) is perfectly pompous as cousin Albert, and <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Charles+Coburn">Charles Coburn</a></span> is a delight as always playing Ameche's lovable grandfather, charming and good for a laugh.<br /><br />But the pair who rule this film are Tierney's parents, played by <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Eugene+Pallette">Eugene Pallette</a></span> (My Man Godfrey) and <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Marjorie+Main">Marjorie Main</a></span> (best known as "Ma Kettle"). Their powerful voices fill the air with intimidating presence when they are together; and their dueling breakfast scene is the highlight of the picture. <br /><br />Yes, the acting is terrific all around, but somehow it doesn't all fit together right. The ending is obvious from the start and so isn't at all satisfying. I was left thinking, "so what?" But at the same time, the performances were so good, I didn't want <span style="font-weight:bold;">Heaven Can Wait</span> to end, so it felt cut short.Craig Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340904520617472135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189609306702381939.post-73917277236557972182009-02-25T21:40:00.001-05:002016-06-15T09:29:54.482-04:00The Horn Blows at Midnight directed by Raoul Walsh (starring Jack Benny, Alexis Smith, Dolores Moran)<span style="font-style:italic;">This review originally appeared in somewhat different form on <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.videovista.net/">Video Vista</a></span>. Copyright 2002.</span><br /><br /><strong>The Horn Blows at Midnight</strong> (1945). Screenplay by Sam Hellman and James V. Kern from a story by Aubrey Wisberg.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6302148677/craigsbookc0b-20">The Horn Blows at Midnight</a></span> is the infamous film about which <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Jack+Benny">Jack Benny</a></span> constantly expressed shame on <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://kayfrancisfest.blogspot.com/2008/04/radio-review-jack-benny-program-on-set.html">his radio show</a></span> (the movie was a flop on release and became his last lead role). And while it's by no means a classic (in fact, it's probably only as well known as it is because he made so much fun of it), it's not that bad. <br /><br />Yes, some of the jokes are obvious. Yes, Benny is pretty much playing himself. But not only are there several character actors worth seeing, but the storyline is also innovative (Doomsday is presented in a light, cheery manner), the performances are top-rate, the fallen-angel duo are a terrific comic team, and <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Dolores+Moran">Dolores Moran</a></span> steals every scene she's in.<br /><br />Benny stars as a bad trumpet player who falls asleep during a radio commercial and dreams that he is Athanael, an angel chosen to go to Earth and blow the Doomsday trumpet, heralding its end. All he has to do is blow the horn precisely at the stroke of midnight and the world will end, getting him promoted to Angel Senior Grade. But of course things keep getting in his way, including two fallen angels who are living it up on Earth.<br /><br /><iframe align=right marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" width="120" height="240" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?o=1&l=as1&f=ifr&t=craigsbookc0b-20&p=8&asins=6302148677&IS2=1&fc1=000000&lc1=6633ff&IS2=1<1=_blank"><MAP NAME="boxmap-p8"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="14, 200, 103, 207" HREF="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" ><AREA COORDS="0,0,10000,10000" HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/craigsbookc0b-20" ></MAP><img src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/rcm/120x240.gif" width="120" height="240" border="0" usemap="#boxmap-p8" alt="Shop at Amazon.com"></iframe>Benny's escapades on Earth comprise the bulk of the film, making room for several fish-out-of-water scenes (eating at a restaurant and not knowing to pay) and references to famous dead people (upon seeing a dollar bill, Benny recognizes George Washington and makes a note to tell George about it on his return).<br /><br />Director <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_director2.asp&search=Raoul+Walsh">Raoul Walsh</a></span> has assembled a stellar cast of character actors — many with whom classic film fans will be familiar — that give Benny fabulous support. <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Alexis+Smith">Alexis Smith</a></span> is Elizabeth, Athanael's girlfriend; <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Guy+Kibbee">Guy Kibbee</a></span> plays "the Chief," who assigns Benny his task; and <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Reginald+Gardiner">Reginald Gardiner</a></span> is suavity at its utmost as Archie Dexter, thief and aspiring conductor. <br /><br />Preston Sturges stock player <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Franklin+Pangborn">Franklin Pangborn</a></span> is in fine pomposity as Sloan; <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Mike+Mazurki">Mike Mazurki</a></span> has perfected the role of lovable goon by this point, but this is by far the largest role I've seen him in; and <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Allyn+Joslyn">Allyn Joslyn</a></span> and <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=John+Alexander">John Alexander</a></span> are Osidro and Doremus, the fallen angels who don't want to go back. They are the American "Caldicott and Charters." <br /><br />Former Marx brothers' foil <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Margaret+Dumont">Margaret Dumont</a></span> also has a small role, and <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Bobby+Blake">Bobby Blake</a></span>, fresh from his <span style="font-weight:bold;">Our Gang</span> days, plays bratty-punk personified.<br /><br />Lots of gags and quick pacing keep <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Horn Blows at Midnight</span> interesting. The climax is funny and suspenseful, involving all the main characters hanging off the side of a building. Good actors doing their best to entertain us is always fun to watch, as are all of the set pieces, especially one involving an oversized cup of coffee. On the downside, I wish they had stretched the ending out, giving viewers time to realize the story is ending, instead of compressing it into an unfunny punchline.Craig Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340904520617472135noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189609306702381939.post-36557601797282510982009-02-18T06:04:00.001-05:002016-06-15T09:29:54.919-04:00The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer directed by Irving Reis (starring Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, Shirley Temple, Rudy Vallee)<span style="font-style:italic;">This review originally appeared in somewhat different form on <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.videovista.net/">Video Vista</a></span>. Copyright 2002.</span><br /><br /><strong>The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer</strong> (1948). Screenplay by Sidney Sheldon. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Cary+Grant">Cary Grant</a></span> and <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Myrna+Loy">Myrna Loy</a></span> star with a teenaged <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Shirley+Temple">Shirley Temple</a></span> in <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0001WTWRY/craigsbookc0b-20">The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer</a></span>, a light-hearted comedy from the pen of Sidney Sheldon. Painter Richard Nugent (Grant, supposedly portraying a troublemaking womanizer but remaining lovable Cary) comes before Judge Margaret Turner (Loy) due to a nightclub scuffle in which he was a participant.<br /><br />He later speaks on art at the school of Margaret's younger sister Susan (Temple), where she develops a crush on him (going so far as to envision him in shining armor). Upon her discovery of this disturbing crush, Margaret decides her only recourse is to have "Dickie" (as Susan has taken to calling Nugent) actually court Susan so she will lose her crush.<br /><br />Grant decides that she is attracted to the "older man" side of him, so he plays at being a teenage type to turn her off. He dresses with his pant cuffs rolled up and pulls off some current slang (this was 1948), barging into the Turner home with a hearty "Mellow greetings, yookie dookie." Then he plays a funny word game:<br /><br /><iframe align=right marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" width="120" height="240" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?o=1&l=as1&f=ifr&t=craigsbookc0b-20&p=8&asins=B0001WTWRY&IS2=1&fc1=000000&lc1=6633ff&IS2=1<1=_blank"><MAP NAME="boxmap-p8"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="14, 200, 103, 207" HREF="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" ><AREA COORDS="0,0,10000,10000" HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/craigsbookc0b-20" ></MAP><img src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/rcm/120x240.gif" width="120" height="240" border="0" usemap="#boxmap-p8" alt="Shop at Amazon.com"></iframe>Dickie: "You remind me of a man."<br />Susan: "What man?"<br />Dickie: "The man with the power."<br />Susan: "What power?"<br />Dickie: "The power of hoodoo."<br />Susan: "Hoodoo?"<br />Dickie: "You do."<br />Susan: "Do what?"<br />Dickie: "Remind me of a man..."<br /><br />...and prepares to leave with a "Ready, boot? Let's scoot." Grant is surprisingly effective at this charade, probably because he looks so unassuming, completely dropping the suave screen personality viewers expect. (The wordplay is so seemingly original and clever, I've been quoting it since I first saw the movie back in the 1990s.)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer</span> also allows Grant to use his gift at physical humor (as a youth he was trained in acrobatics, dancing, and pantomime) in a series of contests at a local school picnic against family friend Tommy (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Rudy+Vallee">Rudy Vallee</a></span>) at Susan's request.