On DVD: MGM's The Big Parade of Comedy (1964)

I suspect MGM’s Big Parade of Comedy (1964) isn’t a very good movie, but it caught me in the right mood, so I ended up enjoying this compilation film more than it probably deserved. It’s light and silly, though it sometimes has a questionable interpretation of comedy, most likely due to the fact that all of the material comes from films made from the 1920s to the late 1940s at MGM. Now available on DVD from Warner Archive, it’s an interesting product of its time.

The film is a collection of clips featuring different MGM films and performers, with more entertainment-minded than informative narration from then popular radio host Les Tremayne. It’s interesting the choices producer Robert Youngson made, for instance, giving Jean Harlow a well-rounded tribute featuring several scenes, while Carole Lombard gets barely a mention. I don’t know of anyone who thinks Garbo’s Two-Faced Woman (1941) is a comedy classic, or Robert Benchley an enduring comedy star, but both get lengthy scenes here.

There’s also genuinely funny material, including loving tributes given to William Powell and Myrna Loy, The Marx Brothers and Laurel and Hardy. A scene from Hollywood Party (1934) featuring Lupe Velez, Laurel and Hardy, and a bowl of eggs which demonstrates Velez’s underrated and mostly forgotten comic talent.

Overall it’s a fun romp if you don’t go in expecting a definitive collection. There are undeniable classics and legends here and plenty of films and stars who didn’t end up enduring for good reason. It’s interesting to see the perspective on classic film comedy from 1964, where apparently silent films were still looked upon as goofy artifacts, if deserving of some admiration. I suspect that even at that time a funnier batch of clips could have been drawn from the MGM vaults, but there are laughs to be found here.

Many thanks to Warner Archive for providing a copy of the film for review. This is a Manufacture on Demand (MOD) DVD. To order, visit The Warner Archive Collection.

Book Review--Space Odyssey: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke, and the Making of a Masterpiece

Space Odyssey: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke, and the Making of a Masterpiece
Michael Benson
Simon & Schuster, 2018

Upon its release, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) became a sensation as a sort of Disneyland ride for grown ups. With its innovative, and trippy special effects, it was the perfect flick to experience while riding high on your favorite mind enhancer. In the years since, it has become a cultural touchstone, quoted and referenced often, if rarely on anyone’s list of favorite films. In a new book, Michael Benson explores the technical and artistic journey of the film’s production and the impact it made on audiences upon release.

The book’s greatest strength is in the interviews Benson has conducted with key players in the film. His conversations with 2001 scribe Arthur C. Clarke, Kubrick’s wife Christiane, and several members of the cast and crew enabled him to craft a richly detailed history. So much of the story is related directly by people who made the film that you get a palpable feeling of what it was like to be there. For that reason, this is an especially lively and engrossing production history.

Having access to so much first source information has also enabled Benson to dig into the complexities of making the film, where second unit location shooting often held as much drama as Kubrick’s action at the studio. It is easy to see why movies go over budget and schedule when presented with how many tasks make up the creation of a scene, let alone an entire production. Understanding the importance of all of those elements is what made Kubrick an effective, and occasionally infuriating, filmmaker.

Space Odyssey features a fascinating cast of characters, the most riveting being author Arthur C. Clarke and Kubrick. Much attention is given to Clarke, a brilliant eccentric whose pre-moonwalk knowledge of space was instrumental in bringing a sense of reality to the film. He wrote the story as a novel first, with Kubrick’s input after which he had little to do officially with the production, but he is present throughout nevertheless and his unconventional thinking helps to maintain a sense of wonder in an increasingly technical undertaking.

Benson explores Kubrick’s complexities with impeccable objectivity, allowing his interview subjects to analyze a man who could be both generous and monstrous. When it came to the film, there was no crew member too insignificant to grab his attention. He was open to new ideas and would make time for anyone who had an inspiring concept. His passion for making exactly the film he wanted would sometimes go too far though and he often disregarded the safety of his cast and crew in order to get the shot he wanted. In a particularly disturbing passage, the director knowingly lets stuntman Bill Weston experience oxygen deprivation to the point of death because of his determination to get a shot.

