Bond Is Forever: “The World is Not Enough”

MI6 agent James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) is reacquiring a considerable amount of money for British oil mogul, Sir Robert King. Upon returning to MI6 headquarters, Bond realizes too late that the retrieved pounds are tainted, and King is killed in an explosion. The spy pursues the assassin, who evidently prefers death to incarceration, alluding to a higher power giving the kill order. Once MI6 identifies Renard (Robert Carlyle) as the man behind the assassination, Bond connects the recovered money with the kidnapping of King’s daughter, Elektra (Sophie Marceau). Elektra had escaped her captors, after M (Judi Dench) had convinced King to not pay a ransom demand. Believing that the tycoon’s daughter may be Renard’s next target, 007 stays close to Elektra while tracking Renard. A theft of plutonium leads Bond to receive assistance from a nuclear physicist, Dr. Christmas Jones (Denise Richards), as they try to neutralize whatever combative maneuver Renard may have planned.

The World is Not Enough (1999) marked the third Bond film for Brosnan, Dench, and Samantha Bond as Moneypenny, while Desmond Llewelyn made his 17th appearance as Q. One of the film’s strongest points is the laudable performances from the cast. Brosnan and Dench are typically strong and also quite good in their scenes together. Carlyle is a remarkable villain, a man inching towards his inevitable doom (a botched assassination has left a bullet in his brain, which is slowly killing him). He’s both callous and compassionate, a vicious terrorist who is able to evoke an audience’s empathy. Marceau is superb as Elektra, a woman who may seem frail but proves to be a much more sound character. Even Robbie Coltrane is stellar as Bond’s dubious ally, Zukovsky (reprising his role from 1995’s GoldenEye).

In contrast, Richards is somewhat bland as Dr. Jones. Her mannerisms occasionally seem wooden, almost as if she is posing in lieu of acting. In all fairness to the actress, Christmas Jones is underwritten, and Richards has little to do. Some have questioned the credibility of Jones as a nuclear physicist, which is understandable considering her tedious delivery. Others, however, have criticized her attire (she’s donning a tank top and shorts when she’s first shown), an objection which is speculative in and of itself by insinuating that a physicist must dress a certain way.
Though it is exciting and entertaining, The World is Not Enough does play it safe by staying true to certain Bond conventions. The spy introduces himself (more than once) with last name first, he’s armed to the teeth with gadgets, and his martinis are shaken, not stirred. Likewise, action scenes take place on a snowy mountain, in speeding boats, and inside a submarine, all of which are familiar 007 terrain. Carlyle’s Renard, with his shaved head and drooping eyelid (or ptosis, resulting from the failed assassination), almost resembles Bond’s previous three-movie nemesis, Blofeld. This does not make the movie less enthralling, but rather turns the whole affair into a relaxing guide through well known territory. It’s difficult to criticize a movie for wanting its audience to be comfortable.

This is not to say that the movie does not sometimes pull away from the series’ more traditional qualities. The narrative is a subtle appraisal of Bond’s treatment of women. Early in the film, he seduces MI6’s female doctor so that she will sign off on a clean bill of health and allow 007 to return to his duties. This act, in part, comes into question later when Bond begins an intimate relationship with Elektra and afterwards doubts her validity as a kidnapped victim. Whereas the spy manipulates with seduction, he is also visibly angered when believing that he was exploited in a similar fashion. Another change in convention is M’s personal investment in the mission. She is not only a good friend to Sir Robert King, but was also involved in handling the terrorists’ demands when his daughter was kidnapped, which has ties to the main story.
In the film, Q appears to be turning the gadgetry reins over to R (John Cleese), a name suggested by a sardonic Bond (although it does appear in the closing credits as such). Monty Python alum Cleese is quite amusing as the bumbling apprentice (his first words to 007: “And you might be...?”), an obvious antithesis to Q. Though it would appear that Q, having been portrayed by Llewelyn in nearly every Bond film, is retiring, the actor stated in an interview that he would not be leaving the role. Tragically, Llewelyn died in a car collision a mere month after the film’s premiere. Cleese is officially called Q in the subsequent Bond film, Die Another Day (2002).

Michael Apted, in his sole Bond effort, expertly handles the film's direction. Screenwriting partners Neal Purvis and Robert Wade made their Bond debut with The World is Not Enough (co-written with Bruce Feirstein, who co-wrote GoldenEye and was the credited writer for 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies). Purvis and Wade would handle script writing for the remaining Bond films, reportedly to include the 23rd film of the series, tentatively scheduled for release in 2012. The film’s title is, as the spy says, the Bond family motto, initially referenced in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969). The movie’s title song is one of the best. It was written by composer David Arnold and lyricist Don Black and was performed by the rock band, Garbage.
Critical reception to The World is Not Enough was decidedly mixed, although the film performed admirably at the box office. I rank the movie as the best Bond outing starring Brosnan: likable villains, enjoyable action scenes (particularly the flooding submarine sequence near the end), and the always regaling Brosnan. What are your thoughts? Are there other The World is Not Enough fans?

Bond Is Forever will return next month with For Your Eyes Only (1981).

Trivia Time - Part 67

Last week in TT66 there was only one question that wasn't answered.....good job, everyone!

5. Name the "stars" of the film, Carry It On.

Answer: Joan Baez and her husband, David Harris.

And here is TT67! You'll notice that we have a new category: Who Said This?

Who Said This? "You don't need a housekeeper, you need a UNIVAC machine." Name the film and the actor/actress. Who Said This?

Who Said This? "I think I'm gonna give every nurse on this floor an electric cattle prod, and just instruct them to just zap him in his badoobies." Name the movie and the actor/actress. Who Said This?

Who Said This? "Look wiseguy, I didn't feel like I was 21 when I was 21." Name the film and the actor/actress. Who Said This?

1. For the first seasons of both Star Trek and The Man from U.N.C.L.E., which night(s) of the week were they scheduled on NBC?

