Over 21 (1945)

“That over-21 business is a lie, like the one about you can't teach an old dog new tricks. The fellas who spout lies like that don't think the world ought to change either. It's too old a dog.” 

            I wonder if that saying is true if you are over twenty-one then it is harder to retain information. I like to believe that by the time we are twenty-one our brains have had enough of retaining information. I noticed my brain just shut off and is still like “you’re making me read more and I have to remember this crap? Oh hell no!!”… or maybe it is just me not wanting to retain information it could be either one haha. I love to read and I love to learn but I will definitely back up the fact that we remember things we like. Stick me in front of a Sargent or David painting and I can tell you all kinds of information. If you really want to get me started ask me about classic films or just movies in general and I can go on all day. The 1945 Irene Dunne film Over 21 deals with the saying about being over twenty-one and it being hard to remember information.

            Max Wharton (Alexander Knox) is a successful newspaper editor for The Bulletin in New York City. One day he springs on his obnoxious boss Robert Drexel Gow (Charles Coburn) that he is leaving the paper to go into the army. Gow is furious and does all he can to persuade his editor to stay but Max is not having any of it. Max’s wife Paula “Polly” Wharton (Dunne) is a novelist currently in California working on the script for a film version of one of her books. She is very supportive of Max. Polly tells him she is signing up to go down to Florida (where the base is located) with him because she will miss him too much. The only problem is that Polly is not very domestic.

            When Polly gets to the small bungalow a young girl is there. She and her husband are moving out since he made second lieutenant and he has gotten a transfer. The girl informs Polly that almost nothing in the bungalow works: the light to the rooms are outside of them, there is no bathroom, the kitchen does not have a sink the sink is in the bathroom, the refrigerator makes a god awful noise but the noise means it is working, the window goes down only if you jump on the floor near it. Polly is feeling a bit overwhelmed but she takes it in stride.

            As Polly and the girl talk the girl remarks that Max might have a hard time taking his tests and remembering things because apparently after someone turns twenty-one it becomes harder to retain information. This worries Polly for a bit because if this is true Max is pushing thirty-nine and he is going to have a hard time passing his tests. Later that night the girl and her husband come back because their train has been delayed until morning. Polly sleeps on the couch. She brushes her teeth but she cannot get to the sink since it is in the bedroom so she takes a swig of something awful nearly spitting the whole thing out. She tries to open the window but it does not work so she runs out to the porch. It is so windy out the door slams shut and Polly is locked out of the bungalow in her nightgown! Three soldiers come by and harass her a bit but then a colonel named Foley comes to her aid.

            As time goes on Polly learns how to be a domestic... sort of. She still cannot cook well so she enlists the help of the wives in the court to help her out. One night Max brings home the highest ranked soldier in his division to dinner. Polly has the other wives help and one of them makes an apple pie. At dinner Max and the soldier ask her how she made it and she completely goes around the question as best she can until the wife comes back for her tin the pie was and the secret is out.

            Max is asked to write a piece for the camp newspaper. He writes one and Col. Foley sends it off to Washington because it was so good. Meanwhile Polly has been in a battle with Robert Gow. He keeps bothering Polly to put Max on the phone because the paper is in some trouble. Max does not want to be bothered he has so many other troubling things going on with having to remember information for his tests. Polly threatens Robert not to come down but he does anyway. Polly is furious but there is nothing she can do in the meantime because Col. Foley, his wife, and the wife’s mother come for dinner that night (Polly had met the mother in the grocery store that day and the mother recognized her from her book). To get Robert off their backs she tells him she will talk Max into writing some editorials for the paper. She does not let Max know and write the editorials herself.

            Max eventually sweats out his test and passes ranking at two hundred and seventy one out of three hundred. Since Col. Foley liked his article so much he asks Max to make the keynote speech at graduation. The entire time Polly has been telling Max that the producer of her film has been calling her whenever Robert calls. The producer actually comes down and Max talks to him first. The producer tells Max that he has not talked to Polly since she left California. Max figures out the truth that Polly has been writing articles with his name on them. At graduation Max reads Polly’s first article “The World and Apple Pie”. Robert shows up at graduation extremely furious at him and almost walks out until she hears Max reading her article.  

            Of course there is a happy ending. Max is not mad at her for what she did. Unfortunately he gets transferred to a place where the wives cannot stay with their husbands. But this turns out well for Robert, he asks Polly to come to New York to write the editorials for the paper while Max is away and since she cannot go she agrees to work for the paper.

