Movie Musings

Gone with the Wind was on TCM yesterday. We had it on in the background as I dried my hair, cooked and ate dinner, and did the dishes. 

For this viewing I was thinking about Clark Gable's performance. He had been nominated for a Best Actor Oscar, but lost to Robert Donat in Goodbye Mr. Chips. I've never seen that film and don't remember ever seeing Robert Donat. Other nominees for 1939 films were Laurence Olivier in Wuthering Heights, Mickey Rooney for Babes in Arms, James Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. I tend to dismiss Mickey Rooney but have to admit I haven't seen Babes in Arms. Gable was good as Rhett Butler, but was he better than Olivier and Stewart (let alone Donat and Rooney?) I don't know. 

I read somewhere that Margaret Mitchell pictured Basil Rathbone as Rhett Butler. It takes imagination to see him as Rhett.  

As for Scarlett, I believe Paulette Goddard would have been brilliant in the role. You see Scarlett O'Hara is not beautiful--it's the first line in the book. Vivien Leigh is. I saw a documentary about GWTW with several scenes of Goddard. She could have been a great Scarlett.

Onto Ashley Wilkes. Well, I always had issues with Leslie Howard in the part. He was a very good actor, but he wasn't the young, dashing, handsome Ashley in the book. I didn't get why movie Scarlett was so obsessed with him. My sister said it was because Twelve Oaks was the best, wealthiest plantation in the area. I didn't buy that explanation. I read that Leslie Howard thought (rightly) that he was too old for the part; I wonder if he had protested his casting as a teen-aged Romeo a few years earlier. 

Olivia de Haviland was great as Melanie, but I thought she looked too healthy and robust for the skinny, childlike Melanie. 

The other day I was watching a short between two films on TCM: They're Always Caught. First I noticed an actor who played Bette Davis's husband in Dangerous--John Eldredge. Then I recognized another actor--Louis Jean Heydt--but had to look up his name on IMDB. Heydt might not have been a household name, but he was in several movies, often uncredited. His IMDB page lists his role as "Hungry Soldier Holding Beau Wilkes" in Gone with the Wind under "Known for." In 1939, he appeared in 13 other films, including Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Each Dawn I Die, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and They Made Me A Criminal. Not bad for an "average Joe."

Ranking Bette Davis's Performances

In honor of the release of a restored version of Now,Voyager, The Guardian ranked 20 of Bette's best performances. 

1.  All About Eve
2. Now, Voyager
3. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
4. Dark Victory 
5. The Little Foxes
6. Marked Woman
7. Jezebel
8. Dead Ringer     
9. The Letter
10. Dangerous
11. Mr. Skeffington
12. Hush...Hush Sweet Charlotte
13. The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
14. Of Human Bondage
15. The Man Who Came to Dinner
16. All This, and Heaven Too
17. Juarez
18. The Scapegoat
19. The Star
20. Death on the Nile

Here is my list.

1. The Letter
2. All About Eve
3. Now, Voyager
4. The Little Foxes
5. Jezebel
6. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
7. Dark Victory 
8. Of Human Bondage
9. Juarez
10. The Petrified Forest
11. Marked Woman
12. Dangerous
13. Mr. Skeffington
14. All This, and Heaven Too
15. Bordertown 
16. Hush...Hush Sweet Charlotte
17. The Star
18. The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
19. The Man Who Came to Dinner
20. The Cabin in the Cotton

Selecting my top 20 wasn't too difficult, but ranking them was. I was surprised at how low Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian ranked The Letter (#9 compared to my #1.) I also favor earlier films (The Petrified Forest, Bordertown, and The Cabin in the Cotton) while Bradshaw prefers later films (Dead Ringer, The Scapegoat, and Death on the Nile.) We both selected the same seven films in the Top 10. 

We can both agree that Bette Davis is a wonderful actress. 

8-2-21 Edited to add: I think I was wrong to exclude The Old Maid  from this list. We see Bette as a young woman in love, a mother hiding her illegitimate child away, a bitter spinster aunt, and a woman touched by a lovely gesture from the daughter who doesn't know their relationship.

