FilmFanatic.org

Synopsis:
A destitute singer (Julie Andrews) in 1930s Paris befriends a gay man (Robert Preston) who convinces her to pose as a female impersonator. “Victor” (Andrews) quickly finds success, as well as admiration from a gangster (James Garner) who has trouble reconciling his attraction to a “man”.

Genres:

• Aspiring Stars
• Blake Edwards Films
• Gender Bending
• Historical Drama
• James Garner Films
• Julie Andrews Films
• Mistaken or Hidden Identities
• Musicals
• Robert Preston Films
• Singers

Review:
Husband-and-wife team Blake Edwards and Julie Andrews reached an artistic plateau in this culmination of their cinematic interest in mistaken identities, gender-bending, and the performing life. Andrews plays a likable, plucky heroine we can’t help rooting for; thankfully, sufficient time is provided for us to get to know her and sympathize with her plight.

Preston is delightful as her supportive new roommate, and convincing as a gay man; his final dance performance (completed in a single take) is a hoot.

The humor — including plenty of Edwards’ signature slapstick — is broad but suitable, and mostly works, with a highlight including the extended “cockroach in my salad” restaurant sequence.

A minor quibble is that we’re shown a few too many shots of Garner looking at Andrews with skepticism before learning the truth about her gender (we get it, already):

… but their subsequent complicated romance plays out authentically, as Garner must continue to confront his own homophobia while Andrews stands up for her professional needs.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Julie Andrews as Victor(ia) (nominated by Peary as one of the Best Actresses of the Year in Alternate Oscars)
  
• Robert Preston as Toddy
  
• Fine period sets and costumes
  
• Luminous cinematography
  
• Henry Mancini’s score

Must See?
Yes, for Andrews’ performance and as an overall enjoyable show. Listed as a Cult Movie in the back of Peary’s book.

Categories

• Good Show

Links:

• IMDb entry
• DVD Savant Review
• TCM Article
• Spinning Image Review
• NY Times Original Review

Synopsis:
In Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, a doctor (Brian Donlevy) working for the underground secretly assassinates the corrupt deputy governor (Hans Heinrich von Twardowski), then seeks refuge in the home of a young woman (Anna Lee) who helped him flee the police. When Lee’s father (Walter Brennan) is sent to prison awaiting execution, and a double agent (Gene Lockhart) works to turn in informers, Lee — whose fiance (Dennis O’Keefe) is understandably distressed by her life-saving pretense of being Donlevy’s lover — must decide whether to protect her own family or the greater cause of her nation.

Genres:

• Anna Lee Films
• Assassination
• Brian Donlevy Films
• Fritz Lang Films
• Nazis
• Resistance
• Walter Brennan Films
• World War II

Review:
Very loosely based upon the real-life assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, this Fritz Lang propaganda film — co-scripted by Bertolt Brecht, and clocking in at 134 minutes — is (as noted in TCM’s article) “one of Lang’s quartet of war-inspired productions including Man Hunt (1941), Ministry of Fear (1944) and Cloak and Dagger (1946).” TCM informs us that “though these films have never been considered Lang’s best work, their release amidst wartime fervor made them successful contributions to the Hollywood propaganda effort.” As with Fred Zinneman’s The Seventh Cross (1944), we’re most intrigued by the complexity of this story — that is, how many people are (indeed, must be) involved in efforts to resist fascism. Lee’s character arc is perhaps most notable: she shifts from justifiably furious with Donlevy for placing her family’s previously untouched lives in danger, to gradual recognition of the collective situation:

but we also see Brennan (fine in an unusually subdued supporting role) bonding with fellow captives as he faces near-certain death:

… and other minor characters refusing (even under torture) to betray their countrymen.

The narrative through line of a double agent (Lockhart) who finds himself gradually hemmed in by his own deceit is enormously satisfying:

… and if the Nazis here are portrayed in a somewhat caricatured fashion, this can easily be forgiven given the era in which this film was made and released.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Walter Brennan as Professor Novotny
  
• A powerful tale of the need for collective resistance in the face of fascism
  
  
• James Wong Howe’s cinematography
  
  
  

Must See?
Yes, as a powerful WWII-era drama. Listed as a film with Historical Importance in the back of Peary’s book.

