Santa Fe Trail (1940)

“Jeb, I'm frightened. That boy is crippled for life. And that man on the train, he died for a principle. A man killed for a principle. One of them is wrong, but which one?”

“Who knows the answer to that, Kit. Everybody in America is trying to decide.”

“Yes, by words from the east, and by guns from the west. But one day, the words will turn into guns.”

            Santa Fe Trail is one of those films that I watched because I like the actors in it. I had to see this because I adore Olivia de Havilland and like her pairing with Errol Flynn. What I got was an almost two hour bore fest.

            Jeb Stuart (Flynn) is a student at West Point before the Civil War. He is from the south and constantly gets into arguments with a northerner named Rader (Van Heflin) about slavery and southern attitudes. Jeb does not really argue he listens to Rader belittling the south and holds his tongue. Jeb’s friends George Custer (Ronald Reagan) and Bob Holliday are usually the ones to fire back with something to Rader. Jeb finally fights back one night when Rader goes too far. He is brought into the office of the head of the college, General Robert E. Lee. George, Bob, and a few other of Jeb’s friends back him up and say they were also part of the fight. General Lee punishes the group by sending them out to a fort in the middle of the Kansas Territory. For Rader he has expelled from the school.

            At graduation, Bob’s father and sister are in the audience. His sister Kit yells out in excitement when his name. Everyone looks at her including George and Jeb. For the rest of the graduation Kit looks over by Jeb and George and afterwards they each try to flirt with her.

            Jeb, Bob, George, Kit and their father are all on the train out to the Kansas Territory. The father tells the soldiers that they are being sent out there because the territory is not a state and it does not know whether it wants to enter the Union as a slave state or free state and a rouser named John Brown has been causing trouble to free the slaves. On the train are slave hunters who are looking to bring back slaves that have run away. The slaves are on the train with John Brown’s brother. The brother is thrown off the train and another man is hurt after their altercation.

            There is more to the story but it got really boring and I stopped paying attention. What a great movie reviewer I am I know, I know. The rest of the film is just a back and forth of Jeb’s troop trying to get a hold of John Brown and stopping his rebellion. And if you know your USA history in any way you will know that Brown is captured at Harper’s Ferry (and I only remember that because there is a really nice painting of the moment Brown is arrested in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City).

            Santa Fe Trail is not a well known classic film and probably the only reason why it is known at all today is because it is a film pairing Olivia de Havilland and Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan is in it. I hate the fact that de Havilland was throw in this film as just a love interest. There really was no reason whatsoever for her to be in this a lesser actress could have been cast instead. Michael Curtiz’s direction is as always is great. Unless you are a fan of Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland together or Ronald Reagan (or just curious to see a president as an actor) Santa Fe Trail is not really worth the time to watch. It was not terrible it was just boring and long. Santa Fe Trail is available to view in full on YouTube.  

Silent Sunday: Noah's Ark (1928)

“Oh God have mercy on my children. They know not what they do!”

            I was brought up in a Catholic house. I was never keen on going to church and the idea of going to church got to be too much as I got older. When I was in college for undergrad I had to take a Bible class as an Art History requirement (lots and lot of paintings and works of art have been done about stories from the Bible). I had a great teacher who was himself religious but he studied Judaism and Catholicism and whatever religion there is out in the world. The teacher I had is a practicing Jew but he goes to church every Sunday as well (his mother was Catholic). He taught the Bible almost as literature. He was not preaching he was teaching it in a scholarly way and I enjoyed it greatly. I will always remember him saying that if you believe in all the stories in the Old Testament there is something wrong with you because they are so unbelievable.

            One of the many stories I enjoyed reading for the teacher’s classes (I enjoyed him so much I took his New Testament class the following semester) was the story of Noah’s Ark. I remember even as a kid I enjoyed this story. I could never get my head around such a huge ark with all these animals in it and then only Noah and his sons and their wives were the last humans on earth. Really interesting stuff.

            Since the movie industry began there have been several film tellings of the Biblical flood. I remember watching a cartoon when I was little very vividly. Possibly the first attempt at showing Noah’s Flood was the 1928 Warner Bros. film Noah’s Ark. This version parallels the Biblical story with the way people and the world were during World War I.

            In 1914 people of the world are preparing for war. On a crowded Orient Express a theater troupe, that include a young woman named Marie (Dolores Costello), is heading for Bucharest. Some men get into a conversation about God. One says there is a God people must have faith to believe in God, another says there is the Goddess woman who is also like a devil, another says the military is god, and the last one asks if there is a God why does He not show Himself. As soon as the man finishes his sentence a lightning strike takes out the bridge the train is coming to. The train is thrown into a ditch.

            An American man named Travis (George O’Brien) and his friend Al were traveling on the train. They save Marie when they see her in the wreck. Someone points them to a lodge near the French border. That night all the men that traveled with them try to get to Marie. One man is a Russian secret service officer. Travis fights the man to keep him away from Marie. Just as the men are fighting the police come to the lodge to announce that war has been declared. To get back at Marie the Russian says that she is a German spy (Marie is German) and she needs to be arrested. Travis, Al, and Marie manage to get away to Paris.

