This one is for Oscar completists only.
Tuesday at 10:am (eastern), TCM is showing Tanks A Million, a 50 minute service comedy from Monogram which was nominated for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture of 1941. This is the kind of nomination that occurred only because each studio -- even Poverty Row Monogram -- was entitled to submit an automatic nomination in some of the technical categories.
VCR Alert (or DVD Recorder Alert)
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Mister Tee
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I watched Mrs. Hadley last night. I especially enjoyed the first half, as a window into how DC responded in the initial days/weeks after Pearl Harbor. Given that the film was released in '42, you have a feeling it reflected an in-the-moment sense of urgency that was forgotten as the war ran on. One thing seemed a bit off to me, however -- everyone reacted as if they knew just where the attack had taken place. From what my older relatives have told me, initial reaction ran more to "What the hell is Pearl Harbor?"
I'm with Magilla completely: Allgood was the supporting standout, but poor Byington was stuck doing a bunch of lame comedy bits (you could almost hear her thinking "They told me these'd be funny"). And yes, it was an unusually negative role for Bainter in that period, one that reminded me, too, of Children's Hour rather than Jezebel.
I'm with Magilla completely: Allgood was the supporting standout, but poor Byington was stuck doing a bunch of lame comedy bits (you could almost hear her thinking "They told me these'd be funny"). And yes, it was an unusually negative role for Bainter in that period, one that reminded me, too, of Children's Hour rather than Jezebel.
Speaking of these so called ''old fashioned vehicles'' of the 1930s-50s, I recently caught The Miniver Story (1950). A sequel to the 1942 Oscar winner and again starring both Garson and Pidgeon. Yes, it was very old fashioned but watching it I realised that the film spoke of values which today, unfortunately, nobody cares about. Additionally, the film had romance, drama, comedy, sentimentality - everything AND the kitchen sink thrown into the mix. Maybe I'm at a ''certain age'' that made me long for the past but I really enjoyed this film.
In sharp contrast just earlier the same day I watched Babel (2006) - which, incidently I liked as well, despite it's flaws. Here was a film that links a ''terrorist'' act across various continents. Into the mix they manage to throw in a young kid masturbating at the memory of his sister disrobing (I kept wondering how the director instructed this kid on the set to do what he had to do), another disturbed teen joking about her ''black bush'' and thrusting herself (fully clothed) at her dentist and (unclothed) at a cop.
A reflection of the times we live in unfortunately!
In sharp contrast just earlier the same day I watched Babel (2006) - which, incidently I liked as well, despite it's flaws. Here was a film that links a ''terrorist'' act across various continents. Into the mix they manage to throw in a young kid masturbating at the memory of his sister disrobing (I kept wondering how the director instructed this kid on the set to do what he had to do), another disturbed teen joking about her ''black bush'' and thrusting herself (fully clothed) at her dentist and (unclothed) at a cop.
A reflection of the times we live in unfortunately!
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Big Magilla
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I caught the ending while recording it and have since watched the first half of it.
A period film about the homefront in the Mrs. Miniver-Since You Went Away vein that would probably be more famous today if had better production values and Mrs. Hadley had been played by a Claudette Colbert or Irene Dunne, but it plays perfectly well and Fay Bainter fits the role like a golove. It's closer to the grandmother of the brat role she played in The Children's Hour than the kindly mother and aunt roles she normally played at this point in her career, and she sinks her teeth into it.
Edward Arnold, Jean Rogers, Van Johnson, Richard Ney, Isobel Elsom, Connie Gilchrist and especially Sara Allgood are fine in support, but poor Spring Byington's dithery comic relief character seems to have wandered into the wrong film.
Worth seeing as an artifact of its time and for the rare chance to see a superb character actress command center stage.
A period film about the homefront in the Mrs. Miniver-Since You Went Away vein that would probably be more famous today if had better production values and Mrs. Hadley had been played by a Claudette Colbert or Irene Dunne, but it plays perfectly well and Fay Bainter fits the role like a golove. It's closer to the grandmother of the brat role she played in The Children's Hour than the kindly mother and aunt roles she normally played at this point in her career, and she sinks her teeth into it.
