Reel to Real: 35 Years of Interviewing the Legends – Guest Post by Author David Fantle

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Guest Post

 

Reel to Real: 35 Years of Interviewing the Legends

Thanks to Annmarie and Classic Movie Hub for giving me the opportunity to introduce myself, or rather my long-time love affair with classic movies. For me, like many others, I was first introduced to show-stopping Hollywood moments when my parents took me at age 15 to see “That’s Entertainment!” in 1974 at a theater in my hometown of St. Paul, Minnesota. I was mesmerized by the artistry on the screen, and I guess I’ve been an unabashed film fan ever since.

That moment in 1974 was shared by a friend, Tom Johnson, and for more than 35 years we’ve been collaborators sharing in our mutual love for the “Golden Age” of Hollywood. Our interest took a major turn in 1978, just before we started college at the University of Minnesota. After persistent correspondence, we had “green-lighted” meetings set with the big two – Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. We had truly memorable meetings with filmdom’s two greatest dancers. It would open doors, mean several more trips to Los Angeles and hundreds of interviews with the legends, including James Cagney, Gregory Peck, Charlton Heston, Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, Frank Capra, Vincente Minnelli, Hoagy Carmichael and the hit list goes on.

In 2004, our book, Reel to Real: 25 years of celebrity interviews from vaudeville to movies to TV, a compilation of 60 of our interviews was published and became the “Book of the Month” on the Turner Classic Movies Cable Network.

Reel To Real by David Fantle and Tom Johnson

Despite some 250 celebrity interviews, I’m invariably asked which one was my favorite and least favorite interview. That’s like asking Astaire and Kelly who was their favorite dance partner. With rare exception, most “old school” stars were incredibly warm and welcoming.

Since Astaire and Kelly opened the floodgates to so many future meetings, let me give you a few tidbits from those memorable visits. If you want all the details, you’ll have to buy the book!

We met Fred Astaire in his business manager’s office on Brighton Way in Beverly Hills. As expected, Astaire at age 79 was nattily dressed, soft-spoken and humble. He NEVER lived in the past or wanted to dissect his work. Sitting across from this legend, while it should have been intimidating, was like chatting with your grandfather. He talked about his love of horse racing and how much he enjoyed John Travolta’s performance in “Saturday Night Fever.” It was (and remains) hard to believe that we were in the presence of such artistic greatness, but he put you at immediate ease.

David Fantle and Fred Astaire

David Fantle with Fred Astaire

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Now Gene Kelly was still a youthful 66 when we met him for the first time at his Beverly Hills home. We talked about his joy of working with Judy Garland, the underrated complexity of the “Moses Supposes” number from “Singin’ in the Rain,” and other more contemporary topics. When we parted, he stood at the doorway of his home and he gave us both a thumb’s up as we left, the same affirmation he said he would give Barbra Streisand after a successful take in “Hello Dolly,” which he directed. When we re-visited Kelly some 15 years later, it was like we never lost a beat. His first words to us was, “The college boys are back” although Tom and I were now in our mid 30s.

The memories of these visits and so many more are indelibly etched in my mind and I’m so thankful that two young guys from St. Paul had the tenacity to do it.

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David Fantel with George Burns

David Fantle (left) and Tom Johnson (right) with George Burns

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I currently teach the history of television and the Hollywood musical at Marquette University in Milwaukee and Tom and I continue to interview the few remaining stars that could still be called “classic.” We’re also researching an authorized biography of songwriter and MGM musical producer Arthur Freed.

That’s a snapshot of the past 40 years. Hopefully, I’ll have a chance to write a sequel on Classic Movie Hub in the weeks ahead.

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–David Fantle for Classic Movie Hub

A BIG THANK YOU to David Fantle for sharing this wonderful post with Classic Movie Hub! You can follow David on Twitter at @fantle or reach him via email at david.fantle@gmail.com

And if you’re interested in reading, Reel to Real: 25 years of celebrity interviews from vaudeville to movies to TV, you can find it here on amazon

 

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TCM’s 31 Days of Oscar: CMH Picks for Week Two (Feb 8)

Posted on February 8, 2014 by minooallen

Turner Classic Movies: 31 Days of Oscar

CMH Picks: Week Two

Saturday February 8: Auntie Mame at 5:30PM EST
6 Nominations: Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Cinematography Color, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Film Editing 1959

auntie mame

“Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death.”

