Day Seven: Music, 1969

Music time, folks - a ten-deep one, as we look at the nominees for both Best Score and Best Musical Score.

Naturally, John Williams shows up in both categories, the first of many times he would be double-nominated. He had recently broken-through with his nomination in Best Adaptation and/or Treatment Score (as Best Musical Score was then known) for Valley of the Dolls in 1967. Thus was launched one of the most successful careers in all of show business, the rare composer that's also a household name: 24 Grammys, seven BAFTA Awards, five Oscars, four Golden Globes. His movie themes can be heard in theme parks across the world, and his theme for the NBC Nightly News can be heard, er, nightly.

Let's hear the competition after the jump.

Further Thoughts: 1969 in Review(s)

Further thoughts on some of the 1969 films discussed earlier this week.

Alice's Restaurant

dir: Arthur Penn

pr: Hillard Elkins / Joseph Manduke

scr: Venable Herndon and Arthur Penn, from the song by Arlo Guthrie

cin: Michael Nebbia

Overall an admirable, if cautious and somewhat skeptical, attempt to humanize and sympathize with a misunderstood movement, balancing clear-eyed observations about using "freedom" and "protest" to excuse shirking your own responsibilities with criticism of the establishment's adherence to form and appearance. If only Penn could consistently pay off on the characters he introduces, or handle the tonal whiplash between the comedy of the song and the drama of his and Herndon's additions. Guthrie proves a surprisingly compelling presence on screen.

Sex, class, change, and more, after the jump..

Day Two: Best Actor, 1969

What a difference 50 years makes, huh?

In 1969, all these men were stars, nigh untouchable - the newcomer was Jon Voight, winner of the Most Promising Male Golden Globe. The rest were legends, heartthrobs, cover stars, and even though they each courted their fair share of controversy, their status was unquestionable. Members of the public may object to the politics of one, the treatment of women by another, but we shrugged and said, "That's Hollywood!"

Fast forward 50 years. Voight, who finally won an Oscar for the anti-war film Coming Home, is a divisive figure politically, and while he currently enjoys a regular job on Ray Donovan, it's hard to imagine him being embraced again by the Academy. In 2017, Dustin Hoffman was accused of sexual misconduct by seven different women whose experiences crossed decades. John Wayne, who had plenty of critics during his lifetime, was recently blasted on social media for racist and white supremacist opinions he gave during a 1971 Playboy interview. Richard Burton comes off reasonably well, if mostly best-known for being Mr. Liz Taylor, while Peter O'Toole...actually, I think we're good with Peter O'Toole - I think it helps that both men's main troubles were rooted in their alcoholism, and each sobered up.

The point being, our perceptions of people and the standards to which we hold our stars have changed significantly since The Duke was crowned king - or at least, people are more careful about who they publicly praise. Yesterday's idols are today's unmentionables. That's what I see when I take a look at this lineup: either dead, canceled, or both.

But have the performances held up? Let's take a look!

Coming Attractions: 1969

Starting Monday, we celebrate a LOT of 50th anniversaries with the 1969 Retrospective! The first two weeks take us through the Oscar nominees in eleven categories, followed by a week of talk on other movies, culminating in my personal Top Ten and Retro Hollmann Awards in week four.

Week One: the nominees for Best Original Song, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor, featuring...

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Casting Coup Tuesdays: Goodbye, Mr. Chips - The Musical

I do sometimes take requests, and this was one that I could not resist. Though I already cast James Hilton's classic novel Goodbye Mr. Chips, our friend Tom challenged me to recast the musical version. Released in 1969, the musical version starred Peter O'Toole (in an Oscar-nominated performance) and pop singer Petula Clark. I was going to respond that the actors I chose could sing already, and I might have left it at that, were it not for a chance screening of this very version on TCM. Hey, it was a chance to cross another film off ym list, so why not?

