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Gold Diggers of 1933

2009-11-18T20:11:00.000-08:00

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The other day, I watched a documentary in California history class about Upton Sinclair's 1934 campaign for Governor in California. He was an influential author who wrote scathing novels like The Jungle, and Oil! (which was the basis of 2008's THERE WILL BE BLOOD), criticizing the injustices leveled on the working class by American (and international) industry. Sinclair was a Socialist running on the Democratic ticket in 1934, and though he lost, his EPIC (End Poverty In California) plan electrified an electorate that was in the middle of the Great Depression. And of course, because it was a film partially about the Great Depression, they pulled out GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933.

In practically every documentary I've seen about the Great Depression, they've trotted out GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933 (specifically, the "We're in the Money" musical sequence) as an example of Hollywood providing an escape for a depression worn populace. This documentary was no different, but funnily enough, they also used the movie as an example of Hollywood (specifically, Warner Brothers) depicting the harsh realities of a post-war unemployment crisis sympathetically, in the "Remember My Forgotten Man" number. The truth is, both are right with this film; it provides frivolity and glamour, but it is hardly just a frothy feel-good movie. It's about a group of women who find it hard to keep themselves employed in show business, so as the title implies, they decide to play the mating game to see if they can land themselves a permanent meal ticket.
The legendary director and choreographer Busby Birkeley helmed GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933, and it seems to me as if he wanted to make the film to prove that he could produce both style and substance. It's a backstage, screwball comedy, but if you watch the clip posted above, you'll see how he uses his kinetic and innovative style to convey a plea for social justice while keeping his usual standard of outstanding entertainment. As the documentaries use it, the"We're in the Money" clip is supposed to be representative of excess and escape. But in the context of the film, it's obvious that it's a tongue-in-cheek number meant to provide an ironic juxtaposition to the struggle for livelihood depicted in the film.

John Ford's Cavalry Trilogy

2008-06-02T18:46:00.000-07:00

Like most young (and American) film fans I know, I had consistently underrated and dismissed John Ford as perhaps a technically proficient, but appallingly mainstream director (despite Orson Welles and various other of my heroes singing his praises). That all changed when I actually started watching his films. What I saw confounded my expectations, and impressed me thoroughly.

Thanks to widely circulated criticisms based on superficial readings, I thought I would be offended at every turn by his films. But what they actually display is a nuanced, subtle portrayal of American culture that is not sycophantically patriotic, and actually critical of the American mainstream, more often than not. Yes, there are sometimes blasé representations of Native Americans and Black people used as devices to service the story, but for every one of those there is another film of his that attempts to turn those stereotypes on their head (like for example 1960's SERGEANT RUTLEDGE, a film starring Woody Strode as an escaped slave turned soldier who is running away from a false accusation and a court martial because he has no faith in a system that is so inherently unjust), and I have not found one example of a sexist female character. On the contrary, the vast majority of Ford female characters are stereotype busting, strong, capable, fully formed people (but not in a tokenized way; Ford seems just as eager as I am to see women like the ones he knows portrayed in film). What I was surprised to find was that John Ford is a radical in his heart, and therefore after my own heart. It's too bad it took me this long to give him a chance.

One of the things the director John Ford is best known for is his series of 3 films known as The Cavalry Trilogy; FORT APACHE (1948), SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON (1949), and RIO GRANDE (1950). Last week I had a hankering to watch a John Ford film (preferably one of the many I had never seen), and the ever prescient Turner Classic Movies channel happened to be screening all three films in order. Since I loved FORT APACHE but had not seen the last two films, I recorded them with my trusty DVR and was glad to catch up on this legendary trilogy.

This is probably my favorite of the series; a scathing indictment of warmongering, abuse of power, and the American colonial state of mind. Henry Ford plays Colonel Thursday, a man bent for glory at all costs. He comes as a dismissive, upper class WASP to the diverse Cavalry regiment where John Wayne is Captain York, second in command. Captain York is a soldier who respects and understands the Native Americans he is ordered to attack, and pleads for compromise and reason from his elitist superior, who sees the Indians as savages who are better off dead. In the end, Wayne does his duty, and becomes another bureaucrat set to carry out the will of the American machine.

I also adored this film. In an unexpectedly tender turn from John Wayne, he portrays a man who has lost the wife and daughters he loves, and must now deal with retiring from his only other family-- the Cavalry, whom he can only relate to in the domineering language of the Army. John Wayne's Capt. Brittles seems unable to communicate nakedly with anyone but his wife and daughters, whom he visits in a cemetery, tending plants around their grave, and now he must abandon his Army family too. It's a film about loss and aging, and trying to pass one's wisdom along to the obstinant younger generation.

In a scene that captures these essential themes, John Wayne tries to negotiate peace with the Native American coalition that has gathered to drive the army out of their land. Speaking with his friend Chief Pony That Walks (played by real-life Chief John Big Tree in a time where it was preferred Native Americans be played by professional, often white, actors), John Wayne's Capt. Brittles is told that it is too late, the young people will not listen to the old men any more. That is what stayed with me from this film; John Ford's somber warning that wisdom is too often overridden by immature machismo, especially in wartime.

