February Blogging: Classic Romance

Now, I've never been the biggest romance movie fan, but I do understand the contributions this genre of films has given to the art of filmaking. Don't tune the next month out if you aren't a big romance fan either, because I'm sure there will be at least one film in this bunch you can at least try to appreciate. If not, you really need to get in touch with your sensitive side.

In fact, romance movies often have the greatest costumes and some of the most memorable lines. Most musicals are some brand of romantic comedy, but don't be fooled by the comedic aspect. The majority of romance movies don't end well or with the characters getting together. I will try to do a good mix of romances that end happily and those that don't, though the one thing I can't promise you is finishing all of this up in the month of February, since it is only 28 days long.

A few of the movies I will be featuring this month will be on Turner Classic Movie's 31 Days of Oscar, as a testament to how well-made and wonderful they are. Some of these films are public domain or available online to watch as well. I have tried my best to pick some of the very best films of the genre, though the quality of films is always up for debate. If you are considering doing some sort of movie marathon of your own for February, Valentines Day, or if you prefer, Singles Awareness Day this year.

For a list of great romance movies, there are several places you can access, all of which seem to have a different opinion on the subject. IMDB's list of Top 50 Romances could be helpful and if you're in a bitter spirit, you can take on the Bottom 10 Romances at the bottom of the list. Internetducttape.com provides a list of unordered movies, seventy-six of them to be exact, that will get you in the loving mood. Romancestuck.com has this list of films. And for the big kahuna of lists, you can look to Associated Content, which has a list of over 200 movies, divided up into romance subcategories such as Classic Romance Movies, Guy Gets Girl movies, and Tearjerkers.

So, here's to a month of love and love for great films!

Mary Poppins Lives On

The 1964 Disney film Mary Poppins is not only a great movie for people of all ages, but a cinematic treasure with amazing effects for its time. The film won five academy awards, including Best Actress for Julie Andrews, Best Music and Best Special Effects. No Disney film has won that many awards before or since. It was the top grossing Disney film of the year as well as the top grossing Disney film for the next twenty years. As you can see, it was worth being the most expensive film Disney had produced at the time.

CNN has just produced this great article, an interview with Mary Poppins cast member and funny man Dick Van Dyke about working on the film and the longevity of the movie. It is revealed in the article that Van Dyke's TV show a personal favorite of new first lady, Michelle Obama as well as new information about what it was like working on the Mary Poppins set.

The film is a very condensed version of the book series written about Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers and it was made even shorter by the deletion of dozens of songs. Following in the literary traditions of her famous character, Julie Andrews wrote a book of her own, The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles.

Its hard to believe its been forty-five years since the original release of Mary Poppins. The film which helped pioneer the fusion of real-life and animated scenes in a spectacular fashion has gone on to influence generations of films after it.

Wanna See Some Great Movies?

For the month of February, Turner Classic Movies puts together perhaps one of the best themed film marathons, in my personal opinion. From February 1st until March 3rd, they put on their 31 Days of Oscar Marathon, saluting some of the most award-winning films, actors, and directors to grace the silver screen.

Rather than dividing the films up into Oscar category, such as Best Director or Best Cinematographer, TCM has come up with a more creative approach. The films are divided into themed or genre segments. For example, the segemnt called "The Southwestern United States" features the films Tulsa, Oklahoma!, and Cimarron. Each day is divided up into "departments", like a college, and the various departments have name like "The Education Department", "The Law Department", and "The Philosophy Department" and each "department" is subdivided from there.

For example, "The Foriegn Language" Department features segments entitled "Introduction to Italian" and "Intermediate French", including foriegn movies like The Four Days of Naples and Mr. Hulot's Holiday whereas the "Dance Department" features segements like "Advanced Tap" and "Introduction to Choreography", featuring various musical and dance films like Royal Wedding and 42nd Street. I'm not sure if this schedule will be better than the old standby, but it may help group together movies that will attract viewers with common interests in all of them.

For more information about what to expect with this year's 31 Days of Oscar, you can read this article twitchfilm.com did with Robert Osborne, who will be emceeing the majority of the event. Monstersandcritics.com has more on the set up of the marathon along with a schedule that will be more easy to access than downloading the pdf schedule from the TCM website. For those of you interested, here is TCM's press release about the event.

So, crack open those schedules and cancel all your plans for the rest of the month because some great films are coming to a television near you!

Mother/Daughter Murder Mystery

A great film noir, the story of Mildred Pierce has everything from romance, intrigue, betrayal, and a family with scores to settle. Based on a novel of the same name by James M. Cain, the drama unfolds over a course of four years and is almost a deadly soap opera in movie form.