Perhaps the greatest compliment I can give this book is that I went into it not a particular fan of 2001: Space Odyssey and came away eager to give it another chance. Rewatching the film afterwards, I found the experience profoundly different because I had a greater understanding of the passion and intelligence behind it.

Many thanks to Simon & Schuster for providing a copy of the book for review.

TCM Classic Film Festival 2018: My Tentative Schedule

I am delighted to have received my media credentials for TCM Classic Film Festival 2018! It is always an honor to attend this fun event and I am looking forward to sharing TCMFF with you all for a fifth year.

This year's festival takes place from April 26-29 and the theme is Powerful Words: The Page Onscreen.

As a seasoned festival attendee, I have learned not to sweat my schedule too much. There's always a lot to see and many conflicts. It's also hard to slow down sometimes and take a break to eat, or get at least a few minutes of sunshine. Whatever happens though, TCMFF holds many amazing experiences. My advice to attendees new and experienced: focus on having fun, enjoying the moment, and setting aside just a little time to take care of yourself, because trying to see and do everything will just burn you out.

My tentative schedule so far, almost certainly subject to change:

THURSDAY

I'm not sure which events I will attend the first day of the festival. The opening night party and Bruce Goldstein's So You Think You Know Movies classic movie quiz event at Club TCM are among the most tempting.

I ended up with a sort of sisterhood theme for my first night's films:

Finishing School (1934), Chinese Multiplex
Stage Door (1937) in nitrate, Egyptian Theatre

This is the only day of the festival that was a no-brainer for me movie-wise. There are plenty of other things I'd like to see (Throne of Blood [1957] is tempting me and may be a last minute schedule change for the second slot), but these two would be a great start.

FRIDAY

Intruder in the Dust (1949), Chinese Multiplex
Witness for the Prosecution (1957), Egyptian Theatre
None Shall Escape (1944), Chinese Multiplex
I Take This Woman (1931), Chinese Multiplex
Leave Her To Heaven (1945), in nitrate, Egyptian Theatre
The World's Greatest Sinner (1962), Chinese Multiplex

I love Intruder in the Dust star Juano Hernandez and it would be great to see Donald Bogle introduce the film, but it is possible I could give in to the lure of Strangers on a Train (1951). I've never seen this film on the big screen and I think it would be exciting to experience this thriller that way.

It is possible I will also bag None Shall Escape (1944), a completely new to me film, to see Three Smart Girls (1936), as I have never seen a Deanna Durbin film in a theater.

Might also have to skip I Take This Woman (1931) to get something to eat, but Leave Her To Heaven (1945) in nitrate and Timothy Carey in the apparently bonkers The World's Greatest Sinner (1964) are non-negotiable. They are the two films I am most looking forward to seeing at the festival.

SATURDAY

Kiss Me Deadly (1955), Chinese Multiplex
This Thing Called Love (1940), Chinese Multiplex
Sunset Boulevard (1950), TCL Chinese Theatre
The World of Suzie Wong (1950), Chinese Multiplex
Scarface (1932), Chinese Multiplex
Night of the Living Dead (1968), Chinese Multiplex

I love the tonal shifts of my schedule this day: sleazy noir, romantic comedy, two classic dramas, pre-code crime and one of the best horror movies ever made. I'm especially looking forward to seeing Nancy Kwan before Suzie Wong and John Carpenter introducing Scarface. This will be my stargazing day to be sure. It is possible I might chicken out and skip the midnight horror. That film always makes me feel like I am 13-years-old again; as perfect as it is, it always hits my terror bone. That's just as much a reason to see it though--we'll see.

SUNDAY

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), TCL Chinese Theatre
Mostly Lost: Identifying Unknown Films at the Library of Congress, Club TCM
A Star is Born (1937), Egyptian Theatre

I'm curious to see what the TBA titles will be for Sunday. If I can get up early enough, it will be amazing to see Sergio Leone's legendary western on such a magnificent screen. I already feel misty thinking about that dreamy Ennio Morricone soundtrack. It is possible that I will otherwise keep a lighter schedule this day. This is the time of the festival when I am starving. Steak and eggs might take priority over films. I considered seeing Phantom of the Opera (1925) for my last film of the festival because I am not planning to see any other major silent screenings, but A Star is Born seems like the perfect weeper to wrap things up and I would love to end the festival at the Egyptian Theatre.

