Regularly updated blog charting the most important films of the last 104 years.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
118. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Directed By Howard Hawks
Synopsis
A zoologist is builing a brontossaurus, the last piece of the puzzle is coming the same day he is getting married. In the meanwhile he meets Kathrine Hepburn, loses his bone and cross-dresses. Fun for all the family. Oh and leopards are involved.
Review
This was a great film, really, really funny and with stellar performances by both Hepburn and Cary Grant. I had already expressed my love for Grant here before, so now let me expresss my love for Hepburn. Katherine was one of the best female actors of her generation, in fact I would probably consider her the best in terms of comedy at least. Here she plays an insufferable but endearing character that you can't help but love despite your more rational instincs.
It is easy to see why Grant would fall for her in the film, but only reluctantly. No one would actually want to love her, but it would be hard to help yourself, and the way Hepburn puts across such a complex comedic character is pretty impressive. That put aside the writing in the film is phenomenal, it is fast to the point of chaotic, to the point where you can't quite understand it because in a very Altmanesque way they keep talking over each other.
The film must be watched to be believed, the plot-line is surreal, the acting is fantastic and the pacing is so frenetic that you will often want it to go slightly slower so you can stop cringing for one minute before another disaster happens. All in all pretty perfect comedy with some of the best casting ever and one of the first uses of the word gay with its more usual meaning instead of "happy". You should really get it at Amazon UK or US.
Final Grade
9/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
Arguably, this was the first film to use the word "gay" in a homosexual context. Robert Chapman's The Dictionary of American Slang reports that the adjective "gay" was used by homosexuals, among themselves, in this sense since at least 1920. Donald Webster Cory writes in The Homosexual in America (1951):
"Psychoanalysts have informed me that their homosexual patients were calling themselves gay in the nineteen-twenties, and certainly by the nineteen-thirties it was the most common word in use by homosexuals themselves."
Donald Webster Cory wrote that it was such an insiders' term that "an advertisement for a roommate can actually ask for a gay youth, but could not possibly call for a homosexual." According to Vito Russo the script actually had David (Grant) saying, in an attempt to explain why he is wearing Susan's marabou-trimmed negligee, "I... I suppose you think its odd, my wearing this. I realize it looks odd... I don't usually... I mean, I don't own one of these." However Grant ad-libbed his own line, "Because I just went gay all of the sudden." Vito Russo had pointed out that this was an indication that people in Hollywood, at least in Grant's circles, were already familiar with the slang connotations of the word. However, Grant himself nor anyone involved in the film ever confirmed this. Of course Grant was speculated to have been bisexual, and may have avoided the question altogether. The question may have never been asked in the first place. The term "gay" did not become widely familiar to the general public, until the Stonewall riots in 1969.
117. La Femme Du Boulanger (The Baker's Wife) (1938)
Directed by Marcel Pagnol
Synopsis
The very nice baker has a very good looking wife. There is a very good looking shepherd, wife runs away with him, Baker wants her back. She returns and is forgiven.
Review
Well, I watched this film out of order, I actually watched it when I should be watching Le Roman D'Un Tricheur. Well, it's all French to me. Anyway, I am writing this review on the 16th of March and I'll save it for later anyway.
This is a deeply affecting film, the French are able to do extremely kind comedy coupled with very deep emotion and this is a perfect example of that. It is set in a little village in France, which really could have been a little village anywhere, it has people with the most unique and lovable characters and half of the enjoyment of the film comes simply from their interaction.
The story of the Baker himself is a beautiful love story tainted by betrayal, and here there is one of the best portrayals of a good man betrayed in the history of cinema, it is truly a pity that this is practically impossible to get in the English speaking market, in fact I watched a french copy and had some Spanish subtitles to help me along. It is a truly beautiful film which made me sniffle a bit in the touching a beautiful ending. You can't get it anywhere except eMule and there you can get it only in French, and the only subtitles that you can download on the internet are in Spanish... good luck!
