BRING YOUR LUGGAGE
Because this three-hour tour might end up being … well … longer.

(Alan Hale)

Picture by: caycifish Caption by: Brown via Poster Builder

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It Happened One Night is the quintessential romantic comedy. It was one of the last rom-coms to be made prior to the Code, giving it a little bit of breathing room in terms of some of the, ahem, content. It’s a treat to watch today, with all of the little bits of pieces of gushy romantic stuff floating around, a suave and sophisticated Clark Gable, and the cute-as-a-button Claudette Colbert doing her best spoiled rich girl act.

As the first motion picture to scoop all five major Academy Awards, that in itself being a feat that would only be matched by One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and The Silence of the Lambs. While Colbert didn’t think much of the movie when she finished shooting and director Frank Capra wasn’t all that thrilled with the apathetic reviews and early press, It Happened One Night went on to become a considerable success and remains an iconic romantic comedy.

Gable stars as newspaperman Peter Warne. He keeps getting in trouble for drinking, it is suggested, and is on the hunt for a big story that will help save his career. While on a bus, he meets spoiled heiress Ellie Andrews (Colbert) and soon learns that her extremely wealthy father (Walter Connolly) is looking for her after she escaped his bid to prevent her from consummating a marriage to King Westley (Jameson Thomas).

Knowing that she’s a spoiled brat and knowing she’s in a predicament, Warne sets a plan in motion to get the big story he needs and to return the dame to King Westley so that she can be with the man she’s married to. Ellie agrees to the plan but, as one might expect, the two begin to develop feelings for one another throughout the road’s misadventures and, sooner or later, Warne finds himself deeply in love with the brat.

Colbert apparently didn’t have much of a good time making It Happened One Night, but it thankfully never shows on screen. She is bubbly and interesting, formulating a downright adorable character in Ellie and remaining lovable despite being a rather sheltered and spoiled character. Her chemistry with Gable’s Warne is good, too, and ultimately believable.

Much is made in the film about marriage roles and marriage vows. The values and morals of the time are certainly apparent within the screenplay, as the “Walls of Jericho” symbolizing the respect of marital vows remain a steady strain throughout the motion picture. When the Walls of Jericho start coming down, hilariously so at the end of the picture, it’s clear that a line has been crossed.

It is said that Stalin was a fan of It Happened One Night and that the character of Bugs Bunny from Friz Freleng was partially influenced by characters in the movie. Regardless of the veracity of these claims, Capra’s picture is brilliantly funny and flat-out entertaining. It helped build the architecture on which most modern romantic comedies set their own devices and remains a sure and steady example of flirtatious character development done right.

8.9/10

Trailer:

September 14, 1934

Hollywood Gossip

EI = Evening Independent
LDN = Ludington Daily News
PPG = Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
TM = Time Magazine

Al Jolson, Ruby Keeler and Paul Whiteman are getting together for a one-night tour this season, similar to the Whiteman-Jack Pearl-Boswell Sisters enterprise early last year.  It’ll be arranged so that Whiteman and Jolson can get back to New York each Thursday night for their radio program. –PPG: 09-14-1934

If you remember Alan Hale driving down the road singing a nonsensical song which had little rhyme or reason, “It Happened One Night,” it may amuse you to know how the song was born.  When that particular sequence was being shot, Frank Capra, the director, told Hale to sing some old song.  Hale obediently started to sing, and selected a familiar tune. . . . . Capra said, “You can’t sing that, it’s copyrighted.  Don’t sing anything we’ll have to buy.”  Whereupon Hale started again, and each time they discovered that the song he was lustily rendering was something they couldn’t use without buying the rights for its use in the picture. . . . . Finally, at his wits’ end, Capra said:  “Sing anything—just make it up as you go along—but watch my hand.  When I raise it, sing high—when I lower it, sing low.” . . . . . Thus the origin of the crazy words and tune you heard as Hale drove his rickety Ford along that country road!   –PPG: 09-15-1934 (Virginia Helene)

Babe Ruth, having announced his retirement at the end of this season because he had reached the age of 40, received a birth certificate from his sister, learned that he was not 40 but 39.  –TM: 09-17-1934

Carole Lombard, the bravest lady we know, [has been] sending back encouraging messages to her worried friends.*   –PPG: 09-15-1934 (Louella Parsons)

Claudette Colbert, Eddie Cantor, the Gene Markeys, James Cagney, Bruce Cabot and Sally Blane [have been] getting writer’s cramp from obliging the youngsters.  –PPG: 09-15-1934 (Louella Parsons)

Newsreel audiences are snickering over that British accent brought back by Douglas Fairbanks.  –EI: 09-15-1935

The busiest brain in Hollywood belongs to Eddie Cantor.  Every time I talk with him I get dizzy keeping up with him.  Most of his ideas are good, too.  Next time I’ll take my typewriter along and borrow a few.  Eddie leaves Hollywood in 10 days for a radio engagement and a trip to Europe with Lynn Farnol, to be there when “Kid Millions” opens.  And while Eddie is getting the big hand from England and keeping his place in the radio sun he will invent a few gags for “Waiting at the Church,” his next musical for Samuel Goldwyn.  Meanwhile, Arthur Sheekman and Nat Perrin are getting the idea into shape.  –PPG: 09-15-1934 (Louella Parsons)

Fay Wray spends a lot of her spare time making sketches in charcoal and weaving tapestries.  She also collects rare perfumes.  –EI: 09-15-1934

Gayle Talbot, in a dispatch from London, points out the attitude at Elstree studios toward the “personal publicity” that is desired by most of Hollywood.  The studios there, the dispatch says, “Don’t think it is anybody’s business if their high salaried leading lady is going places with the latest juvenile importation from Hollywood.  Neither is it any concern of the public how much money little Sarah Twinkletoes, late of the ribbon counter, is making.” –LDN: 09-15-1934

Greta Garbo, reputedly so fond of seclusion, whould work in the English studios.  There, perhaps, she would find that freedom from publicity she so desires in Hollywood. –LDN: 09-15-1934

Harold Lloyd is one of the best of amateur magicians. . . And Clifton Webb paints in oils almost as well as he dances.  –EI: 09-15-1934

Hollywood’s most famous pair of “acting hands” belongs to Zasu Pitts.  An almost equally noted pair are at the disposal of Lee Tracy.  And not to be over-looked in the discussion is Helen Hayes, whose “talkative hands” helped her win an academy prize for acting. –LDN: 09-15-1934

Jane Wyatt, who made her screen debut recently in “One More River”—she played Diana Wynyard’s sister—is returning to Broadway next week for a role in Harry Segall’s “Lost Horizons.”  Rowland Stebbings in producing it. –PPG: 09-14-1934

Joe Penner [was recently seen] feeding his pals (40 of them) duck!   –PPG: 09-15-1934 (Louella Parsons)

On the rocky northern coast of Corsica sat Playwright Noel Coward, sipping a drink, waiting for his chartered yacht Mairi to pick him up. Two days before a Mediterranean squall had sent him scurrying ashore to shelter. As the storm abated he saw Mairi nose in toward shallow water, buckle up on a rock, spill her crew into the sea. Yachtsman Coward started to hike. Twenty miles down the coast he walked into the village of Ile Rousse, told his plight to a skeptical hotelkeeper, who cabled London. When Coward got back to the wreck he waded in to salvage what he could, then sailed to Nice, reporting: “All of the crew were saved. I went up to my neck in bilgewater on the wreck and managed to save my passport and the manuscript of my autobiography. I lost 14 suits of clothes. However, I saved my typewriter so I don’t have to worry about making a living.”   –TM: 09-17-1934

Walter Huston and Nan Sunderland frequently dine in quickie restaurants and chop suey palaces to escape the growing horde of autograph collectors.  –EI: 09-15-1934

William Seiter, director of “The Richest Girl in the World”, is an expert billiard player and can make a 5-cushion shot!  –EI: 09-15-1934

Hollywood is circus mad.  Film celebs, believe it or not, who visited Ringlings’ here are actually following the big show to Long Beach and Pasadena.  Wally Beery, the best patron of them all and by his own admittance a former elephant trainer, should get his fill of the big tent.  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has just bought a circus yarn, “O’Shaughnessy’s Boy,” by Mike Boylan and Harvey Gates for him and his boy friend, Jackie Cooper. . . . . It’s a natural for both of them.  Jackie plays the heir to an enormous fortune who runs away and joins up with the circus, while Wally is the elephant trainer.  First, of course, there is Beery’s “The Mighty Barnum” for Darryl Zanuck.  –PPG: 09-15-1934 (Louella Parsons)

