Monthly Archives: September 2014

I Married a Witch
Directed by René Clair

Written by Robert Pirosh and Marc Connelly from a story by Thorne Smith
1942/USA

René Clair Productions/Cinema Guild Productions/Paramount Pictures

First viewing/Hulu Plus

[box] J.B. Masterson: Will you try to be a little more pleasant, at least until after the wedding?[/box]

Veronica Lake is more animated than usual in this Hollywood fantasy-romance from French emigree René Clair.

In the 17th Century, Puritan Jonathan Wooley (played by Fredric March in all his incarnations) denounces a girl and her father as a witch and sorcerer.  Before being burned at the stake, the daughter Jennifer curses Jonathan and his descendants to suffer from bad marriages.  The bodies are buried under an oak tree where the roots hold their spirits fast for 270 years.  The curse is effective though and we see succeeding generations of Wooleys plagued by marriages to shrews.

Finally, the spirits escape and are incarnated into the bodies of Cecil Kellaway and Veronica Lake.  The father, Daniel, is a thoroughly malevolent character who delights on setting buildings on fire etc.  Jennifer is still fixated on getting revenge on the latest iteration of Wooley, Wallace.  She begins the attack at a pre-wedding party for Wallace, now running for governor, and his horrible fiance Estelle (Susan Hayward).

After thoroughly mucking up the celebration, Dad suggests that Jennifer torture Wallace by making him fall in love with her.  She concocts a portion for the purpose but accidently winds up drinking it herself.  The rest of the story consists of her comical attempts to “help” Wallace and Dad’s efforts to foil her plans.  With Robert Benchley as Wallace’s friend.

I enjoyed this one for what it was after having looked forward to seeing it for years.  My reaction may have been tempered by my expectations.  Not bad, though and Kellaway is absolutely delightful.

Legend has it that Lake was so mean to March on set that he took to referring to the film as “I Married a Bitch.”  None of this discord appears on the screen.  Producer Preston Sturges had wanted to reprise Lake’s pairing with Joel McCrea in this film but McCrea refused to work with her again.  Poor Veronica, what a career she might have had if modern psych meds had been available!

Roy Webb was nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.

Joe Dante on I Married a Witch – Trailers from Hell

For Me and My Gal
Directed by Busby Berkeley
Written by Richard Sherman, Fred F. Finklehoff, and Sid Silvers; Story by Howard Emmett Rogers
1942/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Harry Palmer: You think anything’s going to stand in the way of us playing the Palace this time? Oh no, not even a war.[/box]

I don’t know how I missed this enjoyable musical until now.

The action starts in 1916.  Jo Harding (Judy Garland) is in Jimmy Metcalfe’s (George Murphy) vaudeville act.  Jimmy is clearly in love with her.  Self-absorbed headliner Harry Palmer (Gene Kelly) recognizes her talent and sets about stealing her and more from Jimmy.  She can’t stand him at first but Harry also has the gift of the gab and Jimmy sees the writing on the wall and lets her go.  Jo falls deeply in love with Harry, whose main interest is not romance but opening at the Palace Theater in New York, the mecca of all vaudeville performers.

Jo and Harry are relegated to playing the sticks for far longer than Harry had anticipated. He briefly flirts with a chanteuse (Martha Eggerth) who could be his ticket to the big time. But when she offers him a solo break he decides to be loyal to Jo.  Then a draft notice conflicts with their golden opportunity to finally play the Palace.  Harry makes the wrong choice and could lose Jo for good.

The first half of this picture is crammed with delightful musical numbers.  Gene Kelly is absolutely stellar in his film debut and Garland looks lovely in her first “adult” role at the ripe old age of 19.  My favorite of the many great numbers is Gene Kelly’s dance as a hobo/clown in his solo act at the very beginning.  The movie slows down in the second half as the plot concentrates on the love story and some pretty forced patriotic material that was apparently tacked on after Pearl Harbor.  Still, anybody who likes musicals of this era should love this one.

Roger Edens and George Stoll were Oscar-nominated for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture.

Judy Garland and Gene Kelly sing and dance to “Ballin’ the Jack”

The Black Swan
Directed by Henry King
Written by Ben Hecht and Seton I. Miller from the novel by Raphael Sabatini
1942/USA
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Jamie: In Tortuga when a woman slaps a man’s face, it means she wants him to grab her, over-power her, and smother her with kisses. I understand in Jamaica a gentleman must refuse such overtures.[/box]

The pictures I am posting do not do justice to the Technicolor glory that is this swashbuckler.

When pirate chief Henry Morgan (Laird Cregar) is named Governor of Jamaica his crew splits up.  Jamie Waring (Tyrone Power) and Tommy Blue (Thomas Mitchell) remain loyal and go with Morgan to run Jamaica.  Rapscallion Capt. Billy Leech (George Sanders with curly red hair and a bushy beard) continues to plunder the Caribbean.  When Morgan arrives in Jamaica, the former Governor Lord Darby (George Zucco) sabotages his rule (and enriches himself) by providing inside information on British treasure ships to the pirates. Jamie falls in love with Lord Darby’s fiery daughter Lady Margaret (Maureen O’Hara) who won’t give him the time of day.

