Movie Musicals

 

With the coming of sound, Americans came to love musicals. In 1929. only the second year for Academy Awards, MGM's Broadway Melody won the award for Best picture. Below are brief reviews of two early movie musicals that feature spectacular dancing. Use the links to see for yourself.                                  

 

Swing Time. 

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers are universally regarded as the greatest dance team of all time. Starting with their first appearance in Flying Down to Rio where they danced the Carioca, they appeared in a series of films whose dance numbers have never been equaled. No one else danced together as a team as they did. My personal favorite is Roberta, but Swing Time, which opened in 1936, is generally regarded as their best film.

It includes two great songs by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields, the Academy Award winning, “The Way You Look Tonight,” and “A Fine Romance,” as well as four of their greatest dance numbers: “Pick Yourself Up,” the most popular of all their dances; the effervescent “Waltz in Swing Time;” the dramatic finale “Never Gonna Dance;” and the solo “Bojangles of Harlem,” Astaire’s spectacular homage to the great black dancer Bill Robinson.

Speaking of homage, Ginger Rogers never gets enough credit for her performances opposite Astaire. She is said to have quipped that she did every step that he did, but backwards and in heels. To my mind she was much more than a beautiful singer and dancer. One only has to look at her facial expressions and posture while she dances to see that she was a great actress as well. In her book on the Astaire Rogers films, Arlene Croce paid homage to Ginger.

“It’s easy to underrate Rogers’ dancing because she never appeared to be working hard, and because, with a bold nonchalance that irritates women more than men, she sometimes threw away stuff she never had. But Rogers danced with love, with pride in the beauty of an illusion—and with one of the most elegant dancer’s bodies imaginable. She avoided any suggestion of toil or inadequacy. She was just physically incapable of ugliness.”

A few years ago, the complete set of Astaire/Rogers films was made available on DVD. Even though streaming has largely replaced DVDs today, the DVD versions often include commentaries and other features. John Mueller’s commentary for Swing Time is one of the best I have ever heard. 103 minutes.

 

Broadway Melody of 1940.

The first Broadway Melody film appeared in 1929 and won an Academy Award for Best Picture. Six years later, MGM produced Broadway Melody of 1936 that made a star of newcomer Eleanor Powell, who would become famous for her extraordinary dancing. She became known as the Queen of Tap, but she was able to do anything from tap to ballet. The success of the film led MGM to follow with Broadway Melody of 1938, and Broadway Melody of 1940.

Despite weak story lines the series is worth watching today not only for Powell’s dancing but also because MGM used these films to spotlight up and coming talent. For example, in Broadway Melody of 1938, a young Judy Garland has a small role but does get the spotlight on her for an unforgettable rendition of “You Made Me Love You,” sung to a photograph of Clark Gable. But only in Broadway Melody of 1940 did Eleanor Powell find a partner to dance with. In this film the Queen of Tap is paired with Fred Astaire who had recently ended his long career with Ginger Rogers. Famed ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov once said, “Fred Astaire is dancing, and the rest of us are doing something else.” 

And so, in Broadway Melody of 1940, despite a weak script and the inevitable comic interludes that including a fantastic female juggler, the "Begin the Beguine" finale of this film is perhaps the greatest dance number ever filmed. MGM created a huge set for this number with countless light bulbs sparkling in the dark background, and a dance floor of glass that would mirror every step.

The first half of the finale is a Latin dance introduced by a female singer intoning Cole Porter’s famous words, but soon the camera pans to a chorus of beautiful girls in lovely white gowns dancing to the Latin music. Then, almost as if she was Venus rising from the sea, Eleanor Powell appears, also in a flowing white gown, and takes over in a solo featuring her incredible back bends and high kicks. Finally, she is joined by Astaire who first appears as a mirror image in a bolero outfit. They complete the dance beautifully and twirl off stage, but there is more to come.

Now, a female quartet appears singing Begin the Beguine in an upbeat swing rhythm. They finish and move off camera as Powell and Astaire, now dressed in contemporary outfits, come tapping into view and launch into a sprightly, up-tempo number where they almost seem to be competing to outdo each other. The King and Queen of Tap match each other step for step in a dance number that has never been equaled.  Heaven, sheer Heaven.

For those who do not want to watch the whole film, the Begin the Beguine number can be watched in two parts on YouTube, but I still prefer the DVD in order to view it in its entirety. The film includes other fine Powell/Astaire numbers including “I’ve Got My Eyes on You,” “I Concentrate on You”, and “Jukebox Dance” which Powell regarded as her personal favorite.102 minutes. CC

 

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Memorial Day 2023

Today in the United States of America we celebrated Memorial Day, a day devoted to honor and remember America’s veterans, especially those who gave their lives in the call of duty. It is a kind of paradox that while we consider ourselves a peace-loving people, we have been at war practically throughout our history.

