IT'S A GIFT (1934), THE BANK DICK (1940), YOU CAN'T CHEAT AN HONEST MAN (1939)

I've just finishing watching five films out of the W. C. Fields collection: It's a Gift, The Bank Dick, International House,You Can't Cheat an Honest Man and My Little Chickadee. Two of these films are in the 1001 movie book: It's a Gift and The Bank Dick.

#1 It's a Gift is my favorite Fields film and I admit I was a little wary of seeing it again for fear of being disappointed, as I haven’t seen it in many years. But I'm glad to report that it does hold up for me and would be the first Fields film I would recommend to anyone. The long scene where Fields is trying to get some sleep on his front porch and is constantly being interrupted by everything is a great comic scene. Baby Leroy floods his store with Molasses and a sign has to be put up that says "Closed on account of Molasses." I like this a lot for some reason. Best of all is the interactions between Fields, as the henpecked husband, and Kathleen Howard as the domineering wife.
Censorship watch: Fields cursing thinly disguised as "Shades of Bacchus", "Mother of Pearl,” or "Godfrey Daniels."

#2 The Bank Dick is a much wilder Fields vehicle, which I don't like as much as It's a Gift, but also has its share of fine comic moments.Some of Fields' improvised rants are the best parts of the film. And who wouldn't want to go to a bar tended by wayward stooge Shemp Howard?
Censorship Watch: That same bar is named the Black Pussy. How did the censors miss this little joke?

#3 International House is about a world exposition featuring a 1933 television prototype, which is an interesting concept in itself.
And features an eclectic cast that John Waters would have been proud of: Fields, Bela Lugosi,Burns and Allen, Cab Calloway, Rose Marie, Rudy Vallee and Peggy Hopkins Joyce as herself and remind me who Peggy Hopkins Joyce is again?
Censorship Watch: How did Cab Calloway get away with his song Reefer Man even in pre-code Hollywood?
Lyrics: Have you ever met that funny reefer man?
He smokes a reefer he gets high, and he files to the sky. That funny, funny, funny Reefer Man.

#4You Can't Cheat an Honest Man-Many funny moments here as well, many featuring Fields's barbs with dummy Charlie McCarthy. I also really enjoyed watching Fields as the blue-collar circus owner at a high society house for his daughter's wedding. I like this one enough to add to the 1001 movie list.
My favorite line in the movie is when Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy are staring at Fields's beautiful daughter in disbelief that Fields was able to contribute to the procreation of someone that attractive.
Edgar: I can’t figure it out.
Charlie: I must read up on evolution sometime.
Censorship Watch: Hey, I'm a Fields fan, but I could have done without the scene where he takes off his shirt.

#5 My Little Chickadee. The famous pairing of Fields and Mae West has its moments, but really wasn't as good as maybe it could have
been. Part of the problem was certainly the fact that the two stars didn't get along and rewrote each other's scenes.
Censorship Watch: Everything Mae West says could easily be misconstrued. But that was the point, eh?

Bibliography
W. C. Fields by Nicholas Yanni, Pyramid Books, 1976
A Statue I painted of W. C. Fields, bought at an Exxon station 1985.

MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1935), THE THIRD MAN (1949), AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (1951), THE AFRICAN QUEEN (1951), SHANE (1953)

In 1998, the American Film Institute (AFI) published a list of top 100 American movies. There have been updates and separate lists in different genres, but of the original list, I had seen all but five of the films. A workable number indeed! I may never get through the 1001 movie list, but as God is my witness I could at least complete the AFI list!

Completing the final five, I had to hop aboard an 18th century British vessel
headed for Tahiti, a smaller boat heading down an African river in pre-World
War I Africa, explore the darker side of post World War II Vienna, the lighter side of World War II Paris and finally venture to the American West.

