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DORIS
DAY :
It's incredible to realize that Doris
Mary Ann Von Kappelhoff – better
known to movie lovers as Doris Day –
is 81 years old. The number one female
film star and top recording artist for
most of the late 50s and early 60s, Doris
Day fell out of fashion during the Woodstock
era, retired from the screen after a short-lived
TV series, and has devoted herself ever
since to the cause of animal rights, living
in Carmel, California. Film history hasn't
remembered her quite as fondly as Audrey
Hepburn, Grace Kelly or Sophia Loren …
until now.
Warner
Home Video pays tribute to this venerable
movie star with the eight-disc Doris Day
Collection. Our ultra film-savvy friends
at WHV have carefully selected eight features
that not only span the range of Miss Day's
career, but also show off her considerable
acting skills. There's the musical drama
YOUNG MAN WITH A HORN (1950) directed
by the great Michael Curtiz; two early
50's David Butler musical comedies (LULLABY
OF BROADWAY, CALAMITY JANE); the brilliant
1955 biography of 1920's singer Ruth Etting,
LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME with James Cagney;
two musicals from the peak of her fame,
THE PAJAMA GAME (1957) and BILLY ROSE'S
JUMBO (1962); the popular domestic comedy
PLEASE DON'T EAT THE DAISIES (1960); and
a 1966 musical satire from Frank Tashlin,
THE GLASS BOTTOM BOAT, one of her final
features before retirement.
Warners
cast Doris in musicals for her first three
assignments (ROMANCE ON THE HIGH SEAS,
MY DREAM IS YOURS, IT'S A GREAT FEELING)
before giving her a dramatic role in YOUNG
MAN WITH A HORN
(1950). She had been a singer with the
Les Brown Orchestra prior to cracking
Hollywood, and her part in the picture
fits her like a glove; as band singer
Jo Jordan she gets to sing “The Very Thought
of You” “Too Marvelous for Words,” “I
May Be Wrong But I Think You're Wonderful,”
and “With a Song in My Heart.” Hers is
really a supporting role – the movie
tells the story of a trumpet man (Kirk
Douglas, in a part loosely based on jazz
great Bix Beiderbecke), torn between the
nice girl (Doris of course) and a rich
femme fatale (Lauren Bacall). The movie
makes for compelling drama, with typical
Michael Curtiz direction full of camera
moves and noirish lighting effects --
courtesy of ace black-and-white cinematographer
Ted McCord (TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE)
– a few choice location shots of
midtown Manhattan, and of course the jazz,
with Harry James filling in for Kirk Douglas'
trumpet playing on the soundtrack. The
screenplay by Carl Foreman (HIGH NOON,
BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI) and Edmund North
(PATTON, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL)
is fine, and includes some ripe dialogue
when Kirk tells off Bacall:
“What
a dope I was. I thought you had class,
like a real high note you hit once in
a lifetime. That's because I couldn't
understand what you were saying half the
time. You're like those carnival joints
I used to work in. Big flash on the outside,
but on the inside … nothing but filth!”
The
DVD includes the trailers for Doris' first
two dramatic features, YOUNG MAN WITH
A HORN and the Ginger Rogers-Ronald Reagan
Ku Klux Klan drama STORM WARNING (1951),
not yet available on disc but worth tracking
down.
LULLABY
OF BROADWAY
(1951) is a variation on the LADY FOR
A DAY/POCKETFUL OF MIRACLES story, but
it's really an excuse to feature Doris
singing a satisfying selection of standards
by Cole Porter, George Gershwin and Harry
Warren and Al Dubin (including “Just One
of Those Things” and a rousing rendition
of the title song for the grand finale)
and some LeRoy Prinz-choreographed dancing
with co-star Gene Nelson, a genial leading
man best known for OKLAHOMA! who later
became the director of Elvis Presley vehicles
and TV sitcoms. The Warners musicals from
this period are a far cry from the dazzling
Busby Berkeley films of 20 years earlier,
and certainly MGM was doing ground-breaking
musical work at this time, but the Warner
musicals were at least consistently entertaining,
if not innovative, relying almost exclusively
on the force of Doris Day's beauty and
talent to succeed. LULLABY does benefit
from character actors Billy DeWolfe, Florence
Bates, Gladys George and the inimitable
S.Z. “Cuddles” Sakall, and director David
Butler keeps the show moving. Butler was
a fine Hollywood professional who directed
early Will Rogers talkies, some of the
best Shirley Temple vehicles, and three
excellent Bob Hope comedies in 1942-44
– ROAD TO MOROCCO (with Bing Crosby),
THEY GOT ME COVERED and THE PRINCESS AND
THE PIRATE. The LULLABY OF BROADWAY disc
also features an array of trailers for
Doris' early Warners' musicals (ROMANCE
ON THE HIGH SEAS, IT'S A GREAT FEELING,
LULLABY, APRIL IN PARIS, BY THE LIGHT
OF THE SILVERY MOON, and LUCKY ME).
The trailer for IT'S A GREAT FEELING is
especially fun, with cameos on the Warners
lot from Gary Cooper, Edward G. Robinson,
and Joan Crawford.
Day
reunited with David Butler for CALAMITY
JANE
(1953), like LULLABY, photographed in
lush Technicolor. It's a raucous musical
comedy set in the Old West with Day as
the titular gunslinger and Howard Keel
as Wild Bill Hickok, and the two stars
make an energetic pair. Doris cited the
film many times as her personal favorite,
and while it's certainly not the best
of her 40 features, it's typically entertaining.
The songs are by Sammy Fain and Paul Francis
Webster, and she sings “Just Blew in from
the Windy City” and the ballad “Secret
Love,” which became a huge hit and won
the Academy Award for Best Song. Director
Butler worked with Doris Day when she
first started through her emergence as
a major star, and had this to say in
David Butler: A Directors Guild of America
Oral History by Irene Kahn Atkins
(Scarecrow Press, 1993): “Doris Day was
a natural actress … Her singing was always
great. She was so vivacious, and also
one of the only actresses who could play
a scene and cry at the drop of a hat.”
LOVE
ME OR LEAVE ME
(1955) is undoubtedly her best performance,
as she shares the screen with the great
James Cagney, matching him every step
of the way. It's the true story of Ruth
Etting, a taxi dancer in 1920's Chicago,
with Cagney as Marty “The Gimp” Snyder,
a small-time hood whose obsession turns
her into a singing sensation. Cameron
Mitchell is the man she really loves.
