The Elephant Man

664. The Elephant Man
Directed by David Lynch
USA/UK, 1980
IMDB | allmovie

Reviewed by Rachel
First viewing

Synopsis:

Biopic of Joseph Merrick (referred to in the film as John Merrick), a young man with severe physical deformities which lead to him being nicknamed The Elephant Man.

Merrick (John Hurt) is part of a freak show in the East End of London, where he is abused by Bytes (Freddie Jones), his tyrannical “owner.” Dr. Frederick Treves (Anthony Hopkins) visits the freak show and becomes professionally interested in Merrick‘s afflictions. He makes an arrangement with Bytes to take Merrick to a scientific lecture. However, upon his return, Merrick is savagely beaten by Bytes, and Treves becomes more involved in Merrick’s life than he originally planned.

Merrick is immediately installed in Treves’s hospital and over the coming days Treves realises that the man he thought was imbecilic is actually very intelligent. Treves sets out to bring Merrick the dignity and respect he deserves.

Essential Scene:

Finding one essential scene was very difficult. I’ve decided upon a small but very touching scene rather than a dramatic one. I believe this scene is based on fact, although it wasn’t Treves’s wife that Merrick was meeting when this occurred. 

—

Dr. Treves has invited Merrick to his home. Merrick nervously stands alone but avidly eyes up the well-decorated room as Dr. Treves walks in with his wife.

Treves: Mr. Merrick, I’d like you to meet my wife, Anne. Anne, this is John Merrick.

Anne (Hannah Gordon) is visibly anxious, but kind and courteous. She smiles and offers her hand for a handshake.

Anne: I’m very pleased to meet you, Mr. Merrick.

Merrick takes her hand.

Merrick: I’m… I’m very pleased.

Merrick’s gaze leaves her face and he begins to sob softly.

Treves: What is it? What’s the matter?

Merrick: [between sobs] It’s just that I… I’m not used.. to being treated so well… by so beautiful a woman.

Thoughts:

Phew, this one was a weeper. Perhaps I was easily taken in by sentimentality, but then usually I’m too cynical.

Although the (possibly over-dramatized) maltreatment and abuse of Merrick in the film is horrific, what affected me more than anything was the kindness that Merrick was shown from various members of society and, of course, Dr. Treves. Whether or not this occurred because Merrick was the “in” thing is to be debated, but those moments were incredibly moving.

However, I can assure those wondering where the David Lynch touch has gone that there is still an element of Lynchian unease. The Victorian era was full of the macabre, and Lynch subtly explores it. Merrick resides in two worlds; the sideshow backstreets and the comfortable society dwellings, and the two worlds mingle with eerie delicacy. Merrick doesn’t know when his days of freakshows and ridicule will come back with a bang, and that makes for nervous viewing at times. Lynch’s enigmatic touch also comes to play with sequences in which the viewer is unsure whether they are witnessing a factual flashback, or a strange dream.

At the very least, The Elephant Man is worth watching to get to know Joseph Merrick. Merrick’s gratefulness towards his new friendships and his childlike enthusiasm for the simple things in life stay with you long after you’ve seen the film.

For more information on Joseph Merrick, visit josephcareymerrick.com.

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

866. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
Directed by Stephan Elliott
Australia, 1994
IMDB | allmovie

Reviewed by Rachel
First viewing

Synopsis:

Drag queen Mitzi Del Bra, aka ‘Tick’ Belrose (Hugo Weaving) is offered a gig at a resort Hotel in the Australian desert, but he needs two performers to join him. He enlists the help of young drag queen Adam/Felicia Jollygoodfellow (Guy Pearce) and transsexual Bernadette Basinger (Terence Stamp), both of whom have their own reasons for wanting to get out of Sydney. They purchase a big, dilapidated bus which they christen ‘Priscilla,’ and adventure does indeed ensue — with a few surprises along the way.

Essential Scene:

(Any dance scene is a must, but I also enjoyed this…)

Mitzi, Felicia and Bernadette have arrived at their first pit stop, and decide to go into the local bar. Mitzi and Felicia are in full drag. Dozens of rather large, burly men stop what they’re doing and watch as Felicia and Bernadette sit down gracefully at the bar.

Bernadette: [to bartender] Hello. Could I please have a Stoli and tonic, a Bloody Mary, and a lime daiquiri, please?

An equally burly woman appears from amongst the men.

Woman: Well! Look what the cat dragged in! What have we got here, eh? A couple of show girls, have we? Where did you ladies come in from, Uranus?

Bernadette: [to bartender] Could I please have a Sto–

Woman: [slaps Bernadette’s hand down onto the bar] No! You can’t have! You can’t have nothing! We’ve got nothing here for people like you. Nothing!

Bernadette slowly takes the woman’s hand off hers and looks her straight in the eye. She replies, utterly calm and collected.

