Announcing our 2020 Year-Long Partnership with Fathom Events: “TCM Big Screen Classics” Movie Tickets Giveaways!

Posted on January 2, 2020 by Annmarie Gatti

Classic Movie Hub and Fathom Events Partnership Continues!
Year-Long Movie Ticket Giveaways to TCM Big Screen Classics

For the fifth consecutive year, Fathom Events and TCM present TCM Big Screen Classics — a year-long series of 15 movie classics shown on the Big Screen, each accompanied by insightful, specially-produced commentary from favorite TCM hosts. And — CMH is thrilled to say that — also — for the fifth consecutive year — we will be partnering with Fathom Events for our monthly classic movie ticket giveaways.

That said, Classic Movie Hub will be giving away tickets to each of the TCM Big Screen Classics playing throughout 2020. And, just like last year, it will be simple to enter… All you have to do is check back on this Blog every month OR follow us on Twitter at @ClassicMovieHub or on Facebook for our monthly contest announcements. Then complete that month’s entry task, and you will be entered into a random drawing to win a pair of tickets to that month’s movie event! That’s it!

And — if you can’t wait to win tickets, you can purchase them online by visiting FathomEvents.com, or at participating theater box offices.

So, now, as they say, let’s get the show on the road — with a list of the movie events. 

An American in Paris, Jan 19 and 22:Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron sing and dance to the music of George and Ira Gershwin in this winner of six Academy Awards®, including Best Picture.

Love Story, Feb 9 and 12: Harvard Law student Oliver Barrett IV (Ryan O’Neal) and music student Jennifer Cavilleri (Ali MacGraw) share a chemistry they cannot deny – and a love they cannot ignore. Despite their opposite backgrounds, the young couple put their hearts on the line for each other. 

The Color Purple: Feb 23: Academy Award® winner Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover and Oprah Winfrey star in director Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Color Purple.

King Kong, March 15: In the classic adventure that made her a star, Fay Wray plays the beautiful woman who conquers the savage heart of a giant ape.

A League of Their Own, Apr 26, 27 and 29: Big league box office stars Geena Davis, Madonna, Lori Petty and Tom Hanks pitch up as The Rockford Peaches, a brash and ballsy team of tryers with a talent they were never meant to have and the guts to take it all the way!

Airplane!, May 17 and 20: Robert Hays and Julie Hagerty join panicky passengers, inept ground controllers and an inflatable auto-pilot (named “Otto,” of course!) in the disaster-film spoof voted “one of the 10 funniest movies ever made” by the American Film Institute.

The Shining: details to follow.

Annie: June 14 and 17: Director John Houston’s film adaptation of the Broadway smash hit, ANNIE, which in turn was based on the perennial cartoon favorite, Little Orphan Annie. This musical extravaganza features stunning performance by Carol Burnett, Bernadette Peters, Tim Curry and Albert Finney.

Blues Brothers June 28 and July 1: Comedy icons John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd star in the outrageously funny musical comedy The Blues Brothers.

Ghost, July 19 and 22 : One of the most memorable romantic films ever and winner of two Academy Awards®, Sam (Patrick Swayze), living as a ghost, discovers his death wasn’t just a random robbery gone bad. 

Babe, Aug 9 and 12: Academy Award® winner and Best Picture nominee, Babe is the inspirational story of a shy Yorkshire piglet who doesn’t quite know his place in the world.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Sept 13, 14 and 17: Richard Dreyfuss stars as cable worker Roy Neary, who along with several other stunned bystanders experience a close encounter of the first kind – witnessing UFOs soaring across the sky. After this life-changing event, the inexplicable vision of a strange, mountain-like formation haunts him.

Psycho, Oct 11 and 12: Join the Master of Suspense on a chilling journey as an unsuspecting victim (Janet Leigh) visits the Bates Motel and falls prey to one of cinema’s most notorious psychopaths – Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins).

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Nov 8 and 9: A feisty misfit sent to a mental hospital inspires his fellow patients to assert themselves, much to the chagrin of the strong-willed head nurse, who turns out to be more dangerous than any of the inmates. Based on the novel by Ken Kesey and the play by Dale Wasserman.

Fiddler on the Roof, Dec 13 and 14: Director Norman Jewison offers this uplifting classic about a poor Jewish milkman (Topol) in Czarist Russia who, along with his devoted family, battles financial challenges and growing anti-Semitism within his village.

Please stay tuned for contest announcements throughout the year for your chance(s) to win!

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–Annmarie for Classic Movie Hub

Posted in Fathom Events, Posts by Annmarie Gatti | 5 Comments

Western RoundUp: Noir-Tinged Westerns

Posted on December 28, 2019 by Laura Grieve

Noir-Tinged Westerns

Around this time last year, in a column titled Christmas in the West, I took a look at a pair of Christmas-themed films starring Gene Autry and Roy Rogers.

Alas, there are very few Westerns with a Christmas theme, so this year I’m going to swing in a totally opposite direction, into the bleakness of winter, with a look at “Noir-Tinged Westerns.”

These are darker Westerns than the norm, with a style strongly influenced by the postwar film noir movement. They often have a crime or mystery theme and a hero who is psychologically conflicted or morally ambiguous. Here are a few of my favorite “noir Westerns” of 1947-48, presented in alphabetical order:

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Blood on the Moon (Robert Wise, 1948)

Blood on the Moon starring Robert Mitchum

This is one of my top favorites in this Western subgenre, and it’s sadly underseen as it’s not yet available on DVD in the United States. Fortunately it does turn up occasionally on Turner Classic Movies.

The noir credentials behind Blood on the Moon are strong: It comes from the “House of Noir,” RKO, and was directed by Robert Wise, who the previous year directed Lawrence Tierney and Claire Trevor in one of my very favorite film noir titles, Born to Kill (1947). Blood on the Moon was filmed by Nicholas Musuraca, who did superb work on many film noir titles, including the all-time noir classic Out of the Past (1947). What’s more, Blood on the Moon stars Out of the Past star Robert Mitchum.

Barbara Bel Geddes and Robert Mitchum

Mitchum plays Jim Garry, a “loose rider” (love that term) who finds himself in the middle of a range war. Barbara Bel Geddes is on one side of the battle, with Robert Preston on the other; Bel Geddes plays a spunky gal who’s a good shot, who just might reform the gun-slinging Garry.

As shot by Musuraca, the movie has terrific atmosphere, from the rainstorm which opens the film to a shadowy barroom brawl and moody, cloud-filled skies.

Blood on the Moon Publicity Still

The script by Lillie Hayward was based on a story by Luke Short, whose work inspired other “noirish Westerns,” including Ramrod and Station West, both discussed below. The script puts forth a tough story which veers from heartbreak to humor. One of the best moments has Walter Brennan, who has previously endured an enormous loss, kill a man and then laconically say to a surviving character, “I always wanted to shoot one of you, and he was the handiest.”

The deep supporting cast includes noir legend Charles McGraw, along with Tom Tully and Phyllis Thaxter. ’30s cowboy star Tom Keene also appears in a supporting role; in this later phase of his career, playing small supporting roles, Keene changed his billing name to Richard Powers.

A highly recommended film worth seeking out.

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Pursued (Raoul Walsh, 1948)

Pursued

Robert Mitchum stars again, this time as the psychologically tormented Jeb Rand, who’s troubled by a childhood nightmare he doesn’t really remember; he simply knows something in his earliest years went very wrong.

