This blog was begun the night of April 2, 2021 :
In "Escapade"(1955), tonight's Mills Movie, Sir John plays a pacifist with a bad temper, an irony not lost on his wife, who's fed up with his self-righteous proselytizing. He hosts political discussions in their home, ostensibly about world peace, which turn into heated arguments that end with everyone leaving in a huff. Mills is such a blowhard that his wife is thinking of divorce, and his two sons away at boarding school plan a stunt to take the wind out of his sails and shock him into seeing what he's doing to his family.
The great Alastair Sim is back, playing the headmaster of the boys' school. One day he visits Mills to inform him that his sons are to be expelled for fighting. Mills threatens to punch him out. "A strange response, coming from a pacifist", replies Sim. He also presents Mills with a flyer that was distributed on the school premises. Hand drawn, it contains a message written in latin, a secret "call to arms" among the students. It seems there's a rebellion brewing. Sim doesn't know who's behind it, nor how many boys are involved, but wants to quash it before it gains strength and asks Mills' help. Mills then asks his sons to reveal what they know, but it's too late. The stunt has already been launched.
As it turns out, there was a plot to steal a plane from a nearby landing strip. One of the boys, a 16 year old named Icarus (get it?), knows how to fly and will use the plane, a Cessna, to travel to Vienna. I shant tell you why, and I'm pleased to have been able to work "shant" into a sentence, but you'll have to see the movie to discover the full plot. A diversion is created by the students, in which a teacher is shot with a pellet gun, drawing the attention of Sim and other authorities, which allows Icarus to sneak off and steal the airplane.
But for me, this is where the trouble began. "Escapade" was adapted from a play, and as is often the case, the playwright included a lot of Big Ideas into his script. That's okay when watching a stage play from the fixed vantage point of a theater seat. There is no editing (as with a movie), so it's easier to take in and follow along with voluminous dialogue that encompasses not only the plot but the aforementioned philosophical musings of the playwright himself. In a motion picture, however, it is harder to follow a "kitchen sink" story, and here, we have not only the family drama (the divorce, the troubled sons) but also Mills' angry pacifist rants, the "secret school group" plot, the day-to-day activities at the school, the fatherly authority of Sims, and finally - and most confusingly - the inclusion of the Icarus character, who never appears onscreen and is referred to by exposition only.
This caused a big problem for me, because for one thing this is another Britspeak movie (albeit easier to understand than most), but also there are reams and reams of dialogue to follow, as well as the many themes the author presents, so I kept hearing "Ickie" this, and "Ickie" that - as the students refer to Icarus, and at one point I had to ask myself "have I missed something"?, because I wasn't sure if I'd seen him yet. "Has he been in the movie"?, I kept wondering. When it was over, I checked IMDB and Wiki, and it turned out that Icarus was never present (and so I hadn't missed him) but he was meant to represent a Mythical Hero, who steals an airplane to fly on a dangerous mission that I can't reveal. Because the characters talk so fast, I found the drama surrounding Icarus to be hard to follow, until the end when it becomes quite clear what he's up to.
The overarching Big Idea the author means to convey is that the innocent, "black and white" idealism of youth is often more powerful and trustworthy than the world weary, "grey area" idealism of adults, whose innocence has been worn down by experience. There's a pinch of "Dead Poet's Society" going on here, or perhaps it's the other way around because "Escapade" came first.
I noticed a name in the credits that I found very interesting, as I've just finished the 800 page Paul McCartney biography, and this person features prominently in the book. I'm talking about Peter Asher, who plays Mills' youngest son. He's only 11 in the film, but if you're a fan of The Beatles, you may know him as the brother of Jane Asher, the actress who was Paul McCartney's girlfriend for much of the 60s. In fact, Paul lived at the Asher's house for several years during the heyday of Beatlemania, and became close friends with Peter Asher. When Peter was 20, he formed a duo called Peter and Gordon, and they had a #1 hit in 1964 with a song called "A World Without Love", written by none other than Lennon & McCartney. But in "Escapade", he's only 11 and the year is only 1955, which is two years before John and Paul even met! So it's a small world and life is magic, and you never know what's going to happen. Finally, Peter Asher went on to work for The Beatles as the head of Apple Records, and ultimately became a major figure in the music business.
Back to the movie : while "Escapade" was too busy and somewhat confusing, it has a noble message and every character but Icarus is well presented. Therefore I'm gonna give it Two Solid Thumbs Up. John Mills is a little obnoxious this time, but it shows one more facet of his acting ability. /////
And now for our previous night's Mills Film : You'd think a picture starring John Mills, with William Cameron Menzies in the director's chair and a script by Graham Greene, would be a major A-list release with an accordingly ample budget. But that isn't the case with "The Green Cockatoo"(1937), a strangely simple (considering the talent involved) crime flick that runs a mere 63 minutes, the length of a B-movie. Now, of course we love short films, and "Cockatoo" is a good one, but I felt compelled to mention it's "quickie quality", which I found unusual because of the big names, including music by Miklos Roza.
Mills plays a song-and dance man at a London nightclub (doing his own singing and dancing!). He works in a rough part of town and is pretty tough himself, used to dealing with hoodlums, and in fact his brother (Robert Newton) is an inveterate gambler who owes the local crime boss. As the movie opens, a young woman (Rene Ray) is riding a train when she is joined in her compartment by a self-proclaimed "philosopher". In a Stentorian Voice, he warns her not to go to London : "It's an evil town, no place for a woman alone"! But she departs there anyway, and no sooner does she get off the train than she witnesses a murder : the philosopher was right!
As she rushes over to aid the dying victim, he whispers in her ear a name and address, which will lead her to the nightclub and John Mills. I won't reveal the plot, but it's a good one - simple, swift and tight. Besides singing and dancing, Mills does his best James Cagney impersonation here, calling Rene Ray "Kid" and "Doll" throughout the movie. A relationship develops between them, based on a case of mistaken identity.
The production values are low, especially surprising considering the involvement of Menzies, the great set designer who'd just finished "Things to Come", but it's a crisp little crime story that plays like a noir, hardboiled and tough. This is Early Mills, his persona isn't fully developed, but "The Green Cockatoo" still gets Two Solid Thumbs, and is definitely recommended.
That's all I've got for the moment. Enjoy the rest of your afternoon, and Happy Easter tomorrow!
And tons of love as always. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
No comments:
Post a Comment