Destry Rides Again

Tue, 6 Jul 2010 21:21:53 -0700

A very young and handsome Jimmy Stewart comes to the aid of a desperate town, earning the affection of it’s most notorious citizen, played by Marlene Dietrich at her most tempestuous.

“Destry Rides Again” has all the makings of a classic Hollywood Western; barroom brawls, dance hall girls, dangerous men, and a hero to save the day. It also has two of the biggest stars ever known to movie-goers around the world. Even though the story may have been strictly by the book, it is the sheer magnetism of Stewart and Dietrich who make Destry the classic it is today.

Stewart had just finished “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” when he began what was to be his first Western. He wasn’t a huge star yet, but he was already extremely popular. His good looks and natural modesty made him the ideal to play a man of honor and principals, and caught the immediate attention of his leading lady who declared at first site, “That’s for me”! And her bravado performance opposite the young up-and-comer certainly reflects her enthusiasm.

Although Dietrich was pushing forty, Stewart’s mutual admiration was also quite apparent, providing legitimate appeal to the aging actress’ big comeback. Dietrich had been a major player in movies, first in silent films in Germany and then later with American films beginning with “The Blue Angel” in 1930. However, by 1939 her star had begun to lose its shine. The success of Destry not only saved her career it cemented her life long personae (regardless of age) as the wanton woman to whom men couldn’t help but be attracted.

In addition to the chemistry of its stars, Destry stands out as an early example of a successful attempt at mixing genres (atypical for its time). Destry adeptly merges comedy, music, and a love story within a Western. The comedy is provided by veteran character actors Charles Winninger as the drunken Sheriff, and Mischa Auer (“You Can’t Take it With You”) and Una Merkel as a battling married couple. Merkel also matches punches with Dietrich in what can only be described as one of the funniest, roughest and realistic barroom brawls ever caught on film. The actress were reportedly told to go at with all their might and they did, ending up with a priceless scene and a trip to the hospital for Merkel who suffered exhaustion as a result.

As impressive as everyone is, Dietrich really is the show stealer here. Particularly when she performs her iconic rendition of “The Boys in the Back Room”. She is every bit as alluring as she ever was or would be as she jostles about the rugged men of the west belting out tunes in a teutonic warble (a style latter spoofed by Madeline Kahn in “Blazing Saddles”). Dietrich proves (just as Stewart would down the line) that star power is ageless. Just about as ageless as a classic film like “Destry Rides Again”. When you’ve got it, you’ve got, no matter how old you are.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Mon, 24 May 2010 02:50:25 -0700

In 1939 the most highly regarded actor in the world was a round little English man renown for his gift of eloquence. “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” demonstrates just how good Charles Laughton could be, even without his distinctive use of words to aid him.

Some dismissed “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” as a mere monster movie when it first appeared in theaters, but others were far more perceptive in praising the many qualities of this exceptional film. Besides being based on a classic Victor Hugo novel the film was crafted by some of the most respected talents Hollywood has ever seen. In addition to Laughton, the cast includes a radiant Maureen O’Hara in what was only her second starring role.

Laughton had worked with O’Hara in her first film, “Jamaica Inn”, and was so impressed with the teenager’s ability to evoke gentile innocence with such true conviction that Laughton insisted the Irish actress be cast as his Esmeralda. A very wise move, since it is through Esmeralda’s eyes that the audience comes to understand and sympathize with the hunchback, Quasimodo. Before the gypsie girl appears, the bell ringer is a grotesque figure known to do the biding of Frolo, the man who discovered him as a foundling. But after he meets the great beauty, who in an act of heart wrenching kindness brings him water despite personal threat from the superstitious public and bigoted officials, Quasimodo becomes a force to be dealt with. He becomes a protector and a warrior, all for the friendship of a fair maiden.

Unfortunately, that same maiden has stirred the lust and longing in Frolo, a member of the high court played to great effectiveness by Sir Cedric Hardwicke. Frolo is a cold and superior man who has until now prided himself on being able to reject the baser instincts of nature. However, it is this fateful meeting with the lovely enchantress that seals both their fates, as her honest refusal torments him to evil extremes. Hardwicke, with his minimal inflections and measured delivery of speech is extremely creepy and foreboding as he projects the attitude of a monster far more repellant than any hunchback. The cast is further enhanced by the talents of the ever likable Harry Davenport as Louis XI, an unrecognizable young Edmond O’Brien as the idealistic sweetheart, and the versatile Thomas Mitchell as Clopin, the amoral, but just King of the beggars. And of course, there is the character of the city itself.

