September 2010: Von Sternberg

by John Gallagher

VON STERNBERG: He was one of the greatest visual stylists in film history, undisputed auteur of an extraordinary series of films from 1930-35 starring his “creation” Marlene Dietrich (THE BLUE ANGEL, MOROCCO, DISHONORED, SHANGHAI EXPRESS, BLONDE VENUS, THE SCARLET EMPRESS, THE DEVIL IS A WOMAN). Born Jonas Stern in 1894 in Vienna, birthplace of Fritz Lang, Billy Wilder and Otto Preminger, he added the “von” to emulate his idol, Eric von Stroheim, and affected enough eccentricities to become, with Cecil B. DeMille, the archetypical tyrant director of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Though he would make a handful of films after the Dietrich collaborations, Josef Von Sternberg’s career was in decline by 1936, his fall as mercurial as his rise. His Dietrich talkies have eclipsed his late 20s films, and now Criterion puts them back in the spotlight with 3 SILENT CLASSICS BY JOSEF VON STERNBERG, a gorgeous box set featuring UNDERWORLD (1927), THE LAST COMMAND (1928) and THE DOCKS OF NEW YORK (1928). UNDERWORLD, which earned Ben Hecht the first Oscar for best original story, is a pioneering crime drama considered the first gangster feature, often imitated, rarely matched for visual brilliance. George Bancroft, Clive Brook and Evelyn Brent head the cast but Sternberg is the star with his striking expressionistic style. Two years before collaborating on THE BLUE ANGEL, Sternberg directed Emil Jannings in THE LAST COMMAND, a fascinating epic about a World War One Imperial Russian general who, a decade later, has ended up a dress extra in Hollywood. DOCKS OF NEW YORK is one of the greatest silent movies, the supreme example how far the art of the “shadow play” had come before succumbing to the crude craft of the first talking pictures. Bancroft plays a stoker on shore leave involved with Betty Compson. Story never meant much to Sternberg; he was much more interested in creating a kind of visual narrative of light and shadow, and in these films he achieved a sublime cinematic poetry. Criterion has created all new restored high-def digital transfers, with DOCKS especially sumptuous. Each title in the set is equipped with two choices of score, by Alloy Orchestra (UNDERWORLD, THE LAST COMMAND), Robert Israel (UNDERWORLD, THE LAST COMMAND, THE DOCKS OF NEW YORK) and Donald Sosin and Joanna Seaton (THE DOCKS OF NEW YORK), and there are wonderful extras. UCLA film professor Janet Bergstrom and author/historian Tag Gallagher provide exceptional visual essays, and there’s a 1968 Swedish TV interview with Sternberg. Finally, a 96-page booklet includes essays by Geoffrey O’Brien, Anton Kaes and Luc Sante, notes on the scores by the composers, Hecht’s original story for UNDERWORLD, and an excerpt from von Sternberg’s 1965 memoir, Fun in a Chinese Laundry, focusing on Jannings.  3 SILENT CLASSICS is an essential collection, and one of the best DVD releases of 2010.

University Press of Kentucky has published John Baxter’s Von Sternberg, the eminent historian’s outstanding biography of this enigmatic filmmaker. Baxter wrote the long out-of-print The Cinema of Josef von Sternberg in the early 70s, but this volume focuses on the man’s life, uncovering a good deal of information that Sternberg purposely obscured in his lifetime. The director was notorious for discrediting or ignoring his many collaborators, and Baxter delineates the contributions of cinematographers like Bert Glennon, Lee Garmes and Lucien Ballard, art director Hans Dreier, and especially screenwriter Jules Furthman. Highly recommended.

