Of our first eleven films that qualified for the Academy Awards honoring the films of 1944, five were released in late 1943. Of the six released in 1944, one of them is the reason we're here - Lifeboat, the second film for which Alfred Hitchcock was nominated for Best Director. We'll get more into the specifics of Lifeboat's production and Hitchcock's nomination when we discuss the Best Director category in a couple of weeks. For now, let us just take in these eleven releases, from November 1943 through January 1944, running the gamut from musical to thriller, original to remake, Hitchcock himself to Hitchcock proteges.
One thing you'll see, as I mentioned yesterday, is how some films referenced the War even when they didn't have to. Sure, The Fighting Seabees is specifically about a military unit, and Lifeboat is a tale of survival on the Atlantic - but Sherlock Holmes and the Spider Woman includes a visual joke, The Desert Song rewrites its plot to accommodate the times, and our first flick even gives a tongue-in-cheek apology for being a fantasy:
His Butler's Sister
release: November 26, 1943
nominations: Best Sound (Bernard B. Brown)
dir: Frank Borzage
pr: Felix Jackson
scr: Samuel Hoffenstein and Elizabeth "Betty" Reinhardt
cin: Elwood Bredell
Deanna Durbin goes to visit half-brother Pat O'Brien in New York, who works for...songwriter? producer?...Franchot Tone. She wants to be a singer, so she becomes a maid, an unlikely romantic foil for the boss, and the favorite of the butlers in the chic Manhattan high-rise. Charming, climaxing with a closeup of Ms. Durbin that'll have you believing in the Divine...or, at least, in the abilities of cinematographer Elwood Bredell. Opens with a self-flagellating title card apologizing for being a fun bit of flotsam in the middle of rationing:
Lighten up, fellas!
Higher and Higher
release: December 1943
nominations: Best Musical Score (Constantin Bakaleinikoff), Best Original Song ("I Couldn't Sleep a Wink Last Night")
dir/pr: Tim Whelan
scr: Jay Dratler and Ralph Spence, additional dialogue by William Bowers and Howard Harris, from the play by Gladys Hurlbut and Joshua Logan
cin: Robert de Grasse
Upon learning that their eccentric boss is bankrupt, a household of servants passes off a new maid as his long-absent daughter to lure a rich husband whose fortunes can save the family. Frank Sinatra plays himself, his second credited film appearance (though he made his debut as a performer in Las Vegas Nights); he's not the rich man to be lured, no sirree, but the "aw shucks" well-meaning neighbor/co-conspirator type. I didn't hate it, but I think the romantic interest (Jack Haley) is a dud, not worthy of leading lady Michèle Morgan and her formidable comedic chops.
No Time for Love
release: December 1, 1943
nominations: Best Art Direction - Black-and-White (Hans Dreier / Robert Usher / Sam Comer)
dir/pr: Mitchell Leisen
scr: Claude Binyon, adaptation by Warren Duff, story by Robert Lees and Frederic I. Rinaldo
cin: Charles Lang, Jr.
Claudette Colbert is a hotshot photographer assigned to cover the workings of the "sandhogs" building tunnels under the city; Fred MacMurray is a chauvinist sandhog who becomes the star of her photo series. Naturally, the two butt heads and fall in love, their two worlds and mindsets constantly at odds. It's a thrill to watch, the two of them sizzle together, both in quip-trading and pent-up erotic energy. Buttressed by detailed sets and a pitch-perfect ensemble, including Ilka Chase as Colbert's side-eyeing sister and Richard Haydn as the G.B.F. (that's not even coded, one of his twink companions eyes MacMurray up and down, licking his lips...and MacMurray notices). Great, great work.
The Desert Song
release: December 17, 1943
nominations: Best Art Direction - Color (Charles Novi / Jack McConaghy)
dir: Robert Florey
pr: Robert Buckner
scr: Robert Buckner, from the play by Oscar Hammerstein II / Otto A.Harbach / Frank Mandel / Laurence Schwab
cin: Bert Glennon
An adaptation of a popular operetta from decades before, recontextualizing the narrative so that our hero - a double agent who poses as the mysterious rebel leader El Khobar - can fight against Nazi collaborators in Morocco. There's this one terrific scene at the cantina that serves as a rebel front, operated by Pere FanFan (Gene Lockhart, marvelous and mysterious in a way he rarely gets to be): walking through the smoke-filled club among the dancers and cautious locals taking in the new arrivals, there's genuine atmosphere and suspense - well, it's the clip above. Not a bad watch.