From 1775 we fought the Revolutionary war to secure independence from Great Britain. After that, Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the new Republic, thought that America would never go to war again because the Atlantic ocean would be a barrier to aggressors. For this reason he dismantled the American armed forces while the Napoleonic wars were ravaging Europe. He also believed that the value of the trade and commerce of the United States would be a more potent weapon than ships and guns.

Since then, however, practically every generation of Americans has seen war. From 1812-1815 we fought the War of 1812. From 1846 to 1848 we fought the Mexican war after the annexation of Texas.  From 1861 to 1865 we were engaged in our Civil War, the bloodiest in history until that time.  Memorial Day traces its origins to that conflict. In 1898 we fought the Spanish-American war against the tottering Spanish empire. 

In 1917 the United States became involved at the tail end of the European conflict that will always be remembered as the First World War. WWI  was supposed to be the War that ended all wars but only a generation later America became involved in the Second World War after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. That terrible conflict ended in 1945 with the unconditional surrender of both Germany and Japan.

Since then American forces have fought in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Today, our military commitments are stretched all over the globe. 

I have never served in the military. I was born in 1939 only two years before American entered World War II. I was too young to be drafted into service in 1950 when the Korean War broke out. During the Vietnam era I was deferred from service because of my student, teacher, and marital status. Luck kept me out of war but I must confess that I never had any desire to serve in the military. 

Nevertheless, I always have had a great admiration for those who entered harm’s way. I admit that I was and am an avid armchair soldier. Even as a child my interest in history spilled over into military history. I remember reading daily accounts of the events in Korea as American troops were steadily pushed back by overwhelming numbers, and then rejoicing when General Macarthur’s daring land and sea flanking maneuver turned the tide.

Since that time I have enjoyed reading military history and historical novels. The best historical writing will try to avoid the excesses of propaganda and present the good, the bad, and the ugly on both sides of any conflict. Good war films should also have this quality. I must confess that in my 80s I find it difficult to watch most war films especially when they glamorize, or romanticize. Here is a list of personal favorites that portray ordinary soldiers in extraordinary times.

Audie Murphy in Red Badge of Courage

The Red Badge of Courage. John Huston’s adaptation of Stephen Crane’s classic Civil War novel of the same name stars the baby-faced Audie Murphy who was incidentally the most decorated American soldier of WW II. The real stars, however, are the many other actors who so realistically portray ordinary soldiers.

Clark Gable with flight crew

Command Decision. Clark Gable and Walter Pidgeon starred in this gripping WW II drama of high-level decision-making in the light of terrible losses of B17 flight crews on missions over Germany. The film was made after the War and was based on a Broadway play.  As a result, the dialogue is superb.

Gregory Peck

Twelve O‘ Clock High. This film starred Gregory Peck as an Air Force general faced with the difficult task of reviving a demoralized bomber command that was reeling from unacceptable losses. Dean Jagger won an Oscar for best supporting actor. I recall that this film was used later by corporate sales organizations for its lessons on how to get the most out of your people.

Harold Russell, Dana Andrews, Frederic March

The Best Years of Our Lives. Dana Andrews and Frederic March starred in this 1946 film about veterans returning from WW II. Their performances were matched by Myrna Loy, Teresa Wright, and Kathy O'Donnell as the women who stayed behind and held the fort. The film also featured Harold Russell, a young sailor who lost both his hands in action.

A Foreign Field. This little known British film about veterans returning to Normandy on the fiftieth anniversary of D-Day begins as a somewhat light comedy but then becomes serious, very serious, and then deeply moving. It features a handful of movie greats at the end of their careers. Alec Guinness, Leo Mc Kern, Lauren Bacall, Jeanne Moreau, and Geraldine Chaplin all give magnificent performances. 

Gettysburg. This 1993 254 minute epic film brilliantly recreates the famous battle that was the turning point of the Civil War. It was based on Michael Shaara's book, The Killer Angels. and stars Jeff Daniels as Colonel Joshua Chamberlain and Martin Sheen as Gen. Robert E. Lee. The film is sympathetic and fair to those who fought and died on both sides. We call it the Civil War but every war is a civil war.

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Best Films of 2022

Lists of the year's top films often appear at this time of the year. Since I am too old to understand or follow today's films with their special effects and constant cutting, I present my own list of outstanding films that I have watched from my DVD collection this year. I prefer DVDs because they often come with commentaries and other special features, In addition, they are usually closed captioned for the hearing impaired. 

            

Brief Encounter: This 1945 British film is widely regarded as one of the best films of all time. It is the story of an affair between a suburban English housewife, and a married doctor who meet accidentally at a railway terminal. Playwright Noel Coward adapted his own play for the screen, and David Lean directed. The film stars Celia Johnson, one of the UK’s greatest actresses, along with Trevor Howard.  

