TopBilled

That's a great example. I always forget he was in THE WHALES OF AUGUST.

TIME OUT OF MIND (1947)

NIGHT WATCH (1973) Next: BUTTERFIELD 8 (1960) two with Liz Taylor & Laurence Harvey

I DOOD IT (1943)

Gimme a Break!

THE BRIDE WORE RED (1937) Next: Queen

Burton, Richard

RIVER LADY (1948)

Today's neglected film is from 1937. It has aired 24 times on TCM. THE HURRICANE is one of the finest action films of the 1930s, but it is not the result of one person’s brilliance. There were quite a few individuals responsible for the finished product…people like producer Sam Goldwyn; director John Ford; authors James Norman Hall & Charles Nordhoff; screenwriters Dudley Nichols & Oliver Garrett; as well as the talented cast and crew. Originally Goldwyn wanted Joel McCrea for the lead role, but then changed his mind and hired Jon Hall, nephew of the aforementioned Hall who co-wrote the novel on which the film is based. Jon Hall certainly has the right skin tone and physique for the character of Terangi, plus he’s a decent enough actor. Dorothy Lamour who plays the female love interest was borrowed from Paramount. While the two attractive stars get the most screen time in THE HURRICANE, an exemplary supporting cast is featured prominently. Third-billed Mary Astor provides the story with the requisite amount of class as a French governor’s wife. She would repeat her role in a 1939 radio adaptation with Orson Welles and his famed Mercury Players. On screen, Raymond Massey is her husband, a man whose dedication to politics and a strict interpretation of the law impacts others. Mr. Massey gives one of the better performances. In fact I was surprised that Thomas Mitchell, who plays the doctor and narrator of the tale, was Oscar-nominated instead of Massey. I didn’t feel there was anything particularly magnetic about Mitchell’s work…but Massey provides a look at a man whose position of authority is used for his own narcissistic purposes. We also have dependable support from C. Aubrey Smith as the island priest– another splendid performance I preferred over Mitchell’s. Mr. Smith also should’ve been nominated for an Oscar. Who will ever forget his last scene in the middle of the storm– trying to calm others with organ music, while facing death? The hurricane sequence lasts about twenty minutes and is justifiably famous. Considerable time and energy has been put into building Goldywn’s idyllic church set…before wrecking it. Disaster movies often make a common mistake: when wind machines beat down mercilessly on actors who are positioned in the foreground, close to the camera, the trees remain still in the background in the long shots. This problem could be solved in post-production with strategic cropping. When Ford and his special effects crew unleash the torrents of water that flood the shoreline and topple the church, everything is uniformly affected in the more climactic moment of destruction. I took slight issue with the governor’s wife not fastening the shudders or finding some way to close the windows when the storm begins and the wind is howling outside. Nobody stands around and lets a storm come inside their home this way. You would think she had never dealt with a storm before. At the same time we have locals walking outside, not running, when the wind turns violent. Oh, and none of these characters ever lose an article of clothing when the wind is whipping against their bodies. Yes, I know the production code’s in full force, and I don’t mean they would be stripped of significant garments…but something. I’ve been in windstorms and dry monsoons, when a scarf or a hat blew off, and I chased after it. None of that happens in this picture. The chaos is too choreographed. It seemed stereotypical that most of the islanders would seek the priest for help during the ensuing drama…do they all belong to the same church? This didn’t just include poor parishioners, but also the governor’s wife after her husband had gone off to nab a criminal. Interestingly, the old priest tells her to find refuge somewhere else as the storm rages. So she ends up joining Lamour, Hall and their child who are tied outside to a large tree. They survive because of their knowledge about nature, not because of a religious structure that won’t withstand the fury of the storm. The calm epilogue that follows is a suitable way to end the story. In these concluding scenes we learn the doctor, his patient, a recently birthed infant, and the governor are alive. The part where the governor is reunited with his wife is certainly very poignant; and his change of heart is gratifying to watch.

Fun examples yesterday. two thousand five hundred ninety-third category In two or more movies with Vincent Price Gene Tierney Victor Mature Jeanne Crain

THE WAY WEST (1967) Next: Tokyo

Zorina, Vera

ANGEL ON MY SHOULDER (1946) more Paul Muni Next: CAREFUL SOFT SHOULDERS (1942)

NANCY GOES TO RIO (1950)

Early Edition

POPPY (1936)

THE VAGABOND KING (1956) Next: lots of passengers on a train in the 1800s

THE HOUSE ON 92ND STREET (1945)

B.J. and the Bear

Raoul Walsh & Ida Lupino Next: CALCUTTA (1947) and BOTANY BAY (1953)

Jane Russell

Whalen, Michael

MAYA (1966)

Sylvia Sidney

Zorro