 Margaret is about to be married to one of Lord Darby’s shady henchmen and Jamie abducts her when he sets out to bring Capt. Billy to justice.  Plenty of sea battles and sword fights ensue with a generous dollop of Hollywood romance thrown in for good measure.  With Anthony Quinn as Capt. Billy’s right-hand man.

This is a classic pirate movie with all the trimmings and it looks simply stunning.  Laird Cregar is super-flamboyant and enjoyable as the heavily bewigged Henry Morgan. If it weren’t for his voice, Sanders would be unrecognizable.  As it is, he does well with a red-blooded part, so uncharacteristic of his many effete roles.  The score is really stirring.  If you like this kind of thing, I recommend it.

The DVD I rented had a wonderful commentary by Rudy Behlmer with Maureen O’Hara. At age 83, she was a trove of information and seemed like a really fun person to know.

Leon Shamroy won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Color for The Black Swan.  The film was also nominated for Oscars for Best Effects, Special Effects and for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture (Alfred Newman).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgFg3nsXXvA

Trailer

Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake
Directed by John Cromwell
Written by Philip Dunne from a novel by Edison Marshall
1942/USA
Twentieth Century Fox
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Eve: You will go! If you stay out of pity, I will throw myself in sea.[/box]

This is an OK costume drama notable for a unique chance to see George Sanders boxing bare-chested.

It is sometime in the 18th Century.  Young Ben (Roddy MacDowall)  is being raised by his humble grandfather to become a blacksmith.  The other children tease him because he has no name.  One day, Sir Arthur Blake (Sanders) comes into the shop, announces that Ben is the illegitimate son of his deceased older brother and the gunsmith’s daughter, and takes Ben away to live with him ostensibly to be educated.  Instead, Ben is made an indentured servant and treated even more cruelly than the rest of the heartless Sir Arthur’s minions.  He grows up to be Tyrone Power.

Sir Arthur’s daughter Isabel (Frances Farmer) lusts after the handsome Benjamin and eventually falls in love with him.  Finally, he can bear his mistreatment no more and attacks Sir Arthur.  Now he is a fugitive.  He escapes as a seaman on a vessel headed on an around the world voyage.  He meets fellow seaman Caleb Green who tells him of a fortune in pearls to be found off the coast of a South Sea Island,  They detour the ship and go AWOL on the island.

 The islanders had previously been visited by Spaniards who abused them and are hostile to the two adventurers.  But when Benjamin shows them the scars on his own back the locals accept them with open arms.  Benjamin is promptly enchanted by the beautiful islander he calls “Eve” (Gene Tierney).  He declares her his bride since no one knows when another ship will arrive to take the pearl hunters back to England.

Their ship does come in and the rest of the story is devoted to Benjamin’s adventures as he seeks to redeem his rightful inheritance courtesy of the treasure trove of pearls he brings with him.  With Elsa Lanchester as a prostitute who helps Benjamin escape.

This is alright but I didn’t find it gripping.  This kind of thing isn’t usually for me though and those who like costume dramas will find this a very polished one.

This was the last film Frances Farmer made before alcoholism and erratic behavior caused her parents to commit her to a series of insane asylums.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90fClx_LTSI

Trailer

You Were Never Lovelier
Directed by William Seiter
Written by Michael Fessier, Ernest Pagano, and Delmer Davies from a story by Carlos Olivari and Sixto Pondal Rios
1942/USA
Columbia Pictures Corporation
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Lita Acuña: Just think papa, you’ve been married longer than we’ve lived!

Eduardo Acuña: I consider that a very fortunate coincidence, my dear.[/box]

The plot could not be more inane but the songs and dances are very nice.

The irascible nightclub owner Eduardo Acuña (Adolphe Menjou) has four daughters.  He intends to strictly inforce the family tradition that the girls will marry in order by age. Unfortunately for the two youngest girls, who both have longtime fiances, their older sister Maria (Rita Hayworth) has never met a man who captured her imagination.  Acuña himself starts to send Maria anonymous love letters and boxes of orchids every day to get her in the proper mood.

In the meantime, dancer Robert Davis (Fred Astaire) has gone broke playing the ponies and tries desperately to get an audition with Acuña who takes an instant dislike to him. Robert grabs the orchids one day and delivers them to the house.  When Maria spots him it is love at first sight.  Glad that Maria is in love but disgusted by her choice, Acuña bribes Robert with a job at his club to disillusion the girl.  Needless to say, Acuña is stuck with a son-in-law not of his choosing instead.  With Xavier Cougat and his orchestra.

