Hey Look Everybody! It's Time Again For....Films I've Watched Lately Some of Which I Loved Greatly

Paul Robeson in Show Boat (1936)

Show Boat (1936) Whale. I liked this movie a lot. I would have loved it a lot had it not been for one thing: Alan Jones. Yes, the blandest most uninteresting actor/singer of his or any other generation. He did similar damage to the great Marx’s Brother film, A Night at the Opera. Fortunately the cast also includes the great Paul Robeson, though if we could have switched Jones and Robeson’s screen time, well what a picture. It’s actually Charlies Winninger who steals every scene he’s in. Winninger was a fantastic performer who came up in vaudeville (boy does it show) and was in the original production of Show Boat. Directed by James Whale, better known for some classics of the horror genre, particularly Bride of Frankenstein as well as The Old Dark House, Invisible Man and the original Frankenstein. The insipid Jones aside (and oh yes, and that awful blackface scene with Irene Dunne) this is a terrific film. 

Tony (2026) Johnson. In theaters now. The story of the nineteen-year old Anthony Bourdain and how he got his start in the culinary world. It stars Dominic Sessa who made such a memorable debut a few years ago in The Holdovers. Sessa again shines along with his veteran co-star, Antonio Banderas. It’s a fun film about a lying, cheating (albeit talented) young man learning lessons at the school of hard knocks. I related to a lot of it — I was young and arrogant in 1975 too. But it’s not a film with staying power. Perfectly entertaining and worth the price of admission but nothing that you will be pondering for long after.

Hamnet (2025) Zhao. I decided to watch this for the second time in twelve months because I had recently bought the novel upon which it is based. (Have since started reading the book by Maggie O’Farrell and it’s bloody brilliant.) I was amazed after the film to see that I had given the movie a six on IMDb last year. I changed that to an eight. Who was the version of me that couldn’t appreciate this amazing film? I was particularly enamored of the last part of the picture in which Shakespeare’s wife, Agnes (an Oscar winning role for Jessie Buckley) goes to see Hamlet performed. No, I wasn’t enamored, I was mesmerized. That’s cinema right there. 

Radio Days (1987) Allen. I believe it impossible for me to overstate my love for this film. It's amazing how much Allen packed into under ninety minutes. I love everything about the film. It's masterful at telling you so much about a group of people, a time and a place, much of it through or supplemented by music. Meet an extended Brooklyn family during the early 1940s, their lives touched by a foreign war. Meet the world of radio back when it reigned supreme. Meet radio personalities and hear some of their unique stories. In particular meet a kid growing up amid the wonders of family and radio. Among Woody Allen’s greatest works. I could watch it again tonight.

No Down Payment (1957) Ritt. God love ‘em they were making an effort to develop a social conscience in Hollywood back in the fifties and early sixties. There were brave attempts at social message films. Pictures like Separate Tables, The Defiant Ones, Days of Wine and Roses. Important issues of the day honestly examined in cinema. Today these efforts seem quaint and though well-intended are terribly dated. To their credit you can draw a direct line from these films to the stronger offerings of the late Sixties and the Seventies. One such film — which I watched for the first time — was No Down Payment. Look here folks, we got your racism, alcoholism, infidelity, the dark side of the American dream and right smack in the middle of suburbia. This is not a terribly good film but it’s an honest effort and a mirror into how Hollywood was changing. Interesting here is seeing the great comic actor Tony Randall in a serious role. Does he pull it off? Of course. Comedy is easier.

The Long Goodbye (1973) Altman. I’ve seen this a bunch of times (technical term) and always go in wide-eyed thinking, “goodness me, Robert Altman putting Phillip Marlowe into the Seventies with Elliot Gould as the great detective. Can it really work?” It does — every time. Gould is as different a Marlow as you can get considering he’d previously been played by Humphrey Bogart, Dick Powell and Robert Mitchum. Former baseball player and author Jim Bouton was an odd choice to play Terry Lennox. Fact is, the man couldn’t act but he pulled off his small, but vital, role all the same. Sterling Hayden as Roger Wade certainly can act but here he chews the scenery. He and the constantly barking dog (why?) are the only blights on the film. The director Mark Rydell — who only recently died — plays gangster Marty Augustine and is excellent. But it is Gould as a mumbling Marlowe who stars and makes this one of the best cinematic versions of a Raymond Chandler novel.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) Gondry. A film that deserves an A+++ for originality alone. But more than that it is one of cinema’s greatest love stories. You heard me right (or should I say, read me right?). It is at heart a love story, a really honest one that portrays love as something that is inherently flawed and difficult. It also shows that romances turn into long-term marriage when couples manage to outlast finding out about each other's imperfections and what a struggle it can be to really mesh with another human being. The best thing I can say about the film is that it makes me appreciate the love I share with my own wife. Most romantic movies seem foreign to the real experience of being in love with someone for decades. This film gets it.

