Day 11 - Ben Johnson

I haven't been aligning my entries with the actual stars chosen for the Turner Classic Movies program this month, but today I am breaking that because my absolute favorite cowboy finally got his own day of programming - Ben Johnson.  Now, I know most of you are probably thinking, "who the heck is Ben Johnson?!" but I tell you, he is a treasure in film history.  Ben (yes, I refer to him as Ben) is that guy, that third cowboy on the right in all those old Westerns you knew and loved as a kid.  His voice is always his dead giveaway because of his pronounced Oklahoma cowboy drawl.  You might even think he's putting it on, but once you watch him, you know he isn't even acting.  That's just him.

Ben as Tyree talking to his horse, Laddie, in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (RKO 1949)

Ben is often described as a "genuine" cowboy and I think this adjective is the perfect one for him.  Ben started out as a cowboy and died a cowboy.  But he got into Hollywood when Howard Hughes came through and hired him to help lead a herd of horses through Arizona to Hughes' movie location.  I've heard lots of stories of how it really happened, but the one I read from an interview with Ben was that Hughes had a prize stallion that he didn't want to get hurt.  Well, one day during shooting, all the horses started to stampede together, including the stallion.  Ben hopped up on his pony and went after the horse, lassoed him and got him out of the rush so fast, Hughes knew he had to put Ben in a Western.  Pretty soon others started noticing how Ben added a natural presence to create a more "believable" Western.  What could make a cowboy more convincing than to cast one that had actual, hard-earned saddle sores?  Ben was also a stuntman, as his background made a lot of that work easy for him.  That didn't mean he didn't have his limits - he and Harry Carey Jr. both had to learn how to ride "Roman style" (standing up with feet on separate horses's backs) for the film Rio Grande.  They worked hard at it and fell an awful lot.  Battered and bruised, the team finally succeeded only to be met with something like "their stunt doubles did a great job!"  Nope, that was really them!

Since I can't really contain myself, here are some of my favorite Ben Johnson films and why I love each one:

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1948): Ben was only supposed to have a minor role in this film, but he manages, with his drawl and his good humor, to steal every single scene he's in.  Here he plays Cpl. Tyree, a rider in the US Calvary post Civil War, who has a reputation for being the best point rider because of his super sharp eyesight.  His repeated (and hilarious!) line, "that ain't in my department" is always delivered with that deadpan attitude that makes even John Wayne, his commanding officer, smirk.  What's more, Ben also did the most dangerous stunt in the film - on the run from the renegade Indians, he jumps his horse over a narrow canyon (see below).  According to Ben, what you couldn't tell from the film was that the canyon was 70 feet deep and a heck of a lot scarier than it looks!

Ben and his horse are just a blur!

Rio Grande (1950): Ben has a bit of a larger part, still playing a guy in the US Calvary named Tyree, but this time he's wanted for murder (self-defense!) and is only running in order to give his sister (the girl at the center of the feud-turned-murder) time to get out of town so her name wouldn't be run through the mud.  It's a pretty noble thing to do, so Tyree gets help from the other members of the Army unit, including straight-laced rule follower Lt. Col. Kirby York (again, John Wayne).  You can't help but root for Tyree, who coined the phrase, "Get it done, Johnny Reb!"**  Seriously, though, Rio Grande is one of the best Westerns of all time and you should definitely see it!  Fun fact too - the song that Ben, Harry Carey Jr., and Claude Jarman (who plays York's son) sing in this film was actually written by Dale Evans!

Wagonmaster (1950) I've already mentioned, but I have to say again, Ben finally got to play the lead!!  He makes a great hero in this movie, very convincing as the reluctant but tried-and-true cowboy.  He doesn't want to get involved, but knows it's the right thing so he does.  And does again.  It's this dual desire to be the individual, off from society while also wanting to protect society (women, children, Mormons who need a guide) and be a part of it.  Ben does a great job bringing both of these conflicting desires together; maybe it's his very nature of being in films without wanting to be an actor.  Ford often referred to this as his favorite Western and sadly people just don't watch it enough today.  (Except miracle of miracles - TCM is finally showing it tonight!!!!!!!!!)   

Chisum (1970)  An aging cowboy, Ben plays James Pepper, the foreman of the massive cattle ranch owned by John Chisum (John Wayne) during the Lincoln County Land War.  It's an entertaining enough movie, featuring Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett as well, but I have to tell you, when you watch, make sure you turn up the volume for all of Ben's lines.  Pepper mumbles to himself a lot, so you'll probably miss most of his lines, but I guarantee you they are worth hearing.  Ben fits this profile so well you can almost see his old roles in Rio Grande having turned into this one.  Plus he gets to be the only person to tell John Wayne exactly what's what: "Way I see it, all this speechifyin', store-keepin', prayer-meetin' don't amount to spit in the river.  There's only one thing that's going to make this territory know who's bull of the woods.  And you know it."     

Ben was also great in The Train Robbers (1973), Junior Bonner (1972), The Sugarland Express (1974), and My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys (1991).  He was also in The Wild Bunch (1969), but I'm not a big fan of that movie and I hate that Ben plays a bad guy with no redeeming value (and not enough screen time).  I've also been meaning to see him in Hang 'Em High (1968) and a few others.  And thanks to TCM today, I've got several lined up on my DVR!  I also need to re-watch Angels in the Outfield (1994) because Ben got to play the team's owner, Hank Murphy, who was very much based on real-life founder and first owner of the Angels - the one and only Gene Autry.

