Stateside at the movies, meanwhile...:
Lady on a Train
release: August 3
nominations: Best Sound (Bernard B. Brown)
dir: Charles David
pr: Felix Jackson
scr: Edmund Beloin and Robert O'Brien, original story by Leslie Charteris
cin: Elwood "Woody" Bredell
While traveling on a train, a young woman witnesses a murder from her window and sets out to find the killer. Except for “young”, that’s also basically the plot of Agatha Christie’s 4,50 from Paddington from 1957, the basis for Margaret Rutherford vehicle Murder, She Said in 1961 - there's even a wealthy family tied to the crime that our heroine cozies up to through some deception. Deanna Durbin beat Miss Marple to the punch! Not exactly a musical, though Ms. Durbin stops to sing "Silent Night" over the telephone, which stops a scheming henchman in his tracks, then goes on to perform at a nightclub. A tight mystery, the story was written by The Saint creator Leslie Charteris. A lot of fun, too, even while delivering a terrifying ending and some uncomfortable hints about the wealthy family's dynamics...between aunt and nephew.
Pride of the Marines
release: August 24
nominations: Best Screenplay
dir: Delmer Daves
pr: Jerry Wald
scr: Albert Matz, adaptation by Marvin Borowsky, from Al Schmid, Marine by Roger Butterfield
cin: J. Peverell Marley
Al Schmid is blinded by a grenade at the Battle of Guadalcanal; this film follows his blinding, rehabilitation, and adaptation to civilian life. Based on a true story, it was leading man John Garfield who pushed to make Schmid's life into a film. Wonderful section where all the inpatients at the rehab discuss the next steps, their reticence to enter the "real" world, and how the varieties of race, class, and education will impact their experiences. Hard enough to get back to life after shooting people, seeing your friends blown to bits, losing limbs; harder when the facts of your life from before you enlisted remain unchanged, and now you're facing them without, say, sight. Frank, yes; realistic, yes; but hopeless? Never! This is about giving yourself, and others, the grace to care and be cared for, to not let the war be the end of your story.
The Southerner
release: August 25
nominations: Best Director, Best Score (Werner Janssen), Best Sound (Jack Whitney)
dir: Jean Renoir
pr: Robert Hakim / David L. Loew
scr: Jean Renoir, adaptation by Hugo Butler, from Hold Autumn In Your Hand by George Sessions Perry
cin: Lucien Andriot
A family of cotton pickers struggles to establish their own farm. And when we say destitute and struggling, we mean it: that clapboard house is barely standing, much less livable. A testament to the human spirit, you might say, but also to human stubbornness; I do believe, in the end, that sometimes muleheadedness, more than confidence or "believing in yourself," is actually what makes the difference in life's fortunes. It's stupid to keep going, but keep going we must. Zachary Scott has never been more attractive. Professional scene-stealers J. Carrol Naish and Beulah Bondi once again deployed expertly, the latter as a doubtful granny, the former as a villainous neighbor/competitor. Still seems like an odd film to be Renoir's only nomination?
State Fair
release: August 30
wins: Best Original Song ("It Might As Well Be Spring")
nominations: Best Musical Score (Charles Henderson / Alfred Newman)
dir: Walter Lang
pr: William Perlberg
scr: Oscar Hammerstein II, from the 1933 screenplay by Sonya Levien & Paul Green and the novel by Philip Stong
cin: Leon Shamroy
The Iowa State Fair becomes a weekend of Big Changes for the Frake family, as father Abel and mother Melissa compete while children Margy and Wayne come of age with their romances with, respectively, a reporter and a singer. The first time I discussed my love of this film was on a podcast, Screen Drafts, and you can listen to that episode here and yell at me later. Anyway. The success of Meet Me in St. Louis - I can't remember if I read this or if it's just logical thinking on my part - led to similarly themed musicals like this one and Centennial, only with the fairs providing more than climax. State Fair is about passion, it's about ambition, it's about allowing yourself to entertain the idea of another life, and it's about how those entertainments can remain just that...maybe. After all, the fair comes every year, who knows what it may hold next year? Every original song from Rodgers & Hammerstein is a hit, in my ears, at least. I love everything about this movie.
Incendiary Blonde
release: August 31
nominations: Best Musical Score (Robert Emmett Dolan)
dir: George Marshall
pr: Joseph Sistrom
scr: Claude Binyon and Frank Butler
cin: Ray Rennahan
Brassy Betty Hutton is Texas Guinan, the real life actress who made her biggest splash as the owner/manager of a chain of speakeasies. It will always be funny to me that The Untouchables is perhaps the only depiction of illegal alcohol commerce during Prohibition that sees the trade as an ill, full stop, no questions; every other movie, this included, and indeed, movies produced during Prohibition included, treat speakeasies as an American institution - necessary and right. The movie itself? Technicolor, good songs, abrupt ending, but that's what happens when people die young (she dies young).
Isle of the Dead
release: September 1
dir: Mark Robson
pr: Val Lewton
scr: Ardel Wray
cin: Jack MacKenzie
Quarantined on an island due to plague, a group of people tries to stay sane, even as rumors spread that a folkloric monster may be among them. The whole plot - a lockdown, citizens scapegoating one another, medicine being ignored in favor of superstitions or cultural prejudices - felt uncomfortably familiar. Boris Karloff leads as a general who came to the island to visit his wife’s grave, and now finds himself trying to assert authority in a situation that he is unprepared for - this is an issue not just of microbes, but of managing people and their hysterical fears. One of his greatest performances, he exudes strength at first, then an increasing anger borne of impotence. Shot design, lighting, score, sets, all contribute to the dread claustrophobia, even in outdoor scenes. Ernst Deutsch is also phenomenal as the doctor.
Rhapsody in Blue
release: September 22
nominations: Best Musical Score (Ray Heindorf / Max Steiner), Best Sound (Nathan Levinson)
dir: Irving Rapper
pr: Jesse L. Lasky
scr: Howard Koch and Elliot Paul, original story by Sonya Levien
cin: Sol Polito
Biography of composer George Gershwin. Very strong performances and production values, but the main interest here is the music. And the music, especially the arrangements of the title tune, can be transcendent. A strong ensemble of stars playing themselves: Al Jolson, Oscar Levant, Paul Whiteman, etc., all recreating their Gershwin moments.
Mildred Pierce
release: September 26
wins: Best Actress (Joan Crawford)
nominations: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (Eve Arden), Best Supporting Actress (Ann Blyth), Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography - Black-and-White
dir: Michael Curtiz
pr: Jerry Wald
scr: Ranald MacDougall, from the novel by James M. Cain
cin: Ernest Haller
Our second Best Picture nominee! Restaurateur Joan Crawford is called in by the cops when her second husband is murdered; she tells them her story, from unhappy housewife to struggling divorcee to owner of a chain of restaurants, and of her spoiled, venal daughter and the wolves around them. We'll get into it more next week.
The Shanghai Cobra
release: September 29
dir: Phil Karlson
pr: James S. Burkett
scr: George Callahan and George Wallace Sayre, story by George Callahan, from characters created by Earl Derr Biggers
cin: Vincent Farrar
Mysterious murders at a bank remind Charlie Chan of a previous crime in Shanghai. Oddest bit, by far, is the use of a jukebox connected to a woman in another area who acts as DJ - as you above, it results in some odd shots where it looks like they're speaking to a tiny woman who lives inside, but there's some odd two-way thing happening or something. I don't know, it looked bizarre and I'd never heard of jukeboxes working like that, would love if someone could give context on why it's portrayed this way. Oh, the mystery's fine, I guess.
Tomorrow: a real Agatha Christie and a Best Picture remake!
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