Category Archives: 1949

East Side, West Side
Directed by Mervyn LeRoy
Written by Isobel Lennart from a novel by Marcia Davenport
1949/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Brandon Bourne: [Desparately] Jess, can’t you understand what this is for me. I’m like a drunk who knows liquor will wreck him. He hates it. He hides from it. He… he tries!

Jessie Bourne: What are you asking for? Permission?[/box]

This “woman’s picture” has some nice performances but the story was a little too pat for my taste.

As the film opens, attorney Brandon Bourne (James Mason) and his wife Jessie (Barbara Stanwyck) are dining with her mother (Gale Sondergaard) and mom’s publisher husband, They have evidently weathered some blow to their happy marriage and appear to be very much in love.  He is called to meet with a client but they agree that she will wait for him to come home for a “bedtime snack”.

Brandon has the spine of an earthworm.  Since it is still “early” when he finishes with the client, he decides to stop by a nightclub for a drink.  There he is soon spotted by his ex-paramour Isabel Lorrison (Ava Gardner).  She is with another man but very, very interested in picking up with Brandon where they left off.  He tells her no.  He then meets sweet young Italian Rosa Senta (Cyd Charisse) and begins flirting with her.  She reveals she is waiting for her “fella” to come home from Europe.  Then Isabel approaches Brandon again and her escort slugs him in front of reporters.  Rosa takes him home to her mother’s house to save him from the press.  It is thus morning before Brandon comes home to Jesse.

Brandon’s antics and their connection to Isabel have made the morning paper.  Jesse accepts Brandon’s lame explanation of the innocence of the events and they make plans to take a romantic getaway.  But at work, Isabel shows up to reinforce her claim on Brandon.  Since Brandon is an idiot, he goes to Isabel’s apartment to tell her that all is over and she should leave him alone.  It does not take a genius to guess what happens next.

In the meantime, Jessie drives Rosa out to the airport to meet her fella.  This turns out to be Mark Dwyer (Van Heflin), whose book Jessie’s stepfather is publishing.  Mark’s interest in Rosa is brotherly and soon he is in love with Jessie.  He helps her through her marital woes.  Conveniently, he is an ex-cop who can also help in the murder investigation that concludes the film.  With William Frawley as a bartender, William Conrad as a cop, and Beverly Michaels as a shady lady.

With this cast and the MGM treatment, this film just has to be moderately entertaining.  But that’s all really.  It is full of way too many coincidences and convenient fall-backs for our heroine.

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Once a Jolly Swagman (AKA “Maniacs on Wheels”)
Directed by Jack Lee
Written by William Rose and Jack Lee from a novel by Montagu Slater
1949/UK
Wessex Films Productions
First viewing/Amazon Prime

[box] “On my tombstone they will carve, “IT NEVER GOT FAST ENOUGH FOR ME.” ― Hunter S. Thompson, Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century[/box]

This story of a motorcycle speedway racer in Britain has a lot in common with contemporary American boxing films.  The young Dirk Bogarde was the best thing about the film for me.

In the 1930’s, Bill Fox (Bogarde) is a working-class factory worker with a love for speed and motorbikes.  He spends his free time hanging around the speedway watching his Australian friend and star racer Lag Gibbon.  He starts dating Lag’s sweet sister Pat (Renee Asherson).

Bill is eventually given a chance to ride and steadily progresses up the rankings.  His break-though happens at a race in which Lag is severely injured in a crash.  He expresses his regret but then neglects his friend while he is in the hospital.  Pat cannot forgive him.

Bill becomes a star and acquires a society girlfriend.  She is too headstrong for him, though, and he walks out.  After finally visiting Lag, he eventually reconciles with Pat and they marry.  Bill tries advocating for the rights of the riders vis-a-vis the management, especially with regard to race injuries.  For his pains, he is blackballed from the track.  He decides to go to America to race.  Pat, who hates speedracing and worries constantly about Bill, puts her foot down.  They split up but Hitler’s invasion of Poland precludes Bill’s relocation to the U.S.

We follow the separate lives of Bill and Pat during the war and Bill’s struggles to reestablish himself afterwards.

This is one of those corruption of an honest bloke by success stories that were so popular during this period.  It started out slow for me and improved toward the end as the story focused more on Bill’s inner turmoil.

As far as I can tell, the British title was there more or less as an excuse for the playing of “Waltzing Matilda” in the score throughout.  It makes more sense than the American title, Maniacs on Wheels, however!

