2019 Sleepers
Part 2
Herewith another batch of 2019 films that didn’t get much notice. It just happens that all of them are based on true stories.
Pavarotti documents the career of Luciano Pavarotti, perhaps the world’s greatest tenor. Even if you don’t like opera much (me neither!) you will love this film. The singing is just super and he was one heck of a guy. Generous almost to a fault, he spread his talent and money freely. And Lord, what a voice! Do NOT confuse him with the disgraced Placido Domingo!
Harriet is the true story (more or less) of escaped slave Harriet Tubman, so famous she may be put on the $10 bill. Instead of enjoying her freedom after her harrowing escape to the North, she turned her hand to freeing other slaves and transporting them to the free states by means of the underground railroad. There’s enough excitement in this one for two or three movies and Harriet Tubman is well played by Cynthia Erivo in a breakout role.
Official Secrets stars Keira Knightley as a British whistleblower. One day in 2003, in the lead up to the Iraq War, British intelligence specialist Katharine Gun receives a memo from the NSA with a shocking directive: the United States is enlisting Britain's help in collecting compromising information on U.N. Security Council members to blackmail them into voting in favor of an invasion of Iraq. Unable to stand by and watch the world be rushed into war, Gun makes the gut-wrenching decision to defy her government and leak the memo to the press. Her identity uncovered, it looks like a long prison term awaits.
Chiewetel Ejiofor, the British actor best known as recaptured slave Solomon Northrup in 12 Years A Slave, is the director, screemplay writer and major star in the charming The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind. His son, William, is well played by young Maxwell Simba. William’s poor family can’t pay his school fees, but he sneaks into the library to learn electronics and physics. His area of Malawi is unable to grow crops for half the year, but William devises a Rube Goldberg-like windmill to irrigate in the dry season. Yep, this really happened!
Warning and disclaimer: The last film in this article, Knock Down The House, is not going to appeal to readers of the Reddish persuasion. It is the true story of how four young women somehow knocked off Republican congressman in the 2018 election and began to make waves in DC. For those who can get over it, this movie is interesting and educational, as well as fun.
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. Most are for grown-ups, but kids will enjoy The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind.
Sunday, March 29, 2020
Sunday, March 22, 2020
BETTY HUTTON
Now largely forgotten, Betty Hutton was about as big a star as there was in the 1950's. She was in dozens of big Hollywood films and made a nice living singing on over 50 soundtracks. She even had her own TV show 1959-60 when her movie career was flagging. I have selected her best films for this article.
Her first appearance of note was as Trudy Kockenlocker (!) in The Miracle Of Morgan’s Creek (1943). This bit of whimsy from Hollywood requires an enormous suspension of belief, not unusual for films of that time. Trudy gets drunk with a soldier, marries him and wakes up with him gone and her pregnant. She can’t remember his name and he took the marriage license with him. Her high school sweetheart agrees to go through a fake marriage so the baby will not be illegitimate but he screws up the ceremony and goes to jail. After that it gets complicated, winding up with her delivering sextuplets. And actually, you CAN make this stuff up!
Though you have probably never heard of her, Pearl White was a huge silent movie star. Betty Hutton was chosen to play her in The Perils Of Pauline (1947). The film sort of follows Pearl White’s career, including singing. A famous stunt included being tied to the railroad tracks by the villain. Another involved a hot air balloon ride into a thunderstorm. Of course there’s a happy ending- this is the 40's!
Ms. Hutton could sing up a storm and got to do a bunch of songs in the rambunctious Annie Get Your Gun (1950). It’s the musical story of sharpshooter Annie Oakley ( yes,a real person) and has gorgeous technicolor footage and loads of good songs. I Can Do Anything Better Than You ,You Can’t Get A Man With A Gun, and There’s No Business Like Show Business are highlights. All of these are by the redoubtable Irving Berlin. Ethel Merman played Annie on Broadway but was not thought to be pretty enough for the screen version.
The Greatest Show On Earth (1952) was a huge deal when it came out. It was produced and directed by the great Cecil B. DeMille and it won him an Oscar for direction and the movie a statue for Best Film. Betty Hutton plays Holly, a trapeze artist and the circus’ feature attraction. Charlton Heston is Brad, the show’s head guy. He antagonizes Holly by bringing in The Great Sebastian, another flyer played by Cornell Wilde. James Stewart plays Bubbles the Clown, who is never seen without his makeup, even between shows. You might guess there’s a reason for this. The running time of 152 minutes is somewhat off-putting, but there is plenty going on and very little down time.
