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Post by topbilled on Oct 26, 2022 17:47:56 GMT
Reviews for 20th Century Fox films will be placed here.
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Post by topbilled on Nov 5, 2022 15:44:30 GMT
This neglected film is from 1952.
Law and order with Tyrone Power
Tyrone Power always seemed to fare well in westerns, even if 20th Century Fox didn’t cast him in too many of these films. His biggest hit in the genre was 1939’s JESSE JAMES in which he played the title character. The studio re-released the picture several times in the 1940s, so it was seldom out of circulation. His next western finally occurred in 1951, with Susan Hayward as his costar. In RAWHIDE he was no longer an outlaw, but a station manager.
A year later he appeared in PONY SOLDIER, which I suppose to differentiate the drama from those earlier stories, was set in Saskatchewan. The novelty of having Power play an officer of the law in the Canadian Rockies is somewhat diminished by the fact the studio and director Joseph Newman chose to shoot on location in Sedona. It’s very obvious the exteriors are Arizona standing in for Canada.
The plot is simple. Our star is a Royal Canadian Mountain Police constable who is sent by a superior to a Cree settlement to keep the peace. Brokering this peace is complicated by several unexpected developments. First, a scheming scout (Thomas Gomez) has a few secrets that may upend the operation.
Second, a white farmer is killed and the man’s wife (Penny Edwards) is taken captive by the Cree. It seems that a brave (Cameron Mitchell) has decided she would make a good bride for his brother, despite her strenuous objections.
Power must deal with Mitchell’s refusal to let the woman go. These are among the more tense scenes in the movie.
Meanwhile, another white captive is embroiled in the conflict, since he was near the site where the farmer was killed. This man (Robert Horton) is running from something but won’t say what it is. Eventually Power learns that the guy had committed a bank robbery and escaped from prison. So besides saving Miss Edwards’ life, Power has to make sure Horton is returned to the proper authorities. Of course, Horton has other ideas.
In order to successfully deal with these issues, Power in his red tunic, rides to the Cree settlement to speak to their leader (Stuart Randall). Power insists that the Cree must turn the captives over, and also they must go to an assigned reservation which they refuse to do. There is considerable haggling, and the chief is clearly reluctant to recognize the Queen’s Law.
However, all this changes when a mirage convinces the chief that Power has the ability to perform magic. Naturally, Power exploits the superstitious beliefs of the Cree to his advantage. Soon he is engaged in a meeting with the chief’s council, which is rather humorous.
Despite Power’s alliance with the chief, Mitchell and his brother are still determined to keep Edwards as a bride. And in a western, we know this is building to a standoff. Mitchell has Edwards carried off into the mountains, and Power goes after them. Power receives assistance from a young native orphan (Anthony Earl Numkena). Oh yes, I should mention the orphan takes Power’s name and becomes his adopted son, which is rather endearing.
While all of this is taking place, an elderly tribeswoman (Adeline De Walt Reynolds) sits quietly in the background. She is a wise old sage who communicates mostly by her facial expressions. But she does have one memorable line of dialogue. And when she talks, the people listen to her.
Fortunately, Power is able to rescue Edwards, and it is a foregone conclusion that they will marry. She will help Power raise the boy after they return to his command post. As for the Cree, they have now decided to surrender and travel to the reservation.
All in all this is not a bad way to spend an hour and a half. Tyrone Power would make one more western, freelancing at Universal the following year…in a smash hit called THE MISSISSIPPI GAMBLER.
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Post by topbilled on Nov 10, 2022 16:14:45 GMT
This neglected film is from 1945.
MacMurray soars above the clouds
Nearly every Hollywood studio produced a biopic about an aviator in the 1940s. Columbia made GALLANT JOURNEY with Glenn Ford as aviation pioneer John Joseph Montgomery. Paramount scored with BLAZE OF NOON based on a novel by pilot Ernest K. Gann. And 20th Century Fox delivered this drama with Fred MacMurray as flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker.