There’s more ballyhooing these days about the child actors and actresses than there is about the grownup stars.  They declare on the RKO lot that Frankie Thomas, 13-year-old star of “Wednesday’s Child,” is second to none, and that when he is seen on the screen Shirley Temple and David Holt will meet their hottest competition.  Frankie is on the train now choo-chooing back to New York for a stage play; then he returns to make a picture for RKO.  His contract gives him permission to divide his time between New York and Hollywood so he must be good.  –PPG: 09-15-1934 (Louella Parsons)

One of the nicest things ever done by picture people was the marvelous co-operation they gave the Los Angeles Junior League in raising money for charity.  They agreed to play a pole game, and afterward arrange a barbecue under the trees near the pole field. . . . . Frank Borzage, the director; “Big Boy” Williams, Johnny Mack Brown and James Gleason made up one team, which was called the “Romancers,” while Walt and Roy Disney, Hal Roach and Raymond Griffith composed the “Funsters.” . . . . . Later Jack Warner substituted for Jimmy Gleason.  Spencer Tracy was to have played, but he was engaged in an important picture, and the Fox studio refused to let him participate in the game, as he held up production on a film not long ago due to an accident he suffered in a practice game. . . . . Eddie Cantor acted as master of ceremonies, and Jack Holt was referee.  Hundreds of tickets were sold and the day was a greater success than the Junior League had even hoped.  –PPG: 09-15-1934 (Virginia Helene)

Waiting on sets is tiresome for actors.  Even more so than the actual work they do.  It is so difficult to know just how long it is going to take to shoot a sequence, that all actors are required to be present most of the time, made up, and are sometimes not used for hours, or perhaps all day. . . . . Each time a new scene is photographed there must be rehearsals, the camera must be moved, and the lights arranged differently.  All of this takes so long that most players bring books, or knitting, or hook rugs to while away the hours.  Joan Crawford furnished her private theater with rugs she made between scenes on the set.  –PPG: 09-15-1934 (Virginia Helene)

Cemeteries are conspicuous by their absence in Hollywood.  It would almost seem that no one ever died here.  Someone said that the people who should have died long ago are still walking around, and that’s what is the matter with Hollywood!  –PPG: 09-15-1934 (Virginia Helene)

Four relatives of well-known stage people will dance in the chorus of “College Rhythm,” featuring Lanny Ross, Jack Oakie and Joe Penner.  They are Sally Rand’s brother, Harold; Russell Ash, son of Sam Ash, New York singer; Lee Middleton, daughter of Charles Middleton, Hollywood actor, and Jimmy Aye, brother of Marion, musical comedy star.  –PPG: 09-15-1934

*A Note from Vicki:  I can only assume that this bit of gossip is in reference to Carole Lombard’s recent loss of her fiance’, Russ Columbo.

Only $14.99!

The Crawling Hand

is a 1963 science fiction film starring Rod Lauren, Peter Breck, Allison Hayes,  and Alan Hale. It was directed by Herbert L. Strock, and was featured on the television shows Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) and The Canned Film Festival.

 The hand of a dead astronaut is possessed by an alien and begins killing people in a small town.

Tagline: It Came From Outer Space!

The MST3K version of the film (accompanied by the uncut film, included as a bonus feature) was also released by Rhino Home Video.

Trivia:

27x40 Movie Poster

The sources for todays gossip were  The Evening Independent (EI), the Kentucky New Era (KNE) and the Pittsburgh Post Gazette (PPG)

September 3, 1934

Al Jolson, Jack Warner, Gene Raymond, etc.
Every afternoon at 4 o’clock the Grand Central air terminal in Glendale is a scene of great activity.  For at this time the new transcontinental plane starts for New York, dropping its occupants on Broadway the next morning.  The other afternoon found the Clarence Browns leaving for their extended European tour.  Also leaving was one of the Warner Brothers and Agent Charlie Feldman.  Gene Raymond, Nancy Carroll, Jack Warner, Al Jolson, Johnny Machio, Alice Moore, Frank Joyce and Jack Warner, Jr., were a few of the film folk who gathered about to see their friends off. (PPG)

Alan Hale, Johnny Arthur, etc.
Two more additions, in the persons of Johnny Arthur and Alan Hale, have been made to the cast of First National’s “Babbit,” which will co-star Aline MacMahon and Guy Kibbee. (EI)

“Bordertown”
Paul Muni’s newest picture, “Bordertown,” has gone into production at the Warner studios, and at the last moment Eugene Pallette was added to the cast.  There are two leading women in “Bordertown,” Bette Davis and Margaret Lindsay.  Lyle Talbot is also prominent in the list of principals.  The picture is being directed by Archie Mayo. (EI)

CBS
Columbia will add its hundredth station on Saturday, September 15.  KWKH at Shreveport, La., formerly owned by “Hellow World, Henderson.” (PPG)

Casting Call
Long hair seems to be passe in Hollywood.  The other day, Walter Lang, Columbia director, sent out a call for forty girls between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five years and specified that they must have long hair.  He couldn’t find them. (KNE)

Clark Gable
Clark Gable dove into a swimming pool for a scene in “Chained.”  A dancing girl spotted him, dashed over to the albertina Rasch Ballet rehearsal hall to spread the news and in five minutes Gable blushingly discovered he had a big female audience.  He fled from the place while the dancing girls were ushered back to their rehearsal hall. (KNE)

Dixie Lee Haley as the infant Loretta Young
Dixie Lee Haley was engaged to play a part in a picture before she was born!  She played the role of the principal baby in “Life Begins” (1932, the infant Loretta Young)  When Dixie Lee, who had been hired provisionally, or course, proved to be the right kind of baby, she got the job—and went to work when only 17 days old! (EI)

Duke Ellington
After we spent 15 minutes interviewing Duke Ellington on WWSW the other night and having the Duke explian how he came by his peculiar first name, we forgot to ask him his right name!  It’s not Duke, but just plain Edward. (PPG)

Fanny Brice (a.k.a. “Fannie”), William Powell, etc.
In spite of the fact that William Powell and Fannie Brice are the only players signed for “The Great Ziegfeld,” William Anthony McGuire is assiduously collecting a staff.  This week he signed Scott Pembroke to assist in picking the flock of beauties who are already storming McGuire’s office to prove to him their ability to represent the Follies girls who became famous.  William Powell will play the late Florenz Ziegfeld, and Fannie Brice will of course, play herself. (EI)

Frank Morgan, Margaret Hamilton, Gene Lockhart, etc.
Frank Morgan, who was brought here a while ago by RKO Radio for “Secrets of the French Police,” has been brought back to his original Hollywood lot for an important role in “By Your Leave.”  Morgan joins a cast that includes Genevieve Tobin, Margaret Hamilton and Gene Lockhart.  Lloyd Corrigan is directing. (EI)

Johnny Mercer
Johnny Mercer, Whiteman’s seat singer who wrote, “Pardon My Southern Accent,” has another on the market, “P.S. I Love You,” which is adding gelt to the bankroll! (PPG)

“Lazy” Bill Huggins
“Lazy” Bill Huggins was too lackadaisical for CBS . . . . . now vocalist with Enoch Light! (PPG)

Loretta Poynton
Loretta Poynton, diminutive actress with Tony Wons, has two brothers at Notre Dame—and she can lick either one of them at ping pont! (PPG)

Lupe Velez
Lupe Velez owns a ukulele which is insured for $10,000.  It is the one she used while playing in a cafe in Mexico and which won her the chance to join the movies in Hollywood. (KNE)

Mary Small
Mary Small has a 2-1/2-year-old sister singing on a Baltimore station! (PPG)

Maureen O’Sullivan
Six times Maureen O’Sullivan has made boat reservations for a trip back to her native Ireland, but never once has she left Hollywood.  After her sixth and most recent reservation, Director W. S. Van Dyke persuaded her to unpack and play the lead in “Hideout.” (KNE)