<br /><br />It's all wonderfully fluffy and plays at no pretense of attaining classic status, even though Sheldon's screenplay won an Oscar (and yes, that's the same Sidney Sheldon who wrote all those potboiler novels that were made into TV movies in the 1980s). But Grant, Loy, and Temple are at their comedic best (although Loy is used to greater effect in the <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://somebodydies.blogspot.com/2008/03/thin-man-directed-by-ws-van-dyke.html">Thin Man</a></span> movies), and the whole thing is a feel-good movie squared, so <strong>The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer</strong> has become one of my favorites over the years.Craig Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340904520617472135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189609306702381939.post-85826760640239607162009-02-13T06:20:00.003-05:002016-06-15T09:29:55.630-04:00A Free Soul directed by Clarence Brown (starring Norma Shearer, Lionel Barrymore, Clark Gable, Leslie Howard)<strong>A Free Soul</strong> (1931). Screenplay by Becky Gardiner (dialogue continuity by John Meehan) from the play by Willard Mack based on the novel <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000860IWQ/craigsbookc0b-20/">A Free Soul</a></span> by Adela Rogers St. Johns. <br /><br />Jan Ashe (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Norma+Shearer">Norma Shearer</a></span>) may have been raised by her alcoholic lawyer father Stephen (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Lionel+Barrymore">Lionel Barrymore</a></span>, a personal favorite) to be <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000YRY7VC/craigsbookc0b-20">A Free Soul</a></span> — much to the detriment of his relationship with his wealthy family — but that didn't mean he wanted her to hook up with his latest client, gangster Ace Wilfong (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Clark+Gable">Clark Gable</a></span>); Stephen just defended him successfully on a murder charge. <br /><br />Like any father, he'd rather she marry the more dependable (and unbelievably loyal) Dwight Winthrop (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Leslie+Howard">Leslie Howard</a></span>). But Jan finds fiery Ace much more appealing than the bland Dwight, and Dwight loves her enough to let her go (even though he finally got her to accept his proposal after 73 tries). Stephen tries to make a pact with Jan that they both quit their vices, but of course it's not so easy for either of them, and the result is a downward spiral leading to the deaths of two people. <br /><br /><iframe align=right marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" width="120" height="240" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?o=1&l=as1&f=ifr&t=craigsbookc0b-20&p=8&asins=B000YRY7VC&IS2=1&fc1=000000&lc1=6633ff&IS2=1<1=_blank"><MAP NAME="boxmap-p8"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="14, 200, 103, 207" HREF="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" ><AREA COORDS="0,0,10000,10000" HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/craigsbookc0b-20" ></MAP><img src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/rcm/120x240.gif" width="120" height="240" border="0" usemap="#boxmap-p8" alt="Shop at Amazon.com"></iframe><span style="font-weight:bold;">A Free Soul</span> is one of the films (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://kayfrancisfest.blogspot.com/2008/10/strangers-may-kiss-directed-by-george.html">Strangers May Kiss</a></span> is another) given a great deal of coverage in Mick LaSalle's book on pre-Code actresses, <strong><a href="http://kayfrancisfest.blogspot.com/2008/04/book-review-complicated-women-by-mick.html">Complicated Women</a></strong>. According to LaSalle, "A Free Soul is a movie about lust. Jan ... lusts for her gangster lover, just as her alcoholic father ... lusts for a drink, and neither has any willpower."<br /><br />Both Shearer and Barrymore were nominated for Academy Awards, along with director <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_director2.asp&search=Clarence+Brown">Clarence Brown</a></span>. The terrific Barrymore won, though his performance in this film is no better than others I've seen him in. By most accounts, it was due to his captivating 14-minute monologue at the conclusion of the film — an uninterrupted take that required the splicing of film from two cameras (a reel only holds 10 minutes' worth) and got <span style="font-weight:bold;">A Free Soul</span> included in the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Guinness Book of World Records</span>.<br /><br />But Shearer is no slouch here, either, giving one of the sexually charged performances that have made her a favorite of fans of pre-Code cinema. Shearer's silent-film acting may be distracting to some, with her intense facial expressions and often extreme poses (watch out for those elbows, cocked and ready to fire), but it's a skill that allows her to act with more than words, and Jan Ashe is a woman who is definitely more interested in talking with her body than with her larynx. <span style="font-weight:bold;">A Free Soul</span> turns the tables on the normally accepted male–female roles. He wants to talk about the relationship, but she brushes him off with, "Oh, dear, he wants to talk some more."<br /><br />Shearer heats up the screen when she's with Gable (her kind of blatant sexiness was even rare then) and is reluctantly restrained when with Howard. Unfortunately, the film as a whole is less than memorable. Perhaps the consequences and conclusion were simply too predictable to this jaded moviegoer, but I think most viewers will primarily remember the gown Shearer wears through most of the first half of <span style="font-weight:bold;">A Free Soul</span>. It alone is enough to elicit a certain level of shock (especially when considering the 1931 release date), in that is leaves very little of Norma to the imagination, showcasing her bralessness along practically every other facet of her figure.<br /><br />Still, it's fascinating that a movie like <span style="font-weight:bold;">A Free Soul</span> that is almost 80 years old still has the ability to astound audiences with its ideas and its fashions — ideas that we in the 21st century can hardly get our heads around, and fashions that no big star of today would outside of a particularly meaty Oscar-bait role. (Five years later, Shearer and Howard would reunite as Shakespeare's star-crossed lovers in <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000QGE8J2/craigsbookc0b-20/">Romeo and Juliet</a></span> — though both obviously too old for the roles — and Gable and Howard would compete for the love of another free-thinking woman eight years later in <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0002V7TZ6/craigsbookc0b-20/">Gone with the Wind</a></span>.)<br /><br />Historically significant films are not always the most entertaining, but any movie fan who wants to be educated about pre-Code films, or who are simply fans of the stars, will want to take time out for this second <span style="font-weight:bold;">Forbidden Hollywood</span> set from the TCM Archives. The three-disc set also includes <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Divorcee</span> (the movie that won Shearer her Oscar), <span style="font-weight:bold;">Three on a Match</span> (with Bette Davis, Ann Dvorak, and Joan Blondell), <span style="font-weight:bold;">Female</span> (starring Ruth Chatterton), and <span style="font-weight:bold;">Night Nurse</span> (with Gable, Blondell, and Barbara Stanwyck).Craig Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340904520617472135noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189609306702381939.post-10350103736164480162008-12-06T19:02:00.002-05:002016-06-15T09:29:56.471-04:00A Profile of Orson Welles -- Actor, Writer, and Director of Classic Film and Old-Time Radio<span style="font-style:italic;">This review originally appeared in somewhat different form on <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.videovista.net/">Video Vista</a></span>. Copyright 2002.</span><br /><br />In 2002, the British Film Institute's magazine <strong>Sight and Sound</strong> published a list of the 10 best films ever made. Once again, <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.geocities.com/craigsbookclub/kane.html">Citizen Kane</a></span> topped that list, as it has every decade since 1962. It's surprising to think that Orson Welles made it when he was 25. <br /><br />After spending his youth in Kenosha, Wisconsin, studying to be a professional magician, George Orson Welles (1915–1985) found his calling in another form of magic: entertainment. He acted for many years on stage and in radio programs (over 100 from 1938 to 1941!) like <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1570195153/craigsbookc0b-20/">The Shadow</a></span>. He was so busy at one point that — before it was made illegal — he would hire an ambulance to take him from studio to studio, often not knowing beforehand the role he was to voice. <br /><br />Then came his big break. In 1938, NBC was looking for a summer series and asked the Mercury Theatre — the troupe founded by Welles and John Houseman — to be the stars. The first show of <em>The Mercury Theatre on the Air</em> was an adaptation of <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.geocities.com/craigsbookclub/otr.html#mercury">Dracula</a></span>, with Welles playing Dr. Seward and the titular vampire. While the ratings weren't spectacular, the network quickly realized that it was an ideal prestige program. That Halloween, Mercury would put on the adaptation that would make Welles a household name. It was of H.G. Wells' <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.geocities.com/craigsbookclub/otr.html#mercury">The War of the Worlds</a></span>. <br /><br />The choice of presenting the radio play in a news broadcast format was more successful than they could have imagined. The public panicked. Masses of people ran into the streets, trying to get away from the horrible Martian invasion. Many were trampled and run over by the escaping crowds. This unexpected response, while tragic, proved that people were listening. The Campbell's Soup Company subsequently offered to sponsor the program and renamed the show the <em>Campbell Playhouse</em>. <br /><br />This success alone would have ensured Welles' stardom, but soon after, he was offered a contract with RKO Studios