In the film there is also an interesting dialectic about a woman's role. Ultimately the film praises women who step up to the plate and embrace their capabilities, scorning the idea of women being dependent on men. The "B" story centers around a woman who is actively courting more than one man, and her conflict between the comfort of the privilege of the rich, spoiled city boy, and the rugged, unpretentious, but macho country boy (another classic Fordian theme played out again and again). In the end they are all humbled by the wisdom and guidance of Capt. Brittles.

RIO GRANDE is a sequel of sorts. It follows FORT APACHE'S Kirby York when he has ascended from the rank of Captain to Colonel. He has sacrificed his life (and his ideals) to serve the Cavalry; It is why he and his wife (Maureen O'Hara) have separated and he has not seen his son for 15 years. It is another film about Machismo alienating a man from his wife and family; a common Fordian theme. When his now grown son has flunked out of West Point and turns up as an enlisted man in his father's regimen, York is thrilled, but must stifle his feelings under the rigidity of military discipline, hoping that teaching his son to survive that life of thankless servitude will help him in the end.

When his estranged wife turns up and offers to buy her son out of his enlistment, she has to come to terms with the life of service her husband and child have chosen, and let go of her privilege in an almost puritan fashion in order to regain her family. The main conflict in this film is that of what the heart wants, and what the Army and the Government demands. Life in servitude of the Status Quo can put your whole family, sanity, and health in danger, and it is nearly impossible to figure out a way for all to survive in tact. At the end of the film Wayne sacrifices his health to save his family, his sanity, and his honor.

In Rio Grande there is some very interesting visual symbolism in one of the fight scenes; the white soldiers shoot at the Indians from inside a spanish mission the Native Americans have taken over. The soldiers actually shoot through a cross-shaped slit in the door. What powerful imagery, especially when you consider that the spanish missions enslaved millions of Native Americans in their time, leaving them broken and vengeful. I'm sure Ford was well aware of these overtones and used them deliberately, since he was an avid history buff and always tried to do his research.

There is one more thing I must mention about these films, and that is the wonderful use of Ford's company of actors whom he used and re-used as called for in his pictures. I Particularly enjoyed Victor McLaglen as a blustering, proudly Irish Quincannon (playing the same character in both YELLOW RIBBON and RIO GRANDE). Harry Carey Jr. (son of the legendary silent film cowboy star), with his endearing air of innocence and striking red-blonde hair is always fun to watch, and I can't get over how charismatic Ben Johnson is, with his lilting drawl. Mildred Natwick in particular delivers a heroic performance in YELLOW RIBBON as "Old Iron Pants", an officer's wife whose nickname is more of a tribute to her strength than a slight on her honor.

I am sure there will be many more posts about Ford and his films in the future, but as always, 'till then I will leave you with a few of my favorite titles to check out: THE INFORMER (1935), PILGRIMAGE (1933), YOUNG MR. LINCOLN (1939), and the legendary STAGECOACH (1939) and THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (1962).

Preston Sturges' Sullivan's Travels

2008-02-13T02:00:00.001-08:00

That’s the first few minutes from SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS (1941), the film that many (including me) consider to be the masterpiece of director Preston Sturges. He also wrote most of his films, and as you can tell from just this little snippet, his dialogue has remarkable naturalism, wit, and modernity. With his great feel for rhythm, and his simple yet beautiful visuals, his intelligent scripts sure made for some brilliantly funny movies. But his films were not just light froth, beneath the light fluffy stuff you will find that his films try to challenge society to be better through good-humored chiding and wry observation.

The first part of this scene, with it's film-within-a-film and projection room criticism, sets up this movie as a satire and examination of the film industry. A very similar scene opened another film that premiered the same year, Orson Welles' own satire of media power, CITIZEN KANE. Sullivan, like Kane, has noble intentions, but we can see that these self-proclaimed champions of the people need to get to know the people they're trying to help. And that's just what he tries to do as Sturges takes us on this tour of box-cars, work farms and flop houses, with a mansion or two in between. The film descends in to deeper and darker territory as it wears on, with the role and appropriateness of humor taking center stage. This film could even be interpreted as a slapstick Citizen Kane, though with Sturges you can rest assured that the main characters will defy all obstacles, even logic, to have a little glimmer of justice shine, if only in the dark movie house.

I can recommend every movie Sturges made, but my very favorites are THE LADY EVE (from 1941, starring Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda), THE GREAT MCGINTY (1940), THE PALM BEACH STORY (1942, starring Claudette Colbert and Joel McCrea), and THE MIRACLE OF MORGAN'S CREEK (1944, starring Betty Hutton and Eddie Bracken), a comedy about teen pregnancy 60 years before this year's JUNO.

There is so much more to write about Sturges and his films that I'm sure this won't be the last post on the subject.

Music Appreciation

2008-02-02T18:22:00.000-08:00

Chico Marx piano solo from GO WEST (1940)

Look at those Vaudeville skills!

Buster Keaton looking for makeup inspiration from Lon Chaney.

2008-01-30T21:49:00.000-08:00