This movie rocks the casba, do yourself a favor and go see it.
Next week I will be reviewing The Avengers. See ya then.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Warrior
Converse has been doing something very cool that you may not have heard about. Last month they released “Do Ya Thing.” It was a song and video teaming up Gorillaz, Andre 3000, and James Murphy. On April 5th they did it again, this time they teamed up Mark Foster (Foster the People), A-Trak, and Kimbra. The track is called “Warrior” and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve listened to it in the past 3 weeks.
Despite it not being like anything else I like listening too, I really enjoyed the entire Foster the People album. This is no different. Adding Kimbra’s vocals just makes it better. You might not recognize the name, but it is her voice in Gotye’s song “Somebody That I Used to Know.” Besides being a great song, the video features an underground luchador fighting tournament. Seriously, use the effects in the video and make this a full length movie.
Hopefully you’ll enjoy the song as much as I do. Big thanks again to Brandon and Michael for helping out when I was away from the computer.
Despite it not being like anything else I like listening too, I really enjoyed the entire Foster the People album. This is no different. Adding Kimbra’s vocals just makes it better. You might not recognize the name, but it is her voice in Gotye’s song “Somebody That I Used to Know.” Besides being a great song, the video features an underground luchador fighting tournament. Seriously, use the effects in the video and make this a full length movie.
Hopefully you’ll enjoy the song as much as I do. Big thanks again to Brandon and Michael for helping out when I was away from the computer.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Brandon's Movie Pick #3: The Maltese Falcon
Ken
O is currently away from the ship’s helm while he takes care of his wife and
brand new son. During that time we are forgoing our normal updates for
something special. Every month Turner Classic Movies has a Guest Programmer who
chooses the films they show for that night. For 9 days we’ll be acting as we
were the Guest Programmer. So you’ll get 3 movies from me, 3 from Brandon, and
3 from our guest writer Michael May! A huge thank you goes out to Michael May;
please go check out his Adventure Blog
My final pic is John Hudson’s The Maltese Falcon. This is a
film that everyone has at least heard of, and everyone should see. It is also
the movie that made me fall in love with movies. My first 2 picks had a lot of
technical and behind the scenes info with them. Not so much this one. This is more
of a personal journey. Enjoy.
When Sam Spade, played to perfection by Humphrey Bogart, and
his partner Miles Archer are hired to tail a rich man by a woman who claims her sister is
being unwittingly kept separated from her, it seems like just another
case. But when Archer and the target are gunned down and all the evidence points
to Spade for conflicting yet damning reasons, Spade is launched into a string
of deceptions that all point in one direction, the Maltese Falcon.
This is a quintessential
film noir, the long legged dame, the hard-boiled detective, the dead partner,
the fantastic use of shadow in black and white, it all adds up to pure noir.
This flick is pure story and character development, in fact at the end you find
out that the MacGuffin and title piece is a fake and it is the characters you
walk away remembering.
I first saw this movie on a whim. At the time I did not
really understand film as an art form and although I loved certain movies, I
loved them because they were good flicks on the surface. Then I picked up The
Maltese Falcon. It was one of those movies you always hear about, so I felt
perhaps I should check it out. My mind was blown to bits. I was amazed that
movies could look this good in black and white. I was amazed that characters
could be that good in an hour and a half. I was amazed. I began to find out all
that I could about the production of this movie. This was in the days when the
internet was in its infancy, so I had to work to find information. During this
search I started to discover things about some other movies that I loved. I
also began to watch other movies that you would always hear about – Citizen
Kane, The Big Sleep, Singing in the Rain, ect.
That one statue of a falcon, that one detective that had
seen too much of what the world could do to a person, that one gorgeous dame
that you know is no good for you. It all adds up to the reason I love movies.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Brandon's Movie Pick #2: It Happened One Night
Ken
O is currently away from the ship’s helm while he takes care of his wife and
brand new son. During that time we are forgoing our normal updates for
something special. Every month Turner Classic Movies has a Guest Programmer who
chooses the films they show for that night. For 9 days we’ll be acting as we
were the Guest Programmer. So you’ll get 3 movies from me, 3 from Brandon, and
3 from our guest writer Michael May! A huge thank you goes out to Michael May;
please go check out his Adventure Blog.
My
second pick is Frank Capra’s “It Happened One Night”. This fantastic flick is
commonly called the first “screwball” comedy. It stars the always amazing Clark
Gable and the lovely Claudette Colbert, as two unlikely partners in a road trip
from Miami to New York. Colbert plays Ellie Andrews, a spoiled rich girl that
recently married a high society aviator but was whisked away by her unapproving
father to Miami. She runs away and hops a bus back to New York when she runs
into a down on his luck newspaper man Peter Warne played by Gable. Warne
figures out who she is and makes a deal, you get back to New York and I get an
amazing story. Along the way they get to know one another and eventually fall
in love. That’s right folks, one of my favorite all time movies is a romantic
comedy.
This
movie has it all it is funny, clever, and sweet. Plus it has an autogyro. Bam!
Gable shines as the wisecracking news man, a first for Clark as he was always
the suave leading man. You can tell on every frame that he is having a blast on
the set. Colbert is beautiful and charming; however she was not having such a
good time. As much as I love this film a lot of the behind the scenes
shenanigans are a lot of fun to know about as well. At the time of casting
Colbert six other actresses had turned down the role. She told Capra that the
only way she would take the part was if it could be shot in 4 weeks and that
her normal salary of $25,000 be doubled. Capra and Columbia Pictures agreed and
thus the stage was set. It was reported that Colbert complained every day on
set and was having a miserable time. On screen you can’t tell at all, she was a
professional when the cameras were rolling. At the end of filming she was
overheard telling a friend that she had just finished the worst picture of her
career.
Upon
release the audience reaction was huge; they loved it and saw it over and over
again. That year at the Oscars it was nominated for all five big awards – Best
Actor, Actress, Director, Screenplay and Picture. This was the first film in
history to bag the “Grand Slam” by winning all five statues. At the ceremony
Colbert, who was talked into even attending and not leaving on vacation early,
accepted her award by just saying “Thank you” and walking away. She then turned
back to the mic and said “This is due to Frank” referring to the director. She
knew that perhaps she made a mistake during filming.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Brandon's Movie Pick #1: Rope
Ken
O is currently away from the ship’s helm while he takes care of his wife and
brand new son. During that time we are forgoing our normal updates for
something special. Every month Turner Classic Movies has a Guest Programmer who
chooses the films they show for that night. For 9 days we’ll be acting as we
were the Guest Programmer. So you’ll get 3 movies from me, 3 from Brandon, and
3 from our guest writer Michael May! A huge thank you goes out to Michael May;
please go check out his Adventure Blog.