Jeb was adopted at a young age by Ma Callum (Dame Judith Anderson), and things get a little odd when Jeb falls in love with his adoptive “sister,” Thorley (Teresa Wright). They’re not actually related, of course, and that’s actually the least strange aspect of Jeb’s family life; at one point he must shoot his adoptive brother (John Rodney), and then there’s Ma Callum’s brother-in-law (Dean Jagger) who wants to kill him. But why?

Robert Mitchum and Teresa Wright

The interesting script was written by Wright’s husband, Niven Busch. Mitchum tended to be a deceptively low-key performer, but here his Jeb is positively stoic as he deals with everything thrown his way, including his own wife threatening to shoot him on their wedding night!

Robert Mitchum and Teresa Wright

There’s much to absorb watching this film, from the well-acted, very troubled characters to the mystery to the film’s visual style. Famed cinematographer James Wong Howe does a marvelous job creating the film’s memorable, literally dark look, with many scenes shot at night.

The excellent supporting cast includes Alan Hale Sr. and Harry Carey Jr.

I’ve seen this Warner Bros. film several times and always notice new things, which I feel is one of the marks of a really good movie.

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Ramrod (Andre de Toth, 1947)

Ramrod

Western favorite Joel McCrea stars in Ramrod, which was directed by Andre de Toth. McCrea plays a recovering alcoholic who had fallen into drinking after the deaths of his wife and child. Dave accepts as job as “ramrod” for rancher Connie Dickason (Veronica Lake, who was married to de Toth). Connie is at odds with her father (Charlie Ruggles), who had driven her fiancee out of town, and unknown to Dave she arranges a stampede that kills multiple people.

While McCrea’s Dave has a troubled past, he’s still the straight arrow viewers expect from the actor. Lake’s Connie, on the other hand, is a coldhearted femme fatale who’s only looking out for No. 1 — and thankfully she has a nice comeuppance at movie’s end.

Veronica Lake and Joel McCrea

The great cast also includes Preston Foster as a villainous rancher allied with Connie’s father; Arleen Whelan as the woman who quietly loves Dave; Donald Crisp as the upright sheriff; and best of all, Don DeFore in a scene-stealing role as McCrea’s charming, sexy sidekick. (Yes, Don DeFore! Who knew?!)

Veronica Lake and Joel McCrea

A dozen years later de Toth directed another dark Western, Day of the Outlaw (1959), which I wrote about here last year.

McCrea would likewise go on to star in another noirish Western, Colorado Territory (1949).

Ramrod was distributed by United Artists. It’s another terrific movie whose reputation has grown over the years.

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Station West (Sidney Lanfield, 1948)

Station West

I briefly wrote about Station West here close to a year ago in a column on “Unexpected Western Leads,” but it’s worth looking at this title a little more in this different context.

Station West is another movie from the “house of noir,” RKO. It teams a pair of stars from film noir classics, with Dick Powell (Murder, My Sweet) as an undercover detective and Jane Greer (Out of the Past) as the saloon gal who also proves to be something of a femme fatale. Film noir regular Raymond Burr is also on hand playing a nervous lawyer.

Dick Powell and Jane Greer

Powell’s detective, Lt. John Haven, is on a mission to solve the murders of two soldiers in a frontier town where he’s not entirely sure who he can trust.

In some ways this is the most “noir” of the quartet of films discussed here, having the feel of transporting Powell, Greer, and Burr’s typical film noir characters straight into the Western milieu.

Thanks to Frank Fenton and Winston Miller’s great screenplay, Powell offers up sardonic quips and wisecracks on a par with his earlier role as Philip Marlowe. There’s also a fistfight between Powell and Guinn “Big Boy” Williams which is quite memorable for its realism and brutality; like Marlowe, Powell’s Lt. Haven is smart but also finds himself “worked over” pretty well.

Jane Greer and Dick Powell

Greer gets a chance to sing as the mysterious saloon owner, and there’s also some wonderful singing by Burl Ives which offers commentary on the action. I enjoy noting that while Greer and Ives sang in this film, former musical star Dick Powell did not!

The superb photography was by Harry J. Wild, who had shot Powell’s Murder, My Sweet a few years previously, as well as Powell and Burr’s Pitfall, released the very same year. The scenes with beautiful cloud and rock background formations were filmed by Wild in Sedona, Arizona.

There are a few other titles of this era which could also be described as “noir-tinged.” If anyone would like to recommend a favorite not mentioned above, please feel free to make suggestions in the comments!

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— Laura Grieve for Classic Movie Hub

Laura can be found at her blog, Laura’s Miscellaneous Musings, where she’s been writing about movies since 2005, and on Twitter at @LaurasMiscMovie. A lifelong film fan, Laura loves the classics including Disney, Film Noir, Musicals, and Westerns.  She regularly covers Southern California classic film festivals.  Laura will scribe on all things western at the ‘Western RoundUp’ for CMH.

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Noir Nook: Not So Christmas Noir

Posted on December 21, 2019 by Karen Burroughs Hannsberry

Noir Nook: Not So Christmas Noir

Lady in the Lake (1947) Movie Poster
Lady in the Lake (1947)

In watching the opening of Lady in the Lake (1947), if you didn’t know any better, you’d think that you’re about to take in a lightweight Christmas movie along the lines of It’s a Wonderful Life. You hear an earnest-sounding choir warbling “Jingle Bells,” “The First Noel,” and a medley of other Christmas favorites, and the names of the film’s performers are on cards featuring delightfully vintage holiday scenes.

But this ain’t no Christmas movie, and it’s no lightweight, either. It’s undeniably noir – a fact that becomes clear when the last thing we see at the end of the credits is the shot of a gun.

Lady in the Lake tells a typically complex noir tale of a private detective – Phillip Marlowe – who’s hired by a crime book editor to find her boss’s missing wife. The entire picture is presented in the unique “camera I” method of filming, in which the camera serves as the eyes of director and star Robert Montgomery. In addition to Montgomery, the cast included Audrey Totter as the book editor, Leon Ames as her boss, and Lloyd Nolan as a police detective.

Audrey Totter and Robert Montgomery in Lady in the Lake (1947)
Audrey Totter and Robert Montgomery

In celebration of the holiday season, this month’s Noir Nook serves up some trivial tidbits about this non-Christmas Christmas movie.

