King of the Hill is a newer topic than what typically write about on this blog, but I love this show so much and this episode so much, that I have to write about it. “Dances with Dogs,” which originally aired on December 1, 2002 is hysterical. It has such a ridiculous plot: Bobby Hill wants to enter the “Musical Canine Freestyle,” a dog-dancing contest which is a sensation in Canada.
At the start of the episode, Bobby watches as his parents, Hank and Peggy Hill, leave to get ice cream. He’s been waiting for his parents to leave, so he can practice dog dancing for an upcoming contest with Hank’s beloved 13-year old Bloodhound, Lady Bird (named after the first lady, Lady Bird Johnson). Bobby puts on The Beatles’ rendition of “Twist and Shout” and starts practicing. However, then Hank and Peggy come home unexpectedly after Hank is incensed that the employee put his fingers in his ice cream and killed his mood for ice cream. Hank, who seems perpetually embarrassed by free-spirit Bobby’s actions, is horrified to see his son dancing with the old Lady Bird. “She’s got arthritis!” Hank says.
Bobby, needing a new dog to dance with, goes next door to neighbor Kahn Souphanousiphone’s home and asks if he can dance with their West Highland Terrier, Doggie, in the upcoming contest. Kahn agrees, but Bobby has to clean up Doggie’s poop in their yard. Bobby agrees. Meanwhile, Hank realizes that Lady Bird seems to be benefiting physically from dancing. He decides that he’s going to enter the dog dancing contest. Hank chooses Patsy Cline’s “Walkin’ After Midnight” as his and Lady Bird’s song.
Hank and Lady Bird
Hank then walks in on Bobby practicing with Doggie and is upset that he’s dancing with neighbor Kahn’s dog. This scene brings the funniest exchange in the entire episode:
HANK: You’re dancing with the neighbor’s dog against me and Lady Bird?! BOBBY: Well what was I supposed to do? Not dance with a dog?! Anyway, you said Lady Bird was too old to dance. If you pumped her full of pain pills, I’ll make sure you’re both disqualified. HANK: Well, what do you care? Looks like you’ll dance with any dog that will have you!
Bill and Rex
Hank and Bobby continue bickering and trash talking each other about dog dancing, with Hank being offended that Bobby would deign to dance with Kahn’s dog. Eventually Peggy, my queen, has had enough:
PEGGY (to HANK): You both want to dance with dogs. You each have a dog you can dance with. You take your dog to the garage. You dance with her there. Bobby gets to dance with his dog in his bedroom. Everybody gets to dance with a dog. Everybody wins.
Meanwhile, Hank’s friend, eternal sad sack Bill Dauterive, decides that he’ll also get a dog to dance with. He ends up buying Rex, an ill-tempered Rottweiler, from an animal shelter. He selects Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Achy Breaky Heart” as their song. However, every time Bill tries to dance with Rex, he ends up being mauled. At the contest, Bill tries to dance with a muzzled Rex and is forced to remove the muzzle.
Bobby and Doggie
On the day of the dog dancing contest, Hank is humbled by Bobby. Hank, thinking that dog dancing is easy, more or less does a very simple slow dance with Lady Bird. Bobby on the other hand, took the dog dancing much more seriously and has choreographed a very impressive routine to Technotronic’s “Move This” with Doggie. Bobby is an excellent dog trainer and has obviously put a lot of work into the contest. The commentators, one being Scott Hamilton as “Sketch Randall,” (the 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist in Men’s Figure Skating), and the other “Dud Jeperson,” are hilarious as they speak in awe about Bobby’s performance.
SKETCH: We are witnessing a dream. I hope I never wake up. DUD: Are they even touching the floor? Amazing!… I don’t even know how to describe that move. SKETCH: I wish everyone who denies the pure athleticism of dog dancing could see what I’m seeing now.
Eventually, the dog dancing contest comes to an end and the winners for the “Beginners Off-Leash Musical Freestyle” contest are announced. Rhonda Clark and her Border Collie, Rusty take third place. Bobby and Doggie take second. Hank, way too optimistic about his lukewarm performance, assumes that he and Lady Bird will win first. However, Helen Bradley and her toy poodle, Buddy (same first name as my bird!) take first. “It’s a young dog’s sport,” Hank says to console Lady Bird.
Satsuke and sister Mei take shelter from the rain at a bus stop with Totoro keeping watch in My Neighbor Totoro (1988).
As a native of the Pacific Northwest, Oregon specifically, I have seen my share of rain. In fact, NW Oregon (where I’ve lived my entire life) is in the middle of yet another “atmospheric river” event. Basically, we’re getting rain and a lot of it–at least 3″ between yesterday through tomorrow. Personally, I like the rain. It’s relaxing and makes the outside smell nice. Plus, it makes for excellent movie watching weather. As long as the rain stays out of my basement, I am good.
During the last major rain event, just a couple weeks ago, I watched a bunch of excellent rainy film noir and Clue because I love it and it has rain. That rain marathon and this week’s downpour inspired me to write a post about rain in the movies as well as allows me to highlight some of my favorite movies. Right now, I haven’t returned to watching any rainy films, because I’ve been obsessed with playing Pokopia on Switch 2.
Movies have been using rain since almost the beginning to put forth a certain emotion, add suspense, express a metaphor, or even just to add some atmosphere. A rainstorm is often used as a reason for characters to be forced to stay confined in one space, such as in Key Largo (1948). Rain can be used as a setting for romance, such as the famous kiss in the rain between Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961). To add atmosphere, rain will often be included such as in Clue (1985), where the characters are summoned to Mr. Boddy’s mansion during a dark, rainy night, and end up caught up in a murder mystery. In this blog entry, I want to focus on some of my favorite rain scenes in films.
Rain is often used to lend suspense to a scene, and where else would you want a lot of suspense and drama? A scene in which someone is driving. Driving in the rain can already be fairly treacherous. Add in a driver who is nervous, angry, distraught, or any other distracting emotion and it’s almost always a recipe for danger, or at least great melodrama.
BEST DRIVING IN RAIN SCENES
Lana Turner has a meltdown in “The Bad and the Beautiful.”
The Bad and the Beautiful (1952). Lana Turner’s Georgia is distraught after discovering that her boyfriend and producer, Jonathan Shields (Kirk Douglas) has been cheating on her with a starlet. She expresses her indignation over his betrayal and he more or less tells her that he can do whatever he wants. He doesn’t owe her any loyalty, because he gave her stardom. Distraught, Georgia gets into her car and takes off on a high-speed race home, through a pouring rainstorm. Anyone who thinks Lana couldn’t act should watch her performance in this scene. She enters the car sobbing, but soon collapses into pure hysteria as the reality of Jonathan’s betrayal and callousness sets in. Juxtaposed against the frenzy of rain and flashes of lights, Georgia’s emotional collapse reaches its apex when she screams and slams on the brakes.
Dead Reckoning (1947). Humphrey Bogart’s character, Rip Murdock, is investigating the death of his friend, Johnny. During his investigation, he falls in love with Coral Chandler (Lizabeth Scott). Unfortunately, he learns that Coral isn’t all she seems and was involved in his friend’s death. Coral and Rip end up in a car together after she accidentally shoots her accomplice instead of him. While Rip drives through heavy rain, he and Coral argue over her intending to kill him. She then pulls out a gun and he hits the gas pedal to floor it. Anyone who has watched a lot of old movies knows that whenever it’s raining and someone is driving recklessly, something bad is going to happen. In this film, Rip ends up crashing head-on into a tree, mortally injuring Coral.
Psycho (1960). This is a classic and for good reason. In this film, Janet Leigh’s Marion Crane leaves Phoenix and heads to California with $40,000 in stolen money in hand. She wants to marry her boyfriend, Sam (John Gavin), but he refuses to do so due to lack of funds. When Marion’s employer asks her to deliver a $40,000 deposit to the bank, the temptation is too strong to resist. This money would solve all of her and Sam’s financial woes. While she originally plans to drive through the night, a rainstorm forces her to seek refuge at the Bates Motel, operated by the young and nervous Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). Unfortunately for Marion, this is the end of the line.
Rain can also be used to add romance to the scene, because what is more romantic than a classic kiss in the rain type scene. Rain also seems to bring people together–often because they’re forced to seek shelter and each other for warmth.
FAVORITE ROMANTIC RAIN SCENES
Lucy and Desi kiss and make-up in “The Long Long Trailer.”
The Long, Long Trailer (1954). My favorite film of all time features a romantic, albeit cliched (now) romantic kiss in the rain. Tacy (Lucille Ball) and Nicky (Desi Arnaz) spend the entirety of the film more or less on the honeymoon road trip from hell, with one catastrophe after another. The tension and frustration reaches its end when Nicky discovers that Tacy has not only lied to him, but has also put their lives at risk. The couple needs to drive over a high elevation (8000 feet) peak in Colorado. Because of the steep incline and possibility that extra weight could pull the trailer down (and possibly off) the mountain, Nicky tells Tacy that she needs to get rid of all the extra weight she’s added to the trailer in the form of rocks and preserves. Tacy’s idea was that they could collect large rocks from different places they visit and use them to decorate their patio when they reach their new home in Colorado. As a cost-saving measure (to justify the purchase of the trailer), Tacy stars canning fruits and vegetables.
