Silent Sundays: A Girl in Every Port (1928)

“Pounding up and down the seas-dodging into ports- a tramp schooner.”

            Before watching A Girl in Every Port I had no idea Howard Hawks ever made a silent film. I am so used to seeing his sound films like Bringing Up Baby, The Big Sleep, and To Have and Have Not I never even realized the man most likely made silent films. He did but only a few and A Girl in Every Port is one of them. From the beginning you can tell this is a Howard Hawks film from its story to its comedic situations.

            Sailor Spike Madden (Victor McLaglen) takes his ship all over the world to hundreds of different ports. Whatever port Spike makes it his mission to get a girl. Some of the ports he has a girl waiting for him. In the Netherlands his girl he met a few years before is now married with a family. In a matter of seconds he has forgotten about the old girl and eyes a new one. Spike and the girl go out for a bike ride to the country. He sees the girl is wearing a bracelet with a heart charm that has an anchor in the middle. Spike gets mad he has been seeing the symbol in the ports he has recently been to, he sees this guy as stealing his girls.

            Spike finally catches up to the guy) whose name is Bill (Robert Armstrong) in Central America. They meet in a bar by accident when they argue over a girl. Both sailors get into a huge brawl to where the guards are called in. Bill and Spike have a mutual dislike of the guards so they beat up the guards together, they go back to fighting each other, and then the army is brought in. Spike and Bill get thrown in jail when Spike sees the heart and anchor mark on his chin from Bill’s ring. He is the one who has been beating Spike to all the ports and taking his women!

            The men are set to be released from jail if they can pay a fine. Spike pays but Salami has no money. Spike paysBill’s fine which he only paid because he wanted to punch Bill’s face in. They walk the streets looking for a place to fight but everywhere they go guards are there. They finally get to a wharf and they fall in the water. Spike panics because he cannot swim. Bill saves him and from this the two men become best friends. From this moment on they are inseparable and become shipmates.

            On their way to France Bill gets laid up with a toothache leaving Spike alone to look for women and have some fun. Spike goes to a circus where he sees a beautiful girl named Marie (Louise Brooks). Marie is a diver in an act where she accidentally splashes Spike- well, he was standing too close. She has him come back to her at her tent where she offers to dry his coat. That night he takes Marie out on a date through the park. Spike has been thinking about settling down and he thinks he has found just the girl to settle down with. She says she is open to try it out. Spike tells Bill that he does not want to sail he wants to stay in France with Marie. Bill says his latest “skirt” cannot be that great. Bill leaves but then comes back saying he really does not think Spike’s latest “skirt” is a tramp. And also he cannot sail without his best friend.

            Spike takes Marie to meet Bill. He goes out leaving his girl and best friend alone. We find out Bill this “skirt” when she worked at Coney Island and to top everything off she has his mark tattooed on her arm. Marie keeps going after Bill but he does everything he can to try to convince her that he cannot hurt his best friend. One night Spike comes home to find Marie alone in the apartment and Bill missing from his bed. Spike fuming goes to find his friend who is at a bar getting the crap beat out of him by some locals. Spike saves him.

            Spike does not stay mad at Bill too long. They promise to not let any women come between them again.

            The cast was very good. Victor McLaglen and Robert Armstrong were very believable as former rivals who become best friends. McLaglen comes off as kind of a big goof especially after he meets Marie but that is what makes you like the character. Louise Brooks just steals her scenes because she just had this magnetism to her you could not look away when she came on screen. Robert Armstrong I liked because I did have to listen him to talk! Whenever I watch King Kong I want to punch him in the face after a while to make him stop talking! But the guy was a good actor even if he did talk fast and annoying. According to IMDB Armstrong’s character is supposed to be named Salami but I clearly saw that he name was Bill. I will say his name is Bill because Salami is just weird. Apparently Myrna Loy is in this film somewhere. She is supposed to be a girl in a Chinese port but I do not think there was a scene where either Spike or Bill were in China. I could not have been paying attention that is very possible with me. 