Cagney's crude characterization is remarkable
for its ability to induce our sympathy
for his unrequited love, and Day rips
our hearts with her palpable frustration.
Director Charles Vidor (GILDA, HANS CHRISTIAN
ANDERSEN) really gets the best out of
feisty Day and bulldog Cagney in
a lavish Technicolor and CinemaScope production
for MGM. Doris sings an even dozen songs,
including the title song, “Never Look
Back,” “Mean to Me,” “Ten Cents a Dance,”
and “You Made Me Love You,” with the soundtrack
remastered in Dolby Digital 5.0. LOVE
ME OR LEAVE ME won an Oscar for Daniel
Fuchs' story, and earned nominations for
Cagney as Best Actor, Fuchs and Isobel
Lennart for their screenplay, the music
score, the song “I'll Never Stop Loving
You,” and sound … but a Best Actress nod
for Doris Day was conspicuously absent
among the nominations.
The
disc includes two Vitaphone shorts starring
the real Ruth Etting – ROSELAND
(1930) and A MODERN CINDERELLA (1932),
plus SALUTE TO THEATRES (1955), essentially
a product reel for MGM's production slate,
which includes a shot of Charles Vidor
directing the stars.
There
is so much to love about THE PAJAMA
GAME
(1957), not the least of which is Doris
Day as Babe, head of the grievance committee
at a pajama factory who falls in love
with foreman John Raitt (father of Bonnie).
The show by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross
– and its follow-up DAMN YANKEES!
– had revitalized the Broadway musical
and the Adler –Ross team was flying
high when Ross died from respiratory illness
at the age of 29. To bring the show to
the screen – with much of the original
cast intact -- Broadway director George
Abbott teamed with film director Stanley
Donen, who had previously been partnered
with Gene Kelly on the milestone musicals
ON THE TOWN (1949), SINGIN' IN THE RAIN
(1952), and IT'S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER (1955)
in addition to his own SEVEN BRIDES FOR
SEVEN BROTHERS (1954) and FUNNY FACE (1957).
Add Bob Fosse's choreography and the result
is one of the best musicals of the Fifties.
Highlights include Day and Raitt's respective
versions of “Hey There,” Fosse's brilliant
“Steam Heat,” “Once a Year Day” and “Hernando's
Hideaway,” Eddie Foy Jr. and Reta Shaw's
tapdance in “I'll Never Be Jealous Again,”
Doris and Raitt's “There Once Was a Man,”
and Doris leading the chorus in “Seven-and-a-Half-Cents”
… indeed all the Ross-Adler music and
lyrics are just wonderful. It was a great
loss to the theatre that their partnership
was cut off so prematurely.
Sadly,
another show business tragedy looms over
THE PAJAMA GAME. Carol Haney was a brilliantly
talented dancer who worked as an assistant
to Gene Kelly (by all accounts a severe
taskmaster) during his peak Metro period
during the early Fifties. She scored a
major triumph on Broadway as Gladys Hotchkiss
in PAJAMA GAME. One night the producer
Hal Wallis came to the show specifically
to see her, but she had fallen ill and
was replaced that evening by her understudy
… a young actress named Shirley MacLaine.
Wallis signed MacLaine to a seven-year
contract. Haney did get to recreate her
role in the film version, most notably
with her work in “Steam Heat” and “Hernando's
Hideaway,” but during the shoot she was
diagnosed with diabetes, which led to
her death in 1964 at the age of 39. THE
PAJAMA GAME represents the only film footage
of this great musical comedy talent.
The
PAJAMA GAME disc includes a theatrical
trailer and a very special extra –
a deleted song sung by Doris Day, “The
Man Who Invented Love,” discovered in
a vault at Warner Brothers. It's a lovely
tune beautifully performed, but it's especially
fascinating at the intro as we hear technicians
readying the playback for the star. WHV
has also provided the feature in both
full frame and widescreen – you're
all watching widescreen, right?
PLEASE
DON'T EAT THE DAISIES
(1960) is one of Doris Day's most popular
pictures, and the basis of a long running
TV series later in the decade, as she
plays a housewife with four unruly boys
and a shaggy dog. David Niven is her drama
critic husband, and he is always a treat;
the film itself is the kind of family
fare that sanitized Doris' image and helped
people forget about the scope of her acting
talent. It's good to have it included
in this set as a sample of her changing
image, but I think I just saw the damn
movie too many times as a kid to really
appreciate it anymore. Character actors
Spring Byington and Richard Haydn help
out, and Doris sings the title song and
the incredibly annoying “Anyway the Wind
Blows.”
I
found BILLY ROSE'S JUMBO
(1962) much more interesting, a big budget
circus story loaded with color and pageantry
(the titular Jumbo is a tuba-playing elephant).
The always delightful Jimmy Durante is
the owner of the traveling circus, Doris
his long-suffering daughter, Martha Raye
his long-suffering girlfriend, with Stephen
Boyd (BEN-HUR) as Doris' romantic interest.
MGM had planned to make this film for
years, since the 1940s, and when they
finally got around to it they spared no
expense. The songs are by Rodgers and
Hart, the choreography by Busby Berkeley,
the screenplay by Sidney Sheldon (and,
uncredited) Ben Hecht, the whole thing
produced by master showman Joe Pasternak
(WHERE THE BOYS ARE) and directed by Charles
Walters (EASTER PARADE, HIGH SOCIETY).
It's good old-fashioned eye-filling entertainment,
highlighted by Doris singing “Little Girl
Blue” and the “Most Beautiful Girl in
the World” number with Doris and Stephen
Boyd.
Warners
has rejoined the original overture to
the film for the first time in 40 years,
and also gives us the Vitaphone short
YOURS SINCERELY (1932), the Tom and Jerry
cartoon JERRY AND JUMBO (1951), and the
theatrical trailer. The soundtrack's been
remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1.
Frank
Tashlin (1913-1972) was a comic genius,
with a cartoonish quality that stemmed
from his early days at Warner Brothers
directing Looney Toons stars Bugs Bunny,
Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd. He broke into
live action through writing successful
for Bob Hope, Red Skelton and The Marx
Brothers, then came into his own directing
Fifties comedy gems SUSAN SLEPT HERE (1954),
THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT (1956) and WILL
SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER? (1957). He
also had a very special relationship with
Jerry Lewis, directing Martin and Lewis
in ARTISTS AND MODELS (1955) and HOLLYWOOD
OR BUST (1956), then Jerry solo in six
features. Tashlin lent his satiric eye
to television, advertising, consumerism
and rock ‘n roll, and developed a cult
following spearheaded here by Peter Bogdanovich
and abroad by Cahiers du Cinema .
