Monthly Archives: June 2014

The Corsican Brothers
Directed by Gregory Ratoff
Written by George Bruce and Howard Eastabrook based on the novel by Alexander Dumas pére
1941/USA
Edward Small Productions
First viewing/Amazon Prime Instant Video

[box] “True, I have raped history, but it has produced some beautiful offspring.” ― Alexandre Dumas[/box]

I thought this was a very well-done swashbuckler.

The Countess Franchi gives birth to Siamese twins Mario and Lucien on the day the evil Colonna (Akim Tamiroff) kills her and the rest of the Franchi family.  Dr. Paoli (H.B. Warner) separates the twins.  Lucien is sent off to the forest with a loyal Franchi servant (J. Carroll Naish) and Mario is adopted by aristocrats and goes off with them to Paris. During their childhood, Mario keenly feels Lucien’s feelings even though he is ignorant of his existence.  On their 21st birthday, the twins (both played by Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) are reunited in Corsica and swear a solemn vow to restore the Franchi family and kill Colonna and his supporters.  Complications arise when Mario and Lucien discover they are both in love with the Countess Gravini (Ruth Warrick). In his jealousy, Lucien vows to kill Mario and be free of his influence.

On the whole this is well acted and exciting with many good sword fights, some between the twins themselves.  I kept wondering how the script would resolve the rivalry between the twins and didn’t quite expect the ending.

Dimitri Tiomkin was nominated for an Academy Award for his scoring of The Corsican Brothers.

You’ll Never Get Rich
Directed by Sidney Lanfield
Written by Michael Fessier and Ernest Pagano
1941/USA
Columbia Pictures Corporation
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Martin Cortland: Do anything so long as you make my wife believe I was telling the truth when I was lying to her![/box]

A predictable musical gives viewers the opportunity to see Rita Hayworth dance.

This could be the plot of almost any movie starring Fred Astaire.  Robert Custis (Astaire) is the choreographer and star of a Broadway musical.  Sheila Winthrop (Hayworth) is a dancer in the chorus.  Martin Cortland (Robert Benchley), the show’s wealthy producer, is a philanderer and currently has his eye on Sheila.  He buys her an engraved diamond bracelet, which she, being a good girl, refuses.  The bracelet is discovered by his wife who threatens to divorce him so he makes Robert pretend that it was a gift from Robert to Sheila. In the course of this drama, Robert discovers he is in love with her himself.

The Peacetime Draft catches up with Robert.  Sheila shows up at base to visit her sometime boyfriend who is an Army Captain.  Robert does various things to capture Sheila’s heart, all of which lead to misunderstandings and land Robert in the guard house — that is until Cortland decides to put on a show on base.

This is OK but the script lacks the sparkle that animates Astaire’s best work.  Hayworth started out as a dancer in vaudeville and does a fair job in keeping up with Astaire in their numbers together.

Cole Porter was nominated for an Academy Award for his original song “Since I Kissed My Baby Goodbye” and Morris Stoloff was nominated for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture.

The Four Tones sing “Since I Kissed My Baby Goodbye” while Astaire taps

Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth tap dance at a rehearsal

The 47 Ronin (“Genroku Chûshingura”)
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
Written by  Kenichiro Hara, Seika Mayama, and Yoshikata Yoda
1941/Japan
IMA Productions/Shôchiku Eiga
First viewing/Streaming on Hulu Plus

[box] “Bushido is realized in the presence of death. This means choosing death whenever there is a choice between life and death. There is no other reasoning.” ― Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai[/box]

The Japanese Ministry of Information commissioned this film as propaganda to promote loyalty and sacrifice for WWII.  What it got was a contemplative and non-violent film of great beauty that has outlived its original purpose.

This is a two-part film relating one of Japan’s most famous historical legends, the Ako Vendetta of 1702.  It is a true story that has been embellished in countless plays and movies.

Lord Asano is helping to arrange a ceremonial welcome for Imperial messengers at the Shogun’s place.  Chief of Protocol Lord Kira insults his efforts.  Asano loses his temper and attacks Kira, failing to kill him.  For this outrageous breach of decorum, the shogun orders Asano to commit harakiri.  He accepts this calmly, saying his only regret is that he didn’t kill Kira.  Most of the Lord’s property is seized as well, leaving his retainers masterless. Lord Kira is not criticized at all.  Gradually, public opinion takes Lord Asano’s side in the dispute.