Then on to the closing night party at Club TCM and spending those last few precious moments with my movie people!

You can follow my festival adventures on Twitter and Instagram. I'll post more a more detailed follow-up here the week after TCMFF. Can't wait to get to Hollywood!

Book Review--Giant: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, Edna Ferber, and the Making of a Legendary American Film

Giant:Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, Edna Ferber, and the Making of a Legendary American Film
Don Graham
St. Martin's Press, 2018

Edna Ferber’s Giant is an epic book that was adapted into an epic Hollywood film. That production featured a cast of Hollywood legends, up-and-coming stars, and durable character actors. In a new book, Don Graham reveals what happened when all these personalities coexisted for a time on a remote location in Marfa, Texas.

The book is at its juiciest when it dishes about its leads: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean. While I did not find much new here about these stars, the juxtaposition of their histories demonstrates what an odd trio they were: perfectly matched in some respects, horribly at odds in others. This is reflected in their varied relationships on set, where Dean and Hudson despised each other, while Taylor went back and forth between the two, having dramatically different experiences with both men.

Around these three there was another social whirl, with supporting players for the most part excluded from the company of the stars like high school outcasts. Some, like emerging method actress Caroll Baker would find themselves drawn into that exclusive crowd and intoxicated by the acceptance. Others, like the seasoned Mercedes McCambridge, were less concerned with status, instead focusing on finding comfort and entertainment during a grueling shoot.

So much of the production of the film is about these relationships and how director George Stevens presided over the group. For that reason, it makes sense that cast and crew interactions dominate the story here. This isn’t a film about technical issues, but rather the culture it reflected and the community that brought it to the screen. Author Edna Ferber felt strongly about her novel and the way that it was translated to the screen, and though she had little power over how the adaptation was approached, she never failed to provide input, and her point of view contrasts in an interesting way with the Hollywood take on Texas.

Graham also digs into the details of pre-production and the critical reception after the film’s release. He shares a some interesting tidbits, like the fact that Stevens seriously courted Audrey Hepburn for the role of Leslie Benedict and that he originally envisioned Alan Ladd as Jett Rink. It’s intriguing to imagine how dramatically these casting choices would have changed Giant.

This is a compelling portrait of a massive film. It covers a lot of ground, but remains engaging. I thought there was more biographical background than necessary on the three stars, but found the production notes fascinating and a solid document of the complexities in managing such a massive production.

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press for providing a copy of the book for review.

On DVD: Faye Emerson and Zachary Scott in the Twisty Noir Danger Signal (1945)

One of my suspense genre pet peeves is the plot that requires the protagonist to miss obvious red flags and continue to plunge into danger. It’s hard to root for someone who doesn’t have a lot of common sense. Danger Signal, which recently made its DVD debut from Warner Archive, manages for the most part to avoid falling into this trap. Here the predictable and the novel co-exist in an interesting film with a solid cast of players who didn’t often get star treatment.

Faye Emerson is Hilda Fenchurch, a serious-minded stenographer who falls for her mother’s (Mary Servoss) mysterious new boarder Ronnie Mason (Zachary Scott). This much to the dismay of a shy scientist at her office, Dr. Andrew Lang (Bruce Bennett), who has a crush on her, and to the curiosity of the sophisticated Dr. Jane Silla who employees her (Rosemary De Camp). Then her kid sister Anne (Mona Freeman) returns home from a stay in a sanitarium to treat tuberculosis, further complicating the dynamic at home with Ronnie.

The film begins with a mysterious scene, in which a woman is seen collapsed on a bed, while the hands of a man are shown removing her wedding ring and taking a large wad of cash out of her wallet while the landlady pounds at the door. The man is Ronnie and he jumps out the window just in time to escape the repercussions of whatever he has been up to in that room. Given this information up front, it’s easy to assume that Ronnie will keep whoever he meets in the dark until the final climax.