In THE GLASS BOTTOM BOAT
(1966), he teamed with Doris Day
for the best of her later vehicles, a
slapstick farce that poked fun at the
space program, technology and the mid-Sixties
James Bond spy craze. Doris is ably supported
by Rod Taylor, Paul Lynde, Dom DeLuise,
Arthur Godfrey and Dick Martin (of Rowan
and Martin), with some stunning location
work on Catalina Island. The WHV disc
includes three promotional shorts –
CATALINA ISLAND, EVERY GIRL'S DREAM and
NASA – that include outtakes from
the film and wardrobe tests with Doris
and Rod Taylor. A special bonus is the
Oscar-winning cartoon short THE DOT AND
THE LINE (1965), directed by Tashlin's
old Looney Toons colleague Chuck Jones.
I
should also let you know that just as
one might suspect, all eight Doris Day
films included in the box set look and
sound sensational.
As
if this isn't enough Doris Day for you,
Paramount Home Video has released TEACHER'S
PET
(1958), a prototype for the kind of sex
comedy she would start making with Rock
Hudson the following year with PILLOW
TALK. Clark Gable plays a cantankerous
newspaper editor who assumes the nom de
plume of “Gallagher” to take a class with
journalism teacher Doris. Gig Young plays
the third wheel in the romantic triangle
as an over-intellectual writer, in a part
that earned him an Oscar nomination for
Best Supporting Actor. Gable was 57 when
he made this movie (he would die three
years later) and despite the 23-year-old
age difference, he sparks quite nicely
with his co-star. George Seaton (MIRACLE
ON 34 TH STREET, THE COUNTERFEIT TRAITOR)
directed, and truly anticipates the Doris
Day-Rock Hudson pictures. It's a lot of
fun, especially for Gable fans.
So,
after watching nine Doris Day movies,
spanning from 1950 to 1966, one thing
is abundantly evident – she is unquestionably
one of the most enormous talents ever
to have worked in Hollywood, and this
box set will only serve to expand her
fan base, and hopefully introduce a new
generation to her charms.
ERROL
FLYNN :
He was handsome, charming, intelligent,
an athlete, a wanderer, a rascal, a rogue.
He was as well known for his off-screen
exploits as he was for his on-screen adventures,
suffered terribly at the hands of the
press, but was indeed his own worse self-destructive
enemy. Errol Flynn only lived from 1909
to 1959, a scant 50 years, but he packed
several lifetimes into that half century.
He left a body of work that includes some
of the greatest action romances ever filmed,
and nearly 70 years later they still offer
swashbuckling thrills, high adventure,
and the chance to be young again. For
those of us who grew up on Errol Flynn
pictures, whether on the big screen or
on TV, for those of us who played pirates
with childhood pals and dreamed of rescuing
Olivia DeHavilland from the clutches of
Basil Rathbone, Errol Flynn has a special
place in our personal movie pantheon.
Nothing against Gable, Bogart, Cagney,
Wayne, Stewart et al, but there was just
something about Errol Flynn that touches
the kid in all of us. Warners Home Video
released a gorgeous special edition DVD
of THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938),
the ultimate Flynn movie, in 2003, and
now releases the Flynn floodgates with
THE ERROL FLYNN SIGNATURE COLLECTION,
a box set consisting of two of his key
swashbucklers (CAPTAIN BLOOD, THE SEA
HAWK), his finest Westerns (DODGE CITY,
THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON) and a costume
collaboration with nemesis Bette Davis
(THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX).
Rounding out the set is an outstanding
new documentary, THE ADVENTURES OF ERROL
FLYNN, which premiered last month on Turner
Classic Movies during their Flynn extravaganza.
Once again Warner Home Video enlists Leonard
Maltin to host “A Night at the Movies”
on each film, providing loads of special
features.
CAPTAIN
BLOOD
(1935): Robert Donat, who had just scored
as THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (1934), was
originally set to play the title role
in Rafael Sabatini's pirate epic; when
his asthma proved too much, Warners gambled
on a new contract player from Tasmania
by way of Australia and England named
Errol Flynn, and furthered the risk with
the addition of ingénue Olivia DeHavilland
as his romantic interest. Flynn seems
ill at ease during the early portions
of the film, clearly filmed first, but
he literally grows into the role and we
witness the birth of a star. His chemistry
with Olivia was undeniable, and the studio
provided two terrific villains in Lionel
Atwill and Basil Rathbone. Michael Curtiz
directed in his blood-and-thunder style,
and Erich Wolfgang Korngold composed the
first of several memorable film scores.
A new documentary, CAPTAIN BLOOD: A SWASHBUCKLER
IS BORN, is included on the disc, and
a 1935 Night at the Movies is recreated
with a newsreel, a Vitaphone musical short
(JOHNNY GREEN AND HIS ORCHESTRA), the
comedy short ALL-AMERICAN DRAWBACK, and
the cartoon BILLBOARD FROLICS. The disc
is rounded out with trailers for CAPTAIN
BLOOD and A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM and
a 1937 Lux Radio broadcast starring Flynn
and DeHavilland. That's a whole lot of
vintage entertainment, film fans, and
each disc in this set boasts more of the
same.
THE
PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX
(1939): It's no secret that Warners' reigning
Queen, Bette Davis – Oscar's Best
Actress in 1935 and 1938 – had little
use for Flynn. They were paired in the
1938 Victorian drama THE SISTERS, and
in a lavish Technicolor adaptation of
Maxwell Anderson's play ELIZABETH THE
QUEEN, with Bet as Elizabeth I and Flynn
as warrior Essex. The film is graced by
ravishing Technicolor cinematography,
another masterful Korngold score and direction
again from Curtiz, with a supporting cast
including DeHavilland, Donald Crisp, Vincent
Price, Alan Hale, Henry Daniell and a
teenaged Nan Fabray. There were Oscar
nominations for cinematography, art direction,
score, sound and special effects. With
the exception of a sequence set in Ireland
pitting Flynn against his usual sidekick
Alan Hale, there is relatively no action
in this one, and the real appeal rests
in the Flynn-Davis fireworks. Our 1939
Night at the Movies includes trailers
for this film and DARK VICTORY; a Technicolor
short subject, THE ROYAL RODEO with cowboys
John Payne and Cliff “Ukelele Ike” Edwards
cavorting in a Graustarkian country headed
by boy king Scotty Beckett of OUR GANG
fame; the Chuck Jones cartoon OLD GLORY,
in which Porky Pig falls asleep and gets
a lesson in American history from Uncle
Sam (with lots of cool rotoscoping effects);
plus a new featurette, ELIZABETH AND ESSEX:
BATTLE ROYALE.
