1939 Movie Miscellany

1939 is generally considered to be one of, if not the best, year for films including Gone with the Wind, Stagecoach, The Wizard of Oz, Destry Rides Again, Ninotchka, The Rules of the Game, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

Here are some of my favorites: They Made Me a Criminal, The Roaring Twenties, The Rains Came, In Name Only, The Hound of the Baskervilles (first of the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes series) Dodge City (mostly for the dueling anthem preview to Casablanca.)

Bette Davis Films: Dark Victory, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, The Old Maid, Juarez.

I learned today that 1939 also marked the end of two of my favorite movie series: Nancy Drew and Torchy Blaine.

TCM had a series theme starting last Tuesday. I caught the end of my second favorite in the Nancy Drew series, Nancy Drew, Reporter. I actually said out loud--that Sergeant Entwhistle wasn't committed to drag like Tom Sandoval (exposing my Vanderpump Rules fandom here.) I recorded Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase--the last entry and my personal favorite. The TCM announcer said this was the best reviewed of the series. It should have been the first of a longer series, but Bonita Granville left Warner Brothers and that ended the films.

The Torchy Blane series ended the same year. According to the article linked above, Torchy and Nancy movies were shown together, had a similar structure and shared some of their writers. As part of TCM's series theme, the Torchy movies also ran this week. I recorded all of those. I love Torchy's introduction in Smart Blonde. Steve McBride is more of an ass in the first entry than others and can barely drive. At least the film ends with Steve taking Torchy out for steak.

Here's more on Torchy.

Casablanca's Dueling Anthems

Decided I was remiss to discuss this scene in my previous post without posting the link to the video of Casablanca's dueling anthems. This clip includes hilarious follow up when Renaud closes Rick's for gambling but still collects his winnings.

This link has the scene from Dodge City. Ann Sheridan's pro Union song "Marching through Georgia" gets half of the saloon singing along. After the rebel sympathizers counter with "Dixie", a full blown brawl breaks out.

My favorite movie: Casablanca

There are so many things I love about this movie--the acting, the casting, the dialogue, the dueling anthem scene--I'm not sure where to start. So I'll start with what I don't like about the movie.

Captain Renault is a rapist. I know many will argue with this characterization. There is no indication that Renault uses physical force, but damn we know what is going on. He is forcing women to have sex with him--women who are desperate to get out of Casablanca. Remember the Bulgarian refugee? She appeals to Rick, asking if Renault will keep his word and if the girl does a bad thing and keeps it locked it inside her heart--it would be all right wouldn't it? Rick helps her but how many weren't helped? Renault already has a breathtaking blonde lined up for his next conquest.

Despite this, I love Captain Renault. I attribute this to the charm and brilliant acting of Claude Rains. When he tosses the Vichy Water in the trash, I see this a symbol that he is also tossing away his previous existence as a poor, corrupt official and rapist.

Now that I've got that out of the way, on to the things I love.

The cast is incredible, from Bogart and Bergman down to the uncredited pickpocket victim. As I already mentioned, Claude Rains is brilliant--his is the best performance in a stellar cast. Bogart nails the jaded cynic, the hopeful romantic and the patriot. Bergman is luminous as a woman torn between two different kinds of love. Paul Henreid is very good--I believe that he will save the world.

My favorite scene is the dueling anthems. It still gives me chills to watch it. Earlier this year, I was suprised to find a similar scene in the 1939 film, Dodge City. Saloon entertainer Ann Sheridan sings "Marching Through Georgia" and part of the crowd joins in. A bar patron responds with "Dixie" and the Southern sympathizers join him. Michael Curtiz directed both films. The dueling anthem scene in Dodge City is interesting mainly in comparison with Casablanca's, but it isn't integral to the film's plot. Casablanca's dueling anthem scene, however, is key to the plot. It demonstrates Lazlo's leadership, the free France patriotism simmering just below the surface in Casablanca, Ilsa's admiration for her husband and Renault's disdain for the Nazi regime. I personally was impressed that a Czechoslovakian knew all the words to France's national anthem.

I also love the look of the film--the black and white photography, the rotating globe, map and narration in the opening scene, Ingrid Bergman's clothes when she visits Renault and when she takes off for Lisbon, (I especially love the hats.)

The film has many memorable lines. My favorite is the last line, "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship," as Rick and Renault go off to fight the Nazis.

A great film--I want to watch it again.

My five favorite movies

My first full time job had some slow, boring periods. One of my co-workers used to write memorial quizes for celebrities who died. We also made lots of lists: favorite movies, people we'd take with us to a desert island, dead people we'd take with us to a desert island (if they were alive--no zombies for us.)

My favorite movie list has changed since then, but number one and two remain the same. I'll discuss the top five in future posts.

1. Casablanca
2. Citizen Kane
3. Fargo
4. Bringing Up Baby
5. The Letter