The Blues Brothers (1980)

Intro.

Can you believe The Blues Brothers is already thirty years old?  It was one of those films I had always heard about and seen parodies of as I grew up, but I didn't watch it until college.  And then recently, as it hit its big 30 year anniversary, I went to see it at the AFI Silver Theater and it was like seeing it again for the first time.     

Overview

The film opens with Jake "Joliet" Blues (John Belushi) getting out of prison.  His brother Elwood (Dan Aykroyd) picks him up in his new car - an retired police car.  Elwood makes Jake keep his promise to go and see the nun (Kathleen Freeman) who ran their orphanage.  She is still there and as terrifying as ever, but has some sad news - the county tax assessor told her that unless she can pay them $5000 in 11 days, the county will close the orphanage.  After an inspiring sermon from Pastor Cleophus (James Brown) the brothers realize that they are on a mission from God - get the old blues band back together and make enough money from their gigs to pay the back taxes.  It isn't easy though, as first they have to convince all the guys to join them (in spite of protests from Aretha Franklin), get their instruments out on a loan (from Ray Charles), and then find some venues (including a great Country bar where they have to perform the theme from "Rawhide").  Meanwhile they manage to get the police after them as well as the Illinois neo-Nazi party.  They manage to arrange a huge benefit concert, but have some trouble getting out.  It all culminates with one of the funniest chase-scenes in film history, and at the time held the record for the highest number of crashed cars in a movie.  

Highlights

There is definitely a fun, campy feel to this movie - it manages to be ridiculous without ever becoming cheesy.  You can see how it had grown from a simple Saturday Night Live skit.  I think a lot of that is due to just how seriously Jake and Elwood take themselves.  Jake only removes his sunglasses once, and that is just to convince Carrie Fisher's character to stop trying to kill him.  Buildings blow up, cars careen upside-down in parking malls, the entire police force of Chicago is after them, and these guys don't even break a sweat.  They're the perfect heroes of modern America - the bad guys trying to do good, even if "doing good" involves a few crimes.  Ends justify the means, right?

Part of the reason the film has that campy feel because it doesn't quite stick to one genre.  It's clearly a comedy and stays one throughout, but it also takes in elements of police (cops-and-robbers) films as well as musicals.  But it manages to pull off this genre-version of musical chairs quite well.  I think that's because for the music they only wanted to work with the best - all of the guys in the Blues Brothers band are actual musicians (and quite talented ones too!).  Plus there are all those great cameos - I mean, Aretha Franklin belting out into song in her diner?  Classic! 

Overall, this is one of the most legendary of all buddy films.  I mean, we don't even know for sure if the two guys are really brothers (they were raised in an orphanage, so we don't know for certain) but it doesn't matter.  Their relationship is at the heart of the film - you can't have Elwood without Jake or Jake without Elwood.  That was what I took away from this film - not just the fantastic music or ridiculous car crashes, but the brotherhood. 

Review
I love this movie.  It's not the kind of film I'd normally watch, but it is so well done and so enjoyable, I can't help but love it.  I have a feeling you will too, as long as you can just relax and go along for the ride.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

Intro.

As March was supposed to be Musicals Month, I went in search of musicals tonight and stumbled across Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, which I had always assumed was a comedy.  In fact it was cross-listed online as romantic comedy, classic comedy, and classic musical.  Watching the film, I thought back to a film class I once took where we talked about what defines a movie's genre - I mean really, what makes a musical a Musical?  Certainly the genre conjures memories of Singin' in the Rain, Oklahoma!, Cabaret, West Side Story and a long list of similar titles.  But what about films like the melodramatic Young at Heart or even something more lighthearted like Robin and the 7 Hoods or Road to Morocco?  Is it the story line?  The number of songs?  What?  I think we finally formed a blurry definition that a musical earns its genre title when it contains three songs performed by characters in the film as a part of the story.  Of course there will always be gray areas, like the super traditional Western Rio Grande (imagine telling the Duke he was in a Musical!), but all in all, I think it's a pretty good rule, and as such Gentlemen Prefer Blondes would be more in the sophisticated, buddy-film type of classic musical.      

Overview

Lorelei Lee and Dorothy Shaw (Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell) are American entertainers with their own successful show.  Their beauty and their talent gets them plenty of attention, most notably of which is Gus Esmond, a shy ordinary guy with a lot of family money.  He is engaged to Lorelei despite his father's wishes.  Instead of them sailing to Europe to marry, he sends Dorothy as a chaperon with the promise that he will meet them in Paris.  While Lorelei is more concerned with money as the basis of a secure marriage, Dorothy is more in line with the idea that love alone is all that a good marriage needs.  On that point they differ, but they are clearly best friends, making the most of their voyage.  Unfortunately, the guy Dorothy meets and falls for, Ernie Malone (played by Elliott Reid), is actually a private detective hired by Gus's father to trail the ever-flirtatious Lorelei.  When he catches her with an older man (who happens to own a diamond mine), he takes pictures.  Dorothy catches him though, and the girls then have to figure out a way to steal the photos back.  Once they do, in gratitude for their work, the mine owner (Charles Coburn) gives Lorelei his wife's diamond tiara.  By the time the girls land in France, they find that not only have their letters of credit and hotel lodgings been canceled by a jealous Gus, but the police are after them for a "stolen" tiara.  The results are hilarious and well choreographed in more than one sense!

Highlights

Most musicals are well remembered because of their unforgettable songs.  In this case, I only have 6 little words for you: "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend."  In that number alone, Marilyn Monroe makes the entire picture, not to mention her legend.  However, Jane Russell is just as amazing and a great scene stealer earlier in the film with "Bye Bye Baby" and "Ain't There Anyone Here for Love?"  And the girls are also great together with their signature song, "Two Little Girls from Little Rock" and "When Love Goes Wrong" (the latter of which is my favorite from the show).

Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell are phenomenal in this film, and would be even without the music.  I think they make a great team and give an interesting picture of two very confident, independent women who stick together no matter what.  But as free and fun-loving as they are, you have to remember that it's a 1950's romantic comedy, so there's only one way it can really end (I won't say more, I promise!).  Even with the obvious sexual stereotypes, it's nice to see women have the upper hand, and no one handles it better than these two actresses.  And you can't help but laugh at the line: "If we can't empty his pockets between the two of us, we don't deserve the name 'woman'."

Review

Whatever you want to call it - a comedy, a musical, or a buddy film - Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is definitely worth watching.  The humor, the music, and the great relationship between two such dynamite actresses all make for a great time!