Bernadette: Now listen here, you mullet. Why don’t you just light your tampon and blow your box apart? Because it’s the only bang you’re ever gonna get, sweetheart.

One man roars with laughter and the rest of the bar’s inhabitants join in with guffaws. The woman slinks slowly away and everyone enjoys a night of drunken singing and drinking games.

Thoughts:

It would be so easy to rely on stereotypes when dealing subject matters such as these, and that has probably been the downfall of many an LGBT portrayal. Very thankfully, Priscilla does not do this. It is kitsch at times — but what’s wrong with a bit of kitsch?

The characters in Priscilla are three-dimensional and have depth. Terence Stamp in particular is wonderful as Bernadette. He gives her such dignity and poise, even when she has to punch a man to defend poor Felicia. Priscilla not only preaches tolerance but it shows Bernadette, Felicia and Mitzi as exactly what they are; human.

I would go into a little more depth but that would ruin a few plot surprises. So I shall just say that this is my kind of road movie. The visuals of the deserts are so breathtaking, especially coupled with dance routines to ’70s music in killer, bright frocks. My goodness! Can we have a blu-ray soon, please?

Bringing Up Baby

118. Bringing Up Baby
Directed by Howard Hawks
USA, 1938
IMDB | allmovie

Reviewed by Ally
Umpteenth viewing

Synopsis:

Mild-mannered paleontologist David Huxley (Cary Grant) prepares to marry his stern fiancée, Alice Swallow (Virginia Walker), who insists that they will forgo a honeymoon in order for David to continue his work — he has spent four years assembling a Brontosaurus skeleton, for which the last piece will soon be delivered. David is also expected to ingratiate himself with Mrs. Random (May Robson), who is considering donating a million dollars to the museum.

The day before the wedding, David meets Susan Vance (Katharine Hepburn), a brash but hapless young lady with a knack for creating awkward situations. Susan falls for David and, determined to keep him close, forces him to help deliver a pet leopard (the eponymous Baby) to her aunt. Unbeknown to David, Susan’s aunt is none other than Mrs. Random, and a series of positively screwy incidents puts the museum donation, the Brontosaurus bone and the wedding in jeopardy.

Essential Scene:

Having met earlier in the day, Susan and David meet again in a restaurant. David storms out after Susan accidentally gets him accused of theft. She follows him to the stairs.

Susan: Now please listen, dear, you certainly can’t think that I did that intentionally.

David: Well if I could think, I’d have run when I saw you!

Susan: No, well if you’d only wait while I explain, I just gave you my purse while I–

As David tries to leave, Susan grabs him by the coat, which promptly tears in two.

Susan: Oh, you’ve torn your coat…

David approaches Susan angrily while she spouts apologies and excuses at a dizzying pace.

David: Look, will you do something for me?

Susan: A needle?

David: No, it’s simpler than that. Let’s play a game.

Susan: Oh? What?

David: Well, watch. I’ll put my hand over my eyes and then you go away. Then I’ll count to ten, and when I take my hand down, you will be gone. One…

Susan: [offended] Well I like that, I was only trying to be nice!

As Susan stomps off sulkily, the back of her dress rips off, having become caught under David’s foot. He rushes after Susan, who is oblivious to her wardrobe malfunction, and tries to hide her shame with his hat.

Thoughts:

Anyone who thinks old movies are slow ought to try keeping up with Bringing Up Baby. Katharine Hepburn delivers her lines at lightning speed, and the rest of the cast aren’t far behind her. Plot points accumulate at a similarly alarming pace, and the situations are so absurd that characters telling the truth are dismissed as crazy. Take for example a scene where Susan steals David’s clothes while he’s in the shower, forcing him to answer the door in a frilly negligee. He becomes increasingly agitated under questioning —

Mrs. Random: [to Susan] Does he want to wear those clothes?

David: No, I don’t want to wear this thing, I just want to get married!

While a few scenes involving growling leopards, yapping dogs and shouting humans can get a bit headache-inducing, Bringing Up Baby is, for the most part, a classic example of screwball comedy. It’s quite likely that you’ll have “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” stuck in your head for quite a while afterwards though…

—

Reviewed by Rachel
Umpteenth viewing

Essential Scene:

Susan, David and George the dog have traced Baby to a house — a house that happens to belong to the psychologist that Susan rather annoyed the night before. They try to coax Baby down by singing her favourite song.

Susan: Oh, look David! Baby’s on the roof! Come on, Baby, come on down! Come on! Oh David, make him get down.

David: I suppose you’d like me to climb up and push him down.

Susan: Well… maybe we’d better sing. I can’t give you any — well, sing David. [David winces]

Both: [singing in harmony] I can’t give you anything but love, baby
That’s the only thing I’ve plenty of, baby

[George starts to howl]

Dream a while, scheme a while

[Baby starts to caterwaul]

You’re sure to find
Happiness, and I guess
All those things you’ve always pined for

Gee, it’s great to see you looking swell, baby
Diamond bracelets Woolworths doesn’t sell, baby

[Dr Lehman leans out of his window]

Till that day, you know darn well —

[Susan points out the doctor in the window]

David: Oh, Baby! [leaves]

Susan: Oh, David where are you going?