Probably these films struck a chord with viewers who had heard about such heroic fliers during the war. In the case of Rickenbacker, he served in two world wars, helping secure victory in the air overseas on more than one occasion.
CAPTAIN EDDIE begins with MacMurray and a group of men in the second world war, somewhere over the South Pacific in late 1942. An exciting opening sequence shows their plane experience mechanical difficulties and nosedive into the ocean. The men manage to crawl out of the sinking wreckage and hop onto life rafts. As they float off in hopes of being rescued by a search patrol, MacMurray starts to recall his life story.
The film then flashes back to a time when he was a teenaged boy (Darryl Hickman) in Columbus, Ohio in the early 1900s. We see how he was building contraptions, usually with items “borrowed” from the neighbors. A particularly funny scene has him soaring over the side of the barn with something made from an old baby buggy attached to an umbrella.
Interaction between the boy and his father (Charles Bickford) takes center stage. His dad tells him how inventions are supposed to be practical– to help make the work of humans easier. Bickford is especially good in these moments, projecting a paternal no-nonsense approach with compassion and encouragement.
In the next part, the family experiences trying times when Bickford’s character is severely injured. But somehow they manage to overcome the hardship and persevere. Meanwhile young Eddie has decided to become a race car driver, much to his parents’ dismay. However, these plans are scuppered when the first world war breaks out, and Eddie decides to become a pilot instead.
We then see a bunch of WWI combat scenes where MacMurray has resumed the role as the adult version of the character. In some ways this portion of the picture is reminiscent of the actor’s previous assignment at Warner Brothers in DIVE BOMBER with Errol Flynn. Daring aerial maneuvers climax with MacMurray being recognized as an ‘ace of aces’ during his time with the 94th squadron.
After the first world war, he focuses his attention on the fledgling airline industry, becoming a well-known– and sometimes controversial– figure in this arena. Part of the story also involves his on the ground romance with a childhood sweetheart (Lynn Bari) whom he marries. While this subplot isn’t as exciting as the stuff that takes place in the air, I wasn’t too bothered by it.
Contemporary reviewers fussed that the love story aspects of the film were routine and hardly set it apart from other aviation flicks with romantic themes. But sometimes critics are just looking to find fault.
This is not a bad way to spend your time and you get to see Mr. MacMurray in war hero mode. I’d recommend CAPTAIN EDDIE as part of a triple feature with DIVE BOMBER and FLIGHT FOR FREEDOM which also starred the actor in his prime.
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Post by Fading Fast on Nov 10, 2022 17:08:18 GMT
Charles Bickford is one of those very talented actors who seems to fly below the radar, but he brings something special to almost every role he's ever played. I'm always happy to see his name listed as one of the actors at the start of a movie.
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Post by topbilled on Nov 10, 2022 20:00:15 GMT
Charles Bickford is one of those very talented actors who seems to fly below the radar, but he brings something special to almost every role he's ever played. I'm always happy to see his name listed as one of the actors at the start of a movie.
In one of the threads in the classic TV section, I indicated The Virginian was my favorite show from the 1960s...and it is in large part because of those two seasons when he was in charge of the Shiloh ranch. |
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Post by topbilled on Nov 26, 2022 8:14:46 GMT
This neglected film is from 1952.
Zanuck does Hemingway
During Darryl Zanuck’s years at 20th Century Fox, he made a handful of films based on Ernest Hemingway’s stories. This is probably because Zanuck identified with the author’s wanderlust and sense of adventure. If Zanuck had not been a movie mogul, he might have been another Hemingway.
The first adaptation Zanuck did of a Hemingway work was UNDER MY SKIN. It was produced in 1950 and filmed in black and white. But two years later, when it came time to adapt the writer’s celebrated short story ‘The Snows of Kilimanjaro’ (which Hemingway himself considered to be one of his finest stories), a much larger budget was allocated.
