The Silver Screen Oasis went offline as of noon on Monday, Feb. 11th, 2013. We are aware that this concerns everyone who enjoys the site on a daily basis and apologize for any inconvenience. As soon as we can verify the issues surrounding this event, and arrange for a new, fitter squirrel to get on the treadmill that appears to operate our server at times we hope to relay some more cheerful news to you.
UPDATE!
The Silver Screen Oasis is back online. Joy. Happiness. Bliss. Laissez les bon temps rouler, cinephiles.
20th Century Fox's Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954) is not a bad movie I love.
It is a bad movie that is a triumph of entertainment over history. Aired on TCM the other evening, I had not seen it in a few decades, though this movie seemed to be one of those flicks that the NYC area's Million Dollar Movie unspooled five times a week regularly when I was a kid. The movie has some of the following:
Sacred vs Profane Love! Lions vs. Christians, The Debauched vs. The Virginal, An Invisible Heaven vs. An Earthly Garden of Delights, Good Actors vs. Movie Stars! Actually, it has it all--including a sweaty, crowd-pleasing desperation and gargantuan cinematic case of Acromegaly that overcame the studio system as their grip on the American imagination began to slip thanks to television and myriad other distractions.
The tale of Demetrius and friends is ostensibly a sequel to the solemn (if subversively amusing) introductory CinemaScopic chariot ride through The New Testament known as The Robe (1953). Suggested by the popular novel by the Rev. Lloyd Douglas (Magnificent Obsession, White Banners, Green Light) that inspired The Robe, Demetrius and the Gladiators is more fun than the straitlaced, starchy herd scenes of MGM's Quo Vadis? (1951), and not nearly as classy as Spartacus (1960)--though the latter film seems to have used Demetrius and pals as a template for that tale of liberation spun without the inclusion of an off-screen divine Messiah.
Two Weeks in Another Town (1962) is to producer John Houseman, director Vincente Minnelli and actor Kirk Douglas' earlier film, The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) what a hot dog with everything is to a cordon bleu meal, and it is being aired on TCM at 4 AM (ET) on Sunday, Dec. 16th.
I really like this movie, based on one of Irwin Shaw's many novels about Americans amid the Eurotrash in the decade after the immediate postwar period when things really started to spin out of control ethically, artistically, and literally, based on several whirling scenes in this flick. At the height of his post-Spartacus power, Kirk Douglas plays "Jack Andrus" a former big movie star in the biz. We know he was on the A list once since Minnelli inserts an actual clip from the earlier gem, The Bad and the Beautiful into the action, giving this movie one of those metatexts that film theorists swoon for. There's only one problem: Jack is only just coming out of his shell after a whale of a nervous collapse caused him to tumble from the top of the heap. Now, the doctors think his touch of manic-depression, murderous rages, alcoholism and occasional hallucinations have all been ironed out, along with the kinks in his famous ego. He's ready for the world again. But is the world ready for him? The answer seems to be "maybe not."
His ol' pal director Maurice Kruger (Edward G. Robinson) throws him a bone from Rome, asking him to join him there for a possible job on his most recent international epic. That movie, it turns out, is in trouble, thanks to hissy fits among the cast, foul-ups among a non-English speaking crew, a shady producer, and an understandably tired director (Robinson). Waiting for his flight toward a fresh start, Jack is accosted by a former business associate (George McCready), who rebuffs the actor's greeting with the news that Jack was an arrogant crud when he was on top, except now he can tell him what he thinks. Slap! After a flight that allowed him to brood about his past once more, Jack arrives on the Roman film set to see two stars feigning passion during a scene--only to end it with more hearty slaps. Oh, so it's going to be that kind of picture.
Turner Classic Movies puts together one of their very best features each December in honor of those filmmakers in front of and behind the camera who have passed away in the previous twelve months. 2012 includes many visually eloquent moments in tribute to all those who have died, leaving a legacy for us on screen and off. This year, when so many people died who created 20th Century cinema left us, from the quietly good Phyllis Thaxter to the supremely imaginative Ray Bradbury to the solid, seemingly eternal Ernest Borgnine and many more, it seems more than ever as though "a friend of the family" has gone away.
