8 ~ Captain’s Courageous (1937)

This is the first movie that I remember made me cry. I fell in love with Spencer Tracy, the sea-wary fisherman, with a heart of gold.

When a young rich kid is accidentally thrown overboard a luxury liner and is found by a fishing boat a relationship ensues that changes both the young boy and Tracy’s character, Manuel Fidello.

Tracy had that look and appeal to carry off being rough around the edges but pure of heart, better than any actor that has ever graced the big screen. He was the guy that you wanted as a father or a close uncle. And he showed it in this film more than any other. His Oscar winning performance has endured over 7 decades.

Young Freddie Bartholomew was the first child star to be given top billing in a movie, and rightfully so. As the spoiled little rich kid that wakes up to reality in a fishing boat, he was unforgettable. This movie is one that every young man should see sometime in their life. Nominated for Best Picture, Captain’s Courageous lost out but in Movie history it stands out as one of the best.

8 ~ John Garfield in The Four Daughters

John Garfield was one of the most under-rated and overlooked actor in Hollywood mainly due to the Red Scare that McCarthy waged in Hollywood in the 40’s. But in his debut film The Four Daughters, Garfield hit the screen with a powerful punch. As Mickey Borden, a jaded and cynical songwriter Garfield caused havoc to a once quiet peaceful family and their four daughters. Soon romantic and tragic complications ensue.

Garfield, a handsome yet roguish looking man continued to play heavy hitters and roughnecks, but of all his roles, this one is the one I remember the best. Nominated for Best Supporting Actor, John went away empty handed and within a few short years he would die, some say of a broken heart.

8~Joan Fontaine in Rebecca

Hitchcock’s first American film is sumptuous David O. Selznick production of Daphne du Maurier novel of girl who marries British nobleman but lives in shadow of his former wife.

As in the book, Fontaine’s character has no first name, but that in no way takes away from the powerful performance given by a gifted and beautiful actress. Over 20 actresses were tested for the role that eventually went to Joan Fontaine. Not only did she win the role, but won a nomination for Best Actress for this role, although she lost Ginger Rogers.

Joan played the second wife, being driven mad by the servants of her new husband and in true Hitchcock fashioned played it beautifully.

This was also Hitchcock’s first American made film, and it went on to win the Best Picture Oscar. However, Hitchcock did not receive the award for direction. The first of many “overlooks” by the Academy. Joan however set the standard for Hitchcock’s heroines, and many followed, but none were able to match her performance.

Until Next Year!

We will be taking a small holiday break,

but we will be back January 2, 2007.

Have a safe and wondrous Holiday.

9~ Tarzan, The Ape Man 1932

This movie introduced not only Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan the Ape Man, and Cheetah as his trusty chimpanzee sidekick, this film was also the first Tarzan movie with sound. Now you can hear the sounds of the jungle, Cheetah’s grunts and groans but also the famous Tarzan yell! (Which actually was MGM’s sound department, not Weissmuller),

This movie was also the first collaboration of Weissmuller and Maureen O’Sullivan, who played Jane. O’Sullivan and Weissmuller would star together in six more Tarzan movies. Weissmuller was perfect for the part of the legendary Tarzan, created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, as he was a gold medal Olympic swimmer in 1924 and 1928. Even though Tarzan would be played by many before and after Weissmuller, he is the most memorable.

9 ~ Walter Brennen in Come & Get It and Kentucky

As a child, I remember Walter Brennen in many Disney movies, and as an old cowboy in westerns that my father would watch. Once I became fascinated with cinema and the older movies I realized that Walter Brennen was much more than just an old TV star and Disney actor. In the late 1920’s through the 40’s Walter Brennen was the most prolific character actor of his day, maybe ever.

In 1937 & 1939 he won Oscars for his Supporting roles in Come and Get It and Kentucky. He won again in 1941 and was nominated a 4th time in 1942. Brennen was the ultimate character actor, playing just about any role imaginable. His role in Kentucky is unforgettable. A dedicated actor and from all accounts, just a good guy all around, actors like Walter Brennen are hard to come by today.