Instead of removing the material from the trailer, she instead distributes it evenly around the trailer, thinking it would solve the weight issue. It does not. Everything comes out. Nicky discovers it. The couple fight and separate. In the pouring down rain, Nicky finally tracks down Tacy (and the trailer) at a trailer park where she’s in the middle of planning to sell the trailer. He opens the trailer door, finds Tacy, but can’t bring himself to apologize. Nicky drives away and suddenly Tacy realizes that she doesn’t want him to leave. She runs out into the rain, in front of Nicky’s car. He stops and gets out. Nicky and Tacy embrace, having made up and reconciled. They run up the steps into their home (the trailer) and kiss.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961). While a lot can be said about this film, ::cough:: Mickey Rooney ::cough:: there are some fun parts as well. The ending of ‘Tiffany’s’ is much like the end of The Long, Long Trailer, with Audrey Hepburn’s Holly Golightly and George Peppard’s Paul (or “Fred Baby” as I like to call him) reconciling and kissing in the rain drenched streets of New York City. However, this scene has extra poignancy beyond the classic kiss in the rain. In a previous scene, Holly very cruelly abandons “Cat” her pet, out in the rain, saying that nobody belongs to anyone–even animals. Her whole mantra throughout the film is that she’s a free spirit, she doesn’t belong to (or with anyone). Paul is the only person her circle to actually care about her and want to help her. Everyone else in her orbit is someone she makes money off of (via trips to the powder room), or someone who takes advantage of her naivete (e.g., Sally Tomato providing her with the “weather report” to pass on to one of his associates).
However, Holly is no better in that she only associates herself with people she believes can do something for her. She’s a phony, her agent says. Paul bitterly tells Holly off by stating that in her efforts to prevent herself from being put into a “cage” she’s put herself into one, because she’s unwilling to share herself or part of her life with anyone. He then gets out of the car, throws the ring (that they’d had engraved at Tiffany’s during their fun day in New York City together) at her. The ring is a symbol of a time where Holly was probably being closer to her true self and not putting on airs. Holly grabs the ring, places it over the ever important (and symbolic) left ring finger and realizes that she (and Cat) belong with Paul. Their kiss in the rain (plus keeping Cat warm) symbolizes their new life together. Holly found where she belongs.
Top Hat (1935) Another one of the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers films that features Astaire as a character who initially annoys Rogers’ character until a dance brings them together. In this film, Astaire’s Jerry Travers, a tap dance star, arrives in London to appear in a show for producer Horace Hardwick (Edward Everett Horton). Late at night, he decides to practice his number (on hard floors!) and wakes up and annoys Dale Tremont (Rogers). She comes up to his room to complain and he is smitten. She is less so. Then there’s a case of mistaken identity, with Dale thinking that Jerry is Horace, the husband of her friend Madge (Helen Broderick).
Jerry pursues Dale throughout the film and she continues to be repulsed by him because she thinks her friend’s husband is coming onto her. A rainstorm at the park forces Jerry and Dale to seek refuge under a gazebo, where they dance to “It’s a Lovely Day (to be Caught in the Rain).” As with many of their films, Rogers’ annoyed attitude towards Astaire lessens, as they start to fall in love through song and dance.
Finally, rain can also be utilized to add a certain atmosphere to a film, or to evoke a specific feeling.
FAVORITE ATMOSPHERIC RAIN SCENES
Gene Kelly in what is probably the most famous rain scene of all time in Singin’ in the Rain.
Singin’ in the Rain (1952). This film contains the most iconic rain scene of all and I would be remiss to not mention it. Gene Kelly’s classic dance in the rain to the title song, is perhaps the greatest dance number ever captured and the most joyous. I dare anyone to watch this scene and not feel better at the end. What is happier than a dance in the rain, splashing in puddles, without a single care in the world? The “Singin’ in the Rain” number happens after Kelly’s character, silent screen star Don Lockwood, returns from a disastrous screening of his first “talkie,” The Dueling Cavalier. It co-stars his on-screen partner, the incredibly untalented Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen), who is oblivious to the movie’s awfulness and delivers one of my favorite lines, “I liked it!” Don figures that his career is over until friend Cosmo Brown (Donald O’Connor) and new love, Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds) convince him to re-tool the film to be the musical, The Dancing Cavalier, with Kathy providing behind the scenes support to cover up Lina’s inadequacies. Overcome with joy and his new lease on life, Don happily sings, dances and splashes his way down the Hollywood streets, until he’s stopped by a befuddled cop. What a buzzkill.
Clue (1985). This film opens with the six main characters arriving at the mansion of Mr. Boddy, in their color-coded vehicles. The house is tall and ominous, as is the torrential downpour. Inside the mansion, both Mr. Boddy and the chef are killed, leaving the six guests, plus butler Wadsworth (Tim Curry) and maid Yvette (Colleen Camp), to wonder who was responsible. The rain forces other unsuspecting visitors to enter the mansion, like a motorist breaking down in the rain and wanting to use the phone, and a cop investigating the motorist’s abandoned car. It rains the entire time throughout the film, lending a sort of spookiness to the classic mystery of “Who Killed Mr. Boddy?”
Thunder on the Hill (1951). This film takes place almost entirely at a convent. Sister Mary Bonaventure (Claudette Colbert) is in charge of the hospital ward of the convent. A horrific rainstorm closes nearby roads, keeping everyone inside and others out. A woman, Valerie Carns (Ann Blyth), is brought to the convent to wait out the storm due to the closed roads. She is supposed to be delivered to the prison to await her execution for the murder of her brother. However, the washed out road delays the inevitable and she is forced to stay at the convent. As one can imagine, Valerie is not particularly amiable or even polite. Sister Mary does her best to be gracious and empathetic to Valerie, eventually softening her up a little. Through talking to Valerie, Sister Mary realizes that she may be innocent and decides to investigate Valerie’s brother’s death before the rain lets up and the roads re-open.
In this film, the rain adds a harshness and uneasiness to the events in the film. As soon as the rain lets up and the road is passable, Ann Blyth’s character is headed to Death Row for a crime that she may not have committed. Other refugees are unhappy with her presence. The head doctor’s wife, Isabel, is a patient at the hospital and is unhappy with Sister Mary. Lending to the tension is that this same doctor also testified against Valerie in the case against her brother–more or less sealing her conviction. The Mother Superior (Gladys Cooper) is upset that Sister Mary refuses to follow her orders that she not intervene between Valerie and the police. Sister Mary is also holding onto her own baggage–the recent suicide of her sister. The relentless rain, the only thing keeping these people cooped up at the convent, increases the tension and drama.
HONORABLE RAIN SCENE MENTIONS:
Dorothy Malone watches, longingly, as Bogart departs her bookstore in “The Big Sleep.”
The Big Sleep (1946). It rains constantly in this film and only lends to the overall darkness and spookiness of the proceedings. The plot is also a mess, the weather might as well be too.
My Neighbor Totoro (1988). In this film, sisters Satsuke and Mei discover Totoro, a forest spirit, living near their new home. The sisters are living near a local hospital where their mother is convalescing. Totoro and his fellow spirits watch over the girls and intervene when Mei goes missing.
Casablanca (1942). Humphrey Bogart’s Rick stands in the rain, eagerly awaiting Ingrid Bergman’s Ilsa’s arrival, only to be handed a “Dear John” letter. As Rick’s heart breaks, the rain washes Ilsa’s words off the page. His life is over as he knows it.
Red Dust (1932). Getting caught in a monsoon forces Mary Astor’s stuffy Barbara into the home of the rugged Dennis Carson (Clark Gable). Also staying with Dennis? Vantine (Jean Harlow), a prostitute who is none too happy or impressed with Barbara’s presence. Vantine has her eye on Dennis too and does not want to share. However, upon spotting a rain soaked Barbara, Dennis is overwhelmed and seduces her. The rain in this film lends an intensity, further making an already stifling film feel even more stuffy than it did before. This isn’t a cold rain. This is a hot, humid, rain.
The Old Dark House (1932). A common trope in horror or mystery films, this is another movie that uses rain to force people inside. Horror often has people seeking shelter from strangers, and they’re always unusual strangers. In this movie, Phillip and Margaret Waverton (Raymond Massey and Gloria Stuart) are driving in a heavy storm with their friend, Penderel (Melvyn Douglas). They end up seeking refuge from the Femm siblings, Horace and Rebecca. The Femms are very weird. They warn their visitors about their butler Morgan (Boris Karloff), who is mute, alcoholic, and extremely dangerous. Eventually, two more people arrive at the Femms seeking shelter, Sir William Porterhouse (Charles Laughton) and Gladys DuCane (Lillian Bond). As the group stays at the home longer, they start to discover more and more unusual people and continue to be terrorized by Morgan. This is not only suspenseful, it is also very funny. “Please pass the po-tay-toes,” is my favorite line in the film.