Since many readers have asked me how they can see certain years, I thought it might be helpful to compile those that are currently available online via the TCM website, Youtube and other sources. I have tried to put these videos in one posting here on this blog for those who enjoy them. Below are the video tributes from 2000 and from 2003-2012 with the identification of what is, optimistically, the correct music and performer for the music used in each year, whenever available. I have not been able to find any other years for posting here.
Many of the beautifully doneseparate TCM Remembers spots broadcast just after the death of an individual film notable are available for viewing on youtube here.
Of interest to those connoisseurs of these gems:
Many, though not all, of the spots seen on TCM over the years have been created by Raygun, a media marketing firm whose work for Turner Classic Movies (and others) can be seenhere. There are, of course, other ad firms which have contributed to the collection of exceptionally interesting, touching and entertaining interstitials seen on TCM over the years. Some examples of their work can be seen here. If TCM ever decides to market a DVD collection of these TCM Remembers memorials or any of their best spots, I think they might be pleasantly surprised to realize how many people would welcome such an idea.
Requiescat in Pace to all of those included and especially those who may have been overlooked.
TCM Remembers 2012: (Please note: The music is "Wait" by M83)
TCM Remembers 2011:
The song that plays throughout this video is "Before You Go" by OK Sweetheart, with the lilting voice of Erin Austin evoking so much yearning and affection for those who have gone before us.
Here's more reason to be of good cheer in the next few weeks.
The Q & A thread devoted to a discussion with Carl Rollyson about this book is now open at The Silver Screen Oasis. It can be seen by clicking here.
Think of the high points of America film in the 1940s for a moment. Titles such as The Ox-Bow Incident, Laura, Fallen Angel, The Best Years of Our Lives, Where the Sidewalk Ends and more are likely to come to mind. One of the crucial elements that made these films classics was the expressive, often wordless eloquence of Dana Andrews. Hisscreen presence gave these movies a depth and naturalism that was all the more remarkable for the seamlessness of his gifted acting. Andrews madememorable contributions to cinematic storytelling in film noir, classic westerns, and definitive examinations of the impact of war on the breakable human spirit. Yet few of us may know much more about this very private individual whose talent and longevity should have made him a much bigger star.
Fortunately for us, journalism professor and biographerCarl Rollyson, the author of the recently published Hollywood Enigma: Dana Andrews (University Press of Mississippi, 2012) will be visiting The Silver Screen Oasis on the weekend of December 8th and 9th. Carl will share his unique perspective on this actor, drawing on background gleaned from the actor's family, his friends, and Dana Andrews' own deeply personal journals and letters. This book, which was chosen as TCM's September Book of the Month, was reviewed favorably by film historian Jeanine Basinger in a recent piece in The Wall Street Journal. Shedescribed the actor this way: "At his best, Andrews embodied an era, the contemporary audience's concept of a 1940s man." Basinger added that this long-overdue biography "teaches us to appreciate an actor whose standing in the Hollywood pantheon should clearly be reassessed. As Mr. Rollyson clearly understands, Dana Andrews has nowhere to go but up."
After reading the book, which analyzes the actor's seemingly artless technique in his on-screen roles as well as his restive struggles in private, I found the story of this actor quite moving. The portrait of Dana Andrews that Mr. Rollyson paints reveals the actor as a complex, quite remarkable person, with little or nothing to do with Hollywood glamour, but much to do with a talent and a drive for excellence that came out of a bare bones boyhood in Texas. As his friend and fellow actor Norman Lloyd described him, Andrews comes alive on the pages of this book as a complex individual who was also "one of nature's noblemen." Thanks to the writing ability of the even-handed Mr. Rollyson, the nuanced central figure in this Hollywood story can still inspire compassion and respect even in those of us who only know him from his work.