David: [offscreen] I’ll be back!

Susan: Oh dear! I can’t give you anything but love… [to Doctor] Not you — it. [sings] I can’t give you anything but —

Doctor: What are you doing, may I ask?

Susan: Singing. [sings] I can’t give you anything but love —

Doctor: If you are playing a bet there must be somewhere else you can do it.

Susan: I’m not playing a bet, there’s a leopard on your roof.

Doctor: I’m not going to bandy words with you at this time of night.

Susan: Dream a while, scheme a while — But there is a leopard on your roof, and it’s my leopard and I have to get it — and to get it I have to sing! You’re sure to find —

Doctor: There’s nothing on my roof.

Susan: [to Baby] Come on you fool — [to Doctor] There’s nothing on your roof? [titters] Alright, there’s nothing on your roof. [sings] Happiness, and I guess, All those things you’ve always pined for —

While Susan continues singing, the Doctor’s wife convinces him that Susan is obviously a patient in need of help, and the Doctor agrees. The Doctor’s arrival downstairs frightens Baby away so the Doctor cannot see to what Susan has been serenading. He promptly pulls Susan into the house to treat her delusions.

Thoughts:

Susan: You’ve just had a bad day, that’s all.

David: That’s a masterpiece of understatement.

Bringing Up Baby is one of those films where the plot is beyond farcical, but it’s not to be taken too seriously. It’s the screwball that paved the way for all other screwballs. Both leads and the minor characters all show real flare for comedy. It’s incredible to me to learn that Katharine Hepburn had never done comedy before, and was trained by veteran vaudevillians prior to shooting. She also wore gorgeous trousers, got wet and muddy, and stayed very near to a very large leopard. For this, I’d call her a very cool lady.

I must admit, I am very biased when it comes to Bringing Up Baby. I have known this film for as long as I can remember and it’s never failed to entertain me. It’s fast, well written, infinitely fun — and it has Cary Grant in a fluffy dressing gown! Come on, what more could you ask for?

Fascinating Fact: Director Howard Hawks based Cary Grant’s character on silent comedian Harold Lloyd, even down to the horn-rimmed glasses.

Vertigo

334. Vertigo
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
USA, 1958
IMDB | allmovie

Reviewed by Rachel
First viewing
(Quiet, film buffs! I know that’s shameful!)

Synopsis:

Detective John “Scottie” Ferguson (James Stewart) has retired after his fear of heights causes his partner to fall to his death. Scottie thinks himself out of the police game until Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore), an old college friend, turns up out of the blue and asks him for a favour. Elster wants to hire Scottie as a private detective to follow his wife Madeleine (Kim Novak), who is behaving very strangely.*

Essential Scene:

I won’t describe this in too much detail, as there are certain plot points I don’t want to reveal.

Warning: Due to flashing images, this scene may not be suitable for sufferers of epilepsy.

Scottie is tossing and turning in bed, disturbed by visions. Sickly blue and purple tints intermittently cover the screen.

Scottie opens his eyes and looks upon a drawing of the bouquet of flowers that Madeleine was holding. The flowers turn into a moving cartoon. Alternating between black and white and colour, they then disperse all over the screen.

As an orange tint flashes on and off, Scottie stands next to two characters that are causing him so much grief.

Scottie’s disembodied head travels nearer to the camera with multi coloured tints and a busy background.

His body slowly falls through the air amongst flashing colours. (Mad Men, anyone?)

All colours and background dissipate as he gets nearer to the ground and a bright white light illuminates his falling frame.

Just before he hits the ground, Scottie wakes up with a start.

Dizzying just reading about it, isn’t it?

Thoughts:

*The reason why I have been very brief in my synopsis, and why I’m going to be brief here, is that I truly believe that a first viewing of Vertigo should be done with as little plot knowledge as possible.

—

Vertigo is a stunning example of Hitchcock’s ability to disorientate both his audience and his characters. The constant feelings of uncertainty, fragile mental health and alienation coupled with the use of sickly tints hark back to his very first films — and boy, has the Master improved with age. And that’s saying something; if you knew how much I love his silent films…

This was my first viewing; I was aware of a few legendary images but that was all, and my reaction to the film is “Wowwy, wow, wow!” Yes, I am that eloquent. [Wow. ~ Ally]

So please excuse the brief review, but I do hope curiosity gets the better of you…

Freaks

68. Freaks
Directed by Tod Browning
USA, 1932
IMDB | allmovie

Reviewed by Rachel
Third viewing

Synopsis:

Beautiful gold-digging trapeze artist Cleopatra (Olga Baclanova) learns that Hans the midget (Harry Earles) has come into a large inheritance, and she and her Strongman lover conspire to make Hans Cleopatra’s husband. The other sideshow artists are sceptical of her motives, and keep a close eye on her. As Cleopatra becomes increasingly abusive to Hans and the other ‘freaks,’ their collective kindness and patience starts to falter.

