"Casablanca" On The Big Screen

Last  night we had the treat of seeing the 1942 classic motion picture, "Casablanca" in  movie theater on a Big Screen.  Thanks to Turner Classic Movies and Fathom Events for continuing this excellent service to movie lovers everywhere. In his opening remarks, TCM host Ben Mankiewicz said that even if you are seeing "Casablanca' for the fiftieth time, chances are, you have never seen it in a movie theater in company with other movie goers, and that will surely add to the enjoyment of the movie.  He was right!

I'm not going to go on and on about he movie - most of you  all know what it is about - other than to say what I have often said:  If there is such a thing as perfect movie, "Casablanca" is probably it.

Thanks to the Google Machine, though, I was able to go back in time and read the review of the movie written by critic Bosley Crowther of the New York Times from November 27, 1942.  I part, this is what Crowther had to say:

Against the electric background of a sleek cafe in a North African port, through which swirls a backwash of connivers, crooks and fleeing European refugees, the Warner Brothers are telling a rich, suave, exciting and moving tale in their new film, "Casablanca,".....

Yes, indeed, the Warners here have a picture which makes the spine tingle and the heart take a leap...... they have turned the incisive trick of draping a tender love story within the folds of a tight topical theme.

Like the film itself, Crowther's review has pretty much held up seventy-five years later.

Here is a link to the Times review in its entirety.

http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C06E1DF1039E33BBC4F51DFB7678389659EDE

As we have learned from these TCM events, there is nothing like seeing a movie on a Big Screen  in an honest-to-God movie theater.

Here's looking at you, kid.

"On The Waterfront"

Last night, courtesy for he folks at  Turner Classic Movies and Fathom Events, we attended a screening of the 1954 classic movie, "On The Waterfront" at the Cinemark North Hills in McCandless.  This movie is truly a "classic" and, trust me, there is nothing like seeing such movies in an honest-to-God movie theater on a big screen.

The movie is a tale of corruption in the longshoreman's union on the Hoboken, NJ docks.  It was filmed on location in Hoboken and it certainly capture the grittiness of the subject matter.  The movie was nominated for twelve Academy Awards and won eight Oscars:

• Best Picture
• Best Actor - Marlon Brando
• Best Supporting Actress - Eva Marie Saint
• Best Director - Elia Kazan
• Best Screenplay - Budd Shulberg
• Best Cinematography
• Best Art Direction
• Best Film Editing

One of the Oscars it did not received was for Best Music Score, which was composed by some guy you may have heard of - Leonard Bernstein!

In addition, three of the actors - Karl Malden, Rod Steiger, and Lee J. Cobb all received nominations for Best Supporting Actor, and each was excellent.

The undeniable Star with a capital S of this movie, though, was the then twenty-nine year old Brando.  He was absolutely mesmerizing as Terry Malloy.  When he was on screen, you absolutely could not take your eyes off of him.  If you only know Brando as Vito Corleone of "The Godfather", please make it a point to see him in "On The Waterfront".

As you can see from the picture at the top of this post, Fathom Events will also be showing "On the Waterfront" on Wednesday night this week at "Select Cinemas".  If you take the time to go and see it on Wednesday, I guarantee that you will not be disappointed.

I will close with a clip form this scene from the movie.  It is perhaps its most famous scene, the one that is always shown on TV specials about great movies.  It is even greater when seen within the context of the entire movie.

Old Movie Review - "Separate Tables" (1958)

Last month I set my DVR to Turner Classic Movies showing of the 1958 drama, "Separate Tables", mainly due to the fact that this movie took down two acting Oscars, David Niven for Best Actor and Wendy Hiller for Best Supporting Actress, and I finally got around to watching it yesterday.

The story takes place in a second rate seaside hotel/boarding house, run by Hiller, and it centers around the goings on of the characters who are residing there.  Niven plays a retired British Army officer, who is soon exposed as a somewhat unsavory person whose foibles are soon exposed, much to the chagrin of Deborah Kerr, the mousey spinster who pines for him but who is heavily influenced by her domineering mother.  The other story line involves an American ne'er do well played by Burt Lancaster, who is engaged to Hiller, but whose life gets complicated when his glamorous ex-wife, played by Rita Hayworth, suddenly shows up at the hotel.

Sound soap-opera-ish to you?  Well, yeah, it sort of is, but the movie (and the play upon which it is based) does address several issues of a sexual nature that must have seemed fairly shocking at the time of its release, and any movie with two Oscar winners in it, plus the always terrific Lancaster, is well worth watching.  In addition to the two acting awards, "Separate Tables" was nominated for five other Oscars, including Best Picture (it lost out to "Gigi").

