Category Archives: 1956

The Catered Affair
Directed by Richard Brooks
Written by Gore Vidal from a teleplay by Paddy Chayefsky
1956/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
First viewing/YouTube

Agnes Hurley: You’re going to have a big wedding whether you like it or not! And if you don’t like it, you don’t have to come!

Once I got used to Bette Davis playing a dowdy Irish-American housewife, I began to enjoy this kitchen-sink drama.

Tom Hurley (Ernest Borgnine) is a cab driver.  He has been saving all his life to buy a taxi cab medallion and own a cab and now has the $4,000 necessary to do so.  His buddy will go in halves with him on the taxi.  When he arrives home dead tired, his daughter Jane (Debbie Reynolds) announces to him and her mother Agnes (Davis) that she plans to get married that Saturday.  Jane and her intended have the opportunity to drive a friend’s car cross country and want to use the time for a honeymoon.  She wants only her parents at the simple wedding. That means her Uncle Jack (Barry Fitzgerald) who lives with them will not be able to attend.  He is mightily offended to be excluded.

That night the family entertains the fiance’s parents at dinner.  The Hallorans are much better off financially than the Hurleys.  They start talking about their daughters’ formal weddings and the apartment they plan to gift to the couple.  Between her brother threatening to move out, the Hurleys’ comments, and implications of acquaintances that Jane must be “in trouble” to want such a rushed marriage, Agnes rebels and insists on a fancy catered wedding.  Her hidden reason is that she was denied a big wedding and never has felt really loved by her husband.

The formal wedding turns out to be a bad idea for a number of reasons, not least that Tom will not be able to afford his cab.  We follow the tense wedding preparations for the remainder of the film.  With Rod Taylor as Jane’s fiancé.

Ernest Borgnine had one golden year following his Oscar-winning performance in Marty before he was relegated to playing one-dimensional bad guys (expertly I might add).  This is one of the nuanced and moving roles he had in him.  Davis is good too but slips in and out of a New York Irish accent.  It’s quite a shift from her glamour roles and she ends up being very moving.  Debbie Reynolds is fine but has the same trouble maintaining a consistent accent.  The writing is solid and I was in tears by the ending of the film.  Recommended for fans of domestic drama.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv_ksA4S–Q

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This was my contribution to the Bette Davis Bogathon hosted at “In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood”.  Many excellent articles about the actress’s films and life are gathered here.

Le Mystere Picasso
Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot
No writer credited
1956/France
Filmsonor
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] You should have an idea of what it is you want to do . . . but it should be a vague idea. – Pablo Picasso[/box]

This documentary takes you inside the mind and hands of a genius.

Director Clouzot and cinematographer Claude Renoir film Pablo Picasso as he paints a number of transparent “canvases”.  We see the artist’s decisions, failures, and triumphs.

This is just mesmerizing.  Mostly it is simply time-lapse photography as Picasso paints set to a musical accompaniment.  Everything he did looked great to me on the first go and then he would work and work until he completely transformed the painting.  The last couple of canvases in particular are great.  Picasso doesn’t talk much but when he does that is fascinating too.  Highly recommended.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSoJUMnLc1o

Montage – greatly speeded up

The King and I
Directed by Walter Lang
Written by Ernest Lehman based on the musical play by Oscar Hammerstein III based on Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon
1956/USA
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Repeat viewing/Amazon Instant

[box] King: When I sit, you sit. When I kneel, you kneel. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera![/box]

When Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr begin to polka, I know I am in musical movie heaven.

Anna Leonowens (Kerr) arrives in Bangkok with her young son to take up a position teaching the children of the King of Siam (Brynner) and his many wives.  The King is interested in making Siam more Western and “scientific”.  At the same time, he is bound by hundreds of years of tradition that have made him an autocratic ruler.  Anna’s first struggle is when he refuses to give her the private house he has promised her and requires her to live in the women’s quarters of the palace.

Over time, the King comes to rely more and more on Anna’s counsel.  This comes to play particularly when the King fears that Siam will become a European colony,.  Anna helps him organize an elaborate banquet to convince the British Ambassador that he is not a barbarian.  Unfortunately, some ancient prerogatives prove to be a bridge too far for the King.   With Rita Moreno as the King’s slave and cocubine.

Yul Brynner had years on Broadway to perfect this role and perfect it he did.  It all feels very fresh, though. He brings to the part just the right blend of stubborness and doubt. Brynner is the principal reason to see this film but Kerr is very good as well and the production is lavish and beautiful.  We don’t even have a dream ballet!  Instead, we get a production of “The Small House of Uncle Thomas” a Siamese-flavored retelling of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.  This always holds my interest.  Recommended.