2. Name all the movies Errol Flynn made for Warner Brothers in 1942 and the directors. Bonus points for correct order.

3. How many films did Errol Flynn make for Warner Brothers in 1936? Name it/them.

4. Name the two films in which Cary Grant appeared with John Ridgely at Warner Brothers.

5. Name the three films for which Duke Ellington wrote the scores. Name the stars of each film.

6. Name the '50s teen idol who co-wrote the theme for the Tonight Show ("Johnnie's Theme").

7. Name the CBS series starring Ronny Cox.

8. Which show featured elevator races inside Rockefeller Center during the 1970s-'80s?

9. Name the movie in which Jimmy Stewart played his last romantic leading role.

10. Name the famous actor who actively sought the part in the movie in #9 but lost to Stewart.

Chaplin’s Answer to Modern Times

Talking pictures had been around for about a decade when Charlie Chaplin released Modern Times (1936).  A silent film star with a instantly recognizable screen alter ego—the Little Tramp—Chaplin debated whether he should let the Little Tramp speak in this film.  In the end, he chose to make Modern Times his last silent feature film—and the last appearance of the Tramp as well.  However, it should be noted that the there is sound in this film, with machine sounds and voices out of televisions. We also hear the Tramp’s voice when he sings a song in Italian gibberish—perhaps a tongue-in-cheek slap in the face of talking pictures by Chaplin? In the end, the film that took Chaplin four years to make—I suppose when you write, star, direct, score, and produce it takes some time—turned out to be one of his best.

This is a protest film against the effects of automation on mankind. The Tramp represents the millions of people who were unemployed during the Great Depression, who saw machines doing jobs that would have put food in their bellies and roofs over their heads. He was quoted in  a newspaper article as saying that “unemployment is the vital question… Machinery should benefit mankind. It should not spell tragedy and throw it out of work.” The dehumanizing effects of industrialization and unemployment are at the forefront of this film. It is up to the Tramp to struggle against these unruly behemoths, while not so carefully waddling through the institutions that support them.

Now, when you start a film by showing a flock of sheep dissolving into workers you begin it with a statement. We first view the Tramp working on a factory assembly line where he has to tighten nuts/bolts with both hands while his boss watches from the comfort of his office via a video camera. Since everything is based on precise timing, the worker doesn’t have a second to itch--and when the Tramp does this he creates hilarious chaos on the production line, trying to catch up to the bolts he missed. One of Chaplin’s more memorable sequences, this was parodied on I Love Lucy when Lucy works in the candy factory. At lunch time the Tramp is chosen as the guinea pig for the company’s new feeding device, which is designed to cut lunch periods. The machine malfunctions and the Tramp is treated to bolts instead of food, shortcake in the face, and soup everywhere but in his mouth. After lunch the boss speeds up production and the Tramp can’t keep up, so he lies down on the machine and is literally fed through the gears of the machine. This is a visual image worth watching. In the end, it is deemed he has had a mental breakdown and he’s whisked off to the funny farm.

After being released from the psychiatric ward the Tramp makes the mistake of picking up a red flag on the street and waving it.  Unfortunately for him there is a communist rally happening at the same time and he is mistaken as one and hauled off to jail. While in jail he makes yet another mistake when he unknowingly uses a salt shaker filled with cocaine to salt his food. Fortunately for him the cocaine gives him such an adrenaline rush that he helps thwart a prison escape by knocking out his fellow convicts. This eventually leads to his release from jail.

The Tramp’s next job is in a shipyard. It’s a short-lived one after he accidentally sinks a ship. Faced with starvation the Tramp remembers that prison wasn’t so bad, with a warm bed and food to eat, so he tries to get arrested again. This is where he meets Paulette Goddard’s (Chaplin’s then wife) orphan character, whom he runs into as she’s fleeing from a bakery heist—she was hungry. She’s arrested and so is he after he knowingly steals some cigars. On their way to jail their paddy wagon swerves and both captives are thrown out.  And, so the Tramp and the orphan go on the lam together. Inspired by a dream sequence where he and the orphan can live together in suburban bliss with enough food to eat, the Tramp sets out to make this happen.

He takes a job as night watchman at a department store. Here the Tramp and the orphan eat to their hearts content.  Wearing roller skates the Tramp happens upon burglars who just want to eat.  The next morning the Tramp is found asleep and is taken to jail for all the “missing” items. When he gets out of jail he finds the orphan waiting for him. They move into a shack by the lake.  When his old steel mill reopens the Tramp gets a job as a mechanic’s assistant. One of the best sequences in the film happens here. While helping the mechanic (Chester Conklin) get the machines moving again, the Tramp sees his boss get caught in the machine and he has to help free his boss from the moving gears and wheels of the machine. At one point the only thing you can see of the mechanic is his head—he has literally been swallowed by the machine.

When the workers go on strike, the Tramp is out of a job yet again. When he accidentally hits a policeman in the head with a brick he’s taken back to jail. While he’s in jail the orphan gets a job as a dancer in a cabaret. She gets him a job as a waiter. Falling dishes, roast duck footballs, and forgotten song lyrics somehow aren’t enough to get him fired—and so he seems to have made it as a singing waiter. Too bad the juvenile authorities come to pick up the orphan and they have to flee secure jobs.
The final sequence finds the orphan girl downtrodden about their circumstances.  She wants to know what the point is in even trying.  It is up to the Tramp to keep her going—and that’s what he does.

Unlike other films where the Tramp is seen waddling out into the cold world alone, this one finds him waddling side-by-side with the girl he loves looking for the idealized American dream of prosperity.  It is a fitting end to the Little Tramp’s appearance on the Silver Screen.

This is most probably my favorite Little Tramp movie. All of the choreographed sequences are a treat to watch, especially the machine scenes.  I also enjoyed the message that Chaplin was trying to send with this film.  There is something overtly dehumanizing about the factory system. In addition, he does a good job of expressing what people really went through during the Depression.  People really did commit petty crimes just to stave off starvation or to end up in jail where they knew they would be given something to eat and a warm place to sleep. While he made only two appearances during the Great Depression (this and City Lights), I often think of the Little Tramp as its mascot.  As I said earlier, I think this was a fitting end for the Tramp.  Beaten down and dehumanized by industrialization, the Tramp looks to the future with hope, as no doubt millions of others did during this same time period. Truly a film of its time.

