Here’s a real oddity – a musical short, made at MGM in 1930 using an early color film process – that depicts Satan’s difficulties getting new customers in the door and the efforts of Satan’s marketing department to spearhead (or forkhead) some new sales initiatives. It’s sweet and silly and pre-code and delightful. Enjoy.
Part One:
There’s a cool article in the Los Angeles Times today about the Library Of Congress’ “Mostly Lost” film festival, which brings academics, experts and hobbyists together to look at reels of film and hopefully identify, collate and place them in their proper historical context. It sounds like a lot of fun, but the big takeaway (and hall of fame level buried lede) from the article is the news from Rob Stone, moving image coordinator at the LOC, that the archive has acquired a large Jerry Lewis collection, presumably from Lewis himself, that includes the negative of the long suppressed film THE DAY THE CLOWN CRIED.
Stone appears to have dropped the news on the crowd in an impromptu fit of enthusiasm. After the assembled archivists recovered their bearings, Stone also added that the film was embargoed for ten years. Since many of us assumed that Lewis would take steps to destroy the film, this is great news, 10-year delay or no.
THE DAY THE CLOWN CRIED is something of a white whale for fans of Jerry Lewis films. Lewis made the film, about a clown who leads children into Nazi gas chambers, in 1972 but it was tied up in litigation with the producer and remained unreleased for years. Later, Lewis said “You will never see it. No one will ever see it, because I am embarrassed at the poor work.” Comedian Harry Shearer claims to have seen it in 1979. His response: “his movie is so drastically wrong, its pathos and its comedy are so wildly misplaced, that you could not, in your fantasy of what it might be like, improve on what it really is. “Oh My God!” — that’s all you can say.”
Nobody pronounces the words “prehistorical dinosaurs” like Werner Herzog. It’s something like “prehistoorical dino-sours.” If hearing and seeing a young Werner Herzog wandering around with a camera crew and musing pessimistically; playing soccer and talking about his favorite soccer player; riding the prow of a small boat and philosophizing about shipwrecks, etc; sounds like a party to you – strap on the pointy hat and press play here.
Along the way he also speaks with film historian Lotte Eisner, and there are many illustrative clips from his films. It’s good stuff.
Next week at AFS we’ll begin our Way Of The Samurai series with the Big One: SEVEN SAMURAI. To prepare, here’s a dialogue between filmmaking legend Akira Kurosawa and author Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It’s an explosion of wisdom, as you would expect.
Here is a sample:
“Directors who make films halfway may not realize that it is very difficult to convey literary images to the audience through cinematic images. For instance, in adapting a detective novel in which a body was found next to the railroad tracks, a young director insisted that a certain spot corresponded perfectly with the one in the book. “You are wrong,” I said. “The problem is that you have already read the novel and you know that a body was found next to the tracks. But for the people who have not read it there is nothing special about the place.” That young director was captivated by the magical power of literature without realizing that cinematic images must be expressed in a different way.”
Here’s a video of the legendary director Howard Hawks, in his unwanted retirement, relaxing on the deck of a yacht and talking about his career and philosophy of filmmaking. Hawks, with his deep voice and precise enunciation, sounds like he came out of a time machine direct from 1931. He speaks about violence in films – with great authority, as the creator of the modern gangster film – and talks about the best way to learn how to be a director.
“Go and see as many pictures as you can made by good directors, and then make up your mind what is good and what is bad.”
I excerpted these clips from a Spanish documentary that does not provide translations of the questions so we hear answers only. It’s pretty easy to understand the discussion from contextual cues though.
It’s always sad when movie people we love die, and we maybe see a paragraph at most about them in the news headlines. Sometimes we never hear about the person’s passing until we look the name up on IMDb and notice a dismaying and surprising date of decease.
The British newspaper The Guardian devotes more time and care to its obituaries than is typical nowadays and it’s most apparent and most welcome in the film obituary department. These notices are mostly written by scholar and author Ronald Bergan, who devotes more than a respectful amount of space to each decedent. For instance, most of the news stories about actor Alex Rocco’s recent passing mentioned that the actor who played Moe Greene in THE GODFATHER had died and little more. In Bergan’s obituary Rocco receives eleven substantial paragraphs, and we find out a bit about his early life on the streets as a low-level gangster.