OLIVE FILMS continues to release fan favorites from the Paramount catalogue with five new titles, all mastered in high-def from original 35mm masters. Norman McLeod’s MY FAVORITE SPY (1951) is one of Bob Hope’s better comedies, teaming him with Hedy Lamarr, pitting him against international super-spies. McLeod is a neglected comedy great who helmed such gems as The Marx Brothers’ MONKEY BUSINESS (1951) and HORSE FEATHERS (1932), W. C. Fields’ IT’A GIFT (1934) with the immortal “Carl LaFong” scene, TOPPER (1937) with Cary Grant and Constance Bennett, Danny Kaye’s THE KID FROM BROOKLYN (1946) and THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (1947) and five of Hope’s best, including THE ROAD TO RIO (1947), THE PALEFACE (1948) and CASANOVA’S BIG NIGHT (1954). Norman Panama and Melvin Frank’s KNOCK ON WOOD (1954) spoofs the 1946 British thriller DEAD OF NIGHT, with Danny Kaye as a ventriloquist, opposite Mai Zetterling and a wooden dummy. This wave of Olive/Paramounts is dominated by three overwrought high camp “classics,” lavish and salacious Hollywood soap operas, all marked by bad acting from good actors and impossible scripts. Two of these three are indeed based on best-selling novels by two of pop culture’s trashiest authors, Harold Robbins and Jacqueline (VALLEY OF THE DOLLS) Susann. Robbins’ WHERE LOVE HAS GONE (1964) casts Joey Heatherton as a young woman who murders the lover of her mother (Susan Hayward), all under the domineering gaze of grandma Bette Davis! Edward Dmytryk (CROSSFIRE, THE CAINE MUTINY, RAINTREE COUNTY) directs, and it is not his finest hour (or two). Susann’s ONCE IS NOT ENOUGH (1975) is utterly banal; the best thing going for it are the New York and European locations. An excellent cast under the direction of Guy Green (A PATCH OF BLUE) includes Kirk Douglas, Alexis Smith, George Hamilton, Deborah Raffin, David Janssen, Melina Mercouri, and Brenda Vaccaro (who steals the show in an Oscar nominated turn as a man-hungry fashion editor) do their best with the ludicrous material. The picture’s real shock comes from the fact that the script was written by the great Julius Epstein (CASABLANCA)! But the real jaw-dropper is Gordon Douglas’ HARLOW (1965), based on the sordid and sleazy best-selling Irving Schulman “biography” of beloved 30s superstar Jean Harlow. In certain angles Carroll Baker looks remarkably like Jean, but this is an absurd, anachronistic and inaccurate (that’s putting it nicely) movie, literally so bad it’s entertaining, even as it trivializes Harlow’s life. It’s another case of good actors speaking impossibly bad dialogue, with Angela Lansbury as Jean’s loving mother, Raf Vallone as her egotistical stepfather, Red Buttons as her devoted agent, Mike Connors as a Gablesque movie star, Martin Balsam as a faux L. B. Mayer, and Peter Lawford, woefully miscast as Paul Bern.

THE TCM VAULT COLLECTION, in association with Universal, presents DEANNA DURBIN: THE MUSIC AND ROMANCE COLLECTION, with five charming, entertaining and tuneful films. After shooting to teenage super stardom in THREE SMART GIRLS (1936), and helping keep the foundering Universal Studios afloat, Durbin became one of the biggest movie stars of the late 30s and early 40s. Because of the inaccessibility of her films, and early retirement to France in 1949 where she has declined interviews for decades (she’s 89 years old), Durbin has been largely forgotten today, although Jeanine Basinger helped redefine her place in film history and the studio system with compelling coverage in her brilliant must-read book The Star Machine (Knopf, 2007). In Norman Taurog’s MAD ABOUT MUSIC (1938), Durbin is the 14-year-old daughter of a screen star (Gail Patrick), hidden at a Swiss boarding school by her mother on studio orders, convincing composer Herbert Marshall to pose as her father. The picture was nominated for four Oscars, including cinematography and music score, and features Durbin’s beautiful rendition of “Ave Maria.” Edward Ludwig’s THAT CERTAIN AGE (1938) has the pedigree of a Billy Wilder-Charles Brackett script (one of their first together), with Durbin and boyfriend Jackie Cooper making trouble for journalist Melvyn Douglas while trying to put on a show; this one earned two Academy Award nominations, including one for the Durbin song “My Own.” The follow-up to her first hit, Henry Koster’s THREE SMART GIRLS GROW UP (1939) is another frothy, well-produced trifle that reteamed her with the director, Nan Grey and Helen Parrish as her sisters, and featured young Robert Cummings in the male lead. Durbin’s final film, FOR THE LOVE OF MARY (1948), helmed by future BEDTIME FOR BONZO/THE TONIGHT SHOW producer Fred DeCordova, is a light romantic comedy with the actress courted by Edmond O’Brien, Jeffrey Lynn and Don Taylor, but Richard Wallace’s BECAUSE OF HIM (1945) is a complete joy. Durban plays a star-struck NYC waitress who through a series of misunderstandings ends up starring on Broadway opposite Great Actor Charles Laughton, much to the chagrin of playwright Franchot Tone. Laughton is a delight in the role, stealing every moment he’s on screen. All the titles in this set are supplemented by Robert Osborne intros and extensive extras (behind the scenes photos, publicity and scene stills, posters and articles), and there’s an interesting interview with John Pasternak, brother of Joe Pasternak, the producer who developed Durbin’s career at Universal.

IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT: In the fall of 1960, Universal TV responded to the huge success of MGM TV’s THE TWILIGHT ZONE with the premiere of their own anthology genre series, THRILLER, hosted by horror icon Boris Karloff. While it only lasted two seasons, as opposed to TZ’s five, fans embraced this high quality, chillingly effective hour-long program. Image has released a spectacular collection, THRILLER: THE COMPLETE SERIES, a 14-DVD set with all 67 episodes remastered and uncut for the first time since their original broadcasts, with over 50 hours of bonus features, over 24 hours of audio commentaries, over 31 hours of isolated music and effects tracks from composers Jerry Goldsmith and Morton Stevens, rare network promos, and extensive stills galleries. Shot largely on the backlot at Universal City (with several episodes featuring the PSYCHO house), the studio nonetheless gave the series strong production values, with guest stars including William Shatner, Elizabeth Montgomery, Richard Chamberlain, Rip Torn, Brandon deWilde, Cloris Leachman, Ursula Andress, Warren Oates, Marlo Thomas, John Carradine, Bruce Dern and Mary Tyler Moore, and directors like Mitchell Leisen, John Brahm, Ida Lupino, Arthur Hiller, Ted Post and Ray Milland. Karloff’s introductions to each episode are delicious (“as sure as my name is Boris Karloff, this is going to be a thriller!”), and he guest starred in several episodes, including “The Prediction,” “The Premature Burial,” and “The Incredible Doctor Markesan.” The audio commentaries (29 of them) are especially strong, and include director Hiller, and genre experts Gary Gerani, Tim Lucas, and Ron Borst. Keep THRILLER: THE COMPLETE SERIES in mind for your holiday gift-giving list; it’s guaranteed to please horror and mystery aficionados.

