These two films have one thing very much in common: a man on a ledge. And they have one major difference: one of them is not good, and should be ejected.
EJECT!Man on a Ledge(2011; Sam Worthington; directed by Pablo J. Fenves; widely available) “Uninspired acting and preposterous plotlines defuse Man on a Ledge’s mildly intriguing premise” is the summation on RottenTomatoes.com, where this descriptively-titled film (which adds a heist element) managed only a 31% rating but is currently a top DVD rental. Some of the not-so-hot reviews: “The ledge is the movie’s most dynamic performer”; “The solution to ‘now what do we do for 103 minutes?’ is to pile as many silly distractions into the running time as possible”; “Nobody should be this hard up for entertainment”.
PLAY!14 Hours(1951; Richard Basehart; Barbara Bel Geddes; Paul Douglas; directed by Henry Hathaway; widely available) There is the usual workday hustle and bustle on the streets of Manhattan, mixed with a St. Patrick’s Day spirit, when we hear a woman’s penetrating scream. There’s a man in a white shirt and tie perched precariously on the ledge of a tall building, and he’s looking downward as if he’s preparing to jump. From there, this tense film proceeds to uncover this troubled man’s motives, building sympathy for him along the way. Focusing on the characters and the basic idea of will he or won’t he, the movie will keep you on the edge, too–without overloading you with distractions.
Everyone will have a different way of reflecting (cinematically and otherwise) today upon the sacrifices so many have made. As for me, I’d prefer the “war movies” that don’t glorify war. My favorites are ones which depict war’s anguish, loneliness, and longing, all of which are present in these films. (All are widely available via streaming or disc.)
Saving Private Ryan (1998; Tom Hanks) Spielberg was inspired by Lewis Milestone’s All Quiet on the Western Front.
Sahara(1943; Humphrey Bogart) Cross-section of desperate soldiers find a common humanity.
Twelve O’Clock High (1949; Gregory Peck) Moving, wistful, other-worldy (“You’re already dead”) portrayal of a WWII bomber group. Peck is terrific.
Guns of Navarone (1961; Gregory Peck, David Niven) Another great Peck performance; an almost perfect film from start to finish. Gripping, tense, emotional.
The Great Escape (1963; Steve McQueen) Amazing cast in the story of a Nazi prison camp. Tragedy and humor blend perfectly together.
Dr. Strangelove (1964; Peter Sellers, George C. Scott) Disturbingly real in spite of a ridiculous story. Contrary to the movie’s full title, you won’t stop worrying.
The Dirty Dozen (1967; Lee Marvin) At times horrifying, at times funny. No film captures the camaraderie of soldiers better.
Casualties of War (1989; Sean Penn, Michael J. Fox) Underrated Brian DePalma. Beautiful Ennio Morricone score. Powerful final scene.
Apocalypse Now (1979; Marlon Brando) Even with some albeit interesting flaws (Brando), other than Platoon, this movie replicates the Vietnam experience better than any other.
Platoon (1986; Charlie Sheen) The most realistic portrayal of day-to-day soldiering in Vietnam.
Paths of Glory(1957; Kirk Douglas) Amazing, brutal, honest, maddening. Closing sequence is unforgettable.
All Quiet on the Western Front(1930; Lew Ayres) My personal choice as the finest “war movie”, but one with a definite anti-war message that cuts to the bone. Once again, there’s a final scene that’s as moving as anything ever put on the screen.
This is the first of my reviews of the 16 films I saw over the course of four days at the TCM Festival this past April.
HOW THE WEST WAS WON(1962; James Stewart, Debbie Reynolds) at Hollywood’s Cinerama Dome, Sunday April 15, 9 a.m.
The lure: A restoration; 1st time!; Cinerama print! Cinerama Dome theater!!
