The Great March HTF Historical Drama/Epic Challenge (1 Viewer)

[Ruz-El]

It's funny you mention the scenery for Ginger Snaps. It was filmed locally, and my friend hates the film since they mix around the interiors and exteriors of Fort Edmonton in it. I thinks he's a putz.

 

[Mario Gauci]

03/30/08: ROYAL FLASH (Richard Lester, 1975) :star::star::star:

Going into this one, I was aware it was part of a literary franchise by George MacDonald Fraser (who personally adapted the novel of the same name to the screen – incidentally, he died quite recently) involving roguish British officer Harry Flashman (the name itself derives from the student bully of the literary classic for children “Tom Brown’s Schooldays”!). The film-makers, in fact, hoped this would take off a` la the James Bond extravaganzas – but, clearly, the idea was doomed to failure, since old-fashioned and expensive costume pictures were no longer trendy by this time; for the record, not long ago I’d watched another contemporary tongue-in-cheek epic – Jerzy Skolimowski’s film of Arthur Conan Doyle’s THE ADVENTURES OF GERARD (1970), which was partly shot in Malta! Besides, I think it was a mistake to have started off with a novel whose plot had already been redone to death over the years – the protagonist, in fact, goes through a “Prisoner Of Zenda”-type adventure where he has to impersonate a look-alike royal!

Even so, on its own account, the film is undeniably stylish, considerably funny (effortlessly going from verbal wit to broad slapstick) and blessed with a tremendous cast (Malcolm McDowell, Alan Bates, Oliver Reed as future German political leader Otto von Bismarck, Florinda Bolkan as actress/courtesan Lola Montes – who, obviously, had already been the protagonist of Max Ophuls’ sublime but ill-fated 1955 film of that name, Britt Ekland – underused as McDowell’s frigid intended, Lionel Jeffries (sporting a metallic hand), Michael Hordern, Alastair Sim – amusingly popping in merely to referee a pistol duel between females, Joss Ackland, Tom Bell, Christopher Cazenove and Bob Hoskins). At the same time, however, it fails to scale the heights of director Lester’s previous swashbuckling saga – THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1973) and its simultaneously-filmed sequel THE FOUR MUSKETEERS (1974).

Interestingly, the opening sequence – with McDowell speaking at a school assembly with the Union Jack behind him – is actually lifted from the unforgettable prologue to PATTON (1970) where, in that case, George C. Scott had addressed the (non-visible) troops in front of the U.S. flag! Other notable assets here are the cinematography (by Geofftrey Unsworth), the production design (courtesy of Terence Marsh) and the score (from Lester regular Ken Thorne). By the way, in the liner notes it’s stated that the film was originally previewed at 121 minutes and later cut to 98 for general release – but the DVD edition I’ve watched, and which was released only recently as a SE by Fox, is a bit longer than that (running 102 minutes, to be exact)!


03/30/08: THE SPANISH MAIN (Frank Borzage, 1945) :star::star::star:

I had foolishly missed out quite recently on this one on late-night Italian TV and, consequently, was very glad now to get acquainted with it (albeit via a slightly washed-out print on DivX) – especially since I was surprised by its quality, making the film an underrated entry in the swashbuckling genre. Borzage was an unusual choice for this type of film – despite being a distinguished Oscar-winning director, he has become with time a largely forgotten figure but his reputation has deservedly soared of late among film connoisseurs and is now generally comparable to that of Douglas Sirk. To be sure, he is more renowned for movies like THREE COMRADES (1938) and THE MORTAL STORM (1940) rather than fluff pieces like THE SPANISH MAIN, but that only goes to show how versatile he was, equally capable of handling personal projects and genre pictures.

Equally unlikely was the film’s choice of leading man: Paul Henreid, playing an honest man who turns buccaneer in the face of injustice, his character is similar to that of Captain Blood (in spite of an obvious lack of emphasis on the actor’s agility) but also to Henried’s signature role of French Resistance leader Victor Laszlo in CASABLANCA (1942). This alone makes it interesting viewing but, thankfully, they’re supported by solid talent on both sides of the camera (the actors – Maureen O’Hara in her prime, an unusually but effectively cast Binnie Barnes as a hardened lady buccaneer and O’Hara’s romantic rival, splendid villainy from Walter Slezak, John Emery and Barton MacLane being equally dastardly, J.M. Kerrigan, Curt Bois and Mike Mazurki as Henreid’s sidekicks, a script co-written by CITIZEN KANE [1941]’s Herman J. Mankiewicz, magnificent color photography by George Barnes, etc).

While the plot offers no real surprise or undue complexity – coming at the tail-end of WWII, it must have provided just the right dose of escapism – it’s professionally-handled entertainment (at which Hollywood excelled during its golden age) of the kind ‘they don’t make anymore’…despite the best intentions of today’s exponents!


03/31/08: FRENCHMAN’S CREEK (Mitchell Leisen, 1944) :star::star::star:

Director Leisen, who started out as Cecil B. De Mille’s art director, was one of Hollywood’s supreme stylists throughout the 1930s and 1940s; unfortunately, his reputation has dwindled in recent years and, consequently, much of his filmography has so far been neglected on DVD (only DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY [1934], HANDS ACROSS THE TABLE [1935] and GOLDEN EARRINGS [1947] are available – with EASY LIVING [1937] and MIDNIGHT [1939] coming up)! While he’s best-known for sophisticated comedies in the vein of Lubitsch, Sturges, Wilder et al – all four, incidentally, worked most often at Paramount – he also dabbled in other genres (or mixed them with utmost confidence) and, this, in fact is a costumer/romance/swashbuckler all in one!

