Two Lincoln Movies

In this month of Lincoln, I must heartily endorse the movie "Young Mr. Lincoln" for all ages. The 1939 fictionalized tale is black-and-white, which only adds to its historical feel. My youngest children don't realize this isn't actual footage. Henry Fonda plays the young lawyer as he progresses from shop owner to practising lawyer. All the good legends are included in the 100 minutes: his love of books, being honest, log cabin poverty, going the extra mile, and young love. Best of all is the tough case he takes on behalf of a woman whose son was unjustly accused of murder. A griping tale of wits. How can Mr. Lincoln prove him innocent?!

Secondly, we watched "The Last of Mrs. Lincoln" but cannot recommend it as easily. This 1976 production is actually filmed on stage, but is Slow paced and focused heavily on Mary Todd-Lincoln's mental illness. That was difficult to explain to younger children. Here's the product description:

Julie Harris, recreates her 1972 award-winning Broadway portrayal in this powerful and touching look at the final 17 years in the life of Mary Todd Lincoln, widow to the martyred President. Based on real events, this production casts a sad and sympathetic light onto this frighteningly complicated woman. Mary Lincoln scavenges desperately for money, loses a cherished son to consumption, is branded a lunatic and committed to a mental institution; culminating with her spending her final days fleeing from the preying eyes of the public and a scandal-hungry press.

Any other "Lincoln" suggestions for next year?

A couple of Christmas movies reviews

At Tea at Trianon:

It's a Wonderful Life and Bells of Saint Mary's. Enjoy!

Come to the Stable

Our family recently had the chance to see this charming film from 1949 starring Loretta Young. I was under the impression for some reason it was a Christmas film, it wasn't, but it was a very entertaining way to spend a snowy afternoon. Come to the Stable is the story of two French sisters (they call them nuns, but my daughter kept correcting the film!), who have been inspired by events in France during the war to come to the U.S. and build a children's hospital. 

The sisters have no plan other than to build the hospital in Bethlehem when they arrive. They are met with many obstacles, from where they can stay, to how to gain the Bishop's support, armed only with St. Jude metals. The sisters' innocence and hopefulness delights everyone they encounter. The most hard hearted mobster has no power against their persuasion.

The movie is witty, too, on their first visit to New York, the sisters mistake a parking ticket for an advertisement and tear it up, in front of the police officer who placed it there. The movie does not poke fun at them, but rather the lack of simplicity of those around them. It harkens back to to a time when sisters were respected. Those who know religious sisters now, will find many of the antics of the sisters in the movie even more humorous, envisioning the sisters we know in the same position as those in the film. 

One small note, the movie is not available on DVD yet, but it is a view it instantly movie at Netflix. 

Ikiru

Ikiru is a powerful, but understated classic by the acclaimed Japanese director Akira Kurosawa.

This is an old black-and-white movie filmed in Japanese (available from the Criterion Collection - you can find it on Netflix - with English subtitles). If that makes you think of Godzilla, you're definitely on the wrong track.

A man who has mindlessly slaved away in a government office for thirty years discovers that he has stomach cancer and perhaps six months to live. It's a grim wake-up call, but the subject matter is handled in a surprisingly gentle way and the story is uplifting and thought-provoking without being morose (and refreshingly non-sappy).

I don't want to share more of the plot than that, but wanted to mention that the faces, the expressions, the calm urgency of the main character, the camera angles and even the simplicity of the story are beautifully artistic - in a kind of primitive (as far as movies go) way. A really wonderful movie and very fitting to watch during Lent. Most appropriate for teens and adults.

My Favorite circa 1930s Comedies

Continuing with my recent theme...

I discovered a number of these movies from a Crisis Magazine article on the Vatican Movie List a number of years back. I couldn't find the original article online, but vaguely remember that it expanded on certain themes in the original list with additional suggestions. I remember looking for You Can't Take it With You for years, before our library finally purchased it (this was obviously well before Netflix came into the picture).

I would consider these appropriate at least for my teenager (though often the whole family will enjoy it, even if they don't understand the whole thing), you might want to preview them to decide age level beyond that...

The Philadelphia Story (1940) - Katherine Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant - This is kind of the reverse side of Holiday - The rich have their problems too, but even the hard-working newly "made it" can be overly star-struck and insincere. There's also a musical based on this story called High Society starring Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Grace Kelly and Louis Armstrong.

