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Post by topbilled on Oct 28, 2024 14:35:05 GMT
This neglected film is from 1953.
Survival mode
This was 20th Century Fox’s first and only motion picture in 3D. The fad, which didn’t last long, was already petering out by the time Fox released the film into theaters. Most theaters were not equipped for 3D; so many patrons watched it in normal 2D. But the gripping final sequence which involves a huge fight with objects flying directly at the camera gives an idea of its 3D capabilities. Not to mention an exciting shot inside a burning shack where rafters cave in and flames engulf the bad guy.
William Lundigan, normally a nice guy lead in social message dramas and musicals, is cast against type as the bad guy. Sharing villain duties with him is Rhonda Fleming, an actress made for Technicolor. Lundigan is romancing the very married Fleming, and they concoct a plan to strand Fleming’s wealthy husband out in the hot California desert, where he is expected to die.
After Ryan’s death Fleming will be free to go public with Lundigan. Then they will enjoy spending all the money she stands to inherit as a grieving widow. While these two plot and scheme, the action continues to cut back to the desert locale, to show what is happening to Ryan.
A good deal of the movie involves him suffering from a broken leg in the arid climate. He is running out of food and water, and trying to stay alive. Those scenes, filmed on location in Apple Valley, depict Ryan’s very detailed situation in survival mode.
There is considerable voice-over dialogue; I guess the screenwriters were afraid to have him talk to himself out loud. When he comes across a bird or a wild rabbit, or a wolf that takes the rabbit, he does talk to those animals.
As we watch Ryan’s determination to get back to civilization and exact revenge against his wife and her lover, we are reminded just how delicate a person’s life can be. Ryan grows as a character, learning something about himself in his battle against a harsh nature; namely, that money is not everything. What’s more important is one’s resourcefulness. There’s a great scene where he learns to harvest cactus juice. God helps those who help themselves and all that.
Eventually, Ryan’s character is rescued by an old prospector (Henry Hull) in a jalopy who takes him to the aforementioned shack. Meanwhile, Lundigan and Fleming realize Ryan must still be alive; so they return to the place where they originally abandoned Ryan. To ensure he’s really dead this time, they will commit coldblooded murder. However, a lovers quarrel causes them to separate, which leads Lundigan to the shack and a fateful confrontation with Ryan in which the prospector’s dwelling catches fire.
The film is kind of a three-character study, four if you count the prospector. There isn’t a lot of action or glamour. It’s more a meditation on the basics of life, as opposed to material trappings. Indeed, we realize that those things only invite greed and killing. It’s what a man can do when he relies on his own ingenuity that counts…his spirit and will to live. It’s not just his ability to fight back; it’s his great resilience.
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Post by topbilled on Nov 5, 2024 15:21:16 GMT
This neglected film is from 1943.
Clever satire about the afterlife
Life is a Lubitsch and then you die. And when you die, like Don Ameche’s character does in HEAVEN CAN WAIT (1943), you have a conversation with the devil to take stock of what you did during the years you spent on earth. Of course, the goal is to get to heaven, right? So Ameche has to defend his life on some level, in order to be reunited with his wife Martha, played by Gene Tierney, who had predeceased him.
This is a fun, clever satire about the afterlife, which sparkles under the filmmaker’s direction and there are many engaging performances by the top-grade cast. If you’ve never seen it, you’re in for a real treat. Especially because the group of supporting players is basically a who’s who of the finest character actors and actresses from the golden age of Hollywood.
The script has a lot of fine-tuned dialogue and just hearing these fabulous performers deliver these fabulous lines is a lot of fun. The Lubitsch touch, as it is known in the director’s films, is light-hearted and a bit tongue-in-cheek. So Lubitsch takes the subject matter and he depicts heaven and hell– and sex itself– in amusing not frightening ways. The magical style in which characters leave their mortality behind and enter into the afterlife is gentle and charming and the death scenes are not at all like we see in other films of the period.
In the story, Ameche portrays Henry Van Cleve, a shameless Casanova whose adventures are shown in flashback as he tells Satan, and the audience, the things he did during his illustrious lifetime. Though I am quite sure Satan already knew the details. Incidentally, the Spanish title for this film is EL DIABLO DIJO NO, which literally translates as The Devil Said No. I am not sure what the Devil would be objecting to, since in the end, he does let old Henry take the elevator “up” to be reunited with Martha, suggesting Henry does get to go to heaven after all.