Myrna Loy, Helen Vinson, Frank Capra, Margaret Hamilton, Alice Lake, etc.
Helen Vinson, prominent young stage and screen leading woman, is the latest addition to the brilliant cast which is being assembled by Columbia Pictures for its Frank Capra production, “Broadway Bill.”  Miss Vinson was engaged yesterday for the second feminine lead, and will be seen in the role of the wife of Warner Baxter, who with Myrna Loy head the cast.  Mark Hellinger wrote the story, while the adaptation was done by Robert Riskin.  Others in supporting roles are Margaret Hamilton, Douglas Dumbrille, Lynn Overman, Clarence Muse, George Cooper, Charles Levison, Raymond Walburn, Alice Lake, Elinor Fair, Ward Bond, Samuel S. Hinds and Harry Todd. (EI)

NRA Code
One wonders why the NRA code for motion picture exhibitors has not prevented a condition that exists in some cities where prices have been cut and pictures have been piled up so that programs are hours long.  The code was designed to prevent such destructive competition but seems to have been ineffective.  Various devices to avoid the code have been used in many places and there have been many direct violations. . . . . It is hard to imagine a worse condition than exists in Lincoln, Neb., where the code seems to be of no effect at all. . . . . As a result of the three-way price tussle between J.H. Cooper, Westland Theaters (Louis Dent) and Bob Livingston, in that city, it is possible to see 19 features and about 20 reels of shorts for one dollar.  Five houses, two of them first-runs and all offering dual bills, are scaled at 10 cents.  Town’s top price is 40 cents.  It’s possible to go to six evening shows and four matinees for $1. (EI)

Ray Souders
Everybody has a pet phobia about something, we guess, but Ray Souders, the hillbilly, takes the cake.  He is worse than Paul Whiteman for getting dizzy when more than two stories above the street.  Hence, when he broadcasts, the announcers pull down the venetian shades on the fourteenth floor studios.  (PPG)

Sally Eilers & Harry Joe Brown
A baby boy was born Saturday to Sally Eilers, actress and wife of Harry Joe Brown, screen director, at the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital, Hollywood.  The mother was reported as doing nicely. (KNE)

Sylvia Sidney, Douglass Montgomery, kay Francis & Kay Johnson
The first gangster play produced in New York was “Crime.”  Sylvia Sidney and Douglass Montgomery each scored their first Broadway success in this production, in which Kay Francis was understudy for Kay Johnson. (KNE)

Warner Brothers
Just in case you are interested, last year Warner Brothers studio consumed 4,000,000 square feet of lumber, 630 miles of wall paper, 17,775 pounds of rags for their painters and 21,969 gallons of paint. (KNE)

William Powell, Edna Best, etc.
William Powell combined architectual work with acting during the production of “The Key,” the Warner Bros. picture showing at the Alhambra Theatre Thursday and Friday.  He was personally supervising an extensive remodeling of the old hobart Bosworth home in Beverly Hills, which he purchased.  Four rooms were being added. (KNE)

The pretty new screen star, Edna Best, makes her debut in Hollywood in Warner Bros’ dramatic film, “The Key.”  William Powell stars in the picture, which boasts of such players as Colin Clive, Halliwell Hobbes, Hobart Cavanaugh and others. (KNE)

 
RADIO HIGHLIGHTS

Wilhelmina, Queen of the Netherlands, will be heard at the opening of the Dutch Parliament, over NBC on Tuesday, September 19. (PPG)

Gene Arnold’s new song, “Schoolday Sweethearts,” will be sung on the Contented Hour tonight. (PPG)

Grace Moore, Lou Holtz and Brad and Al (the Al being Al Llewelyn, formerly of Homestead), will be Rudy Vallee’s guests Thursday night! (PPG)

Helen Jepson and the Whiteman vocal ensemble will offer the touching sextette from “Lucia” this Thursday! (PPG)

Voice of Experience will return Monday, September 10! (PPG)

Hazel Glenn will replace Muriel Wilson as co-star with Frank Munn in “Lavender and Old Lace” September 11! (PPG)

Homem feio da porra

But I have a confession to make.
Do you know, I think I like Mason as much as Errol Flynn?

Diálogo de Festim Diabólico (Rope, Alfred Hitchcock, 1948)

Já vou dizendo: nunca fui grande fã dele, ao menos não em virtude dos filmes, mas o mito Flynn é impossível ser desprezado, afinal, só tendo muita força de vontade para desprezar um tipo desses. O homem era sensacional, além de ser uma ode ambulante ao falo (o que é bem difícil de esquecer), Flynn seria o companheiro de boteco ideal para qualquer pessoa bem humorada. Era bonitão (lindo e gostosérrimo, na verdade) e carismático, foi muso por vários anos de Raoul Walsh e Michael Curtiz, era um homem inteligentíssimo e culto, tinha uma vida pessoal muito divertida, intrigante e ao mesmo tempo muito trágica (acho que ninguém em período algum de Hollywood foi mais espetacular do que ele) e, apesar do estigma de bonito e apetitoso eclipsar totalmente qualquer ato dramático, fazia o que era preciso além do que os detratores possam dizer.
E claro, a perspectiva talvez seja variante, mas não seria nenhum exagero dizer que Flynn pode ser o maior símbolo sexual do cinema, ninguém foi mais associado única e exclusivamente a sexo do que ele e não digo apenas dentro do mainstream, mas incluindo até astros pornôs, simplesmente porque este homem era um símbolo fálico de 1,90 de altura em todo seu esplendor e glória. Flynn não possuía um pênis, ele era o pênis em pessoa.
Então que fique aqui um top dos filmes onde vi Mr Flynn nos honrar com sua presença umidificante.

1- O Ídolo do Público (Gentleman Jim, Raoul Walsh, 1942)Amm umm… então tá. Do que eu estava falando mesmo? Ah, sim, de mais uma das obras primas de Raoul Walsh.
De todos os filmes em que Flynn trabalhou, este era o seu favorito, o porquê é fácil ver, Errol está no auge: do sucesso, da forma física, dos melhores desempenhos e… solteiro! Bom, da forma física só na aparência, pois durante as filmagens ele teve o seu primeiro princípio de ataque cardíaco, com apenas 33 anos, mesmo com esse fator de risco ele continuou fazendo as próprias cenas de um esporte que dominava desde a adolescência. Devo concordar com Flynny, também é o meu favorito e nem é porque o homem passa boa parte do filme sem camisa e trajando ceroulas, mas especialmente por ser a primeira grande obra prima sobre boxe, título este que particularmente creio só ter sido equiparado quando um tal de Martin Scorsese tomou o cinturão para si nos anos 80.
Uma cena é especialmente impagável, onde Flynn e Jack Carson estão no teatro ridicularizando a maneira de atuar de um outro lutador chamando-no de ham, isso nada mais é do que uma brilhante auto-referência, Flynn e Carson eram os mais encrenqueiros, bêbados e exagerados atores sob contrato da Warner na época, ambos eram identificados como ham actors e nem todo mundo tinha estômago para trabalhar com eles, Flynn chegou a ganhar por duas vezes o prêmio Sour Apple de ator menos cooperativo de Hollywood. Gentleman Jim como um tôdo faz grande paralelo entre a arte e estilo de atuar com a arte e estilo de lutar, Walsh bate na tecla de que cada estilo dá a contribuição para se alcançar um novo patamar e isso soa lindamente se refletido em Flynn.

2- Fugitivos do Inferno (Desperate Journey, Raoul Walsh, 1942)Ôpa, esse é filmaço! Dá até para arriscar um palpite de que este trabalho é o pai de certos filmes cultuados dos anos 60, tais como Os Doze Condenados e Fugindo do Inferno, é mantido o mesmo clima, sobretudo o bom humor, mas o que o faz ainda melhor é um distanciamento temporal que poucos os filmes de guerra dos anos 40 possuíam e que o gênero só reconquistaria a partir dos anos 50. Também é a prova do porquê Walsh é o maior diretor de cinema de aventura desde os anos 20, a ação não deixa de nos empolgar um só minuto, a dinâmica dos atores é perfeita, as situações são engraçadíssimas e não há o ranço propagandista emotivo que se via usualmente nos filmes da época. Desperate Journey mostra também o quanto Spielberg foi influenciado pelo cinema de Walsh, mas este é um assunto para uma outra hora…

3- Capitão Blood (Captain Blood, Michael Curtiz, 1935)Coisa fofa da mãe. Aqui vemos o porque nenhuma mulher da Hollywood dos anos 30 podia ser vista ao lado de Errol Flynn e continuar com a reputação intacta: o homem era irresistível e faz por merecer a expressão atemporal In Like Flynn. É em Capitão Blood que tudo realmente começa para Flynn: é o primeiro filme que protagoniza em Hollywood, o primeiro ao lado de Miss Havilland e o ponto em que ele surge de total desconhecido que só fazia pontas para um dos maiores astros dos anos 30 e 40. E Michael Curtiz nos legou alguns grandes exemplos de aventura e ação, apesar de ser mais lembrado por Casablanca, é com os filmes ao lado de Flynn que Curtiz se mostra capaz de manter o enfadado público atual eletrizado com seus filmes de 75 anos atrás e, cá entre nós, Capitão Blood é o meu filme de pirata favorito. E que bonito – tudo que Flynny e Douglas Fairbanks construíram durante o século XX foi destruído pelo Johnny Depp na última década. Que bonito.