    Enchanted April: Stifled British wives Lottie (Josie Lawrence) and Rose       (MirandaRichardson) rent an Italian villa for a husbandless vacation. Sharing the retreat are acerbic widow Mrs. Fisher (Oscar nominee Joan Plowright) and socialite Caroline d’Este (Polly Walker). The four spend a month savoring newfound freedom and the opportunity for self-discovery. This film also features Michael Kitchen, Alfred Molina, and Jim Broadbent at the outset of their notable film careers.    

The Queen: Famed British actress Helen Mirren stars in this 2006 dramatization of the events following upon the death of Princess Diana in 1997. Mirren claimed that she had to consider herself as painting a portrait of Queen Elizabeth in order to take on such a difficult role.  Her portrayal won a well-deserved Academy award for Best Actress. 

A Foreign Field: This British film features an acclaimed international cast including Alec Guinness, Leo McKern, Jeanne Moreau, Loren Bacall, John Randolph, and Geraldine Chaplin. Two British war vets meet an American vet when all three return to Normandy on the 50th anniversary of D-Day. Old rivalries resurface, particularly when two of the men discover they are searching for the same lost love. This disparate band of survivors eventually finds common ground in the memory of what they lost on that fateful day in 1944. 

Mid-August Lunch:  Gianni Di Gregorio stars in and directs this 2008 charming tale from Italy of great food, feisty old ladies, and unlikely friendships. The setting is a largely deserted Rome on the national holiday, Ferragosto, during the dog days of summer when most Romans have fled the city’s heat for the mountains or the shore. Four elderly ladies have to spend the holiday together sharing a sweltering apartment.

The Way. Martin Sheen stars in  a powerful and inspirational 2010 film about family, friends, and the challenges we face while navigating through life. Sheen plays an American doctor who travels to France after receiving the news of the death of his estranged son. Rather than return home, he decides to embark on the historical pilgrimage, “the Way of St. James”, to honor his son’s desire to finish the journey.  Directed by Emilio Estevez, Sheen’s real life son.

Twilight Samurai:  This 2002 film, set in a changing Japan of the late nineteenth century, takes a modern look at the traditional Samurai story. Hiroyuki Sanada, one of Japan’s leading film stars, plays a low ranking, poverty stricken samurai trying to support his family. However, he is caught in the shifting turmoil of the times and ordered to confront and kill a renegade warrior. The film won twelve Japanese Film Academy Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress. 

The Son’s Room: In this 2001 Italian film Nanni Moretti plays a psychotherapist who thinks he has all the answers until an unthinkable tragedy hits home and turns his life upside down. Moretti also directed this film that won great critical acclaim as well as the Best Picture award at the Cannes Film Festival. 

The Holly and the Ivy: Celia Johnson, Ralph Richardson, and Margaret Leighton star in this 1952 British holiday film. A widowed minister is torn between the needs of his family and his parishioners. The annual Christmas reunion of the minister’s family exposes long simmering family tensions until they all rediscover the true meaning of Christmas.

 

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Garbo to Astaire: Films of the Thirties

  

This is the time of the year when various top ten film lists appear. Coincidentally, there was an article in the paper today claiming that most older people do not go to the movies anymore. Blame was placed on the pandemic but most senior citizens, like myself, cannot watch or even follow today's movies with rapid cutting and computer special effects. So, here is a list of films that I have watched this year from the 1930s that have more than withstood the test of time. They not only bring me back to the world of my parents and grandparents, but I think my  own children and grandchildren would enjoy them as much as I still do.

Greta Garbo

Grand Hotel: This 1932 film stars the legendary Greta Garbo in her greatest role. The silent screen actress from Sweden did not miss a beat with the coming of sound. In a world reeling from the Great Depression, she plays a famous Russian ballerina who just wants to be alone. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer put together a huge production set in a posh Berlin hotel with spectacular photography, and an all-star cast that included John and Lionel Barrymore, Wallace Beery, and a young Joan Crawford. It was a huge box office success and won the Academy Award for best picture.

It Happened One Night: Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert starred in this 1934 romantic “road” comedy about two strangers from completely different worlds who meet on a bus traveling from Florida to New York.  Neither star wanted to be in this film, but under the guidance of director Frank Capra, they both turned in the most memorable performances of their careers. The film is filled with iconic scenes: bus passengers giving a rousing rendition of “the Man on the Flying Trapeze;” Colbert adjusting her stocking to hitch a ride; and Gable undressing in a motel cabin with only a blanket hung on a rope separating the two strangers. This sleeper film swept all the Academy Awards for 1934. 

Dodsworth. Director William Wyler brought Sinclair Lewis’ best-selling 1929 novel to the screen in 1936. Walter Huston, in what some consider to be his finest performance, plays a wealthy industrialist who sells his business and sets off with his wife of 20 years to discover Europe, and re-discover themselves. Co-star Ruth Chatterton gives a powerful performance as a wife seeking more than wealth, and Mary Astor gives one of her usual fine performances. Selected as one of the most important films of all time by the Library of Congress, Dodsworth surpasses the book on which it is based. 

