Gladstone's Golden Age Of Cinema

[Richie Freebird]

Are all of Wood

[Halitosis Romantic]

The thing that astounds me about Wood is that people single out Plan 9 - I think it's probably because of the saucers, and the shower curtain cockpit door. Glen or Glenda and Bride of the Monster made be more incomprehensible.

 

If you ever get the chance watch It Came From Hollywood - a lot of people hate that movie, but I love it, especially the Ed Wood tribute.

 

EDIT - actually, it's right there on YouTube.

 

[Richie Freebird]

Thanks for the reply.

 

The thing that astounds me about Wood is that people single out Plan 9 - I think it's probably because of the saucers, and the shower curtain cockpit door.

 

The only reason I

[Halitosis Romantic]

No, not your fault - it's just that Plan 9 gets all this play under the worst movie ever tag (which people argue about endlessly, and pointlessly), when it's just one of a bunch of unwatchable movies.

[Devon Malcolm]

The only reason I

[Devon Malcolm]

Let's have James Stewart this week. One of those film figures that is about as far from a polarising or reviled figure as you will ever find. Almost universally admired and acclaimed, his performances had a far greater range to them than I think many people give him credit for.

 

Again, these are just the ones I've seen so any gaping holes in this list are probably for that reason. Any links you see are to full films available on YouTube:-

 

* The Philadelphia Story (1940) - Stewart won the Best Actor Oscar for this back in the day when they actually meant something. That he completely outshines Cary Grant is remarkable in itself, but his performance was good enough to win him the Oscar ahead of the cast iron favourite Henry Fonda for his performance in The Grapes Of Wrath. Romantic comedy has almost never reached this level in the 70+ years since its release.

 

* It's A Wonderful Life (1946) - This really was an amazing film for its time in terms of its theme. A hugely hyped Hollywood film with a WW2 war hero in the lead role that features depression, suicide, alcoholism and many more grim themes - almost unheard of at that time. The miracle with this film is that it still manages to weave these themes into a film that emerges as heart-warming and just delightful. Stewart was brave to take this role on at this point in his career and even though it flopped at the box office, he backed it with all his might until it became the iconic film it is regarded as today.

 

* Rope (1948) - Stewart's partnership with Alfred Hitchcock started here - just one of the reasons this is a remarkable film. Now perhaps more renowned for its long continuous takes and its experimental nature, it's also notable for Stewart crafting a performance out of a character who was basically not entirely likeable at the outset, again playing against type, and the homosexual undertones to the story. Hitchcock didn't like it much, but he was wrong to dislike it. But without James Stewart, he would probably have disliked it a lot more.

 

* Harvey (1950) - Tackling mental issues once again and once again proving far more likely to take on an offbeat project than most Hollywood leading men of his generation, Stewart's performance as Elwood P Dowd is arguably his most memorable. It's far more than the film about the giant imaginary rabbit, though, with so much fun to be had from the way he essentially no-sells the attempts of those around him to make him come around. It's been remade for TV five times since, and he actually appeared in the 1972 version reprising his role.

 

* Rear Window (1954) - There is obviously little else that can be said about Rear Window that hasn't already been said many times before, but it seems to me that the adoration for it grows with each passing year. Quite right, as well, although one element of the film that doesn't get quite as much attention as other elements in its story is the chemistry and relationship between Stewart and Grace Kelly. Age-wise, they were a complete mismatch but as soon as they share their first scene together you really don't notice or care. It is a film that everyone should watch, and not just once.

 

* The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) - I think that the debate will always rage about which version of The Man Who Knew Too Much is best, but it doesn't matter all that much as they are both really good. This version, though, shows Stewart at his most playful and versatile in a knockabout mystery that features odd moments of slapstick comedy and musical numbers amongst other things. A much underrated performance, I reckon.

