Table Talk!

 Charles Laughton and Judith Anderson

 Basil Rathbone and Angela Lansbury

 Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood

 Joan Crawford and Caesar Romero

 Ann Dvorak, Hedy Lamarr, and Ann Baxter

 Marlene Dietrich and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

 Ben Gazzara and Fred Clark

Brian Aherne, Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland

Tonight on TCM!

All Quiet On The Western Front (1930) Young German soldiers try to adjust to the horrors of World War I.

Dir: Lewis Milestone Cast: Louis Wolheim, Lew Ayres, John Wray.

The Young Doctors (1961)

The Young Doctors is a film about transition and change, the question of life as seen through death. Dr. Pearson (Fredric March), a pathologist, lives by the motto seen in most autopsy rooms- Mortui Vivos Docent (the dead teach the living). Unfortunately, Dr. Pearson is a bit dated in his policies and instead of getting more administrative assistance as he has been requesting for years in his over worked lab, he is sent another pathologist, Dr. Coleman (Ben Gazzara). Dr, Coleman is not only younger and more knowledgeable in modern techniques, he is also a force to be reckoned with. Through resentment, personal tragedies, and human error, Dr. Pearson and Dr. Coleman learn a painful but valuable lesson from one another- being young and idealistic is par for the course, unfortunately it has a habit of getting in the way of getting the job done. Dr. Pearson is reminded of an earlier version of himself in Dr. Coleman and gives him the best advice any elder can- never let anything get in the way of being idealistic, of advancing yourself through knowledge and research. Like most, Dr. Pearson had to learn that the hard way.

Another wonderful performance by Fredric March but as anyone who knows me knows- even if March serves ham I gleefully eat it up! I say this because in all the films I have seen March in, both serious and comedic, there are moments, in my opinion, where he has come across a bit hammy. I don't know if this is because he started out as a stage performer and remained so throughout his career, if this was his way of humanizing a character, or if it's as I have read before, that when he didn't like certain points in a film or the film altogether, he intentionally hammed it up. Either way, he always makes up for it with his overall performance.

I noticed in The Young Doctors that he displayed less of his usual mannerisms in this film, mainly the puckering of his lips as he made a decision, and a complete absence of the darting tongue usually seen when his character is angry. This made me concentrate more on his delivery of dialogue, meant to be direct, authorative, but also empathetic. He almost sounded like a different person altogether.

The film also includes the talented Ben Gazzara whom I have kept my eye on since seeing Anatomy of a Murder and Husbands. A very talented actor in his own right, Gazzara does not disappoint. I was also pleasantly surprised to find Aline MacMahon in this film, she's become a real favorite of mine as I watch my thirties films. Though it's always sad to see the stars of yesteryear age , I was happy to find her playing a respectable role outside of a horror film, so very commonplace for the sixties.

Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

Paul Beigler (James Stewart) is a small-town lawyer who spends most his days fishing and listening to jazz since he lost his re-election bid for local D.A. Money is scarce, prompting him to take on the case of Lt. Frederic Manion (Ben Gazzara), a man charged with shooting bartender Barney Quill who allegedly raped his wife, Laura (Lee Remick). Laura is a beautiful and flirtatious woman who (gasp) doesn't wear a girdle and likes to drink. Her behavior and lack of concern for her husband's incarceration mixed with her child-like anxiety and eagerness to please leaves the viewer wondering if she really was raped or if her jealous husband caught her in an affair.


In another twist, Mary Pilant (Kathryn Grant) supposed mistress of Barney Quill is actually his daughter and unbeknownst to all Lt. Manion's savior.
Despite the big city prosecutor (played magnificently by a young George C. Scott) brought in to help the new local D.A., Beigler hides a sharp legal mind behind his small-town, nonchalant demeanor and through several courtroom theatrics, punches holes through their case.




This was a great film. Full of direct and oft times brutal language about sexual themes, the movie was ahead of its time and lauded as Preminger's best film.I like that things didn't end neatly. Once the trial is over the viewer is still left with doubts.

Trivia:
Judge Weaver was played by real life lawyer Joseph N. Welch, of Army-McCarthy hearings fame, in his only film role—he took it only after Preminger agreed to let Welch's wife be on the jury.

Duke Ellington appears as "Pie-Eye", the owner of a roadhouse, with whom Jimmy Stewart's character plays piano.


Tonight on TCM!

Summer Under the Stars: Marion Davies

Captured on Film: The True Story of Marion Davies (2001)
Documentary on the details of her life, career and her relationship with William Randolph Hearst. Cast: Jeanine Basinger, Cari Beauchamp, Bob Board, Kevin Brownlow Dir: Hugh Munro