Daily Archives: June 9, 2015

Here’s to the Girls (1949)

Posted on June 9, 2015 | 2 comments

Here’s to the Girls (Ojôsan kanpai, AKA “Here’s to the Young Lady”)
Directed by Keisuke Kinoshita
Written by Kaneto Shindô
1949/Japan
Shôchiku Eiga
First viewing/Hulu Plus

 

[box] “It was against all scientific reason for two people who hardly knew each other, with no ties at all between them, with different characters, different upbringings, and even different genders, to suddenly find themselves committed to living together, to sleeping in the same bed, to sharing two destinies that perhaps were fated to go in opposite directions.” ― Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez, Love in the Time of Cholera[/box]

Here’s a romantic comedy, Japanese-style.  I thought it was charming.

Keizô Ishizu (Shûji Sano) is a self-made man, having built up a thriving auto repair business from nothing.  He is now 34 years old and his friend Mr. Sato has decided that it is time for him to marry – and he has just the girl.  Keizo is very reluctant but Sato eventually convinces him to at least meet this prospect.

The girl is Yatsuko Ikeda (Setsuko Hara).  Keizo considers her high above him in every way.  Nevertheless, it is love at first sight.  He soon finds out that Yatsuko’s aristocratic family will lose everything if it does not pay off a large loan in three months and that her father is in prison.  Now, despite is continued passion, he is a little worried he is only wanted for his money.  He agrees to go out with her for three months.

We follow their courtship, which is full of social blunders on Keizo’s part.  Eventually, it is not the money issue that bothers Keizo but Yatsuko’s continuing gentle reserve in the face of his enthusiasm.  The fate of the romance is in doubt until the very last minute.

This was right up my alley.  I cared about all the characters and enjoyed the gentle humor. The situation just seemed very real to me despite the completely different cultural setting.

 

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Posted in 1949

Holiday Affair (1949)

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Holiday Affair
Directed by Don Hartman
Written by Isabel Lennart from a story by John D. Weaver
1949/USA
RKO Radio Pictures
First viewing/Amazon Instant

 

[box] Connie Ennis: If you wish for things you can get, you’re gonna be happy. If you wish for real big things, all you’re gonna get is real big disappointments.[/box]

The stars’ irresistible charisma lightens this utterly predictable Christmastime romantic comedy.

War widow Connie (Janet Leigh) works as a comparison shopper.  She meets salesman Steve (Robert Mitchum) when she buys a toy train set in a most business like way.  When she takes the train home, we meet her adorable little boy, Timmy, and Carl (Wendell Corey), an attorney who has been courting her for years.

The next day, when she returns the train, Steve confronts her and threatens to expose her.  She tells him she will lose her job and Steve takes pity on her.  They have lunch in the park where Connie finds out that Steve is actually a free-spirit who dreams of a career designing sail boats.  His kindness ends up getting him fired instead.  Janet’s meeting with Steve shakes her up so much that she agrees to marry Carl.

Will Steve and Timmy bond over toy trains?  Who will get the girl?  Neither of these questions are in doubt for a single minute.

The chemistry between Janet Leigh and Robert Mitchum is palpable and makes the movie enjoyable despite all the cliches.  Another one to possibly add to one’s holiday viewing list for one Christmas, at least.

Trailer

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Posted in 1949

Pinky (1949)

Posted on June 9, 2015 | 4 comments

Pinky
Directed by Elia Kazan
Written by Philip Dunne and Dudley Nichols from a novel Cid Ricketts Summer
1949/USA
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
First viewing/Amazon Instant

[box] Patricia ‘Pinky’ Johnson: Miss Em told me to always be myself, not to pretend. You told me that after I marry you, there won’t be a Pinky Johnson anymore. How can I be myself if there’s no Pinky Johnson anymore?[/box]

I was kind of dreading this one, fearing it would be an overblown message picture with the additional drawback of having a white actress playing a black woman who passes for white.  To my pleasant surprise, the message is surrounded by some fine acting and tolerable dialogue.

As the film opens, Pinky Johnson (Jeanne Crain) returns to her grandmother’s (Ethel Waters) shanty in the “colored” slum on the outskirts of a small Southern town.  She is returning after several years in the North attending high school and then nursing school. Her grandmother’s pleasure at having her back is tempered by her sadness that Pinky admits to having passed as white.  We eventually find out that Pinky has run home after being proposed to by a white doctor who is unaware of her race.

When anyone at home finds out she is black, Pinky is subjected to all the racism of the town.  At one point, she is practically raped.  Pinky hates this life and is not afraid to say so and to demand respect.  She finally decides to leave.  But at that point, granny’s friend Miss Em (Ethel Barrymore) has a heart attack and granny more or less forces Pinky to take care of her.

Pinky is at odds with Miss Em, who is an irrascible and demanding former school teacher, from the first minute.  Over time, they get used to each other.  Then Miss Em dies, leaving Pinky most of her property.  Em’s white relatives are having none of this, claiming Pinky had coerced the will.  The rest of the story focuses on Pinky’s defense of her inheritance and to her dilemma over whether to marry the doctor, who wants her even when he knows the truth.  With Nina May McKenny (Hallelujah) as a bad girl.

This is another in the series of quality message movies (Gentleman’s Agreement, The Snake Pit, etc.) coming out of Fox during this period.  Like those films, this is powerful and not overly preachy.  What makes them work is strong plots with real characters that do much more than spout platitudes.  The two Ethels are outstanding.  Poor Jeanne Crain did her best in a role for which she was utterly miscast.  She does have a certain fighting spirit going for her.

Lena Horne had campaigned for Crain’s role but the studio ultimately decided that audiences would object to the use of a black actress due to the love scenes with the white doctor.  Zanuck’s liberal convictions took him only so far.

Pinky was nominated for Oscars in the categories of Best Actress (Crain); Best Supporting Actress (Barrymore) and Best Supporting Actress (Waters).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm09iOIjM1M

Trailer

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Posted in 1949, Movie Reviews