Monthly Archives: June 2014

The Common Touch
Directed by John Baxter
Written by Herbert Ayres, Barbara K. Emary and Geoffrey Orme
1941/UK
British National Filma
First viewing/Amazon Prime Instant Video

[box] If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, / Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,/ If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you, but none too much;/ If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, / Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son! — “If”, Rudyard Kipling[/box]

I imagine that this pleasant little movie about pulling together was just what the doctor ordered for the British during the Blitz.

Peter Hibbert is taken from his cricket team at an English public school to run his family’s business at age 18 following the death of his parents in an accident.  Management expects him to be a figure head but Peter insists in taking an active role in the firm.  He learns that some tenements and a place called Charlie’s is slated to be demolished by his firm to build an office building.  Peter has been unable to get straight answers as to why this is happening and decides to investigate for himself incognito.

He finds that Charlie’s is a gathering place for homeless and poor men and grows to love the establishment.  How to save it?  There are numerous musical numbers both in a night club setting starring the daughter of one of the men and by street musicians who entertain in the shelter.

The story is slightly marred by a resolution that comes out of nowhere.  The plot also contains one of my least favorite elements, the “noble” suicide.  Still, this kept my interest all the way through and has beautiful sets and some nice music, most performed in the canteen.

Clip – Street musicians practicing at Charlie’s

Shadow of the Thin Man
Directed by W. S. Van Dyke
Written by Harry Kurnitz and Irving Brecher based on characters by Dashiell Hammett
1941/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
First viewing/Netflix Rental

[box] Lieutenant Abrams: You know that jockey Golez, the one who was caught throwing the fourth race yesterday? He was shot.

Nora Charles: My, they’re strict at this track![/box]

This is one series that maintained its quality standards through several films. The dialogue still sings in the fourth “Thin Man” movie.

Nick and Nora Charles (William Powell and Myrna Loy) still enjoy married bliss and plenty of cocktails as little Nicky hits pre-school age.  Nick has become a bit of a horse racing devotee and is that the track when the body of a jockey that rode in a fixed race is found.  He resists the urging of the police to come out of retirement and remains strong when his friends, a commissioner and crusading reporter Paul Clarke (Barry Nelson) who are fighting organized crime in gambling urge him to get involved.  But when Paul is accused in the murder of a racketeer, Nick and Nora are on the case.  With Donna Reed in one of her first roles as Paul’s girlfriend.

I picked out the murderer early on (one of the least likely suspects) but who watches these for the mystery?  The wisecracks are still great and the chemistry between Loy and Powell only seems to deepen.

Trailer

Sun Valley Serenade
Directed by H. Bruce Humberstone
Written by Art Arthur, Robert Harari, Robert Ellis, and Helen Logan
1941/USA
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
First viewing/YouTube

[box] I want to do with skates what Fred Astaire is doing with dancing. — Sonja Henie[/box]

The story line of this one drove me crazy but I’d still have to recommend it if it were only for the ” Chattanooga Choo Choo”  sequence.

Phil Corey (Glenn Miller) and his band are broke and out of work.  They pick up a gig at Sun Valley when famous singer Vivian Dawn (Lynn Bari) argues with her regular orchestra.  Vivian and Phil’s pianist Ted (John Payne) quickly fall in love and he asks her to marry him.

In the meantime press agent ‘Nifty’ Allen (Milton Berle) has arranged for Ted to adopt a refugee as a publicity stunt.  Everyone is expecting a child but imagine their surprise when grown Norwegian refugee Karen Benson (Sonja Henie) turns up at the airport.  Karen immediately starts a campaign to marry Ted.  She will not take no for an answer.  She shows up uninvited to Sun Valley and then proceeds to lie and scheme non-stop until she gets her way.  With the 18-year-old Dorothy Dandridge and the Nicholas Brothers appearing in the “Chatanooga Choo Choo” number.

I think Sonie Henie is meant to be cuter than newborn kittens in this but I felt like slapping her throughout.  The entire plot just rubbed me the wrong way.  I hate it when stalker behavior is rewarded.  I must admit that Henie’s actual skating scenes, while not too impressive by today’s standards, are OK.  The finale of her skating on “black ice” looks really beautiful with her reflection.  (She was actually skating on a shallow layer of liquid black dye, which couldn’t have been easy.)

But the reason to see this is as one of only two film outings by the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Along with “Choo Choo” they play “Take the A Train”  and “In the Mood” and are simply fab. The lesser-known musical numbers are good as well.

Harry Warren and Max Gordon were nominated for an Academy Award for their song “Chattanooga Choo Choo”.  Sun Valley Serenade was also nominated for Best Black-and-White cinematography and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture.

Clip – “Chattanooga Choo Choo”

Out of the Fog
Directed by Anatole Litvak
Written by Robert Rosson, Jerry Wald, and Richard Macauley from the play “Gentle People” by Irwin Shaw
1941/USA
Warner Bros
First viewing/Warner Archive DVD

[box] Olaf Johnson: The man that collects the money always comes.[/box]

This proto-noir is a little stage-bound and heavy handed but I enjoyed it for the performances and for James Wong Howe’s luminous black-and-white nighttime cinematography.

Jonah Goodwin (Thomas Mitchell) and Olaf Johnson (John Qualen) escape their dreary working-class existences four nights a week by fishing in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. They dream of buying a bigger boat and fishing in the clear, warm waters off Cuba.  Jonah has saved $190 as a down payment and they have just convinced the owner of the boat they have their eye on to sell it to them on the installment plan.

But their dreams are shattered by the arrival of Harold Goff (John Garfield), a protection racketeer who threatens to scuttle their little boat if they don’t pay him $5 a week. When Jacob tries to refuse he gets smacked down.  Worse, Jacob’s terminally bored daughter Stella (Ida Lupino) thinks Goff is exciting and continues to consort with him even after she finds out what he is doing to her father.

Desperate, Jacob tries to send Stella off to Cuba for a vacation offering her the $190 he had saved.  Stella refuses the money but tells Goff what her father wanted to do for her. Goff, who “has rocks inside”, then goes after Jacob for the $190.  Jacob unsuccessfully seeks justice from the law and is mercilessly beaten for his trouble.  After hearing Goff’s tirade about how he will always win because “inferior” people are afraid to fight back,Jacob hatches a plan with Olaf to do just that.  With Eddie Albert as Stella’s doting boyfriend. George Tobias as a kvetching bankrupt shopkeeper, and Aline MacMahon as Jonah’s nagging wife.

I don’t think John Garfield ever played a more thoroughly despicable character.  This makes his part in Force of Evil look like Santa Claus.  It is only natural since the screenplay makes it perhaps a little too clear that Harold Goff is a stand-in for Hitler.  In addition, Hayes Code considerations greatly weaken the ending and even turn Goff’s little ride in the fishing boat into something of a comedy.  Stella’s motivation and change of heart is not too clear.

That all said, I liked this an awful lot while I was watching it.  Garfield has such tremendous energy you can’t take your eyes off of him and Mitchell is fabulous as well.  The movie is nicely paced and I’m a sucker for wet dark streets and fog, especially as lit by the great James Wong Howe.

Trailer