I'm going to spend a little of your time discussing a film from last year. We just recently saw La La Land (2016) with a live orchestra providing the score, and this second viewing even further solidified my appreciation for the influence of classic cinema on director Damien Chazelle. Let's spend a few minutes looking at some of the references to film's past that appear throughout the movie. The plot is a simple boy meets girl story. Mia (Emma Stone) is a would-be actress, working as a barista at a film studio coffee shop. Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) is a gifted musician with a passion for jazz music. Their first meetings are problematic, but when they finally get to talk at a party, love grows. Complications ensue when Seb takes a job with a contemporary music group. Making more money than he had ever hoped to see, but playing music he dislikes, Seb is also constantly away from Mia. They begin to drift apart as their lives and careers collide. The film opens with a a dance number on the LA freeway, as Mia, Seb, and half of the city are caught in a traffic jam. With rich colors and enthusiastic, athletic dancing, the segment is a tip of the hat to the 1967 Jacques Demy musical The Young Girls of Rochefort. The images below will give you a look at the two scenes side-by-side. For an audience unused to a film opening with people singing and dancing (for no good reason!) on a highway or bridge, this must have been a shocking opening. I found it wonderful! Another Demy film, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, also provides inspiration for La La Land. The endings of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and La La Land are also remarkably similar. This article from PopSugar has a very interesting analysis of the two movies.
La La Land
The Young Girls of Rochefort
Two days after the release of La La Land (December 25, 2016), Debbie Reynolds, the star of Singin' in the Rain, died at the age of 84. In January, La La Land was awarded the Chairman's Vanguard Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. It was accepted by Ryan Gosling, whose acceptance speech focused on Ms. Reynolds and the inspiration her performance provided to the cast. (Slate.com). There are several nods to Singin' in the Rain in the film - Seb and Mia strolling through an active movie set, as Don and Cosmo do; Seb swinging around a lamppost, reminiscent of the Singin' in the Rain title number; and the concluding fantasy sequence which summons up images of the "Gotta Dance" number. (Slate)
Other films - both musical and non-musical - make appearances. A fantasy epilogue towards the end of La La Land brings to mind the "Our Love is Here to Stay" number from An American in Paris, as well as the Ballet Sequence in that film. Emma Stone carrying a bunch of balloons in the sequence is a clear pointer to Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face. We even see a little boy in that epilogue carrying a Red Balloon. As Seb and Mia dance in the stars, both the "Begin the Beguine" number from Broadway Melody of 1940 and the "Never Gonna Dance" number from Swing Time are benchmarks. Mia's bedroom contains a large mural of Ingrid Bergman, and her cafe if just across the street from a stage set that was the window of the Cafe Aurore in Casablanca. Seb brings Mia to see Rebel Without a Cause; then the couple visits the Griffith Observatory where much of the action from that film occurs. The Slate article previously referenced and this discussion in New York Times provide an excellent outline of the many classic film references.
La La Land is a film that one can watch multiple times and each time see something new. I'll leave you with a trailer and my favorite song from the film:
Paedar Conlan (Donald Crisp), a Sein Fein official, is on the run from the British military in 1920s Dublin. He's being sought by Captain Andrew Kerr (Colin Clive), an officer in the Secret Service. Andrew and his wife, Norah (Edna Best) have a good marriage, though Andrew knows that she once loved another. Their life becomes more complex with the arrival of Captain Bill Tennant (William Powell), Norah's former love. Thus begins The Key (1934). A compact film, The Key proved to be interesting plot, if a bit weak at times. We discussed the rather oblique title at some length (was it called The Key because of Powell's entry into his commander's office? Or was Paedar Conlan The Key to all the problems? It's a mystery; and not a very revealing title). We were also bemused by an ending that felt tacked on. Released in 1934, we suspect that concerns with the code may have altered the original ending. Regardless, it felt abrupt and slapdash. The actual key to this film is William Powell. With the twinkle in his eyes, and his devil-may-care attitude, Powell saves the film from being a bore. When he is on the screen, you can't take your eyes away from him. Particularly nice were his interactions with a flower girl (played by Anne Shirley, back when she was still Dawn O'Day). We know that Tennant is a ladies' man, but his conversations with Ms. O'Day are gently flirtatious, an acknowledgement of her youth and obvious naivety. A consummate actor, Mr. Powell is never better than when he is a bit of rogue; he's always able to let you know that there is a gentle side to nature.
