A PRE-PREVIEW OF 1986 ACADEMY AWARD CONTENDERS

In the first issue of 1987, the Mensa Classic Films SIG Newsletter, considered the possible candidates for 1986 best picture. I wrote this article and based my considerations on several information sources. These included then LATimes films critics Sheila Benson, Kevin Thomas, Michael Wilmington and Patrick Goldstein who came up with separate lists of what they considered were the years top ten films. Of the four, two are still associated with the Times, Thomas and Goldstein while Benson who is basically retired is writing for a weekly in the state of Washington, and Wilmington left the Times and has been with the Chicago Tribune for several years.

I reviewed their lists and noted that my usual practice of not seeing everything worth seeing had held up again that year. Among their various top tens I found only three films that I had seen, though Benson have second list which also contained three of my theatre viewings. Anyhow, comparing the various lists I came up with a composite top ten which I'll list for your interest and as a probable source for this years Academy Award candidates and eventual winners. I'll warn you ahead of time, however, that Benson had "Brazil" on top last year, a film that was ranked first by the LA film critics, but which was largely ignored by the rest of the nations critics and the Academy. Needless to say that film is a real gem, and one you should definitely plan on seeing, though I am sure it will probably take more than one viewing for the shear pleasure of it to come through.

Well enough digression here is the list, points are ten for 1st down to one for 10th.

1. Hannah and her Sister's - 35

2. Blue Velvet - 25

3. The Sacrifice - 19

4. 'Round Midnight - 17

5 Platoon - 15

Summer - 15 (Le Crayon Bleu)

7. Room With A View - 13

8. Mona Lisa - 9

The Legend of Surami Fortress - 9

10. Kaos - 8

Something Wild - 8

That's the list of ten, actually eleven with the 10th place tie of "Kaos" and "Something Wild." Of these films, I have seen "Hannah and her Sisters," "Rome With a view," and "Mona Lisa." From Sheila Benson's second list, I saw "the Color of Money" her number 16, "Peggy Sue Got Married" number 17, and "F/X" her number 18.

I can see I have my work cut out for me when it comes to viewing top films for the year 1986. My own list of top films has seven titles, since there are only seven films that I deem worth of top ranking. These are in my order of preference:

1. Room With A View

2. Mona Lisa

3. Hannah and Her Sisters

4. Peggy Sue Got Married

5. The Color of Money

6. The Decline of the American Empire

7. F/X

I would rate the first three very closely, anyone of the three attracts a second viewing, though I find I am more anxious to see a "Room with A view" again than the other two. "Peggy Sue Got Married" and "The Color of Money" I would consider about equal as entertainment's rather than serious films. There is a nostalgia quality to the first of these two, that I find very attractive, which accounts for my preference. "the Decline of the American Empire" makes you think, but the sexual exploits of its principals goes beyond reality. "F/X" is another entertainment, probably liked at least by me, because of the presence of Bryan Brown.

In the films I haven't seen I am looking forward to are "Ginger and Fred," the 12ft place finisher in the Times list, "El Amor Brujo," not on the list, "Round Midnight," I have a strong interest in jazz, "Summer," "Malcolm" and "Defense of the Realm,'" not on the list. If we manage to see some of these during the holiday season (I'm writing between Christmas and New Years we'll try to give them some space in this years Mensa Classic Films.

Now here we are 22 years later and I'll take a quick review. It turns out there were far more riches than the films I discussed above. The top foreign language film was a Dutch film called "de Auslag" set in World War II. Platoon won the best film award. Paul Newman was voted best actor for "The Color of Money". The best actress award went to deaf actress Mary Matlin for "Children of a Lesser God. Michael Caine and Diane Wiest won for best supporting actors both from "Hannah and Her Sisters." Also of interest are the ratings accumulated by the Internet Movie Data Base, IMDB. IMDB gave "Platoon" it's highest rating with an 8.7 based on a 10 for highest. Their ratings are based on submittals from users, which is a film like "Platoon" consists of thousands of voters. The other top five films in order were "The Sacrifice (Offret)" with an 8.0, "Hannah and her Sisters" tied with "Kaos" at 7.9, and "Blue Velvet" and "El Amor Brujo," tied for sixth with a 7.8. All those ratings are excellent and indicative of a film well worth viewing.

Despite my best intentions there are several films I have yet to see. I hope to correct that in the coming weeks by utilizing the resources of the Los Angeles County Library and Netflix I hope you utilize the resources available to you to also review some of the top films of that year.

Joan of Arcadia

A couple of years ago there was a brouhaha over the possibility that Hollywood film producers were avoiding making films or television programs that used God as a base. Mrs. Gardner received an e-mail from a friend sending her this information, a form letter, decrying Hollywood's refusing to use God in entertainment productions and signing up persons angry enough over the situation to get something done about it. Mrs. Gardner was surprised at this since she was a regular viewer of the CBS Television program "Joan of Arcadia," that dealt with a teenage girl having regular conversations with God.

A couple of years have passed and last year, I decided maybe I should investigate the program Mrs. Gardner so enjoyed. I'm not much of commercial television watcher because of commercials. I prefer PBS and the non commercial film channels i.e. IFC and TCM among others. So except for an odd episode or so I never really watched "Joan of Arcadia" and got a handle on what was happening. That has been corrected by the available DVD's covering the entire two year history of the program. I found that it was an impressive two years dealing with an interesting concept of God, with excellent stories and dialogue and a truly outstanding performance by Amber Tamblyn as the title character Joan.

