352. RIO BRAVO (1959)

Running Time: 141 minutes
Directed By: Howard Hawks
Written By: Leigh Brackett, Jules Furthman, from story by B.H. McCampbell
Main Cast: John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Angie Dickinson, Walter Brennan
Click here to view the trailer

HAWKS WEEK: THE CONCLUSION

I can't say that I'm all that upset to see "Hawks Week" come to an end. What started out with a bang, quickly fizzled out, as the "Hawks Week" offerings did little to peak my interest in the classic director. I guess, however, that there is some saving grace, as the week ends almost as good as it started.

The film begins by introducing us to the central characters, while offering no dialogue and allowing us to gather the essential information. We learn that "Dude" (a.k.a. Borrachon, Spanish for drunk) will do anything to get a drink. We learn that John T. Chance (Wayne) is the Sheriff of this small, western town and we witness Joe Burdette kill an unarmed man, leading to his arrest. Chance takes Burdette back to the jail, ordering one of his deputies, the crippled and disgruntled Stumpy (Brennan), to keep watch over him. Chance also calls on his former deputy, Dude (Martin), for assistance, hoping that Dude can hold back his alcohol problem long enough to keep Burdette pinned until the Marshall comes to pick him up. It won't be easy though, as Burdette's brother Nathan sends men in to hold the town hostage, placing a man on every street corner and just waiting for the opportune time to spring Joe. Meanwhile, a stage coach rolls into town, carrying two more of the central characters: the gunslinger, Colorado (Nelson) and a vivacious brunette, known for dawning feather boas (Dickinson). Chance ends up falling for Feathers, Dude is tempted by the drink, Stumpy wants some action and Colorado wants to help. It's all presented in classic, western fashion, complete with swinging saloon doors, bad guys you don't want to mess with and heroes that (may or may not) have their number.

Actually, if I wanted to, I could find a lot to nitpick about when it comes to "Rio Bravo". I wish Hawks would have simmered down the story and just put Wayne, Martin, Nelson and Brennan inside the jailhouse and treated the majority of the picture like a zombie flick, with the heroes inside and the bad guys outside, trying to get in. You could've beefed up the dialogue to keep the viewer occupied and really played up the suspense of Nathan Burdette and his crew trying to bust Joe. Instead, Hawks found it more suitable to focus on the relationship between Chance and Feathers and him-hawed around the main focus, which should've been the boys trying to survive in the town that is being held under siege. Dickinson's character was actually quite irrelevant to the story and really only added a female lead and a love interest for Wayne's character. She could easily have been cut completely out of the picture and I think it would've done wonders to excel the story and keep the dull moments to a bare minimum. On the other hand, she wasn't hard to look at and if only her role would've been trimmed down substantially, it would've been better all around. I loved Wayne in this. He played exactly the type of character you expect him to play. Forget about the guy he played in "Red River", which was basically the bad guy; this is the type of character The Duke was meant to portray. Martin and Nelson proved that they're more than just a sweet set of pipes and I honestly cannot wait to see another Dean Martin flick, as he proved to be a fantastic actor. Brennan is Brennan and he always seems to know his part well and play it perfectly.

It's hard to argue against this one or criticize it. When it comes down to nut cuttin' time, this one has everything you could ask for in a Western. It has some really great, classic scenes too. The scene where Chance and Dude chase a shooter into a bar and only find him when the blood from his wound drips into a glass of beer, sitting on the counter. The beginning and ending portions are also mastered to perfection and the entire atmosphere of the picture, the suspense that is built and the danger that is presented all work to fuel the fire of "Rio Bravo". I think I've also learned that when it comes to Westerns, I think they're better presented in TechniColor. The blues of the wide open sky, clashing with the dusty brown of the plains. The rustic buildings, the silver stars pinned on the chests of the heroes and the shining black rifles held in the hands of the bad guys. Black and white westerns are more common, but if you ask me, I've rarely seen a GREAT black & white western. Just a thought, that I thought I'd throw out there.

RATING: 7.5/10  Well I'm glad "Hawks Week" ended on a high note. I could see this one growing on me even more with the passage of a little time.


MOVIES WATCHED: 488
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 513

RANKING HAWKS

When you talk about Howard Hawks, you're talking about probably the most classic of the classic filmmakers. His films didn't have a lot of surprises. They're the types of old films that scare more modern film audiences away from delving into classic films. They're very old fashioned and of their time and they tell stories that sometimes aren't appealing anymore. I've recently called him the Steven Spielberg of the first half of the century. He made the films that people wanted to slap down money to see. Whether he was telling stories about Army Sergeant's, private dicks, cattle ranchers or old west sheriff's, people wanted to hear the stories he was going to tell. While his films didn't always appeal to me, when they did, they usually delivered in droves. The following is a ranking of the eleven Howard Hawks features from THE BOOK. Enjoy!