If I could’ve cloned myself: (In order to see HTWWW, I had to miss all these Festival films, which were playing concurrently): To Catch a Thief and Black Narcissus (painful to have to pass on those two…), A Trip to the Moon, Rosemary’s Baby, The Grapes of Wrath, Trouble in Paradise, Charade).
Thoughts: Loved it. It was far from the plodding, talky “horse opera” I’d anticipated. I’d almost decided against going, partly due to the movie’s length (close to four hours with one intermission) and partly because Black Narcissus and To Catch a Thief (along with some others) were playing at the same time. It was a tough choice. But after all, this was Cinerama!, to paraphrase Lowell Thomas, and it was the Cinerama Dome. A once-in-a-lifetime chance.
On the Dome’s big, curved screen, the sweeping, episodic film was breathtaking. Some of the fun was wondering which Hollywood star would make their appearance next. Henry Fonda, Richard Widmark, Robert Preston, Gregory Peck, Walter Brennan. (John Wayne’s had an impact similar to Welles’ in The Third Man).
Debbie Reynolds chatted with TCM host Robert Osborne afterwards. She recalled having had a lot of fun with co-star Thelma Ritter (“she was a sonofabitch with the horses”), and how director Henry Hathaway gave Reynolds a slug of whisky before she had to shoot some of the more dangerous scenes (Reynolds’ double was in the audience as well). Hathaway wrote scenes during the filming, and “really pulled the picture together”.
Two stunt doubles died during the river raft sequence; another lost his leg while filming the movie’s spectacular, concluding train wreck–a sequence which received applause from the sold-out, very appreciative audience. This was a truly unique experience. The film’s big, bulky Cinerama camera was on display in the lobby.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch: The restored version of HTWWW is widely available, including on Blu-Ray. Obviously, this movie will be much better on the biggest screen possible. Even better–if you have a projection system–would be a wide, white, inwardly-curving wall. (If you have three projectors, feel creative, and want to experiment, see if you can set them up so that you recreate Cinerama’s three-film-strip presentation. Then let us know the results!) The movie’s long. I mean really long (164 minutes), but there are very few dull moments, and if your guests are classic movie fans, they’ll love the endless parade of cameos. For vittles, I’d serve this film with–what else–anything cooked with BBQ sauce, preferably outdoors on the grill, beans, and a jug of powerful likker. Suggested shorts: Droopy in The Shooting of Dan McGoo, or Devilwood ( available on iTunes).
WINGS (1927; Clara Bow, Gary Cooper, Buddy Rogers, Richard Arlen; directed by William Wellman; film is widely available)
For my first-ever viewing of William Wellman’s 1927 silent,Wings, I couldn’t have chosen a better place: the 2012 TCM Classic Movie Festival, in Hollywood, at Graumann’s Chinese Multiplex Theater #1. I didn’t know what to expect; I thought the film might be way too melodramatic (as silents sometimes are, to me) and the effects very primitive. But, although the story got slightly corny in parts, I really, really loved the film. I was glued to my seat and found the aerial battles truly amazing (some scenes in this black-and-white film are color-enhanced, to excellent effect). Adding to the experience was a memorable musical score–a new recording of the original music. I think Star Wars fans will find the basis for their film in Wings.
Preceding the screening, Paramount Pictures legend A.C. Lyles (who turns 94 years old today) spoke briefly about his career (he literally forced his way into a job at Paramount through sheer will power, and some ingeniously bold and hilariously inspiring tactics) and also about Gary Cooper, who, in Wings, has a brief but truly unforgettable cameo. Another added bonus for me was that during the TCM Festival I was staying at the famed Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, where Wings was presented Oscars for Most Outstanding Production, Best Effects and Engineering Effects, at the Academy’s very first awards presentation. (Wings has just been released on Blu-Ray.)
Movie:Leave Her To Heaven (1946) Starring: Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain. Story: A writer (Wilde) meets a beautiful stranger on a train (Tierney) while journeying through New Mexico. A romance ensues, followed by a series of disturbing and very tragic events.
Quotes: Mr. Robie: “Those trout were in a stream a couple of hours ago. That’s something you wouldn’t see in Boston.” Mrs. Robie: “Perhaps not, but on the other hand, our codfish…” Mr. Robie: “I was born and raised in Boston and I yield to no one in my passion for codfish!” Dick Harland (Cornel Wilde): “Mrs. Robie, I’m what you’d call a salmon man.”
Menu: Trout, codfish or salmon–with a Southwestern or Mexican twist. Coffee.
Last Friday I re-watched Leave Her To Heaven, best described by many as a “Technicolor film noir”. I’ve seen it four times. On the first three viewings, I was transfixed by the beauty and chilling evilness of Tierney’s troubled character, Ellen, the dramatic and brilliant Alfred Newman score, and the amazing colors. This time, the production design, including the intricate interior sets, and the beautifully composed shots (the cinematography won a well-deserved Oscar) are what really struck me. The Robie family’s New Mexico hacienda, their Bar Harbor cottage, and Dick Harland’s “Back of the Moon” lodge contain a stunning richness of detail.
As a random example, look at the still frame above, in which a jealous Ellen, holding her husband’s newly-published book, confronts her half-sister Ruth. Jeanne and Gene are framed in front of the window, the drapes parted evenly between them. Crain’s (pure) white and blue dress references the white and bluish flowers she’s arranging, as well as the blue of the book cover, while the orange flowers are a perfect match for the orange in Tierney’s outfit. Then there are the flowers to the left of the window. Finally, speaking of that book cover, is a sombrero sometimes just a sombrero, and a “deep well” just that?
The best Bond villain of all time would’ve been 94 years old today: Joseph Wiseman. As Dr. No, he had a sort of cold, frail creepiness that was terrifying, unlike some other 007 bad guys (I’m looking at you, Telly Savalas) who overplayed their roles.
Adjacent to the New York City Public Library, the site was at various times a walled reservoir, a “crystal palace, an encampment for Union troops, and a potter’s field. In 1884 it was designated as a park and, in 1911, the Beaux-Arts library building was completed. The park underwent restoration in the late 1980s and, in 1992, the program of outdoor movie screenings began. This summer, the schedule in part features films that were shown over the course of the past 20 years.
No chairs, tables, dogs, plastic sheets, tarps, bags, or pads are permitted on the lawn–in contrast to Chicago’s now-canceled Grant Park screenings, where patrons sitting on blankets were often frustrated when late arrivals would set up tall chairs directly in their lines of sight. –Dave
Not just another WordPress.com site, but an extraordinary place to spend a weekend, grill a cheese sandwich and watch a film to improve your life and stimulate a few of the grey cells.
EJECT! Man on a Ledge (2011; Sam Worthington; directed by Pablo J. Fenves; widely available) “Uninspired acting and preposterous plotlines defuse Man on a Ledge’s mildly intriguing premise” is the summation on RottenTomatoes.com, where this descriptively-titled film (which adds a heist element) managed only a 31% rating but is currently a top DVD rental. Some of the not-so-hot reviews: “The ledge is the movie’s most dynamic performer”; “The solution to ‘now what do we do for 103 minutes?’ is to pile as many silly distractions into the running time as possible”; “Nobody should be this hard up for entertainment”. 
PLAY! 14 Hours (1951; Richard Basehart; Barbara Bel Geddes; Paul Douglas; directed by Henry Hathaway; widely available) There is the usual workday hustle and bustle on the streets of Manhattan, mixed with a St. Patrick’s Day spirit, when we hear a woman’s penetrating scream. There’s a man in a white shirt and tie perched precariously on the ledge of a tall building, and he’s looking downward as if he’s preparing to jump. From there, this tense film proceeds to uncover this troubled man’s motives, building sympathy for him along the way. Focusing on the characters and the basic idea of will he or won’t he, the movie will keep you on the edge, too–without overloading you with distractions. 
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