Wuthering Heights

Based off of Emily Bronté’s only novel, the film adaptation of Wuthering Heights in 1939 tells the unfortunate tale of two lovers, Heathcliff (Laurence Olivier) and Cathy (Merle Oberon).

The film begins dramatically, as a man caught in a storm stops at the mansion, Wuthering Heights, for shelter.  After a less than friendly greeting and shown to a room, he sees a woman outside.  He is told he just saw the ghost of Cathy, and Ellen (Flora Robson) an old servant recounts the tale.

Heathcliff was a poor boy, found on the streets and sent to become a servant at Wuthering Heights.  Cathy was a young lady of the house.  Their class differences that keep their love divided, mostly because Cathy has grown to an idea that she is supposed to marry a high class gentleman who can provide more than enough.  This only hurts Heathcliff, who genuinely loves Cathy.  For years she keeps Heathcliff at a distance, and seems to systematically toy with him, only to accept a proposal from Edgar (David Niven).  This sends Heathcliff out into a storm, to America.

Years pass, and it all seems well, even happy for Cathy.  Then Heathcliff returns, and with him all their old passions and resentments.  He buys Wuthering Heights, once a servant in the home, now its master and marries Isabella (Geraldine Fitzgerald), Cathy’s sister in law.  With Heathcliff and Cathy so close again, and yet so far away, strain and resentments of what they missed out on with each other rise until the very tragic breaking point, as one of them slowly dies.

If you are a starry eyed romantic, grab plenty of tissues.  This is a story of tragic love, where the downward spiral is the main event and the last half hour of the film will have you bawling.  However, if you are the cynical sort (like me) you may roll your eyes at all the shoulda-coulda-woulda that this great love story seems based upon.  The film portrays the love between Heathcliff and Cathy as a great potential, withered by petty ideals and snuffed out with tragedy to put it all into a sobering perspective.

That being said, I did enjoy the film.  The Oscar winning cinematography is splendid, smart and full of powerful moments.  Heathcliff punching through the glass is a heart wrenching moment, full of visual power.  William Wyler certainly deserved his nomination for best director, this being his second of eleven.  I personally did not care for Oberon’s performance, but that is probably because I despised her character.  However, Olivier and Fitzgerald’s Oscar nominated performances are spellbinding and had me hooked.

“You must destroy us both with that weakness you call virtue.”

Separate Tables

I must say, that I have had such amazing luck lately with the films not available on Netflix.  Just Friday morning I was able to catch Separate Tables playing on TCM, what perfect timing with my own schedule.  So, if there is a man behind the curtain pulling levers for TCM and picking the most obscure Oscar nominated films to air, I say thank you.

During the off-season at the seaside Beauregard Hotel, it seems that everyone had their own secrets and tries to keep to their separate tables.  At the small potatoes end of the drama, there is a young unmarried couple, Jean (Audrey Dalton) is an artist while Charles (Rod Taylor) is a medical student.  She doesn’t want to be weighted down by the conventional life of marriage and children, but they have to sneak around the glaring looks of the old women in the hotel.  Then there is alcoholic John Malcolm (Burt Lancaster) who is secretly engaged to the hotel owner, Pat Cooper (Wendy Hiller).  When his ex-wife, Ann (Rita Hayworth), arrives, looking to get back together with John, it only brings up painful memories of their relationship and John is afraid of falling into old habits.  Finally, there is Major Pollock (David Niven), a kind old gentleman who enjoys telling stories of his war days and forms a friendly bond with young, innocent Sibyl (Deborah Kerr).  But Sibyl’s mother, Mrs. Railton-Bell (Gladys Cooper), is a domineering old woman who warns her daughter to stay away from the Major.  When Mrs. Railton-Bell reads in the paper that the Major has been accused of lewd conduct in a movie theater, she gathers the other hotel guests to decide whether they should allow the Major to stay or kick him out of the hotel.

In the beginning of the film, our curiosity is provoked by small actions that go unexplained for a little while.  Sibyl and the Major having a polite friendly conversation, then Mrs. Railton-Bell scolding the girl with no real reason.  The Major looking at the paper, then suddenly looking very worried.  These details are like any you might run across in real life, just as poignant, none of our business, but in film we will get the answers.

There is quite a gap between the Major that is told to us and what we see in him.  While the newspaper paints the Major to be a sexually deviant old man, we see only see his gentle kindness and understanding.  Even later when he confesses to his acts, he keeps them politely vague in ambiguity and takes the moment to reach out and try to help Sibyl.  It’s old Mrs. Railton-Bell who turns what she has read into a makeshift trial, and the judgemental old bat simply pleads her side of any case as decent values and Christian virtues, automatically pinning her opposition, the poor Major, as a bad person.

As the film progressed, I became worried, wondering what the relationship was like between Sibyl and Mrs. Railton-Bell behind closed doors.  Mrs. Railton-Bell seems to have Sibyl tightly under her thumb and we get clues pointing to Sibyl having a history of nervous breakdowns.  And as Sibyl reads about the Major in the paper, she squeezes her fist so tight she breaks a pair of glasses, cutting her hand without even noticing.  She seems to be the product of abuse, mental or otherwise.

Between the Major’s issues and the relationship between John and his ex-wife, the topics of sex, lack there of, and deviancy made Separate Tables one of the most racy films of its time.   I was surprised at how much sexual content could be alluded to in the conversations.  I’m sure that whole scene on the patio between was very racy for the times and applaud the film’s bravery in that area.

