Tonight I was all out of Christmas movies, so I had to resort back to my 7-Pack of Westerns that I bought in September or thereabouts. Remember when I bought so many Westerns that I was up to my ears in 'em? Then I watched a truckload of them over the last few months, and had only one film remaining in the 7-Pack (though a few more are left from other dvd sets). The name of the final movie is "JW Coop" (1971), written and directed by actor Cliff Robertson, and probably financed by Columbia on the strength of Robertson's box office success with "Charly", for which he won the Oscar for Best Actor in 1969.
I had saved, or truth be told - put off watching - "JW Coop" as the last movie in the collection, for one simple reason : it was made in 1971. When you get into that era, you are entering a time of experimental filmmaking. The studio system that produced thousands of classic Hollywood films had collapsed in the 1960s, and the big studios were unsure where to turn for ticket sales. In many cases, they chose the counterculture of the time, or at least used the Hippie Era as a context for traditional stories. This is why so many films from the late 60s and early 70s seem dated now, because they fixated on what turned out to be a short-lived period of idealism and naivete in America that didn't work out.
The '60s ethos was amazing for music but less so for movies, mainly because the classic Hollywood Stars were past their prime and the studio system was no more. A more freewheeling time ensued in the motion picture business, a time that brought you "Easy Rider" in 1969. "Easy Rider" made a small fortune, as it chronicled the counterculture dream, but it could never have gotten made today and it wasn't a good picture when you come right down to it.
I mention all of this preamble because "JW Coop" might have been a pretty good Western, had a few things been different, one of them being the time period in which it was made. In this case, the detriment has more to do with the lack of discipline in the filmmaking of that short time period (say, 1969 through 1971) than it does with placing the film in a Hippie context.
The title character JW Coop (played by Robertson) is a top rodeo rider who has just been released from prison after serving almost ten years for writing bad checks (justice is harsh in Texas). He goes home to see his eccentric Ma, then heads out on the road to try and resume his career - rodeo bull riding - the only thing he has ever known, and which he is damn good at.
While on a highway thumbing a ride - a late 1960s Hippie theme right there - he meets beautiful Real Hippie Cristina Ferrare, later the wife of John DeLorean in real life. In the movie, she is a 21 year old free spirit, and she changes middle-aged Cliff Robertson's outlook. She represents the new age that has taken over during the decade he was incarcerated, and once he gets used to her he allows himself to open up and be liberated in his own Texas way.
There was another movie made at the same time with this theme, "Breezy", with Clint Eastwood as the middle-aged hard guy and Kay Lenz as the young Hippie Girl he falls for.
So you had Hollywood, not knowing what to do at the time and trying to cash in on the Hippie phenomenon. In "JW Coop", the focus is mostly on the rodeo competitions and JW's renewed drive to make a success of himself in this hard-scrabble and physically violent profession. The riders get the you-know-what kicked out of them by the bulls, and if a ride lasts ten seconds it is considered a success.
Had Cliff Robertson, as the writer/director, made the story entirely about the rodeo riders, and tightened it up from a bloated two hours to perhaps 85 minutes, he might have had something. And actually, Cristina Ferrare's character adds quite a lot to Robertson's post-prison development. She acquaints him to the way thing are now, in the new world of 1971, and he begins to have ambition and desire a lot more for himself.
So the story is not really the problem with "JW Coop".
Really, it's the excess that is the problem. The too many montages, of Robertson's Bus travellin' down the highway while banjo music plays. All of this brings to mind once again that Ramblin' Ken Kesey aimlessness, and it dates the film, whereas in comparison you can watch a classic Western from the Golden Era and any one of those classic films seems timeless.
Despite all of these complaints on my part (and movies really were pretty bad at the end of the '60s and into the early 70s), it must be said that Cliff Robertson did have the ingredients of a really original modern Western on his hands, if only he'd been able to rein in the excess.
But this is why you don't ever, ever - never never - allow an actor to write and direct a picture, unless they are Clint Eastwood, and even then.....sparingly (because, let's face it, "Unforgiven" is a terrible flick). But with Clint, most of the time you know he knows what he's doing.
He is the exception to the rule.
Let directors direct, and actors act. Don't mix things up.
And please, please, don't go on and on with your movies. Don't make them two hours long if your story doesn't warrant such a length.
Don't try to be like Mizoguchi. I know the formats and styles of his films are vastly different, but the thing is, know your limits as a filmmaker.
In the Hollywood Studio System, the overall effect was genius, for film after film ad infinitum for thousands of movies. This is because every single aspect of every movie was calculated for success, from the lighting to the casting to the direction to the sets, and more than anything to the story. They had a formula and it worked.
I can only give "JW Coop" a single thumb up, with maybe a slight docking to a single three quarters thumb up. Had there been a real director on hand to bring out the story and remove the fat, then Cliff Robertson might have had a success with this film.
It has it's moments, and even quite a few amusing, quirky characters and scenes, but boy does it go on and on and on, way too much and too long. ////
I will try to find more Christmas movies for you in the coming week.
We had good singing in church this morning, and I hope you had a good day too.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Monday, December 10, 2018
Sunday, December 9, 2018
"The Thin Man" starring William Powell & Myrna Loy
Tonight's movie was another selection from the recent list of Classic Black & White Christmas Movies I discovered via Google and then ordered from the Libe : "The Thin Man" (1934), starring William Powell and Myrna Loy as the suave detective couple, Nick and Nora Charles.
"The Thin Man" is of course a very famous film, one that spawned five sequels. The original is not, strictly speaking, a Christmas movie. The story takes place at Christmastime, and the Charles' have a wreath and decorated tree in their fancy apartment in New York, but the holiday is only in the background and is never mentioned again, once the plot gets going. I'm not sure why it was included on a list of Christmas movies, but at any rate it is a classic both as a screwball comedy and as a detective story. The movie was released just as the infamous Hayes Code was starting to be enforced, and it is not as risque as the pre-Code movies I've reviewed, but there are some lines of dialogue that must have pushed the boundaries as far as the censors were concerned.
Nick and Nora are very stylish. He wears pinstriped suits; she is bedecked in the kinds of shoulder-bearing polka dot dresses and satin gowns that only the clothing designers of 1930s Hollywood could have dreamed up. They both drink Martinis to excess, but neither is ever drunk (though Powell is often a bit tipsy). But they never lose their edge, or their nose for clues. And they have a famous movie dog named Asta, a terrier who is a born detective himself.
The script was adapted from a book of the same name by popular '30s crime writer Dashiell Hammett. Nick and Nora have been retired from sleuthing for four years and are living in San Francisco. While visiting friends in New York, they are sucked back in to a case by their acquaintance with pretty Maureen O' Sullivan, a young woman whose inventor father has gone missing. The divorced father has a two-timing girlfriend who has also stolen 50 Gees from him. She is immediately suspected of doing him in.
But wait! Now the girlfriend turns up dead, and the tables are turned. Now the husband is thought to be alive and has gone from murder victim to suspected murderer, all in the span of a few dinner parties.
The action is distributed in this way, between crime scenes (the detective part of the story), and Art Deco interiors (the screwball comedy aspect, shown at endless parties).
"The Thin Man" is High Style and Fast Talking meets low brow cunning and criminal quick thinking.
The chemistry between Powell and Loy and their enormous star power elevate the story from a standard whodunit, to a genre-busting hybrid of sound stage style and sophistication, and gritty street level crime involving many of the go-to Mooks that you've seen in other '30s pictures.
I am surprised that I had never seen "The Thin Man", but then this is the year when we have been trying to catch up with unseen classics. Now I will seek out the sequels in the New Year, after the Christmas Season has passed.