            Irene Dunne was completely on top of her game. Dunne as Polly Wharton is probably one of my favorite characters she has played. I do not even know where to begin to explain how fantastic she was. One of my favorite scenes in the film is when Polly first gets to the bungalow. The girl tells her that she does not want Max to be transferred to a base called Crockerfield since the wives are not allowed to go. Polly looks up and says “please don’t send Max to Crockerfield.” I loved the way Dunne that played that. Just the look on her face and how she said it made me love the scene. I cracked up when Max comes to the bungalow really quick when she first gets there. He gives her a good kiss, she turns around after Max leaves seeing the girl and her husband looking at her and says with a huge adorable grin and scrunched nose “He should come back again.” If you have seen any of Irene Dunne’s other films you will love this scene just because it is a scene you never really saw her do until this point. It was just cute and really funny. Dunne was in plenty of comedy films before this one but it seems with this story she let go with her character a little more and she handled it perfectly. I dare you not to just completely adore Irene Dunne after this she was wonderful.

            There was a great shout out to some of her earlier films: when the colonel comes over his wife and her mother are asking Polly about Hollywood and the people she has met. They ask her if Charles Boyer is nice since they both love him. Polly replies that yes Boyer is very nice. Dunne acted with Boyer in Love Affair and Together Again. You can kind of see her smirk at that part because she does really know that he is nice.

            Charles Coburn was a damn bastard!! I have seen the man in plenty of other films where his characters were so nice but here you want to punch the crap outta him!! Seriously the character was annoying from the moment the film started. I give the guy credit because he did a great job of being the antagonist.

            I really did not think anything of Alexander Knox. He was alright. Irene Dunne was the far superior actor of the whole film so she definitely out shone him by a million in their scenes together. But at the same time they had very good chemistry… I think Dunne could have had chemistry with a pole she was that good, though.

            Over 21 was a very cute film. It made me nervous though because now when I go back to school for my graduate degree I am going to be thinking that now I am over twenty-one I will not be able to retain as much information easily!! Hopefully I will not put that into my head it is bad enough I have studying and test taking issues. Over 21 is an enjoyable comedy and an Irene Dunne film not to be missed. 

Anna Christie (1930

“Gif me a visky, ginger ale on the side, and don' be stingy, baby.”

            Greta Garbo started out making films during the silent era. When she came to America from her native Sweden she was this gorgeous mysterious actress who captivated not only men but women as well. Garbo was MGM’s number one commodity well into the thirties, in fact she was only actress from the silent era who was an even bigger hit in sound. MGM put off making a talkie picture with the star because of her accident. Even Garbo was nervous about having to talk. Eventually a Garbo talkie had to happen since silents were passé and MGM did not want to lose money or see their biggest star fall. The actress’s first talking film was Anna Christie made in 1930.  

            The film opens up on a drunken Marie Dressler as a tramp named Marthy Owens. Marthy is sitting in a rocking chair listening to a record. In walks Chris Christofferson the man who she has been living with for time on his coal barge. They head off to a local bar to drink some more. The bartender gives Chris a letter. The letter is from Chris’s daughter Anna (Garbo) who he has not seen in fifteen years. She does not tell him much just that she is coming from St. Paul Minnesota to visit.

            Chris goes to get something to eat to sober up a bit before Anna arrives. Marthy stays at the bar drinking away her beer. Not long after Chris leaves a young blonde woman enters the bar. She sits down at a table and orders a drink. Marthy gets to talking with her and she discovers the woman is Anna, Chris’s daughter. Anna tells Marthy that she is not expecting much from her father since he left her and her mother years ago. In that time Anna has not had it easy: she was left with family who did not really care for her and one of the cousins had his way with her. After that incident she left to work in St. Paul as an escort. She was thrown in jail where she got sick and had to be taken to the hospital. Anna tells Marthy that all she wants is rest she has nowhere else to go.        

            Marthy hears Chris come back into the bar. Before he can get into the sitting room she tells him Anna is waiting for him. She does not betray what Anna had told her but she tells Chris to treat Anna right. Chris has nothing but love for his little girl. Anna is hesitant with her father because after all he left her causing her a miserable life. He tells Anna he lives on a barge, she is not too sure and asks if it is safe for girls. She takes a chance and travels on the barge with her father.

