A Royal Trip to Rome

Perhaps gaining some of its public appeal from the ill-fated romance of England's Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend, the story of the 1953 film Roman Holiday is one of those classic stories of a princess or president's daughter who runs away to find our her real identity, battling against her future as a famous woman in power. This is the first major studio film starring the beautiful Audrey Hepburn in a leading role and consequently became the film where she was made into a star.

The story follows that of Princess Anne (Hepburn) of some unnamed country out on her royal debut by touring all of Europe. Angry by the restrictions placed on her by her royal entourage, Anne runs away, forgetting she has taken a sleeping pill and ends up sleeping on a bench. Anne is rescued by American photographer Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck) who is covering the Princess's visit to Rome recognizes her. She tells him she is Anya Smith, but he sees through her disguise. Playing along, Joe tells his editor (Hartley Power) that he has perhaps the story of the year on his hands. Joe and photographer friend Irving Radovich (Eddie Albert) take Anne around Rome and give her the whirlwind experience of a life time. Anne and Joe fall in love with each other and Anne is given a choice. She can either stay with Joe and renounce her throne or she can grow up and take charge of her royal duties.

The film was made in black and white to reduce the cost and also so that the city of Rome would not outshine the cast. It was the first American film entirely filmed in Italy. Director Frank Capra was originally slated to produce the film and he wanted Cary Grant and Elizabeth Taylor in the lead roles. Jean Simmons and Suzanne Cloutier were both considered for the role of Princess Anne, but both were busy on other projects. It was Gregory Peck who told the studio to put Audrey Hepburn's name above the film in ad campaigns because she was going to be the break out star of the film.

The film is ranked #4 on the AFI list of greatest romance movies. For some reviews on the film, you can check out this entry on the Decent Films site. Movie Man's Guide provides this review of the film. The blog Rick's Flicks Picks has this to say about the movie and Brianrowe.net has this review.And here, for your enjoyment, is the film's original trailer:

The Christmas Film to End All Christmas Films

The ultimate Christmas movie, in my book, is Frank Capra's Its A Wonderful Life. Some think this film is played to death during Christmas time, but I think that is only because of how the sentiments behind the film echo the sentiments of the holidays. Each new generation finds a voice within the film and can identify with its sense of hopelessness and hope found. I'll spare you fancy details about the movie, because we all probably know them so well. Instead, I've got some fun stuff to do with this movie.

The entire film is posted here on YouTube, but if you want a quicker version, you can watch the version that is done in 30 Seconds With Bunnies. You can find a webgroup dedicated to the film here. The town of Seneca Falls, which was the real Bedford Falls, has a site dedicated to the township and preserving the memory of the classic film that was made there, with links to important places, events, and people from the film. Here is a quiz about the movie, so you can test your smarts and tell if maybe you've seen the flick one too many times. And here is a travel blog about the "It's A Wonderful Life Festival" held every years in Seneca Falls.

A few articles also explore the darker side of the film. This article from Newsweek talks about the mortgage crisis and financial lessons to be learned from the film. Another article from The New York Times, talks about the scary since of the movie and how some people love it for all the wrong reasons. And here is an article from Salon about how it would probably be a lot more fun to live in jazzy Pottersville than clean-cut Bedford Falls. Call them humbugs if you want, but I encourage you to check out their stuff all the same.

With all that said, a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!

Have you met John Doe?

The 1941 Frank Capra film, Meet John Doe, follows the typical Capra genre of promoting the working man, American values, and doing the right thing. The film was ranked #49 in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers because of its grassroots, everyman attitude. The film climaxes at Christmas and Christmas Day is extremely important to the plot.

When she gets fired, report Ann Mitchell (Barbara Stanwyck) writes a fake suicide letter to publish in the editorial section from an unemployed man named “John Doe” who is sore at the world and is threatening to jump off the courthouse on Christmas Eve as a protest against he way society behaves. John Doe becomes an overnight hit with the community, forcing editor Henry Connell (James Gleason) to rehire Ann and find an impersonator, an out of work baseball player named John Willoughby (Gary Cooper) to play the part of John Doe. Willougby is accompanied a hobo named The Colonel (Walter Brennan), who is disgusted by how the world keeps people down. Everyone in town cheers on John Doe and his campaign, putting political figures like Mayor Lovett (Gene Lockhart) up in arms. Editor D.B. Norton (Edward Arnold) decides to use the John Doe story to his own advantage. Being taken advantage of like the real John Doe, Willoughby soon feels the same was as the original letter and finds himself climbing to the top of the courthouse on Christmas Eve.