As Henry’s story unfolds, we are handed a saga that consists of humor, razor sharp intelligence and sentiment. Some of the sentiments depicted are rather shallow and stem from a vapid male character who has to learn the hard way about his wife’s true love. As stated, Gene Tierney plays Ameche’s love interest, and they share considerable chemistry. The supporting cast includes Charles Coburn as Henry’s down-to-earth grandfather; Spring Byington and Louis Calhern as Henry’s parents; Marjorie Main and Eugene Pallette as Henry’s in-laws; and Laird Cregar as His Excellency the devil.
Speaking of the devil, Laird Cregar does a good job making that character unusually likable. His Excellency has perfect manners and is friendly and approachable. Not exactly what most people associate with the fires of hell.
The film is based on a play called Birthday by Leslie Bush-Fedeke. During the extended flashbacks we see Henry go from being a ten year old boy, to a 25 year old man who first falls in love with the gal that will become his wife.
Then Henry must later deal with his wife’s premature death. Basically we see a man spoiled rotten as a child that grows up and learns many things.
It is very much a dialogue driven movie, yet there are some memorable visuals included. Samson Raphaelson’s script is sprinkled with dry sarcasm along with some laugh-out-loud moments and absurdities. Lucky for us, the folks at Criterion issued a restored copy of the film, preserving it for generations to come.
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Post by topbilled on Nov 16, 2024 15:03:49 GMT
This neglected film is from 1938.
Football, politics and gender
After Daryl Zanuck’s Twentieth Century Pictures merged with Fox Films to become 20th Century Fox, the “new” studio devised some light-hearted fare aimed at sports fans. In 1937, they tried with PIGSKIN PARADE, a raucous football comedy starring Stuart Erwin and Patsy Kelly. And a year later, they made HOLD THAT CO-ED, which also mixed football with music and some comic shenanigans.
This time the studio borrowed George Murphy from MGM and hired freelancer John Barrymore. The result is a rather amusing and entertaining film with a few ‘messages’ about politics and gender. We have to put the word messages in quotes, since it’s done tongue-in-cheek. The messages are presented with quite a bit of silliness, which means the movie will be enjoyable to anyone who watches, unless they are without a funny bone.
Barrymore, nearing the end of his career, plays a governor in the mode of Louisiana’s Huey Long. He bets his re-election on an underdog college football team. Barrymore’s lampooning almost turns the normally serious backdrop of athleticism on the field into a burlesque.
As for Murphy, he’s an amiable fellow cast as the team’s coach. Affected by the wager placed by Barrymore’s character, he is motivated to ensure his team wins at any cost. While most of the guys on Murphy’s team are quite capable, they are overshadowed by a star kicker.
Guess what: Joan Davis plays the kicker. I don’t think this is an attempt at early movie feminism, but you never know.
The exaggerated scenario reaches full comic effect as the clock counts down, and the team desperately needs to score points. The ending is truly suspenseful, because they are not able to make a final touchdown too easily, since there is a tremendous windstorm blowing them all down on the field. It’s not a sophisticated comedy, but the script is funny enough, helped by several excellent comic performances. Factor in the usual good Fox production values from the late 1930s, and you have a box office victory.
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Post by topbilled on Nov 21, 2024 14:52:39 GMT
This film is from 1951.
When Klaatu arrived in a saucer
It was a summer morning when he arrived. A fast-moving object circled the planet and landed in Washington D.C. Then a crowd quickly gathered around the large, metallic saucer; and a man named Klaatu emerged. He told everyone he had brought a gift for our president.
A group of soldiers surrounded the alien aircraft. One of the soldiers didn’t believe that Klaatu had come in peace and shot him.
Then an enormous robot named Gort stepped out of the saucer, and people ran in terror. Gort emitted a mysterious ray that melted the soldier’s weapon until Klaatu told him to stop.
Klaatu was taken to Walter Reed Hospital, where it was learned he had journeyed 250 million miles to Earth. Klaatu said he needed to talk to all of our leaders, but due to the world’s unstable political climate, they couldn’t agree on how to meet. Klaatu emphasized that his mission was too important to be derailed by international squabbles. The future of each nation was at stake.
The next day Klaatu had sufficiently recovered from his wound. He was told our president invited the world’s leaders to meet, but many refused unless they could host the summit. Klaatu then decided to learn more about us, and he escaped from the hospital. News broadcasts announced Klaatu’s disappearance, but they didn’t have any pictures of him.
Klaatu began to use the name Carpenter. This was when he rented a room at the boardinghouse where I lived with my mother. Klaatu wanted to go on a tour of Washington, so I went with him. During our tour, he took me to visit the saucer. But when we returned to the boardinghouse, a government agent picked up Klaatu. He tried to explain that Earth’s people are reaching a technological level at which they might be a danger to other planets. He was here to warn us all of the consequences of our actions. But would we listen?