 

* Vertigo (1958) - Vertigo concluded Stewart's collaborations with Hitchcock in the most amazing way possible. There is little about this film that could reasonably be criticised and it was probably the most serious minded film of Hitchcock's career. But again, without Stewart to ground its complex plotting and daring emotional twists, it may not have been half the film that it is. He also once again shows his ability to strike up a chemistry with any actress that he was paired with, here doing so with the ridiculously underrated Kim Novak. Possibly his most challenging role, but he never lets it look challenging.

 

* GLADSTONE'S CHOICE - Anatomy Of A Murder (1959) - The fuss that was made about all its talk about panties and rape and promiscuous women at the time seems so quaint and daft now, but once again this film showed that Stewart was not afraid to take on a controversial storyline and role. This really is a fantastic film - remembered mostly for its brilliant courtroom drama and looks into the process of how a case is put together, but it is his relationship with possible rape victim Lee Remick that for me fascinated me most about this film. Playing a respected man so sorely tempted and subtly but notably having to restrain himself, it was certainly a role that could easily have been over-acted in other hands. For me, it's his greatest ever performance and even George C Scott brilliantly portraying a hotshot city lawyer cannot steal his thunder.

 

* The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) - It's no coincidence that Stewart waited very late into John Ford's career before he finally decided to work with him. Sandwiched in between Two Rode Together and Cheyenne Autumn, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance was one of the first Hollywood revisionist Westerns not directed by Anthony Mann, who Stewart had teamed with on many occasions before working with Ford. He was clearly more interested in alternative looks at the genre and as Ford for so long had been seen as the face of the more straightforward Western (although I'd dispute that) it wasn't surprising he waited this long to work with him. He brings the best out of John Wayne (not for the last time - he would do it again on the equally great The Shootist) and helps craft this into one of the greatest films of the 1960s and one of the greatest Westerns of all time.

 

 

There are FAR too many gaps in my James Stewart viewing knowledge. I've not seen any of his Anthony Mann films, ridiculously (they weren't all Westerns - Strategic Air Command and The Glenn Miller Story stand out in that regard), neither have I seen the likes Call Northside 777 or The Flight Of The Phoenix. My experience of him, though, is that he never put a foot wrong and that he was an exceptional hand at anything he put his mind to. Surely one of Hollywood's greatest ever stars and actors.

 

Next week - 1940s film noir. You lucky bastards.

[patiirc]

Great actor, I'd lob in Winchester'73 in to that list, amazing Western

[WU LYF 4 LYF]

I'm partial to a James Stewart myself. Especially It's A Wonderful Life, of course.

 

One thing that's struck me as I've been watching older films lately, is that you usually finish up smiling by the end. I know that's a bit of a generalisation, but there is certainly more 'feel good' about classic cinema than the modern day. Stuff like the Andy Hardy movies from the 30s have you beaming. I've also been getting into the musicals, especially loving High Society and Wizard of Oz. The former is just brilliant, for the acting as well as the music. These have become pretty underrated, possibly as dedicated film buffs don't seem particularly into feel-good musicals, but they really are wonderful works of art.

[John Galt]

I was at a Hitchcock film festival earlier this year, and while The Man Who knew Too Much was definitely the film I enjoyed the least, the very end is probably the best punch line in all of cinema history.

[The King Of Swing]

Seems like as good as place as any to ask so is Fritz Lang's Metropolis worth the effort?

[John Galt]

Seems like as good as place as any to ask so is Fritz Lang's Metropolis worth the effort?

 

No effort involved. It really is a masterpiece.

[Devon Malcolm]

I'm partial to a James Stewart myself. Especially It's A Wonderful Life, of course.

 

One thing that's struck me as I've been watching older films lately, is that you usually finish up smiling by the end. I know that's a bit of a generalisation, but there is certainly more 'feel good' about classic cinema than the modern day. Stuff like the Andy Hardy movies from the 30s have you beaming. I've also been getting into the musicals, especially loving High Society and Wizard of Oz. The former is just brilliant, for the acting as well as the music. These have become pretty underrated, possibly as dedicated film buffs don't seem particularly into feel-good musicals, but they really are wonderful works of art.