                                    

Pygmalion. George Bernard Shaw wrote the screenplay adaptation of his own stage masterpiece about linguistics professor Henry Higgins’s wager to turn a low-class flower vendor into a “lady”. This 1938 film starred Leslie Howard, at the height of his career, before his untimely death in WWII, and Wendy Hiller, who would go on to become one of Great Britain’s greatest actresses. The film was later adapted into the famed musical, “My Fair Lady.”

The Petrified Forest. Leslie Howard stars in this 1936 adaptation of Robert Sherwood’s hit play. Bette Davis co-stars and demonstrates all the qualities that would make her a huge star. Also, Humphrey Bogart has a break-out role as Duke Mantee, a killer on the lam, who holds hostages in a bleak diner on the edge of the Arizona desert. Unfortunately, Bogart’s success led him to be typecast as a gangster for the next few years until he emerged as a leading man in 1941  with unforgettable films like the Maltese Falcon, and Casablanca.

Our Town: Thornton Wilder’s play about ordinary people and ordinary life in a small New England town at the beginning of the twentieth century, was an immediate success when it first appeared on stage in 1938. It won a Pulitzer prize and has become an enduring favorite. It was turned into a fine film in 1940 but poor DVD copies make it hard to watch today. For modern viewers I suggest a filming of a stage version originally performed in 2003 at the Westport Country Playhouse, and subsequently aired on PBS. This version stars Paul Newman as the stage manager.  Newman, a Westport resident, was at the end of his career, but was coaxed to return to the stage after a long absence. His performance, supported by a cast of relative unknowns, matches anything he did in his illustrious career.

Sons of the Desert: Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are regarded as the greatest comedy team in film history. They began during the silent era with some of its greatest comedy shorts, and became huge stars in the Thirties where, in addition to shorts, they appeared in a number of full-length classics. The best of these is the 1933 film, Sons of the Desert.  The boys  vow to attend the annual convention of their fraternal order, the Sons of the Desert, but they are opposed by their dominating wives , one carrying a shotgun over her arm on her return from duck hunting, and the other, played by Mae Busch, brandishing a large kitchen knife like an accomplished fencer.  One gag follows another in this classic comedy that includes a charming rendition of the song, “Honolulu Baby.”

 

Swing Time: Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers are universally regarded as the greatest dance team of all time. Starting with their first appearance in Flying Down to Rio where they danced the Carioca, they appeared in a series of films whose dance numbers  have never been equaled. No one else danced together as a team as they did. My personal favorite is Roberta, but Swing Time is generally regarded as their greatest film. It includes “Pick Yourself Up,” the most popular of all their numbers; the effervescent “Waltz in Swing Time;” the dramatic finale “Never Gonna Dance;” and the solo “Bojangles of Harlem,” Astaire’s spectacular homage to the great black dancer Bill Robinson. (click on the link, or view the brief video below. "Sheer Heaven."

Bonus pick. Woody Allen’s Radio Days is set in 1940 on the eve of the Second World War. It brings to life the world of the thirties as few films have done. The world is seen through the eyes of a young boy, obviously Allen, growing up in a Jewish neighborhood in Queens. The cast of characters  is excellent, and the soundtrack is filled with the music of the day. This film is a perfect way to usher in the New Year.

Happy New Year!!!

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Gene Tierney: American Beauty

Gene Tierney was one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful, actresses of Hollywood’s Golden Age. In the 1940s her great beauty launched her into stardom but she managed to become a fine actress as well. Unfortunately, behind the glamour was a bad marriage, a daughter born severely retarded due to exposure to German measles, and mental illness that ultimately brought an end to her career and almost to her life. 

 Here are the opening lines of her autobiography, appropriately titled, Self Portrait.

“It is a terrible thing to feel no fear, no alarm, when you are standing on a window ledge fourteen stories above the street. I felt tired, lost, and numb—but unafraid.

I wasn’t at all certain I wanted to take my own life, I cat-walked a few steps away from the open window and steadied myself, to think about it. The fact that I could no longer make decisions was why I had gone to the ledge in the first place. What to wear, when to get out of bed, which can of soup to buy, how to go on living, the most automatic task confused and depressed me.

I felt everything but fear. The fear comes to me now, twenty years later, knowing that at any moment I might have lost my balance. Then the decision would not have been mine. On that day, if I jumped or fell, either way would have been all right. There is a point where the brain is so deadened, the spirit so weary, you don’t want any more of what life is dishing out. I thought I was there.”