I’ve always had an odd dream of becoming the sassy, drunk aunt at family affairs. Now of course I don’t mean the ‘fall down the stairs embarrassment’ kind of drunk. Just, ya know, the ‘sassy’ drunk. The reason: Auntie Mame of course. Her lifestyle is almost as fabulous as she is, and the best part is that she makes no apologies for it.  What a glorious woman.

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Sunday February 9: The Remains of the Day at 2:30PM EST
8 Nominations: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Writing Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Costume Design, Best Music Original Score 1994

remains of the day

So British. So repressed. So good.

I have seen this movie over 15 times. To me, it’s nearly perfect. The cinematography, the pacing, the direction – all of it works to tell the heartbreaking story of regret, misguided loyalty, politics and at its core, the lost chance for love. Funnily enough, this film features very little romance. But that is where the beauty lies.  Love and romance do not always go hand-in-hand and no other movie proves this point better. I know, made in 1993, it’s not quite a “classic” but give it a shot. You’ll be happy you did.

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Monday February 10: The Great Dictator at Midnight EST
5 Nominations: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Writing Original Screenplay, Best Music Original Score 1941

great dictatorYes, yes we do.

Everyone should listen to Chaplin’s speech at the end of this film and take notes. It rings just as true now as it did in 1940. But if midnight is little past your bedtime, at least read this part. I think everyone can learn from what Chaplin is saying:

“Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost…”

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Tuesday February 11:  Adam’s Rib at 12:15PM EST
1 Nomination: Best Writing Story and Screenplay 1951

adams-rib-3

Oh, no fights out. Hepburn punchin’ your lights out.

A battle of the minds, a battle of the spouses and, a battle of the sexes — all wrapped up in a cracker-jack of a comedy. What more could you want? The film was written especially for Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, and boy does it show. The two give some of the best comedic performances of their lives.

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Wednesday February 12: The Manchurian Candidate at 4:00PM EST
2 Nominations: Best Supporting Actress, Best Film Editing 1963

manciurian-(1962)-large-picture

This woman is perfection. Like Laurence Harvey, I won’t hear anything different.

Watch this film for Angela Lansbury. Yes, everything else is good but Lansbury is absolutely phenomenal as the diabolically evil Mrs. Eleanor Shaw Iselin. I personally consider it one of the finest performances ever to grace the silver screen and find it almost criminal that she did not receive the Oscar that year.

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Thursday February 13: Autumn Sonata at 1:30PM EST
2 Nominations: Best Actress, Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen 1979

Herbstsonate (1978) Hˆstsonaten (1978) Accnr 21800

Bergman acting in a Bergman film.

Ingmar Bergman can be a bit difficult to “get into;” His films are deeply philosophical and tackle themes of existentialism, nihilism and power dynamics. This film is no different. However, if you’re a classic film fan, then this film has something to ease your jump into the Bergman – INGRID Bergman. It’s the only film these two giants of the Swedish film industry worked together in, and, boy, did they make it count.

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Friday February 14: A Star is Born at 10:30AM EST
6 Nominations: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration Color, Best Costume Design Color, Best Music Original Song, Best Music Scoring of a Musical Picture 1955

large_a_star_is_born_blu-ray2

Lamenting the man that got away.

Judy Garland. Judy Garland. And Judy Garland. She shines in this film like no other. This film almost acts as counter-point to her early, childhood career; when she was a doe-eyed girl who simply wished for home. With this film, she is all grown-up, alone in the world and wishing for the Man That Got Away.