The film is blessed with a couple of great standards (“I’m Old-Fashioned” and “Dearly Beloved”) and other good songs, fantastic dancing, and beautiful sets and costumes. Musical lovers need no more for an entertaining romp.  Unfortunately, the movie has one of those “idiot” plots that would fall apart like a house of cards if even one of the protagonists acted like a normal human being for five minutes straight.  It’s also the kind of story where love turns on and off on a dime that I find particularly irritating.  I enjoyed the film any way.

You Were Never Lovelier was Oscar-nominated for Best Sound, Recording; Best Music, Original Song (“Dearly Beloved” by Jerome Kern and Johnny Mercer); and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture (Leigh Harline).

Fred Astaire sings “Dearly Beloved”

Saboteur
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Written by Peter Vertiel, Joan Harrison and Dorothy Parker
1942/USA
Frank Lloyd Productions
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental

Charles Tobin: Very pretty speech – youthful, passionate, idealistic. Need I remind you that you are the fugitive from justice, not I. I’m a promient citizen, widely respected. You are an obscure workman wanted for committing an extremely unpopular crime. Now which of us do you think the police will believe?

This is easily Hitchcock’s most political and patriotic movie.  It doesn’t particularly help the suspense.

Barry (Robert Cummings) works at a defense plant.  One day his friend bumps into the unfriendly Fry who drops a lot of letters and a hundred dollar bill.  Barry notes the man’s name so he can return the money.  Soon afterward the three men are together again watching a fire that has broken out.  Barry and his friend decide to try to fight the fire.  Fry hands the friend a fire extinguisher that causes the flames to explode into a huge fire ball, killing the friend.  The extinguisher was filled with gasoline.  Barry becomes the prime suspect in the sabotage.  His case isn’t helped when no employee by the name of Fry is on the payroll of the plant.

Barry flees the police.  He heads for the address on the envelopes he saw drop from Fry’s pocket.  There he meets affable wealthy rancher Charles Tobin (Otto Kruger).  Tobin’s little granddaughter unwittingly reveals another stack of letters that proves Tobin to be a Fifth Columnist.  Tobin turns Barry over to the police but he miraculously escapes.  Now he is on the run from both Tobin’s gang and the police,

Barry is caught in a downpour and takes shelter in the cabin of a sympathetic blind man.  The man’s niece Pat (Priscilla Lane) arrives and spots Barry’s handcuffs.  She is a patriot who wants to turn him over to the police.   But Barry takes her as a kind of hostage and the rest of the film plays out remarkably like the story of The 39 Steps.

My favorite part of this film is Otto Kruger’s perfomance.  He is so deliciously evil!  The final set piece on the Statue of Liberty is memorable.  Aside from being a highly patriotic affair with much speechmaking, it is also interesting that wealth is clearly associated with Nazism by the writers.  Bigger stars or better actors in the leads might have helped this film but the speechifying probably would have dragged it down any way.  Not bad but not a standout in Hitchcock’s cannon.

Trailer

In This Our Life
Directed by John Huston
Written by Howard Koch from a novel by Ellen Glasgow
1942/USA
Warner Bros.
First viewing/Netflix rental

Stanley Timberlake: You’re afraid aren’t you? Afraid of yourself. Afraid of what you might feel if you let yourself go. Why don’t you admit the truth Craig? You’ve never gotten over me and you never will. You’d like to put your arms around me right now, wouldn’t you? You’d like to kiss me, wouldn’t you?

John Huston directs a “woman’s picture?”?  Yes, and it’s not bad.

Stanley (Bette Davis) and Roy (Olivia de Havilland) Timberlake are sisters.  (The origin of their masculine names is never explained).  Stanley is a wild thing famous for careening around in the car her uncle gave her.  Uncle William (Charles Coburn) is a kindred spirit, an amoral rapscallion who robbed the family business from the girls’ father.  As the story begins, Stanley’s latest impulsive move is to run away with her sister’s husband Peter (Dennis Morgan) the night before her planned wedding to fiance Craig (George Brent).

The runaways cause enormous pain of course but Roy is determined to be strong and live her liife and gives Craig the courage to carry on as well.  Roy and Craig, a liberal lawyer, naturally fall in love.  Peter is punished for his sins by marrying Stanley who leads him a miserable existence.  I will not spoil the rest of the story except to say that Stanley gets herself deeper and deeper into hot water.  With Frank Craven as the sisters’ father and Billie Burke cast against type as their invalid, hysterical mother.

I never like Bette Davis better than when she is bad and she is really rotten here.  Olivia De Havilland’s calm lady-like but strong performance is a perfect foil to Davis’s histrionics.  Bette Davis called this the worst movie in the history of the world and both Jack Warner and Hal Wallis begged Huston to tone down her performance but I think it is pretty delicious.  Davis’s make-up gave her a new look that was not a hit with audiences but I thought it made her more attractive than usual.  The story is pretty silly of course but it does present a young black man with aspirations to a career, something unusual at the time.

The Warner Home Video DVD I rented has an excellent commentary.

Trailer