Tag: Family

Hitchcock on the Law: “The Paradine Case” (1947) starring Gregory Peck, Ann Todd, Charles Laughton, Charles Coburn, Louis Jourdan, & Alida Valli

EmmaLeave a comment

Sir Simon Flaquer: [about Mrs. Paradine] You’ll find her a strange woman with an almost mystical charm.

London police charge a young woman, Maddalena Paradine (Italian actress Alida Valli), w/ the murder of her older/blind/British husband, retired Col. Richard Paradine. She’s a woman w/ a past, but became wealthy/glamorous b/c of her marriage. Her solicitor, Sir Simon Flaquer (Charles Coburn), refers the case to his friend/colleague, Anthony Keane (Gregory Peck). While spending time building her defense, Tony becomes infatuated w/ Mrs. Paradine, threatening his long/happy marriage to Gay (Ann Todd). Tony goes to the country estate where the Paradines previously lived; he sees the grand house and meets the valet, Andre Latour (French actor Louis Jourdan).

Mrs. Paradine: It won’t shock you, I assume, to learn that I am a woman, what would you say, a woman who has seen a great deal of life.

I’m sure there some readers who don’t want to take sleeping pills, so maybe this movie will do the trick (LOL)! How can such a great cast (incl. theater veterans) be wasted? While Sir Alfred Hitchcock (personally) liked the actors, he felt that Peck (w/ white streaked hair to age him up), Valli (one-note and lacking charm), and Jourdan (handsome/intense) were unsuited for their roles. Producer David O. Selznick insisted that the director use them. Judge Horfield’s (Charles Laughton) nervous/bullied wife, Sophie (Ethel Barrymore), had several scenes cut; this will be obvious to astute viewers.

Gay Keane [joking w/ Tony]: I wouldn’t like a woman to be hanged, any woman, just because my husband had a rendezvous with her. In jail.

This movie (part melodrama/part courtroom drama) was nearly as expensive as Gone with the Wind (1939)! Selznick constantly interfered w/ Hitch’s production, incl. having him do many re-shoots. Selznick supervised editing (the movie feels long) and the (over-the-top) musical score from Franz Waxman. This was Hitch’s last movie in his contract w/ Selznick; it’s not very suspenseful (though the trial was somewhat interesting). I liked some of the dialogue; the domestic scenes between Peck (only 30) and Todd (10 yrs. older than her leading man) were done very well.

Judy Flaquer: Men are such horrible beasts. I wish I were married to Anthony Keane for just one hour. I’d make him jump through hoops.

Sir Simon: I wish you were married to someone. Perhaps he could put up with your clap-clap better than I can!

Though The Paradine Case was a box-office failure, critics praised two performances. Time Magazine (January 12, 1948) wrote: “The only characters who come sharply to life are the barrister’s wife (Ann Todd) and her confidante (Joan Tetzel).” Also, Variety wrote: “Ann Todd delights as his wife, giving the assignment a grace and understanding that tug at the emotions.” Judy (Tetzel) could be thought of as the precursor to Barbara Morton (played by Hitch’s daughter- Patricia) in Strangers on a Train (1951); they’re both single, intelligent, and fascinated w/ crime (which could be considered “unfeminine”).

[1] Many viewers feel let down by the film because it lacks the energy and excitement found in most of Hitchcock’s films, and because the courtroom setting creates expectations that are not quite filled.

Many Hitchcock fans will not particularly enjoy this one…

[2] I like Peck normally, but in this film, he’s too young and never convincingly English, despite his accent. Even without the accent, he doesn’t suggest someone who is passionately and irrationally swept away, as the role calls for.

[3] THE PARADINE CASE is generally conceded as among Hitchcock’s lesser films. It’s most interesting parts of the performances of the leads (except for Alida Valli, who is quite dull), and the famous sequence of the portrait of Valli whose eyes seem to follow the camera (standing in for Gregory Peck/Anthony Keane) as it passes from one room to the next.

[4] It is not typical Hitchcock, and fails to fascinate the audience. The high point is the verbal clashes between Laughton and Peck (sometimes assisted by Leo G. Carroll as the prosecutor), Jourdan’s collapse in the witness box when Keane attacks him for secretly betraying his master with the defendant, and Valli’s final condemnation of Keane in court.

-Excerpts from IMDB reviews

The Mother of All Horrors: Hitchcock’s “Psycho” (1960) starring Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, & Martin Balsam

Emma3 Comments

Marion: Oh, we can see each other. We can even have dinner but respectably in my house with my mother’s picture on the mantel and my sister helping me broil a big steak for three.

Sam: And after the steak, do we send Sister to the movies? Turn mama’s picture to the wall?

