Daily Archives: July 25, 2016

The Joker Is Wild
Directed by Charles Vidor
Written by Oscar Saul from a book by Art Cohn
1957/USA
AMBL Productions
First viewing/Amazon Prime

[box] A fella came up to me the other day with a nice story. He was in a bar somewhere and it was the quiet time of the night. Everybody’s staring down at the sauce and one of my saloon songs comes on the jukebox, “One for My Baby”, or something like that. After a while, a drunk at the end of the bar looks up and says, jerking his thumb toward the jukebox, “I wonder who he listens to?” — Frank Sinatra[/box]

This OK biopic features Sinatra at the top of his game.

The movie begins in 1920’s Chicago where Joe E. Lewis (Sinatra) is a popular singer in a speakeasy run by the mob.  He gets an offer from a rival saloon and accepts it.  This does not sit well with his current boss who makes an overt death threat if Lewis defects.  His faithful accompanist Austin Mack (Eddie Albert) counsels against the move.  But Lewis is stubborn and insists on opening at the other club.  Soon he is beaten within an inch of his life and his vocal cords are slashed.  He disappears from view.  His friends Austin and Swifty Morgan (Jackie Coogan) go off to search for him in New York, where Austin gets work with Sophie Tucker.

After a long search, they find Lewis working as a second banana in a burlesque house. He is not pleased to be found.  But when Austin gets Sophie to embarrass Lewis into performing, the audience responds well to his improvised stand-up comedy routine.  He also can sing, though not as well as before.  He still refuses to be persuaded to take up the offer of an agent until he finds a supporter and love interest in the form of socialite Lettie Page.

The rest of the film follows the ups and downs of the romance as well as Austin’s progressive drinking problem.  With Mitzi Gaynor as a dancer who is crazy about the comic.

This is entertaining enough for what it is but the real reason to watch is to listen to Sinatra belt out “All the Way” several times, as well as a number of other tunes.  He is also convincing as a comedian.

The Joker Is Wild won an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song for “All the Way”.

Clip

Men in War
Directed by Anthony Mann
Written by Ben Maddow and Philip Yordan from a novel by Van Van Praag
1957/USA
Security Pictures
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Lt. Benson: Battalion doesn’t exist. Regiment doesn’t exist. Command HQ doesn’t exist. The U.S.A. doesn’t exist… We’re the only ones left to fight this war.[/box]

Here is a really excellent, if unsung, Korean War drama.

It is 1950 somewhere in Korea.   Lt. Benson Robert Ryan) leads a troop of less than 20 men.  All of them are dead tired.  The communicator is unable to contact the battalion. Their truck has broken down. They keep on plugging but are more or less preparing to die.

A jeep approaches.  It is driven by Sgt. Montana (Aldo Ray).  His passenger is a colonel (Robert Keith).  The colonel seems to be profoundly shell-shocked, is unable to speak and requires assistance to walk or even stay erect.  But Montana will take orders only from him. Benson commandeers the jeep and fills it with the hardware his men are too weak to carry, a wounded man, and the colonel.  The group presses on.

Things don’t get any better.  Montana continues to be insubordinate.  He really cares only about the welfare of the colonel, whom he sees as a father figure.  The enemy is all around them.  We watch the unit battle various forms of adversity.

This is a gritty and powerful tribute to the foot soldier.  As by now is well-known, I love Robert Ryan and he is superb here.  Aldo Ray can be something of a lightweight but he is also first-rate in this.  Both actors are helped by the spare but pungent script and Mann’s striking direction.  Recommended.