The Red Badge of Courage

The Red Badge Of Courage
1951 - MGM
Directed by John Huston



SYNOPSIS

Audie Murphy (The Youth) plays a young soldier fighting for the Union in the Civil War. He heads in his first battle, is terrified, and flees. Upon seeing the sick and wounded after the battle, he comes across a soldier in his regiment who is both physically and mentally scarred from the fight. The older soldier dies and that builds some shame inside The Youth and that sends him back to his comrades. In the next battle, he's Rambo, complete with a red handkerchief on his head, and distinguishes himself, having conquered his fear of death.
SPOILER ALERT: The Union ultimately defeats the Confederates in the war.

MY THOUGHTS

Stephen Crane's classic novel was a short one, and the film was no different. Apparently director John Huston had intended a longer film, but MGM had other plans. The film is only about 70 minutes. I wonder how much better the longer version could have been.

Still with the smaller canvas, Huston delivers one of his best. Like many of MGM's classic literary films like 'David Copperfield' and 'Anna Karenina,' Red Badge doesn't hide its roots. The film opens with a book opening and a narrator telling about Crane before slipping into the narrative, taken directly from the text. It's definitely an old and somewhat dated device that would never be attempted today, but it works here. The narration sheds more light on the inner workings of The Youth that would be nearly impossible with the sparse dialogue.

Real-life World War 2 hero Audie Murphy is excellent. You feel for him as he struggles with fear and want to cheer when he charges with the American flag later in battle. Huston never lets you pity him as he turns yellow, unlike a soldier in 'Saving Private Ryan.'
Overall the casting is very well done, featuring mainly unknowns, many of whom were WW2 vets.
In many war films the characters tend to all look the same in their uniforms and you have problems keeping track of who's who. ('A Walk In the Sun' comes to mind.) In Red Badge, everyone is noticeably different.

The horrors of war are conveyed on screen well. You feel just how excruciatingly long it takes for the soldiers to reload their guns. Their reactions to seeing dead bodies and explosions are very true to life.
The battle cinematography is stunningly shot. Lots of dolly shots as the soldiers charge bring the viewer right into the battle.
After serving as a cameraman/filmmaker in WW2, John Huston knew how to shoot a war, and this one may even be better than the real footage he shot.

Karl Malden 1912-2009

The legendary actor Karl Malden has died. He lived to rip old age of 97. Although they were supporting roles, Malden brought a lot of depth to his most famous roles in "On The Waterfront" and "A Streetcar Named Desire." Last year I saw the film noir "Kiss of Death" and was delighted when he popped up. He was a class act and will definitely be missed.

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Swing Your Lady

Swing Your Lady
1938 - Warner Brothers
Directed by Ray Enright



SYNOPSIS

A wrestling promoter (Humphrey Bogart) takes his sure-to-be-a-star find Joe (Nat Pendleton) to the Ozarks in search of competitors. After a search through several towns Bogie is only able to set up one match. But Joe's competition is a woman! Sadie (Louise Fazenda) is a big girl with an equally big heart... and is the town's blacksmith! The match is called off after Joe falls for Sadie and he refuses to fight. Then Sadie's beau shows up and he's fightin' mad!


MY THOUGHTS

This film clocks in at less than 1:20 but barely has less of a plot than your average 30 minute sitcom. The film is padded with musical performances by the Weaver Brothers. They play mostly novelty hillbilly songs.

Every rural stereotype is on display here (especially in the hoedown musical numbers.) Moonshine jug, fat guy in overalls, scraggly beard and hat... and that's just one of the extras in the film. The hillbilly element is almost as offensive as African-American stereotypes of the era.

There are a few jokes here and there in the weak script but most fall flat.

Bogart seems to enjoy himself in the role, although he would call this his worst film and I agree. It is worse than his turn as a vampire in The Return of Doctor X." Bogie was probably glad to get a break from his endless run of supporting gangster roles and violent death scenes, although the part doesn't showcase his talents at all.
Allen Jenkins and Frank McHugh play Bogie's assistants and are their usual funny selves, but the focus is rarely on them.
The character of Joe is annoying and seems to be a rabbit-less Lenny from Of Mice and Men. Except, he sadly isn't put out of his misery at the end like Lenny.
Sadie is also hard to take. She takes the brunt of the wretched script, delivering most of the painfully bad dialogue ("Well, shuck my corn!")
Out of nowhere towards the end of the film, Ronald Reagan shows up as a sports writer to cover the Joe/Sadie match. He's there for a few scenes than vanishes (hopefully to a better film.)

I would say the most telling testament to the quality of this film is the simple fact that home video has been around for 30 years, and Swing Your Lady has NEVER been released.
This film is for Humphrey Bogart completeists only... and even then, watch at your own risk.

My Friend Flicka

My Friend Flicka
1943 - 20th Century Fox
Directed by Harold Schuster




SYNOPSIS

The progress of young horse enthusiast Ken (Roddy McDowell) is continually discouraging his father (Preston Foster.) Despite causing a stampede, his dad decides Ken should have his own colt. Ken has his heart set on a wild-at-heart colt he names Flicka and proceeds to slowly tame her. In the process, she is seriously injured and develops a bad leg infection and barely clings to life. Ken stays with her and nearly succumbs to the elements. Will he and Flicka get healthy again?