David Niven was really quite good in it as the stiff-upper-lipped Brit, and he should really be proud of that Oscar win because here were the other nominees of 1958 whom he beat out for the Academy Award - Spencer Tracy, "Old Man and the Sea", Paul Newman, "Cat On a Hot Tin Roof", and Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis, both in "The Defiant Ones".  That is a list of Hollywood royalty right there.

As is usually he case, TCM host Robert Osbourne had the following interesting "inside" dope about this movie.  The play by Terrence Rattigan upon which it is based was actually two one act plays that centered on the two story lines, the one with Niven and Kerr and the one with Lancaster and Hayworth.  When performed on stage, two actors played both parts in the separate acts of the play.  The studio wanted to do the same thing with the movie using then husband and wife team of Sir Laurence Olivier and Vivian Leigh in the roles.  However, one of producers of the movie was none other than Burt Lancaster, and he wanted the role he eventually played.  When push came to shove, the Oliviers were out, and Niven, Kerr, Lancaster, and Hayworth were in.  The rest, as they say, is history.

Old Movie Review - "The Last of Sheila" (1973)

Earlier this week, Turner Classic Movies showed the 1973 all-star cast whodunit, "The Last of Sheila".  I remember seeing this back when Marilyn and I were dating and remember enjoying it a lot then.  I do not believe that I have ever seen it since, so I was wondering how  it would hold up after all these years, and I have to say that it holds up very well.  About the only thing that didn't hold up was that bad '70's mustache sported by Richard Benjamin.  Still a good mystery story with an attractive cast, and wonderfully filmed and directed by Herbert Ross.  A fun movie, although very early in the movie, one of the characters does something that will deeply incriminate him/her at a point later in the movie, and, for better or worse, I remembered it as soon as I saw it happen when watching last night.   Oh, well, that may have spoiled the surprise, but it didn't spoil the movie for me last night.

Before and after the movie, TCM host Robert Osborne and Guest Programmer  (by the way, I would love to have that gig sometime), film maker Edgar Wright, discussed a lot of inside stuff about the movie, such as....

• The screenplay was by composer Stephen Sondheim and actor Anthony Perkins.  It was the only screenplay that either of them would ever write.
• There was a lot of "inside Hollywood" stuff included in the script.  For example, the James Mason character was really Orson Welles, the Richard Benjamin character was really Anthony Perkins, the Dyan Cannon Character was  really Hollywood super agent Sue Mengers, and the Raquel Welch character was really, well, Raquel Welch!

My own observations are as follows....

Man, what a set of teeth God gave James Coburn.

Raquel Welch was undeniably gorgeous, 

 

but Dyan Cannon looked pretty damn good in a bikini back in '73 as well.

Also, it was hinted that one of the characters had a history of child molestation. This was brushed off as bit of a harmless peccadillo, something that would never be done in a movie made in 2015.

Both Osborne and Wright hinted that this movie has acquired a bit of a cult status, and that was news to me, since, as I said, I can never remember having the opportunity to see it since it was released forty-two years ago, and this showing marked its TCM debut.

Very entertaining movie, and well worth seeing whenever you have the opportunity.

Oh, and here's a shot of Richard Benjamin in the movie.  See what I mean about that mustache?

DVR Alert: Courtroom Dramas

The cold weather being experienced throughout much of the country these days has apparently caused The Grandstander's keyboard to freeze since offerings from here have been sparse of late.  So, let's turn up the space heaters and see what we can put out there for all of you Loyal Readers.

Let's start with the always popular DVR Alert.

This coming Thursday, February 19, Turner Classic Movies is offering a back-to-back-to-back feast for fans of the courtroom drama.  

12:30 PM - "Witness for the Prosecution" (1958).  Based on classic Agatha Christie short story and play, this movie was directed by Billy Wilder and stars Charles Laughton, Tyrone Power, and Marlene Dietrich.  It is truly a Classic Christie story, and it doesn't get much better than that.

2:30 PM - "Inherit the Wind" (1960).  This Stanley Kramer directed movie is a fictional recreation of the famed Scopes "monkey trial", and it is a heavyweight championship of acting performances with Spencer Tracy and Fredric March as the opposing attorneys.  This  movie also has an interesting acting performance by Gene Kelly in a dramatic, non-singing, non dancing role.

And best of all....

5:00 PM - "Judgement at Nuremberg" (1961).  I have talked about this movie many times in this blog.  It is a story of the Nuremberg war crimes and the political reassures that were brought to bear as the political realities of a post world War II world were falling into shape.  Maximilian Schell won the Best Actor of the Year Oscar for his performance in this one, but there were also Oscar worthy performances in this one from Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, Montgomery Clift, and Richard Widmark. (Tracy, Garland, and Clift all received Oscar nominations for this one.)  This one was also directed by Stanley Kramer.  In my humble opinion, this is a movie that everyone should see at least once, and should be required viewing for every high school history student.