Brandon is played by John Dall to great effect. His pure smugness he gives off makes you want to smack him. You believe that he could do this murder just to prove he is the smartest person in the room. James Stewart plays the teacher, Rupert Cadell. Stewart seems to enjoy playing the shades of grey that encompasses Rupert rather than the good guy he normally plays. As with all Hitchcock films there is a healthy injection of dark humor and Rope is no different. There are a lot of allusions to death in the conversations by both the killers and the party guests. Also just like all his other movies Hitchcock himself cameos at the beginning, walking on the sidewalk in front of the guys’ apartment.
In the original screenplay the murder was never shown and the tension was in the question “is there really a body in that chest?” Hitchcock felt that people would feel more tension if the main characters were constantly in danger of getting caught. I personally like the film the way it is, however I feel like it may have been tenser had the murder not been shown. The trailer also was an early form of “viral” marketing in that it showed the victim with his girlfriend just before he leaves to meet with his killers. Something you would not see unless you happened to see the trailer. Rope was written by Arthur Laurents from a treatment by Hume Cronyn, which was based on the play “Ropes End” by Patrick Hamilton. So as you can see there were a lot of hands that this screenplay went through. It shows sometimes in the final cut due to the dialog being a bit over blown.
I was first introduced to Rope through film school when we watched it in my film history class. I was instantly drawn to the film due to the two things it did first. On the technical side of things this film was shot one reel at a time. What does that mean? Well one reel of film is about 10 minutes long, and Rope was shot with each take being an entire reel. It plays out much like a stage production. Although the “hidden” cuts are pretty obvious, it is still a neat trick. All the walls and furniture were on wheels in order for the camera to get through the scene. At the time color cameras were extremely large so the grips had to act more like stagehands, moving and quickly replacing set pieces in order for the camera to get through the scene.
The second thing this film did was treat homosexuality in a non-exploitative way. In 1947, when the film was shot, homosexuality was almost completely invisible in the movies. In fact at the studio and on set the undertones were referred to as “it”. “It” is never mentioned in the film and it is played – pardon the pun – straight. Dall and Farley Granger, who plays Philip, always have “it” bubbling under the surface. The original concept was to also have Rupert gay as well and to have had an affair with one of the boys. Stewart was to have none of that however and played Rupert straight as an arrow. Because of those two things Rope was way ahead of its time. See ya tomorrow for pick number two.
My
first movie is Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope. It follows two upper class gentlemen,
Brandon and Philip that throw a small get together in their affluent apartment.
The twist being that they have strangled a former classmate to death not 15
minutes prior to the start of the party, and hidden the body in a chest that is
in full view of their guests. The murder was preformed just for the act of
murder, and to prove they were smart enough to get away with it. As the events
play out the former teacher of the men figures out what has happened. He of
course has a bit of help in the fact that he placed the idea of murder in the
heads of the men while they were in school.
Brandon is played by John Dall to great effect. His pure smugness he gives off makes you want to smack him. You believe that he could do this murder just to prove he is the smartest person in the room. James Stewart plays the teacher, Rupert Cadell. Stewart seems to enjoy playing the shades of grey that encompasses Rupert rather than the good guy he normally plays. As with all Hitchcock films there is a healthy injection of dark humor and Rope is no different. There are a lot of allusions to death in the conversations by both the killers and the party guests. Also just like all his other movies Hitchcock himself cameos at the beginning, walking on the sidewalk in front of the guys’ apartment.
In the original screenplay the murder was never shown and the tension was in the question “is there really a body in that chest?” Hitchcock felt that people would feel more tension if the main characters were constantly in danger of getting caught. I personally like the film the way it is, however I feel like it may have been tenser had the murder not been shown. The trailer also was an early form of “viral” marketing in that it showed the victim with his girlfriend just before he leaves to meet with his killers. Something you would not see unless you happened to see the trailer. Rope was written by Arthur Laurents from a treatment by Hume Cronyn, which was based on the play “Ropes End” by Patrick Hamilton. So as you can see there were a lot of hands that this screenplay went through. It shows sometimes in the final cut due to the dialog being a bit over blown.
I was first introduced to Rope through film school when we watched it in my film history class. I was instantly drawn to the film due to the two things it did first. On the technical side of things this film was shot one reel at a time. What does that mean? Well one reel of film is about 10 minutes long, and Rope was shot with each take being an entire reel. It plays out much like a stage production. Although the “hidden” cuts are pretty obvious, it is still a neat trick. All the walls and furniture were on wheels in order for the camera to get through the scene. At the time color cameras were extremely large so the grips had to act more like stagehands, moving and quickly replacing set pieces in order for the camera to get through the scene.
The second thing this film did was treat homosexuality in a non-exploitative way. In 1947, when the film was shot, homosexuality was almost completely invisible in the movies. In fact at the studio and on set the undertones were referred to as “it”. “It” is never mentioned in the film and it is played – pardon the pun – straight. Dall and Farley Granger, who plays Philip, always have “it” bubbling under the surface. The original concept was to also have Rupert gay as well and to have had an affair with one of the boys. Stewart was to have none of that however and played Rupert straight as an arrow. Because of those two things Rope was way ahead of its time. See ya tomorrow for pick number two.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Michael's Movie Pick #3: Rustler's Rhapsody (1985)
Ken O is currently away from the ship’s helm while he takes care of his wife and brand new son. During that time we are forgoing our normal updates for something special. Every month Turner Classic Movies has a Guest Programmer who chooses the films they show for that night. For 9 days we’ll be acting as we were the Guest Programmer. So you’ll get 3 movies from me, 3 from Brandon, and 3 from our guest writer Michael May! A huge thank you goes out to Michael May; please go check out his Adventure Blog.
Rustlers’ Rhapsody is a very different movie than my previous choices, so it probably requires some explanation. When Ken approached me about doing this, there were two things he said that made me want to chip in. The first was, “Do you want to chip in?” Because it’s Ken. Of course I wanted to help. But even if he’d been a stranger, allowing me to pretend that I’m a TCM guest host introducing my favorite movies is a stellar hook that I couldn’t say no to. So I tried to pick from three different eras: silent, Golden Age Hollywood (even though I chose a British film), and something produced in my lifetime.
My initial criterion was simply that I wanted to share movies that I’m already evangelistic about. Films that when I hear someone hasn’t seen them, I immediately schedule a time for us to watch them together. Rustlers’ Rhapsody is probably the first movie I ever got that way about. It was under-seen even in its day, but it still has the power to make me laugh every time I revisit it and I want to share that with as many people as possible.