         

Tierney had been born in Brooklyn in 1920 but was largely raised in suburban Fairfield, Connecticut. Her parents were well off and even sent her to an exclusive finishing school in Switzerland during her high school years. At eighteen her family made a trip to Hollywood, where on a studio tour an executive, struck by her incredible beauty, asked her to take a screen test. A year later, after acting lessons back home and a small part in a Broadway play, she was back in Hollywood under contract to a major studio.

At first the studio did not know what to do with her. There was something exotic about her good looks and she was cast in a number of roles that had little to do with the person she was.

In 1942, for example,  she was cast as a charming South Sea  island girl in Son of Fury, an action adventure starring matinee idol Tyrone Power. In this film she hardly speaks of word of English, but her breathtaking beauty and innocence makes an indelible impression. 

Here is a list of what I consider to be her best films.

 

Laura: In 1944 Tierney became a full-fledged star playing the title role in this murder mystery that is now generally regarded as one of the greatest films of Hollywood’s Golden Age. 

Otto Preminger’s  direction of Laura received an Academy award nomination, and cameraman Joseph LaShelle won the Academy Award for best black and white cinematography. 

The cast was superb. Dana Andrews, playing a police detective, turned in his usual solid performance. In his screen debut Clifton Webb played a sophisticated, acerbic, and influential newspaper columnist, and received an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor.

Nevertheless, Gene Tierney stands out in Laura. From the opening credits even her portrait on the wall of her beautifully designed apartment dominates the film. But it is not just her looks. She plays a sophisticated urbanite whose  deportment and manner make everyone in the film, even her maid, fall in love with her. Her costumes, designed by famed Bonnie Cashin, are a lesson in how clothes define and make the man, or woman in this case.

 

It is hard to imagine that a whole generation has not seen this film. But the directing, the photography, the sets, the writing, the great cast, and the haunting song and score that permeates the film make it a true classic. It can be watched over and over again like any great work of art.

Leave Her to Heaven: Tierney’s performance in Laura led to a starring role in Leave Her to Heaven, a 1945 Technicolor drama that almost exulted in her good looks as well as the looks of co-stars Cornell Wilde and Jeanne Crain. 

Nevertheless, it is a dark film. Once again, Tierney gets to play a beautiful, accomplished young woman but this time jealousy and suspicion, that today we would call mental illness, lead to the break-up of her marriage and terrible tragedy.

In one unforgettable and terrible scene, her beauty only accentuates the horror of what is going on while she sits placidly in a rowboat while a young boy drowns nearby. Her performance in Leave Her to Heaven, gained an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

 

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir: In 1947 she starred along with Rex Harrison in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. Tierney played an independent young widow with a young daughter who moves into a seaside cottage reputed to be haunted by the ghost of a deceased English sea captain. It is a charming story beautifully told and acted by the principals with a wonderful musical score by Bernard Herrmann.

Whirlpool : In this 1950 suspense drama, Tierney played a sophisticated suburban housewife who turns to a devious hypnotist for help in dealing with a secret mental illness. Her husband, played by Richard Conte, is a psychiatrist who is totally unaware of his wife’s sickness. Perhaps in this film she came closest to portraying her real self and her impending mental illness.

Where the Sidewalk Ends:  This little-known film is now recognized as a quintessential film noir classic. It is like a Laura reunion. Tierney is reunited with Laura co-star Dana Andrews, director Otto Preminger, and cinematographer Joseph LaShelle.The film is another psychological crime drama but centers around Dana Andrews who plays a rogue cop. Tierney, still beautiful, played what amounts to a supporting role. 

Her career would continue through the next decade but mental illness although it could not mar her beauty, limited her ability to work and she never regained her previous success or stature.

 In her autobiography, she tells the whole story not only of her screen career but also of her battle with the illness that brought her to the edge of death on that fourteenth story window ledge. Fortunately, her story had a happy ending.

 

 

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Great Literature on Film

Joan Fontaine as Jane Eyre

Over the past two years I have watched some really good films based on classic novels. I know that calling a film or book a classic is the proverbial “kiss of death”, and will often dissuade people from watching or reading. For many, “classic” means old, old fashioned, out of date, and irrelevant.

Nevertheless, a good film adaptation can make a great book spring to life on the screen, and become a classic in itself. For example, a good actor or actress needs only a facial expression or a glance to convey what it takes a novelist pages to describe. A good film director can convey in one scene what the novelist took a whole chapter to describe. 

Moreover, in viewing the films below it becomes apparent how important the casting director is in putting a film together. Everyone knows the story of how Humphrey Bogart was not the first choice for the lead in Casablanca, and that even Ronald Reagan was considered for the part. Is it possible to imagine anyone else in the role today?

Below are eight highly recommended film adaptations.