As my sister remarked when I described it to her later, "That sounds nothing like the book." Indeed, it isn't. Beginning in the 1920s, the musical version picks up with Mr. Chips as a veteran teacher, used to the idea of the boys dislking him. Well, all right, he was stuffy in the original, too. I wondered what Staefel would get to sing, and if Ralston was going to show up, and---

Oh, whoa, wait a minute. The first surprise was the appearance of women on the school grounds. The original made a point of Katherine being this young, vivacious, feminine spirit in a world completely sans women (except for the sexless Mrs. Wickett). Yet already we had the headmaster's wife as a major character. Fine, I get that. The story's been updated, it's only natural to want to bring in another woman. How much longer until Staefel and Chips go to Austria and he meets Katherine?

What the what??? In this version, Katherine is a music-hall singer, the girl who shows up to sing the show-stopping tune and then gets to go to all the fun parties. One of Chips' younger colleagues takes him to a performance, for he is smitten with the girl. They all dine together, but Chips' frankness means he and Katherine do not hit it off. By coincidence, though, they meet while on holiday...IN POMPEII!!! There they fall in love, and eventually get married, and it's the story as usual.

Incorrect. Whereas the novel and original film focus on Chips' career, this is about the great romance that both previous versions insisted changed his life. Here, we get to see that great change, as he warms to everyone, and his students go from singing about how much they dread his class to demanding he be made headmaster. Katherine also has to acclimate herself to life as a schoolteacher's wife, since the more conservative staff and parents do not approve of her past life or her friends -- among them your typical boozy, witty actresses based on Tallulah Bankhead and played by Sian Phillips.

If you can separate yourself from the previous ncarnations, you should enjoy it. Though a bit slow-going at times -- I feel like they excavated Pompeii in the time it took to get through those scenes -- it's got some beautiful songs, a winning performance by Petula Clark, some real touching and heartbreaking moments, and a strong turn by O'Toole. I like especially how much darker this Chips was. This wasn't the well-meaning, "Pip-pip-cheerio" old man of Donat, but a cynical, more morose incarnation that really brightens up when he falls for Katherine. There's much more commentary on the class system -- the students at Meadowood come from families that would never dream of having a teacher in the family, much less a chorus girl. And there are dance numbers. 

Naturally, it was irresistible to me. A film I enjoyed but still had some flaws? Aren't almost-great films the one most in need of a remake, the ones who need a second going-over so that their greatness can be fully realized? And isn't the cast the perfect place to start?

THE HEADMASTER'S WIFE

Who is She: ...come on. She's a snobby woman who doesn't take to that common woman Chips married.

Originally played by:

Allison Leggatt (The Day of the Triffids, Far from the Madding Crowd)

My Choice:

Patricia Routledge (To Sir with Love, "Keeping Up Appearances")

One of those immensely talented comic actresses that I grew up watching, only to wonder whatever happened to them. Routledge does stage work, but she perfected middle-class snobbery as Hyacinth Bucket in "Keeping Up Appearances".

MAX STAEFEL

Who is He: Mr. Chipping's best friend at the school, an intelligent German who takes Chipping with him on holiday to Pompeii. When war breaks out, he returns to Germany to fight for the Fatherland.

Originally played by:

Michael Bryant (The Ruling Class, Gandhi)

My Choice:

Thom Hoffman (Dogville, Black Book)

THE HEADMASTER

Who is He: ...come on. Likes Mr. Chips, taps him as the replacement for when he retires.

Originally played by: Academy Award Nominee for Best Actor (Mourning Becomes Electra), BAFTA Award Nominee for Best British Actor (The Night My Number Came Up, Time Without Pity)

Michael Redgrave (The Browning Version, The Dam Busters)

My Choice:

Clive Swift (A Passage to India, "Keeping Up Appearances")

He played Routledge's husband, the ever-patient Richard, on "Keeping Up Appearances". He's fairly versatile, though, and has appeared in a number of comedies, dramas, thrillers, epics, etc. I'd love to see him and Routledge together again.

LORD SUTTERWICK

Who is He: Father of one of Chipping's students, Sutterwick is giving money to the school for new playing fields. Alas, he recognizes Katherine from her showbiz days, and threatens to pull out both his money and his son unless Chips is canned. Little does he realize that Katherine knows a thing or two about his past...