The film is set in an America that is between the Great Depression and World War II. It uses music and expressions to communicate during some scenes, in particular the one where the newspaper staff are selecting their John Doe. The idea of the ideas behind one man singlehandedly starting a grassroots political campaign is an wonderful one and the way it is played shows both the spectacle and the feeling behind the ideas in the movie.

Since the making of this film, its has been turned into a musical, which has encountered success. For more on the history and other information about the film, you can check out this site dedicated to Frank Capra and the film itself, as well as the entry about the film here on filmsite.org. For reviews on the film, you can read this entry on the blog Flick Filosopher. The site midnightpalace.com has done this review of the film. A third review can be read here, thanks to roadrunnerreview.com.

Hobos, Millionaires, and Christmas Comedy

Directed by Roy Del Ruth, 1947's It Happened on 5th Avenue is an underrated holiday comedy playing on the post-WWII homelessness of G.I.'s, the recovering from the Great Depression, and what it really means to be a rich man and a poor man. It magnificently blurs the line between rich and poor using comedy and fun.

Michael O'Connor (Charles Ruggles) is the second richest man in New York, but not exactly the nicest. When he has the tenement buildings he owns destroyed, Jim Bullock (Don DeFore) refuses to move. He is out of work, has nowhere else to live, and his to be physically taken from the apartment. Walking the streets with nowhere to go, John runs into Aloysius T. McKeever (Victor Moore), a hilarious New York City hobo who spends his winter in a 5th Avenue mansion since the owner is away spending his winter in the south. The owner of the mansion happens to be the second richest man in New York, Michael O'Connor. McKeever ends up hanging around his winte rpalace with ex-G.I.Bullock and Trudy O'Connor ( the beautiful and tempestuously named Gale Storm), who is Michael O'Connor's daughter. Trudy runaway and has slipped into the house to pick up some clothes so she can strike on her own, being finished with finishing school. Of course, they mistake Trudy for a thief and she goes along with it, having much more fun with the squatters than she ever had with stingy old dad. When O'Connor finds out that Trudy has fallen for Jim, he is furious and demands to have his house back. He comes back incognito and winds up working as a servant for the squatters. Trudy calls up her mother Mary (Ann Harding), who then helps set everything with her husband to right. A true switcheroo comedy, this is a film that reminds you just what is important over the holidays.

This film was the first release by Allied Artists, an independent film, music, and television production company which is still running today. The film was originally optioned by Frank Capra's Liberty Films and announced by them to be filmed, but Roy Del Ruth acquired the story from them. The film was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, but lost out to another Christmas film set in the island of Manhattan in New York City, Miracle on 34th Street. Just some random trivia to throw in here: its roughly three miles from 5th Avenue to 34th Street in New York City.

Despite being practically a lost film, there still are some out there who have seen and enjoyed this film. The film has its own website, hoping to spread its popularity. I also found two reviews that recommend the film, this one from Associated Content and this one from Sukip.com. Another review, accompanied by a review of 1947's Dear Ruth, can be found here via The New York Times. The film was also recently released by Warner Brother's in its second volume of Classic Holiday DVD collection, along with the films All Mine to Give, Holiday Affair, and Blossoms in the Dust. If you haven't seen it, It Happened on 5th Avenue is a film that should truly be added to every one's holiday movie collection.

And you thought your family was loopy...

Though this film does not take place around any holiday, the sentiments in it echo the spirit of what the holidays are all about. The 1938 film You Can't Take It With You, by Frank Capra, shows an early taste of what was to come later in his most famous film, Its A Wonderful Life. In fact, multiple cast members from Its A Wonderful Life show up in this film. The movie is based on a Pulitzer winning play of the same name by two acclaimed writers, George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. Capra made his film while the award-winning play was still running on Broadway.