Ms. Hutton’s last movie is the tepid Spring Reunion (1957) in which she finds romance at a 15-year high school reunion. It was supposed to be her comeback film. It wasn’t.
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. The first one is rather dear as it had to be remastered. All are actually okay for kids.
Now largely forgotten, Betty Hutton was about as big a star as there was in the 1950's. She was in dozens of big Hollywood films and made a nice living singing on over 50 soundtracks. She even had her own TV show 1959-60 when her movie career was flagging. I have selected her best films for this article.
Her first appearance of note was as Trudy Kockenlocker (!) in The Miracle Of Morgan’s Creek (1943). This bit of whimsy from Hollywood requires an enormous suspension of belief, not unusual for films of that time. Trudy gets drunk with a soldier, marries him and wakes up with him gone and her pregnant. She can’t remember his name and he took the marriage license with him. Her high school sweetheart agrees to go through a fake marriage so the baby will not be illegitimate but he screws up the ceremony and goes to jail. After that it gets complicated, winding up with her delivering sextuplets. And actually, you CAN make this stuff up!
Though you have probably never heard of her, Pearl White was a huge silent movie star. Betty Hutton was chosen to play her in The Perils Of Pauline (1947). The film sort of follows Pearl White’s career, including singing. A famous stunt included being tied to the railroad tracks by the villain. Another involved a hot air balloon ride into a thunderstorm. Of course there’s a happy ending- this is the 40's!
Ms. Hutton could sing up a storm and got to do a bunch of songs in the rambunctious Annie Get Your Gun (1950). It’s the musical story of sharpshooter Annie Oakley ( yes,a real person) and has gorgeous technicolor footage and loads of good songs. I Can Do Anything Better Than You ,You Can’t Get A Man With A Gun, and There’s No Business Like Show Business are highlights. All of these are by the redoubtable Irving Berlin. Ethel Merman played Annie on Broadway but was not thought to be pretty enough for the screen version.
The Greatest Show On Earth (1952) was a huge deal when it came out. It was produced and directed by the great Cecil B. DeMille and it won him an Oscar for direction and the movie a statue for Best Film. Betty Hutton plays Holly, a trapeze artist and the circus’ feature attraction. Charlton Heston is Brad, the show’s head guy. He antagonizes Holly by bringing in The Great Sebastian, another flyer played by Cornell Wilde. James Stewart plays Bubbles the Clown, who is never seen without his makeup, even between shows. You might guess there’s a reason for this. The running time of 152 minutes is somewhat off-putting, but there is plenty going on and very little down time.
Ms. Hutton’s last movie is the tepid Spring Reunion (1957) in which she finds romance at a 15-year high school reunion. It was supposed to be her comeback film. It wasn’t.
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. The first one is rather dear as it had to be remastered. All are actually okay for kids.
Sunday, March 15, 2020
HARRIET FRANK, JR.
With a few exceptions, screen writers do not become household words. OK, there is Faulkner and F. Scott Fitzgerald. When I read of the death of Harriet Frank, Jr. at the age of 96, I drew a blank. Yet she was one of the unknown giants of the silver screen. Her list of credits is sensational. She often partnered with her husband, Irving Ravetch, and sometimes with other writers and often by herself. Incredibly, she never won an Academy Award, not even one of those lifetime achievement deals.
The Long Hot Summer (1958) stars Paul Newman as a handsome con man and Joanne Woodard as the sheltered daughter of a wealthy family. Sparks, of course, fly. Not only on the screen but in real life. This famous pair married soon after the movie wrapped and stayed together til death did them part.
Harriet Frank received her first Oscar nomination for the legendary Hud 1963) again starring Paul Newman, this time as the ne’er-do-well son of a straight arrow rancher (Melvyn Douglas). Patricia Neal did win Oscar as Newman’s unlikely victim. Douglas and cinematographer James Wong Howe also won statues. Frank lost to the writers of Captain Newman MD, a very unfortunate choice.
Ms. Frank was also nominated for the screenplay of the splendid Norma Rae (1979) with Sally Field as an unlikely labor organizer in the South. Ms. Field won the Oscar for Best Actress and the film won for Best Movie. Ms. Frank this time lost to Robert Benton who won for penning Kramer v. Kramer.
Perhaps the best adaptation of a William Faulkner work is 1969's The Reivers. Steve McQueen is good as the rascally Boon. He talks two little boys into a road trip in a relative’s yellow Winton Flyer. The trip is a cinematic delight, capturing much of Faulkner’s terse dialog along the way.
