Category Archives: 1953

Escape from Fort Bravo
Directed by John Sturges
Written by Frank Fenton; story by Philip Rock and Michael Pate
1953/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
First viewing/Netflix rental

Capt. Roper: When you’re in the grave, Beecher, it doesn’t matter too much how you got there.

I couldn’t get too excited about this one but my husband, who is the Western fan in our family, liked it.

The story is set during the Civil War at a Union POW camp in the Arizona desert.  The rebel prisoners outnumber the union troops but escape is futile.  Captain Roper (William Holden) always drags his man back to the fort.  Even if he didn’t, the desert is vast and inhabited by fierce Mescalero Indians.

One day, Carla Forester (Eleanor Parker), comes to visit her friend, the colonel’s daughter, who is about to get married.  We quickly learn that her actual purpose is to help her fiance Capt. John March (John Forsythe) escape.  To better do this, she cozies up (in the most brazen 20th century way) to Capt. Roper and he is soon in love with her.

We follow the planning and execution of the escape.  Carla joins the escape party, mostly because she finds herself falling for Roper.  Roper and a few troops go out to intercept the Confederates.  They do this but then the entire outfit is attacked by Indians and must work together.  With William Demerest as an old Confederate.

I found this pretty cliched.  Holden and Parker seem to be acting in the wrong century. Actually the Demerest character is the most effectively old-timey.  It doesn’t move too fast either, mostly because we know exactly where it is going at all times.

Trailer

Houdini
Directed by George Marshall
Written by Philip Yordan from a book by Harold Kellok
1953/USA
Paramount Pictures
First viewing/Netflix rental

Harry Houdini: I hadn’t prepared anything for tonight, but perhaps I have something that will amuse you. So if you’ll get a couple of broomsticks, I’ll get my wife – and we’ll see what we can do.

This is a pretty good biopic, enhanced by the charisma and chemistry of then-married Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh.

The story takes some dramatic license with the facts.  Young Bess (Leigh) goes to a carnival with her girlfriend’s and stands up for the “Wild Man” who is being beaten by its keeper.  It turns out Harry Houdini (Curtis) does double duty as both Wild Man and magician at the carnival.  He asks Bess out at the conclusion of his magic act but she refuses.  Later, she sees Houdini’s act at a supper club and succumbs to his charms.  They are married shortly thereafter.

Bess wants some stability and security and Houdini finally agrees to take a job at a company that makes safes.  His penchant for practicing his escape act on the job gets him fired.  Bess and Harry go to a magic show and Harry wins a prize when he succeeds in freeing himself from a strait jacket.  The prize is a round trip to Europe which the couple cashes in for two one-way tickets.

Houdini makes his name in Europe, at one time escaping from a British jail on a dare.  On returning home, he wants to generate interest through increasingly dangerous tricks.  Bess never ceases to worry about him, not without cause.

I enjoyed watching this.  Evidently Curtis was a talented amateur magician and performed a lot of the tricks himself.  He certainly has the native showmanship to convince his audience.

Trailer

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
Directed by Eugene Lourie
Written by Lou Morheim and Fred Freiberger from a story by Ray Bradbury
1953/USA
Jack Dietz Productions
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Cpl. Stone: If you can load it, I can fire it.[/box]

A prehistoric monster devours New York City.  Could this have been the inspiration for Godzilla?

A group of scientists conducts an atom bomb test somewhere in the Arctic.  When a pair of them investigate the site they are attacked by the monster that has been awakened by the blast.  Prof. Tom Nesbitt survives but can get no one to believe his story.  Then ships begin mysteriously and suddenly sinking in the North Atlantic.

Nesbitt is moved to consult world-reknowned paleontologist Prof. Thurgood Ellison (Cecil Kellaway).  Ellison is finally convinced when both Nesbitt and a survivor of a sinking independently identify the same drawing as their monster.

The monster appears to be moving underwater to New York where it was spawned back at the dawn of time.  Ellison investigates in a diving bell.  Before confronting the monster, he witnesses a gratuitous shark v. octopus battle.  But nothing can stop the inexorable progress of the monster to New York.  Furthermore, the beast seems to be carrying an incurable fatal virus from the past.  With Lee Van Cleef as a sharp shooter.

This looks mighty like a low-budget version of Godzilla and is almost as much fun.  A key difference is that this version of the creature is animated with stop-motion and Godzilla is played by a man in a rubber suit.  Both are about equally effective.  This was Ray Harryhausen’s first solo effort as a special effects man.  He would go on to bigger and better things.

