Steve’s Selections #13 – Went the Day Well? (1942)

Steve Honeywell at 1001plus and I agreed to continue to do a monthly review of a film the other picked for us.  We did 12 in 2015 and we will do 12 more in 2016.  The first one I chose from Steve’s list for me this year is a British war film from 1942.  It’s also on the list of the 101 War Movies You Must See Before You Die, and I am slowly working on those entries, so it seemed like a good place to start.

I called this a “war film” and it is to a certain extent, but it’s more accurate to call it either a thriller or a war propaganda piece.  The events do not take place on a battlefield, but rather in a small village in England that gets infiltrated by Nazis in preparation for a full-scale invasion.  The Nazis have disguised themselves as British soldiers that are in the village to inspect its readiness for home defense and to conduct some training.  For the most part they speak perfect English and have all the mannerisms down.

Movie – Sullivan’s Travels (1941)

Sullivan’s Travels was written and directed by Preston Sturges, a man known for his comedy (The Lady Eve, The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek.)  In the case of Sullivan’s Travels, the comedy it contains is more satire than slapstick.  A Hollywood director known for his light comedies wants to make a “real” film about the downtrodden in order to be socially relevant.  He learns a lot more about real life than he ever bargained for.  Sullivan’s Travels turns serious in the last act when he gets into big trouble.  The combination of the satire and drama worked for me.

Movie – Crossfire (1947)

Crossfire was a nominee for Best Picture in 1948 and had four other nominations, including Director, Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor and Actress.  Nowadays, though, if it gets remembered at all it is for being “that other anti-Semitism movie”.  You see, Gentlemen’s Agreement (1947) won the Best Picture that year and its central premise was WASP Gregory Peck pretending to be Jewish and finding out the subtle and not so subtle ways that people held that Jewishness against him.  Crossfire doesn’t focus on the character receiving the abuse; it actually uses that character as the driving force for a whodunit because it opens with him having been murdered.  This film is worth seeking out, though, because of some good performances in it.

Movie – It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

The story of how It’s a Wonderful Life went from box office failure to Christmas classic is well known.  When I was younger, though, I didn’t know why it seemed to show up almost every day on one TV station or another during the month of December.  It wasn’t until years later that I learned about things like the public domain and film rights.  Since the studio had not renewed the rights on this film anyone with a TV transmitter could show it as often as they liked and not have to pay anything.  It was this constant presence in front of a large number of people that finally made it popular.  I actually never saw it until I was an adult, despite how prevalent it was.  When I did I was amused by the fact that it’s not really a Christmas movie at all; it’s just that the climax happens on Christmas Eve.  It was still a heartwarming film from the king of heartwarming films – Frank Capra.

Movie – The Maltese Falcon (1941)

The Maltese Falcon is often named as the first true film noir to come out of Hollywood.  This is debatable, especially since this story had already been adapted twice before from Dashiell Hammett’s 1930 novel, first in 1931 under the same title and then in 1936 as Satan Met a Lady.  Noir isn’t just about the story, though, but also about the mood and presentation in the film.  Whatever the case, this film proved to be extraordinarily influential on the entire noir genre which would explode onto screens in the 1940s.  In addition to being nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, The Maltese Falcon proved to be very popular with audiences, too.  So much in fact, that the studio decided to put Humphrey Bogart, Sydney Greenstreet, and Peter Lorre together in another film.  The result?  Casablanca.

Movie – The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)

The Ox-Bow Incident, both novel and movie, made large impacts when they came out.  The novel was the first book published by Walter Van Tilburg Clark, a man born in Maine and who was well-traveled by the time it was published.  He was an educator by trade and this novel was hailed as “real” writing – a reaction books in the western genre had never received before.  Because of the subject matter in the novel, though, it was a difficult path to getting the movie made.  Even when completed it sat for months because the studio didn’t know how to market it.  When it finally did come out it received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.  It is also one of two films from the early part of his career (The Grapes of Wrath being the other) that Henry Fonda has said he is really proud of.

Movie – White Heat (1949)

White Heat is a movie that James Cagney made after he got over his concern of being typecast as a gangster.  He may not have gotten completely past it because this film still shows up on “Top Gangster Films” lists quite often, despite the fact that it is far more a crime thriller than a gangster movie.  It’s a good thing Cagney agreed to do this film because he gives the second best performance of his career, in my opinion. (Yankee Doodle Dandy being number one.)  He also was brave by allowing his character to be played as a “mama’s boy”, albeit the toughest one probably ever put on the silver screen.  The result is an intelligent thriller where both criminals and cops are smart and well-matched, and where there is much tension over an agent who is undercover in Cagney’s gang.

Movie – The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre was a bit of a revelation for me.  I had seen Humphrey Bogart in several films, but he seemed to always play the confident, tough guy who was usually in control of a situation.  In this film he is grungy, unshaven, and paranoid to the point of insanity.  Despite Bogart’s Oscar win for The African Queen, and two other nominations for Casablanca and The Caine Mutiny, I consider his performance in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre to be the best of his career.

Movie – Casablanca (1942)

Look at pretty much any movie-related person’s or publication’s list of the greatest films of all time and you will find Casablanca at or near the top.  It is considered one of the all time classic films by both critics and viewers alike.  And considering that this movie partially owes its existence to a quick attempt to cash in on the popularity of The Maltese Falcon, as well as the U.S.’ entry into World War II, that’s pretty damn good.

Nowadays we’re used to top tier movies having months, or even years, of pre-production with every single element carefully planned out.  Casablanca is an example of almost nothing being planned and serendipity providing all the right elements.

Movie – Pride and Prejudice (1940)

This is the third version of Pride and Prejudice that I saw.  I had seen the 2005 version a couple of years prior, and before that I had seen 2004’s Bride & Prejudice (more on that can be found in the parent post).  The 1940 version of the story is generally considered to be furthest from the original book.  That is primarily due to it actually being an adaptation of a stage play, not the novel.  The result is the version that is lightest in tone and that has the most humor.

Movie – 49th Parallel (1941)

The movie 49^th Parallel was an attempt by the British government to use propaganda in a way to benefit their war effort.  Nazi Germany had shown that it was a very effective tool, and The U.K. hoped to show North America what the Nazis were capable of.  In addition to the government funding the movie, several big stars agreed to work on the film for half of their usual fees.  The result was a movie that has to be evaluated on two levels – how it was received then and how it comes across now.

Movie – Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

I have always planned to write about Miracle on 34^th Street as the movie for the number 34.  When I started this endeavor I didn’t think about the timing.  It seems fitting that I am writing about this film only a few days before the American Thanksgiving holiday, which includes the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade that is such a key part of this movie.  In the area of more bizarre timing, news reports are coming out about police re-opening the investigation into the thirty year old death of Natalie Wood, who played the little girl in Miracle on 34^th Street.

Movie – The Third Man (1949)

The Third Man is one of the three must see Orson Welles movies.  The other two are Citizen Kane (1941) and Touch of Evil (1958).  Unlike those two, Welles did not direct himself in The Third Man.  The movie was directed instead by Carol Reed and it stars Joseph Cotten (Citizen Kane, Shadow of a Doubt, Gaslight.)  Also appearing are Alida Valli (Senso), Trevor Howard (Brief Encounter), and Bernard Lee (M from the first twelve James Bond movies.)