            After a few days on the barge Anna comes to love it and being on the sea. One night they hear a man shouting in the fog. They see three men on a piece of debris and take them aboard. Their ship had gone down in a bad storm and they have been floating for five days. The captain is an Irishman named Matt Burke (Charles Bickford). Almost as soon as he gets aboard he is harassing Anna. He takes her in his arm but she fights back and pushes him sending him backwards. Matt tells her after that push he would rather be friends than enemies with her. As they sail back to New York Anna and Matt flirt with each other. Matt tells her that once they get on land he is taking her out. When they get back he takes her out to Coney Island.

            Matt asks Anna to marry him. She is not sure how she feels for him and does not want to marry him. She and Chris talk it over. He does not Anna marrying Chris because he does not want what he did to her mother to happen to her. He also does not want to see her waiting around for him on land not knowing if he will ever come home again. Matt is furious that Anna will not marry him. When he goes to speak to Anna he and Chris literally fight over her pulling her arms. She has enough and breaks down and tells them what has happened in her life. Both men are now upset with her- Chris for what his actions did to her and Matt over the fact that she was an escort. Anna tells Matt that his love for her has made her clean. He makes her swear that she really loves him and she does.

            In the end Anna agrees to marry Matt and is very happily in love.

            For this being Greta Garbo’s first speaking role she was amazing. Her entrance was nothing mind blowing but from the moment the door opens to reveal her standing there she just commands your attention. Garbo had those eyes that were mysterious they were soft and big and conveyed that there was something hidden underneath them but you did not know what. That part of her was attractive you could not look away but when she opened her mouth and spoke with her husky voice mixed with her Swedish accent you are hooked. I cannot even imagine how amazing or shocking or stunning it was to finally hear Garbo speak for the first time. Sure I have seen two of her other talking pictures but just knowing this was her first speaking role is incredible and her first scene still kind of hits you in the face. Greta Garbo was twenty-five years old when she played Anna Christie. She was wonderful and absolutely incredible. I would like to see a twenty-five year old actress pull off this role today. There would be no way.

            I will say had to laugh a bit when Garbo said some American slang with her accent. She did not sound bad and I hate to say they sounded funny. I laughed a bit when she said to Chris and Matt “I am my own boss. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.”

            Marie Dressler in her two scenes almost steals the film away from Garbo. If I were an actress and I needed to be a sloppy messy fall down drunk I would go to Dressler as Marthy Owens for my inspiration. She did such a great job she was so believable as this tramp who if you saw on the streets you would avoid like the plague.

            Charles Bickford as Matt and George F. Marion as Chris were alright. Bickford was perfect as the tough Irish sailor. Marion had played his role in the stage production in the 1920s. He was good but I did not particularly care for him… nor Bickford either.

            Famed screenwriter and sometimes director Frances Marion wrote the script from Eugene O’Neill’s play of the same name. The film is very static making it feel like a filmed stage play. But I think that can be forgiven how this is an early sound film. Marion was one of Irving Thalberg’s favorite writers and went to her often to adapt stories. This is one of Thalberg’s several successful films he produced without ever giving himself screen credit.

            Anna Christie is an exceptional film. There is no doubt that this film belongs to Greta Garbo and no doubt that she was an extraordinary actress from an early age. Although I really did not care for the story Anna Christie is a very good film that I recommend seeing especially for the performances.  

The Three Musketeers (1948)

“To die among friends. Can a man ask more? Can the world offer less? Who wants to live 'till the last bottle is empty? It's all-for one, d'Artagnan, and one for all.” 

            The Three Musketeers has gone through many incarnations over the years. I remember the first Three Musketeers movie I watched when I was little was the one with Chris O’Donnell. So far until I viewed the 1948 version with Gene Kelly that was the only version I had seen. While I have not seen the others I am going to go ahead and say this is the best version just because it was made by MGM with a cast that includes Gene Kelly, Lana Turner, Van Heflin,  Vincent Price, Angela Lansbury, and Frank Morgan.

            D’Artagnan (Kelly) sets out from a small provincial town in France to the capital. He has a letter in his hand to give to the head of the king’s musketeers to join them. D’Artagnan stops in a town where he is met by a royal guard. The guard does not tolerate his humor and a lady in the carriage signals for her guards to knock him out.

            The musketeers allow D’Artagnan to join them but he still needs to train and practice in order to become a full member. He clumsily bumps into two different musketeers and each one challenges him to a fight to the death. D’Artagnan meets with Athos (or so I think it is) to fight and is met by Porthos and Aramis (or so I think). Before the men can start fighting they are met by governor’s Richelieu’s (Price) soldier lead by Rochefort. D’Artagnan helps in the fighting do several acrobatic moves and outsmarting the other soldiers. He basically defeats them all and sends Rochefort running all by himself.  