Step Aside, Jackie Chan! Make Way for Michelle Yeoh

When I think of strong female characters, my mind tends to wander to the cinema of Hong Kong. Perhaps I’m taking the concept of “strength” too literally, but I often consider the many popular Hong Kong actresses whose cinematic physical prowess is unquestioned: Brigitte Lin, Sharla Cheung Man, and Moon Lee. One of the most recognizable actresses, particularly to Western audiences, to come from Hong Kong movies is Michelle Yeoh.

After winning the Miss Malaysia beauty pageant in 1983, Yeoh appeared in a television commercial with Hong Kong’s top star, Jackie Chan, and made her screen debut in The Owl vs. Bumbo (1984). She starred in her first leading role in 1985, as a police inspector in Corey Yuen’s Yes, Madam!, opposite Cynthina Rothrock (an American-born martial artist/actress who first achieved fame in Hong Kong before U.S. audiences took notice). Yeoh was an instant star, appearing the subsequent year in Royal Warriors (her first two films were also known, respectively (and interestingly), as In the Line of Duty 2 and In the Line of Duty, both in a series which continued without Yeoh). In 1987, Yeoh starred in Magnificent Warriors and in a non-action role in Easy Money. By the following year, Yeoh married producer Dickson Poon, co-founder of D & B Films (which had produced all of her movies), and officially retired from the film industry.

While a woman can demonstrate her strength in many other ways than simple physicality, an actress in the Hong Kong cinema has fewer options. Films in Hong Kong are made as quickly and cheaply as possible, almost like an assembly line. Consequently, the filmmakers allow most movies to be defined by a broad genre, and action has long been one of the most successful film genres in that region. For an actress to stand out among so many men, she generally has to punch and kick her way through her male co-stars.

Yeoh’s early films display her talent in both drama and action. But it is interesting to view her against the men whom she’s essentially replacing. In Yes, Madam!, both she and fellow star Rothrock have boyish haircuts and dress in attire that, for the most part, does not differ much from the male villains or officers. Royal Warriors takes a similar approach. Although early in the movie Yeoh is engaged in combat with a pink bow in her hair and wearing a skirt and tights, she dresses down as the narrative progresses. By the end, in an action scene fueled by vengeance (an intense and memorable sequence in which Yeoh fights a man wielding a chainsaw), any femininity suggested by womanly apparel is completely lacking. By Magnificent Warriors, although Yeoh’s hair is longer, and she is as charming as ever, she is, for all intents and purposes, playing a role that could easily have been written for a male. None of this is meant to insinuate that Yeoh resembles a man in these films (many supporting characters acknowledge her beauty), but it seems that, in order to contend with the males, she must disregard her own gender.

Three years after her marriage to Poon, Yeoh divorced the producer and came out of retirement to co-star with Jackie Chan in 1992’s Police Story III: Supercop (Chan’s first film of the series, Police Story, was released the same year as Yeoh’s breakout role in Yes, Madam!). In Police Story III, Chan reprises his character, Chen Chia-chu, who is sent on a mission to bring down a drug lord, Chaibat (Kenneth Tsang). With the direction and aid of Interpol director Yang (Yeoh), Chen goes undercover and teams up with Panther (Yuen Wah), hoping the criminal will lead them to Chaibat.

Director Stanley Tong, who’d previously worked as a stuntman (and prides himself on testing stunts in his films before asking his actors to perform them), had worked with Yeoh during her time with D & B Films. He offers a much different and more rewarding character for the actress in Police Story III. Yang’s introduction in the film has her in full uniform. She stands upright and walks almost in a march. Such a mechanical demeanor seems to make Yeoh’s character genderless. However, she reappears later in the film, posing as Chen’s sister, dressed like a young girl and her previously unseen hair in braided pigtails. Chen is dumbfounded (though it’s mostly due to the fact that he’s confusing the details of his undercover assignment), but much of the audience in 1992 was sure to have likewise been in awe. With Yeoh’s first film in five years, Tong reminds the audience that the actress is not only a female action star but is also incredibly gorgeous.

From the beginning, Yang is clearly shown as a strong character. While discussing the mission with Chen, Yang easily recites the history of the man’s undercover profile, and, to prove a point, runs through Chen’s own biography faster than he can. As Chen prepares for the assignment, he seems uncomfortable having pictures taken for ID cards, and though he mocks having to memorize his character’s historical data, he predictably forgets most of it and needs help simply locating the village in which he was supposed to have been raised. With Yang displaying her intelligence and leadership abilities and even proving adept with a firearm during Chen and Panther’s “escape” from prison, one would guess that the only point of expertise that Chen has over Yang would be combat. This, however, is quickly refuted when Panther is recognized by cops at a restaurant, and he and Chen are arrested. From a small crowd, Yang flies into the air and, in a single move, knocks two officers to the ground. Rather than simply equal Chen’s skills, she unintentionally outdoes him by throwing chopsticks (two of them thrown as weapons, preventing a cop from retrieving his weapon), which Chen follows up by clumsily (and hysterically) tossing a handful of chopsticks.

While Yeoh’s first films presented the audience with a beautiful woman skilled at fighting, Tong initially shows her in Police Story III as a competent female, and only then does he reveal her physical allure. The pigtails eventually become long, jet black hair, a radiant contradiction -- in one highly explosive action scene -- to Yeoh behind a bulletproof vest. Later in the film, Yeoh wears a jumpsuit with her long legs bare (which plays well when Chen’s girlfriend, May (Maggie Cheung), not realizing that her boyfriend’s undercover, assumes that Chen and Yang are lovers). In the film’s final sequence, Yeoh is dressed as a Muslim woman, complete with a head covering (hijab) and ankle-length baggy pants. But when the action starts, the hijab falls off and unveils her long hair, and hidden slits in the pants expose her bare legs once again. (In Hong Kong cinema, long hair is typically a confirmation of a woman’s sexuality. In some films, a woman can merely hide her hair and be mistaken for a male, like Yeoh herself in 1994’s Wing Chun.) Though the constant cues of Yeoh’s comeliness may seem exploitative, they contrarily are reminders of the simple fact that she is a woman. She need not deny her femininity to compete with the men. She can be a beautiful woman and still kick her male co-stars in the face.