Final Grade
10/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
Born February 28, 1895 in Aubagne, Bouches-du-Rhône département, in southern France near Marseille, the son of school teacher Joseph Pagnol and seamstress Augustine Lansot, Marcel Pagnol grew up in Marseille with his younger brothers Paul, René, and younger sister Germaine. He learned how to read at a young age to his father's amazement but his mother did not allow him to touch a book until he was six "for fear of cerebral explosion". During this time he spent many summers with his family in a house in the hills near Aubagne.
At the age of 15 he wrote his first play and followed in his father's footsteps and became an English teacher for secondary schools. However, he quit being an English teacher when he went to Paris. Instead, he devoted his life to playwriting, which led to his first play, Merchants of Glory, in 1924. In 1929 he wrote Marius for the Paris Theatre. Marius would also be later turned into a film in 1929, Pagnol's first film.
In 1916 he married Simone Coline in Marseille, to the displeasure of his father Joseph.
In 1945 he married Jacqueline Bouvier.
Marcel Pagnol was elected a member of the Académie Française in 1946. He was the first film maker ever to receive this honour.
He died in Paris on April 18, 1974.
His novel L'Eau des collines was adapted from his two films Jean de Florette and Manon des sources. These films were remade to international acclaim in the 1980s by Claude Berri. His novels La gloire de mon père and Le château de ma mère were made into acclaimed movies by Yves Robert.
Unfortunately it was made into a Musical, and it's horrible, most unfortunately it's the only thing related to the film that's on youtube... this is the sheperd singing, and this scene doesn't happen in the film:
Documentary on the 1936 German Olympiad, aryans don't come out so good out of it. Jesse Owens gets 4 gold medals.
Review
Whatever your political stance might be, there is no denying that his is probably one of the best and most impressive documentaries ever done about not only sports but the human body itself. Leni Riefenstahl was a genius film maker, and even if Triumph of The Will left you with some doubts about that, this is the film that dispells it.
Firstly and most importantly the politics here are nowhere near as important as they were in Triumph of the Will, I actually find it slightly unfair to call it a propaganda film. The event was a propaganda even, therefore anyone filming it would get that impression from the event itself, the German Propaganda Machine was just what you would capture naturally by taking a camera to those games. Leni doesn't seem, at least for most of the film to be racially prejudiced, black people get plenty of screen time, particularly Owens, as do the Japanese for example. In fact Leni's fascination for the human body knows no racial bounds, and she takes pleasure in having a slow-motion image of a male body in action whatever his race.
When I say a male body I mean it - Leni really loved men it seems, her eye for details of the male body, naked or in athletic action is on the edge of the pornographic. Actually, if people in gender studies would like to talk about the "female gaze" this is the film to look at, even though they might cringe at the idea that the "nurturing female" objectifies men and works for the Nazis. The objectification of men, particularly at the beggining of the second part of the documentary is almost at the level of Andy Warhol's shorts. There's a communal shower of athletes, and suddenly a close-up on one of the athelete's face while he's showering which could perfectly well be orgasmic. Female sports and characters are secondary here, they are of course present, but maybe due to a mix of Leni's pervyness with gender inequality it is men's bodies which act as the main characters in the film.
It is also both surprising and interesting to see how much sporting events have evolved in the last 70 years, but how little the filming techniques evolved. Leni creates a template which you see today whenever anyone is filming sports, she made it all up, it is pretty amazing. Actually the film is more visually interesting than most sport covered today even if the sporting events themselves are disappointingly bad. You should really get this film at Amazon UK or US. Final Grade
9/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
On the first day, Hitler shook hands only with the German victors and then left the stadium (some claim this was to avoid having to shake hands with Cornelius Johnson, who was African-American, but according to a spokesman Hitler's exit had been pre-scheduled). Olympic committee officials then insisted Hitler greet each and every medalist or none at all. Hitler opted for the latter and skipped all further medal presentations.On reports that Hitler had deliberately avoided acknowledging his victories, and had refused to shake his hand, Owens recounted:
“ When I passed the Chancellor he arose, waved his hand at me, and I waved back at him. I think the writers showed bad taste in criticizing the man of the hour in Germany. ”
Owens was cheered enthusiastically by 110,000 people in Berlin's Olympic Stadium and later ordinary Germans sought his autograph when they saw him in the streets. Owens was allowed to travel with and stay in the same hotels as whites, an irony at the time given that Negroes in the United States were denied equal rights. After a New York ticker-tape parade in his honor, Owens had to ride the freight elevator to attend a reception for him at the Waldorf-Astoria.
