The Thief of Bagdad (1924 and 1940)

In the first of these two diverging tellings of the Arabian Nights tales, Douglas Fairbanks stars as a beggar and master pickpocket in the Bagdad bazar who becomes completely awestruck at the sight of the princess (Julanne Johnston) and seeks to break into the castle at the same time she is visited by an evil Mongolian sultan and two other loutish princes all trying to win her hand. An Alexander Korda produced (and partially directed by Michael Powell) barely related follow-up sees a feckless King (John Justin) overthrown by his iniquitous right-hand Jafar (Conrad Viedt), finding his purpose in the princess (played by June Duprez also targeted by Jafar), and sharing the fate of an industrious street urchin (Sabu) who happens upon an insolent, all-powerful genie. Raoul Walsh’s 1924 treatment of The Thief of Bagdad is a rousing silent entertainment, boasting an exciting story, remarkable sets, and an engaging Fairbanks performance. The 1940 British update, released to a besieged wartime audience, is a fantastic family entertainment featuring state of the art Technicolor special effects that make you lament the current state of the magic-lacking movies. Sabu, Justin, Viegt and Ingram all leave an imprint.

1924 version: *** ½ out of ****

1940 version: *** ½ out of ****

The Learning Tree

A principled black teen in 1920s rural Kansas looks forward to leaving his close-minded community, while savoring its life lessons and positives aspects, while witnessing a headstrong peer being driven towards a life of crime and poverty. In adapting his own autobiographical novel, Gordon Parks was involved in just about every aspect of the film's creation, including producing, writing, directing, and scoring the music while at the same time becoming the first black director of a major studio picture. That being said, The Learning Tree is an involving message movie with familiar elements that goes its own route, sometimes explicitly, which must have been eye-opening in its era. A genuine cast helps too.

*** out of ****

The Best Years of Our Lives

An elder Army sergeant (Frederic March), a bombardier (Dana Andrews), and a sailor (Harold Russell, a real life veteran and Oscar winner for the role), who lost his hands in a bombing and now is fairly functional with metal hooks, return from their tour at war's end and find their families, jobs, and themselves almost unrecognizable as they struggle to cope with their return. William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives is overlong and at times mannered, but extremely touching and well realized with tremendous acting by all involved, also including Myrna Loy and Teresa Wright playing March's wife and daughter, respectively.

*** 1/2 out of ****.

Nanook of the North

In 1914, explorer Robert J Flaherty decided to document an Inuit family he had befriended along the Hudson Bay area in Canada and, in doing so, essentially pioneered a brand new form of nonfiction filmmaking. His silent documentary features memorable scene after memorable scene and remarkable footage of an enchanting sept. Impressive for its time or any time for that matter and its influence is incalculable.

**** out of ****

Sunrise

A farmer (George O'Brien) has an affair with a seductress (Margaret Livingston) who, after fleecing him of his money, convinces him to drown his wife (Janet Gaynor). Released at the birth of the talking era, F.W.Murnau's breathtakingly expressive Sunrise is a swan song to silent film. Changing gears from soapy to soppy to somber and tragic, it always feels genuine while boasting wondrous sets, expert cinematography, and emotive portrayals from its players.

The Grapes of Wrath

In Dustbowl Oklahoma, the Joad family is forced off their land by foreclosure and seeks a new start in California with thousands of other migratory laborers only to find misery in the form of scarce, bottom of the barrel labor, crowded and impoverished camp sights, police intimidation, union suppression, disease, and death. John Ford's film version of John Steinbeck's epic populist novel is marked by Greg Toland's exceptional, unsullied cinematography, an iconic Henry Fonda performance, fine supporting work from Jane Darwell and John Carradine, and a tendency to sermonize.

*** 1/2 out of ****

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Revisiting Walt Disney's enduring triumph, the first feature length animated movie, in addition to being struck by the exemplary, painstaking animation, the endearing characters and story, and its many memorable moments, I was taken aback by how grown-up the production is, with just as many considerably dark instances to complement the lighthearted ones, a shock compared to the mostly syrupy, patronizing studio cartoon features of today.