Yeoh not only showcases her strength through her character, Yang, but also manages to steal the spotlight from Hong Kong’s most bankable star. Her acting chops are undeniable, but Yeoh additionally matches two of Chan’s most discernible traits: comedy and stunts. This is not a statement meant to be derogatory to Chan, who is terrific in Police Story III. But Chan’s trademark comedy is complimented by Yeoh’s wry retorts. For instance, Chen playfully squeezing Yang’s cheeks when she’s introduced to Panther and his crew as his sister (an act which he wouldn’t dare do with Yang in uniform) is countered by Yang punching him in the chest. And while Chan performs impressive stunt work in the film, Yeoh also does her own stunts, including hanging onto a speeding van, falling off said van and landing on a trailing sports car, and, her pièce de résistance, riding a motorcycle onto a moving train (she first had to learn to ride a motorcycle).

Yeoh had no formal martial arts training. She did, however, study ballet at the Royal Academy of Dance in England before an injury forced her to shift her studies to drama. In addition to being trained in fight choreography, Yeoh also had to learn her lines phonetically. The actress, who was born in Ipok in Perak, Malaysia, spoke Malay and English, but not Cantonese, the Chinese dialect most often spoken in Hong Kong before 1997 (although it’s still frequently spoken even after the country’s reunification with China). Yeoh repeated the process during the filming of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), which was filmed in the mainland China dialect of Mandarin.

Yeoh continued playing strong female characters in her films, like the Police Story III spin-off, 1993’s Project S (aka Once a Cop; Supercop 2), The Tai Chi Master (1993) with Jet Li, and Wing Chun. In Silver Hawk (2004), Yeoh is the whole package: a wealthy, resourceful and self-reliant woman who vanquishes bad guys as a comic book heroine, and all while stylishly adorned in various costumes.

Yeoh was virutally unknown in the U.S. but quickly rose to stardom upon re-release of Police Story III in American theaters in 1996 (titled simply Supercop), following the success of Chan’s Rumble in the Bronx (also directed by Tong) earlier in the year. In 1997, Yeoh made her U.S. debut as a Bond Girl opposite Pierce Brosnan in Tomorrow Never Dies (her Police Story III co-star, Tsang, had a small role in a later Bond film with Brosnan, 2002’s Die Another Day). Yeoh was nominated for several awards, including a BAFTA, for her performance in Ang Lee’s popular Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, also starring Chow Yun-Fat. More recently, Yeoh has received acclaim for her part in Reign of Assassins (2010), co-directed by John Woo.

Bette Davis in The Little Foxes -- Evil Personified

"Take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines.  For our vines have tender grapes."  "Song of Solomon"

In her prime, Bette Davis played many different types of strong women, some willing to commit acts of violence from desperation, some with less than moral scruples.  However, she played true evil as Regina Giddens in Lillian Hellman's play The Little Foxes.  First performed on Broadway by Tallulah Bankhead, Regina's character was given the Davis touch and delivered to movie audiences of 1941 a woman with no redeeming qualities at all.  It is impossible to see any other actress in the role after seeing Davis.  The Goldwyn Company was able to borrow Davis from Jack Warner because he owed a gambling debt of $300,000 to Goldwyn.  When Davis found out about this, she demanded more money for her work, and got it.  That was only the beginning of difficulties for Goldwyn in making the film.  Davis and director William Wyler clashed on several points of the portrayal of Regina -- Wyler wanted Davis to play her as Bankhead did, a desperate, aging southern belle under the thumb of her evil brothers.  Davis saw the part in a different way, and eventually got her way, even to the physical appearance of Regina, which Wyler hated.  Wyler was wrong.  Davis' interpretation was brilliant, and created one of the most memorable roles of her career.  After The Little Foxes, Davis and Wyler never worked together again, so vitriolic was their relationship during filming.

Set in the early 1900's, The Little Foxes is a story of greed and moral decomposition as Regina and her brothers, Ben Hubbard (Charles Dingle) and Oscar (Carl Benton Reid) hatch a business scheme that will make them rich while bleeding their town dry and leaving the people at poverty-level.  The three siblings don't even love each other, much less their fellow men.  Regina is married to Horace (Herbert Marshall), a decent and caring man whom she despises, but her only source of the the money she needs to get into the deal. Horace is a very sick man with a heart condition from which he is not expected to recover.  When Horace refuses to finance the slimy business deal for Regina, she has no qualms about telling him she is waiting for him to die so she can get what she wants.  The story takes many dips and turns, and must be seen to appreciate, so you won't find any spoilers here!

Caught in the middle of this ugly family situation is Horace and Regina's daughter Alexandra (Teresa Wright in her movie debut).  Alexandra is young, naive and unable to quite understand what is going on.  Her mother's behavior confuses and angers her, and she is distraught at the thought of losing her beloved father.  Her friend David Hewitt (Richard Carlson) is a savvy young newspaper reporter who knows exactly what is going on, and tries to help Alexandra grow up and accept reality.  (The part of David was not in the original play -- he was inserted into the film in order to have a sympathetic male character besides the ailing Horace.)

The other younger member of the family is Leo, brother Oscar's son (Dan Duryea), and a wormier, nastier character you will never see.  Leo is juvenile and stupid, yet just as unscrupulous as his father.  Oscar and Regina would like to see the two cousins marry to keep the money in the family, a good example of their absolute lack of love for even their own children.

In my opinion, one of the strongest performances comes from Patricia Collinge as Birdie, Oscar's pitiable wife.  Collinge brings the bullied Birdie to distressing life, a sweet woman whose life with the cold, calculating husband has been pure hell.  She is loved by everyone except her husband and son Leo, but she is too damaged to overcome the tragedy of her life.  Collinge was mainly a well known stage actress, but did a few movies, including Shadow of a Doubt and The Nun's Story.