 Left: Ben in his Oscar-winning role!!  (Columbia Pictures, 1971)


I think what sets Ben Johnson apart for me is his honesty.  He never considered himself a movie star, or even an actor.  He just read the lines like he'd normally do and that was about it.  But over the years the parts became scarcer, until Ben was finally offered a role in Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show (1971).  The only problem was that Ben hated all of the foul language in the script - to him, that kind of cussing wasn't necessary and he sure wasn't going to use it.  So he and Bogdanovich struck a deal - Ben was allowed to rewrite his lines to remove the language and he in turn gave one heck of a great performance.  So good, in fact, that he won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, despite the fact that his character, Sam the Lion, only appears in about 20 minutes of screen time.  Ben did such an amazing job creating this character that sort of acts as a father or grandfather for everyone in this small, dying town in 1951 Texas.  He's the town's moral compass and he affects the lives of everyone there.  Fun fact too - Sam the Lion owns the town's movie theater and in several scenes you can see the film posters out front.  The first one you see is a little in-joke - it's Wagonmaster, Ben's first (and only real) starring role.  

But you know what, that Oscar didn't mean half as much to him as the one award he worked so hard to earn - the title of World Rodeo Champion in Roping.  There's even a charity rodeo tournament that Ben helped set up in his name.  Really I could just go on all night about this guy, but I'll try to wrap this up.  Ben Johnson captured the spirit of the American West because he was the last of the true cowboys.  His own honesty and humility may never have brought him much fame on the big screen, but it kept him true to his roots as a hard-working horse wrangler.  I think that to watch Ben is about the closest most of us will ever get to seeing a "genuine article" of a figure so ingrained in the mythos of America.  I could build Ben up to be the embodiment of so many ideals and a legend on screen, but I know he would hate that, so I'll just end by saying that in everything he did, he was a top hand and the world is an emptier place now that he's no longer out riding the range.          

**P.S. Catherine, when I say "Let's go, Alamo!", it's actually one of Ben's lines to his best friend in this movie.

The Lion in Winter (1968)

It's just a dysfunctional family Christmas - no reason to lose your head!

Intro.

This year, 98 films in, I've come to have a much greater appreciation for certain actors, actresses and directors.  One of those is the great Katharine Hepburn.  I've loved watching her, but realized that I've never seen her in one of her Oscar-winning roles.  Since I've often heard of The Lion in Winter, and since it was conveniently on TCM the other night, I decided to take a chance without knowing a thing about story, setting or character.

Overview

The Lion in Winter is set during Christmas in the year 1183.  King Henry II of England (Peter O'Toole) has recalled his wife Elinor (Katharine Hepburn) from her confinement in a tower and has also called his three sons, Richard (Anthony Hopkins), Geoffrey (John Castle), and John (Nigel Terry) to come to the castle for a Christmas court.  All of the family arrive and quickly the plotting and intrigue begin, as each son wants to be crowned as the next king.  Richard is Elinor's favorite and as such receives the aid of her very sharp mind.  John is Henry's favorite and receives a lot of help from his father.  However, added to the mix is King Phillip II of France (Timothy Dalton), who is there to keep in tact the pact made between France and England, wherein his sister Alais (Jane Merrow) is to marry the next king and have some sort of land deal in the trade (I think it's a return of the Acquitane region of France, currently held by Eleanor).  Anyway, there are too many deals and crosses and double-crosses to keep track of, but basically Richard and Eleanor plot against Henry, then Henry and Eleanor plot against Richard, then John and Richard both try to strike deals with Phillip for his help and oh yeah, Geoffrey, the son not favored by either parent, is trying to plot with just about everyone.  Henry, infuriated that all three of his sons have gone to Phillip to plot against Henry, banishes them to the basement and tells Eleanor that he intends to have their marriage annulled.  He wants to marry Alais (who is in love with him) and have more sons, ones that he can actually trust and with a woman he doesn't despise.  But first Eleanor has to try and save her sons.  Then Henry, realizing that he can't just keep his sons locked up forever (if any of them got out, they'd kill any new sons he and Alais might have), goes down to have one last confrontation (and possible beheading).  

Highlights

I think what worked best in this movie was the feel of it.  The whole thing felt like watching a play instead of a movie.  I thought at first that was due to the setting and different speech patterns, but then I realized it was in fact due to the filming as well.  The blocking, the delivery, it all felt like I was watching top Shakespearean actors performing on stage - all perfect, all fluid.  I'm not sure if that made me like the movie more or not; in truth, I felt a bit under-dressed and out of place watching on the couch in my pajamas.  What I really enjoyed was watching Katharine Hepburn and Peter O'Toole together.  Their scenes made the whole movie; although I had trouble following all of the plotting, I could easily follow their hatred of one another.  Both are extremely talented in their profession and it's a true pleasure to watch them.  They have a great repertoire and present the picture of not only an estranged husband and wife, but also a couple who once loved one another (and may still) in spite of all their arguments, hatred and the occasional civil war between them.