  • Robert Montgomery, who plays Marlowe, is only seen on screen as a reflection in mirrors or windows, or in a few scenes when he directly addresses the viewer.
  • The film’s trailer touts the movie as a “revolution innovation in film technique” and “a startling and daring new method of storytelling – a milestone in movie making . . . mysteriously starring Robert Montgomery and YOU!”
  • The movie was based on a 1944 Raymond Chandler novel.
  • Raymond Chandler wrote the original screenplay for the movie, but Montgomery wasn’t satisfied with it and hired writer Steve Fisher to do re-writes. Chandler was unhappy with the changes that Fisher made to his story, but he still demanded a screenplay credit. When he saw the final result, though, Chandler asked that his name be removed from the picture.
  • Incidentally, Steve Fisher wrote the 1941 novel I Wake Up Screaming, and went on to pen the screenplays for several other noirs – Dead Reckoning (1947), I Wouldn’t Be In Your Shoes (1948), and Roadblock (1951).
Robert Montgomery and Lloyd Nolan on set Lady in the Lake (1947)
Robert Montgomery and Lloyd Nolan on set
  • Lady in the Lake was Robert Montgomery’s directorial debut. He’d been wanting to direct for a number of years, and while appearing in They Were Expendable in 1945, he’d filled in when director John Ford fell ill. Montgomery did such a commendable job that the execs at MGM told him that he could pick a script and they’d allow him to be at the helm. He picked Lady in the Lake.
  • The film was Montgomery’s last picture for MGM, where he’d been under contract for nearly 20 years.
  • The reviews for Lady in the Lake were mostly favorable. The film was described in Time as “unusual, effective and clever,” and the critic for the New York Times stated: “You do get into the story and see things pretty much the way the protagonist, Phillip Marlowe does, but you don’t have to suffer the bruises he does. Of course, you don’t get a chance to put your arms around Audrey Totter, either.”
  • The film’s credits list the actress Ellay Mort in the role of Crystal Kingsby – also known as the Lady in the Lake. The credit is an inside joke – the name is the phonetic spelling of the French phrase “elle est morte” or “she is dead.”

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– Karen Burroughs Hannsberry for Classic Movie Hub

You can read all of Karen’s Noir Nook articles here.

Karen Burroughs Hannsberry is the author of the Shadows and Satin blog, which focuses on movies and performers from the film noir and pre-Code eras, and the editor-in-chief of The Dark Pages, a bimonthly newsletter devoted to all things film noir. Karen is also the author of two books on film noir – Femme Noir: The Bad Girls of Film and Bad Boys: The Actors of Film Noir. You can follow Karen on Twitter at @TheDarkPages.
If you’re interested in learning more about Karen’s books, you can read more about them on amazon here:

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Silents are Golden: Six Important Flappers Of The Silent Screen

Posted on December 19, 2019 by Lea Stans

Silents are Golden: 6 Important Flappers Of The Silent Screen

Earlier this year I wrote a column about how youthful “flapper” trends influenced silent films and vice versa. I briefly went over the notable screen flappers, just so you’d get the gist of who was popular. Well, I’ve decided those brief mentions simply aren’t enough–let’s take a closer look at some of the most influential 1920s screen flappers, the bobbed-haired gals who would inspire a generation.

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6. Gladys Walton

Gladys Walton
Gladys Walton

While touring the William S. Hart studio one day in 1919, the teenaged Gladys Walton was asked if she had any interest in appearing in pictures. After talking the matter over with her mother, who thought it sounded like fun, Gladys embarked on a busy and profitable movie career.

The “flapper” as we know her today was just coming into vogue when Gladys entered films. Hardworking and full of bubbly energy, she was a natural fit for screen flappers. Her madcap characters in features like Pink Tights (1920) and The Guttersnipe (1922) earned her the title of “Little Queen of the Flappers.” Universal would capitalize on her popularity in film after film.

They churned out so many films, in fact, that Gladys grew exhausted. After a three-year stretch without a break from filming, she took an impromptu vacation to Hawaii without informing the studio. After this, she would only appear in a few independent productions before retiring from show business to happily focus on raising a family.

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5. Marie Prevost

Marie Prevost
Marie Prevost

Born in Canada and raised in Los Angeles, Marie Prevost became a Sennett Bathing Beauty in 1917. An attractive brunette who was a talented swimmer, she was soon a featured player in Sennett’s comedies, gaining fans with appearances in Hearts and Flowers (1919) and Down on the Farm (1920). She headed to Universal in 1921, where she became one of the earliest actresses to be identified with flapper roles.

A big star of the 1920s, Marie stayed busy in a number of light comedies. By the end of the silent era, she transitioned to talkies but began to have a hard time getting featured roles. Sadly, she became concerned with gaining too much weight and started using extreme diets in an attempt to control it. This, combined with alcoholism, lead to her early death at age 38 in 1937.

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4. Virginia Lee Corbin

Virginia Lee Corbin
Virginia Lee Corbin

Virginia Lee Corbin’s career started when she was only four years old. An angelic-looking, golden-haired youngster (she was a natural brunette but her mother decided she would be blonde), she was an artists’ model for Christmas cards and the like before getting into films. Signing with the Fox Film Company in 1917, she became a major child star, thanks to her “kiddie” roles in Jack and the Beanstalk and the subsequent Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp and The Babes in the Woods, all filmed in 1917.

As she grew older, she took breaks from the screen but made personal appearance tours and acted in vaudeville. As her teen years approached, she started to find a new niche as a “flapper type.” She had a variety of roles in the 1920s but films like Broken Laws (1923) and The Honeymoon Express (1926) were keys to this new “jazz baby” image, culminating in the classic Bare Knees (1927). Of flapper culture, Virginia once said, “It’s not what you wear on your body that counts. It’s what you wear in your head.” Her personal life was unhappy, involving clashes with her mother and a divorce that resulted in separation from her two children, but she had the distinction of being one of the few child stars to successfully transition to adult roles.

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3. Joan Crawford

Joan Crawford

Yes, that Joan Crawford, of the shoulder pad and severe eyebrow fame. While today we know her for roles in films like Mildred Pierce, in the late 1920s she was the embodiment of flapper culture–with a strong emphasis on the Charleston.

Her real name was Lucille LeSueur, and she had an unhappy childhood in a broken family. A talented dancer, when she was a teenager she started working in theater and eventually became a chorus girl in New York City. Looking to break into pictures, she got a five-year contract with MGM and her name was changed to the catchier Joan Crawford (although she thought it sounded like “crawfish”).

Eager to become a star, she gained publicity by performing in Charleston contests. MGM started giving her bigger roles, and her dancing skills shone in Jazz Age features like Our Dancing Daughters (1928). Her marriage to Douglas Fairbanks Jr. also heightened her stature in Hollywood. While she’s known more today for brooding film noir and bitter feuds, it’s fascinating to know that in the 1920s she was the symbol of youthful exhilaration.

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2. Clara Bow

Clara Bow
Clara Bow

Few who knew Clara Bow when she was a tomboy from an impoverished Brooklyn family probably imagined she would become one of Hollywood’s brightest stars. Clara’s family life was tumultuous and she often escaped by going to movies. While a teen, the naturally radiant Clara entered a 1921 Fame and Fortune Contest, which she managed to win. One thing leads to another, and small film roles started coming her way.

Studios started taking notice of her charisma, and she began to be associated with flapper roles. Expressive and sexy, with a touch of wistful sadness, she soon rocketed to stardom in films like The Plastic Age (1925) and It (1927).

Her thriving career was marred by the talkies, which she found very stressful, and growing schizophrenia. She married the thoughtful Rex Bell and had two sons, but toward the end of her life, she had to live apart from them, looked after by a nurse.

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1..Colleen Moore

Colleen Moore
Colleen Moore

Regular readers might remember the buoyant Colleen from my article on her last year. And if you aren’t familiar with her, you should be–she was arguably the biggest embodiment of “flapper culture” in Hollywood. Getting the acting bug at a young age, family connections allowed her to try for a screen test in Chicago, which lead to a modest six-month film contract. When she got off the train in Hollywood, she knew she was home.

