Kinematoscope

As a child, I was never prone to the whimsical deadpan effort (or the legitimate mental instability) necessary to invent and maintain an imaginary friend.

But today we can all wish we knew a certain 6'3.5" tall pooka named Harvyer, who we don't see but really get to know in the 1950 classic of the same name.

Best imaginary friend ever? (With the obvious exception of Joey from "Friends"'s childhood companion, a Space Cowboy named Maurice).

The Key Players:

Henry Koster was a German-born director most famous for this film, Three Smart Girls (a smash hit musical that saved Universal from banruptcy in 1936), and personally convincing Universal to sign Abbot and Costello after seeing them in a nightclub.

Jimmy Stewart pulls into a tie with Cary Grant for most countdown appearances with 4.

Josephine Hull would actually win Best Supporting Actress for this role as yet another sweet-natured aunt with a certifiable brother (though she doesn't poison anyone this time).

Peggy Dow, Charles Drake, Cecil Kellaway, Victoria Horne, Jesse White, and William Lynnn make up the rest of an ensemble cast.



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The Story:

Stewart stars as the easygoing, pleasant, and unfailingly polite Elwood P. Dowd, a rich eccentric prone to handing his card to everyone, inviting them for a drink, and introducing them to his friend, Harvey.

Harvey, we learn, is a giant talking rabbit seen only by Elwood, and his continual deference to his "friend" mortifies his older sister Veta (Hull) and her daughter Myrtle Mae. After Elwood ruins a society event they're hosting, Veta decides to finally have him commited to a sanitarium.

The visit to the sanitorium, Chumley's Rest, goes predictably awry however, when Veta admits to Dr. Sanderson that she's even imagined seeing Harvey once or twice herself (having phrased the general idea of the invisible rabbit in a way that doesn't make it clear that it's her brother's delusion to begin with). So she gets committed instead.

They let a bemused Elwood go- on his way out he loses track of Harvey, but he runs into the head doctor's wife, Mrs. Chumley, and tells her about his pooka friend. When she gets inside they realize their mistake, and set off to find him.

Following are a series of missed connections at various bars as they try to track Elwood down, and some inklings that Harvey may not be as imaginary as he seems...

The Artistry:

Harvey is, in a word, charming, and easily so on the strength of Jimmy Stewart's grinning laconicness. Among his countdown performances so far, he gives my second favorite performance (he was a struggling writer in The Philadelphia Story. It's an unfair bias).

The movie around him is a little tricky to classify in tone- it seems set up to be a screwball affair- an early stooge charged by a family friend to keep Elwood away from the party slips on a wet floor and goes sprawling, knocked unconscious. Certainly when they all run out to find Elwood in the city I expected many more hi-jinks, but instead they find him alone at a bar (no Harvey even), and he talks wistfully about how he met Harvey, and what he means to different people in a great monologue.

It's more dramatic depth than I would've bet on, and the Pulitzer prize for the Mary Chase play it's based on makes more sense the more I consider it (she also wrote the screenplay). Harvey is about being happy wherever you are, whomever you're with.

THE ENDING! SPOILERS!

Small clues start to add together on the nature of our invisible friend: A hat with two large holes in the top, doors opening on their own, and a curious dictionary definition of "pooka" when orderly Mr. Wilson looks it up:

"From old Celtic mythology, a fairy spirit in animal form, always very large. The pooka appears here and there, now and then, to this one and that one. A benign but mischievous creature. Very fond of rumpots, crackpots, and how are you, Mr. Wilson?" (cue the double take)

Finally it all adds up- head of the sanitorium Mr. Chumley even meets Harvey himself. Veta stops Elwood from getting an injection that might keep him from seeing things that aren't there, but will also take away his serene, happy nature. Myrtle Mae (concerned this whole time about ever finding a man) makes eyes at Mr. Wilson, Nurse Kelly and Dr. Sanderson reconcile a longstanding love/hate relationship, and Harvey even rejoins Elwood after it seems like he would stay with Dr. Chumley.

END SPOILERS


Overall: Should It Be Higher, Lower?

I think higher, especially since there aren't many movies with this sort of general affability anymore, and definitely not with a subtle philosophical bent.

The Legacy:

The play has been made for television a crazy six times, and Steven Spielberg recently contemplated making a new film- word is he backed off the idea when no one was willing to invite a comparison to Stewart by taking the role.

The Best Video Of It On YouTube:

The contemplative scene in the alley- though it is palookaless.



Leftover Thoughts:

-Hull deserves the Oscar, I think, because she had to toe the believing/not believing in Harvey line the entire film.

-Frow now on if anyone asks "Is there anything I can do for you?" I'm going to smile and respond "Well what did you have in mind?"

Coming Up...

