SINCE YOU WENT AWAY (1944)

(Week 13: Claudette Colbert)

SINCE YOU WENT AWAY (1944)

Directed by John Cromwell

Claudette Colbert is best known for her screwball comedies, like IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT where she is cute and lovable. But she makes a great character actress here. She plays Anne, a matriarch who tries to take care of her family while her husband is fighting in WWII. Serving as a pillar for her family, her face exudes optimism with subtle hints of agitation as she tries to repress her sorrow. In her moments of deep despair, she also performs extreme emotions believably.

It's a shame that the film was made into an epic. It lacks the substance to support it. While it does a great job capturing life at the homefront, it runs out of material fast. There isn't enough ups and downs in this film to keep it from being somber and monotonous. It serves as a nice portrait of loneliness and sentimentality, but being three hours long makes the film drag and lose its effects. 

The film does have a lot of great characters and a great cast to play them. Jennifer Jones as Jane, a young woman discovering romance and sexuality. She plays the role with some affectation of a young lady, which is irritating at times, but there are many moments where she manages to be heartfelt. It is hard not to sympathize with her. There are characters like this in much happier films, where the romance isn't threatened by war and death. In the goodbye scene at the train station, perhaps the most melodramatic scene in the film, she soars. Shirley Temple plays the younger daughter. She, I find really annoying. Being unfamiliar with her other films, I can't say that she has no talent. But if she had any she didn't bother to use it here. There isn't much of a chemistry between her and Jones or Colbert for that matter. 

The men in this film are much more interesting. Joseph Cotten plays Tony, an old friend of the family who is clearly in love with Anne. He is dashing in his uniform and charismatic as a playboy. Robert Walker plays William, a young corporal who tries to win the affection of his grandfather even though his heart isn't in the war. His character must have spoken for many young men at the time. (Keep in mind that the war was still going on when the film came out.) The grandfather, played by Monty Wooley, is a traditional man who values war glories and despises disorders and weakness in men. While his story line does provide a few moments of melodrama, he downplays his emotion and thereby giving his character the realism it needs. What the character provides more effectively, instead, is the humor. 

I enjoyed the film. It's old-fashioned and heartwarming, with just enough realism. Though a little excessive, it still manages for the most part to be honest and moving. If you're not bothered by its length and want to enjoy some gently-paced drama, I'd say that SINCE YOU WENT AWAY is a good choice.

THE MAYOR AND THE MINOR (1942)

(Week 6: Ginger Rogers)

THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR (1942)

Directed by Billy Wilder

What's most incredible about this film is that it doesn't force us to believe in a ridiculous plot. Instead, it lures us into believing in it; just like the other characters, we believe her because we want to. 

Ginger Rogers stars as Sue Applegate, a woman who pretends to be twelve years old to get a half-price train ticket home. There isn't a moment here where her disguise looks believable, and the film doesn't pretend that it does. In the beginning we see the train conductors questioning her. The she meets "the major," who happens to have a serious eye problem, explaining how he could be so close to her and still not see the truth. When later she is exposed to a wider audience at the military institute, everybody believes her because they have reasons to want to, reflecting how people only see what they want to see.

Ginger Rogers is so charmingly unglamorous. Applegate doesn't come across as a witty, conniving woman. Instead she seems so jaded by life she would try anything. She doesn't get off on deceiving people seems surprised by how much she is able to get away with. At times she seems to be rolling her eyes at them. The film doesn't let us forget that she is a legendary dancer, but finds a way to incorporate her dancing in just the right moment. The scene where she dances becomes for me the most humorous scene of the film.

I won't pretend there aren't uncomfortable moments here, seeing Rogers in childish clothes being rocked in bed by Ray Milland, or later seeing him express his attraction toward her while he still thinks she's a child. There is reminiscence of Shakespeare "Twelfth Night" here, where the romance comes together so soon after the truth is revealed, as if the attraction had been growing all this time and repressed because the disguise was an obstacle. It didn't bother me too much, however, any more than it bothered Gingers' character. She knows he's attracted to her and she likes it rather than finds it creepy.

This is Billy Wider's directorial debut, and already he knows exactly what he's doing. The story is so beautifully orchestrated there seems to be no wrong notes struck. The supporting characters are so pitch perfect it seems as if he handpicked them himself. THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR is a cute little story that knows how it should be told and has no problems winning a place in the audience's heart. 

EASTER PARADE (1948)

(Week 5: Fred Astaire)

EASTER PARADE (1948)

Directed by Charles Walters

(from Allposters.com)

Many movie musicals rely too heavily on the fame of their stars to bring people to the theater. They don't even need a good plot or a good script, and the stars don't even have to be great singers or dancers, so long as they make money for the studios. Musical numbers are underlined and highlighted rather than seamlessly incorporated into the film. These are what makes them feel outdated and silly. Having seen a handful of these movies, I can't explain how surprised and delighted I was when I watched EASTER PARADE.

When Fred Astaire dances, your jaw drops. When Judy Garland sings, you gasp. These aren't just great performers; they are true stars. Their talents are literally extraordinary. No one can do what they do the way they do it, and that is what carries the film.

The story is pretty simple, but told with great charm. Astaire plays a famous dancer whose partner/lover quits on him. To get back at her, he picked a random dancer from a nightclub and insists that he can turn her into a dancing star. Garland, who isn't a stranger to dancing but certainly not a Ginger Rogers either, fills the role perfectly. Her awkwardness is so believable and charming it's hard not to adore her character. Astaire, though lacking a devastating good look and a masculine build, commands the screen as well as any traditional leading man does. His soul, for lack of a better word, is truly musical. That which makes him an extraordinary dancer makes his singing distinguished and potent, despite being deprived of a great big voice.

All the musical numbers flow smoothly into and out of the scenes. It is as if the film believes in its stars enough to leave them to do what they do best. The songs of Irving Berlin's drive the story forward as opposed to merely providing platforms for the stars to show off. Co-star Ann Miller as the departed lover also wows the audience in her numbers just as much as the couple. 

It must be noted that Astaire and Garland are, on top of all that, good actors. While the story doesn't demand much of their emotional range, it does give them opportunities to prove their talents through subtlety. They play their comedy straight and without being over-aware of it, providing the heartfelt acting that musicals require through every scene and every song in order to suspend the disbelief of such a grand medium. EASTER PARADE knows how to utilize its stars and doesn't work too hard to please its audience.