TomJH
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Posts posted by TomJH
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CAGNEY, RAFT AND FRANKIE
As a young boy growing up on the streets of New York, Jimmy Cagney had dreams of one day being a major leagues ball player. Here's a shot of him with old pal George Raft and Lee Tracy at a charity event at Wrigley Field. (Tracy, by the way, was one of the few actors in Hollywood, who could keep up with Cagney as a speed talker, inheriting the role of a sleazy columnist in Blessed Event after Cagney went on one of his temporary walkouts from Warners).
Years later, 1974, at the AFI awards with a lifetime achievement recognition of Cagney, Raft is back. Frank Sinatra, a huge Cagney admirer, helped to host that memorable tribute evening for Jim.
Cagney loved the peace and solitude of his retirement, however. One time, while Cagney was at his Martha's Vineyard home, Sinatra came to the island. He had rented a huge yacht, everyone was going crazy because Mr. Show Business was there, and Frank kept asking for Cagney.
When a friend, who took Cagney on trips on a ketch, asked the retired actor where he wanted to sail, Cagney's response was to the point: "Wherever Frank isn't."
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James, I think that The Roaring Twenties, released in 1939, was really intended by Warners as a farewell to the gangster saga, at least as a big scale production. In the years immediately afterward, outside of a couple of gangster spoofs featuring Eddie G. and Bogie playing an old time gangster living beyond his time in High Sierra, that was pretty well it with the genre for a long while from the studio most known for them.
To which Cagney, I suspect, would probably have said, "Thank goodness." Of course, it's suitably ironic that after his financially unsuccessful bid at independent filmmaking, Cagney's comeback at Warners would be in the most vicious gangster role of his career - Cody Jarrett. (The result, though, would be the last great classic film of the actor's career, in my opinion).
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Thanks very much for your comments, mrroberts, as well as your pertinent observations.
Yes, just two years before Cagney left Warners to go independent with his brother William as producer, that brother shared associate producer chores with Hal B. Wallis on The Strawberry Blonde. In retrospect, of course, it was a shame that Cagney left the studio when he was at the very prime of his career to make that ambitious effort but it was an artistic siren call within him at the time that he couldn't resist.
And, yes, his mother did visit the set of that film. In fact, Cagney later wrote that his mother had been a "strawberry blonde" in her youth in NYC, dating a fellow named Eddie Casey. The film's theme song, The Band Played On, coincidentally had the lyrics, "Casey would waltz with the strawberry blonde . . ." As a result of all this, the actor wrote, the film was renamed The Strawberry Blonde in honour of his mother.
Over thirty years after the fact Cagney wrote the following about his Mom on the set of that film:
"The day we shot the scene where I waltzed with my strawberry blonde, Rita Hayworth, my mother came. There it all was - 1890, just as she remembered it: waiters with handlebar moustaches and colored vests, and the foaming beer steins. There were even pretzels on the table. She made only one comment, and an authoratative one, too. 'Jim,' she said, 'pretzels didn't come in until later!"
![i]Blonde,+The)_04.jpg](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SL5sh_Z9N24/UBPcLnWsKII/AAAAAAAAKko/T6F8YJJtE1U/s640/Annex%5Bi%5D-+Cagney,%5B/i%5DJames%5Bi%5D(Strawberry%5B/i%5DBlonde,+The)_04.jpg)
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mrroberts, no, I'm not a wannabe dentist but The Strawberry Blonde has long been one of my favourite films anyway.
Much of the charm and appeal of Cagney as a great star during his '30s films had been that of the man child, that impulsive, at times explosive incorrigible full of energy and refusing to ever grow up. Although he was over 40 when he made this film it would be pretty much the last time that the actor would play that type of role. And it would be one of the most memorable, in my opinion.
The Strawberry Blonde is a warm, sentimental comedy-drama, a rose coloured nostalgic look at the Gay '90s as they never were but should have been. Biff Grimes, to me, may well have James Cagney's most lovable characterization.