The Sound and the Fury (1959) is another Faulkner adaptation. It doesn’t quite make a smooth transition from the novel. It does feature the unlikley casting of Yul Brynner as a cracker.
Conrack (1974) is a real charmer starring Jon Voight as a schoolteacher on one of the South Carolina coastal islands. The film is based on the memoir The Water Is Wide by Pat Conroy. The movie title is based on the children’s pronunciation of Conroy. They speak a local dialect known as Gullah, and have almost no knowledge of the world outside. Conroy tries to widen their world view and prepare them for life after school. The screenplay does an excellent job with the language, incorporating it, and yet making it understandable.
Some other notable Frank screenplays include Home From The Hill (1960), The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960), Hombre (1967) and Stanley And Iris (1990).
All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are for grown-ups.
With a few exceptions, screen writers do not become household words. OK, there is Faulkner and F. Scott Fitzgerald. When I read of the death of Harriet Frank, Jr. at the age of 96, I drew a blank. Yet she was one of the unknown giants of the silver screen. Her list of credits is sensational. She often partnered with her husband, Irving Ravetch, and sometimes with other writers and often by herself. Incredibly, she never won an Academy Award, not even one of those lifetime achievement deals.
The Long Hot Summer (1958) stars Paul Newman as a handsome con man and Joanne Woodard as the sheltered daughter of a wealthy family. Sparks, of course, fly. Not only on the screen but in real life. This famous pair married soon after the movie wrapped and stayed together til death did them part.
Harriet Frank received her first Oscar nomination for the legendary Hud 1963) again starring Paul Newman, this time as the ne’er-do-well son of a straight arrow rancher (Melvyn Douglas). Patricia Neal did win Oscar as Newman’s unlikely victim. Douglas and cinematographer James Wong Howe also won statues. Frank lost to the writers of Captain Newman MD, a very unfortunate choice.
Ms. Frank was also nominated for the screenplay of the splendid Norma Rae (1979) with Sally Field as an unlikely labor organizer in the South. Ms. Field won the Oscar for Best Actress and the film won for Best Movie. Ms. Frank this time lost to Robert Benton who won for penning Kramer v. Kramer.
Perhaps the best adaptation of a William Faulkner work is 1969's The Reivers. Steve McQueen is good as the rascally Boon. He talks two little boys into a road trip in a relative’s yellow Winton Flyer. The trip is a cinematic delight, capturing much of Faulkner’s terse dialog along the way.
The Sound and the Fury (1959) is another Faulkner adaptation. It doesn’t quite make a smooth transition from the novel. It does feature the unlikley casting of Yul Brynner as a cracker.
Conrack (1974) is a real charmer starring Jon Voight as a schoolteacher on one of the South Carolina coastal islands. The film is based on the memoir The Water Is Wide by Pat Conroy. The movie title is based on the children’s pronunciation of Conroy. They speak a local dialect known as Gullah, and have almost no knowledge of the world outside. Conroy tries to widen their world view and prepare them for life after school. The screenplay does an excellent job with the language, incorporating it, and yet making it understandable.
Some other notable Frank screenplays include Home From The Hill (1960), The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960), Hombre (1967) and Stanley And Iris (1990).
All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are for grown-ups.
Sunday, March 8, 2020
2019 Sleepers
Part 1
Here begins a series on 2019 sleepers, really good films that didn’t get much notice. You might find a couple worth watching.
The Peanut Butter Falcon is wildly all over the place and endearing to boot.
Zack Gottsagen is a young man with Down’s Syndrome. He hates the residential home where he lives and dreams of becoming a professional wrestler. He escapes and follows the dour Tyler (Shia Labeouf) who is on the run from some really bad guys. He wishes Zack would go away. He won’t. Over time and many adventures they begin to bond and Tyler tries to make Zack’s dream come true. This is a real charmer with a nod to Mark Twain . BTW, Zack appeared at the Oscars with Mr. Labeouf.
The Command is a most unusual and diverting submarine film. An explosion kills most of the Russian crew and the rest are left with no power and little oxygen. The Russians try to salvage the sub with their own gear. It fails. The British have the knowledge and the equipment to rescue the sub. Colin Firth is excellent as the British officer trying to convince the Russians to let the Brits save the crew. The pride of the Russians is in the way and it’s hard to convince them to let another country help.
Molly Ivins was a Texas reporter and gadfly. She was unequaled in sticking it to the famous and prominent. Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins is a bushel of fun even if you are a reddish person. She famously called George W. Bush “Shrub” and that will give you an idea of her persona. One of her many books is entitled Molly Ivins Can’t Say That, Can She?.