I think it is very important to note the power of the original filmmakers of Hollywood, and the art form they established, the stories they told, and the styles they created via the imagery they left onscreen.
Most of all, the actors and actresses should be given the ultimate credit, for they are The Players who have enacted all of these stories that we love so much. In this way they have enriched our lives. ////
That's all I know for tonight. I love the Hollywood Stars.
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxooxxo :):)
"The Thin Man" is of course a very famous film, one that spawned five sequels. The original is not, strictly speaking, a Christmas movie. The story takes place at Christmastime, and the Charles' have a wreath and decorated tree in their fancy apartment in New York, but the holiday is only in the background and is never mentioned again, once the plot gets going. I'm not sure why it was included on a list of Christmas movies, but at any rate it is a classic both as a screwball comedy and as a detective story. The movie was released just as the infamous Hayes Code was starting to be enforced, and it is not as risque as the pre-Code movies I've reviewed, but there are some lines of dialogue that must have pushed the boundaries as far as the censors were concerned.
Nick and Nora are very stylish. He wears pinstriped suits; she is bedecked in the kinds of shoulder-bearing polka dot dresses and satin gowns that only the clothing designers of 1930s Hollywood could have dreamed up. They both drink Martinis to excess, but neither is ever drunk (though Powell is often a bit tipsy). But they never lose their edge, or their nose for clues. And they have a famous movie dog named Asta, a terrier who is a born detective himself.
The script was adapted from a book of the same name by popular '30s crime writer Dashiell Hammett. Nick and Nora have been retired from sleuthing for four years and are living in San Francisco. While visiting friends in New York, they are sucked back in to a case by their acquaintance with pretty Maureen O' Sullivan, a young woman whose inventor father has gone missing. The divorced father has a two-timing girlfriend who has also stolen 50 Gees from him. She is immediately suspected of doing him in.
But wait! Now the girlfriend turns up dead, and the tables are turned. Now the husband is thought to be alive and has gone from murder victim to suspected murderer, all in the span of a few dinner parties.
The action is distributed in this way, between crime scenes (the detective part of the story), and Art Deco interiors (the screwball comedy aspect, shown at endless parties).
"The Thin Man" is High Style and Fast Talking meets low brow cunning and criminal quick thinking.
The chemistry between Powell and Loy and their enormous star power elevate the story from a standard whodunit, to a genre-busting hybrid of sound stage style and sophistication, and gritty street level crime involving many of the go-to Mooks that you've seen in other '30s pictures.
I am surprised that I had never seen "The Thin Man", but then this is the year when we have been trying to catch up with unseen classics. Now I will seek out the sequels in the New Year, after the Christmas Season has passed.
I think it is very important to note the power of the original filmmakers of Hollywood, and the art form they established, the stories they told, and the styles they created via the imagery they left onscreen.
Most of all, the actors and actresses should be given the ultimate credit, for they are The Players who have enacted all of these stories that we love so much. In this way they have enriched our lives. ////
That's all I know for tonight. I love the Hollywood Stars.
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxooxxo :):)
Saturday, December 8, 2018
"The Man Who Invented Christmas"
Okay, so we've already established that we've gotta have some classic Christmas movies lined up for viewing once the season gets underway, and we've specified some characteristics of what makes a Christmas film a classic, namely a 1940s setting (or anywhere between 1930 and 1959), scenes featuring shoppers in the city, brightly lit department store windows at night, Salvation Army Santas ringing their bells, all with snow falling and everything shot in black and white. These are just a few of the necessary elements for a classic Christmas film, and we have just this week watched two that we had never seen before, "The Lemon Drop Kid" and "The Bishop's Wife". Two more are on the way from the Libe, which should arrive for viewing no later than next Tuesday, and we are exited about that.
There is another seasonal must-have, though, as far as movies are concerned, and that is anything at all that has been based on the works of Charles Dickens, even if it doesn't directly have to do with Christmas. Most of his books did not reference the holiday, and of course only one was deliberately written about Christmas, about it's meaning and it's effect on a Certain Person named Scrooge.
Over the past few years we watched every version of "A Christmas Carol" that was ever made, and we got hooked on Dickens in the process. We developed a Dickens addiction so powerful that it didn't matter that any newly discovered production (usually for the BBC) was not related to Christmas. In all of his stories, the Victorian settings in dingy London, along with the Cockney accents and class differences made all of his tales - and characters - feel related to old Scrooge and Bob Cratchit.
Thus we came to associate all of Dickens' work with Christmas, and the BBC adaptations of his books also became compulsory Christmas viewing beginning about three or four years ago.
So tonight it was quite a treat to watch a movie that was about Charles Dickens, and not only about him but about the writing of his most famous book, "A Christmas Carol".
The movie was called "The Man Who Invented Christmas" (2017). It was a gem from beginning to end. The story begins in America in 1843. Charles Dickens has just returned from a triumphant theater tour of the States. He is back home in England, but over the course of the next 16 months, he releases three new novels, all of which flop. He is already well-off, having had great success prior to the flops, but he lives extravagantly and his finances are being stretched, especially now that his destitute parents have come to stay at his house. His agent is keeping his publishers at bay. They have fronted Dickens an advance on a new book - despite the three previous flops - and they are waiting for some news on their return.
But Dickens is stonewalled for ideas. He has writer's block and is sinking fast.
But suddenly, his predicament causes his technique to kick in. He has a writer's habit of studying the people around him, wherever they may be (in a restaurant, on the street, at home), and he gets notions too from peripheral images, such as the clang of heavy iron chains he sees falling from a strongbox.
He jots every observation down in his notebook, names especially. The sound of certain last names inspire him by their sound ("Marley"!), and by his visual association with their persons. As the pressure builds from his publishers, and his need for money to support his lifestyle and the remodeling of his home, he comes up with an idea for his new book, based upon some local characters he has interacted with, set into the context of the upcoming Christmas holiday. His young housemaid, who knows how to read (not common at the time among working class folks) likes ghost stories, so he uses her to bounce his ideas off of.
Suddenly he has come up with a lead character. He fumbles for a name for this horrible, miserly man.
Finally after many tries, he gets it : "Scrooge"! (it has a bit of the Screw in it that he had been reciting out loud and playing with).
Once he names his lead character, Mr. Scrooge comes to life in the form of Christopher Plummer. From there, Scrooge helps dictate the rest of the story to Charles Dickens, though he also torments him along the way, because Dickens has a bit of Scrooge inside himself. He has a big secret he has kept from everyone regarding his childhood and his irresponsible father.
All of these influences help to break his writer's block as he strives to finish his Christmas book.
It is interesting to see that Christmas was regarded as a "minor holiday" in England, and presumably the world, as recently as 1843, before "A Christmas Carol" was published. The idea of a Tannenbaum, a Christmas Tree, was relegated to Germany. But after Dickens popularised the Tannenbaum, it became a symbol of the holiday, only 117 years before I was born.
We think these things have always been around, but many traditions are fairly recent.
"The Man Who Invented Christmas" is an instant classic. Dan Stevens, the actor who plays Dickens, absolutely captures his exuberant creative methods, his joy in birthing his characters, and his frustration at having to deal with the real world : the money matters, his father, and the childhood torment in the workhouse that he faced when his dad was placed in a debtor's prison when he was 11 years old, a secret he carried his whole life.
That is why Dickens wrote about the plight of the poor and championed social justice, because he had been a child enslaved in a workhouse. This theme is central to the movie. The grim subtheme affects but does not not override the sentiment of his triumph in completing his book, just in time for Christmas 1843. He wanted it to be a work of art, complete with illustrations and gold leaf pages.