Once the contract was up, Colleen pressed on, spending years playing a series of ingenues until hitting upon the role of Pat Fentriss in Flaming Youth (1923). She loved the role and decided she was meant for the “flapper” niche, solidified by her freshly-bobbed hair. Audiences adored Colleen and she starred in hit after jazzy hit, becoming one of the biggest stars of the Roaring Twenties.

By now you might be wondering: Where is Louise Brooks? While she’s considered an icon today, in the 1920s she was not considered a major star. Always cynical of Hollywood, she did her best work with G.W. Pabst in Europe. Fading from the cinema scene by 1940, she was fortunate to be rediscovered by critics in the 1950s. Let’s give Louise a nod.

Louise Brooks
Louise Brooks

I hope you enjoyed this brief overview of these stars–as charming and lively today as they were back in the Jazz Age. Hopefully, they’ll continue to be appreciated for many decades to come.

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–Lea Stans for Classic Movie Hub

You can read all of Lea’s Silents are Golden articles here.

Lea Stans is a born-and-raised Minnesotan with a degree in English and an obsessive interest in the silent film era (which she largely blames on Buster Keaton). In addition to blogging about her passion at her site Silent-ology, she is a columnist for the Silent Film Quarterlyand has also written for The Keaton Chronicle.

Posted in Posts by Lea Stans, Silents are Golden | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Exclusive Interview with Claude Jarman Jr. Part One: The Yearling and Clarence Brown

Posted on December 18, 2019 by Annmarie Gatti

Claude Jarman Jr. Child Star of The Yearling
Talks about The Yearling, Director Clarence Brown and More

CMH is thrilled to say that we’re kicking off a series of exclusive video interviews and articles with Claude Jarman Jr. today. Claude made his feature film debut starring as ‘Jody Baxter’ opposite Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman in the beloved classic film, The Yearling. The film premiered in Los Angeles 73 years ago today on December 18, 1946, so we thought this was a wonderful way to celebrate!

Claude chats with us today about how he was discovered and what it was like filming his debut film with director Clarence Brown. He also shares some personal photos and shows us a very special gift given to him by Clarence Brown and producer Sydney Franklin.

Claude also provided some photos and press clippings from his personal collection (below) — so please enjoy those too!

A Big Thank You to Claude for his time — and for sharing his wonderful memories with us!

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Photos and Clippings from Claude’s Personal Collection:

Claude and his family at the Premiere of The Yearling,  December 18, 1945 – Los Angeles. Claude Jarman Sr. (his dad), Mildred Ann Jarman (his sister), Claude, Mildred Jarman (his mother)

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Cover of the Program for the LA Premiere of The Yearling, 1946

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Page One of the Premiere Program

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Page Two of the Premiere Program

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Newspaper Coverage of The Yearling Premiere in LA

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Press Coverage of the Premiere in the LA TImes

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Press Coverage of the Premiere in the LA TImes

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If you’d like to watch our other classic movie interviews with Claude Jarman Jr. — about The Yearling, High Barbaree and more — click here.

Stay tuned for more from Claude Jarman Jr. over the next few months, including more videos and some guest articles. And, if you want to learn more about Claude’s experiences in Hollywood, you can read his book My Life and the Final Days of Hollywood. It’s delightful and I highly recommend it!

Thanks so much for watching and reading. Hope you enjoyed!

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–Annmarie Gatti for Classic Movie Hub

About Claude Jarman Jr.: Claude Jarman Jr. was discovered in a fifth grade class room in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1945 by film director Clarence Brown, taken to Hollywood where he starred with Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman in THE YEARLING. After receiving an Academy Award for his performance he went on to appear in ten additional films including John Ford’s RIO GRANDE with John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara and also William Faulkner’s story of racial strife in INTRUDER IN THE DUST.

Posted in Child Stars, Interviews, Posts by Annmarie Gatti | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Funny Papers: A Christmas Miracle Comes for Trudy Kockenlocker

Posted on December 17, 2019 by Kellee Pratt

The Funny Papers: A Christmas Miracle Comes for Trudy Kockenlocker

Many a cinephile enjoy debating what films merit the definition for a holiday movie. Ever since Preston Sturges directed The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1944), the controversy surrounding the film was less focused on whether it’s a Christmas movie, but more on the shock that it ever passed the production code under Breen’s watchful eyes.

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944) Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton
Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton star in a holiday screwball

Written and directed by the king of screwball comedies, Preston Sturges, The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1944) is a silly, madcap twist on a wartime immaculate conception like a Mayberry vision of the Hollywood Canteen crossed with the birth of baby Jesus. Well, not exactly.

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944) Betty Hutton, William Demarest, Diana Lynn
Hutton, Demarest, and Lynn make for a silly, slapstick trio.

Betty Hutton portrays Trudy Kockenlocker a small-town girl with a big, patriotic heart for soldiers going off to World War 2. Eddie Bracken is Norval Jones, the nervous, klutzy fella-next-door who has always been in love with her. Trudy is the prettiest gal in town who charms with a sweet disposition, high octane energy that thumps like a snare drum, and emotions ready to bubble up at the drop of a hat. Trudy’s family includes her fourteen-year-old sister Emmy (Diana Lynn) who is mature beyond her years, level-headed. and dry-humored and her overly strict cop dad, Constable Kockenlocker (William Demarest). There are many character roles of note that frequently pop up, including Brian Donlevy (as “Gov. McGinty”) and Akim Tamiroff (“the Boss”), reprising their roles from Preston Sturges’s The Great McGinty (1940).

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944) Betty Hutton Eddie Bracken ride
Trudy takes Norval’s car for a ride that forever changes both their lives.

After Trudy convinces Norval to go solo on their date so she can sneak away to entertain the deploying troops at a dance, what she believes to be her patriotic duty, things don’t exactly go as planned. At the dance, she drinks spiked lemonade and receives a head injury on a mirrored ball while dancing with a constant stream of dancing soldiers. Trudy meets up with Norval at eight o’clock in the morning with an intoxicated glow and a very foggy memory of the night’s events. Norval gets her home and takes the heat, despite his complete lack of any wrongdoing.

Confiding privately to her little sister, Trudy reveals a wedding ring with a vague memory of giving pseudonyms for a marriage ceremony. She admits she has no memory of who her ‘husband’ actually is. Sure enough, Trudy and Emmy visit both the town doctor and attorney to reveal that Trudy’s pregnant, and with no clue or recourse of what to do next. Emmy is confident that Trudy must marry Norval immediately to hide this secret.

Emmy (on Papa’s reactions): “He won’t say much, he’ll just shoot Norval so full of holes he’ll look like a swiss cheese.”

Emmy (on how Norval fits into this): “He brought you home at 8 o’clock in the morning, didn’t he? He fits in like a skin on a wienie.” (On Norval’s suitability to marriage) “He was made for it. Like the ox was made to eat, and the grape was made to drink. I’ll get you the swiss on rye.” 

Porter Hall, Betty Hutton, and Eddie Bracken hilariously stammer through an elopement. The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944)
Porter Hall, Betty Hutton, and Eddie Bracken hilariously stammer through an elopement.

As Trudy tries her best to recall her mystery husband, all she can remember is that his last name was something ending in a “z” or “ski”, like “Private Ratzky-Watzky.” Things grow more chaotic and screwy from there, as Norval and Trudy attempt to elope. In a hilarious scene of nerve-wracked nuptials, Betty Hutton and Eddie Bracken stutter and stammer through this scene like none ever witnessed on the big screen. Their covert attempt to salvage Trudy’s reputation is interrupted with a bevy of various law enforcement that results in Norval being taken to jail. Equally funny is the scene where Constable Kockenlocker helps him break out of jail and into a bank. Needless to say, everything goes all haywire.