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I Shot Jesse James
Directed by Samuel Fuller
Written by Samuel Fuller from an article by Homer Croy
1949/USA
Lippert Pictures
First viewing/Hulu Plus

[box] Harry Kane: Gold is nothing but that last corruption of degenerate man. But to be a little corrupt for the sake of art, that I wouldn’t mind.[/box]

Sam Fuller’s directorial debut is a solid piece of work although lacking the off-kilter edge that would later distinguish him.

Robert Ford (John Ireland) is hiding out with bosom buddy Jesse James at the farm where James is holed up incognito.  Ford has been in love with Cynthy since childhood and the stage singer loves him too.  He pines to marry her and to stop living as a wanted fugitive.  When he hears about the reward and amnesty the Governor is offering for the capture of Jesse James, Ford has his way out.  After a couple of instances of cold feet about killing the man who treats him like a brother, Ford shoots James in the back.

He shows up to tell Cynthy the good news but she is appalled.  She tells him off for his treachery.  But now she is afraid of him.  She is also being courted by silver-prospector Kelley (Preston Foster).

When Ford goes to collect the $10,000 reward money, he is given only $500 dollars since the reward was for the apprehension and conviction of James, not his murder.  He is treated with contempt wherever he goes and would-be gun-slingers are all looking for an opportunity to shoot him down.  So he takes off for Colorado where there is a silver boom and tells Cynthy he will send for her if he strikes it rich.  Kelley has already headed off in the same direction …  With J. Edward Bromberg as the manager of the company in which Cynthy works.

This is nothing special but well-done and pleasant enough.  There are some nice touches and Fuller showed some obvious talent right out of the box.

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Border Incident
Directed by Anthony Mann
Written by John C. Higgins from a story by John C. Higgins and George Zuckerman
1949/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
First viewing/Film Noir Classics Vol. 3 DVD

[box] Zopilote: What is cheaper than time, senor? Everybody has the same amount.[/box]

Anthony Mann and John Alton make an unbeatable team and this violent noir/police procedural is one of their very best collaborations.

The story is framed, with voice over narration, as a police procedural. It’s unusual in that it is a collaboration between the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Mexican police.  The agencies are working together to uncover a vicious gang that has been exploiting Mexicans entering the country illegally to work as farm laborers in the Imperial Valley.  The narration stresses that farmers, and thus consumers, rely on Mexican labor, the bulk of which is entering the country legally under the Bracero Program.

We are introduced to agents Jack Bearnes (George Murphy) and Pablo Rodriguez (Ricardo Montalban) who will work undercover to get close to the bad guys.  Pablo poses as a bracero. His chance comes when he befriends Juan Garcia, a humble Mexican who has been patiently waiting for days for his turn to enter legally.  Pablo persuades Juan to show him how to jump the queue by paying an alien smuggler.  Juan decides to join Pablo on the dangerous journey.

Pablo gets spotted early on for his “soft” hands but manages to convince the smugglers that he is a fugitive from justice.  He witnesses first hand the brutality of the smugglers who think nothing of murdering any Mexican who becomes an “inconvenience” in any way.

In the meantime, Jack is posing as a man offering some stolen immigration papers for sale.  He has not counted on the greed of the smugglers who immediately send a bunch of thugs (headed by Alfonso Bedoya, Gold Hat in Treasure of the Sierra Madre) to see if they can get the papers the easy way.  Fortunately, he does not have the papers with him and he eventually lead across the border to Owen Parkson (Howard DaSilva), the American connection for the operation.  Pablo and Juan happen to be located at the same place.  Both Jack and Pablo will be in desperate danger for the remainder of the film.  With Charles McGraw as one of Parkson’s goons.

I loved this.  Most of it takes place at night and Alton’s cinematography is just stunning. He is not afraid to cloak many of his shots in blackness leaving only the faces to be picked out by the light.  The acting is uniformly good.  For me, the standouts were Da Silva’s calm business-like monster and Alfonso Bedoya, who must be the world’s scariest Mexican.  Mann keeps the pace measured, which only heightens the sudden brutality of the action sequences.  Highly recommended.

Much of the film was made on location not far from where I live.  My town is mentioned by name.

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John Sayles talks about the film – Trailers from Hell

The Barkleys of Broadway
Directed by Charles Walters
Written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green
1949/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
First viewing/Amazon Instant

[box] Ezra Millar: Thank you. I’m touched, the piano’s touched, and Tchaikovsky’s touched.[/box]

I can only imagine how this reunion of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers affected 1949 audiences.  I was sad just to think I won’t be watching them dance together anymore in my chronological journey through cinema.

