Arrowsmith

Here is John Ford’s very first Oscar nominated film.  Let’s just say he could only go up from here.

Arrowsmith is based on the novel by Sinclair Lewis about a young medical research scientist with so much potential.  All Martin Arrowsmith’s (Ronald Colman) life seems to be in preparation to be a great scientist.  He’s told by his professor and mentor that he could do great things in the world of research, but Martin meets a young nurse, Leora (Helen Hayes) and marries.  A research scientists salary won’t support them, so they move to her hometown in South Dakota and Martin becomes the town’s doctor.

Throughout the film, the men of science who work in laboratories trying to find cures for diseases look down on private doctors.  They write them off as pill distributors, only helping one person at a time.  These lab rats seem to thrive on the idea that though their work may be slow and tedious, their rewards will be much greater in the end.  It seems that Martin is selling out.

Martin quickly finds out that he’s not very good at practicing medicine.  It’s not so much that he’s a bad doctor, but that he is not motivated by running house to house distributing pills.  When a disease breaks out among the town’s cattle, Martin steps into the case, just for fun.  He ends up turning his kitchen into a lab and creating a serum to cure the infected cattle.  We easily see that he’s more invigorated by creating medicine rather than delivering babies or pulling children’s loose teeth.

Word soon gets around about Martin, the cow doctor, and when Leora loses their baby they decide to move back to New York, where Martin will work under his old professor again.  His research starts slow at first and of course once he’s a little discouraged he makes a great discovery.  Along this time there’s also an outbreak of plague, which propels the Arrowsmiths to go to the West Indies to see if his newly discovered medicine can help.

All that just seems like perfect timing, don’t it?  But don’t worry, the travels prove to be tragic and Myrna Loy shows up as a beautiful Hollywood headliner in the last quarter who doesn’t really have much other purpose in the film.  Hard to believe this trite plot line has been reused for over eighty years now.

Honestly, this seems like one of the first boring biographical films made just for an Oscar buzz.  It’s not biographical, but it has that sort of feel, building Arrowsmith up to some hero with all sorts of drama around him.  I don’t know how well the film follows the novel, (perhaps Loy’s character has more time and purpose) but I think you’d get much more satisfaction out of any novel than this film.

“That’s no compliment, it’s a scientific fact.”

 

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?”

Lost Horizon

In revolution torn China, Robert Conway (Ronald Colman) is in charge of getting foreigners out of China before they get hurt.  He, his brother George (John Howard), a paleontologist, an American girl and a few others get on the last plane without a moment to spare.  Mid-flight, they realize the plane is heading in the opposite direction and they crash land in the snowy Himalayas.  It seems they’re doomed to freeze until a band of natives miraculously stumble upon their wreckage.  They are led to Shangri-La, a beautiful valley sheltered on all sides by the mountains.

The men are suspicious, everything seems too good to be true.  Who are these people, how did they get here are they going to eat them?  The High Lama (Sam Jaffe), leader of his people, keep everything very vague and mysterious, not satisfactory at all to the men.

Robert is told the story of the mysterious land, how the people don’t age and there are no laws.  It seems that Robert has found his utopia and may even have a hand in running the beautiful place.  But George could ruin everything, hell-bent on returning to England.

The concept of Utopia has never been any closer than a dream for mankind.  In an early scene on the airplane, Robert daydreams aloud about what he wishes he could do if appointed to Foreign Secretary.  He talks of an England with no army, no threat of violence to others and in turn the rest of Europe follows suit and eventually the world.  George just laughs and thinks the whole idea is foolish.

This poor film seems to have chunks missing, a little disclaimer said that in the restoration there is more audio with missing images.  It’s sad realizing that pieces, that I thought would be pure gold to the film are gone, but the story is still present through the audio playing.  At these times, a still image is shown on screen, usually to show you who is talking or where the setting is.  Remember those slideshow movies they used to have in schools?  They were dinosaurs in my time, but I remember a few.  Anyway, those missing pieces feel a little like that, but it’s only a few minutes of the whole film, so try not to let it turn you off.

Before you order this on Netflix, make sure you don’t read the second half of the summary, they ruin the great twist of the film for you.  The end is a bit of a whirlwind, but I was disappointed in Netflix feeling like they had to hold my hand over a little rough patch.  Really, their summary gives away nearly everything but the last minute, not cool Netflix.

Lost Horizon is a wonderful film and I’m so glad it has been restored this well.  Outside of the technical difficulties and Godzilla style toy plane crash, I found myself very involved with the story and enjoying the characters.  Today, concepts of a utopian society feel cheesy, unsophisticated and threatened in such vulgar ways (Avatar anyone?).  In Lost Horizon the whole idea is dignified, not preachy and has a feeling of inner peace.

“Yes, my son; When the strong have devoured each other, the Christian ethic may at last be fulfilled and the meek shall inherit the earth.”

Random Harvest

In Random Harvest Ronald Colman plays a soldier with amnesia.  On a foggy night, he breaks out of the asylum where people are celebrating the end of WWI in the streets.  He stumbles around for a while until he meets Paula (Greer Garson), a girl who sings and dances at a club who befriends him.  She calls him Smithy, takes him in like a stray puppy and Nightingale syndrome settles upon her.  Against better judgments that people with amnesia can become violent, Paula runs off with Smithy and they get married.  Everything is so ideally romantic, a tree is flowering in front of their new house as they stand fresh as daisies in their wedding clothes and a baby is born probably nine months to the day later.  Smithy is about to get a job as a full time writer and all their worries will be at an end.  He just needs to make a little weekend trip into the city, cross that busy street and–oh no!  He’s been hit by a car and can suddenly remember everything before the war, but nothing of his new life.