1. Bringing Up Baby
2. Sergeant York
3. Rio Bravo
4. Only Angels Have Wings
5. Scarface
6. His Girl Friday
7. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
8. To Have and Have Not
9. The Big Sleep
10. Red River
11. The Big Sky

June 26, 2012  5:06pm

262. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

Running Time: 90 minutes
Directed By: Howard Hawks
Written By: Charles Lederer, from novel by Anita Loos and play by Joseph Fields and Anita Loos
Main Cast: Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, Charles Coburn, Elliott Reid, Tommy Noonan
Click here to view the trailer

HAWKS WEEK: PART 6

Well it's good to be back here on the blog again, after a few days spent deep in the heart of Ohio. I did have a fantastic time in the Buckeye State, but am ready to finalize this 100 with the watching of these final fifteen films, including the final two installments in the "Hawks Week" festivities.

The film stars Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell as Lorelei Lee and Dorothy Shaw respectively, two showgirls and best friends. Lee is a bit of a ditz, falling for any man with a large wallet and has a penchant for diamonds, proclaiming that they are a "girl's best friend". Dorothy is the exact opposite, holding detest for rich playboys and opening her heart to someone with less of a bank account. In the beginning of the film, Lorelei accepts the marriage proposal of a rich admirer, Gus (Noonan), and plans to set sail for France, where she plans to wed her new beau.  The problem is that Gus' father disapproves of Lorelei and therefore stops Gus from sailing with her. Lorelei decides to make the trip anyway, with Dorothy and Gus' father sends a private investigator aboard the vessel, to spy on Lorelei and report back to him. While aboard the ship, Lorelei is once again distracted by a rich man, in the form of the much older "Piggy" Beekman (Coburn), who owns a diamond mine and introduces her to the tiara ("I just love finding new places to wear diamonds"). Meanwhile, Dorothy falls for the private investigator, Ernie Malone (Reid), although she doesn't know he's a P.I...yet.

Well, "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" was certainly a step in the right direction for Howard Hawks, as he comes off the heels of four stinkers, if you ask me. I can't say I loved as much as certain people obviously did, but it wasn't a hard ninety minutes to get through and it kept me mildly entertained throughout. Jane Russell was an absolute bombshell in her heyday and as far as my eyes could tell, she had no right playing second fiddle to Marilyn Monroe, who's character was more annoying than sexy. The first half of the film is filled with musical numbers and for the most part, they're pretty catchy little tunes. I particularly favored Russell's rendition of "Ain't There Anyone Here for Love", as she strutted around in a black, halter-like top and black, strappy sandals and ends the number being thrown into a pull, surrounded by muscle men, wearing only their skivvies. I really don't have much else to add to this one. It wasn't fantastic or blow-away or anything, but it wasn't a flop on my personal tastes, like "Red River" and "The Big Sky", so I can't really complain THAT much. The musical portion of the movie starts to fizzle out when we get to the second half and we're left with the thin plot to carry us to the end of the film and Monroe's rendition of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend".

RATING: 6/10  Nothing worth writing home about, but nothing worth getting bent out of shape over. I'm still looking forward to "Rio Bravo" and have high hopes that it will conclude "Hawks Week" on a high note.

MOVIES WATCHED: 487
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 514

June 25, 2012  4:39pm

249. The Big Sky (1952)

Running Time: 140 minutes
Directed By: Howard Hawks
Written By: A.B. Guthrie Jr., Dudley Nichols, from novel by A.B. Guthrie Jr.
Main Cast: Kirk Douglas, Dewey Martin, Elizabeth Threatt, Arthur Hunnicutt, Steven Geray
Click here to view the trailer

HAWKS WEEK: PART 5

What started as a week that I was highly looking forward to, "Hawks Week" has turned into an absolute nightmare, with only "Sergeant York" living up to the reputation that Howard Hawks left behind. Beyond that, I had a set of Bogey & Bacall failures and "Red River", which was an epic fail. However, I'm not sure it can get any worse, as "The Big Sky" clocks in at a whopping 140 minute snooze-fest.

The film centers around Jim Deakins (Douglas) and is set in 1832, in the mid-west. Early on, Jim meets up with Boone Caudill (Martin), who is initially hostile toward Jim, but wind up becoming best friends. The duo travel to St. Louis, in search of Boone's uncle, a hunter & trapper named Zeb Calloway (Hunnicutt). After a barroom brawl, Jim and Boone land themselves in jail, where they're surprised to see they have a third cellmate, which turns out to be Uncle Zeb. Zeb lets the boys in on an expedition that he and a man named Frenchy (Geray) are organizing, so that they can trade with the Blackfoot Indians. From there, the film is really underway as Frenchy, Zeb, Jim and Boone, join an entire crew of traders and head up the Missouri River, via a keelboat. During the trip, Jim and Boone find out that Frenchy has stashed an Indian woman aboard the boat, in an attempt to use her as a hostage to entice the Blackfoot into trading with them. The whole time the crew is also being followed by The Missouri Company, a rival group of fur traders.