I might note that the series lasted only two years. I believe that it was that old devil of what makes the money go round. The show just wasn't picking up enough of an audience to justify keeping it running. You would think that with the concern over the lack of coverage of God on the networks that the program would have had a ready made audience. But once you see "Joan of Arcadia" you realize that it is not that attractive to more conservative viewers interested in seeing more of God on television. For God in "Joan of Arcadia" is not the powerful strongly built middle-aged gentleman represented by Zeus, Jupiter, Thor and other of the earlier religions. Probably the most symbolic image for God is in Michaelangelo's painting in the Sistine Chapel where he is reaching out to Adam. Man is made in God's image, which when you think about it means that God has an infinite number of appearances. In "Joan of Arcadia" this is readily apparent when you find that the initial appearance of God is that of a rather cool looking high school student in a leather jacket. Subsequent depiction's of God on the show have a wide range of human look a likes. Some stand out. My personal favorites are God as a ten year old little girl. It is fun to see this child wearing rather wild kids play clothes advising Joan as to how to behave in certain situations and to do important chores that she, God, wants her to do. Probably my second favorite is an elderly woman who in a late episode in the series comforts Joan after a particularly unfortunate episode in her life.

There are several different cast members who are either friends of Joan or family members. Joan is the second child of the Girardi family. They live in the town of Arcadia somewhere in the US. In reviewing sites on the net that discussed the film I found references to this being in Maryland and in another instance Wilmington, Delaware served as the model city.

There are five members of the Girardi family. The father, Will Girardi, is played by veteran film actor Joe Mantegna who most notably has played lead roles in films of writer/Director David Mamet. Mr. Girardi is an acting chief of police in the city of Arcadia. Will is married to Helen Girardi who is played by veteran actress Mary Steenbergen. Helen works in the Attendance office at the high school that Joan attends. She is also a fall away Catholic who is trying to reconnect with the church. She is motivated by Joan's supposed conversations with God. Eventually Helen becomes the schools art teacher, a role she is well qualified for because of her education history in art.

There are three children, Joan, her older brother Kevin who is a paraplegic having been seriously injured and paralyzed from the waist down after an automobile accident on graduation night. Kevin is approximately nineteen. He is joined in the family with Joan's younger brother Luke who is a genius and a bit on the geeky side. Luke is a fifteen year old. The two brothers are played by Jason Ritter, Kevin, and Michael Welch, Luke.

Amber Tamblyn plays sixteen year old Joan. It's a marvelous performance which I find right on the money. Watching her mannerisms, expressions, and reactions is very reminiscent of my own granddaughter Sierra who is a high school fifteen year old. The whole show is centered on Joan. My granddaughter Sierra had to inform me that Joan of Arcadia is a take on Joan of Arc from French history. I wasn't quick enough to note that connection. Incidentally, Sierra really loved the show and enjoyed watching it I would assume that it would probably be of interest to most teenage girls.

In the initial episode Joan awakens in the middle of the night hearing a voice calling out to her. Then in the morning she looks out her bedroom window and sees a person, a young man, looking up at her. She tells her family about this incident, and they go outside but find no one there. On her way to school on the bus Joan also notes a good looking young man looking at her on the bus, and later sees him at school. At noon time he accosts her and they are talking until Joan finally asks him who he is. He tells her that he's God and he gives her a task to perform. He also tells her she will see him again, but that he will not look exactly the same. The task he gives her is to do is to take a job at a nearby book store. Joan checks it out and decides to skip it. Then at lunch in the school cafeteria the next day, one of the food servers, asks her if she got that job yet. Joan has to say no, and the server tells her she needs to do what she's requested to do. In this case God, the server, is a much older woman.

Joan takes the job and finds out that by doing it she performs a deed that is useful to society, in this case leading to the apprehension of a serial rapist/killer that the police department have been unable to identify. He had attempted to drag Joan into his vehicle when she was on her way home from the book store, but she escaped and was able to provide an identification of the man and his vehicle.

All of Joan's activities at God's request involve tasks she is asked to perform that will have benefits to society including members of her own family and friends.

Joans parents begin to worry about her and her conversations with God. Her younger brother Luke suggests she's nuts. When God talks to her, no one is aware of it. God usually addresses her by Joan so she knows that it is God she is talking to. There is one funny incident when the parent of one of her school friends, who Joan hasn't met refers to her as Joan. Joan thinks it's God. Actually, Joan is one of the helpers at a back to school night and is wearing a badge that says Joan on it.

When summer comes her parents send her away to a camp where children who are suffering from hallucinating events are wheedled out of there strange beliefs with psychiatric treatments. When Joan gets back she is convinced she is cured, and refuses to acknowledge God when he/she speaks to her. This happens several times, until finally something drastic happens that would have been averted if Joan had responded to God. She breaks down after this event and is comforted by the elderly lady God when she, Joan, is upset and crying. This event brings her back into responding to God.

In some instances Joan argues with God about the task she is asked to perform. It's satisfying to see her treating God like an equal. Some episodes result in some very entertaining results. In one God has her go out to take diving in a swimming class. She does this but in one grand attempt to do what he says she makes a tremendous belly flop off the high board. The next day she runs into God, in this instance a cleaning lady at the school, who laughs and kids her about her big belly flop. Joan is really angry and tells God that it is inappropriate for God to make fun of one of his humans. Another funny incident involves a failure in a science project that spectacularly douses one of Joan's friends and the teacher in a shower of splashed water.

Some of the supporting players are memorable. These include Adam Rove played by Christopher Marquette who is Joan's principal friend from the opposite sex. Adam is one of those deep type people that others have trouble understanding. He lives with his father, and has many strange sculptures in his home that he has created. Peculiarly he always calls Joan, 'Jane,' except when he is angry with her.

Grace Polk is Joan's best friend. She is a very different girl, rides a skate board and dresses in very masculine clothes. A couple of Joan's other friends ask her to find out if Grace is a lesbian. Though carefully addressed by Joan, this results in very strong response from Grace that her sexual persuasion is no ones business but her own. Like most of Joan's friends Grace has a cross to bear in this case it rests with her mother being an alcoholic. Grace's father is also a rabbi. Joan consults with him one day on God without letting Grace know she is going to talk to him, which also angers Grace.

Glynis Figiola is another friend. A very tall slim girl who was involved in the incident with the science teacher. She is kind of a geek as well.