Because it’s a comedy it’s going to be difficult to talk up without trying to retell a bunch of the jokes. That’s why I usually just tell people that they have to come over and watch it. I do always ask if they like Westerns though, because Rustlers’ Rhapsody assumes that you know some things about that genre as it’s been depicted in film. You can enjoy many of the gags without ever having seen a Western, but you’ll love it more if familiar with the genre.
It opens with a screen-within-the-screen showing what looks like an old Gene Autry or Roy Rogers movie. It’s like those trailers for 3D re-releases where they show you a tiny, tinny-sounding version of Phantom Menace or whatever (as if that’s the only way you’ve been able to experience it up to now) before blowing it up on the full screen with awesome sound. The little, black-and-white movie shows Rex O’Herlihan, the Singing Cowoy (Tom Berenger) chasing down a gang of bandits as GW Bailey (Captain Harris from the Police Academy movies) acknowledges the quaintness of these old films and then wonders what they’d be like if they were made today. On cue, the picture fills the screen, the color kicks in, and the gunshots are deafening.
At this point, virgin viewers are probably assuming that the film is going to be a Western spoof in which the hapless hero tries to adjust to the modern take on this genre. They’d only be half right. It is a spoof, but far from being miserable, Rex O’Herlihan benefits from modern sensibilities in some very cool ways, primarily by becoming self-aware.
A lot of the humor in Rustlers’ Rhapsody comes from the combination of two things: a) the knowledge that classic, B-Westerns all had pretty much the exact same plot, and b) that Rex understands this and uses it to his advantage. When you’ve spent your entire life traveling from town to town, helping the local underdogs defeat the rich and powerful land barons as the railroad’s coming through, you start to get confident that you always know what’s going to happen next and will be able to deal with it. That turns Rex into kind of a cowboy superhero. That could have been really annoying except that Berenger is so completely humble and charming about it and the movie is so darn funny. In addition to effectively giving him precog “super powers”, Rustlers’ Rhapsody also explains some “secret origin”-type stuff like: how does he afford this lifestyle, how does he recover so quickly from being wounded, and where does he keep all those different shirts?
In this particular story, Rex has ridden into Oakwood Estates where the evil cattle baron, Colonel Ticonderoga (effeminately played by an hilariously out-of-his-usual-character Andy Griffith) and his men are terrorizing the local, awful smelling sheepherders. Rex teams up with the town drunk (Bailey) to stop them, also making friends with the town prostitute (Marilu Henner) and the Colonel’s daughter (Sela Ward), a girl who – like Rex – has named her horse Wildfire, because all awesome, free-spirited horses are named Wildfire.
After some initial encounters with Rex, the Colonel realizes that he’s going to need some help, so he forms an alliance with another Colonel (they’re always colonels; this one’s played by Fernando Rey) who owns the railroad. The railroad guys are right out of Spaghetti Westerns, allowing the B-movie cowboys to be envious of the cooler background music and long raincoats. Unfortunately for the Colonels, even this coalition isn’t enough to defeat Rex, because he’s the Good Guy and the Good Guy always wins.
I won’t spoil it, but the Colonels figure out a way around this, resulting not only in some more great gags, but also an examination of what it really means to be a Good Guy, both in the ‘30s and ’40 and in modern times. Rustlers’ Rhapsody is always about being funny first, but it manages to sneak some actual ideas in there too.
Come to think of it, Rustlers’ Rhapsody may not be that different from The Lodger and Night of the Demon after all. All three films play with the idea of Good Guys and Bad Guys in different ways. The Lodger offers a policeman who’s kind a jerk and a possible serial killer as the romantic lead. Night of the Demon pits an abrasively stubborn protagonist against a friendly Satan-worshipper who only wants to be left alone. Rustlers’ Rhapsody takes the ultimate, one-dimensionally Good Guy character, a singing cowboy, and makes him question that righteousness. I guess my picks have a unifying theme after all.
Rustlers’ Rhapsody is a very different movie than my previous choices, so it probably requires some explanation. When Ken approached me about doing this, there were two things he said that made me want to chip in. The first was, “Do you want to chip in?” Because it’s Ken. Of course I wanted to help. But even if he’d been a stranger, allowing me to pretend that I’m a TCM guest host introducing my favorite movies is a stellar hook that I couldn’t say no to. So I tried to pick from three different eras: silent, Golden Age Hollywood (even though I chose a British film), and something produced in my lifetime.
My initial criterion was simply that I wanted to share movies that I’m already evangelistic about. Films that when I hear someone hasn’t seen them, I immediately schedule a time for us to watch them together. Rustlers’ Rhapsody is probably the first movie I ever got that way about. It was under-seen even in its day, but it still has the power to make me laugh every time I revisit it and I want to share that with as many people as possible.
Because it’s a comedy it’s going to be difficult to talk up without trying to retell a bunch of the jokes. That’s why I usually just tell people that they have to come over and watch it. I do always ask if they like Westerns though, because Rustlers’ Rhapsody assumes that you know some things about that genre as it’s been depicted in film. You can enjoy many of the gags without ever having seen a Western, but you’ll love it more if familiar with the genre.
It opens with a screen-within-the-screen showing what looks like an old Gene Autry or Roy Rogers movie. It’s like those trailers for 3D re-releases where they show you a tiny, tinny-sounding version of Phantom Menace or whatever (as if that’s the only way you’ve been able to experience it up to now) before blowing it up on the full screen with awesome sound. The little, black-and-white movie shows Rex O’Herlihan, the Singing Cowoy (Tom Berenger) chasing down a gang of bandits as GW Bailey (Captain Harris from the Police Academy movies) acknowledges the quaintness of these old films and then wonders what they’d be like if they were made today. On cue, the picture fills the screen, the color kicks in, and the gunshots are deafening.
At this point, virgin viewers are probably assuming that the film is going to be a Western spoof in which the hapless hero tries to adjust to the modern take on this genre. They’d only be half right. It is a spoof, but far from being miserable, Rex O’Herlihan benefits from modern sensibilities in some very cool ways, primarily by becoming self-aware.
A lot of the humor in Rustlers’ Rhapsody comes from the combination of two things: a) the knowledge that classic, B-Westerns all had pretty much the exact same plot, and b) that Rex understands this and uses it to his advantage. When you’ve spent your entire life traveling from town to town, helping the local underdogs defeat the rich and powerful land barons as the railroad’s coming through, you start to get confident that you always know what’s going to happen next and will be able to deal with it. That turns Rex into kind of a cowboy superhero. That could have been really annoying except that Berenger is so completely humble and charming about it and the movie is so darn funny. In addition to effectively giving him precog “super powers”, Rustlers’ Rhapsody also explains some “secret origin”-type stuff like: how does he afford this lifestyle, how does he recover so quickly from being wounded, and where does he keep all those different shirts?