She could.
Just Mercy is, as they say, based on a true story. And what a story it is. Michael B. Jordan stars as Bryan Stevenson, an idealistic young Harvard graduate who spurns the money and prestige of the big law firms and heads to Alabama to help poor people who can’t afford proper legal representation. He goes to work for Eve Anthony (Brie Larson) who runs a legal clinic for the poor. Bryan happens upon the case of Walter MacMillan (Jamie Foxx) who has been sent to death row for a murder he didn’t commit. His conviction is mostly based on the testimony of a jailhouse snitch, and most of the exculpatory evidence never showed up. Bryan just wants a new, and fair, trial for his client. (BTW, all of the principals are real people.)
Roman Coleman is convincingly played by unknown Matthias Schoenaerts as a violent convict in The Mustang. He is given the opportunity to tame a wild mustang and they are about a perfect match. The only familiar face is Bruce Dern as a crusty old horse wrangler. It may be a little predictable, but it just might bring a tear to a jaded eye.
All of the films in this article are now available on DVD. All are for adults.
Part 1
Here begins a series on 2019 sleepers, really good films that didn’t get much notice. You might find a couple worth watching.
The Peanut Butter Falcon is wildly all over the place and endearing to boot.
Zack Gottsagen is a young man with Down’s Syndrome. He hates the residential home where he lives and dreams of becoming a professional wrestler. He escapes and follows the dour Tyler (Shia Labeouf) who is on the run from some really bad guys. He wishes Zack would go away. He won’t. Over time and many adventures they begin to bond and Tyler tries to make Zack’s dream come true. This is a real charmer with a nod to Mark Twain . BTW, Zack appeared at the Oscars with Mr. Labeouf.
The Command is a most unusual and diverting submarine film. An explosion kills most of the Russian crew and the rest are left with no power and little oxygen. The Russians try to salvage the sub with their own gear. It fails. The British have the knowledge and the equipment to rescue the sub. Colin Firth is excellent as the British officer trying to convince the Russians to let the Brits save the crew. The pride of the Russians is in the way and it’s hard to convince them to let another country help.
Molly Ivins was a Texas reporter and gadfly. She was unequaled in sticking it to the famous and prominent. Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins is a bushel of fun even if you are a reddish person. She famously called George W. Bush “Shrub” and that will give you an idea of her persona. One of her many books is entitled Molly Ivins Can’t Say That, Can She?.
She could.
Just Mercy is, as they say, based on a true story. And what a story it is. Michael B. Jordan stars as Bryan Stevenson, an idealistic young Harvard graduate who spurns the money and prestige of the big law firms and heads to Alabama to help poor people who can’t afford proper legal representation. He goes to work for Eve Anthony (Brie Larson) who runs a legal clinic for the poor. Bryan happens upon the case of Walter MacMillan (Jamie Foxx) who has been sent to death row for a murder he didn’t commit. His conviction is mostly based on the testimony of a jailhouse snitch, and most of the exculpatory evidence never showed up. Bryan just wants a new, and fair, trial for his client. (BTW, all of the principals are real people.)
Roman Coleman is convincingly played by unknown Matthias Schoenaerts as a violent convict in The Mustang. He is given the opportunity to tame a wild mustang and they are about a perfect match. The only familiar face is Bruce Dern as a crusty old horse wrangler. It may be a little predictable, but it just might bring a tear to a jaded eye.
All of the films in this article are now available on DVD. All are for adults.
Sunday, March 1, 2020
KIRK DOUGLAS MOVIES
Part 2
As promised, here are more really good Kirk Douglas movies, celebrating the macho star who left us at 103.
I’ll begin this one with perhaps his most famous role. Douglas was all guts and glory as the slave revolt leader, Spartacus (1960). Though the film collected four Oscars, including Peter Ustinov’s supporting role, Douglas was not nominated. The script was written by Dalton Trumbo, who was blacklisted at the time. Douglas announced that Trumbo was the author, and when President Kennedy crossed a picket line to see the movie, blacklisting was finished forever. A legendary plot device occurs when the Roman soldiers seeking Spartacus ask a group of revolters which of them is Spartacus and they all reply, “I am Spartacus”.
A very early Kirk Douglas outing was in the splendid noir film, Out Of The Past (1947). Douglas does a servicable job as an extremely shady tycoon. But the movie belongs to Robert Mitchum, whose hooded eyes and gravelly voice seemed custom-made for noir movies. Jane Greer is just fine as the naive local girl in over her head.