Holiday (1938) - reviewed here

The Awful Truth (1937) - Cary Grant and Irene Dunne are a married couple who decide to split up after a spat - this a comedy about the breakup of the wife and her new boyfriend. I love the upside-downness of it - in a good way!

It Happened One Night (1934) - One of Frank Capras earlier movies and the original road trip film. Claudette Colbert is a rich heiress on the run from her father who meets Clark Gable on a bus trip from Florida back to her home in New York. When we had the subtitles on here, we noticed a little mature content in the lyrics of a song (that we had never noticed before). Also a few slightly risque scenes.

You Can't Take it With You (1938) - Classic Frank Capra - Jean Arthur, Jimmy Stewart, Lionel Barrymore star in this outrageous comedy about money, family, and what really matters. Great fun for the whole family.

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) - Gary Cooper is a plainspoken man from the sticks who arrives in New York City because he's inherited a large fortune from a long-lost uncle. Jean Arthur is a reporter who feigns interest in him to get the insight scoop on his "odd" ways. A lot of fun and a great one for the whole family.

Bringing Up Baby (1938) - Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn are taking care of a very tame leopard who brings them into all sorts of hilarious situations. Another family favorite.

Bachelor Mother (1939) - Ginger Rogers is a young working mother who is mistakenly believed to be the mother of a baby left at an orphanage. When her employer is contacted (who kindly wants to help her keep the baby and her job) she feels she has to keep the baby.

We also enjoy some of the Marx Brothers and Laurel and Hardy movies, but I couldn't tell you off the top of my head which were our favorites. We watched a Marx Brothers movie last night called Horse Feathers which was outrageously funny and clever, but not the kind I'd like my kids to see all the time.

And Speaking of Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant

The Anchoress just posted on another of my favorite old movies (not quite in the thirties, but almost) here.

Not quite intended to be a family movie, but the more complex stuff tends to be subtle enough to make it manageable. Better understood by teens and parents.

Holiday (Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn)

I'm a sucker for comedies from the 1930s and I should probably admit that some of my friends don't quite get that but... with that warning... here's a little about one of my favorites.

Holiday is a quirky slightly-romantic comedy with a serious side. It strikes the Chesternerds in our family as being rather Chestertonian as it's filled with fun paradoxes and looking at things up-side-down.

Johnny Case is a hard working man who meets Julia, the apparent girl of his dreams, at a ski resort. Back in New York City, he looks up the address Julia wrote on the back of envelope for him. Arriving at a palatial estate, he concludes that his girlfriend works at this house, and knocks at the back door, where he is let in by the embarrassed butler, who is without his jacket and was expecting a visitor at the front door, thank you very much. We of course discover that Julia is a wealthy heiress from a family filled with and interested in "important people".

I won't tell you the conclusion, but it's a fun story that shows the wrong-headedness of the snooty rich (particularly by showing how a member of the family who is perfectly normal and level-headed is, in this context, the black sheep of the family). Though the story is at times a little complex (and it touches upon some sad issues - particularly a brother who is trapped by family fortune and expectations and finds way too much solace in alcohol), my children really enjoyed the truthiness of the story and the many laugh-out-moments.

(photo from IMDB)

Rod Bennett on Frank Capra

I stumbled across this article last summer, but have been very neglectful of posting it here until I noticed it making its rounds of the blogosphere. It's an excellent piece on Frank Capra, and in particular Capra's most well-known film, It's a Wonderful Life.

Since it's still Christmas, I'll post this anyway and you might have time to watch timeless classic one more time. :)

I had no way of knowing at the time that this was supposed to be a corny old Christmas "feel-good" movie. It began to make me feel pretty bad, in fact. Certainly I saw that It's A Wonderful Life is full of wonderful things: charm and humor and unforgettable characters that have since become like a second family to me. But the longer the movie went on, the bleaker and blacker things got. George Bailey, the hero (played by James Stewart), the dreamer who was going to see the world and lasso the moon, struggles to get out of the dead end job that keeps him chained to the hick town where he was born. It soon becomes obvious, to us and to him, that he never will get out of it. And yet, somehow, with every commercial break, that announcer kept repeating It's A Wonderful Life. I myself had dreams very like George Bailey's: dreams of accomplishment, dreams of romance. But the plain reality was that I was failing in school, my first real romance was ten years away, and I was lonely, alienated, and ugly with that unique ugliness only possible to fourteen year olds. And yet with every commercial break, over and over at eight-minute intervals, the "Armchair Theatre" man insisted It's A Wonderful Life. Before long, George Bailey (because of a meaningless accident—his lovable, doddering old uncle has destroyed his business by absentmindedly losing a packet of money) stands on a frigid overpass ready to drown his whole thwarted, aborted dream in an icy black river and we're not so sure we blame him. I stood there with him—my own dreams seemed (and sometimes still seem) just as hopeless. And still the man says It's A Wonderful Life.