            A Girl in Every Port is every frame a Howard Hawks film. There are some funny moments especially with Bill and Spike trying to start fights with people around them and there are some but not many serious moments. A Girl in Every Port is very an entertaining silent with a good cast and a fun story. 

To Have and Have Not (1944)

“You know Steve, you're not very hard to figure, only at times. Sometimes I know exactly what you're going to say. Most of the time. The other times... the other times, you're just a stinker.” 

            To Have and Have Not is not a very well known classic unless you happen to be a fan of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. They are the only reasons I ever heard of the film and even own it (I own all Bogart and Bacall’s films together). There is probably a reason why To Have and Have Not is often overlooked as a very good top notch classic film… it is pretty much Casablanca set in French Martinique instead of French Morocco. Instead of Ingrid Bergman as the leading lady it’s Lauren Bacall. Humphrey Bogart is Rick Blaine with a name change and a gruffer look.

            Bogart is an American boat owner named Harry Morgan who lives in Martinique during World War II. The island is full of political tensions between the pro-Vichy supporters and the Free French supporters. Harry has no sympathies he just cares about himself and making money taking people fishing. He has a friend named Eddie (Walter Brennan) who is a drunkard but a very sweet man who would do anything for Harry.

            At his hotel the owner Frenchy (as Harry calls him) comes to Harry asking him to help bring an important Free French leader to the island. I swear if Harry said “I stick my neck out for nobody” it would have been perfect. At times that line seems almost to be on the tip of his tongue. Harry does not want to get in trouble and, after all, he is an American he has no reason to be helping the French.  That same night he meets a beautiful young American girl named Marie Browning (Bacall) who he quickly nicknames Slim and she for some reason nicknames him Steve.

            So as in Casablanca Bogart’s character winds up helping out the Free French and risks his life in the process. The police are on his back in this one too watching his every move. The ending is different though this time Bogart gets the girl and they live happily ever after.

            Humphrey Bogart is an actor I like but at the same time I can take him or leave him. He played a great tough good guy. To me Bogart is one of the least romantic leading men in classic Hollywood and he always seemed to play the same kinds of characters over and over again and here he literally does play the same character for a second time. There was one scene where Harry was asked what his nationality was and again it was almost like you wanted him to answer "I'm a drunkard." 

            This film truly belongs to Lauren Bacall. This was Bacall’s film debut and she was a knock out. I personally think that her character has one of the greatest introductions ever. When we first see her she is walking out of the door to her room as if she was just a minor character. The camera is on her for two seconds as she opens the door as Harry is walking into his and that is it for a few minutes until she comes back. I do not know why I like this entrance I guess because I see it as the director fooling the audience in some way. Anyway, Bacall completely dominates the film whenever she is in a scene because she was gorgeous and had such a presence. My favorite scene is the one where she says her most famous line: “You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and... blow.” That line is to die it is so genius especially for its time. Not only is the line genius it is made by the way Bacall speaks it and how she looks at Bogart when she says and Bogart’s reaction when she walks out of the room.

            To Have and Have Not is a good film that was excellently directed by the brilliant Howard Hawks. The film’s only flaw is that it is way too similar to Casablanca which makes viewers compare the two and leaves the plot a bit boring at some moments. With a great cast directed by a great director To Have and Have Not deserves to be given a chance. 

Ball of Fire (1941)

“You’re the one I’m just plain wacky about”

            Ball of Fire is probably one of the most adorable films I have ever seen.  All the adorableness comes from Gary Cooper and a group of older gentleman actors. Now I am sure you must be thinking “Gary Cooper adorable?” Usually he is the quiet, stoic, handsome man in his films but let me tell you he is so cute and so sweet you will feel just like Barbara Stanwyck in the film and fall completely in love with him.