**** out of ****

The Searchers

A Confederate soldier (John Wayne) with an intense hatred of Indians and whose whereabouts after the close of the war have remained mysterious, finally returns home to the family ranch after several years. There he helps ward off a Comanche attack which leaves several of his family members dead and his niece (Natalie Wood) kidnapped. Setting off with his nephew (Jeffrey Hunter) on an expansive, years long search, when they finally track down the girl it appears she has adopted the ways of her kidnappers and becomes a target for her maddened uncle. One of the most regarded of Westerns by John Ford, the genre’s most revered architect, The Searchers is bold and uncompromising, both in presentation and in Wayne’s iconic performance. The film boasts magnificent photography, incredible location shooting, a colorful cast of supporters, and that unforgettable final shot.

**** out of ****

The Maltese Falcon

When San Francisco private eye Sam Spade's services are procured by a young woman, his partner winds up murdered shortly thereafter. He then embarks down a sinuous path, encountering a calvacade of miscreants all hell bent on getting their hands on the mythic, invaluable title statue. John Huston's The Maltese Falcon, the third filmization of Dashiell Hammett's novel and one of the first films classified as film noir, is an impeccable, shadowy detective story with Bogie inimitable in one of his iconic roles. The dialogue is snappy, the underhanded supporting players (including Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet) are incomparable, and Bogart's cold, final speech to Astor is one for the ages.

**** out of ****

Some Like It Hot

When two caddish band members (Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis) inadvertently witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre while paying on a bet, their surest way out of town (and to stay gainfully employed) is to don a dress and hop a train as members of an all-girl band bound for a gig in Miami. On board they meet a voluptuous fellow member of their company (Marilyn Monroe) and are both immediately smitten. While Lemmon becomes distracted by an infatuated millionaire (Joe E. Brown, hysterical), Curtis feigns his way as his own self-made man to win the girl's affections at the same time as the mob hosts a convention in town. Billy Wilder's witty and hilarious seminal classic hosts finely tuned performances from Lemmon and Curtis and features Monroe at her screen sexiest and a finely tuned acting turn as well.

The General

A southern engineer has two passions in life: his sweetheart and his prided eponymous train. Thoroughly dejected and humiliated after being spurned, first by the Confederate Army, then by his Annabelle Lee he seizes upon an opportunity to serve the Rebel cause and win her back when Union troops pilfer his second love. Buster Keaton's The General has been roundly heralded as the silent master's greatest work, and his creative genius and belabored craftsmanship are certainly on display as he plays defense and then offense while chasing and retrieving his locomotive, but to pigeonhole the movie (even in its category as an all time great), I think, has the result of placing his other superlative films on the back burner. That being said, this is a marvelously funny film with seemingly impossible and purportedly authentic stunts. The cinematography is also noteworthy, having been modeled on Matthew Brady's Civil War photographs and hailed by historians as the best of its kind.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

An Air Force general (Sterling Hayden) has just flown off the handle and issues an aerial attack order on Russia, one which will surely result in global annihilation. When he takes his own life as the only person with knowledge of the deactivation code, it is up to his upright British assistant (Peter Sellers) to hurriedly collaborate with the President (Sellers again) and his team of advisors headed by another manic general (George C. Scott), who place their final hopes on a shifty, spasmodic former Nazi scientist (Sellers once more). Stanley Kubrick's classic satire, which he scripted with Terry Southern and Peter George from the latter's book Red Alert, is farcical black comedy pitched at the highest level with frightening implications which are still relevant to this day. Sellers disappears into three disparate roles, generating laughs from all angles and receives uproarious support from Scott, Hayden, and Slim Pickens, who plays the commander of Hayden's bomber, all portraying incompetent zealots.