Josh (Astaire) and Dinah (Rogers) Barkley are a famous husband-and-wife song-and-dance team on Broadway.  Josh directs their shows and Ezra Miller (Oscar Levant) writes the music.  Despite their constant bickering, the couple is clearly in love.  One of Josh’s favorite taunts is that he taught Dinah everything she knows.

Then a Frenchman who has written a play called “The Young Sarah Bernhardt” tells Dinah he thinks she could be a great tragic actress.  This goes to her head and after some classic misunderstandings, Dinah leaves the team to appear in the Bernhardt play.

When Josh eavesdrops on the rehearsals, he finds things are not going well for Dinah.  So he disguises his voice and telephones her with tips, pretending to be the French director. Ezra tries his best to broker a reconciliation.  This happens when, unbeknownst to each other, the two show up for the same benefit performance and are asked to dance with each other, giving the movie audience an exquisite ballroom dance to “They Can’t Take That Away from Me”.  With Billie Burke as a society hostess.

As usual, the plot is an excuse for a bunch of musical numbers, all of them part of various stage performances or rehearsals. While this doesn’t match up to the pairs’ 30’s films, I liked it a whole lot.  We have several good numbers for Fred and Ginger and the famous “I’ve Got Shoes With Wings On” number in which Fred spectacularly dances with a bunch of dis-embodied dancing shoes in a shoe shop.

This was the last of the ten films the stars made together and the first since 1939’s The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle.  The movie was originally intended as a rematch of Astaire and Judy Garland following the success of Easter Parade.  Garland’s host of personal problems led to the studio hiring Rogers instead.

Harry Stradling Jr. was nominated for an Oscar in the category of Best Cinematography, Color for his work on The Barkleys of Broadway.

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I Was a Male War Bride
Directed by Howard Hawks
Written by Charles Lederer, Leonard Spigelgass, and Hagar Wilde; story by Henri Rochard
1949/USA
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
First viewing/Amazon Instant

[box] Capt. Henri Rochard: My name is Rochard. You’ll think I’m a bride but actually I’m a husband. There’ll be a moment or two of confusion but, if we all keep our heads, everything will be fine.[/box]

This has a one-joke “idiot plot” and the stars seem a bit oddly cast but it’s entertaining for all that.

Henri Rochard (Cary Grant) has but one mission remaining before he is decommissioned from the French military.  He is miffed to find that he will be spending it in the company of Lt. Catherine Gates (Ann Sheridan) of the U.S. Army, The two have locked horns on their previous outings together.

Rochard has been assigned to go to a German town to see if a scientist who has been grinding lenses for the black market is willing to go legit for the French army.  This seems like a no-brainter but the trip is fraught with difficulties.  The two are forced to journey in a motorcycle with side-car that only Catherine is allowed to drive.  Then the road is closed and they appropriate a small row boat to travel down stream.  On arrival, there are some suggestive misunderstandings when Henri breaks off the door handle inside Catherine’s bedroom, he is arrested as a black-marketeer, etc.  Naturally on the way home from this disastrous affair, Henri and Catherine discover they are in love and decide to marry.

It is then that their troubles really start.  Catherine is being demobilized as well and they need to get a visa for Henri in short order.  The only one that seems suitable is under the law applying to “war brides”.  Although everyone who actually looks into this promptly discovers that the law applies to spouses of both sexes, this procedure comically delays the couple’s wedding night and forces Henri into drag at various points.

It seems like Hawks would like to get back to his screwball comedy roots, but the script is just not wacky or funny enough for him to succeed.  Grant makes absolutely no attempt to appear French which is probably a very good thing.  Still, a couple of hours with him and Ann Sheridan is a fine way to while away an afternoon.

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The Fountainhead
Directed by King Vidor
Written by Ayn Rand based on her novel
1949/USA
Warner Bros.
First viewing/Hulu Plus

[box] Howard Roark: Before you can do things for people, you must be the kind of man who can get things done. But to get things done, you must love the doing, not the people! Your own work, not any possible object of your charity. I’ll be glad if men who need it find a better method of living in the house I built, but that’s not the motive of my work, nor my reason, nor my reward! My reward, my purpose, my life, is the work itself – my work done my way! Nothing else matters to me![/box]

I cannot fully express my feelings about this film without spoilers.  Normally, I would suggest that my readers watch the film first but in this case I wouldn’t go that far.

As the film begins, we are introduced to young architect Howard Roark (Gary Cooper).  He is an uncompromising genius who can only find work with another genius architect who is eventually hounded to his death.  Roark’s mentor’s dying wish is that all his designs and other papers be destroyed.  It would certainly be a pity if society were to benefit from them so Roark happily complies.