That isn’t the case though, because Hilda is a remarkably intelligent heroine. While she initially gives in to Ronnie’s smooth line, she quickly realizes he’s trouble. What’s refreshing is the way she thoroughly discards her crush, seeing the situation for what it is. This is not a woman to be brought down by passion. Emerson plays this even-handed character with steady elegance, granting her her flaws, but always showing the strength within her. She is a woman with a good foundation.

It’s almost amusing how completely Ronnie misses that he has met his match in Hilda. He’s so accustomed to destroying women that it hasn’t occurred to him that one could beat him at his own game. Every time he starts to lead the plot down a predictably menacing path, she steps in to take the action in a different direction. Bennett and DeCamp are equally intelligent, and that mental acuity gives them the means they need to help Hilda. They are a mighty team against Scott, who plays his role like he just came from doing the same thing in another film and is a bit shocked to see things aren’t playing out as usual.

Basically, this is what a suspense thriller looks like when it is dominated by intelligent, clear-thinking people. Freeman takes on the more traditional role of the easily flattered ingénue and Servoss plays a woman simply too good-hearted to believe in Ronnie’s evil. Otherwise, everyone else seems to know where the bodies are buried, which gives this sharp film and its pleasing cast an extra edge. This is an 'A' quality production, despite its 'B' trappings.

Many thanks to Warner Archive for providing a copy of the film for review. This is a Manufacture on Demand (MOD) DVD. To order, visit The Warner Archive Collection.

On Blu-ray: Paul Newman is Detective Lew Harper in Harper (1966) and The Drowning Pool (1975)

Paul Newman took a crack at playing a gumshoe for the first time in Harper (1966), following that success years later with the sequel, The Drowning Pool (1975). This pair of films was inspired by Ross MacDonald’s novels about the detective Lew Archer, which was changed to Harper for the adaptations. Now available on Blu-ray from Warner Archive, the films work individually, but are more fascinating as a double feature which shows the change over the nine years between them.

In Harper, Newman embodies a familiar detective archetype: a man who is good at his profession and lousy in personal relationships. He takes a job to find the millionaire husband of an invalid wife (Lauren Bacall). She assumes he has run off with another woman and claims she just wants to know the details. He enlists the help of the man’s daughter (Pamela Tiffin) and pilot (Robert Wagner), in addition to slogging through the complex lives of a washed-up movie star (Shelley Winters), a junkie lounge singer (Julie Harris), and the eccentric leader of a dubious religious order called the Temple of the Clouds (Strother Martin) in search of answers. Throughout it all, he tangles with his estranged wife (Janet Leigh) on the phone, failing to take her contempt for him seriously.

Harper’s biggest draw is its astonishing cast. There’s always the risk of overcrowding with a mob of varied personalities like these, but all are well-suited to their roles. Each of them get the chance to shine in their own way and just as importantly, they all fit together. Newman takes a light tone as he trips through their sordid lives, seeming to laugh at it all, but aware of the danger they pose. It makes for an interesting tone, where you watch with a tight gut and a grin of mild terror.

Harper's tone reflects the times, free-wheeling, but ill-at-ease, hopeful, but with a taste of cynicism. When Newman returned to the character nine years later in The Drowning Pool (1975), the weariness of the post-sixties, post-Watergate era had settled in. As the wealthy former flame who hires Harper out of concern that her infidelity to her husband will be revealed, Joanne Woodward perfectly expresses that exhaustion. Harper finds himself drawn deeper into family power struggles and complicated relationships, which play out in a more brutal fashion than in the first film.

As Woodward’s teenage daughter, Melanie Griffith stands out as a young woman whose sexual confidence would be admirable if she didn’t seem to be working so hard to implicate older men in pedophilia. Much like her similarly free-spirited character in Night Moves, propriety is simply not this girl's world view, which makes her more dangerous than the adults that maneuver around her. It also makes her more resilient as shown by Woodward’s decline when her own flirtation with impropriety becomes increasingly degrading.

