Bringing Up Baby ( 1937 ) A Film Review
Dr David Huxley ( Cary Grant ), a stuffy young palaeontologist due to be married in a few days, and only one bone short of a priceless dinosaur skeleton hopes that, during a game of golf he can persuade a potential donor to give him the money he needs to complete his project. At the golf course he meets Susan Vance ( Katherine Hepburn ) a scatty young socialite with a hyperactive dog called George who first steals his golf ball and then his car.
On reaching Vance’s home he is greeted by Baby, a young leopard that Susan’s brother in Brazil has sent her for safekeeping! Smitten Susan’s subsequent and somewhat chaotic actions revolve around her efforts to keep David with her and away from her Fiancee. Efforts which include stealing his clothes, dressing him in a frilly outfit and ordering him to keep Baby calm by serenading it. One memorable scene is the ‘ripped dress’ scene, which snowballs from one calamity to another.
For many, Bringing Up Baby is the definitive screwball comedy. Hawks certainly included all the usual ingredients like double entendres, rapid fire delivery of one-liners, slap stick and supposedly intelligent people performing mad capers.
Although much revered today, on its release Bringing Up Baby was a commercial and critical flop. Howard Hawks brought the film in way over budget and viewers and reviewers were labelling Hepburn a huge flop. Hepburn and Hawks both parted with RKO Radio pictures but each went onto much greater things whilst in the course of time, Bringing Up Baby too, gained the recognition this fabulous film deserved.
The Golden Era of Hollywood Part I 1939-1948
Everybody has a favorite decade of the movie industry. From the silent movies of the 20’s, The deeply dark film noir classics of the 40’s or even the ‘brat pack’ high school teen films of the 1980’s. What is your favorite era? Here’s mine and the reasons behind it.
As a child growing up in the late 70s and early 80s I had a routine that every Sunday I would visit my great gran and gramp. Actually routine depicts this as some kind of chore but it’s what has created my passion for old movies. The Sunday would usually start with me arriving at my nans for around 10.30 in the morning whilst my gran was cooking the dinner. The Sunday lunch was nearly always regimentally served at noon and after this we would all settle down to watch the Sunday matinee film.
My great nan had a great memory for the stars of these old films, who was married to whom and reeling off other films the actor/actress had starred in (even into her late 70s ). These days planted the seeds that got me hooked on old movies, posters and the period of what I call the golden era of Hollywood, 1939-1948.
So here are four must-see films from this era, classics in all sense of the word.
Citizen Kane (1941).
Classed by many as the greatest motion picture ever made, Citizen Kane doesn’t disappoint. The plot is deceptively simple, a group of journalists try and discover the hidden meaning behind a publishing tycoons last word. In many ways Citizen Kane opened up a whole new way of shooting a movie, the director was 25 year old Orson Welles who also starred as tycoon Charles Foster Kane. What Welles achieved in his directorial debut is nothing short of astounding. Little things he did like put cameras in the floorboards to get different shots were simplistic but genial. A true cinema masterpiece.
Gaslight (1944).
Many film critics put this film in the ‘Mystery drama’ category, I would also class this as a psychological drama. Skilfully directed by legendary director George Cukor, the film stars Ingrid Bergman who as a girl discovered her Aunts body murdered in her home. Fast forward ten years and she and her new husband move back into the house. Charles Boyer plays the husband, for those not familiar with Boyer he played mainly the good guy in movies, here he takes on a much different role and he’s chillingly effective, slowly convincing Bergman that she’s going insane to hide a dark secret. Bergman won a deserved Oscar for her role, portraying a woman who questions her own sanity.
Wuthering Heights (1939)
Taken from Emily Brontes classic novel about doomed lovers Heathcliffe and Kathy, Wuthering Heights shows all of lifes traits, love, passion, jealousy, anger, sorrow. The film is cleverly narrated by a servant telling the story to a traveller who has stopped off at Wuthering Heights for the night. Heathcliffe is played by Sir Laurence Olivier, who as a 10 year old orphan is taken into a posh household where he meets Kathy(Merle Oberon). They grow up together on the moors and talk about a life together. Kathy is torn between her love for Heathcliffe and the high life but once her father dies her brother then takes charge of the household and banishes Heathcliffe to the stables where he is forced to do servants chores. He runs away and comes back and eloquent man hoping to take the arm of Kathy, only to find she is now involved with another man. Wuthering Heights is THE definitive doomed love story, beautiful shot and in places a dark film.