Friedman is still another. He is a boy who comes up with a lot of wiseguy comments and is continually being berated by the girls. All these people are in the science class together along with Joan's brother Luke. The science teacher, Mrs. Lischak, is a delightful eccentric who caries a baton with her which she occasionally bangs on a desk to gain attention. She's played by the tall Elaine Hendrix who has been in a number of films as a chief supporting player. Friedman is played by Aaron Hindestein, Glynis by Mageina Tovah and Grace by Becky Wahlstron. None of these players are of high school age, but it isn't obvious that they are older.

A couple of more players I particularly liked were Sidney Tamiia Poitier, daughter of film actor Sidney Poitier. She's another very lovely girl who becomes friends with and guides Kevin when he gets a reporters job at the local newspaper. She's on the staff and mentors him and eventually a personal relationship develops.

Two last observations. The writing is spread out between about seven different contributors. It is uniformly good and seamless in the way each writes to the shows themes. Also, God is played by more than ten different people including among others Amber's father Russ who is a paid dog walker and always appears walking about a half dozen dogs on individual leases when he addresses Joan. And, finally, Helen in her search for closure in her concern over her declining Catholic faith is advised by the local priest to consult with Sister Lilly Walter. Constance Zimmer has this role and she plays the nun as a woman with tattoos, eccentric clothes and a strong will. Joan first sees her from a distance and thinks that her mother may be buying drugs from a woman of the street. Actually, Sister Walter is a disciplined Catholic with a just certain free spirit.

The last couple of episodes lead to what was going to be a third season which of course was never realized. In it they develop another new character that of the devil. God tells her that some of her most challenging tasks will be in dealing with this new threat in her life.

Joan of Arcadia is about as good a show if you can find on network television. It probably would have been more appropriate on PBS where the more leisurely environment would have allowed it to continue on into Joan's college years, and where it is more likely to have acquired a larger audience. For a network show I can't recommend it more highly.

THE INDISPENSABLE CARY GRANT

According to Bill Libby's 1978-1979 poll, Cary Grant had more films cited as favorites by film fans than any other actor, yet critical acclaim has largely escaped Grant. He is one of the many acting greats who have failed to achieve that pinnacle of industry acclaim, the award of an Oscar. I wrote these opening lines in 1986 when I did a second evaluation of Grant's work. It seems appropriate to update once more the list of best films for one of America's most distinguished actors, the English born Archie Leach, Grant's real name.

Grant's failure to win an Oscar can probably be attributed to his particular skill at playing light sophisticated comedy. Because of this he was largely cast in such roles, which are much last likely to be attributed as best performances as compared to more serious roles. During his long career Grant received only two nominations. The first of these, was a tear-jerker called "Penny Serenade" with co-star Irene Dunne who often played opposite Grant and had very similar comedic skills. The Penny Serenade is entertaining, but would probably be seen as a bit on the corny side by today's audiences.

The second Oscar nomination was for a genuinely serious picture, the dark "None But the Lonely Heart" where Grant played a cockney loser without much in the way of a warm nature. This picture has all the qualities of a typical Film Noir

Early in the life of Mensa Classic Films we developed a concept of five films of a particular type or featuring a particular performer or director that we could take with us to an imagingary Desert Island. This provided a convenient way of listing our favorites. However when it came to doing Cary Grant a real problem developed in coming up with only five Grant films, so we compromised and named a top five followed by three more of almost the same prime classification.

Without further ado, here are the Big Five, and as usual, in alphabetical order:

o Gunga Din

o None But the Lonely Heart

o Only Angels Have Wings

o Philadelphia Story

o Topper

The near three, that we would probably be just as happy with in exchange for any of the above are:

o Arsenic and Old Lace

o Bringing Up Baby

o North by Northwest

Those eight films cover a span of 23 years and indicate Grant's enduring skill

Gunga Din - Adventure par excellence and surely one of the all-time favorite films in this genre. The north Indian frontier, the British Raj and that line of aristocratic officers, dedicated soldiers and native warriors opposing the hordes that come out of the mountains and through the passes in an attempt to overrun India. Victor McLaglen and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. are Grant's cohorts, and Sam Jaffe is memorable in the title role. (See Classic Films issue no. 40, June 1985 for the writer's critique).

None but the Lonely Heart - Grant in probably his most serious role received a nomination for best actor but was panned by some critics and but grudgingly liked by others. He plays a cockney son of Ethel Barrymore and is loved by two women, the sensitive Jane Wyatt and June Duprez of the sensual almond-shaped eyes. Grant is the neer-do-well Ernie Mott in a film set in a dark London area of crime and deprivation.

Only Angels Have Wings - One of our favorite films on the early days of aviation, with grant playing the charismatic leader of a floundering airline in equatorial south America with the amazed and anguished Jean Arthur, the cool and reserved Rita Hayworth, and a crew of enthusiastic pilots played by a number of Hollywood's finest supporting players. (see our issue No. 3, Jan. 1982 for a review of the film).

Philadelphia Story - Grant as the super-sophisticated C.K. Dexter Haven, unconquerable Katherine Hepburn as the soon-to-be conquered Tracy Lord, and a host of other outstanding character players in this period piece on Mainline Philadelphians in the years before World War II. (The writer reviewed this film in Classic Films issue Number 17, March 1983).

Topper - The earliest film in our list with Grant in another sophisticated role accompanied by excellent support from Constance Bennett, our favorite role for the latter. They're the madcap Kirbys of wealth and ectoplasm. Roland Young is the mousy banker they reeducate, and Billie Burke is the banker's stiff and bossy wife plagued with dyspepsia.

Of the films in this list, the movie fans via the L.A. Times survey of 1978 rated "Philadelphia Story" as the 48th best top film of all time. "Gunga Din" finished 95th. "Bringing Up Baby" and "Northwest by Northwest" were in the top 100. The most recent survey of the Internet Movie Data Base ratings listed North by Northwest as the most favored Grant film followed by Notorious. Both of these films used the spy environment as a basic setting.