that was previously unheard of: to make any picture he wanted with total creative control. A perk even now reserved for the already famous and powerful, it was never done for a first-timer. <br /><br />At first, Welles wanted to adapt Joseph Conrad's <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001HD8O0C/craigsbookc0b-20/">Heart of Darkness</a></span>. Then he was shown a script Herman Mankiewicz had written, simply called <em>American</em>. It was the story of a newspaper magnate and was loosely based on the life of Mankiewicz crony William Randolph Hearst. It was this script — after considerable retooling by Welles — that would be the basis for the film <strong>Citizen Kane</strong>. <br /><br />The filmmaking techniques used have cemented <strong>Citizen Kane</strong>'s place in the cinematic canon, due to the collaboration of Welles and cinematographer Gregg Toland (Academy Award winner for 1939's <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0011FV87C/craigsbookc0b-20/">Wuthering Heights</a></span>). Toland actually campaigned for the position saying that the only people from whom one can learn are the ones who don't know anything. <br /><br />One can imagine the boy genius and the seasoned veteran bouncing ideas off one another, with Toland finding imaginative ways to shoot Welles' "impossible" ideas. One example was in <strong>Kane</strong>'s pioneering use of ceilings. Previously, the "ceiling" of a shot was where the lights and microphones were kept, out of sight. Welles wanted to use more interesting angles to show relationships between characters. For example, for the post-election scene, a hole was dug in the floor so that the camera lens would be at exactly floor-level, showing Kane's towering figure in sharp relief. <br /><br />Not new, but still rare at the time, was the film's use of deep-focus photography, the technique of having all parts of the frame seen with equal clarity. This allows the viewer to choose what to look at, rather than the director making the choice by focusing attention on a certain point. Such innovations, combined with the fine acting of the Mercury Theatre, make a film that stands up to multiple repeated viewings, with additional nuances discovered in each. <br /><br />However, <strong>Kane</strong>'s rise to its current classic status was not an easy one. On its release, the film was a flop. This was partially due to Hearst's boycott in all his newspapers of any advertising regarding the film, but audiences could also not take the innovative storytelling and photographic style. In fact, <strong>Kane</strong> would not be appreciated by audiences until the early 1950s when RKO sold the rights to television, where it finally found its following. <br /><br />Film work on <strong>Kane</strong> was finally too much for Welles to continue in radio and he left the <em>Campbell Playhouse</em> in its last year. (His attempt to film Eric Ambler's novel <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375726721/craigsbookc0b-20/">Journey into Fear</a></span> (co-scripted with Joseph Cotten) conflicted with his many other commitments and Norman Foster was chosen to complete the picture, though he imitated Welles' style and the picture retains the Wellesian feel.) <br /><br />Welles immediately began work on <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005JKGX/craigsbookc0b-20/">The Magnificent Ambersons</a></span>, an adaptation of <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000QCSAOU/craigsbookc0b-20/">Booth Tarkington's novel</a></span>. Although an excellent film, this would begin the start of Welles' slow decline. After completion of <strong>Ambersons</strong>, Welles travelled to Brazil to immortalize its people in a film entitled <strong>It's All True</strong>. Due to poor test screenings for <strong>Ambersons</strong>' ending, studio heads took the film into their own hands — as Welles was unable to return in time — and reshot the ending. <br /><br />Perhaps the film was not as good with Welles' ending. Perhaps it would not be hailed as a classic now had it not been tampered with. We, unfortunately, will never know. Another blow to Welles was that the footage shot abroad was deemed unusable and would not be released until 1993 — in a documentary about the situation (also entitled <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00062IDGU/craigsbookc0b-20/">It's All True</a></span>). <br /><br />Welles' next film as director (he acted in 1942's <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000MGBLHS/craigsbookc0b-20/">Jane Eyre</a></span>, opposite Joan Fontaine) was the only film to be a hit upon its initial release, <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001AS8HGA/craigsbookc0b-20/">The Stranger</a></span> (1946). In this straightforward thriller, Welles plays an alleged Nazi leader being trailed by Edward G. Robinson to a small town in Connecticut. It was a simple story filmed on a small budget (done mainly to prove that he could do it) that gave Welles' already-failing directorial career a needed boost and led to his filming 1947's <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004W229/craigsbookc0b-20/">The Lady from Shanghai</a></span>, another thriller (from a <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000IYUIA0/craigsbookc0b-20/">Sherwood King novel</a></span>) starring himself and recent ex-wife Rita Hayworth. Welles' Irish accent is inconsistent and Hayworth's turn as a femme fatale unexceptional, but the direction is spot-on and still innovative (especially the climax in the funhouse) and the film wholly entertaining. Also of note is a supporting role by Everett Sloane as the cuckolded husband, one of the few Mercury players with whom Welles still worked. <br /><br />Here we enter Welles' first Shakespeare phase, as his two next films were adaptations of <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000B65ZGM/craigsbookc0b-20/">Macbeth</a></span> (1948) and <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000ALAT64/craigsbookc0b-20/">Othello</a></span> (1952), with him in the title roles, of course. <strong>Macbeth</strong>'s quality varies according to which version you see. The original — with Scottish accents, no less — is far superior to the studio-edited and -dubbed travesty. Though not as compelling as <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000063JZQ/craigsbookc0b-20/">Roman Polanski's 1971 version</a></span> (made following the murder of his wife Sharon Tate and their unborn child by the Manson "family"), Welles' take on "the Scottish play" is by no means run-of-the-mill. Welles' performance alone is worth a viewing. <br /><br /><strong>Othello</strong> was made during a hard time in Welles' career, and it says a lot about the efforts of all involved that it does not show. It took Welles and company three years (1949–1952) to complete the shooting of the story of the Moor of Venice. The cast and crew would gather for shooting until the money ran out, then Welles would act in others' films for the money, and they would all return until it was used up — lucky for us, because <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000NOK0GM/craigsbookc0b-20/">The Third Man</a></span> was made during this period. Welles' performance as the man who "loved not wisely but too well" is riveting, but the standout here is Michael MacLiammoir as Iago. (Perhaps he was channelling some of his own frustrations toward his director?) Welles, as usual, takes liberties with his source material, but the final print — especially in its restored version — remains true to its spirit. It won the <em>Palme D'Or</em> at Cannes that year, but had rarely been seen until Welles' daughter Beatrice restored it in 1993. <br /><br />In 1955, Welles adapted his own rather confusing novel, <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000E1OI80/craigsbookc0b-20/">Mr. Arkadin</a></span> into what is considered his most personal film (and probably the only time he was faithful to an author's work). Then, in 1958, he released his second-greatest film, <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000N6KC6I/craigsbookc0b-20/">Touch of Evil</a></span>. Originally Welles was hired just to act in this film. But when Charlton Heston heard Welles was involved, he thought Welles was directing and jumped at the opportunity. Not wanting to lose Heston, the studio hired Welles to direct — as long as he did both for his acting salary. His first step was to completely rewrite Paul Monash's script (based on the Whit Masterson novel <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0881848867/craigsbookc0b-20/">Badge of Evil</a></span>), making his own role much larger. <br /><br />From the beginning three-minute crane shot — that ends with a bomb explosion — to the final line spoken by Marlene Dietrich ("He was some kind of a man"), <strong>Touch of Evil</strong> is typically Wellesian. The storyline is simple enough, but what stands out is the film's sense of style. Working with a varied cast the likes of which he had never used (Charlton Heston as a Mexican?), he was nonetheless able to get really great performances, most of all from himself. His Hank Quinlan is truly despicable. The latex and makeup helped in making him ugly, but it is his actions that finish the job. A "half-breed" (Mexican American) killed Quinlan's wife, but there was not enough evidence for a conviction, so the killer was set free. Therefore, now that Quinlan knows who planted the bomb, he is producing evidence that did not otherwise exist, without thinking of the consequences to others. <strong>Touch of Evil</strong> is perfect film <em>noir</em> and is considered the last great entry in that genre, and as a film to study (as Welles studied <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000F0UUJ6/craigsbookc0b-20/">Stagecoach</a></span> while shooting <strong>Citizen Kane</strong>) to learn how to make a great film. <br /><br />The story after <strong>Touch of Evil</strong> was not so enjoyable, however. Upon leaving to begin an adaptation of <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0019M7KRY/craigsbookc0b-20/">Don Quixote</a></span> (another film he would not complete; it was completed by others and released in 1992), <strong>Touch of Evil</strong> was completely re-edited by the studio, which cited its almost random story order. It was not until the recent discovery of Welles' own notes that the