Categories

• Historically Relevant
• Important Director

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review
• DVD Savant Review
• TCM Article
• Spinning Image Review

Synopsis:
A French lieutenant (Warner Baxter) serving in the trenches of World War I with his over-aged father (Lionel Barrymore) finds solace in the company of a local nurse (June Lang), who falls for a newly arrived officer (Fredric March).

Genres:

• Father and Child
• Fredric March Films
• Howard Hawks Films
• John Qualen Films
• Lionel Barrymore Films
• Love Triangle
• Warner Baxter Films
• World War I

Review:
Howard Hawks’ The Dawn Patrol (1930) — about the devastation of daily deaths experienced by aerial fighters — ranks among the most hard-hitting films about World War I; and while this later outing by Hawks can’t compete with it, he once again highlights the unimaginable stress soldiers and their leaders endured during the Great War.

Unfortunately, this film’s two primary sub-plots — the love triangle between March, Lang, and Baxter:

… and the challenges of Baxter commanding his aged father:

… aren’t all that compelling, but there are some incredibly intense battle scenes (i.e., the French squadron listening as an explosive-filled tunnel is built above their heads) that make it worth a one-time look by those interested in movies from and of this era.

Interestingly, Hawks’ first feature-length film was also titled The Road to Glory (1926), though it appears to have an entirely different plot and not be related in any way.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Atmospheric cinematography
  
  

Must See?
No, though it’s worth a look.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review
• TV Guide Review

Synopsis:
When a teacher-turned-rancher (Shepperd Strudwick) gives his son Tom (Peter Miles) a red pony named Gabilan, Tom turns to their ranch hand (Robert Mitchum) for support and advice. Meanwhile, Strudwick’s wife’s (Myrna Loy) garrulous father (Louis Calhern) won’t stop talking about his exploits on the Oregon Trail, leading Strudwick to leave their home for awhile as further drama unfolds with Gabilan.

Genres:

• Horses
• Lewis Milestone Films
• Louis Calhern Films
• Myrna Loy Films
• Pets
• Ranchers
• Robert Mitchum Films

Review:
John Steinbeck wrote the screenplay for this adaptation of his own episodic novella, produced by Republic Pictures Studio and featuring a vivid soundtrack by Aaron Copland. The Technicolor cinematography (by Tony Gaudio) is superb:

and the story nicely ambles through an unconventional tale of a boy and his beloved animal — akin to, but less sentimental than, The Yearling (1946).

Steinbeck fills his screenplay with unexpected characters and twists; we never really understand what makes Strudwick tick the way he does, but the point is that his son’s development and coming of age will continue regardless, assisted by the other influential men in his household. Ultimately, this is a story about a young boy learning to make some sort of peace with the challenges of life, which range from schoolmates teasing him to accepting the limits of human intervention in animals’ well-being.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Peter Miles as Tom
  
• Louis Calhern as Grandfather
  
• Fine Technicolor cinematography
  
• Aaron Copland’s score

Must See?
Yes, as a fine adaptation.

Categories

• Good Show

Links:

• IMDb entry
• TCM Article
• DVD Savant Review
• DVD Talk Review
• NY Times Original Review

Synopsis:
When a Mexican fisherman named Quino (Pedro Armendariz) finds a large pearl while diving for oysters, he, his wife Juana (Maria Elena Marques), and their infant son Coyotito experience the unexpectedly negative consequences of sudden wealth.

Genres:

• Fishermen
• Mexico

Review:
John Steinbeck co-wrote the screenplay for this adaptation of his soon-to-be-published novella, filmed in Mexico by a Mexican director (Emilio Fernandez) and with a mostly-Mexican cast and crew. It’s a highly atmospheric parable, punctuated by cultural intermissions meant to show that the sustaining lifeblood of Quino’s village is joyful, collaborative communion:

… not the selfishness, paranoia, and jealousy which instantly take root once Quino dares to single himself out by finding an extraordinary pearl. Unfortunately, the film’s thematic thrust — “Don’t be greedy” — is undone by a couple of factors. First, the local doctor (overplayed as an avaricious villain by Charles Rooner) refuses to care for Coyotito when he’s bitten by a scorpion, choosing instead to stay in bed eating and fingering his coveted pearls — so we can understand why Quino is so desperate to secure the pearl (how else can he earn the money to save his son’s life?). Second, it seems this poor couple simply can’t win for losing: while they don’t want anything more than to receive money in exchange for their valued pearl, they are confronted on all sides by corruption and theft. What are Quino and Juana to do? Clearly, hopes for rising above their peasant status are unwise, given the tragic consequence that ensue from their momentary flirtation with wealth. With all that said, the on-site cinematography throughout this film is gorgeous, and it remains worth a look both for its visual beauty and its historical significance within Mexican cinema.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Gabriel Figueroa’s cinematography
  