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–Minoo Allen for Classic Movie Hub

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31 Days of Oscar Blogathon: Gregg Toland – The second Genius of Citizen Kane

Posted on February 8, 2014 by minooallen

 

Gregg Toland: The Second Genius of Citizen Kane

There is a basic theory in film criticism called the auteur theory. It was developed in the early 1950’s by French critics and was presented in the famed film periodical Cahiers du Cinéma, with future film director Francois Truffaut developing it further. The theory was simple: A film reflects the director’s vision, thus making him the “author” of the film. It was a truly revolutionary theory at the time and while I can say that I agree with some of the theory’s wider implications, I cannot say I agree whole-heartedly. Yes, the film director is the one making most of the decisions but sometimes, there’s more to the picture. Sometimes there is cinematographer Greg Toland.

toladnGregg Toland

Greg Toland was one of Hollywood’s leading cinematographers for three decades. From his very first film, 1926’s The Bat, he worked tirelessly to improve not only his skill as a cameraman, but the art of cinematography in general.  He worked with camera technicians and manufacturers to help invent new lenses that had a greater depth of field and could better capture light.  He believed the camera, rather than the edit, should tell the story, and worked to create entire scenes to play out in one single frame. Camera blocking and the movement of characters were of the paramount importance. His style would gain notice, and in 1940 he won his first Oscar for Wuthering Heights. So when boy genius, Orson Welles, came to Hollywood to make a little film called Citizen Kane, he only wanted the best. He wanted Toland.

wellesOrson Welles with Toland the set of Citizen Kane.

Citizen Kane is one of those films that the French Critics cited in their development of the auteur theory. They state that it was through the genius of Orson Welles that the film was created. And while I don’t want to downplay Welles role for the success of the film, I DO want to cast a light on the other most important factor in the film, Greg Toland’s cinematography. As mentioned earlier, Toland believed that the camera told the story. Take a look at the picture below.

unrion foever“The Union Forever”

This scene is one of the most important in the film — when the young Charles Foster Kane gets his life, and ultimately his childhood, signed away by his parents. The scene is typical of Toland’s style: using light and shadow to create separate and defined spatial planes in the frame using a “deep” depth of field. This simply means Toland liked to have the entire frame in sharp focus, with each plane separate from the other. By allowing each plane to contain a separate action, the audience could then essentially choose what to pay attention to, effectively creating their own “cut” in their head. The genius of this particular scene is Toland’s use of depth of field. The main action, Kane’s mother signing away his life, is in the foreground. The action happens without a cut, forcing you to watch the entire scene play out in real time. However, the audience is always privy to an in-focus background, the young Kane playing outside, unaware that his life is about to change forever. Because the entire scene is about Kane, Toland gave him a physical presence in the scene equal to that of the action. The scene could have just as easily happened without Kane there, for the information conveyed would have been the same. But Toland understood film as a visual medium, and thus made sure to include the visual of Kane. Without him, yes, the scene would have conveyed the same plot point, but the visual information would have been different. The film would have been different. And despite what the auteur theory may say, without Toland Citizen Kane would have been very different.

But don’t take my word for it. Takes Welles. After all, he is the one who insisted he share a title card with Toland. Something no director had ever done before.

end

Although nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography in 1941, Toland lost to Arthur C. Miller for his work on John Ford’s How Green was My Valley. The same film that would beat out Citizen Kane for that Oscar Gold.  Needless to say, history remembers one far better than other.

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A big Thank You to Kellee (@IrishJayhawk66) of Outspoken & Freckled, Paula (@Paula_Guthat) of Paula’s Cinema Club and Aurora (@CitizenScreen) of Once Upon a Screen for hosting this fun 31 Days of Oscar event! There are so many more wonderful Classic Bloggers participating in this event so please be sure to check out the other entries.

–Minoo Allen for Classic Movie Hub

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Classic Movie Trivia: Barry Fitzgerald and the Oscar

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Annmarie Gatti

Did you know?

Barry Fitzgerald was the only actor to ever be nominated for BOTH a Best Actor and a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for the same performance — as Father Fitzgibbon in Going My Way.  He ultimately won for Best Supporting Actor, with the Best Actor Oscar going to Bing Crosby for his performance in the same film as Father Chuck O’Malley.

