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| James Stewart and Kim Novak in Vertigo |
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| 900 Lombard, San Francisco, today |
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Monday, December 27, 2010
Holiday Inn (1942) is famed as the film in which Bing Crosby first sang "White Christmas." I love its teaming of Crosby with Fred Astaire, their song and dance routines, the comedic rivalry between them, Irving Berlin's sensational music, the wintry New England scenery...everything about it.
In this video review, New YorkTimes critic A.O. Scott discusses Holiday Inn - with film clips. He does talk about the "Abraham" number...but doesn't suggest censoring it. Click to watch...
Scott's review started with a clip of a clever Fred Astaire routine, his New Year's Eve dance "under the influence" with Marjorie Reynolds...click below to watch the entire sequence...
(I probably don't need to add: don't try this yourself!)
Thursday, December 23, 2010
On December 6, 1963, Judy Garland taped "The Christmas Show" to air a few weeks later as the holiday episode of her weekly CBS-TV variety show. She was joined by by both family (including Liza) and friends...like singer/songwriter Mel Tormé, writer (with Bob Wells ) of "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)"...Click to watch Judy and Mel sing this holiday classic...
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Christmas in Connecticut (1945), a jewel of a holiday romantic comedy, was released at a time unlike any other in America...scant months after VE Day, just days before VJ Day - and by December 1945, World War II was finally over and many veterans were home in time for Christmas.
A Time Magazine article of December 24, 1945 observed, “For most Americans, on the first Christmas without war since 1938, these two facts transcended all others: peace…had come back to earth; millions of U.S. fighting men, now a peaceful army of longed-for occupation, were streaming back to their homes…”
A reviewer of the recent book Christmas 1945 observed the contrast between 1945 and the previous Christmas, “In 1944, the Allies thought they had the war nearly won when the last days of turmoil broke out in a wooded, mountainous region of Germany. The Battle of the Bulge was to be the last major conflict in a war winding down…If Christmas 1944 was a frightening reminder that the war was not really over yet, Christmas 1945 was a collective prayer, a nationwide sigh of relief.“
But…very soon a Navy vet (Dennis Morgan) is headed her way thanks to his nurse/fiancée’s letter to Lane’s publisher (Sydney Greenstreet). The sailor, recently rescued after weeks adrift at sea on a raft where he endlessly dreamed of fine food (like this entree), has visions of an Elizabeth Lane-style holiday. With the war still on, Lane's publisher is not about to disappoint a returning hero...so the vet's wish is granted. Lane’s masquerade goes off the rails and she ends up under a romantic spell, ready to give up her "bachelor girl" high life for the regular guy, a war veteran, who's stolen her heart…
The farcical plot, an outstanding cast and a set replete with snowy New England sleigh-ride scenery create a heartwarming and reassuringly merry Christmas movie.
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The popularity of Christmas in Connecticut seems to grow with each passing holiday…but that first year, the film's original Yuletide season, was singular...
Writer Bob Burdick, whose boyhood during WWII included “air raid drills, blackouts, rationing, and simply doing without...” recalled his father’s return from the war and remembered that though money was tight that year and his own gifts under the tree numbered just two, “before the day was over, I considered these gifts the best I’d ever received.” Looking back Burdick added, “no Christmas has been more memorable than the one of 1945.”
Monday, December 13, 2010
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| Chinatown movie poster |
Born on December 4, 1947, he was raised near Philadelphia, in the west side suburb of Ardmore where his parents owned a toy store. An artistic prodigy from early youth, he graduated from Lower Merion High School in 1965; he had been Art Editor of the school yearbook. He went on to attend the Philadelphia College of Art and stood out among his classmates there. Some have suggested that Amsel's precocious talent intimidated even his art instructors at the college.
While still in art school, he won a poster art contest for the Barbra Streisand film, Hello Dolly (1968). His career took off as a result... he was just 21 years old.
Richard Amsel went on to create a series of magazine ads for designer Oleg Cassini, illustrated movie posters and developed a long association with TV Guide magazine. In addition, he created the art for Time Magazine's Lily Tomlin cover in 1975.
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| The Divine Miss M album cover |
His best known movie posters were for classic films of the '70s and '80s and include The Last Picture Show (1971), The Sting (1973), Chinatown (1974), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), The Shootist (1976) and, perhaps most famous of all, Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).
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| Katharine Hepburn/TV Guide |
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| Gone with the Wind/TV Guide |
Amsel's stylistic influences were diverse, among them - Gustav Klimt, Alphonse Mucha and Walt Disney. An Associated Press reporter of the time observed that his "portraits pay homage to the nostalgia of old Hollywood, often through the groovy lens of the Age of Aquarius, while still managing to look contemporary..." About his own work, Amsel said, "I'm interested in uncovering relationships between the past and present and in discovering how things have changed and grown. I don't see any point in copying the past, but I think the elements of the past can be taken to another realm."