Special features on the Harper Blu-ray included a theatrical trailer and commentary by the film’s screenwriter William Goldman. The Drowning Pool disc has an interesting vintage featurette: Harper Days Are Here Again and a theatrical trailer.

Many thanks to Warner Archive for providing a copies of the films for review. To order, visit The Warner Archive Collection.

Streaming Diary: Buster Keaton, Christopher Plummer and More Stream Free Via The National Film Board of Canada

The National Film Board of Canada is a wondrous organization, giving opportunities to innovative, talented filmmakers and preserving decades of fascinating work. Many of the films supported by the group are available to stream on its official website, several for free (some limited to residents of Canada) and some for a membership fee. 

I have spent many jawdropping hours browsing this site. It is an amazing resource and a great place for classic film fans to find new treasures. Here are some of my favorite titles available for free viewing (all titles link to the film's streaming page):

The Railrodder (1965)

It is delightfully poetic that one of Buster Keaton's last films would be silent. This travelogue, meant to boost Canadian tourism, is also one of the comic's best late career performances. He plays an Englishman who jumps into the Thames and walks across the Atlantic Ocean floor to the shores of Canada. There he hops on railway track speeder and races across the country, taking in the sights with that familiar stone face and air of nonchalant efficiency. It's a gorgeous, peaceful film, full of lovely scenery and the silent charms of one of the best movie comedians, still in great form and executing clever gags. He even gets to wear that legendary pork pie hat again.

Buster Keaton Rides Again (1965)

A great companion piece to The Railrodder, this documentary about the making of the film, with a little biography mixed in, amusingly runs twice as long as the short. In addition to showing lots of behind-the-scenes action, it's a revealing document of Keaton in his later years, where he had finally found some contentment and still had a fully intact sense of humor. He comes off as a genuinely nice guy and is just as entertaining being himself as he ever was in any part he played. It's great fun to watch him with his wife Eleanor, who lovingly, but briskly berates him for tuning his ukulele strings too low and later shouts at a television baseball game with her equally enthusiastic husband.

30 Minutes, Mister Plummer (1963)

This short, narrated and directed by Anne Claire Poirier, and set in the milieu of the Shakespearean Theater in Stratford, Ontario, does not feature as much of Christopher Plummer as the title suggests, but nevertheless offers a few interesting glimpses of the actor in his early years. It's fun to watch him sit in front of his dressing room mirror, attaching an enormous nose for a performance of Cyrano de Bergerac and priceless to observe him smoking a cigarette while chatting with a large, black crow perched on his shoulder. Stage director Michael Langham and fellow thespians Kate Reid, Len Birman, and Martha Henry also make an appearance. Plummer's daughter Amanda, who was six-years-old at the time, also appears briefly, early in the film.

Plummer is also interviewed in The Performer (1959), a documentary about Canadian artists available on the site (he appears around 37:00). In an funny, acidic moment, he is taken to task by the interviewer for leaving Canada for Broadway after raving about the theater scene in his home country. Don't miss the fantastic scene featuring pianist Oscar Peterson and his combo.

Norman McLaren drawing directly on film, 1944 (Image Source)

Experimental filmmaker Norman McLaren is perhaps most famous for his Academy Award-winning short Neighbours (1952), but there is so much more to this boundary-pushing artist. He was a masterful abstract animator and stop motion artist, in addition to creating works that brilliantly captured the spirit of dancers and other performance artists. 

There are several McLaren works on the site. Recommended: the moody dance piece Pas de deux (1968), playful animations Boogie-Doodle (1941) and Synchromy (1971), and the slapstick shorts Opening Speech (1961, starring the filmmaker himself) and my favorite McLaren film: A Chairy Tale (1957), which features a chair animated by Evelyn Lambart and the music of Ravi Shankar and Chatur Lal.

Claude Jutra in A Chairy Tale (1957)

There's so much more to explore on the NFB site, from short and feature length films, to documentaries and animation. If you like these films, I recommend taking the time to browse the rest of the site.