Although Davis dominates the film, as she does most of her films, The Little Foxes is a striking piece of ensemble acting.  Along with Collinge and Herbert Marshall, the supporting players are perfectly cast.  Carl Benton Reid as the cold, humorless Oscar appeared in such films as In A Lonely Place and The Pied Piper of Hamlin, a wonderful 1957 television version with Claude Rains.  Charles Dingle as Ben is chilling as a supposedly affable, smiling villain, and he made only a few films, such as Call Me Madam and Duel in the Sun.  It is hard to believe he was in so few films; perhaps I remember him so well because of The Little Foxes, and deservedly so.  Richard Carlson was quite good as David, and did lend a more hopeful atmosphere to this bleak story, although his inclusion was more of a Hollywood desire to tone down Lillian Hellman's disturbing play.  Dan Duryea, who specialized in snivelling villains, is perfection as Leo.  Two of my favorite supporting players are Jessica Grayson and John Marriott.  Grayson as the housekeeper Addie gives a superb performance with her love for Alexandra and her horror at the development of the schemes of Regina and her brothers.  One of her lines was "There are people who eat the world" and Addie's wisdom is played well.  John Marriott plays one of the house servants as well, devoted to Horace, lending a little sweet humor to the story.

There are movie-goers who confuse a role with the real person of the actor, such as was Gene Tierney's experience after she played the wicked Ellen in Leave Her to Heaven.  Tierney was accosted by some people who told her she should be ashamed of herself.  This type of reaction is quite a compliment to an actor's performance.  I do not know if this ever happened to Bette Davis after The Little Foxes, but she is so realistic and chilling, it would not be a surprise if it had.  Davis, one of the strongest and most determined actresses in Hollywood history, plays a part that highlights her incredible talent as Regina in The Little Foxes.  She is so good that she is easy to hate, but Bette, we still love you!

Trivia Time - Part 66

This week's TT should be very easy if you're of a "certain age", but if not, it could be tough!

Who Am I? My career spanned more than 50 years. By my third year in film, I had already worked with Ethel Barrymore in an Oscar-winning movie, albeit uncredited. I also worked with Cornell Wilde, Dick Powell, Spring Byington, George Sanders, James Cagney, Paul Henreid, and Rita Moreno among others. I appeared in numerous television productions beginning in the late '40s. Eventually I ended up with a TV show of my own in the '60s, which lasted only one season. Who Am I?

1. Name the TV series and Oscar-winning film mentioned in Who Am I?.

2. Which film starred Bruce Davison and Kim Darby?

3. Name at least four films from the 1970s in which Bud Cort appeared.

4. Who were the stars of the film, Getting Straight?

5. Name the "stars" of the film, Carry It On.

6. Name the ABC series starring Jack Warden, Frank Converse, and Robert Hooks.

7. The theme song for the first season of this popular ABC series was an instrumental composition. From the second season on, lyrics were added by Morgan Ames. Name the series, stars, composer of the theme, who sang it, and the theme's new title.

8. Alan Price was featured in one film in the '60s and one film in the '70s. Name the films, stars and the directors.

9. In the second of the Malcolm McDowell/Mick Travis sagas, Mick has a job as a traveling salesman. What was he selling? Name the film.

10. Which composer wrote more scores for Flynn movies: Max Steiner or Erich Korngold?

Trivia Time - Part 65 - the Answers

Here are the answers to the remaining questions from TT65:

Who Are We? We made two films together; the first was a Western and was the first Western for both of us. In real life we had an affair during the filming of that first movie. Who Are We?

Answer: Jimmy Stewart and Marlene Dietrich

5. Name the films referred to in Who Are We?

Answer: Destry Rides Again, No Highway in the Sky

9. Name the lady who was reportedly slandered by the leading man in #8.

Answer: Olivia de Havilland

10. Name one thing these films have in common: Sergeant York, The Invisible Man (1933), Bad Day at Black Rock, and Tammy and the Bachelor.

Answer: Walter Brennan

The Greatest Dramatic Female Role: Camille

In 1852 Alexandre Dumas, fils., published his dramatic novel La Dame aux Camelias. After becoming an overwhelming success in France, the novel was adapted into what is considered the most popular stage play ever produced: “Camille”. Based on Dumas’ own relationship with the tuberculosis-ridden courtesan Marie du Plessis, the story has seen countless retellings on both the stage and screen.  The most recent film adaptation is Baz Luhrmann’s outstanding musical, Moulin Rouge (2001), starring Nicole Kidman as Satine. And, if you happened to be at the Met on New Year’s Eve you saw the newest (and most energetic) version of Verdi’s “La Traviata”—the operatic retelling of “Camille” (but with a name change to Violetta). Whatever name the female lead is given, the story of “Camille” is one every actress worth her salt wants to play.  The New York Times said it best in 1904: “What the North Pole is to the intrepid explorer seeking for fame Camille is to the actress. It is the undiscovered country, always alluring, always fascinating. No other role—unless it be possibly that of Juliet—holds such potent attractiveness for the ambitious woman player.”

Greta Garbo was an ambitious woman player, and in 1936 she gave her greatest dramatic performance in the film Camille. Aided by the steady hand of director George Cukor, Garbo delivered the definitive portrayal of the doomed Parisian courtesan. Although she was nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award, Garbo lost to Luise Rainer in The Good Earth. (I have a big issue with this not only because I believe Garbo was more deserving, but because Barbara Stanwyck’s nominated performance in Stella Dallas was better as well.)  Sadly, legendary MGM producer Irving Thalberg didn’t live to see this film to its end, but if he had to die and leave one film behind, this was the one.

In the film, Garbo plays Marguerite “Camille” Gautier, a beautiful Parisian courtesan plagued with tuberculosis in mid-19th century Paris. Tuberculosis isn’t the only thing Marguerite is plagued with, though—she has a “heart bigger than her purse” and this leads her into a fateful love triangle with the rich Baron de Varville (Henry Daniell) and the handsome, but not rich, Armand Duval (Robert Taylor).

While Marguerite obviously loves Arnaud, she constantly pushes him away due to her financial needs, as well as her fear of being in love—she doesn’t believe it lasts. One of the more telling lines about her financial needs comes when Arnaud offers to take her to the country on his seven thousand francs a year and she says she spends more than that in a month.  Yet, somehow he convinces her to ditch the Baron and retreat to the country with him.