In this particular story, Rex has ridden into Oakwood Estates where the evil cattle baron, Colonel Ticonderoga (effeminately played by an hilariously out-of-his-usual-character Andy Griffith) and his men are terrorizing the local, awful smelling sheepherders. Rex teams up with the town drunk (Bailey) to stop them, also making friends with the town prostitute (Marilu Henner) and the Colonel’s daughter (Sela Ward), a girl who – like Rex – has named her horse Wildfire, because all awesome, free-spirited horses are named Wildfire.
After some initial encounters with Rex, the Colonel realizes that he’s going to need some help, so he forms an alliance with another Colonel (they’re always colonels; this one’s played by Fernando Rey) who owns the railroad. The railroad guys are right out of Spaghetti Westerns, allowing the B-movie cowboys to be envious of the cooler background music and long raincoats. Unfortunately for the Colonels, even this coalition isn’t enough to defeat Rex, because he’s the Good Guy and the Good Guy always wins.
I won’t spoil it, but the Colonels figure out a way around this, resulting not only in some more great gags, but also an examination of what it really means to be a Good Guy, both in the ‘30s and ’40 and in modern times. Rustlers’ Rhapsody is always about being funny first, but it manages to sneak some actual ideas in there too.
Come to think of it, Rustlers’ Rhapsody may not be that different from The Lodger and Night of the Demon after all. All three films play with the idea of Good Guys and Bad Guys in different ways. The Lodger offers a policeman who’s kind a jerk and a possible serial killer as the romantic lead. Night of the Demon pits an abrasively stubborn protagonist against a friendly Satan-worshipper who only wants to be left alone. Rustlers’ Rhapsody takes the ultimate, one-dimensionally Good Guy character, a singing cowboy, and makes him question that righteousness. I guess my picks have a unifying theme after all.
Monday, April 23, 2012
A Comic Interlude
I hope everyone is enjoying the special "Ken's got a new kid" series of movie posts. I interrupt that for a regularly scheduled post. See last week I promised a post about comics, and I may be many things but I aint no liar.
For the last 2 years I have been living in the literal middle of nowhere. As such there is not a comic book store within a hundred miles of the place. As a result of that I have not been picking up the books I read on a regular basis. I feel that a major part of reading comics is discussing comics, and as much as the stereotype of the loner comic nerd is prevalent it really does boil down to a social hobby. What fun is it knowing obscure facts about your favorite heroes if you can't show off that knowledge. Yes there are a multitude of web sites and forums to do just that, but my personal proclivity is to talk to people in person. This is why comic stores are important for nerds as a place to chill out and talk to like minded folks. I hope that ye ol' comic shoppes stick around for a long time to come.
That brings us to digital comics. I have discussed them before and for the most part my feelings still apply. I would still never read comics on a MP3 player or phone. Of course with the lack of a brick and mortar shop I am considering digital books just to keep up with the fictional worlds that I love so. I also think that Marvel hit the mark with the Avengers Vs. X-men when it comes to the digital world. Basically when you picked up a physical copy of issue one, they included a code to get digital bonus features. Much like DVD commentary it had writers notes and behind the scenes info. Also you got a short bonus comic that was only available in that format that tied into the story. That is how it should be done. With digital you should get extras that add to the experience and give you more things to discuss while checking out back issues at the comic store of your choice. And no that it not a euphemism.
What do ya think? Do you enjoy comic stores or does the internet give you all the social interaction you need when it comes to nerding out over comics? Let Your F'ing Voice Be Heard in the comments, our Facebook, or hit the Contact Us button.
I now return you to your special post series...
For the last 2 years I have been living in the literal middle of nowhere. As such there is not a comic book store within a hundred miles of the place. As a result of that I have not been picking up the books I read on a regular basis. I feel that a major part of reading comics is discussing comics, and as much as the stereotype of the loner comic nerd is prevalent it really does boil down to a social hobby. What fun is it knowing obscure facts about your favorite heroes if you can't show off that knowledge. Yes there are a multitude of web sites and forums to do just that, but my personal proclivity is to talk to people in person. This is why comic stores are important for nerds as a place to chill out and talk to like minded folks. I hope that ye ol' comic shoppes stick around for a long time to come.
That brings us to digital comics. I have discussed them before and for the most part my feelings still apply. I would still never read comics on a MP3 player or phone. Of course with the lack of a brick and mortar shop I am considering digital books just to keep up with the fictional worlds that I love so. I also think that Marvel hit the mark with the Avengers Vs. X-men when it comes to the digital world. Basically when you picked up a physical copy of issue one, they included a code to get digital bonus features. Much like DVD commentary it had writers notes and behind the scenes info. Also you got a short bonus comic that was only available in that format that tied into the story. That is how it should be done. With digital you should get extras that add to the experience and give you more things to discuss while checking out back issues at the comic store of your choice. And no that it not a euphemism.
What do ya think? Do you enjoy comic stores or does the internet give you all the social interaction you need when it comes to nerding out over comics? Let Your F'ing Voice Be Heard in the comments, our Facebook, or hit the Contact Us button.
I now return you to your special post series...
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Michael's Movie Pick #2: Night of the Demon (1957)
Ken O is currently away from the ship’s helm while he takes care of his wife and brand new son. During that time we are forgoing our normal updates for something special. Every month Turner Classic Movies has a Guest Programmer who chooses the films they show for that night. For 9 days we’ll be acting as we were the Guest Programmer. So you’ll get 3 movies from me, 3 from Brandon, and 3 from our guest writer Michael May! A huge thank you goes out to Michael May; please go check out his Adventure Blog.
When the British film Night of the Demon was released in the United States in 1958, it was chopped down by thirteen minutes and renamed Curse of the Demon. Though the cut footage isn’t crucial to the story, it does help set the film’s tone, so the original Night of the Demon (which is only 95 minutes long to begin with) is the one to watch. The reason I bring up the US version at all is because of the title change.
According to the film’s screenwriter, Charles Bennett, Columbia Pictures thought that Night of the Demon sounded too close to the title of Tennessee Williams’ short story, “Night of the Iguana.” That’s odd, because the famous stage play that Williams eventually created from that story wouldn’t premiere until three years after the release of Curse of the Demon, and the even more famous John Huston film adaptation of it didn’t come out until three years after that in 1964. Tennessee Williams was far from an obscure writer in the late ‘50s, so maybe mass audiences knew about the “Night of the Iguana” short story, but it does seem weird to rename a horror film because of one word it has in common with a story in a completely different medium. Still, the Night of the Iguana comparison is interesting because the Huston film and Night of the Demon share something important: an adjacency to the film noir movement.