film was again re-edited to his original specifications. This version is available on DVD, complete with notes. Nevertheless, the original studio cut won the international prize at the 1958 Brussels World Fair. <br /><br />Welles did not direct another film until 1962's <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000E28P9C/craigsbookc0b-20/">The Trial</a></span> (from the <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0805209999/craigsbookc0b-20/">Franz Kafka novel</a></span>), starring Anthony Perkins as Joseph K. Then came <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0012BUT70/craigsbookc0b-20/">Chimes at Midnight</a></span> (also known simply as <strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0007X6KM2/craigsbookc0b-20/">Falstaff</a></strong>) in 1965, Welles' consolidation of all of John Falstaff's scenes from various plays of Shakespeare (<strong>Henry IV</strong> parts <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743485041/craigsbookc0b-20/">I</a></span> and <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/074348505X/craigsbookc0b-20/">II</a></span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0671722786/craigsbookc0b-20/">The Merry Wives of Windsor</a></span>, and portions of <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743484878/craigsbookc0b-20/">Henry V</a></span> and <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743484916/craigsbookc0b-20/">Richard II</a></span>). Welles' performance, unfortunately, is the only compelling aspect of the production, despite a beautifully filmed battle. As per usual, budget restrictions plagued the production and — unlike with <strong>Othello</strong> — it shows. <br /><br />Welles finished his directing career with two films: <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001C3YV5E/craigsbookc0b-20/">The Immortal Story</a></span> in 1968 and <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0007M2234/craigsbookc0b-20/">F for Fake</a></span> in 1974. The former is a bland adaptation made for French television of an Isak Dinesen story (from the same collection, <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0679743332/craigsbookc0b-20/">Anecdotes of Destiny</a></span>, that spawned <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000053VBK/craigsbookc0b-20/">Babette's Feast</a></span>), and the latter is a curiosity at best, but nevertheless a compelling one. In it, Welles plays up his personality as a mysterious figure — as well as his never-forgotten practice of magic tricks — in a slim narrative around fakery in the modern world, including a lengthy interview with painting forger <strong><a href="http://somebodydies.blogspot.com/2008/01/fake-by-clifford-irving.html">Elmyr de Hory</a></strong> conducted by faker-to-be Clifford Irving (who would write the infamous <span style="font-weight:bold;">Autobiography of Howard Hughes</span> and then tell the story behind it in <strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1401308546/craigsbookc0b-20/">The Hoax</a></strong>). Though not a great film, <strong>F for Fake</strong> is nonetheless entertaining and a fitting endpoint to a career that had much trouble and not much reward. (The Criterion Collection DVD is also a treat for fans in that the second disc focuses a great deal of attention on Welles's unfinished works.)<br /><br />During the time from <strong>Touch of Evil</strong> on, Welles did some of his most interesting acting in character parts for Hollywood, mostly while trying to raise money for his many doomed film projects. The high points include <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000UL45BO/craigsbookc0b-20/">The Long Hot Summer</a></span> (1958), <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001JF0MMG/craigsbookc0b-20/">Compulsion</a></span> (1959) — a Leopold and Loeb case where he plays a commanding Clarence Darrow–like lawyer — <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000LPR6GA/craigsbookc0b-20/">A Man for All Seasons</a></span> (1966), a fun role in <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6302470021/craigsbookc0b-20/">Casino Royale</a></span> (1967) — a James Bond spoof starring Peter Sellers and Woody Allen — and <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001K39J8K/craigsbookc0b-20/">Catch-22</a></span> (1970). <br /><br />As the 1970s continued, however, Welles became more in demand for his famous voice talents than for his physical presence, with narration-only roles in <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005JM8R/craigsbookc0b-20/">Start the Revolution Without Me</a></span> (1970), <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000F2MX/craigsbookc0b-20/">Bugs Bunny, Superstar</a></span> (1975), <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00031V24E/craigsbookc0b-20/">The Late Great Planet Earth</a></span> (1979), Mel Brooks's <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000G6BLRE/craigsbookc0b-20/">History of the World, Part I</a></span> (1981), <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001IAZAF6/craigsbookc0b-20/">Slapstick (of Another Kind)</a></span> (1982), and <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000H6SY5K/craigsbookc0b-20/">The Transformers</a></span> (1986). And of course, most of my generation remembers Welles as the pitchman for Paul Masson wines, who would "sell no wine before its time." His last onscreen appearance was introducing a fittingly film noir–esque episode of <strong><a href="http://somebodydies.blogspot.com/2008/03/dream-sequence-always-rings-twice.html">Moonlighting</a></strong>.<br /><br />Welles himself has said that he "started at the bottom and worked [his] way down." It is unfortunate — but not surprising — that such a cinematic artist could not find support in the Hollywood community, where they purport to make art. The works of Orson Welles have and continue to inspire young people to make their own films. With money flowing so easily in Hollywood, it is distressing that he had to work so hard to receive any of it.Craig Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340904520617472135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189609306702381939.post-74675621176353297912008-11-29T23:32:00.001-05:002016-06-15T09:29:56.971-04:00Uncounted: The New Math of American Elections directed by David Earnhardt<strong>Uncounted: The New Math of American Elections</strong> (2008). Written, directed, and produced by David Earnhardt.<br /><br />I've questioned our country's system of electing presidents ever since I learned about the electoral college. The fact that a selected small number of elected officials really decide who their state's electoral votes go to, seemingly regardless of whom the actual majority of citizen chose, disturbed me deeply. However, that is the quintessential piece of evidence I use when discussing how the government of the United States is not, as is often stated, a democracy, but is in fact a republic. (Remember, the pledge of allegiance states "...and to the republic for which it stands".)<br /><br /><iframe align=right marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" width="120" height="240" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?o=1&l=as1&f=ifr&t=craigsbookc0b-20&p=8&asins=B0019M8OFG&IS2=1&fc1=000000&lc1=6633ff&IS2=1<1=_blank"><MAP NAME="boxmap-p8"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="14, 200, 103, 207" HREF="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" ><AREA COORDS="0,0,10000,10000" REF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/craigsbookc0b-20" ></MAP><img src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/rcm/120x240.gif" width="120" height="240" border="0" usemap="#boxmap-p8" alt="Shop at Amazon.com"></iframe><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0019M8OFG/craigsbookc0b-20/">Uncounted</a></span>, a 2008 documentary from Emmy-winning (though I can't seem to find out what he actually won for) director <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_director2.asp&search=David+Earnhardt">David Earnhardt</a></span>, focuses on three major elections — of 2000, 2004, and 2006 — and all the problems and deceptions that led to the votes of many working-class and low-income people (and especially people of color) either not being counted or, in many extreme instances, discouraged from being cast at all through both threats and intimidation. <br /><br />The primary reason being, the movie asserts, that they would be the most likely to vote Democratic.<br /><br />In an engrossing collection of clips and interviews, <strong>Uncounted</strong> educates the viewer about such related topics as the myriad reasons electronic voting machines are unreliable (and hacker-prone), and why they were still used in a high percentage of voting precincts. Taken individually, these events are seemingly unimportant, but compiled in succession by Earnhardt, such things as 80 percent of voters in a single precinct not voting for a presidential candidate (while voting on other races), the known ties of a prominent voting-machine producer to the Republican party, and the mysterious practice of a vote for one candidate being counted for the opponent can hardly be seen as coincidence.<br /><br />Earnhardt makes a strong argument for deliberate manipulation, and you know how we Americans love our conspiracy theories. What is important is that <strong>Uncounted</strong> gives a lot of food for thought, especially regarding the dangers of being a whistle-blower and how one person can truly make a difference in a small way. But the main question I'm still pondering after having seen it is this, why is the one day set aside for choosing our elected officials, Election Day, the second Tuesday every November, not a federal holiday? <br /><br />I can only think it must be that somebody doesn't want all the working people of the country to be able to truly reach the polls in their representative numbers. But maybe I'm just spreading more conspiracy thought. Watch <strong>Uncounted</strong> as part of your civic duty to be informed about things that are generally unknown, and then and decide for yourself.Craig Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340904520617472135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189609306702381939.post-59846502552561052662008-11-20T21:38:00.002-05:002016-06-15T09:29:57.569-04:00Book Review: The Making of The Lords of Flatbush by Stephen VeronaIn the mid-1970s, a little movie was released called <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0977913155/craigsbookc0b-20/">The Lords of Flatbush</a></span>. Unbeknownst to any of those involved at the time, it would singlehandedly launch the modern era of looking back, inspiring other such nostalgia hits as <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000291Q3Y/craigsbookc0b-20/">Happy Days</a></span> (which would make a star out of <strong>Flatbush</strong> actor Henry Winkler) and <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000291Q3O/craigsbookc0b-20/">Laverne & Shirley</a></span>.