She Wore A Yellow Ribbon (1949) Ford. Okay the portrayal of the Native Americans (hostiles) is problematic to say the least, but my god what a gorgeous picture to look at. Monument Valley’s variously reddish brown or burnt orange soil, the mountains, the buttes, the sunsets all rendered in loving technicolor. John Wayne gives one of his few really strong performances as the retiring cavalry officer. Many more of director John Ford’s regular actors are on board, highlighted by a wonderful turn from Victor McLaglen. There are about eight Ford films that are absolute classics. This is in the tier just below them. One more complaint: There is one line that Wayne’s character repeats that is beyond stupid: “don’t apologize, it’s a sign of weakness.” Bullshit, for a grown up to offer a sincere apology after doing wrong is a sign of strength. Anyway, SWAYR is a fun watch — assuming you can get past the stereotypes.

The Big Apple in Film: Ten Terrific Films That Capture Different Times and Parts of New York

Manhattan

Regular readers of this blog (I’m looking at you Goliath McGillicuddy of Comptche, California) may recall that one month ago on this day I wrote a post highlighting ten great films set in Los Angeles. In said post I noted that New York has had far more excellent films as its setting. In fact I’d suggest that there are more good films set in New York than in all other American cities combined (prove me wrong). Here I offer some proof. I have not set out to merely list my ten favorite pictures set in the Big Apple. Instead I’ve come up with different types of films set in different parts of New York at different times. As you will note, there’s not a stinker in the bunch. As further evidence of how many excellent films have been set in the city that never sleeps, I conclude by listing another seventeen movies worth considering. Please enjoy. 

Manhattan (1979) Allen. The most beautiful iteration of New York on film. The opening shots — in glorious black and white —- will make you fall in love with the city. The rest of the movie will enrich that love. A lot of the indoor shots, like of Zabars and the Natural History Museum and Elaine’s further add to the film’s stylistic and visual appeal.

Taxi Driver (1976) Scorsese. This is the gritty (why not say, ugly?) side of New York in its not so fabulous seventies as in the 1970’s. It’s stark, it’s real and the rainswept streets at night are somehow mesmerizing. 

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) Coens. Early Sixties New York, much of it in Greenwich Village at the time of the beats, folk music and the emergence of a man named Bob Dylan. It evokes guitars cigarette smoke, and times that were a changing.

Do the Right Thing (1989) Lee. Hot Summer Harlem. It’s one of those films that practically make you sweat just watching it. One of its biggest pluses is seeing a not-often-depicted part of New York, specifically where people of color live.

The Age of Innocence (1993) Scorsese. Again Martin Scorsese helps us explore this amazing city though in this case we’re time traveling to the 1880s seeing New York Edith Wharton style. This is a not fully developed New York but a fascinating one featuring the old money rich and their luxurious abodes.

Sweet Smell of Success (1956) Mackendrick. New York in the 1950s and mostly at night. Night clubs, bars, offices and the streets feature. Men in suits, women in dresses, everyone smoking and drinking cocktails, catching cabs, lying and scheming. The scenery is class, the people, not so much.

My Man Godfrey (1936) La Cava. Depression era New York replete with Hoovervilles and the plush homes of the wealthy. It’s mostly a classy New York with sophisticated banter but the “home” of the forgotten men is not to be forgotten.

Radio Days (1987) Allen. New York during the second world war with the radio always in the background. Middle class homes, nightclubs, gorgeous movie theaters, amusement parks, radio shows, this is a film rich in its period. So much so that it’s hard to believe it wasn’t filmed in the forties.

The Naked City (1948 Dassin. Not a great film but a very good one and excellent as a police procedural. The pursuit of the suspects takes audiences all over late forties NY and in a vivid black and white. Shot on location documentary style. It’s a great way to visit New York in a specific time in the past.

Saturday Night Fever (1977) Badham. Another look at New York in the Seventies but this time it’s mostly Brooklyn and it’s with a disco beat. Saturday Night Fever is a darker film than most people realize and does little to glamorize its world, except perhaps for the discotheque where one can experience night fever.

Others to consider: Annie Hall, Dog Day Afternoon, Requiem for a Dream, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Landlord, The Producers, Birdman, Three Days of the Condor, Mean Streets, The King of Comedy, The Thin Man, The Apartment, Goodfellas, Serpico, The French Connection, Uncut Gems and Midnight Cowboy.