Once Marguerite makes the difficult decision to leave the Baron, she has to deal with the act of telling him and procuring from him 40,000 francs to cover her debts.  Henry Daniell is really good in this scene (actually, he’s good in the entire film, but this is his best scene). He plays it with just the right amount of wounded pride and anger. I especially enjoy watching him tell Marguerite that he’s glad to get rid of such a fool and then slaps her across the face after he gives her the money.

And so for a time, Marguerite and Arnaud live blissfully in the French countryside. Yet, money and Marguerite’s past are still an issue. Their happiness comes to an end when Arnaud’s father (Lionel Barrymore) pays Marguerite a surprise visit and asks her to give Arnaud up to save his diplomatic career. In every film they appeared in together Barrymore and Garbo always played well off one another, and this scene is probably one of their more memorable. At first, it is a feisty confrontation between the two, but once Monsieur Duval realizes Marguerite loves his son his tone becomes more sympathetic. Still, in the end, he convinces her to give his son up. And this brings us to the three most unforgettable scenes in the film.

Knowing that she can’t convince Arnaud that she doesn’t love him, she does the only thing she knows will sever their relationship forever: she chooses money and the Baron over him. The look on Robert Taylor’s face when Marguerite walks out the door is priceless. Garbo is more than believably callous in this confrontation.

Hardened by his dismissal from Marguerite, Arnaud seems like a totally different man when he meets Marguerite and the Baron at a casino.  Quoting the quintessential line of the play (and a play that they’ve just come from), Arnaud says it is “The story of a man who loved a woman more than his honor and a woman who wanted luxury more than his love.” This leads to a strange face-off between Arnaud and the Baron at the baccarat table, where Arnaud wins a fortune. Still, after all that she’s done to him, Arnaud begs Marguerite to run away with him. When he says that she will be free of him forever if she can say that she loves the Baron, Garbo’s Marguerite makes her final sacrifice and says yes.  This is painful to watch, it is so emotionally raw. You compound this with Arnaud’s throwing his winnings at her feet and declaring he owes her nothing now that he has paid his debt, and you have one helluva confrontation. Of course, this leads to a duel in which the Baron is wounded and from which Arnaud must leave the country. 

But what happens in the end, you ask? It’s a tragic love story, so have some tissues close at hand when you watch to find out that answer. Needless to say, it is a classic ending…one you will never forget.

This was Garbo’s favorite role. In it she showed just how talented she was.  There are few actresses who truly make you believe they are the character they are portraying, but Garbo embodies this role completely.  It is truly one of the greatest female screen performances ever.

There are very few films that I rate as excellent, but this is one that I thinks deserves that ranking.  The story is a timeless tale of sacrificial love—a favorite theme of mine.  The acting is of superior caliber, especially Garbo and Daniell. For those who are enraptured by elegant, luxurious costumes, this film delivers. Garbo looks stunning in all of her gowns (lots of flounces and ruffles) and the men appear dashing and debonair in their 19th century long coats and top hats. Overall, it is a spectacular production that all classic cinema fans should encounter at least once…if not several times.

"Dead Ringer" Rings True With Many Surprises

Dead Ringer is one of several thriller movies that Bette Davis made in the 1960s. She made both it and Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte in 1964. In addition, she also made creepy classics Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? in 1962 and The Nanny in 1965. However, Dead Ringer is my favorite of these films.

It co-starred Karl Malden, who won an Oscar as Mitch in A Streetcar Name Desire (1951). Later in his career, he achieved television fame with the hit series The Streets of San Francisco (1972-1977) co-starring a little-known young Michael Douglas. Surprisingly, Malden never won an Emmy for his portrayal of the character Detective Lt. Mike Stone on the show.

The screenplay to Dead Ringer is based on the story La Otra, also called Dead Pigeon, by Rian James who was one of the screenwriters. The movie was directed by former actor Paul Henreid, whose most famous performances were in 1942’s Casablanca with Humphrey Bogart and in Now, Voyager in 1942 with Bette Davis. He directed other movies and several episodes of television shows such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Maverick, Bonanza and The Big Valley.

The story begins when Edith Phillips comes to the funeral of her twin sister’s husband. Edith and Margaret DeLorca are identical twins. Margaret, called Maggie by her friends, sees her sister and invites her to her house. Edith is shocked to enter the DeLorca mansion and see the decadence in which Maggie lives. Maggie takes her upstairs to her bedroom, where she has the gall to offer Edith clothes she is going to throw out. However, Edith sees a mink stole and likes her image in the mirror. Edith tells Maggie that she has been living in Los Angeles for years and has kept up with Maggie in the social news. We soon discover that Edith was deeply in love with Mr. DeLorca.

The problem is that Maggie had a relationship with him as well and Mr. DeLorca married her because she told him she was pregnant. Edith questions her sister about the baby, whom Maggie says died when he was an infant. Bitter over Maggie’s life style and her lack of sympathy for her dead husband, Edith storms out of the house. She stops halfway down the stairs and looks sadly at Mr. DeLorca’s large portrait. Henry, the butler, notices how sad she is and tells her what a good man Mr. DeLorca was. You can tell her that Henry (Cyril Delevanti) is not fond of Mrs. DeLorca. Maggie’s chauffeur drives Edith home. She questions him about the child that died. He informs her that he has been with the DeLorca family for many years and tells her that no child ever born.

Edith owns a bar in the poor section of town and lives in a one room over it. The bar is small, but Edith is a hard worker. Police Sergeant Jim Hobbson (played touchingly by Karl Malden) comes to visit Edith on her birthday and her a watch as a present. Hobbson is in love with Edith, but has never really told her. He just assumes she knows it. Later that night after Hobbson has left, Edith is confronted by the building’s owner, whom she owes three months rent. Edith is a nice woman who kindly helps others which causes her dilemma with the rent. She goes back to her room and calls her sister, telling her she knows everything and wants her come over right away.

