The Cross of Lorraine (1944)

Jean-Pierre Aumont

In one of my favorite films, 1953's Stalag 17, the POW character Cookie wonders why there aren't more movies about war prisoners.

Stalag 17 was set in 1944, so Cookie and his fellow barracks mates would not yet have known about  1944's The Cross of Lorraine, a great POW film that was released by MGM.

Lorraine is an unusual American production in that it's about French prisoners and stars a great French actor in the lead role, Jean-Pierre Aumont, playing a bilingual solider who reluctantly serves as a translator.

Unlike Stalag 17, there is little comedy relief in  Lorraine.

Based on factual accounts, it is set in a German prison camp not far from the French border. Some of the prisoners are killed by the Germans. Some are tortured.  And some hope to escape the prison and join the French Resistance.

Gene Kelly and Hume Cronyn play French soldiers. Peter Lorre is a German officer.

It is well made film, and a great tribute to the French alliance.

The Cross of Lorraine aired on Turner Classic Movies a few weeks ago, and was recently reviewed here at the blog Silver Screenings.

Chef (2014)

Chef is a new independent comedy-drama starring, written and directed by Jon Favreau, taking a break from directing blockbuster superhero movies with Robert Downey Jr (Downey Jr. has a cameo in this film, incidentally).

In a nutshell: a divorced LA chef quits his job in a restaurant and starts a food truck, all the while teaching his young son some lessons along the way. The kid also teaches his dad a thing or two.

Now, if you're think you'll like a movie with LOTS of cooking and eating, go see this movie. I was very glad I ate before the movie!

Favreau as the lead took me some getting used to. He's played an obnoxious guy  in everything I've seen him in (Swingers, Four Christmases) and he plays a similar character in this, hot tempered and all. But when he made that grilled cheese sandwich for his son, I was charmed.

I was surprised to see some big name stars in the cast. Dustin Hoffman plays the restaurant boss. Scar-Jo (Scarlett Johansson) is in it, too as the restaurant host.  The ex-wife is played by Sofia Veranga, who is good in her part. And I haven't seen John Leguizamo so good in a film since the mid '90s.

The father-son relationship is a big part of the movie. They have some some quality bonding time in a cross-country trek, as the truck makes stops in Miami, New Orleans, and Austin. The soundtrack is great, and moves the film along nicely.

Reflecting our modern day culture, there are many uses of social media in this movie, more than any film I've seen before. Many of the characters "Tweet", "text", "Facebook", and "YouTube", and even "Vine".  At one point Favreau says to his tech-savvy young son "You're the head of our Marketing team!"

All the Tweeting done in the film is integral to the story, and the way it is presented on screen is unique and clever, and will likely be imitated by others in the future.

This movie is getting good word of mouth, and is now among the "Top 10" hits in the United States this weekend.

The Shopworn Angel to air on TCM this Saturday

This Saturday, the Turner Classic Movies channel will be airing a little gem of a film called The Shopworn Angel (1938) starring Jimmy Stewart, Margaret Sullivan, Walter Pidgeon, and Hattie McDaniel. 

I wrote about this movie in the recent James Stewart Blogathon, and if you haven't seen the film, this Saturday's your chance!

The movie is scheduled to air at 7:30 AM (Eastern) / 4:30 AM (Pacific), which is kinda early. So you might want to set your DVRs or VCRs to record it.

Billy Budd (1962)

This post is my contribution to The Great Villain Blogathon hosted by Silver Screenings, Shadows and Satin, and Speakeasy. Click here for a list of all the participating blogs in the blogathon.

Terrence Stamp as Billy Budd

Kristina's entry yesterday in The Great Villain Blogathon focused on the terrifying Zod, portrayed by Terence Stamp in Superman II (1980). When I was kid, I was quite frightened by him. Over the years I saw more of Mr Stamp's films, including his impressive film debut in Billy Budd (1962).

Based on a story  by Herman Melville (Moby Dick) Billy Budd takes place aboard a British war ship during the Napoleonic era. One of the new sailors aboard the ship is Billy Budd -- Stamp plays him, and trust me, there is not a hint of Zod to be found in him. Budd is the polar opposite of Zod: friendly, noble, and honest. Stamp is so convincing in his portrayal of the character that he was nominated for an Oscar. [1]

At the core of the story is an allegory tale depicting two natures of the human soul: the good in Budd, and the evil personified by John Claggart, the captain's first-mate in charge of the ship's discipline. So cruel is Claggart, he has men whipped for the slightest reason. In another universe, Claggart and Zod would get along very well.

In portraying Claggart, American film noir icon Robert Ryan (Crossfire, Born to Be Bad, Caught) delivers another stellar performance. Which brings us to the focus of today's post.

"I am what the world has made me"

While reading some other reviews of this film, I discovered universal acclaim for Ryan's performance, and I am in wholehearted agreement:

• Pauline Kael wrote: "Robert Ryan gives a fine performance in the difficult role of Claggart...he makes evil comprehensible." [2]


• From the blog Classic Film Freak: "He completely personifies the evil and mean spirited Claggart -- in retrospect it is as close to a perfect performance as I’ve seen from Ryan." [3]


• From the blog Captain Critic: "The way he pounds his baton against his leg with every stroke of the floggger's whip, his lips quavering with hunger as he counts the strokes, is one of the most revolting depictions of sadism I've ever seen on film." [4]

Onscreen, you can sense the fear and intimidation Claggart evokes in everyone as he walks by. Even when he's not onscreen, you can sense his authoritative presence.