This is from “The Apple” (1980). This film is terrible and I could not find any entertainment in it. It was just stupid, and not in a good way.
What makes a good bad movie? For me, it’s simple. An objectively bad movie has to be entertaining. A lot of my favorite good bad movies are extremely campy. Campy films often contain a lot of theatrics and over the top aesthetics. One of my favorite campy films is Valley of the Dolls (1967). Everything in that film is over the top: the sets, the production, the melodrama, and the performances. Patty Duke snarling “Sparkle, Neely, Sparkle” is everything to me. Another of my favorite over the top camp classics is Barbarella (1968) where Jane Fonda travels through space in her ship, complete with floor to ceiling shag carpeting. The production design is out of this world (pardon the pun) as are Fonda’s costumes.
While Valley of the Dolls and Barbarella were “camping up” the theaters in the mid-late 1960s, a camp classic was airing on television–Batman starring Adam West as the Caped Crusader, along with Burt Ward as the “Holy Boy Wonder, Batman” and the ever rotating roster of villains: the Joker (Cesar Romero), the Penguin (Burgess Meredith), Catwoman (Julie Newmar and Eartha Kitt), and the Riddler (Frank Gorshin), to name a few. Appearing as a villain on Batman was a hot commodity in the 1960s–every star wanted the job. The Batman television show is incredibly cheesy with Robin’s constant “Holy [insert thing here] Batman,” all the Bat-gadgets, the slanted photography for the villain scenes, the onomatopoeia Pow! Kapow! type phrases populating the screen during fight scenes…the list goes on. Batman did have a fantastic theme song (Na na na na na na BATMAN!)
Alicia Silverstone, George Clooney, and Chris O’Donnell
In the late 1980s, director Tim Burton brought Batman back to the movie screens–except he didn’t want to follow in the campy footsteps of the 1960s Batman. His version starred Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson as Batman and the Joker, respectively. The film has a decidedly darker tone than the 1960s television show, albeit Nicholson is given some wacky scenes to play after he is disfigured and becomes the Joker. Burton and Keaton were back in 1992 with Batman Returns, this time bringing Danny DeVito and Michelle Pfeiffer in as the Penguin and Catwoman. The darker tone remained.
After Batman Returns failed to turn as large of a profit as Batman due to it being deemed too dark and scary for children (though I saw it in the theater in 1992 at the age of 8), Warner Brothers decided they wanted the series to move in a different direction. This “different direction” saw the removal of Burton and the entrance of Joel Schumacher. Michael Keaton also declined to return as he was not interested in appearing in this new interpretation of Batman. Schumacher used the 1960s Batman as one of his main influences for the reimagining of the series.
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Uma Thurman
Batman Forever was released in 1995 with Val Kilmer as Bruce Wayne/Batman. Dick Grayson/Robin was introduced in this installment with Chris O’Donnell in the role. Nicole Kidman played Batman’s love interest, Dr. Chase Meridian. The villains were Tommy Lee Jones as Harvey Dent/Two-Face and Jim Carrey as Edward Nigma/The Riddler. I also saw Batman Forever in the theater and I just saw it again in the theater last year for the film’s 30th anniversary. I have to say that this film is so over the top, but Carrey is incredibly entertaining. I actually really like this movie. Batman Forever was a huge hit, so obviously a sequel was coming.
It took me too long to get to this point, but here we go. The fourth film in the series, Batman & Robin, was released in 1997. This installment in the series is famously known as the one featuring the Batsuit with nipples. The film starred George Clooney (then a star on ER and was looking to make his transition to film) as Bruce Wayne/Batman. Chris O’Donnell returns as Dick Grayson/Robin. Clueless star, Alicia Silverstone plays Barbara Wilson/Batgirl. The villains are Arnold Schwarzenegger as Dr. Victor Fries/Mr. Freeze and Uma Thurman as Dr. Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy. I also saw Batman & Robin in the theater and hadn’t watched it since–until last night when I watched it again. Oof. This film is terrible, but also incredibly funny and entertaining because it’s so bad. Going into the film, the only thing I could remember from my original watch was that at one point, Robin was wearing fake lips. Then I started questioning myself: Am I hallucinating? Did that really happen? It seems so stupid. But then, the film started and I realized that this film is just stupid enough that Robin wearing fake lips seems like the most realistic thing that could happen in this film.
Poison Ivy is easily the best part of this film.
Right off the “bat” (pardon the pun as there are a lot of them in Batman & Robin), the opening sequence is already making the audience laugh. Close-ups of Batman’s butt and crotch are shown repeatedly as he suits up to fight crime in Gotham City. In Batman Forever, there was a shot of Val Kilmer’s butt in the Batman costume, but for some reason in the context of that film, it was funny. In Batman & Robin however, it seems almost gratuitous and unnecessary. Even worse, we have to endure the same shots with Robin’s butt and later Batgirl’s. Enough already, Schumacher.
Within minutes of the film’s start, it becomes glaringly obvious that the Batman & Robin script is terrible. I can’t believe that stars of Clooney or Thurman’s stature would read this and think “this sounds great.” Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy only speak in one-liner ice or plant puns. The opening action sequence with Batman and Robin starts with Robin repeating Batman’s funny line from Batman Forever when he says “Chicks dig the car.” Robin, it was funny when Kilmer’s Batman said it. It was not funny when you said it, because you are annoying.
Here are some hilariously awful Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy quotes:
(Do your best Arnold Schwarzenegger impression when imagining Mr. Freeze saying these things. It makes it even funnier)
MR. FREEZE: What killed the dinosaurs? The Ice Age!
MR. FREEZE: Let’s kick some ice!
MR. FREEZE: Allow me to break the ice. My name is Freeze. Learn it well, for it’s the chilling sound of your doom.
MR. FREEZE: Mercy? I’m afraid my condition has left me cold to your pleas of mercy.
MR. FREEZE: Freeze in hell, Batman!
POISON IVY: ‘Cause it’s not nice to fool Mother Nature (because when they’re not speaking in one-liner puns, they’re using commercial slogans)
POISON IVY: There’s just something about an anatomically correct rubber suit that puts fire in a girl’s lips.
POISON IVY: Come join me. My garden needs tending.
POISON IVY: Some lucky boy’s about to hit the honey pot.
Honorable Mention to this exchange between ROBIN and POISON IVY:
ROBIN: Is your thumb the only part of you that’s green?
POISON IVY: You will just have to find out!
ROBIN: I want us to be together but, I also wanna make sure you’re serious about turning over a new leaf… I need a sign.
POISON IVY: How about “Slippery When Wet” ?
To their credit, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Uma Thurman seem to be having fun with their roles, especially Thurman. Their scenes, complete with the terrible pun-laden dialogue are the reason to watch this film. I can’t say the same for the heroes of the film. Clooney looks like he’s regretting every moment of his life leading to his participation in the film. He is a good actor, but that’s not apparent in this film. Chris O’Donnell is incredibly irritating as Robin. Robin will just not quit whining to Batman about not being allowed to do things on his own and being seen as an equal partner. It’s obvious why the planned Robin/Nightwing sequel with O’Donnell was never made. There are some hackneyed scenes that seem to repeat over and over throughout the film with Batman trying to offer some sort of wisdom and lessons to Robin, but they just seem lame and contrived.
“Let’s kick some ice!” is easily my favorite of Mr. Freeze’s ice puns.
The scenes with Batgirl are even worse. I love Alicia Silverstone in Clueless and Blast From the Past, but she is out of her element in an action film. The scene with Batgirl trying to intimidate Poison Ivy with trash talk is laughable and absurd. Batgirl’s trash talk scene would have been the perfect place in the script to insert some plant puns. Batgirl could have said something like “Time to weed the garden” or “I’ll give you a ‘Round-Up’ kick to the face” or something. In Clueless, Silverstone showed that she could deliver sass or trash talk to Paul Rudd, but that’s because she has a good script. Batman & Robin has an awful script, so she’s left with lame trash talk accusing Poison Ivy of setting back feminism. Batgirl and Poison Ivy’s fight scene looks like it was done in slow motion. I would have loved to have seen Poison Ivy fight Mr. Freeze. The film also inexplicably changes Batgirl’s character from Commissioner Gordon’s daughter to Alfred’s niece! I’m sure this was done out of convenience so it would explain why Batgirl is staying at Wayne Manor.