The film is based on a novel by Daphne DuMaurier – very popular around this time, including two Hitchcock adaptations (JAMAICA INN [1939] and REBECCA [1940]); the latter had made a star of Joan Fontaine, who also fills the leading role here – throughout the decade, she would appear in a number of costumers (JANE EYRE [1944], IVY [1947], LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN [1948] and, later on, IVANHOE [1952] and CASANOVA’S BIG NIGHT [1954]). Lavishly-mounted (copping an Oscar for Hans Dreier’s production design) and shot in rich Technicolor (as was the case with THE SPANISH MAIN [1945] by George Barnes and an Academy Award winner, incidentally, for the afore-mentioned REBECCA), Leisen is ably served by the fine cast he managed to assemble in this case.

Even if he’s supposed to be French, Arturo de Cordova is a most interesting choice for the dashing and virile pirate; I acquired a soft spot the Spanish actor after viewing his impressively nuanced central performance in Luis Bunuel’s study of pathological jealousy EL (1952) – still one of the most fascinating character studies ever put on film! Basil Rathbone is a stalwart in this type of film, though he’s a lecherous aristocratic villain here rather than a rival swordsman for the hero; his startling death scene at the hands of Fontaine is an undeniable dramatic highlight. Cecil Kellaway is terrific as Fontaine’s amiable but mysterious butler, who’s eventually revealed to be a foremost member of de Cordova’s pirate entourage; the popular Australian character actor would soon after play the painter Gainsborough in another costumer by Leisen, KITTY (1945) – a variation on “Pygmalion” starring Ray Milland and Paulette Goddard which remains one of the director’s finest films. Smaller roles were given to Nigel Bruce, typically obtuse and pompous as an aristocratic pirate victim (interestingly, this is the only film he and Rathbone would make together outside of their classic, and long-running, “Sherlock Holmes” series) and Ralph Forbes in the role of Fontaine’s insufferably fey husband. Incidentally, being aware of Mitchell Leisen’s homosexual tendencies (together with those of executive producer David Lewis), one can hardly escape the film’s gay subtext: apart from the afore-mentioned character of Fontaine’s husband (who is clearly more interested in his best friend Rathbone), Fontaine herself dresses up as a cabin boy for a chunk of the movie, De Cordova is often seen bare-chested and surrounded by his handsome lieutenants, his crew gleefully dress up in the women’s clothing they’ve just pillaged, etc.

With a not inconsiderable length of 112 minutes, the film’s first half – more akin to the so-called “woman’s picture” – is somewhat leisurely-paced and rather dreary. However, it eventually bursts into satisfying excitement and suspense – with such sequences as the pirates’ theft of a merchant ship from the docks, de Cordova’s decision to confront the nobility gathered at Forbes’ estate to plan his apprehension, the ensuing scuffle between the two factions and, finally, after the hero has been cornered and jailed, his shrewdly-organized flight from captivity with the help of the loving Fontaine and the devoted Kellaway. The CASABLANCA-like finale, in which the dutiful mother Fontaine sacrifices her own happiness to return to a repentant husband and their children, is unusual for this type of film and only adds to its already apparent value as a superior example of the genre(s).


03/31/08: SINBAD THE SAILOR (Richard Wallace, 1947) :star::star::star:

This Arabian Nights swashbuckler was another revisit to a film I had first come across during childhood. Considering the popularity of its titular figure, it’s odd that it has yet to be released on DVD; in fact, I had to make do with a soft and washed-out print (sourced from VHS) for this viewing. Incidentally, I had intended to schedule the film over Christmas to go with the other Arabian Nights stuff I watched back then – CHU CHIN CHOW (1934), etc. – but ended up postponing it. Now seemed like a good time to get to SINBAD due to the overlapping of various cast and crew members with such recently-viewed titles in the same vein as FRENCHMAN’S CREEK (1944), THE SPANISH MAIN (1945) and AGAINST ALL FLAGS (1952).

Anyway, the film is colorful entertainment – albeit overstretched at nearly two hours – in which Douglas Fairbanks Jr. admirably emulates his iconic father’s flamboyant style, particularly his craving gestures from THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (1924). For the record, the younger Fairbanks himself appeared in a number of other swashbucklers: these include adaptations of such literary classics as THE PRISONER OF ZENDA (1937; the definitive version and, interestingly, in a villainous role – Rupert of Hentzau) and THE CORSICAN BROTHERS (1942; obviously in a dual role) as well as Max Ophuls’ typically stylish solitary excursion in the genre, THE EXILE (1947). By the way, given that this was the first cinematic Sinbad, his characteristics aren’t as yet those of the wholesome yet stoic hero featured in the later Ray Harryhausen effects-laden extravaganzas – rather he’s depicted as a rogue and a charlatan, albeit a lovable one.

Maureen O’Hara is, once again, the leading lady – even if her character isn’t as well-developed as the ones she played in either THE SPANISH MAIN or AGAINST ALL FLAGS. Anthony Quinn is rather dull as an Arab potentate after a fortune in jewels and gold, the legacy of Alexander The Great lost to the ages. Walter Slezak’s character, however, is a memorable one – with a cowardly and eccentric exterior concealing his true self, a legendary ruthless villain named Jamal. Also in the cast are George Tobias as Sinbad’s comic-relief sidekick, Sheldon Leonard as a flustered auctioneer and Alan Napier, turning up towards the end as the guardian of the coveted treasure chest.

 

[JohnRice]

I don't have a tally, but I'm pretty sure Mario wins the Loser Movie Geek of March award, including viewing the most movies nobody (including Steve) has ever heard of.

 

[Lew Crippen]

I sort of forgot, but thanks for the challenge John. Perhaps next time you can have a Jane Austin film festival—then at least I’d have some idea of the movies Mario was watching (I especially enjoyed his commentary, even though I have no chance of seeing almost any of them).