Rope isn't on any of my lists, which kind of surprised me, at first, but after watching it, I guess I'm not. Two things intrigued me about it; one was the subject matter, which was loosely based on the killers Leopold and Loeb; the other was the way director Alfred Hitchcock filmed it. First, the two main characters are based on Leopold and Loeb who killed fourteen year-old Bobby Franks in 1924. Brandon and Phillip are 'roommates' (the homosexual subtext is very subtle) in a very swanky New York City apartment, and as the movie opens they are murdering David, a former classmate of theirs. The rest of the movie is Brandon and Phillip (mostly Brandon) trying to carry off a dinner party with the body of David in the same room in a chest; Brandon (John Dall) is smug and pompous, and poor Phillip (Farley Granger) is a bundle of nerves, snapping at Brandon and other guests, including their former housemaster, Rupert (James Stewart), as well as David's father, aunt and girlfriend. The acting was horrible, a lot of overacting; Stewart was the only one who didn't annoy me. Dall was almost a caricature. The other thing about watching this movie that is not on a single list was that I read Hitchcock filmed this with longer takes than usual, some of them going seven and a half minutes or longer, and I guess I thought that would be interesting. It didn't really help. So, I don't know, but what's done is done.
9/9/17 A League of Their Own, 1992 National Film Registry
I saw A League of Their Own when it opened in theaters 25 years ago, and every one in a while I catch it on television, but for a fresh perspective, I watched with some friends last weekend. I love this movie: it's got baseball, women playing baseball, humor, history, and some good acting. It's a cast of stars, and new and unknown actors directed by Penny Marshall. During World War II, women stepped into formerly male-dominated fields, like factory work and baseball. Yep, baseball. The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was a real thing from 1943 - 1954, with teams scattered throughout the Midwest, and the movie focuses on the Rockford Peaches and the Racine Belles. The movie opens in current day (1988 to be exact) as Dottie Hinson (Geena Davis) reluctantly prepares to head east for a reunion with former players of the AAGPBL. As she heads to the airport, the movie goes back to 1943 and Oregon, where she and her kid sister, Kit, play fast pitch softball for the local dairy team. A wise-cracking, somewhat insulting scout, Ernie Capadino, (played by Jon Lovitz) wants Dottie to try out for this new league started up by Walter Harvey (based on Philip Wrigley; played by Garry Marshall); Dottie isn't interested, but Kit is desperate for the chance. No Dottie, no Kit, so Dottie agrees to go. Capadino drops the girls off at Harvey Field where around 100 girls are trying out for the four teams. Here is where we meet Doris (Rosie O'Donnell) who cannot be quiet to save her life, always with the wisecrack and her pal, Mae (Madonna) among others. Dottie, Kit, Doris, Mae and several others are on the Rockford Peaches. As they practice baseball skills, they are also put through etiquette classes, including grooming, eating, and walking. They may be baseball players, but they are also women, and there are still certain expectations and requirements. You can't have a baseball team without a manager, and the Peaches don't stretch too hard to find one, pick Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks), a drunk, washed up ballplayer, who is less than thrilled about girls playing baseball. Eventually Jimmy sobers up, and takes an interest in the team; the scene where he fights with Dottie over giving signs to the bewildered Marla is one of the funniest in the movie. The movie follows the first season, as the league builds momentum and popularity, on one hand, 'selling' the sex appeal of the women (who play in skirts) to the men; but also inspiring young girls. Throughout the film, Kit and Dottie have a typical big sister/little sister rivalry, which usually doesn't end well for Kit (Kit is a pitcher and Dottie is the catcher, which can also have its prickly points); the rivalry boils over when Kit is pulled from a game, and she blames Dottie when she is later traded to the Racine Belles. There is more that goes on, but if you've seen it, you know, and if you haven't seen it, I don't want to ruin it for you. I really love pretty much everything about the movie.
9/10/17 Woman of the Year, 1942 Best Original Screenplay, National Film Registry
I'm sure I'm committing some kind of blasphemy or someone is going to say I'm really missing the point, but I hated Woman of the Year. I understand that movies made seventy years ago have a different perspective, a different reality, and that society was different - I get that, and a lot of times, I can overlook that, and watch a movie 'in its time'. Not here. Katherine Hepburn as Tess Harding is a liberated, educated and opinionated woman, which are normally characteristics I love and admire, but she is also incredibly self-involved and annoying as hell. I'm not sure how Sam Craig (Spencer Tracy) puts up with her, or why. Tess and Sam are writers at The New York Chronicle, Sam covers sports and Tess covers world events, hobnobbing with politicians of the day; they have a spat and are ordered by their editor to make up. They do more than that, they fall in love, despite a bumpy start. I really felt bad for Sam, who gets run over by Tess. It was directed by Oscar-winning director, George Stevens (Giant, Diary of Anne Frank, Shane) and written by Ring Lardner, Jr. (MASH, Cincinnati Kid) and Michael Kanin. I found it shrill. This was the first collaboration between Tracy and Hepburn, and not one of their best I'm afraid.
9/10/17 The Charge of the Light Brigade, 1936, Best Assistant Director
It turns out that this is the first of several movies I will watch over the next few weeks featuring Olivia de Havilland, and one of a handful of movies to ever get a nomination and Oscar for Best Assistant Director. The Charge of the Light Brigade is based on the poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, which was based on a battle during the Crimean War; for those of you with a more populist leaning, it may be familiar to you through Alfalfa's recital in a Little Rascals episode. Errol Flynn stars as Major Geoffrey Vickers of the Light Brigade who is stationed in India; his brother, Captain Perry Vickers, is also stationed there, as well as their love interest (their, unknowingly to Geoffrey), Elsa (Olivia de Havilland). The fort/town where the 27th Lancers are stationed is brutally attacked by the Russians and their allies, led by the treacherous Surat Khan; Vickers survives to fight another day, which ultimately is to lead his men in the charge of the Light Brigade to avenge his friends. In addition to starring Flynn and de Havilland, the movie features David Niven, Nigel Bruce, and Donald Crisp. Both major battle scenes are pretty intense, but the last one featured dozens of horses which, according to Wikipedia, experienced extremely dangerous and fatal conditions (Errol Flynn protested to the director Michael Curtiz, to no avail). The 1930s seem to be a time where movies celebrate the rise of the British Empire like The Lives of a Bengal Lancer and Gunga Din, but sometimes they don't translate so well into the 21st century. I liked Flynn in this role, I thought the whole love triangle thing was unnecessary (but I usually do). This isn't a must-see by any stretch.