"The Big Sky" was the type of film you'd find my grandparents watching on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, when we'd go to visit them, many years ago. My grandparents loved old Westerns and it wasn't unusual to walk in and find their eyes glued to the television, as they rooted on "The Duke" or watched guys like Kirk Douglas travel up the river, playing cowboys and Indians. It's also the type of film that I'd quietly wish they'd turn off. When I was that age, I was pretty close minded as to the films that I'd watch. I was against anything black & white and I remember swearing hatred toward Westerns, even though I'd never seen one in it's entirety. Today, I'm much more open, have learned to love the beauty that black & white cinema offers and have even found a few Westerns that have really "wowed" me (don't forget that "Once Upon a Time in the West" was the #1 spot of my last TOP 20). However, "The Big Sky" was just awful, plain and simple. Actually, lets backtrack, it started out okay. I was into the characters and ready to see if Kirk Douglas could pull off a pioneer. I was enjoying Douglas and I was with the film, right up to the point that the keelboat set sail and I realized that this was basically the same movie as "Red River", except we were going to travel by boat, rather than by horseback. We were still going to be going from point A to point B, in a classic, western, traveling movie. I thought, maybe this could be a little more exciting, but boy was I wrong.

Almost nothing here appealed to me. It was entirely too long and there wasn't enough good to fill out a film that hit almost two and a half hours. I'm not even going to continue harping. I didn't like it and that's that. It bored me to tears, it offered nothing exciting or interesting and I could not wait for it to end. Oh, and speaking of the end, it took forever to finally get there. The film truly ended at about the 110 minute mark, but they somehow managed to drag the damn thing out for another half hour and tack on more and more crap, that could've been sewed up inside of five minutes. Geesh, I'm just angry at this entry.

RATING: 2/10  I can't go '1', because it started out okay, but boy did that end in a hurry. Next up: "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes".

MOVIES WATCHED: 485
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 516

June 20, 2012  3:00pm

206. Red River (1948)

Running Time: 133 minutes
Directed By: Howard Hawks
Written By: Borden Chase, Charles Schnee
Main Cast: John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Walter Brennan, Joanne Dru, John Ireland
Click here to view the trailer


HAWKS WEEK: PART 4

Man, oh man, these "Hawks Weeks" films have gone from great ("Sergeant York") to really awful, as "Red River" has officially taken the top spot on my "Worst Howard Hawks Films" list. But before the John Wayne fanatics come at me with rifles raised, allow me the chance to explain.

Thomas Dunson (Wayne) has big aspirations. In the beginning of the film, he abandons a wagon train and decides to head to Texas, along with his sidekick Groot (Brennan) and start a cattle ranch. At the time, Dunson has one bull in his possession. The next day, Dunson and Groot come upon a boy who was traveling with the wagon train, which had been attacked by Indians, the boy being the only survivor of the attack. Dunson takes the mouthy boy under his wing, mainly because the boy is in possession of a cow. Dunson finds his land and vows that in ten years he'll have a successful ranch. Fourteen years later, his dreams have come true and along with Groot and the boy, who is now a man, Matthew Garth (Clift), they've raised approximately ten thousand head of cattle. The only problem is that the war has left the country in an economic depression and cattle in Texas aren't worth much. Dunson knows that unless they can move the herd North, to a more populous and prosperous land, they'll lose everything. Dunson makes plans to drive the cattle to Missouri, along the Chisholm Trail. Along with a group of men, Dunson, Groot and Matt drive their ten thousand head North, but, of course, trouble lies ahead.

Call me crazy, but I guess I just don't find cattle drives all that exciting. When your entire plot hinges on taking ten thousand cattle from point A to point B and you still need over two hours of film time to get them there, then count me out. I just couldn't get into this film. It did absolutely nothing for me. My other BIG problem with this western was the lack of a bad guy. Where was the bad dude, with the gnarly mustache, the black duds and the hand that was almost as fast as the good guy's? If you were forced to pick a bad guy out of "Red River", then you'd have to point to Wayne and "The Duke" is never a bad guy. Of course, here he's a huge jerk, which is as un-American as Hitler scarfing down a German Chocolate Cake. Since when does John Wayne not play the gallant hero, they guy you love to cheer on? Since 1948 apparently! Also, Montgomery Clift didn't make a very good cowboy, if you ask me. I'd much prefer watching Monty woo Elizabeth Taylor or as a private in the Army. He just doesn't look like the type of guy I'd envision wrangling cattle in the Old West.

SPOILER ALERT!

I really don't know what else to say, other than "Red River" was a real clock-watcher of a movie. I honestly couldn't wait for it to end. It bored me to tears and I just couldn't get wound up by cows. The ending is also very...soft, to say the least. I'm used to Westerns where there's a big shootout at the end, with good and evil meeting in the streets and settling their score. You know, a "this town's not big enough for the both of us" kind of thing. Instead, here we get a father and his adopted son exchanging punches for a few seconds and then being belittled by a woman, who convinces them that they shouldn't be fighting. Really? John Wayne got cooled off by a dame? Perhaps it was just the fact that this Western was a little different than the ones I'm used to. I'm pretty sure Sergio Leone and his brand of Westerns have ruined all other films in the genre for me. Although, I'm still looking forward to "Rio Bravo".


RATING: 3.5/10  Yikes! "Hawks Week" is really going to hell in a hand basket, isn't it? Oh well, I still have high hopes for "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" and, as I said, "Rio Bravo". Next up: "The Big Sky".


