1/20/2014 Lost Horizon, Best Art Direction, Best Film Editing 1937
Lost Horizon is an interesting film in so many ways: it is about a 'Utopian' community in the Tibetan Himalayas, released in the years before World War II made its way across Europe, but there were hostilities in Asia as Japan was beginning to flex its muscle in war with China; the version that the public can view today is a restored version, made up of film footage as well as the soundtrack; it was directed by Frank Capra after Mr. Deeds Goes to Town and before Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, two very idealistic and 'American' films. Robert Conway (Ronald Coleman), a British diplomat, is in charge of getting British citizens out of the city of Baskul as the city falls. The plane Conway and the others escape on gets hijacked and eventually crashes in the Himalayas; strangely, they are met and rescued and taken to an idyllic compound, Shangri-La. Conway's fellow travelers include his younger brother, George; a paleontologist, Lovett (Edward Everett Horton, whose name may not sound familiar, but his face and voice will ring bells); Barnard, a conman (Thomas Mitchell who was Scarlett O'Hara's father in Gone with the Wind); and Gloria Stone, a woman of questionable background who is very ill. The group is met by the spokesman for Shangri-La, Chang (H.B. Warner who appeared in a few Capra movies) who at best answers his visitors questions with vague responses and at worst, brushes them off with a smile and nod. Conway finds a connection with Chang and greatly enjoys the peace and quiet of Shangri-La and he becomes intrigued with a young girl, Sondra, played by Jane Wyatt (Spock's mother). Even as Conway is become more enamored of the peaceful village, his brother is anxious to get back to England as are the others, but over time, all except George want to stay and become a part of the community, Lovett wants to teach and Barnard has dreams of running modern plumbing. Chang tells Conway the story of Shangri-La and how it was founded over 200 years ago by the High Lama, who was originally a priest. Conway eventually meets the High Lama and learns of the his plans to make Conway his successor. Conway is told by Chang and the High Lama that people can live to a very old age in Shangri-La because of the lifestyle and the absence of stress, greed, violence, etc. There are parts of the movie that sound like a treatise on socialism. Capra, who has no qualms about being heavy-handed on occasion, doesn't spare us his politics here either. There were times I found it hard to take, I found George to be whiny and overacted, and perhaps I am jaded, but I thought there was a Star Trek episode that was similar to this storyline. I did like listening to Ronald Coleman speak, he had a wonderful voice. The sets that made up Shangri-La, the massive rooms and parapets were really incredible and Stephen Goosson won an Oscar for them. There are pieces of film that could not be found and restored, so they incorporated still photos. It still isn't restored to the original length of 210 minutes, and for that I have to say, thank you, 132 minutes was quite long enough. It was a good movie, but not 3 hours good. If you're a Capra aficionado or a film history buff, then you should definitely see it.
1/20/14 Suspicion, Best Actress 1941
Damn you, Alfred Hitchcock. Hitchcock really made some good movies but never won an Oscar for Best Director. He kind of sucks you in, with a little bit of comedy, then some mystery, maybe a little moody music. He had me very off-balance with Suspicion, I was so ready for something to happen, and every time I thought it would, it didn't. Joan Fontaine won the Best Actress Oscar for her role as Lina McLaidlaw, the plain daughter of fairly well-off parents, played by Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Dame May Witty. Lina is swept off her feet by the rapscallion, Johnnie Aysgarth (Cary Grant). Needless to say, Lina's parents are not overly thrilled by this relationship, even less thrilled after they get married. There are some indications that Johnnie is after Lina for her money and that is the little niggling thought that you have through the whole movie. Cary Grant is so smooth, he is fun to watch, even when he is being less than honest, you still want to like him, you can't help it. That's kind of how Lina feels. Hitchcock knows how to use tension, tightening it up with a camera angle, loosening it with a little levity, and then damned if he doesn't push you close to the edge again.I really enjoyed watching this movie. I didn't see any of the other movies for the Best Actress nominees, so I don't have any opinion on if Joan Fontaine deserved to win, but she was up against her sister, Olivia de Havilland, which I'm sure did not help their relationship. I cannot think of another year where two siblings were up against each other for the same award.