4- Um Punhado de Bravos (Objective, Burma! Raoul Walsh, 1945)Raoul Walsh foi mesmo o molde para todos os filmes de guerra dos últimos 70 anos, sobretudo em Fuller e Spielberg, a prova está documentada em cada sequência de Um Punhado de Bravos. Prova maior ainda é o quanto Errol Flynn rendia nas mãos de Walsh, ele era um ator completamente distinto sob o comando do diretor e vai ver por isso o filme começa com vários soldados cheios de frescuras, fazendo as unhas, lavando seus collants (!?!), um anuncio que os tempos de Flynn usando collant tinham terminado e aqui deveria se comportar feito macho.
Um lance histórico bacana é o quanto os ingleses e australianos ficaram putos com esse filme, por fazer parecer que os americanos ganharam toda a guerra sozinhos, pois a tal da Operação Birmânia foi predominantemente composta por soldados da Inglaterra e Austrália. Nada como manipular pessoas através do cinema…

5- As Aventuras de Robin Hood (The Adventures of Robin Hood, Michael Curtiz/William Keighley, 1938)Ah, todos queles homens alegres e coloridos! Sabe como são as coisas, o povo ainda não estava acostumado com cinema em technicolor, então exagerava um pouco. É fato: Robin Hood será associado eternamente a imagem de Errol Flynn e seu collant verde, ele não foi o primeiro e nem o último que encarnou a personagem, mas de alguma forma Flynn é único e todos agradecemos por Jimmy Cagney não ter ficado com o papel.
Robin Hood foi o primeiro filme que vi com Mr Flynn e é mesmo impossível não cair nas graças dele (ah, esses homens hiperativos!), sobretudo se lembrarmos daquela memorável luta de sombras, a qual futuramente seria reprisada em The Sea Hawk com deslumbrante fotografia em preto e branco, enquanto a trilha sonora de Erich Wolfgang Korngold climatiza tudo e um pouco mais em ambos os casos. Também nunca esquecerei da primeira vez que vi Flynn quando eu era criança: vi um tipo dando tchauzinho para o Pernalonga em Rabbit Hood (Chuck Jones, 1949) e só anos mais tarde, já na adolescência, finalmente soube que aquele cara era o Errol Flynn!
É durante as filmagens de Robin Hood que Miss Havilland decide começar a torturar Mr Flynn para que este deixe sua esposa para ficar com ela, iniciativa esta que causou problemas no collant dele (se é que me entendem), como a própria Havilland confessou no documentário Adventures of Errol Flynn.

6- O Intrépido General Custer (They Died with Their Boots On, Raoul Walsh, 1941)Com um título original desses não tem como não sair correndo para ver o filme, se ouvirmos uma das mais famosas trilhas do western clássico (a composta por Max Steiner) fica mesmo impossível resistir. Flynn e Walsh se unem pela primeira vez e não mais desgrudam tanto profissional quanto socialmente, adotando uma postura de irmão mais velho e caçula, mesmo Walsh tendo idade para ser pai de Flynny. Deve ser por isso que gosto mais da parceria Flynn-Walsh do que a Flynn-Curtiz, a presença de Flynn fluía melhor nos filmes de Walsh, é como se falassem a mesma língua e não estou fazendo piada com as dificuldades notórias de Curtiz com a língua inglesa, mas porque era visível na tela a afinidade dos dois malucos.
Numa das inúmeras cinebios de personagens históricas banhadas de muita licença poética e pouca realidade e que só a Hollywood dos anos dourados sabia nos proporcionar, vemos Flynny num dos seus mais dilacerantes momentos profissionais: a cena de despedida entre Custer e sua esposa é também a cena de despedida da parceria romântica entre Flynn e Havilland, era alí que acabava um dos mais entusiasmantes casais da tela.

7- Sangue e Prata (Silver River, Raoul Walsh, 1948)E a bíblia vai ao velho oeste. Último filme oficial do duo Flynn-Walsh, é um imenso western do Walsh e um tremendo trabalho do Flynn, relembrando os anos em que foi garimpeiro na Papua Nova Guiné. Conta a história da ascenção e derrocada do império da prata no velho oeste, onde Flynny assume uma sensacional posição de anti-herói com caráter duvidoso ao encarnar o rei da prata, a versão mais argêntica e sossegada do Daniel Plainview.

8- Olhando a Morte de Frente (Rocky Mountain, William Keighley, 1950)Último western de Flynn e uma grata surpresa, quando o assisti não esperava muita coisa desse faroeste e acabei me deparando com um exemplar excelente. Fotografia deslumbrante, trama fatalista, enquanto Flynn desponta mais másculo e melancólico do que nunca, anos-luz dos tempos saltitantes de Robin Hood sob a batuta parcial do mesmo diretor. Certamente um dos filmes que mais recomendaria para se conhecer o trabalho de Mr Flynn, além disso o desgraçado saiu com mais uma esposa debaixo do braço durante as filmagens.

9- A Glória de Amar (That Forsyte Woman, Compton Bennett, 1949)Quer ser respeitado como ator? Vai filmar com um cineasta inglês sobre um conto da Inglaterra vitoriana que tu vira Laurence Olivier! Ao menos era isso que se pensava e Mr Flynn também caiu nessa, não sem colher bons frutos, pois é passível de se dizer que o seu Forsyte é o trabalho mais desenvolvido de sua carreira, especialmente porque ele consegue deixar a sua irrestibilidade natural de lado e não só consegue se vender como aquele homem frio de negócios, como rouba o filme para si, enquanto Compton Bennett volta à sua obsessão com pianista-martirizada-por-homem-autoritário que tanto fez sua fama em O Sétimo Véu. Uma pena Flynn não ter sido bem aproveitado para além dos filmes de aventura.

10- Três Dias de Glória (Uncertain Glory, Raoul Walsh, 1944)Grande propaganda de guerra, mas ao contrário de muitos dos contemporâneos do estilo, este é efetivamente bom e consta um dos melhores papéis de Flynn, encarnanado um anti-herói pouco comum em sua carreira, um criminoso que finge ser um mártir de guerra e cujo desenvolvimento durante o filme é a dúvida entre ser um covarde vivo ou um herói morto. É exatamente por conta desse tipo de filme que Flynny deveria ser mais lembrado pelas parcerias com Walsh do que com o Curtiz.

11- Revolta (Edge of Darkness, Lewis Milestone, 1943)É um grande filme de modo geral, mesmo o cunho propagandista não interfere, Flynn está mais contido do que o usual, Ann Sheridan, Walter Huston e Ruth Gordon compensam cada segundo em cena, além da deslumbrante sequência inicial e o pouco comum ponto de vista da resistência norueguesa, mas talvez sua duração seja mais longa do que o necessário. Nunca cansaremos de ver nazistas no cinema, todos aqueles homens tão impetuosos e bem vestidos… Ninguém se vestia melhor do que os nazis, o figurino impecável é de morrer de inveja, a tal da superioridade ariana realmente era viável, mas só nas coleções outono/inverno.