Making matters even worse is that Batgirl is more or less a copy of Robin from Batman Forever. She even has the same tragic orphan storyline that both Batman and Robin have. She randomly likes to steal Robin’s motorcycle at night to enter races against rough characters in the city. Nothing about Batgirl even hints at her being a “bad girl.” Even worse is that the film tries to make the claim that Batgirl is a computer genius. However, the only attempt that the film makes to show her computer genius is a scene of her trying to guess Alfred’s computer password by looking around his room for ideas. That is not the sign of a computer genius. They should have shown her creating some hacking device, entering a DOS command to bypass the password screen, or inserting some sort of disk to download data, something more clever. The film also uses some poor CGI to project the computer screen onto Batgirl’s face, which would not happen. The film also tries to make Robin and Batgirl seem like they’re going to become romantically involved, but the two seem to hate each other–maybe because they’re too much alike. There really is no point to the Batgirl character in this film.
However, I don’t want to completely dump all over Alicia Silverstone in this film. It’s not her fault that the script is so bad. I remember the magazines and tabloids being so cruel to Silverstone during the film’s production and theatrical release. There were countless horrible headlines dubbing her “Fatgirl” which is so off the mark it’s laughable. There is not a single moment in Batman & Robin where Silverstone is even remotely close to looking fat. No wonder “heroin chic” was a popular look in the 90s.
A laughably terrible fight sequence between Ivy and Batgirl.
Despite my article completely ragging on Batman & Robin for being so awful, it is also entertaining because it’s so awful. The script is horrendous. It might be the worst script ever produced. If it’s not *the* worst, it’s up there. The film’s special effects are also terrible, even for the 90s. Mr. Freeze’s blue freeze rays reminded me of Vincent Price and Boris Karloff’s magic fight in the 1963 version of The Raven. Mr. Freeze also has an amazing moment where I empathized with him when he freezes a guy for talking during a movie. I loved when Batgirl “wins” the fight against Poison Ivy by knocking her into a large, carnivorous plant. This film is entertaining for the bad script full of plant and ice puns and commercial slogans, as well as the weak attempts at trash talking and for Robin’s fake mouth. Did I mention that the script sucks?
This month, Bugs Bunny is TCM’s Star of the Month. No, TCM hasn’t lost their minds. Looney Tunes is joining TCM’s library and this was their way of welcoming Bugs and the gang into the fold. I personally am excited. I love Looney Tunes and Bugs Bunny. In fact, I hadn’t watched Looney Tunes for a long time, despite my owning 7 volumes of Looney Tunes shorts and a collection of Bugs Bunny cartoons. TCM’s salute to Bugs, combined with this fairy tales blogathon, allowed me to binge a lot of Looney Tunes shorts and documentaries.
Looney Tunes released over a thousand animated shorts over a span of forty years (1929-1969). These shorts were released under both the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies banners. Both series’ names were take-offs of Disney’s popular Silly Symphonies series. Looney Tunes began in 1930 and Merrie Melodies started in 1931. Originally, the idea was that Looney Tunes would be black and white and feature reoccurring characters. Merrie Melodies would be color and would feature one-off characters. These films would also include Warner Brothers’ music, so they could also serve as advertising for their films. Eventually Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies more or less were the same. Remember, the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons used to air in the theater prior to the main feature film. I wish they’d show cartoons before the movies. It’d be way better than seeing actual commercials in the theater.
Many of the shorts released were either film parodies or spoofs of popular stories, like fairy tales and fables. Over the course of forty years, many directors and animators were at the helm. This led to different versions of the same source material, but involved a different Looney Tunes character as the star or a different spin on the material. The gang at Termite Terrace (the nickname given to the Warner Brothers’ animators less than stellar accommodations) would never deign to do a straight telling of a familiar tale. I’m not even going to attempt to talk about all of them, but I will touch on a few of my favorites.
“The Three Little Bops” (1957). This short is my absolute favorite Looney Tunes take on a fairy tale. It is perfection. As one can infer from the title, this is a take on “The Three Little Pigs.” Everyone is familiar with the story of The Three Little Pigs. The Big Bad Wolf is after the Three Little Pigs. The first little pig builds a house out of straw. The wolf easily destroys the house and eats the pig. The second pig had built a house out of sticks. He too, has his house destroyed and is eaten by the wolf. The third little pig builds a house out of brick. The wolf is unable to destroy the house using the same means he used on the straw and stick house. Frustrated and unwilling to accept defeat, the wolf goes down the chimney. However, the little pig anticipated the wolf’s next move and places a hot boiling kettle of water inside the fireplace. The wolf enters the home and the hot water and is boiled alive. The pig eats him.
Thankfully, “The Three Little Bops” does not stay completely true to the original fable. None of the Three Little Pigs are eaten. Instead, they are part of a hot jazz trio. The wolf is desperate to get into their club and be part of their band, however, he’s a square and too stiff. His trumpet playing just isn’t hot. The Three Little Pigs kick him out of the House of Straw for being lame. Insulted, the wolf uses his trumpet to blow the club down.
The Three Little Pigs move onto the Dew Drop Inn, the House of Sticks. Again, they play in their hot trio and again the wolf tries to get in on the action. He’s again thrown out for being lame. The wolf is insulted again, and again, uses his trumpet to blow the club down. The Three Little Pigs move to the House of Bricks.
The wolf keeps trying to get into the House of Bricks, but to no avail. He tries a battering ram, He tries to masquerade as a band member wearing a fur coat and playing the Charleston on a ukulele, he tries to dress as a plant. Nothing works. Angry and desperate, the wolf decides he’ll use the ever popular TNT to blow up the club. However, he ends up blowing himself up and is killed. The wolf’s spirit does not ascend to Heaven. Instead, he is in Hell. But the bright side is, now he’s hot and a great jazz trumpet player. His spirit rises up through the floor and the wolf is finally part of The Three Little Bops. I’m glad that the Three Little Bops don’t eat him.
I love this short. The jazz music is fantastic. The art work is excellent. The story is a lot of fun. Stan Freberg also does excellent voice work as the hip narrator.
“Little Red Riding Rabbit” (1944). This short is the familar tale of that fairy tale, “Little Red Riding Hood.” In the original story, Little Red Riding Hood is a young girl, donning a hooded red cape, is walking with a basket of goodies for her grandmother who is sick. Riding Hood must walk through woods to get to her grandmother’s home. She is spotted by a wolf who decides that he is interested in both the basket of goodies (cake or wine) and Riding Hood herself. He approaches Riding Hood and suggests that she pick some flowers to bring to her grandmother. While she is off looking for flowers, the wolf goes to the grandmother’s home. He pretends to be Riding Hood to gain entry to the house. He eats the grandmother and then disguises himself as the grandmother and climbs into her bed. Riding Hood arrives. She questions her “grandmother’s” appearance, which eventually culminates with the wolf eating her too.
In “Little Red Riding Rabbit,” we meet “Riding Hood” a loud, shrill bobbysoxer teen who is singing popular song, “Five O’Clock Whistle.” In her basket, instead of the cake or wine from the original tale, Riding Hood has a rabbit to bring to her grandmother. Of course, the rabbit is none other than Bugs Bunny, so we expect some hijinks. Riding Hood’s trip is delayed when she’s tricked into taking an unusually long shortcut by the wolf. In the Looney Tales tale, Riding Hood’s grandmother isn’t sick, she’s working the swing shift at Lockheed. It’s World War II after all. There’s a funny bit where the wolf dresses up in grandmother’s nightgown to hide in her bed and there are already four other wolves there. He kicks them all out, and then finds a little tiny wolf hidden under the pillow! LOL. Eventually Riding Hood arrives. HEY GRANDMA! I BROUGHT A LITTLE BUNNY RABBIT FOR YOU TO HAVE! She yells. The wolf’s interest is piqued. Forget about Riding Hood, he wants Bugs.
In a hilarious change of events, the wolf is no longer interested in following the Red Riding Hood script. He couldn’t care less about Riding Hood. He only wants that Rabbit. Bugs tries to out run and out trick the wolf. Riding Hood, however, keeps interrupting the wolf and Bugs, with her “oh grandma what big eyes you have” type script–a desperate (or perhaps oblivious) attempt to get the story back on track. At first, her interruptions help Bugs, but eventually even he is irritated and joins forces with the wolf! I also love in Looney Tunes how the wolf from Red Riding Hood, Three Little Pigs, and any other stories with a “big bad wolf” is always the same wolf and he seems to have recollection of his actions in those other stories.
HONORABLE MENTION: “Red Hot Riding Hood” (1943). This cartoon isn’t technically Looney Tunes. It’s actually MGM. However, I am listing it here, because it was directed by Tex Avery who directed Looney Tunes cartoons prior to working at MGM. This cartoon is pretty funny. This is a more risqué interpretation of the “Little Red Riding Hood” tale that I described above. The cartoon starts with the standard Little Red Riding Hood story. Riding Hood is carrying a basket of goodies to her sick grandmother. There’s a wolf. Blah. Blah. Blah.