This remake of Paramount's One Sunday Afternoon is superior to the original in virtually every aspect. And one of the key reasons for that was to have Raoul Walsh as its director. Walsh had grown up in the New York City of the late 19th Century and getting this material gave him the opportunity to have a nostalgic glimpse back upon his childhood years, at least as he might have wished they had been, I suspect.
Walsh was always ready to explore characterizations in his films, and this is particularly true of this production. First, of course, there's Cagney, ideally cast as the pig headed, not too-bright little tough guy who's always sporting a shiner. There's perhaps a greater warmth to this Cagney performance, however, than had been seen on the screen before.
Biff spends most of the film fantasizing about the strawberry blonde, that ultimate vision of perfection from his youth that he failed to marry, only to later realize that she was no bargain, and the "plain" girl he got was, in fact, the real prize. Walsh and Cagney gently explore middle aged melancholy only to have the lead character finally mature and discover, much to his surprise, that he hadn't realized how good he had it.
And the cast supporting Cagney is truly a marvel. Olivia de Havilland, as the not-so-plain "plain" girl he marries, brings a warmth, intelligence and sensitivity to her role, making her one of Jimmy's best leading ladies in the process. There is a quite divine chemistry between these two actors, I feel.
But de Havilland is entirely different from the Blondells and Sheridans off whom Cagney had memorably bounced on screen before. There is a greater depth in Cagney's scenes with Olivia, particularly that magnificent, poignant sequence set in the park in which they are reunited for the first time in years after Biff's release from prison.
As the film's title character, Rita Hayworth is attractive and understandably desirable, and more than a little shallow, just right for this role. She doesn't bring the depth to her performance that Olivia does but, after all, her character proves to have no depth.
Jack Carson is terrific as Waldo, the conniving sharpie "friend" of Cagney, always ready to take advantage of him and anyone else in his ambitious climb upward. There's an engaging klutziness about Carson, though, so that you can never really dislike him. Also memorable in the film is big, lovable Alan Hale, as Cagney's unemployed "Pop," a charmer with the ladies about town, and a man who is always complaining about his teeth (which Cagney, as a mail correspondence dentist, will proceed to make even worse).
Of course, The Strawberry Blonde benefits from the great costumes and Gay 90s New York street sets. And, periodically playing in the background throughout , is that great nostalgic tune, The Band Played On, which is so instrumental (pardon the use of that word) in capturing the charm and "innocence" of the times.
Walsh, by the way, also directed what can be seen, in many ways, as a Gay '90s companion piece to this film the following year when he was at the helm of another Warners treat chockful of humour, Gentleman Jim. This one is set primarily in Frisco, as opposed to NYC, but it is high in atmosphere and antics, following, in fictionalized form, the career of the ambitious pugilist who would fight the mighty John L. Sullivan under Marquis of Queensberry rules.
Instead of Cagney, this Walsh romp has Errol Flynn as the cocky lead. The supporting cast includes two of Strawberry Blonde's players, Jack Carson, and Alan Hale, once again playing the lead character's father. Hale, if anything, has even more of a showcase for his Irish charm and comedy technique in Gentleman Jim than he did in the Cagney film.
Walsh would direct Cagney in three other films, two of them gangster classics, The Roaring Twenties and White Heat. Seeing, by contrast, this gentle turn that the two of them made together, has me believing that Cagney achieved a series of career peaks with this particular director that would be rivalled only by the actor's work with one other man, Michael Curtiz.
It's the barber shop boys checking out the strawberry blonde.
Four wonderful stars all in great form. The scenes between Cagney and de Havilland in this film are often quite sublime.
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I like both McCrea and Wayne but when it comes to a comparison of their westerns, there's not much doubt who appeared in the better ones. Wayne was highly fortuntate that both John ford and Howard Hawks wanted to work with him. McCrea didn't have that same luck (though, of course, Colorado Territory and Ride the High Country, both done by master western directors themselves, are fine efforts).
A look at Wayne's non-Ford and non-Hawks westerns puts him closer to the level of McCrea's work in that genre. (The one noteworthy exception to that for Wayne would be Hondo, a genuinely fine effort with the Duke at his best, in my opinion).