A secretary in Phoenix, Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), is tired of how her life is going. She has to meet her boyfriend, Sam Loomis (John Gavin), on lunch breaks at a cheap hotel. Sam has to pay alimony to his ex-wife and lives in the back of his hardware store, so thinks they can’t yet get married. One Friday, Marion is trusted to take $40,000 to the bank by her boss. (Pat Hitchcock plays Marion’s co-worker.) Marion decides to steal this money and head to Sam’s town in Northern California. When she’s caught in a storm, she gets off the main highway and pulls into the Bates Motel. It’s managed by a young man, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), who seems to be dominated by his mother. Later on, we meet others, incl. Marion’s sister Lila (Vera Miles) and a PI named Mr. Arbogast (Martin Balsam).

Marion: Do you go out with friends?

Norman: A boy’s best friend is his mother.

Psycho (iconic to modern viewers, yet controversial in its day) was made b/c Sir Alfred Hitchcock wanted to experiment w/ a sparser style of filmmaking. He used a crew mostly of TV veterans (incl. from his show– Alfred Hitchcock Presents) and hired actors who weren’t yet well-known. Hitch bought the rights to the novel from writer Robert Bloch for a mere $9,000. He also bought up as many copies of the book as he could find (to keep the ending a secret). Before cast/crew began work, they had to raise their right hands and promise not to reveal one word of the story. Hitch didn’t even tell his cast the ending until he needed to shoot it. The director made all the movie theater owners sign a contract that they wouldn’t let anyone in until the start of the film. Once they were late, they’d not be let in until the next showing. This started the process of mandatory seating times at theaters which continues today!

Norman: It’s not like my mother is a maniac or a raving thing. She just goes a little mad sometimes. We all go a little mad sometimes. Haven’t you?

Marion: Yes. Sometimes just one time can be enough.

Paramount gave Hitch a small budget (under $1M), b/c of the studio’s distaste of the source material. He shot in black-and-white b/c he thought it’d be too gory in color and to save money. The studio gave 60% of the proceeds to Hitch (in lieu of a salary), thinking the movie would fail. Though most film critics hated it, Psycho was a big hit and Hitch ended up earning over $15 million- LOL! Hitch was so happy w/ the strings-only score (by Bernard Herrmann) that he doubled the famed composer’s salary. Hitch commented: “33% of the effect of Psycho was due to the music.” The director originally wanted the shower scene to be silent, but Herrmann scored it anyway; Hitchcock immediately changed his mind when he heard the music!

Arbogast: All right, then let’s say for the sake of argument that she needed your help and that she made you out to be a fool in helping her…

Norman: Well, I’m not a fool. And I’m not capable of being fooled! Not even by a woman.

In the novel, Norman is short, fat, older, and unlikable; Hitch decided to re-imagine him as a “boy next door” type. He cast Perkins (his first choice) who has an earnest quality; he is tall and thin w/ boyish looks. Perkins does a terrific job, creating a subtle, creepy, and very unsettling young man. The dinner conversation w/ Marion (amidst the stuffed birds) is a scene studied by budding filmmakers in school. Sam is in most ways the polar opposite of Norman; he represents ’50s “old school” masculinity, while Norman suffers from gender confusion. Sam is bossy w/ the women around him; Norman is timid. Sam’s relationship w/ Marion is portrayed as healthy, but Norman’s relationship w/ her is predatory. Hitch didn’t want Gavin for the role of Sam, but the studio insisted (b/c of his “beefcake” status). Looking back, viewers thought Gavin did a fine job w/ the role.

The structure of this film is rare for its time. We think the protagonist will be Marion, but then the focus shifts to Norman; eventually we follow Lila and Sam. Lila (introduced just before the 1 hr. mark) may be conventional when compared to the risk-taking Marion, but she’s a determined woman also. Miles and Leigh look like they really could be sisters. Arbogast doesn’t have a big role, but he has a fine scene w/ Norman. Hitchcock wasn’t a fan of authority figures; notice how the highway patrolman is portrayed in a sinister manner (never even removing his sunglasses). Many have commented how they hated the scene just before the ending (as did Hitch); the studio insisted on having the psychiatrist wrap things up for the audience.

[1] We can see that he is moody when he angrily leans forward and delivers an angry, though controlled tirade against putting people in institutions. Every camera angle and line of dialogue in this scene has meaning and carries enormous weight, and yet the drama plays out in a light, relaxed mode, and the performers seems truly connected to one another at its conclusion, strangers no more.

[2] …this movie doesn’t have the shock value today for audiences…

But, what you WILL see in this movie is (1) superb acting; (2) a fascinating lead character; (3) excellent photography, and (4) a bizarre story.

[3] You can feel the decade literally shifting out of ’50s and into ’60s with this one. Norman Rockwell touches abound, like the decor of the motel, but look at what’s going on around it. People dress well, they still wear fedoras and jackets, but in their tense conversations and hooded gazes, you can feel the culture just ticking away like a time bomb waiting to explode.