Barry Fitzgerald Bing Crosby 1944 Oscars for Going My Way

Barry Fitzgerald and Bing Crosby with their Oscars for Going My Way (1944), at the 1945 Academy Awards

All in, Going My Way won seven Oscars:

  1. Best Picture
  2. Best Actor: Bing Crosby
  3. Best Supporting Actor: Barry Fitzgerald
  4. Best Director: Leo McCarey
  5. Best Writing, Original Story: Leo McCarey
  6. Best Writing, Screenplay: Frank Butler and Frank Cavett
  7. Best Music, Original Song: “Swinging on a Star” by Jimmy Van Heusen (music) and Johnny Burke (lyrics)

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–Annmarie Gatti for Classic Movie Hub

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Classic Movie Coincidence: John Carradine, Tim Holt and Red Buttons

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Annmarie Gatti

 

John Carradine, Tim Holt and Red Buttons share a birthday and a film (well, sort of):

John Carradine and Tim Holt both starred in the John Ford classic, Stagecoach (1939) — and both Carradine and Holt were born today February 5 (13 years apart!).  Red Buttons appeared in the 1966 remake of the film (also called Stagecoach) — and Buttons shares the same exact birthdate (Feb 5, 1919) with Tim Holt who starred in the original 1939 film.

Stagecoach 1933 and 1966 films

John Carradine was born  Richmond Reed Carradine on February 5, 1906 in New York City.  Tim Holt was born Charles John Holt III on February 5, 1919 in Beverly Hills, CA. Red Buttons was born Aaron Chwatt on February 5, 1919 in New York City.

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–Annmarie Gatti for Classic Movie Hub

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31 Days of Oscar Blogathon: Oscar Snubs – Myrna Loy!

Posted on February 1, 2014 by minooallen

 

Never Even Nominated: Myrna Loy

Award season has begun, which means it’s that time of year, again — the time when the below meme makes its way across the far reaches of the Internet.

LEO

Leonardo DiCaprio every Oscar night.

Yes. Every year film fanatics around the world ponder: Will Leo finally get his Oscar? Or will he be snubbed once again? For all his work, effort, and talent, surely this man should have won SOMETHING by now? That’s how awards work, right? Well, not really. Oscar snubs for talented artists have existed since the creation of the award. And in my opinion there is no bigger snub than that of Myrna Loy.

loy 2Just be happy you were even nominated Leo.

Although there have been many notable snubs in the past, no one has been snubbed quite like Myrna. You see, for all her tremendous work, for all her wonderful performances, and for all her popularity, Loy was never nominated for an Academy Award. Not a single one. When I discovered this little factoid, I was in shock. I thought for sure the woman who created a character as memorable and iconic as Nora Charles would have received some formal recognition for it.

What drew to me Loy’s performances was how natural they seemed. Loy floated with such grace and poise across the screen, it was as if she wasn’t even trying; she was just BEING.  When I learned that she had no formal training in the theatre, it all made sense to me. Learning to convey on a film-set rather than a theatrical stage, Loy understood how the subtlest of movements and gestures would be captured by the camera. While the theatre used broad strokes and big gestures to create dynamic performances, those same gestures could look forced and unrealistic on the screen. When Loy was on-screen, nothing seemed forced; nothing seemed ‘big’ because it wasn’t. It didn’t need to be, and Loy understood that. And no other film demonstrated this more than William Wyler’s The Best Years of Our Lives.

byoolivesThe Best Years of Our Lives (1946 William Wyler, director)

Of all Loy’s great and naturalistic performances, The Best Years of Our Lives is by far the best. In the film Loy plays her signature role: America’s perfect wife. Specifically, she plays Milly Stephenson, the wife of returning WWII veteran Al Stephenson (Fredric March). And, although once again playing ‘the perfect wife,’ there is an added depth to her character; an added uncertainty that was missing in her previous roles. Although tremendously happy and relieved to see that her husband has returned from war safe and intact, Milly also understands that the war has had an effect on him. The scene that best demonstrates this is when she is putting her now happily inebriated husband to bed. She lays him down…she stares at him with a mixture of relief, happiness and melancholy. And then there’s her body language — both at once eager to touch him, hold him…but also hesitant to do so. The man has just returned from war. How does this change their interaction, their relationship — and how has this changed him? The fact that Loy wasn’t even nominated for this touching, poignant and truthful performance is certainly one of the Oscars’ biggest snubs.