Six thousand copies were printed and the first printing sold out within days.
Dickens' popularity soared and his literary reputation was re-established.
He invented Christmas as we know it, at least as far as the sentiment is concerned, which is why we insist on such unfettered emotion in our Christmas movies to this day.
Dickens opened up the heart of Christmas by opening the heart of Scrooge, and in doing so he caused us all to feel it, to feel the spirit of the season.
Two Giant Thumbs Up for "The Man Who Invented Christmas", a must see.
And with that, I will see you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
There is another seasonal must-have, though, as far as movies are concerned, and that is anything at all that has been based on the works of Charles Dickens, even if it doesn't directly have to do with Christmas. Most of his books did not reference the holiday, and of course only one was deliberately written about Christmas, about it's meaning and it's effect on a Certain Person named Scrooge.
Over the past few years we watched every version of "A Christmas Carol" that was ever made, and we got hooked on Dickens in the process. We developed a Dickens addiction so powerful that it didn't matter that any newly discovered production (usually for the BBC) was not related to Christmas. In all of his stories, the Victorian settings in dingy London, along with the Cockney accents and class differences made all of his tales - and characters - feel related to old Scrooge and Bob Cratchit.
Thus we came to associate all of Dickens' work with Christmas, and the BBC adaptations of his books also became compulsory Christmas viewing beginning about three or four years ago.
So tonight it was quite a treat to watch a movie that was about Charles Dickens, and not only about him but about the writing of his most famous book, "A Christmas Carol".
The movie was called "The Man Who Invented Christmas" (2017). It was a gem from beginning to end. The story begins in America in 1843. Charles Dickens has just returned from a triumphant theater tour of the States. He is back home in England, but over the course of the next 16 months, he releases three new novels, all of which flop. He is already well-off, having had great success prior to the flops, but he lives extravagantly and his finances are being stretched, especially now that his destitute parents have come to stay at his house. His agent is keeping his publishers at bay. They have fronted Dickens an advance on a new book - despite the three previous flops - and they are waiting for some news on their return.
But Dickens is stonewalled for ideas. He has writer's block and is sinking fast.
But suddenly, his predicament causes his technique to kick in. He has a writer's habit of studying the people around him, wherever they may be (in a restaurant, on the street, at home), and he gets notions too from peripheral images, such as the clang of heavy iron chains he sees falling from a strongbox.
He jots every observation down in his notebook, names especially. The sound of certain last names inspire him by their sound ("Marley"!), and by his visual association with their persons. As the pressure builds from his publishers, and his need for money to support his lifestyle and the remodeling of his home, he comes up with an idea for his new book, based upon some local characters he has interacted with, set into the context of the upcoming Christmas holiday. His young housemaid, who knows how to read (not common at the time among working class folks) likes ghost stories, so he uses her to bounce his ideas off of.
Suddenly he has come up with a lead character. He fumbles for a name for this horrible, miserly man.
Finally after many tries, he gets it : "Scrooge"! (it has a bit of the Screw in it that he had been reciting out loud and playing with).
Once he names his lead character, Mr. Scrooge comes to life in the form of Christopher Plummer. From there, Scrooge helps dictate the rest of the story to Charles Dickens, though he also torments him along the way, because Dickens has a bit of Scrooge inside himself. He has a big secret he has kept from everyone regarding his childhood and his irresponsible father.
All of these influences help to break his writer's block as he strives to finish his Christmas book.
It is interesting to see that Christmas was regarded as a "minor holiday" in England, and presumably the world, as recently as 1843, before "A Christmas Carol" was published. The idea of a Tannenbaum, a Christmas Tree, was relegated to Germany. But after Dickens popularised the Tannenbaum, it became a symbol of the holiday, only 117 years before I was born.
We think these things have always been around, but many traditions are fairly recent.
"The Man Who Invented Christmas" is an instant classic. Dan Stevens, the actor who plays Dickens, absolutely captures his exuberant creative methods, his joy in birthing his characters, and his frustration at having to deal with the real world : the money matters, his father, and the childhood torment in the workhouse that he faced when his dad was placed in a debtor's prison when he was 11 years old, a secret he carried his whole life.
That is why Dickens wrote about the plight of the poor and championed social justice, because he had been a child enslaved in a workhouse. This theme is central to the movie. The grim subtheme affects but does not not override the sentiment of his triumph in completing his book, just in time for Christmas 1843. He wanted it to be a work of art, complete with illustrations and gold leaf pages.
Six thousand copies were printed and the first printing sold out within days.
Dickens' popularity soared and his literary reputation was re-established.
He invented Christmas as we know it, at least as far as the sentiment is concerned, which is why we insist on such unfettered emotion in our Christmas movies to this day.
Dickens opened up the heart of Christmas by opening the heart of Scrooge, and in doing so he caused us all to feel it, to feel the spirit of the season.
Two Giant Thumbs Up for "The Man Who Invented Christmas", a must see.
And with that, I will see you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Friday, December 7, 2018
"The Bishop's Wife" + It's Freezing!
Man, it's fruh-HEEZING tonight. The L.A. Cold has arrived. T'was pouring rain this morning, too. Fortunately, the rain stopped just before 11am, allowing me to take Pearl to the hair salon and get my hair cut as well. Man, if I let it go too long, it just turns into a mop. My hair used to be straighter and have some symmetry, but nowdays it just curls up in several different directions if it gets too long, and I don't like it. Always a relief, then, to be freshly shorn. I should probably get it cut every four weeks instead of every eight. Well anyhow, it's fruh-heezin'.
Tonight I watched a Christmas classic called "The Bishop's Wife" (1947). I discovered it in the same Google search as "The Lemon Drop Kid", on the list of "15 Black & White Christmas Movies" that I mentioned the other night. I ordered it from the Libe, and voila! A new (though old) Christmas movie that I hadn't previously seen.
David Niven stars as as "The Bishop". An IMDB reviewer says he is Episcopalian, though I don't believe this is specified. At any rate, he is in a jam because his church is losing it's lease, and at the same time he wants to build a giant new cathedral, with funding obtained from a wealthy church lady donor. This lady is a crass materialist (Trump, anyone?), and she will only agree to finance the striking new cathedral if her late husband's presence is all over it. His name must be engraved in large garish letters in several places, and even a fresco must be reproduced to include his likeness.
Niven, an officious man very concerned with the bottom line, detests what this woman is forcing him to agree to - basically the placement of a false idol (her late husband) inside the new church - but he accepts her proposal anyway. Anything to get his cathedral built and save face in the process.
Niven stops for a moment in his office to pray for guidance, and the next thing you know, an Angel appears, in the form of Cary Grant, at his most handsome and highly tailored best. We are actually introduced to Grant at the beginning of the film, during a sequence on a downtown street at night. It is Christmastime, snow is falling, shoppers are gazing at department store window displays - as filmed by the great Gregg Toland it is the ultimate Sentimental Christmas Scene from the 1940s of the kind I was describing two nights ago. This opening is everything you want in a Christmas movie, and it gets better from there. Angel Cary Grant is on the sidewalk that night to subtly prevent a few catastrophes among the folks who are out and about, but his main mission is to help in the life of Bishop David Niven, who has prayed to the Lord for guidance.
Niven is skeptical at first of Grant's angelic status, but that skepticism is soon dispelled. Niven knows he has an Angel on his shoulder, so to speak, but he comes to resent Grant because he only believes in himself and in his own ability to solve problems. His faith is strong, but is somewhat specious at the same time, because he will pray and believe, but when the Angel arrives, even though he knows the Angel is real, he is still dismissive of him.