Also interesting to follow were the sons.  I almost didn't recognize Anthony Hopkins as Richard, this film being one of the earliest in his career.  He's great as Richard and plays both the strong, powerful older brother as well as the wounded homosexual lover (turns out Phillip never really loved him).  I also really liked John Castle, who played Geoffrey.  It's easy to overdo the "unloved" middle child role, but Geoffrey takes it in a wholly different direction by playing both ends from the middle.  Man, I never want to play Geoffrey at chess!  I confess I've never seen John Castle before, but I want to see more of his work.  Also making his film debut is Timothy Dalton as Phillip II; who would think he'd go from being a rather unscrupulous King of France to being James Bond?

The writing is definitely Oscar worthy (the film won three Oscars - writing, music and best leading actress).  Who would have thought that a royal drama about princes overthrowing each other for the crown would have a lot of funny one-liners?  Some of the best are here:

Henry: I could have conquered Europe - all of it - but I had women in my life.

Eleanor: I adored you. I still do.
Henry: Of all the lies you've told, that is the most terrible.
Eleanor: I know. That's why I've saved it up until now.  

And quite possibly my favorite:
Geoffrey:  I know. You know I know. I know you know I know. We know Henry knows, and Henry knows we know it.  We're a knowledgeable family.

Review and Recommendation

As for the recommendation, I know a lot of critics love this film and I imagine it would be pretty popular with fans of historical films or British history.  I'm not quite sure I liked this movie all that much.  Like I said, watching Hepburn and O'Toole together was the best part, but other than that I found it a little hard to follow.  Perhaps I need some more British History under my belt or even a better understanding of Shakespeare.  I'd like to at least read up on Henry and Eleanor and possibly some of King Lear before watching again.

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

Was it the sun, the war or the addictive theme song that drove them all mad?
Intro.
I'm breaking one of my blog rules today, but for good reason.  I've seen The Bridge on the River Kwai many times already; there was a time when, as a teenager, I would watch it every day.  I'm not sure what it was about the movie that had such drawing power for me.  Maybe it was something about the utter futility of war that resonated with some of the usual teenage angst.  But that's a story for a whole other blog.  This weekend, after I realized that September had been turning into William Holden month, I decided to watch it again.  As I curled up to watch, I thought about how funny it seems that some actors become identified with one specific role.  Yul Brenner is a good example - for years he played The King in The King and I, and had a lot of trouble being cast outside of that role.  William Shatner is the same way; I just watched his new sitcom and yup, the thought was first "Captain Kirk" not William Shatner.  In much the same respect, watching from my generation's viewpoint, Alec Guiness was not known to myself or any of my friends as anyone but Obi-Won Kenobi.  That must have been awful for him, especially since he was first in such amazing films as The Bridge on the River Kwai, and gave what could be argued as the performance of a lifetime.

Overview (with a possible spoiler - sorry!)
The Bridge on the River Kwai begins with a company of British soldiers surrendering to the Japanese during WWII, somewhere in the thick Burmese jungle.  The men are marched into a prisoner-of-war camp, where the last two surviving members of the original camp are digging graves.  One of these men is Commander Shears, US Navy (William Holden), cynical and certain that everyone in the camp will eventually die.  Commanding the British troops is Lt. Col. Nicholson (Alec Guiness), and with him is medical officer Maj. Clipton (James Donald), who knows more about compassion than about the rules of war.  The Japanese commander is Col. Saito (Sessue Hayakawa), who advises the men to "be happy in their work." He is much like Nicholson in that both men will stick to their principles and refuse to lose face.  This stubborness leads to a difficult battle of wills when Saito orders that officers will do manual labor in his camp.  Nicholson refuses on the grounds that it is against the Geneva convention.  For that, he and all of his officers are shut up in small metal huts (called "the ovens") on the compound, right in the blazing heat.  Meanwhile, Shears, his fellow gravedigger, and one of the young men from the British soldiers decide to escape.  Only Shears makes it away from the guards alive, but he is hurt, lost and in the middle of nowhere.  He barely makes it into a village alive, where he recovers and then makes his way to a hospital on the coast.  Back at the camp, though, things do not bode well.  Clipton acts as a go-between for Saito and Nicholson, only to find that the men are close to identical and neither one believes in compromise.  In the end Nicholson prevails, and sets out not only to build a bridge in the allotted time-frame, but to build a better bridge that will stand the test of time.  As they push towards the short deadline, Nicholson begins to employ some of the measures threatened by Saito, but under Nicholson's direction, they pass as reasonable means.  So back to Shears in the hospital.  It turns out that an Allied team is being assembled to go and blow up the bridge.  Shears winds up volunteering (more like blackmailed into going).  It's rather difficult traveling, with the leader, Major Warden (Jack Hawkins), getting shot in the foot and then Japanese patrols showing up and such.  If you hadn't guessed it from the film's beginning, yes the bridge blows up.  But who does it and what is destroyed in the process is what ends the film with an even bigger emotional blow.

Highlights

You really can't get any finer acting.  Alec Guiness won an Oscar for Best Actor, and it was richly deserved.  Likewise Holden and Hayakawa give strong performances too.  However my favorite character, and one that really holds the heart of the film, is James Donald's Maj. Clipton.  We see a great deal as he does, as he is the only one to have conferences with both Saito and Nicholson during the standoff.  After seeing them both, stubborn and unwavering, he says "are they both mad?  Or am I going mad?  Or is it the sun?"  He reminds me a bit of Horatio in Hamlet in that he is very close to all of the proceedings, but most importantly he is alone, on a hillside, watching the horror of the bridge's explosion.  He is the only one left who can put words to it all - "Madness."