Suddenly, Riding Hood, the grandmother, and the wolf stop performing and start complaining that the story is boring and it’s already been done. The narrator agrees and the cartoon starts over with a new title, “Red Hot Riding Hood.” The locale has changed from a forest to a city hot spot. Riding Hood, now called “Red,” is now an adult and appears to be working at a burlesque house, or at the very least, is a sexy nightclub performer. The wolf is a swinger who moves from club to club looking to hook up with the ladies. Grandma is the hip proprietor of a club. She is also hot to trot and wants to get with the wolf almost immediately. The wolf hits on Red and she’s not interested. She manages to get away from him and heads to Grandma’s. This cartoon has an insane ending where the wolf kills himself after swearing off women and spotting Red again.
Tortoise and the Hare Trilogy: “Tortoise Beats Hare” (1941), “Tortoise Wins by a Hare” (1943), and “Rabbit Transit” (1947). This trilogy is the classic tortoise and the hare fable. In Aesop’s original fable, a hare constantly harasses the slow-moving tortoise. Fed up, the tortoise challenges the hare to a race. When the race starts, the over-confident hare takes off, leaving the tortoise in the dust. He’s so confident in fact, he takes a nap. The hare awakes just in time to see the tortoise crossing the finish line.
In the Looney Tunes’ shorts, the hare-esque Bugs Bunny plays the cocky and arrogant opponent to Cecil the turtle. The first installment of the short plays just as Aesop’s Fable, except that Bugs and Cecil also make a monetary bet and we see Cecil arrange a prank with his turtle buddies to play a trick on Bugs. As Bugs rounds each checkpoint of the course, he is shocked to see Cecil there. Eventually, he gets to the finish line, only to see that Cecil has won. While Bugs does pay up, he is skeptical and wonders if Cecil cheated. We then see Cecil and his turtle friends all holding dollar bills. This ending does somewhat go against the lesson learned in the fable, but it’s funny.
In the second installment, Bugs Bunny is still trying to figure out how Cecil beat him. Bugs deduces that it was Cecil’s shell which gave him the advantage over rabbits. He challenges Cecil to a rematch. Bugs even goes as far as to build his own shell to use in the race. Somehow, the rabbit mob gets wind of the rematch and bets a large sum of money on Bugs winning and Cecil losing. The race starts and Bugs Bunny gets a sizeable lead. He then puts on his Cecil costume to continue the race. Except the mob spot him, think he’s a turtle and start beating him up. Meanwhile, Cecil puts on a Bugs Bunny costume and ends up helped to the finish line by the rabbit mob. Bugs Bunny is disgusted, removes his Cecil costume to reveal that the mob just helped Cecil win.
In the final installment, Bugs and Cecil’s story is retconned and the previous two altercations between Bugs and Cecil never happened. Bugs is reading Aesop’s “The Tortoise and the Hare” and is incensed at the ending, insisting that a hare would never lose to a tortoise. Cecil scoffs, saying that the ending is believable. Bugs challenges Cecil to a race. They also mutually agree not to cheat. We then discover that Cecil has a motor installed in his shell. Eventually Bugs wins the race, but is tricked by Cecil into admitting that he was easily going over 100 mph. Cecil has Bugs arrested. Because of course.
“Bewitched Bunny” (1954). This is the Looney Tunes send up of the classic German Brothers Grimm fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel. Hansel and Gretel are siblings who live alone in a forest. They attract the attention of a witch, who lives in a house made of bread, sugar, and cake. The witch has built the home to attract the attention of the children, because she wants to eat them. Taking advantage of the children’s loneliness, cold, and hunger, the witch lures them with food and the promise of a warm home and cozy beds. She then spends the next few weeks fattening them up until they are good enough to eat. Eventually Gretel wises up and shoves the witch into the oven when she was about to do the same to her.
Bugs Bunny seems to be at the forefront of all of these fairy tale spoofs. This cartoon also features Witch Hazel. Witch Hazel is a very proud witch who prides herself on her ugliness and needs constant reassurance from her magic mirror that nobody else is uglier than her. However, one day, her confidence is shattered when her mirror announces that an even uglier witch has arrived. This ugly witch is actually Bugs Bunny in a Halloween costume. While trick or treating, Bugs spots Witch Hazel coaxing young Hansel and Gretel into her home. Hansel and Gretel speak with German accents in case there was any doubt about their story’s heritage. There is a funny, albeit somewhat morbid scene where Witch Hazel is reading a cookbook about cooking children that includes recipes like “Moppet Muffins,” “Waif Waffles,” and my personal favorite, “Smorgas Boy.”
To save the children, Bugs Bunny poses as a truant officer and comes to Witch Hazel’s door. There’s a running gag with Bugs and other characters being confused about Hansel’s name. I’m not sure what that was about. Unfortunately for Bugs Bunny, Witch Hazel becomes more interesting in eating him when she realizes that he’s not in fact a truant officer, but rather a rabbit. At one point, Bugs Bunny is asleep and he is awoken by Prince Charming’s kiss. Bugs tells him that he’s in the wrong story and Snow White (another Brothers Grimm tale) isn’t there. He then tells the Prince that he’s in Hansel and Gretel. The Prince is also confused about Hansel’s name. Witch Hazel busts in, she’s found Bugs Bunny. Bugs grabs some sort of potion from behind the “In case of emergency, break glass” and throws it at Witch Hazel. The potion transforms her into a gorgeous woman–her worst nightmare! Bugs then has a wild ending line about Witch Hazel’s transformation “Aren’t they (women) all witches inside?” Yikes, Bugs Bunny!
“Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears” (1944). This is a re-telling of the classic British fairy tale, Goldilocks and the Three Bears. In the original story, a young woman with golden locks of hair more or less burglarizes the home of the three bears: Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear. She tries each bear’s porridge, one is too hot, one is too cold, and one is just right and she eats it. She then sits in their chairs, one is too hard, one is too soft, one is just right and she breaks it. Finally, Goldilocks is exhausted and decides to sleep. Again, one bed is too hard, one bed is too soft, and one bed is just right. The three bears come home to find Goldilocks asleep in baby bear’s bed. She awakens and runs out of the home. Never to be seen again.
In the Bugs Bunny version, the Three Bears having already gone through the aforementioned Goldilocks situation, want to entice her to come back to their home because they’re starving. They decide to use carrot soup as bait. The Three Bears then pretend to leave, thinking that Goldilocks will return if she thinks the house is empty. Instead, the aroma of the carrot soup attracts the attention of Bugs Bunny and he ends up the Goldilocks of the story.
The Three Bears are unable to capture Bugs Bunny as planned. As a means to escape, Bugs compliments Mama Bear. However, this woman is obviously starved for affection from her husband, because she takes to Bugs very quickly and showers him with kisses and affection. Mama won’t keep her hands off of him. There’s a very funny scene where Bugs opens each and every door trying to escape. Behind each door is Mama in a seductive costume, one of which appears to be a Veronica Lake-type look. Mama continues her lust for Bugs all the way through the ending credits.
The Three Bears were used in multiple shorts by the Looney Tunes. In another short, the family is completely dysfunctional and out of control. They’re like a bizarro version of The Berenstain Bears, if there was no Sister Bear.
It’s been such a long time since I’ve posted last. I apologize to everyone whose Blogathon I missed. I’ve been so busy, pretty much the entire summer that it’s been difficult to find the time, and frankly, the ambition, to write a blog entry. I have a ton of posts I need to write, including the much belated entry about my visit to this year’s TCM Film Festival in April. In July, I attended Noir City: Portland, which was a great event. While I may not have been writing about classic film, I have still been watching it. When I saw the Ingrid Bergman blogathon, I knew I wanted to get back to my blog–I love Ingrid Bergman and the film that I’m going to write about, Gaslight (1944).
Gaslight (1944) is based on Patrick Hamilton’s 1938 play, Gas Light. In 1940, the play was adapted into the UK film, Gaslight. 1944’s Gaslight, starring Ingrid, Charles Boyer, and Joseph Cotten, was MGM’s remake of the 1940 film. I have not seen the UK version nor have I seen/read the play, so I am not going to compare and contrast the different versions. I am exclusively speaking to the 1944 version. Warning: it is impossible for me to discuss this film without spoiling the ending.
Recently, the term “gas light” has emerged as a popular buzzword to throw around when someone discusses a problem with their relationship. It was even named Merriam-Webster’s “Word of the Year” in 2022. Unfortunately, most of the time when the word “gaslighting” is being thrown around, it is being misused. Gaslighting is not about lying. It is not about disagreeing with your partner. Gaslighting is specifically a form of psychological manipulation and emotional abuse where someone essentially starts questioning their sanity, memory, experience, and their overall grip on reality.
Ingrid Bergman notices that the gas lights are dimming.
The title “Gas Light” was chosen because of the gas lights used in Victorian homes. When a gas light would be turned in in one room, it would be dimmed in another room. In all iterations of Gaslight, the antagonist husband knows that turning on the gas light in the attic will dim the other lights in the home, informing his wife that someone is in another room. Also, she will hear footsteps and other commotion coming from the attic. The husband knows he’s got to make her doubt what she’s seeing and hearing–hence the term “gas light.”