Most especially, there’s Anthony Perkins, who plays motel clerk Norman Bates in a very oddly naturalistic way, complete with facial tics and half-swallowed words, not the polished image one expected to see then.

– Excerpts from IMDB reviews

A Classic Rom Com: “The Lady Eve” (1941) starring Barbara Stanwyck & Henry Fonda

EmmaLeave a comment

[1] Practically everyone in the film has (at least) two names: Jean/Eve, Charlie/Hopsie, Muggsy/Murgatroyd/Ambrose, Harry/Colonel Harrington, Pearlie/Sir Alfred and so on. This suggests, quite rightly, that people are complicated complex beings, and that appearances often have nothing to do with reality.

Fonda …it must really take quite a lot of true acting ability to execute the pratfalls that he does without making Charlie such a wimp that you can’t imagine Jean still wanting him at the very end.

[2] …it’s all about sexual gamesmanship, and its tone is both matter-of-fact and dizzyingly playful at the same time.

…a boudoir farce, a slapstick clinic, a cynical dialogue comedy AND a love story of great, soulful heart.

[3] This may have been Henry Fonda’s best comedy part. …Fonda does so well in the part because he plays it absolutely straight. No tongue in cheek, no winks at the audience, Fonda plays it straight and sincere.

-Excerpts from IMDB reviews

Col. Harrington: Don’t be vulgar, Jean. Let us be crooked, but never common.

This screwball comedy was written/directed by Preston Sturges, who wrote for theater/movies, then got into directing after age 40. He wrote the screenplay for Remember the Night (1940) starring Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray. Returning from a year in Amazon forest studying snakes (his passion), the heir to an ale fortune, Charles Pike (Henry Fonda), meets Jean Harrington (Barbara Stanwyck) aboard a ship. Charles (shy/nerdy) is putty in the hands of Jean (who exudes confidence/charm). His street-tough bodyguard, Muggsy (William Demarest), is suspicious of the young woman. Charles and Jean fall in love, but he breaks up w/ her after learning that Jean and her father, Col. Harrington (veteran character actor Charles Coburn), are con-artists!

Jean: You see, Hopsie, you don’t know very much about girls. The best ones aren’t as good as you probably think they are and the bad ones aren’t as bad. Not nearly as bad.

Some time later, the Harringtons run into a friend who goes by the name Sir Alfred McGlennon Keith (Eric Blore). His latest con involves cheating millionaires at cards in a uber-rich town in Connecticut, where the Pikes happen to live. Eve gets an idea: taking on the persona of an Englishwoman (Lady Eve Sidwich) who could be Sir Alfred’s niece, and seeking revenge on Charles.

Jean: He isn’t backwards. He’s a scientist.

Sir Alfred: Oh, is that what it is? I knew he was… peculiar.

There are many laughs (thanks to the snappy dialogue and physical comedy); the romance is done very well, too! The opening credits feature a grinning cartoon snake, reminding us of Satan in the Garden or Eden. Even before Charles climbs aboard the ship, Jean drops an apple (representing knowledge) which hits his head. The single ladies checking him out make Charles very uncomfortable, but Jean trips him to get his attention. Everything about Jean- her perfume, high heels, looks, and sparking wit- have a strong effect on Charles. The chemistry between Fonda (who plays his role totally seriously) and Stanwyck (who is good in every role) is electric!

“Fallen Angel” (1945) starring Alice Faye, Dana Andrews, & Linda Darnell

Emma2 Comments

[1] The tainted, ambiguous relationships that Dana Andrews forges… make this film a dark study in romantic pathology. It also features Linda Darnell at her most sultry and mercenary… Andrews’ very layered tension between rich good gal Faye and gold-digging bad girl Darnell keeps the viewer off balance all the way through.

[2] Preminger’s fluid camera work and long takes here reach perfection… Each scene is shot and elaborated with precision, with minimum amount of edits to elucidate the emotions of the characters.

The magnificent chiaroscuro photography by Joseph LaShelle has certain crispness and lucidity…

-Excerpts from IMDB reviews

Stella: What do you do when you don’t tell fortunes?

Eric: I help make ’em for others.

Eric Stanton (Dana Andrews) is thrown off a Greyhound bus for not having enough fare to reach San Francisco. With just a dollar in his pocket, he lands in Walton, a small coastal town. Eric goes to a little diner by the beach and meets the owner, Pop (Perry Kilbride), retired NYC cop Mark Judd (Charles Bickford), and young waitress Stella (Linda Darnell- then only 21 y.o.) An “old friend” of Eric’s, Professor Madley (John Carradine- in a brief supporting role), is coming to the local hotel to hold a “spiritual” (psychic) show. Madley’s assistant, Ellis, laments that there may not be a show, since the former mayor’s daughter (a respected leader) disapproves of “spooks.” Eric (“a promoter”) goes to the Mills house to speak w/ this woman, Clara (Anne Revere- a character actress descended from Paul Revere). She’s unimpressed by his words, but her younger sister, June (Alice Faye), later convinces her to support the show. Then the drama begins!