Essential Scene:

I’ve chosen the following scene because I believe it shows the difference in attitudes, and how easy it can be for someone to be kind.

—

Two men walk through a wooded area. The well-dressed Monsieur Duval, evidently owns the grounds, while Jean presumably works for him.

Duval: You’re getting old, Jean. Probably, last night you had too heavy a dinner and now your imagination is.

Jean: But Monsieur Duval, at first I could not believe my own eyes! A lot of horrible, twisted things, you know, crawling, whining, laughing —

Duval: Be done, Jean! What were you drinking last night?

Jean: Nothing Monsieur, I assure you! Monsieur, there must be a law in France to smother such things at birth… or, or… lock them up!

Duval: Alright, Jean. If there’s anything like you say on my grounds, we’ll have it removed.

Cut to some of the sideshow artists dancing and listening to the “Human Skeleton” play the harmonica. The microcephalic “Pinheads” dance in a circle, joined by the Half Boy, Dwarf, Bird Girl and the Living Torso. All seem happy and content. Jean starts to yell, “Go away, all of you!” They all run towards a mature lady who comforts and holds them as a group.

Jean: Don’t you know trespassing is the same as stealing?

Madame Tetrallini: Oh I’m sorry, Monsieur. I am Madame Tetrallini. These children are in my circus.

Jean: Children? They’re monsters.

Duval: [affably] Oh, your circus! I understand.

Madame Tetrallini: So you see, Monsieur, when I get a chance, I like to take them into the sunshine and let them play like children. That is what most of them are. Children. (She is tightly embraced by Schlitze, one of the Microcephaly sufferers)

Duval: [looks at the group] Children.. Children.. Please, forget what was said, Madame. You are welcome to remain. Au revoir. Come, Jean. [The men leave]

Madame Tetrallini: Thanks a thousand, Monsieur!

[Various calls of ‘thank you’ come from the group]

Madame Tetrallini: [looks at the group] Oh, shame! Shame, shame! How many times have I told you not to be frightened? Have I not told you, God looks after all his children?

Thoughts:

Tod Browning took a huge risk with Freaks. He hired people with genuine deformities, most of whom actually did work in sideshows, and put them on the screen for a mostly volatile public to see. But Browning gives the sideshow artists dignity. He not only allows them to show their true characters, but gives them a chance to show that they can achieve some normality.

The Siamese Twins, Daisy and Violet Hilton, are intelligent, very pretty and both have romantic partners by the end of the film. The Human Skeleton (Peter Robinson), is overjoyed as he celebrates the fact that his wife, the Bearded Lady (Olga Roderick), has just given birth to their child.

Johnny Eck

The very handsome Half Boy (Johnny Eck) is a joy to watch, and the sufferers of microcephaly show how gentle and affectionate they can be when given the chance. Browning gives the audience an opportunity to realise that the ignorant behaviour of turning away from people with deformities results in losing the company of some genuinely wonderful people.

The “normal” characters, with the exception of two circus workers, are portrayed as the monsters, while the “freaks” are portrayed as eccentric but kind, welcoming and incredibly inventive — Prince Randian, the Human Torso born without legs and arms, lights a cigarette using his mouth and chin.

People who abuse people with deformities are indeed monsters and, as Freaks nears its 80th anniversary, we have to ask ourselves whether society’s attitude has sufficiently improved.

At the time, making Freaks was a mistake for Browning. His career never quite recovered from the uproar and the subsequent banning of the film in numerous countries, including the UK and parts of the US. But over the years it has gained a cult status and has received the accolades it deserves.

I just wish we had the option of seeing the 90 minute original version, but it’s very possible that Freaks, at just 64 minutes, is like Buster Keaton’s Sherlock, Jr. — a short but perfectly crafted masterpiece.

Rebel Without a Cause

Rachel’s review originally published January 11th 2011.
Updated to include Ally’s review March 13th 2011.

—

296. Rebel Without a Cause
Directed by Nicholas Ray
USA, 1955
IMDB | allmovie

Reviewed by Rachel
Second viewing

Synopsis:

Troubled teenager Jim Stark (James Dean) and his family are new in town. They move every time Jim gets into trouble, making a new start in a new town rather than facing up to Jim’s problems.

On Jim’s first day at his new school, he meets two new friends: Plato (Sal Mineo) is a troubled young man who has been virtually abandoned by his parents and is desperate for a father figure, and Judy (Natalie Wood) is a nice but rebellious young girl who is confused by her father’s recent lack of affection towards her.

When a chickee run* between Jim and local bad boy Buzz ends in tragedy, the three friends find comfort in each other’s company as they try to deal with their increasing feelings of alienation.