Edward Arnold, Jean Rogers, Van Johnson, Richard Ney, Isobel Elsom, Connie Gilchrist and especially Sara Allgood are fine in support, but poor Spring Byington's dithery comic relief character seems to have wandered into the wrong film.
Worth seeing as an artifact of its time and for the rare chance to see a superb character actress command center stage.
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FilmFan720
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Did anyone else watch The War Against Mrs. Hadley? While not a masterpiece by any book, I thought it was a surprisingly fine film. A great vehicle for Bainter, but with strong performances throughout. I am unfamiliar with the other work of director Bucquet, and the film was visually bland, but he had an interesting screeenplay and did well by it. An enjoyable matinee.
"Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good."
- Minor Myers, Jr.
- Minor Myers, Jr.
TCM restoring 5 prints from University collection
By Jeremy Twitchell
Deseret Morning News
PROVO An investment made by scholars at Brigham Young University 20 years ago may pay big dividends for classic-film lovers around the country.
Five prints from the university's Merian C. Cooper Collection have been found to be the only complete remaining copies of the films, and with the help of additional information in the collection, the Turner Classic Movies network has obtained the rights to the films and is in the process of restoring them.
The five films are "Double Harness" (1933), "One Man's Journey" (1933), "Rafter Romance" (1933), "Stingaree" (1934) and "Living on Love" (1937). The collection includes work from early directors William Wellman, John Cromwell and Garson Kanin, as well as actors William Powell and Ginger Rogers.
"I'm very excited about this," said James D'Arc, curator of BYU's motion picture archive. "As an archivist, I love to see these collections acquired and preserved. Not just locked up, but restored and made available to all again. That's why collections such as this are worth preserving, to be reviewed and evaluated and kept alive."
Cooper, best known for his role as the co-director and producer of the original "King Kong," acquired the rights to the five films as part of a settlement with RKO film studio in 1946. He apparently wanted to acquire the movies for television broadcast, but showings of the films were rare, and the last is believed to have been in 1959 in New York.
Cooper's split with RKO was reportedly a bitter one, and the studio ordered film exchanges around the world to burn all prints of the movies in question. BYU acquired Cooper's collection, which included his copies of the films, in 1986.
"This is a perfect example of movies that just fell through the cracks and were forgotten about," said Charlie Tabesh, senior vice president of programming for TCM.
TCM employees began investigating the whereabouts of the lost movies after a viewer inquired about "Double Harness."
TCM purchased the RKO library more than 20 years ago, but since the missing films had been granted to Cooper, they were not included.
Dennis Millay, senior programming manager for TCM, was the sleuth who tracked the movies down. He began by looking for anyone who had seen the movies, then sifted through old RKO papers and learned that they had been granted to Cooper. He knew of the BYU collection, and contacted the university with fingers crossed.
"It was like a little treasure hunt," Millay said. "When I found them, I was so excited I was bugging everyone to tell them about it."
Some of Cooper's papers that were also in the BYU collection alluded to him trying to get the film rights back from a former partner named Ernest Scanlon. Through other correspondence and some good old-fashioned detective work, Millay confirmed that Cooper had granted the rights to Scanlon in 1959 and tracked down Scanlon's heirs, who agreed to sell the rights.
TCM was also able to track down the last known copy of a sixth film owned by Cooper and then Scanlon, 1938's "A Man to Remember," which was in an archive in the Netherlands. Additional prints for three of the five films held by BYU were also found in the Library of Congress, though the prints held there were not in as good of shape as the ones at BYU.
The film prints for BYU's five copies, which had been housed in acid-free containers in a cold vault at BYU since their acquisition, were sent to Los Angeles for the restoration process.
"For us, the biggest expense is the work that's gone into restoring the films," Tabesh said. "So, we probably won't break even in terms of sales or anything. But we recognize that these movies are of value for our viewers, and we're proud to have them."
When the restoration process is finished, the original prints and digital copies of the restored versions will be returned to BYU. TCM paid BYU an undisclosed amount as an access fee to the prints.