MOVIES WATCHED: 484
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 517

June 19, 2012  1:07pm

189. The Big Sleep (1946)

Running Time: 114 minutes
Directed By: Howard Hawks
Written By: William Faulkner, from novel by Raymond Chandler
Main Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely, Martha Vickers, Dorothy Malone
Click here to view the trailer

HAWKS WEEK: PART 3

I'll try to keep my plot synopsis of "The Big Sleep" easy to understand, unlike the actual plot of "The Big Sleep", which will require pen, paper and a pie chart to keep in order.

Philip Marlowe (Bogart) is a P.I. living in Los Angeles and as the film opens he finds himself at the doorstep of the Sternwood residence. He's been hired by General Sternwood, a wheelchair bound, ailing old man who wishes to procure Marlowe's services in a blackmailing scheme that he's been targeted in. Someone has sent notes to Gen. Sternwood, requesting that he pay gambling debts, that the youngest of his two daughters, Carmen (Vickers), racked up. Gen. Sternwood wants the man who sent the notes, A.G. Geiger, to be "dealt with". Once Marlowe is guaranteed that he'll get his $25, plus expenses, he's on the case. It doesn't even take a half an hour of film time before A.G. Geiger winds up dead and a host of other bad guys are introduced, sending Marlowe down the dark and seedy rabbit hole that is Los Angeles. Marlowe also becomes acquainted with Gen. Sternwood's eldest daughter, Vivian (Bacall), whom he has eyes for, a vicious dame whom he can't resist. There's also a sub-plot involving a previous, missing private investigator, who was hired by the Sternwood's prior to Marlowe; a man named Sean Regan.

Apparently, the story goes that Howard Hawks asked Raymond Chandler to explain to him the twists and turns that make up "The Big Sleep" and Chandler offered a short reply: "I have no idea." To be honest, I kind of gave up on trying to figure everything out at about the halfway mark. It's not that I mind being challenged by a complex film once in a while, it's just that trying to keep all the characters in order took away from just kicking back and enjoying the film. For God's sake, they introduced characters that didn't even appear in the film, like Sean Regan. The character of Sean Regan is mentioned numerously in the film, yet he is never introduced and his plot basically goes nowhere. At the end of the film, there's even a line where Marlowe says something to the effect of "I don't know what's going on and we're never going to have all the answers" (I'm paraphrasing), which basically says that we've thrown a whole lot of information at you and we don't expect you to know what's going on, because our own characters don't even really know what's going on.

Bogart wasn't bad here and actually, I liked him better here than I did in "To Have and Have Not". In fact, the most amusing I've ever see Humphrey was during a scene in "The Big Sleep" where Marlowe bend up the bill of his fedora, puts on a pair of shades and is walks into a book store, pretending to be a rare book collector and asking for a third edition of "Ben-Hur". He reminded me of Jerry Lewis in that scene, talking with a high pitched voice - it's actually one of the few things I'll remember this film for. The other thing I'll remember "The Big Sleep" for is the atmosphere, as it's classic film-noir and really captures the essence of the dark side of cinema, putting it's main character into violent, gritty situations. However, it just didn't all work out for me and ultimately, I just wanted it to end.

RATING: 5/10  Slightly better than "To Have and Have Not", but not by much. I'll gladly say farewell to the Hawks/Bogey team and welcome in the Hawks/Duke team. Next up: "Red River".

MOVIES WATCHED: 483
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 518

June 18, 2012  9:15pm

167. To Have and Have Not (1944)

Running Time: 100 minutes
Directed By: Howard Hawks
Written By: Jules Furthman, from novel by Ernest Hemingway
Main Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Walter Brennan, Dolores Moran, Hoagy Carmichael
Click here to view the trailer


HAWKS WEEK: PART 2

No sooner did I get finished praising Howard Hawks for being a versatile director, one that can turn any unappealing story into something that I want to watch, then he hands me a very BORING film. I hate to use the word "boring" when describing a bad film, but, trust me, it's a word that fits perfectly here, in regards to "To Have and Have Not".

Harry Morgan (Bogart) owns a fishing boat, which he rents out to paying customers in Fort de France, Martinique. The film is set in 1940, shortly after France has fallen to Germany, during their successful invasion. Morgan doesn't have any political affiliation and doesn't care one way or another whether the resistance reigns or falls. The only Harry Morgan concerns himself with is getting paid when a customer rents his boat for the day. Harry also has a sidekick on the boat, an elderly drunk named Eddie (Brennan), who judges people based on their answer to the question: "Have you ever been stung by a dead bee?".  Later, Harry meets Marie a.k.a. Slim (Bacall), a crafty pickpocket trying to make enough money for a plane ticket out of France. One night, Harry and Slim's favorite hangout, a little place owned by a little man named Frenchy, is shot up and when the police arrive, Harry and Slim are taken in for questioning. Harry makes enemies with the police Captain right away and later, decides to help Frenchy smuggle some members of the resistance into Martinique, mostly because all the money he had to his name was seized by the police. With a romance budding between Harry and Slim, a smuggled man and wife hiding in the basement of Frenchy's (the husband, of whom, has been shot in the arm) and the police breathing down all their backs, there's plenty of irons on the fire.