Ex-flower children and classic rock enthusiasts will love LEGENDS OF THE CANYON from Image, Jon Brewer’s feature documentary about the music scene in Laurel Canyon in L.A. in the mid-60s and early 70s. Hosted by musician/ photographer Henry Diltz, the doc explores the evolution of the LA folk-rock scene spearheaded by The Byrds, The Buffalo Springfield and The Mamas and the Papas, and focuses on the supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash and (sometimes) Young. There’s lots of rare musical footage, interviews with CSN, Michelle Phillips of The Mamas and Papas, Gerry Beckley from America, and record mogul David Geffen. Extras include extended interviews with Stephen Stills, David Crosby, Graham Nash, and Beckley, an extensive Diltz photo library, and his 8mm silent footage of the Woodstock festival, and CSN and Joni Mitchell at Big Sur. It truly was a magical time for music, and LEGENDS OF THE CANYON captures the era perfectly.

MPI VIDEO: The UCLA Film and Television Archive has done a wonderful job restoring two superior Sherlock Holmes adventures, long available only in poor public domain dupes, to their original 35mm glory. Both films in SHERLOCK HOLMES DOUBLE FEATURE, the third and fourth in the 12-film Universal series, are directed by underrated studio craftsman Roy William Neill (see the February/March 2010 edition of this column for an appreciation of this “Subject for Further Research”), and star the inimitable Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson. SHERLOCK HOLMES IN WASHINGTON (1942), based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s story “The Dancing Men,” updates the team to World War Two, a creative liberty that works seamlessly as they fight Nazi spies. SHERLOCK HOLMES FACES DEATH (1943), also set during WWII, is very loosely based on Doyle’s “The Musgrave Ritual,” and returns Holmes and Watson to British Gothic, unraveling a centuries-old mystery in a 400-year-old ancient manor house. David Stuart Davies, author of Starring Sherlock Holmes, provides informative audio commentary on SHERLOCK HOLMES FACES DEATH.

TV: For seven seasons, ONE TREE HILL has been one of the most popular dramatic series on the WB Network. Set in the small town of Tree Hill (filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina), it chronicles the lives of the townspeople with taste and intelligence; ONE TREE HILL: THE COMPLETE SEVENTH SEASON -- 22 episodes on five discs -- is currently available as cast and crew film Season Eight. The fine ensemble cast headed by James Lafferty includes Bethany Joy Galeotti, Sophia Bush, Austin Nichols, Robert Buckley, Shantel Vansanten, Jackson Brundage, Lee Norris, Antwon Tanner, Jana Kramer, Lisa Goldstein and Paul Johansson. Special features include unaired scenes, a gag reel, three featurettes, and commentary on three episodes by series creator Mark Schwahn and key cast and crew.

BLU-RAY: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment brings us a title that is just made for Blu-ray technology, Ken Russell’s 1975 musical fantasy epic TOMMY, based on the 1969 concept album by The Who (Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, John Entwhistle, Keith Moon). Sound and image are stunning, digitally restored with a newly remastered 5.1 soundtrack in addition to the original 5.0 Quintaphonic track (Quintaphonic sound, used for the first and only time on this movie, used five channels to give audiences surround sound experience). Who lead singer Daltrey plays Tommy, the deaf, dumb and blind pinball wizard, with Ann-Margret (Oscar-nominated) as his mother, Oliver Reed as her lover, Who drummer Keith Moon as memorable degenerate Uncle Ernie, Jack Nicholson as a medical specialist with lustful desire for Ann-Margret, and musical cameos by Eric Clapton (“Eyesight to the Blind,” “Sally Simpson”), Elton John (“Pinball Wizard”), and Tina Turner (“The Acid Queen”). Special praise goes to keyboardist Nicky Hopkins, the great unsung genius of classic rock, session pianist for The Rolling Stones, The Beatles (as well as Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, Starr solo efforts), The Kinks, The Who, Jeff Beck, The Steve Miller Band, Cat Stevens, Donovan, Jerry Garcia, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jefferson Airplane and Nilsson; Hopkins is featured on piano throughout TOMMY. SPHE’s Blu-ray features movieIQ+sync, an immersive Blu-ray experience that enables fans to link through the internet to production and soundtrack info as they watch specific scenes.

                                                     John Gallagher

                                          jgmovie@gmail.com