Trailer

The Heart of the Matter
Directed by George More O’Farrell
Written by Leslie Storm and Ian Dalrymple from a novel by Graham Greene
1953/UK
London Film Productions
First viewing/Amazon Prime

[box] “Love isn’t just a feeling. It’s an art. And like any art, it takes not only inspiration but also a lot of work.” ― Paulo Coelho, Adultery[/box]

I really liked this thought-provoking story and Trevor Howard’s fantastic performance.

The story takes place in Sierre Leone in 1942.  Harry Scobie (Howard) is a policeman.  As the story starts, he boards a ship and discovers an illicit letter written by the captain to his daughter in Germany.  The captain begs for mercy and Harry decides to destroy the letter.  This is the first time he strays from the straight and narrow and sets the stage for his gradual downfall.  Right after this, he finds out he has been passed over for promotion.

Harry is very unhappily married to Louise (Elizabeth Allen).  Louise is a devout Catholic and Scobie is a convert to the faith.  She looks to be almost impossible to live with.  Instead of saying what she thinks and feels she is constantly screaming at her husband with accusations about what he feels.  Her main problem, however, may simply be that she is beyond sick and tired of living in Sierra Leone, where she does not have a friend in the world.  She begs him to get her out of there but they don’t have the money.

Harry goes to investigate the suicide of an inspector.  While there a Syrian black-marketeer tries to strike up a friendship and offers Harry a loan at low interest.  Harry rebuffs him but when he gets home to Louise and finds her in the same state, he gives in to get money for her to sail to South Africa.

Then Harry has to go away to supervise the landing of a bunch of passengers who had spent many days at sea in a life raft after their ship was torpedoed.  Among them is Helen, a young Austrian newlywed who lost her English husband in the incident.  Harry begins an affair with her.  When Harry’s wife comes back, a young friend tells her of his suspicions about Harry and Helen.  Louise wants Harry to go to mass with her and take communion. But Harry cannot make a full confession because he has no intention of giving up Helen.  So the tender-hearted Harry is stuck between hurting Louise, Helen, or his relationship with God.

I thought this was one of the best performances ever from Trevor Howard.  You really felt for him throughout.  The story raises a host of ethical and moral questions and will leave viewers with plenty to think about.  I thought Harry “solved” his problem in the absolute worst possible way.  I will say no more.

It has come to pass that the name Graham Greene in the writing credits, either for the source material or the screenplay, almost guarantees I will like the resulting film.  Highly recommended.

No trailer or clip so here’s a tribute to the great Trevor Howard

Sawdust and Tinsel (Gycklarnas afton)
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Written by Ingmar Bergman (uncredited)
1953/Sweden
Sandrews
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Anne: I can crack nuts with my teeth too.

Frans: Now I’m scared.[/box]

This is a stunningly photographed film.  There is a little too much cruelty and humiliation for my taste but sometimes that’s just Bergman.

It is maybe 100 years ago in Sweden.  Albert Johanssen owns the traveling Alberti circus. The circus has fallen on hard times and was forced to leave half its costumes in the last town to pay off some debt.  Albert lives with the much-younger Anne (Harriet Andersson).

The film begins with one of the performers telling another about an incident that happened some years before.  This story is photographed in almost surreal, but very beautiful, blindingly bright light.  The wife of a clown, an aging beauty, goes swimming naked with a bunch of soldiers.  Her husband comes to get her.  When they emerge from the water a boy has stolen their clothes and the clown must carry his naked wife home over rocky ground in his bare feet.

When the circus arrives in the next town.  Albert and Anne go to try to borrow some costumes from the resident theater troupe.  One of the actors tries to seduce Anne but she refuses him in a humiliating way.

Albert’s wife lives in the town and he dresses up to visit her and his sons over Anne’s strenuous objections.  In spite, she goes to the theater and looks up the actor.  He is more successful in seducing her this time, bribing her with a supposedly valuable necklace. Albert tells his wife he wants to return to her but she won’t take him back.  He spots Anne coming out of a goldsmith’s shop and immediately suspects she has been unfaithful.

Humiliation, cruelty, and despair follow but life goes on.

This is a beautiful, interestingly shot, and well-acted film.  It simply was not enjoyable for me.  I think it’s a personal thing and that many Bergman fans might love it.