However, just because there are irons on the fire doesn't mean you're smellin' home cookin'. I have absolutely no idea what that's supposed to mean, but what I meant for it to mean was that, despite the amount of action and goings on in "To Have and Have Not", it's still a fairly boring picture. Now, as I was saying above, I really hate chalking a film up as boring and leaving it at that. I usually like to elaborate on that argument, because the argument of boring is one that is cited so many times, without proper argument to back up the claim. I just had absolutely no interest in Harry Morgan, Slim, the French Resistance or the smuggled members of their party. There didn't even seem to be enough story here to fill out one hundred minutes of film time. I mean, when you dissect it, what's really happening here? Harry Morgan is a fisherman with no political affiliation, who gets talked into helping the resistance smuggle in a few members of their party. Is that really enough for an entire film? It really wasn't.

Plus, I can't say I've ever really been a big fan of Bogey. I know, I know, I'm a movie fan and as a movie fan, it's a right of passage to enjoy a good Humphrey Bogart film, but I'll be damned if he doesn't always play the same guy. According to THE BOOK, Harry Morgan and Rick Blaine are almost interchangeable. Now, I haven't seen "Casablanca" in quite a few years, but that seems about right to me, if memory serves. Sam Spade even has the same demeanor as the two of them and beyond that I can't talk intelligently about Bogart characters, but I've seen enough clips to know that Bogart is always fed a bunch of clever lines, usually said from under the rim of some sort of hat, with a bit of snarkiness to them, while a cigarette dangles from his lips. Lauren Bacall didn't impress me that much either, basically portraying the female equivalent of Bogart. In fact, it was the minor characters that I got the most enjoyment out of here. Once again I enjoyed Walter Brennan very much and now I'm not so sorry that my father made me listen to "Old Rivers" so much, whenever he made me track it down on YouTube. Hoagy Carmichael is always enjoyable in films too and usually provides a good tune or two, to at least give your ears a rest. Here he belts out a song called "Hong Kong Blues" and if I wasn't dying for this film to end, I would've rewound and listened a second time.

RATING: 4/10  I can't go too much higher than that. It's a shame too, because I was really expecting Hawks to wind up with an unscathed record. Oh well, there's always next time. Next up: "The Big Sleep".

MOVIES WATCHED: 482
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 519

June 17, 2012  12:27am

145. Sergeant York (1941)

Running Time: 134 minutes
Directed By: Howard Hawks
Written By: Harry Chandlee, Abem Finkel
Main Cast: Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, Joan Leslie, George Tobias, Margaret Wycherly
Click here to view the trailer

HAWKS WEEK: PART 1

The last big event of this 100, "Hawks Week", kicks off with a bang, as I take in my first Howard Hawks directed film in nearly two years (the last one being "His Girl Friday", back on July 23, 2010), "Sergeant York".

The film is mainly set in Pall Mall, Tennessee in the Valley of the Three Forks of the Wolf, where Alvin York (Cooper) spends his days becoming infamous as the town drunk. The rest of his family and most of the town, for that matter, are God fearing folks, the type of folks you'll find crowded into a church during services, singing hymns and stamping their feet. One day, Mama York (Wycherly) calls Alvin home so that he can tend to the family farm. Alvin spends his days plowing the field, hunting game and doing his usual chores. Later, Alvin meets Gracie Williams (Leslie), the town beauty, whom he falls head over heels for. Alvin sets his sights on a piece of bottom land and works for sixty days, trying to earn enough money to buy the land so that he can ask Gracie to marry him and build a home there. Alvin isn't able to scrounge up the money in time to buy the land, but undergoes a spiritual awakening when he is struck by lightning during a violent rainstorm. Alvin makes his way to the church and from that point on considers himself a man of God, following the gospel religiously, along with the guidance of Pastor Pile (Brennan). At somewhere about the halfway mark of the movie, the United States throws it's hat into the ring of World War I and Alvin, despite trying to get out of it on a conscientious objector exemption, is sent to Europe to fight for his country. Of course, basic training comes first, where Alvin turns heads with his exceptional marksman skills, citing that he's a self taught sharpshooter.

I could be wrong, but it seems to me that Howard Hawks was the early half of the century's equivalent to Steven Spielberg.  He made the films that the general public would slap down their money for and usually drew big box office numbers. "Sergeant York" was no exception to this, becoming the highest grossing film of 1941, beating out classics like "Citizen Kane" and "The Maltese Falcon". This picture is pure, classic Hollywood and films like this always make me wonder where Hollywood went wrong. In 1941, it was quality film making like this that was heralded by it's Hollywood makers and today, in 2012, it's big budget films like "The Avengers" or "Twilight" that make Hollywood brag. At what point did Hollywood go from selling quality films, like "York", to selling teen fronted movies, that lack any sort of real quality film making? Perhaps, it's the audience that's changed. Perhaps we've become less cultivated and thus, we're sold on films that offer glitz and glamour, rather than films that offer a good story and a little bit of inspiration, which is exactly what "York" offers.