Please plan on joining us at the Oasis on Dec. 8th & 9th to explore the life and career of Dana Andrews during the Q & A with Carl Rollyson.
Our third foray into Yuletides past, Hollywood-style, takes us back to the early '30s when a twenty-something girl from Brooklyn had recently begun climbing the Hollywood tree. That's Claire Trevor (1909-2000) brandishing a mischievous grin and what appears to be a plushly upholstered heart--all while showing the expected bit of leg. This sort of still was de rigueur for the studio period, especially when a young contract player was an unknown quantity. It's a good thing that the actress kept her own appraisal of her assets to herself back then. "The only thing I knew how to do was act," Trevor later said bluntly, "and at that point, I didn't even know much about that."
Day Two of our holiday jaunt takes us into the cinematic sagebrush. Even if you've never seen this man before, his theatrical mien makes him memorable. With that immaculately white ten gallon hat, beautifully tailored duster, splendidly decorated boots, and dazzling smile, could this outlandish figure be anyone other than a movie cowboy from a child's dreams? And wouldn't Tom Mix be surprised that decades later, his lasting impact restored the blush in the unlikely cheek of someone who had crossed paths with him just once long ago?
The fire is out, the wind is cold. What better time to warm ourselves with the memory of Ava Gardner, as we raise a toast to the actress whose often crowded life began on December 24th, 1922 as a Christmas Eve baby? The youngest of seven children born on a tobacco farm in Grabtown, North Carolina, as she grew up it was a bit of a shock to the girl that it "appeared that there was this whole other person Jesus Christ whose birthday a lot of people tended to confuse with mine. I was personally outraged. It was a long time before I forgave the Lord for that."
Despite that early brush with blasphemy and display of innately irreverent humor, Gardner's destiny seemed charmed. Her unvarnished natural beauty on display in a New York photographer's window caught the eye of someone with ties to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, leading to a contract with the studio in 1941. The kind of work she did there involved softening a pronounced Southern accent, learning to blend seductiveness and purpose under the tutelage of Lillian Burns, and posing for pictures like the one above, for all the holidays, some of which graced the walls of garages and barber shops throughout the land. Many walk-on parts and a couple of missteps down the marital path later (Mickey Rooney and Artie Shaw), the writer-producer Mark Hellinger spotted her in the low budget Whistle Stop(1946), and he just knew--this was "Kitty O'Shea."
As many of you undoubtedly know by now, several of the Movie Morlocks bloggers were asked to participate in a night of Guest Programming at TCM that is being broadcast on November 30th. I still can't believe that this has happened. Here are my impressions of the events surrounding this milestone...My Adventures in TCM land are detailed beginning below:
Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind.” - Henry James
Those words keep echoing in my mind whenever I think of my trip to TCM a few months ago. I was asked to be one of the Morlocks who appeared as a guest programmer on the evening of Friday, November 30th earlier this year. Saying “Yes” to this experience was transformative. I used to just be a hardcore fan of old movies. After this visit, I am also a fan of the people who work at Turner Classic Movies--and with good reason.
Getting to know the people who make Turner Classic Movies the network that inspires so much intense joy among its viewers has been a long learning experience. That the network does this by continuously striving to offer a feast of classic films to a world starved for storytelling that speaks directly to the human experience is key to the network’s success. The overwhelming kindness of the individuals associated with the network both in person and online has brightened a life that has taken more than a few hairpin turns in the last few years.
