Man from Music Mountain (1938)

Because a shoot-out in an underground gold mine is always a good idea. 

Intro.

When I started this blog back in January, I was still able to get a cable channel that showed a Gene Autry film every Sunday.  I moved and lost that channel, but I do have a collection of Gene's films that I've been saving for a rainy day.  Despite being a sunny day, I just needed something sweet, simple and fun.  I had heard of Man from Music Mountain and while chuckling at the name, decided it was the perfect way to unwind.   

Overview
Man from Music Mountain begins with the opening of Boulder Dam.  Power line routes are being laid out, and any land around those lines promises to profit.  Two shady businessmen decide to take advantage of the situation and start selling land in Gold River, including a stake in the nearby mine to every landowner.  Many entrepreneurs take the deal, but upon arrival, discover that Gold River is an abandoned ghost town.  Gene Autry runs into these folks on their way to town and realizes that he knows the no-good land baron, Scanlon (Ivan Miller).  Autry tries to get Scanlon to stop the scam, but it doesn't work.  Meanwhile Gene's sidekick, Frog Millhouse (Smiley Burnett), is taken in by the deal and winds up with some land and a stake in the mine.  Gene's invested now, so he agrees to help the townspeople as they try to make the best of the situation.  They all still believe that the power lines will come through, but Gene has his doubts.  When they discover the mine's been worked dry and abandoned some twenty years ago, Gene and Frog hatch a plan to plant some gold dust from Gene's father and start a rumor that the mine's really profitable.  That of course makes Scanlon very upset and he tries to first discredit Gene, and then to buy back everyone's shares while they still think it's a hoax.  The rumor starts a gold rush and the town grows, which really helps the early settlers, but makes Gene really nervous.  Anyway, it all ends with a shoot-out in the mine and a very fortunate discovery!

Highlights (and a quick story)
As with most of Gene's earlier films, the music is fun and the story is pretty lighthearted.  I had some issues first with the slightly racist joke made by an African-American woman who works at Gene's ranch (still much better than Carolina Moon).  And while I applauded the fact that there were two very ambitious women in the earliest settlers who open their own salon, they weren't in keeping with the usually strong female leads that often featured in Gene's films.  Sure they ran their own business and managed to give Gene a manicure (more on that later), but they still relied on the men for everything and didn't fight their attentions.  I missed June Storey's competition with Gene or Irene Manning's use of a rifle to defend herself.  But in all honesty, they are still not the maidens strapped to the railroad tracks by an evil villain with a black mustache.  They choose to strike out on their own as "modern pioneers" and handle their difficulties with a laugh and a smile.  "Modern Pioneers" is a great title too, as this is a typical thirties Western, where the good guys are the hard-working cowboys and the bad-guys are tech-savvy crooks.  I swear in all these films, there's usually a group of cowboys who get run off the road by some vehicle (bus, truck, you name it) and then later the cowboys prove that horses are better because those same vehicles get stuck in the mud or in a river or in a ditch somewhere.  It's a great triumph of the hardworking homesteaders against the rich and mighty. 

The musical accompaniment was also well done.  Not only do we have Gene's usual singing ranch hands (was that asked in their job interview?  Can you rope a steer and then break into three part harmony?), but there's also Polly Jenkins and her Plowboys, a western band lead by a woman.  Gene gets to do a few of his own numbers of course, the best being "Goodbye Paint" which is actually really depressing because it's about a cowboy saying goodbye to his dying horse.  Anyway, I wanted to take a minute and talk about Gene Autry as a singing cowboy and what that meant for the Western film genre.  I know I've mentioned it before (like in Public Cowboy #1), but the addition of a singing cowboy to films helped make Westerns appeal to women, thus increasing the audience and helping save what would have been a dying genre.  But there's an interesting genre mix going on when you take a traditionally masculine genre like a Western and add in a typically feminine genre like a Musical.  I almost fell over laughing when Gene goes to visit the women in the salon and finds himself subjected to a manicure.  When his friends come in and start making fun of him, he is quick to his feet and shoots a warning at them, then forces them to also get manicures.  It's like a hold-up in a beauty salon all with the song, "Burning Love."  The perfect marriage of Western and Musical, with a subtle wink to the name, the "Lavender Cowboy."  It made me reconsider the gender coding of the parent genres and wonder about some underlying homosexual innuendo.  It seems funny that Gene is so quick to defend his right to get a manicure (even if the manicurist is a very pretty woman).   