DODGE
CITY
(1939): Flynn never quite felt comfortable
in Westerns, but he made eight of them
between 1939 and 1950, and proved to be
a virile and dashing cowboy. His first
soap opera, the Technicolor DODGE CITY,
was a big budget affair that set the tone
for his Western career with plenty of
action, humor and romance. Curtiz was
at the helm again, guiding probably the
most extravagant barroom brawl in screen
history as well as various stampedes and
shootouts. Flynn was back again with Olivia,
and get a load of this Warners cast in
support – Ann Sheridan, Bruce Cabot,
Frank McHugh, Alan Hale, Henry Travers,
Victor Jory, Guinn Williams and Ward Bond.
Throughout the Thirties, most Westerns
were of the “B” variety, with few exceptions
(THE PLAINSMAN, THE TEXAS RANGERS, both
1936 Paramounts) but John Ford's STAGECOACH
(1939) started a cycle of “A” Westerns
that included JESSE JAMES (20 th ), DESTRY
RIDES AGAIN (Universal), MAN OF CONQUEST
(Republic) and UNION PACIFIC (Paramount)
– DODGE CITY ranked as one of the
year's best. The disc includes the new
featurette DODGE CITY: GO WEST, ERROL
FLYNN; and a wonderful Technicolor short
directed by Curtiz, SONS OF LIBERTY, starring
Claude Rains as Revolutionary War patriot
Haym Salomon, with Gale Sondergaard, Donald
Crisp and Montagu Love as George Washington.
It won the Academy Award for Best Two-Reel
Short Subject. A Tex Avery cartoon, DANGEROUS
DAN McFOO, and trailers for DODGE CITY
and THE OKLAHOMA KID complete the 1939
Night at the Movies.
THE
SEA HAWK
(1940): Warners was also lavish with the
production of this quintessential swashbuckler,
like CAPTAIN BLOOD based on a Rafael Sabatini
novel and a remake of a silent Warners
film. Flynn roams the Seven Seas for Queen
(Flora Robson) and Country (England),
fighting the Spanish fleets as well as
intrigues in the British courts. Curtiz
and Korngold are back in action here,
and while THE SEA HAWK is in black and
white rather than Technicolor, the extensive
Panama sequence is presented in a more
effective sepia tone. And while Olivia
DeHavilland is not present this time,
she is ably replaced by Brenda Marshall
(soon to become Mrs. William Holden).
THE SEA HAWK underwent cuts when it was
re-released in the Fifties and in its
eventual television incarnations; Warners
has also provided us with the original
127 minute version. THE SEA HAWK represented
a farewell of sorts for the Flynn-Curtiz-Korngold
team; this was Korngold's last score for
a swashbuckler, and while Curtiz would
direct the star in SANTA FE TRAIL (1941)
and DIVE BOMBER (1941), their relations
were severely strained by this time and
Flynn would refuse to work with him again.
Warners Night at the Movies 1940 on this
disc includes a newsreel; a Bob Clampett
cartoon, PORKY'S POOR FISH; and a short
subject, ALICE IN MOVIELAND, featuring
young Joan Leslie as a hopeful trying
to make it in Tinsel Town. There's also
the new featurette THE SEA HAWK: FLYNN
IN ACTION, and trailers for THE SEA HAWK
and VIRGINIA CITY.
THEY
DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON
(1941): While Flynn certainly had a good
run with director Michael Curtiz, he was
much better suited to Raoul Walsh, one
of the greatest of Hollywood filmmakers.
Walsh had begun his career as an actor
(he was John Wilkes Booth in Griffith's
BIRTH OF A NATION in 1915), and ten years
later was a top director, with such credits
as the Douglas Fairbanks THIEF OF BAGDAD
(1924), the McLaglen-Lowe WHAT PRICE GLORY?
(1926) and the Gloria Swanson SADIE THOMPSON
(1928). He made a smooth transition to
talkies with THE BIG TRAIL (1930), which
introduced John Wayne to audiences,
and though he had an occasional masterwork
like ME AND MY GAL (1932) or THE BOWERY
(1933), the Thirties were an uneven time
for Walsh, who was plagued for years by
a bitterly contested divorce proceeding
with ex-wife Miriam Cooper (a former Griffith
star). Walsh signed with Warners in 1939
and had an unprecedented string of hits
– THE ROARING TWENTIES, THEY DRIVE
BY NIGHT, HIGH SIERRA, MANPOWER, and his
first film with Errol Flynn, the epic
Western THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON.
Now, this is the story of General George
Armstrong Custer (Flynn) and his wife
Elizabeth (Olivia DeHavilland, in her
final Flynn film), but there is little
here in the way of veracity. In other
words, it ain't history, but who cares?
It's a slam-bang two-and-a-half hour historical
fantasy, spanning the Custer character's
years at West Point, through the Civil
War, to his service in the Indian Wars
and his demise at the Little Big Horn.
Walsh reinvigorated Flynn, and brought
out his best work, whether the scene calls
for action, drama or humor (witness Flynn's
arrival at his quarters at West Point
or the creamed onions scene with Sydney
Greenstreet as General Scott). The Civil
War and Little Big Horn set pieces are
thrilling, with Max Steiner's score providing
rousing accompaniment. Warners Night at
the Movies 1942 includes a newsreel, an
Eleanor Parker Technicolor short SOLDIERS
IN WHITE, trailers for BOOTS and ALL THROUGH
THE NIGHT, and the first appearance of
Tweety Bird in a Warners cartoon, A TALE
OF TWO KITTIES, starring the studio's
spoof of Abbott and Costello, the felines
Babbit and Catstello.