The film's construction was remarkable too, especially the bridge itself.  Filmed on location in Ceylon, some of the scenes with Shears and the Allied party are beautiful.  It's so well written too; I loved how they paid attention to both what was said and what was left unsaid.  In particular, Nicholson's speech at the end of the film about what a man leaves behind him when his life is through is both touching and yet still reserved, in keeping with his character.  That speech alone and how Guiness delivered it earned those Oscars.  On a side note about the Oscars, the film won for best Screenplay.  The writers were Pierre Boulle, who wrote the original book, Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson.  Foreman and Wilson had been blacklisted, so at the time of the film's release, only Boulle was listed as the writer, despite the fact that he didn't know much English.

Speaking of the book, I'd like to bring up what is often a debate between film scholars and literature scholars - book versus movie.  Usually I'm on the side of the book, with some exceptions (I liked The Godfather film better than the book).  In this case, I think it would be a tie.  What really struck me about the novel was just how similar Nicholson and Saito were.  They echo each other.  In the scenes where Clipton first talks to Saito and then immediately afterward talks to Nicholson, I thought I was reading the same pages over again - that's how close these two men were.  That parallelism comes across better on the page than on screen, though they do a very good job in the film.  I also started to think about what war films were truly about - the lower layer, if you will.  Specifically POW escape movies - is it something to do with bucking the system?  An escape from not only a physical prison, but an emotional one too?  The idea of an individual making it out to safety, the lone man against the world? (Think of Steve McQueen on that motorcycle in The Great Escape.)  I don't know enough about war genre studies, but I still think it's an interesting idea to keep in mind while watching.

Review and Recommendation
The Bridge on the River Kwai may be my favorite war film.  It's a classic by every standard.  I know a common downside people seem to cite is that it feels a bit long, but all of the details in writing and acting make it worthwhile.  All this time after I first saw the film and then picked up the book, I still recommend both the film and book very highly.

P.S. I forgot to mention that the theme song, "Colonel Bogey March" really is addictive.  I'm whistling it now just writing about it.  

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Intro.

Everybody knows the line.  "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up."  And just about everyone knows the image that goes with it - Gloria Swanson decked out in a gown and glitzy headpiece from the 1920's, descending the stairs, her chin up and huge eyelashes held on unblinking eyes.  I knew this line well, but had never seen the film which featured it: Sunset Boulevard.  I just watched it a few nights ago and I have to say, it's my new favorite film.  I've always liked movies about Hollywood and the film business, but Sunset Boulevard outdoes any of the others I've seen.  

Overview

Sunset Boulevard opens on its namesake following a squad of homicide police cars past palm trees and luxuriant mansions.  A voiceover tells us he's going to tell us the real story, before you get the messed up version from the reporters.  The police all gather around a swimming pool, where we see a dead man floating face-down.  The narrators says he's been shot twice in the back and once in the stomach.  He's "nobody important.  Just a movie-writer with a couple of B-pictures to his name."  We get a look at the poor guy's face again as the narrator adds, "poor dope.  He always wanted a pool."  Then the film goes back to six months earlier, and the narrator switches to telling us about himself.  His name is Joe Gillis (William Holden), and he's a penniless writer cranking out two stories a week which he can't sell.  The finance company shows up to repossess his car, but he says he lent it to a friend.  Joe of course does have the car, and goes to Paramount to talk to a producer friend of his about a story he sent in.  The reader's department has given the story a poor rating, so Joe's out of luck.  He goes to see his agent, who says that losing his car will be great because he'll be inspired to write more.  Just as Joe's driving back, the finance company guys spot him and start to pursue him.  Joe pulls into one of the big estates on Sunset Boulevard and hides in a deserted garage.  Safely hidden, he goes towards the house, thinking it's deserted.  That's why he is so startled to see a butler appear at the door and usher him inside.  Turns out that Joe has been mistaken for an undertaker because the homeowner's pet chimp has died.  And the homeowner is just as extravagent and outrageous as the house - her name is Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), famous silent film era movie star.  "You used to be big," Joe nods in recognition.  "I am big," she corrects him.  "It's the pictures that got small."  She asks Joe to stay and read the script she's been writing for several years - her big picture to mark her return to the screen.  She hires Joe to help her rewrite the script.  He spends the rest of the day there reading and when he wakes up the next morning, he finds all of his belongings have been moved in for him.  Before Joe realizes it, he becomes a kept man.  His car is repossessed, Norma won't let him leave, and soon she's buying him clothes and cigarette cases.  On New Year's Eve, she throws a party but he's the only guest.  He snaps, tells her he wants a life of his own, and storms out to go to his friend Artie's party.  He comes back, however, because Norma was so overcome, she took the razor from his room and slit her wrists.  She survived, but the night changed them both.  Joe stays with Norma after that and she confidently readies herself for her great return to the screen.  She even manages to go to Paramount and see Mr. DeMille, who doesn't have the heart to tell her that her script is awful.  While at the studio though, Joe sees Artie's girlfriend, Betty Schaefer (Nancy Olson), who proposes making a script out of one of Joe's old short stories.  He agrees to start meeting her late at night and continue working on the script.  There are a few complications though, as first Betty falls in love with Joe and then Norma discovers a copy of the script with Betty's and Joe's names on it.  It all comes to an end when Norma calls Betty to warn her about Joe, but Joe interrupts and tells Betty to come over and see his situation.  I won't give away exactly what happens, but it's a wonderful ride all the way to the very end, where the camera finally gives Norma her close-up.