Yeah, well, Mr. Hilter was still teh Eval!
Well here goes the prologue to Olympia, some examples of what I was talking about love of men's bodies..., you also get the great soundtrack:
Two boys grow up rough in the big city. One of them gets caught and is sent to jail, the other one straightens himself out, and they end up at opposite sides of the tracks. Cagney as the bad boy ends up killed by the same institution that created him, in the electric chair.
Review
This is the second Michael Curtiz film in a row on the list, but contrary to Robin Hood, this is a great film in all aspects. You can really tell that Curtiz felt a lot stronger about the subject of this film than Robin Hood. Then you have a collection of actors that is nothing if not spectacular, James Cagney is brilliant and so is Pat O'Brien. Humphrey Bogart has a small part here as he wasn't a star yet, but each time he shows up he lights up the screen, and then surprisingly for child actors the "Dead End" kids are really good actors as well.
The film is not, however, just a class in acting, it is also a class in directing, from the camera angles to the shadows to the impressive execution scene and the amazing sets, particularly at the beginning of the film, everything here is exquisitely crafted.
Then there's the plot, something which has been done to death after this film, the two kids who grew up to be different people but there is a very strong underlying social message here, at the same time anti-crime but also anti the institutions that try to solve crime, the police is corrupt, prisons are crime schools and the death penalty feels like a cruel and unusal punishment for a character that you learned to love even with all his faults.
An essential film for anyone interested in gangster films, put it on your shelf next to Little Caesar, Scarface, Public Enemy. Get it at Amazon UK or US.
Final Grade
9/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
* Warner Brothers created a 1939 cartoon that spoofed the movie called Thugs with Dirty Mugs.
* During the 1950's, three Argentinian footballers - Antonio Angelillo, Enrique Sivori and Humberto Maschio - formed a talented inside forward line for their Country. They acquired the nickname "Angels with Dirty Faces" when they all moved to Italy in the latter part of the decade to play for the likes of Juventus. The name was given on account of their typically South American colour and ability. They were also known as ‘The Trio of Death’ because of their clinical finishing.
* A parody of the film appears in Home Alone as Angels with Filthy Souls. In the parody, Gangster Johnny fires a lengthy machine gun salvo before remarking, "Keep the change, ya filthy animal." In Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, we see scenes from a sequel to that film, Angels with Even Filthier Souls. In the sequel, Johnny fires his Tommy gun before saying "Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal. And a Happy New Year.". In the two movies, Kevin uses the movies as an illusion to make others think that they were talking to Johnny, and that he was shooting at them. Hardcore band, Angels with Filthy Souls, are named after this reference.
* It's Never Too Late, an episode of Batman: The Animated Series, alludes to Angels by telling the story of the Stromwell brothers, one of whom grows up to be a mob boss, the other a priest.
* The famous Irish bar "Rocky Sullivan's Pub" in New York City was named after Cagney's character.
* Several musical artists, including Sugababes and Tricky, have used the title "Angels with Dirty Faces" as the name of their album. Others, including Sum 41, Sham 69 and Los Lobos, have songs entitled "Angels with Dirty Faces", although Sum 41's version is actually a reference to another band's name.
* In the early 90s an Indian version of the film was made. Called "Raam Janey", it cast Shahrukh Khan in the role of Rocky. The movie was quite faithful to the original (albeit Indianized), but was a box office failure.
Look at how a trailer can give you exactly the wrong image of a film, this whole trailer is cut to make Cagney look really evil, which he then isn't:
Robin Hood, steals from the rich, amasses money to pay for the ransom of a stupid king fighting a stupid war abroad. Historical factuality much disputed. As you can see in the picture he is all about Black Power!
Review
Well... it's a swashbuckler, if you like that kind of thing this is the movie for you. Frankly, despite the impressive technicolor and some good action seens the film left me a bit cold. Errol Flynn is a ham, but so is everyone else around him. When the characters in a film deliver their speeches with their hands on their hips you know that you are watching something interesting.
