Meh. That's really all I can come up with over a month after watching A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum which was directed by Richard Lester (of The Beatles' movies) and starred Zero Mostel, Jack Gilford, Michael Crawford (later of Phantom of the Opera fame) and Phil Silvers. I don't think it translates very well over fifty years later, not that it was a huge hit in 1965. The bawdy humor seems juvenile and looking for cheap laughs. It's almost like a bad sketch comedy from the late 1960s; there are a lot of incongruities (the whole Buster Keaton story line made no sense, although it was bittersweet to see Keaton in his last role shortly before he died).
9/16/17 The Snake Pit, 1948, Best Sound Recording
Olivia de Havilland was nominated as Best Actress for her portrayal of a woman suffering from a debilitating mental illness in The Snake Pit. I found de Havilland compelling as Virginia Cunningham, a young woman struggling to understand why she is in a mental institution. We learn a little more about Virginia through flashbacks as her psychiatrist digs into her past to see what triggers her episodes; her husband tries to understand her erratic behavior. Juniper Hill is a place that I hope is in the rearview mirror as far as mental/psychiatric hospitals are concerned: the care was often barbaric, occasionally nurturing and healing, but it's not where you would want to see a loved one. Virginia does seem to get better, although if there was an official diagnosis and treatment plan, I may have missed it. The movie was based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Mary Jane Ward, and the good news is that the film prompted several hospitals to change their policies and procedures. de Havilland was nominated as Best Actress in a Leading Role three times between 1946 and 1949, winning twice.
Sixteen years later, I still laughed. Fractured Fairy Tales meets the American Top Forty. Shrek (Mike Meyers sounding a lot like Jim Taggart) is an ogre who, like Greta Garbo, wants to be alone, but he is either being harassed by frightened villagers or invaded by displaced nursery rhyme characters. His particular bête noir is Donkey (hilariously voiced by Eddie Murphy), who is very social and very chatty. The remedy to the home invasion is to go to Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow) and get him to give Shrek his forest and privacy back. It doesn't go exactly as planned as Shrek becomes Farquaad's champion and agrees to rescue Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) who has been locked away in a castle. Shrek fairly easily rescues Fiona, with a little help from Donkey. The three head back towards Duloc, but Fiona is anxious to stop and rest before the sun goes down. It turns out that Fiona, a stereotypically beautiful princess by day, is an ogre by night, and she doesn't want Shrek to know since they were having such a good time together. The wedding to Farquaad doesn't go exactly as planned, which turns out to be a really good thing. All of this might make a good movie, but that would be too predictable. What makes Shrek so fun is it brings all of the fairy tales and nursery rhymes from our childhood to life, in a very twisted way: the Gingerbread Man is interrogated by Lord Farquaad and is tortured by dipping him in milk, causing him to go soft and lose a limb; Pinocchio is turned in for bounty money by Geppetto; the Three Little Pigs have German accents; and so it goes. This is an ideal film that adults can happily watch with their kids; it's funny, but not childish (silly, yes, with some gross humor that kids laugh at, and grown ups want to laugh at). The soundtrack includes songs by Neil Diamond to the Proclaimers to Leonard Cohen; a great way to introduce kids to music that their parents might like, but making it 'cool'. I really needed this movie after this last batch of movies that have been a little challenging to watch and review.
10/1/17 Gunga Din, National Film Registry, 1939
Gunga Din is a mix of comedy, drama and action, featuring two of the biggest stars in Hollywood, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Cary Grant as two soldiers stationed in 1880s India, then under British rule. Grant is Sgt. Archibald Cutter who has obtained a treasure map that he is eager to check out with his pals, Sgt. MacChesney (Victor McLagen) and Sgt. Tommy Ballantine (Fairbanks), but Tommy has plans to leave the military and marry Emmy Stebbins (Joan Fontaine, whose sister was Olivia de Havilland). They are joined by Gunga Din (Sam Jaffe), their water bearer who longs to be a part of the army in larger capacity. Din joins Cutter on his search for the treasure in a golden temple. Unfortunately, the temple belongs to the Thugee, an indigenous group living in that area, one that is not well disposed towards the British. Cutter is captured and Din goes back to the base to get help from MacChesney and Ballantine, which does not go according to plan. Din does get his chance to show his mettle and prove his loyalty to the British Army and his friends. The movie is based on the poem by Rudyard Kipling, and Kipling (Reginald Sheffield) makes an appearance at the end of the film. I was reminded of the Indiana Jones franchise, without the great special effects. Grant reminded me a little of Harrison Ford. I enjoyed the movie, and it may seem strange, but it doesn't seem to as 'dated' as Something Happened on the Way to the Forum, and I don't know how to explain that. I am not what qualified it for the National Film Registry.