My new 20: 

1. The Letter
2. All About Eve
3. Now, Voyager
4. The Little Foxes
5. Jezebel
6. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
7. Dark Victory 
8. Of Human Bondage
9. Juarez
10. The Petrified Forest
11. Marked Woman
12. Dangerous
13. Mr. Skeffington
14. All This, and Heaven Too
15. Bordertown 
16. Hush...Hush Sweet Charlotte
17. The Star
18. The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
19. The Old Maid
20. The Man Who Came to Dinner

I bumped The Cabin in the Cotton out of the Top 20, added The Old Maid, and moved The Man Who Came to Dinner to #20.

Saturday Night Movie: I Tonya

Jeff and I recently watched I, Tonya. It was more of a why not rather than a must see, but I enjoyed it.    

The acting was very good. I was impressed by Mckenna Grace as Tonya at 8 to 12 years. I checked IMDB, and I've seen her in a few things--most recently The Handmaid's Tale. Margot Robbie first appeared as Tonya at 16. That was not believable: it took me out of the scenes. I wish they had hired another young actor for a scene or two. Sebastian Stan was very good, as was Paul Walter Hauser. As for Allison Janney--she was very good, but I don't think her performance was Oscar-worthy. 

I watched much of Tonya's story in real-time TV coverage. She didn't have much of a say in how she was depicted there. It appears that she was abused for much of her life and had trouble breaking out of that cycle. The media took its turn as well. 

I always had some sympathy for her as an underdog--as an outsider. No one needs yet another fairy princess.

TV Time: Netflix Edition

How To Get Away With Murder: We started to watch this a few weeks ago. I got really into it from the beginning; Jeff-not so much. He didn't like the non-linear nature of the story-telling with flashbacks and flashforwards. He's fine with that in movies, but thought it was too much in a series. So I watched on my own. I wanted to at least finish the first season, but then there was a cliffhanger that sucked me in. I kept watching--all six seasons.

I loved the show. Viola Davis was wonderful. I was blown away by the scene where she removes her wig and make-up; I later learned it was Viola's idea. I also especially liked the work of Amirah Vann, Timothy Hutton, Cicely Tyson, Amy Madigan, Jimmy Smits, Esai Morales, Laura Innes, and Glynn Turman.

All of the characters were as corrupt (in one way or another) as the US justice system. I never did figure out what was going to happen next. I'm glad I watched this on Netflix. I would have been upset to have to wait during the broadcast breaks.


The Good Place: When Eleanor Shellstrop is hit by truck and dies, she finds herself in a tiny house filled with clown portraits in The Good Place. But something is amiss; all of good deeds that have gotten her there are not true. Since Eleanor doesn't want to go to The Bad Place, she tries to become a better person and fit in. After all, what could go wrong? This is a fun look at the afterlife. Kristen Bell and Ted Danson make a good team.

Saturday Night Movie: The Good Liar

This was a selection of HBO On Demand. I vaguely remember seeing commercials for this film and wanted to see Ian McKellan and Helen Mirren together.

I liked the movie. I disagree with many of the scathing reviews on imdb.com; some called it both predictable and preposterous (which sound contradictory to me.) I didn't think that Mirren's Betty was a patsy; she seemed too smart for that. The ultimate plot point was far-fetched, but I can suspend disbelief. After all, I watched soap operas. The story held my interest to the end.

The acting was good, especially McKellan and Mirren.

I'd like to watch it again to see if I missed any clues.

Noir Classic Re-Watch: Double Indemnity

"It was a hot afternoon. I can still remember the smell of honeysuckle all along that street. How could I have known that murder can sometimes smell like honeysuckle?"

Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) has just met Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) and murder is in the air.

There's a reason this film is a classic. The opening credits run over an image of a man on crutches walking toward the camera. A car rushes through the Los Angeles night running through an iconic "STOP/GO" light. Walter Neff stumbles into his office to dictate his story of murder for his co-worker Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson.) 

The narration makes sense here based on the close relationship between Neff and Keyes. Neff wants to explain how he and Phyllis Dietrichson planned the murder and how they dealt with unforeseen problems and complications.

The three main actors shine in strong performances. This film was shown as part of the evening line-up when Robinson was star of the month. Robinson is excellent, even in a scene where MacMurray listens to him on a dictaphone. The supporting cast is also good. 