—

*Two people drive cars towards a cliff, the first person to jump out is a “chicken.”

Essential Scene:

In the film’s first scenes, Jim has been arrested, having being found sleeping on the street after a drinking binge. His parents arrive at the police station and talk to Detective Ray Fremick. We see the dynamics of the family and why Jim is rebelling.

[Jim hums “Ride of the Valkyries”]

Frank Stark: I don’t see what’s so bad about taking a little drink.

Det. Ray Fremick: You don’t?

Frank Stark: No, no I definitely don’t–

Det. Ray Fremick: He’s a minor, Mr Stark, and it looks to me like he’s had more than “a little drink.”

Mrs. Stark: [To Jim] Don’t hum, dear.

Frank Stark: I cut loose pretty good in my day, too.

Mrs. Stark: Oh really, Frank? When was that?

Frank Stark: Can’t you wait until we get home?

Det. Ray Fremick: How about you, Jim? Got anything to say for yourself? [Jim shakes his head drunkenly] Not interested, huh?

Mrs. Stark: Can’t you answer? What’s the matter with you anyhow?

Frank Stark: He’s just loaded, honey.

Mrs. Stark: I was talking to Jim.

Frank Stark: Well I’d, er, like to just explain. You see, we just moved here you understand, and the kid hasn’t got any friends.

Jim: Tell him why we moved here.

Frank Stark: Will you hold it, Jim?

Jim: Tell the man why we moved here.

Frank Stark: Will you hold it!

Jim: You can’t protect me.

Frank Stark: Do you mind if I try? Do you have to slam the door in my face? I try to get to him, and what happens? Don’t I buy you everything you want? A bicycle? You get a bicycle, a car..

Jim: You buy me many things. [To Fremick] He buys me many things.

Frank Stark: Not just buying! We give you love and affection, don’t we? Then what is it? Is it because we went to that party? You know what kind of drunken brawls those parties turn into! It’s not a place for kids!

Mrs. Stark: A minute ago you said you didn’t care if he drinks.

Frank’s Mother: He said a “little” drink.

Jim: [yelling] You’re tearing me apart!!

Mrs. Stark: What?

Jim: You! You say one thing, he says another and everybody changes back again!

Mrs. Stark: That’s a fine way to behave!

Frank’s Mother: [Looking at Mrs. Stark] Well, you know who he takes after.

Jim wails in disbelief and buries his face in his jacket.

Thoughts:

When I was 15 years old, a boy who sat in front of me in class proudly showed me his new flick knife. It was a beautiful knife, with intricate mother-of-pearl on the handle. But rather than being impressed, I just felt numb and a little frightened. He, obviously, bought it purely to be armed, and he would have used this knife in a fight if he had to. And why? Because of honour. The delusion that if you don’t fight with a weapon, you’re not a man.

When I saw Rebel Without a Cause, I realised these sinister aspects of teenage life haven’t changed at all.

Rebel is shown from the teenager’s point of view and it highlights the world that teenagers face, combined with the difficulty the parents and other adults face when trying to understand it. When Jim Stark is confronted by the gang, he faces a crisis of both conscience and manhood — and he will have to face these kids every day, no matter what choice he makes.

No matter how ridiculous these situations seem to adults, the outcomes are painfully real. These problems have not gone away, and Rebel is impressive in its honest portrayal of intelligent but troubled youth and the inability of parents to connect with them.

Another point of interest for me was James Dean. I was curious as to whether this cultural icon was indeed the amazing actor he is said to be. Well, I must say, he was bloody brilliant. I get the sense that the complex and quietly spoken Jim wasn’t too far removed from Dean himself, and I find that intriguing. More, please!

—

Reviewed by Ally
Second viewing

Essential Scene:

Plato, Jim and Judy are hiding in an abandoned mansion. Enjoying the privacy and freedom, they begin to play like children. Plato takes on the role of estate agent, carrying a candlestick and showing Jim and Judy around the mansion. As they descend the staircase, they discuss finances, lampooning their parents.

Jim: Would you like to rent it, or are you more in the mood to buy, dear?

Judy: You decide, darling.

Jim: Oh yes, yes.

Judy: Remember our budget.

Plato: Oh don’t give it a thought. It’s, uh, only three million dollars a month.

Jim: What?!

Judy: Oh we can manage that. I’ll scrimp and I’ll save and I’ll work my fingers to the bone!

Jim: [to Plato] You see, we’re newlyweds.

Judy: Yes. Oh, there’s just one thing. What about…

Plato: Children? Right this way.

Plato leads them to the garden.

Plato: See, we really don’t encourage them. They’re so noisy and troublesome, don’t you agree?

Judy: Oh yes yes, and so terribly annoying when they cry. Oh yes, I don’t know what to do when they cry, do you dear?

Jim: [imitating Mr. Magoo] Drown them like puppies!

They come to the empty swimming pool.

Plato: As you see, the nursery’s far away from the rest of the house.