<br /><br /><iframe align=right marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" width="120" height="240" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?o=1&l=as1&f=ifr&t=craigsbookc0b-20&p=8&asins=0977913155&IS2=1&fc1=000000&lc1=6633ff&IS2=1<1=_blank"><MAP NAME="boxmap-p8"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="14, 200, 103, 207" HREF="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" ><AREA COORDS="0,0,10000,10000" REF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/craigsbookc0b-20" ></MAP><img src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/rcm/120x240.gif" width="120" height="240" border="0" usemap="#boxmap-p8" alt="Shop at Amazon.com"></iframe>But few people know very much about the story behind the movie that started it all. The film's co-director, co-writer, and producer — Stephen Verona, Academy Award winner for <strong>The Rehearsal</strong> — has rectified that with his memoir, <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0977913155/craigsbookc0b-20/">The Making of <em>The Lords of Flatbush</em></a></span>. <br /><br />But this book is not just for fans of <strong>The Lords of Flatbush</strong>. Anyone interested in the kind of talent combined with guts — even when you're a pioneering music-video director who's worked with The Beatles — that it took to get a film made during this period should also pick it up. Verona tells it all, from his own time in a motorcycle gang (the <em>inspiration</em>) through the writing process, fund-raising, and casting (the <em>perspiration</em>) to the shooting, editing, distribution, and afterward. The reader is along every step of the way.<br /><br />Verona reminisces about stars Sylvester Stallone, Henry Winkler, Paul Mace, and Perry King — who replaced Richard Gere at the last minute — and the musicians he worked with (Joe Brooks and Paul Jabara) who would later go on to win their own Academy Awards (for "You Light Up My Life" and "Last Dance", respectively). Also mentioned in <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Making of <em>The Lords of Flatbush</em></span> are such not-yet celebrities as Bette Midler, Ray Sharkey, Armand Assante, and Susan Blakely. <br /><br />Verona writes this gripping memoir with a conversational style that, although very easy to read, lapses a little too often into digression, occasionally leaving doubt as to the true order of events. Follow his advice or learn from his mistakes; either way, know more about filmmaking than before from <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Making of <em>The Lords of Flatbush</em></span>.Craig Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340904520617472135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189609306702381939.post-41907906862823223322008-10-24T08:23:00.001-04:002009-02-14T22:22:15.313-05:00Storm at Daybreak directed by Richard Boleslavsky (starring Kay Francis, Walter Huston, Nils Asther, Eugene Pallette)<strong>Storm at Daybreak</strong> (1933). Screenplay by Bertram Millhauser from the play <span style="font-weight:bold;">Black-Stemmed Cherries</span> by Sandor Hunyady. <br /><br /><strong>Storm at Daybreak</strong> is another typical <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Kay+Francis">Kay Francis</a></span> melodrama with her once again falling into the arms of a man other than her husband. Only this time, the action plays against the backdrop of the first days of World War I.<br /><br />Sarajevo mayor Duchan (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Walter+Huston">Walter Huston</a></span>, who is said to have "discovered" Francis) is attending the parade in honor of a visit from Archduke Francis Ferdinand when the archduke is assassinated, setting off a series of events (including, in this film, a war against the Serbs) that would lead to what was known as The Great War. ("Somebody [shot] somebody, so we all got to go out and get shot," explains "Mad Russian" <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Leonid+Kinskey">Leonid Kinskey</a></span>.)<br /><br />During the parade, Duchan is reunited with an old friend, Geza (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Nils+Asther">Nils Asther</a></span>), who is now a captain in the Hungarian army. Duchan brings Geza home to meet his wife, Irina (Francis), a Serb protecting some deserters (the Hungarians and Serbs had a long period of bad blood). <br /><br />Soon, the house is hosting what appears to be the entire Hungarian army, and the lovely Irina proves to be the perfect hostess, charming the soldiers in a low-cut gown and beginning a romance with Geza where previously were only glares. (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Eugene+Pallette">Eugene Pallette</a></span> also has a charming series of scenes as he attempts to romance a reluctant housematron.)<br /><br />Despite impressive sets and costumes (and its educational possibilities dramatizing a period and events of which modern audiences are mostly ignorant), <strong>Storm at Daybreak</strong> has little to recommend it, except to Kay Francis aficionados; she is as photogenic (with long hair in one scene) and well-dressed as always. But the story is weak and depends too much on the war — pulling Geza away from Irina time and time again — to supply the drama, and on dewy looks and screaming matches from the actors. As a result, this not very racy pre-Code is melodramatic and unbelievable, and the abrupt ending does nothing to help.<br /><br /><em>(Look for cameos by <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Mischa+Auer">Mischa Auer</a></span> as the Archduke's assassin and <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Akim+Tamiroff">Akim Tamiroff</a></span> as a gypsy fiddler stealing a chicken leg.) </em>Craig Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340904520617472135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189609306702381939.post-42267213787635788652008-10-16T21:56:00.001-04:002016-06-15T09:29:57.996-04:00Strangers May Kiss directed by George Fitzmaurice (starring Norma Shearer, Robert Montgomery, Neil Hamilton, Irene Rich)<strong>Strangers May Kiss</strong> (1931). Screenplay by John Meehan from the novel <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000CZ3UIW/craigsbookc0b-20/">Strangers May Kiss</a></span> by Ursula Parrott. <br /><br />Lisbeth Corbin (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Norma+Shearer">Norma Shearer</a></span>) is a woman who espouses "modern" ideas ("We don't believe in the awful necessity of marriage") yet still seems as if she's waiting for her lover, Alan (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Neil+Hamilton">Neil Hamilton</a></span>), a foreign correspondent who is gone for long stretches at a time, to make a commitment. (He is actually the one who feels that "love and marriage mean internal combustion.")<br /><br />Her aunt Celia (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Irene+Rich">Irene Rich</a></span>) keeps trying to get her to marry Steve (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Robert+Montgomery">Robert Montgomery</a></span>), a childhood friend who is madly in love with her, but who drinks a bit too much. Celia's arguments seem to hold water until her husband is caught with a younger woman, whereupon Celia, her foundations shattered, ends her life (the first time I've seen where the phrase "mortally embarrassed" truly applies).<br /><br />Lisbeth continues to throw herself at Alan as she waits for him to settle down with her. It's obvious they're physically intimate — apparently to the point that co-star Hamilton wondered "if [Shearer] was getting enough at home" — but he continues to travel around the world without her. Eventually, after one too many up-and-leavings, Lisbeth gives up and becomes a woman of fun throughout Europe ("I'm in an orgy, wallowing. And I love it!"). <br /><br />Even Steve hears the stories about her, which he didn't believe "the first six or seven hundred times." But when Alan returns to finally offer himself to her, he is shocked and repulsed at her behavior. What's truly shocking, however, is discovering that such adult subjects were being addressed at the time — and the loss of that once the Production Code (also called the Hays Code) began its enforcement — and that we really have never recovered.<br /><br /><strong>Strangers May Kiss</strong> is truly a Shearer showcase: her face is virtually always onscreen, and it goes through emotional ups and downs in a theatrical but not over-the-top manner. Montgomery offers engaging support, but his "best friend" role is thankless. Nowadays, his character would end up with the Shearer's, but this film follows the more "appropriate" ending, which is actually a huge disappointment for anyone who loves the pre-Code theme of the rest of the story. Watch it for the luminous Shearer, but be prepared for a letdown.<br /><br /><em>Those interested in more on <strong>Strangers May Kiss</strong> should seek out Mick LaSalle's book on pre-Code actresses in general (and Norma Shearer in particular), <strong><a href="http://kayfrancisfest.blogspot.com/2008/04/book-review-complicated-women-by-mick.html">Complicated Women: Sex and Power in Pre-Code Hollywood</a></strong>. LaSalle devotes the majority of a chapter to this film alone.</em>Craig Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340904520617472135noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189609306702381939.post-84266460787552279132008-09-28T22:49:00.002-04:002016-06-15T09:29:58.508-04:00The Most Dangerous Game directed by Irving Pichel and Ernest B. Schoedsack (starring Joel McCrea, Fay Wray, Leslie Banks, Robert Armstrong)<strong>The Most Dangerous Game</strong> (1932). Screenplay by James Ashmore Creelman from "<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1604500298/craigsbookc0b-20/">The Most Dangerous Game</a></span>" — the "O. Henry Award Winning Collection Story by Richard Connell." (I wonder if the wording of that billing was in his contract.)