Director William Dieterle, perhaps better known for his stunningly colorful, “Duel in the Sun” works in Black and White here to create a visceral depiction of medieval Parisian squalor. Although the film was shot entirely on the backlots of Los Angeles, Dieterle uses the alternating layers of shadow and light to elicit a feeling of desperate grime and harsh living conditions, especially for the marginalized of society living amongst the darker hues. No other studio generated film has ever captured the feel of a time and a place so convincingly.

And Dieterle’s work with the actors is just as nuanced and satisfying as each character’s relationship is allowed to blossom, and each actor is given their moment to shine, without overshadowing the whole. The exception, of course, is Laughton. With such a magnetic performance it’s shocking he was not nominated for an Academy Award. Laughton had received an Oscar five years earlier for “The Private Life of Henry VIII”, and it was the same year of “Gone with the Wind”, so perhaps many had hoped to pave the way for Gable (who did not win). Or perhaps the Academy simply undervalued the strength of his performance due to his lack of dialogue. No matter the reason the portrayal remains for generations to view, and undoubtedly many will make a choice of their own for best performance by an actor of 1939.

The Four Feathers

Fri, 7 May 2010 22:43:03 -0700

A glorious Technicolor example of one of the period’s great adventure epics from a member of one of England’s most creative filmmaking families, Zoltan Korda. This 1939 version of the classic English tale was to the UK what “Gone with the Wind” was to the US. The majestic and beautifully shot cinematic masterpiece represents all that was good and right about the glory of the British Empire, and yet, at the same time, manages to show the injustices of war.

When a British army officer’s father dies, he decides to resign his commission, which he had taken only to please his father. Unfortunately, it is on the eve of his unit's embarkation for a mission against Egyptian rebels, and he soon receives three white feathers from his fellow officers. The feathers represent a vote of cowardice and he takes his fiancée's rebuke to be a fourth feather. Alone in the world, he sets off for Egypt and the Sudan to prove his bravery by secretly aiding his former comrades while disguised as a mute Arab. He then manages to rescue all three of his accusers and returns to England to reclaim his fiancée's love and admiration.

I cannot overstate the beauty of this gorgeous film. Cinematographers Osmond Borradaile and Georges Perinal were nominated for an Oscar for their work here, and rightly so (Perinal would go on to receive the statue the following year for another Korda film, “The Thief of Bagdad”). The post battle scene where injured officer Ralph Richardson (“The Heiress”) wanders about the sweltering desert is stunningly memorable - you can practically feel the sweat dripping from his forehead. And the interior scenes are just as carefully constructed, with every bit of pomp and majesty popping off the screen as well-dressed ladies parade about with their uniformed escorts.

Along with the remarkable Richardson (one of my all time favorite british actors), the cast is quiet good, particularly the little known John Clements as the demoralized Faversham. Clements gives a fine performance as the young man with unpopular ideas of how best to serve God and country and is surprisingly convincing when disguised as a native, unrecognizable to even his closest friends. But the real standout for me is Richardson as the blinded soldier who returns home to find what he thinks is love from his friend’s ex-fiance. The moment he finds out the truth (that she only feels sorry for him) is one that simultaneously breaks your heart and fills it with pride for a man who knows where he stands and what he must do. I get teary-eyed just thinking about it.

Once you have seen this film from Zoltan you should check out the other fine films he and brother Alexander made throughout the golden age of cinema. The list may surprise you (“The Private Life of Henry VIII”, “Jungle Book”, etc.), but after seeing “The Four Feathers”, you will come to expect the quality.

Only Angels Have Wings

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 21:37:05 -0700

Howard Hawks had a remarkably rich career, and “Only Angels Have Wings” is just one of the many exceptional films from this some what over-looked, but much admired director.