Richard Amsel died just three weeks before his 38th birthday in November 1985, a victim of AIDS.
To learn more about Amsel's illustrative art, click here.
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| Raiders of the Lost Ark movie poster |
As I was preparing to post this piece about Richard Amsel, I realized its timeliness - December is AIDS Awareness Month.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
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| Gene Tierney in Leave Her to Heaven |
Author's Disclaimer
Not until I started researching and reading did I realize the extent of the tremendous amount of heresay, recyled disinformation and vague references that exists in the written media about director John M. Stahl - both online and in book form. I prefer to write (cryptically) off the top of my head but felt lacking in sufficient details concerning the film legacy of Mr. Stahl. I love film but dislike film criticism...trust me...you will not see mise en scene mentioned...
A Brief Biography
Stahl married Roxana Wray in 1930 (his wife until death)..then came the disaster of Parnell (1937), which ended his work with Universal. He he continued on working for Fox Studios and free-lancing, his sole success being Leave Her to Heaven along with some minor films...he retired in 1949 and died the following year. John Stahl was one of the founders of AMPAS (the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (for whatever that is worth)...
Introduction
Prior to 1936, I think Stahl enjoyed a good reputation as a reliable, competent, focused studio director. Parnell was his undoing (as director and producer he was solely responsible), and the critics and wags began to pile up the negatives: "studio director,""unoriginal,""a woman's director," "a one medium director," director of "weepies," "tearjerkers" and "soapers." Negative criticism led to neglect which was in full force by the time he made Leave Her to Heaven (1945). To the above I say...
1. William Wyler was criticized for being a "studio director" (I would like anyone try to do a better job on Ben-Hur).
2. George Cukoor was also called a "woman's director"...so what? He was a good director period...
3. John Ford directed mostly westerns.
4. Being "maverick" and "original" does not guarantee quality or success...
I also think that part of the public and critical neglect of Stahl was due to his reputation - he was a real nice guy, not a womanizaer or a drunk...got along well with the studio brass...actors and actresses loved him (especially Greer Garson)...he was pleasant to work with...productive...responsible.
Yes, he directed melodramas...yes, he addressed strong issues on the social and sexual mores of women...yes, he featured independent (sometimes driven) characters...but this hardly justifies criticism or neglect.
The following is a quote from Hal Erickson at All-Movie Guide: "it was during this time that Stahl developed his directorial "signature"; hot house melodramas and baroque romanticisims with emphasis on strong, self reliant female characters"..this was the kind of blather that I waded through.
1. Hot house...What does that mean? over-the-top...yes...sauna, no!
2. Baroque...I think that he is referring to Douglas Sirk!
3. Self reliant females...that smells of Ayn Rand...
Selected Films
2. Only Yesterday (1933)...again featuring John Boles and the screen debut of Margaret Sullavan. In 1929, a once wealthy businessman reflects on his past and an affair in 1917 that produced an illegimate child...he had ignored the woman who had his child and now feels remorse when he finds her dying. With a chilling montage of images of the Great Depression. As with Back Street, a definite pre-coder...featuring a strong supporting cast including Edna May Oliver and Billie Burke.
3. Imitation of Life (1933)... from Fannie Hurst once again...perfect cast with Claudette Colbert as Bea Pullman, Louise Beavers as Delilah Johnson, Warren William as Stephen Archer, and Rochelle Hudson and Fredi Washington as the daughters. Storyline...widow hires maid whose recipe becomes "Aunt Delilah" pancake formula = $$$ and disappointment. This film tackled real issues of segregation, the position of women, class structure, passing for white and the destructive power of wealth. Often described as dated, this version of Imitation of Life is superior to the flamboyant/unbelievable/vapid 1959 remake with Lana Turner...
5. Parnell (1937)...the story of "the uncrowned king of Ireland"...a good pedigree...Myrna Loy and Clark Gable...cinematography by Karl Freund...screenplay by John Van Druten. Unfortunately, it was a giant flop with the public and critics...beautifully filmed but schizophrenic. Is it a bio-pic, a star vehicle or a costume drama? As producer/director, Stahl was completely responsible for this mess that led to his dismissal from MGM...please...do NOT see this film!
6. When Tomorrow Comes (1939)...a minor comeback for Stahl, as Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne renew their screen chemistry from Love Affair (1939)...from a story by James M. Cain, of all people...good film...improbable plot...remade by Douglas Sirk as Interlude (1957).