Oishi, Lord Asano’s Chief Counselor, takes charge of the ex-samurai (ronin).  Most of them want to immediately slay Lord Kira to avenge their former master.  Oishi counsels patience and puts them through long and frustrating deliberations.  Forty-seven ronin finally agree to attack and pledge to follow Oishi unquestioningly.  Then, there is another long delay while the shogun decides whether to restore the Asano House under Lord Asano’s brother. During this delay, Oishi leads a life of dissipation and the ronin scatter, most of them living in extreme poverty and disgrace.

One year after Lord Asano’s death, the ronin attack Kira’s castle and kill him.  His head is placed on Asano’s grave.  The ronin have honorably avenged their Lord so that his soul can rest without bitterness.  After further deliberations, all the ronin are ordered to commit harikiri. They do this with great bravery and honor.

The story might presage a samurai epic with plenty of swordplay and gore. In fact, other than the scuffle with Lord Kira at the beginning, the attack and all the suicides take place off-screen.  It is really the story of Oichi and the hard decisions he has to make, many of them very unpopular, to preserve the Asano honor, and the great discipline with which the ronin follow him, even when they bitterly disagree.

I was not looking forward to a four-hour samurai epic at all but I loved this film.  First off, it is just so gorgeous that I probably could have happily spent the running time gazing at the images with the sound and subtitles turned off.  I think the story would have been lost in a shorter film.  The message almost required that the viewer live with Oishi’s deliberations and the long delays.  Fortunately, Mizoguchi has a special interest in the plight of women, and there are several sub-plots showing their roles and fate.  The acting is pretty wonderful.  Recommended.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUYkMg2YJpc

Clip – end of Part I – Oishi’s wife and younger children leave him

Penny Serenade
Directed by George Stevens
Written by Martha Cheavens and Morrie Ryskind
1941/USA
Columbia Pictures Corporation
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Roger Adams: I-I’ll beg, I’ll borrow, I-I’ll… please Judge I’ll sell anything I’ve got until I get going again. And she’ll never go hungry, she’ll never be without clothes not so long as I’ve got two good hands so help me![/box]

With every picture I see directed by George Stevens, I admire his work more.

The story is told in flashback as Julie Adams (Irene Dunne) listens to records from her past while she is preparing to leave husband Roger (Cary Grant).  They meet at a record shop and music follows them throughout their marriage, which takes place just prior to Roger’s move to Tokyo as a foreign correspondent.  After Julie joins him she becomes pregnant and Roger inherits a few thousand dollars.  He wants to quit his job, take a round the world cruise, and then go back to America and buy his own newspaper.  Julie is more cautious.  In the event, before anything happens their apartment is destroyed by the Tokyo earthquake and Julie is knocked down by the rubble.

Now unable to have a baby of their own, Roger buys a small town newspaper and the couple eventually decides to adopt.  Further happiness and heartbreak awaits them.  With Edgar Buchanan as a friend and adviser and Beulah Bondi as the head of the orphanage.

I put off watching this one out of fear that it would be a super-saccharine melodrama.  I needn’t have worried.  I loved it, even though I was in tears by the end.

George Stevens is so underrated.  I just love the way he gets so much out of the silences in the dialogue.  Near the beginning, there is something that could be a real cliche – the montage of the circulation figures on the newspaper masthead.  But Stevens does something different.  The masthead changes but the circulation does not.  We see both the passage of time and the state of the couple’s finances without a word spoken.  I also loved the use of ellipses in the film.  There is some stuff the audience just does not need to see and the film is as moving seeing only the after-effects.

All the acting is wonderful..  This was one of Edgar Buchanan’s first films and he is great in it.   And Cary Grant so deserved his nomination!.  I started crying with his plea to the judge.  This could have been really over-the-top but I was convinced.  Recommended.

Cary Grant was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance in Penny Serenade..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4QwiJY6k7M

Clip – remembering