The 400 Blows (1959)

A French schoolboy with a less than ideal home life keeps getting into trouble.

The title refers not to physical blows, but mischievous tricks or pranks that a boy might play. And get into trouble for. This radically changes our expectation of the film. This semi-autobiographical film is the first and arguably most famous film directed by François Truffaut, and is a landmark of the French new wave.

To some degree The 400 Blows relies on the viewer sympathizing with the child, but he just makes one dumb decision after another. As details of his imperfect family are revealed, we find out just how imperfect it is, especially by 1950’s standards. While I found the story compelling, I am at a loss to understand what all the hype is about. It’s an interesting, well made film about a boy who gets into trouble. Freeze frame and roll credits. AMRU 3.5.

Nightmare Alley (1947)

Stan Carlisle (Tyrone Power) is a sideshow mentalist who yearns for the big time. When he learns that a fellow carnie and her husband have a system that got them to the big time before he fell into a bottle, Stan must learn more.

Power was a swashbuckling matinee idol, but thirsted for darker roles. When he learned of the script, he begged for the role. It was his favorite role and a box office flop. Audiences weren’t interested in seeing their knight in shining armor scam people and play with their emotions.

A hundred years ago I saw Power in Witness for the Prosecution and enjoyed his performance. I have no interest in seeing his pirate and costume romance flicks, but there are a few good films on his CV, this being one. It was nice to see Joan Blondell in a middle role. She came up with Jean Harlow and Barbara Stanwyck, and that crowd back in the pre-code cheesecake era and did cameo-adjacent roles in films like Grease and The Cincinnati Kid in her late career. But here, she is still attractive, likable, and intrinsic to the plot.

Here also is pretty Coleen Gray in only her third film role. Her acting was noticeably weak compared to her costars, but it’s easy to forgive because she was absolutely adorable. And she was still adorable fifteen years later in the forgettable Phantom Planet.

Based on a book, the film drops hints of darker elements. When told she has a big heart, Blondell’s Zeena replies “Sure, as big as an artichoke, a leaf for everyone.” A later scene doesn’t make sense unless you infer carnal activities. The background characters have depth and leave the audience wanting more.

Nightmare Alley is a fun and interesting watch. It’s reputation improved from it’s initial failure. It saw TV syndication after Power’s untimely death. There, audiences embraced it, no longer considering it “distasteful” as Darryl Zanuck called it. It has atmosphere, texture, and a persistent sense of danger. AMRU 4.5.

“I'm about as reliable as a two dollar cornet.”

2021 Retrospective

I may have burned myself out a little in 2020 and took it easy in 2021, but still blogging 52 films. I also chose to watch more foreign films, better films, and films I actively want to see, rather than those I felt I should see. I watched five foreign language films but stopped mid-year for some reason. I watched two essential films, and five notoriously bad films. I predicted I would see a fair number of Hitchcock films, and I watched five (six if you count Pleasure Garden, which I saw in December). I think I have twenty three of his films left and I expect to like only a couple. Fifteen films I rated 4.0 or better.

My local library has a film discussion group over Zoom. Once class didn’t conflict, I started participating. They alternate between a classic film and a modern one. Five I covered this year came from that group. It's been great. I don't have anyone to talk film with anymore.

I saw two silent (three if you count Pleasure Garden), The Lodger being my favorite, six musicals (two Marx Brothers), Umbrellas of Cherbourg being my favorite. I finally watched a Sophia Loren film and saw two. The five foreign language films makes ten in the past two years compared to seven in all prior years. Only one documentary, though. I can’t even think of another must-see feature length pre-1980 documentary. Woodstock, maybe?

I saw two Marx Brothers films with only one left, the disowned Love Happy. I watched one more of the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes films and have two to go. I couldn’t bring myself to watch an Elvis film. I’m guessing that won’t change this year.

The best film I saw in 2021 was La Strada. I really enjoyed watching it and frequently think back to it. Godfather fans may take exception but this blog is no democracy. Part II was the only Best Picture winner I saw. Other honorable mentions are the noir Born to Kill, the essential horror Rosemary’s Baby, The Odd Couple, Hitchcock’s The Lodger, Billy Wilder’s Ace in the Hole, Two Women, Bicycle Thieves, Harold and Maude, Manchurian Candidate, and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Note that four of the five foreign language films I saw are listed here.

The worst film was probably Night of the Lepus. It wasn’t terrible. Some of the effects were kinda interesting, but the story and overall execution was pretty bad. Santa Claus Conquers the Martians was supposed to be terrible, and was by no means good, but I found it just dumb and forgettable. Yes, I was disappointed that it wasn’t worse. Other dishonorable mentions are The Gorilla, featuring The Ritz Brothers, and the Marx Brothers The Big Store, both unfunny and unlikable.

Looking forward I intend on continuing the trend. Maybe six foreign language films, four or five Hitchcock’s, more silent film, and complete the Sherlock Holmes and Marx Brothers films once and for all. It’s hard being a completionist. Other than that, I hope to get north of 50 again and enjoy what I watch.

Goodbye for now.

The Pleasure Garden (1925)

Pretty Jill wants to be a dancer at The Pleasure Garden, but her cash and a letter of introduction were stolen. Luckily the worldly dancer Patsy takes her under her wing, get’s her that introduction, gives her a place to stay, and keeps an eye on her while her faithful fiancee Hugh takes an assignment overseas. What could go wrong? Meanwhile Patsy takes a liking to Hugh’s buddy Levet. Predictably, things don’t go as planned.