7. The Keys of the Kingdom (1945)...from the A. J. Cronin novel...screenplay by Nunnally Johnson...music by Alfred Newman..and a great cast headed by Gregory Peck in his first starring role..we really see the screen presence of Peck in this film...from his visage...mannerisms...and speech...this was 18 years before To Kill a Mockingbird.
8. Leave Her to Heaven (1945)...flamboyant and morbid, to say the least...Gene Tierney is both stunning and creepy as Ellen Berent..Cornel Wilde is adequate as her hubby Richard Harland...with good support from Jeanne Crain and Vincent Price...how this movie got by the censors is beyond me: featuring a wrongful death (click below to view)...a deliberate fall to cause a miscarriage and suicide to implicate a rival in homicide is enough plot for three movies...this is one unique movie and represents the mastery of Stahl...famous quote: "there's nothing wrong with Ellen, it's just that she loves too much..."
Summary
Well, that is the best I can do...I have been a champion of John M. Stahl for 30 years...his fall from grace was multifactorial...the disaster of Parnell, benign neglect by critics...the ascendency of Douglas Sirk..and the unjust labelling as a studio director...I hope you will visit his films!
Sunday, December 5, 2010
One of the most charming and potent portrayals of Americana to grace the screen, Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) tugs at the heartstrings as powerfully today as it did 65+ years ago when it was crafted by MGM's "Freed Unit."
The film's sparkling perfection is the work of producer Arthur Freed, director Vincente Minnelli, an incomparable ensemble cast, an ace artistic and technical team, songwriters Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin and...Technicolor.
This is one of my all-time favorites...
Meet Me in St. Louis was adapted from a series of reminiscences by Sally Benson that first appeared in The New Yorker in early 1942. Told from the perspective of five-year-old 'Tootie' Smith, Benson's memory pieces, though rich in warmth and humor, were light on plot and conflict. A more defined storyline was developed, the characters were strengthened and 17-year-old Esther Smith (played by Judy Garland) became the pivotal character. The plot evolved into a "year in the life" of an idealized American family and was comprised of vignettes set in each of the four seasons with its dramatic climax, a family crisis, set at Christmastime.
The Smith family home at 5135 Kensington Avenue (Sally Benson's real childhood address) was the film's central interior and Minnelli made the decision to build a continuous set with interconnecting rooms, just like an actual house. He reportedly wanted the entire picture to have the look of a painting by Thomas Eakins, and art director Preston Ames' assignment was to recreate a St. Louis neighborhood, circa 1904, as evocatively as possible. Ames did so, creating a full block of Kensington Avenue (at a cost of 200,000 1944 dollars) on Metro's back lot.
Focused on the film's visual look and intent on accurate period detail, Minnelli supervised every aspect of set and production design. He brought in top Broadway set decorator Lemuel Ayres and, in addition, spent time with Sally Benson who described to him every feature of her girlhood home. To handle costume design, he turned to Irene Sharaff, another recent Broadway-to-Hollywood transplant. Sharaff researched the historic era carefully, even using a 1904 Sears & Roebuck catalog as a reference.
Minnelli and cinematographer George Folsey took such pains with the film's colors and textures that some scenes do resemble period paintings. Meet Me in St. Louis was the first MGM film to be fully shot in Technicolor and Folsey and Minnelli proved to be adept at its use, even managing to capture subtle changes in seasonal light.
The songwriting team of Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin composed three very special songs for Judy Garland: "The Boy Next Door," "The Trolley Song," and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (click below to watch and listen). Each became a standard in Garland's later repertoire and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" remains a holiday classic today. To add more period flavor, Blane and Martin also reworked popular tunes from the turn of the century - "Meet Me in St. Louis," "Skip to My Lou" and "Under the Bamboo Tree." Up to this time, most films had music inserted arbitrarily, but the songs in Meet Me in St. Louis were integrated into the action and dialogue to help advance the plot.
Meet Me in St. Louis was an immediate hit, the highest grossing film of 1944. It turned out to be just the tonic a country at war needed to lift its spirits. The film firmly established Minnelli's reputation as a top director, provided Judy Garland with a solid push to the next plateau of her career and toward her ultimate status as a legend, and it ushered in a golden age of Hollywood musicals.
There is much to admire about Meet Me in St. Louis. For me its appeal is that, though nostalgic, the sentiment isn't heavy-handed. The film beguiles gently, taking one on a fanciful trip into a golden epoch. The turn of the century in America is depicted as a languid time before the World Wars and the Great Depression, an era when multi-generational families lived under the same roof...when mothers made vats of ketchup every summer in large, window-filled kitchens...when horse-drawn ice wagons regularly clattered down neighborhood streets...and when a young lady might easily fall in love with and dream of marrying a boy who lived right next door...