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Mongo, it sounds so strange to read that Wilford Brimley and Claude Jarmen Jr. are the same age.
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Boys from Brazil is not my idea of Gregory Peck at his best. But he must have loved the challenge as an actor.
And I certainly agree with you that Peck's matured, lined face and that absence of youthful beauty and earnestness from his early years helped him to pull off a villainy performance more successfully in the late 1970s than he had in Duel in the Sun.
He was also, of course, a far more seasoned actor, and there was a harsh ruthlessness to his performance absent when he was playing charming Lewt.
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*Dargo wrote: you have pretty much expertly written the thoughts I've always had of "Duel"....especially about the outstanding cinematography.*
Dargo, as a resident of Sedona, this film must make you feel right at home at times.
Selznick Reel Life
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!
Sedona Real Life
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Fred, that comment of mine was in reference to The Big Country, not Selznick's Duel in the Sun.
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James, I believe that Peck (an actor I like very much when I think he's in a part that's comfortable for him, such as The Big Country) has always had such a screen persona associated with honesty and personal integrity that it's difficult to believe in him as a lusty scoundrel in the role as Lewt. Perhaps it is also a limitation in him as an actor.
Mitchum, not unlike, say Sean Connery, always had an element of danger about him. Even when he played a good guy in the movies there was always to me a sense that you didn't want to mess around with this dude too much. That there could be dark streaks of meanness there.
And, let's face it, I rather suspect that women are excited by that "bad boy" quality about Mitchum in a manner that they never would be with good ol' straight shooter Gregory Peck.
And, yes, I guess you're right. There is a gentle and kind look about Peck's face, certainly as a young man. (Duel in the Sun was made just three years after he had played a priest). Difficult to believe that that face could be the face of a scoundrel in the movies (though in real life that that could indeed be the case).
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*Dargo wrote about The Big Country: it's still a mystery to me too why Wyler's film often gets short-shrift)*
My theory on that is because Wyler's film has a pacifist for its lead character and the film makes a point of preaching against violence. Western fans, for the most part, want to see shoot em ups and some cowpoke re-arrange another one's dental work. And a guy who'd rather not have a fist fight or shoot someone is just not the kind of character that most western fans would appear to want to watch.
Besides, just what kind of western director is William Wyler, anyway, they would probably ask. He is not a person associated with the genre.
It seems to me that a lot of westerns fans, not surprisingly, like to watch their heroes be macho. There's a lot of macho strut in the Clint Eastwood westerns, for example, or The Magnificent Seven, or watching Duke Wayne.
Charlton Heston's character is pretty darned macho in The Big Country. So he gets into a fist fight that's a draw with Peck and Peck asks him what they just proved. I don't think a lot of westerns buffs want a fight to end that way. They prefer to see a few teeth dangling and some one looking triumphant.
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No doubt about it, lavender. That "Brooklyn" number done by the two in West Point Story is a winner!
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lavender, you have already made a great case for why I have ALWAYS regarded The Big Country as one of the great, underrated westerns of all time. Its overall superior to guilty pleasure Duel in the Sun is unquestioned.
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Yes, lavenderblue, while it's true that Mayo worked well with Cagney, I was thinking more along the lines of romantic on screen partners.
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!
(Not so romantic)
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A lot of people like to knock Duel in the Sun because it is so over the top and a blatant attempt by producer David O. Selznick to make a sexy western. (Or maybe they think it's just not a particularly good sexy western and the lead characters are more than a little nasty).
While the darned thing goes on too long, the film's virtues are considerable, starting off with great colour cinematography by Lee Garmes, Ray Rennahan and Hal Rosson and a rousing, at times passionate, musical score by Dimitri Tiomkin.
While there has been ample criticism of the performances of Jennifer Jones and Gregory Peck, the supporting cast is impressive and in rare form. Lionel Barrymore, Lillian Gish, Herbert Marshall and Walter Huston all give solid accounts of themselves, as far as I'm concerned. I particularly enjoy Huston's larger than life portrayal of a preacher who slings a mean gun. There is clearly a Reverend Davidson gleam in his eye when he asks Pearl Chavez to fall to her knees in prayer.
