“You’ve learned how to fly — but things are different up here.”
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Review: Note: There are NO female characters in this film — not a one. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“That’s Africa for you: when you’re not eating somebody, you’re trying to keep somebody else from eating you.”
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… Carey was nearly killed during one scene swinging over a live crocodile, and director W.S. Van Dyke had plenty of rum on hand and in mouth the entire time. Meanwhile, additional footage was secretly shot in Mexico to flesh out gaps, and it became a blockbuster success. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“I like the troubles of bootleggers, chorus girls and head waiters. They’re human! They’re alive!”
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“Oh, how I’d love to own a fish store!”
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Review: Note: The quote chosen to headline this review is indicative of how random the various vignettes are. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“All I know is a couple of gorillas around here, and one of them’s a killer.”
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Review: Note: Was Burr (type)cast because of his previous starring role in Bride of the Gorilla (1951)? One wonders… Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“Every person in the world’s gotta have somebody to talk to!”
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Response to Peary’s Review: The inherent claustrophobia of the stage-bound setting actually serves this story well, as it highlights how closely connected these neighbors are to each others’ business, for better and for worse. They can support one another during times of need — as when Taylor looks out for the very-pregnant wife of a concerned father-to-be (Conway Washburne) — but also easily become overly involved in each other’s private lives and choices. The film’s Pre-Code sensibility is refreshingly clear, most noticeably via intermittent scenes involving a bra-less young woman (Greta Granstedt) who happily goes off with her lover to spend the night in a friend’s apartment, but also in the shockingly racist language used by McHugh, and the fact that Collier, Jr.’s father (Max Montor) is able to talk at length about socialist revolutionary ideals without being overtly villainized. The dramatic finale (don’t read ANY online reviews if you want to remain surprised!) has been ridiculed by some for Vidor’s unconventional editing choices during a key neighborhood scene, but I believe it’s an effectively stylized representation of life in a densely packed, multicultural city. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“You couldn’t give me a cold.”
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The movie’s redeeming moments are fine period sets, luminous Technicolor cinematography, and the presence of real-life musical stars Ella Fitzgerald and Peggy Lee, who are given wonderfully uninterrupted, respectful moments to shine. Otherwise, the storyline’s awkward pacing, rat-a-tat dialogue (“They say you’ve got rubber pockets so you can steal soup.”), and underdeveloped characterizations reflect blunt radio serial norms rather than effective screenwriting. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“No fisherman can go to heaven with a bite out of him!”
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Review: Note: Film fanatics may recognize the soulful Johann from her performance in The Mummy the same year; her career was quite short (ending in 1934).
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“If the west wants law and order, it’ll have to do it without me.”
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Regardless of its historical veracity, this straightforward western is essentially a tale of hopeless attempts to impose “law and order” in a town where guns are ubiquitous; it culminates with a speedily edited, highly effective shootout sequence which remains its highlight. Otherwise, there’s not much here to hold onto, though fans of early oaters will likely enjoy it. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“You cannot have it both ways. A dancer who relies upon the doubtful comforts of human love can never be a great dancer. Never.”
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Response to Peary’s Review: In his Alternate Oscars, Peary names Walbrook Best Actor of the Year for his role as Boris Lermontov, and provides a detailed analysis of his character. He writes that Walbrook “gives a sad, disturbing portrait of a complex, frustrated man who is so dedicated to his art — he calls ballet his religion — that he suppresses his human qualities”, hiding “behind a defense comprised of a stone face, an authoritative position that allows for no dissenters, and smart, smug remarks and answers to everything”. He points out that Walbrook is “so devoted… to ballet that he feels betrayed when anyone fails to share his vision and would compromise their talents for something as trivial as love and marriage”. Of course, these days, the choice between marriage and a career — or even motherhood and a career — isn’t nearly as black-and-white, thus dating this critical element of the storyline; but Walbrook’s personal insistence that the two are mutually exclusive (Shearer and Goring rightfully disagree) is what lies behind the film’s driving dilemma. Peary has some quibbles about the film. He posits that the central rendition of “The Red Shoes” ballet “shouldn’t be stylized at all” given that “it was staged by purist Walbrook”, and that “because of the cinematic liberties and excesses of the ballet sequences, it’s impossible to readjust to [the] realistic sequences that follow”. Hogwash on both counts: the mix works just beautifully, and there’s no reason to believe Walbrook’s character wouldn’t stage such elaborate ballets. Meanwhile, Peary argues that while “the first half of the film is masterful, the second half is miserable”, given that “the male directors [have] manipulated us into disliking Walbrook so much that we have trouble realizing that what he wants for Shearer is what is best for her”. In Alternate Oscars, he writes that Walbrook “is presented… as if he were a sinister villain in this modern-day fairy tale”, but that “the selfish [Goring] is [actually] the piece’s villain” given that he has apparently asked Shearer “to give up dance”. I don’t see this as the case at all. While it’s true that Walbrook’s character has “finer qualities” — i.e., “he gives both Julian [Goring] and Vicky [Shearer] their big breaks, instinctively believing in them and putting himself on the line on their behalf” — he’s ultimately a brilliant yet flawed petty tyrant whose narcissistic worldview and insistence on maintaining absolute control become his (and Shearer’s) fatal undoing. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die) Links: |