Here is Alfred Hitchcock’s oldest surviving film and first feature. It was filmed in 1925 but wasn’t distributed until after The Lodger became a big hit. The Amazon Prime copy is sixty minutes long so if IMDb is to be believed, there is a reel missing. I didn’t miss it.

I don’t have much to say about The Pleasure Garden. It mostly held my interest but it’s quite skipable and not at all Hitchcockian. I’ve chosen to be a Hitchcock competionist, but for the majority of viewers it won’t have much attraction. AMRU 2.5.

Houseboat (1958)

A terrible dad (Cary Grant) tries to reconnect with his three children after his estranged wife dies, so he takes them to his undersized Washington DC bachelor pad. There one of the boys meets with a young woman (Sophia Loren) who is rebelling against her dad. He needs a housekeeper and she a job, so she is hired. Implausible comic mischief has them living on a dilapidated houseboat.

This is a pretty standard rom-com so we know the dashing 54 year old will end up with the beautiful 24 year old, and we are never to feel weird about that. In reality she and the married Grant had been dating since they both appeared in The Pride and the Passion. He accepted this role trying to keep the relationship alive, but she had moved on to dating the married Carlo Ponti, who was merely twenty two years her senior. Grant tried and failed to back out of the film. Maybe this is why their chemistry isn’t what it could have been. Ponti divorced his wife and married Loren by proxy during the filming. Five years later they would divorce, take a four year break, then remarry.

Murray Hamilton, you know, the mayor in Jaws, has a smallish role as a low grade jerk. Somewhere in there is a young Barbara Steele in her first film role. I never saw her. Martha Hyer was charming as the red-herring love interest. She shows up from time to time (most recently in Born to Kill) but I never before took notice.

It’s a little known fact that dialog spoken by children in movies is actually written by adults. And by little known, I mean very obvious. But it wasn’t more obvious than by listening to Grant’s three children. It was conspicuous how non-childlike they spoke. You might be tempted to attribute their less than naturalistic performance to their age, but all three were already acting veterans. This was apparently a decision.

Grant wasn’t very likable and as mentioned there wasn’t great chemistry between the leads, but it isn’t without its charm. In the past I may have awarded Houseboat a passing grade, but I am growing tired of by-the-numbers Hollywood dribble. AMRU 2.5.

Guys and Dolls (1955)

Gangster Nathan Detroit (Frank Sinatra) is trying to organize an underground poker game, but for some reason can’t afford the rent on a location. So he makes a bet with high-roller Sky Masterson (Marlon Brando) that he can’t go on a “date” with a woman of his choosing. Sky agrees and Nathan chooses  the prudish do-gooder, Sarah Brown (Jean Simmons).

What is hyper-realistic, non-singing Marlon Brando doing in a hyper-stylized musical? I understand Sinatra was annoyed at losing the lead to Brando, whom he called Mumbles. I’m strongly in Sinatra’s camp here. Brando seemed like he was in a different movie.

Old friend Sheldon Leonard is here. I have realized that his and the other gangsters’ non-use of contractions is used by the legitimate businessmen in The Simpsons. In fact, Fat Tony is a dead-on impersonation of Sheldon’s Harry the Horse. Jean Simmons is new to me and I found her quite charming.

Guys and Dolls is has a pretty nonsensical story. Some of the musical numbers were tedious and I found the distinct and unique style was a bit off-putting, but in the end I came around, mostly. The numbers that worked, worked. I find my view softening the more time that passes since I watched it. I really want to give it a 3, but, what the hell. AMRU 3.5.

Lady on a Train (1945)

When travelling to New York, young Nikki (Deanna Durbin) believes she witnesses a murder outside her train window. The police don’t take her seriously so she enlists the help of her favorite mystery writer, as one does.

IMDb classifies this movie as noir, which it is not. But I watched it because it was supposed to be a Christmas movie, which it is not. While set during Christmas time, the season is nothing more than set dressing. Christmas is the theme, not just the decor.

Deanna Durbin came up through the ranks with Judy Garland. She did the same kind of fluff pieces, musical comedies with a tinge of romance. And these light films became very profitable, pulling Universal out of the red. She would eventually eclipse Garland and even Shirley Temple to become the number one box office draw for a few years. But more serious roles were not forthcoming so after twenty one feature films and 28 years of age, she retired. She has since slipped into obscurity, none of her films remembered much today.

Dan Duryea and that Ralph Bellamy fellow are brothers disinherited by their deceased uncle. Duryea played a smarmy and malevolent character similar to his role in Winchester '73. Bellamy took a ten year break from Hollywood after this film then went on to an impressive late career resurgence. Character actor Edward Everett Horton shows up here. Very distinctive in style, he has appeared in a great deal of films.

The “Think they witness/nobody believes” is such a common trope that it could be a genre unto itself. Rear Window comes to mind but if you think of a protagonist exclaiming “Why won’t anyone believe me!”, ask yourself what movie you heard that in. For me, it’s quite a few.

Essentially a crime mystery comedy, Lady on a Train is an entertaining if not thought provoking watch. Because Durbin’s fans came to hear her sing, they inserted three songs that the film would have been better without. Durbin was quite charming and the story holds your interest. Not noir, not really a Christmas movie, but a mystery that allows the observant viewer enough details to figure it out. Glad I watched it. AMRU 3.