THE KILLING (1956)

(1950’s movie #11)

The Killing (1956)

Expectations: Classic film noir. First of the great Stanley Kurbrick films. A favorite. And why is this not in the 1001 book again?

After viewing: The great heist in the film told by different viewpoints (which is the reason Kubrick chose this source material) and is what really sets this apart. The cast of character actors is quite good, the ending (different from Lionel White’s book) is a doozy and everything really comes together here. One question: What is the deal with Maurice,the Russian chess player/wrestler who you can barely undersand any of his dialogue?

And the Elisha Cook Jr. supporting player award goes to…Elisha Cook Jr. I’ve made many posts on this blogsite giving out my imaginary Elisha Cook Jr. supporting player award. I think the main reason I decided to do it was because of Mr. Cook in this movie.

In The Killing, Cook becomes part of the elaborate plan to rob the racetrack. It’s the one chance he has to impress his blonde wife, who knows that she is out of his league. Of course, she’s two-timing him, doesn’t really love him and you could almost feel sorry for the guy if he weren’t so naïve. Small of stature and rather plain looking, Described by critic Leonard Maltin as “the ultimate nebbish,” Mr. Cook had a long career that ran from The Maltese Falcon to The Big Sleep to Shane to The Killing to Rosemary’s Baby to later as Ice Pick on the television show Magnum P. I.

Always a second banana and usually a good bet to not survive to the film’s closing credits, Cook proves that you can have a long career in Hollywood by getting bumped off a lot.

THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950)

(1950’s movie #10)
The Asphalt Jungle

Expectations: I really don’t have any. I just know it was a John Huston film and isn’t to be confused with Richard Brook’s The Blackboard Jungle.

After viewing: I’m really surprised I hadn’t seen this before and knew so little about it. It’s a terrific heist movie and a very worthy follow-up for Huston to Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

Fact only I may find interesting: Co-star Louis Calhern starred in both The Asphalt Jungle and The Blackboard Jungle.

Marilyn sighting: One of Marilyn Monroe’s early roles. She is most fetching playing Calhern’s mistress. “Some sweet kid.”

And the Elisha Cook Jr. supporting player award goes to…Sam Jaffe. Despite a strong supporting cast including James Whitmore, Jean Hagen and John McIntyre, I have to once again give the prestigious Cook award to Mr. Jaffe. This time he isn’t playing a bhisti bugle boy as in Gunga Din or a scientist as he did in The Day the Earth Stood Still, but a brilliant, logical, calculating criminal with one fatal flaw: a penchant for young women. (Apparently very, very, young)

THE HUNGER GAMES (2012)

We have temporarily taken control of this month's blog run on films from the 1950's to bring you a guest movie commentary on The Hunger Games from author Joyce Scarbrough.

"The book was better."

I'd say this is true for 95% of movies that are based on books, with 4% having the book and the movie equally good and 1% of movies that are better. (I'm a word person and don't play well with numbers, so don't hold me to those percentages. Hey, at least they add up to 100!)

So it was no real surprise that the theatrical version of THE HUNGER GAMES fell into the 95% category, yet I still found myself quite disappointed that this movie I had anticipated seeing on the big screen more than any other didn't quite live up to my expectations. Don't get me wrong--it's a good movie full of excitement, visual thrills and moving scenes. I'm sure anyone who sees it that hasn't read the books will think it's fabulous. It was just missing the deep, soul-stirring elements that make me love the book series so much.

It certainly wasn't the fault of the cast. While some of the actors were not how I pictured the characters, they all did a great job of bringing their roles to life and won me over. Especially Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss and Josh Hutcherson as Peeta. Their scenes together were magical--both the action-filled and the emotional ones.

No, I think the biggest problem was the inherent limitations of watching a movie versus reading a book, especially a book written in the first person POV. While Jennifer Lawrence did a wonderful job of showing Katniss's amazing bravery, devotion to her family and strength of character, even her award-worthy acting skills could not portray Katniss's inner conflicts, subtle revelations about herself and her fellow tributes, and her ingenious ability to control her outward appearances and reactions because she knew she was always being watched by the entire country.

Not only did Katniss have to manipulate the spoiled Capitol citizens whose sponsorship she needed to survive, she had to be constantly mindful that her sister and mother were being forced to watch everything that happened to her. You really can't show this through facial expressions, and it's not something Katniss would talk about with anyone even if she could do so without being overheard. So it's a major part of the story's draw that is missing from the movie.

There were other important aspects of the story that I think the director didn't do justice to or omitted altogether. This was probably because of time limitations, but I think some of the special effect scenes and visual gut-punches could have been shortened in order to show things like how desperate Katniss was to find water when she first went into the arena and how she almost died of dehydration. She finds a water source immediately in the movie and never even gets thirsty! The same thing is true of the pain she and Peeta suffered from their injuries and how close they came to dying, and also the emotional bonding between them that developed gradually while they cared for each other. These things were skipped in exchange for more death scenes, and it kept the movie audience from connecting as much to Katniss and Peeta as readers do in the books.

For me, the biggest thing about both these books and the movie is the magnificence of the heroine. Katniss is both bigger than life and completely human at the same time, and I cheered for her not only because of what she meant to the story, but for what she meant to the millions of young girls reading about her. Her message is this:

You are capable of making a difference in the world every bit as much as any of your male counterparts, and don't ever let anybody convince you otherwise!

And while the heroines in my books don't inspire any revolutions like Katniss does, they do share her belief in herself and always stand up for themselves against adversity. If they inspire even a fraction of Katniss's fans, I'll feel as if I've made a difference as a writer.

~Stay true to yourself and your dreams will come true.

-Joyce Scarbrough

http://joycescarbrough.blogspot.com/

We now return control of this blog to Chris, a librarian, at least until the next time we decide to retake control.

GIGI (1958)

(1950’s movie #9)

Gigi (1958)

Expectations: I think I’ve done enough film noirs this month, so I figured this colorful musical is probably about as far away from film noir as a movie can get.

After viewing: Obviously this movie gets compared to My Fair Lady because they are both Lerner and Lowe and both are Best Picture Winners. I don’t like it as much as My Fair Lady, but it does have some winning musical numbers. And also if I’m doing this list, I might as well check off all the Oscar Winners I go through as well. I just hope this doesn’t mean I have to watch Broadway Melody of 1929 and Cimarron.


And the Elisha Cook Jr. supporting player award goes to…Maurice Chevalier. Yes, I must be getting older because I’ve come to actually like the old Frenchman. It’s hard to imagine this movie without his musical numbers, “Thank Heaven For Little Girls,” and “We Met at 9.”