I really enjoyed seeing this movie again. It reminds me that there's always something more in good films. It can be something you didn't notice before or something you forgot. It can be a look, a prop, a shadow. There is always something more to discover in good films.

TCM Noir: Wicked Woman

Wicked Woman was a TCM Noir Alley selection last weekend. I almost passed it by but decided to record it. I'm so glad I did. It's far from a classic, but I can't stop thinking about it.

Billie Nash arrives in a small town on a Trailways bus. A tall, long-legged blonde dressed in white, she makes quite an impression, especially on local tailor and rooming house neighbor Charlie.

Billie gets a room in low-rent boarding house. She cons a dinner, $20 "loan," and free tailoring job from Charlie. She gets a waitress job at a local bar owned by Matt and Dora Bannister. The first night on the job, Billie hits on Matt. She learns that Dora inherited the bar from her father, but it was Matt who kept it from going under. Dora's a heavy drinker, and Matt disapproves.

Billie and Matt plan to sell the bar by forging Dora's signature and running off to Mexico with the proceeds, but things go awry. Don't they always.

The plan is foiled because Charlie hears Billie and Matt talking. Charlie forces Billie to spend "time" with him. Matt finds them in a compromising position and freaks out. He tells Dora what happened (off-screen) and manages to cancel the sale of the bar with no legal repercussions. Billie leaves on a bus to Kansas City. She immediately attracts the attention of another passenger, smiles at him, and here we go again.

That's the gist of the plot. Here are some things that interest me.

Could Billie and Dora have become friends? Dora is the one who hires Billie, despite her lack of references. Dora seems to like Billie, especially when Billie slips her drinks behind Matt's back. Maybe it's Dora's drinking habit that keeps her from catching on to Billie. Besides, Billie probably hasn't had a woman friend since she hit puberty.

There were mentions of a problem with the stove; the cook was afraid it would blow up in his face. I  expected it would blow up in Dora's face. Would that help or hinder Billie's and Matt's plan? I guess it would depend on the timing.

The stove did blow up, but no one was hurt. There was just a lot of smoke and Matt closed the bar early. I thought of Chekhov's gun.

An unusual thing in this noir is that no one is killed. At one point, Billie says Matt wants Dora dead, but Matt shuts that conversation down quickly.

Some commenters on imdb.com thought it was unrealistic for Dora to forgive Matt so easily. I don't think she did. I think she's smart enough to know that she can't hold on to the bar without Matt. She's also smart enough not to let him get close to another waitress. Dora will never forgive or forget.

The movie isn't subtle about Billie--just look at the title. It's also known as Free and Easy. Billie is described as a trashy blonde and drifting floozy.

Here's what the film's posters had to say.

"She was born for trouble."
"She uses sex the way a hoodlum uses a loaded gun!"
"They called her 'wicked' but they didn't know the half of it!"
"She's nothing but trouble...Every voluptuous inch of her..."
"She lives up to every scarlet letter of her name!"

We don't learn anything about Billie's back story. We know she likes to smoke and drink and is into astrology. She has a favorite song that she plays over and over on her record player, and she wants to return to Mexico. At one point, Matt says they have to call off the plan to sell the bar and go away later. Billie says there is never a later. It made me wonder if Billie was always wicked, or if something happened that changed her.

The acting was pretty good across the board, but Percy Helton as Charlie was incredible. Helton acted in films and TV from 1915 to 1978 (237 credits.) If you don't know his name, you probably know his face. Charlie's longing for Billie comes off the screen in waves, and he has some creepy overtones when he has something on her.

I recommend this film for noir fans and fans who love to see a character actor's best performance. 

RIP Brian Dennehy

I'm sure I had seen Brian Dennehy before, but I really took notice of him in 1986's F/X. Leo McCarthy could have been just another stereotypical cop: the one who gets the job done, but doesn't play by the rules, and pisses off his bosses. Dennehy make McCarthy a real person. I understood him and rooted for him.

F/X made Brian Dennehy my favorite actor beating out my faves from classic Hollywood such as Humphrey Bogart, Claude Rains, and Frederic March. Dennehy was frightening as John Wayne Gacy in To Catch a Killer and mesmerizing as Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman. Jeff took me to Death of a Salesman for my birthday in 1999. I remember watching Dennehy's every move on stage.