Stella [to Eric on the beach]: You talk different, sure. But you drive just like the rest. Well, you’ve got the wrong girl.

TCM’s Eddie Muller noted that it’s a shame that this film suffered, as it was compared to director Otto Preminger’s previous film- Laura (1944)- which was a big hit. I saw Fallen Angel recently and really enjoyed it! The story comes from a novel written by a young woman (Mary Hallen); she wrote under a male pen name. Preminger (known for his demanding personality) was one of the best directors of his time; he made Angel Face (1953) and Anatomy of a Murder (1954)- two notable noir movies. He used much of the crew from Laura; we also see Dorothy Adams (Laura’s loyal “domestic”) as Stella’s neighbor. Andrews (who played a straight-shooting NYC cop in Laura) didn’t want to do Fallen Angel, as he disliked his character. I thought he did a fine job playing a charming con man (who can be shady or sweet). He and Darnell have terrific chemistry when they banter and are esp. good at playing the romance angle.

Eric [to June after their first date]: No. One kiss goes a long way with you. You need a guy who will take it the same way. Who will give you marriage, with all the trimmings. Home and kids. Who will walk to church with you every Sunday. Save all your good nights for him.

Faye (at age 28 y.o.) was already a big star in Hollywood; this is why she has top billing. After taking a break to start a family, she was very disappointed w/ how 20th Century Fox finally cut this film. Faye left the studio once she saw that her best scenes were edited out. Instead of balancing out the love triangle, producer Daryl Zanuck put the focus more on Eric and Stella; he was involved in a romantic relationship w/ Darnell during filming. Thus, Eric and June’s relationship comes off as rushed. There is a great scene between Andrews and Faye in the third act. You can see the movie (in HD) below!

“I Wake Up Screaming” (1941) starring Betty Grable, Victor Mature, Carole Landis, & Laird Cregar

EmmaLeave a comment

Vicky: [waiting on Frankie and his friends: Larry Evans- a columnist and Robin Ray- a Broadway actor] Is that all?

Larry: No, but the rest of it isn’t on the menu.

Vicky: You couldn’t afford it if it was.

NYC promoter Frankie Christopher (Victor Mature), being interrogated by police in the death of model Vicky Lynn (Carole Landis), recalls in flashback: meeting her as a waitress in a Times Square diner, Frankie is sure that her beauty will launch her into high society and a modeling career. Frankie succeeds, perhaps too well; after a few months and many magazine covers, Vicky is about to fly to Hollywood for a screen test, when someone kills her! Now, Frankie gets the feeling that a detective, Ed Cornell (Laird Cregar), is determined to frame him for murder. It turns out that he’s right; he seeks out Vicky’s older sister, Jill (Betty Grable), for help.

Jill: [referring to Cornell, who has been watching Vicky outside the diner] He gives me the creeps.

Vicky: You’ll have to get used to that. We’ve got more wolves in New York than they have in Siberia.

Elisha Cook Jr. (the pint-sized actor who became a staple of noir) plays Harry, the clerk at the hotel where the Lynn sisters live. Grable and Landis do look like they could be related. They have different philosophies about life- Jill is humble and practical; Vicky is ambitious and and thinks big. The cops and newspapers assume and Frankie is upset re: being dumped by Vicky (professionally and personally).

TCM’s Eddie Muller explained that this movie (released by 20th C. Fox and originally Hot Spot) is one of the earliest examples of what came to be known as film noir. Screenwriter Dwight Taylor and the source novel’s author, Steve Fisher, wrote the screenplay. The music in this movie is memorable; “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” (from the 1939 hit The Wizard of Oz) is recycled (maybe too much) as Frankie and Jill’s theme. Vicky’s signature tune is a catchy jazz melody. Watch the full movie below!

[1] Bruce Humberstone directs this attractive early noir with a strong sense of visual style. His Director of Photography, Edward Cronjager, works wonders with elongated shadows and labyrinths of lattice.

Her character has psychological depth, and Grable does justice to the part.

Carole Landis… deserves a special mention. She gives a confident performance and sings beautifully.

[2] A formidable, menacing presence, Cregar rocks in the role. His silky voice and charming smile somehow make him even scarier…

Always an appealing presence, Mature was a better actor than he got credit for, making it look easy. He was hot, too…

-Excerpts from IMDB reviews