You may be asking yourself by now, where does this film become a Christmas movie? Everything gets resolved on Christmas day when Trudy- and Norval, by proxy- become parents, in the most extraordinary way that becomes a world-wide event. Even Hitler himself becomes rattled. For the sake of those who haven’t seen this screwball delight, I’ll keep some details and the ending our little secret.

No one is safe from satire in this classic slapstick. This film mocks motherhood, marriage, shotgun weddings, small towns, the criminal justice system, law enforcement, unrealistic and repressive societal morality codes, and, frankly, pretty much everything.

If you pause to think about it, it’s not exactly the most flattering view of our servicemen going off to war. I’m still amazed this passed the censors in 1944. Consider the portrayal of the mystery military serviceman- who essentially took advantage of a girl (who was either loopy from spiked lemonade and/or a concussion from a disco ball- regardless she was not in her right head), then marries her after he suggested doing so under phony names. To recap, our Ratsky-Watsky gave false names for a fast wedding to a compromised young woman that he just met that night, which results in pregnancy, knowing he was shipping off to war the next morning and made no attempt to contact her or leave even a note, let alone a copy of the marriage certificate. The film simply assumes they’ll never see this soldier again, which is hardly a vote of confidence that he ever had any decent intentions. Trudy’s limited memory only recalls his name as “Ratzky Watzky” and the fact that his name begins with “rat” doesn’t seem like merely a coincidence.

Meanwhile, nervous Norval’s inability to serve his country is explained as an extreme case of anxiety-driven nerves and hypertension, where he envisions ”spots” every time he attempts to sign up. He’s a jumpy, bundle of overly-excited energy. And yet, not only does he consistently do the honorable thing at every turn, he stands up for Trudy no matter what. He displays the most clear-headed, calm confidence when defending his love for Trudy. Despite his frequent fears, Norval faces them, time and time again. Ultimately and unexpectantly, he’s the cowardly lion that turns out to possess more courage than them all.  

Norval (dancing around the topic of marriage on the porch): “Can’t expect a girl to see much in a civilian, these days. Even an unwilling civilian. If they had uniforms for them, it might be a little different.” 

If anything, this film seems to be championing the unsung heroes of the war. Who is braver? The one in the uniform who goes off to war but lacks honor back home? Or the men and women who must continue forging onward back home but exhibit their honor and bravery without a uniform? I don’t think The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1944) is actually suggesting all soldiers were engaging in dishonorable send-offs or lacked integrity as a whole. In fairness, we never meet the mystery GI so his side of the story is impossible to assume.

This is an all-out, belly-laughing, screwball comedy, after all; not a societal morality bellwether. But, to this day, I find it to be a startling surprise in the Hays Code annals of golden Hollywood history. If you’re a fan of screwball classics like Sullivan’s Travels (1941) and The Palm Beach Story (1942), I think you’ll really enjoy Preston Sturges’s The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek, especially during the holidays.           

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–Kellee Pratt for Classic Movie Hub

You can read all of Kellee’s Funny Paper articles here.

When not performing marketing as her day gig, Kellee Pratt teaches classic film courses in her college town in Kansas (Film Noir, Screwball Comedy, Hitchcock, Billy Wilder and more). She’s worked for Turner Classic Movies as a Social Producer and TCM Ambassador (2019). Unapologetic social butterfly, she’s an active tweetaholic/original alum for #TCMParty, member of the CMBA, and busy mom of four kids and 3 fur babies. You can follow Kellee on twitter at @IrishJayhawk66 or her own blog, Outspoken & Freckled (kelleepratt.com). 

 

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Monsters and Matinees: B-Movie or Kids’ Film? ‘Santa Claus Conquers the Martians’ is Both

Posted on December 14, 2019 by Toni Ruberto

B Movie or Kids’ Film?
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians is Both

This is tough to admit, but sometimes horror and sci-fi B-movies don’t have a particularly scary monster. Sometimes, they are just … bizarre.

That’s true in Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. Until I saw this infamous 1964 B-movie, I equated Martians with that creepy three-fingered hand with suction-cup tips on aliens in George Pal’s The War of the Worlds.

But in SCCM, the Martians wear green tights, matching capes and a football helmet with weird metal protrusions that give the appearance of a Halloween costume gone wrong. I can deal with that.

Wouldn’t you be grumpy like Voldar (Vincent Beck) if you had to wear that outfit? That’s probably why he doesn’t want Santa Claus (John Call) and his holiday cheer on Mars in Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.

SCCM is the seasonal equivalent of Plan 9 From Outer Space. Both were made with little money (and look it), both were panned on their release, yet both have persevered to gain “legendary” status as cult classics.

It almost didn’t happen, though, until SCCM was pulled from obscurity with an appearance on The Canned Film Festival, a 1986 late-night TV series, and the Mystery Science Theatre 3,000 Christmas special in 1991. In 2011, it “won” a Fandango poll when it topped the list of the 10 worst Christmas movies.

Since then, the movie is frequently shown around the country and has had multiple stage versions, including a recent one in Denver. And why not? In a time when holiday fare has the same “boy/girl meet in a small town and discover the meaning of Christmas,” a strange sci-fi seasonal film just might provide some holiday cheer – unusual as it may be. Let’s start with the story.

…..

Martian parents are worried. Their kids are depressed. They’ve lost their appetites, don’t rest without sleep spray, and blankly stare for hours at the “video set.” (Ah, too much screen time is not just a problem on Earth.)

Like all Martian children, King Kimar’s kids are glued to KID-TV, broadcasting Santa Claus from the North Pole all the way to Mars. That’s Pia Zadora at right as young Girmar.

Even King Kimar (Leonard Hicks), the Martian leader, is having trouble with his son (Bomar) and daughter (Girmar) who binge-watch “ridiculous Earth programs” broadcast from KID-TV where it’s Santa Claus all the time. (Note the cleverness of “mar” for Martians in their names: Kimar for King Martian, Bomar for Boy Martin and Girmar for Girl Martian.)

The king and his council seek advice from the 800-year-old wise one who identifies the problem immediately: the Martian kids were never kids! They never played, laughed or had fun. So while Earth children are joyfully anticipating Santa’s arrival, the kids on Mars are pouting and asking questions like “What’s a doll” and “What’s tender loving care?”

Martian kids see Santa Claus show off his Martian toys in a broadcast from Earth’s KID-TV.

So what’s a Martian King to do? Kidnap Santa Claus to bring holiday cheer to Mars, of course.

But not everyone is into the idea – namely council member Voldar (he has a handlebar mustache, so we know he’s evil).

“All this trouble over a fat little man in a red suit,” Voldar grumbles.

Wait until he sees all the fat little men in red suits on Earth. Who is the real Santa? Well, little Earthlings, Billy and Betty can help with that, especially if it involves a trip to the North Pole.

Martians, led by King Kimar, center, stumble upon Billy and Betty on Earth. Although the king is kind, Voldar (left) has other plans for Santa and the kids.

But these kids quickly realize Voldar has it in for them. And once the Martians find Santa (who charms their most evil weapon, Torg, a tin foil robot, they’re all on a road trip to Mars for equal doses of peril, laughs and weirdness.

