Meatballs (1979)
“It just doesn’t matter! It just doesn’t matter!”
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Response to Peary’s Review: Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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Great Gatsby, The (1974)
“That’s the best thing a girl can be in this world: a beautiful little fool.”
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Both Farrow and Redford are a bit inscrutable; and while few can play an irritated husband more consistently and convincingly than Dern, there’s little to genuinely appreciate about him or any of the other leading characters. Meanwhile, the dialogue is sappily embarrassing:
Film fanatics may be curious to check this one out once for its visuals, but it’s not the classic it perhaps could have been. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
“Good and evil are so close as to be chained together at the soul.”
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Tracy — who resisted taking on this role out of deference for March’s Oscar-winning performance — isn’t awful, as some have claimed; his transformations are believable, even if the rationale for them is less well-developed here than elsewhere.
Note: More than anything, each viewing of this story reminds me of the real-life horrors of domestic abuse, with far too many individuals trapped in the clutches of monstrous partners they can’t escape from.
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Gone With the Wind (1939)
“Land’s the only thing in the world that matters — the only thing worth working for, fighting for, dying for!”
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He writes it’s “exciting just to watch characters in their lavish costumes, or the fiery red skies that often serve as the backgrounds, or shots of the Tara plantation”, and points out the “picture has wonderful period detail and a fine assortment of characters”. He asserts that the “film defies criticism”, and that “suffice it to say… Leigh and Gable are perfect in their roles” given that “they are witty, dramatic, dynamic, glamorous, and boy can they kiss”.
In his Alternate Oscars book, Peary gives the Best Picture Award to The Wizard of Oz (1939) instead, noting that Gone With the Wind “suffers because too many directorial styles are evident (also too many writers were employed), especially in the second half when interesting conflict (between the states and between Scarlett and Rhett) gives way to turgid soap opera”. He agrees with the Academy’s designation of Vivien Leigh as Best Actress, however, noting that while he has “only limited fondness for the film itself” he believes that “Scarlett O’Hara stands as perhaps the greatest, most vivid female character in movie history” — “a direct result of Leigh’s performance”.
He notes that “what may be [Leigh’s] greatest achievement is to make us feel compassion for Scarlett even when she acts disgracefully, because we realize she is hurting herself most of all”, and adds that Scarlett may be “so popular with female viewers because they realize she has good qualities — including her passion, her indomitability, and her intelligence” — while they also “understand her flaws”. I’m in essential agreement with Peary’s overall assessment, other than his assertion that the film defies criticism — of course, that’s not true. The most pressing challenge with this film is its highly problematic presentation of the South as a nostalgic haven where “after the Civil War, blacks miss the old slave South as much as the whites do.”
In his review, DVD Savant brings a bit more nuance to the conversation, noting that “Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara refer to darkies often enough to suggest the authors and Selznick like the sound of the word”, and that the film “treats ‘Mammy’ (the amazing Hattie McDaniel) with a troubling ambivalence” given that “she’s at first [simply] another source of comic relief but [becomes] a source of powerful emotions later on”.
All of this and more — including Butterfly McQueen’s engaging yet ultimately demeaning depiction as “the bird-brained Prissy”:
make the film deeply challenging to accept as any kind of a truly great film, in the same way D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation (1915) is impossible to analyze and discuss without enormous caveats. However, the treatment of slaves and former-slaves in Gone With the Wind are integral to its vision of characters fighting for a society in ruins, so one could argue the story itself required these distressing narrative threads. Speaking of the story, DVD Savant asserts that for “at least its first half”, the film “is wonderfully good storytelling on a grand scale”. That may be true, but the problem is that it goes on for twice as long as the best portions! Scarlett undeniably wears on one’s nerves — and while it’s true that Leigh’s performance is remarkable, she isn’t someone I relish spending any more time with than necessary.
