Gaslight (1944)

Don't you hate it when you can't remember where you placed that long, scary butcher knife?

Intro.

I don't know how widespread it is, but lately I feel like myself and everyone I know is suffering from some sort of stress-overload at work.  There's just too much to do and not enough time or resources.  Don't get me wrong, I love my job and wouldn't trade it for anything, but lately I feel like I just can't keep track of things.  It all culminated yesterday when I noticed a stain on my jacket and couldn't remember when I had spilled something on it.  My co-worker looked at it and said she didn't see anything.  I know I wasn't imagining it, but I started doubting myself.  Suddenly I felt just like Ingrid Bergman's character in Gaslight, which I had just watched.  It's funny how films can suddenly influence your thoughts and perceptions in day-to-day life.

Overview
October 14, 1875 - London is being terrorized by the Thornton Square Strangler and his latest victim is wealthy singer, Alice Alquist.  Her niece Paula (Ingrid Bergman) finds her aunt's body.  Still trying to recover and mourn on her own, Paula travels to Italy and begins to study music with Alice's former instructor.  She instead is more interested in his piano accompanist, a charming man named Gregory Anton (Charles Boyer).  They run away together and marry, and as he has always dreamed of living in London, Paula bravely offers her aunt's (now her) house.  Despite her obviously frail emotional health, Gregory tries to make the best of the home.  But it's clear that Paula isn't well and only proceeds to get worse.  She grows forgetful, loses things and starts to hear things in the boarded up attic.  Gregory continues to tell people she is sick, even when she feels well, forcing her into isolation.  He hires a pretty new maid and feeds into Paula's suspicions.  Just when Paula starts to believe that she really has gone mad, a man she had seen in the park re-enters her life.  He had mistaken her for her aunt, of whom he had been a great admirer.  His name is Brian Cameron (Joseph Cotton) and he comes to visit while Gregory is out.  He soon helps Paula uncover the truth - not only about her sanity, but about Gregory's true identity and the secrets hidden within her aunt's attic.

Highlights

Ingrid Bergman won an Oscar for her performance as Paula.  It was richly deserved.  Her slow transformation from sane and happy to tragically depressed and possibly mad is fascinating to watch.  How on earth could she think her husband would trick her or purposefully hide her things?  I thought it was rather interesting that they were married so soon after the murder, and I wonder if part of that was his idea so that her mind would still be preoccupied with mourning.  I think Paula also wanted to be married in an effort to get past her sadness - she was using Gregory as a crutch and he took full advantage.  Her final showdown with Gregory though is priceless - she finally has him all figured out and only pretends to be mad to spite him.  Just when he needs her to be sane and help him escape, she suddenly can't remember how to untie the ropes that bind him or where she's placed that long butcher knife.  It's wonderful!

I also recommend watching the first major role of Angela Lansbury.  She is delightful as the flirtatious maid and a perfect fit for this role.  Also worth watching is the busybody neighbor, Bessie Thwaites (Dame May Whitty).  She's the comic relief for the picture and does a fine job of helping the audience understand the murder from an outsider's viewpoint.  I should also mention that Joseph Cotton is great.  Think about it, how would Paula have figured it all out on her own if she had convinced herself she was mad and could never get a moment to herself?  She almost had it when she noticed the gaslights dimming without explanation.  I guess we'll never know if Paula would have recovered all the missing articles herself.

What I took away from this film was how simple it is to start doubting yourself.  Being in a fragile emotional state, Paula was in no position to get married, let alone to move back into the house, so from the outset we know she's going to have problems.  Add in Gregory's strange behavior and his pains to make her "extra" forgetful and it's a whole new level of abuse.  In her defense, who can she trust but this man she adores?  I wonder if at some level she feels like she's being punished because she wasn't able to save her aunt (she had been upstairs during the murder, and came down too late).  It leaves us each with the question of what it would take to drive us mad.  It isn't always some big, traumatic event, but sometimes a series of carefully planned incidents.  I don't know what I would have done in Paula's shoes.  And I'm not sure I want to know. 

Review and Recommendation
Overall, Gaslight is a story of an intense breakdown, marvelously portrayed by Ingrid Bergman.  A psychological mind-bender and good old murder mystery make this an excellent addition to the thriller films I've reviewed this month.  Definitely a film worth watching!  

None But the Lonely Heart (1944)

Intro.

I've gotten into the habit of always keeping a pen and a pad of paper with me when I watch old movies now.  Sometimes after a movie, I'll find a page covered in notes.  Other times, there won't be many, as I've been completely immersed in the story.  Only a very few times do I find a blank page, but such is the case with None But the Lonely Heart.  I'd like to say it was because the film was so engaging, but sadly, it was the opposite for me.  Although there is some wonderful acting, it does little to help the plot or the immensely slow progression.  Still, it deserves a write-up, so here goes. 