            For the past nine years Bertram Potts (Cooper) has lived a very strict academic life. He and seven other professors have been working on an encyclopedia. Each professor has a specialty with Potts’s being grammar. They all go to bed at nine and are taken care of by a maid/live in nurse who does all the house work. One day the garbage man comes in looking for answers to a quiz game he can get some money from. The garbage man speaks modern slang which none of the academicians understands. Potts feels like he should known this slang if he is an expert in grammar so he decides to go out and write down as much slang as he can.

            One of the places Potts visits is a nightclub. Singing at the club that night is Sugarpuss O’Shea (Stanwyck). He wants to speak to her about the slang she used in the song but she tells him no, she really has no interest in him but he gives her his card anyway. Sugarpuss has a big issue at that moment: her boyfriend Joe Lilac (Dana Andrews) is wanted in connection of a murder and they want to question her. Two of Joe’s goons are sent to get her out of town. She looks down at the card and decides the best place where no one will look for her is at the professors’ home.

            When Potts arrives home the other professors are waiting for him. He tells them he is confused about all the slang he has picked up he cannot understand how odd words stand for a correct term. In the middle of the conversation the doorbell rings. Potts answers it and Sugarpuss is standing in the doorway. She tells him that she does want to be a part of his research. He says she is too early but the other professors are more than willing to give up their rooms for her.

            The men love having Sugarpuss around. She teaches them dancing and keeps them on their toes. The only person who does not like her is the maid she says that Sugarpuss is a wicked girl and she will not stand for her anymore. Potts is sent to get rid of her but since she is wanted she cannot leave so she tells him that she is madly in love with him and kisses him! Needless to say Potts lets her stay.

            Joe sends two men over to Sugarpuss. He sends along a ring as part of a proposal so that Sugarpuss will not have to testify against him. Unfortunately on the same day Potts proposes to her as well. Sugarpuss feels terrible because she knows that she cannot marry him. Joe calls her saying that he is her “daddy.” Thinking that Joe is really her father Potts talks to him. Joe gets him to ride down to New Jersey where he is hiding out so Sugarpuss can get out of New York.

            While on the way to Jersey Sugarpuss really sees how much Potts loves her and refuses to marry Joe.

            There is an obstacle than we all know that Cooper and Stanwyck get together in the end.

            I do not even know where to begin on describing how cute Gary Cooper was. He was adorable but also incredibly sexy at the same time! The character was so sweet and innocent which made the film so much fun to watch. His best scene is at the end when he goes to fight to Joe for Sugarpuss. He fights like one of those boxers with their one fist far away from them and bouncing back and forth. I was cracking up. Barbara Stanwyck is her usual wise cracking tough girl self. Even though Stanwyck played a tough girl all the time it never got old with her because she was so good and so convincing… maybe it is her real New York accent that makes her tough girl work so well over and over. Sugarpuss is one of Howard Hawks’s most beautiful fast talking tough girls, without Stanwyck as the character Sugarpuss would have seemed annoying and cheap. Stanwyck was wonderful playing comedic roles she was nominated for an Academy Award for this film which just proves how talented she was. Dana Andrews was great as the bad guy. I am so used to seeing him as the good guy but he was totally believable as a gangster he had the perfect look and attitude.

            The seven other professors were so sweet. They were modeled on the Seven Dwarfs, they all had their little quirks being too smart for their own good but completely innocent. All the professors were in love with Sugarpuss they looked at her as if they were little boys in love but also as a daughter.

            Ball of Fire was written by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder with the story written by Wilder. The pair’s fast paced dialogue combined with Howard Hawks’s fast paced direction is perfection. Gregg Toland the famous cinematographer of Citizen Kane did the cinematography for this film. There were some scenes where I thought the cinematography was familiar with the deep focus and once I realized it was Toland’s work I knew why the few scenes were familiar.