Even though neither movie is true noir, important noir directors were in charge of them and brought in elements that call that genre to mind. Night of the Demon’s Jacques Tourneur directed Out of the Past, one of the definitive noir films, in addition to other horror pictures like Cat People and I Walked With a Zombie. His use of light and shadow and cinematography gave his films a look and feel that fit right in with other noir films, even when his were about were-panthers and voodoo magic.
Night of the Demon has more in common with noir that just its look though. One of the things that stands out most about it is how it blurs the line between good and evil; quite a feat for a story about Satan worshipers. Dana Andrews (star of Laura, another film noir masterpiece) plays Dr. John Holden, a scientific skeptic from the US who travels to England to debunk the supernatural claims of a cult leader named Julian Karswell (Niall MacGinnis). While there, Holden meets Joanna Harrington (Peggy Cummins), the niece of the last man to try to disprove Karswell’s abilities. Because Joanna’s uncle died horribly and mysteriously, she’s beginning to believe that Karswell may have the power he says he does. Holden believes none of it though. He stubbornly refuses to accept the supernatural, even when he sees evidence that he may be on the same path as Joanna’s late uncle.
Holden’s obstinate close-mindedness and his relentless persecution of Karswell keep him from being completely heroic and sympathetic. He’s also arrogant and not always pleasant to be around. Karswell, on the other hand, throws lavish parties for the children who live near his estate and is convincing in his assertion that he only wants to be left alone to practice his religious beliefs with his followers. Of course those beliefs include killing those who stray from the flock, so he’s clearly the bad guy. It’s just hard to remember that when he’s dressing like a clown to do magic tricks for kids.
Though it looks and feels a lot like film noir, Night of the Demon is inarguably horror. The film doesn’t rely on cheap shocks or even images of its titular monster to scare the audience, but Tourneur still delivers the creeps though stylish atmosphere and viewers’ imaginations. The investigation story also builds tension and keeps the audience riveted as Holden gets closer and closer to the horrible truth.
Though the film doesn’t rely on images of the demon for scares, it would have used them even less if Tourneur had had his way. In fact, much like what happened in The Lodger, Tourneur’s original plan was to be ambiguous about whether Karswell really had the power to summon demons, but his producer forced a definitive answer. In Tourneur’s initial vision, the demon would have never been shown, leaving the audience to decide for itself if Karswell had supernatural abilities or was just an extremely effective charlatan who perhaps believed his own lies. Producer Hal E. Chester had other ideas though, so the demon appears in the first several minutes of the film for the death of Joanna’s uncle and again at the film’s climax (you’ll have to watch the film to find out what happens there). Chester had to film the demon sequences after principal shooting though, without Tourneur’s help or cooperation.
While Tourneur’s version would have added a cool layer to the mystery, the version that exists is still an excellent, atmospheric, scary film. The vast majority of it operates on the principal that nothing’s as powerful as what you don’t see. But as effective as that is, the demon’s pretty scary too.
Even though the monster effects are primitive by modern standards, the design of the creature – based on actual, ancient drawings of mythological demons – is pretty terrifying. Tourneur’s version would have been stronger had it reinforced the themes of faith and skepticism by making the viewer decide which end of that spectrum he or she falls on, but the creature’s appearance doesn’t make the movie less unnerving. In fact, Martin Scorsese listed it as one of the eleven scariest movies of all time and he’s absolutely right.
When the British film Night of the Demon was released in the United States in 1958, it was chopped down by thirteen minutes and renamed Curse of the Demon. Though the cut footage isn’t crucial to the story, it does help set the film’s tone, so the original Night of the Demon (which is only 95 minutes long to begin with) is the one to watch. The reason I bring up the US version at all is because of the title change.
According to the film’s screenwriter, Charles Bennett, Columbia Pictures thought that Night of the Demon sounded too close to the title of Tennessee Williams’ short story, “Night of the Iguana.” That’s odd, because the famous stage play that Williams eventually created from that story wouldn’t premiere until three years after the release of Curse of the Demon, and the even more famous John Huston film adaptation of it didn’t come out until three years after that in 1964. Tennessee Williams was far from an obscure writer in the late ‘50s, so maybe mass audiences knew about the “Night of the Iguana” short story, but it does seem weird to rename a horror film because of one word it has in common with a story in a completely different medium. Still, the Night of the Iguana comparison is interesting because the Huston film and Night of the Demon share something important: an adjacency to the film noir movement.
Even though neither movie is true noir, important noir directors were in charge of them and brought in elements that call that genre to mind. Night of the Demon’s Jacques Tourneur directed Out of the Past, one of the definitive noir films, in addition to other horror pictures like Cat People and I Walked With a Zombie. His use of light and shadow and cinematography gave his films a look and feel that fit right in with other noir films, even when his were about were-panthers and voodoo magic.
Night of the Demon has more in common with noir that just its look though. One of the things that stands out most about it is how it blurs the line between good and evil; quite a feat for a story about Satan worshipers. Dana Andrews (star of Laura, another film noir masterpiece) plays Dr. John Holden, a scientific skeptic from the US who travels to England to debunk the supernatural claims of a cult leader named Julian Karswell (Niall MacGinnis). While there, Holden meets Joanna Harrington (Peggy Cummins), the niece of the last man to try to disprove Karswell’s abilities. Because Joanna’s uncle died horribly and mysteriously, she’s beginning to believe that Karswell may have the power he says he does. Holden believes none of it though. He stubbornly refuses to accept the supernatural, even when he sees evidence that he may be on the same path as Joanna’s late uncle.
Holden’s obstinate close-mindedness and his relentless persecution of Karswell keep him from being completely heroic and sympathetic. He’s also arrogant and not always pleasant to be around. Karswell, on the other hand, throws lavish parties for the children who live near his estate and is convincing in his assertion that he only wants to be left alone to practice his religious beliefs with his followers. Of course those beliefs include killing those who stray from the flock, so he’s clearly the bad guy. It’s just hard to remember that when he’s dressing like a clown to do magic tricks for kids.
Though it looks and feels a lot like film noir, Night of the Demon is inarguably horror. The film doesn’t rely on cheap shocks or even images of its titular monster to scare the audience, but Tourneur still delivers the creeps though stylish atmosphere and viewers’ imaginations. The investigation story also builds tension and keeps the audience riveted as Holden gets closer and closer to the horrible truth.