So Smithy (who’s real name is Charles Rainier) goes back to his family, inherits his father’s house and runs the family business.  Years later he hires Paula as his secretary, with no memory of their marriage.  Throughout her employment with Smithy, she tries to bring back their old life together and they grow closer.

The film explores what the same person is likely to do in different circumstances.  This case is quite fascinating.  As a man with no past memory, Smithy becomes a writer and a passionate family man.  Later, as a business man he hires his wife and absently says that he always wanted to write.  I guess it’s always the same person, just not aware of each side.

Ronald Colman was nominated for lead actor for pretending to be oblivious.  In his complete amnesia, Colman plays Smithy like a helpless kitten, quiet and unsure of nearly everything.  It isn’t until he’s married that he can strut around with confidence,by then he’s built a life.  Later, when we’re waiting for him to remember his married life, it seems like he’s just about to make that big connection.  His eyes stare, the gears in his head are on the verge of grinding and then something keeps him in the present.  The anticipation can kill us.

The visual imagery is key to this film.  Pay special attention to the blossoming tree, the foggy town, the beaded necklace, they’re all clues that come back to haunt you.  The only film I’ve seen to do this better is Hitchcock’s Vertigo, but here the reliance for those images isn’t as heavy.  I wonder now if Random Harvest was an inspiration for Vertigo.

All in all, I enjoyed this film.  There were some moments that felt a little stale but it never stayed very long.  Though I was able to predict the ultimate outcome, I enjoyed the ride and was hanging on every long mind churning stare Ronald Colman could push out.  Random Harvest is a love story, an amnesia story, a woman’s quest to win her oblivious man story.

Talk of the Town

Under suspicion of arson and murder, Leopold (Cary Grant) has just broken out of jail and fled to the home of his childhood sweetheart, Nora (Jean Arthur).  Knowing that he’s innocent and struck with a injured ankle, she decides to hide him in the attic, but that same night Professor Lightcap (Ronald Colman) arrives a day early.  He’s rented the home so he can write a book on law.  After a while of jumping through hoops to keep Leopold hidden, he’s introduced to Lightcap as the gardener.  They get along swell and share some very philosophical ideas about laws and justice.  Once Lightcap discovers Leopald’s true identity, he’s faced with the decision of upholding the law or helping a friend.

Professor Lightcap is the most interesting of the three main characters because he’s strung into the middle of the action and has the most inner conflict with so much to lose and gain at once.  During Lightcaps first day at the house, there’s a slew of visitors, everyone from the press, police and one man who informs Lightcap of some very good news.  He’s currently being considered for the Supreme Court, he just needs to lay low out of the papers for a while.  With an escaped man in the house and Nora’s ideas of hoping that Lightcap can help him, we know laying low won’t happen.  And that’s where things get predictable.

Another side of Lightcap comes out later in the film, where he starts to question his beard he’s so proud of.  You see, I guess his beard is a symbol to the world that he’s an old stick-in-the-mud intellectual now and has no time for trivial things like romance or dancing.  He realizes a way to help Leopold with his case, but must sacrifice his beard.  It’s one of those moments where the physical change helps us identify his change of heart.

Let’s start with some positives.  There’s a good mix of drama and comedy, one doesn’t overbear the other.  I had a few goodhearted laughs in that first act.  There are even elements that make this film a thriller, romance and political drama all at once.  Really, nearly everyone can enjoy this film.  And with the characters varying from escapee, intellectual and the chick ideas are not narrowed or one sided.

This film sports an all star cast with Cary Grant, Jean Arthur and Ronald Colman but is barren of acting nominations.  I was kinda disappointed.  That’s basically the feel of the whole film, it’s good at face value, the plot catches your attention but in the end it isn’t much more than a slew of pretty faces in a story that goes on too long.  There were a few good bumps in the road I didn’t anticipate, but all in all, I saw it coming.

A Tale of Two Cities

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”

These immortal words from Charles Dickens open the adaptation of his great novel, A Tale of Two Cities.  It’s a tale of rebellion, futile love and sacrifice that the film honors well.

The story opens as the French Revolution looms overhead like a sharpened guillotine.  Lucie (Elizabeth Allan) has just found out that her father is alive and been released from Bastille.  She helps nurse him to physical and mental health back in England and meets Charles Darnay (Donald Woods), a French Aristocrat.  Because of his sympathy toward the peasants of France, Darnay is accused of treason.  His lawyer is Sydney Carton (), a cleaver man who drinks too much, but wins Darnay his freedom.  Both Darnay and Carton fall in love with Lucie, but Darnay marries her and causes Carton to drink even more.  When The Reign of Terror hits France, Darnay is tricked to come back to Paris where he’s sentenced to death by angry peasants who have taken over the judicial system.  Carton is faced with the decision to either let Darnay die and move in on Lucie, or free him by any means possible.

Colman plays a stirring Carton.  This isn’t a character that people automatically decide whether to love or hate, and Colman brings out his great complexity.  He’s triumphant in the courtroom, but romance fails him and it’s not until the final act that the audience can decide whether they can love him or not.

One of the most fascinating scenes depicts the moment the Revolution started.  Throughout the film, their desperation grows until this moment everything snaps.  Everything turns to utter chaos and peasants run through the streets throwing whatever they can find and storming the castle where the aristocrats reside.  As a drawbridge is being closed, people climb and hang off of it and eventually it’s hacked down and the whole courtyard flooded with the angry mob.  The whole scene is wonderfully exciting and a great way to portray a moment in history.

This is a wonderful adaptation of Dickens’s work and Colman plays a stirring Carton.  I recommend this film for anyone who enjoys Dickens or this period in history.

“It’s a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done. It’s a far, far better rest I go to than I have ever known.”