GOOD LITTLE KNOWN MOVIES

                                                                    Part 6

Still leery of the movie theater? Me too. Here’s a nice group of little known movies. Perhaps one of them will lure you into viewing it. 

Love And Friendship was actually in my top 5 in 2016. It is a delicious comedy about trying to move upward in British society by marrying well. It’s based on Jane Austen’s little-known epistolary novel, Lady Susan. Kate Beckinsale shines as the wily, calculating Susan. She is almost penniless but is determined to get for her daughter, and herself, a good match. I thought Ms. Beckinsale should have had an Oscar nomination. I think this movie just came out too early in the year to get much notice. It is a hoot!

Only Yesterday (2016) will be a tough sell to some of you, because (1) it’s Japanese, and (2) it’s animated. But it is a true delight, beautifully drawn with a touching story and a magnetic leading lady. Taeko has a job in Tokyo and decides to spend the summer at her brother’s farm, where she had many pleasant times as a child. Working along with her relatives and others, she develops a strong kinship with the land, a nice young man, and with herself. Give this a try. I believe you will thank me.

A United Kingdom was way up on my list in 2017 In fact, it was number 2, behind only The Post. It stars David Oyelowo (MLK in Selma) as the soon-to-be king of Bechuanaland, a small African country that is now Botswana. Number One Ladies’ Detective Agency fans will recognize it. While studying in the UK he falls in love with a white English woman, Ruth Williams, played brilliantly by Rosamund Pike (the wife from Hell in Gone Girl). This pairing does not play well in either home country. But Ruth’s continuing desire to be of use and to fit in regardless of her skin color are quite winning. And all of this (okay, most of this) really happened!

Wonderstruck is a super good movie with an altogether incredible performance by young Millicent Simmonds. This kid can do more with her face than most actors can accomplish with their whole bodies.  The film is worth watching for her performance alone. But it’s an intriguing tale of two children seeking their parents. However, they are separated by 50 years! Somehow it all works and the ending is truly enchanting. 

Most readers will remember the bombs set off during the Boston Marathon in 2013. In Stronger (2017) Jake Gyllenhaal stars as real person Jeff Bauman, from whose memoir the screenplay is taken. When his girlfriend signs up to run in the famous race he rushes to the finish line to be able to greet her when she crosses. But this puts him in the path of one of the bombs, and both his legs are lost. He is able to give the police a description of one of the bombers. Most of the movie deals with the search for the bombers and with Jeff’s painful and lengthy rehabilitation

All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. All except the last one are fine for all ages. Stronger Is a little, well, too strong for littlies. 

                                                             SIDNEY POITIER

When they talk about people who came up hard, it would be difficult to top Sidney Poitier. Not many prominent people had to sleep in bus station toilets as a teen. A native of the Bahamas, he lived to the great old age of 94 and he left us with a legacy of fine performances and quiet dignity.

His first big movie role came in the 1951 version of Alan Paton’s Cry, The Beloved Country. As a sympathetic minister trying to help a fellow parson who is looking for his daughter (a jailed prostitute) and his son (jailed for murder). The terrible consequences of apartheid are presented without blinking. The 1995 version of this film, with James Earl Jones, is somewhat gentler and more hopeful. 

Blackboard Jungle (1955) was a real eye-opener about high school life in the city. Glenn Ford plays Richard Dadier, a teacher in a racially divided school in New York. Sidney Poitier portrays Gregory Miller, one of the most rebellious students in the classroom. But the teacher spots potential in the kid and keeps at him to straighten up. Poitier’s performance is very good.

Sidney Poitier was nominated for Best Actor for his performance opposite Tony Curtis (also nominated)  in The Defiant Ones (1958), but both men lost to David Niven for Separate Tables. Mr. Poitier and Mr. Curtis are escaped prisoners shackled together at the wrist. One is black and one is white and the symbolism is obvious but affecting. This is a fine film.

In 1961, Mr. Poitier appeared with Louis Gosset, Ruby Dee and Ivan Dixon in Lorraine Hansberry’s splendid A Raisin In The Sun, providing white America with a realistic view of a black American family. 

Sidney Poitier won an  Oscar in 1963 in the touching and winning Lillies of the Field. He plays a handyman who helps an order of German-speaking nuns realize their dream of having their own chapel. The scene where he leads the nuns in learning to sing a Negro spiritual is really good.  This is a moving, quiet little film that holds up well.

Mr. Poitier is excellent as the big-city detective Virgil Tibbs in In The Heat Of The Night (1967). Redneck sheriff Rod Steiger (Academy Award) reluctantly accepts help from Tibbs to solve a murder that’s over his head. This is still a superb sociological thriller with something for everyone. It captured five Oscars including Best Picture. My favorite moment is when a white redneck slaps Virgil and he unhesitatingly slaps the guy right back! When I saw this in the theater there were cheers at that scene (from white people!). The sequel, They Call Me Mr. Tibbs (1970) is just okay.

To Sir, With Love (1967) is another big hit for Sidney Poitier. He plays Mark Thackeray, an immigrant from British Guiana. While waiting for his dream engineering job to open up, he agrees to teach high school in London’s gritty East Side. There are ups and downs as Thackeray gradually earns the grudging respect of the kids. The title song, sung by Lulu, was number one on the Billboard chart in 1997. She is the only other recognizable name in the film. 

All of the movies in this column are available on DVD. All are suitable for 12 and up. 

                                                           PETER BOGDANOVICH

        The late Peter Bogdanovich, who died recently at 82, had an incredible streak of good films in the early 1970's. He continued to direct but had few winners for some 20 years, then popped onto the radar for one last time.