Highlights
I love how Sunset Boulevard is written.  The dialogue and the narration are both outstanding.  Besides the line I quoted at the beginning of this post, there's also the wonderful descriptions and reflections of Joe Gillis.  He speaks like a writer, which is probably why it comes across so well.  He sees the big mansion and calls it "a big white elephant of a house."  He realizes how deeply troubled Norma is as he narrates, "she was still sleepwalking along the giddy heights of a lost career."  Then we have Norma's madness-induced lines like "no one ever leaves a star - that's what makes one a star."  Through it all we get a keen sense of Joe's cynicism and Norma's desperation.  That's what the film really comes down to - two people who have seen the dark side of Hollywood.

Gloria Swanson gives an amazing performance as Norma.  I didn't know it at the time, but Gloria had been a star back in the days of silent films, and those movies Norma watches are actually Gloria's old ones from the 20's.  As Norma, she is both pitiable and detestable - I really didn't make up my mind about her character until the very last scene, where you can't help but feel sorry for her.  The best word for her is denial.  In Joe's words, she's "still waving proudly at a parade that had long since passed her by."  Her fans, her friends, everyone in the cold world of show business has given her the brush, but she refuses to believe it.  Her denial is narcissistic perhaps, but very human.  She refuses to believe that she's getting older, that she's past the best years of her life.

Just as Gloria Swanson is a perfect fit as Norma Desmond, William Holden is just as perfect for the role of Joe Gillis.  I think very few actors could have delivered that dead-pan cynical narrative as well as Holden.  Maybe it was the kind of character he usually played or maybe it was a bit of his own personality, but there's something very engaging in his performance.  Just as engaging is the sweet, optimistic Betty, played by the beautiful Nancy Olson.  She too has been snubbed by Hollywood, but has adjusted rather well.  She and Norma are polar opposites, which may be why Joe is so drawn to Betty.  Their dynamic is fun to watch and gives the film a lot more depth.

Finally, I have to comment a little on the satiric look at Hollywood.  Entire books have been written about it, so I'm just going to make this short.  I loved how real shots of Paramount studios and Schwab's Drugstore were used - it gives a realistic feel to the film.  I also loved how real celebrities were discussed - Joe Gillis mentions Selznick, Tyrone Powers, Alan Ladd.  And to make it even better, Cecil B. DeMille appears as himself!  Also keep your eyes out for Hedda Hopper and Buster Keaton, also playing themselves.  It makes the impact of the film more pronounced, more identifiable. It also doesn't shy away from how quickly stars can be forgotten or how cruel fans and reporters can be.  We see it every day in pop culture headlines - which celebrities are in rehab, which are in jail, which are causing the latest scandal.  But when the publicity stops altogether, that can be the end of a career.

Review and Recommendation
Honestly, I could write a lot more about why Sunset Boulevard is a great movie, but I won't.  What I can do is give it one of my strongest "must-see" recommendations.  If I had a 5-star system, this would get 8 stars.  It's a film about films and movie-lovers everywhere will find something to like and admire.  It's easy to see why it won 3 Oscars.  So sit back, enjoy and be prepared for Norma Desmond to stare directly at you, you "wonderful people out there in the dark."

P.S. For any Stephen King fans out there, this film definitely reminded me of a non-gory version of Misery.  Don't believe me?  Watch it and see!

The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)

Tagline: Kirk Douglas has swagger to burn!
Intro.

When I talk about books with my friends and co-workers, we inevitably mention our growing "to read" piles - books that have been recommended or even lent to us, books we've been itching to read but haven't been able to find time for or books that we know we should read because they are classics or bestsellers.  This last group, books that we should read, I think can be applied to a sort of loose canon of literature.  You know, those books we were all expected to read in school.  I think the same idea of a canon can be applied to film as well.  We can focus it on world film as a whole or on films of a particular country.  If we took American films, for example, some classics in the canon would include The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, Citizen Kane, Casablanca, you get the idea.  That got me thinking - what determines a film's place as a real classic?  On this site, I use the term "classic" loosely to mean any film more than 30 years old.  But you can't very well say two films like Carolina Moon and 12 Angry Men are classics in the same sense of the word.   Does it have to do with the number of Oscars a film wins?  Or the performances of the actors or actresses in their careers?  What about the place of a film within the history of Hollywood or in the film's culture?  What about the film's recognition in today's world (like how many people today have ever seen or even heard of films like The Life of Emile Zola or Grand Hotel - both are Best Picture Oscar winners)?  This is what I was thinking about when I saw that one of the films on my "should watch" list was on television.  The winner of 5 Oscars, The Bad and the Beautiful promised to be a great film, so I eagerly settled in to watch.

