Merry Christmas!

Hope you find something wonderful beneath the tree!

Today on TCM!


Susan Slept Here (1954) Powell's last film before getting behind the camera!
A Hollywood screenwriter takes in a runaway girl who's more woman than he can handle.
Cast: Dick Powell, Debbie Reynolds, Anne Francis, Glenda Farrell Dir: Frank Tashlin 


A Christmas Carol (1938)
In this adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic tale, an elderly miser learns the error of his ways on Christmas Eve. Cast: Reginald Owen, Gene Lockhart, Kathleen Lockhart, Terry Kilburn Dir: Edwin L. Marin 


Ben-Hur (1959)
While seeking revenge, a rebellious Israelite prince crosses paths with Jesus Christ.
Cast: Charlton Heston, Stephen Boyd, Jack Hawkins. Dir: William Wyler


The King of Kings (1961)
Epic retelling of Christ's life and the effects of his teachings on those around him. Cast: Jeffrey Hunter, Siobhan McKenna, Robert Ryan, Hurd Hatfield Dir: Nicholas Ray 

Inherit the Wind (1960)

I'm not going to go into the synopsis of this movie for two reasons: one, it's a pretty famous case that essentially boiled down to casting doubt on the literal translation of the bible, and two, it'll be shown on TCM on October 26th as a part of the TCM October tribute to Fredric March.  If you have TCM and love riveting performances, I would suggest you watch this film. Rumor has it that March's and Tracy's performances were so powerful, that other stars would flock to the set to get a seat and check out the action. On one instance, Tracy delivered a speech so effectively that applause broke out before March could deliver his next line.

I have provided a clip of what I consider one of the best scenes in the film. A lot of the dialogue in the film was taken from the transcripts of the actual trial that took place in 1925. Having heard some of the speeches delivered by both Darrow and Jennings Bryan and doing research on the Scopes Trial, you can tell those two were putting on a performance much like March and Tracy would decades later.

Gene Kelly should get an honorable mention for playing a rare serious and slightly despicable role as E. K. Hornbeck. A role he initially turned down until he heard that he would be co-starring with March and Tracy. Kelly sums up his character right from the start, "I do hateful things for which people love me and I do lovable things for which they hate me. I'm admired for my detestability."

I especially enjoyed this film because as an Agnostic, I can enjoy and appreciate both sides of the debate. However, if I had to choose who gave the best argument, it would be Tracy's role as Henry Drummond. You'll note that I do not mention any other members of the cast which is understandable when you have two powerhouses like March and Tracy playfully upstaging one another (March would fuss with his props during Tracy's lines, while Tracy would react to March in ways that drew the camera to him). Everyone else falls to the wayside in comparison.


Great scene!

Side note:
Robert Osborne had Mark Mothersbaugh from Devo on TCM as a guest programmer back in 2007. Motherbaugh picked Inherit the Wind as one of his movies and rightly so, the picture below is from a scene in Inherit the Wind that shows the monkey sitting in the middle of the word devolution, the letters Devo showing, thus a band name was born. I LOVE little facts like this!

Cover Girl (1944)

Rusty Parker (Rita Hayworth) is looking for an opportunity to make it big. When it comes in the form of being a “cover girl” for Vanity Fair due to the discovery and assistance of magazine publisher and possible grandfather John Coudair (Otto Kruger), Rusty finds herself an overnight sensation. With opportunities to leave Danny Maguire's Brooklyn nightclub and strike it big on Broadway, Rusty hesitates. She loves Danny (Gene Kelly), his club, and their Friday night ritual of searching for a pearl at Joe's oyster bar with their good friend “Genius” (Phil Silvers) and isn’t sure if she really does want to leave it all behind. With pressure from Coudair who wants to give Rusty everything he couldn’t give her grandmother, and Broadway theater owner Noel Wheaton (Lee Bowman) who wants to marry her and make her a star, Rusty and Danny are torn apart. Can they get back together before there are more mistakes and heartbreak? Perhaps their friend “Genius” is as dumb as he acts and perhaps Danny will find that pearl in just the nick of time.

Cover Girl is a nice light-hearted musical that displays humorous songs (I thought "Who's Complaining?" and "Poor John" were the best) and playful dances- one in which Kelly dances with an image of himself. Hayworth executed lip-syncing well, I was surprised to find her voice had been dubbed and it was nice to finally see her dance. The film also starred Eve Arden whose sardonic humor and facial expressions always add a wonderful element to a film.

Side note:
The score for Cover Girl created by Jerome Kern and Ira Gershwin, which featured the Oscar nominated "Long Ago and Far Away", was a major factor in the film's success.

Tonight on TCM!
Some Like It Hot (1959) Two musicians on the run from gangsters masquerade as members of an all-girl band. Cast: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, George Raft Dir: Billy Wilder

The Odd Couple (1968)
A divorced neat freak moves in with his sloppy best friend. Cast: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, John Fiedler, Herbert Edelman Dir: Gene Saks

The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954)

Warning: Serious Spoilers in this entry!