12- Raízes do Céu (The Roots of Heaven, John Huston, 1958)E os três enfants terribles da Hollywood dos anos 30/40 se unem: Errol Flynn, Orson Welles e John Huston – agora não-tão-jovens, mas ainda terríveis. Some-se ainda mais um maluco, só que da literatura – Romain Gary – e a bagunça está formada em uma história de Gary preocupada com o abuso do homem sobre o animal (que o diga White Dog do Sam Fuller), preconizando um assunto que só viraria moda décadas mais tarde. O próprio Huston renegava este filme, mas putz, eu gosto dele, mesmo sendo uma bagunça, o filme possui uma força estranhamente peculiar, por isso ele está melhor colocado nesta listagem do que alguns outros, mesmo porque nenhum outro cineasta teve mais filmes falhos que são ao mesmo tempo obras-primas.
Não sei exatamente o que pensar quanto a sua natureza ideológica, baseado no livro de Gary – um defensor dos animais, mas adaptado por Huston – um caçador, não sei o que pensar da coisa toda, tanto vê-lo exclusivamente sob a óptica do idealismo ou sob a do cinismo me parece perspectivas não adequadas, talvez a intenção seja mesmo essa, algo como a versão “Rede de Intrigas do Greenpeace e PETA”, onde parte da galera tem preocupações sinceras, outra parte se preocupam por interesses próprios e a terceira parte está pouco se fodendo para qualquer coisa. Flynn mostra a sua faceta bêbada em tempo integral neste que foi um dos seus últimos filmes, pois morreria no ano seguinte, logo agora que finalmente estava sendo reconhecido como ator de verdade e não apenas um astro. As filmagens foram problemáticas do início ao fim, como era comum aos filmes de Huston, especialmente porque Darryl Zanuck ficou enchendo a paciência no set, pois não queria deixar a sua Juliette Greco solta nas savanas ao lado de Flynn e Huston, dois dos mais “perigosos” homens de que se tinha notícia.
A divertidíssima participação de Jude Law encarnando Flynn em O Aviador me remeteu imediatamante àquela historinha lendária (como todas as outras milhares de brigas que Flynny arrumou durante a vida – ninguém fez mais amigos através de socos do que ele) e ocorrida em meados dos anos 40 entre o duo Flynn-Huston. Segundo o narrado, a briga começa porque Flynn teria dito algo grosseiro sobre Havilland e Huston tomado as dores da ex-amante (não se fazem mais cavalheiros como antigamente!), daí eles foram para o jardim, lutaram boxe durante horas e ambos foram parar no hospital, Flynn com as costelas destruídas e Huston com o nariz quebrado.

*Da série: Este post foi programado, eu não estou aqui!

13- Meu Reino por um Amor (The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, Michael Curtiz, 1939)É nesse filme que consta o famoso tapão na cara que Davis deu em Flynn durante uma cena, aquela expressão de indignação era real. Os chefes dos estúdios eram umas belezinhas, neste caso, Jack Warner mesmo sabendo da falta de afinidade entre Davis e Flynn, colocou-os novamente como casal em um filme que Davis sonhara dividir com Laurence Olivier. Infelizmente eles faziam um grande duo na tela e nunca mais voltaram a contracenar. Décadas mais tarde Miss Davis confidenciou a Miss Havilland que Flynn realmente tinha feito um ótimo trabalho como Conde de Essex e que ela esteve errada durante todo o tempo a respeito dele (ah! nada como a maturidade para ajeitar certas coisas!) e para isso Miss Haviland nem precisou aplicar o seu notório corretivo Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte.

14- O Gavião do Mar (The Sea Hawk, Michael Curtiz, 1940)E Mr Flynn se vinga de Miss Davis. Se Bette Davis queria Laurence Olivier para o papel que ficou por conta de Flynn em The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, eis que Mr Flynn toma a rainha Elizabeth vivida por Flora Robson em Fire Over England e que alí dividia cena com Sir Olivier. Tal qual o próprio Fire Over England, The Sea Hawk faz um paralelo entre a inquisição espanhola e a ascenção nazista na Europa daqueles idos, um tipo de preocupação que o austro-húngaro Michael Curtiz deixava transparecer em todos os seus filmes da época, principalmente em Casablanca. Não gosto deste filme de piratas do duo Flynn-Curtiz tanto quanto Capitão Blood, mas ainda é um grande exemplo do gênero, além do mais, Mr Flynn está mais deslumbrante do que nunca. Ó céus, que homem lindo.

15- Perseguidos (Northern Pursuit, Raoul Walsh, 1943)É fato: Raoul Walsh sabia tudo e um pouco mais. Sempre tive sérios problemas com filmes como propaganda de guerra, mas o Walsh é daqueles artesões que nos fazem esquecer os intentos belicistas por trás de tais filmes. Ó céus, o que é aquela cena do jantar na prisão com o coronel alemão enojado por se sentir como um judeu numerado num campo de concentração? Esse momento vale o filme e entraria fácil numa antologia de melhores sequências da carreira de Walsh, mas as coisas não param por aí, o filme é um desbunde artístico como um tôdo e Errol Flynn é exatamente o tipo de ator necessário aos intentos de Walsh, mesmo este trabalho não estando entre as melhores colaborações da dupla.

16- Uma Cidade que Surge (Dodge City, Michael Curtiz, 1939)Ai ai ai ai, que homem lindo. Nunca vou cansar de repetir, mas Mr Flynn acaba desviando a atenção fazendo com que tudo ao redor se torne dispensável. Dodge City é um dos filmes em que ele está mais lindo, sobretudo por conta da deslumbrante fotografia colorida, raramente acho que pessoas são melhores fotografadas em technicolor do que em branco e preto, mas Mr Flynn é um desses casos raros aos meus olhos e poderia passar toda a eternidade diante de uma câmera sem nem sequer se mover, só existindo. Esse homem é uma paisagem, uma obra de arte, se John Ford tinha o Monument Valley, Curtiz e Walsh tinham Errol Flynn.

17- O Príncipe e o Mendigo (The Prince and the Pauper, William Keighley/William Dieterle, 1937)Definitiva e melhor versão da história de Mark Twain, onde Flynny encarna o porco-espinho Miles Hendon e Claude Rains está mais vilanesco do que nunca. Curioso constatar que exatos 40 anos depois o igualmente cachaceiro Oliver Reed se valeu do mesmo papel de Miles Hendon na versão de Richard Fleischer.

18- A Carga da Brigada Ligeira (The Charge of the Light Brigade, Michael Curtiz, 1936)200 cavalos. Reza a lenda que foram mortos cerca de 200 cavalos durante essa filmagem. É um filme impressionantemente violento para a época em que foi filmado, inclusive se visualiza um massacre de crianças, algo não muito comum nos anos 30 mesmo para filmes de guerra. Flynn está lindo e másculo como sempre naquela roupa do exército britânico. Ah, também é dessa filmagem a famosa frase de Curtiz Bring on the empty horses! que acabou virando o título da autobiografia de David Niven, um coadjuvante da Brigada.

19- Patrulha da Madrugada (The Dawn Patrol, Edmund Goulding, 1938)Bom filme sobre pilotos de avião durante a primeira guerra, num tom amargo e estranhamente anti-belicista para um tempo à beira da Segunda Guerra. O trunfo aqui é a dinâmica e o entrosamento dos atores em torno de suas personagens, pois algo que vou dizer até o fim da vida é que até hoje ninguém conseguiu se equiparar em excelência às cenas aéreas gravadas por Howard Hughes em Hells Angels e o filme de Goulding não é diferente em comparação, especialmente porque foram reutilizadas da versão de 1930. Pelas minhas contas Flynn e David Niven compartilharam apenas dois filmes, o que é um pecado, eles eram sensacionais juntos.

20- As Aventuras de Don Juan (Adventures of Don Juan, Vincent Sherman, 1948)DEMOROU. Ainda na cola de John Barrymore e Douglas Fairbanks, eis que o homem finalmente se joga na personagem que nascera para encarnar. Era para o Walsh ter dirigido esta versão, mas deu merda, vai ver por isso Flynn roubou a bandana do Fairbanks em Ladrão de Bagdá, filme este que considero a obra prima de Walsh. Apesar de Don Juan ser um grande exemplo de capa-espada, esse período foi o início da decadência de Flynn, o cinema em Hollywood estava mudando, o star system estava morrendo e a Golden Age estava em seu canto do cisne.
É assustador como Flynn envelheceu de repente por conta de sua vida desregrada, de Santo Antonio para Don Juan passaram-se apenas 3 anos, mas a face dele fazia parecer 10, especialmente porque entre esses filmes ele adoeceu (tinha tuberculose, malária, coração fraco e dor nas costas!) e somou heroína e morfina ao alcóol na sua dieta básica. Flynn sempre aparentou ser mais velho do que realmente era, em Capitão Blood ele tinha uns 25, 26 anos e ninguém daria menos de 30 (a experiência em excesso ficava evidente), mesmo assim em Don Juan ele continua lindo e com corpão, aproveitando a deixa para usar as calças mais indecentes de sua carreira. Ele também aproveita para exorcizar certas coisas sobre sua própria vida, especialmente em relação às acusações de estupro estatutário, pois nem sempre ele era o sedutor irresistível da história como bem ele se defendeu certa vez: I don’t have to seduce girls. For Christ’s sake, I come home and they’re hiding under my bed.