Each
of the above Flynn titles are available
at $19.97; the box set goes for
$59.92 and includes a bonus disc, THE
ADVENTURES OF ERROL FLYNN
(2005). Narrated by Ian Holm, directed
by Emmy Award-winning documentarians Joan
Kramer and David Heeley, the feature is
a thorough biography of Flynn's remarkable
life, including never-before-seen footage
from his aborted 1953 European WILLIAM
TELL, interviews with family members,
plenty of clips from his features, and
most especially a revealing interview
with Olivia DeHavilland, recorded in 2004.
THE
ERROL FLYNN SIGNATURE COLLECTION is another
triumph for Warner Home Video. There are
a lot more great Flynns in the Warner
vaults – Curtiz' CHARGE OF THE LIGHT
BRIGADE (1936), Goulding's THE DAWN PATROL
(1938), Walsh's DESPERATE JOURNEY (1942),
GENTLEMAN JIM (1942) and UNCERTAIN GLORY
(1944), and Milestone's EDGE OF DARKNESS
– so let's hope sales on the set
are brisk enough to merit another collection!
JOHN
WAYNE :
Feo, fuerte y formal
– John Wayne (1907-1979) often said
this was the epitaph he wanted for himself,
a Mexican saying that translates to “He
was ugly, he was tough, but he had dignity.”
One of the greatest of movie stars, somewhat
taken for granted as an actor in his own
lifetime, he's been redeemed by subsequent
recognition for his brilliant performances
in RED RIVER (1947), SHE WORE A YELLOW
RIBBON (1949), THE SEARCHERS (1956) and
THE SHOOTIST (1976), among others. And
if the collectibles market (and cable
television) is any indication, The Duke
is as popular as ever.
Lots
of his movies are available on DVD, but
Warner Home Video offers another fantastic
box set with THE JOHN WAYNE LEGENDARY
HEROES COLLECTION, with five Wayne films
making their DVD debuts. Some really interesting
choices here – not the Ford-Wayne
classics like STAGECOACH, THREE GODFATHERS
or THE SEARCHERS but some of Duke lesser-known
bread-and-butter pictures, the kind of
movies that kept him at the top of the
box office rankings for decades. TALL
IN THE SADDLE (1944) is one of the best
of his Forties Westerns, BLOOD ALLEY and
THE SEA CHASE (both 1955) are two ambitious
adventures from his peak years, and THE
TRAIN ROBBERS (1973) and McQ (1974) two
of his finest later efforts.
TALL
IN THE SADDLE
(1944): Five years after STAGECOACH launched
John Wayne into the ranks of A-list movie
stars, Duke returned to his B-movie roots
with this oater, given the A treatment
by RKO and director Edward Marin (A CHRISTMAS
CAROL). There's a complex mystery plot,
Monument Valley locations, a cast that
includes Ward Bond, Gabby Hayes, Ella
Raines (playing a strong independent woman
reminiscent of Howard Hawks' heroines),
and Paul Fix (who also wrote the script),
and two of Wayne's best fistfights, one
with Bond and the other with Harry Woods.
This is really unpretentious entertaining
stuff, a great Saturday matinee Western,
not as well known as some of his other
Westerns, but something of a cult item
among Duke's hardcore fans, and very much
anticipating the tone of ANGEL AND THE
BADMAN (1946). Wayne was more involved
with the production of this film than
he been with any other to date, in fact,
six years later he and the movie's producer,
Robert Fellows, formed Wayne-Fellows Productions.
BLOOD
ALLEY (1955):
Wayne and director Wild Bill Wellman (WINGS,
PUBLIC ENEMY, A STAR IS BORN) had scored
two hits in 1954-55 with ISLAND IN THE
SKY and THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY, both
based on Ernest Gann aviation novels.
They reteamed for BLOOD ALLEY. The show
is pure pulp adventure (mixed with some
ripe mid-'50s anti-Communist propaganda),
as Duke pilots a group of 180 Chinese
refugees from Red China to Hong Kong aboard
a rickety ferryboat, the Chiku Shan
. Their route lies through the Formosa
Straits, nicknamed "Blood Alley,"
with sabotage, typhoons, and romance along
the way. Wayne is typically tough and
two-fisted; his relationship with Lauren
Bacall -- a typical Wellman woman
-- Duke slaps her, Bacall slugs him.
When
the film opens, Wayne is confined in a
Communist Chinese jail, talking to his
imaginary girlfriend, "Baby."
As he later tells Bacall, "She was
the one trick I had up my sleeve when
I was the guest of the Commies to keep
me from beatin' my head against the wall."
But his character is apolitical -- "I
hate the Reds because they closed a lot
of Chinese ports where I have dames --
Chinese, Eurasian, and White Russian."
There is a good deal of action (including
Bacall's run to the boat through a torrent
of bombs), plenty of atmosphere, and best
of all, the ups and downs of the Wayne-Bacall
relationship. At one point he saves her
from attempted rape and bayonets her attacker.
"I'm not very good at saying thank
you," says Bacall. "Then don't
bother," growls Wayne. Bacall: "It
was certainly cool and efficient."
Wayne: "It wasn't pretty, but it
was silent." Bacall: "Why did
you kill him?" Wayne (with his patent
drawl): "It seemed like a good idea."
BLOOD
ALLEY had an interesting production history.
On May 24, 1954, Wayne bought out his
partner Robert Fellows and formed Batjac
Productions. He acquired the rights to
A.S. Fleischman's novel Blood Alley
the same month. Wellman was assigned
on September 16, with Robert Mitchum and
James Arness announced to star. Shooting
began on January 12, 1955 on a $2.5 million
budget. Locations were made at China Camp
in San Rafael, California; Point San Pablo
near Richmond; and Angel's Island in San
Francisco Bay, with Wellman receiving
cooperation from the United States Department
of Defense and the United States Coast
Guard. Mitchum began as the picture's
star, but was fired from the shoot after
one week. The official story was that
he had pushed transportation manager George
Coleman into San Francisco Bay and was
keeping Wellman up at night with his hotel
parties; Mitchum always maintained that
it was a ploy by Jack Warner to get another
John Wayne picture on their schedule.
Wayne first tried to get Gregory Peck
and Kirk Douglas to replace Mitchum, but
they passed.