Overview
None But the Lonely Heart opens with Ernie Mott (Cary Grant) - a carefree, wandering vagrant.  He doesn't have any plans, doesn't have a real job, doesn't seem to have much going for him at first.  But as he returns to his home in a slum of London, we realize that he has one great talent - he can make friends with anyone.  Everyone, it seems, loves Ernie, and he makes his money doing odd jobs.  Most of all he both loves and hates his mother, Ma Mott (Ethel Barrymore).  Mainly he hates that she wants him to settle down and make something of himself.  Once he discovers she has cancer, he decides to try and make good by helping her run her general store.  It's far from easy though, as you can't sell to people who don't have money.  Both Ernie and Ma are offered roles in some local illegal activities and we see what each one will do to survive.  The film ends with Ma on her deathbed and Ernie realizing he can't run from responsibilities forever.

Highlights and Other Considerations

Ethel Barrymore won an Oscar for her performance in None But the Lonely Heart.  It was her first film in a number of years, and marked her return to Hollywood.  Cary Grant was nominated for his role as Ernie, but did not win.  Both of them turn in great performances - you truly feel that they have become these real, though not always likable, characters.  I read a review on IMDb about Grant's performance - apparently he felt closer to people like Ernie and had more in common with them than he did with the usual debonair men he usually portrayed.

It's films such as None But the Lonely Heart that make me feel like I can never be a movie critic, since I often disagree with them.  I didn't like the film.  It was slow, long and not very focused.  I can appreciate dark dramas with definite plot points or well-done character studies, but this film seems to be somewhere in the middle.  I wanted to see more into the relationships of this film or maybe even something more substantial happen in terms of plot.  Critics love this film, but fans didn't - it was a box-office bomb when it was released.  Some would argue that it was because Grant was cast against type.  I'm not so sure.  There are plenty of instances where actors cast against type did extremely well: when perpetual good-guy John Wayne was cast as the bad guy, he turned in one of his best performances in Red River.  Likewise, Humphrey Bogart broke from his usual roles in gangster films and hard-boiled detective dramas when he was cast as a romantic lead and completely redefined his career and the course of American film.  Surely no one can forget Rick Blaine in Casablanca.  I think Cary Grant did a wonderful job and was a natural in his role, but I wanted more.  I wanted more depth, more story, more substance.  Perhaps I will feel differently after another viewing, but I feel like a fangirl in this case because I can't see what the critics hail.  

Review and Recommendation

I can't recommend this film until I've seen it again.  An important film, it marked the return of legendary actress Ethel Barrymore, and features Cary Grant in an unusual character role that he brings to life effortlessly.  This film will doubtlessly be of interest to Barrymore fans and some die-hard Grant fans, but for now, I'm going to withhold judgment.

Side note: There's also a beautiful, haunting song by Tchaikovsky called "None But the Lonely Heart" that was recorded later with lyrics.  If you get a chance to listen, it's well worth it.  I think it could have even been Ernie Mott's theme song.  Something to consider!

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

Intro.

You know those days when you think everything's going well and nothing could possibly go wrong, and then you come home and find a dead body in your aunts' windowseat?  Okay, so maybe we don't all have that happen, but it doesn't make it any less funny when it does happen to Mortimer Brewster.  Thus begins one of the all time best dark comedies of all time. 

Overview

Finally taking the plunge into marriage, dramatic critic Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant) rushes home to tell his family - his two sweet, grandmotherly, unmarried aunts.  While in the midst of all their happiness, he discovers a dead body in their windowseat.  Not only do his aunts know about the dead man, but they confess to killing him as well as eleven others, all of which are buried in their basement.  Conveniently, they have another nephew who thinks he is Theodore Roosevelt (John Alexander), and is all too happy to dig "locks" in the Panama Canal in their basement and bury the "yellow fever victims."  Mortimer, out of love from his aunt, tries to figure out how to get Teddy committed to a psychiatric hospital (Happy Dale) so that if the deaths are discovered, they can safely be pinned on Teddy (he can't go to jail if he's committed).  Nothing seems to go Mortimer's way as one complication builds onto another - culminating in the arrival of his frightening brother Jonathan (Raymond Massey), who brings his accomplice, Dr. Einstein (the wonderful Peter Lorre), as well as the body of their latest murder victim.  It all comes down to his new bride, Elaine, (Priscilla Lane) finding the bodies in the basement that really brings everything to an hysterical end.

Highlights    

One of the things that make this film such a classic comedic gem is the timing.  Everything is just right, and the pace of the film picks up as Mortimer's madness grows.  Each time I watch Arsenic and Old Lace, I notice something else.  In this case, it was how appropriate the setting felt.  Between Mortimer's house and Elaine's father's house is an ancient graveyard, the story takes place on Halloween, and it also is set in Brooklyn - a strange land according to the opening credits.  It also takes place mostly in the aunts' house, which gave it a sort of Hitchcock feel, and made it creepier for its claustrophobic effect.  What struck me most was how Mortimer, an author of books like Mind Over Matrimony has done the exact opposite of his world view.  It's almost as if that marriage is the start of his own madness, which only gets worse when he discovers his entire family is crazy.