The budget allowed for stunning Technicolor; on-location filming along the French Riviera and in various parts of Africa; plus a star-studded cast. Gregory Peck was chosen to play the main character, who is essentially a stand-in for Hemingway.
A trio of leading ladies were hired that included Ava Gardner, Susan Hayward and Hildegarde Neff. The film’s exquisitely made, and it wowed critics as well as audiences. It became one of the year’s most stylish films to see, and deservedly earned two Oscar nominations.
Significantly, Casey Robinson’s script expands on the possibilities suggested by the source material. Gardner’s character was not in the original story, and she was invented as a nod to one of Hemingway’s great loves. When the hero goes into the jungles of Africa, he gets infected and is near death. A woman in his party (Hayward) tends to him. In an increasingly delirious state he reflects on the beginning and end of his marriage with Gardner, as well as a rebound relationship with Neff.
The scenes where Gardner has left Peck, and he finds her again driving an ambulance during the war, is probably pieced together from another work, ‘A Farewell to Arms.’ And some of the safari scenes are reminiscent of ‘The Macomber Affair.’ So what we have is a collection of Hemingway’s greatest hits representing his passions and his sorrows. And that’s not a terrible thing, because it makes for a compelling motion picture.
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Post by Fading Fast on Nov 26, 2022 9:47:41 GMT
I wrote the comments below much earlier in the year and was struck, reading Topbill's insights above, by how much Hemingway the man often overshadowed his work. Both of us spend time referencing Hemingway in our reviews; whereas, in most movie reviews, the author of the source material might or might not get a line or two.
The Snows of Kilimanjaro from 1952 with Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner and Susan Hayward
In The Snows of Kilimanjaro, a lot of slow stuff happens slowly with stilted dialogue.
If you know nothing about Ernest Hemingway's life, the above is how The Snows of Kilimanjaro would appear. Gregory Peck, as Hemmingway's doppelganger, is dying of gangrene at a safari camp in Africa waiting for a rescue plane, while he and his second wife, Susan Hayward, argue off and on about his past relationships seen through his fever-induced flashbacks.
Mainly, they argue about his first wife, Ava Gardner (talk about a tough act to follow) and Hayward's insecurity that Gardner was Peck's one true love, which she probably was. This is only interesting when you realize Hemingway is talking, somewhat, about his relationship with his first wife Hadley.
Peck and Gardner (Hemingway and Hadley by proxy) married when Peck was still an unknown writer. His ensuing success fueled his ego and desire to travel to experience the world, while Gardner just wanted a simple home life in which they could raise kids.
Being young and passionate, these fissures eventually tear their marriage apart. Yet, with the mellowing and perspective of time, comes regret. That's hard for Peck, but it really rattles Hayward who begs Peck to tell her she's not the consolation-prize wife, which she is, despite his denials.
Along for the failing-marriage ride are several de rigueur Hemingway biographical touchstones: he goes to Spain to see the bullfights, hunts big game in Africa, has an affair or two and was, effectively, an embedded correspondent in the Spanish Civil War.
All were done, in some way, as part of Hemingway's diffidence-inspired quest to prove he was a real man (according to his view), despite earning his living in the epicene profession of writing.
Hemingway's well-known sexism is also on display (this is not modern revisionism, as he was a pig even by the standards of his day), for which he deserves some grudgingly given honesty points as the writer of this not-flattering autobiographical roman a clef.
Director Henry King carries over from the book Hemingway's aggressive use of symbolism, which is one of the reasons he's popular with English teachers, or was anyway.
Almost everything from the title (the snow represents moral purity and the challenges of reaching the summit of one's life) to the vultures and hyenas that circle the safari camp waiting to feed on his dead carcass (no explanation needed) echo themes and plotlines in the story.
The Snows of Kilimanjaro is a better movie in theory than in practice. In theory, it brings to life one of Hemingway's more-well-known short stories, while laying bare many of his relationship successes and failures. But in practice, it's sluggish and boring in many spots. Even Hemingway's dialogue, powerfully spartan on the page, often feels awkwardly constructed and forced on screen.