I Hate Los Angeles But There Are Some Great Films Set There, Here's Ten of Them

Sterling Hayden and Elliot Gould at the beach in The Long Goodbye

I do not like Los Angeles. Never have. Never will. It’s a place where people drive their cars to visit a next door neighbor. There is no charm. No downtown. Nothing but schlock and gloss and edifice. There are beautiful neighborhoods but they have no soul. It is an endless sea of people, cars, streets, freeways and parking lots. There are many malls. You can find anything you need in L.A, but nothing you’d want. So much of everything is nothing.

New York — a million times the city L.A. is — has been the setting for countless classic films and hundreds of good ones and of course quite a few mediocre and bad ones. L.A. cannot compare — even though it is where many films are made — but it has been the setting for some of American cinemas greatest films. In other words for New York I could probably list fifty great films. For other cities, five would be a stretch, for L.A. I managed a top ten. 

Here it is.

Chinatown (1974) Polanski. One of the ten greatest films of all time and the one that is the classic expression of what the L.A. area is all about: greed, corruption and water rights. L.A. between the wars was not a boomtown but a boommetropolis. Polanski, brilliant set and costume designers and a cast led by Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway made it all look luscious. L.A. was certainly more habitable then and maybe had a bit of charm. Maybe not in Chinatown though.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) Tarantino. This the L.A. of fifty areas ago. It’s  good in in depicting that time that you can’t believe it’s time-stamped 2019. The sights the sound (it’s the car radios in the background that clinch the deal) and you’d swear the smell of L.A. in 1969. A masterpiece of design and mood and of capturing a place and time.

Sunset Blvd.(195) Wilder. Here we go back to the L.A. of 1950 when the boom was cresting and Hollywood and the studio system were still riding high. The decadence is on full display via the home of aging silent star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson in almost a case of it takes one to know one), the desperate wannabe, Joe Gillis is captured perfectly by William Holden. It’s sad, creepy but magnificent. 

The Big Sleep (1946) Hawks. This is noir L.A. at its best, which can be quite entertaining though generally not comparable to noir New York or San Francisco. L.A. actually looks interesting here. Neighborhoods, cafes and that bohemian house where the initial murder takes place.

Double Indemnity (1944) Wilder. Here again L.A. looks tolerable. The Dietrichson home and neighborhood are pleasant enough. Downtown L.A. is a wonderfully noir-like as is Walter Neff’s apartment. Overall it feels less L.A. than the other films here listed. That’s a good thing.

Pulp Fiction (1994) Tarantino. Nineties L.A. Get your kahuna burger. There’s nothing pretty about this L.A. and we see plenty of it. It is the functional L.A. with places to hang your hat, eateries, clubs and — if you’re into it —drug dealers. Nobody stops to look at what’s around them. There’s too much going on for that. A great place to be famous or anonymous.

Shampoo (1975) Ashby. It was set in November 1968 and filmed in ’74-75 so it captures a bit of both eras. This is a hip L.A. with Warren Beatty playing the classic Southern Californian — totally vacuous and yet desired. Riding his chopper from one sexual assignation to the next, he’s totally oblivious to any “real world” problems. He’s all in that empty head — ya know, just like L.A. itself. That party in the hills is L.A. at its hippest.

Rebel Without a Cause (195 5) Ray. High school L.A. the Griffith observatory and some of the homes seem pleasant enough. This is L.A. as an over-populated suburb. Gum-snapping, hot rods and the sense that there’s gotta be a malt shop around the corner. It’s teen land.

Boyz N the Hood (1991) Singleton. Not the L.A. we’re used to seeing in films. This is heavily African-American and say, where have Black people been in other L.A. films? Except for the maids and valet parking attendants they’ve been tucked away. This is a very real L.A. with starkly human stories and tragedies. A rare but important glimpse into the L.A. that their police forces tried to beat into submission.

The Long Goodbye (1973) Altman. Seventies noir L.A. with an updated version of the same Philip Marlowe Bogie played in the Big Sleep. This time it's an uber cool Elliot Gould doing the honors. Altman-style L.A. is voguish noir, with naked girls next door and angry mobsters showing up unexpectedly. There’s also the big beach house and parties. Looks like fun.