Colin Clive proves a good foil to Mr. Powell. His character is very
straight-arrow; this allows Powell to give the action some much needed bounce. Mr. Clive had a very brief film career - only 18 movies between 1930 and 1937, the most famous of which was his role as Dr. Henry Frankenstein in the 1931 Frankenstein. During the same period, he appeared in 4 Broadway plays, including Libel, which would be made into a film in 1959. Whether Mr. Clive could have broken away from the super-serious plotlines into which he was being cast will never be known. He died in 1937 of tuberculosis complicated by alcoholism; he was 37. This was Mr. Powell's last picture at Warner Brothers. He'd not felt well-used there; he selected The Key over another Philo Vance film and a movie called Dollar Wise (which does not seem to have ever made it to the screen). When his contract ended, he headed down the road to MGM, where he was teamed with Myrna Loy and Clark Gable in Manhattan Melodrama (1934). That paring with Ms. Loy was such a success that they appeared in another film that same year, for which Mr. Powell was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar - The Thin Man. Ultimately, Mr. Powell and Ms. Loy were in 14 films together. (TCM article; William Powell The Life and Films by Roger Bryant).
Mordaunt Hall in his New York Timesreview called The Key "a sturdy and effective melodrama" which is perhaps more praise than it deserves. He was particularly impressed with the performances of Mr. Powell and Mr. Clive; he even singles out Ms. O'Day for praise. While not a bad film, it's not Mr. Powell's best. But even his least is worth a quick view. We'll leave you with this clip from the film:
The Stilwin family, Helen (Barbara Stanwyck), Doug (Barry Sullivan), and son Bobby (Lee Aaker) are in a deserted area of Mexico to enjoy a long anticipated camping expedition. But when an accident places Doug in Jeopardy (1953), it's up to Helen to find assistance before the rising tide drowns her husband. There is, however, a complication - an escaped murderer (Ralph Meeker as Lawson) is in the area, and will stop at nothing to get away.
The poster art for the film is rather peculiar. Yes, Helen does end up in jeopardy, but there are two people in real danger. The posters make it look as though the title of the film is A Woman in Jeopardy, when it is not. This, of course, does make the art a bit more lascivious, but it doesn't prepare the viewer for the real story. We were a little taken aback that Doug would bring his family to such a remote and really dangerous area, especially since they are in a country where none of them speak the language (Doug does have a modicum of Spanish). The conversations between Doug and Helen, however, remind us that this was an area in which Doug spent some happy times during the second World War, fishing with his army buddies. We can assume that, after facing combat, Doug found the isolation of this area attractive, and he remembers it colored by his other thoughts about his time in the service. Barry Sullivan is quite good as Doug - you may shake your head at his decision to take his family to such an odd vacation locale, but you cannot doubt his regard for his wife nor his love for his son. Sullivan's scenes with young Lee Aaker are especially moving; as Doug loses hope of Helen's timely return, he begins to carefully prepare the boy for his death. Sullivan does it tactfully, and without any self-pity. It's a picture of a good father wanting what is best for his boy.
Mr. Sullivan was particularly complementary about Ms. Stanwyck in the film, stating that "of the films I did with Miss Stanwyck only Jeopardy sticks in my mind as having any merit, but all three occasions (the others were The Maverick Queen and Forty Guns) cling to my memory as fun experiences." Part of the credit for the success of the film goes to director John Sturges, who enticed Ms. Stanwyck back from a one-year attempt at retirement. (TCM article) There was a great deal of discussion about Ralph Meeker, who presents an interesting and complicated character. Two of our members wondered if providing a backstory for Lawson would have been beneficial. What did he do? Why was he in Mexico? I'm convinced it would not have added anything. We know Lawson is a murderer. We see a dead man that he killed, and we see him shoot a police officer. That, for me, was enough. By the end (no spoilers on this one), we do have to look at Lawson as a human being rather than just a malevolent villain. Lawson is a complex individual who you won't like but will appreciate.
Lee Aaker, who is very good as Bobby, had a relatively short film and television career. He's probably best remembered today for his role as Corporal Rusty in The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin (1954-1959). Many of his film roles were uncredited (like A Lion is in the Streets (1953)), but he also had the role of Red Chief in "The Ransom of Red Chief" segment of O. Henry's Full House. When acting roles were not available to him any longer (as so frequently happens to child actors), he went into the production arena. He finally left Hollywood, settling in Mammoth Lakes, California.
Based on a radio play A Question of Time (AFI catalog), the film was expanded a bit, but is still relatively short - 69 minutes, which affords the film a lot of tension. Bosley Crowther of the New York Timeswas not impressed by the film; regardless it did well at the box office. In 1954, Ms. Stanwyck and Mr. Sullivan reprized their roles in a 48 minute broadcast. In a recent introduction on TCM's Noir Alley (to Stawyck's Crime of Passion), Eddie Muller called Ms. Stanwyck "greatest actress in the history of
motion pictures." He went on to say:
Not only did Ms. Stanwyck possess the greatest range of any
movie actress, being equally adept at screwball comedy and gut-wrenching drama,
she could easily lay claim to being the most essential actress in the development
of film noir. After all, dark crime thrillers were not really a movement until
Stanwyck created a sensation as the duplicitous
Phyllis Dietrickson in 1944’s Double Indemnity. At that time she was the
highest paid woman in the USA and the box office success of that film was the
single most critical factor in the rise of what would later be called film
noir. And she didn’t stop there; during
the 10 years following Double Indemnity, she could lay claim to the title The Queen of Film
Noir: The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, Sorry, Wrong Number, The Two Mrs. Carrolls, The File on Thelma
Jordan, No Man of Her Own, Witness to Murder,
as well as noir-stained dramas like The Lady Gambles, Clash by Night,
and Jeopardy. Stanwyck took a long Walk on the Wild Side. For years however,
few of those films were mentioned when experts talked about film noir. The
reason is simple. Film scholars were mostly men and they rarely felt a female
protagonist fit the mold they’d established for film noir. No one, man or woman, portrayed this angst
and agony better than Barbara Stanwyck.