Star Wars: Episodes IV-VI

So I sat down to watch the initial Star Wars movies again and I don't think a synopsis of George Lucas' epic space saga is really necessary, so hear are my thoughts as I view the films through world-weary orbs and not those of a wide eyed preadolescent to whom they meant so much a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away: The first two films, A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, retain most of their magic, while Return of the Jedi is essentially just a corned out rehash of the second installment. As for the actors, Alec Guinness' gravitas brings much to the proceedings, Mark Hamill's earnestness shines through, Carrie Fisher is irritating (how was she the great sex symbol of the day?), Harrison Ford is lifeless, and it is amazing how sympathetic and how much of the trilogy rests on the shoulders of the two droids.  Revisiting episodes four, five, and six I had no desire to continue on with the lackluster prequels, have zero interest in the upcoming continuations, and while these original films did stir genuine feelings of nostalgia, I had to ask myself, "what am I doing, thirty years old, watching Star Wars on my couch?"

Sunset Blvd.

A jaded Hollywood hack screenwriter (William Holden), on the run from repo men looking to repossess his car, has a blow out and pulls into a garage of a seemingly deserted mansion on the titular roadway. There he is greeted by a stout and morose butler (film director Erich von Stroheim) and informed that he is in the presence of greatness--that is in the presence of Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson, also a former silent star), a forgotten, aging, and delusional star of the silent screen. Now, seeing an opportunity, she keeps the writer as a financial prisoner and play toy as she plots her return to the screen. Billy Wilder's Sunset Blvd is a darkly cynical insider's indictment of Hollywood replete with incredible cinematography, a brilliantly snappy script, and two amazing, polar opposite lead performances.

The Wizard of Oz

With the unnecessary prequel due out this week, which I don't even feel obligated to see, I revisited the timeless classic and again found myself mesmerized. Here's something brief I wrote about it the last time I journeyed down the Yellow Brick Road a few years back:

What is it about this movie? What makes it so timeless? How can it be so familiar and at the same time so fun and engaging? How can it be based on a book with cultural references and allusions that were outdated by the time filming began, and certainly hold no direct relevance today? Is it the basic message of the film that grabs people, but that too is so tired and sappy, but still how does it never fail to be moving? How can it be so miraculous on so many levels, but so common on so many others? How do the sets which are obviously sets sloppily merge with the backdrops which are obviously backdrops to create arguably the most recognizable and cherished film setting in history? And color had been around, but how did they make it so radiant and glorious? This is a film that defies explanation. It's not the fact that it's in color, it's that it knows it's in color, and knows it alive, and everyone who has seen it knows its a great film, and anyone would be a fool to question that.

On the Waterfront

An ex-prizefighter (Marlon Brando) and underling for a waterfront crime lord (Lee J. Cobb) witnesses a murder which he unknowingly helped stage and is instructed by his mob attorney brother (Rob Steiger), among others, to keep his mouth shut. However, after the interventions of a stubborn parish priest (Karl Malden) and the affections of a sweet college girl (Eva Marie Saint) and kin to the deceased, the underachieving Terry Malloy begins to have doubts and considers testifying for the Crime Commission. "On the Waterfront" is Elia Kazan's stark and gritty masterpiece which can also be seen as his defense for his 1952 testimony for the House Un-American Activities Committee which made him an outcast in Hollywood and left many people out of a job. The film features an intelligent and tough script from Budd Schulberg and Kazan successfully captures the local flavor of his subject. The acting is extraordinary, beginning with Brando in a career defining role that won him his first Oscar and assured his stature as an international film star. Saint is great in her introductory role that also garnished an Academy Award and Cobb, Steiger, and Malden are all powerfully intense in their own respective ways. "On the Waterfront" is an undeniable classic: an uncompromising look at an underworld life, lost opportunities, and ultimately, redemption.

Vertigo

A detective suffering from the title condition, and recently retired from the force, is hired by an old college chum to shadow his wife, who seems to be experiencing some sort of spiritual possession. As he follows her through her journeys through San Francisco, he quickly falls in love with her, a love that will turn into obsession when a sudden tragedy strikes. Alfred Hitchock's "Vertigo" is a dark, complex, and hypnotic film and one of The Master's finest works. Shot with a brilliant use of color, plotted with carefully constructed pacing, and underscored by Bernard Hermann's ominous score, "Vertigo" works like a charm whether its your first time viewing or your tenth. Jimmy Stewart delivers one of his best and certainly his darkest performances and Kim Novak is effectively cold as the mysterious blonde he is hired to follow. "Vertigo" is a twisted and sumptuous journey and an intricate construction the likes of which have seldom been found in a Hollywood movie.