Bill
Wellman, Jr., told me that Humphrey Bogart
(husband of femme lead, Lauren Bacall)
visited the set and was offered the part,
but privately confessed to Wellman that
he was dying of cancer. Wellman did not
divulge the information, and press accounts
reported that Bogart wanted too much money
to do the film. Finally, Wayne stepped
into the Mitchum role, and, when Wellman
was sick with flu for several days, took
over the direction. The company finished
at China Camp on February 14, then worked
ten days on the Sacramento River near
Stockton, before moving into interiors
at the Goldwyn Studio, completing production
on April 4, 1955. Incidentally, in QUIZ
SHOW (1994),
Robert Redford uses a stock clip of Times
Square, featuring a marquee for BLOOD
ALLEY (although the Redford film is set
two years later).
Readers
of this column know that Wellman is one
of my favorite directors, and I've been
preparing an exhaustive book on the director
for a long time. I've seen BLOOD ALLEY
many times on cable TV but watching it
on DVD is, as the saying goes, like seeing
it for the first time – like so
many of the great titles pouring out of
the studio vaults-- and true justice is
done to Wellman's compositions and the
cinematography of his ace cinematographer
William Clothier. Warners dug up some
fascinating footage of Wayne promoting
BLOOD ALLEY, interviewed by Gig Young,
and includes it on the disc along with
a trailer gallery of Duke movies that
actually appears as a special feature
on all of these discs.
THE
SEA CHASE
(1955): Here's a picture that's never
had much of a reputation, but as seen
in yet another stunning DVD, this is a
damn good adventure flick with an especially
strong performance from our hero. Believe
it or not, Wayne plays a German naval
captain (anti-Nazi of course), in port
in Australia as Germany and England go
to war in 1939. He slips his ship out
of the harbor in deep fog and tries to
make it to safe harbor in South America,
with espionage agent Lana Turner in on
board, chased by a British ship. There
is no effort by anyone on the German crew
(Wayne, Tab Hunter, John Qualen, Lyle
Bettger, James Arness, Alan Hale Jr.,
EAST OF EDEN's Dick Davalos) to affect
a German accent, making for an almost
surreal experience. As directed by veteran
John Farrow (who had done HONDO with Duke
the previous year), THE SEA CHASE boasts
more great Clothier cinematography (in
CinemaScope and WarnerColor), plenty of
melodramatics and romance between Wayne
and Turner, and some exciting seaworthy
action including rat infestation, a shark
attack, mutinous sailors and rough seas.
THE
TRAIN ROBBERS
(1973): Writer-director Burt Kennedy wrote
screenplays for Batjac in the Fifties,
most notably SEVEN MEN FROM NOW (1956).
Along with Andrew V. McLaglen and Mark
Rydell, he proved to be one of the more
amiable of Wayne's late era directors,
signing THE WAR WAGON (1967) starring
Duke and Kirk Douglas, and THE TRAIN ROBBERS.
Wayne is recruited by young widow Ann-Margret
(“I got a saddle older'n you,” he tells
her) to recover a cache of lost gold from
a wrecked train in the desert that had
been stolen by her husband. She wants
to return the money and they take off
for the desert with Wayne cronies Rod
Taylor and Ben Johnson. There's a plot
twist or two, but the best parts of the
picture come from the Wayne banter with
Ann-Margret and his relationship with
Taylor and Johnson. And once again, Bill
Clothier's camerawork is a standout, with
some typically great landscape photography.
Special
features include a new documentary JOHN
WAYNE: WORKING WITH A WESTERN LEGEND,
with stunt greats Terry Leonard, Dean
Smith and Jerry Gatlin reminiscing about
Duke, and WAYNE TRAIN, a promotional featurette
from the film's first release.
McQ
(1974): Wayne had been offered DIRTY HARRY
in 1971 but turned it down; likewise Clint
Eastwood was offered McQ (1974). When
he declined, the Duke stepped in to play
a lone wolf Seattle detective. Briskly
directed by John Sturges (MAGNIFICENT
SEVEN, THE GREAT ESCAPE), McQ is a terrific
Seventies cop flick – stunts, shootouts,
car chases (one on the freeway, another
on the beach), dirty cops, cool street
lingo, and funky music (by Elmer Bernstein).
Duke trades in his six-shooter for an
Uzi, and it's great to see him in a contemporary
role, kicking bad-guy ass at age 67. He
does some nice work opposite Colleen Dewhurst
and Diana Muldaur, and is ably supported
by Eddie Albert, Clu Gulager and especially
Al Lettieri, a favorite 70s villain (THE
GODFATHER, THE GETAWAY). There's a contemporary
featurette included (along with the trailer
gallery) that features on-location interviews
with Sturges, the stunt men, Albert, Lettieri
and Wayne, who admits to being uncomfortable
doing action scenes in a suit and tie.
There's also detailed behind-the-scenes
footage of the car chase on the beach.
The
narrator closes the featurette by calling
John Wayne “the most popular and enduring
star in movie history.”
I
reckon he's right, pilgrim.
THE
BIG RED ONE: THE RECONSTRUCTION :
Warner Home Video also releases the long
awaited reconstruction of Samuel Fuller's
World War Two epic THE BIG RED ONE (1980),
starring Lee Marvin, Mark Hamill and Robert
Carradine. Fuller served in the U.S. First
Infantry from North Africa through Italy
and France, and this was his dream project
for years (Carradine's character is based
on Fuller). His cut never made it to theatres,
however, and for years there were rumors
of existing footage. While working on
a Chaplin documentary, historian Richard
Schickel (winner of the 2004 NBR William
K. Everson Film History Award) discovered
70,000 feet of unused footage and, working
closely from Fuller's original script,
was able to restore 40 minutes (see the
April 2004 edition of this column for
my essay on Sam Fuller). It's a beautiful
thing to have this movie digitally mastered
with the soundtrack digitally remastered
to Dolby Digital 5.1, with accompanying
audio commentary by Richard Schickel,
and, on a second disc, alternate scenes,
restoration comparisons, a new documentary
about the reconstruction, a War Department
short about the First called THE FIGHTING
FIRST, stills galleries, trailers, and
Schickel's superb documentary THE MEN
WHO MADE THE MOVIES: SAMUEL FULLER.
As
a further Memorial Day tribute, Warner
also releases the 1966 all-star epic THE
BATTLE OF THE BULGE ,
directed by Ken Annakin, starring Henry
Fonda, Robert Shaw, Charles Bronson, Robert
Ryan, Pier Angeli, Dana Andrews and Telly
Savalas. I've only ever seen this film
on TBS cable, and never thought much of
it, but seeing it restored to 170 minutes
in widescreen, it's actually a damn good
war movie, with Robert Shaw doing especially
fine work as a German Panzer leader. My
only gripe is a climactic tank battle
that was filmed in the Spanish desert,
which looks nothing like the French forests
of winter 1944. The picture and audio
have been restored for the DVD, and two
vintage featurettes are included.