Gaslight (1944) opens in 1875 London with a young woman, Paula Alquist (Ingrid Bergman), being escorted away from the home of her famous aunt, Alice, an opera singer. Alice has just been murdered. Flash forward a few years and a now adult Paula is living in Italy, taking singing lessons with the hope of following in her Aunt’s footsteps. However, let’s face it, Paula is not going to become an opera singer. Accompanying Paula’s singing lessons is pianist, Gregory Anton (Charles Boyer). We quickly learn that Paula and Gregory are romantically involved. They marry and soon re-locate to London. Knowing that Paula still owns her aunt Alice’s home at 9 Thornton Square, Gregory insists that he and Paula set up shop there. All of Alice’s possessions also still reside in the attic.
Charles Boyer hires Angela Lansbury to work as Ingrid Bergman’s maid.
Gregory soon hires a young woman, Nancy (17-year old Angela Lansbury in her film debut), who can only be described as “a tart” to be his and Paula’s maid. Upon being hired, Gregory plants it in Nancy’s mind that his wife Paula is losing her mind and to ignore whatever she says. Nancy, also having the hots for Gregory, happily goes along with his instructions. She is very cruel to Paula and seems to take pride in how rotten she can be. Nancy seems to take pride in terrorizing Paula.
In this film, Gregory comes up with various methods to slowly torment Paula, and drive her mad. As an example, he hands her items, such as a brooch to wear, then secretly steals it back. When she’s unable to find it, he chides her on her “forgetfulness.” Later, he removes a painting off the wall and hides it, then accuses Ingrid of taking the painting and hiding it. The poor woman is an absolute wreck by the end of the film. The goal of Gregory’s entire plan is to be able to search through Paula’s aunt’s possessions in search of some expensive jewels she owned. It is revealed in the film that Gregory was actually Sergis Bauer, the man who murdered Paula’s aunt some years earlier. He was looking for the jewels then and was interrupted. His entire marriage to Paula was just a ruse to get back into the home and continue looking for the jewels. He wants to drive Paula mad so he can search for the jewels right under her nose. Talk about playing the long game!
Joseph Cotten investigates Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer.
Gregory’s plan seems to be working very well, except for the presence of two busy bodies–Brian Cameron (Joseph Cotten) and Miss Thwaites (Dame Mae Whitty). Paula apparently bears a striking resemblance to her famous aunt. When she and Gregory visit the Tower of London, Brian just happens to be on the same tour. Brian was a childhood admirer of Paula’s aunt. He is drawn to Paula upon spotting her. Further observation reveals her to be nervous and anxious. Brian feels something is “off.” Brian also works at Scotland Yard. Out of concern for Paula and respect for her aunt, he decides to re-open Paula’s aunt’s cold case and goes to work investigating. Miss Thwaites is an older woman, and a neighbor of Paula and Gregory’s. She just happened to meet Paula on a train earlier in the film. She is more or less harmless, but she reveals herself to be a big fan of murder mysteries. She also becomes suspicious of Paula and Gregory when she witnesses Paula emerging from the home and quickly running back inside.
Ingrid Bergman’s tour-de-force performance in the final act where Gregory is caught is the scene which I imagine clinched her Oscar for Best Actress. She is absolutely fantastic in this scene and fully deserved all accolades she received. I love when she starts discovering that he was the one responsible for her mental breakdown while he still tries to maintain the charade. It is only out of his desperation to escape from Scotland Yard when he admits his guilt. Then, Paula brilliantly turns the tables on Gregory and makes him think he’s insane when she can’t find the knife he insists is in the drawer.
PAULA: [The knife] isn’t here. You must have dreamed you put it here. Are you suggesting that this is a knife? Have you gone mad, my husband? I could have set you free, couldn’t I? I could have cut those ropes and set you free. But I can’t find it. What shall we do?…Perhaps I’ve lost the knife as I’ve lost those other things. I must look for it, mustn’t I? If I don’t find it, you’re going to have me locked up, aren’t you?…If I had the knife, I could have had pity. But I could also kill. I could kill as you killed. You killed her as you tried to kill my mind. Without pity. Without pity you killed her as I can kill…Kill! Kill!
I had to travel to California again for work and am trying to write this entry from my hotel room using my iPad and a $14 Bluetooth keyboard with a $6 mouse. I am hoping to get the actual iPad keyboard some day—it’s my birthday next month, maybe I’ll get lucky. Anyway, you definitely get what you pay for with the $14 Bluetooth keyboard. It doesn’t seem to respond to the Ctrl functions very well and sometimes the space bar acts like a “Tab” button. But I digress.
I watched The Navigator (1924) again last night in preparation for this article. I saw this movie at the Hollywood Theatre in Portland awhile back and it was hilarious. This film is mentioned as one of Buster Keaton’s “10 Best Films” in the 2018 documentary, The Great Buster, narrated by director Peter Bogdanovich. The Navigator features Buster as Rollo Treadway, a wealthy young man who impetuously decides to propose to Betsy O’Brien (Kathryn McGuire), his young neighbor across the street.
Before even waiting to find out if Betsy will accept his proposal, Rollo sends his servant to book passage on a ship to Honolulu for the honeymoon. The title card even razzes Rollo, saying “He had completed all the arrangements, except to notify the girl.” Betsy, of course, turns Rollo’s proposal down. She doesn’t even know him. Undeterred, Rollo decides to go on his honeymoon anyway, even if he doesn’t have a bride. He shows up at the shipyard and due to a covered up pier number, Rollo ends up boarding “The Navigator,” an old battleship. Meanwhile, Betsy’s father has just sold “The Navigator” to a small country.
ROLLO: Will you marry me? BETSY: Certainly not!
Buster Keaton as “Rollo” and Kathryn McGuire as “Betsy.”
Betsy’s father ends up being captured by saboteurs when he visits “The Navigator” to check it out before selling it. Betsy boards the ship looking for her father. This sets up a hilarious scene where both Rollo and Betsy are living on “The Navigator” without the other knowing. Both Rollo and Betsy experience strange events on the ship inadvertently caused by the other. Eventually they meet and are forced to try and survive when “The Navigator” drifts out to sea and the chance of rescue looks slight.
Becuase they grew up rich, both Rollo and Betsy struggle to perform even the most basic tasks. Rollo tries to make coffee but uses like five beans. He then tries to open a can using a machete, an enormous meat cleaver, and later a large corkscrew—failing miserably with every attempt. However, mother is the necessity of invention and eventually Rollo and Betsy are able to rig up a variety of different machines to perform the aforementioned tasks using items found around the ship. One of Buster Keaton’s favorite gags, having items strung up on ropes attached to a pulley system is used in this film to expert effect.
The highlight of The Navigator, and probably its most famous scene, is Buster Keaton’s underwater scene where he tries to fix the ship which has sustained a large amount of damage. On the verge of sinking, “The Navigator” must be fixed. Betsy finds scuba diving gear onboard and convinces Rollo to put it on, go underwater, and fix the hole. Rollo agrees and heads underwater. He brings a variety of different objects with him, including a hilarious “Men at Work” sign which he sets up while he’s repairing the ship. He also uses a swordfish to fence another swordfish. Apparently in this scene, Buster wanted to don a starfish to look like a badge and direct traffic for schools of fish, but the scene was cut. That’s a shame because the schtick involving literal interpretations of fish-involved themes would be hilarious.
Buster Keaton was very good in his scenes, per usual. He does quite a few dangerous stunts, most memorably the underwater scenes, of which he could only film about ten minutes at a time due to the extremely cold temperatures off the waters off Catalina Island where The Navigator was filmed. He also has to perform a pretty high dive off the top of “The Navigator” ship when Betsy starts to drown. Kathryn McGuire was very good as Betsy as well. I was relieved that she actually got to don the cute 1920s era Flapper bob, versus the ratty looking sausage curls that so many of the 1920s women seem to wear. And why are they always dressed like oversized preschoolers? Betsy actually looked very chic in her sailor outfit.
Full disclosure, I don’t cry at movies. While there are definitely movies that I find sad like Make Way for Tomorrow (1938) or the end of Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993), I have yet to actually cry at a film. The Way We Were (1973) always seems to make the list of classic tearjerkers, which is why I picked it; but I would like to argue that I didn’t find the ending sad. In fact, I found the ending of The Way We Were (1973) to be very satisfying.
The Way We Were spans a 20-year period, starting in the late-1930s and ending in the late-1950s. It also features a non-linear narrative, with the film beginning in 1944 towards the end of World War II. Barbra Streisand’s character, Katie Morosky, works at a radio station and goes to a nearby nightclub in New York City after work for drinks. She runs into an old acquaintance, Hubbell Gardiner (Robert Redford) at the bar. He’s dressed in a Navy uniform and seems like he’s had one too many drinks. In what ends up being an extremely questionable scene, she ends up inviting him back to her apartment to “rest” and the two reconnect and start a romance.