Ok, the film was pretty and incredibly flashy, from the colorful clothing to the fun action sequences and the technicolor there is plenty here to please the eye. Still, the acting is bad, the direction, although with some inspired moments like when Robin fights Guy and you see the fight as their shadows, was lacklustre. If you are someone that gets annoyed by historical innacuracies this is really not the film for you, but it should be watched in that spirit.
What I can advise is that you take it for what it is. A bit of fun, in colour! There is no depth to any of the characters, but they are such myths that you really don't need the depth, take it as a fairytale and you won't be too disappointed. So get it at Amazon UK or US.
Final Grade
6/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
The Adventures of Robin Hood was filmed on location in multiple areas of California including Chico and Pasadena as well as having several scenes shot at the Warner Bros. Burbank Studios.
The Adventures of Robin Hood was produced at an estimated cost of $2 million, and was the first Warner Bros. film to be shot in the three-strip technicolor process (one of the few major motion pictures of the 1930s to do this). It was an unusually extravagant production for the Warner Bros. studio, which had made a name for itself in producing gritty, low-budget gangster films, but their adventure movies starring Flynn had generated hefty revenue and Robin Hood was created to capitalize on this[citation needed]. James Cagney was originally cast as Robin Hood but walked out on his contract, paving the way for Flynn.
Slightly surreal German dubbing of an excerpt of the film...:
Julie is a southern belle and a devious one. She tries to make Henry Fonda jealous and he tells her to stuff it. Comes back married. Bette Davis is mightily miffed, throws herself at some hick gentleman, who gets shot by Henry Fonda's brother. Henry Fonda gets yellow fever, oh noes! Bette decides to go with him to a leper's island to help him recover. Slut! (that's The End in Swedish).
Review
Here's a great Bette Davis vehicle. Davis is actually quite impressive here, I never thought she was pretty in fact I always found her to be quite ugly, but by golly she does have screen presence. There's something innefable about these screen divas, just that star-factor in there somewhere.
This is a very impressive display by Bette Davis, she acts her ass off through this, making a convincing portrayal of a damaged but emotionally complex woman. Actually you have little sympathy for Bette for most of the film, you just feel that she is purposefully creating problems for all that surround them, by the end however you start to think if she actually meant for the problems to happen or was just being strong-willed in a horrible society.
The South, usually so idealised in these films doesn't come across all that nice, the white society of New Orleans is petty and bound by an imbecilic code of conduct not to speak of loving slavery. Of course slavery is shown as a really great thing with all the black people just happy in their place... something which would be even more obvious in Gone With The Wind, which would see the light the following year. The sets here are amazing as are the costumes and Henry Fonda is a great actor... but not as good as Bette Davis who deservedly got an Oscar for this. So get it at Amazon UK or US.
Final Grade
8/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
Some argue the film was developed as a vehicle for Bette Davis after she failed to win the part of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind. However, the movie was filmed and released before the part of Scarlett was even cast in 1939. In fact, the character of a Civil War debutante that Davis played harmed her chances of landing the Gone With the Wind role, because it was felt she had already played the Scarlett character the year before.
In 2006, Film historian Jeanine Basinger recorded a comprehensive scene by scene commentary as part of the re-issued DVD of the film.
In her commentary about Davis, Basinger relates that this film is distinctive in the realm of women's pictures because of Orry-Kelly's brilliant costume designs for the actress.
Basinger states that the viewer is compelled to watch Davis in four stylings in particular: the riding crop/outfit in the beginning of the film, the scandalous scarlet red dress at the Olympus Ball, the virginal white dress she wears when she attempts to woo back Henry Fonda, and finally the cape at the end of the film she dons when she must go to help care for Fonda.
Basinger states that this was the performance at the height of Davis's career and that Jezebel is the quitessential American "woman's" film.
*cough* bollocks *cough*
Here you go, a little montage about the red dress:
Renowned thief Pepe Le Moko takes refuge in the labyrinth of the Casbah in Algiers, but he feels entraped, until a lady draws him out of the city and into the clutches of the pigs!