Bergan is a conscientious and excellent writer. He honors the departed person with his attention to the nuances of their lives and work.
You can see (and bookmark) his archive of obituaries here.
It feels like a relic from another time in a way, but the BBC has just released a list of the 100 Greatest American Films as compiled by a non-named group of reviewers, critics, broadcasters and authors.
This used to be the kind of gambit that film magazines and other critical outlets would pull to excite discussion about which is greater. There’s not much of a flurry around this list but it is interesting to take a look at the list and at the idea of such lists generally.
The top 10 offers few surprises. Or, if there is a surprise, it’s that the reputation of films like THE SEARCHERS and VERTIGO is still so bulletproof. These are great films, but I would expect to see them slip and slide a little more than this. Also, CITIZEN KANE would seem a likely candidate to fall from its perch and be replaced by top contenders THE GODFATHER or VERTIGO.
1. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)
2. The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
3. Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)
4. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
5. The Searchers (John Ford, 1956)
6. Sunrise (FW Murnau, 1927)
7. Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, 1952)
8. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
9. Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942)
10. The Godfather Part II (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
The full list follows:
100. Ace in the Hole (Billy Wilder, 1951)
99. 12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen, 2013)
98. Heaven’s Gate (Michael Cimino, 1980)
97. Gone With the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939)
96. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)
95. Duck Soup (Leo McCarey, 1933)
94. 25th Hour (Spike Lee, 2002)
93. Mean Streets (Martin Scorsese, 1973)
92. The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955)
91. ET: The Extra-Terrestrial (Steven Spielberg, 1982)
90. Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)
89. In a Lonely Place (Nicholas Ray, 1950)
88. West Side Story (Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, 1961)
87. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
86. The Lion King (Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, 1994)
85. Night of the Living Dead (George A Romero, 1968)
84. Deliverance (John Boorman, 1972)
83. Bringing Up Baby (Howard Hawks, 1938)
82. Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1981)
81. Thelma & Louise (Ridley Scott, 1991)
80. Meet Me in St Louis (Vincente Minnelli, 1944)
79. The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011)
78. Schindler’s List (Steven Spielberg, 1993)
77. Stagecoach (John Ford, 1939)
76. The Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Kershner, 1980)
75. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Steven Spielberg, 1977)
74. Forrest Gump (Robert Zemeckis, 1994)
73. Network (Sidney Lumet, 1976)
72. The Shanghai Gesture (Josef von Sternberg, 1941)
71. Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 1993)
70. The Band Wagon (Vincente Minnelli, 1953)
69. Koyaanisqatsi (Godfrey Reggio, 1982)
68. Notorious (Alfred Hitchcock, 1946)
67. Modern Times (Charlie Chaplin, 1936)
66. Red River (Howard Hawks, 1948)
65. The Right Stuff (Philip Kaufman, 1965)
64. Johnny Guitar (Nicholas Ray, 1954)
63. Love Streams (John Cassavetes, 1984)
62. The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
61. Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 1999)
60. Blue Velvet (David Lynch, 1986)
59. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Miloš Forman, 1975)
58. The Shop Around the Corner (Ernst Lubitsch, 1940)
57. Crimes and Misdemeanors (Woody Allen, 1989)
56. Back to the Future (Robert Zemeckis, 1985)
55. The Graduate (Mike Nichols, 1967)
54. Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder, 1950)
53. Grey Gardens (Albert and David Maysles, Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer, 1975)
52. The Wild Bunch (Sam Peckinpah, 1969)
51. Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958)
50. His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks, 1940)
49. Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick, 1978)
48. A Place in the Sun (George Stevens, 1951)
47. Marnie (Alfred Hitchcock, 1964)
46. It’s a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946)
45. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (John Ford, 1962)
44. Sherlock Jr (Buster Keaton, 1924)
43. Letter from an Unknown Woman (Max Ophüls, 1948)
42. Dr Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick, 1964)
41. Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks, 1959)
40. Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid, 1943)
39. The Birth of a Nation (DW Griffith, 1915)
38. Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975)
37. Imitation of Life (Douglas Sirk, 1959)
36. Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977)
35. Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944)
34. The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, 1939)
33. The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
32. The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges, 1941)
31. A Woman Under the Influence (John Cassavetes, 1974)
30. Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959)
29. Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1980)
28. Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
27. Barry Lyndon (Stanley Kubrick, 1975)
26. Killer of Sheep (Charles Burnett, 1978)
25. Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989)
24. The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960)
23. Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 1977)
22. Greed (Erich von Stroheim, 1924)
21. Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)
20. Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990)
19. Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976)
18. City Lights (Charlie Chaplin, 1931)
17. The Gold Rush (Charlie Chaplin, 1925)
16. McCabe & Mrs Miller (Robert Altman, 1971)
15. The Best Years of Our Lives (William Wyler, 1946)
14. Nashville (Robert Altman, 1975)
13. North by Northwest (Alfred Hitchcock, 1959)
12. Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974)
11. The Magnificent Ambersons (Orson Welles, 1942)
10. The Godfather Part II (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
9. Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942)
8. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
7. Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, 1952)
6. Sunrise (FW Murnau, 1927)
5. The Searchers (John Ford, 1956)
4. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
3. Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)
2. The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
1. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)
It is somewhat surprising to me that MULHOLLAND DRIVE is at the top of the Lynch heap. Keaton’s SHERLOCK JR. is here but THE GENERAL is not. Are THELMA & LOUISE and THE DARK KNIGHT actually better than THE GENERAL? Or for that matter THE GOLD RUSH? It’s a matter of methodology probably. A favorite Keaton is chosen and it takes one seat at the table.
Reputations rebound and pendulums swing. You’ll notice HEAVEN’S GATE, which at one time would might have been on a Worst 100 list, is here. It belongs on neither a 100 best or 100 worst list, but it has been undervalued so long that its stock rose too precipitously. It will settle a little lower than 98.
Also on the rebound big-time is EYES WIDE SHUT at 61. This is probably about right, but it’s interesting to see how far it has climbed in critical esteem.
There are three Fords out of the 100. Earlier lists would have included his THEY WERE EXPENDABLE, HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY and THE INFORMER. I suspect these are gone for good now from lists of this type, sadly.
The only Griffith here is BIRTH OF A NATION, which would have upset him a great deal. His INTOLERANCE was his ideological corrective to BIRTH and is arguably the greater film.
One of the first things everyone notices is a lack of gender and racial diversity here. Maya Deren represents the female gender on her own. Steve McQueen, Spike Lee and Charles Burnett are the only non-white Euros here. I hope to see a more active process of discovery of both new and old films here. It would be nice to see Dorothy Arzner’s DANCE, GIRL, DANCE and Bill Gunn’s GANJA & HESS make the leap into critical contention, among others.
More interesting than the shade thrown at her co-star were the mentions of Stanwyck’s on set demeanor. I had always heard that she knew every crew member’s name, and was the hardest worker on the lot, but there are some more fun tidbits in the article that I hadn’t heard.
Several years ago on a boiling summer day, some of the grips working under the white hot arc lights on the Barbara Stanwyck film took off their shirts. An officious assistant director dressed then down, asking how they dared take off their shirts when they were in the presence of Miss Stanwyck.
“On a day as hot as this they can strip naked,” Miss Stanwyck said, and sent out for beer for the entire crew.
And:
“Missy” Stanwyck ignored his tactlessness when it was merely directed towards herself. But she refused to tolerate his lack of consideration when it affected the crew.
She gave him a bitter tongue-lashing in front of the entire crew. It included phrases like: “You have to learn to crawl before you can walk. Then, maybe you can run a little. You’re not a star yet. I am a star. Do you want to see what a star can do? One of us is going to get out of this television series and I don’t care which one of us it is!
Lee’s agent made him apologize to Barbara Stanwyck a few days later. She accepted the apology. But Lee’s insensitivity had closed a door. He had lost for himself all the help and consideration that one of Hollywood’s great stars was offering him.