Originally played by:

George Baker (On Her Majesty's Secret Service, The Spy Who Loved Me)

My Choice: Academy Award Nominee for Best Actor & Best Director (Henry V), Best Short Film (Swan Song) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Hamlet), BAFTA Award Winner for Best Director (Henry V), Indie Spirit Nominee for Best Picture (Much Ado About Nothing), SAG Award Nominee for Best Supporting Actor (Othello)

Kenneth Branagh (Pirate Radio, My Week with Marilyn)
Not that he should be typecast as stuffy, stiff upper-lip types...but he's great at it. Maybe he could actually bring some humor to the role as well. Baker was so...colorless.

URSULA MOSSBANK

Who is She: A boozy, diva-licious stage star and friend of Katherine. Loud and unaware, Ursula thinks Chips is another actor, and so gladly invites him to her parties. It is Ursula who shelters Katherine when she runs away from the school, and it is Ursula who played a part in Lord Sutterwick's past.

Originally played by: Golden Globe Nominee for Best Supporting Actress (Goodbye Mr. Chips)

Sian Phillips (Valmont, The Age of Innocence)

My Choice: Indie Spirit Nominee for Best Supporting Actress (Shy People)

Martha Plimpton (The Goonies, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle)

Plimpton's brief appearance in Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle showed a vivacious spirit who comfortably wears period flapper garb. Over the years, she's shown herself to be a gifted comedienne and dramatist, a gal who clearly knows how to have a good time while excelling at her craft. To see her playing a tipsy thesp would be fabulous.


KATHERINE BRIDGES
Who is She: A music-hall star who meets Mr. Chipping at the Savoy, where he says the wrong thing. Then she meets him on holiday in Pompeii, where she says the right thing and become inseparable. When they return to England, neither fits into the other's world...but they love each other, and their marriage is a joyous one.

Songs: London is London, And the Sky Smiled, Apollo, Walk Through the World, Fill the World with Love (reprise), What Shall I Do Today, And the Sky Smiled (reprise), Schooldays, You and I

Originally played by: Golden Globe Nominee for Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy (Finian's Rainbow)

Petula Clark (Here Come the Huggetts, The Runaway Bus)

My Choice: Academy Award/Golden Globe/Indie Spirit/SAG Award/Hollmann Award Nominee for Best Actress [in a Drama] (Rachel Getting Married), Golden Globe Nominee for Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy (Love & Other Drugs), SAG Award Nominee for Best Ensemble (Brokeback Mountain)

[at 1:10]
Anne Hathaway ("Get Real", One Day)
Not only does she boast some incredible pipes; Oscar night proved that she's quite the showman, as well. Katherine is BIG, but she's also a nice, sweet girl. Hathaway can go BIG, but she can also be the nice, sweet girl. Can she do an English accent, though? Hm...


ARTHUR CHIPPING
Who is He: A stuffy, middle-aged schoolteacher. He meets Katherine at the Savoy, where he unwittingly insults her show. Luckily, they run into each other in Pompeii, of all places, where he educates her on the history and mythology of the area. They somehow fall in love, and it is from her that he receives the nickname "Mr. Chips". With her help, he goes from hated, strict schoolteacher to beloved, humorous standby.

Songs:  Where Did My Childhood Go, What a Lot of Flowers

Originally played by: Academy Award Nominee for Best Actor (Lawrence of Arabia, The Lion in Winter, Becket, Goodbye Mr. Chips, The Ruling Class, The Stunt Man, My Favorite Year, Venus), BAFTA Award Winner for Best British Actor (Lawrence of Arabia), Golden Globe Winner for Best Actor in a Drama (The Lion in Winter, Becket) and in a Musical/Comedy (Goodbye Mr. Chips), SAG Award Nominee for Best Actor (Venus), Hollmann Award Nominee for Best Supporting Actor (Ratatouille)

Peter O'Toole (Supergirl, King Ralph)

My Choice: Academy Award/BAFTA Award/Golden Globe/SAG Award Winner for Best Actor [in a Drama] (The King's Speech), BAFTA Award Winner for Best Actor (A Single Man), SAG Award Winner for Best Ensemble (Shakespeare in Love, The King's Speech), Hollmann Award Nominee for Best Actor (A Single Man, The King's Speech) and Best Supporting Actor (Easy Virtue)