Review
Well it seems that we are close to getting to film noir. Pepe Le Moko is an amazing example of was to become film noir in the 40's. One of the most interesting things of the film is the character of the city itself, the Casbah is as much a character as Pepe and more of a character than any other member of the cast.
Noir elements populate the whole film; shadows, characters, dangerous women - it's all there. The only downfall of the film is the fact that the script isn't as good as French films have gotten us used to. There are however some glimpses of brilliance, when the woman is singing the song about Paris near the end for example, but most of the brilliance comes from the excellent actors and very fine directing more than any other element. Jean Gabin is again phenomenal as he was in La Grande Illusion.
The directing is masterful. The opening in the streets of the Casbah is almost documentary like in its love of the image, so is the scene when Pepe is singing. The scene where Regie is killed is equally spectacular with the sounds of the piano drowning the shots, even Moko's walk to "freedom" is great with the retro projecting of streets and the open sea in front of him. All in all a masterful film which, had it had a better script could have been one of the best films of all time. Still, very worth watching, get it at Amazon UK or US.
Final Grade
8/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
The film is based on Henri La Barthe's novel of the same name; La Barthe contributed to the screenplay under the pseudonym 'Détective Ashelbé'.
Pépé le Moko is an example of the 1930s French movement known as poetic realism, which combines gritty realism with occasional flashes of unusual cinematic tricks. The film is often seen as an early precursor of film noir.
The film was remade in America in 1938 as Algiers, starring Hedy Lamarr and Charles Boyer.
Pepe Le Moko was remade and the american remake inspired Pepe Le Pew, so here he is, notice the mention of the Casbah:
Couple starts getting suspicious of each other and get a divorce. Still while going through rebounds they can't get over each other... they end up stuck in a room with only one bed, what happens next is left to the imagination.
Review
I love Cary Grant, he had appeared on the list before in She Done Him Wrong, but he played a very minor part in that; here, he shines. Comedies like this, like The Thin Man or It Happened One Night rely very much on the quality of the main actors, the way lines are delivered etc. Here Irene Dunn and Grant really make the film work. Of course it's McCarey so the whole film is very well directed and for that reason he got the Oscar.
Still, like McCarey said he got the Oscar for the wrong film, I agree with the fact that Make Way For Tomorrow was superior, but it really didn't have the mass appeal of this film. The film is funny, actually in moments hilarious and superbly acted. Hey I've already quote the film today with the sentece "Oklahoma City itself!?"... you have to watch the film to get it though.
Cary Grant is a superbly natural actor, a single expression is worth a thousand words for him, a flick of the head or a raise of the brow are funnier than most other actors put together, it's a very self-deprecating humour that just work superbly here. The film however doesn't have much to say other than being funny. Still a very entertaining one and half hours, so get it from Amazon UK or US. Final Grade
8/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
The film was written by Sidney Buchman (uncredited) and Viña Delmar, from the play by Arthur Richman. It was directed by Leo McCarey. This film marked the first appearance of the uniquely effective light comedy persona used by Cary Grant in almost all his subsequent films, catapulting Grant's career. Writer/director Peter Bogdanovich has noted that after this movie, when it came to light comedy, "there was Cary Grant and everyone else was an also-ran." McCarey is largely credited with concocting this persona, and the two men even shared an eerie physical resemblance.
Ironically, Grant fought hard to get out of the film during its shooting, since McCarey seemed to be improvising as he went along, and initially even wanted to switch roles with Ralph Bellamy.
The film is one of a series of what the philosopher Stanley Cavell calls "comedies of remarriage", where couples who have once been married, or are on the verge of divorce, etc., rediscover that they are in love with each other, and recommit to the idea of marriage. Another example starring Cary Grant is The Philadelphia Story filmed shortly after The Awful Truth. The original template for this kind of comedy is Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Many screwball comedies are based on the audience enjoyment of the humorous dynamic of people who are clearly too smart for their own desires.
Come on! Orphan girl gets taken in by bunch o'freaks. Gets poisoned by frustrated beauty queen. Necrophiliac takes her away to his palace.
Review
I am sure that if not all of you have watched this, probably most of you have. My first memory of watching it was as a little child, about 3 years old in a cinema on some kind of re-release. I was freaked by the evil queen. Really freaked.