Not so is the Bishop's Wife of the title, played by Loretta Young. She does not know Grant is an Angel. She only sees him as a very special man - one who seems to have unlimited knowledge on any subject - who has come to work for her husband as his assistant. Grant's real mission is to restore their marriage, for the Bishop and his wife have grown apart, due to his responsibilities to the church as it's finances have crumbled.
Loretta Young starts to hang out with Grant and go with him on afternoon dates as her miserable husband gives in to the lure of money in order to save his church. She is having the time of her life, but the romance is spiritual because Grant is an Angel. In real life, she loves her husband, though he thinks Grant is trying to steal her away.
All of this drama is played very lightly, and Grant's charisma as the Angel pervades the movie. He is there to lift everyone, and even the Bishop's housekeepers can feel his effect, though they don't know he is supernatural.
The great character actor Monty Wooley plays an agnostic history professor who is, again, subtly affected by the actions of the Angel. There are some great special effects associated with his scenes, and once again tremendous credit must be given to cinematographer Toland for setting up these shots. This is Hollywood Magic at it's finest.
In short, "The Bishop's Wife" is a lovely Christmas story with every bit as much feeling as "It's A Wonderful Life", though "Bishop" is not as broadly emotional. But it has that Department Store 42nd Street look and feeling that, to me, is the #1 ingredient in what a Holiday Movie should be.
The ending of the film goes farther, to deliver a message about the real meaning of Christmas, which we all know, but are gently reminded of in the last few minutes.
Two Big Thumbs Up for "The Bishop's Wife", which should be included in the list of wonderful Christmas movies, and is a must-see if you like 1940s Hollywood Sentiment, when the studios were at the peak of their magical powers. ///
That's all for tonight. See you in the hopefully less freezing morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Tonight I watched a Christmas classic called "The Bishop's Wife" (1947). I discovered it in the same Google search as "The Lemon Drop Kid", on the list of "15 Black & White Christmas Movies" that I mentioned the other night. I ordered it from the Libe, and voila! A new (though old) Christmas movie that I hadn't previously seen.
David Niven stars as as "The Bishop". An IMDB reviewer says he is Episcopalian, though I don't believe this is specified. At any rate, he is in a jam because his church is losing it's lease, and at the same time he wants to build a giant new cathedral, with funding obtained from a wealthy church lady donor. This lady is a crass materialist (Trump, anyone?), and she will only agree to finance the striking new cathedral if her late husband's presence is all over it. His name must be engraved in large garish letters in several places, and even a fresco must be reproduced to include his likeness.
Niven, an officious man very concerned with the bottom line, detests what this woman is forcing him to agree to - basically the placement of a false idol (her late husband) inside the new church - but he accepts her proposal anyway. Anything to get his cathedral built and save face in the process.
Niven stops for a moment in his office to pray for guidance, and the next thing you know, an Angel appears, in the form of Cary Grant, at his most handsome and highly tailored best. We are actually introduced to Grant at the beginning of the film, during a sequence on a downtown street at night. It is Christmastime, snow is falling, shoppers are gazing at department store window displays - as filmed by the great Gregg Toland it is the ultimate Sentimental Christmas Scene from the 1940s of the kind I was describing two nights ago. This opening is everything you want in a Christmas movie, and it gets better from there. Angel Cary Grant is on the sidewalk that night to subtly prevent a few catastrophes among the folks who are out and about, but his main mission is to help in the life of Bishop David Niven, who has prayed to the Lord for guidance.
Niven is skeptical at first of Grant's angelic status, but that skepticism is soon dispelled. Niven knows he has an Angel on his shoulder, so to speak, but he comes to resent Grant because he only believes in himself and in his own ability to solve problems. His faith is strong, but is somewhat specious at the same time, because he will pray and believe, but when the Angel arrives, even though he knows the Angel is real, he is still dismissive of him.
Not so is the Bishop's Wife of the title, played by Loretta Young. She does not know Grant is an Angel. She only sees him as a very special man - one who seems to have unlimited knowledge on any subject - who has come to work for her husband as his assistant. Grant's real mission is to restore their marriage, for the Bishop and his wife have grown apart, due to his responsibilities to the church as it's finances have crumbled.
Loretta Young starts to hang out with Grant and go with him on afternoon dates as her miserable husband gives in to the lure of money in order to save his church. She is having the time of her life, but the romance is spiritual because Grant is an Angel. In real life, she loves her husband, though he thinks Grant is trying to steal her away.
All of this drama is played very lightly, and Grant's charisma as the Angel pervades the movie. He is there to lift everyone, and even the Bishop's housekeepers can feel his effect, though they don't know he is supernatural.
The great character actor Monty Wooley plays an agnostic history professor who is, again, subtly affected by the actions of the Angel. There are some great special effects associated with his scenes, and once again tremendous credit must be given to cinematographer Toland for setting up these shots. This is Hollywood Magic at it's finest.
In short, "The Bishop's Wife" is a lovely Christmas story with every bit as much feeling as "It's A Wonderful Life", though "Bishop" is not as broadly emotional. But it has that Department Store 42nd Street look and feeling that, to me, is the #1 ingredient in what a Holiday Movie should be.
The ending of the film goes farther, to deliver a message about the real meaning of Christmas, which we all know, but are gently reminded of in the last few minutes.
Two Big Thumbs Up for "The Bishop's Wife", which should be included in the list of wonderful Christmas movies, and is a must-see if you like 1940s Hollywood Sentiment, when the studios were at the peak of their magical powers. ///
That's all for tonight. See you in the hopefully less freezing morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Thursday, December 6, 2018
"The Story Of The Last Chrysanthemum" by Kenji Mizoguchi, Master Director
Tonight I concluded my mini-retrospective of the films of Kenji Mizoguchi with a viewing of "The Story Of The Last Chrysanthemum" (1939). I was only able to obtain eight of the director's movies : four early films on the Eclipse label that I bought in a set, and four of his later films - masterpieces all - that I found and reserved from the library. Speaking of the later films, the greatness of each one prepared me for the next. I had seen "Ugetsu" and "Sansho The Baliff" about a decade ago, but I was not yet as well-versed in Japanese cinema as I would become after nine years with Professor Tim and the CSUN Cinematheque. In other words, upon seeing those two films for the first time in 2007 or so, I knew they were very good, great even, but I was not used to either the pace or style of Japanese filmmaking, meaning the works of the great directors of the past of course, and not the low level gory horror films and crummy gangster flicks that have been churned out since.
It wasn't until the Professor screened his Yasujiro Ozu retrospective in 2014, when we got to see 15 "truly Japanese" films week after week (as opposed to Japanese films that imitate Western styles), that I began to appreciate how great these movies are. Ozu's films are very slow, featuring a lot of conversational dialogue. His camera doesn't move. It takes patience for an American viewer to get used to. But once you do get used to these things (if you are willing to accept them as I did), it begins to sink in that you are watching one of the greatest directors of all time. When the Ozu series wrapped up, I had come to consider him one of my favorite filmmakers, and his star (and muse) Setsuko Hara as one of the greatest actresses of all time. It was Ozu who got me into true Japanese films, and got me comfortable watching them. As I say, you have to have patience.