I can't necessarily pinpoint why I liked "Sergeant York", I can only say that I really enjoyed it. It was a story that drew me in and didn't let go until Alvin York was coming home to mama. I actually dreaded it going in, because I assumed it was going to be just another classic Hollywood war story and that it wasn't going to be up my alley. Instead, we spend about an hour and fifteen minutes before we even go to war, establishing the character of Alvin York and then sending him into the trenches. This way, we're familiar with the character who is going to fight and it's not just another guy in camouflage marching to war. The whole story flowed along just beautifully for a nearly two and a half hour picture. It's cast turned in fine performances, with Gary Cooper finally proving why he always gets mentioned among Hollywood's most famous of the classic leading men. I can't say I was ever to blown away by him in anything else of his that I've watched, but Cooper did a magnificent job here. I also really enjoyed Walter Brennan as the pastor. Hawks seems to have a way of turning all of his stories into interesting ones, even if the story he's telling you isn't your kind of story. I don't like war films or films about war heroes, yet I loved "Sergeant York". I couldn't care less about pilots and aviation, yet "Only Angels Have Wings" was a good movie. Hell, it was Howard Hawks who finally showed me a stellar Cary Grant film, in "Bringing Up Baby". After watching "Sergeant York" and witnessing it's greatness, I am genuinely excited for the next six Howard Hawks films that will make up "Hawks Week".

RATING: 9/10  It got a little bit too Hollywood in certain parts and certain pieces of dialogue were just WAY too corny ("This is where we change cars, Alvin. The end of the line"), but otherwise it was pretty flawless. Next up: "To Have and Have Not".


MOVIES WATCHED: 481
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 520

June 15, 2012  2:12am

132. His Girl Friday (1940)

Running Time: 92 minutes

Directed By: Howard Hawks

Written By: Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur

Main Cast: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy, Gene Lockhart

...HELLO FORTIES

Yes, it's true, I've finally returned to the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" film watching project. When I last left you, I had just finished watching all of the movies from the decade of the thirties and was ready to make a leap into the forties. Today, I had some free time, so I decided to knock out the very first movie from the forties, "His Girl Friday".

The movie stars Cary Grant as cutthroat newspaperman, Walter Burns, a man who will do ANYTHING to get the scoop and get it first. When his ex-wife and former star reporter, Hildy Johnson (Russell), shows up at the office one day, to inform him that she's engaged, she's leaving the newspaper business and she plans to settle down in a nice, quiet life with insurance salesman Bruce Baldwin (Bellamy). Burns immediately schemes up a plan to get Hildy back to what he feels she was born to do, work for the newspaper. Eventually a deal is made between Walter and Hildy, that if Hildy will come back to the paper to write up one last major story, the upcoming execution of Earl Williams, that he'll take out a large insurance policy with Bruce and he and Hildy can go off to Albany with their loot and their new life.

However, once Hildy agrees to the deal, Walter has his own plans and that doesn't include letting Hildy go. Walter puts his best buddy and conman Diamond Louie on the case and through a series of trumped up charges has the tame and slow witted Bruce Baldwin arrested numerous times. While all of these games are going on, the backdrop of the movie sees the final hours of Earl Williams, as he's set to be executed the following morning, unless he receives a reprieve from the Governor. It all leads up to the escape of Earl Williams from custody and the antics really start to fly, with all of the characters getting involved and turning "His Girl Friday" into a true screwball comedy.

Before I get into my likes and dislikes regarding this movie, I want to address something real quick: I used to be one of those people who wouldn't watch old movies, for the simple reason that they were old movies. I just didn't want any part of them and so I stayed away from them and associated myself with newer films. Later in my life, that changed and I eventually started to watch the occasional classic film, and then I started the "1001" book and I saw a lot of old movies and I loved a lot of them. When it came time to restart the project and watch "His Girl Friday", I couldn't wait to get back to watching some classics and when the music started and the Columbia Pictures logo popped up in front of my eyes, I got a big smile on my face, as I was 100% ready for some more old films. Now then....on to the business at hand.

When I last left the project Cary Grant was seemingly becoming a staple in the book, with tons of the movies being Cary Grant films and tons of my opinions expressing the fact that Grant was overrated. However, maybe it was just Cary overload, because I really enjoyed him in this picture. This is probably one of the funniest movies I've watched thus far and Grant is a big part of why this film is so funny. I especially loved the segment where Grant was asked what Bruce Baldwin looked like and he replied "He looks like that fella in the movies...uhh...Ralph Bellamy". It was just so unexpected to hear them refer to Bellamy, who was actually playing the part of Bruce Baldwin, maybe because back then, everything seemed to be very "down to business" when it came to films. Russell played the tough newspaperman brilliantly and really showed some hard nosed personality and stayed right in line with Grant when delivering speedy and concise dialogue. As far as my dislikes go, and I'm sure I'll take some heat for this, but I didn't care for the fast, snappy dialogue, as it seemed to contrived and phony, whereas a slowed down delivery would've given the viewer more time to savor the script and hear the words that were being delivered. That's just a bit of nitpicking though, as all in all this was a good movie.

RATING: 6/10 Not great, but good and something that repeat viewings could definitely do wonders for.

NEXT UP: Rebecca...I take a hiatus from the book and Hitchcock takes a 30+ film hiatus from appearing in the book...but we're both back!

