Category Archives: 1943

The Fallen Sparrow
Directed by Richard Wallace
Written by Warren Duff from a novel by Dorothy B. Hughes
1943/USA
RKO Radio Pictures
First viewing/Warner Archive DVD

 John ‘Kit’ McKittrick: [First Lines] [Thinking, not speaking out loud] All right. Go on. Let’s have it. Can you go through with it? Have you got the guts for it? Or have they knocked it out of you? Have they made you yellow?

This early film noir had potential but never quite clicked.  Maureen O’Hara was not cut out to be a femme fatale.

“Kit” McKittrick (John Garfield) has returned from the Spanish Civil War, having suffered Torture by fascists for two years as a POW.  He still has nightmarish flashbacks from his ordeal (and talks to himself a lot).  When he returns to the city after a rest cure, he discovers that his best friend, who rescued him from captivity, fell from the balcony of a high-rise apartment. The police have ruled the case a suicide but Kit is sure it was murder.  He starts a one-man investigation and vendetta.

He traces all the people that were at the party the night his friend fell.  They include Dr. Christian Skaas (Walter Slezak), a wheelchair-bound “Norwegian” who delights in describing modern torture techniques, and his son Otto (a blond Hugh Beaumont).  The lovely lady that was sitting with the friend at the time of his fall is Toni Donne (O’Hara), with whom Kit falls in love of course.  As Kit sensed, it develops that he is the prime target of the people who murdered his friend.  Some attempted plot twists follow but in the end it turns out just as one would have predicted.

I was paying attention and I still had to stretch to write a plot summary.  The story is all over the place.  There are tons of characters whose reason for existence is never made clear.  The goal of the spies either is so slight as not even to qualify as a McGuffin or is not sufficiently developed.

I now understand why the first-person narrator became a film noir staple.  This film conveys the protagonist’s thoughts through several interior monologues addressed to the character himself (see quote) and it just doesn’t work.  Much better to allow the character to speak to the audience.

The Fallen Sparrow was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture (Roy Webb and C. Bakaleinikoff).

Bataan
Directed by Tay Garnett
Written by Robert Hardy Andrews
1943/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
First viewing/Amazon Instant Video

“The War Department in Washington briefly weighed more ambitious schemes to relieve the Americans on a large scale before it was too late. But by Christmas of 1941, Washington had already come to regard Bataan as a lost cause. President Roosevelt had decided to concentrate American resources primarily in the European theater rather than attempt to fight an all-out war on two distant fronts. At odds with the emerging master strategy for winning the war, the remote outpost of Bataan lay doomed. By late December, President Roosevelt and War Secretary Henry Stimson had confided to Winston Churchill that they had regrettably written off the Philippines. In a particularly chilly phrase that was later to become famous, Stimson had remarked, ‘There are times when men have to die.” ― Hampton Sides, Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II’s Greatest Rescue Mission

This is a dark story of a ragtag band of soldiers in a doomed effort to defend their position as the Japanese take over the Philippines.  It turned out to be my favorite combat movie in a year filled with such fare.The film is dedicated to the Filipino soldiers who fought side-by-side with Americans and died defending their homeland.  After Manila is bombed, a group of survivors from different units and services is assigned to blow up a bridge and repair a plane on Bataan. Among them are Sgt. Bill Dane (Robert Taylor), a hardened career NCO; pilot Steve Bentley (George Murphy); New Yawker Jake Feingold (Thomas Mitchell); Latino Felix Ramirez (Desi Arnez); and young sailor Leonard Purkett (Robert Walker in his feature film debut), who can hardly wait to kill his first Jap.  A special thorn in Dane’s side is a corporal who calls himself  Barney Todd (Lloyd Nolan), but whom Dane recalls as a criminal who broke free of his escort.

These men display incredible heroism as they doggedly follow their orders in the jungle, despite constant attrition due to disease and attacks by the Japanese.

This has all the elements of its genre, down to the ethnic composition of the unit.  It transcends cliches however due to the fine acting, intelligent screenplay and unrelenting portrayal of the horrors of war.  Despite his matinee idol good looks, Robert Taylor is never better than as a tough guy and shines here.  Nolan is his match in the acting department.  Walker is always good but he appeared to still be finding his way at this point.  The special effects are great, with some amazing matte painting effects.  For more on matte effects in combat films of this era, including Bataan, see here.