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Post by Fading Fast on Nov 21, 2024 15:21:36 GMT
These comments are from a couple of years ago.
The Day the Earth Stood Still from 1951 with Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Sam Jaffe and Hugh Marlowe
So many movies and TV shows have copied and expanded on the ideas in The Day the Earth Stood Still that it takes a little movie-history perspective to appreciate the freshness, at the time, of director Robert Wise's crisp interpretation of Harry Bates' story and Edmund H. North's screenplay.
With a modest budget and the limitations of 1950s movie-making technology, The Day the Earth Stood Still won't wow modern audiences with special effects or elaborate sets, but maybe that is a hidden gift as it forced director Wise (who's directed impressive movies in several different genres) to focus on developing the characters and storylines.
The story itself is almost austere. A spaceship lands in Washington D.C. An alien and a robot alight. The human-in-appearance alien, played by Michael Rennie, tries to explain his purpose, but the public is scared and the military responds with force. In response, the robot vaporizes the nearby military's weapons, while Rennie goes into hiding amongst the population.
Rennie, staying in a boarding house and trying to understand "regular" earthlings, meets a fellow boarder, a young war-widow living with her son, played by Patricia Neal. As Rennie gets to know Neal, her son and her suspicious-of-Rennie boyfriend, played by Hugh Marlowe, there are a variety of responses on both sides - fear, antagonism, kindness, humor and more - which personalizes the alien Rennie to the humans and the humans to the alien.
Away from the "big message" that's coming, it is these small interactions that are the heart of The Day the Earth Stood Still. It's the "you'll learn not to hate someone who is different from you if you really get to know them" lesson, smartly shown not preached. It's Neal's and Rennie's acting talents in these scenes that convincingly carry a story that could easily have slipped into camp.
Rennie, still in hiding and now trying to arrange a meeting with the "scientists of the world," solves some ridiculously complex-looking formula a famous physicist, played by the always wonderful Sam Jaffe, is working on. It further personalizes Rennie, but it also reminds us that the earth is just one small dot in the universe. Plus, it's always fun when the "smart" alien humbles even the most-brilliant human.
The military, portrayed here as nearly thoughtless and hyper aggressive, continues its hunt for Rennie, leading to the movie's climax. (Spoiler alert) Rennie, now back at his ship and protected by the robot, delivers an ultimatum to earth: Don't bring your wars and violence to space or we will destroy your planet.
There's more to Rennie's message: he explains how the aliens have turned the policing of their world over to robots so that they no longer have to worry about violence. It's a lovely thought until you ask the inevitable "who watches (or programs) the watchmen" question.
The Day the Earth Stood Still's powerful message does have an element of condescending simplicity and the movie's special effects look more like a high-school science project. Still, it is an incredible early effort at bringing serious science fiction to the screen that has been copied and riffed on ever since. It should also remind modern movie makers that story, characters and ideas, not wizbang special effects, are what make truly great movies.
N.B. A large spaceship lands in Washington. A giant robot emerges who proceeds to vaporize all the military weapons aimed at it. The impregnable robot then stands, sentry like, outside the also impregnable ship, yet the military assigns just two (two!) lackadaisical soldiers to guard the ship and robot at night. If earth's leaders were really that stupid, the planet would deserve to be vaporized.
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Post by I Love Melvin on Nov 21, 2024 16:41:38 GMT
The Day the Earth Stood Still was entered into the National Film Registry of The Library of Congress in 1995, not bad for such a "little" film. Has anyone seen the Fox remake from 2008? I saw a preview so full of noise and effects that my fondness for the original wouldn't let me even give it a chance.
Sorry to sidetrack, but going back to Inferno (1953), I actually got a chance to see it in 3-D on a local Boston UHF station in the 1980's on a double bill with Gorilla at Large (1954) with Anne Bancroft and Raymond Burr. Before anything like AMC or TCM, regional movie hosts were a big thing and Dana Hersey, the host of The Movie Loft, had the great idea to program a couple of nights of 3-D films for people who wouldn't have an opportunity otherwise. The promo started well in advance so people could send for the glasses and it was a major treat that I still remember. Out of curiosity, I looked on YouTube and somebody posted the intro to Gorilla at Large that same night, so I'll post it just for fun, but please excuse the "comic" nonsense in the middle, which wastes everyone's time.
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Post by jamesjazzguitar on Nov 21, 2024 17:14:10 GMT
There's more to Rennie's message: he explains how the aliens have turned the policing of their world over to robots so that they no longer have to worry about violence. It's a lovely thought until you ask the inevitable "who watches (or programs) the watchmen" question.
***
This POV would be the foundation of many future sci-films: E.g. Terminator and I, Robot, to name just a few.
What could go wrong here?
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