Flickers in Time

On the Waterfront
Directed by Elia Kazan
Written by Budd Schulberg based on his original story suggested by articles by Malcolm Johnson
1954/USA
Columbia Pictures Corporation/Horizon Pictures
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
#281 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Edie: I want you to stay away from me.

Terry: Edie, you love me… I want you to say it to me.

Edie: I didn’t say I didn’t love you. I said, “Stay away from me.”[/box]

Every few years a group of craftspeople and artists at the peak of their creativity come together at one time and place and create a movie.  This is one such movie.

Terry Malone (Marlon Brando) grew up among longshoremen on the waterfront.  His brother Charley (Rod Steiger) went to college and became a big shot in the extremely corrupt union run by boss Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb).  At one time, Johnny backed Terry in his career as a prize fighter.  Now Terry works as longshoreman, raises pigeons, and does the bidding of Johnny and Charley.  One day this involves luring a whistle-blower, Joey Doyle, to the roof, from which he is then pushed by Johnny’s henchmen.

Terry has very mixed feelings about his part in Joey’s murder, which are further complicated by his feelings for Joey’s sister Edie (Eva Marie Saint).  A local priest, Father Barry (Karl Malden), becomes radicalized and starts working to get Terry to testify against Johnny and his gang before a crime commission.  Terry is torn between loyalty to his roots and his developing conscience and love for Edie until the powerful climax of the story.

I hadn’t seen this one in awhile and was blown away yet again.  I think this is Marlon Brando’s greatest performance.  He balances sensitivity and explosive power brilliantly. Then we get some of the best character actors of the 50’s and 60’s at the top of their game.  The Criterion Collection Blu-Ray makes the fantastic cinematography shine.  If all this were not enough, Leonard Bernstein’s amazing score perfectly accompanies the action and emotion of the piece.  Most highly recommended.

On the Waterfront won Academy Awards for Best Picture; Best Actor; Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Saint); Best Director; Best Writing, Story and Screenplay; Best Cinematography, Black-and-White; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White; and Best Film Editing.  It was nominated in the categories of Best Supporting Actor (Cobb, Malden, and Steiger) and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comediy Picture.

Trailer

A Star Is Born
Directed by George Cukor
Written by Moss Hart; 1937 screenplay by Dorothy Parker, Alan Campbell, and Robert Carson; story by Carson and William A. Wellman
1954/USA
Transcona Enterprises/Warner Bros.
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
#284 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Judge George J. Barnes: Were you Norman Maine the actor?[/box]

This is a fine musical melodrama but it’s not a movie I love.

Esther Blodgett (Judy Garland) is the singer with a band that is one of the opening acts at a benefit.  Norman Maine (James Mason), one of the featured stars, shows up roaring drunk and stumbles into her act.  Esther reacts like a trooper turning his appearance into a comedy spot.  Later that night, after he sobers up, Norman goes in search of Esther and finds her jamming with some other musicians at a closed club.  He recognizes star quality when he sees it and offers to bring Esther to the attention of Hollywood bigwigs.  Before he can do this, though, he is more or less shanghai’d off to a remote shooting location.

Esther has bought the dream though and does her best to get somewhere in Hollywood. She is renamed Vickie Lester in the process. When Norman returns, he gets her a plum part and her talent does the rest and makes her a major star.  Unfortunately, twenty years of heavy drinking and bad behavior have rendered Norman virtually unemployable.  Norman’s addiction plays havoc with his romance and marriage to Vickie.  With Jack Carson as a cynical PR man and Charles Bickford as a studio head.

This has some amazing numbers for Garland, particularly “The Man That Got Away”, and a great performance by Mason.  The rest of the numbers seem sort of shoe-horned into the melodrama but are quite OK. The jabs at Hollywood hypocrisy are effective.  I’m going to be in the minority, I know, in feeling like Garland goes way over the top in the final third of the movie.

This movie was a remake of A Star Is Born (1937) directed by William A. Wellman and starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March.  I prefer the story as a straight drama.  It was remade again in 1976 with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson as a rock and roll melodrama.