The film starts showing Mildred Pierce (Joan Crawford ) talking to police about the murder of her husband. It then flashbacks to her life as an unhappy housewife, raising her two daughters Veda (Ann Blyth ) and Kay (Jo Ann Marlowe ) with her unemployed husband Bert (Bruce Bennett ). When Mildred discovers Bert is having an affair with Maggie Biederhof (Lee Patrick ), she divorces him and keeps custody of the two girls. Her eldest daughter, Veda, complains about how they now do not have the financial security her father once provided and Mildred works as a waitress. Veda discovers this and after telling her mother waitressing is beneath her, Mildred opens up a small restaurant. As her restaurant empire grows, real estate agent Wally Fay (Jack Carson ) gives her advice and makes unsuccessful attempts for her affects. Wally introduces her to Monte Baragon (Zachary Scott ) who sells her property help the restaurant chain grow.

Kay, Mildred's sweet daughter, dies of pneumonia, leaving her crushed. Meanwhile, Veda pretends to be having the baby of wealthy Ted Forrester to extort money out of him. Mildred tears up the check and after a fight with Veda, the girl runs off to be a singer in a nightclub. Veda will only return to her mother if Mildred can give her life in the absolute lap of luxury so Mildred marries Monte in exchange for handing over a third of her businesses to him. Monte sells the third of Mildred's business, leaving her bankrupt and it becomes apparent to Mildred that her daughter has seduced her husband. When Mildred confronts Monte and Veda at his beach house, a shot is fired, but who is the killer?

Butterfly McQueen and Eve Arden both appear in the film, adding to the stellar cast. Shirley Temple was one of the actresses considered for the part of Veda Pierce Forrester and the part of Mildred Pierce was offered to Bette Davis, Rosalind Russell and Barbara Stanwyck before given to Joan Crawford. She won the Academy Award for her performance in this film. You can read more about the film itself using this reference guide from filmreference.com, here at filmsite.org, or this article from a website devoted to Joan Crawford.

There are several different reviews of this film, but as with Witness for the Prosecution , I wouldn't read them until after watching the film because they may contain spoilers. There is a great article on the film written by Slate magazine. Other reviews can be read here, thanks to classicmoviefavorites, and here from moviezeal.com. A few other opinions on the film come from The Film Noir Net and the Movie Setal Blogspot. All in all, Mildred Pierce is a great noir film with tons of supsense, thrill, and a whodunnit that will keep you guessing.

Murder Trials Agatha Christie Style

With an all-star cast, based on a play written by legendary Queen of Crime Agatha Christie, and directed by the famed Billy Wilder, the 1957 film Witness for the Prosecution is a film you know is going to be good before you even watch scene one. This is a film so filled with suspense, drama, and surprise after surprise that it even tells you at the film not to spoil the ending for others. Even the Royal Family was sworn to secrecy not to reveal the plot after being screened the film.

After being kicked out of the hospital for bad behavior, barrister Sir Wilfrid Robarts (Charles Laughton) returns to London after suffering a heart attack, pestering, badgering nurse Miss Plimsoll (Elsa Lanchester) in tow. A fellow lawyer convinces the ailing Sir Wilfrid to take on the case of Leonard Vole (Tyrone Power), a hapless inventor who is accused of murdering wealthy widow Emily French (Norma Varden), who he befriended and may have sent mixed signals to. After French was brutally murdered, it was revealed that she left the majority of her money to Vole, making him look even more suspicious. Vole hopes that his wife Christine (Marlene Dietrich), a German immigrant who he met and married during WWII will help him out of his jam and places all of the hope he has on evading the charges on her. Sir Wilfrid doesn't trust Christine or her testimony. The trial begins and everything you think you knew about the case goes out the window as one shock after another are revealed, leading to a resolution that will have you on the edge of your seat.

It is often mistakenly assumed that Alfred Hitchcock directed the film, since it seems to be just the right plot for the Master of Supsense. Hitch commented on this mix-up, saying that Billy Wilder was often given credit for Hitch's film The Paradine Case. The on-screen camaraderie between Laughton and Lancaster was easy for them to create because they were husband and wife. This was Tyrone Powers' last feature film as he died of a heart attack the following year. Una O'Connor is the only cast member from the original Broadway play to reprise her role in the film. She played Janet McKenzie and also had starred in Bride of Frankenstein with Elsa Lancaster. This was O'Connor's last film as well.

You can watch the film yourself as it is divided into segments on YouTube and can be found here. Afterward, there are some reviews you can check out of the film. I wouldn't do so before because some of them give away spoilers. This review comes from crazy4cinema.com and is a good, brief review. Another review comes from classic film at about.com and is a good overview of the film. The review from apolloguide.com focuses a lot on the directorial side of the film, whereas this review from Marquette University of Law comes at the film from a legal aspect. Finally, this all encompassing review comes from allwatchers.com. So, have fun with all of the twists and turns in this rollercoaster ride of a film.