 

I think you're right, there were more feel-good films in that era, but I think that was quite possibly forced by the Hays Code. It would have been fascinating to have seen how film had been different during the period it was enforced if it had never been brought in. In some ways, though, it forced filmmakers to be more inventive and to find ways to address certain themes without falling foul of it, though.

 

I was at a Hitchcock film festival earlier this year, and while The Man Who knew Too Much was definitely the film I enjoyed the least, the very end is probably the best punch line in all of cinema history.

 

Indeed. It's nowhere near Hitchcock's best but I really liked his action adventure stuff like this and The 39 Steps and North By Northwest.

[chokeout]

James Stewart is the fucking man. Seriously i've never seen anything near a bad performance from him and in an age where studios would protect their stars and place them in set genre films he really pushed to excel at so many dofferent roles. He was one of those rare leading men that had genuine screen presence, could hammer a dramatic role but had a real flair for comedy. Add to that his insane war record (seriously everyone read about him, bulking up to meet recruitment standards, refusing easy propaganda jobs, entering as a private and being promoted Colonel in 5 years! taking part in over 20 bombing runs, the guy was a legit hero).......basically Im gay for James Stewart

 

Its a shame he fell out so publically with Hitchcock because he would have been perfect in some of the later films.

 

A few you didnt mention that you should see:

 

You cant take it with you. overlooked because its the 'other' Capra film, its a cracking film that shows just how perfectly he played the leading man.

 

The Cheyenne Social Club another comedy Western for him (with Henry Fonda) came quite late in his career when you get the feeling he was doing films for the fun of it

 

Mr Hobbs takes a vacation

The perfect example of The everyman performance hes so fondly remembered for

 

 

Oh and do check out Flight of the Pheonix, you'll love it Stewart, Borgnine, Richard Attenborough and George kennedy in the same film trying to out subtle each other

[WU LYF 4 LYF]

I think you're right, there were more feel-good films in that era, but I think that was quite possibly forced by the Hays Code. It would have been fascinating to have seen how film had been different during the period it was enforced if it had never been brought in. In some ways, though, it forced filmmakers to be more inventive and to find ways to address certain themes without falling foul of it, though.

 

I suppose censorship does protect innocence in a way, which leads to more idealism but also a sense of escapism, resulting in films set in a happier 'make believe' world where gritty problems and dirty antics don't exist. I feel they share a lot of traits with Shakespeare's comedy romances, Much Ado About Nothing especially, where the villains are almost amusing and don't really spoil the vibe of good fun and enjoyment. But as you say, tough themes were touched upon, just in less explicit ways. There's a lot of talent involved in working under restriction.

 

Films definitely seemed far more glamorous then, I think. Grace Kelly by the pool in a bikini in High Society is amazingly alluring and beautiful in the context, and has for more effect than in modern films where nudity is common place. The actors/actresses seemed to have more magnetism back then as well, and that was probably partly because they seemed unreal and too far away to touch.

[Devon Malcolm]

Its a shame he fell out so publically with Hitchcock because he would have been perfect in some of the later films.

 

It was mostly over North By Northwest, wasn't it? Funny thing is I was just thinking that I couldn't see him in the Cary Grant role and then realised how versatile he was and that he would probably have been just as good.

 

Films definitely seemed far more glamorous then, I think. Grace Kelly by the pool in a bikini in High Society is amazingly alluring and beautiful in the context, and has for more effect than in modern films where nudity is common place. The actors/actresses seemed to have more magnetism back then as well, and that was probably partly because they seemed unreal and too far away to touch.

 

The only modern scene that I can think of that I would compare, say, Grace Kelly's entrance in Rear Window to for sheer spectacular but non-explicit beauty would be Cameron Diaz in The Mask.

 

Looking at Hitchcock again, you take a film like Frenzy which he made in 1976, way after the Hays Code had been dumped, and how lurid it is and you wonder how much different it would have been made 20 years earlier and whether it would have been a lot better.