            In Paris, Marie is worried she will be caught and arrested as a spy even though she is not one. Travis tells her she has nothing to worry about because her English is well she could pass for an American. Al becomes worried because he and Travis are in Europe on money that Travis’s father had given them thinking they were going to be traveling around studying art while they are really just having a good time. They read that the US  has declared war. Al signed up. Travis does not want to be alone without his friend. He wants to sign up to fight but he loves Marie he does not want to leave her especially because she is German.

            Marie and Travis watch a procession of American soldiers that Al is a part of. Travis feels ashamed he wants to fight with his men. Marie does not want him to go to war she does not want to lose her husband. Swept up in emotions Travis takes a place in the procession and heads to war.

            Travis is placed in the same regiment as Al. Travis tells his friend that he has married Marie but he does not know where she is she has not returned his letters. When the fighting begins Al dies in Travis’s arms.

            Months later Marie is working a theater as a dancer in Belgium. One of the dancers (Myrna Loy) asks Marie why she is always looking at the soldiers. Marie replies that she is looking for an American soldier. The Russian officer is in the audience. He recognizes Marie. When she leaves the stage he grabs her arm and has her sit down. He tells her he wants her to meet him that night. He blackmails Marie that he can question her about her papers which could cause her some embarrassment. Marie tries to runaway but she winds up running into the Russian. He places papers in her bag that make her look like a spy. He has her arrested and sentenced to death as a spy.

            That night Travis’s regiment comes through town. They are given orders to shoot the spies. Travis notices Marie is one of the people that are to be shot and killed. He yells out to his men to not shoot that Marie is his wife. Just as he takes Marie into his arms the town is bombed and the building they are in crumbles. When everyone comes out of the wreckage, the priest that was present at the execution tells them all the story of Noah and how it fits in with the present day.

            Japheth (O’Brien) is in love with his father Noah’s handmaiden Miriam (Costello). A King has sent his men to find a virgin to sacrifice to their pagan god. The men find Miriam and kidnap her. Japheth tries to go to the king to rescue his beloved from being killed. The King has Japheth taken away to be blinded and forced to walk in circles turning a wheel. God summons Noah to the mountains to give him a sign. God tells Noah that Japheth and Miriam will be saved and that he is to build an ark. The people laugh and jeer at Noah and his family as they build the ark. Miriam is finally taken to be sacrificed. Noah comes to the King’s palace to warn everyone what is to come. When the archers are about to shoot Miriam God strikes them with lightning. Soon the great flood is upon the city. Japheth knows the storm is God’s doing and asks Him to guide him to Miriam so he can save her. God does what Japheth asks of him and in return when Japheth returns to the ark with Miriam his sight is restored. As Noah sailed away in his ark God calmed the seas and sent a rainbow as a covenant of peace.

            In the present, the Americans come and save everyone in the crumbled church. The Russian has died in the meantime. When everyone emerges from the church Armistice has been called. The priest tells Travis and Marie that the Armistice is like God’s rainbow the covenant of peace.

            George O’Brien and Dolores Costello were great together. I have never seen Costello in a film before so I was not sure what to expect. She did a great job. George O’Brien was great as this strong Biblical character and an American soldier wanting to fight for his country. Myrna Loy is literally in the film for less than a minute as the dancer in Marie’s act. The film is mostly silent but there are a few speaking parts and Loy has one as her character speaks to Marie about looking for an American soldier. The woman had a knack for being in important films in the late 1920s (she was in The Jazz Singer which is the first sound film and Don Juan which was the first silent with synchronized background sounds).

            Michael Curtiz directed the film. He was amazing. So many of the scenes were beautifully filmed. What I like about Curtiz as a director he was so great at capturing the emotions of the characters. No matter if the scene was silent or had some sound with the characters speaking you could feel their emotions and turmoil and love. To me not many directors are able to really capture their characters in every aspect but Curtiz is one of only a few I believe did.

            I think Noah’s Ark is a wonderful film. I never would have thought to parallel the story of Noah’s Ark with war that, to me, was genius. The reason I like the story of Noah’s Ark from the Bible is because it is about having faith and never letting your faith fail you. Just because I do not believe in going to church does not mean I do not faith. I pray to God every night. Noah trusted God and so did Japheth no matter what they were going through. Even Miriam had faith even though she never says anything to that affect but you can see it in her face as she was lead to be sacrificed. Noah’s Ark is a late silent/early sound film I highly recommend seeing. It is a great piece of cinema. 

The Sea Wolf (1941)

“There's a price no man will pay for living.”

            I am not too much of a fan of swashbucklers. I do not like thinking about what life on a pirate ship must have been like: all the men cramped together and smelly beyond anything that is holy. Also when there is a woman involved she has usually been kidnapped and must be rescued in a beyond silly way. I just do not really like pirate films. I can handle Captain Blood that film is fantastic but other than that I cannot sit through pirate films (this also includes all the Pirates of the Caribbean. I tried watching the first one and thought it boring). So now I am sure you are probably thinking if I do not like swashbucklers/pirate film why on earth did I watch The Sea Wolf which takes place on an early 1900s pirate ship. Well I watched The Sea Wolf for the cast. And it turns out the story was not so bad.

