For the last full week of May I'm chronicling three films: one new, one new to me, and my favorite film of all time. I will save you the anticipation: all three were real gems. The first was Frank Capra's 1934 screwball comedy It Happened One Night.
It Happened One Night
(Frank Capra, 1934)
I'm not an avid Capra follower. Up to this point I've only seen two of his most popular films: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and It's a Wonderful Life. And although I enjoyed these films, I found myself reading a certain level of stuffiness in them, a traditionalism that felt all too foreign from my contemporary standpoint. This was not at all the case with It Happened One Night. Clark Gable's Peter Warne was cool in a way that Jimmie Stewart's Jefferson Smith or George Bailey simply weren't. The slang, although undeniably sutured in the 1930s, screamed hip. The sleazy Oscar Shapely, spitting his smooth as butter "Yesss sir!"s and "Believe you me"s makes for one of the greatest slimeballs ever captured on film, and gave me my favorite string of lines in the picture: "You got class kid. Yes sir! With a capital K."
The story is about Ellen Andrews (Claudette Colbert), daughter to an exceedingly wealthy banker played by Walter Connolly. In the opening of the film we find that Ellen has eloped with the aristocratic King Westley (Jameson Thomas). The film follows Ellen as she escapes from her objecting father in Florida and travels north toward New York and her husband. Along the way she meets Gable's Peter, a know-it-all newspaper reporter who cuts a deal with Ellen. He will escort her to New York in exchange for an exclusive interview. By this point Ellen's escapades are front page news, thanks to her father's desperate attempts to track her down, and the scoop is something that Peter just can't pass up. Not to spoil anything, but obviously Ellen and Peter fall in love. However, as formula would have it, the standard obnoxious male/spoiled female relationship must play-out first. This is done brilliantly with some surprisingly saucy banter between the two. (Take note contemporary chick flick directors, this is how it's done.) The relationship builds, the two fall in love, and eventually the issue of her marriage must be confronted. This is where I'll end. I don't want to spoil anything else. Just watch the film. It's definitely worth it.
The second film is hands-down my favorite film of all time, The Godfather.
The Godfather
(Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
I don't think I have to say much about the narrative here. I'm sure many, if not most of you have seen this film. It's cinematic brilliance is undeniable. In my opinion, there are no flaws here, no weak points whatsoever. The acting, cinematography, editing, score: great, great, great. Obviously, I did label it my favorite movie of all time. And not just that, I truly believe that it is the greatest film ever made. Not just a movie that I happen to love. I mean, I LOVE Back to the Future and A Nightmare on Elm Street, but I would never award this kind of praise to those films, although I do believe they are at the top of their genres. Anyway, this viewing was part of a what was intended to be a double-feature Godfather Feast. We started a few hours late, as everybody arrived, and as last-minute supplies were gathered and the dishes prepared. In the end, we only had time for the first installment. But a great time was had by all. I made meatballs, my girlfriend Cara made the sauce and some delicious bruschetta. Our close friend Teddy prepared the garlic bread and brought along some homemade banana chocolate chip cookies. I picked up some cannoli from Cannoli Joe's down the street and some really great espresso beans from local Austin roaster Katz which we enjoyed with biscotti. The wine was flowing (unfortunately not Coppola brand). It was truly a great time.
Drag Me To Hell
(Sam Raimi, 2009)
All is again well in the world. The anxiety about Drag Me To Hell's PG-13 rating turned out to be some very loose assessing on the part of the MPAA. Easily an R-film, Raimi's return to the horror genre was the perfect topper to a great week of filmgoing. I think of the three films I watched this week, this experience will be with me the longest. I have enjoyed screwball comedies. And, the Godfather Feast was a tradition I resurrected from my undergraduate days when my buddy Nick and I would prepare elaborate Italian spreads while watching either The Godfather 1 or 2 or Scorsese's Goodfellas. But never have I enjoyed the pleasure of a fight breaking out while watching a film in the theater. Yes, I've heard the occasional bickering and shooshing, and have even been privy to one or two moments when an usher or manager has had to ask someone to leave. Bu, this was none these. This was a full-on fight. I don't know what initially started the altercation. Perhaps it had something to do with the three baby's one of the sides brought to the film. (Yes, literally babies.) Perhaps it was something else. Regardless, just as the old gypsy hag in the film begins an assault on our female lead, I notice the audience is really getting into it. This was exciting. The film had set a great tone, and the pacing was progressing nicely. Obviously the first real action sequence was paying off. As the scene continued, the crowd was getting more and more into it. Eventually people started standing up. Yeah! Film lovers unite, right? Wrong. The first clue that the excitement wasn't about the film: everybody was facing the other way, looking toward the top of the theater rather than the screen. The second: the growing brouhaha culminating at the top of the stairs. The yells of "F*#0 You B^*%#@!" could just have well been from the soundtrack, but I'm guessing they haven't perfected 3-d quite to this level. Eventually the theater had to stop the film and the police came in to pull people off each other and escort the involved parties out. Everyone sat back down and finished what was an equally enjoyable film. In my last posting I wrote that any horror film that can get a jolt out of me is a winner in my book. My two word review of Raimi's Hell: two jolts.
And that's that. I hope some of you out there will grace me with some feedback. I look forward to hearing from all of you. And, I'm out.
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