April 2019 Round-Up
TOTAL FILMS SEEN IN APRIL: 26
(see the film posters at the bottom of the post, arranged in watching order)
NEW-TO-ME: 23
REWATCHES: 3 (2 features & 1 short)
SEEN ON THE BIG SCREEN: 14 (13 features & 1 short)
MOST WATCHED ACTOR: Alan Ladd (12 in total)
Battling Butler was also very good and I thoroughly enjoyed it. This comedy gets often overlooked when discussing Keaton's feature films but it is very funny. I watched this on the big screen accompanied by wonderful live piano music and the audience laughed a lot, and me too. Might be lacking in stunts but I like how character-driven this is and how compelling the narrative is (it's based on a play). I love Keaton's stone-faced millionaire, and his invaluable valet, played by Snitz Edwards, is great too. Also love the set pieces like the tent's interior and the dinner ensemble in front of the tent. And the romance is lovely. I like Keaton's love interest Sally O'Neil and how feisty she is in the scene of their first meeting. Other scenes come to mind as well. The hunting and fishing scenes in the beginning, the wonderfully choreographed boxing sequence and the moment where Keaton wants to escape his future boxing match by hiding under a sheet on top of another boxer, who's lying knock-out on a stretcher. Definitely a Keaton film I'll be seeing again.
I also watched two other Buster films, shown as part of the small Buster Keaton special: the short My Wife's Relations and the feature film Three Ages.
This month the Filmoteca held a retrospective of films released through United Artists (To Be or Not to Be also being part of it). I watched all of the films of this retrospective except for the Valentino film (The Son of the Sheik). Most of the films I enjoyed, only two I didn't like very much. The UA films I enjoyed most (apart from To Be or Not to Be) are Broken Blossoms, The Front Page and A Woman of Paris. I also did enjoy The Mark of Zorro and Our Daily Bread. But with White Zombie and Things to Come I really shouldn't have bothered, though seeing them at the theater was some comfort.
Broken Blossoms was really great to see on the big screen accompanied by beautiful live piano music. It's not so uncommon in classic Hollywood films that well-known actors play ethnic characters and it's a good thing that Richard Barthelmess is not so easy to recognise, so the fact that he played a Chinese man didn't bother me so much. Lillian Gish is wonderful, she's perfect when playing sad and troubled characters. She has such an expressive face and she makes us feel her misery (her emotions might be over the top at times but it's a silent film after all). The dramatic closet scene is one of the most memorable scenes and Gish's forced smile (with the help of two fingers) is heartbreaking and memorable too. There was this beautiful piano tune whenever Gish was on screen and it almost moved me to tears. Glad I finally watched this.
Another very enjoyable film was The Front Page. I have wanted to see this for a long time because I love His Girl Friday. I also love Pat O'Brien so I went in with some expectations, not too high since I didn't want to get disappointed. Seeing this at the theater was already a big plus and it was also much better than I thought it would be. I knew that O'Brien played Hildy Johnson, the part performed by Rosalind Russell in His Girl Friday. It's only logical to get a different kind of film when the gender roles are changed but I hadn't expected that the plot was essentially the same. I prefer the premise of His Girl Friday with Cary Grant trying to keep his ex-wife Russell from getting married, and not just for the newspaper's sake. In The Front Page, Adolphe Menjou as Walter Burns acts only from a business point of view when wanting to prevent O'Brien's matrimony. Though His Girl Friday gets my preference vote by far, some things work better with the 1931 version, for example the supporting cast of reporters. Frank McHugh and Edward Everett Horton are more likeable than the reporters in the Hawks' version. Also the pre-code era being in full force allowed the reporters to discuss juicy topics freely. Another thing that stands out in this version is the cinematography by Glen MacWilliams. With the remake I'd never really been aware of the photography but here there are nice camera shots in the press room and I also like the tracking shots of Menjou walking. The weak link here is Mary Brian as O'Brien's love interest who has little personality, especially in comparison to Ralph Bellamy from the Howard Hawks' version. Still, this film is definitely worthwhile and it makes a nice double bill with His Girl Friday. By the way, this film also has nice opening and end credits.
A Woman of Paris was better than I had anticipated. I totally enjoyed the live piano music performed by Joan Pineda and paid consciously attention to his piano play. This Chaplin film without Chaplin in it has some funny scenes, clearly showing the master's hand. Take notice of the masseuse, of the girlfriend tipping off ashes in the saxophone, and of the scene where Edna Purviance throws her pearl necklace out of the window. She goes after the man who finds the piece of jewelry and retrieves it, and we see a cute little dog running after her. Apart from these funny scenes it's an entertaining drama with a lavish Paris apartment as one of the sets. Our pianist Pineda played the Smile tune at the end of the film, the final scene taking place on a country road and being a bit reminiscent of the Modern Times' ending. Pineda had introduced this film in Catalan (so the meaning of his talk was lost on me) and he might have explained his musical alteration for the end scene, as I'm sure it's not part of the original score.
The Mark of Zorro is my first Douglas Fairbanks Sr. film. Probably would not have seen this any time soon if it wasn't for the screening at the Filmoteca. The print was okay, but the music was a bit hard on the ears. This film was part of the DJ Cinema series where a DJ accompanies the silent film with modern DJ music. At times the music was fine but I would have preferred the original score and I was wondering if my headache afterwards was caused by the upbeat tunes. The film itself was fun, I liked Fairbanks' portrayal of Don Diego Vega and his foppish behaviour. I couldn't recall that Don Diego was such a fop and a weakling (I really need to see the remake with Tyrone Power again). Anyway, Fairbanks was funny as Diego, yawning his way through conversations and doing his silly tricks. As Zorro he shows his athletic skills and flashes his smile, and it's uncanny how much his son Doug Jr. sports the same smile (but is more handsome). There are some nice action scenes and the final shot with the happy couple and the handkerchief trick is cute.
Our Daily Bread is the sequel to King Vidor's The Crowd (1928). I love that film and the performances by Eleanor Boardman and James Murray. This sequel doesn't even come close but I still enjoyed it. It's also directed by Vidor, and we see Karen Morley and Tom Keene in the same roles as the married couple John and Mary Sims. Their performances are not so strong, though, and I didn't really like Keene. Barbara Pepper in a Jean Harlow-type of role messes up the tone and mood of the film and in my opinion it could have done without this unnecessary subplot. I found Keene's character a bit weak so it didn't surprise me that he ran off with Pepper but I was disappointed with Morley for taking him back. The ditch-digging sequence at the film's end is most impressive and the moment the water hit the crops is exhilarating and makes you want to cheer with the farmers. There was mostly a senior audience present during the screening at the theater and a lot of them applauded after the film.
Coming to my two lowest rated United Artists films seen on the big screen ...
Thunder in the East and Beyond Glory are my lowest rated Ladd films of this month.
I saved the best for last and will conclude this round-up post with my favourite Ladd film of this month, Branded in beautiful Technicolor. Don't ask me why I like this so much because it's actually a pretty standard western but it does have a compelling story premise. The film was just a nice surprise, something I hadn't expected. I like Ladd as the gunfighter on the run who takes the identity of the kidnapped son/brother from a wealthy family in order to inherit the estate (the boy went missing when he was 5 years old). He grows a conscience after the family takes him in. It also complicates matters when he falls for his 'sister' Mona Freeman. The film moves at a nice pace and has a feel-good quality. The characters are likeable and the leads Ladd and Freeman have nice chemistry. Freeman is petite and a good size for Ladd. Her character is spunky and sweet. I especially love the ending where she goes after Ladd, gets off her horse and strides towards Ladd full of determination. And Ladd is really handsome in this film!
So that's a round-up again, one that I'm pretty content with. I will leave the rest of Ladd's filmography for another time but it's been a pleasure getting to know him and his films. See you next month!
PHOTOS/GIFS IN THIS POST FROM TOP TO BOTTOM:
The films of this month basically fall into two categories: the screenings at the Filmoteca and the films that are part of the filmography of Alan Ladd. I watched a grand total of 26 films! I was also impatient to start with another actor's filmography or to see random films but I decided to stick to my resolution to check out as many Ladd films I could manage in a month and I'm glad to say I watched 12 films.
But let's first start with the trips I made to the Filmoteca. Happy to report that there were 14 films seen on the big screen, 13 feature films and one short. The Buster Keaton short My Wife's Relations I had seen before, and among the feature films were also two rewatches, To Be or Not to Be and The Birds. I'm glad I saw all the films I had planned to see except for The Son of the Sheik with Rudolph Valentino. Most of the films were part of the United Artists retrospective, marked with a (UA) in the list below.
Films seen at the Filmoteca in watching order:
Creature From the Black Lagoon (with Richard Carlson, Julie Adams and Richard Denning)
The Mark of Zorro (UA) (with Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Marguerite De La Motte)
Broken Blossoms (UA) (with Lillian Gish, Richard Barthelmess and Donald Crisp)
The Front Page (UA) (with Adolphe Menjou, Pat O'Brien and Mary Brian)
A Woman of Paris (UA) (with Edna Purviance, Adolphe Menjou and Carl Miller)
White Zombie (UA) (with Bela Lugosi and Madge Bellamy)
The Birds (with Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor, Suzanne Pleshette and Jessica Tandy)
Our Daily Bread (UA) (with Karen Morley, Tom Keene and Barbara Pepper)
To Be or Not to Be (UA) (with Carole Lombard, Jack Benny and Robert Stack)
Baby Doll (with Karl Malden, Carroll Baker and Eli Wallach)
My Wife's Relations (with Buster Keaton)
Three Ages (with Buster Keaton, Margaret Leahy and Wallace Beery)
Battling Butler (with Buster Keaton, Sally O'Neil and Snitz Edwards)
Things To Come (UA) (with Raymond Massey, Ann Todd and Derrick de Marney)
Of these films the best ones are the two I had seen before, The Birds and To Be or Not to Be.
The Birds is one of my fave Hitchcock films and I had been very much looking forward to seeing this on the big screen. The bird scenes are well done and look good enlarged — some of the effects seem a bit dated, though — but the built-up tension is very good. Apart from being a suspense tale, I love this for the human relationships and the well-developed characters. Tippi Hedren and Rod Taylor are totally believable as a couple and the way their relationship is put on screen looks very natural. Their attraction for one another is palpable. I love both of their characters and Rod Taylor looks even better on the big screen! Special mention goes to Jessica Tandy's excellent performance. The bedroom scene with her and Tippi feels very real and I love their conversation about Tandy's late husband and her fear of being left alone. Also solid performances from Suzanne Pleshette and Veronica Cartwright. Noteworthy is that this Hitchcock film lacks a musical score, just the bird sounds are heard and it's very effective. By the way, I loooove Tippi’s simple green suit, designed by Edith Head!
On to the highest rated film of the month. Five stars. Can't get better than that! It was the second time I watched To Be or Not to Be and it was every bit as wonderful as the first time and so funny. Seeing this at the theater, it's so great to be among passionate classic film lovers and this audience was very responsive and there was a lot of laughter. The script is very good as well as the performances. I love Carole Lombard (in her last performance) and the impersonations by Jack Benny. There's never a dull moment and it's very daring for its time.
But let's first start with the trips I made to the Filmoteca. Happy to report that there were 14 films seen on the big screen, 13 feature films and one short. The Buster Keaton short My Wife's Relations I had seen before, and among the feature films were also two rewatches, To Be or Not to Be and The Birds. I'm glad I saw all the films I had planned to see except for The Son of the Sheik with Rudolph Valentino. Most of the films were part of the United Artists retrospective, marked with a (UA) in the list below.
Films seen at the Filmoteca in watching order:
Creature From the Black Lagoon (with Richard Carlson, Julie Adams and Richard Denning)
The Mark of Zorro (UA) (with Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Marguerite De La Motte)
Broken Blossoms (UA) (with Lillian Gish, Richard Barthelmess and Donald Crisp)
The Front Page (UA) (with Adolphe Menjou, Pat O'Brien and Mary Brian)
A Woman of Paris (UA) (with Edna Purviance, Adolphe Menjou and Carl Miller)
White Zombie (UA) (with Bela Lugosi and Madge Bellamy)
The Birds (with Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor, Suzanne Pleshette and Jessica Tandy)
Our Daily Bread (UA) (with Karen Morley, Tom Keene and Barbara Pepper)
To Be or Not to Be (UA) (with Carole Lombard, Jack Benny and Robert Stack)
Baby Doll (with Karl Malden, Carroll Baker and Eli Wallach)
My Wife's Relations (with Buster Keaton)
Three Ages (with Buster Keaton, Margaret Leahy and Wallace Beery)
Battling Butler (with Buster Keaton, Sally O'Neil and Snitz Edwards)
Things To Come (UA) (with Raymond Massey, Ann Todd and Derrick de Marney)
Of these films the best ones are the two I had seen before, The Birds and To Be or Not to Be.
The Birds is one of my fave Hitchcock films and I had been very much looking forward to seeing this on the big screen. The bird scenes are well done and look good enlarged — some of the effects seem a bit dated, though — but the built-up tension is very good. Apart from being a suspense tale, I love this for the human relationships and the well-developed characters. Tippi Hedren and Rod Taylor are totally believable as a couple and the way their relationship is put on screen looks very natural. Their attraction for one another is palpable. I love both of their characters and Rod Taylor looks even better on the big screen! Special mention goes to Jessica Tandy's excellent performance. The bedroom scene with her and Tippi feels very real and I love their conversation about Tandy's late husband and her fear of being left alone. Also solid performances from Suzanne Pleshette and Veronica Cartwright. Noteworthy is that this Hitchcock film lacks a musical score, just the bird sounds are heard and it's very effective. By the way, I loooove Tippi’s simple green suit, designed by Edith Head!
On to the highest rated film of the month. Five stars. Can't get better than that! It was the second time I watched To Be or Not to Be and it was every bit as wonderful as the first time and so funny. Seeing this at the theater, it's so great to be among passionate classic film lovers and this audience was very responsive and there was a lot of laughter. The script is very good as well as the performances. I love Carole Lombard (in her last performance) and the impersonations by Jack Benny. There's never a dull moment and it's very daring for its time.
Battling Butler was also very good and I thoroughly enjoyed it. This comedy gets often overlooked when discussing Keaton's feature films but it is very funny. I watched this on the big screen accompanied by wonderful live piano music and the audience laughed a lot, and me too. Might be lacking in stunts but I like how character-driven this is and how compelling the narrative is (it's based on a play). I love Keaton's stone-faced millionaire, and his invaluable valet, played by Snitz Edwards, is great too. Also love the set pieces like the tent's interior and the dinner ensemble in front of the tent. And the romance is lovely. I like Keaton's love interest Sally O'Neil and how feisty she is in the scene of their first meeting. Other scenes come to mind as well. The hunting and fishing scenes in the beginning, the wonderfully choreographed boxing sequence and the moment where Keaton wants to escape his future boxing match by hiding under a sheet on top of another boxer, who's lying knock-out on a stretcher. Definitely a Keaton film I'll be seeing again.
I also watched two other Buster films, shown as part of the small Buster Keaton special: the short My Wife's Relations and the feature film Three Ages.
The Buster short My Wife's Relations was unfortunately not accompanied by the scheduled live piano music. It's funnier than the first time I'd seen this, but like the first time it's the dinner table scene that stands out where Buster keeps passing bowls and plates around without being able to eat himself. The gag with the sugar lumps is superb. No big stunts or anything, just slapstick and beautiful Buster to look at. I'd only slept a couple of hours the night before, had a tiresome day at work, and fortunately the Buster short was easy to get through on account of it being so short. But during the screening of Three Ages (following the Buster short in a double bill) I had trouble keeping my eyes open, even though it was entertaining and funny at times. It seemed very much of the same, though, only staged in different centuries, but there were also some nice gags, especially the chariot race in Roman times, with the cat on a stick as bait. I also liked the ending, with the happy couple and numerous children in ancient times and with the cute dog in modern times. I'm giving this Buster feature the benefit of the doubt as I have not seen all of it but I'd like to believe it's better than I experienced it.
This month the Filmoteca held a retrospective of films released through United Artists (To Be or Not to Be also being part of it). I watched all of the films of this retrospective except for the Valentino film (The Son of the Sheik). Most of the films I enjoyed, only two I didn't like very much. The UA films I enjoyed most (apart from To Be or Not to Be) are Broken Blossoms, The Front Page and A Woman of Paris. I also did enjoy The Mark of Zorro and Our Daily Bread. But with White Zombie and Things to Come I really shouldn't have bothered, though seeing them at the theater was some comfort.
Broken Blossoms was really great to see on the big screen accompanied by beautiful live piano music. It's not so uncommon in classic Hollywood films that well-known actors play ethnic characters and it's a good thing that Richard Barthelmess is not so easy to recognise, so the fact that he played a Chinese man didn't bother me so much. Lillian Gish is wonderful, she's perfect when playing sad and troubled characters. She has such an expressive face and she makes us feel her misery (her emotions might be over the top at times but it's a silent film after all). The dramatic closet scene is one of the most memorable scenes and Gish's forced smile (with the help of two fingers) is heartbreaking and memorable too. There was this beautiful piano tune whenever Gish was on screen and it almost moved me to tears. Glad I finally watched this.
Another very enjoyable film was The Front Page. I have wanted to see this for a long time because I love His Girl Friday. I also love Pat O'Brien so I went in with some expectations, not too high since I didn't want to get disappointed. Seeing this at the theater was already a big plus and it was also much better than I thought it would be. I knew that O'Brien played Hildy Johnson, the part performed by Rosalind Russell in His Girl Friday. It's only logical to get a different kind of film when the gender roles are changed but I hadn't expected that the plot was essentially the same. I prefer the premise of His Girl Friday with Cary Grant trying to keep his ex-wife Russell from getting married, and not just for the newspaper's sake. In The Front Page, Adolphe Menjou as Walter Burns acts only from a business point of view when wanting to prevent O'Brien's matrimony. Though His Girl Friday gets my preference vote by far, some things work better with the 1931 version, for example the supporting cast of reporters. Frank McHugh and Edward Everett Horton are more likeable than the reporters in the Hawks' version. Also the pre-code era being in full force allowed the reporters to discuss juicy topics freely. Another thing that stands out in this version is the cinematography by Glen MacWilliams. With the remake I'd never really been aware of the photography but here there are nice camera shots in the press room and I also like the tracking shots of Menjou walking. The weak link here is Mary Brian as O'Brien's love interest who has little personality, especially in comparison to Ralph Bellamy from the Howard Hawks' version. Still, this film is definitely worthwhile and it makes a nice double bill with His Girl Friday. By the way, this film also has nice opening and end credits.
A Woman of Paris was better than I had anticipated. I totally enjoyed the live piano music performed by Joan Pineda and paid consciously attention to his piano play. This Chaplin film without Chaplin in it has some funny scenes, clearly showing the master's hand. Take notice of the masseuse, of the girlfriend tipping off ashes in the saxophone, and of the scene where Edna Purviance throws her pearl necklace out of the window. She goes after the man who finds the piece of jewelry and retrieves it, and we see a cute little dog running after her. Apart from these funny scenes it's an entertaining drama with a lavish Paris apartment as one of the sets. Our pianist Pineda played the Smile tune at the end of the film, the final scene taking place on a country road and being a bit reminiscent of the Modern Times' ending. Pineda had introduced this film in Catalan (so the meaning of his talk was lost on me) and he might have explained his musical alteration for the end scene, as I'm sure it's not part of the original score.
The Mark of Zorro is my first Douglas Fairbanks Sr. film. Probably would not have seen this any time soon if it wasn't for the screening at the Filmoteca. The print was okay, but the music was a bit hard on the ears. This film was part of the DJ Cinema series where a DJ accompanies the silent film with modern DJ music. At times the music was fine but I would have preferred the original score and I was wondering if my headache afterwards was caused by the upbeat tunes. The film itself was fun, I liked Fairbanks' portrayal of Don Diego Vega and his foppish behaviour. I couldn't recall that Don Diego was such a fop and a weakling (I really need to see the remake with Tyrone Power again). Anyway, Fairbanks was funny as Diego, yawning his way through conversations and doing his silly tricks. As Zorro he shows his athletic skills and flashes his smile, and it's uncanny how much his son Doug Jr. sports the same smile (but is more handsome). There are some nice action scenes and the final shot with the happy couple and the handkerchief trick is cute.
Our Daily Bread is the sequel to King Vidor's The Crowd (1928). I love that film and the performances by Eleanor Boardman and James Murray. This sequel doesn't even come close but I still enjoyed it. It's also directed by Vidor, and we see Karen Morley and Tom Keene in the same roles as the married couple John and Mary Sims. Their performances are not so strong, though, and I didn't really like Keene. Barbara Pepper in a Jean Harlow-type of role messes up the tone and mood of the film and in my opinion it could have done without this unnecessary subplot. I found Keene's character a bit weak so it didn't surprise me that he ran off with Pepper but I was disappointed with Morley for taking him back. The ditch-digging sequence at the film's end is most impressive and the moment the water hit the crops is exhilarating and makes you want to cheer with the farmers. There was mostly a senior audience present during the screening at the theater and a lot of them applauded after the film.
Coming to my two lowest rated United Artists films seen on the big screen ...
I didn't expect much of White Zombie and didn't get much. The only plus was to have seen this in the restored version and some of the cinematography was nice. But it was laughable and badly acted and Bela Lugosi did not impress me at all. This is my first Lugosi film and it doesn't entice me to see more of his work.
I had some expectations for Things to Come since it's lauded as a good sci-fi film but I was very disappointed. I have to admit I was sleepy and had a hard time keeping my eyes open, especially in the middle part. Some of the photography is great, in particular in the first act, and also the production and set design is noteworthy. But there's something seriously lacking in the narrative and there are no engaging characters, in fact there is no characterisation to speak of and no interhuman relationships. The dialogue is stilted and the way these people talk doesn't sound natural. Because of these major flaws it was hard for me to get through this film, also being very tired, and I couldn't care less about the characters. The final act taking place in 2035 is the most interesting part and visually the most appealing. I will probably never watch this again. It was nice to see a very young Ann Todd, though.
I watched two more films at the Filmoteca: Creature From the Black Lagoon and Baby Doll.
I watched two more films at the Filmoteca: Creature From the Black Lagoon and Baby Doll.
Creature From the Black Lagoon was shown in 3-D. I don't like the uncomfortable 3-D glasses but I was happy to see this in the version it was meant to be shown in. The underwater scenes are great in 3-D with the fish swimming right in front of you. Nice 3-D touches are also the creature's claw coming out of the screen, the bat flying right at you, also the 'normal' scenes where the different dimensions are very evident and you feel you can actually walk around the table. The creature looks better underwater, on land it is a bit laughable, and I have to say the underwater scene where it is fighting with Richard Denning is well done. Julia Adams is not doing much else than being pretty and showing different items from her jungle wardrobe, her clothing looking very clean and crisp. She also shows some Esther Williams underwater skills, witnessed by the creature, and she knows how to scream when facing danger. It's campy, yes, but it's entertaining and some of it is really well done and nobody is going to watch this to see outstanding performances anyway. Richard Carlson, already in his forties, gets to show how fit he looks in his swim trunks.
Baby Doll was better than I thought it would be. I used to like Tennessee Williams' plays but now I'm not a fan anymore. They're so brooding, mostly with unlikeable characters. But fortunately the performances from the leads are good here, it's what keeps this film going. Especially Eli Wallach is good, he makes his unlikeable character almost likeable in comparison with Karl Malden's character. The role of Baby Doll (Williams himself wanted Marilyn Monroe for the part) is well suited for Carroll Baker. The scene on the swing with Baker sipping lemonade and Wallach trying to seduce her is filled with sexual tension. At times it's rather funny as well (also categorised as a black comedy), especially Mildred Dunnock elicits some laughs as the aunt who has outstayed her welcome. Nice cinematography by Boris Kaufman and music score by Kenyon Hopkins.
So that concludes part one (the Filmoteca screenings). Let's now start with part two, the continuation of the filmography of Alan Ladd. I really loved spending time with Ladd, so much that I already dedicated two blog posts to him: Alan Ladd Rediscovered and Alan Ladd, the True Quiet Man.
The films I watched this month are (in watching order):
Lucky Jordan (with Helen Walker)
The McConnell Story (with June Allyson)
Thunder in the East (with Deborah Kerr and Charles Boyer)
And Now Tomorrow (with Loretta Young and Susan Hayward)
Saigon (with Veronica Lake)
Hell on Frisco Bay (with Edward G. Robinson and Joanne Dru)
The Badlanders (with Ernest Borgnine and Katy Jurado )
Branded (with Mona Freeman and Charles Bickford)
Whispering Smith (with Robert Preston and Brenda Marshall)
Beyond Glory (with Donna Reed)
Chicago Deadline (with Donna Reed, June Havoc and Arthur Kennedy)
Captain Carey, U.S.A. (with Wanda Hendrix and Francis Lederer)
The Ladd film I enjoyed most is Branded, more about that at the end of this post.
So that concludes part one (the Filmoteca screenings). Let's now start with part two, the continuation of the filmography of Alan Ladd. I really loved spending time with Ladd, so much that I already dedicated two blog posts to him: Alan Ladd Rediscovered and Alan Ladd, the True Quiet Man.
The films I watched this month are (in watching order):
Lucky Jordan (with Helen Walker)
The McConnell Story (with June Allyson)
Thunder in the East (with Deborah Kerr and Charles Boyer)
And Now Tomorrow (with Loretta Young and Susan Hayward)
Saigon (with Veronica Lake)
Hell on Frisco Bay (with Edward G. Robinson and Joanne Dru)
The Badlanders (with Ernest Borgnine and Katy Jurado )
Branded (with Mona Freeman and Charles Bickford)
Whispering Smith (with Robert Preston and Brenda Marshall)
Beyond Glory (with Donna Reed)
Chicago Deadline (with Donna Reed, June Havoc and Arthur Kennedy)
Captain Carey, U.S.A. (with Wanda Hendrix and Francis Lederer)
I also really enjoyed The Badlanders which is a great buddy movie. Ladd is quite expressive in this film in comparison with some of his other films. I really love the comradeship between the two men, as well as the sweet romance between Ernest Borgnine and Katy Jurado. Ladd's love interest Claire Kelly doesn't have much to do and her role is a bit weird. This film benefits from the cinematography by John F. Seitz. Especially the shots in the mine look great.
In Lucky Jordan Ladd is once again cast as a cynical and tough guy with a buried conscience. It's his first starring role after two film noir collaborations, This Gun For Hire and The Glass Key, with Veronica Lake. This is a much lighter movie, with a comedy streak, and it's enjoyable. The best scenes are the ones with Ladd and his 'ma' Mabel Paige in her apartment. They even share a couple of endearing moments. Helen Walker makes a pretty leading lady but it's really Paige who steals the show.
In Lucky Jordan Ladd is once again cast as a cynical and tough guy with a buried conscience. It's his first starring role after two film noir collaborations, This Gun For Hire and The Glass Key, with Veronica Lake. This is a much lighter movie, with a comedy streak, and it's enjoyable. The best scenes are the ones with Ladd and his 'ma' Mabel Paige in her apartment. They even share a couple of endearing moments. Helen Walker makes a pretty leading lady but it's really Paige who steals the show.
Whispering Smith is Ladd's first western and first film in colour. I had hoped to enjoy this as much as I enjoyed Branded but it was a bit disappointing. I like Ladd's good guy, calm and soft-spoken yet with a tough edge (he plays a railroad detective) and I love his loyalty towards his friend Robert Preston who gets involved with the bad gang. My main problem with this film is Brenda Marshall's character, I didn't like her at all. I was hoping for a more feisty woman but she is not doing much else than playing the dutiful wife to Preston while pining for Ladd. I also don't think she makes a believable couple with Ladd. Of course he's much too nice for her. Still, the film is entertaining, the Technicolor colours are beautiful and there's some nice photography by Ray Rennahan (who worked as a technicolor associate on Gone With the Wind). And I like William Demarest and Fay Holden as Ladd's friends. The scene where Ladd and Demarest are having a cup of coffee from pretty china, leisurely sitting outside, looks very homey and it's an unusual image for a western. Right before that scene there's an encounter between Ladd and a boy with his dog, and I like how comfortable Ladd is around kids and animals.
I like Alan Ladd's quiet manner but his performance in Hell on Frisco Bay is quite uninspiring and flat. It's really Edward G. Robinson who lifts this film to a higher level. I also like Paul Stewart's character and performance. Watch out for supporting roles by Rod Taylor, Fay Wray, and even Jayne Mansfield. I still enjoyed most of this film and it's especially memorable for the location shots in San Francisco and the finale on the water. Cinematography by John F. Seitz and music score by Max Steiner.
Saigon is the last of the four Ladd/Lake collaborations and the only one I hadn't seen yet. This comes at the bottom of the list in terms of preference but it's still enjoyable. The stars have great chemistry and I was waiting for their scenes together. Too bad there are no more Ladd/Lake films to explore so I guess I have to rewatch This Gun For Hire and The Blue Dahlia in the near future (have seen The Glass Key very recently).
Captain Carey, U.S.A. is a bit of an unusual Mitchell Leisen film in the director's impressive oeuvre. It's an enjoyable but forgettable whodunnit story with a noirish twist set in Italy (sets are nice but pretty fake). I like Ladd here, he's a bit more lively, showing off his athletic skills, jumping and running. I also like his sweet smile in the scene where Wanda Hendrix gives him back the necklace. But I found Hendrix to be the weak link as I don't really like her and her acting skills are nothing special. It also doesn't help that I don't like her voice and fake Italian accent and that her chemistry with Ladd is non-existent. This film is noteworthy for getting the Oscar for Best Original Song. The first rendition of Mona Lisa can be heard here and the song was especially written for this film. Nice cinematography by John F. Seitz, especially in the basement of the palace, and great score by Hugo Friedhofer. Watch out for a young Rusty (Russ) Tamblyn.
With Chicago Deadline I hadn't counted on Donna Reed ... (spoiler!) ... being the girl whose death reporter Alan Ladd is investigating. That was a bummer because I thought they had okay chemistry in Beyond Glory (I watched that earlier) and here they didn't have any scenes together on account of her being dead. Like in Captain Carey, U.S.A. Ladd is more animated here, reminded me a bit of Robert Mitchum, also in the delivery of his lines. The story premise is compelling but gets a bit convoluted and it didn't help that the copy online wasn't of the best quality. Arthur Kennedy plays Reed's brother, a likeable and gentle character. Still worth a watch.
Of all the Alan Ladd films watched this month And Now Tomorrow, The McConnell Story, Beyond Glory and Thunder in the East are among the least enjoyable.
And Now Tomorrow has many flaws and the incredible plot is one of them. Playing against type, Alan Ladd is a doctor who miraculously cures Loretta Young from deafness. And after only one injection with the wonder serum he has developed! Despite the silliness of the story, I love Ladd here. Love love love him in the scenes where he does nothing else but observing people. His eyes, his quiet gaze ... But he and Young don' t have a lot of chemistry and it's very apparent with that last kiss (reportedly the stars didn't like each other).
The McConnell Story is a biopic of United States Air Force fighter pilot Joseph C. McConnell who became the top American flying ace during the Korean War. Fairly entertaining film but when the lengthy aerial scenes are the most exciting part, it says something about its shortcomings. There is no depth in characterisation and the performances are nothing special. According to rumours Ladd and Allyson fell for each other during filming. Both being married at the time, their relationship didn't evolve into something deeper. Though they don't have sizzling chemistry on screen, they still make a nice couple. Two more noteworthy things. First the score by Max Steiner. It's beautiful but it's not the original score written especially for this film. Steiner had the habit of self-borrowing his themes or parts of it, and this film's main theme is the same love theme, While You're Away, from My Reputation (1946). The ending of My Reputation with the use of the theme (while Barbara Stanwyck stands on the platform waving to the soldiers and subsequently walks away) is one of my all-time favourite final scenes and to have that same theme used for another film is sort of a bummer. Another thing worth mentioning is that the real McConnell died in a crash (during a test flight) several months after the film's production had been announced. They had to rewrite the script in order to include the crash in the film.
Thunder in the East and Beyond Glory are my lowest rated Ladd films of this month.
Ladd plays a tough guy again in Thunder in the East, a ruthless businessman who falls for blind and sweet Deborah Kerr, and yes, you guessed it, she manages to soften his heart and redeem him. The plot lacks in credibility and also Charles Boyer in Indian brown face, with a French accent, is hardly believable. But the icing on the cake, in terms of silliness, is the abrupt ending. Rambo Boyer and Rambo Ladd wipe out their enemy with machine gun fire.
I was very sleepy while watching Beyond Glory in bed and the story didn't interest me much to begin with. I love Ladd in noirs and westerns, two genres that suit him very well, but I think he was miscast here. I actually like his pairing with Donna Reed and she looks really pretty.
I was very sleepy while watching Beyond Glory in bed and the story didn't interest me much to begin with. I love Ladd in noirs and westerns, two genres that suit him very well, but I think he was miscast here. I actually like his pairing with Donna Reed and she looks really pretty.
I saved the best for last and will conclude this round-up post with my favourite Ladd film of this month, Branded in beautiful Technicolor. Don't ask me why I like this so much because it's actually a pretty standard western but it does have a compelling story premise. The film was just a nice surprise, something I hadn't expected. I like Ladd as the gunfighter on the run who takes the identity of the kidnapped son/brother from a wealthy family in order to inherit the estate (the boy went missing when he was 5 years old). He grows a conscience after the family takes him in. It also complicates matters when he falls for his 'sister' Mona Freeman. The film moves at a nice pace and has a feel-good quality. The characters are likeable and the leads Ladd and Freeman have nice chemistry. Freeman is petite and a good size for Ladd. Her character is spunky and sweet. I especially love the ending where she goes after Ladd, gets off her horse and strides towards Ladd full of determination. And Ladd is really handsome in this film!
So that's a round-up again, one that I'm pretty content with. I will leave the rest of Ladd's filmography for another time but it's been a pleasure getting to know him and his films. See you next month!
PHOTOS/GIFS IN THIS POST FROM TOP TO BOTTOM:
*The Birds (1963) with Tippi Hedren;
*The Birds (1963) with Rod Taylor;
*The Birds (1963) with Suzanne Pleshette and Tippi Hedren;
*To Be or Not to Be (1942) with Jack Benny and Carole Lombard;
*To Be or Not to Be (1942) with Robert Stack and Carole Lombard;
*Battling Butler (1926) with Buster Keaton and Snitz Edwards;
*Battling Butler (1926) with Buster Keaton and Sally O'Neil;
*My Wife’s Relations (1922) with Buster Keaton;
*Three Ages (1923) with Buster Keaton and Margaret Leahy;
*Broken Blossoms (1919) with Lillian Gish;
*Broken Blossoms (1919) with Lillian Gish;
*The Front Page (1931) with Adolphe Menjou, Pat O'Brien and Mary Brian;
*A Woman of Paris (1923) with Edna Purviance and Carl Miller;
*The Mark of Zorro (1920) with Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Marguerite De La Motte;
*Our Daily Bread (1934) with Karen Morley and Tom Keene;
*White Zombie (1932) with Bela Lugosi and Madge Bellamy;
*Things to Come (1936);
*Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954) with Richard Carlson, Julie Adams and Richard Denning;
*Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954) with Julie Adams;
*Baby Doll (1956) with Carroll Baker and Eli Wallach;
*Baby Doll (1956) with Carroll Baker;
*The Badlanders (1958), publicity still with Alan Ladd, Ernest Borgnine and Katy Jurado;
*The Badlanders (1958), publicity still with Alan Ladd and Claire Kelly;
*Lucky Jordan (1942), publicity still with Alan Ladd, Helen Walker and Marie McDonald;
*Lucky Jordan (1942) with Alan Ladd and Mabel Paige;
*Whispering Smith (1948) with Alan Ladd, Robert Preston, Brenda Marshall, William Demarest and Fay Holden;
*Hell on Frisco Bay (1955) with Alan Ladd and Joanne Dru;
*Saigon (1948) with Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake;
*Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950) with Alan Ladd and Wanda Hendrix;
*Chicago Deadline (1949), publicity still with Alan Ladd, Donna Reed, June Havoc and Irene Hervey;
*And Now Tomorrow (1944) with Alan Ladd and Loretta Young;
*The McConnell Story (1955) with Alan Ladd and June Allyson; (screenshot by me)
*The McConnell Story (1955) with Alan Ladd and June Allyson;
*The McConnell Story (1955) with Alan Ladd and June Allyson;
*Thunder in the East (1952) with Alan Ladd and Deborah Kerr;
*Beyond Glory (1948) with Alan Ladd and Donna Reed, and Audie Murphy in the background;
*Branded (1950) with Alan Ladd and Mona Freeman. (5 gifs made by me)