10/17/14 The Hellstrom Chronicle, Best Documentary, 1971
The title of this movie struck me as something that could have been a Robert Heinlein or Isaac Asimov book. It definitely had science fiction elements and even used a few clips from some sci-fi movies. This won for Best Documentary, even though the character of the title, Dr. Nils Hellstrom, is fictional and some of his proposed theories are a little wacky (some seem spot on forty-three years later). Dr. Hellstrom is an entomologist (at least I think so based on his interest, but he's just called a scientist in the Wikipedia write-up). Anyway, Dr. Hellstrom has an very doomsday point of view and sees humans on a path to war or conflict with insects and he goes on to recap the evolution of insects over the past million of years. The macrophotography is incredible; too incredible if you don't like bugs, like me. There are closeups of insects being born, having sex, fighting and dying. It's quite the circle of life. This is the type of thing that used to be on The Learning Channel or The Discovery Channel and that is still shown on PBS (support your local PBS station). The Dr. Hellstrom character is played by Lawrence Pressman (who may be familiar from his many television appearances) with his tongue firmly in cheek. I was debating whether or not to recommend this for younger viewers, and I guess I would leave that up to you. It can be a little scary and gross in parts (yes, I think nature should be clean and neat) and there are about 10-15 minutes devoted to sex among the insects. Of course, you could look at that as a great opportunity to have that birds and bees discussion you've been avoiding. Squeamishness aside, I did enjoy it and I think the quality of the photography holds up all these years later.
10/19/14 Harvey, Best Supporting Actress, 1950
Harvey is the story of Elwood P. Dowd (James Stewart) an affable man with a drinking problem and an invisible (imaginary?) white rabbit as a companion, Harvey. Harvey, by the way, is known as a 'pooka', a creature from Celtic mythology. Elwood lives with his sister, Veta (Josephine Hull in her Oscar winning role) and her daughter, Myrtle Mae. Veta and Myrtle Mae are concerned about Elwood's insistence on Harvey's existence; Elwood introduces Harvey to everyone he meets, even the bartender at his favorite bar serves up two martinis without a second thought. Veta wants to have Elwood committed to a rest home/sanatorium, one, to cure Elwood of his hallucinations and two, to keep him out of the way as Myrtle Mae tries to find a suitor. This is where things go a little off the rails, with the staff at Chumley Rest thinking that Veta is the one who needs to be institutionalized. It's pretty comical. Elwood goes through these events totally non-plussed, not troubled at all by those who don't believe in Harvey. James Stewart plays this straight, no camp, no over-eager selling and trying to convince us Harvey is there, and after a while, you kind of start to believe it yourself. Amid the chaos caused by the confusion over whom should be checked in to Chumley Rest, there are some other stories happening; one is the budding romance between Myrtle Mae and Marvin, a nurse at Chumley Rest (Marvin is played by Jesse White, the Maytag repairman); another is the love/hate/love relationship with Dr. Sanderson and Nurse Kelly, also employed at Chumley Rest. Elwood helps bring the two contentious lovers together, or maybe it was Harvey. Dr. Chumley offers Elwood the chance to be normal and stop seeing Harvey if he takes an injection. Through some intervention (Harvey?), Elwood does not get the injection. I liked Harvey, it had some funny bits and James Stewart is always fun to watch. In the introduction to the DVD, Stewart provides some insight to his feelings about the movie and the play (Stewart and Hull played their roles on Broadway first). I thought it was interesting that so many children attended the Saturday matinees because there are references to sex and the whole alcoholic aspect. I don't know if I would recommend this for kids. The good thing is the movie is short enough that you can watch it first and then decide for yourself.
10/19/14 Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, Best Animated Short Film, 1968
Is there anything more comforting than Winnie the Pooh? I think not. I could listen to Sebastian Cabot narrate the phone book, but when he's narrating the adventures of the Hundred Acre Wood, it's just so soothing. I think Winnie the Pooh is timeless, especially the short films made in the late 1960s and early 1970s (I find the later versions don't have quite the same feel). Pooh and his friends experience Winds-day, which is at it sounds, very windy and blustery and rainy. We meet all of Pooh's friends like Kanga and Roo, Rabbit, Tigger, Owl and my favorite, Eeyore. The Blustery Day contains quite a bit of action and characters (it's only about 26 minutes long) including the Heffalumps and Woozles as well as songs by the song-writing team of Richard and Robert Sherman. There is something special about Pooh and the very simple lens with which he looks at life; it's just not that complicated, and that is so refreshing, he has no ulterior motives. There is a book called The Tao of Pooh, I should probably dig that out. One of my favorite things about Disney animated films is figuring out who the voices are and what other characters they have done (this was before big celebrities voicing characters). I had a great time following the different links on Wikipedia to get these tidbits: Sterling Holloway was Pooh, he was also the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland, Mr. Stork in Dumbo; Paul Winchell played Tigger and he was also Gargamel from The Smurfs among a plethora of voice-over roles; Hal Smith as Owl might be better known to audiences as Otis the town drunk in The Andy Griffith Show; and the inimitable Sebastian Cabot, also known as Mr. French from Family Affair. I watched this on a VHS tape (yes, you read that right), but I believe this may also be available with some other Winnie the Pooh shorts on DVD.
10/19/14 Stagecoach, Best Supporting Actor, Best Music (scoring), 1939, national film registry
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| John Wayne birth place, Winterset, Iowa |
1939 was a great year in film: Gone with the Wind (10 Academy Awards), Wuthering Heights, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Wizard of Oz and John Wayne's first major role as The Ringo Kid in Stagecoach. Whew. John Ford directed John Wayne, Claire Trevor as Dallas, John Carradine as Hatfield, Andy Devine as Buck and Thomas Mitchell as Doc Boone, his Oscar-winning role. Nine characters or as the movie poster in the Wikipedia posting says, "9 Strange People" are heading to Lordsburg, New Mexico Territory via the titular stagecoach through Apache country. The Ringo Kid is out for revenge against the men who killed his family. Dallas has been kicked out of town for being a woman of ill-repute and Doc Boone is the town drunk and leaving town for greener pastures. We learn more about the characters as they proceed on their journey, almost like a western Canterbury Tales (Chaucer would be pleased). I have to admit I am not as familiar with the work of John Ford as I probably should be, but Stagecoach has been called one of the most influential films made (Wikipedia article). I was more interested in that it was John Wayne's first major role and he definitely seems like a natural and was very charming; I liked watching his scenes with Claire Trevor (who won the Oscar for her part in Key Largo and was nominated for her role in The High and the Mighty, with John Wayne), and I was rooting for the two of them to ride off into the sunset. Thomas Mitchell starred in two of the year's major films, Gone with the Wind (he was Scarlett O'Hara's father) and Stagecoach. I enjoyed the movie and look forward to watching more John Ford films (he has won the most Oscars for a director, so I'll have plenty of opportunity).