Jim: Hey, you forgot to wind your sundial!

Plato: [climbing into the pool] And if you have children, you’ll find that this is a wonderful arrangement. They can carry on and you’ll never even notice.

Jim: Oh, sunken nursery!

As the camera looks down from on high, the friends all climb down into the empty pool, their voices echoing eerily.

Plato: In fact, if you lock them in, you’ll never have to see them again.

Jim: Much less talk to them.

Judy: [incredulously] Talk to them? Heavens!

Jim: Nobody talks to children.

Judy: No, they just tell them!

Thoughts:

At their best, I respond to Nicholas Ray’s films unlike any others. Like great music, they are imbued with a certain electricity. His use of expressionistic lighting, bold colours and music perfectly portrays the inner turmoil of his troubled characters, and there is a subversive thrill to the ideas he put across under the old Hollywood production code — Plato’s implicit crush on Jim, for example. It all comes together to make a potentially melodramatic story powerful and exciting, rather than dreary.

There was theatre (Griffith), poetry (Murnau), painting (Rossellini), dance (Eisenstein), music (Renoir). Henceforth there is cinema. And the cinema is Nicholas Ray.

~ Jean-Luc Godard

Fascinating Fact: The empty swimming pool featured in my chosen scene is the very same one built for the iconic scene in Sunset Boulevard.

Marty

291. Marty
Directed by Delbert Mann
USA, 1955
IMDB | allmovie

Reviewed by Ally
First viewing

Synopsis:

Marty Pilletti (Ernest Borgnine) is a stocky Italian American butcher who, at the age of 34, still lives at home with his mother (Esther Minciotti). He hits the town with his best friend Angie (Joe Mantell), but regular rejections leave Marty feeling lonely and dispirited. He has resigned himself to the bachelor life until he meets kindred spirit, schoolteacher Clara (Betsy Blair).

Essential Scene:

Mrs. Pilletti has asked her nephew Tommy (Jerry Paris) where Marty should go to meet girls. Later, over dinner, she tells Marty go to the Stardust Ballroom, which is apparently “loaded with tomatoes.” Marty reacts with amusement but, as his mother persists, his true feelings come to the surface.

Marty: Ma, when you gonna give up? You got a bachelor on your hands, I ain’t ever gonna get married.

Mrs. Pilletti: You gonna get married!

Marty: Ma, sooner or later there comes a point in a man’s life when he’s gotta face some facts. And one fact I gotta face is that whatever it is that women like, I ain’t got it. I chased after enough girls in my life, I went to enough dances. I got hurt enough, I don’t wanna get hurt no more. I just called up a girl this afternoon, I got a real brush-off, boy. I figured I was past the point of being hurt, but that hurt. Some stupid woman who I didn’t even wanna call up, she gave me the brush. No, Ma, I don’t wanna go to the Stardust Ballroom because all that ever happened to me there was, girls made me feel like I was a bug. I got feelings, you know, I had enough pain. No thanks, Ma.

Mrs. Pilletti: Marty–

Marty: [interrupting] No. I’m gonna stay home tonight and watch the Hit Parade.

Mrs. Pilletti: But you’re gonna die without a son!

Marty: So I’ll die without a son.

Mrs. Pilletti: Marty, put on the blue suit, huh?

Marty: Blue suit, grey suit, I’m just a fat little man, a fat ugly man.

Mrs. Pilletti: You’re not ugly.

Marty: [shouting] I’m ugly, I’m ugly, I’m ugly!

Mrs. Pilletti: Marty!

Marty: Ma, leave me alone! Ma, what do you want from me? What do you want for me? I’m miserable enough as it is. Alright, so I’ll go the Stardust Ballroom, I’ll put on the blue suit and I’ll go. And you know what I’m gonna get for my troubles? Heartache, a big night of heartache!

Thoughts:

Last night was the first time I saw Marty but it’s already vying for a spot in my top ten. Big words from an obsessive list-maker such as myself, but that’s how deeply it spoke to me. Ernest Borgnine is wonderful in the title role, for which he deservedly won an Oscar. In one early scene, he telephones a woman he had met the previous week to ask her out on a second date. We only hear his side of the conversation, but the look on his face and the resignation in his voice is heartbreaking. (I spent the rest of the film misting up at regular intervals.)

Marty: Oh, I cry all the time, any little thing. My brothers, my brother-in-laws, they’re always telling me what a goodhearted guy I am. Well, you don’t get goodhearted by accident. You get kicked around long enough, you get to be a real professor of pain. I know exactly how you feel.

Marty eventually meets Clara, a schoolteacher who is similarly unlucky at love. These two lonely souls reach out to each other and, as they spend the night talking, we learn a great deal about the characters and witness the beginnings of a truly sweet relationship. Kinda gives ya hope, don’t it?

Marty: See, dogs like us, we ain’t such dogs as we think we are.