Watching a lot of many movies from the 1930's-50's lately, I've noticed so many memorable performances from supporting players that often had careers that had well over a hundred film credits. Each film listed here I will give a supporting performer award in honor of Elisha Cook Jr.,(memorable as the gunsel in The Maltese Falcon and small time hood in Stanley Kubrick's The Killing) the shrimpy second banana who either supplied the exposition, got gunned down in a crossfire or at least went to fetch a cup of coffee for a much bigger star.

(Film #1) Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) cost two million dollars to make, which in todays money is…a lot. It seems like the reputation of this movie has faded a bit over time. In fact, the AFI dropped it out of the top 100 for its 2007 list. I think it’s still a pretty good adventure story, though the heroism of Fletcher Christian in the movie versus the heroism of the real Fletcher Christian seems to have been a bit exaggerated. (Movies tend to do that don't they?). And who could ever forget Charles Laughton's Captain Bligh?

Favorite Mutiny on the Bounty quote:
Officer Byam: "Hithiti, your language is most un-English. It means exactly what it says. Here are the three pages on your words meaning, "look." There's one for the downcast eyes, one for the sidelong glare, one that invites, one that consents. A whole language of looks!"

Hitihiti: "Byam, you think too much. One day, you head go crack!"

Elisha Cook Jr. supporting performer award:
The first Elisha Cook Jr. supporting performer award goes to the hard working, but largely forgotten Donald Crisp. At least I had forgotten about him, though he did win an Oscar for How Green Was My Valley. How can you have a movie with a big cast from this era without a crusty character actor like Donald Crisp? I thought about giving the award to Tahitian island girls Movita and Mamo, but Donald really deserves it.

(Film #2) is director Carol Reed and writer Graham Greene's The Third Man, a film noir set in post WWII Vienna, where the black market is running amuck. This is really the film of these five that I would rate as a must see. But how did a largely English film make the AMERICAN Film Institute list, whether deserving or not? David O'Selznick was one of the producers, and it does have American stars Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles, so I guess that was enough. Regardless, this film should be seen no matter what list it pops up on. The score features nothing but a zither, which I thought was great. Opinions on the zither differ.

Elisha Cook Jr. supporting performer award:
to Trevor Howard as the dedicated and relentless police inspector. He's terrific, but so are Orson Welles as the mysterious Harry Lime and Joseph Cotten as the Western pulp fiction writer who is always one step behind.

Favorite The Third Man quote:
Harry Lime: "In Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."
or Holly Martins: "Hey, satchelfoot! Who's your boss?"
I don’t know why I like this second quote so much. It’s what Cotton says right before he finds out Harry Lime is still alive. If I am calling out to someone and don’t know who it is, I like to yell out, “Hey Satchelfoot, who’s your boss?” Don’t you? No? Well, lets move on then.

Film #3, An American in Paris, like Mutiny on the Bounty, was another best picture winner. It may not be the best movie to see right after The Third Man. The comparison makes An American in Paris seem too glossy and overproduced. I eventually got into the film, but it did take some time. There are some fine production numbers and memorable songs (That Wonderful, Fabulous song) and Gene Kelly was one of the most likable
stars around (Let’s just try to blot out from our minds his later appearances in Xanadu and Viva Knievel and everything will be fine).

Favorite An American in Paris quote:
"I got music...I got rhythm...I got my gal. Who could ask for anything more?"

Elisha Cook Jr. supporting performer award:
Oscar Levant, as Kelly's pianist sidekick- You know the type-smart alecky to the main character's optimism, the one who knows what's going on before the main character and the one who steals most scenes he's in.

Film #4 The African Queen-Famous author C. S. Forester, acclaimed director John Huston. Only teaming of Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn. Irascible boat captain and spinster head down the river through many obstacles before they find their freedom...and each other. If this movie was ever remade, it would be a big time chick flick. Brad Pitt and Sandra Bullock, maybe? Nah. A beloved movie to many, I'm glad I saw it, but was definitely not my favorite film of either star or the director.

Favorite The African Queen quote:
Allnut: "That's what you get for feeling sorry for people. I ain't sorry no more you psalm-singing skinny old maid!"