Colin Firth (Valmont, The Importance of Dorian Gray)
I thought he was quite good in Mamma Mia. He's no Pavarotti, but he has a capable voice, certainly more melodic than O'Toole's. And he is an Oscar-winner, after all. Forgive me for joining this bandwagon, but it's a worthy one.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Best Actor: Colin Firth

Best Actress: Anne Hathaway

Best Supporting Actress: Martha Plimpton

Castie Cast Cast

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News of Julianne Moore being cast in the role of Sarah Palin for HBO's adaptation of Game Change has been making the rounds, inspiring discussion of Who's next? and What does this mean for the Emmys? The telefilm, from the team that brought you Recount, is based on the book of the same name by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, detailing the 2008 presidential race from primaries to Democratic victory. Nathaniel of The Film Experience has started an impromptu game of Cast This! to bandy about ideas of who should play the other roles, and you know I can't resist such a challenge. Give it some thought, read his post, make your own cast. You'll find mine in the comments.

Also, this Tuesday starts a new month of Casting Coup Tuesdays, one in which we celebrate (once again) MUSICALS.

Goodbye, Mr. Chips

Tommy

Funny Face

Casting Coup Month: Goodbye Mr. Chips

NOMINATIONS

Best Picture

Best Director - Sam Wood

Best Actor - Robert Donat (WON)

Best Actress - Greer Garson

Best Writing, Screenplay - Eric Maschwitz, R.C. Sherriff, Claudine West

Best Film Editing - Charles Frend

Best Sound, Recording - A.W. Watkins

Mom loves Goodbye Mr. Chips, and she always insisted that I should see it. It took me years to get around to it, on a whim, through the wonders of VCR. This was a high quality VHS, too: flawless picture, actually silver instead of mere black-and-white. It was worth checking out just for its historical significance: the film was released in 1939, deemed by many to be the Greatest Year of Cinema; it was remade as a musical in 1969; and it beat Clark Gable's immortal portrayal of Rhett Butler to the Academy Award for Best Actor.

And it's an all right film. Well-made, and there's a sweetness to it that I can see appealed to my mother. It reminded me of Mr. Holland's Opus, in that it traces the life and career of a schoolteacher from his first day to his last as the nation changes. Naturally, this allows for a barrage of sentimentality that is surprisingly well-handled but unsurprisingly episodic. Twelve-year-old Terry Kilburn plays several generations of a family that all claim Mr. Chips as their teacher, I assume so that the audience can go, "AWWWW HE'S AN INSTITUTION" while the producers save money. Robert Donat's performance is admirable and charming, with the 34-year-old actor playing 50+ for the majority of the film, but it's no Clark Gable as Rhett Butler. It's all very harmless enough, and worth multiple viewings for that happy feeling.

If there is anything to have kittens over it's the adaptation. The young reader's book by James Hilton deals with everything very swiftly. There are only a handful of mentions of Chips' best friend Staefel, and Chips' wife Katherine is mentioned in one chapter. That the movie is as affecting as it is is all due to the screenwriters. Well, them and secret weapon Greer Garson, whose brief performance is the most memorable aspect of the film. That and the last line. Okay, so there's plenty to love. Even Donat's oddly limited performance is charming, and his moment in the April Fool's Day scene is justifiably famous.

But it's exactly untouchable. Martin Clunes did a BBC version a few years back, while Peter O'Toole received an Oscar nomination for his performance in the 1969 musical version. This frees us up, I think to consider the options if ever another film version graced our theaters...

RALSTON

Who is He: A new headmaster during Chips' last years who takes a dislike to the old man. Ralston is into New Ideas, and thinks Chips is holding Brookfield back. At the outbreak of the First World War, Ralston enters into service.

Originally played by:

Austin Trevor (Lord Edgware Dies, The Alphabet Murders)

My Choice:

Rupert Penry-Jones (Hilary and Jackie, Match Point)

So I thought to myself, "Who do I cast as a snotty fellow? What's the snottiest performance I can recall?" And then I remembered the episode of "Agatha Christie's Poirot" based on the novel Sad Cypress, where Penry-Jones plays a Nazi sympathizer who leaves his fiancee for a nursemaid. this is honestly my least favorite human being in all of cinema. Plenty of villainous characters upset me, but this character makes me sneer. So. Penry-Jones as stick-up-his-ass Ralston.