June 23, 2010 2:43pm

125. Only Angels Have Wings (1939)

Running Time: 121 minutes
Directed By: Howard Hawks
Written By: Jules Furthman, Howard Hawks
Main Cast: Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Richard Barthelmess, Rita Hayworth, Thomas Mitchell

PROBABLY THE BEST FILM ABOUT PILOTS/FLYING I'VE EVER SEEN

I actually wasn't expecting a whole lot out of this one going in, but Howard Hawks continues to impress me and doesn't fall short with "Only Angels Have Wings".

Cary Grant plays Geoff Carter, the manager and chief pilot of a rundown airfield that carries mail in Barranca, Colombia, over the Andes Mountains. His crew is comprised of a bunch of ragtag old veterans, including The Kid (Mitchell) and a group of young upstart pilots. One evening Bonnie Lee (Arthur) arrives by boat and makes a stopover in Barranca and is quickly swept off her feet by a couple of the pilots. When one of them is called away to make a delivery, she sticks around and winds up witnessing the pilot make a crash landing and end up dead. She sticks around with the rest of the crew, as they toast drinks and sing songs and celebrate the life of their fallen comrade. Later that night, Bonnie and Geoff exchange words and we're given a bit more details about the character of Geoff Carter and that is, that he doesn't get involved with women anymore, as they've burned him too many times in the past, especially one unnamed woman. With her infatuation for Geoff in full force, Bonnie decides to intentionally miss her boat and stick around the airfield.

Having to replace the fallen pilot, Geoff enlists the services of a man named Bat Kilgallen, a man trying to live down the cowardice that he was branded with, when he aborted a falling plane, leaving a man (the brother of The Kid) to die. He is welcomed as such, with the other men not wanting to work with him, but Geoff has his hands tied and being in need of a new pilot he takes Kilgallen on. His first assignment is to land a plane on a narrow slope of the Andes and take a doctor to see a man who has fallen ill. It's a dangerous assignment, and that's why Geoff sticks it with Kilgallen. He continues to stick him with the dangerous assignments, seemingly as payback for his act of cowardice. Meanwhile, The Kid, a twenty-two year veteran at flying planes is going blind and Geoff is forced to ground him. It also turns out that Kilgallen's wife is the same, previously unnamed woman who broke Geoff's heart, played by Hayworth.

This is probably the most dialogue driven adventure flick that I've ever seen. While the stunts and action scenes are so gripping; including the opening plane crash, the delivery of a crate full of nitro-glycerin and the climax with The Kid and Kilgallen flying through a storm, the dialogue and banter between characters is just as entertaining as what's going on in the sky. Jean Arthur is great and she's quickly becoming one of my favorite actresses. She was really a great actress, but also a great beauty and she really possessed a subtle beauty, unlike Hayworth who was an obvious beauty, although I prefer Arthur here. And while I'm on the subject of actors/actresses, I'm really beginning to love Thomas Mitchell too, as he makes for a really great supporting man, whether he's playing a blind pilot, newspaperman or town drunk. On the other hand, I'd have to say that after all the Cary Grant films I've watched thus far, I'd have to label him as a tad bit overrated, as he's really not doing anything to strengthen my opinion of him. He was okay in this, but nowhere as good as many people make him out to be. And what about Hawks, was he not one of the most versatile directors going in the 30s. He goes from good gangster flick (Scarface), to fantastic screwball comedy (Bringing Up Baby), to great action, adventure film with this picture. All in all, good to great performances all around and fantastic direction, gives "Only Angels with Wings" my seal of approval.

RATING: 8/10 Unfortunately I think this was my last Jean Arthur film for quite some time, and let me reiterate...she was GORGEOUS!

NEXT UP: Gone with the Wind...For those following the blog, you had to know that this one was on its way. My wife has agreed to watch this one with me and I believe we're going to do it tomorrow.

March 2, 2010 4:28am

118. Bringing Up Baby (1938)

Running Time: 102 minutes
Directed By: Howard Hawks
Written By: Hagar Wilde, Dudley Nichols
Main Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Charles Ruggles, May Robson, Walter Catlett

ON MY JOURNEY I MET A WOMAN NAMED 'KATHARINE'

This is the definitive Cary Grant picture that I've been waiting for. While I didn't enjoy "She Done Him Wrong" or "The Awful Truth", this film, however, shows off the comedic talents of Grant to the fullest and add to that, the great Katharine Hepburn and director Howard Hawks, and you have got one hilarious film.

David Huxley, a mild-mannered paleontologist, is getting married in twenty-four fours to Alice Swallow. While David spends his final hours as a bachelor putting together the skeleton of a brontosaurus, he's relieved to find out that the final bone, the intercostal clavicle, has just been discovered and his dinosaur is complete. The only other thing that could make David happier on this day, is if his meeting with Alexander Peabody goes well. If the meeting goes well, then Peabody could persuade his client, Elizabeth Random, to donate a sum of $1 million to David's museum. Enter Susan Vance (Hepburn)...