Every once in a while you’ll watch a movie that really resonates with you. When I recorded The Bridges at Toko-Ri it was explicitly because it’s my goal to see everything available that Fredric March has been in. Though I enjoyed March in the film, I got much more than I bargained for. The Bridges at Toko-Ri is still on my mind, the message and the action in the film was that powerful. It is a film with a message that is both patriotic and anti-war. It openly criticizes US involvement while praising those who fought in it. No easy task. It gives an honest example of the sacrifices armed forces made in a time when America was war-weary and most participants were reluctant to fight.

Lt. Harry Brubaker (William Holden) is a former military pilot who served in WWII and has been recalled to duty from the Navy Reserve. Despite believing he's already served his country and wanting to devote himself to his wife Nancy (Grace Kelly) and their children, Brubaker reluctantly accepts his commission. He is sent back into action as a pilot, with a special assignment to blow up strategically vital bridges in the Korean canyon of Toko-Ri.
Rear Admiral George Tarrant (Fredric March) is no stranger to sacrifice, he has lost two sons to war, his daughter-in-law went crazy after losing her husband, and his wife sits quietly in a room devoid of any love or feeling, knitting a baby’s sweater. In the face of all this, Tarrant still believes in duty and encourages Brubaker, who reminds him much of his lost son, to fight, not because he wants to but because circumstances demand it and that’s his job.
Nancy Brubaker is a wife who is kept in the dark. Her husband doesn’t like to discuss his missions in order to save her from worry. When she briefly visits her husband on his three day leave in Tokyo, she meets Tarrant who encourages her to ask her husband about what he does. Tarrant uses his own daughter-in-law as an example, she wasn’t strong enough to handle the news when she heard her husband died and tried to find comfort in the arms of other soldiers. When Nancy is told by her husband of his dangerous mission, she worries but feels stronger for the knowledge.
While Tarrant tells Nancy his tragedy, Brubaker is off to get Mike Forney (Mickey Rooney) out of a Tokyo jail. He got into a fight over a girl and he and Nestor Gamidge created eighty dollars worth of mess, a fine that Brubaker gladly pays as Nestor and Forney are a part of the helicopter rescue squad and have gotten Brubaker out of some serious scrapes.
After his three day leave Brubaker boards the ship reluctantly. When he flies another mission and witnesses first hand the difficulty of it he has a hard time coming to terms with what he must do. His anxiety is palpable as he tries to find some escape on the large ship. Though given the option to ground himself if he doesn’t think he’s mentally capable of the mission, Brubaker forges ahead. The mission goes well but his jet is shot and leaking fuel badly. Thus begins a drawn out scene filled with suspense as the viewer wonders if he will make it back to the ocean where he can crash safely out of the enemy’s gun lines. Commander Lee (Charles McGraw) is in a jet beside him and you can’t help but wonder if you were in that situation whether you wouldn’t be upset by the circumstances. The commander has made it through the mission safely all he needs to do is fly back to the ship while you must worry if you are going to have to land amongst the enemy.
Brubaker’s jet does not make it and knowing that the enemy loves to shoot at parachuters, he decides to crash in open field. Forney and Nestor are on their way as Brubaker runs to hide out in an irrigation ditch. The enemy crawls quickly towards him and he is saved by his commander and the other jets that fly over to shoot at them. It’s a very touching scene, this unity he has with his fellow officers but you quickly realize the futility of it. When Forney arrives the helicopter is damaged by artillery, Nestor is killed immediately. It’s getting on dark and no more help will arrive until the next day. The jets can no longer stay as they have run out of ammunition and will soon run out of fuel. The enemy has several reinforcements. Forney hands Brubaker a gun and tells him how to use it. Brubaker doubts he’ll be able to hit any target.
Lt. Harry Brubaker: I'm a lawyer from Denver, Colorado.
Mike Forney: Judas, how'd you wind up in a smelly ditch in Korea?
Lt. Harry Brubaker: I was just asking myself that same question.
It’s then that Brubaker realizes the true meaning being Tarrant’s words; one fights because that’s what one is supposed to do. As the enemy closes in, you can’t help but hope that some great miracle will happen. This is William Holden for corn sakes! You can’t kill William Holden! This is Holden at his finest as he scrambles around that irrigation ditch, his desperation and adrenaline might as well be yours because if you aren't standing at this point watching, you are at the very least on the edge of your seat. Brubaker fights until the very end.
When the three deaths are confirmed Tarrant questions Lee as to whether the mission really went well or not. His emotions are mixed up in that question, something that Lee points out and Tarrant concedes to. The film ends with Tarrant asking a most important question: “Where do we get such men?”

This was an absolutely outstanding film. The fighter jet sequences were exciting, the action was exciting. The realistic nature of the film, the way it captured a person’s sacrifice was very well done. I would highly recommend this movie simply because of Holden and March. Kelly and Rooney I could do without as I find one supremely overrated and the other an ass.