A Star Is Born was nominated for Academy Awards in the categories of Best Actress; Bess Actor; Best Art Decoration-Set Decoration, Color; Best Costume Design, Color; Best Music, Original Song (“The Man That Got Away”); and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture.

Trailer

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Directed by Stanley Donen
Written by Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich and Dorothy Kingsley based on a story by Stephen Vincent Millay
1954/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
#294 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Milly: Well, it wouldn’t hurt you to learn some manners, too.

Adam: What do I need manners for? I already got me a wife.[/box]

For us dance fans out there, this entertains despite the dated sexual politics and corn.

Adam Pontipee (Howard Keel) is the eldest of seven parentless brothers carving out a homestead in a remote region of the Orgeon territory.  The housekeeping and cooking isn’t exactly up to scratch, so he decides what they need is some wives.  Adam makes one of his rare visits to town for supplies and starts scouting prospects.  All the eligible ladies are already spoken for.  But, rather miraculously, Milly, the feisty cook at the local saloon takes a long look at the big galoot and decides to marry him on the spot.  After she gets used to the idea of living with seven illiterate ruffians, the marriage works out ok.

Milly begins to groom the other boys to win them wives as well.  They succeed in attracting some girls at a local barn-raising but courtship is not going so fast as they would wish.  Inspired by tales of the Sabine women, Adam decides to simply kidnap the lasses.  With Russ Tamblin as one of the boys and Julie Newmar as one of the brides.

The superb dancing and singing was enough for me to overlook any political incorrectness in this one.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers won an Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture.  It was nominated in the categories of Best Picture; Best Writing, Screenplay; Best Cinematography, Color; and Best Film Editing.

Clip – Barn-raising dance

La Strada
Directed by Federico Fellini
Written by Federico Fellini, Tullio Pinelli, and Ennio Flaiano
1954/Italy
Ponti-De Laurentis Cinematografia
Repeat viewing/My DVD collection
#282 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] The Fool: What a funny face! Are you a woman, really? Or an artichoke?[/box]

Federico Fellini and Giulietta Masina are a marriage made in heaven.

Zampano (Anthony Quinn) works as a traveling strongman.  His assistant, Rosa, has died under unexplained circumstances.  So he visits her impoverished family to deliver the news and get a replacement.  This is Gelsomina (Masina) a simple, innocent girl with a charming gift for comedy.  She proves to be a hit in the act, which otherwise consists solely of Zampano unimpressively breaking a chain with his chest muscles.  Zampano is an inarticulate lout who beds Gelsomina when the urge strikes and otherwise treats her like property.  She slowly gets used to her new circumstances but continues to long to go home.

About half-way through the story, the pair run into a circus that features a high-wire act by a performer known as The Fool (Richard Basehart).  The Fool and Zampano have some unexplained longstanding grudge that causes the Fool to taunt Zampano at every opportunity, to which Zampano can only react with his fists.  The Fool and Gelosomina become friendly.  When she questions the meaning of her existence, he suggests that perhaps it is to be there for Zampano because, after all, who else would do this.

Gelosomina is inspired by this advice but then has the rug pulled out from under her by the continued rivalry between the two men in her life.

I love this film and all the performances in it. Masina has one of the great faces of any actress ever and is totally captivating. One could fault the story for making her character a sort of martyr.  I prefer to see the tragedy as primarily Zampano’s.  The story is offering both him and Gelosomina meaning for their lives.  She takes the offer and he rejects it to his utter sorrow.

At any rate, I have no problem with the story.  Fellini tells it with vivid and unforgettable images accentuated by the haunting Nino Rota score.  On this viewing, however, I did questioned whether The Fool was more of a philosopher or a plain troublemaker in the scheme of things.  What I appreciate about these classics is that I can open them up again and again and find something new to think about.

La Strada won the first official Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.  It was nominated for Best Writing, Best Screenplay – Original.

American Trailer