loy

Myrna Loy and Fredric March in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946 William Wyler, director)

Of course there are many excuses as to why she wasn’t nominated. In 1946, Loy was an extremely popular actress but the role she played in the film was a supporting one. So essentially she was too popular for “Supporting Actress,” but her role wasn’t large enough to even be remotely be called “Leading.” Loy’s performance was stuck in a weird political limbo and, as a result, she wasn’t even nominated. She did, however, eventually receive an Honorary Oscar in 1991 ‘in recognition of her extraordinary qualities both on screen and off, with appreciation for a lifetime’s worth of indelible performances.’ She accepted her Oscar from her New York City apartment, with a short, humble, but truthful statement — “You have made me very happy. Thank you very much.”

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A big Thank You to Kellee (@IrishJayhawk66) of Outspoken & Freckled, Paula (@Paula_Guthat) of Paula’s Cinema Club and Aurora (@CitizenScreen) of Once Upon a Screen for hosting this fun 31 Days of Oscar event! There are so many more wonderful Classic Bloggers participating in this event so please be sure to check out the other entries.

–Minoo Allen for Classic Movie Hub 

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TCM’s 31 Days of Oscar: CMH Picks for Week One (Feb 1)

Posted on February 1, 2014 by minooallen

 

Turner Classic Movies: 31 Days of Oscar

CMH Picks: Week One

It’s every Movies Lovers’ favorite time of year: Awards Season — when Hollywood’s most ambitious and artistic films are hoping for that Oscar gold. And if you’re a classic movie fan, then you even have more to be happy about: TCM’s 31 Days of Oscar programming event. During the entire month of February (spilling into March), TCM celebrates the Academy Awards by airing nothing but Oscar nominated/winning films. And, as I am sure you already deduced, this means there are A LOT of good films airing this month – and not nearly enough time to watch them all. So, how will you ever decide what to watch? Well, since we here at CMH believe in civil service, we thought we’d do our duty by doing some of the thinking for you. In fact, we already have given it a good deal of thought, and although there were some tough choices to make, we’ve picked what we consider to be the best of the batch for each day of the event. So, without further ado, here is this week’s picks:

Saturday, February 1: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington at 3:45PM EST
1 Win: Best Writing, Original Story Oscar 1940

mr_smith_goes_to_washington“Either I’m dead right, or I’m crazy!” – Mr. Smith standing up for what he believes in.

Many times a film fills a collective social need. During the depression, musicals were the ‘escape’ that many Americans needed. After World War II, film-noir represented the reality of post-war disillusionment. And right now, whatever side of the political fence you may or may not be on, I think we can all safely admit that world politics is a bleak looking place. Sometimes we just need to believe that there is still some moral and social justice in politics and that our leaders have the people’s best interest in mind. Sometimes, we just need Jimmy Stewart to show us that it’s going to be OK.

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Sunday, February 2: The Lost Weekend at 8:00PM EST
4 Wins: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Writing Screenplay 1946

The.Lost.Weekend

Ray Milland in the throes of addiction.

Winner of four Academy Awards, The Lost Weekend is Hollywood’s first attempt at showing the devastating effects of alcoholism.  The film’s plot is simple: we follow Don Birnan (Ray Milland) down his four-day alcoholic binge. And with that simple story we get one of Hollywood’s most brutal demonstrations of the struggles of addiction.

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Monday, February 3: Mildred Pierce at 7:00AM EST
1 Win: Best Actress 1946

Mildred Pierce_02

“You look down on me, because I work for a living. Don’t you.”- Oh, how that line breaks me.

Film-noir, family drama, and Joan Crawford all rolled into one little delectable slice of heaven. Made during the rise of post-war disillusionment, this film questions the nature of human morality and the family unit, asking the tough question: Is family certain?  The film was nominated for six Academy awards with Joan Crawford taking home the Oscar gold.