            D’Artagnan is a made a full musketeer and given his own apartment. His landlord asks him if he could watch his daughter Constance (June Allyson) who is a lady for the queen. The father thinks Constance is in trouble and being followed by Richelieu’s men. D’Artagnan saves Constance from the hit men and falls madly in love with her.

            Queen Anne (Lansbury) is seeing the Duke of Buckingham. She gives him two diamond studs as a gift. Richelieu and Lady DeWinter (Turner) want those studs and plan on getting Anne into trouble with her husband Louis XIII (Morgan). Constance overhears what is their plan is and tells the musketeers. D’Artagnan manages to get the jewels back in time before the queen is found out.

            There is much more to the adventure but it would take too long and the plot to me got a little complicated to the point where I kind of stopped paying attention. Also I would not want to give much of the action away as well the parts I did pay attention to were very good.

            The cast is excellent. Gene Kelly was the perfect choice for D’Artagnan because he was so athletic and a complete charmer. I did not explain too much about the character of Lady DeWinter, she was evil and Lana Turner did a fabulous job. She had the perfect sinister look for the wicked lady. Tuner looked gorgeous every one of her costumes were beautiful shades of green. Turner in Technicolor was gorgeous her eyes were such a gorgeous blue. Angela Lansbury in her small parts was great but then again when is nothing but fabulous. Vincent Price was so evil and so wonderful. He had the perfect voice for a bad guy. Van Heflin was alright, his dramatic scenes especially the one at the end was very good. June Allyson I have never seen in a film before this. I liked her she was pretty and she was a good actress. Frank Morgan as King Louis XIII was only in the film for glimpses really. He was funny I always enjoy seeing him in a film no matter how long he is in it.

            In Singin in the Rain the clip of Don and Lina’s movie that is shown at the premier in the beginning is a scene of Don sword fighting with the bad guys to protect Lina. The scene that was shown was actually taken from The Three Musketeers. MGM recycled the scene when D’Artagnan has gone to seen Lady DeWinter about Constance whereabouts and her guards attack him at her command. I read about this fact and knew it but as I was watching I completely forgot until the scene came up. It was pretty exciting to see the scene from Singin in the Rain in the real film it comes from.

            The 1948 version of The Three Musketeers is very entertaining. Although I found some of the scenes slow and some of the plot to be confusing I enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed Lana Turner’s scenes. There is no doubt that this The Three Musketeers is the ultimate version to see.

 

Rendezvous (1935)

“Bill, what should I wear?”

“How ‘bout a straight jacket.”

            I always like a good romanticized spy story. Ever since I first watched Alias I have thought that spy stories with their agents sneaking around and cracking codes and being uber intelligent were so interesting. When I read that Rendezvous with William Powell and Rosalind Russell was a comedic spy story I could not wait to see it. I was just imagining William Powell in a pre- James Bond- type role… come on I cannot be the only one who thinks Powell would have made an excellent Bond if they had been written and made earlier. He was the ultimate slick charmer he would have been a great James Bond. Powell is kind of James Bond-esque in this film but the story is set during World War I with the film having been made in 1935.

            Bill Gordon (Powell) used to be a newspaper man before the Great War began. He enlisted and made lieutenant. At a party one night, a young woman named Joel Carter (Russell) mistaken him for a Russian diplomat so Bill plays along and pretends to be a Russian. Joel is upset over the mistake but after a few moments she does not mind and actually finds herself liking Bill. Her aunt announces that for a good cause she will be auctioning off a kiss from Joel. Joel is not too pleased until Bill begins to bid for her. In the end Bill loses and most likely purposely just to get her riled up.

            An acquaintance of Joel’s named Captain Nicholas Neiterstein (Cesar Romero) seems like a nice young man but he is part of a German spy ring who are out to decode top secret military codes. Major Charles Brennan (Lionel Atwill) works for British Intelligence. He has been creating the codes that are unfortunately being decoded.