In the five year period following my development of the Cary Grant list of favored film, I had the opportunity of seeing various Grant pictures a number of times. One film which I would include in my all time favorite list would be "Sylvia Scarlett" another Grant co-starrer with Katherine Hepburn. This film was made in 1935 and featured Grant in his only other performance playing with a cockney accent. Grant is a hustler in this film and has become acquainted with Edmund Gwenn and Katherine Hepburn in a cross channel journey from France to England. The latter pair have had to flee France because of the father's shenanigans. The three form a team and skuldugger as best they can with mixed success. Grant does not know that Hepburn is a girl since she is always dressed in boys clothing. In the attempt to escape France she has had her hair cut and is dressed in mens clothes posing as her father's son. It is a very different and off beat film for all three performers and one certainly worth watching. Grant performs an English music hall song or two in his cockney accent.

Grant has another vocal which he delivers in a nice baritone voice in the World War I aviation film called "Suzy," Grant plays a French flying office and co-stars with Franchot Tone. The female lead is Jean Harlow who Grant meets in a French cafe where Harlow is an entertainer. After she does her vocal piece, "Did I Remember," a really lovely and very plaintive song, he gets up and proves to her he can do it from memory. Much like Rex Harrison in "My Fair Lady" Grant does the song half singing and half reciting.

Both "Sylvia Scarlett" and "Suzy" rank pretty far down the list of favorite Grant films. Grant also sang a couple of numbers in the peculiar farce "Kiss and Makeup." Grant is a cosmetic beauty expert in France, which I find hard to believe. Perhaps the most interesting part of this film is Toby Wing who did the "Young and Healthy" number with Dick Powell in "42nd Street" without speaking a line, and who has a couple of lines in this film while disrobing down to her undergarments.

Another of Grant's really funny roles was that of newspaper editor Walter Burns in "His Girl Friday." Grant played opposite Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy and a slew of great supporting character actors in the remake of Hecht and MacArthur's "Front Page." This film is one of the principal "Fast Paced Films" that I reviewed in Classic Films issue number 28 in February of 1984.

Grant had two very successful comedies made in early in his career playing opposite co-star Irene Dunne. Irene Dunne's comedic talents are readily notable in the two films. In the first, "The Awful Truth" Grant and Dunne have grown tired of each other and gotten a divorce. The main problem with the divorce is who gets the dog, played by the venerable Asta of the Thin Man series of films made with William Powell and Myrna Loy. After the divorce Dunne has taken up with Ralph Bellamy, playing one of his dopey guys, this time a cowboy from Texas who lives with his mother.

In "My Favorite Wife" Grant remarries after his wife is declared legally dead. She had been on an archaeological expedition in the south Pacific and was presumed to have drowned. She arrives back when Grant gets married accompanied by her companion for seven years, Randolph Scott who had survived with her on a desert island, which of course causes Grant much internal. It's a delightfully silly film which ends with Grant dressed up in a Santa Claus outfit wishing Dunne a Merry Christmas in the attic of a mountain cabin. You will have to see the film to understand the whole significance of the scene.

When I wrote much of this in 1986 I noted that I had seen several of my favorite Grant films on the tube. In addition I have been exposed to a number of other Grant films that I was largely unaware of, including DVD's of some earlier and later films. I might note that one film I really enjoyed was "Thirty Day Princess" which starred Silvia Sydney in the key role of an out of work American actress being hired to portray a princess form a ruritarian like country from the Balkans. Her performance is terrific in both roles. Grant plays a newspaper publisher who is much against the Princess's visit, she's here to help float a loan for her impoverished country. After meeting her, played by the out of work actress, Grant falls in love. Edward Arnold plays the wealthy Bank President who is behind the loan.

Back in 1986 there was a lot of controversy over the process of colorizing films which was largely a brain child of Ted Turner of Turner Classic Movies. Fortunately the enthusiasm for this process has largely disappeared. I worried of their attempting to apply it in particular to a dark stark black and white film noir type picture like 'None But the Lonely Heart."

Grant remains a class by himself. Of modern day actors only George Clooney has some of the same charisma. Clooney has worked in a far greater range of productions. He has shown real comedic abilities including spoofing his persona. Cary Grant was once asked about the Cary Grant mystique and he commented, "Everybody wants to be Cary Grant, even I would like to be Cary Grant.

The Passing of Desiree Kennelley, Editor of CLASSIC FILMS

Des Kennelley passed away on December 4th. It was a great loss for those of us who were associated with her in the production of Classic Films through the early and middle 1980's. As a Mensa society Special Interest Group (SIG), it attracted a number of readers both from members of the society and from other readers who came into contact with it.

Des had special skills when it came to both writing and editing the newsletter. She had an instinctive knowledge of communicating through the written word. And, her background both educationally and in career positions culminated with several years experience as a technical editor in the aerospace business.

I first met Des in 1980, after I had accepted a position as a Proposal Development Specialist with GenCorp's Aerojet ElectroSystems Division. That job entailed both writing and putting together the management portions of the Division's new business acquisition organization primarily in Space System activities involving sensing technologies. The work I did called for me to interface with the Editing Department. Des was somewhat unique at the time, the only woman in a group with several men. It took a lot of convincing on her part to convince the Manager of that department to accept a woman in that responsibility.

After a few contacts with Des, I discovered two things: one, that we were both members of Mensa; and two, that we had a lifetime interest in films. Putting two and two together, we convinced Mensa, not a difficult task, to let us provide a Newsletter for a new SIG of our invention. Thus the birth of the Classic Films SIG and our newsletter.