The Maltese Falcon (1941).
Humphrey Bogart stars as private detective Sam Spade and after a lady by the name of Miss Wanderly walks into his office, his partner Miles Archer is soon killed. After investigating the case Spade soon realises that being connected to Miss Wanderly is a dangerous game as he discovers another dead man. Bogart is the definitive ‘cool’ image, the way he acts on screen, his mannerisms how can any man not want to be him? Backed up by a great supporting cast which includes Mary Astor and Peter Lorre, The Maltese Falcon is a brilliant film-noir, will keep you hooked until the very end and then you’ll want more.
If you haven’t seen any of these movies then go to your nearest store, hire or buy them, you will not be disappointed and you will discover how movies should be made and how those stars of yesteryear have that charisma, class and elegance that are sadly lacking in today’s offerings.
Part II will include four more films that are must-see from this era.
The Ghost and Mrs Muir (1947) Film Review
Recently widowed Lucy Muir (Gene Tierney) is struggling with her bossy family. She decides to leave London and move to Cornwall with her young daughter Anna (Natalie Wood). She meets the house ghost, the grumpy sea captain Daniel Gregg( Rex Harrison). As their friendship grows and her money dwindles, he persuades her to write a book about his seafaring life and it becomes a best-seller. Then she meets the charming scoundrel Miles Fairley( George Sanders) and the captain sadly says goodbye to her before wiping the memory of him from her mind. However, Mr Fairley isn’t really charming and the captain hasn’t really left her forever.
A wonderful score by Bernard Hermann, full of soft gentleness and sweeping passion, perfectly complements this deeply romantic movie. Hollywood, as always, takes care of the romantic details, this time the setting a romantic cliff top cottage ( albeit not a hugging cliff in Cornwall but one in California, which was more budget friendly. In Tierneys hands the lovely Lucy’s assertiveness grows until she is a woman of feisty resolve. Harrison never lets the captain become sugary, however, he does play captain Gregg at full stretch throughout which might seem over the top to some viewers. One of the joys of The Ghost and Mrs Muir is that there are plenty of surprises along the way- including a really romantic ending.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) A Review.
It’s a beautiful day in Chicago and Ferris Bueller(Matthew Broderick) has decide that school isn’t the place for him today. So after convincing his parents that he’s at deaths door, he calls in sick. He next persuades his best friend Cameron(Alan Ruck) to ‘borrow’ his father’s 1961 red Ferrari and they then drive to school to kidnap Ferris’s girlfriend Sloane( Mia Sara). The trio then proceed to joy-ride around Chicago whereupon Ferris commandeers a microphone and decides to give his rendition of ‘Twist and Shout’ backed by a brass band.
In the meantime the school principle is after him, as well as Ferris’s jealous sister Jeannie(Jennifer Grey) who is fed up that Ferris is’ always getting away with things’. The day off also has a deeper meaning, to give his depressed friend Cameron some time and encouragement.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is one of the funniest of John Hughes’s ‘Brat Pack’ comedies. It’s also the only one that doesn’t feature Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall (Hall was offered the part of Cameron but rejected it in fear of being typecast). Cameron was in fact played by a 30 year old Alan Ruck.
A memorable scene in the film is a cameo by Charlie Sheen who plays a drugged up to the eyeballs boy who Ferris’s sister encounters at a police station. Full method acting would have been taking it a step far but Sheen did stay awake for 48 hours to get the ‘spaced-out’ effect.
This movie is now a cult high school classic and if you haven’t seen it, take a trip down to the local DVD store, it’ll be an evening full of laughs.
The Truman Show (1998)
As the media pushed their boundaries of decency to the very limit,offering up the lives of other people as some form of entertainment, along came The Truman Show. Although it didnt stop intrusive reality television, it at least made everyone sit up and take notice at just how far this form of reality entertainment should go.
Truman Burbank(Jim Carrey) lives in the perfect world where he has the perfect wife, great neighbours and a good job. What he isn’t aware of however is that his every move is being watched by millions of viewers who put their lives on hold to sit down and watch the mundane happenings in his. Adopted by the company that own the show, Truman has only ever known the manufactured perfection of the town called Seahaven and appears to be content with life until he falls for Sylvia( Natascha McElhone) Like everyone of the inhabitants of Seahaven Sylvia is an actress, but when she starts to feel the same way for Truman she is swiftly removed from the show.When he isn’t allowed to leave town, alarm bells start ringing and it’s not long before Truman realises that things aren’t quite what they seem in the small sleepy town of Seahaven.
This is a truly original and clever film that asks the viewers some direct questions about the world we live in. Truman is effortlessly played by Carrey( in one of his best roles) and is backed up by a fine supporting cast.
8/10
Is This The Worst Film of All Time?
The Barbaric Beast of Boggy Creek (1985)
You shouldn’t really expect much of a DVD which is in the bargain bin section of the local movie shop so when a work colleague brought this film in one day me and a few guys at work decided to watch it.The alarm bells were already ringing when we viewed the cover, the front of it had this terrifying Bigfoot-esque creature howling loudly, arms outstretched in a fearful rage and the back of the cover had errrr a man in a gorilla suit!
So onto the film, this is actually a sequel to The Legend of Boggy Creek, an early 70s local ‘hit’ for director Charles B Pierce so as the norm in the movie game some bright spark decided to make this sequel. The opening scenes(which by now already seemed to go on forever) show various flowers, marshlands of Arkansas until the camera pans out to view the local river. Then along comes our ‘man in the gorilla suit’ oh sorry I meant this barbaric beast to drink at the water hole.
So what’s the plot you ask? Well a professor decides to go to the swampland to see if the ‘monster’ exists and decides to take three students with him!!! DING DING hello! Plot fail number one, would three students be allowed to do this? Also during the film the Professor has flashbacks as a young boy of seeing the ‘monster’. So professor you actually already know it exists so why the exhibition?
The professor is played by Charles B Pierce, who if you need reminding directed it and wrote it…I think you are starting to get the message. The three students are ridiculously inept at acting, Cindy Butler(this was her last acting part) so one good thing came from this film, Serene Hedin(sounds like a porn stars name) and Chuck Pierce, yep Charles son who decided to help pops save some of the films budget by playing Tim, who walks around with his top off most of the film and his acting is so wooden I’d half expect him to be admitted to the local tree surgeon suffering from woodworm!
The most tension filled part of this movie is when they go into an old wooden hut and are chased by a dog, the dog is so clever it manages to smash its way into the hut( still trying to figure that one out) Once the dog gets in ol’ Charles has a shotgun in his hands, loaded and misses the dog from three feet! Utterly ridiculous!
During the camping scenes I actually got a little uncomfortable watching Charles perv over the students getting changed as the camera zooms into the posterior of Serene Hedin. So after camping out, having flashbacks, the professor finally figures out why the Boggy Creek monster is hanging around the area. Yes of course it was obvious, a disgusting fat hillbilly had kidnapped a baby Boggy monster and was holding him captive. So the professor saves the day, hands baby boggy back to mom and they walk off into the sunset.
A special mention must go to the make-up artist Pam Pierce and the boat renter Mack Pierce. More family members who got roped into helping Charles create his ‘masterpiece’.
If you decide to watch this film, remember that 71 minutes could be spent hitting yourself with a big stick, you’ll enjoy it more! I haven’t seen the latest Boggy Creek(2010) but I’m looking forward to Alien/Predator vs Boggy Creek Monster, Star Wars VII, Return of the Boggy.
Selling vintage movie posters to famous people.
Arlene Dahl
Selling and collecting vintage movie posters is my hobby, it brings me into contact with many different people from different continents. I have sold to collectors and enthusiasts from Canada, USA, Brazil, Peru, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and most of Europe. One of the best things that transpires after selling a poster are the replies of the buyer. I have been lucky enough and consider it an honour to sell posters to famous people and their relatives. Here is just one story of those moments.
I purchased a lovely collection of posters dated from 1950-1960 from a local auction room. After sorting through them I decided to put some up on Ebay for sale. One such poster was from a film called She Played with Fire, a 1957 film starring Jack Hawkins and Arlene Dahl. The film was also known in the United Kingdom as ‘Fortune is a Woman’.
This is the image of the poster in question.As you can see there is a stunning image of the actress Arlene Dahl. For people not familiar with her films she also starred in Journey to the Centre of the Earth. So I woke up one morning and checked Ebay and found that someone had purchased this poster, after going through the usual form of a sale, emailing them a delivery date and then shipping the poster off, it was only when I received feedback that I noticed the username of the client in connection with the poster. I then decide to email the buyer to ask if there was any connection with Arlene Dahl. Not really expecting a reply back I received an email a few days later… saying it was Ms Dahls secretary purchasing the poster on behalf of Arlene Dahl!. I emailed back saying it was a privilege to offer her a poster and wondered why she hadn’t got a poster of this film. Maybe it is because once the film industry have finished making money out of you they really don’t care, I don’t know. After a few corresponding emails the final one I received was that Ms Dahl was very pleased with the poster and to pass on her gratitude.
It’s stories like these that bring a smile to my face, someone like Arlene Dahl who made thousands of people smile with her films in the late 1940s until the early 1960s, showing appreciation to a movie poster seller across the sea.
www.timelessmoviemagic.co.uk –vintage movie posters, lobby cards and film stills.
www.timelessmoviemagic.wordpress.com –film reviews, tributes, facts about the stars of yesteryear.
Separate Tables (1958) Film Review
Separate Tables is set in a hotel in Bournemouth, a local British seaside resort. With a star studded cast such as Rita Hayworth, David Niven, Wendy Hiller, Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr and filmed in Black and White, you get the feel of what a dreary seaside hotel would be like back in the 50s.
Separate Tables
The plot is simple, the entangled stories of the characters enter just like a theater play as they are introduced one by one. Ann Shackland (Rita Hayworth) arrives at the hotel to see ex-husband John Malcolm(Burt Lancaster) to see if she still has control and power over him, Malcolm is totally consumed by the bottle, a way out to try and forget his failed marriage and love life. David Niven excels as Major Angus Pollock, a British officer type who is a habitual liar and a somewhat bitter man (Niven won the Best Actor award in 1958 for this performance) The vastly under-rated Deborah Kerr ( 6 Oscar nominations and no wins) plays Sybil Railton-Bell a young woman completely tied to her domineering mothers (Gladys Cooper) apron strings. Kerr plays this part delicately and poignantly, so good in fact that by the end of the film you end up feeling sorry for the character. A mention should go to Cooper who plays the domineering mother type so well in this film and in previous ones.The film has very contrasting character personalities, strong, weak, bitter, sweet which is what makes it such a good film, it also has no violence, just a well written script from an adapted play.
Separate Tables, a story of Social class in the 50s,sitting at…..Separate Tables.
Heath Ledger (4 April 1979 – 22 January 2008) – a tribute
Heath Ledger
Although not considered a “classic” Hollywood star, Heath Ledger was one of Hollywood’s most loved actors and his tragic death in 2008 left many a fan with a tear of sadness. This Australian actor stole hearts in 10 Things I hate about you, Brokeback Mountain and a Knight’s Tale, just to name a few. His portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight made him the first actor to win an award posthumously.
Heath Ledger as The Joker in "The Dark Knight"
His role in The Dark Knight was far from the sweet Patrick in 10 Things I hate about you, but both are the faces we want to remember this great actor by. May his soul rest in peace.
http://www.timelessmoviemagic.co.uk/
Fast Facts:
At the time of his death he had completed about half of his work performing the role of Tony in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.
He had aspirations to become a film director, and made several music videos.
The film 10 Things I hate about you was inspired by the classic Shakespeare play “The Taming of the Shrew.”
Laura (1944) review
Gene Tierney http://www.timelessmoviemagic.co.uk/
This is a deliciously dark film from the the 1940′s, the golden era of Hollywood film noir. What is a film noir movie? Usually it is a crime drama emphasising sexual motivations or cynicism. Laura has all of this and more. Detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) is sent to investigate the murder of Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney). As he furthers his investigation, he is confounded as to why anybody would murder Laura, a woman whom every man meets they fall in love with. Andrews plays the part of McPherson effortlessly, kick-starting his career in the process whilst Tierney oozes screen magnetism and selfish vulnerability. However, both are outshone by Clifton Webb, who steals the show as Waldo Lydecker, a venomous newspaper columnist who destroys careers and reputations through the newspaper. Webb is simply terrific in this role ( he was playing the same role on the theatre stage before being cast in the film) and his comedic mannerisms are pure gold. Supporting cast is headed by Vincent Price who plays Shelby Carpenter, who competes with Lydecker for Laura’s affections. Laura’s twists and turns will keep you guessing to the very end à la Hitchcock. The dialogue is fast and snappy, brilliantly acted by Andrews and Webb, inovatively directed by Otto Preminger, Laura is a treat that you shouldn’t miss.
Fast facts:
Originally planned to be a ‘B’ movie it was upgraded to ‘A’ status. The bosses at 20th century fox wanted Webb to audition for the part of Lydecker, who he was already playing in the theatre. Director Otto Preminger refused, then asked the bosses to go see Webb in the theatre as his ‘screen test’.
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