Of course the initial excitement, terror and “who, me?” quality of the whole thing was pretty overwhelming. It became even more surreal after a series of medical emergencies almost led me to miss this opportunity. I had originally been scheduled to visit Atlanta with my fellow Morlocks, Susan Doll, Richard Harland Smith, and Pablo Kjolseth, who will be seen with Robert Osborne this evening introducing three films they cherish: The Locket (1946), Dracula’s Daughter (1936) and Five Million Years to Earth (1968)... ...More on the TCM Movie Morlocks Blog
The Q & A thread devoted to a discussion of the life and career of actor and pacifist Lew Ayres is now open on The Silver Screen Oasis. All are welcome to ask questions of his biographer Lesley L. Coffin between Oct. 26th-Oct. 29th at the link below. The book,Lew Ayres: Hollywood's Conscientious Objector (University Press of Mississippi, 2012), which is featured on TCM's Movie News this month, will be available from book sellers on November 4th. More highlights from Ayres' film career can be seen here and the discussion begins at the link below:
I hope that others are watching the special program on TCM this Sunday evening, Oct. 21st, with Jerry Beck, the cartoon historian and author of fifteen books on the subject.
Above: Robert Osborne & Jerry Beck on TCM on Sunday, October 21st. [photo courtesy of TCM]
I had the pleasure of meeting Jerry when I visited TCM this summer (more about that at a later date). I was delighted to discuss his work with him for some time prior to his appearance with Robert Osborne. His knowledge of his subject and his love for classic animation is so infectious. Hats off to Jerry, who has posted some great links to historical material associated with tonight's lineup on TCM at the link below on his terrific website on animation that he maintains with his colleague, Amid Amidi. CartoonBrew.com's account of Jerry's visit with TCM is linked here:
I recommend The Tell-Tale Heart in particular. James Mason did the narration in this beautifully made (and little known) adaptation of the Edgar Allan Poe tale. I am particularly interested in the 1920 cartoon, The Bomb Idea since it deals with the then "ripped-from-the-headlines" theme of Bolshevik bomb-throwers, (an unusual subject for a cartoon, eh?). You can see more about each film on tonight's schedule here
Here's a rundown of the schedule for tonight (all times shown are ET):
Please Note: The Q & A thread devoted to Lew Ayres is now open at the SSO and biographer Lesley Coffin will be answering your questions from Friday, Oct. 26th - Monday, Oct. 29th.
Lew Ayres did it all during his long career. From silent film to classic sit-coms; he expressed his boyish passion for Greta Garbo in her last silent The Kiss (1929); played the doomed protagonist in the shattering film All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), described as "a landmark of world cinema," did an unexpectedly brilliant, bittersweet turn in Holiday (1937); found great fame as Dr. Kildare; appeared in the outlandishly entertaining sci-fi, Donovan's Brain (1953); made a few movies that were barely "B's", and made two documentaries that reflected his lifelong search for spiritual values.
From Friday, Oct. 26th through Monday Oct. 29th we welcome the opportunity to learn more about Ayres during a visit at The Silver Screen Oasis by Lesley L. Coffin, the author of the upcoming biography, Lew Ayres: Hollywood's Conscientious Objector (University Press of Mississippi, 2012). This first full length biography of the Oscar-nominated actor was written by Ms. Coffin using previously untapped oral histories from the TCM Archives at The University of Georgia-Athens, the Hollywood Film Oral History Project at Columbia University in NYC, and the comments of friends of Mr. Ayres throughout his life. Perhaps best of all, the actor's unpublished autobiography and the memories of the actor's son, Dr. Justin Ayres, who practices medicine in Los Angeles, helped to fill in much of the story.
Often remembered best off-screen for his principled stand during World War II as a conscientious objector, Ayres had what has been described as a "quiet dignity, constantly searching for the right way to live his life and torn between the public world of Hollywood and secluded life of spiritual introspection." He was also a part of the rise and transformation of the film industry in three eras (silents, sound, and television); was married to three vital-sounding women: actresses Lola Lane, Ginger Rogers, and a lasting 32 year marriage to "civilian" Diana Hall, with whom Ayres became a father for the first time two days shy of his sixtieth birthday.