21- Mademoiselle Fifi (It’s a Great Feeling, David Butler, 1949)Pronto. Estraguei o final surpresa para quem não viu o filme. Essa espécie de precursor de Cantando na Chuva é um veículo para o trio Dennis Morgan, Doris Day e Jack Carson, onde há zilhões de participações divertidíssimas de astros e cineastas da Warner: Raoul Walsh, Joan Crawford, Ronald Reagan, Jane Wyman, Edward Robinson, Michael Curtiz, Gary Cooper, Danny Kaye, etc etc. Doris Day passa o filme todo reclamando que não deveria ter deixado o namoradinho de infância para seguir a carreira artística, até que enfim ela retorna para seu homem e ele é Errol Flynn.

22- Caravana de Ouro (Virginia City, Michael Curtiz, 1940)Hahahaha olha o Bogie bandidão mexicano com bigodinho de Errol Flynn! Minha gente, não havia nada mais oposto no mundo do que Bogart e Flynn, tudo que um tinha de discreto e mal humorado, o outro tinha de flamboyant e radiante, é uma dádiva poder vê-los dividindo cena. Mas não apenas estes ícones estão presentes, minha diva pre-code Mirian Hopkins e Randolph Scott também dão o ar da graça, além do usual staff flynniano formado por Guinn “Big Boy” Williams e Alan Hale. Sempre rolou um certo preconceito com Flynn nos westerns, em geral a galera reclama que ele não conseguia ser macho o suficiente, que ele era “legal demais”, é logico que é só homem que reclama dessas bobagens, Flynn era gostosérrimo, ora bolas, quem se importa com o resto???

23- Nunca me Diga Adeus (Never Say Goodbye, James V. Kern, 1946)Hahahaha Flynn imitando Bogie! Essa sem dúvida é a grande piada desta comédia romântica, numa cena em que se expurga a maldição de Flynn, como bem menciona para sua filha no filme: Se você pode me imaginar como Robin Hood, por que não como um cara durão? e logo depois vemos a explicação do porquê. Não obtive nenhuma confirmação, mas reza a lenda que é o próprio Bogart quem faz a dublagem dessa cena, coisa que acredito, pois a voz era idêntica. Roteiro de I.A.L. Diamond, um dos mais habitués de Billy Wilder.

24- O Homem Perfeito (The Perfect Specimen, Michael Curtiz, 1937)Prestou atenção no título? Pois então, é isso que a gente pensa quando olha para Mr Flynn. Comédia romântica onde Flynn e Joan Blondell compensam cada segundo em cena, com direito aos indefectíveis May Robson e Edward Everett Horton como elenco de apoio. Apesar de Michael Curtiz ser açogueiro demais para se infiltrar no screwball, o filme não sofre em grande quantidade com isso, nos legando momentos deliciosos (tal qual o astro principal!), especialmente quando Flynny mostra seus talentos como boxer.

25- O Mestre da Vingança (The Master of Ballantrae, William Keighley, 1953)Aqui Flynn tinha apenas 43 anos mas aparentava ter bem mais, o que torna especialmente depressivo assistir seus filmes dos anos 50, mais deprimente ainda é o fato deste ser o ponto final de seu reinado na Warner, depois de 18 anos de muitos conflitos e lucros, Flynn foi gentilmente convidado a se retirar e qualquer semelhança com Nasce Uma Estrela não é mera coincidência, “matinée idols” problemáticos eram assim descartados desde o início dos tempos. No mais é um filme bacaninha, especialmente algo que some Roger Livesey + Piratas + Errol Flynn + Escoseses + Robert Louis Stevenson, além da habitual fotografia deslumbrante de Jack Cardiff.
Mas o grande mistério pairando é: depois de todas aquelas roupas espalhafatosas por que Flynny não foi capaz de usar um reles kilt? Essa sim foi a maior bobagem que ele fez em sua vida.

26- A Noiva Curiosa (The Case of Curious Bride, Michael Curtiz, 1935)E Flynn conhece Hollywood. E Michael Curtiz. O homem estréia nos EUA no papel do homem morto (e que cadáver!) em um dos divertidíssimos filmes onde Warren William encarna Perry Mason, lá pelo final do filme ele aparece vivo num flashback espancando a suposta personagem-título e brigando com o suspeito de assassinato, daí finalmente sabemos o que na verdade ocorreu, ou seja, um bom começo. Outro bom começo dessa época foi ter conhecido a ex-mulher de Curtiz, dona Lili Damita, que se tornou a primeira Mrs Errol Flynn e foi responsável direta na ascenção de sua carreira.

27- Luz de Esperança (Green Light, Frank Borzage, 1937)Flynny vestido de médico. Mmmmm… Borzage era um artista e tanto, além de ser pai de Douglas Sirk e um dos grandes delineadores do cinema americano, é sempre um prazer estudar as nuances de seu trabalho, nas mãos de um diretor medíocre este filme se tornaria a maior das vias-crucis, mas Borzage transforma este melodrama numa grande aula de como se fazer cinema. É com ele que Flynn se infiltra num ambiente para além do swashbuckler.

*Da série: Este post foi programado, eu não estou aqui!

I can still remember watching a presidential debate between Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter and John Anderson in 1980. The only thing I knew about Reagan was that he was an actor. As I watched him with a skeptical eye, I waited for his answer from a question by Barbara Walters about his position on abortion.

I was blown away: he gave an answer that you would scarcely hear today – I believe that abortion is murder. He won my admiration and my vote that day, and I have been admiring him ever since.

And Now We Pause For A Ronald Reagan Moment
by John Nolte

The clip would be perfect had it ended at the 2:30 mark, but the scene still plays.

The film is Raoul Walsh’s “Desperate Journey” (1942), a patriotic actioner, a sort of “Gunga Din” behind German lines with a terrific cast and Reagan nearly stealing the show as the wiseacre up for any kind of adventure.

For a little context, the scene comes early in the film after Flynn and his flight crew are forced to crash land in Germany during the return flight from a bombing run. Captured immediately, they’re about to be trotted off to a prison camp when Massey’s Nazi Major makes the mistake of assuming he can cut a deal with the “American.” What follows is plenty of adventure as the boys make their way back to England using all means of transportation available, including Hermann Goering’s private rail car.

Max Steiner supplies the rousing score and the film’s final line, served up by Errol Flynn just as the coastline of England and safety comes into view, reminds that they just don’t make ‘em like this anymore: “Now for Australia and a crack at those Japs.” Big Hollywood

The Fifth Musketeer (Ken Annakin, 1979) que, por uma dessas coincidências da vida, tinha como diretor de fotografia… Jack Cardiff!

Last October, Steven Millhauser, one of our most distinguished fictioneers (Martin Dressler, &c.) published in The New York Times Book Review a lively essay on the compacted elegance and coiled powers of mystic insight of the outwardly demure short story, contrasting them with the sprawling bureaucracy, imperial hubris and serial adulteries of the novel, still starved amid its post-buffet belching – which reminded me of Babe Ruth crying at the curbside one night, having swung and missed in finding his might at the plate of no use whatever toward his hopes of working his way through the whole of the on-duty staff that night at a Baltimore cathouse.