And now I have revisited Mizoguchi. I did so because he was the next director scheduled for a retrospective at CSUN, before Professor Tim's tenure as the host of the Cinematheque came to a sudden end. I was able to screen, on a TV set in The Tiny Apartment , the eight films I have mentioned, beginning in late August and ending this evening with "Chrysanthemum"
In my prior reviews of some of Mizoguchi's films, I have almost been stumped for superlatives. As I worked my way up from his early 70 minute dramas, which had a gritty, almost noirish feel, I was almost bowled over by the time I got to his acknowledged masterworks, which actually start with "The Story Of The Last Chrysanthemum" in 1939. All of a sudden, Mizoguchi (who made 99 films and began in the Silent era) went from making short format movies to very long ones. "Chrysanthemum" runs 2 hours 23 minutes and tells the story of a young Kabuki actor, the adopted son of a Master Thespian as it were. His father is revered, and so all of the theater assistants and his fellow actors praise the son's performances too, because they are sycophants. In reality, the son is a terrible actor, a Ham, and the others giggle and say as much behind his back. They know he has no talent but they go along with the charade because of his famous father.
Finally, he becomes close to the nanny who takes care of his infant brother, the biological son of his parents. This nanny has watched the older, adopted son strive to please his father by becoming an actor, but being a kind person - and secretly in love with him - she cannot help but tell him the truth about what others are saying out of earshot, that he can't act. He asks her for her own assessment, and she tells him the truth again - the other actors and assistants, cruel and hypocritical as they be, are right.
She tells him the truth. His acting is terrible and his performances are a sore thumb in a company known for it's exceptional talent.
In a big surprise, instead of sulking, the young man thanks the nanny for her honesty, because it was delivered with kindness and real consideration for him. He subsequently falls in love with her and vows to dedicate himself to becoming a good actor by adhering to the disciplines of the art.
The conflict in the film, the axis point, comes when the young man's mother finds out that the nanny has confided in her son. Everything was supposed to be slap-happy, with the son receiving false accolades while his father the Master Actor continued to draw the critical acclaim, but now the nanny has upset the apple cart. Worse, the son is in love with her and wants to marry.
But this is Japan, so Saving Face and the submission to Male Pretense are the rules everyone must live by. The honest and compassionate nanny is banished by the young actor's mother. He is never to see her again.
From here (the 30 minute mark of the movie) begins a tale of love versus enforced familial obligation, patriarchal dominance and unforgiveness, where love not only takes a back seat but is kicked out the door.
The young actor knows he has little talent, but a light has been shined upon him by the observations of the nanny. She sees that he does indeed have potential.
She cares about his art, rather than his value as a phoney successor to his father's celebrity. She wants him to work his craft and become truly great, rather than ascend to stardom with the veiled laughter of his detractors echoing his steps to the top.
But his mother has fired her as the nanny, and forbidden the son to see her. They run off nevertheless, to join a small-time touring theater group, and from there you have an epic story and one of the great masterpieces in the history of world cinema.
If I were a professional columnist, I would spend a week writing and re-writing and editing to a tee all the specifics of this movie, and what it did to me. I would try to explain the greatness of Mizoguchi, and his phenomenal actors. But it is late, and all I can tell you is that I don't know what to say about this guy.
I have already said that his "Sansho The Baliff" is one of the Ten Greatest Films ever made. But now, I think that "The Story Of The Last Chrysanthemum" must be considered for the list as well.
The last twenty minutes of this film are among the greatest achievements in all of cinema.
I am out of superlatives for Mizoguchi and his films, except to say that - in terms of getting to the heart of human drama, he might be the greatest director of all time.
There aren't enough Thumbs Up I could give to his masterpieces like "Sansho" or tonight's film.
They are simply among the top tier of the greatest motion pictures ever created.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
It wasn't until the Professor screened his Yasujiro Ozu retrospective in 2014, when we got to see 15 "truly Japanese" films week after week (as opposed to Japanese films that imitate Western styles), that I began to appreciate how great these movies are. Ozu's films are very slow, featuring a lot of conversational dialogue. His camera doesn't move. It takes patience for an American viewer to get used to. But once you do get used to these things (if you are willing to accept them as I did), it begins to sink in that you are watching one of the greatest directors of all time. When the Ozu series wrapped up, I had come to consider him one of my favorite filmmakers, and his star (and muse) Setsuko Hara as one of the greatest actresses of all time. It was Ozu who got me into true Japanese films, and got me comfortable watching them. As I say, you have to have patience.
And now I have revisited Mizoguchi. I did so because he was the next director scheduled for a retrospective at CSUN, before Professor Tim's tenure as the host of the Cinematheque came to a sudden end. I was able to screen, on a TV set in The Tiny Apartment , the eight films I have mentioned, beginning in late August and ending this evening with "Chrysanthemum"
In my prior reviews of some of Mizoguchi's films, I have almost been stumped for superlatives. As I worked my way up from his early 70 minute dramas, which had a gritty, almost noirish feel, I was almost bowled over by the time I got to his acknowledged masterworks, which actually start with "The Story Of The Last Chrysanthemum" in 1939. All of a sudden, Mizoguchi (who made 99 films and began in the Silent era) went from making short format movies to very long ones. "Chrysanthemum" runs 2 hours 23 minutes and tells the story of a young Kabuki actor, the adopted son of a Master Thespian as it were. His father is revered, and so all of the theater assistants and his fellow actors praise the son's performances too, because they are sycophants. In reality, the son is a terrible actor, a Ham, and the others giggle and say as much behind his back. They know he has no talent but they go along with the charade because of his famous father.
Finally, he becomes close to the nanny who takes care of his infant brother, the biological son of his parents. This nanny has watched the older, adopted son strive to please his father by becoming an actor, but being a kind person - and secretly in love with him - she cannot help but tell him the truth about what others are saying out of earshot, that he can't act. He asks her for her own assessment, and she tells him the truth again - the other actors and assistants, cruel and hypocritical as they be, are right.
She tells him the truth. His acting is terrible and his performances are a sore thumb in a company known for it's exceptional talent.
In a big surprise, instead of sulking, the young man thanks the nanny for her honesty, because it was delivered with kindness and real consideration for him. He subsequently falls in love with her and vows to dedicate himself to becoming a good actor by adhering to the disciplines of the art.
The conflict in the film, the axis point, comes when the young man's mother finds out that the nanny has confided in her son. Everything was supposed to be slap-happy, with the son receiving false accolades while his father the Master Actor continued to draw the critical acclaim, but now the nanny has upset the apple cart. Worse, the son is in love with her and wants to marry.
But this is Japan, so Saving Face and the submission to Male Pretense are the rules everyone must live by. The honest and compassionate nanny is banished by the young actor's mother. He is never to see her again.
From here (the 30 minute mark of the movie) begins a tale of love versus enforced familial obligation, patriarchal dominance and unforgiveness, where love not only takes a back seat but is kicked out the door.
The young actor knows he has little talent, but a light has been shined upon him by the observations of the nanny. She sees that he does indeed have potential.
She cares about his art, rather than his value as a phoney successor to his father's celebrity. She wants him to work his craft and become truly great, rather than ascend to stardom with the veiled laughter of his detractors echoing his steps to the top.
But his mother has fired her as the nanny, and forbidden the son to see her. They run off nevertheless, to join a small-time touring theater group, and from there you have an epic story and one of the great masterpieces in the history of world cinema.
If I were a professional columnist, I would spend a week writing and re-writing and editing to a tee all the specifics of this movie, and what it did to me. I would try to explain the greatness of Mizoguchi, and his phenomenal actors. But it is late, and all I can tell you is that I don't know what to say about this guy.
I have already said that his "Sansho The Baliff" is one of the Ten Greatest Films ever made. But now, I think that "The Story Of The Last Chrysanthemum" must be considered for the list as well.