—

Fascinating Fact: The “what do you wanna do tonight?” conversation between Marty and Angie was later referenced by the vultures in Disney’s The Jungle Book.

Mr. Deeds Goes To Town

98. Mr. Deeds Goes To Town
Directed by Frank Capra
USA, 1936
IMDB | allmovie

Reviewed by Ally
First viewing

Synopsis:

Longfellow Deeds (Gary Cooper), a greeting card poet and amateur tuba player from the rural town of Mandrake Falls, inherits a vast fortune from his estranged uncle. He is whisked away to New York, where his uncle’s corrupt attorney John Cedar (Douglass Dumbrille) expects to easily manipulate him. However, Mr. Deeds proves to be more perceptive, more socially conscious and more eccentric than anyone had bargained for.

He is fooled by one person however; star reporter Louise Bennett (Jean Arthur), who poses as poor, exhausted Mary Dawson, appealing to Deeds’ damsel-in-distress fantasy in order to get a scoop. She writes a series of articles painting him as a laughable country hick, nicknaming him “Cinderella Man.” She later quits the paper after falling genuinely in love with Deeds, but the course of movie love never did run smooth…

Essential Scene:

Mr. Deeds was in the process of using his inheritance to create jobs for the unemployed, when greedy relatives of his uncle had him arrested on grounds of insanity. He is tried, but initially refuses to defend the accusations, remaining silent throughout the farcical trial. Finally he takes the stand.

Mr. Deeds: About my playing the tuba — seems like a lot of fuss has been made about that. If a man’s crazy just because he plays the tuba, then somebody better look into it because there are a lot of tuba players running around loose. Course, I don’t see any harm in it. I play mine when I want to concentrate. That may sound funny to some people, but everybody does something silly when they’re thinking. For instance, the judge here is… is an ‘O’ filler.

Judge May: A what?

Mr. Deeds: An O-filler. You fill in all the spaces in the ‘O’s with your pencil, I was watching you.

The crowd bursts into laughter. The judge (H. B. Warner) examines the page in front of him. He has indeed filled in every O, D and any other letter with a hollow in it. He puts it back face-down on the desk.

Mr. Deeds: That may make you look a little crazy, Your Honour, just, just sitting around filling in ‘O’s, but I don’t see anything wrong because that helps you think. Other people are doodlers.

Judge May: Doodlers?

Mr. Deeds: That’s a name we made up back home for people who make foolish designs on paper when they’re thinking, it’s called doodling. Almost everybody’s a doodler. Did you ever see a scratchpad in a telephone booth? People draw the most idiotic pictures when they’re thinking. Doctor von Hallor here could probably think of a long name for it, because he doodles all the time.

The crowd laughs again. The Doctor, who has indeed been doodling absent-mindedly, looks up from his paper. The paper is seized and presented as “exhibit A for the defence.” It is decorated with numbers and abstract scribbles which seem to form a face.

Mr. Deeds: Everybody does something different. Some people are ear-pullers, some are nail-biters. That Mr. Semple over there is a nose-twitcher. And the lady next to him is a knuckle-cracker.

As Mr. Deeds highlights those odd habits, everyone in the courtroom becomes self-conscious and awkward. The Doctor picks up his pencil as if to doodle again, then puts it down. Mr. Cobb (Lionel Stander) stops himself spinning his pocket watch on its chain. Another man stops drumming his fingers on his desk, only to start fiddling with his lanyard. Stopping this too, his hand comes to rest on his face and he begins rubbing his lips.

Mr. Deeds: So you see, everybody does silly things to help them think. Well, I play the tuba.

Thoughts:

Mr. Deeds Goes To Town is everything I’d expect of a Frank Capra film: Charming, funny, moralistic, and perilously close to schmaltz but snatching it back just in time. A prime example of said snatching is the scene in which Mr. Deeds confesses his love for “Mary” with a poem. Overcome with adolescent nervousness, Deeds runs away, his gangly limbs knocking over bins as he clatters away into the night, puncturing the sappy scene with much-needed levity.

The eponymous Mr. Deeds is an eminently likeable character — an eccentric everyman, which seems like an oxymoron but, as demonstrated in my chosen scene, we all have our peculiarities! While his tastes and occasional violent impulses may seem unsophisticated, he proves himself to be an excellent judge of character, a deflater of big city pomposity and a philanthropist.

Quite what posessed Adam Sandler to star in the remake, I’ll never know…

Trainspotting

911. Trainspotting
Directed by Danny Boyle
UK, 1996
IMDB | allmovie

Reviewed by Rachel
First viewing

Synopsis:

A troubling look into the drug scene of Edinburgh with heroin addict Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) and his rather unlikeable friends.

Essential Scene:

Renton is determined to come off heroin, and meets with his dealer for something to help with the withdrawal. The dealer supplies him with opium suppositories, which Renton immediately… uses. Unfortunately for Renton, his heroin induced constipation immediately goes away and he is racked with a very urgent pain.

