Only the Second "L" is Silent

I do not pretend to be an expert of any kind regarding the early films of the American cinema.  I can say, however, that even though I do not know enough to have a working knowledge to pull from, I can laugh hysterically and appreciate the genius work of these early pioneers.  I love Laurel & Hardy, and I just received in today’s mail a collection of their films (thank you, Amazon.com)* that includes my two favorites, “Another Fine Mess” (1930) and “The Music Box” (1932), which used to drive my kids nuts! (I don’t know, maybe they still do.)  Another favorite film way-paver is Buster Keaton in my personal favorites “Sherlock, Jr.” (1924) and “The General” (1926).

Harold Lloyd as 'Harold Hall' in "Movie Crazy"

My lack of knowledge is just lack of exposure to too many of the early greats. Mostly because I was so busy watching a John Wayne, Gene Kelly, or Marx Brothers’ film (although they do qualify in the pioneer category).  It’s never too late, and when I can catch an opportunity on Turner Classic Movies or pull out something from the dvd cabinets (yes, confession time -there’s stuff in those I haven’t watched!), I will take a gander.

I had seen many clips of Harold Lloyd in film documentaries, but never settled in to watch an entire film.  But, just a couple of weeks ago, I enjoyed my first and one of his last films, “Movie Crazy,” which premiered in September 1932 and was his most popular talkie. All I can say is “I loved it!”  Why? Well, the title was intriguing, of course.  And, as I read the synopsis, I thought I must watch.  Harold Hall wants nothing more than to be in the movies  (an instant connection right there), and after getting his photograph mixed-up with another’s in his studio letter, he is called to Hollywood.  Unfortunately, his ‘poor sap’ nature (which is always misconstrued as a troublesome sort, although he is a genuinely naïve good-egg) puts him at odds with studio heads.  He also gets involved with an actress and her south-of-the-border movie character, and is unaware she is one in the same.

 

The antics with a magician’s coat are laugh out loud worthy; I found myself loving this poor bloke, feeling sorry for this adorable underdog, and cheering him through every amazing sight-gag Lloyd had concocted for Harold Hall during this 80-minute fun fest!

The bottom line – check out a movie or actor you know nothing of – especially one that you may have heard a lot about, but never have had the chance of experiencing one of their films.  I hope you, as I did with Harold Lloyd, find a new friend - my Netflix© queue is now loaded with surprises to come in the future!

Listening with a Glass Eye

If you ask someone on the street to name favorite contemporary film composers, you will probably get the names of John Williams, Hans Zimmer, Howard Shore; maybe Alan Silvestri, Michael Giacchino, or Thomas Newman.  Along with all these,  my favorites also include Rachel Portman, Jerry Goldsmith, Bruce Broughton, and the brilliant Ennio Morricone. But today’s blog is written from inspiration from watching last weekend an enjoyable film in our collection, “The Illusionist.” Its composer, another of my favorite film score composers – Philip Glass.  

Ed Norton stars in "The Illusionist"

Philip Glass is an American-born (1937), classical composer, nick-named “The Last Romantic,” and rightly so.  As a classical music lover, myself, I delight when I hear not only true classics integrated into film and used to their fullest potential, but when a composer crosses the symphonic border into actually composing for film.  Glass is the driving force behind the “Koyaanisqatsi,” (1982), “Powaqqatsi” (1988) “Naqoyqatsi” (2002) series of films.  Once you’ve heard the scores for these films, you can begin to identify Glass’s ‘signature,’ as I call it, within a score.  With his unique style, Glass’s signature comes through strong in other more well-known ventures, the likes of “Hamburger Hill” (1987) “Notes on a Scandal,”(2006), “The Illusionist,”(2006), and “No Reservations,”(2007).  

For a large percentage of film-goers, Glass’s use of his “Anthem – Part I” from the “Powaqqatsi” score will be most familiar, as it is the orchestral heartbeat of “The Truman Show” (1998) (Winner - Golden Globe) soundtrack.  His lustful use of bass clef strings, and haunting melody lines with or without vocals adds soulfulness that cries over the percussive undertones and cadences.  Mr. Glass has also written scores for “Kundun”(1997)(Academy Award nominee) and “Secret Window” (2004), as well as  “The Hours,” (2002)(Winner –BAFTA), and “Notes on a Scandal.”  His work also has been included in the soundtrack of “Watchmen” (2009) and television work such as “Six Feet Under,” “Scrubs,” and “House, M.D.”

His symphonic discography is prolific.  My favorite (to date) of his non-film symphonic work is “The Light” (1987).  It, too, owns the driving rhythms that his more well-known film score compositions contain.

For more on the genius of Philip Glass, visit:  http://www.philipglass.com/

" 'Cause This is Thriller, Thriller Night!"

Back in October of 2011, Turner Classic Movies Channel aired one in their series of “A Night at the Movies.”  This episode was all about “The Thriller.”  Well, it’s not my favorite candidate for movie night, but I thought I would stretch my movie knowledge a bit, watch the episode, and try to learn a thing or two.  Boy, did I ever! Not only did it expound on the differences between a thriller, a mystery, and a horror picture (which in and of themselves is simple to distinguish, but more difficult to explain), but served up juicy clips of a nice list of ‘top of the line’ thrillers.  

With note pad and pen in hand, I took notes on my one-hour lesson from experts in the field (one interviewee was Stephen King, whose genius mind I find extremely fascinating!) and made a list of the films included in the clips.   Since October, I have been catching these films through my subscription service and finished the list today.  There were a few I omitted and did not watch by choice (or are simply unavailable).  Watching for the first time or re-watching some of the films from the episode (and I did as best as my subscription would allow to watch in chronological order) permitted me to see the thriller with new eyes.

Now I did not find every film to be a new favorite; however, there were a few surprises. 

“Fury” (1936) This film was a first view.  That frightening thought than any ‘regular guy’ could be misconstrued as ‘guilty.’ 

“Shadow of a Doubt” (1944) Another first view.  I found the unraveling of the story to be quiet good; however, was disappointed in the falling action.

“Woman in the Window” (1944) Again, a first view.  This film was the ‘surprise hit’ for me in the list.  Probably on the first ‘twist endings’ that I know of and done quite well.

“Strangers on a Train” (1951) I had already seen this film, and yes, a definite must for any thriller-watcher! Outstanding performances given by the entire cast.

“Three Days of the Condor” (1975) – Yes, believe it or not, there is a Robert Redford film I have not seen!  This is from the great era of ‘70’s spy thrillers based on previously written material, Six Days of the Condor by James Grady.

Other films that I already had seen that are favorites include “Wait Until Dark”  (1966), “Blow Up” (1966), and “Marathon Man”  (1976).

If you would like to know other films discussed in TCM’s “A Night at the Movies: The Thriller,” drop me a line, and I will send you the list. 

"...1a!" *

I recently began subscribing to the blog “Forgotten Films.” (Thank you, Sis!) This inspired me to write on one of my favorite “forgotten films.”  I don’t know of anyone who does not find Danny Kaye one of America’s favorite legendary performers.  I have shared his talent (via the gift of technology in the classroom) with my students, some of whom had never even heard of Danny Kaye; some recognized him as the ‘funny, old dentist that Rudy Huxtable visits on “The Cosby Show,”** but other than this, they were fully unaware of the talent unleashed by this world-renown comic icon, and were of course, at this point introduced to a new 'funny man'!

Now, “White Christmas” is in my top 50 films of all time and is #2 on my Christmas movie list. “Hans Christian Andersen,” and “The Court Jester” are both wonderful Kaye films, as well. I also enjoy “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” (“ta-pocketa-pocketa-pocketa-pocketa-pocketa.”) and “The Kid From Brooklyn. ” They, too, rate high on my Danny Kaye list, but one film for me trumps all of these – “Up in Arms” (1944, Samuel L. Goldwyn Productions).   Kaye portrays ‘Danny Weems,’ an elevator operator in a busy high-rise commercial building. He happens to be in love with Mary Morgan (the lovely Constance Dowling), but she is in love with Danny’s best friend, Joe (played by dashing Dana Andrews), and adorable Virginia (Dinah Shore) is in love with Danny.  As a hypochondriac, Danny is drafted (of course), becomes a military hero in his own crazy (and politically incorrect) way (“Oide nasai!”), and each man gets the girl they realized is truly their own.  The film co-stars some of the loveliest Goldwyn girls to grace the screen – talk about ‘ravishing beauties’; they’re here!

This movie is not yet available on DVD - a sad commentary on what sells.  We can find movies and television programming that were aired ‘yesterday’ and have no standards of morality, but the entertaining, cross-the-board, multi-generational appeal of the likes of Danny Kaye are hard to find on the shelves or internet warehouse.  Even his film, “The Inspector General” is available, but of the poorest captured quality.  But that ‘soapbox’ is for another time.  Today, I will leave you with nothing but nonsensical happiness and undeniable laughter.

"Melody in 4-F" ***

"Tess's Torch Song"

And, perhaps on of my favorite scenes on film (and it's about the movies)...

"Manic Pictures Presents..."

    * - the Selective Service ranking of 'available for unrestricted military service.'

  ** - “The Cosby Show”; Episode #2.16; ‘The Dentist’ (1986)
*** - the Selective Service ranking of 'registrant not acceptable for military service.'

Many Hands Make Light Work

Well, today is “Read Across America Day.”  A day in which schools all across the country stop and read books to encourage and instill the love of reading in all children.  I miss this day as an educator, as we spent the week prior learning of Theodore Seuss Geisel through class activities and biographical videos that were Seussian in nature.  Even my middle school students couldn’t wait to have an afternoon of reading books from childhood invoking happy memories.   We would bring pillows to cuddle, have a time to be ‘big reading buddies’ with students in the primary grades, and of course, there’s always birthday cake in honor of Mr. Geisel’s birth on March 2 (1904).

Naturally, today I was thinking of Dr. Seuss on film.  Of course, what child of the 1960’s can forget the television animated adaptation of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”? (My sister still has the LP soundtrack, and we would sing to that year-round.)  This was the standard by which the “Boomer Generation” personified Dr. Seuss stories. So, it became the rage to see Jim Carrey bring the Grinch himself to life in 2000 when Universal Pictures brought to the big screen a new vision of Who Ville in “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”  This was followed by the perennial favorite Mike Myers playing “The Cat in the Hat” in 2003, and then Jim Carrey again in 2008 bringing personality to an animated “Horton Hears a Who.”

But the film that comes to mind is “The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.”  I first saw this film a couple of years ago on Turner Classic Movies (TCM Channel).  Since it was Dr. Seuss, I thought I’d get a look at this picture from 1953 that I’d never seen of even heard of until then.  The film centers around ‘Bart,’ whose piano teacher is luring in 500 boys to practice on his ‘never-ending’ piano 24/7 (500 boys x 10 fingers each – well, you get the point).  I believe I would have loved this movie more as a child, as I spent six years in front of the piano rehearsing my lessons so that my teacher would place that gold star on my homework each and every Thursday afternoon. ‘Dr. Terwilliker’ (Dr. T) is perfectly played by Hans Conried, who has a voice right from the good Doctor himself (and one of the best (voice) character actors ever to grace the big and small screens!)  Shortly after the story begins, we find that Dr. T is not the friendly piano teacher that one hopes to have.  The film is full of bright colors, weird machinery, expansive sets (yet simplistic in nature – keeping with Seuss imagery) and strange musical numbers (lyrics by Dr. Seuss).  After much turmoil and frustration, the film comes to a screeching halt, and calm is restored to the ‘real world.’ It is interesting at best, and I would at least recommend checking it out.

So, “Happy Birthday, Ted!”  Just as the fan base of movie lovers is innumerable, so are those enchanted by all the ‘work’ you did.  We thank you, and you will forever be remembered by the world for making us believe in ourselves.  “The work for the happy finger method must go on.”(Mrs. Collins – “The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.” )

Today's blog is in memory of Jan Berenstain, who passed away this week at the age of  88.  

She and her husband, Stan, wrote the Berenstain Bear stories, that were part of the 

“Beginner Books” series from Random House, co-founded in 1957 by 

Phyllis Cerf with Ted Geisel and his wife Helen Palmer Geisel.