            One day Bill just so happens to be in the same area where Joel is picketing for the suffragist movement. He begins to mess her when a police officer comes over to her and tells her to go away. Joel gets really mad and starts hitting the police officer. Bill steps in and accidentally hits Joel in the eye. The police officer then hits Bill in the eye. After they get their eyes taken care of Bill and Joel go out to lunch together. Bill suckers Joel into going to the train station with him saying he has to go to the front that day. They kiss then he tells her he is not leaving until the next day. Needless to say they fall in love

            The next day before Bill even gets onto the train he receives orders that he is to report for desk duty. Bill is furious he wants to join other men on the front and fight for his country. He reports to the head of the War Department who turns out to be Joel’s uncle. Carter tells Bill that he will be working as a decoder since he wrote a book about cryptography under the name Anson Meridan. He is to work with Major Brennan to come up with a code and to decode a message the Germans have sent.  All through the night Bill and other cryptographers work on the German code. When they finally crack it Brennan tells them it was a dummy message he has sent to see how the Germans would code it. He suspects that someone stole the code from him and gave it to the enemy. He realizes that someone stole the copy of his book that he had written. Only him and one other person have the code book but the other person had theirs. On his way home Brennan suspects his mistress Olivia Karloff stole it from him. His suspicion proves correct but when he goes to confront Olivia she kills him.

            Since Bill is working with top secret information and knows what the decipher is the War Department puts him on the case. Joel has no idea that Olivia is suspect in the murder case so when she sees Bill with her she gets so jealous. The deeper Bill gets into the case the more danger pursues him. He winds up getting kidnapped and because she cannot leave Bill alone so does Joel. Bill saves them by calling his office with a codes message and the police arrive in the nick of time.

            William Powell was wonderful. His character was very well put together; he was perfect for the part. Powell was so smooth and charming and so well put together in all his films and that is exactly what the character of Bill had to be. From the first time I had ever seen Powell in The Thin Man I have thought him such an incredibly talented actor and although the film was not too great he was so good.

            Rosalind Russell… her performance was not bad but her character was such a pain in the rear!! Joel was such a pointless character her scenes were so annoying and so unnecessary. I can see where the writers were trying to make her the comic relief but she was not she was just awful. As I said Russell’s performance was not bad she was good with what she was given but the character was a pain. The role of Joel Carter was originally intended for Myrna Loy. She had began to film it but she hated the character so she went on strike for MGM to give her better roles and for more money. At first I was upset that Loy was not in it but the more I saw of Joel I was so thankful that she walked away from the role. Loy would have looked so stupid. There were some scenes and lines that were so obviously written with Myrna Loy in mind. In some of those certain scenes Russell almost sounds and looks like Loy! The only scene I would have liked to have seen Loy play was at the end of the film when Bill is about the leave on a train again and he gets called to desk duty again. He chases after her on the platform. I can see that see scene with Powell chasing after Loy as being so adorable. For as annoying as the character of Joel was she did have some funny scenes. The funniest was when Bill called for a warden to take Olivia’s clothes so he can look for certain chemicals on them. Joel walks in acting like the warden. Rosalind Russell played this scene so great she was so funny.

            Lionel Atwill in his short time in the film was as usual so good. I enjoy seeing him in films. He could be the perfect bad guy or the perfectly good guy.

             Rendezvous has its faults but it is not a complete blunder. If you can get around the character of Joel Carter you will be fine. The story is very interesting and there are some very cute scenes. If Rendezvous airs on TCM again give it a go or if you really love William Powell or Rosalind Russell Warner Archives just released it on DVD.  

The Court Jester (1956)

“I've got it! I've got it! The pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true!”

            The Court Jester is one of those classic comedy films that not many people may have heard of. I remember seeing this film when I was younger and I remember laughing the whole time at how silly it was. Watching now a few years later I was still laughing the whole time at how silly it was. The film is a wonderful spoof of the swashbuckling films of early cinema.

            Hawkins (Danny Kaye) is a former circus performer who has joined a rebel group of the Black Fox. England is under tyrannical rule after the royal family has been disposed by the evil King Roderick. Fortunately a baby who is the heir to throne has survived and the Black Fox and his team plane to return the baby to the throne. Hawkins desperately wants in on the action but the Black Fox will not let him. But his chance finally comes when the “captain” Maid Jean (Glynis Johns) comes back to camp with news of how they can infiltrate the castle. The Black Fox is wanted so cannot go with Jean. Hawkins is finally given his chance to go on a mission.

            Jean and Hawkins disguise themselves as a young deaf woman and her old grandfather. They hide the baby in a barrel on a cart. They narrowly (and hilariously) slip by the guards who are on the lookout for the Black Fox and his men. Hawkins, Jean, and the baby stop for a night at an inn. There they meet a court jester named Giacomo who is on his way to the palace. This is the perfect opportunity to get into the castle and the private quarters of the king. Jean knocks out the jester and Hawkins takes his clothes and wagon.