MGM
VIDEO:
MGM continues to release some exceedingly
worthwhile titles. THE PURPLE
PLAIN
(1954) is a brilliant World War Two character
study of a pilot (Gregory Peck) in Burma,
undergoing intense psychosis in the jungle
heat, tortured by the memory of his wife
killed in the Blitz of London. This British
production was filmed on location in Ceylon
(now Sri Lanka), perhaps inspiring locations
for David Lean's 1957 production of BRIDGE
ON THE RIVER KWAI, and features one of
Peck's most complex portrayals. Editor-turned-director
Robert Parrish, a protégé of John Ford,
guides Peck in an intelligent, suspenseful
tale of jungle survival.
THE
QUIET AMERICAN
(1958), directed by Joseph Mankiewicz
(ALL ABOUT EVE), adapted from Graham Greene's
novel, was a production years ahead of
its time, a romantic triangle story between
an enigmatic American (Audie Murphy),
a British journalist (Michael Redgrave)
and his Vietnamese mistress (Kerima),
set in French Indo-China in 1952, and
shot on location in Saigon as well as
at Rome's Cinecitta Studios. The political
consequences of the trio's activity results
in an intense drama that merits watching.
Murphy is odd casting, but Redgrave is
just as perfect as Michael Caine, who
essayed the role in the 2003 remake.
Geraldine
Page won the Academy Award for Best Actress
for Peter Masterson's A TRIP TO
BOUNTIFUL
(1985), adapted by Horton Foote from his
play. Page plays Carrie Watts, an ailing
old woman who makes her last trip to the
home of her youth. By turns funny and
dramatic, Foote's picaresque tale is perfectly
acted and directed. A “making of”
featurette is included.
MGM
also releases an utterly timeless classic
– THE GRADUATE
(1967) in a no-frills edition. It doesn't
matter, Mike Nichols' film is still powerful,
Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft still
brilliant. Nominated for seven Oscars,
winning Nichols Best Director, this landmark
movie is absolutely essential cinema,
and a reminder of Dustin Hoffman's great
talent. Nichols insisted on casting the
unknown Hoffman, and THE GRADUATE made
him a star. Hoffman was smart enough to
stick to interesting projects through
the next decade – MIDNIGHT COWBOY,
LITTLE BIG MAN, PAPILLON, STRAW DOGS,
LENNY, MARATHON MAN, ALL THE PRESIDENT'S
MEN, STRAIGHT TIME, KRAMER VS. KRAMER
– a staggering series of
performances.
Mel
Brooks' SPACEBALLS (1987)
comes
to us in an elaborate two-disc special
edition, just in time for the release
of the final STAR WARS movie. I rate this
one just below his mighty merry trilogy
of THE PRODUCERS (1968), BLAZING SADDLES
(1973), and YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (1974)
for out-and-out laughs. Instead of Yoda,
we get Mel Brooks as Yogurt; instead of
Darth Vader, we get Rick Moranis as Dark
Helmet. Bill Pullman, Daphne Zuniga and
the inimitable John Candy spoof, respectively,
Han Solo, Princess Leia, and Chewbacca.
Besides the hilarious dialogue, Brooks
knows his way around a visual gag, beginning
with the very first shot of the movie.
The DVD is crammed with extras –
a laugh out loud commentary with Brooks
and co-writer Thomas Meehan; SPACEBALLS:
THE DOCUMENTARY; a tribute to John Candy;
film flubs, a trivia game, costume and
set galleries, and an exhibitor trailer
introduced by Mel Brooks himself. In the
words of Mel, “May the Schwartz be with
you!”
SONY
HOME VIDEO :
The National Board of Review awarded
Huo Tingxiao the 2004 award for Outstanding
Production Design for HOUSE OF
FLYING DAGGERS
(2004). If you haven't seen it yet, check
out the new DVD release. Directed by Zhang
Yimou as a follow-up to his HERO, HOUSE
is an instant classic, a great adventure
tale, both tragic and beautiful, with
an emotional love story integrated into
a narrative of switch and double switch.
Besides the eye-popping cinematography
and the sumptuous sets of medieval China
(especially the unforgettable pavilion
brothel echo game set), the filmmakers
offer the best fighting sequences since
the KILL BILL movies – the fight
in the field, the fight in the bamboo
forest, the finale in the snow. The disc
has translated audio commentary by director
Yimou and female lead Ziyi Zhang, a “making
of” featurette and a special effects featurette,
storyboard comparisons, photo galleries,
and the music video “Lovers.”
Nicole
Kassell's THE WOODSMAN
(2004) made the NBR list for Excellence
in Filmmaking, and it's a most promising
directorial debut. Kevin Bacon is riveting
as an ex-con child molester trying to
mind his own business, live quietly in
his urban Philadelphia neighborhood (dangerously
located across the street from an elementary
school), work his factory job, and fight
his demons. Kyra Sedgwick is equally outstanding
as the woman who loves him, even after
she learns his secret. The filmmakers
and actors achieve the unthinkable by
actually making you care about the Bacon
character, and you end up rooting for
him to pull through his temptation. THE
WOODSMAN is quite an accomplishment, hailed
by Richard Schickel in Time as
one of the year's ten best films. The
DVD has commentary from Kassell, deleted
and extended scenes, and a featurette
called GETTING IT MADE with producer Lee
Daniels (MONSTER'S BALL). If you ask me,
Kevin Bacon should have received an Oscar
nomination for Best Actor for THE WOODSMAN.
PARAMOUNT
HOME VIDEO :
As a tie-in with the new Adam Sandler
remake, Paramount releases the original
version of THE LONGEST YARD (1974)
in a special “Lockdown Edition.” Robert
Aldrich (1918-1983) made tough uncompromising
pictures about men in crisis – VERA
CRUZ (1954), ATTACK! (1956), THE DIRTY
DOZEN (1967), ULZANA'S RAID (1972), EMPEROR
OF THE NORTH (1973) – and THE LONGEST
YARD is one of his best. Burt Reynolds
stars as the carousing ex-pro football
player who lands in the clink and is coerced
by the fascistic warden (Eddie Albert)
into putting together a team of convicts
to play the guards in a no-holds-barred
football game. Aldrich wrings every ounce
of drama out of the situation, aided by
a cast of real-life tough guys –
Ed Lauter, Ray Nitschke, Mike Henry, Pervis
Atkins and Richard Kiel – and shooting
on location at Georgia State Prison, courtesy
of then-Governor Jimmy Carter. I don't
know how the new version's gonna be, but
the original kicks butt. The DVD includes
two featurettes, and audio commentary
from Burt Reynolds and producer Al Ruddy
(THE GODFATHER, MILLION DOLLAR BABY),
who also came up with the original story.