The King and I won Academy Awards in the categories of Best Actor; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color; Best Costume Design, Color; Best Sound, Recording, and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture.  It was nominated in the categories of Best Picture; Best Actress; Best Director; and Best Cinematography, Color.

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

Trailer

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The Solid Gold Cadillac
Directed by Richard Quine
Written by Abe Burrows from the play by George S. Kaufman and Howard Teichmann
1956/USA
Columbia Pictures Corporation
First viewing/Amazon Instant

[box] Laura Partridge: Do you like Shakespeare?

Edward L. McKeever: Well, I’ve read a lot of it.

Laura Partridge: Well, take my advice and don’t play it! It’s so tiring! They don’t let you sit down unless you’re a king![/box]

Judy Holliday is playing a smart “dumb blonde” again with her Born Yesterday co-star from Broadway.  Laughs are to be had.

Unemployed actress Laura Partridge (Holliday) has time to kill so she attends the annual meeting of International Project Corporation, in which she own ten shares of stock.  At this particular meeting, the board is saying goodbye to the founder and CEO of the company Ed McKeever (Paul Douglas), who has sold his stock prior to departing for Washington on a government assignment.  Thereafter, she asks lots of embarrassing questions, mostly about the high salaries being paid to the board members.  The voice-over narrator (George Burns) has already made clear that the board is a gang of thieves.

Laura Partridge keeps attending meetings and the board gets so desperate that it hires her for a make-work position in charge of stockholder relations.  But Laura takes her job seriously and spends her time actually reaching out to small shareholders.  Later, she is sent to Washington to persuade McKeever to give the company insider deals on projects. The whole thing is further spiced up with a romance and a Mr. Smith Goes to Washington type ending.  With John Williams, Fred Clark, and Ray Collins among the crooks.

This wasn’t perfect but I laughed out loud several times so I don’t have anything to complain about.

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Carousel
Directed by Henry King
Written by Phoebe and Henry Ephron based on the musical play by Oscar Hammerstein III and the play “Liliom” by Ferenc Molnar
1956/USA
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Repeat viewing/Netflix Instant

[box] Nettie: [singing] When you walk through a storm / Hold your head up high / And don’t be afraid of the dark.[/box]

The story is a somewhat irritating downer and there’s too much extraneous dancing.  I love the music so much that I enjoy it anyway.

As the film begins, we meet Billy Bigelow (Gordon MacRae) whose current employment is polishing stars on a way station to heaven, a la Here Comes Mr. Jordan.  He is told his folks are having trouble down below.  Ordinarily he would have the right to 24-hours back on earth to help them out but he waived that right after he died 15 years ago.  He is given the opportunity to convince the Starkeeper (Gene Lockhart) to reinstate his privileges.  He starts to tell his story and we segue into flashback.

Billy was the barker on a carousel in New England, a blowhard, and a ladies man.  Young Julie Jordan (Shirley Jones) goes to the carnival with her friend and is entranced by Billy. She catches his eye as well and before we know it she has been fired from her job at the mill for staying out late and the carousel owner fires him out of jealousy.  They run off together and get married.

Billy is not cut out for marriage.  He can’t find a job and hits Julie.  She has the patience of a saint.  When she announces she is pregnant, he is tempted to participate in an armed robbery with tragic consequences. Return back to the present.  The couple’s daughter Louise is now fifteen and very unhappy because she is constantly reminded that her father was a thief.  With Cameron Mitchell as Billy’s partner in crime.

OK, this movie has a dream ballet plus a couple of other dance number that interrupt the flow of the story.  Domestic violence seems to get a free pass in a most annoying way.  But the music may be the most glorious that Rogers and Hammerstein ever composed.  My favorites are The Carousel Waltz, “If I Loved You” (below), and Billy’s Soliloquy.  This is also where “You’ll Never Walk Alone” comes from.  Shirley Jones is still batting 1000 with me.

Clip – McCrea and Jones sing “If I Loved You”

1984
Directed by Michael Anderson
Written by William Templeton and Ralph Bettison from the novel by George Orwell
1956/UK/USA
Columbia Pictures Corporation/Holiday Film Productions Ltd.
First viewing/YouTube

He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.” ― George Orwell, 1984

True horror is not being able to trust anyone.

This is a fairly faithful adaptation of Orwell’s dystopian novel.  Following a nuclear war in the 1960’s, the atom bomb has been outlawed but war has not.  The powers that be find that continual war is the best way of controlling the masses.  London is now the capital of its province of Oceania.  Oceania is at war with Eurasia and is ruled by Big Brother.  Telescreens are everywhere, monitoring the behavior of citizens.  Children spy on their parents.  Marriage and everything else is arranged by the state and love has been outlawed.