Below you can see a brief trailer from Lesley Coffin with lovely images promoting this book:
A serious biographer blessed with a sense of humor as well as a gift for research, the personable Lesley L. Coffin describes herself as "a midwesterner at heart, who happens to reside in New York City (by way of Queens). I come from the hometown of John Hughes (yes, I went to Ferris Bueller’s high school and we did have Saturday detention), went to college at Ball State University (that place David Letterman always talks about giving money to) and completed a Masters degree at New York University. I try to write books about film and Hollywood (I have one coming out and two in the works) and think both seriously and humorously about the world of film, television, and Hollywood. Even as a kid I tended to want to analyze anything and everything I watched, a character trait I still have and channel into my creative pursuits to avoid driving friends and family crazy. My taste in movies are all over the place, but I love interesting films and the film world."
Please plan on stopping by The Silver Screen Oasis from 10/26/12 to 10/30/12 to post and read the Q & A about this book. We'll be honored to share your company!
You can read more about this biography, the author, her other published writing and her future projects at her website below. Lesley can also be heard on her Classic Comedy Film Podcast at the link below.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945) is on tonight on TCM at 8pm ET. In the past, I've written about this film several times on this blog, particularly when assessing the gifted Dorothy McGuire, but the intensity of the film's impact came back to me as I read the words below.
The following is a verbatim transcription of an interview I read with Ted Donaldson who played Neeley in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945) based on Betty Smith's novel. This passage was found in Growing Up on the Set: Interviews With 39 Former Child Actors of Classic Film and Television by Tom Goldrup, Jim Goldrup, which was published by McFarland in 2002. Ted Donaldson recalled the events surrounding the filming this way when he and his cast mates began working with first-time film director Elia Kazan:
"Kazan sat us around a huge oaken table that you could imagine the Vikings having a banquet on. He sat at the head of the table and talked about the script, and for three days he established the relationships of the Nolan family. We read the script. We read it again and worked on the different scenes, and on the fourth day of we started shooting. And it was not only the relationships, but the place. The atmosphere, the furniture. Early in the film Peggy Ann Garner and I come into the kitchen. We had come upstairs with pails of water, and Dorothy McGuire is at the sink washing dishes. Years later I was stunned by it when I watched it on television, I thought, 'By God, I know that sink, we know what that floor feels like, we lived there. This is our place.' That's something you sense more in a stage performance because it is alive.
"I think A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was one of the greatest pieces of ensemble acting in the history of American film. Peggy Ann Garner's performance as Francie Nolan was one of the tow or three greatest child performances ever given. I have always liked Dorothy McGuire, but I think her Katie Nolan was the best thing she ever did on film. Joan Blondell was always terrific, but this film gave her a chance to show a much more vulnerable side, and she really rose to the occasion. She really makes me cry in this film. James Dunn won the Oscar for best supporting actor. It was a beautiful performance. It was the role of his life. The scene in which he sings 'Annie Laurie,' Francie and Neeley are very affected by their father singing that, and so is Katie because she hears heim, comes in from another room, stands at the doorway and recalls older times, times of more promise. There is a big closeup of Johnny singing that breaks your heart. It was the first time that I have ever heard this song. I've got to say that the expression you see on Peggy Ann's face and mine--we kept within the confines of the scene and the characters but that was Peggy and me reacting to James Dunn singing 'Annie Laurie.' We were supposed to be terribly moved by it. And we were. But we were affected as Peggy and as Ted. I'd never quite had that experience before.
"Yes, we were good. Damn right we were good. But that was Kazan. And that's why he produced a film--apart from Leon Shamroy's gorgeous black-and-white photography--where from the first frame on you are back in 1912. You are absolutely there all the way through and it never falters, not for a second. That is why it is a very beautiful and satisfying film."
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An earlier post on Dorothy McGuire's career can be seen here:
Great news! Film noir author and TCM brand manager, Shannon Clute, will be visitingThe Silver Screen Oasis crowd from Friday, Sept. 28th through Sunday, Sept. 30th. The thread devoted to a Q & A with Shannon Clute can be found here:
Shannon is the co-author of The Maltese Touch of Evil: Film Noir and Potential Criticism (Dartmouth College Press, 2011) and the co-creator of three popular podcast series: Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir, a film history and analysis program; Behind the Black Mask: Mystery Writers Revealed, an author interview show; and Yaddocast, the official podcast of the prestigious artists' retreat Yaddo—all with Richard Edwards.