Watching it later you watch it with other eyes, Dopey is most likely suffering from cretinism for example, Snow White is slightly annoying, and it is never explained why the prince would want to lean onto a coffin and snog a corpse. All of this just makes the story even creepier but makes you side with the Queen's plan to get rid of the lot.
One major quibble with the film is the fact that it is probably 20 minutes too short, there's so much time wasted on the admittedly great songs that there is not enough space for plot development. The events from Snow White's poisoning until the end are just unashamedly rushed.
This said, no one can take one thing away from the film: the fact that it is an amazing achievement in animation even today. The characters' movements, the lighting, the water, everything is perfect, albeit in a very 30's style. Another great plus of this film is its soundtrack, the way the images go with the sound is really good, and this doesn't just apply to the set pieces. The instrumental parts during a chase or when White runs away after the hunter tries to kill her work perfectly with what is going on on film. In the end it is a film a lot more about style than content, but what style!
There's no way to get a good version of this on DVD, there was a limited version released some years ago which goes for about 50 pounds, 100 dollars now. I got my version from Korea, it comes in a lovely box stating that it is "Latinum Edition", with the tag line "Still The Fairest Of The Mall". Which is just priceless, it is also marked PG 13 for martial arts violence and sexual content. It also states it has bucket loads of special features, which is a lie, there's none. My CD also came with some scratches which really impaired a couple of scenes in the film. Still, it cost me 2 pounds instead of 50. If this is how Disney wants their films to be watched good on them.
Final Grade
8/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
Walt Disney had to fight to get the film produced. Both his brother Roy Disney and his wife Lillian attempted to talk him out of it, and the Hollywood movie industry mockingly referred to the film as "Disney's Folly" while it was in production. He even had to mortgage his house to help finance the film's production, which eventually ran up a total cost of just over $1.5 million, a whopping sum for a feature film in 1937.
Snow White, which spent three years in production, was the end result of Walt Disney's plan to improve the production quality of his studio's output, and also to find a source of income other than short subjects. Many animation techniques which later became standards were developed or improved for the film, including the animation of realistic humans (with and without the help of the rotoscope), effective character animation (taking characters that look similar — the dwarves, in this case — and making them distinct characters through their body acting and movement), elaborate effects animation to depict rain, lightning, water, reflections, sparkles, magic, and other objects and phenomena, and the use of the multiplane camera. Snow White is also looked upon as a triumph of storytelling skill in animation.
Snow White as She should be NSFW(somehow Americans got a disgraced tabloid editor as a talent contest judge, good on them... were all other Brits busy?):
And here's a deleted scene from the film, The Soup Song:
LESS SONGS, MORE PLOT! (was my girlfriend's cry at the end of the film).
A very old couple gets their house repossessed by the bank and has to go live with their children. They are separated and each goes to a diferent child's house, they soon become a burden and the father is sent to California and the mother to a retirement home. They do have a chance to get together for 5 hours however before he has to get his train to California.
Review
Leo McCarey direct what is possibly one of the most touching films of the 30's... I am a little girl and I cried at the end of this like crazy, 5 minutes later my voice was still shaky. I just loved it, the two main characters are pathetic in the true sense of the word.
Rarely has cinema ever portrayed old age with such tenderness and compassion without falling into stereotypes. In fact you can understand why the sons want to get rid of their parents, they are inconvenient, they talk loudly, they are embarassing and all the things old people can be. But in the end they are people who love and have passions like their young. They just seems to be put into this category of "old" where they lose the qualities of individuality and that is what is particularly sad about it. They are objects, almost trash for those who don't even try to understand them.
Itnerestingly in the film they are mainly mistreated by their children, strangers are always more than nice to them. In a way they didn't have to live with them and are able to approach them in a fresh way. In the end the film is a love story between two old people made to be apart by their own children, and the love between the aged is not a common theme in cinema, and that is possibly why this film is so hard to find today. Leo McCarey was supremely proud of the film, and for good reason, today you either get it on eBay on a version which I must warn you is on DVD but recorded off the TV or you might be able to download it from somewhere like eMule. A pity.