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Tuesday February 4: The Battle for Algiers at 1:45PM EST
3 Nominations: Best Foreign Language Film 1967, Best Director and Best Writing Story and Screenplay (Written Directly for the Screen) 1969

the battle for algiersStill from the French Legion parade.

The Battle for Algiers is a 1966 war film that shows the Algerian revolution from both the French and Algerian perspectives. The film used various techniques to make the film look like a documentary or newsreel, and used non-professional actors who lived through the revolution to make the film as true-to-live as possible. The results were an amazingly powerful fiction film that felt and looked like a documentary, successfully fooling many Americans to believe it was.

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Wednesday February 5: The Best Years of Our Lives at 8:00PM EST
7 Wins: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Director, Best Writing Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Music Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture

best years of our livesPay particular close attention to this scene. Cinematographer Greg Toland’s artistry shines.

This is truly one of post-WWII America’s most important films. I have written papers and taught classes on the significance, both thematically and artistically, of this film.  Since I don’t have space to do so in this post, I will say this: pay attention to the cinematography of Greg Toland. In a film were everything is excellent, it’s truly amazing that the camerawork should stick out, but it does.

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Thursday, February 6: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at 8:00PM EST
5 Wins: Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematography Black-and-White, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration Black-and-White, Best Costume Design Black-and-White 1967

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf

Well, this picture sure sums up a lot.

Academics, booze, and broken self-delusions; who would have thought a movie with those things front-and-center could be so funny. Yes, the film is filled with the darker themes of personal dissatisfaction, alcohol, power and the ultimate absurdity of life, but it also offers the audience the coping mechanism of humor; the same mechanism used by the film’s leads Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. What makes the film so tragic, though, is that when the humor is taken away — the cold hard truth is laid bare for both the characters and audience to see.

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Friday February 7: The Search at 2:00PM EST
1 Win: Best Writing Motion Picture Story

the searchMonty discovering the young boy’s past in a concentration camp.

A joint production from The United States and Switzerland, this film follows a 9-year old Auschwitz survivor as he is found and cared for by American GI, Montgomery Clift. The film was shot in the ruins of post-war Europe, showing the devastation that occurred during and after the war. The film also marked Montgomery Clift’s debut, for which he was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar.

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Minoo Allen for Classic Movie Hub

 

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Classic Movie Coincidence: Clark Gable and Michael Kanin

Posted on February 1, 2014 by Annmarie Gatti

 

Clark Gable and Michael Kanin share a birthday and a film:

Michael Kanin co-wrote the story for Teacher’s Pet which starred Clark Gable — both Kanin and Gable were born today February 1 (9 yrs apart!).

Clark Gable and Doris Day in Teacher's Pet 1958

Clark Gable and Doris Day in Teacher’s Pet (1958, director George Seaton)

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Writers Michael and Fay Kanin

Teacher’s Pet co-writers Michael Kanin and his wife Fay Kanin.

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Clark Gable was born on in Cadiz, Ohio, and Michael Kanin was born on  in Rochester, New York.

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–Annmarie Gatti for Classic Movie Hub

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Musicals 101 (Part Seven): The Freed Unit

Posted on January 25, 2014 by minooallen

 

The Freed Unit: MGM Musicals, the Evolution of Integration.

There’s a saying you might know – it’s pretty popular among classic film buffs, and it goes a little something like this  “MGM has more stars than there are in heaven.” Well, I’m not here to argue whether that statement is true or not. I’m just here to tell you about a man who recruited many of those stars, and in the process created his own musical heaven. I am to tell you about Arthur Freed and what is now know as the Freed Unit. The unit was comprised of some of the most notable musical stars of the era, and produced some of the genre’s most memorable and innovative films such as On The Town, An American in Paris, Meet Me in St. Louis and The Band Wagon.

Members of the Freed Unit with their Oscar for the Gigi. Pictured: Maurice Chevalier,  Arthur Freed , Frederick Loewe , Alan Jay Lerner and Vincente Minnelli .