Bogdanovich began his run with the Oscar-winning and altogether wonderful The Last Picture Show (1971). Perfectly portraying a small, dusty Texas town on the verge of going under, it interweaves several stories of the residents. The main story is about two high school seniors, Duane (Jeff Bridges) and Sonny (Timothy Bottoms) as they play out their last year as best buddies.  It was nominated for eight Oscars. Ben Johnson and Cloris Leachman were the only winners. Leachman is heart breaking as the loveless wife of a macho high school coach. Johnson is superb as Sam the Lion, beloved by the community, and  the principled mentor of the kids. Bogdanovich lost to William Friedkin for The French Connection for Best Director.

Next on the Bogdanovich run is What’s Up, Doc (1972) a funny take-off of the madcap comedies of the 1930's and 40's. Ryan O’Neal is the bookish doctor of music Howard Bannister, on his way from Iowa to San Francisco to compete for a musicianship prize. He is accompanied by his tightly-wound fiance played by Madeline Kahn. They encounter bad girl Judy Maxwell (Barbra Streisand) who manages to muddle practically everything. Four plaid suitcases belonging to four different people on the same hotel floor add to the merriment. 

The third instalment of the Bogdanovich series is the enchanting Paper Moon (1973). Bogdanovich favorite Ryan O’Neal is con man Moses Pray, rooking the good people of Kansas and Missouri with nary a qualm. He is joined by Addie, a quite capable waif all of nine years old. She is played by the incredible Tatum O’Neal, Ryan’s real daughter. The two make a formidable pair of con artists. Tatum became the youngest Oscar winner in history for her performance. Lots of fun!

The last Bogdanovich film in this run is Daisy Miller (1974), his adaptation of the novel by Henry James. Peter’s then-girlfriend Sybill Shepherd plays the beautiful but flighty Daisy. The film is almost perfectly true to the source, and was praised by most critics. But- it didn’t make any money and cost Bogdanovich his standing as a producing director with the Hollywood moguls. He blamed himself for not making it “more commercial.”

There follows a series of Bogdanovich movies. Some are mediocre. Some are God-awful. And then he got his big chance and he hit it out of the park.

To Sir, With Love (1996) is a big hit for Peter and for his star, Sidney Poitier. Poitier plays Mark Thackeray, an immigrant from British Guiana. While waiting for his dream engineering job to open up, he agrees to teach high school in London’s gritty East Side. There are ups and downs as Thackeray gradually earns the grudging respect of the kids. The title song, sung by Lulu, was number one on the Billboard chart in 1997. She is the only other recognizable name in the film. 

All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. Paper Moon and What’s Up Doc? are suitable for all ages. The rest are for grown-ups. 

                                                         SINGER BIO MOVIES

2021 brought in an excellent film biography of a show biz legend, Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul. Respect,  the title of one of her biggest hits, is also the title of the movie. It is quite accurate in portraying her life, from singing in her father’s church to super-stardom. Jennifer Hudson is excellent as the famous singer, and Ms. Hudson does her own singing. Forest Whittaker, always good, portrays her preacher-father whose strictness caused a rift at one point, but was healed up later. A stellar supporting cast includes Mary J. Blige, Marlon Wayans and Audra McDonald. Another iconic singer, Dinah Washington, appears as herself. 

Well, there are lots of biographical movies about famous singers. I’m sticking to the ones I like. Every single one of these actors won the Oscar!

Jamie Foxx seems to actually become Ray Charles in Ray (2004). From his accidental blinding as a young child through numerous marriages, affairs, divorces and drug problems Ray rises to the top of the rhythm and blues world. One of the film’s highlights comes when, after banning him from singing in the state of Georgia, the state apologizes and makes Georgia On My Mind the state song. Though he does not do his own singing, Foxx’s impeccable lip synching of actual Charles recordings is so hard to spot it seems real. 

France’s Edith Piaf, the “little sparrow”, is wonderfully played by Marion Cotillard. La Vie En Rose (2007), titled from her signature song, is fairly true to a life that was  short on good fortune. Rising from a wretched childhood which included time spent with her grandmother in a Norwegian brothel and with a circus performer father, Ms. Piaf became famous throughout France and the world. Her battles with alcohol and drug addiction are in plain sight. Ms. Cotillard does not do her own singing, but it’s hard to tell. This retelling of the good and bad of Piaf’s life is mainly worth watching for Cotillard’s performance. She became the first French actress to win the Oscar as Best Actress. 

Another basically awful life is presented warts and all in Judy (2019). Renee Zelwegger is a knockout as the talented, tortured singer. With a voice you can recognize after a couple of notes, Judy Garland was a huge hit as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (1939). Five years later she sang in another big hit, Meet Me In St. Louis . A roller coaster career winds up with a desperate tour in the UK. Health problems, mostly caused by her drug use, caused her early death at 47. 

And finally, a fairly happy life for Fanny Brice, brilliantly played by Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl (1968). Brice was no great beauty but nobody really cared because she was so charismatic. Streisand sings all the songs and is actually much better looking than the real Brice. But, as she remarks, Omar Sharif is even better looking as her long time love Nicky Arnstein. The film got eight Academy Award nominations, but only Streisand won the Oscar. Funny Lady (1975), which Streisand at first refused to appear in, is well, not bad. 

Some other worthy singer bio movies include Billie (2020) (Billie Holliday), Get On Up (2014) (James Brown), Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) (Freddy Mercury) and Rocketman (2019) ( Elton John). 

All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. (And there are a ton I didn’t mention). All are for adults.