Moby Dick. Herman Melville’s masterpiece of Captain Ahab’s doomed pursuit of the great white whale was brought to the screen in a 1956 color production by director John Huston. The film stars Gregory Peck as Ahab, Richard Basehart as Ishmael, Orson Welles in a cameo as a fiery preacher, and a great supporting cast. I saw this film when it first came out and can still vividly remember characters like Starbuck from whom the coffee chain derived its name, and the magnificent cannibal chief and harpooner Queequeg. In addition to the incredible finale, who could ever forget Ahab’s nailing of the gold piece to the mast?

The Red Badge of Courage. Stephen Crane’s realistic portrayal of ordinary soldiers before and during a single battle was originally published in 1895. It has become the model for all subsequent novels about warfare. It was brought to the screen in 1951 by director John Huston, who had a great interest in American history. True to the novel, the film sees the Civil War through the minds and eyes of the ordinary men who fought. Audie Murphy, the most decorated hero of WW II, stars along with a fine supporting cast. The final charge, capped as it is by conversation between victorious soldiers and their defeated captives, is extremely moving. 

The Magnificent Ambersons. Booth Tarkington’s Pulitzer Prize novel of a prominent Midwestern family at the dawn of the twentieth century was brought to the screen by Orson Welles in 1942. Completed a year after his groundbreaking film, Citizen Kane, this film shows Welles at peak directorial form with dazzling cinematography and splendid performances by a great cast that includes Joseph Cotton, Anne Baxter, and Tim Holt.

Dodsworth. Sinclair Lewis’ best-selling 1929 novel was brought to the screen by director William Wyler in 1936. Walter Huston, in what some consider to be his finest performance, plays a wealthy industrialist who sells his business and sets off with his wife of 20 years to discover Europe, and re-discover themselves. Ruth Chatterton and Mary Astor co-star. “Selected as one of the most important films of all time by the Library of Congress.”  

Persuasion. This 1995 film adaptation of Jane Austen’s final novel, is as close to the spirit of the great author as it is possible to get. Cieran Hinds and Amanda Root star as the separated lovers in this BBC presentation shot in beautiful color. 104m.

 Jane Eyre. Charlotte Bronte’s revolutionary 1847 novel received the full Hollywood treatment in a 1943 film adaptation by Twentieth Century Fox that starred Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine. There have been over 20 film adaptations of this novel but this ranks with the best. 97m. 

Great Expectations. David Lean directed this 1946 film that is generally regarded as the best adaptation of any novel by Charles Dickens. The spectacular cinematography, as well as the set design won Academy Awards.The film stars John Mills and Valerie Hobson. 118m.

 Crime and Punishment. Peter Lorre and Edward Arnold star in this 1935 version of Feodor Dostoyevsky’s great novel. Directed by Josef von Sternberg, the film exemplifies a trend in Hollywood of the 1930s towards elevating feature film credentials by adapting classical literature. 88m.

Peter Lorre

Some people look down their noses at film adaptations but watching these films has led me to re-read these novels that I had read long ago in my high school and college years. I have found that these authors were great story tellers and that their writing is still alive despite the passage of years. In the  films mentioned above the filmmakers produced works of art that stand alone no matter how faithful they may or may not be to the original novel. 

It takes one author to write a great novel. If you watch the credits roll on these films, you will see that it takes many craftsmen and women working together to create a work of film art.

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Top Film List 2018

Lists of top films will often appear in newspapers and online at this time of the year. My wife and I are avid film fans but rarely go to the movies anymore. We prefer to stay home and watch DVDs from Netflix or my own collection. I prefer to use a DVD rather than scanning because the DVD often comes with commentary and special features that can be interesting. Below find a list of films that we have enjoyed in the past year. I begin with eight foreign films.

Marcello Mastroianni, Divorce Italian style

Divorce Italian Style: Director Pietro Germi’s hilarious and cutting 1962 satire of Sicilian mores and culture is one of the great Italian comedies. Marcello Mastroianni plays a Sicilian aristocrat who longs to marry his nubile young cousin Angela. One obstacle stands in his way: his fatuous and fawning wife. His solution? Since divorce is illegal, he hatches a plot to lure his spouse into the arms of another and then murder her in a justifiable effort to save his honor. 

Italian for Beginners: A warm and playful story from Denmark about six perfect strangers and the shared journey of discovery that changes each of their lives. In a small Danish city, a mismatched collection of opposites have signed up for an Italian class in hope of spicing up their lives. The film was shot in “cinema verite” style without any special effects or overbearing sound track. 2002.

Arranged: An American film from 2007 about the clash of seemingly foreign cultures in contemporary Brooklyn. “Arranged” centers on two young women-- one an Orthodox Jew, the other a devout Muslim-- who learn that they share much in common, especially since both their families are arranging marriages for them.

Rabbit Proof Fence: A powerful true story of hope and determination from Australia. At a time when it was Australian government policy to train aboriginal girls as domestic workers, young Molly Craig leads her little sister and cousin in an escape from an internment camp. To get home they must travel on foot along the 1500 mile rabbit-proof fence that bisects the continent.

The Band‘s Visit: In this charming 2007 film from Israel, an Egyptian police band arrives in Israel to play at the Arab Cultural Center. When they take the wrong bus, the band members find themselves in a desolate Israeli village. With no other option than to spend the night with the local townspeople, the two distinctly different cultures realize the universal bonds of love, music, and life. This film has currently been adapted as a hit Broadway musical.

Se Dio Vuole ( God Willing): A 2015 Italian comedy about a dysfunctional modern Italian family. The father is an arrogant cardiac surgeon who has literally driven his wife to drink. The family is shocked and dismayed when their son announces that he wants to quit medical school to become a priest. The father, a virulent atheist, sets out to prove that the young man’s charismatic mentor is a fake.

Early Summer: A charming film about ordinary life in post war Japan. The Mamiya family is seeking a husband for their daughter Noriko. This seemingly simple story is one of famed director, Yasujiro Ozu’s most complex films.—a nuanced examination of life’s changes over three generations. Shot beautifully in black and white, this 1951 classic stars Setsuko Hara, one of filmdoms greatest actresses.

Umbrellas of Cherbourg: This French musical is one of the most beloved romantic movies of all time. Every word of dialogue is sung in director Jacques Demy’s masterpiece starring the beautiful Catherine Deneuve as a shop assistant madly in love with a gas station mechanic. Their ill-fated love story unfolds to Academy Award winner Michel Legrand’s enchanting score. Restored to its original pristine glory, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg won the grand prize at the 1964 Cannes film festival, and was nominated for five Oscars.

Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuove

This year, in addition to the foreign films, I include some American “film noir” classics from the 1940s and 50s. These black and white thrillers have stood the test of time and can be viewed over and over again. Sometimes they were "B" movies on a double bill but now many are regarded as true works of art. Moreover, for seniors like myself they provide a glimpse of the world when we were young.

High Sierra: A ground-breaking 1941 film starring Humphrey Bogart and Ida Lupino. Bogart plays a prohibition era gangster released from prison only to find himself out of place in a new world. Written by John Huston, and directed with gritty intensity by Raoul Walsh, High Sierra signaled a new era in film.

The Set-up: A 1949 boxing drama starring Robert Ryan and Audrey Totter. Ryan is at his best as an aging fighter at the end of his career, and Totter plays his steadfast wife. Famed director Robert Wise presents a real-time look at the stale-air boxing venue, the bloodthirsty fans, the ring savagery, and the delusional dreams of the boxing world.

The Narrow Margin: A classic train thriller with Charles McGraw and Marie Windsor, the dark lady of film noir. McGraw plays a cop guarding a gangster’s moll (Windsor) as they travel to L.A. to testify before a grand jury. Also on the train are determined hitmen who know the moll is on the train but don’t know what she looks like.

The Killing: Sterling Hayden stars with Marie Windsor in this 1956 heist drama directed by young Stanley Kubrick. “The Killing” is tough, taut, tense, and one of the greatest crime thrillers ever made.

Roadhouse. In this 1948 film a sultry singer upsets the friendship of two men with tragic results. Starring Ida Lupino, Cornell Wilde, and Richard Widmark, one of the premier noir villains.

Too Late for Tears: Lizabeth Scott and Dan Duryea star in this 1949 tale of a beautiful, scheming housewife who will let nothing stand in her way after a fortune drops into her lap.

Dark Passage: This 1947 film about a man who changes his identify is perhaps the least well-known of the films that starred Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. It ranks with their best. My favorite scene is the one where an underworld doctor performs plastic surgery on a fugitive in a shabby office in the middle of the night, and makes him look just like Humphrey Bogart.

Impact: Brian Donlevy and Ella Raines star in this 1949 film about a successful San Francisco businessman whose wife and her lover scheme to bump off. The film also features famed Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong.

Boomerang: Director Elia Kazan won critical acclaim for this vividly portrayed true-crime drama set in Stamford CT in 1947. Dana Andrews stars as a District Attorney out to bring the suspected murderer of a beloved priest to justice.

In a Lonely Place. In this 1950 film Humphrey Bogart gives one of his best performances as a veteran screenwriter whose career is at a dead end. Unfortunately, after a chance meeting with a young hat-check girl he becomes a prime suspect when the girl is found murdered. Film Noir favorite Gloria Grahame co-stars.

Witness to Murder: Barbara Stanwyck stars in this 1954 film noir as a woman fighting to convince police that one sleepless night she saw a young woman being strangled in an apartment across the street. When a body cannot be found, the police suspect that she has either been dreaming or out of her mind. George Sanders and Gary Merrill co-star.

The Burglar: This little known 1957 crime thriller with typical noir twists and turns stars Dan Duryea as a cunning jewel thief hoping to pull off his final heist. Jayne Mansfield plays one of the accomplices in a surprisingly good early role.