Overview
The Bad and the Beautiful starts with phone calls - one to a director, one to a beautiful woman, one to a writer.  All of the calls are from Jonathan Shields and all go purposefully unanswered.  All three of those people meet up at the house of studio head Harry Pebbel (Walter Pidgeon).  Washed out film producer Jonathan (Kirk Douglas) is ready after two years to make his comeback, but needs all three of those people to make the film with him.  As Harry pleads with them, each person tells the story of how Jonathan entered and then ruined their lives.  First up is director Fred Amile (Barry Sullivan), who met Jonathan when the latter first came to Hollywood.  Jonathan's father had been a big time producer and Jonathan aimed to do even better, but had to start at the very bottom.  Together, the two men began directing films back when they were very production-line oriented.  As the studio executive tells them, "I don't want to win awards.  I want to make pictures that end with a kiss and black ink in the books."  The men learn their trade through long hours and hard work, and finally make a really successful film.  Fred has a story outlined from a popular book and is dying to be lead director on his own picture.  But Jonathan is the one who can sell, and gets the picture made, though part of the bargain is to bring in an experienced director.  Fred disowns Jonathan, though back in the present tense of the film, Harry reminds him that Fred finally stopped hanging on Jonathan's coattails, became a great success on his own and has a great life.  Then the story switches to beautiful actress Georgia Lorrison (Lana Turner), who was discovered by Jonathan.  Her flashback shows us what a wreck she was - an alcoholic steeped in depression.  Jonathan takes care of her, teaches her to be a lady and gets her the role in his next big picture, despite the protests of the director.  Their fondness turns to love (at least on her part) and the night of the premier she is haled as the next great star.  But Jonathan isn't there to share her joy.  She goes to his house only to find him angry at her presence.  That's probably because he has another woman upstairs.  Completely crushed, she leaves him and almost has a car accident because she's crying so hard.  Thus, she blames him for using her.  Since then, however, she has continued to be a great star and studios everywhere are eager for her to work with them.  Finally the last story is told through the screenwriter, James Lee Bartlow (Dick Powell).  His connection with Jonathan started when he published his book on the history of Virginia.  Jonathan convinces him to come to Hollywood to turn the book into a film.  James is reluctant to stay and write the screenplay, but between Jonathan's influence and James's wife's desire to see Hollywood, he stays.  When he can't focus on the screenplay, Jonathan arranges for he and James to spend two weeks in the country.  He also arranges for a sexy actor called Gaucho (Gilbert Roland) to distract Mrs. Rosemary Bartlow (Gloria Graham), a charming Southern belle with a knack for disrupting her husband whenever he tries to work.  James finishes the script, but returns to Hollywood to find that Gaucho and Rosemary have been killed in a plane crash.  When the truth finally comes out, James disowns Jonathan.  So at last James, Georgia and Fred have to decide whether or not to give Jonathan another chance.

Highlights
I'm a big fan of flashbacks.  The way that The Bad and the Beautiful, uses three long flashbacks to tell the story of a man's life is very well done.  In fact, the whole film is very strong in its storytelling.  Part of it is the way it all ties together.  The three central characters (James, Georgia and Fred) all know of each other and appear in multiple flashbacks.  The opening itself is a great way to introduce the three of them as well as Jonathan - a man so hated no one will take his call.

Kirk Douglas carries the film so well.  He makes Jonathan both despicable and yet so endearing.  It's magnetism.  He can talk his way into or out of anything.  One word I thought of immediately was swagger.  The whole movie rests on how much swagger he has.  That and his perfect, unmovable hair.  But I digress.  Kirk Douglas should've won an Oscar for this performance - his character is the absolute epitome of everything we both love and hate about Hollywood.  I think that's why the film is such a classic.  It's not only about a man who will stop at nothing to get to the top, but also the story of old Hollywood, or at least the kind of story we want to see. 

Review and Recommendation
The Bad and the Beautiful has some great aspects and the Oscars it won (Art Direction, Cinematography, Writing, Costume Design, and Supporting Actress for Gloria Grahame) are deserved.  It's not as dark as most "inside Hollywood" films, but also not as light as say Singin' in the Rain.  While I don't think it's a "classic" as much as some other films, it is nevertheless a fine piece of movie-making history.  An all-around good film, I recommend it also for Douglas's fine acting and a great story.

Doctor Zhivago (1965)

Intro.

You know how some films you aren't really interested in until you hear them referenced in another film?  That's how it was for me with Doctor Zhivago - I hadn't really heard a lot about it or had a desire to see it until I watched the modern romantic comedy Must Love Dogs (2005).  In that film, John Cusack's character is obsessed with Doctor Zhivago.  He says that he wants a love like that - a sweeping, epic love that is so powerful that "even after you're dead, it still hurts."  I couldn't resist a line like that, so when Doctor Zhivago aired on TCM recently, I took the opportunity to watch one of the great epics of Hollywood as well as #7 on the AFI's list of America's Greatest Love Stories.