The last twenty minutes of this film are among the greatest achievements in all of cinema.
I am out of superlatives for Mizoguchi and his films, except to say that - in terms of getting to the heart of human drama, he might be the greatest director of all time.
There aren't enough Thumbs Up I could give to his masterpieces like "Sansho" or tonight's film.
They are simply among the top tier of the greatest motion pictures ever created.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
"The Lemon Drop Kid" w/ Bob Hope
Tonight's movie was "The Lemon Drop Kid" (1951), starring none other than Bob Hope as the title character, a scammer who makes his living at the track, charging people for "tips" on the horse races. It would not have occurred to me to seek out a Bob Hope film; not because he isn't funny, talented, legendary, etc., but just because he was around for so long (he lived to be 100) and he was so famous, that he was kind of ubiquitous. One someone has reached Legendary Status, you tend to take them for granted. Plus, as a child I was used to seeing him as the host of the Academy Awards. He was the best host the Oscars have ever had, so I thought of him that way, and as a stand-up comedian rather than a comedic actor. Finally, his omnipresence in the 60s as more-or-less an elder statesman of comedy made him seem antiquated. I'm not a huge fan of comedy to begin with, but the funny stuff I grew up on was all TV Sit-Coms like "Gilligan's Island" and "F-Troop" and "Green Acres". All were brand new shows on television at the time, with brand new casts of comedians.
They would show Bob Hope's "Road" movies on TV when I was 7 or 8, and his fast talking style was very slick to a little kid, but he just seemed like he was from another era - like he was the epitome of that other, older era.
Of course, you never know what will happen in life, and so here I am 50 years down the road and now I love that other era, in fact most of the movies I watch come from that time, the 1930s through the late 50s , i.e. The Golden Era.
I reserved "The Lemon Drop Kid" at the Libe because it came up in a recent Google search. I was looking for Christmas movies I haven't seen, and "Lemon Drop" came back in a link listing "15 Black & White Classic Christmas Movies". Perfect. I checked the list and found four films I hadn't seen.
I'm not overly interested in modern Christmas films because they don't have the sentimentality that the classics of the Golden Era possess. I don't want "real life" included in my Christmas films, I want fantasy and idealism, with a hint of Depression-era graft and mean-spirited Republican Scroogity.
I think you know what I am getting at. In contrast, last year I tried to watch "A Christmas Story" from 1983. It is considered a classic by critics and fans alike. I had never seen it and was wondering what all the hubub was about.
I only made it through the first 20 minutes or so.
There was not only no sentiment, but the movie seemed to be moving in the opposite direction, towards irony, snottiness and a sort of mean-spirited "hip" cuteness, as if the filmmakers were saying, "Christmas sucks".....but isn't it kind of sweet anyway.
Screw that. I turned "A Christmas Story" off, twenty minutes in. It sucked, and it is not a classic but a really bad movie.
You have to have that "Miracle On 42nd Street" department store Santa sentimentality to have a classic Christmas movie, and to my surprise, Bob Hope and "The Lemon Drop Kid" provided the needed ingredients.
Briefly, Hope - the horse race gambler - is in debt to a big league hood for Ten Grand, a fortune in those days. The hoodlum gives Hope until Christmas Eve to pay him back, or else.
Here is where the comedic skills of Bob Hope come in, and his skills were formidable.
I was surprised to discover that his fast talking, wise cracking style still holds up today and was ahead of it's time.
In the story, he owes the hoodlum ten grand, and he is desperate, so he sets up a grand scheme in which he will use the hoodlum's large gambling house against him. While the hoodlum in is Florida, Hope turns his mansion into a Home For Old Dolls (indigent old ladies). The scheme is elaborate, and it fits into the category of The Era Of Great Screenwriting, where multiple stories are told in fine layers, during the course of a 90 minute film. I can't tell you much more, except that the Bob Hope character is so ruthless that he is using his Home For Old Dolls as a charity, so that he can make at least ten thousand bucks to pay back the mobster he had cheated at the horse track.
And after he pays his debt, he doesn't care what becomes of the old ladies after his scam is exposed. is he really willing to put them on the street?
The more you watch films from the Golden Era, the more you are able to appreciate the work that went into the scripts, in which multiple levels of story are launched. These storylines are introduced by dialogue rather than action (the action follows), but what is important to note is that all of the actions and words of the actors are seamless in introducing the next thread in the plot.
Things happen so fast in a comedic farce from this era, that you have to be on your toes to follow every development.
Imagine how "on their toes" the actors had to be!
Well anyway, I regained my childhood respect for Bob Hope, who is so fast and slick that few comedians could keep up ( and maybe no one), and in "The Lemon Drop Kid" he and the cast delivered a Christmas Movie with all the necessary sentiment and more - a hard criminal edge that is both "idealistically cynical", because you know that the criminals are gonna go straight, and is also traditionally sentimental as far as the Christmas Season is concerned because Hope is involved in a romance with the beautiful Marilyn Maxwell, a singer connected to a rival Mob Boss.
I hope I haven't been jabbering away and that my synopsis made even marginal sense.
But man, was this ever a great Christmas movie! Bob Hope shines in the lead role, and you can easily see how he influenced scores of future comedians. The key to his characters is that they are well dressed, in suits, but they are also usually entirely amoral. And that contrast, between Hope's slick-suited, good-guy eye movements, and the sociopathic dialogue that is coming out of his mouth in rapid fire, is what makes him so funny. He looks so straight, so classy, and yet he talks like a total psycho.
But in a slick, harmless way. That's Bob Hope, the good looking, Ski-Nosed guy in a fancy suit, who will say just about anything for a laugh, and who was talking out the side of his mouth before Robin Williams was even born. And, like Williams, Bob Hope will say anything.
Two Big Thumbs Up for "The Lemon Drop Kid", a highly recommended classic Christmas Movie shot in seasonal black and white, with a plot that unravels in spectacular fashion. /////
I would like to also recommend very quickly the new Stephen King book called "Elevation". It's really a short story, rather than one of his giant novels, and it is presented in a small book format, but you can read it in three or four days (maybe less) and it is beautiful and very uplifting.
See you in the morning. Big Love of course. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
They would show Bob Hope's "Road" movies on TV when I was 7 or 8, and his fast talking style was very slick to a little kid, but he just seemed like he was from another era - like he was the epitome of that other, older era.
Of course, you never know what will happen in life, and so here I am 50 years down the road and now I love that other era, in fact most of the movies I watch come from that time, the 1930s through the late 50s , i.e. The Golden Era.
I reserved "The Lemon Drop Kid" at the Libe because it came up in a recent Google search. I was looking for Christmas movies I haven't seen, and "Lemon Drop" came back in a link listing "15 Black & White Classic Christmas Movies". Perfect. I checked the list and found four films I hadn't seen.
I'm not overly interested in modern Christmas films because they don't have the sentimentality that the classics of the Golden Era possess. I don't want "real life" included in my Christmas films, I want fantasy and idealism, with a hint of Depression-era graft and mean-spirited Republican Scroogity.
I think you know what I am getting at. In contrast, last year I tried to watch "A Christmas Story" from 1983. It is considered a classic by critics and fans alike. I had never seen it and was wondering what all the hubub was about.
I only made it through the first 20 minutes or so.
There was not only no sentiment, but the movie seemed to be moving in the opposite direction, towards irony, snottiness and a sort of mean-spirited "hip" cuteness, as if the filmmakers were saying, "Christmas sucks".....but isn't it kind of sweet anyway.