<br /><br /><iframe align=right marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" width="120" height="240" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?o=1&l=as1&f=ifr&t=craigsbookc0b-20&p=8&asins=0780022114&IS2=1&fc1=000000&lc1=6633ff&IS2=1<1=_blank"><MAP NAME="boxmap-p8"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="14, 200, 103, 207" HREF="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" ><AREA COORDS="0,0,10000,10000" REF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/craigsbookc0b-20" ></MAP><img src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/rcm/120x240.gif" width="120" height="240" border="0" usemap="#boxmap-p8" alt="Shop at Amazon.com"></iframe>This <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_director2.asp&search=Ernest+B.+Schoedsack">Ernest B. Schoedsack</a></span> / Merian C. Cooper production (executive produced by David O. Selznick) was made while the special effects were being done on the pair's previous film, <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000AY3KN0/craigsbookc0b-20/">King Kong</a></span> (released the next year because of the complexity of those effects), using some of the same sets and a few of the cast and crew. <br /><br />Big game hunter Bob Rainsford (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Joel+McCrea">Joel McCrea</a></span>), on his way to an expedition, is shipwrecked on an uncharted island owned by Count Zaroff (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Leslie+Banks">Leslie Banks</a></span> in his film debut), another hunter of bigger game. Rainsford is kept prisoner with Eve Trowbridge (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Fay+Wray">Fay Wray</a></span> in a low-cut dress) and her drunk brother Martin (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Robert+Armstrong">Robert Armstrong</a></span>, playing a deliberately annoying inebriate during Prohibition), and Bob has to survive the night of "outdoor chess," being hunted by Zaroff, with Eve as his prize (gotta love those pre-Codes!).<br /><br />What was a riveting portrait of man against man in its original form becomes a bloated waste on film, even at just over 60 minutes. The first 10 minutes of <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0780022114/craigsbookc0b-20/">The Most Dangerous Game</a></span> are mostly laughable, with incredibly heavyhanded foreshadowing: dialogue like "The queen of spades? That's the third time tonight." And with McCrea delivering "There are two kinds of people in this world, the hunter and the hunted. Luckily I'm a hunter and nothing can ever change that" just as the ship crashes. (In fact, 40 minutes passes of this hour-long film before the actual hunt even begins.)<br /><br />Max Steiner's score emphasizes every melodramatic touch, and the over-the-top performance of Leslie Banks (acting with eyes of fire) requires the usually subtle McCrea to overemote just to avoid being blown off the screen. Look out for his "revelation" later in the film: "Those animals I killed, now I know how they felt." <br /><br />Remade as <strong>A Game of Death</strong> in 1945 and <strong>Run for the Sun</strong> (with <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Richard+Widmark">Richard Widmark</a></span>) in 1956, and also expanded into novel-length as <a href="http://www.geocities.com/craigsbookclub/pastreason.html"><strong>Hunted Past Reason</strong></a> by Richard Matheson, <strong>The Most Dangerous Game</strong> actually managed to be about as profitable as the far superior <strong>King Kong</strong> due to its smaller budget. But the jokey script and overblown acting make it far less entertaining than it should be (though Armstrong provides some occasional comic relief).Craig Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340904520617472135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189609306702381939.post-73144016021107158002008-08-15T21:17:00.001-04:002016-06-15T09:29:59.163-04:00The Mask of Fu Manchu directed by Charles Brabin (starring Boris Karloff, Myrna Loy)<strong>The Mask of Fu Manchu</strong> (1932). Screenplay by Irene Kuhn, Edgar Allan Woolf, and John Willard from the novel <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/089190803X/craigsbookc0b-20/">The Mask of Fu Manchu</a></span> by Sax Rohmer (pseudonym of Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward).<br /><br />Author Sax Rohmer's creation, the evil Dr. Fu Manchu ("I am a doctor of philosophy from Edinburgh, I am a doctor of law from Christ College, I am a doctor of medicine from Harvard. My friends, out of courtesy, call me Doctor") was a very popular film distraction in the 1930s. It's interesting to critique <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000GRUQJW/craigsbookc0b-20/">The Mask of Fu Manchu</a></span> now, a film that was never intended to be watched almost 80 years after its release.<br /><br /><strong>The Mask of Fu Manchu</strong> — available on DVD only in the <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000GRUQJW/craigsbookc0b-20/">Hollywood's Legends of Horror</a></span> collection — is a diversion, little more, but an entertaining one. <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Boris+Karloff">Boris Karloff</a></span>, who reportedly spent over two hours a day in the make-up chair, dives into the role and gives the doctor the right amount of dignity and intelligence without crossing too far into parody. <br /><br /><iframe align=right marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" width="120" height="240" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?o=1&l=as1&f=ifr&t=craigsbookc0b-20&p=8&asins=B000GRUQJW&IS2=1&fc1=000000&lc1=6633ff&IS2=1<1=_blank"><MAP NAME="boxmap-p8"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="14, 200, 103, 207" HREF="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" ><AREA COORDS="0,0,10000,10000" REF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/craigsbookc0b-20" ></MAP><img src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/rcm/120x240.gif" width="120" height="240" border="0" usemap="#boxmap-p8" alt="Shop at Amazon.com"></iframe>The story, such as it is, concerns an ancient sword and an archeologist's daughter. The sword will allow its owner to rule the world (what else?), but the daughter ... well, she kind of lets the men do her fighting for her — even though Fu Manchu killer her father in pursuit of the sword.<br /><br />Aside from Karloff, the only real reason for watching <strong>The Mask of Fu Manchu</strong> is actress <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Myrna+Loy">Myrna Loy</a></span>. As Fu Manchu's daughter, Fah Lo See, Loy offers the ideal level of danger blended with sexiness — and a touch of insanity to spice things up and make it difficult to decide whether being her prisoner would be worth the ultimate price.<br /><br />This was Loy's last in a series of Asian roles. She was mostly wasted in those roles, and she chose to expand her career after making this film. She felt she was getting typecast due to her Asian-sounding surname (which was just a stage name in any case), and she began getting better roles almost immediately. <strong><a href="http://somebodydies.blogspot.com/2008/03/thin-man-directed-by-ws-van-dyke.html">The Thin Man</a></strong> would come only two years later and almost singlehandedly help her on the road to the icon status she holds today.Craig Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340904520617472135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189609306702381939.post-61250517224820769952008-06-11T12:58:00.001-04:002016-06-15T09:30:01.219-04:00The Barretts of Wimpole Street directed by Sidney Franklin (starring Norma Shearer, Frederic March, Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Sullivan)<strong>The Barretts of Wimpole Street</strong> (1934). Screenplay by Ernest Wajda, Claudine West, and Donald Ogden Stewart from the play <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0822200961/craigsbookc0b-20/">The Barretts of Wimpole Street</a></span> by Rudolf Besier.<br /><br /><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Wimpole Street, 1845</span> — In a time when maids glided across the floor as if on casters (in this case, Wilson, delightfully played by <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Una+O'Connor">Una O'Connor</a></span>), the invalid Elizabeth Barrett (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Norma+Shearer">Norma Shearer</a></span>) — affectionately known as "Ba" — and her brood of siblings live under the tyrannical rule of their father Edward (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Charles+Laughton">Charles Laughton</a></span>), who allows none of his children to be married, and demands love though all he inspires is fear. Any thought of dissension is met with passive-aggressive emotional manipulation ("You shall never know ... how much you have grieved and wounded your father by refusing to do the little thing he asked.").<br /><br /><iframe align=right marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" width="120" height="240" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?o=1&l=as1&f=ifr&t=craigsbookc0b-20&p=8&asins=6302308321&IS2=1&fc1=000000&lc1=6633ff&IS2=1<1=_blank"><MAP NAME="boxmap-p8"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="14, 200, 103, 207" HREF="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" ><AREA COORDS="0,0,10000,10000" REF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/craigsbookc0b-20" ></MAP><img src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/rcm/120x240.gif" width="120" height="240" border="0" usemap="#boxmap-p8" alt="Shop at Amazon.com"></iframe>Elizabeth's only joy is in writing her poetry, her dog Flush, and the encouraging letters she receives from fellow poet Robert Browning (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Fredric+March">Fredric March</a></span>), whose work she respects and adores. Having fallen in love with her through her words, Browning takes it upon himself to visit her unannounced. <br /><br />In her room (where most of the action takes place), they hit it off wonderfully in a scene filled with genuine joy. In an amusing exchange, Elizabeth asks Robert the meaning of a rather obscure passage in his <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1425548660/craigsbookc0b-20/">Sordello</a></span>. He looks confused for a bit, then replies, "When that passage was written, only God and Robert Browning understood it. Now, only God understands it!" <br /><br />From that point, we know they are to be married, whatever the cost. And, though her health and her father are obstacles, each will be overcome in turn. Except for its extraordinary characters, this is in many ways a traditional romance. But the movie's great success comes in actually eliciting suspense, even though we all know that Ba eventually became famous as <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/031274501X/craigsbookc0b-20/">Elizabeth Barrett Browning</a></span>.