My contacts with Des in the process of producing the monthly newsletter led to discussions of her family history. Though having a basic family background of many generations in England, she was actually born in Scotland in the early 1920s. This was a product of her father's position as Manager of a regional Igranic facility. Igranic was the largest of what we would call today an Electronics firm in Britain. Its headquarters were in Bedford, England. Des's early years were spent in Scotland but eventually she moved to Bedford when her father became the firm's overall General Manager. She told me at one time that her father spent a considerable amount of money with a language coach to correct her Gladwegian Scotch burr when speaking. You might get an idea of this accent by seeing a video. There is a review of the very entertaining Gregory's Girl in Classic Films issue No. 42, April 1985. In a trip to Britain in 1988, I was exposed to English accents at the Falconberg Arms, the little hotel we stayed at in Coxwold, England. This little village is in Yorkshire about 25 miles north of the city of York. I talked to the maitre d' at the hotel's pub about one peculiar accent. I noted one of his employees was a man I could never understand at all and inquired where he was from, figuring it must be somewhere far away. No, I was told, this particular chap lived about 20 miles away.

At some point in time in her early years, Des caught Scarlet Fever. This disease was far more serious in those days than it is today. The severity was learned by Des when her parents came to visit her in the hospital, while she was recovering, and she asked why everyone was whispering. Her mother burst into tears when she realized Des had suffered damage to the eardrums which is one of the bad possibilities from Scarlet Fever. While going to school in those earlier days she had to carry a small box which served as an listening device. Later, as technology advanced, she acquired the first of many hearing aids.

She told me a lot about the war years in Britain. Bedford is about 40 miles north of London, so that the Blitz affected it as well. Children were evacuated out of London into nearby communities; Des's mother took in four from London's east side, not the most promising part of London. It was quite a learning experience to have these young girls living with them. One of the older girls sent them Christmas cards for a couple years after their stay.

Another peculiarity of the bombing incidents was people's attitude relative to the excitement during the noise of bomb explosions, firing of anti-aircraft guns, fires and fighting fires. This often resulted in passionate occurrences that would probably not have happened except for the excitement induced by air raids. Two British films of the Battle of Britain, where these kinds of exciting happenings occur are Danger UXB, the Masterpiece Theatre series starring Anthony Andrews, and Hope and Glory, the semi-autobiographical film by John Boorman. In the first of these, Andrews lives in a boarding house where his military job is defusing German-dropped, unexploded bombs, UXB's. The owner of the boarding house has a very nubile daughter played by Carol Watling, who entices Andrews on occasion when bombs are falling and she is dressed in either a filmy nightgown or just her panties and bra. In Hope and Glory, teenager Sammi Davis is overcome by the excitement of an air raid and finds herself in a ruined building making love to a Canadian soldier she has met in a pub. Des said these kinds of events were not unusual during the war years, but she assured me that she was never affected that way.

Later during the war she worked for a government office in Bedford that was responsible for assuring agricultural pests, particularly from American Lend Lease, did not end up feasting on British crops. This was fun work, according to her.

There were many airbases surrounding Bedford. Many of these were American bases. She and some of her friends became acquainted with American officers from these bases at Canteens that offered food, relaxation and dancing. Des met an Officer at one of the bases who became a steady date. After the war he returned home and she eventually came to America with her mother and older sister. She stopped in Kansas on the way west and discovered that the old fire had disappeared and the relationship was over.

She told me of one other wartime event, a trip she and her sister and a number of others made to Paris after that city had been liberated. Those were exciting times with the French reacquiring freedom, and the air was filled with festivity. She met a man who had been a member of the Norwegian underground who had been fighting in Norway. It was interesting to her to meet someone who had actually been involved with that kind of war.

Des, her mother, and sister located in Santa Monica. While there her sister had a heart attack, the same disease that had struck her father just before the start of the war. Margaret, the sister was only 40 at the time.

While in Santa Monica Des got a job at the big Rexall main drugstore at La Cienega and Beverly in Los Angeles. At the time it was the largest drugstore in the United States. There she met Joe Kennelley, who worked there as well and who she eventually married. They were blessed with two sons, Chris and Cam. Both these boys are married, to Holly and Rose respectively, and between them there are two daughters each, Brook and Lauren for Chris and Holly, and Erica and Megan for Cam and Rose.

Des passed on this family history to me over time including many other events of interest, including discussions of her four granddaughters and her daughter-in-laws. Since this is supposed to be about her experience with Classic Films, we should pursue that area. Des was an outstanding writer and a great editor. She once told me that it would be nice if I had learned to spell in school and had also received some sort of instruction in the proper use of punctuation. All I could say was that the teachers tried, but they didn't have that much to work with.

Her first review in our very first issue was the wonderful World War II film called Brief Encounter that starred the doe-eyed Cecilia Johnson and the craggy faced Trevor Howard. It was a very romantic story and was beautifully reviewed by Des. To a certain extent, Des concentrated on British films, though she has a number of reviews of American-made favorites. In our initial discussions of movies I first connected to her when I noted I was familiar with an English-made fantasy film she mentioned called "Dead of Night." She was surprised I had ever heard of it, let alone seen it. It's an interesting film with five separate fantasy stories recounted by visitors to a house for a party. The ending is very surprising and makes you want to think about what you saw before.

As this is the Christmas Season, I would like to call particular attention to Des's Christmas commentaries, which dealt with Christmas practices and events while she was growing up in Britain. These are fun to read and allow for comparison with times past and celebration in Britain as compared with today here. These are in Issue 26, Dec. 1983 and Number 50 in Dec. 1985. They are quite entertaining and discuss recipes, party activities and the like. It is Des's writings on England and how things differed there that I find most interesting in her work.

We will really miss Des. Her son Cam told me she was a very underassuming person who was last in line for blowing her own horn. I would have to agree with him. You really needed to talk to her and bring out her interesting history. She was a pleasure to work with and fun as well. Her insults of my writing performance were always very carefully laid out to assure that I was well aware that she was just teasing.

Desiree Kennelley, 1922 - 2008, a person really worth knowing.