As Esther Smith, Judy Garland glows as the film's heart and soul. She is at her best - wistful and endearing, spunky and warm, her voice at an early peak.
Margaret O'Brien as the high-spirited young 'Tootie' adds a dimension of childhood mischief and carries the imaginative Halloween sequence almost entirely on her own. She takes another precocious turn during the climactic Christmas scenes with Judy Garland.
Leon Ames blusters as good-hearted family patriarch, Alonzo Smith. Mary Astor is light-as-air as 'Mrs. Anna Smith;' Lucille Bremer is winning as the older sister, Rose; Harry Davenport shines as lovable 'Grandpa' Smith; Marjorie Main adds spice as the cantankerous maid, Katie...and Tom Drake is affecting as 'boy next door' John Truett. Very fine in fleeting roles are Chill Wills and a young June Lockhart.
Click here to listen to a 1989 interview by Terri Gross on NPR's "Fresh Air" with Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane in which the songwriters discuss working with director Vincente Minnelli and writing the songs for Meet Me in St. Louis...
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| MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS |
The film's sparkling perfection is the work of producer Arthur Freed, director Vincente Minnelli, an incomparable ensemble cast, an ace artistic and technical team, songwriters Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin and...Technicolor.
This is one of my all-time favorites...
Meet Me in St. Louis was adapted from a series of reminiscences by Sally Benson that first appeared in The New Yorker in early 1942. Told from the perspective of five-year-old 'Tootie' Smith, Benson's memory pieces, though rich in warmth and humor, were light on plot and conflict. A more defined storyline was developed, the characters were strengthened and 17-year-old Esther Smith (played by Judy Garland) became the pivotal character. The plot evolved into a "year in the life" of an idealized American family and was comprised of vignettes set in each of the four seasons with its dramatic climax, a family crisis, set at Christmastime.
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| "Baby at Play" by Thomas Eakins |
Focused on the film's visual look and intent on accurate period detail, Minnelli supervised every aspect of set and production design. He brought in top Broadway set decorator Lemuel Ayres and, in addition, spent time with Sally Benson who described to him every feature of her girlhood home. To handle costume design, he turned to Irene Sharaff, another recent Broadway-to-Hollywood transplant. Sharaff researched the historic era carefully, even using a 1904 Sears & Roebuck catalog as a reference.
 |
| "The Snow People" |
The songwriting team of Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin composed three very special songs for Judy Garland: "The Boy Next Door," "The Trolley Song," and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (click below to watch and listen). Each became a standard in Garland's later repertoire and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" remains a holiday classic today. To add more period flavor, Blane and Martin also reworked popular tunes from the turn of the century - "Meet Me in St. Louis," "Skip to My Lou" and "Under the Bamboo Tree." Up to this time, most films had music inserted arbitrarily, but the songs in Meet Me in St. Louis were integrated into the action and dialogue to help advance the plot.
Meet Me in St. Louis was an immediate hit, the highest grossing film of 1944. It turned out to be just the tonic a country at war needed to lift its spirits. The film firmly established Minnelli's reputation as a top director, provided Judy Garland with a solid push to the next plateau of her career and toward her ultimate status as a legend, and it ushered in a golden age of Hollywood musicals.
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| The Christmas Ball |
As Esther Smith, Judy Garland glows as the film's heart and soul. She is at her best - wistful and endearing, spunky and warm, her voice at an early peak.
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| Joan Carroll and Margaret O'Brien |
Margaret O'Brien as the high-spirited young 'Tootie' adds a dimension of childhood mischief and carries the imaginative Halloween sequence almost entirely on her own. She takes another precocious turn during the climactic Christmas scenes with Judy Garland.
Leon Ames blusters as good-hearted family patriarch, Alonzo Smith. Mary Astor is light-as-air as 'Mrs. Anna Smith;' Lucille Bremer is winning as the older sister, Rose; Harry Davenport shines as lovable 'Grandpa' Smith; Marjorie Main adds spice as the cantankerous maid, Katie...and Tom Drake is affecting as 'boy next door' John Truett. Very fine in fleeting roles are Chill Wills and a young June Lockhart.
Click here to listen to a 1989 interview by Terri Gross on NPR's "Fresh Air" with Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane in which the songwriters discuss working with director Vincente Minnelli and writing the songs for Meet Me in St. Louis...
Meet Me in St. Louis airs Sat., Dec. 11, on TCM's "The Essentials" and again on Christmas
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
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| Clint Eastwood in Magnum Force (1973) |
“Good guy…that last one he shot was a good guy!”