If you didn't have a working knowledge of Hemingway's life story, The Snows of Kilimanjaro would seem tedious to the point of almost being meaningless. With a working knowledge, it's a passable effort providing some insight into the famous writer's personal life.
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Post by topbilled on Nov 26, 2022 16:08:58 GMT
Good review Fading Fast. I agree that you really have to like Hemingway's stories in order to like this film. Also, I think that even when we have a skilled performer like Greg Peck in the main role, the life and legend of Hemingway still overshadows the actor's performance.
THE SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO works as a companion piece to THE SUN ALSO RISES, where we have Ava Gardner once again...as well as Tyrone Power and Errol Flynn taking a stab at the material.
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Post by topbilled on Dec 6, 2022 15:04:58 GMT
This neglected film is from 1939.
Watson come here I need you
Biopics about scientists and inventors have long been popular with audiences. Some of the best ones produced by Hollywood include Warner Brothers’ THE STORY OF LOUIS PASTEUR; MGM’s MADAME CURIE, and this fine effort from 20th Century Fox about the inventor of the telephone. As with all biographical pictures, some liberties are taken and events may be condensed to tell a cohesive story. But this is a thoroughly entertaining and daresay educational film.
Occasionally the dialogue gets a bit too technical such as the scene where Bell (Don Ameche) explains his experiments with the telegraph to a prospective investor (Charles Coburn). Or the part where he and his pal Watson (Henry Fonda) first hear sound transmitted through a wire. He automatically calls it a telephone sound and tells us what the word telephone means.
Mr. Ameche is very engaging in the title role, playing the handsome though slightly eccentric inventor. He would become so identified with this role that for years afterward, the actor’s surname was synonymous with phone usage. People often said they had to use ‘The Ameche’ to call someone.
The script includes an obligatory love story. These romantic elements are primarily conveyed by Loretta Young, playing Coburn’s deaf daughter who falls for ‘Alec.’ She would like to hear him say he loves her— to hear it literally. Theirs is a unique cinematic courtship. Five years later Miss Young would undertake a similar role as a hearing impaired woman in Paramount’s melodrama AND NOW TOMORROW.
Interestingly, Coburn’s three other daughters in the movie are portrayed by Young’s own real-life sisters, all of them were actresses and had varying degrees of success in Hollywood. This family casting may have been a concession made by Fox boss Daryl Zanuck who was keen to keep Miss Young under contract. However, she left the studio after this film to freelance. I should mention that earlier during her tenure at Fox she costarred with Ameche in RAMONA and LOVE IS NEWS.
The second half of THE STORY OF ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL occurs after our two main characters have wed. The telephone has now been installed in wealthy homes, but becomes embroiled in litigation when Western Union claims it developed the invention, and thus, should control the patent. There is an elongated court sequence, with both Ameche and Young delivering powerful soliloquies— Ameche’s in the middle of proceedings in possible contempt of court; Young’s on the witness stand offering testimony on behalf of her husband.
Ultimately Bell and Western Union come to some sort of agreement and settle outside court. This ends the protracted legal battle and paves the way for a happy ending. Films like this with simple, straightforward and wholesome storytelling aren’t made anymore. The main goal here is to celebrate a remarkable discovery that aids human progress. This is a genuine reflection about how our lives are enriched because of what a brilliant man gave us, after considerable trial and error.
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Post by Fading Fast on Dec 6, 2022 16:33:44 GMT
This neglected film is from 1939.
Watson come here I need you
Biopics about scientists and inventors have long been popular with audiences. Some of the best ones produced by Hollywood include Warner Brothers’ THE STORY OF LOUIS PASTEUR; MGM’s MADAME CURIE, and this fine effort from 20th Century Fox about the inventor of the telephone. As with all biographical pictures, some liberties are taken and events may be condensed to tell a cohesive story. But this is a thoroughly entertaining and daresay educational film.