Prior to Katie and Hubbell’s reunion at the nightclub, they were college classmates in the late-1930s. In the college scenes, Katie is shown to be a bit of a plain Jane and very involved in political activism. She seems to always be protesting against something, whether it be politics or war. It’s also made very clear that she’s Jewish, which definitely is a sharp contrast to her WASP classmates like Hubbell. Hubbell is shown to be naturally handsome, athletic and seems to coast through life without much effort at all. This is particularly evident in a scene where Katie is shown to be working on writing a paper for hours and Hubbell sort of just slaps his paper together in a fraction of the time. The professor is impressed with Hubbell’s paper and praises it in front of the class. Katie is infatuated with Hubbell (because duh, it’s Robert Redford), but sees him as being clearly out of her league.
After Katie and Hubbell reunite in 1944 at the nightclub, they become a couple. However, their personal differences quickly surface with the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1945. Hubbell’s friends make jokes and Hubbell is indifferent. Katie is furious that they would dare to make jokes about FDR’s death as well as Hubbell’s complete lack of interest in politics. She is also unhappy about Hubbell’s unwillingness to support her and tell off his friends. On the flipside, Hubbell does not care for Katie’s bluntless and unrelenting insistence on being right. They end up breaking up, but get back together shortly after.
Hubbell proves himself to be a naturally gifted writer, a talent that I’m sure both infuriates and pleases Katie. He easily whips out a novel without exerting too much effort. His novel proves to be a hit, to the point that he receives an offer to come out to Hollywood and help adapt his novel into a screenplay. Katie worries that Hollywood is beneath Hubbell’s talents; but they move to California despite her hesitations. Hubbell’s contract proves lucrative, which allows him and Katie to live lavishly. Because of their comfortable lifestyle, there is an expectation that Katie will stay at home. However, she quickly becomes involved in protesting against McCarthyism and the infamous blacklist which starts to endanger Hubbell’s career and reputation.
Katie’s activism and Hubbell’s absolute nonchalance about everything comes to a head when her activism becomes bigger and more outspoken. She also discovers she’s pregnant, which only further strains Katie and Hubbell’s marriage. Hubbell eventually escapes the marital issues by having an affair (because obviously), which causes Katie to realize that he’ll always find a way to avoid dealing with anything difficult. She ends up divorcing him and moving back to New York City.
Now here’s where the tearjerker part comes in. If you haven’t seen The Way We Were, then I’m sorry for discussing the ending. It is now the late-1950s, the television era. Katie is on a busy corner opposite the Plaza Hotel in New York City protesting the nuclear bomb. She’s remarried and raising her and Hubbell’s daughter. Suddenly, she spots Hubbell and another woman coming out of the hotel. She runs over to Hubbell and asks what he’s doing in New York City. He explains that he’s writing for television. There is a tinge of hope that maybe Katie and Hubbell will find each other, reunite, and this time it will be different–except this time it doesn’t happen. They exchange pleasantries. Hubbell asks Katie about their daughter. Katie says she’s fine. Katie then invites him out for a drink. Hubbell declines, they embrace and part ways. Perhaps never to cross paths again.
Apparently people just sob about there being no happy ending for Katie and Hubbell. However, I would argue that their divorce is probably the best thing that could have happened to both of them. The main motif throughout the entire film is that Katie and Hubbell are opposites in almost every way–physically, personality-wise, ambition, etc. However, both are too stubborn to even try meeting their partner in the middle. Katie was very outspoken politically whereas Hubbell was indifferent. She could have perhaps tried to be a little less outspoken, or at least less public about it, especially when it was negatively affecting Hubbell’s career and potentially their livelihood. Hubbell could have also tried, even a little bit, to learn about some of the issues that Katie was passionate about and tried to form an opinion–even if he wasn’t outspoken about it. Katie and Hubbell spent so much time arguing over each other’s differences, instead of finding common ground.
While I don’t disagree that Katie and Hubbell were truly in love, I think this is a case where two people can love each other deeply; but cannot be together. At the end, when Katie and Hubbell see each other, there is a brief moment of tenderness when they are reminded of their love for each other, despite the strife and unhappiness they endured together, i.e., “The Way We Were” as the title song says. However, that innocent drink that Katie offers is not that harmless. That drink has the potential to reignite Katie and Hubbell’s tumultuous relationship–after all, the film started with Katie and Hubbell having drinks together and starting their romance. Hubbell was wise to decline.
I way over-committed to blogging during April and May. I am so late with this post. It might not even be posted on Classic Film and TV Corner Presents’ page; but I wanted to finish it. Turning your homework in late is better than not at all, right? I was on vacation during the time of the blogathon, attending the TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood, in fact. I had every intention of writing this post ahead of time and scheduling it to post. Then, I just ran out of time. When I got back, I was tired. I had work. I had game night. Then I was sick for two days. Then I was sent on a last minute (literally, told Friday, left Sunday) work trip to California where I am now.
Anyway, I wanted to write about Ingrid Bergman and her multiple collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock, the “Master of Suspense.” Their first collaboration was in 1945’s Spellbound, which starred Bergman with Gregory Peck. Spellbound was made during Hollywood’s obsession with psychoanalysis, psychiatry, psychology, and all of the other sciences involving the psyche. Some other memorable films dealing with this subject are The Dark Past (1948), High Wall (1947), Now Voyager (1942), The Three Faces of Eve (1957), The Snake Pit (1948), just to name a few.
Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman in “Spellbound.”
Bergman portrays Dr. Constance Petersen, a psychoanalyst working at the Green Manors mental hospital in Vermont. She regularly has to reject the advances of her co-worker which leads to her being deemed an ice queen. Her older colleague, Dr. Murchison, ends up retiring after suffering from nervous exhaustion. He is replaced by the much younger Dr. Anthony Edwardes (Gregory Peck). Obviously because he’s the male lead and he’s much hotter than every other guy in this movie, Anthony and Constance quickly become romantically involved. While kissing Anthony, Constance discovers that he has an odd phobia: parallel lines.
After Anthony’s phobia is revealed, Constance is on a quest to learn the truth about Anthony’s phobia. There are numerous twists and turns, complete with an amnesia storyline, a fantastic Salvador Dali-conceived surrealistic dream sequence, some excellent skiing scenes and an interesting look at dreams and psychoanalysis. Fitting with the dream motif, the haunting score featuring a theramin, provides a eerie, surreal feeling.
After Spellbound comes Bergman and Hitchcock’s best collaboration, Notorious (1946) co-starring Cary Grant and Claude Rains. This is an excellent film. A film noir, Notorious, stars Bergman, somewhat against type, as American party girl Alicia Huberman. She is the daughter of a convicted Nazi spy. Grant plays T.R. Devlin an American government agent who recruits Alicia to infiltrate the Nazi ring. She refuses at first; but ultimately relents when Devlin plays recordings of her insisting that she loves her country.
Because it’s Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman, two actors known for appearing in some of the most romantic Hollywood films of all time, their characters of course fall in love. Hitchcock very adeptly defied the Production Code which prohibited scenes of prolonged kissing. “Prolonged” according to the very puritanical Production Code board meant that on-screen kisses could not last for more than three seconds. Bergman and Grant’s kiss lasted for over two and a half minutes! To get around this, Hitchcock had the actors deliver dialogue, nuzzle, take breaths, etc., every three seconds. Bergman and Grant reportedly felt awkward, but Hitchcock insisted that it was perfect. He was right. This scene is much sexier than if they’d just made out for two minutes.
Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman circumvent the Production Code in “Notorious.”
Eventually Alicia receives the assignment to seduce Alex Sebastian (Claude Rains), an associate of her father’s. Alex is more than happy to romance the much younger Alicia. Throughout the film, Devlin remains somewhat in the middle, as it’s sometimes not clear whether he’s genuinely in love with Alicia or whether it’s part of his work. Grant is very good at playing both sides. Rains makes an excellent villain. Bergman is of course excellent as the party girl caught in the middle of a love triangle with Devlin and Sebastian, as well as torn between her patriotism and love for her father.
In 1949, Ingrid Bergman completed her final collaboration with Hitchcock, Under Capricorn, co-starring Joseph Cotten and Michael Wilding. This film, unfortunately, is Bergman and Hitchcock’s least successful collaboration. I would even go a step further and say that it wasn’t even a very good film! Nothing seemed to happen until the last few minutes. This film is a period film, which seems like an odd choice for Hitchcock. Bergman doesn’t feel out of place in a period film, as she was very good in her Oscar-winning role in Gaslight in 1944. Unfortunately for Under Capricorn, it is no Gaslight.
Under Capricorn takes place in 1831 Sydney and stars Michael Wilding as Charles Adare, the second cousin of the new Governor, Sir Richard. In the mid-19th century, Sydney is overrun with ex-convicts from the British isles–so it is a rough place to be. Charles is in town because he wishes to make his fortune. He ends up meeting an ex-con, Samuel Flusky (Joseph Cotten), who is now a successful businessman.
Ingrid Bergman is probably the best part of “Under Capricorn,” an otherwise lackluster film.