Brian Dennehy--a great actor who will be missed.

Thoughts about Co-Stars in June Bride

June Bride is one of the last movies Bette Davis made for Warner Brothers in 1948. The gist of the plot is that magazine editor Linda Gilman (Bette Davis) and her team are sent to Indiana for a magazine feature on a June wedding. A new member of her team is a foreign correspondent Carry Jackson (Robert Montgomery) who had been involved with Linda in the past.

Bette Davis wasn't known for her comedies, but I enjoyed her work in It's Love I'm After, The Bride Came C.O.D., and The Man Who Came to Dinner. She's good in June Bride too.

I never liked Robert Montgomery in this film. He was annoying, smirking, and making faces. I recently read on IMDB that Bette wanted either Jack Carson or Dennis Morgan for the part of Carey Jackson. Jack Carson is underrated; he was good in both comedy and drama. Dennis Morgan was wonderful as the sailor in the comedy Christmas in Connecticut. At any rate, neither Jack Carson nor Dennis Morgan would have annoyed me as much as Montgomery did.

Here's more from IMDB: Bette Davis was originally cast as the lead in Christmas in Connecticut. Barbara Stanwyck was terrific, but I wonder at what might have been.

Netflix Movie Night: The Fighter

We've had this movie for a few weeks, but didn't watch it because we didn't find the right time.

I'm not a fan of boxing, but I enjoy a good boxing flick, such as Rocky and Raging Bull. This is a good boxing film.

The film's got the underdog makes good story; it's got the family conflict story; it's got the story based on real story.

Most importantly, the acting is incredible. Both Christian Bale and Melissa Leo won Oscars for this film. Christian Bale's Dicky is quite different from his turn as Batman; he was incredible. I've written before about my love for Melissa Leo; she also deserved her Oscar.

Then there's Amy Adams. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actor and lost to her co-star. She is a wonderful actress. In Enchanted, she made me believe that she was a fairy tale princess. I also loved her in Julie and Julia.

Mark Wahlberg is underrated. He may never win an Oscar, but he will give a good performance

Hattie McDaniel: Star of the Day

In August, TCM has featured a different star each day. Some days feature big stars such as Humphrey Bogart and Bette Davis. On Tuesday, Hattie McDaniel was TCM's star of  the day. Of course, Gone With the Wind was shown in prime time. It's Hattie's most famous movie and contains her Oscar winning performance.

I noticed that all three of Hattie's films with Bette Davis were included.

One of the films was Thank Your Lucky Stars  from 1943. This was a wartime film dedicated to the armed services. According to IMDB, Bette insisted that the profits be contributed to the war effort. The story is about a singer and a songwriter trying to break into show business via the big show, featuring Warner Brothers stars mostly in musical numbers. Hattie was one of the featured singers in the song Ice Cold Katie.

Another film was The Great Lie (1941.) This is a melodrama with an okay script. I watch this to see Bette (of course) but also to see Mary Astor's Oscar winning performance as Sandra. This was a case in which the two actors worked together to improve the script by beefing up Mary's part. Hattie as usual played a domestic. I've seen this film many times, but last week, the scene of the "happy darkies singing" after the marriage of Bette and George Brent really bugged me. Had I really missed this scene all those times I've watched this film? It reminded me of the "happy slaves singing" scene from Bette's film, Jezebel. But Jezebel was set in the 1840's and The Great Lie in the mid-20th century. How little some things had changed.

The last Bette Davis--Hattie McDaniel film shown was In This Our Life from 1942. Hattie is a domestic for Davis' Southern family. Bette is a selfish bitch who steals her sister's husband who later commits suicide. Bette gets bored and tries to steal her ex-fiance from the same sister. At her worst, Bette is in a hit-and-run accident and tries to blame the accident on Hattie's son.

There are some poignant scenes in which Hattie and her son (Ernest Anderson) discuss the futility of trying to tell his story, which contradicts the white woman's. It takes an investigative effort from Bette's sister (Olivia de Haviland) and her fiance (and Bette's ex--George Brent) to disprove Bette's story. This film was honored for its race relations. 