<br /><br />A parallel subplot comes in the form of Elizabeth's sister Henrietta (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Maureen+O'Sullivan">Maureen O'Sullivan</a></span>) and her burgeoning romance with a soldier. Edward puts the kibosh on that quick. ("Is it nothing to you that I shall hate you for this to the end of my life?" "Less than nothing.") Later, it comes out (euphemistically, of course — this was just after the enforcement of the Production Code) that Edward may have some sort of sex addiction that he is railing against (and trying to protect his children from inheriting?), and that he may even have some nonpaternal feelings for Ba. (Their age difference — or lack of it — may have helped: Laughton was 35 to Shearer's 32.) <br /><br />Laughton plays all of his scenes with fire, but Shearer is the real star here. Some of her readings are a bit "theatrical," but mostly she is terrific as Elizabeth. She even draws the eye away from costar March, though he is perhaps at his most engagingly boyish here. Director <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_director2.asp&search=Sidney+Franklin">Sidney Franklin</a></span> avoids staginess through a variety of angles<br /><br />Though it may seem so at first, Ba isn't that much different from other characters Shearer had played. She obviously has no husband to rebel against here, but she does defy her tyrant father's wishes, which Mick LaSalle (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://kayfrancisfest.blogspot.com/2008/04/book-review-complicated-women-by-mick.html">Complicated Women</a></span>) says makes her the "spiritual sister to Jerry in <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=product.asp&sku=D53807">The Divorcee</a></span>." LaSalle, a vocal fan of Shearer's pre-Code work, also says that this film is the last of hers that "satisfies completely as both a movie and a Shearer showcase," meaning it sort of signifies the end of an era of film history. <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Trivia: In 1957, Franklin made a veritable shot-by-shot remake of this film starring <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Jennifer+Jones">Jennifer Jones</a></span> (Elizabeth) and <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=John+Gielgud">John Gielgud</a></span> (Edward). I have not seen it. Gielgud was one of the great actors, but I'm not sure even he could top Laughton's performance in this.</span>Craig Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340904520617472135noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189609306702381939.post-66950138290907554342008-06-03T10:09:00.002-04:002016-06-15T09:30:01.946-04:00Book Review: Center Door Fancy by Joan Blondell"When Joan Blondell published <span style="font-weight:bold;">Center Door Fancy</span> in 1972, it was labeled a novel, but everyone knew better. She maintained that virtually all events in the book were from her life. No one questioned her; the parallels were too transparent.... The <span style="font-style:italic;">roman à clef</span> included her vaudeville trouping childhood, her days as a fizzy comedienne of the talkies, and her doomed marriages." <br />— from <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1578069610/craigsbookc0b-20/">Joan Blondell: A Life Between Takes</a></span> by Matthew Kennedy<br /><br /><iframe align=right marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" width="120" height="240" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?o=1&l=as1&f=ifr&t=craigsbookc0b-20&p=8&asins=B0006C3WUM&IS2=1&fc1=000000&lc1=6633ff&IS2=1<1=_blank"><MAP NAME="boxmap-p8"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="14, 200, 103, 207" HREF="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" ><AREA COORDS="0,0,10000,10000" REF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/craigsbookc0b-20" ></MAP><img src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/rcm/120x240.gif" width="120" height="240" border="0" usemap="#boxmap-p8" alt="Shop at Amazon.com"></iframe><span style="font-weight:bold;">Center Door Fancy</span> is an autobiographical novel by actress Joan Blondell covering her life from her birth into a Vaudeville family until her third divorce. (Click on the "Joan Blondell" tag at the end of this review for reviews of some of her films.)<br /><br />Except for one thing: the heroine of <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0006C3WUM/craigsbookc0b-20/">Center Door Fancy</a></span> is not Joan Blondell but "Nora Marten." The name of every other major "character" in Blondell's life has been changed, too (with walk-ons like James Cagney and Clark Gable retaining their monikers) — but, presumably, everything that Blondell writes about really happened.<br /><br />Blondell doesn't shy away from anything: her attempted rape by a policeman, her multiple abortions during her first marriage, and her third husband's volatile nature are all here. Her childhood and each of her marriages are handled in detail, making it very easy, as Matthew Kennedy states in the quote above, to tell who is who. "Johnny Marten," writer and star of "The Boy Is Gone," is her ambitious vaudevillian father Ed Blondell (writer and star of "The Lost Boy"); "Ceecy Quinn" is her ultrareligious mother, Katie Cain. <br /><br />Then there are Blondell's three husbands: the distant and impenetrable David Nolan (Oscar-winning cinematographer and serial husband George Barnes), the caring but insecure Jim Wilson (actor and crooner Dick Powell, also her costar in nearly a dozen films), and the unstable and ambitious Jeff Flynn (Oscar-winning producer Mike Todd).<br /><br />The years are not specifically stated most of the time, but it's fairly easy to keep up with the time, especially if you look up the real dates. The novel ends around 1950, right after Nora's divorce from Jeff, with her "trying to revive a career" that would continue with movies and regular TV appearances until her death in 1979.<br /><br />I'm not sure why Blondell chose to write her autobiography as fiction. I don't think it was to avoid a lawsuit — all three of her husbands had passed away by 1972 — so perhaps it was simply in order to achieve a certain amount of distance from painful events. In any case, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Center Door Fancy</span> is incredibly readable in that "listening through the keyhole" kind of way.<br /><br />But it's also very well written. Blondell has a upfront and open style (much like her film persona) that presents a lot of information in few words. I imagined I would like it, but it's even more engaging than I expected. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Center Door Fancy</span> is one of those books that fill your every possible moment until it's finished — when I had to put it down, I couldn't wait to get back to it. (And anyone who reads a lot knows how rare that is.)Craig Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340904520617472135noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189609306702381939.post-14466133437197413132008-05-30T12:07:00.001-04:002009-02-14T22:23:48.805-05:00September 2008: Kay Francis month on TCMKay Francis movies every Thursday evening through Friday morning on Turner Classic Movies in September 2008.<br /><br />Eighteen (18) pre-Codes. Forty-two (42) films in all! <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">September 4–5</span><br />8:00 PM <span style="font-weight:bold;">Raffles</span> (1930)<br />9:15 PM <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://kayfrancisfest.blogspot.com/2008/09/jewel-robbery-directed-by-william.html">Jewel Robbery</a></span> (1932)<br />10:30 PM <span style="font-weight:bold;">One-Way Passage</span> (1932)<br />11:45 PM <span style="font-weight:bold;">Divorce</span> (1945)<br />1:00 AM <span style="font-weight:bold;">Man Wanted</span> (1932)<br />2:15 AM <span style="font-weight:bold;">Women Are Like That</span> (1938)<br />3:45 AM <span style="font-weight:bold;">Comet Over Broadway</span> (1938)<br />5:00 AM <span style="font-weight:bold;">I Loved a Woman</span> (1933)<br />6:45 AM <span style="font-weight:bold;">Living on Velvet</span> (1935)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">September 11–12</span><br />8:00 PM <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://kayfrancisfest.blogspot.com/2006/11/trouble-in-paradise-directed-by-ernst.html">Trouble in Paradise</a></span> (1932)<br />9:30 PM <span style="font-weight:bold;">Cynara</span> (1932)<br />11:00 PM <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://kayfrancisfest.blogspot.com/2008/04/notorious-affair-directed-by-lloyd.html">A Notorious Affair</a></span> (1930)<br />12:15 AM <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Feminine Touch</span> (1941)<br />2:00 AM <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://kayfrancisfest.blogspot.com/2008/04/street-of-women-directed-by-archie-mayo.html">Street of Women</a></span> (1932)<br />3:00 AM <span style="font-weight:bold;">Give Me Your Heart</span> (1936)<br />4:30 AM <span style="font-weight:bold;">Stolen Holiday</span> (1937)<br />6:00 AM <span style="font-weight:bold;">Mary Stevens, M.D.