Though the film doesn’t rely on images of the demon for scares, it would have used them even less if Tourneur had had his way. In fact, much like what happened in The Lodger, Tourneur’s original plan was to be ambiguous about whether Karswell really had the power to summon demons, but his producer forced a definitive answer. In Tourneur’s initial vision, the demon would have never been shown, leaving the audience to decide for itself if Karswell had supernatural abilities or was just an extremely effective charlatan who perhaps believed his own lies. Producer Hal E. Chester had other ideas though, so the demon appears in the first several minutes of the film for the death of Joanna’s uncle and again at the film’s climax (you’ll have to watch the film to find out what happens there). Chester had to film the demon sequences after principal shooting though, without Tourneur’s help or cooperation.
While Tourneur’s version would have added a cool layer to the mystery, the version that exists is still an excellent, atmospheric, scary film. The vast majority of it operates on the principal that nothing’s as powerful as what you don’t see. But as effective as that is, the demon’s pretty scary too.
Even though the monster effects are primitive by modern standards, the design of the creature – based on actual, ancient drawings of mythological demons – is pretty terrifying. Tourneur’s version would have been stronger had it reinforced the themes of faith and skepticism by making the viewer decide which end of that spectrum he or she falls on, but the creature’s appearance doesn’t make the movie less unnerving. In fact, Martin Scorsese listed it as one of the eleven scariest movies of all time and he’s absolutely right.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Michael's Movie Pick #1: The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927)
Ken O is currently away from the ship’s helm while he takes care of his wife and brand new son. During that time we are forgoing our normal updates for something special. Every month Turner Classic Movies has a Guest Programmer who chooses the films they show for that night. For 9 days we’ll be acting as we were the Guest Programmer. So you’ll get 3 movies from me, 3 from Brandon, and 3 from our guest writer Michael May! A huge thank you goes out to Michael May; please go check out his Adventure Blog.
Many people – including Alfred Hitchcock – consider the silent film The Lodger to be the first, “real” Hitchcock movie. He’d made others before it, but his genre of choice at the time wasn’t the thriller. He got his start directing melodramas like The Pleasure Garden and Fear o’ God. They were dark stories about infidelity and immoral men trapping helpless women in unwanted relationships. And The Lodger didn’t mark an immediate turning point in Hitchcock’s body of work. The same year it came out, Hitchcock directed The Ring, about a boxer and his unfaithful wife. The year after, it was Easy Virtue, featuring a newlywed woman with a dark secret.
But the themes of those films reflected something that interested Hitchcock to the end of his long, famous career. He was fascinated by the connection between love and hate, or put another way: between sex and violence. In melodramas it revealed itself through the horrible ways people treat those they claim to love. In The Lodger, Hitchcock explored it through the idea of the serial killer: a man so inflamed by lust that he can only express it through murder.
In The Lodger, you can see Hitchcock playing with ideas – both story and visual – that he would come back to in Psycho. There’s even a scene where the bathing heroine is watched and menaced by a potentially homicidal voyeur as the camera focuses on the drain and the girl’s feet.
The story opens in Victorian London where a Jack the Ripper-like killer called the Avenger is terrorizing the city. Every Tuesday night he kills a young, blonde woman and by the time the film begins he’s on his seventh victim. Most of the action takes place in a boarding house where Daisy – a young, blonde model – lives with her parents. Daisy happens to be dating Joe, the lead investigator on the Avenger case, but that and her fitting the killer’s demographic aren’t her only connections to the madman. The film gets its title from the arrival of a new tenant at the boarding house: a handsome, mysterious man whose style of dress matches descriptions of the murderer. The unnamed lodger also has a habit of going out on Tuesday nights, a map of the Avenger’s murder sites, and a strong dislike for the paintings of blonde women in his rooms. But he sure does take an interest in Daisy…
It’s no wonder that he does. Daisy is friendly and light-spirited and she quickly draws the lodger out of his shell, much to the chagrin of her parents (who are beginning to suspect him of being the Avenger) and Joe, who’s loutish sense of humor is pushing Daisy away (he handcuffs her against her will as a joke at one point and is confused about why that might upset her).
It’s a brilliant setup for a story, made better by not revealing the truth about the lodger until the very end. In fact, Hitchcock originally intended to leave the end of The Lodger ambiguous, making audiences decide for themselves whether the title character is also the killer. The producers didn’t go for it though and forced Hitchcock to add a late, but conclusive declaration about the man’s guilt or innocence. For most of the movie though, it’s impossible to tell. As the pressure of not knowing builds – it’s impossible not to fall in love with Daisy and care about what happens to her – the danger-filled tension shows why The Lodger is the prototype Hitchcock film.
The film has been remade a few times since (or maybe it’s more accurate to say that the Marie Belloc Lowndes book it’s based on has been re-adapted); once with the actor who played the lodger in Hitchcock’s version reprising his role in 1932. More famous though is the 1944 version starring Merle Oberon as the girl (re-named Kitty) and George Sanders as her policeman boyfriend. It’s interesting that this version takes the opposite route from Hitchcock about the lodger’s guilt, showing that the story really can go either way. Or – as the recent 2009 version with Simon Baker and Alfred Molina demonstrates – another way altogether. In other words, The Lodger has a strong, flexible premise. It comes as no surprise though that no one makes it work better than Alfred Hitchcock.
Many people – including Alfred Hitchcock – consider the silent film The Lodger to be the first, “real” Hitchcock movie. He’d made others before it, but his genre of choice at the time wasn’t the thriller. He got his start directing melodramas like The Pleasure Garden and Fear o’ God. They were dark stories about infidelity and immoral men trapping helpless women in unwanted relationships. And The Lodger didn’t mark an immediate turning point in Hitchcock’s body of work. The same year it came out, Hitchcock directed The Ring, about a boxer and his unfaithful wife. The year after, it was Easy Virtue, featuring a newlywed woman with a dark secret.
But the themes of those films reflected something that interested Hitchcock to the end of his long, famous career. He was fascinated by the connection between love and hate, or put another way: between sex and violence. In melodramas it revealed itself through the horrible ways people treat those they claim to love. In The Lodger, Hitchcock explored it through the idea of the serial killer: a man so inflamed by lust that he can only express it through murder.
In The Lodger, you can see Hitchcock playing with ideas – both story and visual – that he would come back to in Psycho. There’s even a scene where the bathing heroine is watched and menaced by a potentially homicidal voyeur as the camera focuses on the drain and the girl’s feet.