Screw that. I turned "A Christmas Story" off, twenty minutes in. It sucked, and it is not a classic but a really bad movie.
You have to have that "Miracle On 42nd Street" department store Santa sentimentality to have a classic Christmas movie, and to my surprise, Bob Hope and "The Lemon Drop Kid" provided the needed ingredients.
Briefly, Hope - the horse race gambler - is in debt to a big league hood for Ten Grand, a fortune in those days. The hoodlum gives Hope until Christmas Eve to pay him back, or else.
Here is where the comedic skills of Bob Hope come in, and his skills were formidable.
I was surprised to discover that his fast talking, wise cracking style still holds up today and was ahead of it's time.
In the story, he owes the hoodlum ten grand, and he is desperate, so he sets up a grand scheme in which he will use the hoodlum's large gambling house against him. While the hoodlum in is Florida, Hope turns his mansion into a Home For Old Dolls (indigent old ladies). The scheme is elaborate, and it fits into the category of The Era Of Great Screenwriting, where multiple stories are told in fine layers, during the course of a 90 minute film. I can't tell you much more, except that the Bob Hope character is so ruthless that he is using his Home For Old Dolls as a charity, so that he can make at least ten thousand bucks to pay back the mobster he had cheated at the horse track.
And after he pays his debt, he doesn't care what becomes of the old ladies after his scam is exposed. is he really willing to put them on the street?
The more you watch films from the Golden Era, the more you are able to appreciate the work that went into the scripts, in which multiple levels of story are launched. These storylines are introduced by dialogue rather than action (the action follows), but what is important to note is that all of the actions and words of the actors are seamless in introducing the next thread in the plot.
Things happen so fast in a comedic farce from this era, that you have to be on your toes to follow every development.
Imagine how "on their toes" the actors had to be!
Well anyway, I regained my childhood respect for Bob Hope, who is so fast and slick that few comedians could keep up ( and maybe no one), and in "The Lemon Drop Kid" he and the cast delivered a Christmas Movie with all the necessary sentiment and more - a hard criminal edge that is both "idealistically cynical", because you know that the criminals are gonna go straight, and is also traditionally sentimental as far as the Christmas Season is concerned because Hope is involved in a romance with the beautiful Marilyn Maxwell, a singer connected to a rival Mob Boss.
I hope I haven't been jabbering away and that my synopsis made even marginal sense.
But man, was this ever a great Christmas movie! Bob Hope shines in the lead role, and you can easily see how he influenced scores of future comedians. The key to his characters is that they are well dressed, in suits, but they are also usually entirely amoral. And that contrast, between Hope's slick-suited, good-guy eye movements, and the sociopathic dialogue that is coming out of his mouth in rapid fire, is what makes him so funny. He looks so straight, so classy, and yet he talks like a total psycho.
But in a slick, harmless way. That's Bob Hope, the good looking, Ski-Nosed guy in a fancy suit, who will say just about anything for a laugh, and who was talking out the side of his mouth before Robin Williams was even born. And, like Williams, Bob Hope will say anything.
Two Big Thumbs Up for "The Lemon Drop Kid", a highly recommended classic Christmas Movie shot in seasonal black and white, with a plot that unravels in spectacular fashion. /////
I would like to also recommend very quickly the new Stephen King book called "Elevation". It's really a short story, rather than one of his giant novels, and it is presented in a small book format, but you can read it in three or four days (maybe less) and it is beautiful and very uplifting.
See you in the morning. Big Love of course. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Tuesday, December 4, 2018
Walking With The Dogs At The Granada Hills Parade + "They Came To Cordura"
I'm back. Yesterday there was no movie and thus nothing to write about. Missed church, too. It was taking longer than usual to get Pearl ready and finally I saw that we were barely gonna make it, if at all, so I just figured we'd skip it this time. It's only my fifth absence in four years of being in the choir, so I guess that's not too shabby. I've been there for 203 out of 208 Sundays. Now I'll start a new streak and not miss a week for at least another year.
I did make it up to the Granada Hills Christmas Parade yesterday afternoon, which you might already know if you saw my pics on Facebook. I never miss the Parade (I like being dependable you know), and when I got there at 2:30 I was immediately looking for The Dogs. Again, you may know which Dogs I mean if you have ever seen my pics of the parade in years past. Every year, the group Guide Dogs of America has a parade entry, where the trainers walk the dogs down the two mile route. I arrived an hour after the parade started, so I was worried I'd missed the Guide Dogs. I stood at the main parade intersection of Chatsworth and Zelzah for about 10 minutes, watching local scout troops pass by, and chamber of commerce folks, marching bands, Mexican Caballeros on horseback, we always have the same entries every year, which is what makes the parade so "homey". You know you can count on it. But I was worried I'd missed The Dogs, so I started walking, east on Chatsworth Street, back in the direction of the parade's starting point. Gotta find those doggies....
And I did! I'd walked about a mile down the street, past hundreds of folks sitting in lawn chairs, others standing, many with dogs of their own. I saw quite a few members of The Cutarian Society (i.e. small dogs, which I once thought were wimps until The Mighty Kober Doberman Pinscher showed me otherwise).
Finally, all the way down at the intersection of Chatsworth and Louise Avenue, I saw the Guide Dogs approaching, and I walked with them all the way back (I stayed on the sidewalk of course). But it was so cool to have found them, and not to have missed their appearance, and to have the chance to flank them all the way back on the mile of route that remained. Most of the doggers are Labs - my favorites - but this time I saw a couple of beautiful Golden Retrievers, too. When you see these dogs, and think about them as I had the chance to do while walking alongside them, you can see their deep intelligence, different than human intelligence, but a level of sheer understanding nonetheless that you can see in their eyes. Dogs are so smart - in their own way, separate from humans and yet bonded with us - and we have only just begun to come to know them, and I dare say learn from them.
I was thinking that the Guide Dogs are God's Angels as I walked alongside them.
I got a few good photos, some of which I posted. And I had a lot of fun at the parade.
Tonight I watched a Western from one of my collections, called "They Came To Cordura". Right away you know you have an Epic on your hands, otherwise the title would sound pretentious.
"They Came To Codura". Who came? Oh, wait a minute.....it's They.
"They Came", and so you know it's an epic and you don't question it.
Gary Cooper stars as a Major in the US Cavalry who is tasked with leading a foursome of soldiers back through the Arizona desert towards the city of Codura (state not established but probably New Mexico). The soldiers in question have been selected by Major Cooper for the Congressional Medal Of Honor, after their heroics in defending the American Fort in New Mexico against an attack by Pancho Villa, leading a guerilla Mexican Army.
"Codura" is a "Big Script" psychological Western, and it was big budget, too. Cost 4 million to make, which in 1959 was a fortune.
The story almost entirely involves the journey these men must make through the desert, as they retreat from the battlefield but find themselves trapped in unknown territory in Pancho Villa's mountains. Along for the ride is Rita Hayworth, playing a female rancher who allowed Villa's invading troops to hide out on her land in New Mexico. Major Gary Cooper has her under arrest and is taking her back to Cordura, too....But the four men who have been nominated for the Congressional Medal are not the perfect heroic specimens that Gary Cooper has perceived. In fact, every one of them is flawed, even fatally so.
Their flaws - i.e. their tendencies toward violence, due to their psychological deficiencies - are the very qualities that brought out their heroics in battle, and saved American lives at the New Mexican fort.
None of the men want the Congressional Medal, mostly because each has something to hide and doesn't want to become a post-war celebrity.
Each man also knows a secret about Major Cooper as well, that he had been leveled with a military charge of "cowardice in the face of the enemy" in a previous battle, but the charge had been swept under the rug by a fellow commander, a friend.