            Hawkins gets to the castle the next day all song and smiles. He sings a song and includes a whistle which is the signal of the Black Fox to find one of the bands followers who has been working in the castle. Hawkins thinks that the evil Sir Ravenhurst (Basil Rathbone) is the one who has been placed in the castle from the band but it turns out the real man is only a stable hand and whenever he tries to subtly tell Hawkins, Hawkins pushes him away. The jester that Jean knocked was just an entertaining jester but also an assassin who was to kill three men that opposed the king. Hawkins does not know this but in true comedic style signals get crossed and they agree to things that they should not have.

            Meanwhile Princess Gwendolyn (Angela Lansbury) wants to kill herself rather than marry Sir Griswold, she wants to marry for love but the king wants her to marry her for an alliance. Her servant and sorceress Griselda tells her that her true love will arrive shortly and then Hawkins as the jester shows up. Griselda puts a spell on Hawkins that makes him a strong dashing romantic man ready to fight for love and honor. With the snap Hawkins can come in and out of his bravery.

            Jean sneaks into the castle but she is caught and the king thinks she is pretty so he has her put into a pretty dress and jewels to be his escort for dinner that night. Jean’s capture works perfectly to balance out Hawkins’ craziness with trying to be a jester and being put under Griselda’s spell for Gwendolyn.

            The king and Ravenhurst believe they see that the jester is in love with Gwendolyn. This is not good news to them so they have Hawkins as Giacomo quickly become a knight so he can joust with Griswold and be killed. Somehow Hawkins wins the joust which does not sit well with the king and Ravenhurst.

            Hawkins, Jean, and the Black Hawk save England and restore the baby king to the throne.

            The entire cast was perfect. Danny Kaye was one hell of a talented man. His energy seems boundless as he clumsily yet gracefully stumbles scene to scene. The scenes where he goes from being Hawkins the timid and cowardly to the hypnotized Giacomo he was truly incredibly graceful and hysterical. One of the best scenes of the film is when Hawkins is being knighted. The ceremony is going very slow so the king has the ceremony sped up and poor Hawkins has no idea what is going on! I am sure sometime in your childhood you have seen Mary Poppins with Glynis Johns as suffragist mother. Johns is great in this film I love the fearlessness and feistiness of her character. Her best scene was when she was trying to get close to the king to steal a key from his chain but she did not want to lead him on romantically. When the king was trying to get close to her romantically she said that she has a skin disease that was carried down in her family and this completely grosses him out and she just keeps going for him. I loved how she played this scene it was just really funny. Angela Lansbury looked beautiful in her costumes. Her character really did not have too much to do except to just show up, look pretty, and create some problems. Basil Rathbone pretty much played the same character he played in The Adventures of Robin Hood eighteen years before. Ravenhurst was a bad guy looking to get ahead and get whatever he wanted. Rathbone was such a good actor that it does not matter to me if he is playing a bad guy or a good guy he was always great.

            Edith Head along with Yvonne Wood created the costumes. Even with period gowns Head’s designs are so distinct that if you have seen her gowns and outfits before in other films you automatically know that they are her dresses. The dresses Angela Lansbury wears were beautiful. Every color dress she wore matched her skin and her hair and made the color of her eyes stand out.

            The Court Jester from beginning to end is one of the most entertaining comedies ever made. There is not a dull moment in the entire film it perfectly holds your interest. The comedy does not let up for a second. The Court Jester deserves so much more recognition

Anna and the King of Siam (1946)

“I cannot promise that it will ever be easy for you.”

            Anna and the King of Siam is one of the few of Irene Dunne’s films that was remade at a later date. Dunne was in the 1930s musical version of Showboat, she was in Love Affair which An Affair to Remember is based off of. Most people probably only know the musical version of Anna and the King of Siam called The King and I starring Yul Brenner and Deborah Kerr. This is one of the many reasons why I find remakes not good or completely unfair. Dunne is a classic actress that not many people know and it is mostly because several of her films were remade.

            The year is 1862 when much of the Far East was becoming open to the Western world. A young English widow named Anna Owens (Dunne) has traveled to Siam to be teacher to the king’s children. As soon as she steps off the boat things do not go smoothly with her. The prime minister Kralahome keeps giving her the run around by constantly correcting her and telling her she will have to be patient in meeting the king. Anna’s biggest problem is where she and her son Louis will live. She was promised her own house but the king changed his mind and wants her to live in the palace. Anna refuses to live in the palace she wants her own place that she can take care of and to go to once she is done with teaching. Eventually the king gives in and gives Anna her own very nice place away from the palace.