Arthur Freed was a songwriter based in Chicago who managed to capture the attention of MGM studios. After working on The Wizard of Oz as an associate Producer, he was promoted to head of his own division, where he concentrated on revitalizing the now stale genre of the movie musical. His job as division head was to assemble a team of the best that New York Theatre had to offer. He would end up buying a one-way, cross-country plane ticket for Broadway talents such as directors Vincent Minnelli and Charles Walters, vocal couch Kaye Thompson, song writing duo Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and a slew of on-stage talents such as Zero Mostel, June Allyson and Nancy Walker. He then carefully nurtured the careers of stars such as Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen, Lena Horne — and convinced an old favorite, Fred Astaire, to come out of retirement for the film Easter Parade.

Judy Garland and Fred Astaire in Easter Parade. (1948, director  Charles Walters)

What allowed the Freed Unit to blossom was the unprecedented freedom MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer gave the division. Given the freedom to act independently from the studio, Freed allowed his unit full creative control of their respective departments. With virtual free rein over the studio, directors and choreographers pushed the limits of the film form with numbers such as the 15-minute ballet that ends An American in Paris and Astaire’s famed Dancing on the Ceiling in Royal Wedding.

We have Arthur Freed to thank for this piece of beauty. An American in Paris. (1951, director Vincent Minnelli)

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Minoo Allen for Classic Movie Hub

For more articles in this series:

Musicals 101 (Part One): An Introduction

Musicals 101 (Part Two): Integrated vs. Backstage Musicals

Musicals 101 (Part Three): Analyze the Dance, Part 1: Progression Integrated

Musicals 101 (Part Four): Analyze the Dance. Part 2: The Spectacle

Musicals 101 (Part Five): Busby Berkeley

Musicals 101 (Part Six): Fred and Ginger

 

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Just Announced: TCM Classic Film Festival to Honor Jerry Lewis

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Annmarie Gatti

Just Announced: Turner Classic Movies to Honor Legend Jerry Lewis at 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival!

Jerry Lewis

The 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival will honor legendary actor, filmmaker and humanitarian Jerry Lewis with a multi-tiered celebration of his remarkable career. Highlighting the tribute, Lewis will have his hand and footprints enshrined in concrete on Saturday, April 12 in front of the world-famous TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX. Following the hand and footprint ceremony, Lewis will attend a screening of his comedy hit The Nutty Professor (1963), which he also directed. As a special prelude to the film, Lewis will join award-winning actress Illeana Douglas on-stage for an interview about his extraordinary career, as well as about the making of the movie. After The Nutty Professor, Lewis will stick around to answer questions from the audience.

The Nutty Professor starring Jerry Lewis

“Jerry Lewis is a very important name whenever movie comedy is discussed and enjoyed,” said TCM host Robert Osborne, who also serves as the official host of the TCM Classic Film Festival. “Jerry has provided the world with great merriment and laughter, while also showing, in such films as Martin Scorsese’s The King of Comedy, what an exceptional dramatic actor he can be. Add to that his many credits as a popular director, producer and writer, and you see the reasons we are pleased to be able to honor him for his more than 60 years of contributions to the world of motion pictures.”

Marking its fifth year, the TCM Classic Film Festival will take place April 10-13, 2014, in Hollywood. The festival will coincide with TCM’s 20th anniversary as a leading authority in classic film.

TCM Classic Film Festival 2014

In addition to Lewis, this year’s TCM Classic Film Festival will pay tribute to Quincy Jones, who will appear at multiple events during the festival, including a 50th anniversary screening of Sidney Lumet’s powerful drama The Pawnbroker (1964), which marked Jones’ debut as a film composer. Other previously announced events during this year’s festival include a screening of the recently restored Gone with the Wind (1939) and a presentation of The Wizard of Oz (1939) in its stunning new IMAX® 3D format. The festival will also include three world premiere restorations: Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity (1944), which will be celebrating its 70th anniversary; Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil (1958); and William Wyler’s Best Picture Oscar® winner The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) — and a screening of the Harold Lloyd comedy classic Why Worry? (1923), with legendary silent-film composer Carl Davis conducting the live world premiere performance of his new original score.

Passes for the 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival can be purchased exclusively through the official festival website:  http://www.tcm.com/festival.

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–Annmarie Gatti for Classic Movie Hub

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