MRS. WICKETT

Who is She: Former Brookfield matron, she becomes Mr. Chips' loyal landlady when he moves to the house on the grounds.

Originally played by:

Louise Hampton (Nine Till Six, A Christmas Carol)

My Choice:

Stephanie Cole ("Waiting for God", Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day)


WETHERBY
Who is He: The headmaster of Brookfield when Mr. Chips first arrives. Wetherby is a sympathetic, conservative man who takes pride in the prestigious Brookfield.

Originally played by:

Lyn Harding (The Pearls of the Crown, Murder at the Baskervilles)

My Choice:

Robert Pugh (Robin Hood, The Ghost Writer)


MAX STAEFEL
Who is He: A German professor who befriends Mr. Chips. He brings Chips to Austria on holiday, forever changing the old man's life. When the First World War breaks out, Staefel leaves Brookfield to fight for his native country.

Originally played by:

Paul Henreid (Now Voyager, Casablanca)

My Choice: SAG Award Winner for Best Ensemble (Inglourious Basterds)

August Diehl (The Counterfeiters, Salt)
Staefel should be a man with a humorous look. When Diehl smiles, he looks like a blast! Oh, how I hope to see more of him: solid in his limited Salt screentime, scary great in Inglourious Basterds.


KATHERINE ELLIS
Who is She: A tourist on holiday in Austria, she meets Chips when he sees her calling for help. Actually, she's waving to a friend, but the mistake brings the two together. Half his age and more free-spirited, Kathy is quite different from anyone Chips has ever met. But they fall in love and marry, and Kathy gives him a new life at 50.

Originally played by: Academy Award Winner for Best Actress (Mrs. Miniver), Golden Globe Winner for Best Actress in a Drama (Sunrise at Campobello)

Greer Garson (Madame Curie, Mrs. Parkington)

My Choice: Academy Award/Golden Globe/SAG Award/Hollmann Award Nominee/BAFTA Award Winner for Best Actress [in a Drama], SAG Award Nominee for Best Ensemble (An Education)

Carey Mulligan (Never Let Me Go, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps)
Young and charming, Carey has the spiritedness to play Kathy. She's cute, too, and certainly Kathy was cute.


CHARLES "MR. CHIPS" CHIPPING
Who is He: A classics professor who spends 63 of his 85 years at Brookfield School for Boys. Chips is old-fashioned, a conservative type, until he meets and falls for Kathy in his 50th year. She loosens him up, and he becomes an engaging professor, a jokester, a friend. He doesn't care for Ralston, and when he tries to fire Chips, the board of directors pass a motion that will keep Chips from ever leaving Brookfield against his own volition. Chips has no sons, but he has children. Thousands of them. And all boys.

Originally played by: Academy Award Winner for Best Actor (Goodbye Mr. Chips), BAFTA Award Nominee for Best British Actor (Lease of Life), Golden Globe Nominee for Best Actor in a Drama (The Inn of the Sixth Happiness)

Robert Donat (The 39 Steps, The Adventures of Tartu)

My Choice: Golden Globe Nominee for Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy (Moulin Rouge!), SAG Award Nominee for Best Ensemble (Little Voice, Moulin Rouge!)

Ewan McGregor (The Island, The Ghost Writer)
Eternally youthful-looking, I find the versatile McGregor to be adept at playing dashing nerdy types (come on, Christian was kind of a dork). He can do comedy and drama, and this is especially important for his interactions with Kathy. Chips has kind of a youthful presence even in his old age; slap on old makeup on McGregor and you'll get that same thing -- especially the twinkle in his eye.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Best Actor: Ewan McGregor

Best Supporting Actress: Carey Mulligan

Casting Coup Month: Five More to Come!

Coming this week on Casting Coup Month:

The Big Country

Goodbye, Mr. Chips

Marty

Mrs. Miniver

The Sound of Music