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Santa Claus Conquers the Martians sprung from the imagination of producer and writer Paul Jacobson who wanted to create family entertainment. He later called it “a yuletide science-fiction fantasy.” I don’t know how the film played on its original release since it’s such a mish-mash of oddities. Most of the Martians are kind, but there are children in peril scenes, which are always uncomfortable at best – even if it involves an attacking polar bear who is clearly just a guy in a furry suit.

Our villain Voldar is a bit goofy despite trying to kill Santa and the kids (there’s that peril again). When he leads a group to sabotage Santa’s factory and stop the “toy nonsense,” it plays out like a comedy bit with The Three Stooges.

The first meeting between the Earth kids and their frowny Martian counterparts doesn’t go as well as the cheerful King hoped. Luckily, Santa is about to make an appearance.

But I do love the excitable script that is packed with statements that demand an exclamation point: “Something is happening to the children of Mars!” …. “We need Santa Claus on Mars!”… “Now you belong to Mars!”

How does Santa Claus conquer the Martians? Let’s just say the big finale isn’t as much a battle for survival as it is a kids’ fight with bubbles. Terrifying? No. High drama? Not even close. But is it a Yuletide science-fiction fantasy B-movie? Absolutely.

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Trivia

  • This was the first film to feature Mrs. Claus.
  • The Martian King’s daughter, Girmar, was played by 8-year-old Pia Zadora – best remembered as the Golden Globe winner for the incest film Butterfly.
  • The wonderful actor playing Santa Claus is John Call, who was appearing on Broadway in Oliver!
  • It’s widely reported that SCCM used the same military stock footage seen in the opening of Dr. Strangelove.

* * * * *

One last note. If you’ve seen Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, you’ll notice it bears more than a striking resemblance to SCCM (although Nightmare is far superior in all ways). Both have a leader (King Kimar on Mars, Jack Skellington in Halloweentown) who wants to do good by his people. Each kidnaps Santa Claus (pronounced Santy Claus on Mars, Sandy Claws in Halloween Town) to bring Christmas home with disastrous results. Each film has a ridiculously catchy theme song, too. I can’t help but think that Burton has seen SCCM and it influenced his creativity in some way.

Where to watch SCCM

It’s available for sale; to rent on such services such as Google Play and iTunes; and to stream on Amazon Prime.

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–Toni Ruberto for Classic Movie Hub

Toni Ruberto, born and raised in Buffalo, N.Y., is an editor and writer at The Buffalo News. She shares her love for classic movies in her blog, Watching Forever. Toni was the president of the former Buffalo chapter of TCM Backlot and now leads the offshoot group, Buffalo Classic Movie Buffs. She is proud to have put Buffalo and its glorious old movie palaces in the spotlight as the inaugural winner of the TCM in Your Hometown contest. You can find Toni on Twitter at @toniruberto.

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The Bridge on the River Kwai: Honor, Duty, and Madness

Posted on December 14, 2019 by Annmarie Gatti

The Bridge on the River Kwai: Honor, Duty and Madness – an Unforgettable Film even 62 Years Later…

In honor of the anniversary of the US theatrical release of The Bridge on the River Kwai on December 14, 1957, a mere 62 years ago today, I am reprinting an article that I wrote for Sony GetTV a few years ago about the film… This movie left such an indelible impression on me, I was compelled to write about it, and I’d like to share it with you now. If you haven’t seen the film, I strongly recommend it, but brace yourself for a powerful and quite unforgettable film. Here is my article in its entirety, with some images added for good measure…

The Bridge on the River Kwai, winner of 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor (Alec Guinness)

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I’ve been a classic movie fan for as long as I can remember.  Whether watching screwball comedies or romantic dramas with my mother, or learning all about The Marx Brothers, Charlie Chaplin, and W.C. Fields courtesy of my father, some of my fondest childhood memories revolve around enjoying these wonderful films. As time went on, it became second nature for me to watch these films over and over again. I sought out new classics to enjoy, but it was only on rare occasion when I would step out of my genre ‘comfort zone’ and purposely watch a war film.

That said, I distinctly remember the first time I watched The Bridge On The River Kwai. It just so happened to be on television one night as I was flipping through the channels, so I dutifully decided to watch it for no other reason than to simply cross if off the list of movies that I hadn’t seen yet. I was fully aware of the film’s reputation and accolades, so I was relatively sure that I’d appreciate it in some capacity – but I really wasn’t prepared at all for the impact it would have on me. It’s hard for me to put it into words except to say that I still think about the conflicts and implications of the film, and I was absolutely stunned by the unfolding of the final events. Perhaps The New York Times said it best in their original review of the film on December 19, 1957: “Brilliant is the word, and no other.”

Alec Guinness as Lieutenant Colonel Nicholson

Directed by the now-legendary David Lean, The Bridge On The River Kwai is an epic WWII war film starring Alec Guinness, Sessue Hayakawa, and William Holden. The 1957 movie was adapted from the 1952 best-selling novel Le Pont de la Riviere Kwai by Pierre Boulle, which, although largely fictitious, was based on Boulle’s own war experiences. It also pulls historical context from the construction of the POW-built 1942-43 Burma-Siam railway.

The film is set in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Burma (filmed in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka) where camp commandant Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa) and newly-arrived prisoner, British officer Lieutenant Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness), clash over Saito’s insistence that POW officers work as laborers to build a railway bridge. This begins an intense battle of wills that ultimately leads to an ironic outcome as Nicholson tasks himself and his men (officers included) with building the bridge – not only a bridge, but a ‘proper bridge’ – to raise morale and showcase British superiority to the Japanese. Meanwhile, American prisoner Commander Shears (William Holden) manages to escape the un-escapable camp, but is later coerced into joining a British-led commando team that must return to the camp and destroy the bridge. Now, I don’t want to spoil the ending of this exquisite and powerful film for you, so I’ll just say that the iconic last line of the movie captures it all: “Madness! Madness!”

Sessue Hayakawa as camp commandant Colonel Saito

So what is it that draws me to this film? Yes, it’s the masterful direction of David Lean. Yes, it’s the dynamic performances of the stellar cast. Yes, it’s the beautiful cinematography. Yes, it’s the scale and scope of it all. And, yes, it’s even more. But what really sets this film apart for me is the tremendous battle of wills that plays out between Saito and Nicholson. Each man is bound by a strict moral code of honor and duty that compels him to win at all costs. If Saito fails to complete the bridge on time, he is bound to perform ritual suicide; Nicholson would rather risk death than yield to Saito’s commands which violate wartime law. And, although Saito and Nicholson are stubbornly and diametrically opposed, they are essentially operating under the same code of honor. As the conflict evolves, honor and duty are again taken to extremes as Nicholson becomes obsessed with building the bridge as a testament to British ingenuity – seemingly oblivious to the fact that he will now be aiding the enemy, a potentially treasonous act. It is this dynamic that makes me wonder… Is it honor and duty that eventually drive these men to ‘madness’? Or is it honor and duty that help these men stay sane under extreme and extraordinary circumstances? How could I not thoroughly enjoy a movie that can immerse me in questions like these?

Hayakawa and Guinness are each magnificent in their roles. Although playing disciplined and unyielding officers, their performances are laced with nuances that allow us to understand and appreciate their characters’ mindsets, dilemmas, and subsequent choices, painting compelling portraits of honor and duty that are inherently and tragically flawed.