Lost in Translation moment: The DVD I was watching this on was a cheap Chinese/Korean issue and the subtitle translations were sometimes a bit off .
The most egregious example was Bogart's line "I'm the captain that's who and I won't take you along." becoming "I'm the captain asshole and I won't take you along!" Oops.

Elisha Cook Jr. supporting performer award: to Robert Morley. This is a fairly difficult movie to give a supporting performer award to, as it's almost an exclusive cast of two, and Morley has the rather thankless and small role of Katherine Hepburn's brother, who dies in the first fifteen minutes of the movie. However, I'll give Morley a lifetime achievement for future scene stealing roles in Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe and as a snobby theater critic who ends up having to eat his own prized poodles in Theater of Blood.

Film #5 Shane
My final film of the AFI 100 list is the George Stevens Western Shane. It is a beautifully photographed story of the mysterious ex-gunfighter Shane who aides a farmer and his family against those that want to take over his land.

Favorite Shane Quote:
Shane: "There's no living with a killing. There's no goin' back from one. Right or wrong, it's a brand... a brand sticks."
Or if you don’t like that one, let’s stick with
Joey: "Shane, come back!"

And the final winner of the Elisha Cook Jr. supporting performer award (And you probably see where this is headed) goes to: Elisha Cook Jr. Who's going to
do the exposition without Elisha Cook Jr.? Who's going to be the sacrificial lamb? Who’s blood must be avenged by the hero? Who's going to provide the comedy relief? Unlike The Africa Queen, there are a bevy of worthwhle suporting players in Shane: Edgar Buchanan, Van Heflin, Jack Palance among others. But how can I deprive Mr. Cook of his own award?

The legacy of Elisha Cook lives on in today's movies in actors like that guy…you know the one I mean, he's in everything. What was his name again?

Note: If you are wondering (or even if you aren't) how many of the AFI 100 are in the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die Book-
The answer is: 99 out of 100.

The only omission: Entry #99 Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. (Now don't you feel better for knowing that?)

Here’s the official site of the AFI if you want to see the original 1998 list.
http://www.afi.com/100years/movies.aspx

EYES WITHOUT A FACE (1960, FRANCE)

Actual promo for 1962 U. S. double feature:

"A Double Shocker! A Master Suspense Thrill Show!"

Film # 1 The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus
A Macabre Masterpiece!
Never before have audiences been so terrified. Never again will you experience a tale of terror to compare with The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus! (narrators voice amplified).The London Observer compares this to "the ghastly elegance, which often suggests Tennessee Williams in one of his more abnormal moods." Featuring Pierre Brasseur as a depraved scientist who uses women in the most frightening way imaginable. Alida Valli as the accomplice who procured the young girls he needed so desperately! Juliet Muyniel as the innocent victim of a madman's perversity The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus! (voice amplified again). A Motion picture as fascinating as it is fantastic! As frightening as anything you will see on the motion picture screen!

Film # 2 The Manster
A terrifying creature is on the loose! Half man! Half monster! (We hear gurgling screaming in the background).A fiendish creature threatening to destroy all that stand in its way! An American reporter in Tokyo who SHOCKINGLY became a victim of a shocking scientific experiment that turned him into half man...half monster...
THE MANSTER! (announcers voice amplified). Once a normal man. Now a hunted animal! There's panic in the streets as the unheard of terror of a half man and half monster runs wild through the city. Don't miss THE MANSTER! (announcers voice amplified).A genuine thriller in the most shocking sense of the word!


The above promos are real. But how are they relevant to the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die book? Yes, indeed. One of them is indeed an entry in the book. Let's be thankful it's not The Manster.

The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus is actually a later English dub of Gerorges Franju's French horror film, Eyes Without a Face. And no singing the Billy Idol song of the same name while reading the title. And no confusing it with Eyes Wide Shut, either. The films have little in common. On second thought, the main character does wear a mask during key parts of both films...but I don't want to go down that road. The actual French title sounds a bit more elegant anyway, Les Yeux Sans Visage.