Dick Gardner, Classic Films

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ELENA ET LES HOMMES (1956)

I wrote a review of this film back in 1986. It starred Ingrid Bergman in what was a truly a delightful comedy in lovely color but which proved to be a box office failure. I hadn't seen it since 1986 when I followed up on a review in the LA Times which highly recommended the film. To re-address this review I ordered a DVD copy from Netflix and viewed it again.

The film was originally filmed in both English and French. The DVD I received was in French. I always enjoy hearing French spoken, though I understand little of it. Fortunately the DVD included excellent subtitles in English.

Another feature of the DVD is an interview with the films director, Jean Renoir. Renoir made several memorable films in France before World War II devastated that country. The most famous of these are Rules of the Game and The Grand Illusion. The latter dealt with a German prisoner of war camp in the Bavarian Alps during World War I. In Rules of the Game Renoir dealt with French attitudes just before the start of World War II. It's tangled activities are somewhat similar to Renoir's work on Elena Et Les Hommes. Renoir made several films in the United States, after he fled France before the German occupation in 1940. These were largely not as successful as his earlier French output. However, one of these is a poetically beautiful film set in 1946/7 India during the British administration. This film, called The River, featured the coming of age of three young women, two of which were British. The third was a girl with an English father and Indian mother.

In the interview with Renoir he discussed why he made Elena Et Les Hommes. He had decided he wanted to make a film starring Ingrid Bergman and that he wanted it to be a comedy. After analyzing what he wanted to do, he presented his ideas to her, and she agreed to do the film.

As I mentioned before, the film didn't attract audiences in either the US or France though this was for entirely different reasons. At that time, 1956, naturalism was the name of the game. Films depicted life, the sordid, the untamed, the degeneration of society. Stemming from the neo-realism of the postwar Italian film makers, spreading into France where the new wave of directors emulated the realism of Renoir of the thirties, and into America where the film noir was at it peak. The French were strong adherents to film naturalism, and the frothy Elena Et Les Hommes was completely out of step with filmgoer interests and attitudes. In that sense it was typical of American escapist films of the thirties and war years, which dealt quite often with wealth and the wealthy.

In the United States, a different reality short-circuited Elena Et Les Hommes. The film's star, the beautiful Ingrid Bergman was then falling into her exile and disgrace for having succumbed to raw romance with Italian film director Roberto Rosselini, while making his production Stromboli. The general population who had pedestaled Bergman in the '40s now turned against her in vengeance for her perceived flawed behavior, resulting in a general resistance to seeing her films. So alas, Elena et les Hommes died a quick and complete death.

Back in the fall of 1986 the film was revived and given a one-week showing at West LA's Nuart Theatre, one of the revival houses then operated in the LA area by the Landmark Theatre's group. Michael Wilminton's review in the LA Times indicated that it would be worth the writer's time to drive the nearly 40 miles for a viewing. It was a decision that I was glad I made for the film was indeed a delight and a pleasure to watch. it was beautifully mounted, with gorgeous costumes in keeping with its time frame of the 1880s and was loosely based on French history. In addition to the beautiful Ingrid Bergman it starred from the distaff side Juliete Greco and two male leads in the presence of France's handsome Jean Marais and Puerto Rico's Mel Ferrar. Renoir had captured much of the light fluffiness that one found in Gigi a few years later.

I will only touch briefly on the story. Elena, Ingrid Bergman, is an impoverished Polish princess, who needs to marry well to assure financial well being for herself and her servants. She has been betrothed to a silly young pianist, but finds more opportunity in a wealthy up and coming merchant in shoes and boots. She attends a great street/sidewalk fete celebrating Bastille Day, with the merchant, and in the crush of the celebrating crowd she becomes separated from him. This is a beautifully done scene, loaded with people, excitement, brilliant costuming, confetti, streamers and the joy of life. In the crush Elena is aided by a handsome young man, mel Ferrar, who is a friend of the French military hero of the time General Rollan (Marais). All France is in love with the general, including Bergman as Elena, and this is where the slight touch of history fits, since Rollan is loosely based on France's Boulanger, whose followers pushed a crisis in the 1880s.

Elena and Rollan first meet through the offices of Ferrar; he is Henri in the film, a wealthy but basically not very active man.

Following this long opening episode the film switches to the second of its three settings, a beautiful estate/chateau. The army is involved in military maneuvers nearby and Rollan is, of course, a participant. Bertin, the wealthy bootmaker, owns the estate, and has invited Elena to spend a weekend there. A typical Gaelic farce of misidentification, liaison, and revelry then ensues including a duel and a sumptuous banquet. Bertin's son falls in love with Bergman's maid, though he is betrothed to another. Bertin is planning on a big wedding. All kinds of confusion results between the various principals, including Rollan, who also visits the estate.

The final scene is set in a brothel in another part of France. This is a very idealized brothel. The scene involves some very humorous dialogue. Intrigue is in the air, since the supporters of Rollan are trying to talk him into taking over the government and setting up a dictatorship. Gypsies are also a part of the activities. Elena arrives for a liaison with Rollan. There are escapes and mistaken identities, and the film quickly moves towards its conclusion with nothing really decided except that an important incident in history has occurred. These are exciting times in the lives of several people when the film reaches its lighthearted close, with Elena's selection of the dispassionate Ferrar as the man she really loves.

The film doesn't sound like much in the telling, but it really is a charming piece. Bergman is never more beautiful, full figured, her erotic mouth ever set in a delightful smile with her brilliant teeth adding to her delicious appearance. She is also beautifully gowned. The film, in fact, resounds in gorgeous costuming, for both female and male performers. All in all it's a delightful film, one that any viewer who loves the presentation of nostalgic pieces in a fantasy world will surely love.

Dick Gardner, Classic Films

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L.A. Confidential

A few weeks ago the LA Times did a special on films devoted to those situated in Los Angeles. This list had one caveat in that the films had to be released in the previous 25 years, which meant only pictures released from 1984 on would be considered.