LEMONY
SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS
(2004) is a kid's movie for adults. Based
on the Lemony Snicket series of books,
inspired by Tim Burton, Charles Addams
and Edward Gorey, the film is a field
day for Jim Carrey. As Count Olaf, ham
actor extraordinaire, and his various
impersonations, Carrey chases three genius
orphans for their inheritance (the three
child actors -- actually four, the youngest
are twins -- are quite good). Director
Brad Silberling also gets winning performances
from Billy Connolly and Meryl Streep as
the children's quirky guardians, with
Cedric the Entertainer as a cop and Dustin
Hoffman as a theater critic in cameos.
Technically the movie is a feast for the
senses, particularly the Rick Heinrichs
production design, and Thomas Newman's
score is also noteworthy. The special
features on this disc are outstanding
– commentary by Silberling and Jim
Carrey-as-Lemony Snicket; a separate commentary
by the director; lots of outtakes and
bloopers (always fun on a Carrey movie);
extensive wardrobe tests with Carrey going
nuts; featurettes on the special effects
and the making of the film.
TEAM
AMERICA: WORLD POLICE
(2004): Trey Parker and Matt Stone are
a love ‘em-or-hate ‘em proposition. The
creators of SOUTH PARK and last year's
action satire TEAM AMERICA have a take-no-prisoners
attitude towards comedy and are most certainly
equal opportunity offenders. In today's
politically correct world, I think Parker
and Stone are geniuses; it amazes me how
SOUTH PARK just gets more tasteless and
more hilarious … just look at last year's
“Passion of the Jew” and “Paris Hilton
is a Stupid Spoiled Whore” episodes. In
the feature TEAM AMERICA, the animators
work with puppets to chronicle the adventures
of the super patriots on a mission to
wipe out terrorism. As you can imagine,
there's lots of Middle Eastern-themed
gags, political satire in which no one
is safe, and, in the uncensored, unrated
version, a sex scene unlike any that has
ever been captured on film (I'll say no
more about it). The DVD has elaborate
special features showing how all the effects
were achieved, along with deleted and
extended scenes, but be warned –
this is guaranteed to offend … in a funny
way, of course. So, if you like SOUTH
PARK, you'll love TEAM AMERICA.
BOOKS
:
Three neglected directors get the spotlight
with new publications.
If
he had never done another thing in Hollywood
after 1927, Leo McCarey (1898-1969) would
still have earned his place in film history
as the man who teamed Stan Laurel with
Oliver Hardy. He wrote and directed most
of their early shorts before moving into
a feature directing career that saw him
impact the careers of Eddie Cantor (THE
KID FROM SPAIN), The Marx Brothers (DUCK
SOUP), Mae West (BELLE OF THE NINETIES),
Charles Laughton (RUGGLES OF RED GAP),
Harold Lloyd (THE MILKY WAY) and Cary
Grant (THE AWFUL TRUTH). The success of
this last movie, which earned McCarey
a Best Directing Oscar, gave him a creative
freedom rare in the studio system, and
he exploited it to make the gut-wrenching
drama MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW (1937), the
ultimate romance LOVE AFFAIR (1939) which
he in turn remade as AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER
(1957), and a very unique World War Two
adventure, ONCE UPON A HONEYMOON (1942).
It was his two priest movies with Bing
Crosby – GOING MY WAY, 1944's Oscar
Best Picture, and THE BELLS OF ST. MARY'S
with Ingrid Bergman as a nun – that
made McCarey one of the richest men in
America as he gave the homefront a mix
of entertainment and faith in a higher
power. After the war, McCarey faltered,
becoming obsessed with Commie-baiting,
and the merry mirthmaker of yore churned
out one of the most infamous Red-bashing
movies of the McCarthy era, the seldom
seen MY SON JOHN (1952). McCarey's output
dwindled – there was a last gasp
with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr in AFFAIR,
a slapdash comedy with Paul Newman and
Joanne Woodward (RALLY ROUND THE FLAG,
BOYS) and his ignominious final film,
SATAN NEVER SLEEPS (1962), combining Catholicism
with the fight against world Communism,
as priest William Holden fights Chinese
commies. A fascinating career clearly,
and long overdue for the detailed treatment
offered by author Wes D. Gehring in Leo
McCarey: From Marx to McCarthy , published
by the Scarecrow Press ( www.scarecrowpress.com
). McCarey is unquestionably a pantheon
director, and his contributons to cinema
and popular culture are vast; Gehring's
book is highly recommended, and is especially
enlightening regarding the director's
early work at Roach with Charley Chase.
Frank
Tuttle (1892-1963) was a talented journeyman
director who worked in both silents and
talkies, in Hollywood and at Paramount's
Astoria Studios on Long Island. Career
highlights included KID BOOTS (1926),
THE BIG BROADCAST (1932), THIS IS THE
NIGHT (1932), ROMAN SCANDALS (1933) and
THIS GUN FOR HIRE (1942), all solid entertainment.
I remember reading somewhere that he had
written an autobiography, so I was delighted
when I came across the catalogue of Bear
Manor Media and saw They Started Talking
by Frank Tuttle, edited and with
an introduction by John Franchschina.
This book is like buried treasure to a
film buff, as the voice of a Golden Age
director takes us behind the scenes of
Hollywood from the Twenties through the
Fifties, discussing personalities like
Gloria Swanson, Louise Brooks, Clara Bow,
Mary Astor, Adolphe Menjou, Alan Ladd,
Bing Crosby and Sam Goldwyn (of whom he
was most emphatically not a fan). It's
all written in a straightforward matter-of-fact
style. Ben Ohmart's Bear Manor Media is
to be truly commended as an independent
press specializing in vintage film, radio
and pop culture, with books on film stars
Edgar Kennedy, Don Ameche, Kay Francis
and Agnes Moorehead, and radio stars Hopalong
Cassidy, The Great Gildersleeve and Fibber
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