And speaking of Pearl, I rather enjoy watching Jones' performance, though I can't say that I take her entirely seriously. As for the film's famous climax in which the two lovers shoot each other and die in each other's arms, I have to say that I appreciate the courage of filmmakers to attempt such an over the top ending. Certainly Tiomkin's music and the beautiful photography bring an appeal to the sequence even if the viewer can't quite take the dramatics all that seriously.
Visually, this is often a stunning production.
And what a cast:
Okay, Gregory Peck's miscast. It's too bad the film couldn't have had someone like Robert Mitchum as Lewt instead.
But then there's Walter Huston's fire and brimstone performance as the preacher, worth the price of admission all by itself. (Wish he was in the film more, though).
Pearl Chavez: for better or worse, Jennifer Jones at her most tempestuous and sexy.
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Bogart's interplay with Bacall in To Have and Have Not is the stuff of film legend. The same is true of scenes he shared with Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca. I don't believe the same can be said for Cagney with any leading lady. Having said that, Cagney was still very good on screen with both Joan Blondell and Ann Sheridan.
But, let's face it, few people talk about Cagney with those two leading ladies they way they talk about Bogie with Bacall or Bergman.
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I first got TCM in 2005. Mirage has not been on the channel since then.
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gagman, I haven't seen Chicago but I quite love Roxie Hart. Ginger was never sexier and Adolphe Menjou's florid performance as an unscrupulous ham lawyer is a comedy classic, as far as I'm concerned.
Many years ago I was in an antique store and came across an old autograph album of stars and personalities from the '30s. I purchased it for a song. I had great diffciulty at first making out one of the signatures. It then clicked with me who it might have been and I got a confirmation of it when I saw a reproduction of his autography. It was Tom Mix's.
I envy you for have a good image of The Eagle on disc, long one of my favourite silents.
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mrroberts, I've always rather enjoyed Sabrina. It's a visually elegant production, with Audrey Hepburn at her most charming, I feel, and Billy Wilder in good form, once again utilizing that great romantic Rodgers and Hart classic, "Isn't It Romantic." Is there anyone who isn't a sucker for that song?
However, I agree that the casting of Bogart seems rather strange, and it's hardly credible that at the picture's end Sabrina would choose Bogie over Bill Holden. Some have commented that, perhaps thinking of the "Yes, We Have No Bananas" scene in which Bogart takes Hepburn sailing on a schooner, that he had a slight physical resemblance to Buster Keaton at times in that film.
As for Bogart's not liking his co-stars and being difficult on the set, I've read that one of the reasons for that was that Bogart was offended when he heard that Wilder, Hepburn and Holden got together for drinks off the set without inviting him. To a man who considering drinking an almost sacred ritual, that was an insult.
Mind you, Bogie was the kind of drinker who loved to needle people and, at times, his comments could be quite cruel. It may well be that he brought it upon himself by being rejected by his co-stars and director during that film's production. Afterward I don't know that either Wilder or Holden ever had a good word to say about him.
Here's the famous on set shot of Bogart and Hepburn glaring at one another. This shot seems to sum up the feelings that the two had for each other.
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gagman, I would love to get a good version of The Eagle, especially with a Davis accompaniment. The previous DVD released (from Image Entertainment, I think) was most unsatisfactory.
One of the key reasons I like this film so much is because it was the first Valentino feature, aside from the fun action scenes, that also showed that Rudy could play a role with a sense of humour. I like the Valentino of The Eagle and Son of the Shiek a lot more than the Valentino of his earlier efforts (though I always thought that, for the most part, he was a quite decent understated actor). It seems to me, though, that he loosened up more in his last two films and looked like he was having more fun on screen.
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Please don't forget, gagman, that after Valentino left Paramount, he was about to have a comeback as an action romantic hero with his last two releases from United Artists, The Eagle and Son of the Shiek.