David meets Ms. Susan Vance while playing golf with Peabody. She starts out by stealing his golf ball and playing off of it and then proceeds to drive off in his car, pulling David away from his gold game and putting the $1 million in jeopardy. Later that evening, David plans to meet with Peabody again at a restaurant later that night, but once again finds himself in the middle of a huge mix-up with the scatterbrained Vance. After she rips his coat and he rips her dress (both by accident), David misses his meeting again. The next morning David receives a call from Susan that she needs help in dealing with a leopard that her brother Mark has sent her from South America. The leopard is named, Baby, and is a tame leopard, but Susan will use any excuse in the book to get near David, whom she is rapidly falling for. David comes to her apartment, with his newly arrived intercostal clavicle in tow, and winds up being roped into taking the leopard to Connecticut, to Susan's aunt. Along the way, the information is revealed that Susan's aunt is the millionaire Elizabeth Random, and not only does David want her money for his museum, but Susan wants the dough as well. This is just a portion of the laughs that this movie conjures up and I won't spoil anymore, as the rest must be seen to be believed.

While the plot may sound a bit zany and all over the place, it's actually quite hilarious, as the film ties together all sorts of different plot lines and runs with them, in this mother of screwball comedies. This film still holds up well today, and in fact, was ahead of it's time really, as the film flopped upon release, forcing Hepburn to forfeit her RKO contract and leading to Hawks' firing from RKO. It's the little things in this picture, that really get the laugh out loud moments from me, from David's mild-mannered, fumbling speech, to Susan asking David "What's in the box?" (the delivery of that line just gets to my funny bone for some reason, as Hepburn spits it out in record time), to David's use of the word gay, as he dons a frilly, female bathrobe. Everything just comes together so wonderfully and there's enough content here to keep this picture trekking along right through to the last bit of picture perfect dialogue. Throw Grant and Hepburn together, add one part leopard, one part Asta, the dog and tons of laughs and you have got a serious winner on your hands.

RATING: 8.5/10 Hilarious movie, that is forcing me to take a closer look at the genre of screwball comedy and consume some of it's prime candidates, in my spare time.

NEXT UP: Stagecoach..."The Duke" swaggers into the pages of the "1001" book! This will probably get watched later tonight, so look for the review then.

February 26, 2010 5:20pm

66. Scarface: The Shame of a Nation (1932)

Running Time: 93 minutes
Directed By: Howard Hawks
Written By: Ben Hecht, Fred Pasley, Seton I. Miller, John Lee Mahin, W.R. Burnett, from novel by Armitage Trail
Main Cast: Paul Muni, Ann Dvorak, Karen Morley, George Raft, Osgood Perkins, Boris Karloff

ON MY JOURNEY I MET A MAN NAMED 'HAWKS'

The first of eleven Howard Hawks pictures in the "1001" book, Scarface offers up an outstanding performance by Paul Muni and a gritty look at the crime world in the Prohibition days of Chicago.

Muni plays the title role of Tony "Scarface" Camonte, a gangster on the rise in the underworld and destined to make it big. The film starts out with Tony knocking off big time gangster and leader of all wrong doing, Lou Costillo. This opens up the door for Tony's current employer, Johnny Lovo, to take control of all Costillo's operations and with Tony as his muscle, he can't lose. Muni plays Scarface so well, with his "I'll get whatever I want" attitude and you really believe that this guy could kick an ass or two, if need be.

Johnny Lovo eventually takes full control of the bootlegging racket and adamantly shoots down all of Tony's risky suggestions, such as moving in on the Northside and taking over the bootlegging in that region. When Tony gets fed up with his boss' lack of backbone, he and his sidekick, Guino Rinaldo, take matters into their own hands, moving in on the Northside racket, killing the Northside king and all the while, taking his inspiration from a sign outside his apartment window that reads, "The World Is Yours". Tony even, throughout the movie, constantly flirts with Lovo's main squeeze, until eventually she cracks to his charm and leaves Lovo in the dust. Another constant storyline throughout the picture, is the over protecting attitude that Tony shows toward his sister, first paying her off to stay away from other men, and then eventually resulting to physical violence to teach her a lesson.

As I've said in the past, gangster flicks really aren't my specialty, but with a few really good ones coming up in the book recently, I've really been able to enjoy this genre in a whole new light. First Cagney swings in with his portrayl of Tom Powers and now Muni takes the screen and makes it his with his portrayl as Tony Camonte. While I just saw Muni in "I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang", I kept watching this movie and saying "That is not the same guy!", eventhough I knew very well that it was. It's not that Muni looks any different physically, it's that he's playing a totally different character and his acting is so top notch, that he gives the illusion of looking physically different. He's truly an amazing actor and I really hope I haven't seen my last Muni movie in the "1001" book. Everyone else turned in great performances too (as that seems to be the latest trend, as I've watched some really steallar casts recently), the two main female leads, Tony's sister, Cesca and Tony's love interest, Poppy are both great and I have to mention Angelo played by Vince Barnett who provides us with a little bit of comedy throughout the movie. While, in my opinion, there are still a few dull spots throughout the film, all in all, with the great acting and everything that's going on plot-wise, Scarface is a really good flick.

RATING: 7/10 Howard Hawks starts off with a bang and I can't wait to see more films, from a director that I've heard so much about, yet haven't seen enough from.

NEXT UP: Shanghai Express...Josef von Sternberg and Marlene Dietrich team up once again and hopefully "Shanghai Express" is as good as "The Blue Angel"...Review should be up around this time tomorrow.

January 11, 2010 2:31am