Clip: The Best Years of Our Lives

Posted on November 11, 2015 at 11:11 am

“The Best Years of Our Lives” is about returning WWII veterans, very appropriate for Veteran’s Day. It is one of my favorite films, and this scene is one of my 101 Must-See Movie Moments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scXCe1i_hJQ

Here is what I wrote about it:

The movie: A Best Picture Oscar winner, “The Best Years of Our Lives” captures its moment beautifully but still feels vitally engaging. It is not just the story of three men returning from military service in World War II. It is the story of three characters struggling to adjust to transitions that are far more complex than they had imagined. For so long, they dreamed of coming home. Now they must learn that home is not what they remembered and they are not the same, either. Dreams that come true can still require complicated, even terrifying, adjustments.

This is a beautiful and touching film with a great feeling for its characters. Al (Fredric March) is a middle-aged banker turned infantryman. While he was away, his children grew up. Fred (Dana Andrews) is a soda jerk from a poor family turned decorated bombardier with a pretty wife he barely knows. And Homer (Oscar-winner Harold Russell) is returning home with hooks to replace the hands he lost in combat.

It is filled with wonderfully constructed and performed scenes, including Al’s unexpected arrival home, joy followed by awkwardness followed by taking everyone out for drinks. The morning after, when he wakes up with a hangover and his wife Milly (Myrna Loy) brings him breakfast in bed, there is a moment of piercing sweetness when they begin to reconnect. Homer is afraid his disability will shock or disgust his longtime sweetheart, the girl next door (Cathy O’Donnell). He finally admits that to himself and gives her a chance to see how his prostheses work in a touching scene where he allows her to button his pajama top.

Fred has the most difficult struggle. He does not fit in at home, with his father and stepmother, or at his old job. His wife is a frivolous party girl who likes him less now that he is out of uniform and expecting her not to go out every night. The drug store has been sold to a chain. He suffers from nightmares due to what we now call post-traumatic stress disorder. And he finds himself falling for Al’s daughter Peggy (Teresa Wright).

The moment: In this scene, everything seems to be falling apart for him and he goes back to the last place he thought would feel like home. At a nearby airport, bomber planes like the one he flew in are lined up, waiting to be junked. He crawls inside one, remembering his time in combat and wondering if he will ever have a sense of mastery and purpose again.

A man comes over to the plane and yells at him because no one is supposed to be there. The planes are not going to be discarded; they are going to be broken down and turned into materials for housing, an updated version of beating swords into plowshares. Fred realizes that he, too, can be retrofitted for peacetime work. Just as he learned to be a bombardier, he can learn whatever he needs to be a part of the post-war world. He gets a job with the builder who is taking the planes. It is a turning point for Fred with a meaningful metaphor about the opportunities and challenges of the post-war era or indeed any time of turmoil.

More movies about the readjustment of returning military:

“Coming Home”
“The Welcome”
“The Men”
“Til the End of Time”
“The Messenger”

More Halloween Movies

Posted on October 27, 2015 at 3:57 pm

In honor of Halloween, the Indiewire critics discuss the non-horror movies that scared them most. There are some great choices on the list, including Julianne Moore in “Safe,” about a woman who is being poisoned — or thinks she is — by the toxic, synthetic chemicals in everyday products. And there are scary documentaries about terrifying real-life events like “Deliver Us from Evil,” about child abuse and cover-up by the Catholic church, and
“Fed Up,” about what is in our food that is not good for us. Someone even mentioned the wonderful “Up” series that documents the lives of a group of children from London as they grow up, now in late middle age. And of course nothing is as scary to an adult as a movie like “Bambi” or “Pinocchio” is to a child.

For those who would enjoy something a little spooky but not too scary, the wonderful Legion of Leia as The Top 15 Halloween Movies for Those of Us Who Don’t Like Scary Movies.” Legion of Leia’s Jenna Busch includes some of the films on my list, like “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” and “Hocus Pocus,” along with some of Tim Burton’s best, “Frankenweenie,” “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” and “The Corpse Bride.” Enjoy!

Interview: Leonard Maltin on His New Classic Movie Guide

Posted on October 25, 2015 at 3:10 pm

The third edition of Leonard Maltin’s indispensible guide to older movies is now called Turner Classic Movies Presents Leonard Maltin’s Classic Movie Guide: From the Silent Era Through 1965. It is even more important than ever in the era of universal accessibility to the classics (and the enjoyable non-classics) via cable and Netflix, and it is easier to use than ever if you have a Kindle. It was a thrill to get a chance to interview Maltin, not only one of the most knowledgeable and thoughtful film historians of all time, but the very essence of a gentleman, gracious and considerate. His Maltin on Movies podcast is a pleasure to listen to, especially when his daughter Jessie is included.

When you and I were young, the quest to find classic old movies and neglected gems was, well, like something out of a movie. Did you take any extraordinary measures or have any adventures in tracking down movies you wanted to see?

