Starry, Starry Night(s)

TCM'S ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF STARS DRAWS TO A CLOSE

Since 2003, August on Turner Classic Movies has meant a 31 day parade of stars, each day filled with the films of a different one, each honored for 24-hours of what is known and celebrated as "Summer Under the Stars."

This year, many received a day of their own for the first time. I was  surprised to discover that Charles Laughton, Montgomery Clift and Ronald Colman hadn't been featured before. I wasn't at all surprised, but was infinitely thrilled to find that Jean Gabin, icon of the French cinema, was to be honored for the first time.

In his introduction to Renoir's brilliant La Bête humaine (1938) when it aired, Ben Mankiewicz remarked that Gabin was to Europe what Bogart was to the U.S. Many have called Gabin ‘the world’s coolest movie star;’ indeed, Jean-Paul Belmondo seems something of a poser by comparison.

Gabin and Simone Simon, La Bête humaine (1938)

I’m no stranger to the charms of Jean Gabin. Many years ago, when a profusion of revival houses regularly screened foreign classics, I had the great luck to see Gabin's best known films - Jean Renoir’s La Grande illusion (1937) and Marcel Carné’s La Jour se léve (1939) - on the big screen. And last February, while working on a post about Ida Lupino for a film noir blogathon, I watched for the first time Gabin’s American film debut, Moontide (1942); Lupino co-starred. It's an oddly charming bit of dockside noir and it rekindled my interest in the magnetic M. Gabin.

Once I realized TCM would soon be honoring him, I sat down in front of the DVR with my copy of the channel's "Now Playing" guide and programmed accordingly. I’ve been watching what I recorded ever since...some films more than once. Of those I hadn't seen before, two from 1954 stood out. The early '50s had been a period when the French actor's career seemed to be just about over. Not so, as it turned out.

Touchez pas au grisbi (1954)

Jacques Becker's Touchez pas au grisbi was the film, according to Mankiewicz, that "marked Gabin's return to prominence" (others have termed it his "spectacular comeback"). In it, Gabin portrays Max the Liar, a lifelong criminal, well respected among his underworld peers, who has pulled off his last great heist and is set to "retire." Gabin's Max is as confidently matter-of-fact and laconic as any successful, self-possessed businessman. His treatment of his women as well as the men who serve him is fairly off-hand. Only his partner, the luckless Riton, seems to stir visible affection in fatalistic Max.  Director Jacques Becker, though not of the school, was an influence on the French New Wave, and this film preceded Melville's rather similar Bob le flambeur and Dassin's Rififi by a year. A very young Jeanne Moreau appears in a supporting role.

Marcel Carné’s L’Air de Paris is an entirely different sort of film. Very popular in its day with audiences, though not with French critics (those enfants terrible of Cahiers du Cinema), it is romantic and charming, with Gabin portraying Victor, a character softer than, though as blasé as Max the Liar, opposite the magnificent Arletty (of Carné’s Les Enfants du paradis, and Gabin's co-star in Carné’s La Jour se léve) and Roland Lesaffre (To Catch a Thief). Victor is a one-time boxer, now a trainer, who has discovered a young fighter (Lesaffre) he believes he can take to the top; his wife Blanche (Arletty) is less enthusiastic.

Arletty

Jean Gabin was a great star of French cinema's era of “poetic realism" in the '30s and '40s. Gabin's screen presence and style were ideal for the films of this age. Solid, earthy, worldly-wise, there is understated longing in those knowing eyes, a passion for life in that working-man's frame. His career spanned the '20s through the '70s and he died in 1976 at age 72.

I will be saving and viewing these films for some time to come. From other sources, I'll soon be watching Zou Zou (1934) co-starring Josephine Baker, and Carné’s Le quai de brumes (1938). With more to come: Renoir's French Can-Can (1955), about the beginnings of the Moulin Rouge.

August 31 marks the end of "Summer Under the Stars" and on that day the spotlight goes to Marlene Dietrich, a supernova of a movie and concert star if there ever was one. TCM last bestowed this honor on her in 2003.

Marlene Dietrich and Jean Gabin, 1946

Except for her early German films, I've seen all of Marlene Dietrich's movies many times, but I'll still be watching and recording much of her day on TCM. Dietrich is one of those timeless luminaries of film who never ceases to fascinate, particularly in those legend-making classics of the 1930s she starred in under the direction of cinematic magician, Josef von Sternberg. One of the day's not-to-be-missed highlights is the documentary Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song (2001), the work of her grandson David Riva.

Marlene Dietrich and Jean Gabin were romantically involved for several years in the 1940s. Dietrich gave Josef von Sternberg her loyalty and credit for her career, she provided a life-long marriage and a ranch in the Valley to her husband Rudi, and she bestowed her charms on various and sundry, but it was Gabin she remembered as the great love of her life...je comprends.