Renton: (voice-over) I fantasize about a massive pristine convenience. Brilliant gold taps, virginal white marble, a seat carved from ebony, a cistern full of Chanel no.5, and a flunky handing me pieces of raw silk toilet roll. But under the circumstances I’ll settle for anywhere.

Renton, in desperation, enters what we‘re told is “The Worst Toilet in Scotland.” And it really, really is. You don’t need me to describe it, I’m sure the mental picture is already forming in your mind.

To his horror, he realises that he has lost his suppositories after relieving himself. He delves his hands into the un-flushed toilet, and dry heaves his way through searching for his drugs. In a sudden twist, he slides head first into the toilet, and as Bizet’s “Carmen” plays in the background, he disappears into the bowl.

The dingy, disgusting cubicle becomes a crystal clear underwater world with a calm blue tinge. Renton finds his beautiful, shining suppositories and exclaims “Yes, you fucking dancer!” as he rises up to the top. Gasping for breath, his head appears from inside the dank, stained toilet bowl, and we’re back in the smelly reality.

Thoughts:

Renton: (voice-over) Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage. Choose a three-piece suit on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked up brats you spawned to replace yourselves. Choose your future. Choose life… But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin’ else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you’ve got heroin?

Although Trainspotting is its own film, I can’t quite ignore how similar it is to A Clockwork Orange. Renton’s narration takes us through his degradation, but he never once apologises for his life. He is even proud of elements of it. Alex DeLarge in A Clockwork Orange is equally unapologetic, steeped in self-pity and arrogance as he refuses to take any blame for his circumstances.

In both cases, the government completely fails to stop the behaviour of our narrator. Renton’s avoidance of a jail sentence by entering a drugs programme does nothing to stop him going straight back into heroin. The disturbing visuals within Renton’s trips and withdrawals bring to mind Alex’s equally disturbing fantasies, and there is even a direct homage to A Clockwork Orange in the reproduction of the Korova Milk Bar.

Both films have been accused of glorifying their subject matters, but I took Trainspotting to be more of a “look” at a way of life rather than being pro- or even completely anti-drugs. Heroin is hailed by Renton as better than any orgasm, yet the world in which he enjoys this pleasure is sickening, frightening and deadly. The viewer makes up their own mind and hopefully chooses any life other than this in the process.

Well worth a watch for the creepy hallucinations alone — just don’t watch it on a full stomach!

The Vanishing

776. Spoorloos (The Vanishing)
Directed by George Sluizer
The Netherlands / France, 1988
IMDB | allmovie

Reviewed by Ally
First viewing

Synopsis:

Dutch couple Rex Hofman (Gene Bervoets) and Saskia Wagter (Johanna ter Steege) are on holiday in France when their car breaks down. They quarrel, and Rex briefly abandons Saskia in order to fetch more petrol. When he returns, she makes him promise never to abandon her again. Soon afterwards, at a rest stop, Saskia goes missing. Rex dedicates years to searching obsessively for her.

WARNING: If you want to see this film without knowing any other details (something I would endorse), please read no further. Minor spoilers ahead.

Essential Scene:

Raymond Lermorne (Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu) is first seen at the site of Saskia’s disappearance. He is a seemingly respectable family man but, in a series of flashbacks, we learn the sinister truth about him.

Raymond has been renovating an isolated house. One afternoon, in the darkness of the tool shed, he chloroforms himself, starting a stopwatch just before he loses consciousness. When he awakes, he writes the results in his notebook, and begins to calculate how far he could travel before a potential victim would regain consciousness.

Raymond Lermorne: (voice-over) I’ll do it in the blink of an eye. Let’s see… 12cc is equal to… How much do I have? Yes, 18 minutes, 54 seconds. 18 minutes, 54 seconds is equal to… 17 miles, more or less. That leaves me a margin of 3 or 4 minutes. That’s not bad. Not bad.

He then rehearses inviting a woman into his car, talking to himself and miming the actions. “What a coincidence! You may as well get in my car.” He opens the door chivalrously for her.

As he walks around to the driver’s side, he applies chloroform to a handkerchief and hides it in his pocket. After taking his seat, he leans over and locks the passenger-side door, before seizing the imaginary woman and forcing the rag into her face.

Thoughts:

I had been warned that The Vanishing is troubling, and that is an accurate description indeed. Not since Reverend Harry Powell has a cinematic villain so unsettled me. But while Powell is an omnipotent, dreamlike personification of evil, Raymond Lermorne is distressingly plausible. He is capable of leading a perfectly normal, even bland existence. He is also a self-diagnosed sociopath who is capable of committing the most evil deed he can think of.

Why? Well… I won’t spoil any more details, but suffice it to say, The Vanishing shat me right up. It’s a film I may never have seen were it not for this project. When I finally force myself to sit through Top Gun or The Sound of Music, I’ll remind myself to be thankful for that.