Separate Tables is one of those films that feels fueled by gossip and human curiosity into private lives, but turns out to be much smarter than that.  Each character has their part in condemnation or redemption, the whole cast is full of great acting and the ensemble really resonates when they’re all together.  Niven won the Oscar for lead actor and Hiller for her supporting performance.  Unfortunately, I don’t know when this wonderful film will be airing again.  Separate Tables seems like a very hard film to find, I was lucky to catch it and I suggest it for everyone.  If I see it scheduled on TCM again, I will let my readers know.

“-Are you on the side of Mr. Malcolm and his defense advice or are you on the side of the Christian virtues — like Mr. Fowler and myself?
–Never in my life have I heard a question so disgracefully begged.  You should be in politics, Mrs. Railton-Bell.”

The Bishop’s Wife

The film takes place at Christmas time.  Snow falls and people of all ages look in the store windows dreaming of gifts and miracles.  Little do they know that an angel is walking among them, guiding a blind man across the busy street and catching a baby carriage just before it reaches the end of the sidewalk.

Bishop Henry Brougham (David Niven) is trying to build a new cathedral, which he hopes will be funded mostly by a widow’s generous donation.  With his old church in need of money and his wife becoming more distant, he seems to be losing sight of his spiritual and family life.  He realizes him and his wife, Julia (Loretta Young), need more time together, but with all his engagements for the cathedral he’s at a loss.  Despairing in his office, with his wife alone at the dinner table, Henry prays for guidance, turns around and finds Dudley (Cary Grant), who claims to be an angel sent to help him.  Problem is, Henry believes he needs help with the fund raising, but Dudley is really there to help his family life.

Though Henry is a man of the church, he has a hard time believing that Dudley is an angel.  Especially when he stubbornly thinks that Dudley isn’t helping him at all.  While Henry insists on keeping his busy schedule, Dudley spends time with Julia.  Soon, Julia seems to take too much of a liking to Dudley and Henry fears that Dudley has really been sent to replace him within his family.

This film is probably best enjoyed with kids around Christmas time.  The ultimate message about remembering what is most important isn’t too profound to be lost on a younger audience.  The whole film is very family friendly and has some fun and magical moments.  Dudley’s wave-of-the-hand angel powers make for some pleasantly unexpected Mary Poppins style special effects.  He helps decorate a Christmas tree, refill wine glasses and help the Brougham’s little girl throw a perfect curve-ball to be accepted into the snowball fight.  There’s even a wonderful ice skating scene that just screams winter wonderland.  Of course, it’s all done with Grant’s classic charm.

The holidays are coming up, and if you’re looking for a good film to calm your cooped up kiddies that isn’t so commercialized or full of sing-alongs, The Bishop’s Wife might be just what you’re looking for.  It can also be a great way to introduce them to one of the great classic stars, Cary Grant.

“I was instructed to come here and answer your prayer.”

 

Around the World in 80 Days

There are two ways that people can travel.  Whether you’ve gone across the world or across town, you can probably distinguish the two.  There are those who will eat McDonalds wherever they can and listen to their all important iPod on a tour bus.  They will read or snooze while traveling through beautiful new lands, rather than enjoy the view and insist on keeping their daily schedule wherever they are.  But there is the other side of the coin, those who can turn any travel into a real journey.  These people willingly immerse themselves within the new lands.  They will dance with the natives, marvel at more than the regular tourist stops and try all the new flavors around them.  In Around the World in 80 Days which sort of traveler would you become?

The film based on the Jules Verne novel begins in England with Phileas Fogg (David Niven) in need of a new butler, one who can keep up with his eccentric requests like taking the temperature of toast.  Young Spanish Passepartout (Cantinflas) is willing to take the job, but his fist day of work isn’t as expected.  Fogg has just taken a bet, over a card game with his other well-to-do friends, that he can travel around the entire world in just eighty days.  So they pack up, load a carpet bag with cash and set out immediately only to learn that their original train plans have been slowed by an avalanche.  With some quick wits and helpful connections they’re soon soaring over Europe in a hot air balloon.

In Spain, Passepartout gains them a ride on a ship by showing off his bullfighting skills.  Through India, his daring wit saves a young princess from being burned alive with her dead husband.  And in America he’s a regular wild west cowboy trying to save the train as Indians attack.  All the while, Fogg is reading the newspaper, enjoying his usual tea time or trying to tell brave tales about his card games.

There is more than the physical obstacle of basic travel that hinders Fogg and Passepartout.  It seems that just before their departure, the bank of England was robbed.  Suddenly Fogg is a prime suspect and that trip around the world is a great way to avoid arrest.  Soon Mr. Fix (Robert Newton) is on their tail pretending to befriend and help them, but wants to make sure Fogg loses the bet as well as his freedom once he’s back in England.

One great thing this film did for cinema history is popularize the cameo appearance.  There are dozens of cameos throughout the film.  There’s Buster Keaton, Frank Sinatra, Andy Devine, Ronald Colman and Cesar Romero just to name a few.  My favorite (and one of the few I actually noticed) was Red Skelton as the drunk American in a saloon.

What more can you ask from a film than a fun filled adventure around the world?  We’re taken from stuffy old England (no offence to my Brit readers), to the lively dances of Spain, through the Indian jungle on an elephant’s back, to the mystical land of China and across wild west America.  All that, from one studio, in such a convincing way is amazing.  And the whole adventure is a great ride just from your couch.  Sure, it deviates from the book a little, but some of those first flights in the hot air balloon are fabulous.  Who wouldn’t want to snatch some snow from a mountain peak to chill some champagne?

In the end, I do believe this tale is about opening yourself up to new surroundings.  Poor Fogg went all around the world, but could hardly deviate from his tea time.  But Passepartout can now revel about his adventures and never feels the need to mention a card game.

“Mr. Fogg, why must you be so… so British?”