It's Time Again For Films I've Watched Lately Some of Which I Loved Greatly, Plus a Bonus Bit About Sean Baker

The Florida Project

The Florida Project (2017) Baker. I think of The Florida Project as the 21st century version of Grapes of Wrath. Forgotten, displaced people trying to scrape by either by seeking greener pastures or hustling for every buck. The Florida Project and The Grapes of Wrath are obviously very different stylistically, but spiritually they share a great deal. Both are deeply American works about people living on the edge of the economic system that is designed to soak them for all their worth while enriching the coffers of the richest. In The Grapes of Wrath, families are displaced by the Depression, their homes, that might go back generations, are gone. In The Florida Project the poor have no homes and no means to buy one or to even lease or rent one. They’re forced to get by as best they can on a month-to-month even week-to-week basis. The Florida Project is another absolute gem from Sean Baker that primarily centers around small children but also looks at the single parents trying to raise them. Scams and hustles and deals are part of living. Both films could have been depressing but both show people with dignity and their refusal to yield to powerful forces that could break them. Like Tom Joad in Grapes, the young girl Moonee in The Florida Project has an indefatigable spirit and a stubborn refusal to accept defeat. Maybe theirs is the true spirit of America. Willem Dafoe shines as the motel manager who struggles with being empathetic while enforcing the rules.

Red Rocket (2021) Baker. Another from Sean Baker and this one pulls of the difficult feat of featuring a perfectly unlikable person as its protagonist.The ex-porn star, Mikey returns to his Texas Gulf Coast roots and is an absolute train wreck. To varying degrees he disrupts the lives of his wife, neighbors and would-be underage girl friend. We sort of root for him because he has a certain charm and his success could elevate the lives of those around him. But there’s also a fatalism to Mikey. It’s impossible to see such a tire fire of a human being doing anything but falling flat. Baker’s genius is in making Mikey someone we can’t dismiss. His story demands a look, maybe because its so outrageous, maybe because there’s a sense that maybe this time… Simon Rex is incredible as Mikey which shouldn’t be a surprise because like a lot of great directors Baker is a master at eliciting brilliant performances from his actors. Red Rocket creates atmosphere through place and texture an environment is captured without romanticizing it, in this case a Texas refinery town. The setting becomes moral atmosphere.

Nothing Sacred (1937) Wellman. A Thirties screwball comedy in color? Strange but true. The queen of the screwball comedy, Carole Lombard stars, so you know it’s good. Her leading man is the reliable Frederic March. I’ve never found him to be a terribly interesting actor yet I’ve always enjoyed his performances. March and Lombard are aided by two of the better supporting players of their time, Walter Connelly and Charles Winninger. Nothing Sacred is about Hazel Flagg (Lombard), a small-town woman mistakenly diagnosed with a fatal illness, and Wally Cook (March), a New York newspaper reporter who brings her to the big city as a human-interest sensation. Hazel becomes a celebrity and loves the attendant attention. Romance develops between her and Wally, but the truth about her perfectly good health threatens to expose them. Connelly plays Wally’s editor and Winniger is the small town doctor who knows the truth about Hazel. Why he goes along with the charade is never explained but who cares, it’s screwball, Jake, and one of the better ones at that. Directed by Wild Bill Wellman who one doesn't usually associate with comedies, screwball or otherwise. 

 

Cold Water (1994) Assays. Like most great films Cold Water deepens on rewatch rather than diminishes. It resonated with me because atmosphere and emotional drift matter as much as plot. It’s a film about youthful rebellion that doesn’t romanticize. We are drawn to watching the two co-stars but can’t let ourselves exactly root for them. They are too morally comprised.The atmosphere is extraordinary. The music and the cinema photography create an unmistakable early seventies vibe. The long party sequence is brilliant. It is less narrative and more experiential. You feel the exhaustion, intoxication, longing, and temporary sense that these kids have escaped the world. Cyprien Fouquet and the stunning Virginie Ledoyen co-star. They’re not generally likable teens but they’re compelling. Ms. Ledoyen, seventeen when the film was made, had one of the most gorgeous young faces ever to grace the scene and this played a part in how enthralling I’ve found Cold Water. This is another film in which plot is secondary to mood and atmosphere, the feeling of being transported in time.

I Knew Her Well (1965) Pietrangeli. I’ve always loved this movie but initially struggled with the ending (SPOILER ALERT) because the main character, Adriana (Stefania Sandrelli) commits suicide. In the first viewing and even the second it’s not something that is telegraphed and seems barely hinted at. But with repeat viewings it has the feeling of inevitably. She is a beautiful young woman on the outskirts of fame holding down numerous jobs flirting (literally and figuratively) with those who can make or break her. She endures heartbreaks, disappointments and even humiliation. Adrianna is, unsurprisingly given the times, objectified more than respected — if indeed she’s respected at all. There are high times but always with the sense that they are stops along the way and not something that will become a permanent feature of her life. Beyond her beauty she has little to offer the entertainment world. She can’t imagine settling for less so rather than remaining on the treadmill until she ages out, she takes the inevitable ultimate step. Somehow it’s not a sad story, perhaps because it is presented so lightly (while given deeper meaning). It in some ways recalls the great Fellini film, Nights of Cabiria in that it avoids cynicism without denying cruelty. Both feature a female protagonist who suffers the slings and arrows. One ends by offering us a sad smile, the other opts out of life. Both are poignant and important films.