Winston Smith (Edmond O’Brian) works in the Ministry of Truth rewriting history.  As the story begins, he thinks he is being followed by a woman from the ministry. Winston has a rebellious streak and is justifiably paranoid.  It turns out that the woman, Julia (Jan Sterling), has actually been awaiting a discreet opportunity to talk to him.  She finally tells him she loves him and they arrange to meet.

After trying a couple of other spots, the couple start a form of domestic life on Sundays in the apartment of an antique dealer who befriends them.  The relationship is emboldening Winston, who decides to make contact with the underground.  He believes that O’Connor (Michael Redgrave) of the Inner Party has been sending him signals.  But hope is in short supply in 1984 …  With Donald Pleasance as Winston’s friend.

I read the novel at a fairly young age and it terrified me.  For one thing, I have a hatred of rats that rivals the hero’s.  I thought this film did the novel justice. The art direction looked interesting but the YouTube print was a bit too fuzzy to really appreciate it. I can think of several actors that might have made a better Winston than O’Brien but he didn’t do too badly.  Recommended.

Trailer no longer works so here is a comparison of versions including this one.

Jubal
Directed by Delmer Daves
Written by Russell S. Hughes and Delmer Daves from a novel by Paul Wellman
1956/USA
Columbia Pictures Corporation
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Sam, Horgan Rider: You know, sometimes I think it’s givin’ the good Lord the worst of it to say He invented people.[/box]

There are at least two love triangles too many in this Western.  Possibly three.

Kindly rancher Shep Horgan (Ernest Borgnine) finds Jubal Troop (Glenn Ford) passed out and freezing to death in the mountains and takes him back to the ranch.  Evil ranch hand “Pinky” Pinkum (Rod Steiger) takes an instant dislike to Jubal, who “smells of sheep dip”.  But Shep likes him and offers him a job.  Soon Pinky has an additional reason to dislike the stranger when Shep’s wife Mae, whom Pinky has had an affair with, takes a liking to him.  Jubal is extremely loyal to Shep and isn’t interested in Mae.

Pinky becomes further enraged when Shep makes Jubal foreman and continues to try to stir up trouble between the men.  Jubal comes across a religious group that is crossing Texas.  He falls in love at first sight with the daughter of the leader Naomi (Felicia Farr).  However, Naomi has been promised to another, extremely jealous man.  But Naomi prefers Jubal.  With all this emotion roiling around, you can be sure of a lot of additional drama before the end of the story.  With Charles Bronson as another ranch hand.

This movie is nothing special.  The excessive love triangles pretty well insured that I would not like it much.

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The Red Balloon
Directed by Albert Lamorisse
1956/France
Films Montsouris
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Pascal – le petit garçon: Could you hold my balloon while I’m in school?[/box]

This may just be the perfect short film for any age.

There is almost no dialogue.  A young boy spots a red balloon practically as big as he is and makes it his own.  The balloon accompanies him on his adventures Paris, waiting faithfully when he has chores like going to school.  Drama intrudes toward the end and is resolved in the most delightful way.

Paris never looked more beautiful and childhood never seemed more magical.  The score is fantastic as well. This film should be seen by everyone.  I can’t understand why it is not in the Book.

The Red Balloon won the Academy Award for Best Writing, Best Screenplay – Original.  It won the Palme d’Or at Cannes.

Trailer

New York Times review (spoiler)

Street of Shame (Akasen chitai)
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
Written by Masashige Narusawa from a novel by Yoshiko Shibake
1956/Japan
Daiei Studios
First viewing/Netflix rental

Every man wants a woman to appeal to his better side, his nobler instincts and his higher nature-and another woman to help him forget them. — Helen Rowland 

Mizoguchi’s swan song is one of his best efforts.

The story takes place against the background of the Japanese Diet’s consideration of a bill outlawing prostitution.  The “mother” and “father” of a brothel are mighty worried.  They needn’t be because the girls are in such desperate circumstances that they have nowhere else to turn.  Every woman except the youngest and most popular is deeply in debt.  The one with the money has turned loan shark and is also conning her patron into supplying her with further money in the belief that she will marry him when she gets out of debt.

The women’s troubles do not end with their money woes.  We have one with an unemployed husband and baby who is barely scraping by; another who has been working to support her son; and one who finally leaves to marry a man in her village.  Finally, we are introduced to a new girl, the ultra-modern Westernized Mickie (Machiko Kyô).  None escapes additional tragedy as the story progresses.

This is a powerful and moving film.  It has a very modern feel and is told more-or-less as a series of vignettes.  I like that Mizoguchi gives none of his whores hearts of gold.  They are more human and poignant for that.  Recommended.

This movie reportedly led to the final outlawing of prostitution in Japan the following year.  The sex trade lingers on as only actual intercourse for hire is subject to the ban.  Mizoguchi died in 1956 of leukemia at the age of 58

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