Eleven words… my claim to celebrity status; my fifteen minutes of fame which if you took a stop watch and measured, would run well under that length of time. And although I would have many small screen appearances later on in “The Streets of San Francisco,” these few words to this day still get me the most attention. Why? Because Clint Eastwood films are both well known and greatly admired not only in the U.S., but also by audiences around the world. Therefore to be associated with a Clint Eastwood movie usually guarantees that an actor (even a bit one as myself) will receive instant and lasting recognition.
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| Dirty Harry (1971) |
Not long ago, TCM ran a tribute to Clint Eastwood and it brought back memories of my experiences meeting and working with him. He was a very pleasant, down to earth man in person…a real pleasure. I met him first in 1971 when he was shooting Dirty Harry. I had gone down to North Beach (one of the film’s locations) to take a look at the “Harry” car which it was being arranged I would purchase from Warners' Transportation when the picture “wrapped”. It was to be my first car and owning a picture car driven by Clint Eastwood made it all the more exciting.
He was very humble, polite, and soft-spoken when I met him and I also remember being surprised at how tall he was - well over six feet. I subsequently went down to the set many times afterwards and brought high school friends and dates along. Needless to say I was very popular amongst my peers. I unfortunately didn’t get the car, however - they needed it for a “pickup shot” in L.A. later and it got shipped back to the Warner Brothers lot.
In 1973, three years after becoming an “extra” I reported on the set of Magnum Force - Dirty Harry’s second appearance on screen. I initially performed in the background in various roles - police officers mainly, but during one of the days that I had reported to work as an “extra” I was approached by the Assistant Director, Al Silvani, who told me that my agent had suggested me for a small speaking role as a Cadet in the film. I was of course ecstatic. I was given the few pages of script that contained my line and rehearsed every variation of that piece of dialogue that you could imagine (see above and watch the very beginning of the clip below).
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| Magnum Force (1973) |
The last time I got to work with Eastwood was in 1976 on his third outing as Harry in the The Enforcer. I was at the Hall of Justice - this time as an “extra”. Perhaps I was feeling shy - or maybe I figured he wouldn’t remember me because (after all) it had been three years since I last saw him - or I thought he was a big actor now and too busy for me - but in any case I felt uncomfortable to re-introduce myself and so didn’t bother to go up to him that day. However, as they were setting up I happened to glance over in his direction and he made a point to single me out and nod a greeting of acknowledgement. I thought that was pretty cool - especially since now he was a bonafide mega star! But, you know, in hindsight, I shouldn’t have been surprised - that is Clint Eastwood. He never saw himself as a “star” - he has always been unpretentious in that way.
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| Clint Eastwood today |
Well, that’s my two cents for what it's worth regarding my time spent with Clint Eastwood. Great memories of a great guy and certainly worthy of the honor TCM gave him. Of course, knowing him, he probably thought it was a lot of to-do about nothing.
Guest blogger Magic Lantern 21/aka/Tony Piazza is a San Francisco native whose father was at one time assigned by the City and County of San Francisco to be liaison between the SFPD and visiting film companies. This assignment involved assisting with scouting locations and making sure the city's day-to-day activities weren't hampered by filming. One such assignment was responsibility for the safety of citizens and property when the iconic chase scene in Bullitt (1968) was being filmed.
Tony himself, as he mentioned, worked for a time in the industry. He was an extra, a stand-in, performed stunts and had bit parts in films and on TV. Eventually, however, his life took a scientific turn and he has had a long career as a biologist.
More recently Tony returned to entertainment and the arts. He performed as an extra in the film Sideways (2004), did a commercial for a local retail store and has produced his own films. His book, Anything Short of Murder, is about to be published by Dog Ear Publishing, hopefully by the end of the year; it will be available at Amazon and other major book sites. As MagicLantern21, a member of TCM's CFU, Tony has a long-running murder mystery serial, REEL MURDER, in progress. Click here for a link to the related contest he's created and the chance to win a $20 Movies Unlimited gift certificate.
Thank you, Tony, for sharing your memories with Reel Life! - The Lady Eve
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| Michael Douglas with Tony Piazza (Magic Lantern 21) on the set of "The Streets of San Francisco" |
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
With Thanksgiving looming on the horizon, my head has been filled with visions of food...and film.
Last weekend, M.F.K. Fisher’s “strengthening prescription” from her book, Alphabet for Gourmets, found its way into my thoughts. Fisher, considered the doyenne of American culinary writers during her lifetime, was also a screenwriter for Paramount Pictures in 1942, and this seemed to me to add to the rightness of pairing her simple menu (from the chapter "M is for Monastic") with a movie.