The latter film, in particular, was a huge box office hit, though it's difficult to say how much of that was because Rudy had just died. We don't know for sure where Valentino's career was headed (the talkies, after all, were just around the corner) but it's possible that with Rudy proving himself to be an effective action hero he may well have been on the verge of a career resurgence. The talkies, though, make it more of a question mark.
Certainly with Valentino's death, Gilbert was unquestionably the biggest movie heart throb in the movies, though it wouldn't last long.
But, again, I ask the question: was tonight's version of The Big Parade the restored version? It's the best looking version I've seen.
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Let's face it, when it comes to the three tough guys actor only Humphrey Bogart, at times, once he became a major star, was promoted as a romantic in which an emphasis would be placed upon his scenes with some leading ladies (in particular Bacall and Bergman, though he was good with Astor, Gloria Grahame and, in a middle aged love affair, Kate Hepburn).
Robinson was never a romantic, of course, and while Cagney did have, on occasion, some nice rapport with one or two of his leading ladies (Ann Sheridan in particular, as well as Joan Blondell) he was usually a one man show in his films and the emphasis was not upon his female co-star.
One never knows some times how an actor's career may develop. Even after he had become a major star with High Sierra and Maltese Falcon, I doubt that any Warner executives at the time (or anyone else for that matter) would have thought of trying to present Bogie as a romantic, even a cynical one.
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I agree with you, NoraCharles. The Merry Widow I feel was the best of the Lubitsch-Chevalier-MacDonald musical comedies, almost in the same league as Love Me Tonight.
And, of course, you're right about the classic opening of the Mamoulian film. All the natural street sounds of Paris waking up in the morning done to rhythm. Marvelous! Mamoulian was a great early talkie innovator. It's a shame that the rest of his film career after the first few years of talkies was a bit disappointing in comparison to those early triumphs (though his 1940 Mark of Zorro is one of the great screen swashbucklers).
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Having just seen The Big Parade, it may even be a greater film than I remembered its being.
Carl Davis' score adds so much to the production. If King Vidor was watching this presentation tonight from up high I'm sure that he was applauding what has been done with his film.
Davis' brilliant orchestration reached a particular peak for me during the departure scene between John Gilbert and Renee Adoree as he heads out to the war front. Davis plays Berlin's rousing "Over There" and other martial music as the troops head out. Almost buried in this military music, but struggling for survival, is the film's love theme as Adoree searches for Gilbert among the troops.
Suddenly, as Gilbert and Adoree finally sight one another, the military music is gone and Davis breaks out into a full orchestral version of the love theme as the two lovers embrace. It is one of the most emotional sequences that I can ever recall seeing in a movie, this combination of overwhelmingly poignant music and the passionate performances of the two leads. Bravo to Vidor, bravo to Gilbert and Adoree, and bravo to Carl Davis for the justice he has done this classic silent.
But I'm a little confused. Did we see the restored version tonight on TCM? I assumed as much as I watched it as I cannot recall ever seeing the film so crisp and clean before (previous versions on TCM looked decidedly washed out at times). At the end it said it was presented by David Gill and Kevin Brownlow in connection with Thames Television. And afterward Robert Osborne made mention of the blue ray release of the film, referring to the one broadcast tonight as being the restored version.
However, at the end of the film the copyright was listed as 1988 Turner Entertainment Co, rather than 2004. Does anyone know if this is the film restoration? It sure did look lovely.
Bogart Vs. Cagney Vs. Robinson
in General Discussions
Posted
matey, thanks for sharing your opinion.
This thread has had so many contributions from Cagney fans (and lovers) that, in a way, it's sort of refreshing to hear from someone who ranks him as his least favourite of the three (though I also realize that you do like him).
These three actors had quite varied careers, I feel. It's possible to enjoy all three without liking gangster films since most of their films were, in fact, non-gangster, even though those were the roles that provided all three actors with their initial hits.
I have always maintained that Bogart appeared in the largest number of outstanding productions of the three actors. However, matey, on behalf of Cagney, I wonder if you have had the chance to see the film just discussed, The Strawberry Blonde. If not, the next time it comes on TCM, I would strongly suggest that you give it a try. (And, no, it's not gangster or war drama or musical).