At times Ryan is filmed from the waist down or from behind, towering over others.

And - in an interesting twist - Ryan does not attempt speak his lines with a British accent. Some might see this as flaw. But I think it makes the character seem even more arrogant and sinister. It adds to the mystery of his tormented soul, as if he was exiled from a foreign land at some point in his life.

One night, the simplehearted Budd - unable to fathom how a man could be so cruel - tries to get the inhumane Claggart to open up.

Their conversation is my favorite scene in the film; here's a snippet of their dialogue:

Claggart: Is it ignorance or irony that makes you speak so simply?

Budd: It must be ignorance, sir, because I don't understand the other word.

I love how Classic Film Freak describes Ryan in this scene:  "You can visibly see his emotions change just by looking at his eyes. You can tell that Claggart would like to be amiable, perhaps even have a friend aboard. He envies Budd in this regard. His eyes soften momentarily with eagerness, but then their usual hard stare return as Claggart rebuffs Budd. Masterful casting." [5]

Claggart goes on to say, "The surface of the sea is calm, but beneath it every creature is a killer."

A series of events then take place, but I will not give anything away if you haven't seen the film or are unfamiliar with the story.

The less you know, the much more exciting the experience will be.

The film's supporting cast includes a number of recognizable actors including John Neville, Paul Rogers, Robert Brown (James Bond's "M"), Ray McAnally, and David McCallum who plays one of the officers aboard the ship. Melvin Douglas (soon to win an Oscar for 1963's Hud) has a small but important role as an old Danish sailor who serves as a mentor to Billy.

Directed by the brilliant Peter Ustinov, who also plays the ship's conflicted captain ("You only have two duties: to fight and to obey", he declares at one point). I love that the film was photographed in black-and-white over color, which I don't think would have been as effective. And the way the camera sways every so subtly makes you feel like you are on the ship with the others.

I highly recommend this film as a "must see".

Available on DVD (with commentary by Terence Stamp).

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Trivia

By the time the film went into production, the story had been adapted for the stage and for television.

According to a 1997 biography by Franklin Jarlett, Robert Ryan lobbied for a role in this picture. [6]

According to Rob K from the blog The Luna Park Gazette, in the 1953 television production, William Shatner played the role of Billy Budd [7]

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References

1. Best Actor (blog). Best Supporting Actor 1962: Terence Stamp in Billy Budd  (Published Oct 2011)

2. The Age of Movies: Selected Writings of Pauline Kael, Pauline Kael. (Library of America, 2011)

3, 5. Classic Film Freak (blog). Billy Budd (1962)  (Published Aug 2012)

4. Captain Critic (blog).  Reeling Backward: Billy Budd (1962) (Published Oct 2012)

6.  Robert Ryan: A Biography and Critical Filmography, Franklin Jarlett (McFarland & Co., 1997)

7. The Luna Park Gazette (blog)  This Budd's For You (Published June 2011)

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This post is part of The Great Villain Blogathon hosted by Silver Screenings, Shadows and Satin, and Speakeasy. 

Click here for a list of all the participating blogs in the blogathon.

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Another review from Just a Cineaste

The current state of independent theaters in Chicagoland

The other day I reported sad news about the Patio theater - a golden-age Chicago movie palace that for the past few years has been a great venue for classic film screenings and second run films. It's now closed because the owner cannot afford the $50,000 cost to fix the air conditioning.  It's sad that this had to happen, because in 2012 the owner successfully raised $50,000 in a Kickstarter campaign to purchase a digital projector. And I'm happy to say that I went to see the James Bond in Skyfall from that projector more than once. The 35MM projector still was in great condition, and I recently saw a great pre code classic there last week (I'll have a review of it soon).

Unfortunately, the owner lost the vision he had when he reopened the theater and talked about keeping it open "for generations to come". In this recent interview with the Chicago Tribune, his attitude is anything but optimistic. He complains about the admission price, the single theater, and the horrors of borrowing money.

Adding to the hardship is the fact that the theater is not in the best location in the city.

Most people I know that have attended the classic film screenings have had to travel half-way across the city, a commute of anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour (or more). And it's not close to any trains or subways. Two other neighborhood movie houses - The Music Box and The Logan - are doing much better and drawing in healthy crowds each week, offering more to the audience than what the Patio has been able to do. Both have multiple screens. The Logan has a bar and hosts events throughout the week such as Trivia nights. The Music Box is probably the #1 theater in Chicago to see art and foreign films. And both are near train stations and downtown Chicago, which makes a big difference in my opinion.

Another independent theater in the Chicago area is experiencing some great fundraising success. Just this morning I heard that the 101 -year old Wilmette Theater raised enough money on Kickstarter to avoid shutting its doors (read the piece from CBS Chicago here). The owners of the 2-screen theater in suburban Chicago successfully raised $70,000 to purchase a digital projector for their second screen (they already had one digital projector for their other screen).

This article from the Chicago Tribune reports on yet another success story:

"Tim O'Connor, co-owner of the Catlow Theater in Barrington -- and a recent donor to the Wilmette Theatre's Kickstarter campaign – said the online fundraising mechanism prevented his own historic, single-screen movie house from being shuttered in 2012. "We had 60 days to raise $100,000 in donations for a new screen and a new digital projection system, but when we reached our goal in the first seven days, people were asking us, 'what else do you need'" recalled O'Connor, who said the Kickstarter campaign ended up raising $175,000."

It all goes to show that it's not easy to run a decades-old movie house.

There are some success stories, and there are some failures, as in the case with the Patio.