TCM plans to air the restored films in April.
By Jeremy Twitchell
Deseret Morning News
PROVO An investment made by scholars at Brigham Young University 20 years ago may pay big dividends for classic-film lovers around the country.
Five prints from the university's Merian C. Cooper Collection have been found to be the only complete remaining copies of the films, and with the help of additional information in the collection, the Turner Classic Movies network has obtained the rights to the films and is in the process of restoring them.
The five films are "Double Harness" (1933), "One Man's Journey" (1933), "Rafter Romance" (1933), "Stingaree" (1934) and "Living on Love" (1937). The collection includes work from early directors William Wellman, John Cromwell and Garson Kanin, as well as actors William Powell and Ginger Rogers.
"I'm very excited about this," said James D'Arc, curator of BYU's motion picture archive. "As an archivist, I love to see these collections acquired and preserved. Not just locked up, but restored and made available to all again. That's why collections such as this are worth preserving, to be reviewed and evaluated and kept alive."
Cooper, best known for his role as the co-director and producer of the original "King Kong," acquired the rights to the five films as part of a settlement with RKO film studio in 1946. He apparently wanted to acquire the movies for television broadcast, but showings of the films were rare, and the last is believed to have been in 1959 in New York.
Cooper's split with RKO was reportedly a bitter one, and the studio ordered film exchanges around the world to burn all prints of the movies in question. BYU acquired Cooper's collection, which included his copies of the films, in 1986.
"This is a perfect example of movies that just fell through the cracks and were forgotten about," said Charlie Tabesh, senior vice president of programming for TCM.
TCM employees began investigating the whereabouts of the lost movies after a viewer inquired about "Double Harness."
TCM purchased the RKO library more than 20 years ago, but since the missing films had been granted to Cooper, they were not included.
Dennis Millay, senior programming manager for TCM, was the sleuth who tracked the movies down. He began by looking for anyone who had seen the movies, then sifted through old RKO papers and learned that they had been granted to Cooper. He knew of the BYU collection, and contacted the university with fingers crossed.
"It was like a little treasure hunt," Millay said. "When I found them, I was so excited I was bugging everyone to tell them about it."
Some of Cooper's papers that were also in the BYU collection alluded to him trying to get the film rights back from a former partner named Ernest Scanlon. Through other correspondence and some good old-fashioned detective work, Millay confirmed that Cooper had granted the rights to Scanlon in 1959 and tracked down Scanlon's heirs, who agreed to sell the rights.
TCM was also able to track down the last known copy of a sixth film owned by Cooper and then Scanlon, 1938's "A Man to Remember," which was in an archive in the Netherlands. Additional prints for three of the five films held by BYU were also found in the Library of Congress, though the prints held there were not in as good of shape as the ones at BYU.
The film prints for BYU's five copies, which had been housed in acid-free containers in a cold vault at BYU since their acquisition, were sent to Los Angeles for the restoration process.
"For us, the biggest expense is the work that's gone into restoring the films," Tabesh said. "So, we probably won't break even in terms of sales or anything. But we recognize that these movies are of value for our viewers, and we're proud to have them."
When the restoration process is finished, the original prints and digital copies of the restored versions will be returned to BYU. TCM paid BYU an undisclosed amount as an access fee to the prints.
TCM plans to air the restored films in April.
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Mister Tee
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Thanks for this, Damien. I missed it in the schedule (damn the NY Times for discontinuing the only readable TV magazine in the city). It's my last missing entry for the 1942 screenplay category.Damien wrote:And for all you Oscar nominee completists (hi, Tee!), 1942 Original Screenplay nominee The War Against Mrs. Hadley -- rich dame learns to help the war effort -- is on TCM Thursday afternoon the 7th at 3:30pm as part of the Fay Bainter Film Festival. I cannot recall this movie ever having been on TV, at least not anyplace I've been near.
White Banners isn't on very often, either, but I saw it a few years back. It's loopy in that inspirational Lloyd C. Douglas was; also a rare opportunity to see Jackie Cooper in adolescence.