1/21/14 Cat Ballou, Best Actor, 1965
Cat Ballou was recommended by a co-worker, not realizing that it would actually cross another movie off of the list, I was going to watch it as an interlude between my other movies. Who knew? What a happy accident. I don't think a movie like this could be made today, we're too 'sophisticated' or jaded or something, but it was fun as heck to watch. Cat Ballou stars Lee Marvin (in his Oscar-winning role) as Kid Shelleen and Tim Strawn, Jane Fonda as 'Cat' Ballou, and Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye as type of musical Greek chorus. Well, this movie is either going to be terrible or it's going to make you laugh. I laughed. Cat Ballou was trained as a teacher and heads back home to Wolf City, Wyoming only to find her father struggling against progress and a land developer. Tim Strawn (Lee Marvin) is a hired gun who is supposed to scare off Cat's father. Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye stroll through various scenes providing a musical narrative with a little commentary mix in. I thought they were one of the highlights of the movie. Jane Fonda plays the straight lady to the other characters around her, including an uncle/nephew cattle-rustling duo, an Indian who is practically ostracized by everyone in Wolf City except for Cat's father and Cat (Cat's father is convinced Jackson Two Bear is Jewish and one of the Lost Tribes of Israel) and to Kid Shelleen (also Lee Marvin). To combat Tim Strawn, Cat and her friends bring in Kid Shelleen, a hero in dime novels, who has a slight drinking problem. There are assorted capers that Cat and her gang go on in the attempt to hurt and impede the land developers, including a train robbery. There are elements in the movie that remind me of The Great Race with Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and Natalie Wood, there's a big fight that breaks out at a community dance, serious characters in comedic situations. 1965 was quite a year for actors, with Richard Burton, Laurence Olivier and Rod Steiger also all nominated for Best Actor.
Filed under the 'it's a small world in films' category, the man who created Lee Marvin's nose, John Chambers, was part of the team featured in Argo.
1/25/14 The Great Dictator, nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Writing, Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Score, 1940
This is Charlie Chaplin's first full talking movie (there was some sound in Modern Times) because he thought sound in films would be a passing phase. People are probably somewhat familiar with the movie through various clips that may get shown during montages or anthologies: Chaplin plays a dual role, Adenoid Hynkel, a dictator of fictitious Tomainia, and his doppelganger, known as A Jewish Barber. Hynkel is starting to implement his anti-Jewish laws, marking businesses with 'JEW' on their windows, harassing Jews and embarking on his campaign to rule the world. Chaplin's character, the Jewish Barber, looks a lot like the Little Tramp, except he does speak and he's a little bolder. There are actually books and articles on whether the Barber is the Tramp, and what would be the motivation for either case, that's how embedded into the social psyche Chaplin was at the time. The movie is drama-comedy, with a very serious topic being handled with comedic touches, and with Chaplin basically giving Hitler the finger and big old raspberry at the same time. The more I watch Chaplin, the more impressed I am and I want people to know what a great director and actor he was; watching him move, whether he is dancing with a globe, trying to escape soldiers, it's balletic, it's so fluid. I'm not sure I can accurately describe it, but it's amazing. If you take The Great Dictator out of it's time frame and if it's possible to watch it without thinking about the events at the time, it's a great movie, but if you watch it with an understanding of the historical, political and cinematic events, it's even more amazing. Chaplin so believed in this movie and the importance of somehow sticking it to Hitler that he funded the movie himself. This was his most successful movie. The DVD from library had a disk of special features and included a documentary from Turner Classic Movies on The Great Dictator and its place in history at the time with commentary from his son Sydney, Sidney Lumet, a gentleman from Hitler's inner circle among others. I would think this would be a great tool to use in a modern history class, the importance of cinema in history and a look at a film contemporaneous to the events at the time. Chaplin has said that if he knew about what was happening in the concentration camps and the extent of the atrocities, he would not have made the movie. Some of those being interviewed commented that he did more good for the war effort with his movie, and that laughter is often more important to survival than just being physically strong (and some of those interviewees were Jewish).
I recently finished Chaplin's autobiography and he writes extensively about The Great Dictator and his political views which got him in a lot of hot water in the United States. It took me a while to finish, but learning more about his methods and his various inspirations helped me to appreciate his films and creative genius even more. I am probably due to re-watch Chaplin starring Robert Downey Jr.