Read the rest here.

I Confess

This time of year, Hitchcock films seem to be everywhere, but one of the most overlooked is I Confess. Made in 1953, it is a prime example of Hitchcock, the Catholic. Hitchcock attended Mass daily, and lived the devote life. Many of his films show this in subtle ways, I, Confess is not subtle.

What happens when a man confesses murder to a priest in the confessional? What happens when the man, full aware of the fact that a priest is bound to silence, decides to frame him? This is the simple story told in I, Confess. Simple, but all of the situations that surround the murder, the murderer and the priest are what make it so good. I often wonder if Hitchcock was reading Father Brown stories while making this film, there are a few subtle resemblances.

Shot in Montreal, I Confess is stunningly beautiful. The acting is not the best in a Hitchcock film, but the roles are convincing enough. I've read this is not a good Hitchcock film, especially for non-Catholics, But I have to disagree. It is a great film, but Catholics will appreciate its treatment of confession. This is a great movie for teens, there are a few mature situations, but due to it being 1953, they are alluded to rather than explicit. I love this movie on cold fall nights with a nice hot cup of cider.

The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

The 1928 French silent film The Passion of Joan of Arc is beautiful: amazing and powerful. Suitable for teens (certainly acceptable for anyone mature enough to watch the Passion of the Christ - though this film is mature mostly because of its intensity).

It might be worthwhile to discuss the historical position of the Church's relationship with Joan of Arc and the intentions of the filmmaker who, focusing on Joan's trial and death, might be viewed as having some degree of an agenda. It would also be fair to consider the controversies surrounding the Passion of the Christ for providing a similar, limited focus.

The DVD (available from Netflix) provides English subtitles and a choice of no audio or a background score.

The commentary was quite interesting and helpful. I love how the Danish film expert refers to her in the familiar French/Danish Jeanne (sounds like Shen) in this English commentary.

The Passion of Joan of Arc was listed on the Vatican list of best films.

Links Up from the Comments Box:

Esther has a post about this film here.

http://www.maidofheaven.com/

Harold Lloyd

I never thought I'd say this about a silent film, but Harold Lloyd's Safety Last is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. It's available from Netflix on disc 1 of the Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection. I saw a documentary on Harold Lloyd quite a few years ago, but it's only with the popularity of DVDs (and Netflix) that so many of these old movies are becoming so readily available. I also appreciate that this is a high-quality tranfer compared to the cheap-o editions of Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy I've seen. It does make some sense that the art of physical comedy would have been mastered during the silent era. Ask Father (which is also rolling-on-the-floor funny) only includes a few lines of dialogue.

Please note: Not all of his films (or all of the films on this particular DVD series) are suitable for children.

Essential Classic Movie Directors

GEORGE BAILEY
Originally uploaded by mueredecine

These are a few of our favorites (generally appropriate for teens and adults)...

Frank Capra

It Happened One Night
It's a Wonderful Life
Meet John Doe
Mr. Deeds Comes to Town
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
You Can't Take it With You

Michael Curtiz

Adventures of Robin Hood
Angels with Dirty Faces
Casablanca
Yankee Doodle Dandy

John Ford

How Green Was My Valley
The Quiet Man

Alfred Hitchcock

I Confess
North by Northwest
Rear Window
The Wrong Man
To Catch a Thief
Vertigo

George Stevens

Alice Adams
The Diary of Anne Frank
The Greatest Story Ever Told
I Remember Mama
The More the Merrier
Penny Serenade

William Wyler

Ben Hur
Mrs. Miniver
Roman Holiday
Wuthering Heights

There are some others by these directors I should go back and watch again since I don't remember them too well (this pretty much explains the lack of Westerns in the list).

Black and White Movies that My Kids Love...

Not all are necessarily appropriate for all ages...

You Can't Take it With You
It's a Wonderful Life
I Remember Mama
Song of Bernadette
Safety Last (Harold Lloyd)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Christmas in Connecticut
Boys Town
Mr. Deeds goes to Town
The More the Merrier
The Spirit of St. Louis
The Pride of the Yankees
Bells of St. Marys
Casablanca
Going My Way