I'm going to stop at these three, but you could do worse than keeping your DVR humming for the remainder of the day on TCM on Thursday, as it will also be showing "Dr. Strangelove" (1964), "A Hard Day's Night" (1964), and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" (1968).  Both "Strangelove" and "Dinner..." were also directed by Kramer.

Man, what a day on TCM!

Silent Movies

One of my all time favorite movies is Billy Wilder's 1950 classic, "Sunset Boulevard".  In one scene, faded movie queen Norma Desmond bemoans the loss of silent movies.  "I AM big.  It's the PICTURES that got small", she states in one of the most famous lines of movie dialog of all time.  In another passage, Norma states that it was better then because "We had FACES then, and now they've filled the theaters with words, words, WORDS!!!"

This month, Turner Classic Movies is paying tribute to the great Silent Films, and last week I gave two of them a try.  Each starred two of the great leading ladies of the Silent Era.

The first movie was "It" from 1927, and it's star was Clara Bow.

"It" was a romantic comedy that involved the quality of IT.  IT was that certain, indefinable quality in a person that made them special, sexy, desirable.  Clara Bow was certainly attractive in her role in this movie, and it gave her an indelible nickname in the culture, "The IT Girl".  No doubt about it, when you watched "It" you did so for one reason - Clara Bow's performance and charm.

The second movie was "Sadie Thompson" (1928) and its star was none other than Norma Desmond herself, Gloria Swanson, and this is how she appeared in the title role.

No question, Swanson was dynamic in this movie, and beautiful.  Even watching a deteriorating, eight-six year old black and white film, Swanson was utterly captivating.  I was particularly captivated by her eyes.  They were startlingly clear and bright in this old film to the point that I could have sworn that they were bright blue or green, even though I was watching a black and white movie.  The picture I have posted above captures that to some extent.

As for the movies themselves, you can certainly follow the story despite the absence of dialog (or words, words, words!!!), but what "dialog" there was, in the form of title cards, was really corny by today's standards.  I'm with Joe Gillis, silent movies used to be big,and sorry, Norma, the pictures have not gotten small.

Clara Bow had a sad life.  Her mother suffered from insanity and once nearly killed her, and Bow herself was institutionalized for depression at intervals of her life.  She died in 1965 at the age of 60.

Gloria Swanson was a woman way ahead of her time.  She organized her own production company so that she could control what movies she made and have some control over her own career.  She served as the Producer on "Sadie Thompson" when she was only 29 years old.  On the TCM intro, host Ben Mankiewicz mentioned that Swanson's career went into a bit of decline after "Sadie Thompson", and she made few movies until she returned in "Sunset Boulevard" the role for which she will be most remembered.  After that she did a lot of TV work. She made her last movie in 1974, "Airport 1975".  She died in 1983 at the age of 84.

Movie Review: "Baby Face" (1933)

If you are a regular reader, you know that Turner Classic Movies is one of my favorite TV channels.  TCM showcases great movies from all eras, and it has given me a real appreciation of some terrific stars who, while I knew who they were, I wasn't all that familiar with much of their body of work.  Foremost among such stars has been Barbara Stanwyck.  Seeing her in such movies as "Sorry, Wrong Number", "The Lady Eve", "Ball of Fire", and, of course, the fabulous "Double Indemnity", well, this is a great actress at work.

Anyway, this past weekend, thanks to TCM and our DVR, I watched the 26 year old Stanwyck in the movie "Baby Face".  This movie was made in 1933, prior to Hollywood's self-imposed "production code" that limited what types of portrayals could be made in regard to sexual content and other issues regarding morality (who should be the judge of such "morality" is a whole other issue).   

"Baby Face" concerns a young girl, Lily Powers, played by Stanwyck, who leads a terrible life in an industrial town, working in her father's illegal speakeasy. Not only does she have to serve booze to a bunch of rowdy drunks, her father pimps her out to influential men to help pay the bills and keep the place open.

When her father is killed in an accident, Lily leaves town, heads for New York, and vows to make a better life for herself, and she uses her, shall we say, feminine charms to get what she wants.  This alternate poster for the movie gives you and idea of the story line:

How her rise to power and position within the bank for which she works is depicted makes for some great movie making, although it does settle for an ending that is close to being a cop-out.

What can I say, Stanwyck is gorgeous, devious, and very sexy in this movie.