And that leads me to my brief story.  At work, we had been talking about how films are marketed to female audiences - very few are when you think about it, and the ones that are still stereotype women.  One of my coworkers brought up a good point that in the new Twilight films, men are being objectified the way women have been for centuries.  I got to thinking about how this changes the audience and the marketing of these films and realized that on a similar level William Holden had also done this in the film Picnic.  I mean, that whole film revolves around him being shirtless and causing all the women to go a bit nuts.  But on a different level, Gene's films could also be argued to have been marketed to men and women equally.  When I brought this up, Catherine looked at me and said "so was he a Chippendale cowboy?"  I'm not too sure what Gene would've said to this, but I had a good laugh.  No, there was no shirtless-ness (he was still an idol of kids, remember) and definitely no kissing!   Anyway, the point of the story is that if we really want to consider targeted audiences, it goes back further than just glittery vampires.        

Review and Recommendation 
A solid film on many fronts, Man from Music Mountain is a pretty typical B-Western.  It's a fun ride if you don't take it too seriously.  The ending might make you groan a bit, mainly because the women turn into airheads, but whatever.  It's Gene Autry and he sings and gets fabulous nails.  What more could you want?

P.S.  Sad but true: I couldn't make out the year on this film's title screen, so I tried to guess as I watched.  Based on Gene's appearance, his sidekick and supporting cast and the general feel, I guessed 1938.  Turns out I was right.  I'm not sure whether or not to be proud of this....

Bringing Up Baby (1938)

Intro.

Lately I've been thinking about today's films, specifically comedies, and what makes them appeal to different audiences.  I often don't understand modern comedies that are popular today, and that got me wondering how comedy films have changed over the years.  Screwball comedies like Bringing Up Baby were popular back in the 1930s, but haven't been made lately.  It was a different time and laughter, especially aimed at the trials and tribulations of the priviledged upper class, would have relieved a lot of the nation's stress.  Where Public Cowboy #1 helped give voice to the struggle of farmers in the 1930s, screwball comedies could help all Americans laugh. 

Overview

The film opens with zoologist David Huxley (Cary Grant), who is nearing the completion of a brontosaurus skeleton as well as his marriage to fellow museum worker Alice Swallow (Virginia Walker).  His museum is on a list of contenders to receive a $1 million gift from Mrs. Carlton Random.  As David tries to make a good impression on Mrs. Random's lawyer, Mr. Peabody, but he does just the opposite.  That's because he keeps crossing (and criss-crossing) paths with Susan Vance (Katharine Hepburn), the pretty socialite who's not all that bright.  Just when he thinks he's rid of her, the next day David is excited to receive the final bone for his brontosaurus and to get ready for his wedding that afternoon.  However, Susan calls to ask for help because there's a leopard in her apartment.  Much to David's chagrin, there really is a leopard there.  Good-natured David helps Susan get the leopard, named Baby, to Susan's aunt's farm in Connecticut.  Things only get crazier as Susan plots to keep David with her as long as possible - a plan that is only helped when her aunt's dog George steals the brontosaurus bone, Baby escapes, and a local circus loses its leopard that has attacked its trainer.  In all the hilarious hunting, Susan and David continue to bicker and eventually wind up arrested.  I won't ruin how they get out, but their madcap escapades are great!