MY THOUGHTS

The film tends to be a little schmaltzy but has a great innocent straightforward tone that would endear it to children, as it was intended. It also no doubt gave excellent escape from the horrors of WW2.
Roddy McDowell continues his great string of performances as a child actor which included 'How Green Was My Valley' and 'Lassie Come Home.' He's one of the best child actors of the early to mid 1940s. He is clearly the star here and is excellent... although how a boy of 2 American parents in an American rural environment would develop an English accent is beyond me. That's one of the few faults. The main other being the performance of the other child, a little girl named Hildy, which comes across as a subpar Shirley Temple-type.
This was an early Technicolor film but its color balance looks more realistic and muted than many others of the era like the 'Adventures of Robin Hood' (1938) or 'Lassie Come Home.'
The camerawork is also excellent and frequently moves in the wide open outdoor fields.

I viewed the film via internet streaming from Netflix and its presentation was excellent. The film is somewhat dated but I believe it would still work for young children and animal lovers of any age.

Blues In The Night

Blues In The Night
1941 - Warner Brothers
Directed by Anatole Litvak

Synopsis

Great hot jazz piano player Jigger (Richard Whorf) is playing a dive with sickly drummer Pepi (Dead End Kid leader Billy Halop.) Big fan and clarinetist Nicki (future directing wiz Elia Kazan) gets thrown in jail with them following a bar brawl where the meet a bass player and decide to form a band. They add a trumpet player (Jack Carson) who's married to singer 'Character' (Priscilla Lane.)
The six set out hittin' the rails. They soon land a gig in a roadhouse bar in New Jersey run by slimy singer Kay (Betty Field.) The joint is soon taken over by Kay's ex-flame, small-time gangster Del Davis (Lloyd Nolan) and the place turns into a swinging hot spot with an illegal gambling room upstairs. Character gets pregnant and Jigger who's fallen for Kay taps her as the new singer, but soon as he realizes she won't work out, she gets him to quit the band and flee with her to New York.
He lands a gig in what seems to be the whitest big band in NYC and lives the high life with Kay, which eats him up inside and drives him crazy. His ex-band mates rescue him and get him to a sanitarium where he recovers.
But... does he rejoin his band mates or choose the woman he loves? That's for you to find out.

My Thoughts

This unique and highly entertaining film moves at a frenetic pace, like most Warner Brothers films of the 30's and 40's and never takes itself too seriously. There's never a dull moment.

It's also a very unusual film as it straddles the lines of many different genres. It's both a musical and a gangster/proto-film noir without ever being completely either one. There are no spontaneous bursting-into-song that define a typical musical, but music is clearly the focus.
All the musical performances are tied to stage performance or rehearsal. A hater of musicals could easily enjoy this without feeling dirty, as long as you like jazz. The gangster element is never a big presence either. Nolan's character is never the dominant, leading factor of the story like James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson or Humphrey Bogart are in their archetypal roles of the era.

The film is notable also for it's amazing and sometimes LSD-level-trippy montages by future Dirty Harry/Invasion of the Body Snatchers director Don Siegel. These are best when Jigger is halucinating when he is recovering. It makes me wonder if Director Litvak was implying that Jigger turned to drugs to deal with his problems in NYC, even though the production code would have forbidden that plot development.

The one element that is dominant is the love and reverence for jazz, which I share. The awe the group shares sitting in prison watching the African-Americans (in a segregated cell) singing 'Blues in the Night' is palpable and a dramatized example of one of the many times in history whites have stolen the music of blacks and used it to great effect.

I first discovered this film from the classic Mercer-Arlen song of the title. It quickly became a jazz/blues standard. I first heard one of Cab Calloway's many versions of the song via an old LP compilation called "Remember How Great...? and fell in love with it's haunting melody, just like Jigger and his band.
I fell for the song and it took years for me to realize it came from this film. I tracked the film down, which Warners released on DVD in 2008.

DVD

The DVD has excellent image quality, although there are occasional specks and a rare scratch that occur throughout the film, but never distract from it. The sound is good, conveying the rich analog jazz. Special features include: 3 Looney Tunes cartoons that incorporate the song 'Blues in The Night,' a short featuring Jimmy Lunceford and his band (also appearing in the feature,) and the super-stylish Oscar-Nominated short "Jammin' The Blues," which features several jazz legends like Coleman Hawkins and is awe-inspiring and I highly recommended. An audio-only outtake featuring an instrumental take on the title track is included, along with the trailer. Warner Brothers always fills their classic films with ample extras and this is no different.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The film is definitely not what I was expecting and was a great experience. There are no acting tour-de-forces here but they are solid performances and the direction was on-par with the Warner Bros. house style (which I like) but nothing out of the ordinary. I do however recommend it highly especially to fans of jazz of the era. Good enough to name a blog after it.

Welcome! Guten Tag and all that.

I would like to welcome you to my brand-new blog, Blues In The Night.

My name is Andrew and I plan to review classic and contemporary films and other film-related topics and share links to other related sites.

I hope to shed some light on some older movies that have fallen through the cracks, but I'm also not above reviewing the latest blockbuster that Hollywood urges you to embrace. There are also several unique ideas that are swirling in my head and will soon be evident here. (hopefully)

In this blog, I will try to maintain the reviews in a straightforward and easy going tone for an average film-goer. I'll also keep the 'industry speak' and 'professorial talk' to a minimum.

I have a quirky sense of humor which may add some unusual-ness to the proceedings, so be warned! Updates will come frequently. (hopefully)

Feel free to comment and we can open a discussion on these great and not so great films.

So, why do I call it Blues In the Night? Stay tuned for my first review.