</span> (1933)<br />7:15 AM <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://kayfrancisfest.blogspot.com/2008/03/passion-flower-directed-by-william-c-de.html">Passion Flower</a></span> (1930)<br />8:45 AM <span style="font-weight:bold;">Another Dawn</span> (1937)<br />10:00 AM <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://kayfrancisfest.blogspot.com/2008/03/goose-and-gander-directed-by-alfred-e.html">The Goose and the Gander</a></span> (1935)<br />11:15 AM <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://kayfrancisfest.blogspot.com/2008/05/house-on-56th-street-directed-by-robert.html">The House on 56th Street</a></span> (1933)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">September 18–19</span><br />8:00 PM <span style="font-weight:bold;">Transgression</span> (1931)<br />9:15 PM <span style="font-weight:bold;">Secrets of an Actress</span> (1938)<br />10:30 PM <span style="font-weight:bold;">Women in the Wind</span> (1939)<br />11:45 PM <span style="font-weight:bold;">King of the Underworld</span> (1939)<br />1:00 AM <span style="font-weight:bold;">It's a Date</span> (1940)<br />2:45 AM <span style="font-weight:bold;">Play Girl</span> (1940)<br />4:15 AM <span style="font-weight:bold;">Little Men</span> (1940)<br />5:45 AM <span style="font-weight:bold;">My Bill</span> (1938)<br />7:00 AM <span style="font-weight:bold;">In Name Only</span> (1939)<br />8:45 AM <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://kayfrancisfest.blogspot.com/2008/04/keyhole-directed-by-michael-curtiz.html">The Keyhole</a></span> (1933)<br />10:00 AM <span style="font-weight:bold;">I Found Stella Parish</span> (1935)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">September 25–26</span><br />8:00 PM <span style="font-weight:bold;">Mandalay</span> (1934)<br />9:15 PM <span style="font-weight:bold;">Doctor Monica</span> (1934)<br />10:15 PM <span style="font-weight:bold;">Confession</span> (1937)<br />12:00 AM <span style="font-weight:bold;">First Lady</span> (1937)<br />1:30 AM <span style="font-weight:bold;">Always in My Heart</span> (1942)<br />3:15 AM <span style="font-weight:bold;">Stranded</span> (1935)<br />4:30 AM <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://kayfrancisfest.blogspot.com/2008/10/storm-at-daybreak-directed-by-richard.html">Storm At Daybreak</a></span> (1933)<br />6:00 AM <span style="font-weight:bold;">Guilty Hands</span> (1931)<br />7:15 AM <span style="font-weight:bold;">Allotment Wives</span> (1945)<br />8:45 AM <span style="font-weight:bold;">The White Angel</span> (1936)Craig Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340904520617472135noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189609306702381939.post-54816960515146412002008-05-24T16:43:00.001-04:002016-06-15T09:30:02.403-04:00Kay Francis news: Four Jills in a Jeep coming to DVD in August 2008Fans of actress (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Kay+Francis">Kay Francis</a></span> know how rare it is to find any of her movies on video, let alone DVD, so this new release of <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=product.asp&sku=D54466">Four Jills in a Jeep</a></span> (also included in the <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=product.asp&sku=D20042">Alice Faye Collection</a></span> due to an appearance by Faye in the film) is great news. This is from the back:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=product.asp&sku=D54466"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 100px;" src="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/boxcovers/100_Wide/D54466.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><span style="font-style:italic;">This star studded musical is a cinematic tribute to the successful USO tour of <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Kay+Francis">Kay Francis</a></span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Martha+Raye">Martha Raye</a></span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Mitzi+Mayfair">Mitzi Mayfair</a></span>, and <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Carole+Landis">Carole Landis</a></span>, who entertained soldiers from England to North Africa. Embellished with some fictional romance, striking choreography, and plenty of laughs, this patriotic film salutes all the entertainers who did their part for "the boys." Includes special appearances by <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Alice+Faye">Alice Faye</a></span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Betty+Grable">Betty Grable</a></span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Carmen+Miranda">Carmen Miranda</a></span>, <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=George+Jessel">George Jessel</a></span>, and the <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Jimmy+Dorsey">Jimmy Dorsey</a></span> Orchestra.</span><br /><br />I'll have to look further into this, but I believe one of the extras on <span style="font-weight:bold;">Four Jills in a Jeep</span> is an interview with Lynn Kear and John Rossman, authors of two books about Kay: <strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0786431989/craigsbookc0b-20/">The Complete Kay Francis Career Record: All Film, Stage, Radio and Television Appearances</a></strong> and <strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0786423668/craigsbookc0b-20/">Kay Francis: A Passionate Life and Career</a></strong>.Craig Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340904520617472135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189609306702381939.post-5288969590693428442008-05-20T12:13:00.001-04:002009-02-14T22:20:38.592-05:00The Crowd Roars directed by Howard Hawks (starring James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ann Dvorak, Eric Linden, Frank McHugh, Guy Kibbee)<strong>The Crowd Roars</strong> (1932). Screenplay ("Dialogue and Screen Adaptation") by Kubec Glasmon, John Bright, Seton I. Miller, and Niven Busch (credited as "Nevin") from a story by Howard Hawks. <br /><br />Joe Greer (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=James+Cagney">James Cagney</a></span>) is a famous race car driver coming home to visit his kid brother, Eddie (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Eric+Linden">Eric Linden</a></span>). Joe knows exactly how dangerous a profession racing is and balks when Eddie wants to get involved because he idolizes Joe. Joe's feelings on the subject even extend to not marrying his best girl, Lee (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Ann+Dvorak">Ann Dvorak</a></span>), though it's pretty plain they are married in every other sense.<br /><br />When Joe realizes Eddie is determined, however, he promises to show him the ropes while trying to shield him from the darker side of life — like his relationship with Lee, which he calls off when he finds Eddie drinking with Lee and her friend Anne (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Joan+Blondell">Joan Blondell</a></span>). Anne responds to the blow to Lee by seducing Eddie, but they fall in love instead.<br /><br />Soon, Eddie becomes Joe's rival on the racetrack, and the ultracompetitive Joe's impulsivity leads to a confrontation on the track. Joe's relief driver, "Spud" Connors (<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Frank+McHugh">Frank McHugh</a></span>, who had a small but important role as the drunk in <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://kayfrancisfest.blogspot.com/2008/05/union-depot-directed-by-alfred-e-green.html">Union Depot</a></span>), puts himself between the brothers and gets killed for his trouble. (Reportedly, Cagney and McHugh began a conversation on the first day of filming that would lead to a life-long friendship.)<br /><br />Cagney's star was still rising during the time of <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Crowd Roars</span>, and he displays the usual angry hothead persona he specialized in during this period — throwing men and women around equally. Blondell also offers few surprises, playing to type in her usual tough-talking, no-nonsense guise. But both actors are comfortable in their typecasting and give solid performances. <br /><br />The real surprise was the fantastic acting of Ann Dvorak. I'd never seen her in anything before this, and she steals the movie away from Cagney and Blondell. Her performance is heartbreaking, going from indignant to desperate to loving in an instant, but always with a good heart, making us feel Lee's pain at the way Joe treats her. Eric Linden is forgettable as Eddie, his main contribution being an enthusiastic "I'll say!" Also watch for ubiquitous character actor <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_actor.asp&search=Guy+Kibbee">Guy Kibbee</a></span> in a small role (I'm not even sure if he had any lines) as Joe and Eddie's father, "Pop" Greer.<br /><br />The story is thin, the characters two-dimensionally drawn, but the dialogue is entertaining and Blondell in particular has some great lines. Unfortunately, the ending tends toward the ridiculous, as it tries its best to take the melodramatic events and make a happy ending out of them by quickly forcing the characters through a series of unbelievable situations and coincidences. <br /><br />But it remains a lot of fun even then, with redemption just around the corner and a quick chuckle before the end titles — and seeing racing in this era, with no visible protection for the drivers, was an eye-opener especially during the crash scenes. <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Crowd Roars</span> is not a classic by any means, but fans of director <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=findresults_director2.asp&search=Howard+Hawks">Howard Hawks</a></span> will likely want to see this early venture (released just two weeks after his legendary <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/affiliate/member/1013/8.asp?page=product.asp&sku=D69746">Scarface</a></span>, also with Dvorak).<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Interesting trivia:</span> A French version called <span style="font-weight:bold;">La foule hurle</span> was being filmed concurrently with director Jean Daumery and star Jean Gabin. In 1939, <span style="font-weight:bold;">The Crowd Roars</span> was remade as <span style="font-weight:bold;">Indianapolis Speedway</span>. Rumor has it that all of the racing footage was taken from the original and used in the remake, and when the attempt was made to replace the footage back into the original, some of the remake's footage was included by mistake, and so both films are practically indistinguishable during their racing scenes. Conveniently, Frank McHugh played Spud in the remake, too.Craig Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340904520617472135noreply@blogger.com4