Singin' in the Rain

As silent movie megastar Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) and his onscreen costar Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen), whom he secretly loathes, walk the red carpet for their latest premier, the rumbling of the talking pictures is just a shout away. Don and his best friend/piano player Cosmo (Donald O'Connor), who have a background as song and dance men, will be well suited to the new format, but screechy voiced Lina will probably not survive the transition. Now, after falling for a perky chorus girl with the voice of an angel (Debbie Reynolds), all Don has to do is figure out how to save his latest project with Lina, "The Dueling Cavalier". "Singin' in the Rain" is a sheer delight, and one of the all-time great musicals, if not movies of all time. Codirected by Stanley Donen with Gene Kelly, the film is a mash-up of a story by Adolph Green and Betty Comden and the songbook of classics works by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown. The result is a free wheeling, toe tapping joy enhanced by the engaging performances of its casts. Gene Kelly shines both as an actor and in his song and dance acts, Debbie Reynolds is delightful as Kathy the chorus girl, Jean Hagen is hilarious as the heavy, and Donald O'Connor is excellent, particularly in the "Make 'Em Laugh" dance number where he performs a seemingly impossible set. "Singin' in the Rain" is a celebration of the movies done in jovial fashion that is a wonder every time it is revisited. 

Casablanca

For the many who attempt to escape the tyranny of WWII Europe, the last stop of their arduous journey is the Moroccan town of Casablanca where scores of refugees wait and wait for safe passage to Lisbon and then the new world. There many spend their time at Rick's, a cafe run by a hard bitten American expatriate who sticks his neck out for no one, until a freedom fighter and his wife, Rick's ex-flame walk into his gin joint and makes him realize that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans. Of all the great films that consistently top purportless lists ("Citizen Kane", "The Godfather", etc.), "Casablanca" is the most cherished and the finest of the American films because of its mass appeal traversing multiple genres, its durability over the years (and through attempts to contaminate it i.e. colorize), and for its downright effectiveness and profundity. Director Michael Curtiz, from a quintessential script by Howard Koch and brothers Philip and Julius Epstein, has fashioned a film as memorable and quotable as any that is just as grabbing the fifteenth time you've watched it as it does the first. Humphrey Bogart is at his cynical best and Ingrid Bergman is transcendentally beautiful and affecting. The supporting cast headed by Claude Rains as the happily corruptible French police captain is the finest ever assembled as well, rounded out by the shifty Peter Lorre, the rotund Sydney Greenstreet, and the inimitable Dooley Wilson as Sam the piano player. "Casablanca" is a wonderment of the cinema and every revisit is a renewal of a beautiful friendship.

Gone with the Wind

Producer David O. Selznick and director Victor Fleming's adaptation of Margaret Mitchell's novel about a selfish young girl in the fading of The South was a massive undertaking resulting in a lavish film of epic proportions. Despite its four hour, Gone with the Wind never ceases to be thoroughly entertaining and is one of the finest examples of storytelling on film. Viven Leigh stars as Scarlett O'Hara who lives on the plantation of Tara. When she hears that her beau Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard) is marrying Melanie (Olivia de Havilland), she throws herself at him at a party and throws a temper tantrum, all of which is overheard by the scoundrel Rhett Butler (Clark Gable). As the South engages in The Civil War, falls, and Atlanta is burned, we see Scarlett and Rhett's tumultuous relationship take wing during these events. Gone with the Wind is a lavishly beautiful film, shot in Technicolor at a time when few films were. The acting is wonderful all around as well. Vivien Leigh won an Oscar for her wonderful portrayal as the self-centered Scarlett and Clark Gable is absolutely delightful as the devilish Rhett. Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to win an Oscar in her performance as Scarlett's servant and Olivia de Havilland is delightful as the saintly Melanie. Gone with the Wind is a wonderful film on so many levels and a prime example of cinematic entertainment.