Being a resident of Southern California I was immediately interested in examining the list. I was surprised to learn that I had seen only seven of the 25 films selected by the newspapers film critics. It was also easy for me to come up with a complementary list of twelve additional films, most of which I felt could have easily been substituted for some of the films on the Times' list. However, most impressive to me was their selection of L.A. Confidential as the most important film made during this period with a Los Angeles setting.

I would totally agree with that judgment and would note that L.A. Confidential would probably rank very high in any list of the best pictures over all during the time period specified. Surprising as it may seem, L.A. Confidential didn't win the best picture Academy Award for that year. That was the year of Titanic, a film that won several awards. Today, as an after thought, I checked the comparative merits of the two films and found that L.A. Confidential ranks much higher on rating lists.

Kim Basinger was the only Academy Award winner for a performance in L.A. Confidential, when she won for best actress in a supporting role. Basinger received nominations from several other groups and was named as either best actress or best supporting actress in two such groups. The BAFTA, the British equivalent to the Academy Awards named her best actress. All three of the male leads, Guy Pearce, Kevin Spacey and Russell Crowe received nominations from other award organizations with Spacey receiving two such nominations including a best actor win, while Pearce and Crowe received one nomination each.

The film was derived from a novel by James Ellroy which dealt with Los Angeles crime and law enforcement in the period shortly after World War II during the late 40's and early 50's. Ellroy's book, as with Academy Award winner Chinatown a few years earlier, borrows from some real LA history. The movie opens with a Christmas Eve jailhouse assault on Mexican-American youths that had occurred a few years earlier in LA. He used this thread to develop a story that delves deeply into police corruption, which was not a new, isolated event LA.

To develop this theme the film focused on four members of the police department, Ed Exley played by Guy Pearce, Jack Vincennes played by Kevin Spacey and Bud White played by Russell Crowe, plus in addition the Captain of the detective bureau, Dudley Smith played by James Cromwell.

The story is complicated and quite realistic until a shoot-out in the end involving various members of the police department. Though the later event is overdone, it doesn't take away from the central premise involving crime and law enforcement.

Kim Basinger, Danny DeVito and David Strathaim have important supporting roles as a call girl, a supermarket tabloid-type reporter and the operator of a high class call girl operation, respectively.

Basinger as Lynn Brackett is one of the call girl prostitutes who works for Strathaim. Strathaim as Pierce Padgett lives in a Richard Neutra designed house in the Los Feliz district which is locally famous as the Lovell Health House. DeVito as Syd Hudgens is a writer who knows all there is to know about crime and notoriety in the City. He has a working arrangement with Jack Vincennes where he gets a tip when an arrest is about to be made and in particular if the arrest involves illegal activity such as adultery, or a celebrity.

The film covers the interplay of all these people plus a series of other criminal types including the real life Mickey Cohen and Johnny Stompanato. The latter was particularly interesting because of his involvement with film star Lana Turner and his eventual real life shooting by Turner's daughter.

There are numerous critiques available on the internet discussing the details of the film. What I want to do here, however, is to discuss the roles and performances by those playing the three detectives.

Guy Pearce does an excellent job at showing he's a straight shooter but also is very clever at trying to get ahead and gain stature in the department. Both of these characteristics come out early and are easy to follow as the film progresses. By the end of the film he has had several opportunities to exhibit his smarts.

Russell Crowe, on the other hand, plays an entirely different character. He's a tough guy by nature and likes to lay his weight on antagonists. Not a nice man to run into if you are a criminal or if he perceives you to be an enemy. There is some background to his behavior, which helps to explain him but not justify it. He really does the brawler role well. He also has a fixation on helping women.

Kevin Spacey has a much more difficult characterization to establish. He likes the celebrity side. He's the technical advisor for a TV show much like the old Dragnet series with Jack Webb. Yet he can be tough if motivated, and is smart but not obviously so. He also has real moral character which you gradually become aware of. Essentially, he has to project a far more complex person.

My personal opinion is that he had the hardest role to successfully
interpret.

One last thought. The concept used in the films to have prostitutes look like film actresses is actually true. There was a call girl ring operated out of the Hollywood Hills that had prostitutes dress and make up to represent particular actresses. One very popular one at the time was Jean Harlow, the peroxided blonde bombshell who was perhaps the most recognized screen actress in the middle 30's. The actress portraying Harlow had her hair peroxided and was made up to look like the actress plus some other useful tricks.

L.A. Confidential is a really thought provoking film, and like many unusually good ones, takes several viewings to really understand its complexities.

Dick Gardner, Classic Films

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ROXIE HART

I wrote a review of this film back in 1986. The film was based on a play that hit the stage in 1926 and which was followed by a silent film version the next year. In 1975 Bob Fosse developed a new musical stage version of the story, which was quite successful. In 2002 this musical was made into the film. Chicago, starring Catherine Zeta Jones and Rene Zelweiger. The latter played the Roxie Hart role. It was a very successful film and winner of several Academy Awards.

Roxie Hart, though based on largely the same characters is a different film. In 1942 the production code was in full force and placed restrictions on what you could and couldn't do. For example, screen couples, married or not always slept in twin beds. Any hanky panky scenes set in the bedroom required that one or both of the performers have one foot on the floor. The important rule effecting Roxie Hart was if someone committed a crime, they had to suffer the consequences. In the 1942 film they got around this requirement by having the murderer the story was structured around being not Roxie, but someone else.

