Cats (2019) and Scrooge (1970)

This past holiday season I watched two musicals set in London.

Scrooge was good; I had never seen this version in its fullness. My favorite part was when Scrooge dies and goes to the underworld and sees Marley again and the devil's slaves bring him his chains. I don't think that is depicted in another other version. I really like the songs including Thank you very Much and December the 25th. Albert Finney was really good and miserly, and I was impressed with the dialogue written by Leslie Bricusse; some expressions I had never heard of such as "prevaricating fraud" and Scrooge is described as "parsimonious" (obnoxious). I liked Alec Guiness as Marley and it occurred to me that he played a spirit ghost long before he did in Return of the Jedi as Obi Wan Kenobi.

It was only made as recently as 1970, but something about it feels so old-fashioned. Maybe that's a good thing, since it's set in the 19th Century anyhow. But everything from the expressions used to the costumes to the toys in the store (below) - everything feels so old-fashioned.

I liked Cats but didn't love it; it probably won't become a favorite of mine. It has a "modern" feel even though it could just as easily have taken place 100 years ago.

I never saw the original show so I don't know what changed. Almost every cat gets their own song and has their own personality, and I liked that; I liked Jennifer Hudson singing "Memory" . There are some dumb jokes, like when Rebel Wilson's cat says to the cockroach, "don't get cocky!' and in another scene says "watch out for the crazy cat lady". She and James Cordin seem to ad-lib some stuff and that's okay but felt the movie could have had more punch to it, and the cats seem to keep changing size; at first they seem like the size of real cats but then they seem to shrink down at times. Also I didn't like the garbage and cockroach scenes. I saw this in one of those "dine-in" theaters and you don't want to see that while eating.

I'd like to see a "making of" documentary about this movie and see how they added in the special effects; every tail and ear moves and wiggles and it's pretty cool. All the actors could have just worn suits and masks.

Travels With My Aunt (1972) and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012)

Over the weekend I went with my aunt to see The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, a new ensemble dramedy about British tourists in India. The stellar cast includes Judi Dench and - in a less-prominent storyline - Maggie Smith as a stubborn guest. Five minutes before the end of the film, Dame Judi says to Maggie, "We haven't talked much, have we?" Nope, they sure didn't, and I wished Maggie was in more of the film.  She's so good you'll want to see her star in a sequel.

I watched another of Maggie Smith's travel-themed movies where she shines in the lead: Travels With My Aunt from 1972.

Travels  is a quirky comedy from director George Cukor that has a screwball tone. Dame Maggie plays an eccentric socialite whose affair with a mysterious lover forces her to travel the world. She brings along her only relative, her nephew Henry, played by Alex McCowen, a perfect straight-man to her more high-spirited personality.

The movie unfolds to reveal more of the mysterious reason for her world travels, and it all comes together in a silly, memorable way.

Co-star Louis Gossett Jr. (who plays a fellow travel companion) shares some of the neat experiences he had filming the Travels in London in his autobiography, An Actor and A Gentleman. He recalls with fondness meeting the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix, all the good food he enjoyed, and how gracious and encouraging Dame Maggie was.

Just a Cineaste blog post on Travels With My Aunt

Jane Eyre (2011)

If you live near a theater showing it and are looking for a good movie experience, I cannot recommend it highly enough. Without comparing it to the novel (which I have't read) or any other film versions (I've only seen the 1944 version) I must say it is a thrilling film experience, even if you know the basic story. Cheers to the director, Cary Fukunaga, who did a marvelous job, and to the screenwriters. You can get a sense of Jane's yearning for freedom from the very first scenes, and what she will do to achieve it. I loved what was done with the flashback scenes and the focus on the life-changing decisions that Jane has to make. It's a fine period film with beautiful scenery. And amazing performances, especially from Mia Wasikowska, as Jane. Also, Jamie Bell (as St. John Rivers) impressed me.  The actor who plays Rochester, Michael Fassbender is great. Judi Dench's presence in the film (as Mrs Fairfax) is a highlight. A modern day classic, and a must-see. A+ Not on DVD. In cinemas now.

It is PG-13 for brief moments of violence and some mature subject matter. If you know the story you will know what to expect; in the beginning young Jane is hit, and later, Helen is hit in the school.

Special thanks to the blog Enchanted Serenity of Period Films for all the updates on this movie and for posting trailers, featurettes, and links about the film.

Jane Eyre (1944)

The new movie version of Jane Eyre starring Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland), Judi Dench, Jaime Bell, and Sally Hawkins opens in more cities today, and it's been getting very good reviews, including positive ones from Roger Ebert and Leonard Maltin. I love the 1944 version with Orson Welles, Joan Fontaine, and a young Elizabeth Taylor in one of her first roles.

l-r: Joan Fontaine (as Jane), Orson Welles (as Rochester), Margaret O'Brien (as Adele), Peggy Ann Garner (as Young Jane), and Elizabeth Taylor (as Helen)

What it's About

Setting: England, 1829. As the film begins, young Jane (Peggy Ann Garner), an orphan, is living in a strict house of her wicked and cruel aunt (Agnes Moorhead). At the age of 10, she is sent to a prison-like boarding school, Lowood, where she's taunted, teased, called an "unregenerate child" and cruelly punished, all while getting "spiritual instruction". Her best friend Helen (Elizabeth Taylor) helps her keep her sanity.