Overview

While it's a bit difficult to summarize a movie that runs for three and a half hours, I'll try my best.  Basically the film focuses on the lives of Yuri Zhivago (Omar Sharif) and Lara (Julie Christie).  From the beginning it seems that these two people were destined to meet - orphaned Yuri goes to live with his parents' friends and their daughter Tonya.  He grows up, becomes a famous young poet and then a doctor.  Lara grows up in a dressmaker's shop with her mother, and winds up falling prey to her mother's lecherous boyfriend Komarovsky, who rapes her.  They first cross paths when Lara's mother attempts suicide and Zhivago comes to her aide.  Then after she is raped, Lara comes to a big high-class society party and shoots Komarovsky just as Yuri and Tonya announce their engagement.  Well, Yuri and Tonya marry, and Lara marries her boyfriend, the idealist Pasha.  When WWI breaks out, Pasha enlists, and when he goes missing, Lara volunteers as a nurse to look for him.  She winds up serving in a country hospital with Zhivago, and they find a growing fondness for each other.  They call it off for the sake of their families, but it's clear neither can stop thinking about the other.  Yuri goes home to the middle of a revolution, and his well-off family is being targeted by the Bolsheviks.  They are forced to move to their country estate in order to avoid further persecution.   As it turns out, Lara lives in the town nearby their new cottage.  Zhivago frequents the town often, first to spend time writing at the library and then to just meet up with Lara.  What was a mutual fondness has blown up into a full love affair and we can see that while Tonya is Yuri's closest and oldest friend, Lara is his true love.  It's sad and painful to watch the hardships faced by all of the characters, and only gets worse when on his way back home from breaking it off with Lara (Tonya is pregnant), Yuri is shanghaied and forced into service with the Red Army during the Russian Civil War.  Kept away for more than a year, Yuri is desperate to see his family.  He finally makes it back to town, only to find his family has fled to Paris.  He finds comfort in the arms of Lara, who seems to be the only person left in the area.  They finally have their time together, but it isn't meant to last - Lara's husband Pasha has been killed for his part in the war, and the troops are coming for Lara and her little girl.  Komarovsky offers them a way out, and Lara and her daughter go.  Zhivago, full of hatred for Komarovsky, ducks out at the last minute and reunites with his family in Moscow, but spends even his last breath trying to find Lara again.

Highlights

Framing:  The film's story is actually a long flashback told by Alec Guinness (who is awesome!!), who is Yuri's estranged brother, Yevgraf.  The film starts with him questioning a young girl about her background and we learn that he is looking for his niece, the child of Yuri and Lara.  She says she isn't the girl, but he seems positive and begins to tell her all about Yuri and Lara.  The film beautifully closes with her leaving the room and walking off, slinging a balalaika over her shoulder.  We know from the story that Yuri's mother played the balalaika like a master, and her instrument was Yuri's most prized possession.  It's a simple yet beautiful way to tie the story together and confirm for most viewers that she is indeed Lara and Yuri's child.

Cinematography: Doctor Zhivago is absolutely gorgeous.  The scenes are so well presented and carefully detailed.  I loved all the shots of Zhivago looking through windows at other worlds (oh so much symbolism, I'll have to leave it for another time!).  There are also some really well-coordinated shots that either allude to deeper meanings or foreshadow future events (like the blood on the snow from the massacre).  I read on IMDb about how most of the film was shot in Spain, where a ten-acre replica of Moscow was built in the countryside.  Perhaps the most breathtaking scene is when all that snow finally melts and we see Zhivago's cottage surrounded by thousands of daffodils (actually 4,000, all of which had to be shipped in from the Netherlands).  Now that's epic film-making!  No wonder it won an Oscar for best cinematography.

Love Story: So all of this leads to one question - is it truly one of the greatest love stories of all time?  I would say yes and no.  I have to say I was a bit troubled by the fact that both Zhivago and Lara were married.  And not just married, but Zhivago seemed happily married.  I do have to give him credit though - he broke it off with Lara when Tonya was pregnant with their second child.  But as their story unfolded, I could better empathize with them and in the end secretly hoped they would end up together.  It's a chemistry you don't often see, even if that whole "getting the girl out of harm's way but not being able to go with her" sounds a bit like another great love story I've written about....  Of course, that heart-wrenching ending where Zhivago thinks he sees Lara for the last time is so poignant that you can't help but feel the pain of his loss.  If you don't empathize with the characters for the whole film, you can at least admire their great courage in the face of such a devastating time.

Review & Recommendation

Doctor Zhivago is such a beautiful story, I'd definitely recommend this to everyone, although some of the scenes and topics are not appropriate for young ones.  I'd also say you may want to brush up on your Russian history before watching to avoid too much confusion (I found myself trying very hard to remember my high school history class!).  However, deep down, the film is really a simple love story - two people who love each other in spite of all the hatred and chaos in the world around them.  You know from the beginning they can never live happily ever after, but somehow that loss only makes it that much more powerful.  It's a definite must see for classic film fans and hopeless romantics alike.  And finally I can't resist saying it: "We'll always have Varykino."    

Check out all of the cool stuff about Doctor Zhivago on IMDb's FAQ page.  And when you watch, keep an eye out for young Yuri Zhivago - he's played by Omar Sharif's real life (and completely adorable!) son.      

West Side Story (1961)

Intro.

Each of us has that "list" of films we want to see, but for one reason or another haven't gotten around to seeing.  Whenever someone recommends a movie to us, we say we'll put it on our list.  West Side Story was one of those movies on my list.  I had always been meaning to see it, so when it was featured on TCM a few days ago as part of their 31 days of Oscar marathon, I finally got my chance.  I already knew it was based on Romeo & Juliet, but it surprised me by being unpredictable.