I noted in the beginning of my review that Roxie Hart had been on the AMC channel a couple of times recently. I remember being overwhelmed with laughter at the film's spoof of Chicago during the roaring twenties when I saw it the year it was released. My memory was good, for it is still one hulluva funny film. Ginger Rogers plays the brassy Roxie, a hoofer hoping to become a star and who is charged with the murder of one Mr. Casey. The attorney who is going to get her off, "They've never hanged a woman in this county yet," is Billy Flynn, played adroitly by a flamboyant Adolph Menjou. The romantic lead, if there really is one, was George Montgomery playing a young very romantic cub reporter, Homer Howard. The film is also blessed with a wealth of fine supporting players, including the dry Lynne Overman (Jake Callahan) a cynical older reporter, Phil Silvers a very brassy newspaper photographer named Babe, William Frawley (O'Malley) an easily swayed juror, George Chandler (Amos Hart) who is low in the credits but deserving much credit for his funny portrayal of a dumb, injured husband, and Iris Adrian (Two Gun Gertie) one of Hollywood's premier hard-boiled dames of that period, and not to forget, Milton Parson who plays a deadly serious cadaverish radio announcer. During the trial, which is covered live on radio, the sponsor is an advertising doctor. In one commercial, Parsons intones, "Write us about your gallstones," This and all his lines are delivered with an ultra-serious deadpan tone. These are all mixed together with such other old pros as Sara Allgood and Spring Byington in parodies of a ladies jail matron and a genteel lady reporter, Miss Sunshine, respectively. You can think of Roxie Hart as another look at the world that MacArthur and Hecht parodied so well in Front Page. Nunnally Johnson wrote the very clever script in this film and easily equaled the former's comedic approach to Chicago, booze and crime.

The film opens with Montgomery; he talks like Clark Gable throughout the film which was apparently a trade mark of sort that he used, telling a tale in a saloon on a rainy night in Chicago in what is in the time frame of the early '40s. He is a seasoned reporter who, while downing a couple of shots, and thereby getting in the mood proceeds to tell the story of "Roxie Hart," the greatest of them all. This takes us to a flashback to 1927 with our being greeted by a couple of gunshots behind a door and being followed by two more. Later we see the police grilling Amos, who readily admits having fire the gun. Callahan is covering the shooting for his paper, when he notices a woman climbing stealthily down the fire escape. He hangs up the phone he uses, and hurriedly goes into another room, shuts the door, where we see Roxie for the first time in the form of a gum-chewing floozy with curly brown hair (it's supposed to be red for this black and white film): Ginger Rogers. Callahan charges back into the room and manages to subdue Roxie after a spirited tussle.

After he has had a chance to talk to her, he learns that she is interested in becoming a stage star. He persuades her to admit to the crime in order to assist her in achieving this career goal. He also says he will be able to line up the undisputed top attorney of that era, Billy Flynn, to handle her case. Roxie goes for the deal, and her husband, willing to be let off from the crime he committed, cooperates.

Roxie goes to jail where she quickly becomes its most famous inmate. Callahan's paper is trumpeting the case, and Amos Hart has come with almost all the $5,000.00 Flynn wants to take Roxie's case. Flynn tells him to call Roxie's parents when he hasn't got all the money. He does, and her father tells him no. After he hangs up he tells her mother, "They're going to hang Roxie." "Didn't I tell you?" the mother replies and they both go back to reading and rocking while sitting on the front porch of their little farmhouse.

Roxie is interviewed in the jail after she has had a run-in with Velma (Helen Reynolds), another lady prisoner, resulting in a kicking, scratching and hair pulling fight which is broken up by Mrs. Morton, the matron (Sara Allgood in a completely out-of-character role for her). She knocks their two heads together and exclaims, "Children, Children" to the unruly pair. Despite this outburst the interview goes on smoothly with all the reporters and Flynn in attendance, and ends up with Roxie doing the Black Bottom with everyone there joining in. This is initiated by Callahan inquiring if her Black Bottom rendition has been well received. Roxie replies, "I ain't had any complaints yet." This is one of Roger's two dance numbers. Later on she does a nice little soft shoe routine on the metal stairway in the jail.

Flynn concocts a story for Roxie, which she memorizes. It implies that the shooting of Mr. Casey was an attack of self-defense; she and the gentleman were fighting for his gun. She came up with it, shot him and says, "Everything went purple." Callahan asks, "Was it lavender or violet."

The court scenes are a riot and include a fight between the district attorney and Flynn. "No one can call me that and live," shouts Flynn after being denounced as a lying, etc., etc. by the district attorney. As Flynn tears off his coat and prepares to give battle, he whispers in the bailiff's ear, "Grab me, Billy." Fortunately several other officers have grabbed the district attorney, so the latter is not able to assault the angry Flynn being held back by the bailiff.

Flynn has singled out the jury foreman, O'Malley, as ready to eat out of his hand. This becomes quickly obvious from the performance of old pro, Bill Frawley, who does his jury scenes using his complete repertoire of facial expressions.

The trial comes to its conclusion with Roxie on the stand describing the whole incident. She had claimed to be pregnant in jail after having been reduced to second fiddle following the incarceration of the notorious "Two Gun Gertie." "Got a match, Bud," Iris Adrian in the role queries Callahan in her best hard-as-nails voice. Earlier when he was in the witness chair, Amos had declared he has divorced Roxie (when she was in jail) because, "the little stranger was too much of a stranger." Now Roxie testifying to the end finally brings up her unborn child and collapses in tears on the floor in front of the jury box. Flynn picks her up, and as Babe orders the latest in his many interruptions of the trial to get pictures. You see the cameramen flashing their old-style explosive flashes, with Roxie smiling upside down as she is held in Flynn's arms.

Well, the conclusion is obvious. Roxie goes free, O'Malley would have hung the jury even if it had taken a lifetime. The films ends with Homer (Montgomery, who as you remember has been narrating the story) going out in the rain where his wife is waiting for him. Here we see Roxie behind the wheel with about five kids. The film closes with her telling him, "Honey, I think we are going to have to get a bigger car next year."

The pleasure of Roxie Hart is essentially in the dialogue and delicious overacting. The lines are witty and well delivered. Rogers and Menjou are particularly adept, but the supporting players do a lot with small, juicy roles. If you want to see a sparkling version of Chicago's classic twenties, this will be your cup of tea.

Dick Gardner, Classic Films

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