The film centers around the eccentric, dysfunctional Sycamore family, headed by patriarch Grandpa Martin Vanderhoff (Lionel Barrymore), who enjoys whatever life throws his way, walks in the park, brings home strangers, and attends graduations, weddings, and other celebrations just for the fun of it. This is a stark contrast to the character of Potter he plays later. Grandpa's daughter Penny is a playwright and painter, her husband Paul makes fireworks in the basement, and grandaughters Essie (Ann Miller) is a ballerina while Alice (Jean Arthur) works as a secretary downtown. The family also live with Russian Boris Kohlekhov (Mischa Auer) who teaches Essie ballet, housekeeper Rheba, her boyfriend Poppins, and a strange, wonderful cast of characters. Capra's feathered friend Jimmy the Raven also makes cameo appearances. As it turns out, Alice has fallen for Tony Kirby (James Stewart) and the two plan to get married. The hitch is Tony's powerful father, businessman Anthony P. Kirby (Edward Arnold), who cares only about money thinks Alice isn't good enough for his son, and is also in the process of running the Sycamores and all their neighbors off their properties. It is up to the Sycamores to teach Anthony Kirby what is most important in life.

This is the first film James Stewart and Frank Capra made together, starting one of the

greatest actor/director pairings in history. The film won two Oscars, one for Best Director and another for Best Picture, out of the seven nominations it received. The play version is still widely performed and the film is popular, though perhaps not as well known its counterpart, perhaps the most widely known Christmas film ever.

As films are, not everyone likes them or sees them from the same perspective. There are a few sites that have reviewed this film that can offer you second, third, and so-on opinions about the film. The first is from Deeper Into Movies, which can be found here. The site, Daily Film Dose, has done another review, which you can read here. Website Piddleville.com has a review of the film and so does the Oscar Guy on his site. I encourage you to read these other opinions and respond with your own.

Laughing All the Way to the Madhouse

On this day in 1944, one of my personal favorite old movies was released: Arsenic and Old Lace. Directed by the legendary Frank Capra of You Can’t Take It With You and It’s A Wonderful Life fame and starring the just as legendary Cary Grant, the movie is a screwball comedy for the ages.

The plot is complex, as screwball comedies often are. Mortimer Brewster (Grant) is drama critic and famous writer of an anti-marriage book, which has not stopped him from getting engaged to Elaine Harper – played by the beautiful Priscilla Lane. Naturally, that is the most normal thing about Mortimer’s life. Throughout the film, he has to deal with Uncle Teddy, who believes he is Teddy Roosevelt and buries “yellow fever victims” in the basement. Add in Mortimer’s long lost, escapee prisoner brother (Raymond Massey) who has been styled by his accomplice to resemble Boris Karloff in Frankenstein, a pair of senile murderess old aunts, a reverend, a judge, a head of mental sanitarium, and half a dozen police officers, and you have a recipe for the chaos that quickly envelops Mortimer Brewster’s life.

Throughout the film, twists in the plot occur making for a darkly funny comedy. After watching the insane antics of the Brewster clan, you will definitely think better of your own family. The movie is based off of a play by the same name, written by German immigrant Joseph Kesselring. Though macabre in nature, the film is truly spectacular and carries on in the unbelievable yet hysterical tradition of comedies in its mode.

What saddens me is that it is rare to find a modern screwball comedy with such well done hilarity, suspension of disbelief, and absolutely superior storyline than those comedies of old. Nowadays, most comedies rely on bowel movement jokes or crude humor to get their laughs, choosing to push the boundaries more than try to write an actually intelligent joke. I’m all for pushing boundaries, but still, it would be nice to have my intelligence appreciated enough that contemporary Hollywood writers thought their audience was smart enough to work out a complex joke or humorous scenario. Often times, films that attempt to recapture the glory of the early screwballs fall terribly short and end up being laughed at for all the wrong reasons.

Classics like Arsenic and Old Lace can hardly go wrong, especially with an all-star pairing such as Capra and Grant. I honestly implore you to go check out Arsenic and Old Lace and I promise you will be barking mad with laughter at the end.