Her "Monastic Supper" was designed with the person alone in mind. I began to think of films one might watch alone and, even better, movies about loners. Of course, film noir fills that bill. Something like Jules Dassin’s Night and the City (1950), with Richard Widmark scheming his way from small-time to big-time hood…or Robert Siodmak’s The Killers (1946), with Burt Lancaster as the anguished victim of Ava Gardner’s dazzling charms…
And yet, considering the actual fare (adapted by me) -
One small loaf of crusty sourdough or French bread
One chunk of Gorgonzola or Bleu Cheese
One bottle of Chianti or (my suggestion) Zinfandel or its alter-ego, Primitivo
- I couldn’t help but think of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám and that famous phrase, “a jug of wine, a loaf of bread – and thou.” Clearly M.FK. Fisher’s “Monastic Supper” could also be applied to on and off-screen togetherness.
I could go on, but will save more for another day...meanwhile, I'm open to suggestions.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
It is turn-of-the-century Vienna, the wee hours of a wet night. A man alights from a horse-drawn carriage and jokes with companions about the duel at dawn to which he has been challenged. Entering his flat alone he tells his manservant he will leave before morning, "Honor is a luxury only gentlemen can afford." But the mute servant indicates a letter awaiting him and, as he prepares for his departure, the man opens it and begins to read...
"By the time you read this letter, I may be dead," it says, and the voice of a woman, the letter writer, begins to narrate her story. Her tale unfolds in flashback as the man immerses himself in the letter.
Letter From an Unknown Woman tells of Lisa Berndle (Joan Fontaine) who, as an adolescent, becomes enthralled with up-and-coming concert pianist Stefan Brand (Louis Jourdan) when he moves into the building where she lives with her parents. Though the suave virtuoso is unaware of her, Lisa privately harbors a fantasy that they are destined to be together. Many years later their moment does come, but it is brief, Stefan is soon gone and Lisa is left with something more than her memories of him. Eventually she marries a wealthy man and years go by before, by chance, she and Stefan meet again. His has been a self-indulgent life and his career has failed, but Lisa is unable to resist and goes to him again in spite of an ultimatum from her husband. It is only then that she understands Stefan's true character. As Stefan, who has been sincerely moved by Lisa's story, comes to the end of her letter, he notices an official stamp on the last page and realizes its significance. By this time dawn has come and he makes another fateful decision.
The storyline may be melodrama, but this lyrical, dream-weaving film is a keen reflection on love, illusion and human nature.
As the film moves from present to past to present again, it becomes clear that both Lisa and Stefan have lived lives steeped in unreality; Lisa by holding fast to her idealized vision of Stefan, and Stefan by relentlessly seeking his romantic ideal night to night. John, Stefan's mute valet, perhaps mirroring director Max Ophuls' viewpoint, observes the all-too-human folly around him and serves as a silent, compassionate witness.
The storyline may be melodrama, but this lyrical, dream-weaving film is a keen reflection on love, illusion and human nature.
As the film moves from present to past to present again, it becomes clear that both Lisa and Stefan have lived lives steeped in unreality; Lisa by holding fast to her idealized vision of Stefan, and Stefan by relentlessly seeking his romantic ideal night to night. John, Stefan's mute valet, perhaps mirroring director Max Ophuls' viewpoint, observes the all-too-human folly around him and serves as a silent, compassionate witness.Ophuls, known for his bold and graceful camera movement and use of extended takes, shapes Letter From an Unknown Woman with both sophistication and a light touch. Visually and structurally fluid throughout, the film seems to turn in elegant circles from beginning to end, subtly evoking themes enhanced rather than obscured by its glittering surface.
Produced by actor/producer John Houseman, screenplay by Howard Koch (Casablanca), cinematography by Franz Planer (Roman Holiday), edited by Ted Kent, with original music by Daniele Amfitheatrof (Song of the South) and gowns by Travis Banton. As characters undone by desire, both Joan Fontaine and Louis Jourdan achieve moving eloquence.
Produced by actor/producer John Houseman, screenplay by Howard Koch (Casablanca), cinematography by Franz Planer (Roman Holiday), edited by Ted Kent, with original music by Daniele Amfitheatrof (Song of the South) and gowns by Travis Banton. As characters undone by desire, both Joan Fontaine and Louis Jourdan achieve moving eloquence.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Although Vincente Minnelli's 1945 musical Yolanda and the Thief is not one of his or Fred Astaire's most popular films, it contains a jewel of a musical number that has earned raves from day one...Coffee Time...
When the film was released, none other than stuffy Bosley Crowther, critic for The New York Times, was impressed: "...a rhythm dance, done to the melody of Mr. Freed's Coffee-Time, puts movement and color to such uses as you seldom behold on screen."