Millhauser’s first paragraph, in its intimations of the novel’s bumptious Gargantuanism, reminded me not just of the Babe, but of an unforgettable episode of The Andy Griffith Show, in which “Big Jeff” Pruitt*,

*Alan Hale, Jr. , Skipper [Jonas Grumby, pre-shipwreck] on Gilligan’s Island, and the swaggering image of papa Alan, Sr., one of Warner Brothers’ most endearing character actors, often opposite Errol Flynn – The Adventures of Robin Hood, Gentleman Jim, &c.

a husky, moonfaced steamroller of a man in farmer’s overalls, comes from the hills and into Mayberry ‘cos it’s time to git hisself a wahf – which essay in mate-shopping entailed lifting Thelma Lou clean off the ground, Barney be Fifed-and-drummed out of the frame of prior claim. And even more in the way of ravening, work-the-room-into-submission appetites, I thought of course of Mr. Clinton, our recent co-president, whose appetite greatest in oxygen-burning lay not within his proverbial tabloid briefs (and/or boxers), but within his never-sated hopes that the omnibus public adoration for him might soon or late match that on display opposite him in reverse as he shaves mornings, and rehearses that hairline crack in his voice by which he feels your pain no less than mine and that of c. 306 million others as of post time; Millhauser opens his essay:

The short story — how modest in bearing! How unassuming in manner! It sits there quietly, eyes lowered, almost as if trying not to be noticed. And if it should somehow attract your attention, it says quickly, in a brave little self-deprecating voice alive to all the possibilities of disappointment: “I’m not a novel, you know. Not even a short one. If that’s what you’re looking for, you don’t want me.” Rarely has one form so dominated another. And we understand, we nod our heads knowingly: here in America, size is power. The novel is the Wal-Mart, the Incredible Hulk, the jumbo jet of literature. The novel is insatiable — it wants to devour the world. What’s left for the poor short story to do? It can cultivate its garden, practice meditation, water the geraniums in the window box. It can take a course in creative nonfiction. It can do whatever it likes, so long as it doesn’t forget its place — so long as it keeps quiet and stays out of the way. “Hoo ha!” cries the novel. “Here ah come!” The short story is always ducking for cover. The novel buys up the land, cuts down the trees, puts up the condos. The short story scampers across a lawn, squeezes under a fence…

The rest of Millhauser’s essay, sporting with the novel’s forest-felling dreams and unwarranted condescension – including, alas, at the cash register – toward its more distilled and incisive cousin reminded me of the Hungarian-born English novelist Stephen Vizinczey’s maxim, from The Rules of Chaos – that “Power Weakens as it Grows.”

A new airport, Charles de Gaulle International, opened near Paris on March 8th, 1974. De Gaulle was still president of France when construction began eight years earlier.

Arthur Dent began his travels through the universe when the first episode of the radio show “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” was broadcast on the BBC on this date in 1978.

And March 8th is the birthday of the “Skipper” who led the S.S. Minnow on an infamous “three-hour tour.” Alan Hale of “Gilligan’s Island” was born on this date in 1921.

I’m just reeling from the idea of Ronald Reagan being TCM’s Star of the Month.  Ronnie is one of my top favorite actors of the 1940’s. (see my top 10 list here) So, when I received my copy of Now Playing a couple of weeks ago and saw Ronnie’s handsome face gracing the cover, I nearly swooned!

Oh, Ronnie – how I adore you.

Well, on to more serious issues.  His films – winners one and all, I’d say.  And that’s not just my Ronnie bias speaking either.  I remember hearing Robert Osborne decry the misconception of Ronnie’s films, too.  If you have been avoiding Ronnie’s films because of the prevailing idea of their awfulness, please reconsider.

I’ve got some top picks for you, if you’re game:

Desperate Journey (1942) – A terrific war thriller starring Errol Flynn, Ronnie, Arthur Kennedy and Alan Hale.  The guys are American airmen who get stranded in Germany and have to fight their way out.  There’s several truly hilarious moments of comedy with Alan Hale. (TCM – March 25 @ 12.45am eastern, not available on DVD)

The Voice of the Turtle aka One for the Book (1948) – A truly tender love story with Ronnie and Eleanor Parker.  Ronnie can’t get a hotel room for his leave, so he stays with Eleanor.  Other cast attractions include the multi-talented Eve Arden and Wayne Morris.  (TCM – March 19 @ 4 am eastern, not available on DVD either!)

The Hasty Heart (1950) – This is an amazingly good film in it’s own right and with the stellar cast, it’s nearly perfect.  Ronnie, Richard Todd and many others are recooperating soldiers in a hospital in Burma.  Patricia Neal is their nurse.  Richard Todd is a Scotsman who is determined not to get involved with the other men.  The story revolves around the group trying to break him down and make him see how beautiful life can be.  It’s quite moving. (Sadly, TCM hasn’t scheduled this one.  I’m calling Bobby Osborne to find out why! But, it is available on DVD in The Ronald Reagan Signature Collection)

Have a look at dear Ronnie’s films, if you get the chance.  I think you’ll find they aren’t half as bad as people say they are.  I’m off to spend some more time in Ronnie Heaven!

Includes: The Maltese Falcon (Three-Disc Special Edition), Across the Pacific, Action in the North Atlantic, All Through the Night, and Passage to Marseille.

The movie that made Humphrey Bogart Humphrey Bogart anchors this second DVD box devoted to the mighty star. The Maltese Falcon gets–and merits–the deluxe three-disc treatment, and the other Bogie movies collected here are solid vehicles from his early 1940s Warner Bros. heyday. The essence of Bogart’s world-weary yet mysteriously romantic aura is on luscious display, even if most of these films fall just short of classic status.

Bogart’s letter-perfect incarnation as Sam Spade, the anti-hero of John Huston’s debut film as a director, grounds The Maltese Falcon in a smart, sardonic groove. Even if Spade is one of Bogart’s finest turns, it’s hard to single out the film’s best performance: Mary Astor as the mystery dame who trips off the case, Peter Lorre as the fey Joel Cairo, or Sydney Greenstreet as the massively erudite Kasper Gutman (the latter making one of the great debuts in film history). Dashiell Hammett’s best-selling story had been filmed twice before, and both versions are included in the extras here: the 1931 Maltese Falcon, which has a fair amount of cheek and some near-identical snatches of Hammett dialogue as the 1941 film–but without the magic–and the 1936 Satan Met a Lady, which puts the story squarely in the realm of screwball comedy, with Warren William and Bette Davis acting as though they’d wandered into a Thin Man movie. Other extras include a commentary with Bogart biography Eric Lax, three radio versions of the tale, and a short documentary about the Falcon.

Huston also directed Across the Pacific, a fun and somewhat tongue-in-cheek picture that brought Bogart, Astor, and Greenstreet back together. After being drummed out of the military, Bogie finds himself aboard a ship sailing toward the Panama Canal–and as the date of Dec. 7, 1941, looms on the horizon, we suspect intrigue. Also from 1942 is the wisecracking All Through the Night, which is set entirely in a Damon Runyon NYC but nevertheless unearths a nest of Nazis (Conrad Veidt among them) planning a homeland attack.

WWII figures in the other two features. Michael Curtiz’s Passage to Marseille (1944) burdens itself with too many flashbacks, but otherwise presents a nicely atmospheric tale of Devil’s Island escapees trying to get home to fight for France. Lorre and Greenstreet are back, with Michele Morgan snuggling Bogart in the Casablanca-inspired love story. Action in the North Atlantic (1943) is a more conventional picture, with Bogart and Raymond Massey fighting the war in the Merchant Marines; the topnotch action sequences and crusty supporting cast keep it going. Bogart’s covert socking of a loose-lipped bar patron gives us the vintage Bogie. Bartender: “Did you hurt your hand?” Bogie: “Never do.” –Robert Horton

Humphrey Bogart – The Signature Collection, Vol. 2 (The Maltese Falcon Three-Disc Special Edition / Across the Pacific / Action in the North Atlantic / All Through the Night / Passage to Marseille) is available at Amazon for $28.99. To Order click here
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Other Products of Interest

• Humphrey Bogart – The Signature Collection, Vol. 1 (Casablanca Two-Disc Special Edition / The Treasure of the Sierra Madre Two-Disc Special Edition / They Drive by Night / High Sierra)
• Bogie and Bacall – The Signature Collection (The Big Sleep / Dark Passage / Key Largo / To Have and Have Not)
• Casablanca
• Gary Cooper – The Signature Collection (Sergeant York / The Fountainhead / Dallas / Springfield Rifle / The Wreck of the Mary Deare)
• The Complete Thin Man Collection (The Thin Man / After the Thin Man / Another Thin Man / Shadow of the Thin Man / The Thin Man Goes Home / Song of the Thin Man / Alias Nick and Nora)

In the middle of the night, I watched a movie called The Giant Spider Invasion. It was full of furry spiders.  The spiders reminded me of the spider rides they used to have in carnivals and fairs when I was younger except in the movie the spiders were furry. 

It featured the actor Alan Hale as the sheriff.  If you don’t know who Alan Hale is, he was the skipper on Gilligan’s Island.  In this movie he never buttoned his shirt all the way up and tried to be very funny and Gilligan like by saying things like hey there little buddy.  He also was continuously humorous by answering the phone and telling people to walk through the yellow pages and other such things….