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

Clip

The Adultress (Thérèse Raquin)
Directed by Marcel Carné
Written by Marcel Carné and Charles Spaak from the novel by Emile Zola
1953/France
Paris Film Productions/Lux Films
First viewing/Netflix rental

“They dared not peer down into their own natures, down into the feverish confusion that filled their minds with a kind of dense, acrid mist.” ― Émile Zola, Thérèse Raquin

I was not really looking forward to this, expecting it to be a melodrama based on my reading of the Zola novel.  I was very pleased to find that Carné had changed the plot and given us an excellent and very dark film noir.

Therese Raquin (Simone Signoret) leads a dreary existence keeping house and helping out in the store of her mother-in-law.  Therese was an orphan who was brought up by her aunt and then married her cousin Camille.  Camille is a thorough mother’s boy and spends most of his time being coddled for various real or imagined illnesses.  One day, truckdriver Laurent (Raf Vallone) takes Camille home after a drinking session.  He falls in love at first sight with Therese.  It takes him awhile, but eventually they begin an affair.  He begs Therese to leave with him for Italy.  She refuses, not wanting to hurt Camille.

So Laurent confronts Camille.  Camille is not about to let Therese go.  He finally persuades her to go to Paris with him for three days to visit his aunt.  He says that if it still doesn’t work out he will let her go.  In reality his plan is to lock Therese up at his aunt’s house.

Laurent finds out about the trip and gets on the same train.  Camille discovers his wife talking with Laurent and begins an argument.  Laurent impulsively throws Camille off the train.  The rest of the movie explores the sad consequences of the murder and includes the appearance of a blackmailer.

I don’t think Signoret ever gave a bad performance and she is just fantastic in this.  I like her clear-eyed calmness here.  The other acting, especially by the supporting players, is excellent.  The film has some of the feeling of Carné’s pre-war work such as Port of Shadows and Le jour se leve.  It won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Recommended.

Clip

The Return of Don Camillo
Directed by Julien Duvivier
Written by Julien Duvivier, René Barjavel, and Giuseppe Amato
1953/Italy/France
Les Films Ariane/Filmsonor/Francinex/Rizzoli Film/Amato Film
First viewing/Netflix rental

Even if a unity of faith is not possible, a unity of love is. — Hans Urs von Balthasar

If you are looking for something charming and gently amusing, this might be just your cup of tea.

At the end of the previous film, Pepponi Battazi (Gino Servi), the Communist mayor of a small Italian town complained to the bishop when Don Camillo, the parish priest, threw a table at him.  The bishop responded by sending Don Camillo to another parish.  It turns out that this parish is in a village high in the Alps that cannot be reached by road.  Don Camillo does not fare well there.  For one thing, the crucifix in the church does not speak to him.

Pepponi isn’t faring too well either.  The local people refuse to be born, get married or die without their favorite priest.  Pepponi also needs Camillo’s assistance to convince a stubborn landowner to allow a dam needed to protect the village to flood a portion of his property.

So Don Camillo returns and the two resume their friendly war of wills.  The priest needs his bell tower repaired and withholds his assistance until he gets the money to do this.  Then we more or less get a humorous look at life in the village.  While ideology and religion continue to collide, in a clinch the people, not least the priest and the mayor, can be counted on to support one another.

This is another entertaining slice of life in the series.  I think I preferred the first film but enjoyed this one as well.

Trailer (no subtitles)

The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan
Directed by Sidney Gilliat
Written by Sidney Gilliat based on The Gilbert and Sullivan book by Leslie Bailey
1953/UK
London Film Productions
First viewing/Amazon Prime

For he himself has said it,
And it’s greatly to his credit,
That he is an Englishman! – from HMS Pinafore, lyric by W.S. Gilbert

If you love Gilbert and Sullivan as much as I do, you will likely love this biopic.

This is the story of the sometimes uneasy collaboration of W.S. Gilbert (Robert Morely) and Arthur Sullivan (Maurice Evans) who created many beloved comic operettas during the second half of the 19th Century.  The film explores the tensions arising from Sullivan’s continuing ambition to write serious classical music.  The story is liberally interspersed with scenes from the operettas.

This film is not as lavish nor as perceptive as Mike Leigh’s Topsy-Turvy (1999), which I really loved.  Nonetheless I was thoroughly entertained and would recommend the film to fellow devotees of the protagonists.

Clip – from a performance of HMS Pinafore in the film