Speaking of compulsive Oscar checklists, I pushed myself through b&w-cinematography nominee Mister Buddwing the other night. Has anyone seen that? It's like a David Lynch dream movie written by Paddy Chayefsky in full purple mode.
Wow, we sure do! Isn't it great that two people can watch the same movie and come away with two completely different perspectives! I love that!Big Magilla wrote:Geez, Penelope, we almost completely disagree on this one!
"...it is the weak who are cruel, and...gentleness is only to be expected from the strong." - Leo Reston
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
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Big Magilla
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Big Magilla
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- Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 3:22 pm
- Location: Jersey Shore
I watched Waterloo Bridge. What a disappontment for a supposed lost masterpiece. It has a lot more in common with the 1956 remake, Gaby, with Leslie Caron and John Kerr than the superb 1940 version with Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor.
There's a reason Mae Clarke never became a major star. Superb in small parts as in The Public Enemy and The Front Page, she lacks the sustained kind of gravitas a young Bette Davis, who has a small part in the film, or Margaret Sullavan, who later starred opposite her co-star Kent Douglass (aka Douglass Montgomery) in Little Man, What Now, would have brought to the role.
Clarke's best scene is the the one near the end in which she has a momentary breakdown, a scene Davis clearly knew well, for she plays almost the same scene in her breakthrough role in Of Human Bondage.
Douglass is good, but like Clarke, and Taylor and Kerr for that matter, lacks gravitas. The film is all but stolen by the wonderful Ethel Griffies as Clarke's landlady.
There's a reason Mae Clarke never became a major star. Superb in small parts as in The Public Enemy and The Front Page, she lacks the sustained kind of gravitas a young Bette Davis, who has a small part in the film, or Margaret Sullavan, who later starred opposite her co-star Kent Douglass (aka Douglass Montgomery) in Little Man, What Now, would have brought to the role.
Clarke's best scene is the the one near the end in which she has a momentary breakdown, a scene Davis clearly knew well, for she plays almost the same scene in her breakthrough role in Of Human Bondage.
Douglass is good, but like Clarke, and Taylor and Kerr for that matter, lacks gravitas. The film is all but stolen by the wonderful Ethel Griffies as Clarke's landlady.
What a great movie, I thoroughly enjoyed it! (Thanks for the head's up, Damien.)Damien wrote:James Whale's 1931 version of Waterloo Bridge will be on TCM Monday night December 4 (8:00pm here in the eastern United States).
Very different from Mervyn LeRoy's 1940 version with Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor. The Whale version, being Pre-Code, is clearly grittier and more realistic, whereas the LeRoy version is all MGM glittery romanticism (I like both versions for those very reasons); although I thought her breakdown in the final reel was a bit over-the-top, Mae Clarke was quite wonderful, and the great joy of Whale's version is the chummy, likable chemistry between Clarke and Kent Douglass (aka Douglass Montgomery--and, boy, does Whale photograph him with palpable eroticism--and he's a vast improvement over Taylor).
"...it is the weak who are cruel, and...gentleness is only to be expected from the strong." - Leo Reston
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
Thanks, Damien! I love me some Fay Bainter and boy, am I a total sap when it comes to White Banners. Sentimental as all get-out and crying like a baby. Same deal with To Each His Own.
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
James Whale's 1931 version of Waterloo Bridge will be on TCM Monday night December 4 (8:00pm here in the eastern United States).
And for all you Oscar nominee completists (hi, Tee!), 1942 Original Screenplay nominee The War Against Mrs. Hadley -- rich dame learns to help the war effort -- is on TCM Thursday afternoon the 7th at 3:30pm as part of the Fay Bainter Film Festival. I cannot recall this movie ever having been on TV, at least not anyplace I've been near.
And for all you Oscar nominee completists (hi, Tee!), 1942 Original Screenplay nominee The War Against Mrs. Hadley -- rich dame learns to help the war effort -- is on TCM Thursday afternoon the 7th at 3:30pm as part of the Fay Bainter Film Festival. I cannot recall this movie ever having been on TV, at least not anyplace I've been near.
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell