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Tag: 1954

  • White Christmas (1954)

    White Christmas (1954)

    140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW

    Beautiful Irving Berlin music (except the minstrel number), excellent screwball dialogue & fine performances, especially by Clooney & Kaye.

    White Christmas

    Spoiler-free Movie Review of White Christmas:

    Yes, this review certainly is out of season. So what? After a period of low output, I’m getting back into somewhat of a good groove with the reviews and want to finalize many of these half-written pieces from the back end of 2014, including this one, written for the 60th anniversary of White Christmas in December. (Besides, the holiday setting is really the only thing that makes it a holiday movie, per se.)

    White Christmas

    White Christmas is sort of a greatest hits album of a film. Like Singin’ In The Rain, it’s largely a collection of music from other, less popular or unproduced plays and films. It’s interesting that this picture is revered and loved, while Holiday Inn, the original home of the classic song White Christmas, is more often thought of as the answer to a trivia question than for its own merits (which are considerable).

    But if that introduction seems to indicate that White Christmas is a retread or a lesser work, that is in no way the reality. White Christmas is a wonderful film, a holiday classic without qualification.

    White Christmas

    Filmed in Technicolor, the colors are rich and sumptuous, popping off the screen. More importantly, it was the first movie released in VistaVision, and remains a gorgeous spectacle to show off that storied format. The expanded scope of the format makes for great, sweeping dance numbers. I always found it interesting that Gene Kelly disliked scope films, feeling that the 1.33:1 “full” format made for better blocking and film choreography of dance scenes. I have no intention of disagreeing with such an amazing filmmaker, but I quite like the widescreen 2.35:1 or even 2.40:1 frame for musical numbers – provided, of course, that they use it in the planning. If you’re just trying to track a couple, 4:3 or 16:9 does work better.

    The film was helmed by Michael Curtiz – so many great movies on that resume. It has always amazed me that when people discuss the legendary & prolific directors like Ford, Welles, or their modern contemporaries like Spielberg, Curtiz’s name seldom comes up. He was attached to so many landmark films.

    White Christmas

    The music, of course, is the big draw, with so many great Irving Berlin tunes. Upon watching the film for the first time with my daughter this holiday season, I was astonished that the song she sang the most in the days following was the Army song “The Old Man”. Guess you can never tell…

    The highlight may be the title song, but not the traditional performance at the end of the picture. In the first scene, set in wartime Europe, Crosby understates it wonderfully accompanied only by Kay grinding the melody out on a music box. The song has never sounded better.

    White Christmas

    (The lowlight, of course, is the Minstrel number – I completely forgot about this thing. Blocked it out, more likely. While I’m not one for fiddling with films after the fact, I think you could make a pretty good case for cutting this number completely out.)

    The song that has in some ways become the centerpiece of the picture, “Sisters”, is accompanied by Crosby & Kaye sending it up; a late add, included when the stars were seen goofing around on set.

    White Christmas

    What a knockout cast. Rosemary Clooney is nearly as entertaining as an actress has she is a singer. Her chemistry with the somewhat flat Vera-Allen, who is here for her phenomenal dancing, makes the girls portions of the story at least as interesting as the Crosby/Kaye scenes. (There is some truly wonderful dancing by Kaye & Vera-Ellen.)

    Danny Kaye may be the most overlooked talent in Hollywood history. No, Donald O’Connor, probably… (who actually was attached to the project before leaving due to illness). Can you imagine this film with Fred Astaire, whom the part was written for? No knock on Astaire, but this thing would have been too stuffy without Kaye.

    White Christmas

    It’s a good story, being something slightly more than just a vehicle for the songs. The Army buddies dynamic of the two male leads is an inspired premise and keeps the motivation for all of the characters actions believable. “Let’s just say we’re doing it for a pal in the Army, huh?”

    The dialogue is snappy and fun and helps the pace, which would otherwise suffer a bit. As great as this picture is, I have no idea why they felt the need to drag it out for two full hours. But the screwball comedy wit from veterans Norman Krasna, Norman Panama and Melvin Frank is textbook stuff and should be taught in classes as such…

    White Christmas

    White Christmas really is a great film to watch at any time of year. There’s nothing about Clooney’s performance of “Love, You Didn’t Do Right By Me” that will have you thinking about anything cool. Highly recommended…

    Poster:

    white christmas_poster

    Trailer:

    Bechdel Test:

    Pass

    The Representation Test Score: C (6 pts)

    (http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)

    White Christmas Representation Test

     

    [schema type=”movie” name=”White Christmas” description=”A successful song-and-dance team become romantically involved with a sister act and team up to save the failing Vermont inn of their former commanding general.” director=”Michael Curtiz” actor_1=”Bing Crosby” ]