Overview

For the most part, West Side Story does mirror Romeo & Juliet.  The feuding families have been replaced with rival teenage gangs - the American born Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks.  Of course there's a dance at the school gymnasium, where Maria, the sister of the Sharks leader Bernardo, meets Tony, one of the founding members of the Jets.  Tony has since given up the gang life in order to work and make a life for himself.  His best friend Riff now runs the Jets, and has asked him to help with a war council against the Sharks.  Bernardo, furious that Maria danced with Tony, accepts Riff's challenge to a rumble.  The agreement is that one man from each side will fight with only his fists - no weapons.  Meanwhile, Tony and Maria get together, but she pleads with him to stop the fight.  Tony arrives as the rumble begins, and his attempts to stop it only further anger Bernardo.  Needless to say, the fight gets way out of control and ends with both Riff and Bernardo dead.  Bernardo's friend Chino goes after Tony for revenge and after a few fateful twists, the film closes with both gangs realizing just what their hatred has done.

Highlights
The music and choreography are definitely the shining features of this film.  It feels almost like an opera, with its sweeping dance sequences and limited amount of dialogue.  The beginning was a bit difficult for me to get interested in, as it felt a little on the long side.  Also, it took some time for me to really appreciate and accept a bunch of teenage gangsters trying to assert their territory by dancing down the street.  But as soon as we meet Maria and Tony, the film changes both in depth and color.  Everything in the Puerto Rican homes is bright, rich and multi-colored, which makes it the perfect setting for Maria and Tony to reunite and declare their love.  In addition to the wonderful performances of Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer, Rita Moreno does an outstanding job as Bernardo's girlfriend Anita.  Especially good is the number done by the Sharks and their women called "America", which focuses on the hardships faced by immigrants.

Review
I was surprised that Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer both had their singing dubbed, and I have to confess it took some of the magic away.  The film does feel a bit dated, and as I mentioned before the beginning is a little long.  Still, I can see why the film earned its 10 Oscars, as it beautifully touches such difficult topics as teenage angst and rebellion, fated love, and prejudice.  It is one of the most simple story lines that has produced such a complex and dynamic musical.  If West Side Story is still on your list, move it up to the top and watch it soon.

The Guns of Navarone (1961)

Intro.
February is the month of love.  Even though I hate Valentine's Day, I decided that the theme for posts this month would be Leading Men We Love.  It's been a bit tough lately because of the blizzard that hit the whole state of Maryland, but between Netflix online and TCM, I've been able to put together a few films.  I wasn't planning on watching The Guns of Navarone, but as it starred the always wonderful Gregory Peck, I decided to add it to my list. 

Overview
The Allies are trying to save a group of 2,000 British prisoners from the island of Kiros.  The only thing stopping them is the pair of gigantic anti-ship guns situated in the rocky cliffside of the island of Navarone.  The fortress around the guns makes an air attack impossible, and the Allied ships don't have a chance against those guns.  So the only solution is to send British officer Keith Mallory (Gregory Peck) with a team of the best fighters and explosives experts to Navarone, where they will climb a sheer cliff, meet up with a few Greek Resistance fighters and then make their way into the fortress and destroy the guns with explosives.  No part of the mission goes smoothly - the ship they take on the way to the island sinks in a storm; they have to climb the cliff in the rain at night; the head British officer, Roy Franklin (played by Anthony Quayle) breaks his leg; they get captured by the Germans; and finally when they reach the fortress, they discover someone has destroyed all of the explosive devices.  Through it all, Mallory must lead his men with conviction, even with the most difficult decisions and obstacles.  The Allies win of course, and the ending is one of the most triumphant of all WWII films.

Highlights
The acting in this film is incredible.  Anthony Quinn, as Col. Stavros, is outstanding as the friend/enemy of Mallory.  You both love and fear him.  Gregory Peck is at the top of his game as well and gives a commanding performance.  He shows us how difficult his job is without saying so.  Also worthy of note is the charming David Niven, whose witty remarks offer the necessary relief both for the men and the audience.  Nivens plays the role of the chemistry professor turned anti-officer very well, and his role in figuring out who the traitor is reminded me of his work in murder mysteries (like The Pink Panther and Death on the Nile).  His is the much needed foil for Gregory Peck's ramrod-like command, and together the two men truly lead the film.

Points of Note
Robert Osborn introduced this film as part of TCM's 31 days of Oscar.  The Guns of Navarone won the Oscar for Best Special Effects, and was nominated for several more honors.  The ending truly deserves the honor, as do all of the actors.  David Niven reportedly had an accident on set which resulted in a split lip which got infected and sent him to the hospital for four weeks.  And Gregory Peck, with his solid acting, had this film named as the highest-grossing picture in his career up to that point.  Memorable on all fronts, perhaps the best is the way the film pays tribute to the real-life battles on the Dodecanese islands in Greece.  While some of the story is elaborated or completely different from the true story, many elements remain (read more here).

Review
Often called the greatest war film of all time, The Guns of Navarone is definitely one of the most memorable.  The fine cast and great effects has established it as an undeniable classic.  There is enough action, intrigue and full character development to interest any viewer, and the unusual setting of Greece for a WWII film makes it even better.  While it is not among my favorite WWII films (like The Great Escape), I still found the entire film very enjoyable and well worth watching.  I recommend it to fans of Gregory Peck and fans of war films, particularly those set in WWII.