Separately, we are introduced to Roark’s soulmate Dominique Francon (Patricia Neal). Dominique works for Gail Wynan (Raymond Massey), owner of a powerful New York tabloid.  He is in love with her but she isn’t having any.  One of the first things we see Dominique do is destroy a Greek figurine on the grounds that she loves it and might become attached to it.  This is supposed to be admirable.

Roark is unable to find any commission that will accept his designs as is so he gets work as a jackhammer operator at a stone quarry.  It is there Dominique spots Roark. She wrestles mightily with her lust, fearing that she may become “enslaved” by love. Eventually, she gives in to her desire and summons him to her room “to repair a marble hearth”.  After some passionate kissing, Roark reveals that he has finally received a commission to build a building his way.  Dominique accepts that Roark has a hard road in front of him and, as neither of them want to be enslaved at this point, they part. Eventually, though, Dominique offers to marry him if he will give up architecture.  They part again until Dominique can realize the error of her ways.

As punishment, Dominique decides to enter into a loveless marriage with the still-obsessed Wynan, whose paper previously engaged in a smear campaign against Roark and a building he finally got off the ground.  (The paper’s architecture critic, who hates Roark for defying public taste, is evidently one of the most powerful journalists in New York City.) Wynan wants to express his love though the perfect love nest.  He finds that Roark is the only architect sufficiently talented to design it.  Roark and Wynan become friends. Roark’s constant presence drives Dominique wild.

Finally, Roark’s sell-out architecture school classmate begs him to design a low-income housing project and allow him to get the credit.  Roark agrees on the condition that the friend will not allow his design to be tampered with in any way.  Of course, the wimpy friend caves in.  So Roark enlists Dominique’s help in creating a diversion while he dynamites the building!

This act is so noble that Wynan defies his architecture critic and entire staff and defends Roark.  The paper is nearly ruined.  Ultimately, Wynan also caves in.  Roark stands tall and defends himself in court.  The rightness of his action is so obvious that of course he is acquitted.  Wynan conveniently kills himself so Dominique will be free to marry our hero. The end.

Like Howard Roark, Ayn Rand’s philosophy was “my way or the highway” and she insisted that her screenplay be used intact.  This results in the many speeches outlining her objectivist philosophy.  Personally, I believe that this philosophy boils down to “selfishness is the ultimate good” and I find it pretty odious.  But, even if the philosophy was “love thy neighbor as thyself”  the amount of speechifying here would drag down any film.

In addition, I found the plot ludicrous.  One would think that architecture was one of the great political issues of our times for all the importance that is given to design philosophy.  It is difficult to empathize with characters who are so heedless of the needs of others. And the Roark-Dominique romance is just weird.  I suppose the film had some good points.  I was too busy being appalled to notice.  The source novel is one I will not be reading.

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Howard Roark’s courtroom speech

Reign of Terror (AKA “The Black Book”)
Directed by Anthony Mann
Written by Philip Yordan and Aeneas MacKenzie
1949/USA
Walter Wanger Productions
First viewing/Amazon Prime

[box] Maximilian Robespierre: I never shake hands. It’s unsanitary.[/box]

Director Anthony Mann and cinematographer John Alton made this film look beautiful.  Sadly, I couldn’t get past the overwrought script.

Robespierre (Richard Basehart) is in the process of consolidating his power after the French Revolution.  Part of the plan is executing, on behalf of “the people” anyone who opposes him.  He summons François Barras (Richard Hart), the only person with authority to put his name forward as dictator before the National Assembly.  Barras refuses and goes into hiding.  Robespierre then sends for Duval, Strasbourg’s merciless prosecutor.

Patriot Charles D’Aubigny (Robert Cummings) has murdered Duval and sets out for Paris, impersonating him.  He finds that Duval’s mission is to locate, by whatever means necessary, Robespierre’s “black book”, which contains a list of his intended victims.  This book could foil Robespierre’s plan to be dictator as many of his supporters are listed.

Charles then contacts the opposition and becomes reacquainted with Madelon (Arlene Dahl), his previous lover.  Madelon wants Charles back but he spurns her and they spar thoughout the film until their inevitable reconcilliation.

There follows a complicated sequence of events in which Charles concludes that the black book has never been stolen and then finds and steals the book.  He is tested when Madelon is captured and tortured.  With Beulah Bondi as a patriotic granny.

I have a problem with the basic premise.  I still don’t understand why Robespierre would want to highlight the existence of the black book by claiming it has been stolen when he rightly surmises discovery of the book will end his political career.  The mediocre acting doesn’t help either.  The heightened melodramatic dialogue is the icing on the cake.  The film does have a fantastic look, though.

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