9 ~ Luise Rainer in The Good Earth

In her role as O-Lan Lung in 1937’s The Good Earth, Luise Rainer gave one of the most masterful, haunting performances in history. Certainly an Oscar winning performance, Luise did win the Best Actress award for the second year in a row with this performance. Talkies were only about a decade old when this was released, even though Rainier’s dialogue was limited her use of visual and vocal acting was outstanding. She refused to wear heavy makeup, and her elfin look helped her to assay a Chinese woman with results far superior to those of Myrna Loy in her Oriental vamp phase.

Though after her biggest supporter, Irving Thalberg died during the filming of this film, Luise began a battle with the studios for meatier films. Unfortunate for us she lost many of those battles with Louis B. Mayer. Luise’s frustration with Hollywood was so complete, she abandoned movie acting in the early 1940s, after making the World War II drama Hostages (1943) for Paramount. Her retirement from the movies lasted for 53 years, until her come-back in The Gambler (1997), a movie based on Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s eponymous story. In the film, Rainer played the role of the matriarch of an aristocratic Russian family in the 1860s who are in hock due the family members’ obsession with gambling.

Not as well remembered as Davis, Crawford, Lombard or Hepburn, Luise Rainer was one of the best to ever grace the screen and it is obvious in Pearl Buck’s, The Good Earth.

Classic Men in Cinema: CHARLES LAUGHTON

July 1, 1899 – December 15, 1962

10 ~ KING KONG (1933)

And the Prophet said, ‘And lo, the beast looked upon the face of beauty. And it stayed its hand from killing. And from that day, it was as one dead.’

These were the words that began the epic story of the great Beast from the jungle and his beauty, played by the star that would be forever immortalized as Kong’s Beauty, Fay Wray.

America was in the midst of the depression, people were lined up along the streets to get food from the soup kitchens; families were living in villages made up of cardboard and wooden shacks called “hoovervilles” and theaters were facing bankruptcy. Yet in 1933 when King Kong was released it became the savior of the famous RKO Studios. Facing bankruptcy RKO had directors and producers; Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack put together a low budget story of a beautiful fair haired virginal young women and a frightening, gigantic, 50 foot ape-monster as a metaphoric re-telling of the archetypal Beauty and the Beast fable. With it became the largest money maker to date. Making RKO in the black again, and Fay Wray a household name for generations and also launched a new kind of movie monster.

Even though this film won no Academy Awards, it began to use techniques in filming that would last for ages and some of the most phenomenal stop-motion animation sequences and special effects ever filmed. If there were awards given out for Special Effects in those days, King Kong would have walked away with it. Watching the film today you may chuckle at the special effects, but in 1933 they were innovative to say the least.

The ultimate love story set with the backdrop of the depression and oppression, King Kong was filmed to become a classic.

10 ~ Wallace Berry in The Champ

Wallace Beery is mostly identified with the character of Richard, the Lion-Heartcd, which he played in “Robin Hood” and also in a picture of the same name. He is a brother of Noah was also a great character actor in the 30’s & 40’s. Wallace was the first husband of Gloria Swanson.

But what I remember Beery for was his portrayal in the 1931 film, The Champ. I watched this film a few weeks after I had saw the re-make with Jon Voight and Ricky Schroeder. I must say the original was much better. Beery was a powerful presence on the screen, and he made you feel his pain and passion.

Beery plays the alcoholic father, ex-heavyweight champion Andy “Champ” Purcell and despite his frequent binges, his frequent gambling and their squalid living conditions his son, Dink (Jackie Cooper) still adores his father and would do anything for him. Enter the long lost mother, who is now married and has money. Dink goes to live with his mother, but misses his father immensely. Andy, wanting to prove his worth to his son enters one more time in a boxing match.

Directed by one of the best director of the day, King Vidor was beautifully shot, and the intimate closing scenes were by far some of the best directing and acting on screen. Wallace Beery went on that year to tie for the Best Acting Oscar with Fredrick March and Frances Marion won a writing Oscar.

After watching this film, anytime I would see an old Wallace Beery film on TV I would have to sit down and watch it. He was one of the great under-rated actors of his time.