Charles ends up meeting Samuel’s wife, Lady Henrietta (Bergman). Lady Henrietta is, to put it mildly, a mess. She is a drunk, social outcast, who is on the verge of just going completely insane. Bergman plays her like a slightly trashier version of her character, Paula, from Gaslight, except if she’d also turned to the bottle during her nervous breakdown. Poor Lady Henrietta, like Paula, has a maid who only contributes to her mental illness. Charles ends up befriending Lady Henrietta and helps restore her mental health. Eventually he uncovers a secret about Henrietta and Samuel.
Perhaps Under Capricorn would be more successful if Hitchcock’s reputation as the “Master of Suspense” hadn’t been so cemented in the minds of the audience. It doesn’t appear that Hitchcock intended for this film to be a thriller; however, the poster stating “Alfred Hitchcock’s Under Capricorn” carries the implication that this will be another Hitchcock film in the same vein as Rebecca and Shadow of a Doubt. Nothing happens in this film. Even the secret is kind of ho-hum. I won’t write this film off entirely; but if I wanted to watch Bergman in a Hitchcock film, I’d definitely choose Spellbound or Notorious over Under Capricorn.
In 1979, Ingrid Bergman hosted Alfred Hitchcock’s AFI Lifetime Achievement Award ceremony. The ceremony also featured tributes given by other “Hitchcock Stars” including Henry Fonda (The Wrong Man), Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh (Psycho), James Stewart (Rope, Vertigo, Rear Window, The Man Who Knew Too Much), John Forsythe (Topaz, The Trouble with Harry), Teresa Wright (Shadow of a Doubt), Norman Lloyd (Saboteur), Jane Wyman (Stage Fright), Rod Taylor (The Birds), Vera Miles (The Wrong Man, Psycho), Tippi Hedren (The Birds, Marnie) and Sean Connery (Marnie), Judith Anderson (Rebecca), and Cary Grant (Notorious, North by Northwest, To Catch a Thief, and Suspicion).
After the whirlwind of actors, Bergman was back with her closing remarks, which she directed towards Hitchcock:
Thank you. We must leave you now, but thanks to film, Hitch’s work never will. Now there’s just one little thing I want to add before we finish this evening. You remember that agonizing shot when you built some kind of elevator–it was a basket or something–with you and the cameraman, and you were shooting this vast party in “Notorious.” And you came zooming down, with your elevator, and your pull focus man…all the way down, into my hand, where you saw the key in a close-up…so that was an extreme long shot to close-up, just the key we saw now. Well, you know what? Cary stole that key after the scene! Yes, and he kept it for about 10 years and one day he put it in my hand and he said, “I’ve kept this long enough, now it’s for you for good luck.” I have kept it for 20 years and, in this very same hand, there is the key! I’m coming over… it has given me a lot of good luck, and quite a few good movies too, and now I’m going to give it to you with a prayer that it will open some very good doors for you too. God bless you, dear Hitch, I’m coming to give you the key.
Cleopatra (1963), The Wizard of Oz (1939), Gone with the Wind (1939), The African Queen (1951). What do these wildly different films have in common? All were notoriously difficult films to make, all for different reasons. The African Queen didn’t have difficult stars like Cleopatra. It didn’t have a meddling producer like Gone with the Wind and it didn’t have technical issues to overcome like The Wizard of Oz. What The African Queen did have was a notoriously difficult on-location film shoot led by the ultimate adventurer, director John Huston.
Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart
Katharine Hepburn’s experience filming The African Queen alongside co-star, Humphrey Bogart, was so difficult in fact that it warranted an entire book detailing her ordeal. Hepburn’s book, The Making of ‘The African Queen,’ or How I Went to Africa with Bogart, Bacall, and Huston and Almost Lost My Mind, describes the challenging conditions that she faced while filming in the Belgian Congo. Hepburn relished the opportunity to go to Africa and film on-location; however, the experience ended up being more challenging than she ever could have imagined. Hepburn famously suffered from that classic Oregon Trail Game disease–dysentery.
During the filming, Katharine Hepburn repeatedly chastised Humphrey Bogart and John Huston for drinking so heavily during the shoot. To make her point, she drank large amounts of the local water, which was contaminated. During the opening scene where Hepburn’s character, plays piano at the church, a bucket had to be placed nearby (but off screen) so Hepburn could get sick between takes. Bogart and Huston wisely (?) opted to survive solely on liquor, baked beans, and canned asparagus in lieu of the local water and cuisine. Bogart was in disbelief that Hepburn, despite how ill she was, seemed to also be in her element and having the time of her life–despite having a run-in with a black mamba in the outhouse, causing her to have to run to some trees to relieve herself.
Humphrey Bogart’s wife, Lauren Bacall, went along on the shoot and did her part by playing a den mother type role. She helped cook and clean for the cast and crew. When she wasn’t cooking, the locals treated the cast and crew. Bacall was quoted as saying that they learned very quickly to not ask what they were eating.
As for Humphrey Bogart himself, he loathed the entire experience. He couldn’t believe that John Huston would drag them to that hell hole. He hated everything: the temperature, the food, the water, the humidity, all the venomous insects and creatures, you name it. He refused to allow Huston to cover him in real leeches for a scene. Bogart insisted on using rubber leeches. Huston wanted real leeches and even went as far as to hire a leech breeder with actor leeches. Eventually, Bogart was allowed to film the scene with rubber leeches, and then a close-up of the leech breeder’s chest with his actor leeches was used in lieu of Bogart.
In The African Queen, Katharine Hepburn plays Rose Sayer, an English missionary working in 1914 East Africa. At this time in history, East Africa was occupied by the Germans during World War I. Rose is at a small village with her brother, Samuel (Robert Morley), spreading the word of their Methodist religion. Humphrey Bogart plays Canadian (!) Charlie Alnutt, the owner and operator of “The African Queen” steam boat which drives up and down the river delivering supplies and mail to the villages. He warns Rose and Samuel that the Germans have declared war on Britain and they’re in danger. Samuel dies soon after from disease.
Needing to escape, Rose has no choice but to leave with Charlie on “The African Queen.” A majority of the film deals with Rose and Charlie having to not only get along, but work together to navigate the treacherous river. Rose and Charlie are polar opposites, personality-wise. Rose is prim and proper, whereas Charlie is a bit rough around the edges. Rose disapproves of Charlie’s heavy drinking. Charlie has to get used to having not only another person onboard; but a woman onboard. He does his best–making tea for Rose and offering her the covered part of the boat to sleep under.
Rose and Charlie grow closer on “The African Queen.”
Much of the fun of The African Queen is watching Rose and Charlie interact. Eventually they come to grow closer, perhaps having either found common ground with each other, or genuinely finding the other person’s eccentricities charming. Charlie and Rose have a particularly exciting evening one night when they work together to build torpedoes out of supplies on the boat, and then use the torpedoes to fight the Germans. They are victorious and end up embracing and sharing a romantic kiss. From then on, Charlie and Rose are now a romantic couple.
The ending of The African Queen is the climax when Rose and Charlie have to confront the large German gunboat, the Luise. The Luise is the only thing that stands between them and freedom. Rose and Charlie decide that the only way they have even a slight chance is if they ram “The African Queen” into the Germans’ boat. However, a storm hits and “The African Queen” capsizes. Rose and Charlie are separated. Eventually Charlie is found by the Germans and brought onboard the Luise. The Germans accuse Charlie of espionage. Charlie confesses, thinking that Rose has drowned and now he has nothing to live for.
However, Rose appears, having been recovered and brought aboard. She proudly announces their plot to sink the Luise. The Germans are not amused and declare that both Rose and Charlie should be executed for being British spies. Thinking he’s about to die and being in love with Rose, Charlie asks the captain to marry them before they are hanged. In one of the oddest wedding ceremonies ever featured in a film, Charlie and Rose are married as nooses are placed over their necks. Suddenly, the Luise hits something and starts to capsize. It seems that the hull of “The African Queen” is sticking out of the water and that is what the Luise struck. Charlie and Rose are able to escape their nooses and swim away from the wreckage in marital bliss.
Humphrey Bogart notably won the Best Actor Oscar in 1952, beating the likes of Marlon Brando for A Streetcar Named Desire, Montgomery Clift for A Place in the Sun, Arthur Kennedy for Bright Victory, and Fredric March for Death of a Salesman. I don’t know that I would have given Bogart the Oscar over Brando or Clift, both of whom are tremendous in their respective films. That’s not to say that Bogart isn’t great in The African Queen, he is fantastic; however, I think that he was awarded for the wrong film. Bogart, hands down, should have won for Treasure of the Sierra Madre a few years prior–and he wasn’t even nominated! It is easy to suspect that Bogart’s win for The African Queen might have been a nod to his entire career, versus that single performance.
This is the most ridiculous poster. At no time does Hepburn look like this in the movie. This looks like the cover of a romance novel.
Whimsically Classic