While waiting for her twin’s arrival, Edith puts on a robe and hides a revolver in her dresser. She also writes a note. Maggie comes in the room and Edith tells her to sit down. She angrily tells Maggie that she knows that there was never a child and asks Maggie why she lied to DeLorca. Maggie admits she was never pregnant and offers her sister money. Angrily, Edith says no amount of money is enough for what Maggie has done to her by marrying the man she loved. She pushes Maggie in a chair and tells her to read the note. As Maggie reads it, Edith goes to the dresser, takes out the gun and shoots her sister in the head, making it look like suicide. In a creepy scene after her sister is dead, Edith undresses her and puts her robe on her sister’s body and changes into her sister’s clothes and leaves. Thus, Edith is going to live the life of luxury that she feels she was denied. The new Mrs. DeLorca’s chauffer then drives her to the mansion.

Soon Edith realizes that her plot is not as easy as she thought. She looks just like her sister, however, she does not know the names of Maggie’s friends, nor the combination of her safe, and she cannot duplicate her sister’s signature. She also has the maid and the butler, who know Mrs. DeLorca’s rather callus side, to fool as well. Mr. DeLorca’s Great Dane, who never liked Maggie, suddenly adores the new Mrs. DeLorca.

Things for Edith just get worse and worse. Maggie’s life turns out to be more complicated than Edith could ever have imagined. There are many twists and turns in the story which make the movie so entertaining. Edith’s bitterness toward her sister is the cause of her downfall. It is sad to watch her spiraling deeper into the misery of assuming her sister’s identity causes her. She is basically a good person, but bitterness and greed overcome her.

Dead Ringer was remade in 1986 as a made-for-television movie called Killer in the Mirror, with Ann Gillian playing the twin sisters. In Dead Ringer, Paul Henreid wanted Lana Turner to play the twins but she turned down the role. In turn, Bette Davis turned down a role in a movie called 4 for Texas starring Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin to play the twins in Dead Ringer. This wasn’t the only film in which Davis played identical twins. She played twins in A Stolen Life (1946) with Glen Ford.

If you watch this movie, notice the young actress playing Mrs. DeLorca’s maid, Janet. Her name is Monika Henreid and she is Paul’s daughter. Paul Henreid also directed a movie called Ballad in Blue in 1964 where his daughter had a small role as well.

If you get a chance, catch this thriller on DVD or Netflix. It is worth your time.

Barbara Stanwyck Is Stellar in Stella Dallas

Throughout her storied career Barbara Stanwyck played every female character produced by Hollywood: ingénue, seductress, bad girl, gangster moll, heroine, entertainer, con woman, socialite, etc. While she carried every role off like a true professional, it was the working class girl who wanted to make good role that she most excelled at.  This most probably had to do with her meager, but colorful, upbringing. Orphaned at the age of four, she spent time in foster homes, but was primarily raised by her showgirl sister, Mildred. It was on the vaudeville circuit with Mildred that Stanwyck learned what it took to get ahead in life: strength, determination, and ambition. These, of course, are the same characteristics that many of Stanwyck’s working class roles required—especially Stella Dallas.

Considered one of the best female character roles of all time, Stella Dallas earned Stanwyck the first of her four Academy Award nominations for Best Actress. The daughter of a mill worker, Stella schemes to marry her father’s boss, Stephen (John Boles).  Although they are from two very different backgrounds—he is reserved and refined, while she is loud and crass—they find themselves married and raising a daughter. As Stella finds herself bored with Stephen’s ways, she begins to revert to her tacky ways.  Eventually Stephen leaves her, but leaves their daughter Lollie (Anne Shirley) with Stella because he knows that she is a good mother. As time passes, Stephen finds a much more suitable (and wealthy) woman (Barbara O’Neil) to marry, but Stella doesn’t want to give him a divorce because she’s afraid she’ll lose Lollie. In the end, when she realizes that she cannot give Lollie the life she wants her to have, she makes the ultimate sacrifice.
Of all her roles, and there were many to choose from, this was Stanwyck’s favorite. What’s interesting about this is that Samuel Goldwyn didn’t want to give her the part. He thought she lacked the necessary sex appeal for Stella and wanted Ruth Chatterton for the role. All I can say is: Really? Thankfully director King Vidor and hunky Zeppo Marx (her agent—yes, really) finally convinced Goldwyn that Stanwyck was the right woman for the role.

Based on the Olive Higgins Prouty’s popular novel of the same name, Stella Dallas is considered one of the greatest tearjerkers ever produced. It is a melodramatic film, but it isn’t schmaltzy. This, of course, has to do with Stanwyck’s multifaceted performance. At times, she plays her character as a conniving shrew and you just want to slap some sense of decency into her. Then, she plays Stella as a loving and devoted mother and you just want to wrap your arms around her and give her a hug.  I suppose the scene where she convinces Lollie that she wants to get rid of her so she can run off to South America with her salesman boyfriend is my favorite because Stanwyck plays it with such raw emotion.  Knowing that the only way she can get Lollie to leave her is to convince her that she doesn’t want or need her, Stella is almost ruthless in the act she puts on for Lollie. Not every actress could pull this off, but Stanwyck does a wonderful job of having the audience both hate and admire her at the same time in this scene. It is difficult to watch this, but at least the final scene in the film heals some of the hurt that the audience has endured by Stella’s sacrifice.

This is a film ruled by women---the men are totally forgettable.  Besides Stanwyck’s great performance, the audience is treated to two standout offerings by Shirley and O’Neil. Nominated for Best Supporting Actress, Shirley does a nice job of playing a young woman who loves her mother but is conflicted by her desire to live a more respectable life.  This may have been the finest performance of her career (I do like her in Murder, My Sweet though), but sometimes it is difficult for me to suspend my belief that Stanwyck was old enough to play her mother (they were only eleven years apart in age). That said, she does give a touching performance. An interesting aside about the Stanwyck/Shirley connection is that Shirley played Stanwyck’s younger self in So Big (1932). In addition to Stanwyck and Shirley, O’Neil also does a fine turn as Stella’s polar opposite. I enjoyed watching her scene with Stanwyck.  It was one of those only another mother could understand moments that pull at your heartstrings.

In the end, Stella Dallas is a film you don’t want to watch without a box of tissues.  It is a prime piece of evidence that Stanwyck was one of the greatest actresses to grace the silver screen.

Trivia Time - Part 65

Well, it's a New Year and here's another episode of Trivia Time! Enjoy!