The usual suspects come in and go out of NYC’s 21st precinct in Detective Story (1951). Kirk Douglas is detective James McLeod, an honest cop trying to do a good job. Eleanor Parker is on board as his faithful wife and William Bendix is good as a fellow cop. The plot is extremely convoluted with many characters, but it’s pretty good if you can stick with it.
The Gunfight at the OK Corral (1957) has become an American legend. Kirk Douglas is the famous Doc Holliday (actually he was a real dentist) and his smiling, semi-threatening persona is quite entertaining. Burt Lancaster appears as the equally famous Wyatt Earp, sheriff of Tombstone, Arizona Territory. On October 26, 1881, the actual event took place and lasted all of 30 seconds. Earp and Holliday took on and killed the remnants of the Clanton gang. The back story and events after the shoot-out are manufactured by novelist Leon Uris in a nicely integrated screenplay.
Paths Of Glory (1957) is an excellent anti-war movie. Kirk Douglas plays Col. Dax and Adolphe Menjou is French General Broulard. Broulard orders a foolhardy suicidal attack on a German fortification. General Mireau (George Macready) realizes the mission is fated to fail at great cost, but sniffs that a promotion might hang in the balance and orders the attack to proceed. Dax does his best to lead the attack, but it is doomed and there are a lot of casualties with nothing accomplished. When the second wave of French soldiers are ordered to attack, they refuse. Three of them are later court-martialed. Dax gallantly defends them, but it is a hopeless effort in a kangaroo court and all three men are convicted and executed. Then some good stuff happens.
Kirk Douglas can also be seen to good effect in A Letter To Three Wives (1949), Seven Days in May (1964) and The Man From Snowy River (1982).
All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are for adults.
Part 2
As promised, here are more really good Kirk Douglas movies, celebrating the macho star who left us at 103.
I’ll begin this one with perhaps his most famous role. Douglas was all guts and glory as the slave revolt leader, Spartacus (1960). Though the film collected four Oscars, including Peter Ustinov’s supporting role, Douglas was not nominated. The script was written by Dalton Trumbo, who was blacklisted at the time. Douglas announced that Trumbo was the author, and when President Kennedy crossed a picket line to see the movie, blacklisting was finished forever. A legendary plot device occurs when the Roman soldiers seeking Spartacus ask a group of revolters which of them is Spartacus and they all reply, “I am Spartacus”.
A very early Kirk Douglas outing was in the splendid noir film, Out Of The Past (1947). Douglas does a servicable job as an extremely shady tycoon. But the movie belongs to Robert Mitchum, whose hooded eyes and gravelly voice seemed custom-made for noir movies. Jane Greer is just fine as the naive local girl in over her head.
The usual suspects come in and go out of NYC’s 21st precinct in Detective Story (1951). Kirk Douglas is detective James McLeod, an honest cop trying to do a good job. Eleanor Parker is on board as his faithful wife and William Bendix is good as a fellow cop. The plot is extremely convoluted with many characters, but it’s pretty good if you can stick with it.
The Gunfight at the OK Corral (1957) has become an American legend. Kirk Douglas is the famous Doc Holliday (actually he was a real dentist) and his smiling, semi-threatening persona is quite entertaining. Burt Lancaster appears as the equally famous Wyatt Earp, sheriff of Tombstone, Arizona Territory. On October 26, 1881, the actual event took place and lasted all of 30 seconds. Earp and Holliday took on and killed the remnants of the Clanton gang. The back story and events after the shoot-out are manufactured by novelist Leon Uris in a nicely integrated screenplay.
Paths Of Glory (1957) is an excellent anti-war movie. Kirk Douglas plays Col. Dax and Adolphe Menjou is French General Broulard. Broulard orders a foolhardy suicidal attack on a German fortification. General Mireau (George Macready) realizes the mission is fated to fail at great cost, but sniffs that a promotion might hang in the balance and orders the attack to proceed. Dax does his best to lead the attack, but it is doomed and there are a lot of casualties with nothing accomplished. When the second wave of French soldiers are ordered to attack, they refuse. Three of them are later court-martialed. Dax gallantly defends them, but it is a hopeless effort in a kangaroo court and all three men are convicted and executed. Then some good stuff happens.
Kirk Douglas can also be seen to good effect in A Letter To Three Wives (1949), Seven Days in May (1964) and The Man From Snowy River (1982).
All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are for adults.
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