    Main Cast Bing Crosby Bob Wallace, Danny Kaye Phil Davis, Rosemary Clooney Betty Haynes, Vera-Ellen (as Vera Ellen) Judy Haynes
    Rating Approved
    Release Date Thu 14 Oct 1954 UTC
    Director Michael Curtiz
    Genres Comedy, Musical, Romance
    Plot A successful song-and-dance team become romantically involved with a sister act and team up to save the failing Vermont inn of their former commanding general.
    Poster White Christmas
    Runtime 120
    Tagline First and unforgettable picture in VISTAVISION
    Writers Norman Krasna (written for the screen by) &, Norman Panama (written for the screen by) …
    Year 1954
  • Them! (1954)

    Them! (1954)

    140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW

    One of the first atomic age monster pictures and still one of the very best. It was released 60 years ago but actually still is scary…

    Them!

    Spoiler-free Movie Review of Them!:

    I grew up loving this movie. My father loves it and it was one of the first films he got on VHS (ask your parents, kids). It’s an absolute classic, one of the greatest creature features and still plays surprisingly well.

    Them!

    The main reason that the movie has aged so well is the same as that of other classic monster pictures; slow-building suspense trumps special effects wizardry. Although Them! employs rather simplistic techniques for the monsters, this is a good thing. There’s a menacing quality to the slow approach of the ants that makes them frightening. The filmmakers also wisely don’t overreach with the shots of the creatures, displaying their falseness, but instead judiciously focus on the terrifying sounds of the ants (tree frogs) and the dark underground settings to ratchet up the suspense. I’m serious – this film is far more suspenseful, thrilling and actually scary than you might expect considering it’s about giant killer ants.

    Them!

    It would have been brilliant to see this movie when it came out. These movies get spoofed like crazy, and deservedly so, but at the time they were not so credulous. This was the dawn of the atomic age. People truly did not know the full effects of these incredible weapons. It may not seem plausible today to assume that weapons testing in the desert could cause the type of mutations that these 1950’s monster pictures reveled in, but there was just enough doubt in peoples minds at the time that it’s easy to understand why the public ate these things up.

    Unbelievably, the movie was supposed to be in color and in 3D, but they had technical problems. So there are entire shots that are clearly meant to play up the 3D effect. I can’t imagine this film in color – it would have severely cheapened it. The atmosphere evoked by the dark, black & white scenes, particularly in the desert is magical and adds so much atmosphere that you excuse any eye-rolling dialogue.

    (For the best movie about this time, check out Joe Dante’s marvelous 1993 film Matinee, a comedy picture set during the Cuban Missile Crisis wherein John Goodman plays the director of these atomic age creature movies. Brilliant.)

    Them!

    For all of the times you’ve heard someone go on and on about how great Jaws is because they keep up the suspense and don’t reveal the beast until well into the picture, have you ever wondered where Spielberg learned that technique? Them! is the original – one of the all time great monster pictures.

    Fun fact: Look for a young Leonard Nimoy as a soldier reading out some wire copy.

    Fun fact #2: Has a number of Wilhelm screams from back before it was an inside joke.

    Poster:

    Trailer:

    Bechdel Test:

    Fail

    The Representation Test Score: D (2 pts)

    (http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)

    Representation Test

    [schema type=”movie” name=”Them!” description=”The earliest atomic tests in New Mexico cause common ants to mutate into giant man-eating monsters that threaten civilization.” director=”Gordon Douglas” actor_1=”James Whitmore” ]

    Main Cast James Whitmore Police Sgt. Ben Peterson, Edmund Gwenn Dr. Harold Medford, Joan Weldon Dr. Patricia ‘Pat’ Medford, James Arness Robert Graham
    Rating Approved
    Release Date Sat 19 Jun 1954 UTC
    Director Gordon Douglas
    Genres Horror, Sci-Fi
    Plot The earliest atomic tests in New Mexico cause common ants to mutate into giant man-eating monsters that threaten civilization.
    Poster Them!
    Runtime 94
    Tagline The Amazing New Warner Bros. Sensation!
    Writers Ted Sherdeman (screenplay), Russell S. Hughes (as Russell Hughes) (adaptation)
    Year 1954
  • Rear Window (1954)

    Rear Window (1954)

    #140RVW

    Hitch’s 2nd best film is a master class in slowly building dramatic tension by letting the audience discover clues as the protagonist does.

    Rear Window

    What’s more:

    I got the unexpected opportunity to see Rear Window on the big screen this week. While I’ve seen it a number of times, I had never seen it like this. No matter how great our at home systems get, there is nothing like seeing movies projected against a huge screen. Even if I one day get to build my ideal home theater, I can’t imagine that it will ever match the immersive experience that comes with entering a dark theater, turning off the outside world and being surrounded by the experience that the filmmaker intended.

    Aside: Although I could do without the damn commercials. It’s a simple equation: tv is free (theoretically at least) so I have to sit through commercials – that’s my charge; I pay for movies so I don’t have to watch commercials. They’ve changed the implicit contract, something that makes me threaten to stop going to the theater every time.

    Rear Window

    Every movie gets better when it goes up on that screen on the wall, even if some movies aren’t going to be any good no matter what. When you’re seeing a classic film, something you originally saw on a tv screen, the experience is often transformative. Sometimes you notice new details that simply were lost with downsizing. Often there is a quality improvement as screenings frequently involve a restoration. But largely the grandeur and scope are simply the elements that are restored, just by virtue of commanding your scattered attention in an increasingly distracting world.

    Rear Window

    Rear Window really benefitted tremendously from a theatrical presentation. Many writers more insightful than myself have explored Hitchcock’s themes with this picture: putting the protagonist in the place of the audience and vice versa, the relationship between Jeff & Lisa being reflected in the other relationships visible through the window, etc. I won’t subject you to my own dog-eared analysis, other than the cynical observation that Hitchcock was too pragmatic of a filmmaker to waste time with all this literary nonsense – I think he just liked making crime pictures.

    Rear Window

    What is true is that watching the film theatrically really accentuated this idea of the film screen being the window pane. In all of the movie I can recall only a couple of instances of actors looking directly at the camera, and at those times it is clear that the camera is from Jeff’s POV. Watch the behavior of any of the visitors to Jeff’s apartment; they all approach the edge of the room, standing back from the enormous windows as if walking up to a wall-sized mural and trying to focus on an unreachable detail while still seeing the whole painting. The lighting is key; while never looking at you, you really feel the characters are stepping forward to better see through the screen that doubles as the window pane.

    Rear Window

    While the production is brilliantly confined like Jeff (Jimmy Stewart) to his apartment, and is staged as if it were a play, Rear Window truly is a film experience. Hitchcock tantalizes you with this panorama of interesting characters, but controls your view to the spectacle, as if someone else were in charge of moving your telescope for you. Jeff falls asleep, loses attention, fails to notice details – it’s a very human account of the story. He’s not an omniscient observer and so you cannot be.

    Rear Window

    The casting is truly inspired.

    • Jimmy Stewart in his 2nd of 4 Hitchcock movies provides his usual down-to-earth everyman who is so genial and Jimmy Stewarted that you don’t think he’s a creep for peeping at his neighbors all day. Which he is.
    • Grace Kelly. Ah, Grace Kelly. Her second and best Hitchcock film role gives her a little more edge than in Dial M for Murder. But mainly she shows inner strength as Stewart’s Girl Friday and wears Edith Head’s designed clothes as no one else before or since.
    • Thelma Ritter adds some comic relief, filling out the main cast.
    • Raymond Burr adds a bit of menace, even if he was cast mainly because he could easily be made up to look like producer David O. Selznick, whom Hitchcock disliked.

    Rear Window

    Based on the short story “It Had To Be Murder” by Cornell Woolrich, John Michael Hayes (pride of Worcester, MA) penned the screenplay, the first of four straight he did for Hitch.

    The Franz Waxman score is wonderful as always, even if there really isn’t much of it. Hitch wanted all the sounds of the movie to be diegetic – the sounds of what you saw happening.

    Rear Window

    I believe Rear Window is second only to Vertigo in Hitch’s collected works. The story is grounded in reality, the tension is excellent, the dialogue wonderful and it has Grace Kelly.

    Rear Window

    Alright, that’s enough Grace Kelly pictures for you. One more? Ok. Here you are. And now you’re done…

    Rear Window

    And one more thing…

    By the way, want to see something amazing? Filmmaker Jeff Desom mapped all of the shots outside the apartment window and composited them all into a panoramic time-lapse video. Shows the whole sequence of events all on one large plane. The original is about 20 minutes and is meant to be projected, but you can see a sample reel showing how it was done and the final product in a few minutes. Genius…http://www.jeffdesom.com/hitch/ (also at http://www.criticalcommons.org/Members/ccManager/clips/spatialized-timelapse-of-hitchcocks-rear-window)

    Jeff Desom
    http://jeffdesom.com/hitch/
    Poster:

    Trailer:

    Bechdel Test:

    Pass

    The Representation Test Score: C (6 pts)

    (http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)

    Representation Test

    Main Cast James Stewart L.B. ‘Jeff’ Jefferies, Grace Kelly Lisa Carol Fremont, Wendell Corey Det. Lt. Thomas J. Doyle, Thelma Ritter Stella
    Rating Approved
    Release Date Sat 29 Jan 1955 UTC
    Director Alfred Hitchcock
    Genres Mystery, Thriller
    Plot A wheelchair bound photographer spies on his neighbours from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.
    Poster Rear Window
    Runtime 112
    Tagline The Essential Hitchcock
    Writers John Michael Hayes (screenplay), Cornell Woolrich (based on the short story by)
    Year 1954