Tue, May 18th: 190. The Hustler

Fri, May 21st: 189. The Kid

Tue, May 25th: 188. The Best Years Of Our Lives

Today Alfred Hitchcock makes the first of approximately eight thousand appearances on the countdown with 1948's Rope. Based on Patrick Hamilton's 1928 play, Rope was inspired the real-life case of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, two brilliant University of Chicago students that sought to commit the "perfect crime."

It starts with a muffled shriek, and ends with a gun fired into the air. In between...cold cuts and champagne! Let's do this.

The Key Players:

It would take a while to list all of theHitchcock films that we'll get to- though oddly the classic The Birds is not among them. Clearly a profound influence on film, Hitch went 0 for 6 in the Best Director Oscar category, though they gave him a Thalberg eventually.

Pretty sure we've seen Jimmy Stewart before.

John Dall we've already met many years (and pounds) later in his life as Glabrus in Spartacus, and Farley Granger will appear with Hitchcock in the future with Strangers On A Train

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The Story:

After the credits (remember when the credits used to all be in front of the film instead of the end? How did people stay awake you guys?), we hear a shriek and then see Dall and Granger finish strangling a man and then stuff the body in a large book chest.

After a breathless few moments that are a clear analogy to a post-coital state, they begin to plan for their upcoming dinner party. The man they killed was David Kentley, whom they considered an inferior being- they decided to commit the perfect murder by strangling him and then hiding his body during a party that includes his parents, his fiancee, and his former best friend.

The nerve! They've also invited their former schoolmaster (Stewart), an intellectual who had taught them Nietzsche's concept of the superman- a superior being unbound by the concepts of right and wrong.

Dall, clearly the more dominant of the muderers, is thrilled and bemused to have pulled it off- he makes several ironic remarks about the victim's abscence, although it worries the rest of the guests. Granger slowly unravels as the night continues, wrought with worry and guilt.

After a few obvious clues, it's clear that Stewart is going to figure it out. But will he approve of the supposed intellectual exercise?

The Artistry:

Rope is shot in an interesting way- in only ten long shots, the camera dancing around the actors and removable scenery like a guest itself. Half of the cuts are disguised by closeups into someone's back, making the film look like five uninterrupted takes. It's fun to watch, and the premise holds up reasonably well for the brisk 77 minute run-time.

Dall's performance sells the film for me- he moves from threatening to charming at will, and his chemistry with Stewart is fascinating. Stewart doesn't show up until 27 minutes into the story, but he takes over once he does, with wry humor and obvious glances at the book chest and Granger's nervous pallour.

It's surprising that the relationship at the film's center made it past the Hayes Code: not a lot of men shared apartments onscreen in 1948. Apparently there are even more undertones between them and the schoolmaster in the play.

THE ENDING! SPOILERS!

After the guests become frantic over their son/fiancee/friend's failure to appear or call, they all decide to leave. The housekeeper accidentally hands Stewart a hat with the dead man's initial monnogrammed on the inside on his way out- he returns a brief time later, pretending to have forgotten his cigarette case.

After some meaningful questions, he finally opens the chest and is horrified. He's also deeply ashamed that his own idle rhetoric led Dall and Granger to the murder. He takes Dall's gun and fires shots out the window- we hear startled neighbors shout in alarm, and sirens approach as the three men stand grimly by.

END SPOILERS


Overall: Should It Be Higher, Lower?

I think it's fine enough where it is- the way it's staged is memorable for such a director and star. These days it's all Tony Scott cutting every thirty seconds until we get epileptic tremors.

The Legacy:

No awards, no AFI inclusion- it's arugably the least-lauded classic film we've seen so far.

But it stands as one of the gutsiest experiments in Hollywood history.

The Best Video Of It On YouTube:

A scene near the end, when Dall and Granger realize Stewart is coming back. It was either this or an entire ten-minute chunk, as several people have put the whole thing on there in pieces.



Leftover Thoughts:

-There's apparently a Hitchcock cameo in caricature in the background, but I didn't notice.

-The background itself is a full on miniature replica of the Manhattan skyline, complete with working chimneys.

-Maybe it's for tension, or just to fit into the shot, but a lot of people stand awkwardly close to one another while talking in Rope.

-Make sure to check out the trailer up there, it's a trip- there's a prequel scene not in the film, and then Stewart talks to us as his character.

Coming Up...

202. Duck Soup

201. The African Queen

200. Brief Encounter

With an entry on 1940’s The Philadelphia Story, we are officially One Tenth of the way through the countdown! Wooo! That list just got decimated, which literally means to reduce something by ten percent. Woo! Word humor!

Anyway, my love of words also translates to a love of screwball comedy, and if you remember months ago I was pretty big on Arsenic and Old Lace. So I was pretty stoked to watch what on all accounts is a classic.