You can visit their website by clicking on the link below--
Here is an interview about Clute & Edwards' investigations into film noir:
Out of the Past was recently selected by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for national radio transmission as part of their Top of The Pods series, and Yaddocast received mention in O, The Oprah Magazine.
Shannon Clute
A former professor who holds a PhD from Cornell University, Clute has been invited to speak on film noir at such institutions as the George Eastman House and WXXI public radio. He is also a scholar and writer of hard-boiled fiction, and his first novel was one of ten semi-finalists in the inaugural Court TV "Search for the Next Great Crime Writer" contest. He works as a brand manager for Turner Classic Movies in Atlanta.
As part of his job at TCM, he oversees the publication of the yearly TCM Film Festival program among other duties.
TCM is featuring a slew of good movies directed by the under-rated Edward Dmytryk tomorrow on his birthday, Sept. 4th, as you can see here, but one of them must be seen to be believed. Where Love Has Gone
(1964), scheduled for broadcast at 3:30pm (ET), was described by the
man who made it as "a dismal failure, both from the critics' point of
view and mine."
Eddie, Eddie, how can you say such things about this glittering tale? It has all the hallmarks of a really big, bad movie:
I am currently reading the book Tender Comrades: A Backstory of the Hollywood Blacklist edited by Patrick McGilligan and Paul Buhle (St. Martin's Press, 1997), which features interviews with many Hollywood figures whose careers were touched by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) investigations in the late '40s and '50s. Director Jules Dassin (Thieves' Highway, Rififi, Night and the City, Never on Sunday) was interviewed by film historian Patrick McGilligan for this collection.
In the book, McGilligan asked Dassin about his first cinematic efforts, most of which the director dismissed as "hopelessly superficial." After arriving in Hollywood in the early 1940s after experience with The Federal Theatre and Artef, a Yiddish theater group in New York, Jules Dassin was hired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The contrast between his former working conditions and that at the "Tiffany of movie studios" could not have been more dramatic.
The first film that Dassin was assigned to was a B movie that was a propaganda piece about a pair of identical twin brothers, one of whom, Baron Hugo Von Detner, was a prominent Nazi in the diplomatic service in the U.S. just before the war. The other brother was a gentle bibliophile called Otto Becker, who had left Germany when the Nazis came into power and became an American citizen. The "good" brother is content with running a small antique book store and sharing his quarters above the shop with a sweet-voiced canary--who, significantly, stops singing one evening.
Click on the above image to see more about this book.
"Life is what happens to you
while you're on your way to do something else," says veteran actor and fitness activist Denny Miller, and he
certainly did do something else. George Cukor directed his screen test for a MGM contract. He is reportedly an extra in Sunset Boulevard and Some Came Running marked his introduction to movies in a small part. He was among the last groups of contractees to be trained in the studio era at MGM and Universal-International. He was one of the youngest actors to ever play Tarzan in the movies. On television, he appeared in 110 episodes of the television program, Wagon Train.
Denny Miller is an actor whose long career has included time sharing the screen with everyone from Robert Ryan to Natalie Schaefer to Bette Davis to Bob Hope. Actor, author, and physical fitness advocate Denny Miller, a genial, walking encyclopedia of Hollywood history, is the visiting Guest Author at theSilver Screen Oasis for the weekend of July 27th-29th!
The Silver Screen Oasis is pleased to announce that Steve Bingen, co-author of the popular MGM: Hollywood’s Greatest Backlotand Warner Bros.: The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of will be the July Guest Star visiting the site and answering your questions for the weekend of July 20th-July 22nd. The thread devoted to the Q & A with Mr. Bingen can be seen at the thread posted below.If you would like, you are welcome to register and post your own question there or
just enjoy reading the exchanges with Mr. Bingen, beginning tomorrow,
Friday, July 20th.