I Wake Up Screaming: In a rare dramatic role Betty Grable plays the sister of a beautiful murdered model in this tense 1941 thriller. While police search for the murderer, Grable is falling in love with the prime suspect played by Victor Mature. The many plot twists and turns leave viewers guessing right to the end.

Lady from Shanghai: Orson Welles directed and starred in this spellbinding 1948 film that also stars beautiful femme fatale Rita Hayworth. Hired to work on a yacht belonging to Hayworth's crippled and sinister lawyer husband, Welles is drawn into a web of intrigue and murder. The climax is one of the greatest scenes in film history.

Nightfall. Aldo Ray and a young Anne Bancroft star in this little known 1957 film noir about a young man innocently trapped in a web of crime and murder. The film features some of the best work of two film noir masters: director Jacques Tourneur, and Burnett Guffey, the cinematographer whose dark city scenes and winter landscapes are classic noir.

The Asphalt Jungle: John Huston directed this 1950 classic noir heist drama that has often been copied but never equaled. Sterling Hayden, Sam Jaffe, and Louis Calhern star as the principals in a plot to steal a fortune in jewels. The film also features Marilyn Monroe in the role that launched her into stardom.

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Marilyn Monroe in The Asphalt Jungle

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Summer Film Viewing 2018

Lately I been watching some really good films based on classic American novels. I know that calling a film or book a classic is the proverbial “kiss of death”, and will often dissuade people from watching or reading. For many, “classic” means old, old fashioned, out of date, and irrelevant.

Nevertheless, a good film adaptation can make a great book spring to life on the screen, and become a classic in itself. For example, a good actor or actress needs only a facial expression or a glance to convey what it takes a novelist pages to describe. A good film director can convey in one scene what the novelist took a whole chapter to describe.

Moreover, in viewing the films below it becomes apparent how important the casting director is in putting a film together. Everyone knows the story of how Humphrey Bogart was not the first choice for the lead in Casablanca, and that even Ronald Reagan was considered for the part. Is it possible to imagine anyone else in the role today?

Here are four films recommended for Summer Film viewing. 

Moby Dick. Herman Melville’s masterpiece of Captain Ahab’s doomed pursuit of the great white whale was brought to the screen in a 1956 color production by director John Huston. The film stars Gregory Peck as Ahab, Richard Basehart as Ishmael, Orson Welles in a cameo as a fiery preacher, and a great supporting cast. I saw this film when it first came out and can still vividly remember characters like Starbuck from whom the coffee chain derived its name, and the magnificent cannibal chief and harpooner Queequeg. In addition to the incredible finale, who could ever forget Ahab’s nailing of the gold piece to the mast?

The Red Badge of Courage. Stephen Crane’s realistic portrayal of ordinary soldiers before and during a single battle was originally published in 1895. It has become the model for all subsequent novels about warfare. It was brought to the screen in 1951 by director John Huston, who had a great interest in American history. True to the novel, the film sees the Civil War through the minds and eyes of the ordinary men who fought. Audie Murphy, the most decorated hero of WW II, stars along with a fine supporting cast. The final charge, capped as it is by conversation between victorious soldiers and their defeated captives, is extremely moving.

The Magnificent Ambersons. Booth Tarkington’s Pulitzer Prize novel of a prominent Midwestern family at the dawn of the twentieth century was brought to the screen by Orson Welles in 1942. Completed a year after his groundbreaking film, Citizen Kane, this film shows Welles at peak directorial form with dazzling cinematography and splendid performances by a great cast that includes Joseph Cotton, Anne Baxter, and Tim Holt.

Dodsworth. Sinclair Lewis’ best-selling 1929 novel was brought to the screen by director William Wyler in 1936. Walter Huston, in what some consider to be his finest performance, plays a wealthy industrialist who sells his business and sets off with his wife of 20 years to discover Europe, and re-discover themselves. Ruth Chatterton and Mary Astor co-star. “Selected as one of the most important films of all time by the Library of Congress.”

Some people look down their noses at film adaptations but watching these films has led me to re-read these novels that I had read long ago in my high school and college years. I have found that these authors were great story tellers and that their writing is still alive despite the passage of years. In the four films mentioned above the filmmakers were remarkably faithful to the novels. In the case of Dodsworth the fine acting and directing actually improved on the novel by eliminating a great deal of tedious descriptive detail.

PS. In movie theaters this summer you will find the usual collection of movies directed toward a very young audience. However, one of this year's films that would seem to be for small children is actually for adults, especially the older ones. Won't You Be My Neighbor is a documentary about Fred Rogers, the legendary creator and star of the longtime children's show, Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. This fine film dispels the myths about Fred Rogers and reveals the true humanity of this man whose long-running show has become a "classic" in its own right.

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