A STAR IS BORN (1954)

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(Post 8 of 10) 

The middle one of the three major versions of A Star is Born. I'm a little surprised that this one was chosen over the 1937 original, but A Star is Born '54 does have a lot more flashy dance numbers than the original and is certainly a must for Judy Garland fans. One problem for me is that it doesn't seem like Judy and co-star James Mason have very much chemistry. I almost feel like Mason accidentally wandered over to the A Star is Born set from a different movie. But I still like the film overall and it's certainly better than the later Streisand/'Kristofferson version.

And the Elisha Cook Jr. supporting player award goes to..Jack Carson

This is Jack Carson

This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, with a whimper

Jack Carson's hulking, tough guy persona seemed tailor made to play a press agent like he does in A Star is Born. He did occasionally did have some leading roles in the 40's, though his best ones seemed to be supporting ones like in Mildred Pierce or Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Jack is not to be confused with Don Defore, who was best known as playing the father in Hazel during the 60's. I bring this up, because I use to get them mixed up...silly me.

This is not Jack Carson.
It's Don Defore

WRITTEN ON THE WIND (1956)

MORE 1001 MOVIES FROM THE 50's

(Post 7 of 10) 

Rock Hudson and Lauren Bacall will almost certainly
find each other by the end of Written on the Wind. Won't they?

It's interesting how some of The Fifties Hollywood dramas that prominent critics may have previously dismissed as "women's pictures" began to be taken seriously in later years by filmmakers as diverse as Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Todd Haynes. I've grown to like the few of these types of films from the 1950's (All That Heaven Allows is another one). Maybe they weren't necessarily an accurate picture of life of the era-but they sure seem to represent a certain time nonetheless. Not everything from the fifties could be noir or musicals or horror or biblical spectacles! These dramas at least had fairly real stories...or fairly real...at least involving...or maybe my tastes are just changing as I get older..Not that I feel like watching a Jeff Chandler marathon or anything...but there you have it.

And the Elisha Cook Jr. supporting player award goes to..William Schallert

William Schallert gives Rock Hudson a plot point he needs
and goes out the door to his next film

William Schallert is one of those actors I've seen in so many things over the years (primarily on television) that I think he's seeped into my subconscious as just about the ultimate TV background player. In Written on the Wind, his only scene is the one above where his only purpose is to (as a reporter) let Rock Hudson know that Lauren Bacall has gotten married. Pure exposition and then he walks off the stage and probably to another set to film another scene in another movie or show. Schallert is probably primarily remembered as the dad in The Patty Duke Show. But if you look at his long trail of credits, it basically includes every show I've ever seen in reruns: The Andy Griffith Show, Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, Leave It to Beaver, Get Smart, The Waltons, The Partridge Family...and way too many more to list. Schallert died in 2016 at the age of 93, leaving behind him a legacy of 379 IMDB credits.

A PLACE IN THE SUN (1951)

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(Post 6 of 10) 

One of the most famous dramas from the fifties, A Place in the Sun is based on Theodore Dreiser's early twentieth century novel, An American Tragedy. The plot involves poor, but ambitious George Eastman (Montgomery Clift), who works his way up the corporate ladder of his rich relatives business and gets involved with the loving, but simple Alice Tripp (Shelley Winters). He later meets the beautiful Anglea Vickers (Elizabeth Taylor) who he falls for right away. This creates a problem with the lingering presence of Alice, whose relationship with George is further complicated by the fact that she is in a family way...

It sounds like a bit of a soap opera when you try to recount the plot, but it really is a strong drama, with well-cast leads, a tragic story (as the original title indicates) and very solid directorial touches from George Stevens (who won the Academy Award for A Place in the Sun). In fact, the film won the most Academy Awards of any film released in 1951 (6), but lost out to An American in Paris for Best Picture.

And the Elisha Cook Jr. supporting player award goes to...Shelley Winters

Poor, poor Shelley Winters in A Place in the Sun

You have to give Shelley Winters some credit. She came up as a sexy leading lady in the late 40's, but her movie star looks seemed to fade awfully fast and she fell into obscurity and was never cast after that...Only that wasn't what happened at all! Shelly transitioned into one of the most prolific character actresses in movies for the the next thirty or so years, winning supporting actress Academy Awards for The Diary of Anne Frank in 1959 and A Patch of Blue in 1965. She was also nominated as Best Actress for A Place in the Sun, but I think her part would have been more appropriate in the supporting category.

Some of her subsequent supporting roles include: Lolita's ill-fated mother in Lolita, another mother role in the 60's cult film, Wild in the Streets, another ill-fated romantic lead in Night of the Hunter, the lead gangster in Bloody Mama and of course, her turn in the 70's disaster film The Poseidon Adventure. She also was the a frequent talk show guest over the years, where her persona as a rather abrasive, middle-aged, heavy-set woman was instilled in many of us.

"Wow! That's Shelley Winters?"Still from the late 40's

THE MAN FROM LARAMIE (1953)

MORE 1001 MOVIES FROM THE 50's

(Post 5 of 10)

I admit that I've enjoyed going through the Anthony Mann Westerns on the 1001 list, mostly because I've never seen any of them before I started doing this blog. In The Man From Laramie, Will Lockhart (James Stewart) is the guy from out of town who just wants to collect some supplies....but you know he's going to get mixed up with the locals and have problems that are going to force him to stay. There is naturally a local gal who may spark enough interest for Lockhart to want to stay. There is also a blood feud between a powerful family and almost everyone who isn't them which propels most of the film's drama. Also, look for a couple of plot twists that you may not be see coming.  

And the Elisha Cook Jr. supporting player award goes to (TIE)..Aline McMahon and Wallace Ford. The Man From Laramie has several previous Elisha Cook award winners: Jack Elam, Arthur Kennedy and Donald Crisp. I'd like to give the award to two performers that I know mostly from only one other film. Aline McMahon's career lasted from the 30's until the 70's. But honestly, the only thing other than this film that I've seen her in is Gold Diggers of 1933, my favorite of the Busby Berkley musicals. In Gold Diggers, she plays Trixie, the wisecracking showgirl who ends up with Guy Kibbee. She has some of the best lines in that movie. In Laramie, she has aged into the matronly but tough ranch owner who ends up (presumably happily ever after) with Donald Crisp at the end.
 

Aline McMahon is a tart-tongued old lady in The Man From Laramie

Aline McMahon is a tart-tongued young lady in Gold Diggers of 1933

I have seen Wallace Ford in a few things other than as Jimmy Stewart's grizzled partner in The Man From Laramie. He appeared in Hitchcock films (Shadow of a Doubt, Spellbound), was the cabdriver in Harvey and one of his last roles was as Aunt Bea's suitor in an episode of The Andy Griffith Show. But his signature role has to be as the clown in the movie Freaks, where he shares the screen, with Johnny Eck, the Caterpillar man, the bearded lady and Harry Earles the midget. And who could forget his scene with Schlitzie the Pinhead! "Hey Schlitzie, that's a real pretty hat!"

Wallace Ford shares the screen with James Stewart in The Man From Laramie

Wallace Ford shares the screen with Schlitze the Pinhead in Freaks