While GWTW was (and remains) a cult favorite for many, it doesn’t serve that role for me: Scarlett is insufferable, and having an entire story based upon her — especially when that story glorifies the racist, privileged ideology of the South — isn’t my idea of a good time. I first dutifully watched Gone With the Wind as a teenage film fanatic, and hadn’t revisited it until now; I was glad for the second viewing, especially given the stunning Blu-Ray restoration, but once again find myself ready to set it aside indefinitely. With all that said, there’s no denying film fanatics must watch this film at least once, simply to experience what DVD Savant refers to as the “first American Road Show epic of the sound era” — indeed, the complicated history of this film’s making is essential lore in cinema, and the recent (2014) publication of a book entitled simply The Making of Gone With the Wind (with a foreward by Robert Osbourne, RIP) demonstrates how enduring its legacy remains. In addition to its instantly recognizable score by Max Steiner (in the top 3 for sure, if not THE top), countless scenes and images are burned in our collective memory: Scarlett and her father (Thomas Mitchell) standing under a sprawling tree looking out at Tara:
Scarlett surrounded by her beaus at the opening picnic:
Scarlett wandering the massive death fields of a post-Gettysburg landscape while the camera cranes farther and farther above her head:
Scarlett making a hideous dress out of green drapes (so wonderfully lampooned by Carol Burnett and her crew):
Rhett and Scarlett’s passionate embraces.
All told, this nearly four-hour film remains legendary. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
Must See? Categories
(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die) Links: |
Drum, The (1938)
“In our mountains, you are wise or dead. I beg you to be wise.”
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Unfortunately, his role in this flick isn’t large enough by far, and the story itself comes across as simply jingoistic imperialism. Massey is convincingly wild-eyed and obsessed:
… mouthing rhetoric that would sound familiar in modern-day tales of Jihadi fighters, while perpetuating other-izing fears: “I see a wave — a wave of men. Lean, hard, hungry free men from the hills, swooping down on the fat, soft comfortable slaves of the plains, their white throats ripe for the knife — a story as old as time… I see the mosques and domes rise again.” As Jay Carr asserts in his article for TCM, it can “hardly be regarded as anything more than dated, imperial chest-thumping, patronizing and paternal, in which Brits alone know what’s good for the rest of the world, in this case India”; meanwhile, Stuart Galbraith of DVD Talk notes that Sabu’s character is “firmly ensconced as a symbol of the contentedly colonized”. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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Ten Commandments, The (1956)
“Have the days of darkness made you see the light, Ramses? Will you free my people?”
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… the Burning Bush:
Moses turning the Nile blood red”:
… and he writes that “Heston’s Moses is very convincing, especially to himself.”
Indeed, Heston and the visuals — including the cinematography, sets, crowds of extras, and costumes — are literally awesome:
… though the script itself leaves much to be desired; DVD Savant refers to this as an epic film that “is undeniably impressive but strangely primitive” at the same time, noting, “The dialogue in The Ten Commandments alternates between comic-book drivel and grandiose Bible-speak.” With that said, the scene in which all first-born males across the land (young and old) are to be slain (Heston accepts this as God’s inevitable will) is appropriately somber and creepy:
… and Heston-as-Moses remains an enduring hero for the ages. This one is worth at least a one-time watch given its popularity — though be forewarned it’s nearly four hours long. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die) Links: |
Samson and Delilah (1949)
“The oldest trick in the world: silk trap, baited with a woman.”
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Those in the mood for a lavish, colorful, visual feast with plenty of extras and elaborate sets may enjoy this one, but it’s not on a par with more engaging mid-century Biblical epics. Note: The most exciting sequence in this film occurs during the last few minutes, and it is indeed worth viewing. (Check Wikipedia for details about its filming; it took a year to shoot and cost $150,000.) Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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Lured (1947)
“There’s a homicidal maniac loose somewhere in the vast honeycomb of London — a man with a weakness for pretty girls.”
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Perhaps due to Ball’s irrepressible penchant for comedic delivery, I found the film’s tone a bit uneven — and the rat-a-tat roster of characters coming and going (wait, was that Boris Karloff on-screen for just 10 minutes?!):
…makes it a tad challenging to keep up with what’s what and who’s who. However, some may find this unusual film to their liking; as described by TCM’s reviewer Jay Carr:
Meanwhile, William Daniels’ cinematography is consistently engaging, as are Ball’s gowns. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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Northwest Mounted Police (1940)
“Blood – you won’t notice it much; those Northwest mounted police wear red coats.”
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… but also to Cooper’s aw-shucks western presence in a film depicting a momentous Canadian event.
The “comic relief” of a red-headed Scotsman (Lynne Overman) wearing a tam-o-shanter that plays a critical role in a later scene:
… and “immortal dialogue” such as the following:
Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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Great Gatsby, The (1949)
“If a smart man sees something he wants, he just stakes his claim to it!”
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