The story opens in Victorian London where a Jack the Ripper-like killer called the Avenger is terrorizing the city. Every Tuesday night he kills a young, blonde woman and by the time the film begins he’s on his seventh victim. Most of the action takes place in a boarding house where Daisy – a young, blonde model – lives with her parents. Daisy happens to be dating Joe, the lead investigator on the Avenger case, but that and her fitting the killer’s demographic aren’t her only connections to the madman. The film gets its title from the arrival of a new tenant at the boarding house: a handsome, mysterious man whose style of dress matches descriptions of the murderer. The unnamed lodger also has a habit of going out on Tuesday nights, a map of the Avenger’s murder sites, and a strong dislike for the paintings of blonde women in his rooms. But he sure does take an interest in Daisy…
It’s no wonder that he does. Daisy is friendly and light-spirited and she quickly draws the lodger out of his shell, much to the chagrin of her parents (who are beginning to suspect him of being the Avenger) and Joe, who’s loutish sense of humor is pushing Daisy away (he handcuffs her against her will as a joke at one point and is confused about why that might upset her).
It’s a brilliant setup for a story, made better by not revealing the truth about the lodger until the very end. In fact, Hitchcock originally intended to leave the end of The Lodger ambiguous, making audiences decide for themselves whether the title character is also the killer. The producers didn’t go for it though and forced Hitchcock to add a late, but conclusive declaration about the man’s guilt or innocence. For most of the movie though, it’s impossible to tell. As the pressure of not knowing builds – it’s impossible not to fall in love with Daisy and care about what happens to her – the danger-filled tension shows why The Lodger is the prototype Hitchcock film.
The film has been remade a few times since (or maybe it’s more accurate to say that the Marie Belloc Lowndes book it’s based on has been re-adapted); once with the actor who played the lodger in Hitchcock’s version reprising his role in 1932. More famous though is the 1944 version starring Merle Oberon as the girl (re-named Kitty) and George Sanders as her policeman boyfriend. It’s interesting that this version takes the opposite route from Hitchcock about the lodger’s guilt, showing that the story really can go either way. Or – as the recent 2009 version with Simon Baker and Alfred Molina demonstrates – another way altogether. In other words, The Lodger has a strong, flexible premise. It comes as no surprise though that no one makes it work better than Alfred Hitchcock.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Ken's Movie Pick #3: Creature From the Black Lagoon
Ken O is currently away from the ship’s helm while he takes care of his wife and brand new son. During that time we are forgoing our normal updates for something special. Every month Turner Classic Movies has a Guest Programmer who chooses the films they show for that night. For 9 days we’ll be acting as we were the Guest Programmer. So you’ll get 3 movies from me, 3 from Brandon, and 3 from our guest writer Michael May! A huge thank you goes out to Michael May; please go check out his Adventure Blog.
The last of my film picks is the 1954 Universal monster movie, Creature From the Black Lagoon. When Dr. Carl Maia, played by Antonio Moreno, finds a fossilized hand with webbed fingers he believes he may have found the missing link between people and fish. A large expedition full of scientists is quickly formed up and sent down the Amazon in search of a complete skeleton. What they find is a living Gill-Man who isn’t happy with them intruding on his home.
The Creature From the Black Lagoon has an interesting origin. Producer William Alland was at a party where cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa was telling a story of a fish-man in South America. That story eventually morphed into Creature from the Black Lagoon. Universal had such faith in the movie turning into a franchise they made sure that the ending would leave the story up for a sequel. It actually spawned two more movies; Revenge of the Creature and The Creature Walks Among Us.
The underwater scenes are stunning. That isn’t me being biased because they were filmed in Florida either. There is something ethereal and beautiful about them. James Havens oversaw all of the Florida in filming while Ricou Browning played the creature in the underwater scenes. Browning and Adams are practically dancing when they are in the water together, although I have seen it referenced as something else too. Browning was a originally hired to scout underwater locations but when director Jack Arnold saw the test shots of Ricou swimming, he was so impressed he offered him the job.
The creature was played by a completely different actor when on land. While Ricou was doing the underwater work Ben Chapman was back in California doing the Creature shots on land. Chapman was picked because of his size; he was 6’5”. Chapman was also the actor that Universal used for all of the Creature’s appearances around the film’s release. He was in the Creature suit on the Colgate Comedy Hour the week the movie premiered.
Even before the first Creature From the Black Lagoon movie was finished it was decided that the ending needed to be left open so they could easily write sequels. Revenge of the Creature makes the Creature even more sympathetic by having him captured and put on display at an Oceanarium. Obviously he escapes and is somehow considered the bad guy. It is the first 3D sequel to a 3D movie and features an uncredited Clint Eastwood. The Creature Walks Among Us is the third and last Creature film. This time the Gill-Man is horrible burned. He begins turning more human but at the same times misses the sea even more. It’s the only of the Creature movies not filmed in 3D.
The Creature From the Black Lagoon has become my favorite of the Universal Monsters. Not only is it my favorite of the movies to watch, I think he is totally sympathetic. They wanted to the movie to be a beauty and the beast story and it shows. The Gill-Man just wants all of these nosey people out of his waters. Until he sees Julia Adams swimming at least; then he wants her to stay and everyone else to leave. And really, once you see her in that swimsuit I can’t say I blame him one bit.
The last of my film picks is the 1954 Universal monster movie, Creature From the Black Lagoon. When Dr. Carl Maia, played by Antonio Moreno, finds a fossilized hand with webbed fingers he believes he may have found the missing link between people and fish. A large expedition full of scientists is quickly formed up and sent down the Amazon in search of a complete skeleton. What they find is a living Gill-Man who isn’t happy with them intruding on his home.
The Creature From the Black Lagoon has an interesting origin. Producer William Alland was at a party where cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa was telling a story of a fish-man in South America. That story eventually morphed into Creature from the Black Lagoon. Universal had such faith in the movie turning into a franchise they made sure that the ending would leave the story up for a sequel. It actually spawned two more movies; Revenge of the Creature and The Creature Walks Among Us.
The underwater scenes are stunning. That isn’t me being biased because they were filmed in Florida either. There is something ethereal and beautiful about them. James Havens oversaw all of the Florida in filming while Ricou Browning played the creature in the underwater scenes. Browning and Adams are practically dancing when they are in the water together, although I have seen it referenced as something else too. Browning was a originally hired to scout underwater locations but when director Jack Arnold saw the test shots of Ricou swimming, he was so impressed he offered him the job.
The creature was played by a completely different actor when on land. While Ricou was doing the underwater work Ben Chapman was back in California doing the Creature shots on land. Chapman was picked because of his size; he was 6’5”. Chapman was also the actor that Universal used for all of the Creature’s appearances around the film’s release. He was in the Creature suit on the Colgate Comedy Hour the week the movie premiered.
Even before the first Creature From the Black Lagoon movie was finished it was decided that the ending needed to be left open so they could easily write sequels. Revenge of the Creature makes the Creature even more sympathetic by having him captured and put on display at an Oceanarium. Obviously he escapes and is somehow considered the bad guy. It is the first 3D sequel to a 3D movie and features an uncredited Clint Eastwood. The Creature Walks Among Us is the third and last Creature film. This time the Gill-Man is horrible burned. He begins turning more human but at the same times misses the sea even more. It’s the only of the Creature movies not filmed in 3D.