Trailer

This Is the Army
Directed by Michael Curtiz
Written by Casey Robinson and Claude Binyon
1943/USA
Warner Bros
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] This is the Army, Mister Jones/ No private rooms or telephones/ You had your breakfast in bed before/ But you won’t have it there anymore. — “This Is the Army”, lyrics by Irving Berlin [/box]

Variety show movie musicals were all the rage in 1943.  This might be the most patriotic of them all, with its chorus of soldiers and tunes by Irving Berlin.

The story is centered around two musical reviews Berlin wrote for the Broadway stage, Yip, Yip Yaphank (1918) and This Is the Army (1942), both largely casted with active-duty servicemen, of which Berlin was one in 1918.

Jerry Jones (George Murphy) is a talented singer and dancer.  He and his buddies are all drafted while they are putting on a show.  They go on to star in Yip Yip Yaphank as a morale-building exercise before being shipped off to France.  Jerry loses a leg but keeps his spirits up and becomes a successful businessman.

We segue to 1942 and Johnny Jones (Ronald Reagan) is preparing to head overseas.  A running theme is his reluctance to marry long-time girlfriend Eileen (Joan Leslie), fearing that would be unfair as he might be killed.  Instead of combat, however, Johnny’s active duty is as stage manager of This Is the Army.  With Alan Hale as a drill sergeant during both wars and specialty numbers by Frances Langford and Kate Smith and Berlin croaking out “Oh, How I Hate to Get up in the Morning”.

I suspect This Is the Army was a bit old-fashioned even for 1943.  A cast member says as much about the blackface ministrel number performed to “Mandy”.  We also have a strictly segregated show with the black soldiers all tapping in the number “That’s What the Well-Dressed Man in Harlem Will Wear”.  There is much too much drag for my taste as well.  I enjoyed a few of the numbers any way.

This Is the Army won the Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture (Ray Heindorf).  It was nominated in the categories of Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color and Best Sound, Recording.

Clip – finale

Phantom of the Opera
Directed by Arthur Lubin
Written by Eric Taylor, Samuel Hoffenstein, and John Jacoby from the novel by Gaston Leroux
1943/USA
Universal Pictures
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Enrique Claudin: They’ve poisoned your mind against me. That’s why you’re afraid. Look at your lake, Christine. You’ll love it here when you get used to the dark. And you’ll love the dark, too. It’s friendly and peaceful. It brings rest and relief from pain. It’s right under the Opera. The music comes down and the darkness distills it, cleanses it of the suffering that made it. Then it’s all beauty. And life here is like a resurrection.[/box]

This film could have benefited from more phantom and less opera.

Erique Claudin (Claude Rains) is a violinist with the Paris Opera.  For years he has supported the singing lessons of soprano Christine DuBois (Susanna Foster) incognito. Arthritis has affected Claudin’s playing and he is fired.  He pins his hopes on a concerto he has spent years writing.  When he believes that has been stolen by a music publisher, he attacks the man and is stopped by a woman who throws acid in his face.  Disfigured and hunted by the police, Claudin, now clearly insane, takes refuge in the bowels of the Opera.  He continues to “support” Christine’s career by threatening horrible revenge against anyone that stands in its way.

In the meantime, the opera’s star baritone (Nelson Eddy) and an aristocratic policeman vie for Christine’s affections.   They may be wasting their time as Claudin definitely plans to have her as his own until the end of time.

This “horror” movie just isn’t scary.  Claude Rains is the best thing about it but, according to the commentary, he was largely responsible for the lack of thrills.  He was so concerned about his image and future prospects that he refused to be very disfigured or menacing. The few clear shots we get of his unmasked face were taken in secret.

If we forget that this is supposed to be a horror movie, it has its points.  The production values are splendid and the music is beautiful.  Rains has some truly touching moments.  I loved the resolution of the love triangle.

Phantom of the Opera won Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, Color (Hal Mohr) and Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color.  It was nominated in the categories of Best Sound, Recording and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture (Edward Ward).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCYhLLbAKx4

Trailer