  

Must See?
No, though it’s certainly worth a look for its historical relevance. Inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2002.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review
• TCM Article

Synopsis:
When a wealthy Italian grape farmer (Charles Laughton) in Napa Valley becomes smitten with a beautiful waitress (Carole Lombard) in San Francisco, he asks his handsome friend (William Gargan) to help him write letters to her and propose marriage. Soon she comes to visit, thinking Laughton looks like Gargan — and when she finds out the truth, she has a hard choice to make.

Genres:

• Carole Lombard Films
• Charles Laughton Films
• Love Triangle
• Play Adaptation
• Womanizers

Review:
Before achieving fame as a successful Hollywood screenwriter, Garson Kanin (husband of writer-actress Ruth Gordon) directed a few studio films, including Tom, Dick, and Harry (1941) and this adaptation of Sidney Howard’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1924 play. Unfortunately, it’s a creaky production, dominated by Laughton’s overly enthusiastic portrayal of a hardy Italian who we want to like but can’t help feeling annoyed by.

He makes a few key mistakes early on out of social anxiety, and things spiral from there, thanks to Lombard’s vulnerability and the presence of womanizing Gargan. Lombard tries her best with her challenging role, and Gargan is fine as a casual cad:

… but Frank Fay’s portrayal as a noble local priest simply piles on the schmaltz.

While we’re happy to see these individuals showing true generosity of spirit by the end of the film, there isn’t much authentic satisfaction in the outcome. I’m sure this was an audience-pleaser in its day, but it’s not must-see viewing at this point.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Harry Stradling’s cinematography
  

Must See?
No; you can skip this one unless you’re curious.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review (spoiler alert)
• TV Guide Review (spoiler alert)

Synopsis:
When a Supreme Court nominee (Ronald Colman) comes to stay in a country house run by a schoolteacher (Jean Arthur) harboring a falsely accused fugitive from justice (Cary Grant), he finds his belief in the sanctity of academic law put to the test.

Genres:

• Cary Grant Films
• Falsely Accused
• Fugitives
• George Stevens Films
• Jean Arthur Films
• Lawyers
• Love Triangle
• Rex Ingram Films
• Romantic Comedy
• Ronald Colman Films

Review:
Cary Grant’s third film with director George Stevens — after Gunga Din (1939) and Penny Serenade (1941) — was this unfunny attempt to imbue a romantic love triangle comedy with a sense of political justice; or, as DVD Savant refers to it, “an odd blend of civics lesson and screwball comedy”. His review sums up many of the film’s problems:

The clever script has far too many climaxes, and starts off with comedy so unsteady that even pro Jean Arthur, running around in her pajamas all morning, has a hard time keeping things in balance. When they get into the meat of the story, the authors seem to be saying that good liberal thinking in this country (Colman) has to warm up to human needs if it expects to counter the avarice of landlords, factory owners and crooked politicians. In other words, there’s no right or left, just Corrupt and Noble, and the Noble better get off their podiums and into the trenches to fight for what’s right, or America is in trouble. It sounds great, but the end result is a little thin.

Indeed, the screenplay sets these characters up so predictably that all that’s left is a sense of curiosity about who Arthur will choose as her romantic partner — something apparently even the screenwriters themselves were uncertain about (two endings were filmed, and audience reactions helped to make the final choice).

Rex Ingram is given a thankless role as Colman’s loyal butler, shedding a long, slow tear for him when he decides to shave off his beard (?!); it’s small comfort that, as Savant writes, “He’s not used for a single laugh, which is very progressive for a 1942 picture.” Okay — but this is a long stretch down from his memorable, larger-than-life role in The Thief of Bagdad (1940).

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Ted Tetzlaff’s cinematography
  

Must See?
No; you can skip this one unless you’re curious.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• TCM Article
• FilmSite Review
• DVD Savant Review
• NY Times Original Review