Thank you, Mr. Muller for saying so eloquently what we've been attesting to in our own modest way about this most glorious of actresses. We'll leave you with this trailer for the film.
When a rainstorm floods out a train trestle and strands her in the boom town New City, Texas, Lucy Gallant (1955) (played by Jane Wyman) realizes she can make her fortune by selling the nouveau riche clothing from New York and Paris. With the help of local banker Charlie Madden (William Demarest), the owner of the local brothel Lady "Mac" MacBeth Claire Treveor), and rancher Casey Cole (Charlton Heston), Lucy opens a store. But the success of the store creates a barrier between her and Casey - he wants a stay-at-home wife, and Lucy loves working. I try to not give away the ending of films as a rule, but as our major issue with Lucy Gallant was the ending, I'll have to do a bit of a spoiler. We had thoroughly enjoyed it up until the last scene, but the standard 1950s woman as "handmaiden to her man" routine was irritating. The character of Lucy Gallant is so attractive - she's smart, clever, imaginative, kind, and loyal - it's hard to see her giving up her dream because some man doesn't want his wife working. We found ourselves coming up with a five years later scenario in which Lucy was back running her beloved store. Based on a novella, The Life of Lucy Gallant by Margaret Cousins, this is an interesting portrait of the women in New City. The characters of Lucy, Molly Basserman (Thelma Ritter) and Mac are carefully drawn. All are strong characters, well able to take care of themselves (and often having to do so). The script is not so careful of the the men. Casey begins as gentleman-ly and rather attractive, but deteriorates into a petulant, chauvinistic caricature. Gus Basserman (Wallace Ford) may have found oil, but he remains a crude drunk, Jim Wardman (Tom Helmore) is your typical northern carpetbagger, and Charlie Madden is a weakling. In fact, the only reliable male here is Summertime (Joel Fluellen), who remains loyal to Lucy through every crisis, but as an African-American is relegated, per the mores of the time, to being the doorman at Gallant's.
Jeanine Basinger, in her book A Women's View: How Hollywood Spoke to Women 1930-1960
posits that the film equates Lucy's life in the
department store as a prison, where freedom is marriage and children. But I would suggest there is another subtext in the film, much more hidden, and possibly more critical of the role Lucy assumes at the film's conclusion. The biggest advocate for Lucy's marriage to Casey is Molly Basserman. At the beginning of the film, Molly runs a boarding house while her husband wildcats for oil. Later in the film, we see Gus Basserman drinking and whoring. Finally, Lucy discovers that Gus has purchased a very expensive fur coat for another woman, and it appears that Molly is blissfully unaware of her husband's infidelity. With this the only symbol of a "happy" marriage in the film, just WHAT is Lucy getting herself into?
In theirreview of the film, theNew York Times comments that Charlton Heston is "not believable" as Casey. We tend to agree. He plays the role as though pouting for the whole film. While at first, Casey seems like a gallant gentleman, after awhile he is merely annoying. He seems to have no regard for Lucy's happiness, and he is unable to compromise on anything. We expected that the character would grow, but he did not. Heston was allegedly dissatisfied with his performance - his mind was elsewhere. When Lucy Gallant wrapped, Heston flew off for his next role - in The Ten Commandments! The film is very much about fashion, and there are some lovely outfits (though most have a 1950s vibe, even though much of the action takes place before the second World War). We also get treated to a Vista Vision fashion show, emceed by the one and only Edith Head (who designed the dresses for the film). The film demonstrates that the growth of Gallant's mirrors the growth of the town of New City, and the dominance of the female clientele in the town. We see other stores begin to appear near Gallant's, including a high-end jewelry story. The women in the town dress better, and there is a decidedly more cosmopolitan air to New City by the conclusion of the film.
According to the AFI catalog, Joan Crawford was at first interested in the part of Lucy. The Hollywood Reporter had also announced that Jody McCrea (son of Joel and Frances Dee) and Julie Dorsey (daughter of Jimmy) were to have made their film debuts in Lucy Gallant; neither however made it to the final version of the film. We'll leave you with an early scene, in which Lucy meets some of the local ladies of New City:
