The Battle of San Pietro
“The Battle of San Pietro”, is a war documentary shot during World War2 by the great film director, John Huston. It was actually battle shots were filmed after the subject battle that it claims to portray. The reality of what we see on the screen, in relation to the actual battle, narrated by Huston is irrelevant. What is relevant is the gritty, close up shots of actual infantry soldiers in battle. These pictures give us a glimpse of the chaos and horror that actual battle creates. Something that today’s scripted directors such as Spielberg have more successfully shown in more recent films. We are also shown actual scenes of dead soldiers placed in body bags. This is an important film in the history of war documentaries as the shots were filmed very close to the soldiers during actual fire fights. Still the grainy black and white and jittery hand held images make the film hard to get emotionally attached to. The length of this short 33 minute film does not help either. It is also a bit off-putting to find out that the actual scenes we see are from some unknown battle that is not connected to the reality of the narration. There is also a shock element as we are subjected to seeing actual dead and scared to death soldiers in brief glimpses of the unimaginable. Many future War documentaries owe this film a lot. For the casual film and history buff, however, the movie leaves a lot to be desired.
Spellbound
I am an unfettered fan of Alfred Hitchcock and I have never seen a film of his that I did not like. “Spellbound”, is not one of his best movies, but it is a very good piece of film making. The movie concern one of Hitchcock’s returning themes of falsely accused heroes, but as in many Hitchcock thrillers, leaves the audience unaware until the end, if the suspicions cast on the main character are true. The movie also puts the science of psychic analysis as its base and heart. There is one famous dream sequence developed by the great surrealistic artist, “Salvador Dali”. The sequence is used as the basis for reaching a satisfactory conclusion to the film. This sequence is full of psychoanalytic symbols such as eyes, curtains, scissors, playing cards, a man with no face, a man falling off a building, a man hiding behind a chimney, dropping a wheel and being pursued by large wings. It is a very entertaining and exciting sequence. The film deals with a new director of a mental health hospital who is not who he says he is. The twist is that he does not really remember who he really is, as he is suffering from amnesia. Gregory Peck plays this character with just the right amount of confusion as to allow his true predicament to be believable. When his deception is discovered, he becomes accused of murdering the man he is impersonating. One of the doctors at the hospital is the beautiful Ingrid Bergman who conveniently falls in love with our protagonist and goes out of her way in using her psychoanalytic talents to prove his eventual innocence. We get another character as the eventual true murderer, but the conventional elements of the plot are not what make this movie interesting. What makes it interesting is Hitchcock’s ability to express the suspicion the surrounding characters have to our hero and the anxiety Peck feels in being falsely accused. This is done via some of Hitch’s most recognizable techniques, such as well-placed close ups during moments of doubt and his use of sudden sounds and flashes of light. Forget the ordinary story. Watch this movie to enjoy the style.
Mildred Pierce
Since her daughter wrote the scathing testimonial book about how horrible she was as a Mother, I could never watch a Joan Crawford movie without feeling disdain for her. For this reason it may not be possible for me to give a completely subjective review on any of her films.
Her most famous film was, “Mildred Pierce”, which follows the melodramatic story of a successful self-made women suffering from bad personnel decisions and a monster of a daughter.
It is a credit to Crawford in this film that her acting is restrained and believable. Still every time I see her, I see an evil monster. It was only in the mid 60’s when she finally played an invalid in, “Whatever happened to Baby Jane”, that I was finally able to enjoy her considerable acting skills. In this movie however I am meant to sympathize with her to much. Something I found hard to do.
She plays the title character who is a working class gal with two daughters, who finds herself ceremoniously divorced. One daughter dies and the 2nd is a spoiled heartless brat, who she adores. Mildred, through her need to give monetary possessions to her daughter, succeeds in building a successful bakery business and uses her money to marry an upper class playboy so that she can impress her shallow daughter.
The movie has a noire style way of telling its story in that it begins with a murder and a police grilling of our heroine. Then the story is told via flashbacks. The only mystery is who did the killing (of Mildred’s 2nd playboy husband). Considering how unpleasant her daughter is, it was never hard to guess who the killer ends up being. The daughter is such an unpleasant person that at almost two hours the movie takes too long to punish her.
Crawford’s acting is first rate throughout the movie but unless you are able to identify with her, there is nothing else really worth seeing here.
The Children of Paradise (Les Enfants Due Paradis)
This is one of the greatest films ever made. It was made in Nazi Occupied France, and written in secret by a Jewish screenwriter. Filmmaker Marcel Carne, ignored the situation around him and his country spending all of his energy making an amazing motion picture. The movie is based in Paris of the early 19th century using real characters in a fictitious story. A 19th century bustling street call, “The Boulevard of Crime”, was built from scratch on the largest studio in French cinema history. The street set was a quarter mile long. Carne had the street built to meticulous detail and the scenes situated on this street feel like a window into the past. Hundreds of extras bustle and move throughout its expanse. Each person on the street seems like they belong and not just as a movie extra. The movie is about a woman named Gerance who is so desirable that she is the object of four separate male characters. First let me talk about Gerance. She is played by the actress Arletty in her greatest role. Arletty was not an amazing beauty like Bardot or Munro. She was pretty but fairly ordinary. One of the triumphs of this film is that her irresistibility is made apparent as the movie progresses. Her attraction and searing sensuality comes mostly from within. Like the women we fall in love with, the more we get to know her, the more beautiful she becomes. While very nice but ordinary at the beginning of the movie, she is absolutely adorable by the time the movie ends. It is a transformation based on character and great acting and truly amazing to behold. The boulevard of crime, is a major Paris street that holds a large market and various theatrical troupes and theatres. Garance through a need to make a living ends up working there as a stage extra. The film follows the three male leads who are based on real people who actually lived and a fourth supporting character who represents the ruling class who is also smitten by our sweet Garance. The three main leads who love her are all performers of the arts. They are also all quite different from each other. We have the screenwriter who reverts to being a master criminal. He brags on how he cares for nobody but that Garance amuses him and for that he must see her. He is cruel and dark who will commit murder if it suits him and disavows all moral inhibitions. Then we have the actor who is handsome and suave and a man who loves all women. This character is the source of Truffaut’s, “The man who loved Women” as well as the country singer from the movie Nashville who claimed that he was easy for all woman. He is unable to say no to any woman regardless of her age or looks. When he first meets Garance, she is also easy with her love and they consummate their connection on the first night they meet. This is a night that she had just left our ex screenwriter criminal because of his boorish behavior. It happened in a Paris bar, where she meets for the second time, the true romantic of all her male admirers. He is the Pantomime artist Debureau who hardly speaks at the start of the movie and falls heavily in love with her at first sight. In fact all four gentleman fall in love at first sight. Debureau is played by the great Jean-Louis Barrault and the expressions on his mime face span the great depth of his soul. His acting is another one of the triumphs of the film. All the acting in this movie is superb. The many minor characters shine as bright as the main protagonists. There is the actress in love with the mime and willing to sacrifice everything for him. The snitch who’s repugnant look and actions drive the plot forward. The theatre director and his wild frantic, panic stricken direction, who has the habit of placing fines on anyone who does something he does not understand. His character is he comic relief that is sprinkled throughout the movie. The movie is divided into two sections. The first section introduces us to all the characters and dwells deep in their desires and their connection with Garance. The 2nd part of the film occurs when Garance makes a decision that will allow her to survive a legal predicament, to become the official mistress of a rich count (the fourth character in love with her). She can’t marry the count because of his status but she also does not love him. Her true love is the Mime. On the first night they met she invited him to her bed. In a great moment of romantic sacrifice, he refused her offer, so that he could prove to her that his love was genuine. He would regret that decision for the rest of his life and the movie ends in a perfect romantic heartbreak connecting all the characters together with Debureau screaming for his lost love that he could never have. This last scene is placed in the middle of a crowd at the center of the boulevard of crime. A great romantic ending to the greatest romantic movie of all time.
Open City (Roma, Citta Aperta)
Italy was a willing ally to the Nazis and the Italians were consistently trying to paint themselves as victims of fascism, rather than willing allies. Movie director’s from Italy right after the war wanted to explain to the world how real Italians resisted the Mussolini regime and suffered like the people of the occupied countries did. Rossellini’s Open City is the best example of this. It is an iconic film that follows an Italian resistance leader’s attempt to escape, in Rome, from the German and fascist occupiers. He uses his friends, family and the church to aid him. The movie was filmed on location in war torn Rome and uses many nonprofessional actors for its supporting roles. The grittiness comes through, making the movie all the more powerful. This was one of Roberto Rossleiini’s first films and is heralded as the movie that put Poetic realism on the map. Poetic realism is that mostly Italian and European style of filmmaking that takes an acted story with real actors and no-actors playing together and filmed in a gritty documentary style. The story of this movie was perfect for poetic realism. It works very well. There is no complexity in the story as what is important is feeling the fear and suffering of those who were working against the fascist regime during the war. We see a bombed out and ravaged Rome and a bitter sad end. There is a good Priest who helps and the loving wife. All who try and help end up being killed and there are some iconic scenes that will stay with you well after the film ends. The shooting of the wife as she runs after her captured husband feels like a documentary that gives power to its lasting image. The execution of the Priest leaves the viewer in sad despair. The film succeeds in showing us how those few who resisted the evil fascists, suffered. For that as well as for its iconic images, it should be commended.
The Lost Weekend
“The Lost Weekend”, is the first of a film genre that I call the addiction film. A movie detailing an unhealthy addiction to a drug or abnormal behavior. We have since seen films about drug abuse, gambling addiction and nymphomania to name a few. This movie is about Alcoholism and follows one weekend of binge drinking and self-destruction committed by one alcoholic writer. Ray Milland plays the writer and he makes for a convincing drunk. The purpose of these type of films is to show how life destroying the addiction is. Our antihero, writer goes through various stages of drinking which includes running out of money, attempted theft and vulgar behaviors. Milland ends up being disgraced at a night club and committed to an insane asylum. All in one weekend. If that sound a little over the top, it is. That is the point of the addiction movie. Realistic exaggeration is needed to make the moral point. “The Lost Weekend”, succeeds on all counts with some taught direction from Billy Wilder and good acting all around.
Detour
B movies in the 40s were those films, usually made by smaller studios with small budgets and using unknown actors. They were usually badly written and contained no style. They were action movies mostly and the people who paid to see them wanted to see a quick action filled story of sleaze and crime. The vast majority of them were forgotten the moment the reel stopped moving. Every once in a while a special movie would emerge from these cheap films. “Detour”, is one of those special films. Its low class subject matter lends itself to the quick film style. We have an innocent jazz player hitchhiking on the highway in mid America. Getting picked up by a man who then falls dead for no reason. Thinking he will be blamed for this death, our poor shmoe gets rid of the body and steals the car. As luck would have it his crime is seen by a blond with no morals and he is black mailed into sex and crime. What is revealing is how easily our anti-hero accepts his fate. The short quick spurts of action enhance the grim subject and the unglamorous acting give the film a shocking and realistic feel, “Detour”, is the perfect B film. Short, action packed and thrilling. It has a great ending as well.
I Know Where I’m Going!
Back in the 40’s, The Archers (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressberger) made many Technicolor and expansive movies in England. In between these big productions they made this small black and white comedy drama. The movie is about a pretty gold digger who is determined to marry into money. She made her decision early in life as we are told in her self-narration. She succeeds in getting engaged to a millionaire twice her age and who lives on his newly bought castle, on a small Scottish Island. While on her way to her marriage and her soon to be new husband, she only succeeds in getting partially there. Her boat takes her to an adjacent Island before the weather becomes too difficult to continue her journey. She must stay on this adjacent Island for a few days. During her stay she meets the quirky Islanders and is escorted around by a handsome noble war hero who used to own the Island currently belonging to the millionaire she is intent on marrying. For a gold digger our heroine is quite likable and played beautifully by Wendy Hiller. The Islanders are funny and eccentric, and secretly move her into the arms of the young noble lad, played perfectly by Roger Livesey. The fun is watching our lass, against her own wishes, slowly fall in love. It is a sweet romantic film that will put a smile on your face and the title of the film is a nice play on words. The movie also has an exciting sea recue from a capsizing boat that shows how the Archers could direct action as deftly as they are in filming great characterization. This is a lovely, little gem of a movie.
Brief Encounter
It would not be considered shocking in today’s day and age, to make a film of two happily married people falling in love with each other and having an affair. In 1945, however, this was considered immoral to the extent that the Hollywood censors would have demanded something bad to happen to the couple committing adultery. Luckily in England the powers to be were more mature in their thinking. David Lean would go on to make great epic pictures of great length and scope. He was a director of detail and imagination. Before he became that man, he was known for making intelligent film adaptions of theatrical dramas. This film, about two married people meeting by chance on a train and then deciding to keep meeting, eventually falling in love, was shocking at the time in that it showed all its main protagonists as basically good decent people. Lean showed great respect to his two leads. The movie is an adaption of a Noal Coward play, which explains its intelligent and gentle script. However the movie is much more than a screen adaption of a play. Many of the feelings of love that shines in the movie are shown through close-ups of eyes and mouths. There is a sweet body language shown in this movie that give more information than any of the words could convey. The fact that both the man played by Trever Howard and the woman played by Celia Johnson look like real middle aged people and not movie stars, adds a special poignancy and tenderness to the movie. An adult move for adults. What a novel idea. Seeing their doomed love may bring tears to the eyes, but this film also leaves one with a sense that everything is possible.
1001 Movies before you die 