M-G-M: Hollywood’s Greatest Backlot is the illustrated history of the soundstages and outdoor sets where Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the premier Hollywood dream factory, produced many of the world’s most famous films. During its Golden Age, the studio employed the likes of Greta Garbo, Fred Astaire, and Clark Gable, and produced innumerable iconic pieces of cinema such as The Wizard of Oz, Singin’ in the Rain, and Ben-Hur.
This week I'm pleased to welcome a guest post from a gifted writer on a fine actress, Shirley Temple. Her acting career may have peaked well before she was an adult, but she remains surprisingly under-appreciated by many classic cinephiles, both for her childhood and young adult roles. All you really need to know was that Shirley was good enough for John Ford--twice! The author of this interesting analysis of this unique actress in the Fordian canon is David Meuel. David is a lifelong film enthusiast with a special fondness for
the visual poetry and emotional power of John Ford's work. While David
would prefer to live in Monument Valley, he lives in Silicon Valley --
San Jose, California, to be exact -- where he also works as a freelance
writer for several high-tech companies. You can reach him at david@davidmeuel.com. At the end of this post, links to other articles and some brilliant short fiction by him will be posted. I hope you will enjoy discovering his work, and re-discovering the powerful young lady who is the subject of this piece. - Moira Finnie
The Innocent Turned Imperialist: Shirley Temple in John Ford’s Wee Willie Winkie and Fort Apache by David Meuel
Shirley Temple and John Ford? The pairing seems surreal. After all, she’s the precocious child star who won our hearts by singing The Good Ship Lollipop, and he’s the tyrannical film director who could make John Wayne cry. Yet, the pair made two very good films together, 1937’s Wee Willie Winkie and 1948’s Fort Apache. And one intriguing element the two films share is Ford’s use of Temple the child and then Temple the young woman. In both, she is a sweet, openhearted innocent who accompanies her one living parent to a remote military outpost in an alien land inhabited by “savage” Indians. Initially, she questions traditions and systems that are fundamentally imperialist, racist, and repressive. In the process, she has a humanizing effect on those around her. Ultimately, though, she becomes a part of these systems. The innocent—now transformed by the values of the societies in which she now lives—becomes an active participant in those societies and supporter of those values.
Philadelphia just after her arrival at Fort Apache
Temple’s characters, Priscilla in Wee Willie Winkie and Philadelphia in Fort Apache, are both highly curious individuals. And often their curiosity taps into key issues in the films. Before Priscilla arrives at the remote British outpost in India her grandfather commands she asks her mother that, if her grandfather were English, “why doesn’t he live in England?” One answer of course would be that, if England weren’t a colonial power, then, yes, he probably would live in England. Philadelphia has her share of questions too. She constantly asks what her role as “the colonel’s lady” should be and what she needs to do to play it correctly. Of the two Temple characters, it’s interesting that little Priscilla asks the bigger questions, questions about war and peace, questions that get to the heart of the story’s core conflicts. In contrast, Philadelphia’s main focus is domestic: she is angry that her father (Henry Fonda’s Colonel Thursday) doesn’t approve of her and Lieutenant O’Rourke (played by Temple’s then real-life husband John Agar) and openly questions and occasionally defies fatherly judgments based on classism and prejudice.
Mixing It Up: Priscilla talks with the imprisoned “enemy,” Khoda Khan,
and Philadelphia goes riding with Lieutenant O’Rourke, much to her
father’s chagrin.
Here's an attempt by me at a montage in tribute to the affecting Deep Valley (1947), a powerful Warner Brothers movie with great performances all around from Ida Lupino, Dane Clark, Fay Bainter, Henry Hull. One of director Jean Negulesco's best collaborators, cinematographer Ted McCord (the pair would also make Johnny Belinda the following year), is behind the camera on this one too--reminding me of the joys of black and white film.
There's a slight hesitation on the audio track that I am trying to correct and for that I apologize.