Peggy Ann Garner and her best friend Helen, played by Elizabeth Taylor

The story advances a few years and Joan Fontaine plays Jane at 18. She accepts a job at a country estate known as Thornfield Hall, where she works as a governess and caretaker of little Adele (played by Margaret O'Brien), who appears to be an orphan, like Jane. The master of the household is Mr. Rochester, played by Orson Welles, who is very domineering and intimidating. As time goes by, Jane learns to accept him and grows fond of him, becoming jealous when he courts another woman.

I was impressed with Joan and thought she was well cast opposite Welles.

Rochester also has feelings for her, but there is something he's not telling her.

My Take:

I was not familiar with this story before seeing this movie, the first film version I had ever seen of this. So the last part of this movie really was exciting for me because I did not know what to expect. Why was the the door upstairs banging?, I asked. It is a thriller of a story. Joan Fontaine is excellent, and has the right personality and maturity to bring this character to life, even if she was a little older (27) than the character. Welles is also fantastic in this, very convincing as this character.

There have been a number of other movie versions of this classic novel over the years, but I haven't seen them and cannot compare them to this version. To me, this is the definitive version. Featuring a beautiful music score by Bernard Herrmann (Citizen Kane), intense black-and-white cinematography by George Barnes (Rebecca) and is well directed by Robert Stevenson. I really liked how at certain points actual pages from the novel were shown as Joan (as Jane) narrates.

The credited screenwriters are director Stevenson, Aldous Huxley, John Houseman, a good friend of Welles' from his early days in the theater. Stevenson went on to direct many classic Disney films of the 1960s. He does a good job directing all the child actors here, and gets a few comic moments out of little Margaret O'Brien.

This movie is 96 minutes long and you can watch it streaming on NetFlix or rent on DVD.

Cast:

Edward Rochester............Orson Welles

Jane Eyre.........................Joan Fontaine

Young Jane (age 10)........Peggy Ann Garner

Helen...............................Elizabeth Taylor

Dr. Rivers.........................John Sutton

Mrs. Reed........................Agnes Moorehead

Mrs. Fairfax....................Edith Barrett

Blanche.....................Hillary Brooke

The final title card encouraged the audience of 1944 to buy war bonds.



Originally posted on my other blog Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine: Sisters of the Silver Screen

Shortest Oscar-nominated Performances

The briefest performances ever nominated for an Oscar. The screen times provided were gathered from other sources and have not been independently verified:

02:32 Hermione Baddeley ("Room at the Top," 1959) for best supporting actress
05:00 Claire Trevor ("Dead End", 1937) for best supporting actress
05:40 Beatrice Straight ("Network," 1976) for best supporting actress WON
06:00 Ned Beatty ("Network," 1976) for best supporting actor
06:00 Sylvia Miles ("Midnight Cowboy," 1969) for best supporting actress
06:05 Carolyn Jones ("The Bachelor Party," 1957) for best supporting actress
06:10 Diane Cilento ("Tom Jones," 1963) for best supporting actress
06:50 Thelma Ritter ("Pillow Talk," 1959) for best supporting actress
07:10 Geraldine Page ("The Pope of Greenwich Village," 1984) for best supporting actress
07:30 Maximilian Schell ("Julia," 1977) for best supporting actor
08:00 Jane Alexander ("All the President's Men," 1976) for best supporting actress
08:00 Judi Dench ("Shakespeare in Love," 1998) for best supporting actress WON
08:00 Charles Durning ("The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," 1982) for best supporting actor
08:00 John Lithgow ("Terms of Endearment," 1983) for best supporting actor
08:00 Sylvia Miles ("Farewell, My Lovely," 1975) for best supporting actress
08:00 Michael Shannon ("Revolutionary Road," 2008) for best supporting actor
08:30 Gladys Cooper ("My Fair Lady," 1964) for best supporting actress
08:30 Anthony Quinn ("Lust for Life," 1956) for best supporting actor WON
09:00 William Hurt ("A History of Violence," 2006) for best supporting actor
09:50 Piper Laurie ("Children of a Lesser God," 1986) for best supporting actress
10:00 Ruby Dee ("American Gangster," 2007) for best supporting actress
12:00 Viola Davis ("Doubt," 2008) for best supporting actress
14:00 Ed Harris ("The Hours," 2002) for best supporting actor
15:38 David Niven ("Separate Tables", 1958) for Best Actor WON
16:00 Anthony Hopkins ("The Silence of the Lambs," 1991) for best actor WON