The Devil is a Woman (1935), directed by Josef von Sternberg, costumes by Travis Banton

Marlene Dietrich, August 31, 2011, "Summer Under the Stars" on TCM

All Times Eastern/Pacific:

6:00 am/3:00 am The Monte Carlo Story (1957), with Vittorio De Sica

7:45 am /4:45 am Knight Without Armour (1937), with Robert Donat

9:45 am/6:45 am The Lady is Willing (1942), with Fred MacMurray

11:30 am/8:30 am Kismet (1944), with Ronald Colman

1:15 pm/10:15 am Stage Fright (1950) with Jane Wyman, directed by Alfred Hitchcock

3:15 pm/12:15 pm Rancho Notorious (1952), with Mel Ferrer, directed by Fritz Lang

4:45 pm/1:45 pm Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song (2001), documentary

6:30 pm/3:30 pm Shanghai Express (1932), with Clive Brook, directed by Josef von Sternberg

8:00 pm/5:00 pm The Scarlet Empress (1934), with John Lodge, directed by Josef von Sternberg

10:00 pm/7:00 pm The Devil is a Woman (1935), with Lionel Atwill, directed by Josef von Sternberg

11:30 pm/8:30 pm Manpower (1941), with George Raft, Edward G. Robinson, directed by Raoul Walsh

1:30 am/10:30 pm A Foreign Affair (1948), with Jean Arthur, directed by Billy Wilder

3:30 am/12:30 am The Blue Angel (1930), with Emil Jannings, directed by Josef von Sternberg

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For the Love of Film (Noir): Renoir, Ryan and a splash of vodka...

This review was part of the For the Love of Film: The Film Preservation Blogathon to benefit the Film Noir Foundation.

San Francisco's annual film noir festival, Noir City 9, ran for ten days at the end of January. From all reports the festival, an event that showcased 24 films, was a great success. I would say, from my own experience, it was a smash.

Elisha Cook, Jr. in Stranger on the Third Floor

My first blog on the festival covered opening night, a double bill featuring High Wall (1947) and Stranger on the Third Floor (1940). The evening included a torchy performance by songstress Laura Ellis, special guest Judy Wyler Sheldon, daughter of director William Wyler and actress Margaret Tallichet (one of the stars of Stranger on the Third Floor) and a riveting Serena Bramble montage of films noir/neo-noir/crime set in San Franciscco. Hosting the festival was Film Noir Foundation founder Eddie Muller, "czar of noir," the perfect emcee for a serious noirfest.

On January 26th I trekked to San Francisco's glorious Castro Theatre once more, this time for a screening of French director Jean Renoir's fabled (and final) Hollywood effort, The Woman on the Beach (1947) starring Robert Ryan, Joan Bennett and Charles Bickford. While the festival's theme was "Who's Crazy Now?" and each film reflected lunacy of some kind, this night's double feature also honored Robert Ryan. In his introduction, Eddie Muller talked about the vicious, venal roles that were Ryan's trademark. Muller contrasted Ryan's filmography of villainous character with the man's generous and humane off-screen values. The enthusiastic packed house cheered when Muller announced that Robert Ryan's daughter Lisa was in the audience.

In introducing The Woman on the Beach, Muller disputed the conventional wisdom that RKO mangled Renoir's film following a disastrous preview. Muller, who knows his noir intimately, told a different story. It was true, he said, that a negative preview did occur, but it was Renoir not RKO who aggressively edited the film afterward. Apparently Renoir was rattled by the audience reaction and lost confidence in his ability to connect with American movie-goers...then he began to cut...and cut.

Charles Bickford in The Woman on the Beach

The Woman on the Beach is, as one might expect, a visually arresting film. Crashing waves, vast sand dunes, ruins of a wrecked ship on a desolate beach, rocky cliffs...fog, wind, rain. The plot concerns a Coast Guard officer (Ryan) who has survived a torpedo disaster at sea and suffers nightmares and mood swings in the aftermath. He encounters a dark beauty (Bennett) gathering firewood on a misty shore and is drawn into a harrowing triangle. Charles Bickford plays the woman's husband, a celebrated artist, now blind, withdrawn from the world and bitter.

Evidence of heavy editing is hard to miss; there is often little flow from scene to scene. And though the film is beautifully photographed and atmospheric, the script is much less inspired. Ryan and Bickford are interesting, but Bennett is inconsistent and lacks allure as the femme fatale. It is a flawed film, but it has its moments and is well worth seeing.

I planned to leave right after the first film, it was a work night after all, but when Muller announced that Rain Organics Vodka would be serving complimentary shots at intermission, I decided to linger a bit. Luckily I was early in the drink line and had enough time, as I let my ice melt, to peruse merchandise for sale on the mezzanine. Eddie Muller's book, Dark City, was on display and one day soon it will be mine. I referred to a borrowed copy when reviewing Warner Home Video's last film noir collection. The book is full of fascinating information and stylishly written...in the noir tradition.

This was my first Noir City, it won't be my last.

Click here to learn more about the Film Noir Foundation.

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