Highlights

Bringing Up Baby is a classic comedy and one of the best.  It's also Katharine Hepburn's first comedy, and she was unsure of her abilities at first.  Cary Grant coached her and encouraged her to just be herself.  The result is one of her best performances.  Both she and Grant handle themselves well and they have a natural chemistry.  As for the plot, it can't get much screwier!  At a time when class was still more divided in the U.S., I could see the appeal this film would have as it made fun of the antics of the privileged.   

There is a scene in the Connecticut house after David and Susan arrive where David has to take a shower.  While he does, Susan steals his clothes (to paraphrase Susan: "he can't leave because he's the only man I've ever loved!").  David is then forced to wear the only thing he can find, which happens to be a very flimsy woman's bathrobe trimmed in feathers.  As he proceeds to look for Susan, her aunt comes home and is disgusted by his appearance.  After asking him repeatedly why he is dressed like that and where his real clothes are, an exasperated David leaps into the air and announces "because I just went gay all of the sudden!"  They originally had to leave this out to get the film past the censors, but it was put in at the last minute and made film history.  It also furthered rumors that Cary Grant was gay, but that's another post for another time.

Finally, Bringing Up Baby has some great quotes - the writing is outstanding.  At the beginning, Susan mistakenly hits David's golf ball.  He is trying to explain to her that it was his ball.  He's talking about the brand marking: "There, you see, it's a circle."  Susan: "Now of course it is, do you think it would roll if it were square?"  When David sees Baby in Susan's apartment, he says "Susan, you have to get out of this apartment!" Susan replies, "I can't David, I have a lease!"  Some of the scenes in the film have become comedy staples too, including the accidental removal of part of Susan's dress.

Review and Recommendation

Bringing Up Baby is an excellent film that is full of good, clean entertainment.  It's sophisticated and silly all in one package, and features two of Hollywood's greatest talents at their very best.     

Vivacious Lady (1938)

Intro.

Vivacious Lady was one of those films I hadn't planned on watching, but when I saw it come on television, I was happily surprised.  As a part of a Ginger Rogers marathon, the film emphasized how great she was even without Fred Astaire.  I especially liked Robert Osborne's commentary on the film.  Apparently the film had been delayed several times because RKO had to borrow Jimmy Stewart from his home studio.  And the good rapport between Jimmy and Ginger existed off stage too, as they used to double-date with Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball.  How cool is that?

Overview

Jimmy Stewart plays Peter Morgan, a shy, conservative professor of botany who, on a trip to New York City, meets glamorous nightclub singer Francey (Ginger Rogers).  As he gets to know her, he realizes that she is very down to earth and a perfect match for him.  They fall in love, marry, then take the train back to his home town of Old Sharon.  Peter, afraid that his parents will object to Francey's way of life, suggests that she stay with his cousin, Keith (James Ellison) while he tries to explain the situation to them.  He also has to explain it to Jenny (Phyllis Kennedy), the blue-blooded woman to whom he is engaged (or was engaged!).  A lot of twists and turns prevent Peter from confronting his father with the truth and keeps the couple apart.  The best parts include Francey attending Peter's botany class as an eager new student, an all out fist-fight between Jenny and Francey, and straight-laced Peter drinking a lot of alcohol during his class.  It all ends with a tearful Jenny and her mother-in-law leaving their husbands and then a train-stopping finale.   

Highlights

Robert Osborne said at the film's introduction how difficult it would be to find the right actor to make the role of Peter believable.  If anyone could do it, that person was definitely Jimmy Stewart.  He makes Peter a quiet, somewhat awkward professor without turning him into a bumbling, absent-minded researcher.  Charles Coburn and Beulah Bondi both give good performances as his parents and get almost as many laughs as the main couple.

Ginger Rogers really makes this film.  She is graceful and charming, with a good measure of sass.  She delivers some stunning one liners with perfect comedic timing.  Her performance reminded me of a softer version of her character in Stage Door - sweet and good-natured with a razor sharp wit beneath those blond curls.  Anyone who thinks she's just Fred's dance partner obviously hasn't seen her other films - and definitely should.   