            Edith Head designed Barbara Stanwyck’s costumes. I liked all of her costumes in this film. The one costume I like was when Sugarpuss tells Potts that she loves him so he would let her stay in the house. It is very 1940s with the limited material and belt along with a chain at the belt as an accent.

            Even though I think Ball of Fire is one of the most adorable films I have ever seen I had a bit of a hard time sitting through it. It took three sittings for me to finish it. At times all the cuteness and sweetness and all the 1940s slang (especially that) gets way too much. This is not too many people will enjoy unless they are fans of 1930s-early 1940s Screwball Comedy. Besides some slow moments and the slang I enjoyed Ball of Fire. 

Land of the Pharaohs (1955)



“Yes, he will be remembered. The pyramid will keep his memory alive”

            Ever since I was little I have had a great fascination with Ancient Egypt. I think it all started when I was little and I used to watch the Sesame Street video Don’t Eat the Pictures: Sesame Street Visits the Metropolitan Museum of Art where Big Bird and Snuffy have to help this little Egyptian kid who was cursed to live in a tomb on display in the museum answer a riddle so he can join his parents in the sky. Do not be shocked I recently watched that again for the first time in God knows how long. Anyway, Ancient Egypt was always my first historical and artistic love and still is. I scour through the History Channel and History International looking for any kind of programs on the time period.

            Not that long ago my Uncle Frank, my grandpa’s brother, was talking about the film Land of the Pharaohs with Joan Collins. He was going on and on about the costumes and the sets and how gorgeous it is. Luckily he told me about it when TCM was airing it the same week so I recorded it.  It is a dramatized fictional story mixed with some historical figures and events.

            Land of the Pharaohs is about the building of the Great Pyramid of Giza by King Khufu (Jack Hawkins). He has just captured a group of people for slaves through his conquest of their lands. Khufu has reaped more gold than can be imagined. He does not want anyone touching it so he hides it in a cellar protected by guards. Khufu wants to take his treasure with him to the afterlife and does not want anyone to take it away from him. He has the best architects work on a maze and secret chambers to hide and bury him with his fortune. The architects he chose did not come up with any good plans. He remembers while he was invading the last country he was in there was an architect who built the greatest mazes and chambers he had ever seen he even offered a reward to his soldiers to capture this architect. The architect’s name is Vashtar and he and his son are chosen to work on the pyramid.

            Fifteen years go by before the pyramid is near completion. In the mean time Pharaoh has gained a new wife named Nelifer (Joan Collins). Nelifer is no good. She wants Pharaoh’s treasure all to herself and she plots to have his first wife and child killed so she and her lover can become king and queen of Egypt and has all the treasure to themselves.

            The plan almost goes over without a problem… almost.

            The acting is so-so and stiff. I never saw Joan Collins in a film before I did not have any expectations set for her. Collins was not too bad but she is bad enough to cringe at times. Jack Hawkins as Khufu was not good he was stiff and looked amateur. The only person who had any acting ability was Sydney Chaplin as Nelifer’s lover. The oldest of Charlie Chaplin’s children had a successful stage career on Broadway so besides the fact that his father is one of the greatest actors ever Sydney Chaplin had legitimate acting abilities.

            Howard Hawks the man known for his fantastic screwball comedies directed this film. This was a flop upon release (which is not that much of a shock) and after filming completed Hawks took a year off and it was the longest break between films he ever took.

            Land of the Pharaohs is considered a campy, cult film and I can see why. But I liked seeing all the ancient Egyptian sets and scenery actually filmed in the country. The score by Dimitri Tiomkin is enough to sit through the film it is incredible. Land of the Pharaohs is worth sitting through at least once and if you ever do do not take it seriously just have fun with it.

Bringing Up Baby (1938)



“How can all these things happen to just one person?”

            Bringing Baby Up is one of the ultimate Screwball comedies. The story is hysterically funny and with some of the best comedic dialogue ever written. The comedy never ends right from the beginning. You are either laughing, blushing, or smacking your palm to your forehead (or all three and at the same time) the characters are silly and nervously/skittishly energetic.

