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| Free Stamp, Cleveland, Ohio |
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| Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, Ohio |
So, today's blog will be about Oscar-winning movies that have a Cleveland connection (however tenuous or tangential).
The Dirty Dozen, Best Sound Effects, 1967
The Dirty Dozen is a World War II action movie with a great cast of characters played by Lee Marvin, John Cassavetes, Charles Bronson, Donald Sutherland, Telly Savalas and Jim Brown among others. Lee Marvin plays Major John Reisman who is asked to lead a group of soldiers in what is certain to be a death mission. The soldiers in question are either sentenced to death or life in prison, but if they survive, their sentences will be commuted. Part of what I liked about the movie is watching the characters learn to work together and go through the drills, and then putting the plan into action. It's kind of like the original A-Team. Is it the best movie ever? No, but it doesn't claim to be, but it's one of the few movies that I will watch whenever I find it on television. And it didn't win for Best Picture, but Best Sound Effects. If you like World War II movies, like Kelly's Heroes, The Guns of Navarone, you might like this as well. The Cleveland connection? Jim Brown, one of the greatest running backs of all time (I say the greatest, but I'm biased) who played for the Cleveland Browns.
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| Jim Brown, Cleveland, Ohio |
This is the Superman movie, the first in a tetralogy of Superman films starring Christopher Reeve. This is Superman's origin story, how his father, Jor-El (played by Marlon Brando) popped him in a capsule to rescue him from Krypton's impending doom. The effects for 1978, thirty-five years ago, were done before CGI and the fancy stuff we are so used to these days. I never bought Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor, it seemed too clowny, I mean Luthor is evil, and I always thought the movie had a hard time deciding if it was going to be melodrama, serious, comic book-y. I do like Christopher Reeve, and I think he may be the best Superman. Margot Kidder is Lois Lane, Ned Beatty is Otis, Luthor's henchman/sidekick. This is a good family night movie, and for all my complaining I do above, I do like that Reeve does not play Superman as a brooding, uncertain, reluctant superhero (at least not yet) and recommend seeing the movie, for historical perspective if nothing else. Superman was created by two Clevelanders, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
The Untouchables, Best Supporting Actor, 1987
Kevin Costner stars as Eliot Ness and Robert DeNiro is his nemesis, Al Capone during the Prohibition Era. Ness's exploits during this time are legendary, the incorruptible government agent during a time of corruption. Costner is not my favorite actor, and there are times when I watch him, I think, eh. It feels like you can tell he's acting. Sean Connery is the reason I will watch this when it's on TV, and it is quite often. How do you not love Sean Connery as Jimmy Malone, the Irish cop, who's Ness's mentor and has this Obi-Wan Kenobi type of presence? Connery won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in this movie. There are so many movies about Prohibition and the gangsters of that time period, you could have a whole film festival, maybe show episodes of Boardwalk Empire in between The St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Scarface, Road to Perdition and others. I think even when I don't like a movie, I like Robert DeNiro, so you have two reasons to watch: Connery and DeNiro. After his fame in Chicago and 'capture' of Capone on tax evasion, Ness moved to Cleveland to become the Safety Director and he faced a foe he was never able to defeat, the Kingsbury Row murderer (although he did make life miserable for Cleveland mobsters).
Road to Perdition, Best Cinematography, 2002
Tom Hanks is Michael Sullivan, a member of the Irish mob run by Paul Newman's character, John Rooney. Rooney is a contemporary of Al Capone. Daniel Craig is Connor Rooney, John Rooney's son, who has some, um, control issues, as in, he doesn't have any. Sullivan's son sees Connor kill a man which scares Connor enough to try to kill Sullivan and his family. Sullivan is generally quiet, not a lot of bluster, but he quickly seeks his own kind of retribution by robbing banks with Rooney and Capone's money. Meanwhile, there's a hit out on him, and Harlen Maguire (Jude Law) is a super creepy hit man. It's a cat-and-mouse game between Sullivan and Maguire, and you're not really sure how it's going to go. Sam Mendes (Skyfall, American Beauty, Revolutionary Road) directed and he uses a lot of restraint, which makes some of the violent scenes more intense and tension-filled. Hanks and Craig are good foils for each other, vying for Newman's approval. Newman was nominated as Best Supporting Actor but lost to Chris Cooper in Adaptation (which I haven't seen, and I like Chris Cooper, but I like Paul Newman better).You never seem to hear about this movie, but it had good box office results, and I liked it. Paul Newman was from Shaker Heights, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb and Tom Hanks had his start (or part of his start) with The Great Lakes Shakespeare Theater Festival in Cleveland.
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| A Cleveland Original, Jane Scott, World's Oldest Rock Critic |