More recently, Stuart Klawans of The Nation was even more enthusiastic: "Minnelli puts Astaire and Lucille Bremer into the midst of a mad pulsation of dancers in mocha and cafe au lait costumes...the chorus swirls; the camera swirls; the gringo-Latin rhythms shift giddily...Coffee Time is heaven itself, and a warm-up for the 18-minute ballet that Minnelli and Gene Kelly would create in An American in Paris."
Coffee Time is the reworking of an earlier tune by composer Harry Warren called Java Junction. His collaborator, producer/songwriter Arthur Freed, created new lyrics for the updated melody. In the film, the routine begins as a captivating contrast in rhythms, with the orchestra playing in 4/4 time while the dancers dance in 5/4 time. The number goes through a series of variations and ends up a full-blown swing number showcasing Astaire and Bremer.
The Coffee Time sequence is a fiesta for the eyes. Costumer Irene Sharaff developed the stylized combo of costumes and decor. She created coffee-colored outfits for the extras and, to set off the costumes, devised a pattern of rolling black and white lines on the dance floor that form an optical illusion. With Fred Astaire, choreographer Eugene Loring came up with a dance based on slow jazz rhythms. Minnelli's lighting and camera work added the finishing touches.
Watch Coffee Time here -
Thursday, November 11, 2010
The San Francisco Film Noir Foundation has set its first-ever Noir City Xmas for Wed., December 15, at the Castro Theatre, and extends an invitation to “enjoy a Cruel Yule...”
TCM has been airing Remember the Night regularly in recent years, and that's where I first saw it. The film stars Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck as an assistant DA and a thief who share a memorable and affecting holiday before she is set to serve her jail sentence. Directed by Mitchell Leisen, written by Preston Sturges. A classic.
Mr. Soft Touch stars Glenn Ford and Evelyn Keyes. A combination of “tight-lipped noir and broad comedy," it was shot on location in San Francisco. The film tells the story of a WW II veteran (Ford) out for revenge when he falls in with a kindly social worker (Keyes). My first viewing of Mr. Soft Touch will be this “freshly struck 35mm print.”
San Francisco’s 9th annual Noir City Film Festival will run from January 21 – 30, 2011, also at the Castro Theatre; I'll post the screening schedule and ticket information as soon as it's available. Film noir fans should try hard to attend this festival, it's a chance to see both classics and rare "B" gems on the big screen in an old-style movie palace.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
by guest contributor Whistlingypsy
The emergence of those stylistic elements in American films later termed noir by critics is often debated and open to interpretation.
Five years before the films that captivated French critics for their “dark” plots and visual style, John Ford directed an equally dark film for RKO Studios. The Informer (1935) was based on the novel by Liam O’Flaherty and tells the story of an increasingly desperate man. Whether John Ford had the stylistic treatment of German expressionism in mind when making the film seems unlikely, but Gypo Nolan’s (Victor McLaglen) flight through Dublin’s fog wreathed streets suggests these atmospheric elements as an archetype of noir essentials. Through the effective use of black velvet drapery and fog, to disguise the minimal budget for art direction, Polglase and assistant art director Charles Kirk created an atmosphere that is alternately brooding and menacing, dark, claustrophobic and bleak. Setting the story over the course of one night gives immediacy to Nolan’s frantic race to outrun his conscience and his pursuers. This small film would proved an artistic triumph, surprising studio executives, and won four Academy Awards, one for John Ford’s direction and Victor McLaglen’s portrayal of the lead character.
Alfred Hitchcock, before he began directing films in 1925, was active as an art director. He entered the industry in 1919 when he was employed by the Islington studio location of Famous Players-Lasky and he worked as an art director on at least six films before moving on to directing. Hitchcock’s lifelong interest in production design has often been understood in light of his experi
ences at German studios both in Berlin and Munich and his exposure to German expressionism.
ences at German studios both in Berlin and Munich and his exposure to German expressionism.Hitchcock’s first project for RKO Studios had been a comedy and with his next assignment he was given the opportunity to pursue a subject in keeping with his earlier darker films. Suspicion (1941) was notable for first introducing actor Cary Grant and director Hitchcock, and for using art d
irection as a psychological element in storytelling. The contrast between Lina’s (Joan Fontaine) reassuringly stuffy family home and the coldly menacing home she shares with husband Johnny (Grant) personifies the tension of her state of mind.
irection as a psychological element in storytelling. The contrast between Lina’s (Joan Fontaine) reassuringly stuffy family home and the coldly menacing home she shares with husband Johnny (Grant) personifies the tension of her state of mind.The film’s art direction, supervised primarily by Carroll Clark, is also noteworthy for using the human form as an architectural element. The tall and solid form of Cary Grant balanced on the stairs is echoed in the equally tall and solid column at the foot of the stairs. The graceful line of the pinstripe in Grant’s suit is echoed, but altered, in the equally graceful lines of the treads and risers of the stairs. These lines are further mimicked in the lines falling across the wall and surrounding Grant’s head. The elements confirm and confuse by communicating both Grant’s guise of reliability and the shadow of suspicion regarding his motives, all combining to create one of the most emotionally menacing sequences in the film.