            David Huxley (Cary Grant) is a zoologist with the most excitement in his life being the finding of a piece from a dinosaur so the prehistoric animal can be wholly put back together. His is engaged to Alice Swallow who just sees their marriage as a business arrangement and says that he must dedicate his whole life to his work with nothing interfering. They are to marry the following day.

            David goes to play golf with a man named Alexander Peabody. He represents a Mrs. Carlton Random who is thinking about giving the museum David works a million dollars. While golfing David meets a very flighty and nutty young woman named Susan Vance (Katharine Hepburn). She thinks David’s ball is his and plays it and she also thinks his car is hers. That night David goes to a restaurant to talk to Mr. Peabody again and explain about the golf game. Unfortunately Susan is there as well and she just complicates David’s life again.

            The next day David receives his bone that will complete his dinosaur as well as a phone call from Susan. She tells him to come over that she has just been sent a real leopard! She trips while on the phone and David thinks the leopard has gotten to her so she plays it up and pretends the animal is attacking her. When David arrives at Susan’s place she is fine and the leopard is in her bathroom. She reads a letter from her brother Mark (who sent the animal from Brazil where he is hunting) explaining that the leopard’s name is Baby, he is tame and “’He's three years old, gentle as a kitten, and likes dogs.’ I wonder whether Mark means that he eats dogs or is fond of them?” David has had enough and walks out but Susan along with Baby follow him. Susan talks to David outside telling him that she just needs his help bringing Baby to her aunt’s house in Connecticut. He agrees just to get the woman out of his hair so he cannot be annoyed by her and get married.

            Well, the trip becomes more than David can handle. Susan drives him nuts, his bone gets stolen by her aunt’s dog George, and Baby gets loose in the town and both zoologist and crazy woman go on a night hunt for the leopard with the search ending with them both going to jail.

            If I explain anymore it may get confusing and I do not want to ruin any of it because all the shenanigans Susan gets David in are so funny.

            I adore Katharine Hepburn as Susan. After seeing her in so many dramas seeing her in a comedy is great. I think this was my first Hepburn film and I am so glad it was because while I do like her dramas she had an excellent touch for comedy (I do not believe I would have liked her so much had I seen her in a drama first). It is no wonder Hepburn was named the number actress of all time by AFI, she could really do it all.  Cary Grant is a panic. I love him in comedies I actually prefer him in Screwball comedies than drama. He knew how to play a frazzled but kind of together character to perfection. Grant did so many little things like body movements and facial expressions that brought a lot more to his character and to the film.

            The supporting character actors were also really good. In this point in her career Katharine Hepburn never made a comedy so RKO filled the film with comedic actors to help her out. I do not think she needed much help but with their skill at comedy they all made the film so much funnier.

            Howard Hawks as always deserves so much praise as a director. He had such a great knack for getting so much great work from his actors. He knew how to make great comedies and capture so many sly little touches that if noticed add so much more to a scene. Hawks made smart comedies that have remained funny after so many years.

            I remember the first time I watched Bringing Up Baby on TCM when they were airing some of Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn’s films they made together. I had to see this because Cary Grant was in it. I was not really into Katharine Hepburn at the time but after this I became a fan. The next day I took my friend out to a DVD store with me and bought the film in a pack of Katharine Hepburn films released by TCM. I made my friend watch it with me that day and she was laughing so hard throughout the entire thing. I watched all the other films in the pack and I realized and saw the immense talent Katharine Hepburn had she could literally play any type of role and be amazing.

            I guarantee if you have a silly sense of humor you will be laughing during the whole running of Bringing Up Baby. The film is available on DVD in the TCM pack I have or individually and I highly suggest seeing it… my advice is just to buy the DVD if you see it in a store you will not be sorry.