Review

Vivacious Lady is one of those old fashioned romantic comedies where the emphasis was on the comedy.  It's little known, but definitely worth watching to see Ginger Rogers and Jimmy Stewart together.  My only complaint (and it's minor) is that we don't get to see Ginger and Jimmy dance.  That would've made it a 10+.  Anyway, it's a fun, light movie with endearing characters.  You won't be disappointed!

Western Jamboree (1938)

Intro.

Gene Autry first began appearing in films in 1934, and needless to say, he didn't have much experience.  His acting was stiff and uncomfortable, but he could always save the day with a good fistfight and an even better song.  Through the years his acting improved immensely and his voice smoothed out to transform him from a yodeling cowboy to a crooner of the West.  Western Jamboree is near the early to middle part of his career, so there is some fine singing and decent acting.

Overview

Western Jamboree focuses on two storylines with Gene as the connecting thread.  He's a foreman on a ranch that is about to be taken over by a new owner.  The previous owner had discovered natural gas containing  much sought after helium, on the property just before he died, so with him gone the men who filed his claim are trying to discover the pipeline and take it over.  Meanwhile, Gene's friend Haskell (played by Frank Darien) has a problem - his grown daughter is newly engaged and coming back home from the East in order to see her father and introduce him to her fiancee and soon to be mother-in-law.  The only problem is, he's told her that he owns a dude ranch when the truth is that he's been doing odd jobs and barely scraping together enough money to put her through school.  So Gene decides to get his local friends to pose as high-society guests and turn the ranch into a dude ranch.  Haskell's daughter Betty loves the whole place, but her fiancee and his mother (both very arrogant socialites) hate it.  Gene tries his best to pass off the place as a real dude ranch, but when the bad guys try to move in on them for the gas and then the ranch's true owner turns up, the cover's blown and a fight for the ranch begins.

Highlights

Gene has some great songs in here.  I mentioned in an earlier post that Gene's films tend toward music, comedy or action.  This one is heavy on the comedy and then on the music.  He does a great rendition of "Cielito Lindo" as well as the beautiful "Old November Moon."  And perhaps the best number bookends the picture, "When the Bloom is on the Sage."  Gene opens the film with that song, and the ensemble closes the film with it.  As for the comedy, there's never a dull moment.  In addition to Smiley Burnett's routines, there is the additional comedy inherent in the "masquerade" - Gene's friends are local folks who prefer saloons to society parties, so when they try to act high-class, you can't help but smile.  It reminded me a bit of the film Higher and Higher (which is adorable and you should definitely watch sometime!).        

Review

An enjoyable Gene Autry film, Western Jamboree is a fun movie.  It's never dull or slow, but also not as polished as his later ones.  All in all, good, clean entertainment and a wonderful soundtrack make it a standard but lovable picture. 

Want to read more?  Check out IMDb.  Also, I just found GeneAutry.com, possibly the most awesome website ever.  Seriously, any website that features a place to submit questions called "Ask Champion" just makes my day.

Holiday (1938)

Intro.
I will be the first to confess, I initially wanted to watch this movie because I thought it would be very similar to Cary Grant's other screwball comedies, like Bringing Up Baby.  At first I was puzzled and then pleasantly surprised to find that it was more of a comedic drama. It is more light in spirit than the later film, The Philadelphia Story (which also paired Hepburn and Grant) and the humor a bit less cutting. In any respect, I felt it was along the lines of a happier sort of Eugene O'Neill play.