Final Grade
9/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
The film was written by Viña Delmar, from a play by Henry Leary and Noah Leary, which was in turn based on the novel The Years Are So Long by advice columnist Josephine Lawrence.
McCarey believed that this was his finest film. When he accepted his Best Director Oscar for The Awful Truth, he said "Thanks, but you gave it to me for the wrong picture."
Hotel Scene, just before they are parted forever... sniff:
The story of the life of Emile Zola with a very strong focus on the events around the famous "J'Accuse". The trial of Zola for attempting to prove the innocence of an innocent military officer sent to Devil's Island.
Review
We had seen Paul Muni before in Scarface and I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang. No matter how good the acting was in those films, Muni shows even greater talent here. Like Barbara Stanwyck in Stella Dallas there is a termendous physical transformation as Zola gets older which makes his speech and delivery change as well as his physical appearence.
That is not the only great thing about the film, although it is pretty much a one man show. The subject is equally interesting, a man's fight against institutional injustice, and although not mentioned explicitly in the film, anti-semitism. Dreyfus the wrongfully convicted officer in the film is Jewish and even if Zola mentioned that fact in his article J'Accuse...! there is no mention of his Jewishness in the film. Is this due to political correctness in the complicated days of 1937? Or was it a way to make this film pass under the radar as a furtive way of criticising racism? There is a tell-tale scene when one of the higher up military officer says he doesn't know how a man like him rose in the military ranks, while in the ledger under Dreyfus name you can fleetingly see his religion.
In the end a truly powerful film about injustice and the power of a man to make it right. A film about conscience and not selling out in the end, but a great film and one as relevant today as it was in the 30's and as the story was in the late 19th century. Get it at Amazon UK or US.
Final Grade
8/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
The film was a great success both critically and financially, and contemporary reviews cited it as the best biographical film made up to that time. It is still held in high regard by many critics. It is the first biographical film to win the Oscar for Best Picture.
Stella marries Mr. Dallas and begets a child, Dallas finds his old sweetheart and wants to remarry her. The child would be much better off financially and in terms of environment with the father's new family, Stella therefore shoves her away from her life.
Review
This is a great film about a mother's sacrifice. Barbara Stanwyck is particularly good here, with a character going thorugh a spectrum of not only feelings but also physical appearence as she gets older and frumpier. A well deserved best actress oscar for 1937. It is hard to rate this film however after seeing Grand Illusion, even though they are completely disparate films, Illusion's acting is just so much more fluid than this.
The story is, however beautiful and heart-rending, and a relationship that starts off reminding us of mother-daughter TV shows like Gilmore Girls, suddenly develops into something much darker. Although at times the film seems slightly drawn out there is also the feeling that some of the events are too sudden and that Laurel isn't really that bright.
All of the merit in this film goes to Stanwyck's masterful performance, Vidor has made better films in the silent era such as The Big Parade and The Crowd, but this was a story that he told beautifully. So you should get it from Amazon UK or US.
Final Grade
8/10
Trivia
Stella Dallas is a 1920 novel by Olive Higgins Prouty, written in response to the death of her three-year-old daughter from encephalitis. It tells the story of a woman who sacrifices her own happiness for the sake of her daughter. The novel was subsequently adapted into a stage play in 1924 and a movie in 1925 and in 1937 (when it was nominated for two Academy Awards) and again in 1990 as Stella with Bette Midler.
As well, it was the basis for the radio serial Stella Dallas, which aired daily for 18 years, and which is often credited as being the first soap opera. Prouty was reportedly displeased with her characters' portrayals therein.
The 1937 version stars Barbara Stanwyck, John Boles, Anne Shirley, Barbara O'Neil, Alan Hale, Sr., Marjorie Main and Tim Holt. It was adapted by Joe Bigelow, Harry Wagstaff Gribble, Victor Heerman, Sarah Y. Mason and Gertrude Purcell from the original novel, and was directed by King Vidor.
It was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Barbara Stanwyck) and Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Anne Shirley).
The 1925 version was adapted by Frances Marion and directed by Henry King. It stars Ronald Colman, Belle Bennett, Alice Joyce, Jean Hersholt and Douglas Fairbanks Jr..
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