            After some time Anna finally gets to meet King Mongkut (Rex Harrison). He is a nice intelligent eccentric man. Mongkut has sixty-seven children (holy shit!) and quite a number of wives. He wants Anna to teach all of his children and his wives to speak English. Mongkut is very open to western ideas, in his library he has several English books on various subjects. He wants his country to progress and be modern. He feels that his children should also be part of the progression.

            As time goes on Anna learns to love living in Siam and being in Mongkut’s company even though he can be very demanding. He calls her in the middle of the night just to ask her questions such as her opinion on an Old Testament story or foreign governments. Louis becomes friends with Mongkut’s oldest son and child and Anna becomes close with the son’s mother. The son so wants his father’s attention and to learn and to be noticed. The mother asks Anna to pay some attention to him and listen to what he has to say to which Anna is more than willing to do so.

            One of the king’s newest women Tuptim (Linda Darnell) was caught running away from the palace with another man and was sentenced to death. Anna defends the girl saying that she was young and deserves a second chance. No one will listen to her not even Mongkut. Upset over Tuptim’s death Anna decides to leave Siam and find work elsewhere. Before Anna can leave tragedy strikes. She tells Mongkut that she wants to stay now that she needs to be around the children to make her happy again. Anna winds up staying on for many years.

            I like the story. I like seeing how Anna and Mongkut teach other things and how to be better people (or that is what I got out of it). I really enjoyed the friendly relationship they had. Anna was a great character because she never really backed down to Mongkut like other people did, she never coward when he came around. She told Kalahome that she would bow but not to the ground like everyone else did because it was not proper for her to do with her dress. Mongkut in a way likes that Anna is not like the other people in his life. Even though she is a woman he looks to her as an equal which is probably why he was always asking her opinion on things.

            Irene Dunne was wonderful. I have seen several of her films and I am starting to see the woman never gave a bad performance ever, some of her characters may have been dull but her performances are always incredible. Dunne was perfect for this role because she was always such a lady. Sure she played some comedy but she constantly had this poise to her, she may have been funny but you still respected her characters. I loved her scenes when Mongkut would call her in the middle of the night or just when she was getting into bed after a long day she was so funny and you just felt bad for her. What I really liked seeing Dunne act out was Anna’s toughness. As I said Anna did not back down she chose what she wanted to follow but kept her own western customs. But also again this comes down to Dunne’s acting because you can really believe her no matter what type of woman she plays she was just that good.

            Rex Harrison as King Mongkut was excellent. Besides this film I have only ever seen Harrison in Sidewalks of London with Vivien Leigh which was a great film and he was great in it. I enjoyed his chemistry with Irene Dunne. I really think Harrison did a great job with playing the king who wants to be respected and somewhat feared but also had this good natured understanding side.

            The rest of the cast was excellent too. Linda Darnell had the perfect look for the new younger woman in the king’s life but she was bratty and not satisfied. Gale Sonnergard as the king’s first wife was amazing. She was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress but lost to Anne Baxter for The Razor’s Edge.

            Anna and the King of Siam is a very good film. It is a little long but in the end for the performances and the story it is worth sitting through. Anna and the King of Siam was very well made and very heartfelt

Silent Sundays: J'Accuse (1919)

When you hear that cinema is an art form there are no better films to see to understand what this means than to watch a silent film. Silent/early films were a true art form from the acting (not all of the actors and actresses were bad) to filming of scenes to the lighting right down to the stories themselves. One silent that is truly an art form is the 1919 French film J’Accuse about the sacrifice of not just the men fighting at the front but the people left at home.

            The main characters Jean Diaz, Francois Laurin, and Edith Laurin live in a provincial town in France. The townspeople are happy and celebrating spring. Jean takes part in the merriment but he is distracted by Edith looking out the window of her home. Jean’s mother tells him to leave Edith alone that they had a chance at a relationship a long time ago. Edith is married to Francois who is portrayed as an angry drunken man. Edith and Jean meet in the woods and Francois catches them together which makes him angrier.

            Not long later war has been declared. Jean is an artist and a poet. He had been working on a poem called Le Pacifiques (Peaceful) when war comes. War has broken his peaceful world. Francois has been called to the front while Jean is not to report for duty for some time. While Francois is away Edith and Jean are able to see each other. Francois comes home on leave and unfortunately sees his wife with the other man. He writes a letter to his parents telling them that Edith will come and stay with them while he is away.

