RED RIVER (1948)

HOLLYWOOD'S GOLDEN AGE

(Post 36 of 50)

If you want the ultimate movie about a cross country cattle drive, then look no further than Red River. I hadn't seen this in a long time and really enjoyed it this time around. You got to give a lot of credit to Hawks for keeping the story written by Borden Chase alive and keeping the cattle (and the plot) moving over hundreds of miles. But the centerpiece of the story is represented by John Wayne as the tough head of the drive and his protegee/adopted son played by Montgomery Cliff. The fact that the two of them come from different acting schools (Clift is a method actor, Wayne is NOT)  is really to the film's favor. I'm not sure I've liked either actor as much as I've liked them in this.

And the Elisha Cook Jr. supporting player award goes to..Noah Beery, Jr. I know I should give this to Walter (Groot) Brennan, but I just gave the award to him for Sergeant York and I can't always give this to Walter Brennan! Also could have given this to Harry Carey Jr. or Harry Carey Sr., but I'll give it to Noah Beery Jr. in a real nice role as the dedicated member of the cattle driver and the guy who becomes Clift's right hand man during the second part of the film. I also like whenever he yells (I think it's a yell) out for them cattle to get a move on.

Beery has showed up in other films on 1001 list, including Only Angels Have Wings and Sergeant York, as well as a small roles in many other films like Inherit the Wind. But is still probably best remembered by my generation as Rocky from 70's TV classic The Rockford Files. 

THE MORTAL STORM (1940)

HOLLYWOOD'S GOLDEN AGE

(Post 35 of 50)

One of the few Hollywood movies (along with Confessions of a Nazi spy) to address the Nazi menace head on in the early stages of World War II. At times a very powerful film, The Mortal Storm shows how easy it is to turn on your friends and neighbors and change your whole value system when the situation dictates it. It's also interesting to see such clean cut leading men such as Robert Stack and Robert Young fall prey to this, but I think that's the whole point. Jimmy Stewart is strong in the lead male role, but it is Margaret Sullavan as the professor's daughter that stands up to the Nazi threat who really carries the film.

It's interesting that Sullavan wasn't even nominated for an Academy Award for this, but then The Mortal Storm wasn't nominated for any Academy Awards! Stewart won Best Actor this year for the more lightweight Philadelphia Story.

And the Elisha Cook Jr. supporting player award goes to..Frank Morgan. Many moviegoers know Frank Morgan for one role, that of the Wizard/Professor Marvel in The Wizard of Oz. You can definitely see some of the wizard in Professor Roth, but where the Wizard was a phony, the professor is a man of deep conviction and values. His persecution is the core of the film and was sadly representative to what happened at the time to many.

IN A LONELY PLACE (1951)

HOLLYWOOD'S GOLDEN AGE

(Post 34 of 50)

If you love film noir (and if you are a film buff, you're pretty much required to love film noir), In a Lonely Place is a required addition you need to add to your viewing resume. Humphrey Bogart plays a screenwriter with a violent temper who is accused of murder and one begins to wonder as the movie progresses whether or not he might really be guilty. Bogart seems to have aged quite a bit by 1951, but the force of his personality really shines through and I have no trouble believing a saucy dame like Gloria Grahame could fall for him. 

And the Elisha Cook Jr. supporting player award goes to..Gloria Grahame. The lovely Miss Grahame has shown up in a handful of 1001 movie listings, including The Big Heat, where Lee Marvin famously throws coffee in her face. She also plays the Bedford Falls slut in It's a Wonderful Life and the equally easy Ado Annie in the musical Oklahoma! She also has a interesting if minor turn as Dick Powell's wife in The Bad and the Beautiful. Her role as the tough but vulnerable Laurel in In a Lonely Place might be her best role of the bunch. Her relationship with Bogart's character Dixon Steele is uneasy, yet passionate, difficult, but inevitable. But this is film noir and there ain't gonna be no happily ever afters, sweetheart.

OKLAHOMA! (1955)

HOLLYWOOD'S GOLDEN AGE

(Post 33 of 50)

I'm not sure how Fred Zinneman could have adapted Oklahoma! to the screen any better than he did. He took it off the stage and opened up great technicolor vistas that you couldn't have in a theater. But there are a lot of musicals that are established on stage that are just better on stage. You simply can't beat the intimacy of live theater with the songs and actors right in front of you. So I would say that you should see Oklahoma! in some form, it just doesn't have to be on celluloid.

Confession #1: The Farmer and the Cowboy Should be Friends is near the top of my list of  favorite songs from a musical. 

The Partridge Family vs. The Brady Bunch: A chapter in this ongoing debate that I didn't know about is Oklahoma! I knew that future hot Partridge Family mom Shirley Jones played Laurie in the movie. What I didn't realize was that future hot Brady Bunch mom Florence Henderson played Laurie on Broadway in 1953. You learn something everyday, I guess.

And the Elisha Cook Jr. supporting player award goes to..Eddie Albert. Honestly, most of the laughs that Oklahoma! generates comes for Albert's Ali Hakim, the Persian peddler man, who spends tmost of the movie trying to avoid getting married to Ado Annie. Albert had many other scene stealing supporting roles during his career, including the artist in Roman Holiday. But it is funny that his best know role is as the lead in the TV show Green Acres, when he had to play straight man to some of the goofiest characters in TV history. 

Confession #2: Green Acres is still one of my favorite shows.