In This Our Life was a melodrama like The Great Lie. At least the treatment of the black characters was more realistic and respectful.

Plays I've Seen

This post from Shakesville a few weeks ago got me thinking. I'm not sure what's the last play I saw--maybe Hairspray.

I decided to list all the plays that I can remember/name.

Broadway:
Hairspray--I preferred the movie--the songs were better and I thought the play focused more on Edna than Tracy
Rocky Horror Show: great fun
Death of a Salesman: we went to see my favorite actor, Brian Dennehy
Smokey Joe's Cafe (more like a concert than a play)
The Little Foxes
They're Playing Our Song (when our first attempt to see The Little Foxes failed because Elizabeth Taylor was ill--there's a funny story involved)
A Chorus Line

Elsewhere:
Miss Moffat--Philadelphia tryout for a musical version of The Corn is Green starring Bette Davis and Dorian Harewood
Macbeth--Stamford, CT starring Christopher Plummer and Glenda Jackson. I regret to say I fell asleep which is no comment on the production or acting
West Side Story--three productions: New Haven CT; Bucks County PA Playhouse on high school trip; Greenwich CT high school
Romeo and Juliet--with West Side Story above at Bucks County
Man of La Mancha--Bucks County PA Playhouse
The Stories Written on Your Face are the Ones You Must Believe--written by my sister-in-law, Thea Cooper in NYC
A scene from The Bride as Frankenstein also written by Thea Cooper in NYC
A staged reading of a musical based on the film Topper with Cole Porter songs at Norwalk CT Community College

There are one or two I can't name and perhaps a few I don't remember now.

ETA: Jeff's right that I forgot Jesus Christ Superstar and the Al Pacino play, Salome, which is vague to me. But I don't remember the Ty Cobb play/reading.

ETA 2: I forgot about plays at Shakespeare on the Sound, a series of outdoor performances in Rowayton, CT. I saw Henry V and Twelfth Night. I also saw an outdoor Shakespeare play in Stamford; I don't remember which play but I remember I had seen it before.

ETA 3: We also saw a play at the Westport Playhouse about Edward de Vere being the author of Shakespeare's plays. Elizabeth Ashley starred in the production.

ETA 4: Suddenly remembered that I also saw Godspell on Broadway.

ETA 5: House of Blue Leaves--Ridgefield Playhouse

ETA 6: D'oh. I saw Evita in London and at the now defunct Darien Dinner Theatre. 

Thoughts on The Help

On Saturday night, Jeff and I watched The Help. We haven't been out to the movies in years so by the time we saw this, I'd already heard and read about it.

Overall the movie was good. I was hooked by the story and the acting was excellent across the board.

But... My sense is that the movie was designed to  make white people feel better in a "Oh, isn't it great that things have changed," kind of way."Now, we don't have to worry about racism anymore. After all, we have a black president."

Yes, much of the blatant Jim Crow racism is gone, but we remain a racist society.

Back to The Help, it suffered from being filtered through a white character, Skeeter. Skeeter is the one who guides (saves) Aibileen and Minny and later the other maids and nannies. Skeeter is the one who makes money from the book created from the stories of the help and Skeeter is the one who escapes Jackson, MS.

I think elle's take is insightful. I'd enjoy seeing the same cast in a version of the film focused on the title characters without Skeeter as the main character.

Divine Discontent

"There was always a kind of divine discontent within him." Patrice Wymore Flynn on Errol Flynn (thanks to TCM Word of Mouth.)

"Divine discontent" is such an incredible phrase that I had to post it. I'd love to take it for a title if I could write a story behind it.

Thanks Patrice.

Great Performances: Ian McKellen as Gandalf

I often have the TV on as background while doing chores. Over the past week I've caught parts of "The Fellowship of the Ring" a few times.

Tonight I saw my favorite scene--when Frodo volunteers to go to Mordor during the Council of Elrond. The reaction shot of McKellen is incredible--Gandalf's face reflects his fear, pride and acceptance of Frodo's destiny.

Gandalf knows he is at the crossroads--the end of the age of wizards and elves and the dawn of the age of man. At this point, Gandalf can only assist as part of the Fellowship.