Daily Archives: April 12, 2014

Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940)

Posted on April 12, 2014 | 1 comment

Abe Lincoln in Illinois
Directed by John Cromwell
Written by Robert E. Sherwood based on his play
1940/USA
Max Gordon Plays & Pictures Corporation/RKO Radio Pictures
First viewing/Streaming on Amazon Instant Video

 

[box] Aide to Stephen Douglas: You don’t mean to say you’re afraid of Abe Lincoln. Why, the country doesn’t know him! Stephen Douglas: Maybe the country doesn’t… but I do.[/box]

I love Raymond Massey’s portrayal of Lincoln.  But does it make up for all the overacting by the other players?

The story covers Abraham Lincoln’s life from his arrival in New Salem, Illinois and ill-starred romance with Ann Rutledge, through his time as a lawyer, local politician and legislator, ending with the night he is elected President.  Some special emphasis is given to his tortured courtship and married life with Mary Todd (Ruth Gordon in her screen debut).  With Gene Lockhart as Stephen Douglas.

I found Massey 100% believable as Lincoln.  When he is not making a speech he is perfectly natural and so likable.  When he is orating, he is a bit overblown and larger than life but I thought this is just how Lincoln himself would have been on the campaign trail. Unfortunately, a biography of Lincoln is always in danger of tipping over into hagiography and this movie succumbs to that fate.  All the other players are way too earnest for words. I had been looking forward to seeing a young Ruth Gordon but sadly I found her very stiff. Of course, her character is written as very stiff and unlikable.  I don’t know enough about the truth to know whether the film was unfair to Todd.  Certainly, she had a tough life.

Raymond Massey was nominated by the Academy as Best Actor as was James Wong Howe for his Black and White Cinematography.

Trailer

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Posted in 1940, Movie Reviews

Fantasia (1940)

Posted on April 12, 2014 | 2 comments

Fantasiafantasia poster 3
Directed by Norman Ferguson et al
Written by Joe Grant, Dick Huemer et al
1940/USA
Walt Disney Pictures
Repeat viewing/Disney DVD
#142 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Narrator: You know, it’s funny how wrong an artist can be about his own work. The one composition of Tchaikovsky’s that he really detested was his “Nutcracker Suite”, which is probably the most popular thing he ever wrote. It’s a series of dances taken out of a full-length ballet called “The Nutcracker” that he once composed for the St. Petersburg Opera House. It wasn’t much of a success and nobody performs it nowadays, but I’m pretty sure you’ll recognize the music of the suite when you hear it. Incidentally, you won’t see any nutcracker on the screen; there’s nothing left of him but the title.  (poor unloved ballet … now performed everywhere with a suitable stage and dancers each Christmas.)

I think I love this movie more every time I see it.

The film consists of a number of animated segments set to classical music.  They are:

Tocata and Fugue in D Minor (orchestrated) (J.S. Bach) – images abstracted from musical instruments

Nutcracker Suite (Tchaikovsky) – seasons of the year with sprites animating plants and flowers in a garden

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (Dukas) – Mickey Mouse as the title character putting on his master’s hat and losing control over some brooms toting water for him

Rite of Spring (Stravinski) – Evolution of life on earth ending with the dinosaurs

Symphony No. 6 (“Pastoral”) (Beethoven) – Mythical creatures on Mount Olympus enjoying a day in the country

Dance of the Hours (Ponchielli) – comic take on the  ballet from “La Gioconda” with ostriches, hippos, elephants, and alligators subbing for the dancers

A Night on Bald Mountain (Mussorsky)/Ave Maria (Schubert) – Revels of demons and ghosts on Walpurgis night end in the triumph of good over evil.

fantasia 1

 

I think I first saw this in my late teens in a somewhat “altered” state, as was fashionable at that time.  It certainly wasn’t necessary as this movie is mind-blowing when one is perfectly sober.  I love every single segment but of course I gravitate to the one that makes me smile.  I adore those crazy ostriches!

Leopold Stokowski (and his associates) won an Honorary Oscar for “their unique achievement in the creation of a new form of visualized music in Walt Disney’s production Fantasia, thereby widening the scope of the motion picture as entertainment and as an art form”.   Walt Disney, William E. Garity, J.N.A. Hawkins (RCA Manufacturing Co.) won an honorary award for “their outstanding contribution to the advancement of the use of sound in motion pictures through the production of Fantasia”.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMlIpQ5pbCk

Original theatrical trailer

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Posted in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, 1940