Tonight on TCM!
Christmas In Connecticut (1945)A homemaking specialist who can't boil water is forced to provide a family holiday for a war hero. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet, Reginald Gardiner Dir: Peter Godfrey

Great Character Actors: Patsy Kelly

Every time I see Patsy Kelly in a film, I fall more and more in love with her. The best I have seen her in yet is, There Goes My Heart (1938). I like to think that in real life, she is much like her character Peggy, fast-talking, wisecracking, rough around the edges but kind-hearted to a fault. From what little there is to read about her on the internet, I think I may not be too off the mark.

Born in Brooklyn as Bridget Sarah Veronica Rose Kelly (her brother reportedly nicknamed her Patsy), Kelly was discovered by vaudeville star Frank Fay and started her career on Broadway. Among her Broadway shows were Three Cheers and Earl Carroll's Sketch Book (1929), Carroll's Vanities (1930), and Wonder Bar (1931).

HollyIn 1931 Hal Roach signed her to do a series of two-reel comedies co-starring Thelma Todd. Thus her Hollywood career began. Her first feature came in1933 when she played Marion Davies' pal in Going Hollywood. She would go on to brighten up nearly 40 more films in the next ten years, which included another delightful film with Marion Davies, Ever Since Eve (1937).

However, by the mid-1940s she was nearly unemployable as an actress and reportedly found work as a housekeeper. Some claim it was her drinking, she was known for getting into bar brawls, others thought that her openness about her homosexuality, a rarity in that era, hurt her career.

Tallulah Bankhead, no stranger to drinking or homosexuality, hired Kelly to support her in Dear Charles (1955) and Kelly managed to returned to features like Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1960) and Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby (1968). In 1971, she returned to Broadway alongside Ruby Keeler in a revival of No, No, Nanette, staged by Busby Berkeley. She recieved a Tony Award for her performance and went on to support Debbie Reynolds in a revival of Irene for two years. Kelly returned to features in 1976 when she appeared as the housekeeper Mrs. Schmauss in the film Freaky Friday. Her final motion picture appearance came in the 1979 Disney comedy, The North Avenue Irregulars.

She died in 1981 at the age of 71 of cancer. For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Patsy Kelly has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Tonight on TCM!

Summer Under the Stars: Frank Sinatra-- Eh.

(Is it blasphemous to say I was never really impressed by this guy?)

The Bad Seed (1956)

This was a movie that I had not seen in years. I was so excited when I saw that TCM was going to feature it this month. I cannot remember how old I was when I first saw it, I just know that the little girl Rhoda was frightening and that I have always had this movie in the back of my mind.

Synopsis:

Christine Penmark (Nancy Kelly), is a mother slowly unnraveling as she realizes that her eight-year-old daughter, Rhoda (Patty McCormack), is a murderer. Prompted by strange dreams and psychiatric theories, Christine has always wondered if she was an adopted child. A visit from her father reveals that she is actually the daughter of Bessie Denker, a well-known serial killer. This knowledge along with Rhoda's behavior convinces Christine that Rhoda is a sociopath (a term not widely used in 1956). Like her grandmother, Rhoda has no conscience and will kill to get whatever she wants. By the time Christine puts the truth together, Rhoda has already killed three people (an old lady for a snowglobe, classmate Claude Daigle for a penmanship medal Rhoda thought she deserved to win, and Leroy the creepy janitor who teases her about Claude's murder). Rhoda is exceptional at manipulating adults whereas children her age cannot stand her.

No longer able to simply sit by as her daughter continues her murdering spree, Christine decides to take matters in her own hands by giving Rhoda a lethal dose of sleeping pills and shooting herself in the head- both unsuccessful attempts. Considering how the movie ends, if Christine had waited a little longer, God (I'm assuming that's part of the moral) takes things into His own hands.

An interesting aspect of the film is the debate of whether a child is evil due to their environment, a firm belief in 1956 or whether it's a part of their genetic make-up. I'm always a little blown away at how little we knew even 50-60 years ago. It makes me wonder what beliefs we hold now will be incorrect years from now.

Overall the film was very well done. The stand out performers were Henry Jones as Leroy Jessup, the janitor; Eileen Heckart as Mrs. Daigle, Claude's mother; and of course, Patty McCormack as Rhoda. I personally could have done without Nancy Kelly's dramatic flair. She did not transfer from stage to film as well as the others who had also been in the Broadway version of this story.

Interesting fact:

The original ending had Rhoda surviving, and her mother dying. The Motion Picture Production Code in effect at the time, however, required that "Crime shall never be presented in such a way as to throw sympathy with the crime as against law and order." The usual interpretation of this was that criminals weren't allowed to "get away with it." Because of this, the ending was changed.

Tonight on TCM!

To Catch a Thief (1955) A retired cat burglar fights to clear himself of a series of Riviera robberies committed in his style.Cast: Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, Jessie Royce Landis, John Williams Dir: Alfred Hitchcock

The Lady Prefurs...

Ruth Chatterton

Barbara Stanwyck

Louise Brooks

Judy Garland

Marie Prevost

Mae West

Clara Bow

Ann Sothern

Jean Arthur

Anita Page

Lana Turner

Joan Bennett

Grace Kelly

Theda Bara

Tonight on TCM!

Martin Scorcese!