The tone, texture and time period of Eyes Without a Face reminds me a bit of Carnival of Souls (which I thought should have been included in the book.) The plot involves a doctor (who is oddly not named Faustus) who is trying to find a suitable replacment for the face that his daughter lost in an accident that was his fault. I'm not sure how many women the doctor operates on unsuccessfully before finding someone that is a compatible donor, but we see enough to know he is a MADMAN! He also does experiments with innocent dogs, so he's definitely a bad guy in my book. Spooky and macabre, I suppose I can accept this is an entry for the book, if nothing else as a change of pace.

And anyone know where I can get a copy of THE MANSTER?

THE DEFIANT ONES (1958)

The recent death of Bernie Schwartz BKA Tony Curtis might be a good time for a re-evaluation, at least for me. Part of my initial dismissal of him as a bit of a lightweight stems from the old Golden Turkey Awards book by Michael & Harry Medved which places him as a finals candidate for the Worst Actor of All-Time (He gets beat out by Richard Burton).

I also remember Billy Crystal's exaggerated Brooklynese imitation of Tony from Spartacus, "I'm the singer of songs!"

There was also an episode of Leave It To Beaver where June tells the Beave to wash his neck or the like before dinner and Beaver replies with something similar to, "Gosh Mom, a guy doesn't have to look like Tony Curtis just to eat franks and beans! (queue laugh track)"

Yes, it was easy to dismiss TC in the mind. Misfired epics like The Vikings and Taras Bulba and The Manitou (which has to do with an ancient spirit embryo growing on the back of woman's neck or something like that), the Jerry Lewis/Tony Curtis teaming in Boeing, Boeing and that great epic sequel The Bad News Bears Go to Japan don't help the defense too much.

However, there are a few of his roles (all in the 1001 movie book) which are memorable. The teaming of Jack Lemmon/Marilyn Monroe and Curtis in Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot, Spartacus (His Brooklyn accent really isn't that bad.), The Sweet Smell of Success (he's actually pretty good in this as the ruthless press agent) and the film I just watched The Defiant Ones. The Defiant Ones is Stanley Kramer's allegory of black/white relations featuring too escaped convicts, the bigoted white man (Curtis) and a black man (Sidney Poitier). They fight, call each other names, but eventually learn that they need each other to survive. Some of it seems a bit dated, but is still a worthwhile film. And any film with both Lon Chaney Jr. and Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer in it has that going for it.
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On a different topic: The Defiant Ones if the only Stanley Kramer directed or produced movie in the entire 1001 movie book! This seems like a more than a bit of an oversight. The 1001 movie book loves Stanley Kubrick (which I have no argument with) but seems to hate Stanley Kramer (which I take issue with).

Here are some of the notable Kramer omissions:

Champion (A defining Kirk Douglas role loved by Douglas impressionists like Rich Little who like to blurt out, "I want to be champ!")
The Member of the Wedding (Based on Carson McCullers famous story, exactly the type of film that I thought my slip in on the list.)
The Caine Mutiny (How can you leave out Bogart and the Strawberries?)
On the Beach (Highly thought of film and book, though I haven't seen it.)
Judgement at Nurembug (How could they leave out Judgement at Nuremburg?)
Inherit the Wind (Fictional version of the Scopes trial would definitlely be on my list.)
It's a Mad,Mad,Mad,Mad World (A personal favorite I admit, but you'll never see another comedic cast like this.)
Ship of Fools (Nominated for a lot of awards at realease, but I admit it's kind of hard to sit through today. Good omission.)
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (Not as well thought of as it was at the time of its release. I'd probably leave this one out as well.)
R.P.M.(Not a great movie, but memorable as one of the 60's student protest trilogy, along with The Strawberry Statement and Getting Straight.

Let's work on this in future editions, eh 1001 Movies editors? (I know, they aren't listening to me.)