            Edith’s father receives a letter saying that she has been abducted. Jean asks her father what he can do to avenge her. The only way he knows how is to report for duty before he is due to. Jean makes lieutenant and is assigned to Francois’s unit. Francois thinks that Edith is only tricking him when he hears that she has been abducted he thinks she has run away with Jean. When Jean reports for duty Francois does not listen to him. After a few weeks Jean sees that Francois really loves Edith. The two men eventually become friends over Edith.

            Francois becomes worried about Jean. He is suffering from severe exhaustion and fever so he puts in that Jean should be sent on leave. The same day Jean comes home Edith’s father receives a letter from her saying that she is safe and to meet her at Jean’s house. Edith comes back looking weary and sad not at all the person she used to be. She removes her cape to reveal a small child, her child. Her father is beyond upset he cannot even look at the child he leaves never to return again. Edith tells Jean that while she was away the Germans had stormed the village and she hid with another girl in a barn. The Germans found her and had their way with her. Jean takes pity in his love and her child a little girl named Angele. He tells Angele that he will teach her to be French and to hate the enemy. The first word he teaches her is “J’accuse.”  

            Francois is let out on leave at this time. Edith is terrified that he will kill Angele. Jean takes Angele in saying that she is a relative’s child. This works for a while until Francois hears talk. He tricks Edith into admitting that Angele is hers by lying that the little girl drowned. Edith runs to the woods where Jean as taken her daughter and everything is fine. Francois thinks that Angele is Jean’s child and they get into a brawl. Edith shows her husband that Angele is not Jean’s with the birth certificate.

            Back at the front Jean and Francois’s unit are set to engage in a deadly battle. Jean writes letters to Edith that are to be sent out over a few months to make her believe he is still alive. As he gives the letters to the postman a bomb come through the trench killing the postman and missing him completely. Jean cracks up and Francois yet again has him sent away. Francois and half the unit die in battle.

            Now this film sounds like a typical war melodrama but trust me when I say every action by all the characters have deep meaning. The German’s attacking Edith is meant to vilify them. Jean writing a book on peace shows the horrible mental and emotional trauma the war had on not just him but all men. Even poor Angele did not escape from being victimized because of her German father, the local children put a German helmet on her head and give her a gun pretending to play war.

       Director Abel Gance’s commented on the film’s message: “It was intended to show that if war did not serve some purpose, then it was a terrible waste. If it had to be waged, then a man's death must achieve something.” The film’s most emotional and impactful scene was at the end: Jean tells Edith how he had been standing in a field of graves when all the sudden the dead men were brought up from their graves. One of the soldiers got up and told the others to rise to see if their lives were worth sacrificing. Jean came back to the village to tell everyone to meet at Edith’s home where their dead loved ones will come back to see if their sacrifice was worth their lives. He accuses several of the townspeople of profiteering from the war or one of the wives for having a good time in the company other men while her husband was away fighting. The souls of the dead walk into town and come up to the house. Jean tells them not to say a word to them it is better for the soldiers to see them than to hear them speak because it will be harder for their souls to rest. Edith sees that Francois and her father are dead. As the men walk away Jean tells their wives that they were happy to see them once again and that their lives were worth dying for.

            I really cannot explain how powerful and heartbreaking and moving this scene was. I believe Hulu has the video for this scene, not from the beginning where Jean sees the bodies come up but from when the souls walk into town. For this scene real soldiers who had come home from the front had played the dead soldiers. Eighty percent of these men had been killed when they returned to the front.

            Abel Gance made an incredible film. He actually went to the front and took some footage which can be seen in the film. Gance not only directed the film but wrote the story as well. There are so many special effects that for the time period are very powerful and awesome.

            The film from beginning to end is very artistic. It is hard to explain in what ways unless you see it. Well put it this way, if you have ever seen a French film especially older classic French films you will understand. The French have always been artistic so it is no surprise their films would be as well. The lighting in the ending scene is beautiful and I have to say tragic.     

            J’Accuse is one of the best war films I have ever seen. Abel Gance set out to make a film to show that war is pointless and questions if a soldier’s life is worth the sacrifice not for the country but for their loved ones. Sometimes we are so blind with patriotism that we often do not stop to ask ourselves is the fighting and the lives lost worth it, did we as a nation achieve what we wanted to by fighting. J’Accuse opened by mind and eyes to those questions. The film is not only artistically beautiful but philosophically and poetically beautiful. J’Accuse is a film that anyone interested in history, in war, in film studies needs to see.

            "I'm not interested in politics... But I am against war, because war is futile. Ten or twenty years afterward, one reflects that millions have died and all for nothing. One has found friends among one's old enemies, and enemies among one's friends."  - Abel Gance