The Key Players:

Our director is George Cukor, an Oscar winner for the much more famous but not on the countdown My Fair Lady. Cukor is also famous for being slow and difficult to work with, at least earlier in his career, leading to his dismissal from projects as famous as The Wizard Of Oz and Gone With The Wind.

He directs three cinema heavies- Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart (whom we’ve seen before), and the late, great Katherine Hepburn. Hepburn, a Hollywood legend whose imdb trivia page is filled with fun facts like “did all her own stunts because the stunt women never stood up straight enough,” is a record-setting four time Lead Actress Oscar winner.


Not a trailer, just a mushy scene with Hepburn & Stewart.

The Story:

Hepburn plays a rich socialite with an iron will, about to get married for a second time after divorcing Cary Grant’s schmoozy business man some years before. Grant, not invited to the wedding but not shy about showing up anyway, makes a deal with a tabloid to smuggle a failed-writer/reporter (Stewart) and a photographer into the ceremony for the scoop.

Hilarity ensues. Pretty simple.

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The Artisticness:

Much like previous countdown 40’s comedy Arsenic and Old Lace, The Philadelphia Story was based on a play, and reflects that to a great degree. There’s not a terrible amount I remember that struck me visually, but it’s quick-witted and sharp.

Hepburn apparently bought the rights to the play and developed the film as a comeback role after a series of flops, and it certainly is a proper showcase for her talent (though somehow I’ve only seen On Golden Pond among her long filmography. Well, at least I’ll get to The African Queen before this is over).

Stewart and Grant both bring the usual cleverness to their roles, quickly pushing Hepburn’s stodgy “man of the people” fiancé to the background and creating a fun little love quadrangle.

As a comedy, The Philadelphia Story is certainly slower-paced than I expected, but the twists and turns happen quickly enough, and the stars are winning enough to keep me interested. Plus, Stewart plays a struggling writer, which always appeals to my sensibilities.

And it’s hard not to fall into rhythm with dialogue like this:

-I suppose I should object to this twosome!
-That would be most objectionable.

-I’m testing the air. I like it, but it doesn’t like me.

-You hardly know him!
-To hardly know him is to know him well.

-I would sell my grandmother for a drink- and you know how I love my grandmother.

THE ENDING! SPOILERS!

For a lead role that she oversaw, and for a well-remembered personality of Hollywood royalty, Hepburn spends a lot of The Philadelphia Story getting pushed around. She drinks, goes for a swim with Stewart’s bumbling character, gets a stern talking to from her father for driving him to infidelity somehow, and eventually, after some chicanery with blackmail, misunderstandings and the like, accepts Grant’s proposal to get remarried- though it seems more like he tricks her into it.

And I’m pretty sure near the beginning someone piches her bottom. But that’s the 40’s for you. Otherwise, it’s pretty harmless fun, and I guess there’s a message about not having a heart of stone in their somewhere.

END SPOILERS


Overall: Should It Be Higher, Lower?

It seems fine where it is, to me. Not my favorite example of old-school comedy (and I’m excited to get to His Girl Friday pretty soon and compare), but I laughed. I’m an easy mark for banter.

The Legacy:

All the good stuff- National Film registry preservation, lists of 100 films and so forth. Jimmy Stewart won Best Actor and the Screenplay Best Adapted at the Oscars the following winter and everything.

It was even adapted into the 1956 musical High Society, which in turn was adapted into a stage musical ten years ago.

The Best Video Of It On YouTube:

One of my favorite scenes, when a drunk Stewart shows up at Grant’s house with an idea to reverse the tabloid-blackmail scheme that they’ve been embroiled in, since they both like Hepburn’s character after all.

-This is where Cinderella gets off- now you hurry back to the ball before you turn into a pumpkin and six white mice.



Leftover Thoughts:

-Champagne is a great levelerer. Leveler- it makes you my equal.
-I wouldn’t quite say that.
-Well, almost my equal.

-What’s wrong?
-Oh nothing, nothing. My head’s just fell off, that’s all.

Actual tagline for this film: Broadway's howling year-run comedy hit of the snooty society beauty who slipped and fell — IN LOVE!   That’s just how they talked back then, I suppose.

Another western, folks! This time it’s another Ford/Wayne movie, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

The Key Players:

John Ford and John Wayne have been discussed in this here space already, pilgrim.

Jimmy Stewart is of course a Hollywood icon, wobbling his way through many diverse standards from Frank Capra classics like It’s A Wonderful Life and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington to three Alfred Hitchcock thrillers.

Lee Marvin, an Oscar winner for Cat Ballou and a That Guy! From plenty of other westerns and war-movies, plays the villain, while Vera Miles plays the love interest (she was Janet Leigh’s sister in Psycho! And was also in The Searchers (hey!)).