The Creature From the Black Lagoon has become my favorite of the Universal Monsters. Not only is it my favorite of the movies to watch, I think he is totally sympathetic. They wanted to the movie to be a beauty and the beast story and it shows. The Gill-Man just wants all of these nosey people out of his waters. Until he sees Julia Adams swimming at least; then he wants her to stay and everyone else to leave. And really, once you see her in that swimsuit I can’t say I blame him one bit.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Ken's Movie Pick #2: She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
Ken O is currently away from the ship’s helm while he takes care of his wife and brand new son. During that time we are forgoing our normal updates for something special. Every month Turner Classic Movies has a Guest Programmer who chooses the films they show for that night. For 9 days we’ll be acting as we were the Guest Programmer. So you’ll get 3 movies from me, 3 from Brandon, and 3 from our guest writer Michael May! A huge thank you goes out to Michael May; please go check out his Adventure Blog.
My next movie pick is the second film in John Ford’s Cavalry Trilogy, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. John Wayne plays Captain Nathan Brittles, a career cavalry soldier whose retirement is quickly approaching. A Native American uprising complicates the impending change of command. As if there wasn’t enough going on in this movie; there is also a love triangle between Joanne Dru, John Agar, and Harry Carey Jr.
Wayne is particularly good in the role of Brittles. He was 41 at the time, so he is playing a character 20 years his senior. The good captain has lost his wife and his daughter, the army is truly the only family he has left. Now he is being forced to retire, he is losing the only family he has left. There are themes in this role that Wayne will revisit 27 years later when he plays J.B. Books in The Shootist. There is both a strength and a sadness in the character; combined they make him believable.
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is also the only film in the Cavalry Trilogy to be filmed in Technicolor. John Ford wanted the film to resemble the works of Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell. Color is a very, very important part of capturing those styles. The scenery is so striking that it practically becomes yet another character in the already large cast of talent. Filmed in Monument Valley, there are times it is hard to believe those colors appear in nature. The film went on to win the Oscar for Best Color Cinematography.
My favorite character in the movie is Sgt. Tyree. Played by Ben Johnson, Tyree is an ex-Confederate and Brittle’s chief scout. Johnson steals every scene he is in. The running gag with the character is that he is incredibly knowledgeable, but when asked for his opinion he always replies that it isn’t his department. Johnson was part of Ford’s stock company but was also a championship rodeo performer, horse wrangler, and stuntman. He also starred in another of my favorite movies, Mighty Joe Young. Johnson would win an Oscar for his 1971 performance as Sam the Lion.
Another member of John Ford’s favorites is Victor McLaglen. The English McLaglen plays Top Sgt. Quincannon with a thick Irish accent. McLaglen had been a professional boxer in his past, and he has an extended, slap-stick bar room brawl that acts like a precursor to the one he and Wayne have a few years later in The Quiet Man. Quincannon is the main source of the films comedic relief. Playing the Irish stereotype to its fullest, the character is always looking for a drink. McLaglen won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 1936’s The Informer and was nominated for his supporting role in the Quiet Man 17 years later, although he didn’t win that one.
There is a lot going on in this movie. In fact there may be almost too much. At times it feels more like three episodes of a television show were combined together to make one movie. There are minor characters that you see two or three times during the movie, but the way they are handled makes it feel like there is a back story to them. If the movie is three episodes from a show, I want to see the rest of the episodes. I want to know more about the blacksmith or why everyone makes fun of Hochbauer.
John Wayne movies are very important to me, because I was introduced to them by my grandfather. Watching them makes me feel like he is still around, watching them with me. My favorite has changed many, many times since I was introduced to them. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon has been my favorite for probably the longest amount of time. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
My next movie pick is the second film in John Ford’s Cavalry Trilogy, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. John Wayne plays Captain Nathan Brittles, a career cavalry soldier whose retirement is quickly approaching. A Native American uprising complicates the impending change of command. As if there wasn’t enough going on in this movie; there is also a love triangle between Joanne Dru, John Agar, and Harry Carey Jr.
Wayne is particularly good in the role of Brittles. He was 41 at the time, so he is playing a character 20 years his senior. The good captain has lost his wife and his daughter, the army is truly the only family he has left. Now he is being forced to retire, he is losing the only family he has left. There are themes in this role that Wayne will revisit 27 years later when he plays J.B. Books in The Shootist. There is both a strength and a sadness in the character; combined they make him believable.
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is also the only film in the Cavalry Trilogy to be filmed in Technicolor. John Ford wanted the film to resemble the works of Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell. Color is a very, very important part of capturing those styles. The scenery is so striking that it practically becomes yet another character in the already large cast of talent. Filmed in Monument Valley, there are times it is hard to believe those colors appear in nature. The film went on to win the Oscar for Best Color Cinematography.
My favorite character in the movie is Sgt. Tyree. Played by Ben Johnson, Tyree is an ex-Confederate and Brittle’s chief scout. Johnson steals every scene he is in. The running gag with the character is that he is incredibly knowledgeable, but when asked for his opinion he always replies that it isn’t his department. Johnson was part of Ford’s stock company but was also a championship rodeo performer, horse wrangler, and stuntman. He also starred in another of my favorite movies, Mighty Joe Young. Johnson would win an Oscar for his 1971 performance as Sam the Lion.
Another member of John Ford’s favorites is Victor McLaglen. The English McLaglen plays Top Sgt. Quincannon with a thick Irish accent. McLaglen had been a professional boxer in his past, and he has an extended, slap-stick bar room brawl that acts like a precursor to the one he and Wayne have a few years later in The Quiet Man. Quincannon is the main source of the films comedic relief. Playing the Irish stereotype to its fullest, the character is always looking for a drink. McLaglen won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 1936’s The Informer and was nominated for his supporting role in the Quiet Man 17 years later, although he didn’t win that one.
There is a lot going on in this movie. In fact there may be almost too much. At times it feels more like three episodes of a television show were combined together to make one movie. There are minor characters that you see two or three times during the movie, but the way they are handled makes it feel like there is a back story to them. If the movie is three episodes from a show, I want to see the rest of the episodes. I want to know more about the blacksmith or why everyone makes fun of Hochbauer.
John Wayne movies are very important to me, because I was introduced to them by my grandfather. Watching them makes me feel like he is still around, watching them with me. My favorite has changed many, many times since I was introduced to them. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon has been my favorite for probably the longest amount of time. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.