Occasionally the dialogue gets a bit too technical such as the scene where Bell (Don Ameche) explains his experiments with the telegraph to a prospective investor (Charles Coburn). Or the part where he and his pal Watson (Henry Fonda) first hear sound transmitted through a wire. He automatically calls it a telephone sound and tells us what the word telephone means.
Mr. Ameche is very engaging in the title role, playing the handsome though slightly eccentric inventor. He would become so identified with this role that for years afterward, the actor’s surname was synonymous with phone usage. People often said they had to use ‘The Ameche’ to call someone.
The script includes an obligatory love story. These romantic elements are primarily conveyed by Loretta Young, playing Coburn’s deaf daughter who falls for ‘Alec.’ She would like to hear him say he loves her— to hear it literally. Theirs is a unique cinematic courtship. Five years later Miss Young would undertake a similar role as a hearing impaired woman in Paramount’s melodrama AND NOW TOMORROW.
Interestingly, Coburn’s three other daughters in the movie are portrayed by Young’s own real-life sisters, all of who were actresses and had varying degrees of success in Hollywood. This family casting may have been a concession made by Fox boss Daryl Zanuck who was keen to keep Miss Young under contract. However, she left the studio after this film to freelance. I should mention that earlier during her tenure at Fox she costarred with Ameche in RAMONA and LOVE IS NEWS.
The second half of THE STORY OF ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL occurs after our two main characters have wed. The telephone has now been installed in wealthy homes, but becomes embroiled in litigation when Western Union claims it developed the invention, and thus, should control the patent. There is an elongated court sequence, with both Ameche and Young delivering powerful soliloquies— Ameche’s in the middle of proceedings in possible contempt of court; Young’s on the witness stand offering testimony on behalf of her husband.
Ultimately Bell and Western Union come to some sort of agreement and settle outside court. This ends the protracted legal battle and paves the way for a happy ending. Films like this with simple, straightforward and wholesome storytelling aren’t made anymore. The main goal here is to celebrate a remarkable discovery that aids human progress. This is a genuine reflection about how our lives are enriched because of what a brilliant man gave us, after considerable trial and error.
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Post by topbilled on Dec 7, 2022 3:45:19 GMT
Great review. "The Telephone Gambit" is an excellent short book on the litigation the movie touches upon. It is not dry at all but reads like a courtroom drama novel. Link to the the Goodread's page on the book here: "The Telephone Gambit" . I highly recommend the book for anyone interested in the topic. |
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Post by Fading Fast on Dec 7, 2022 9:45:38 GMT
Great review. "The Telephone Gambit" is an excellent short book on the litigation the movie touches upon. It is not dry at all but reads like a courtroom drama novel. Link to the the Goodread's page on the book here: "The Telephone Gambit" . I highly recommend the book for anyone interested in the topic. |
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Post by sagebrush on Dec 7, 2022 14:34:53 GMT
This neglected film is from 1939.
Watson come here I need you
I really enjoyed this film. I thought it had a nice balance of biography and entertainment.
In Roseville, CA, they have a telephone museum which has many early telephone, telegraph and early HAM equipment on display. They also have employees who know how to use these devices and will demonstrate them when asked. Very cool place to visit!
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Post by topbilled on Dec 7, 2022 15:44:57 GMT
This neglected film is from 1939.
Watson come here I need you
I really enjoyed this film. I thought it had a nice balance of biography and entertainment.
In Roseville, CA, they have a telephone museum which has many early telephone, telegraph and early HAM equipment on display. They also have employees who know how to use these devices and will demonstrate them when asked. Very cool place to visit!
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Post by Fading Fast on Dec 7, 2022 17:02:44 GMT
I really enjoyed this film. I thought it had a nice balance of biography and entertainment.
In Roseville, CA, they have a telephone museum which has many early telephone, telegraph and early HAM equipment on display. They also have employees who know how to use these devices and will demonstrate them when asked. Very cool place to visit!
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