When I was a kid, I sometimes forced myself to go to sleep early, set the alarm for 2am, and woke up to watch a film on the late, late show. I had to keep the volume down so I wouldn’t wake the rest of the household. Then I had to try to get back to sleep so I could function in school the next day—which wasn’t easy. I never could have foreseen that there would be a day when thousands of movies were easily and instantly accessible on video or through streaming. The question is whether or not today’s young people are curious to see, or seek out, older films.

How has the broad availability of movies on DVD, cable, and streaming changed the questions you get about movies? How as it changed the way people think about movies?

I worry that people accept the availability of movies at home as an adequate way to watch them and don’t value the opportunity to see vintage films on a big screen—the way they were meant to be seen. But I think the biggest change is that people can now obsess about movies they like and watch them over and over again. They’ve memorized some films and know them much more intimately than I do. I don’t have the luxury of doing that because I try to keep up with the latest releases and also enjoy diving into films of the past.

How has the style of acting changed since the classic era covered in your book? Which actors do you think come across more as relics of their eras and which do you think still seem timeless?

Some actors of the 1930s and 40s used a declamatory style of acting that came from the stage, while others had a more naturalistic approach and delivery. I don’t think Humphrey Bogart or Spencer Tracy are dated at all.

You have very limited space to write about each film. Once you have indicated the plot and quality, what are some of the elements you like to point out to readers? Cinematography? A great performance in a supporting role?

The answer is: whatever stands out to us. If the cinematography is exceptional, we like to point that out, but the same is true of a great music score, or a scene-stealing performance in a supporting role.

You have from the beginning been a stickler for getting the movie’s running time right. How do you get the definitive number?

Nowadays it’s easy with access to DVDs and downloads. In the past it was a great challenge, because no two sources seem to agree. I once asked a guy at United Artists how they determined accurate running times for films in their library and he said, “Uh… we used your book.” It was flattering, of course, but not terribly useful.

I enjoyed your podcast discussion with your daughter about “comfort movies.” What are some of your favorites and what makes them so comforting?

Often, it’s movies I saw while growing up. They’re like old friends, in a way. When I revisit Singin’ in the Rain or Yankee Doodle Dandy or any number of others, I’m not just enjoying the films all over again but recapturing my youth, I suppose.

Sherlock Holmes has been portrayed more times on screen than any other fictional character. Who is your favorite?

I grew up on Basil Rathbone as Holmes with that wonderful character actor Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson and retain a special fondness for them. But I enjoy and appreciate many other Holmses over the years—the latest being Ian McKellen in Mr. Holmes.

Abraham Lincoln has been portrayed on screen more times than any other historical character. Who is your favorite?

That’s another one that’s hard to choose. Daniel Day-Lewis was magnificent in Steven Spielberg’s recent film, but that doesn’t prevent me from still enjoying Henry Fonda in John Ford’s Young Mr. Lincoln.

One thing I especially enjoy in your write-ups is your mention of unexpected appearances, sometimes by directors but usually by actors who were not yet famous. Do you have a favorite example?

It’s always fun to spot an up-and-coming actor in an early role. I can’t pinpoint a favorite off the top of my head.

When you and the brain trust that works with you on this book disagree about the quality of a film, how do you decide the rating?

That’s the benefit of being editor-in-chief: I have the final say.

A Look at Remakes (And Not All of Them Are Terrible)

Posted on October 12, 2015 at 2:19 pm

The blogger behind Phyllis Loves Classic Movies held an invitational blogathon on a subject many people have strong feelings about: remakes. Phyllis herself took on one, or I should say, two of my favorites: “My Favorite Wife” with Irene Dunne and Cary Grant and “Move Over Darling” with Doris Day and James Garner. (The original remake was to star Marilyn Monroe and Dean Martin, but she was fired shortly before she died and he refused to continue without her.) I was always intrigued by one difference between the two: the 1940 version has the missing wife as a much more independent character with a career, while the 1963 version reflects the era’s more limited idea of the scope of opportunities appropriate for women.

Other participants in the blogathon are just as much fun to read, including the vastly inferior remakes of “Double Indemnity” and “Libeled Lady,” the musical remakes of “Little Shop of Horrors” and “The Philadelphia Story” (“High Society”), and the both good and bad remakes (three movie versions) of “Love Affair”/”An Affair to Remember.” There are also three versions of “Shop Around the Corner” (one a musical with Judy Garland and one updated to the era of email in “You’ve Got Mail”). And there’s a whole category of directors who remade their own films.

What do you think are some of the best/worst remakes?

Celebrate Columbus Day!

Posted on October 12, 2015 at 8:00 am

Christopher Columbus has not yet had the movie he deserves, but I prefer the Fredric March version to the later movies. And I recommend a brilliant and completely engrossing biography from biographer Laurence Bergreen called Columbus: The Four Voyages. He writes:

Before him, the Old World and the New remained separate and distinct continents, ecosystems and societies; ever since, their fates have been bound together, for better or worse.

Whatever you think you know and whatever you think you think about Columbus — visionary, delusional, greedy, loyal, brilliant, mad, whether you think of him as an adventurer, a spy, or a despoiler, you will be surprised, challenged, and fascinated by what Bergreen has uncovered.

Happy Columbus Day and cheers to all adventurers and explorers!

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