Van Nest Polglase is credited with supervising art direction on what is considered the finest film ever made in America. However, the credit for most of the innovative art direction rightly belongs to Perry Ferguson. Many film scholars have written in depth on the making of Citizen Kane (1941), with a focus on cinematography and the use of lighting, but few focus on the contribution of art direction.
Pauline Kael, film critic and author of The Citizen Kane Book, mentions neither Polglase nor Ferguson. Orson Welles, in trade paper ads the day of the film’s Hollywood premiere, gave thanks “to everybody who gets screen credit for Citizen Kane and thanks to those who don’t.” Considering the risk involved in screening the film, this was a generous acknowledgment of the work of many creative individuals. Although Welles appears to have refused to acknowledge Polglase’s contributions, he praised Perry Ferguson’s historical details stopping short of giving Ferguson his due credit on the film.Ferguson’s use of revers
al of scale as Kane’s ambitions move from larger than life to dwarfing the man who created the illusion is one of the film’s benchmarks and an example of RKO’s sophisticated art direction. A comparison of Citizen Kane with a lesser film in production the same year proves the level of RKO’s emerging visual style.
al of scale as Kane’s ambitions move from larger than life to dwarfing the man who created the illusion is one of the film’s benchmarks and an example of RKO’s sophisticated art direction. A comparison of Citizen Kane with a lesser film in production the same year proves the level of RKO’s emerging visual style.Stranger on the third Floor (1940) was a minor B-film that caused no great stir at the time and could have easily disappeared to the dustbin. Some film historians claim the film contains the first examples of what would later be termed noirish elements (but this is open to debate). Compare the two films for their remarkable similarities: the often dream-like quality, elaborate sets, oversized props and the exaggerated reversal of perspective found in both is significant. The photos to the right show a scene from each film that again reveals a stylistic use of the human form in an architectural environment, and nearly duplicates the body language of the lead character poised at the top of the stairs. Two different art directors created the design of these films, but the designs were produced under the guidance of Van Nest Polglase and RKO art direction.
Polglase left RKO Studios as head art director in 1942 and divided his time between freelance and studio projects before retiring fifteen years later. His film credits during this period include The Fallen Sparrow (1943); A Song To Remember (1945); Gilda (1946); Slightly Scarlet (1956) and B-films directed by Allan Dwan.
In February of 2005, the The Art Directors Guild unveiled its new Hall of Fame and inducted the following legendary production designers at the ninth annual Art Directors Guild Awards: Wilfred Buckland, Richard Day, John DeCuir Sr., Anton Grot, Boris Leven, William Cameron Menzies and Van Nest Polglase.
A trend in film criticism seems to have developed regarding Polglase’s contributions to RKO’s art direction, dismissing them as negligible at best. An unfair appraisal of Polglase may be due to the assumption that he ran his department based on his experiences at and observations of M-G-M and Cedric Gibbons. Richard B. Jewell, film historian and author of The RKO Story states, "The supreme irony of RKO's existence is that the studio earned a position of lasting importance in cinema history largely because of its extraordinarily unstable history. Since it was the weakling of Hollywood's 'majors,' RKO welcomed a diverse group of individualistic creators and provided them...with an extraordinary degree of freedom to express their artistic idiosyncrasies.... [I]t never became predictable and it never became a factory."
Jewell’s assessment that RKO was a studio of artistic freedom did not preclude conflict over creative control. David O. Selznick, the man responsible for Polglase being made head of art direction, left the studio after a brief fifteen months. Polglase remained with the studio for ten years as an administrator and art director, successfully filling both roles with films that satisfied audience demand for inventive entertainment and studio executives’ demand for new revenue. A change of perspective from Polglase taking credit for work he did not do would result in his making possible the outstanding work of art directors Carroll Clark and Perry Ferguson.
There are many elements that form a link between architecture and art direction. The difference between the two disciplines is where architecture “encompasses” space from without art direction “evokes” space from within, and the architecture of film works within cuts and edits, frames and openings. The architect designs a space with an eye to permanence while the art director designs a space with an eye to the ephemeral. This leaves the art director a greater sense of flexibility when creating his projects unfortunately; the architect and the art director both depend on the efforts of preservation to maintain a permanent record of the artist’s original vision.
Scroll down to read Part I of Van Nest Polglase ~ Architect of Cinematic Dreams
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