Who Are We? We made two films together; the first was a Western and was the first Western for both of us. In real life we had an affair during the filming of that first movie. Who Are We?

Who Am I and Which Film is This? Once after kissing Ann Sheridan on screen, my character remarked, "It would have been better with a French girl!" Who Am I and Which Film is This?

1. Name the director of the film mentioned in Who Am I and Which Film is This?

2. Name Suzanne Pleshette's first film and the director.

3. Name two aviation films with screenplays by Ernest K. Gann, based on his own books. Name the stars and the directors as well.

4. Who was first offered the role of Tom Destry in Destry Rides Again, but turned it down?

5. Name the films referred to in Who Are We?

6. Name one thing these films have in common: Fate Is the Hunter, White Christmas, Now Voyager, and the Man Who Came To Dinner.

7. Name the Saturday sports show which ran on CBS in the '60s and '70s.

8. Rumor has it that this Warner Brothers director took offense to a nasty comment about a lady made by this leading man. They had a fist fight in David O. Selznick's front yard and both ended up being treated at different hospitals. Name them and the film they eventually made together.

9. Name the lady who was reportedly slandered by the leading man in #8.

10. Name one thing these films have in common: Sergeant York, The Invisible Man (1933), Bad Day at Black Rock, and Tammy and the Bachelor.

Trivia Time - Part 64 - the Answers

Happy New Year to all!!

Who Am I? My career has thus far spanned over 50 years. I was one of the major leading men in the world of film. One of my earliest roles was uncredited; I played a deckhand on the Titanic in A Night To Remember. Who Am I?

Answer: Sean Connery

1. Director Joe Dante and screenwriter Chris Columbus have a lot of fun with inside jokes in the movie Gremlins. Four of the best take place in the first half of the film. For a free pass for the month of January, name them in order and be specific.

Answer: (1) Two films listed on a theater marquee are Watch the Skies and A Boy's Life, which were the working titles for Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. (2) The person who comments on the dragon drawings by Polly Holliday is none other than the famous animator, Chuck Jones. (3) Just before Gizmo's first "metamorphosis", the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers is running on TV in the background. (4) At the inventors' convention, Steven Spielberg rides a bicycle past Hoyt Axton while he is in the phone booth.

2. Speaking of inside jokes, there's a running gag throughout the entire first Muppet Movie. In fact, Kermit even looks at the camera and says, "Oh no! It's a running gag!". What is the running gag? Be specific.

Answer: When anyone says they're lost, the reply is, "Have you tried Hare Krishna?".

3. This '70s movie was based on a song of the same name, sung by a character in a series of acclaimed commercials for a bakery in the Mid-West. Name the character in the commercials, the film and the lead star.

Answer: C. W. McCall, Convoy, Kris Kristofferson

5. Along with Tron, which other film was a major early pioneer in computer-generated special effects? Name the stars and the director as well.

Answer: The Last Starfighter, Lance Guest and Catherine Mary Stewart, Nick Castle

6. In addition to the special effects, why is the movie in #5 important in the history of Hollywood?

Answer: Robert Preston's last feature film

8. Which actress once played a queen from whom she was actually descended? Name the actress and the film.

Answer: Katharine Hepburn played Eleanor of Aquitaine in the Lion In Winter.

9. In the late '50s and early '60s, these two music groups did soft drink commercials for TV. Name the groups and the soft drinks.

Answer: The Limelighters for Coca Cola and the Kingston Trio for 7-Up.

Underrated Performer of the Month: Ida Lupino

It's unfair perhaps to recognize Ida Lupino as the Cafe's Underrated Performer of the Month for January. She was indeed underrated as an actress, even by her own standards (having once referred to herself as a "poor man's Bette Davis"). But Ms. Lupino was more than just an actress. During the late 1940s and 1950s--when Hollywood film production was dominated by men--she carved out a successful career as a producer, screenwriter, and director.

She was born in London in 1918 to parents who both worked in show business. Ida landed her first film role when her mother, Emerald, auditioned for a Lolita-type role for 1933's Her First Affaire. Her mother didn't get the part, but director Allan Dwan was impressed with Ida and signed her for the role. She worked steadily in Britain and the U.S. throughout the rest of the 1930s, appearing in films such as The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes with Basil Rathbone and The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt (an amusing turn in the best of Warren William's Lone Wolf  film series).

Lupino with Cornel Wilde
in Road House.

Ida Lupino landed her biggest role to date in 1939's The Light That Failed, a touching adapatation of a Rudyard Kipling novel about an artist (Ronald Colman) losing his eyesight. As a hard-bitten Cockney girl, Lupin earned raved notices and became a star at Warner Bros. She subsequently starred in classics such as They Drive By Night, High Sierra, and Devotion.

By 1947, Lupino found it harder to get good roles. She left Warner Bros. and co-wrote the screenplay for a B-film called Not Wanted (1949), a somewhat controversial (for the time) tale of an unwed mother. When director Elmer Clifton fell ill during the shooting, Lupino took over the directing chores.

She continued directing independent films in the 1950s, to include: Outrage (1950); Hard, Fast and Beautiful (1951) starring Claire Trevor; The Bigamist (1953) in which she co-starred with Joan Fontaine; and The Hitch-Hiker (1953), a taut little thriller that's generally considered her best film. Starting in 1956, she beginning working as a director in television, where she helmed episodes for dozens of TV series such as The Fugitive, Thriller, Dr. Kildare, Twilight Zone, Bewitched, The Virginian, and Have Gun Will Travel. She also formed a television production company, Four Star Productions, with Dick Powell, David Niven, and Charles Boyer.

She still appeared occasionally in films and on television. New York Times film critic Vincent Canby singled out for her fine supporting performance in the 1972 Steve McQueen Junior Bonner.

Ida Lupino was married three times: to actor Louis Hayward (1938-45), producer Collier Young (1948-51), and actor Howard Duff (1951-84). She died of a stroke in 1995 at age 77. Classic movie fans may remember her best for her acting, but her greatest contribution to the industry was as a pioneering female filmmaker. She was just the second woman to be inducted in the Director's Guild of America (following Dorothy Arzner).