Like most directors from the Golden Age of Hollywood, Hawks worked in many genres. But unlike other directors his films frequently became the seminal example of excellence within a given genre, strongly influencing the work of later directors and forming the basic structure by which subsequent films would adhere. Case in point: “Bringing Up Baby” is the screwball comedy by which all others are compared, and Hawks directed it. Hawks had an equal impact on Gangster films with the 1932 version of “Scarface”, and directed such landmark fare as “His Girl Friday”, “To Have and Have Not” and “The Big Sleep”. Although his films are virtually as well known as those of Alfred Hitchcock, Hawks has only a fraction of the public recognition because his work did not stick to one particular style, but ran the gamete from the archetypal Western “Red River” with John Wayne to the splashy Marilyn Monroe musical “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” (I don’t think any two films by the same director could be more different).

Even though Hawks had made the particularly exceptional flyer film, “The Dawn Patrol” several years earlier, it was “Only Angels Have Wings” that really placed him on the map in Hollywood and started him on the path of a wildly successful career. With the some what silly, plot of a sassy American woman held over in an exotic seaport where she falls for a hard boiled ex-patriot living by his own rules, Hawks was able to raise the quality of the film with the help of the extremely popular Jean Arthur and raising star, Cary Grant. The adverse, even combative chemistry between these two stars created a model for male/female relations in films that would be repeated by Hawks himself and mimicked by the rest of the film industry for years to come (in fact, Hawks is responsible for the pairing of the most iconic couple in film history: Bogie & Bacall).

But like every Hawks film there are a lot of relationships happening on screen with much more going on than what meets the eye. Simple male camaraderie is actually a complicated brotherhood, complete with a code of conduct that must be obeyed regardless of the circumstances, and emotional feelings between men are never to be displayed. Leading ladies are lovely, but hard as nails until they run into the one man who warms their cold heart. The hero’s best pal becomes a kind of father/confessor to the love interest, helping her to accept the leading man for what he is, a damaged package unable to change his ways, only capable of loving, or being loved on his terms.

Again, it sounds like a lot of cliches on the surface, but in the hands of a skilled laborer such as Hawks, the typical becomes unique, and the average, special, even timeless. At least enough to become the hallmark of exceptional filmmaking for years to come.

(click on names & titles for IMDB.com listings)

Golden Boy

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:32:10 -0800

Credited for making William Holden a star, Golden Boy is the finest example of the “boxing film” from an era when theaters were besieged with the B film genre.

It sounds kind of funny at first to even refer to an old time boxing film as a classic, but not so much when you stop to consider the more recent cinematic successes of Rocky and Raging Bull. Today, one would have to think twice before taking on the subject for fear of being compared to these two highly acclaimed films. However, back in the day, when the studio system was really in its prime, boxing films were a dime a dozen and a recognized genre of their own with very formulaic plots. Nearly every contract player put on the gloves to varying degrees of success, including Wallace Beery in The Champ, James Cagney in Winner Take All and City for Conquest, and even Errol Flynn in Gentleman Jim. It wasn’t until the hugely popular Broadway play, Golden Boy, by Clifford Odets, was adapted to the screen that the sub genre was raised to the level of legitimate drama.

Directed by Rouben Mamoulian (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Laura), Barbara Stanwyk leads a cast of exceptional supporting actors, including aged silent star Adolphe Menjou, character actor Joseph Calleia, and noted “Method” actor Lee J. Cobb, who reprised his role of Golden Boy’s father from the original stage play. Everyone here gives a top-notch performance in what could have easily diminished into brooding schlock, but Cobb’s performance is particularly notable, considering he was only a few years older than Holden, who played his son. Cobb presents a powerfully realistic portrayal of a father lamenting his son’s choice to give up a career as a promising young violinist in order to become a prizefighter. Although Cobb delivers a few moments of high hysteria, the moments are honest, appropriate and downright touching in one of the earliest examples of “Method” acting on film.

Having had just two feature films to his credit, Holden fought for the title role, training nonstop in acting, boxing and violin playing, thus acquiring the same nickname as the character he portrayed, Golden Boy. He eventually suffered from exhaustion and would have been replaced had it not been for the efforts of Stanwyck, who insisted that the film not be allowed to continue without him. Obviously, the talent surrounding the inexperienced actor served to raise his own abilities to their peak. After a week’s rest, Holden resumed work and delivered a sensitive, wild, and passionate portrayal that reveals a glimpse of the powerful performer he would later become in Sunset Blvd., The Bridge on the River Kwai, and Stalag 17, for which he received the Oscar for Best Actor and fulfilled the promise of his moniker as the Golden Boy of acting.

(click on names for IMDB.com listings)