The Woman of the Town
release: December 31, 1943
nominations: Best Score (Miklós Rózsa)
dir: George Archainbaud
pr: Harry Sherman
scr: Æneas MacKenzie, story by Norman Houston
cin: Russell Harlan
Newspaper editor Bat Masterson (a real person) reflects on his past in the West as a sheriff and his romance with a singer, Dora Hand (also a real person), as skilled at church hymns as she was in saloons. If I said I remembered half this movie, I'd be lying. Or even 1/4. Actually, I remember Claire Trevor as Dora, standing at the front of the church, and I remember Albert Dekker as Masterson, pleading for understanding.
And now, we come to 1944 proper, starting with:
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
release: January 14
dir: Arthur Lubin
pr: Paul Malvern
scr: Edward L. Hartmann
cin: George Robinson
An adaptation of the legend that sees the child who found the lair of the forty thieves growing up to lead them against the enemies of his father - because is it really a happy ending if the hero is not secretly a prince and/or heir? I think I saw the beginning way back in the day, on my local PBS station's Matinee at the Bijou program? Andy Devine plays a sidekick named Abdullah, who sounds more like Andy Devine than he does anyone who could possibly be named Abdullah.
The Lodger
release: January 19
dir: John Brahm
pr: Robert Brassler
scr: Barré Lyndon, from the novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes
cin: Lucien Ballard
We could almost start our Hitchcock journey here - in 1927, Hitch became an international sensation with his adaptation of The Lodger, and even before he came to Hollywood, he toyed with the idea of remaking it not just with sound, but in color, to capture the ominous yellow of gaslighting. He eventually relinquished his rights to the property, and so we have this remake, the second of three, with Laird Cregar as the titular lodger suspected of possibly being involved in a spate of grisly murders. There's a promise here that would be fulfilled the next year with Hangover Square (same director, same lead actor, same setting, heaps more successful), though Cregar's performance is just so...lonely and sad. Is now the time to admit that Merle Oberon doesn't do much for me?
Sherlock Holmes and the Spider Woman
release: January 21
dir/pr: Roy William Neill
scr: Bertram Millhauser, from characters and stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
cin: Charles Van Enger
A very promising thriller that pits Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce against the master criminal Gale Sondergaard, a natural fit for her. There's a carnival involved, thank goodness, and the filmmakers do their part in acknowledging the War by making the targets at a shooting gallery the Axis leaders (the Holmes movies at this time were produced by Universal, who updated them to a modern setting). A fun movie, riffing on "The Speckled Band" in parts, with a twist that, even for the time, is so repugnantly racist, it ruins any rewatch value.
The Fighting Seabees
release: January 27
nominations: Best Score (Walter Scharf / Roy Webb)
dir: Edward Ludwig
scr: Borden Chase and Æneas MacKenzie, story by Borden Chase
cin: William Bradford
One thing I love about Hollywood collaborating with the government during the War, you learn about aspects of the military you wouldn't otherwise consider. For instance: Seabees is a moniker for Construction Battalions (aka C.B.'s, therefore...), the men who actually build the bases and tarmacs and ports we must use in order to stage combat overseas. And this is the story of the innovative idea of training and arming these guys so they can defend themselves while in enemy territory! There's romance, I guess, but the history, logistics, and battle scenes are the reasons to watch.
Lifeboat
release: January 28
nominations: Best Director, Best Original Story, Best Cinematography - Black-and-White
dir: Alfred Hitchcock
pr: Kenneth Macgowan
scr: Jo Swerling, story by John Steinbeck
cin: Glen MacWilliams
Eight survivors navigate the sea and each other while trapped in a lifeboat. Gives you an appreciation for how big those things are; also gives you an appreciation for the ingenuity that a single set can create in writers, cinematographers, directors, performers... There are times, admittedly, when it feels more like an exercise than a full film, particularly once it gets past the 90-minute mark. For the most part? Exciting, at times shocking and gruesome, with great performances from Tallulah Bankhead, William Bendix, Canada Lee, and Walter Slezak.
Phantom Lady
release: January 28
dir: Robert Siodmak
pr: Joan Harrison
scr: Bernard C. Schoenfeld, from the novel by Cornell Woolrich
cin: Elwood Bredell
A man stands accused of murder, and his only alibi is a woman who can't be found and no one will admit to having seen! I remember not having a bad time, but my main recollection is that Franchot Tone (in a pivotal role) is OK, though the set for his apartment is gorgeous. Ella Raines and Alan Curtis are the leads and they, too, are gorgeous. Another Hitchcock connection: producer Joan Harrison cut her teeth as Hitchcock's assistant back in England; this was her first solo producing gig in Hollywood.
Tomorrow, Danny Kaye's feature film debut, a classic ghost story, and the movie Joan Crawford called, "The Women Go To War."
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