William Holden as Commander Shears

Box office draw William Holden plays the cynical but pragmatic Shears whose storyline adds an action/adventure aspect to the film and, more importantly, provides the ultimate conflict that propels us to the spectacularly ‘mad’ finale of the film. 

David Lean, Alec Guinness, Sessue Hayakawa on set of The Bridge on the River Kwai

The Bridge On The River Kwai was the first of David Lean’s five epic films and the third of six movies that he made with Alec Guinness. It was released in the US on December 14, 1957, taking in a reported $17M+, which made it the highest-grossing film of 1957.  It was nominated for eight Academy Awards, wining seven — including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Alec Guinness), Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, and Best Music, Scoring. It won Best Screenplay for author Pierre Boulle, although the actual screenwriters were Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson who unfortunately were blacklisted at the time; however, they were both awarded their Oscars posthumously in December 1984 and their screenwriting credits were restored by the WGA in 2000. Sessue Hayakawa received his only Academy Award nomination for this film (for Best Supporting Actor), but lost out to Red Buttons for Sayonara.  In 1997, the film was inducted into the National Film Registry by the US Library of Congress.

As much as I love this film, I am sure I am grossly understating its impact on film history and artistry. I will simply sum things up by, once again, quoting that New York Times review (and I couldn’t agree more): “Here is a film we guarantee you’ll not forget.”

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–Annmarie Gatti for Classic Movie Hub

PS: I would be remiss if I didn’t add this gif from the iconic ending scene…

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Silver Screen Standards: The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)

Posted on December 10, 2019 by Jennifer Garlen

Silver Screen Standards: The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)

Our new house got a surprise addition last month when a neighbor showed up with a little stray kitten in her arms. Mojo Jinx Mephisto is now an official member of the family, bringing the total number of cats up to three, and I spend a lot of time with at least one fuzzy companion asleep on my lap. That gives me ample opportunity to contemplate cats in classic movies, but the one that I think about most is the kitten in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946), a film noir gem starring Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, and Kirk Douglas. Directed by Lewis Milestone, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers is a terrific noir picture with powerful performances from some of the genre’s biggest stars, but its opening stands out for its focus on the childhood of a femme fatale and the process by which she becomes a dangerous woman whose love is both strange and fatal to those around her.

Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, Lizabeth Scott, and newcomer Kirk Douglas star as the adult characters in the 1946 film noir, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers.
Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, Lizabeth Scott, and newcomer Kirk Douglas star as the adult characters in the 1946 film noir, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers.

While Barbara Stanwyck plays the adult Martha through most of the film, Janis Wilson tackles the role of the young Martha during the dramatic opening sequence, in which we first see Martha trying for the fourth time to run away from her wealthy but vindictively cruel aunt (Judith Anderson). Wilson, who only appeared in seven films during her brief acting career, is a provocative choice for the teenaged version of Martha because she looks quite a lot like Judith Anderson, with sharp angles to her face and eyes narrowed in calculation. She’s no angel even at thirteen, but we get enough of her backstory in the opening to understand that Mrs. Ivers has already been hard at work destroying her niece’s innocence and capacity for simple happiness. Mrs. Ivers insults Martha’s parents, saving particular scorn for the penniless young man, Mr. Smith, who married Martha’s mother and carried her away from the Ivers family home. Determined to eliminate every tie between Martha and her dead father, Mrs. Ivers has even had Martha’s surname legally changed to Ivers instead of Smith. It’s no wonder that Martha keeps trying to escape her aunt’s clutches, but the Ivers family is so powerful in Iverstown that only Martha’s young friend, Sam (Darryl Hickman), is brave enough to help her.

Throughout this first act of the story, Martha’s kitten functions as both a plot device and symbol. The film opens with Martha and Sam hiding out on a train as they hatch their latest escape plan, with Martha clutching a tabby kitten named Bundles close to her. Like Martha, the kitten is half-grown, not a cute little ball of fur anymore but clearly so beloved by Martha that she cannot bear to leave it behind. We soon find out that Mrs. Ivers, of course, hates the cat, and Martha has to keep it well away from the vicious old lady. Like Martha’s father and Sam, the cat is viewed by Mrs. Ivers as a worthless interloper, but the cat is also like Sam and the late Mr. Smith because Martha truly loves them. We can read the kitten as a symbolic stand-in for both Martha and her father and friend. It’s inevitable, then, that Mrs. Ivers takes the first opportunity to beat the kitten mercilessly with her cane. The camera doesn’t show us the harm inflicted on the kitten, but we hear Bundles yowling in agony as Mrs. Ivers strikes with an expression of pure hatred on her pinched face.

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) Kitten
Back at her aunt’s house after her latest attempt to run away, Martha holds her beloved kitten while talking to Walter, who might or might not have told the adults where Martha and Sam had gone.

This act of extreme cruelty finally sends Martha over the edge; she snatches the cane from her aunt’s grip and strikes the old woman with it, causing Mrs. Ivers to tumble to her death at the bottom of the stairs. Act One ends with Martha, now the sole heir to the Ivers fortune, freed from her aunt but controlled by her opportunistic tutor, Mr. O’Neil (Roman Bohnen), who helps to cover up the truth about Mrs. Ivers’ death so that he can marry his son, Walter, to Martha and thus gain access to the Ivers wealth.

This opening sequence gives us a lot to ponder about the creation of a femme fatale. At thirteen, Martha is already hardened, manipulative, and rebellious, but she’s still a child capable of deep, pure love for her kitten. Her bad qualities are partly her aunt’s influence making her more like her aunt and partly her attempts to resist that influence. If you’ve ever held a kitten, you know that kittens are curious, contrary, vulnerable, and full of wide-eyed life, very much like an adolescent human. They’re so easily hurt but are recklessly brave in spite of it, eager to experience everything life has to offer. Martha’s kitten embodies those qualities in Martha as well as her ability to love something for its own sake. Mrs. Ivers wants to destroy everything alive and good about Martha, qualities symbolized by the kitten, but Martha’s ultimate act of defiance ironically signals the death of everything Martha was really trying to protect.

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) Martha, Walter, Barbara Stanwyck, Van Helfin
All grown up, Martha has become a destructive femme fatale with a deadly hold over her alcoholic husband, Walter.

For cat lovers like myself, it might be deeply gratifying to see brutal Mrs. Ivers beaten with her own cane – it’s poetic justice, after all – but it seems like Martha is doomed no matter what she does. If she lets the old lady kill her kitten, she loses, but if she strikes back to protect or avenge it, she still loses. That’s the kind of world film-noir presents, where you can’t save your kitten and you can’t save your soul, even if you try. Martha learns that lesson early in life, and it explains her behavior as an adult. Everything she does later stems from that night when seeing her aunt’s cruelty to an innocent kitten changed her from a victim to a killer with no way back. When her old friend, Sam (Van Heflin), turns back up in Iverstown many years later, the consequences of that night catch up with Martha in dramatic fashion, but something in her has already been dead for a very long time.

Because The Strange Love of Martha Ivers is in the public domain, you can easily watch it online or find it on a streaming service. The film marked the silver screen debut of Kirk Douglas and earned an Oscar nomination for its original story by John Patrick. You can see more of Janis Wilson in Now, Voyager (1942), Watch on the Rhine (1943), and My Reputation (1946). For more cats in classic film noir, check out This Gun for Hire (1942) and The Third Man (1949), or delve into horror noir with Jacques Tourneur’s iconic Cat People (1942).