Overview
The plot seems a lot like many romatic comedies - boy meets girl, they fall in love, she doesn't tell him she's rich, her family objects, complications ensue. In this case it's Grant as the clueless, independent free spirit who has fallen for Julia Seton (played by Doris Nolan), heiress to one of the largest fortunes - and snobbiest families - in all of New York. Grant's character, Johnny Case, comes home elated that he has found "the one" - a girl who wants what he wants: the same house, the same life, the same dreams. He agrees to meet her at Christmas to tell her father, but upon arriving at her mansion and learning of her fortunes, he immediately feels out of place. As Julia's father, sister and brother soon learn, Johnny Case is a working boy who has worked his way to a promising job at a financial house. His future looks bright and his charm soon wins them over. On New Year's Eve the engagement is to be announced, but there is a hitch - Johnny reveals that he wants to take the money he's earned and live a rich, full life - take a holiday and learn who he is and what he wants out of life. You can almost hear the air sizzle out of he and Julia's relationship. His audacity to consider such a reckless life instead of a secure one working at her father's bank is more than Julia can take. While this is happening, Johnny finds that he has more in common with Julia's sister Linda, the black sheep of the family who shares Johnny's sense of fun and adventure. I won't give away the ending, but it does have a few twists and turns to try and keep you guessing. One thing you can't miss though, is the undeniable chemistry between Cary and Katharine. It turns what would normally be an average film into a superb one.

Highlights
With such strong personalities in the two lead roles, it is hard to believe that the supporting cast could shine, but shine they do. Most notably is Lew Ayers, who plays Julia's brother Ned. Ned has landed in the role of the reluctantly dutiful son who must forgo his own dreams to learn the family business.  To compensate, he drinks to excess each night.  While humorous, there is a deep pathos to his alcohol-induced talks with his sister Linda, and he soon becomes a scene-stealer.  Neither he nor Linda accept the cold, social-climbing life they have, and find relief in their mother's old playroom - the only room of the house decorated in a cozy, homey way.  There is a fireplace and flowery sofas instead of marble and pillars.  While Julia and her father find this way of life childish, there is a sense of joy and hope that doesn't exist in the rest of the house.  It creates an interesting dynamic for the film - where different scenes take place says as much about what's happening as the dialogue does.

Also worthy of note are Johnny's friends Nick and Susan Potter (Edward Everett Horton and Jean Dixon), who come to the engagement party, but feel completely out of place.  They even tease Johnny that they can't recognize him in his tux and slicked back hair.  They too take refuge with Linda in the playroom and bring a sense of life back into the house.

Finally, Cary Grant's performance should be mentioned.  I love watching him when he's alone in the mansion at the film's opening - he's curious and uneasy and trying to entertain himself.  He even gets seperated from the butler and hollers that he's lost.  It's very similar in appearance to Jimmy Stewart's character in The Philadelphia Story.  On top of that, Cary brings his real-life acrobatics into the picture, doing tumbles and flips throughout, which not only makes him more endearing and child-like, but also highlights his refusal to conform.

My personal favorite highlight is that Johnny Case is supposed to be a Baltimore boy, born and bred.  I've lived in and around Baltimore my whole life, and no one born and bred here has an English accent like Grant's.  However, I do have to give him credit, unlike Julia's father, he actually pronounces the name of the town with the local drawl instead of emphasizing the 'i'.  It's not "Ball-TEE-More", it's "Balw-mer" or "Bal-da-more", hon.

Review & Recommendation
All in all, I highly recommend this movie.  You may laugh at Cary Grant doing somersaults and cartwheels, but the film has a serious, deeply moving heart to it.  It is a picture about childhood dreams - those we sacrifice and those we need to fight for.  It is a grim picture of our economic culture as well, and reminds us that there is much more to life than money.

If you'd like to read more, check it out at IMdB.  There's a great write-up about the film by a reviewer with the screenname 'Glenn Miller'.  His piece is far more eloquent than I am and it's definitely worth reading.  Also, just because it's Baltimore, I still think the two best Baltimore accents I've heard in films by non-Baltimore natives are John Travolta in Hairspray and Robert Mitchum in Cape Fear.  Although Mitchum does have a general Southern drawl in that film which could be from anywhere, when he says Baltimore, you believe him!