The four soldiers slowly become renegade. Cooper must hold them together as they conspire to commit mutiny and even worse. Two of the men mean to take advantage of Rita Hayworth, and are just waiting for Cooper to fall asleep so they can do so.
These are a few tidbits of the storylines from the movie, and there are a whole lot more. "Codura" runs 123 minutes but is super-talky, so a good 30 minute reduction should have been in order. Then you would certainly have had a classic on your hands.
Cooper is great as the weary Major, trying to deliver these men to receive their Medals, as charged. He isn't ready for what he runs into - the opposition of the nominated men, which becomes sinister and fierce - but he perseveres with his mission regardless.
The desert photography is spectacular, and the man vs. man / man vs. nature dramatic conflicts lead up to a battle of attrition at the end of the film, between Gary Cooper and Van Heflen, who plays a ruthless, amoral Sergeant bent on getting rid of Cooper and trying to convince the other men to go along with his ugly plan.
"They Came To Cordura" could have been one of the great Westerns ever made. It was interesting to learn that the United States Cavalry not only existed until 1916, but fought it's last battle then, only 44 years before I was born. They were still fighting on horseback until the mechanized forces of WW1 made the Cavalry obsolete. But yeah......just 44 years prior to 1960, things were still like the Old West.
What keeps the film from being great is it's talkiness, which adds unnecessarily to the length and bogs down the action in several places. Director Robert Rossen wanted to explore the questions of courage and cowardice in the context of war - a classic and eternal dramatic theme (unfortunately).
But he wasn't able to cut or shorten scenes in order to tighten his film, because he was so in love with his dialogue.
I give "Cordura" Two Thumbs Up anyhow, because it is a very good movie and it is indeed Epic.
But it could have been One Of The Greats, in which case I'd have awarded Two Huge Thumbs Up.
Instead, just Two Regular. See it anyway if you are a Western Fanatic like me. ////
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I did make it up to the Granada Hills Christmas Parade yesterday afternoon, which you might already know if you saw my pics on Facebook. I never miss the Parade (I like being dependable you know), and when I got there at 2:30 I was immediately looking for The Dogs. Again, you may know which Dogs I mean if you have ever seen my pics of the parade in years past. Every year, the group Guide Dogs of America has a parade entry, where the trainers walk the dogs down the two mile route. I arrived an hour after the parade started, so I was worried I'd missed the Guide Dogs. I stood at the main parade intersection of Chatsworth and Zelzah for about 10 minutes, watching local scout troops pass by, and chamber of commerce folks, marching bands, Mexican Caballeros on horseback, we always have the same entries every year, which is what makes the parade so "homey". You know you can count on it. But I was worried I'd missed The Dogs, so I started walking, east on Chatsworth Street, back in the direction of the parade's starting point. Gotta find those doggies....
And I did! I'd walked about a mile down the street, past hundreds of folks sitting in lawn chairs, others standing, many with dogs of their own. I saw quite a few members of The Cutarian Society (i.e. small dogs, which I once thought were wimps until The Mighty Kober Doberman Pinscher showed me otherwise).
Finally, all the way down at the intersection of Chatsworth and Louise Avenue, I saw the Guide Dogs approaching, and I walked with them all the way back (I stayed on the sidewalk of course). But it was so cool to have found them, and not to have missed their appearance, and to have the chance to flank them all the way back on the mile of route that remained. Most of the doggers are Labs - my favorites - but this time I saw a couple of beautiful Golden Retrievers, too. When you see these dogs, and think about them as I had the chance to do while walking alongside them, you can see their deep intelligence, different than human intelligence, but a level of sheer understanding nonetheless that you can see in their eyes. Dogs are so smart - in their own way, separate from humans and yet bonded with us - and we have only just begun to come to know them, and I dare say learn from them.
I was thinking that the Guide Dogs are God's Angels as I walked alongside them.
I got a few good photos, some of which I posted. And I had a lot of fun at the parade.
Tonight I watched a Western from one of my collections, called "They Came To Cordura". Right away you know you have an Epic on your hands, otherwise the title would sound pretentious.
"They Came To Codura". Who came? Oh, wait a minute.....it's They.
"They Came", and so you know it's an epic and you don't question it.
Gary Cooper stars as a Major in the US Cavalry who is tasked with leading a foursome of soldiers back through the Arizona desert towards the city of Codura (state not established but probably New Mexico). The soldiers in question have been selected by Major Cooper for the Congressional Medal Of Honor, after their heroics in defending the American Fort in New Mexico against an attack by Pancho Villa, leading a guerilla Mexican Army.
"Codura" is a "Big Script" psychological Western, and it was big budget, too. Cost 4 million to make, which in 1959 was a fortune.
The story almost entirely involves the journey these men must make through the desert, as they retreat from the battlefield but find themselves trapped in unknown territory in Pancho Villa's mountains. Along for the ride is Rita Hayworth, playing a female rancher who allowed Villa's invading troops to hide out on her land in New Mexico. Major Gary Cooper has her under arrest and is taking her back to Cordura, too....But the four men who have been nominated for the Congressional Medal are not the perfect heroic specimens that Gary Cooper has perceived. In fact, every one of them is flawed, even fatally so.
Their flaws - i.e. their tendencies toward violence, due to their psychological deficiencies - are the very qualities that brought out their heroics in battle, and saved American lives at the New Mexican fort.
None of the men want the Congressional Medal, mostly because each has something to hide and doesn't want to become a post-war celebrity.
Each man also knows a secret about Major Cooper as well, that he had been leveled with a military charge of "cowardice in the face of the enemy" in a previous battle, but the charge had been swept under the rug by a fellow commander, a friend.
The four soldiers slowly become renegade. Cooper must hold them together as they conspire to commit mutiny and even worse. Two of the men mean to take advantage of Rita Hayworth, and are just waiting for Cooper to fall asleep so they can do so.
These are a few tidbits of the storylines from the movie, and there are a whole lot more. "Codura" runs 123 minutes but is super-talky, so a good 30 minute reduction should have been in order. Then you would certainly have had a classic on your hands.
Cooper is great as the weary Major, trying to deliver these men to receive their Medals, as charged. He isn't ready for what he runs into - the opposition of the nominated men, which becomes sinister and fierce - but he perseveres with his mission regardless.
The desert photography is spectacular, and the man vs. man / man vs. nature dramatic conflicts lead up to a battle of attrition at the end of the film, between Gary Cooper and Van Heflen, who plays a ruthless, amoral Sergeant bent on getting rid of Cooper and trying to convince the other men to go along with his ugly plan.
"They Came To Cordura" could have been one of the great Westerns ever made. It was interesting to learn that the United States Cavalry not only existed until 1916, but fought it's last battle then, only 44 years before I was born. They were still fighting on horseback until the mechanized forces of WW1 made the Cavalry obsolete. But yeah......just 44 years prior to 1960, things were still like the Old West.
What keeps the film from being great is it's talkiness, which adds unnecessarily to the length and bogs down the action in several places. Director Robert Rossen wanted to explore the questions of courage and cowardice in the context of war - a classic and eternal dramatic theme (unfortunately).
But he wasn't able to cut or shorten scenes in order to tighten his film, because he was so in love with his dialogue.
I give "Cordura" Two Thumbs Up anyhow, because it is a very good movie and it is indeed Epic.
But it could have been One Of The Greats, in which case I'd have awarded Two Huge Thumbs Up.
Instead, just Two Regular. See it anyway if you are a Western Fanatic like me. ////
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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