"Baby Face" doesn't often show up on TCM, but it is well worth seeing if you ever get the chance.  

TCM's 31 Days of Oscar

The calendar turns to February 1 tomorrow, and that means that Turner Classic Movies kicks of its annual "31 Days of Oscar" programming, wherein every movie shown will be either an Academy Award winner or nominee, and you know what that means, don't you?  Plenty of DVR alerts from The Grandstander.

So here are a couple to get you started....

Saturday:

2:00 PM - "Stagecoach" (1939)  This John Ford western is generally considered the movie that made John Wayne a big star.

10:00 PM - "Gone With the Wind" (1939)  I'll be honest with you, I may light on this one while clicking the remote, and spend about 15 or 20 minutes watching, but that's going to be it.  I will probably never again watch this entire movie from start to finish again, but it is a movie that everyone has to see - and from start to finish - at least once.  I'll never for the life of me see why everyone went gaga over a wimp like Ashley Wilkes.  However, the scene of the camera panning away from the train yard in Atlanta is unforgettable.  One of the best scenes ever.

Sunday:

6:15 PM - "Twelve Angry Men" (1957)  A lone voice in a jury room, Henry Fonda, tries to convince the other eleven that maybe, just maybe, the kid on trial ISN'T guilty of murder. Tremendous cast and a terrific drama.  Fabulous, fabulous movie.

8:00 PM - "The Lost Weekend" (1945) Billy Wilder's story of an alcoholic, played by Ray Milland, won Oscars for Picture, Actor, Director, and Screenplay, and the movie holds up amazingly well almost seventy years later.

Yeah, I know that these last two movies go up smack dab against the Super Bowl, so nobody is going to watch them when they air, but this is why I call it a DVR Alert.

Also airing on Saturday night at 8:00 is a TCM original documentary called "And The Oscar Goes To..."  This is a "behind the scenes look at the Academy Awards and Oscar winning films through the eyes of Hollywood insiders." The TCM documentaries are always very well done.  It will air severla time throughout the month on TCM.

DVR Alert - Starring Burt Lancaster

The Star of the Month for November on Turner Classic Movies is the great Burt Lancaster, and each Wednesday night in the month TCM will be featuring Lancaster movies.  

This past Wednesday night included such classics and maybe-not-so-classic-but-still-pretty-good movies as "From Here to Eternity", "Jim Thorpe - All American", "The Swimmer", and Lancaster's very first movie, one that I had never seen, a nifty little noir flick called "The Killers" (1946).  I watched it and was a really terrific movie.

So, I didn't notify you about those, but get that DVR programmed for the following (all times Eastern):

November 13

8:00 PM  - Gunfight at the OK Corral (1957) co-starring Kirk Douglas
10:15 PM - Sweet Smell of Success (1957) co-starring Tony Curtis
12:00 AM - Elmer Gantry (1960) Lancaster won his only Oscar for this one.  Shirley Jones also and Oscar winner for her role in the movie.
2:30 AM - Seven Days in May (1964) co-starring Kirk Douglas and Fredric March, directed by John Frankenheimer.  A terrific cold war thriller.  All three stars are absolutely outstanding in this one.  A Must See.

November 20

9:45 PM - Judgement at Nuremberg (1961) I wrote about this movie in depth about a year ago (http://grandstander.blogspot.com/2012/11/judgement-at-nuremberg.html)  I won't restate it everything else again, except to say that if you ignore every other movie mentioned in this piece, don't ignore this one.  A great, great movie that should be mandatory viewing for all high school history students.  One great acting performance after another in this one.
1:00 AM Birdman of Alcatraz (1962) Okay, so maybe the movie glorifies a career criminal who was pretty much a scumbag, but that doesn't detract from yet another great Lancaster performance.

November 27

8:00 PM Field of Dreams (1989)  This is one of everybody's, including me, favorite baseball movies, and Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones are the stars, but Lancaster, in a mere five or so minutes of screen time, as the older Moonlight Graham, steals the movie, in my opinion.  It was his last movie.  "Suppose I'd have never become a doctor?  Now that would have been a tragedy."

There are many other Lancaster movies being shown in November, perhaps some of your own favorites, but these are the ones I shall be recording and watching.

I love Turner Classic Movies, if for no other reason than it has given me an appreciation for stars like Burt Lancaster, people who may have been prominent slightly before my time.  Another such star is Barbara Stanwyck and that leads me to another recommendation for November.  "Ball of Fire" (1941) Midnight, Friday, November 22.  A screwball comedy directed by Howard Hawks and co-starring Gary Cooper. A really funny movie and Stanwyck is terrific.

For a movie fan, TCM is giving us a lot for which to be thankful this November!!