History Is Made at Night.

Review #1863: History Is Made at Night.

Cast: 

Charles Boyer (Paul Dumond), Jean Arthur (Irene Vail), Leo Carrillo (Cesare), Colin Clive (Bruce Vail), Ivan Lebedeff (Michael, Vail's Chauffeur), George Meeker (Mr. Norton), Lucien Prival (Private Detective), George Davis (Maestro), and Pierre Watkin (Commodore Eldridge) Directed by Frank Borzage (#1611 - A Farewell to Arms)

Review: 

Admittedly, some genre-bender movies work a bit differently from others. Particularly if they are romance movies that also happen to have a climax that echoes the Titanic disaster to go along with the towering power of love (or something like that). Who else but Walter Wanger to bring such an enterprising production to the screen? Wanger, who started his producing career with The Sheik (1921), certainly liked to bring both message movies and romantic melodramas to the big screen over an extensive career that saw him work both on his own and with studios, with this being distributed by United Artists. He presented the title and a bare script to Borzage (known already with 7th Heaven (1927) and Bad Girl (1931) for romance triumphs) to pitch him the film, which apparently got him on board. The eventual movie was written by C. Graham Baker while the screenplay was done by Gene Towne, Vincent Lawrence & David Hertz. This wasn't exactly a new idea to have a melodrama infused with a natural disaster, as evidenced by films such as Cavalcade (1933) and San Francisco (1936).

It's a pretty good melodrama, all things considered, if only because it actually has a little fun playing screwball humor to go with its eventual turn of suspense to encapsulate a 95-minute experience that mostly gets it done in the ways that matter. The classic melodrama of the time may have had its contrived moments, but one can always find something energetic or dazzling when it comes to the right hands at director or in the chemistry of its stars. It results in a tender experience wrapped with plenty of warmth that carries itself well without becoming wrapped in all of the contrivances possible. Sometimes one requires a bit of sacrifice and struggle when it comes to romance...one that makes us fall for these two folks in how they are together, right down to each of them getting to engage the other with a hastily created hand puppet. Boyer makes for a charming rogue, one who glides through the film with charisma to spare in a down-to-earth sort of way that we gravitate to pretty quickly in ways slightly different from what he wound up doing in countless other movies. Arthur had been acting on-and-off since 1923 with fleeting notice, but The Whole Town's Talking (1935) and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) put her on the radar, and she certainly excels at making a sort of every-woman kind of role. It is the foibles that each one shows (mostly in Arthur) that we grow to appreciate, where her vulnerabilities are our vulnerabilities, and her dancing in a vacant restaurant (while fiddling with her heels) certainly makes for one of the more interesting sequences of their fluorescent whirlwind together. This was the penultimate role for Clive (who had gone from the stage in 1925 to both stage and film by the 1930s), who died from complications of tuberculosis a couple of months after the release of this film at the age of 37. He makes for a conniving third lead, one perverted in obsession that believes in how righteous they are all the way to the bitter end, which makes a suitable cold ham performance. Carrillo dazzles well in support by acting as the partner for Boyer for sequences involving high-strung people making the best of interesting scenarios, such as exploring the differences for waiters in France compared to America or a cook finding an old friend on a boat. It's a warm and crispy kind of movie, one where all the parts move with resourceful zip and energy to the proceedings. By the time it maneuvers to the ship for its climax, I was having a pretty breezy time enjoying the surroundings that around these folks that is engaging without being overbearing. Sure, one might know where the end road goes, but the path to get there is the enjoyable part and seeing them have to deal with impending ship doom is still a fine way to handle entertainment. As a whole, it is a nice experience lifted by Borzage and company for a solid gem of smiles all the way around that would be ripe for curious filmgoers everywhere.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Shane.

Review #1382: Shane.

Cast: 
Alan Ladd (Shane), Jean Arthur (Marian Starrett), Van Heflin (Joe Starrett), Brandon deWilde (Joey Starrett), Jack Palance (Jack Wilson), Ben Johnson (Chris Calloway), Edgar Buchanan (Fred Lewis), Emile Meyer (Rufus Ryker), Elisha Cook Jr (Frank "Stonewall" Torrey), Douglas Spencer (Axel 'Swede' Shipstead), John Dierkes (Morgan Ryker), Ellen Corby (Mrs. Liz Torrey), and Paul McVey (Sam Grafton) Produced and Directed by George Stevens (#911 - Woman of the Year)

Review: 
“I’ve always been of the opinion that a director should never touch a film without his having a basic knowledge of its contents.”

There have been a countless amount of Westerns to choose from when it comes to picking a film to watch and plenty that came from the 1950s. It should only prove natural that a classic as timeless as this one is came from George Stevens. Born in a family of actors and film crewmen, Stevens honed his craft first as a cameraman with the Laurel and Hardy film series before soon cutting his teeth as a director for shorts and eventually his first feature with the comedy The Cohens and Kellys in Trouble (1933). In the prevailing next few years, he would go on to do comedies and romantic dramas before he left to serve in World War II, which had a diverse selection of stars ranging from Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy (where he directed the first film to feature the two together in Woman of the Year) to Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers with Swing Time (1936) to Cary Grant with Gunga Din (1939). He served with the U.S. Army Signal Corps as a head of the film unit, which filmed numerous events of the war such as the D-Day landings and shots of concentrations camps such as Dachau. When he returned to direct feature films in 1948, his films darkened in optimism, but he reached success with his ambitious efforts. He won two Academy Awards for Best Director for A Place in the Sun (1951) and Giant (1956), a feat matched by just twenty other directors before he closed his career with The Only Game in Town (1970). Stevens commanded respect from his fellow directors and stars, a man capable of keeping control of the film to himself and not at the whims of producers or big names, believing that films should be respected as more than just a tool to be used to sell products when they were aired on television.

It should only prove fitting that the film has a tremendous tense presence to headline a classic like this. Ladd (a man who tried his hand at extras and bit parts before getting his big break at the age of 29) is precisely the man for the moments required of him in this film, a weary presence that we see ourselves drawn to even before conflict has built itself to a boil. He doesn't have the biggest of backstories or the tallest of heights, but there is plenty to see within his eyes when interacting with the others, such as with deWilde or with Arthur, a graceful presence in her last performance before film retirement. Heflin keeps up with resilience fitting of a community man, while deWilde (who had his Broadway debut at the age of 7) makes a compelling coming of age presence that is crystalized with the final iconic scene with Ladd. The rest of the cast contribute in their own ways, such as a conniving Meyer. Palance utilizes his moments on screen with menacing precision through the way he says his lines, with the highlight being the sequence outside the saloon that builds tension right up until the gunshots are fired (done by shooting into a garbage can), complete with wires to jerk back the actor after being shot, a startlingly effective choice. The film was adapted from the Jack Schaefer's 1949 novel of the same name by Pultizer Prize novelist A.B. Guthrie Jr and columnist Jack Sher. It's interesting that the film turned out so well with the strange difficulties it faced at times with its stars. For example, Ladd, who disliked guns, took 116 takes when it came time to film the shooting demonstration sequence. Palance did not have much experience with guns or horses, and he had trouble in mounting (and demounting) his horse; the one take of him successfully mounting his horse would be used numerous times (along with being reversed for dismounts) during the film. This is a film that went from original plans of 58 shooting days to 75 (done in 1951) with extensive editing done by Stevens that led to delays. And yet here we are, talking about a classic for its decade because of how well-crafted it is, meticulous in its look in sets alongside award-winning cinematography from Loyal Griggs that go with a game cast and startling direction that certainly proved inspiring for future films (such as Pale Rider) while ultimately being a thought-provoking Western of a time that never ages and never dies.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

Review #102: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

Cast
James Stewart (Jefferson Smith), Jean Arthur (Ms. Simmons), Claude Rains (Joseph Paine), Edward Arnold (Jim Taylor), Thomas Mitchell (Diz Moore), and Guy Kibbee (Hubert Hopper). Directed by Frank Capra (#319 - It's A Wonderful Life and #456 - It Happened One Night)

Review
This film is a classic that is well acted and well done. James Stewart is the best in this film, he plays such an innocent naive man who evolves into a man who defends himself even in times of doubt and exhaustion. Arthur does great too, playing a woman who has been corrupted by greed, but she comes to come back full circle. But the one who makes his moments is Rains as the antagonist of this film. He's evolved once from a man who cared and compromised into a machine of himself. The film teaches lessons and makes it's case in a informative format. It truly is a great film after 73 years.

Overall, I give it 10 out of 10 stars.