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Jennifer Garlen pens our monthly Silver Screen Standards column. You can read all of Jennifer’s Silver Screen Standards articles here.

Jennifer is a former college professor with a Ph.D. in English Literature and a lifelong obsession with film. She writes about classic movies at her blog, Virtual Virago, and presents classic film programs for lifetime learning groups and retirement communities. She’s the author of Beyond Casablanca: 100 Classic Movies Worth Watching and its sequel, Beyond Casablanca II: 101 Classic Movies Worth Watching, and she is also the co-editor of two books about the works of Jim Henson.

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Classic Movie Travels: Burl Ives

Posted on December 5, 2019 by Annette Bochenek

Classic Movie Travels: Burl Ives – Illinois, Los Angeles and Valley Forge

Burl Ives headshot
Burl Ives

In reflecting upon the many stars who entertained audiences throughout the Golden Age of Hollywood, it is easy to notice that the vast majority of these individuals were multi-talented. Their combination of many skills made them highly employable and delightful to audiences all over the world. Though Burl Ives did not initially intend to pursue a career in entertainment, he would soon explore this creative path and prove himself to be a man of many endearing talents.

Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives was born in Hunt City, Illinois, an unincorporated town in Jasper County. His father, Levi, was a farmer and contractor for the county. His mother, Cordelia, worked on the farm, in addition to tending to each of the seven children in the Ives family. As a boy, Ives was a Lone Scout until the group merged with the Boy Scouts of America. Ives and his mother enjoyed singing while Ives played the banjo. The duo was once overheard singing in the garden by Ives’s uncle; charmed, Ives’s uncle invited Ives to sing at a soldiers’ reunion, with the young Ives performing a moving rendition of “Barbara Allen”.

As the years went on, Ives enrolled at the Eastern Illinois State Teachers College in Charleston, Illinois. He was an active player on the school football team and a member of the Charleston Chapter of The Order of DeMolay but soon left the school during his junior year. While attending his English class lecture on Beowulf, he felt that he was wasting his time and walked out the door. The story goes that his professor made a curt remark as Ives was leaving and Ives slammed the door behind him, shattering the glass on the way out.

A young Burl Ives with his guitar
A young Ives with his guitar

Throughout the 1930s, Ives traveled all over the country as a musician. He worked many odd jobs and played his banjo during his travels, essentially living as a 20th-century troubadour. While in Richmond, Indiana, Ives recorded “Behind the Clouds”, though it was rejected and destroyed by the Starr Piano Company’s Gennett label. Later, he was jailed in Mona, Utah, for vagrancy and for singing the bawdy “Foggy Dew”.

By 1931, he was performing regularly on WBOW radio in Terre Haute, Indiana. Around the same time, he returned to school, attending the Indiana State Teachers College. Soon after, his education continued at the Julliard School in New York.

While in New York, Ives made his Broadway debut in The Boys from Syracuse. He and his fellow actor friend, Eddie Albert, both left the show for Los Angeles and shared an apartment in Hollywood’s Beachwood Canyon community.

In 1940, Ives had his own radio show called The Wayfaring Stranger. He popularized many traditional folk songs, including “The Blue Tail Fly”, “Big Rock Candy Mountain”, and numerous others. He also sang regularly with the Almanacs, a folk-singing group.

By 1942, Ives found himself drafted into the U.S. Army, spending time at Camp Dix and Camp Upton. While at Camp Upton, he became part of the cast of Irving Berlin’s musical, This Is the Army. During his service, Ives achieved the rank of corporal and transferred to the Army Air Force once the show went to Hollywood. After an honorable discharge, Ives traveled to New York to work for CBS radio.

In 1950, Ives was blacklisted as an entertainer due to supposed ties to the Communist Party. Having cooperated with the House Un-American Activities Committee, his blacklisting was ended and he appeared in movies. Some of his film credits include his role as Sam the Sheriff in East of Eden (1955), Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), and The Big Country (1958). Ives would win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Big Country.

Burl Ives' Oscar win for The Big Country (1958)
Ives’ Oscar win for The Big Country (1958)

Over the next few decades, Ives would continue to record music in addition to appearing in film and television roles. For more contemporary audiences, he is likely best remembered for providing the speaking and singing voice to Sam the Snowman in the Rankin/Bass NBC-TV stop-motion animated special, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer from 1964. Ives would also provide the voice for Sam Eagle, an audio-animatronic host to former America Sings attraction at Disneyland in 1974.

Burl Ives was the voice of Sam the Snowman in the 1964 holiday movie, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Ives was the voice of Sam the Snowman in the 1964 holiday movie, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

In 1989, Ives announced his retirement, though he continued to perform as part of benefit concerts. He passed away from oral cancer on April 14, 1995, in his Washington home at age 85 and was buried at Mound Cemetery in Hunt City Township, Illinois.

Burl Ives
6/14/1909 – 4/14/1995

Today, there are many tributes and places of relevance to Ives in his home state and beyond.

At the corner of Jourdan and Van Buren in Newton, IL, visitors will find the town’s key tribute to Ives: a statue featuring Ives on a bench with his guitar. While the key feature of the memorial plaza is Ives, other Jasper County notables are also memorialized as part of this tribute.

Statue of Burl Ives in Newton, IL
Statue of Burl Ives in Newton, IL

Eastern Illinois University, from which Ives famously dropped out, now has a building named after Ives. The building in question is the Burl Ives Studio Hall. The school is located at 600 Lincoln Ave, Charleston, IL 61920.

The Burl Ives Art Studio Hall on the campus of Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois.
The Burl Ives Art Studio Hall on the campus of Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois.

Thanks to his many achievements, Ives was also inducted into the DeMolay Hall of Fame.

In 1948, Ives was listed as living at 14716 Nordhoff St. in Los Angeles, California. Here is a shot of the property today:

Burl Ives residence, 14716 Nordhoff St. in Los Angeles, California
Ives’ Los Angeles residence

Ives continued his ties with the Boy Scouts of America and the organization inducted him in 1966. They granted him their highest honor—the Silver Buffalo Award, which is on display at the Scouting Museum in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The museum stands at 1601 Valley Forge Rd, Valley Forge, PA.

The Boy Scouts of America Museum
The Boy Scouts of America Museum

Though Ives continues to remain relevant to fans of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, his filmography, and strong contributions to the folk genre, he is also remembered through many other tributes in his honor.

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–Annette Bochenek for Classic Movie Hub

Annette Bochenek pens our monthly Classic Movie Travels column. You can read all of Annette’s Classic Movie Travel articles here.

Annette Bochenek of Chicago, Illinois, is a PhD student at Dominican University and an independent scholar of Hollywood’s Golden Age. She manages the Hometowns to Hollywood blog, in which she writes about her trips exploring the legacies and hometowns of Golden Age stars. Annette also hosts the “Hometowns to Hollywood” film series throughout the Chicago area. She has been featured on Turner Classic Movies and is the president of TCM Backlot’s Chicago chapter. In addition to writing for Classic Movie Hub, she also writes for Silent Film Quarterly, Nostalgia Digest, and Chicago Art Deco SocietyMagazine.

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