The movie took place in a hick sort of town where people went out in mass with guns when the spiders attacked the people.  They grew marajuma out in the fields, dates at the junkyard, and a town lush.

This whole movie was humerous and even showed a scientific side with people from Nasa involved . 

If you have the opportunity, you should support your local furry spider and view The Giant Spider Invasion.

World War II submarine the U.S.S. Copperfin must complete a secret mission in Japanese waters. Film is as much about the relationship between the naval men as it is about their heroic mission. John Forsythe’s film debut.

DVD Features:
Featurette
Theatrical Trailer

The offbeat casting of Cary Grant as a submarine captain pays off in this tense WWII underwater picture; he ably trades in his sophistication for the sweaty close quarters of an action movie. The mission? Infiltrate the mined harbor of Tokyo itself, a feat bookended by a brief confrontation in the Aleutians and a depth-charge chase through the open sea. Skipper Grant is supported by the usual stock crew of Navy melting-pot types, with John Garfield drawing duty as the resident dame-crazy fantasist. (Somebody forgot to put the saltpeter in his chow, apparently.) The solid action alternates with dialogue that tends toward the schmaltzy or jingoistic (the movie’s become somewhat notorious for its unusually nasty propagandistic jabs at the Japanese enemy). Destination Tokyo was the directing debut of Delmer Daves, who would later excel in smart Westerns such as 3:10 to Yuma. –Robert Horton

Destination Tokyo is available at Amazon for $10.49. To Order click here
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Other Products of Interest

• Run Silent, Run Deep
• Crash Dive
• Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
• The Enemy Below
• Operation Pacific

Legendas em espanhol

Year: 1931

Director: Robert Z. Leonard

Cast: Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, Jean Hersholt, Alan Hale, John Miljan, Hale Hamilton

Susan Lenox is a really strange movie. I’ve seen it several times over the years, and my opinion on it has changed constantly. Initially I was so bewildered and caught off guard by it that I really disliked it, but the more times I watch it, the more I enjoy it. It’s one of those pre-code films where the following conversation probably took place in the editing room…

“It’s okay as a 90 minute movie.”

“But if we cut it down to under 80 minutes we can schedule more screenings and make more money.”

“That’s a good idea.”

“Yeah, but don’t cut out any of the sex.”

What resulted from the studio’s interesting editing is one hell of a sexy, surreal, downright strange romantic melodrama.

Garbo plays Helga, the illegitimate child of a dead mother of bad reputation. She grows up under the tyranny of her uncle, who’s so worried she’s going to turn out like her mother that he decides to marry her off to a brute. One stormy night, said brute tries to rape her, and Helga flees into the forest. She stumbles upon a cabin where Rodney (a dashing Gable) is staying. He takes her in, and the two fall in love. Soon, Rodney has to go out of town for a week for work. While he’s gone, Helga’s uncle catches up with her, and she’s forced to take off.

From there it’s a really strange and pretty heartwrenching melodrama about Helga trying to find her way back to Rodney and all the horrible things they go through to get there. During this journey, she’s forced into becoming a “fallen women” and Rodney rashly condemns her and ditches her.

I’m a sucker for movies about people in love treating each other horribly, and this is a really early example of those kinds of films. Helga, hurt by Rodney’s dismissal, allows herself to continue along the path of a fallen woman, almost just to hurt Rodney. The film is really a fascinating look at a really intense relationship between two people who are so twisted and screwed up that they’re only happy when they’re miserable together.

In addition to the strange nature of the Helga and Rodney’s relationship, the settings of the film add to the bizarre atmosphere. It starts off in America, but in a strange wilderness of America that’s almost a fantasy world, which is appropriate with Helga beginning her life in a sort of Cinderella story, to escape and find her prince charming. during her journey back to Rodney, Helga ends up as a circus performer, and that in itself… well, well obviously that whole section and all those people are weird in an of themselves. The story than shifts to what is, I assume, the Park Avenue world of New York where Helga (now known as Susan Lenox) is being kept by a politician. For this very short section of the film, Garbo plays one of her few “modern woman” roles, and fits into the skin nicely. After this part, the story moves to a seed South America bar, where the atmosphere is rowdy, to say the least. The constant change in scenery and tone is startling, but where I found fault with that upon my first viewings, I now see it as a strength of the film. Susan Lenox is a fast paced romantic melodrama. It almost feels like and adventure film, and those jarring movements between time and setting help keep thing fresh and exciting.

This was the only pairing of Garbo and Gable. Having two such dynamic personalities on the screen certainly adds to the explosiveness of the film. Their personalities clash and merge and explode over and over again on screen. In reality, Garbo and Gable couldn’t stand each other. Perhaps that helped with the explosive nature of the couple on the screen. At the same time, though, Gable is really the only male costar Gable had who could make her really seem like a girl. Garbo was an extremely sexy woman, and all of her costars (Gilbert, Douglas, Nagel, etc) embraced and enhanced her as a woman. But only Gable was really able to accentuate the basic romantic girl inside of Garbo. It’s a surprising, unexpected pairing, but it works so well.

Likewise, Garbo’s performance is kind of unexpected. This really isn’t the kind of character one would ever think of when thinking of regal, mysterious Garbo. The vamp, the tragic heroine, the mystery. This role is nothing like any of those things. In Susan Lenox, Garbo gets to something very primal in her nature that I don’t think she ever touched in any of her other roles. She accessed a really deep romantic side, and a deep aching hurt for this character that she doesn’t show in most of her performances. The more I see of this film, the more I think that it may be her best performance.

Gable is his usual rough, rugged self. This was his first starring role where he wasn’t playing a bad guy or a heavy. It’s a pretty emotionally complicated role for an actor to really start his starring career with, but Gable plays it with perfect ease.

Susan Lenox is definitely a weird movie. On all fronts, it’s not something you’d expect it to be. But after adjusting to those unexpected things, it’s easy to see this is something unique and special.

By Katie Richardson

Year: 1932

Director: Alfred E. Green

Cast: Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. , Joan Blondell, Guy Kibbee, Alan Hale, George Rosener

Chick (Fairbanks) and Scraps (Kibbee) are two hobos just released from the hoosegow for vagrancy. They need money to eat and make their way to Union Depot where Chick manages to get some clean clothes and money off a drunk who leaves his luggage in the men’s room. While at the station he also sees Ruth (Joan Blondell), an out of work chorus girl who’s broke and needs $64 to get to Salt Lake City for her next job and to get away from a sexual predator. Hungry and broke she accepts Chick’s invitation to go to a hotel room next to the station where he buys her a meal. Thinking she is a prostitute he is looking for repayment with some female companionship. When he thinks she’s refusing to put Chick smacks Ruth (a 1932 review in Time magazine points out that this may have been prompted by recent screen activities of James Cagney and Clark Gable). He soon realizes that Ruth is not really a prostitute, just broke and desperate. Underneath, Chick is really a good guy and agrees to help her get to Salt Lake City.

In a series of incidents involving pickpockets, counterfeiters and just plain fate Chick finds himself in the possession of a violin case full of counterfeit money, though he does not know it is counterfeit at the time. He buys Ruth a couple of dresses and the ticket to Salt Lake City with the funny money. The store clerk where Ruth purchased her dresses realizes the money is phony and calls the police who quickly arrest Ruth and Chick. Chick tells the police how he came by the money finding a check stub in a discarded wallet. The wallet had been tossed by a pickpocket after stealing it from one of the counterfeiters. Eventually after a shooting, a chase through the train yards and more misunderstandings by the law, Chick and Ruth are both cleared and the counterfeiters caught. Ruth boards the train for Salt Lake City as Chick, broke again, waves to her goodbye.

The ending is a nice touch. In most movies the couple would have fell in love and lived happily ever after. Here, they meet and depart with no artificial happy ending. All this plays out in real time.

The film is entertaining and is helped by good performances, especially by Fairbanks, Blondell and Frank McHugh. Joan Blondell is always a pleasure to watch and is as sexy as she has ever been on screen.

Union Depot benefits from it pre-code openness and it is amazing what got past the censors, prostitution, sexual perversion, and attempted rape. Articles discussing Warner Brothers pre-code films hardly, if ever, mention Union Depot which is a shame. Director Alfred Green keeps the film moving at a nice pace and at approximately 75 minutes is a nice trip.

Oh, did I mention that Joan Blondell is in this picture?

By John Greco

Completo