            In a bar George Leach (John Garfield) overhears someone ask a sailor if they want to go on a job on a ship called The Ghost. The sailor refuses. George is wanted by the police and takes the takes the job. On the boat to the ship a drunken man says to George “when you go to sleep at night you pray for morning and in the day you pray for night.”

            On a steam ship Ruth (Ida Lupino) is running away from the law. She meets Humphrey Van Weyden (Alexander Knox). As they are sitting down on the deck their ship collides with another one and sinks it. Ruth and Humphrey survive the crash. In the water Humphrey sees The Ghost sail pass them. He calls out for help.

            The next day Humphrey sees a man die from a bad heart on the ship’s deck and no one shows any emotion about it. He meets the captain a man named Wolf Larsen (Edward G. Robinson). Wolf does not plan on setting Humphrey on land any time soon and makes him work on the ship. George stands up to Wolf and Wolf puts George in his place by having him beat. At dinner that night someone keeps asking Wolf why they keep changing direction all the time. Wolf’s brother has a ship and his brother is after him in revenge.

            The cook finds Humphrey’s notes on what he thinks of the voyage and gives them to Wolf. Wolf likes the notes. Humphrey tells the captain that he wants to write about his time on the ship. Wolf likes that idea he wants people to know the real him that he has been on the sea his whole life. At that moment George comes to the quarters and tells Wolf and Humphrey that Ruth is not doing too well she may be dying. In her delirium she rambles how she does not want to go back to prison. Wolf finds it funny that they saved someone like them. The ship’s doctor is drunk and not confident in his abilities anymore. Ruth needs a transfusion but he does not think he can do it with what is on board the ship.

            Fortunately the doctor is able to sober up and save Ruth’s life. Ruth comes on deck and Wolf tells the men to make her comfortable by putting her behind bars. She gets upset because she thinks Humphrey talked since she had told him she had been running away. He tells her he said nothing that she was the one who had talked in her delirium.

            The ship’s doctor, Louie, asks Wolf to tell the men to treat him with respect. Wolf makes him look like a bigger fool by agreeing and then tripping him and mocking him in front of the men. In haste to get away from the taunting men Louie climbs up to the mast. When he reaches the top he yells down that the men will mostly never come back alive and that Wolf is afraid of his brother. After this Louie jumps to his death.

            Ruth goes to see George. He promises to get them both off of the ship. That night a couple of men, including George, gang up on Wolf and throw him overboard. Wolf manages to climb back on board. He gets the cook to find out who started the mutiny but he is not going to do anything because he needs help fighting his brother. He makes it sound like all the men will have to do is steal whale skins. Wolf tells the men there is a trader among them. He singles out the cook who had been doing the spying he told him to do. The men throw the cook overboard.

            Wolf gets blinding headaches where he goes blind. While Wolf is temporarily blind Humphrey helps George get off the ship with Ruth and he plans to leave as well. Wolf knew what they would do and filled a jug with vinegar instead of water. The men on the ship see Wolf is blind.

            Out at sea George, Humphrey, and Ruth see The Ghost with no one on it. They go aboard to get food and water. George gets locked in the storage room by Wolf. Ruth and Humphrey find him. Humphrey makes up the end of his book about Wolf. Wolf shoots him. Humphrey plays on Wolf’s blindness and says he is not hurt. He does this to get the key to let George out. Humphrey winds up dying as the ship sinks into the water. George and Ruth see they are only two miles away from a small fishing village and sail there.

            The cast was very good. Ida Lupino was not in the film very much. She was definitely put in the film for a romantic interest and to add some drama. But whatever scenes Lupino was in she was fantastic. John Garfield always played the tough guy. I was not too crazy about his character. Like Lupino I felt he was just thrown in there for the sake of putting in a tough guy character. The Sea Wolf is based off a story by Jack London which I have never read so I am not sure if George Leach was a character in the book or not. I would not be surprised though if Warner Bros. threw Garfield and Lupino in the film because they were two popular actors at the time. Edward G. Robinson did a great job playing the sadistic bad guy. Wolf was crazy and twisted and Robinson just nailed the part. Alexander Knox I saw in Rossellini’s Europe 51’ and I did not like him very much in that and I did not particularly care for him in The Sea Wolf although he was better in this.

            I liked The Sea Wolf. The story was different from other pirate films. The girl was not kidnapped from a ship the pirates got aboard and the hero was also not kidnapped nor was he someone who had to go save the girl and the ship. I liked the line “When you go to sleep at night you pray for morning and in the day you pray for night” it just set an ominous scary tone for the story and film. I do suggest watching The Sea Wolf. Unfortunately it is not available to own on DVD nor is it available to view on Youtube. I caught this on TCM some time ago so keep an eye out for it on the channel.