What I also noticed was how different comedies can be from one another.  Arsenic and Old Lace is an example of a dark comedy.  I mean, really we spend the whole time laughing about two women who poison old men and bury them in their basement.  That's pretty grim, and in tone it's a lot like Faulkner's As I Lay Dying.  We understand when Mortimer freaks out.  Who wouldn't freak out?  What's more, we can identify with the basic premise - how when you're in a crisis, nothing seems to go right, even to the point where you doubt your own sanity.

Review and Recommendation

Arsenic and Old Lace is one of those films rightfully called a classic.  It's a great example of writing, directing, acting and all around good movie making.  Cary Grant and Peter Lorre (and in fact, the whole case) give wonderful performances and you're guaranteed at least one laugh.  Definitely a must see!

Trivia: If you look closely when Mortimer is out in the cemetery by himself, he sits on one of the gravestones.  Just past him is another stone bearing the name Archibald Leach - Cary's Grant's real name.       

Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

Intro.

Lately I've been in the mood for musicals and luckily, TCM has been airing plenty for me!  I was about to watch On the Town, which I had recorded, but when I turned on my television, Meet Me in St. Louis was about to start.  As I had not seen it before, I decided to sit back and enjoy this delightful Judy Garland film.

Overview
Meet Me in St. Louis is a tribute to simple family life at the turn of the century.  It opens in 1903 in the small but growing town of St. Louis.  The World's Fair is seven months away, but that doesn't stop everyone from talking (and singing!) about it.  We hear the second eldest daughter, Esther (Judy Garland) sing it as sweeps into the house where her mother (Mary Astor) and the maid Katie (Marjorie Main) are cooking supper.  Soon eldest daughter Rose (Lucille Bremer) comes home and we learn that she is expecting a call from her boyfriend in Yale and also that Esther is stuck on the boy next door.  The rest of the family includes two young sisters, Agnes (Joan Carroll) and Tootie (Margaret O'Brien), their grandfather (Harry Davenport), teenaged brother Alonzo (Henry Daniels) and the father and head of the household (Leon Ames).  Sadly, Rose does not get a proposal from her Yale beau like she expects, but that doesn't keep her from enjoying a going away party for college-bound Alonzo.  Nor does it keep Esther from having any excuse not to meet boy-next-door John Truett.  Esther and John start a sweet romance that only improves with time (including a horrible misunderstanding caused by the troublesome Tootie!).  Just as everything looks rosy, Dad announces that the family is moving to New York city just after Christmas.  A few heartbreaking scenes later, he must come to terms with the fact that his family's hearts as well as his own will always be in St. Louis, with or without the beautiful Fair.

Highlights

I loved everything about this film - the set designs, the acting, the careful pacing and sentiment are all wonderful.  What makes it work so well is that it is just a simple story about one year in the life of one family.  Sometimes the simplest plots yield the deepest stories and that's what happens on screen with this gem.  The songs are unforgettable; the feeling warm and nostalgic.

Judy Garland is a true standout in this film.  It's also the first one she made with Vincent Minelli, whom she later married, and one of their finest collaborations.  Judy is not only a scene-stealer, but a careful balance of excited, infatuated girl and refined, graceful woman.  Her songs alone could carry the film - she has such wonderful ones (apart from the title song) as: "The Trolley Song", "The Boy Next Door" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (yes, it's from this movie!).  All of that and some great dancing too!

I realize now, after I've watched, that this film was made in 1944.  I wonder if it too was part of the Hollywood war effort - not necessarily in the same way as Thousands Cheer, but with the same feeling of simple American values.  It captured the best part of our innocent past - a part that could still inspire hope for those involved in World War II both at home and abroad.  It reminds viewers (even today) of the youthful optimism of our past, perhaps in an effort to encourage a return of that same spirit.  Think about how powerful that message is in Judy's final song.  It's as if she is speaking to those men and women in the war: "Have yourself a merry little Christmas / Make the Yule-tide gay / Next year all our troubles will be miles away / Here we are as in olden days / Happy golden days of yore [...] / Through the years we all will be together / if the Fates allow."  Not only is she singing about Christmas, but about what we as a nation were feeling.  Now that's what I call a movie.

Review and Recommendation
Truly one of the best films I've ever reviewed for this site.  This film is sweet, simple, beautiful.  A romanticized notion of America perhaps, but a heartfelt one nonetheless.  An interesting reflection not only of 1900's America, but also of 1940's America, Meet Me in St. Louis is a definite must for your list of must-see musicals!