The Story:

Stewart and Miles open the film as a middle aged couple returning to a small town named Shinbone, in an unnamed state that Stewart is the Senator of. They’re back to attend the funeral of a friend, prompting a nosy inquiry from the local newspaperman. Stewart agrees to tell the story of his acquaintance with the deceased, in winding flashback form.

A long time ago, Stewart came to Shinbone as a young lawyer, wide-eyed and full of ideals (isn’t he always?). He was promptly robbed and beaten on the road by Lee Marvin’s psychotic Liberty Valance, to be rescued from death by Wayne himself, the town’s resident badass.

In the course of his recuperation, Stewart takes a shine to Miles, a waitress at the town mess hall, and Wayne’s presumed gal, who he’s just waiting to propose to until he finishes fixing up his house for her. Or something, he's hard to read, that guy.

Anyway, the local Marshall’s a nincompoop, so Marvin just runs around terrorizing everybody. Wayne and Stewart argue about which is might, the law or the gun, with the gun usually winning in practice. Eventually things come to a head when Stewart’s chosen to be a delegate to the territorial convention to determine a congressman.

The townsfolk want statehood, the local ranchers (and their guns for hire, which include Marvin), want to be an open rage territory, which means no one gets to keep their property. Marvin finally challenges Stewart to meet him in the street, Old West style. And the results of said confrontation change everyone’s lives…

The Artisticness:

I gotta say, after the wide-shot majesty of the desert in The Searchers, this film feels a little smaller in comparison. It’s in black and white, as well, which leads to some neat shadows during the climatic confrontation, but mostly a drab looking film.

The narrative is interesting enough, of course, especially in the conflict of ideologies between the rough and tumble Wayne and the heart on sleeve Stewart. What good is law and order in the middle of chaos? But what good is brute force without conscience? Not that it ever gets too verbose in the contemplating of said matters. Mostly there are gunshots and Marvin and Wayne having stare-offs.

Vera Miles sold being hung up on John Wayne okay, but she and Stewart seemed to have no chemistry. It made the love triangle aspect hard to buy. And the local townsfolk were largely annoyingly clownish caricatures.

THE ENDING! SPOILING TYPE THINGS!

So Stewart and Marvin face off in the street, at night. Marvin shoots our hero in the gun-holding arm, then tauntingly shoots near his good left hand as he goes to retrieve said pistol. Then, can you believe it, Stewart nails the bad guy with a left-handed crackshot, winning the immediate acclaim of the townsfolk (and Miles), leading eventually to his selection as the congressional delegate, Governor, and U.S. Senator.

Wayne, after seeing Stewart and Miles embracing, drunkenly goes home and burns down his spiffy new house. I wonder what he’s so cheeved about?

The big twist is, of course, that Wayne was standing in the shadows, and he is the man who shot Liberty Valance, but he realizes that the people need their nice guy hero, and he’s lost the fight for his girl.

In the present time, the newspaper dude agrees, and decides not to print the story. The film ends on a somber note, as it’s clear that Miles never quite got over Wayne, Stewart is eaten up to some degree by living a lie, and Wayne died never having fixed his burnt home years later, merely content to fill his garden with the cactus flowers Miles loved so much.

It’s a sort of pessimism most Westerns avoid, even when dealing with ostensible sadness: the lone gunman riding into the distance is at least accompanied by triumphant music. Here we just get some ironic adulation from the train attendant to Stewart as he and the missus head back to Washington. “Nothing’s too good for the man who shot Liberty Valance,” the guy says. Aww.

END SPOILERS

Overall: Should It Be Higher, Lower?

I give this one a shrug. I’ve seen better, I’ve seen worse. I liked the integration of the standard western gunplay with some political grandstanding, but the comic relief all fell flat for me. Let’s say lower, by a hair.

The Legacy:

Well, I suppose it’s right up there on Best Westerns lists, and it’s been included in the National Film Registry. Beyond that, I can’t think of many cultural references, but it’s high in the Ford oeuvre to be sure. Plus it got an Oscar nod for Best Costumes, so there’s that.

The Best Video Of It On YouTube:

I’d go with the big twist scene, even though it’s pretty predicatable, if only for the way Wayne sets Stewart the hell straight with as few words as possible, but a hell of a stern look. Plus, the revisit to the gun fight is framed in a cool way with the shadows and all.



Leftover Thoughts:

The time period this takes place in is never named, just like the state it takes place in.

On the night he gets shot, Valance has the “dead man’s hand” in a poker game (Aces and Eights) that Wild Bill Hickock was holding when he was killed. Woo, history!

The only intentionally comedic scene that made me laugh out loud: They call the doctor to look at the gut-shot Valance. He barks out: “Whiskey, quick!” takes a slug off the bottle, rolls Valance over with his foot, and just goes “Dead,” with a shrug. Hi-larious.

I swear one of the sets appeared in The Searchers as well. I bet that happened a lot when you made as many films per year as John Ford did.