 

Martin Short

Marty, Life is Short (2026) Kasdan. Among other things Martin Short is the greatest talk show guest of all time. He also ranks among the funniest people of all time in any setting as has been made evident by his role in Only Murders in the Building. His career extends back nearly fifty years and has seen him star in SCTV and, for a brief time, on SNL. He’s also been in a series of films, frankly most bad but never because of him. He’s created innumerable fun characters such as the interviewer, Jimminy Glick. Comic genius is the simplest and best way to describe him. However his life has been struck by its fair share of tragedy and then some. The death of a beloved older brother when he was young and both parents before he’d turned twenty and the passing of the love of his life, his wife Nancy Dolman from cancer at 58. Add to that the recent suicide of his daughter and it’s a wonder that he can smile let alone make us laugh. But Marty Short is made of tough stuff and is living proof that laughter is the best medicine. This documentary by Lawrence Kasdan gives us some insight into the man and not surprisingly it is one rich with friends, love and laughter. It really is a wonderful life.

Point of Order! (1964) de Antonio.No narration, no later-day analysts, just raw footage from the infamous Army-McCarthy hearings of 1954. One hundred and eighty-eight hours of footage was reduced to ninety-seven captivating minutes. You don’t feel the lack of those other eight days worth of film, there’s plenty here. One thing you’ve got is the slow descent of Senator Joseph McCarthy, the red-baiting Commie hunter who wreaked so much havoc on the the public and its psyche in the early fifties. By the end of the film when he is continuing a tirade as the hearing room empties and everyone is going home, you can clearly see that this once mighty figure has been exposed. Joseph Welch, the aw shucks but brilliant attorney for the army played a very large part in bringing the monster down. It’s all compelling stuff.

Il Grido (1957) Antonioni. I loved this film. The pacing was interesting, not as languid as Antonioni's later films, but leisurely yet purposeful. It was more about mood than plot with the weather and settings playing a key role in establishing the feeling. It was melancholy but never depressing, never melodramatic. As if it were purposeful. You can see how it portends some of his later work but also how it stands alone as unique to his oeuvre. But unlike the later Antonioni films, Il Grido still has traces of postwar Italian realism in it. The workers, gas stations, river towns, economic hardship, transient labor — it’s grounded in a recognizable social world. Later Antonioni becomes more abstract, more modernist, more existentially rarefied.Il Grido is a romantic, heart-breaking road film. That preceding sentence will make sense if you see the film which I recommend you do.

Platoon (1986) Stone. Platoon is one of the greatest war films ever made. As a Vietnam veteran once said of it: it has everything but the smell of war. Indeed it can at times feel like you're watching a documentary made by filmmakers embedded in the unit. There is an immediacy to the story but at the same time it has a mythic quality. It has the sweat, confusion, fear, exhaustion, and moral randomness of war — particularly the one in Vietnam — but is at its core a moral tragedy. Private Taylor (Charlie Sheen) is a soldier and our guide being transformed by war. Like the war itself, Platoon leaves residue rather than clean resolution. The cast is wonderful as is everything about the production. It was a personal film for director Oliver Stone, based in large part on his own experiences. It won the Academy Award for Best Picture which shows you that the Oscars do sometimes award excellence.

Finally a word on the director Sean Baker. I’ve now seen all of his films at least twice. The missus and I just enjoyed a retrospective of his work. For me Baker's films are about people, their relationships and their dignity regardless of their status. They're about people struggling and succeeding in small ways. A Baker film is not a grand gesture, it's a nod, a quiet affirmation. Like Aki Kaurismäki, Baker respects his audience and trusts them to appreciate small moments. Baker's world is not for Pollyanna's, there is struggle, there is shouting, there is anger and there is not always resolution, as in life. I find his films life-affirming. I don't recall ever yawning during a Baker film. His films are not heavy-handed or preachy. The stories and the people speak for themselves without him underlining or emphasizing to make a point. He trusts the audience to understand or better still to find their own answers and meaning

My Top 30 Films From 1950-1974 (third of four in a series)

The Last Picture Show

Regular readers of this blog (I'm looking at you Gwendolyn Crustacean of Comptche, California) will recall that two months ago I published a list of my top thirty films from the first quarter of this century. I followed that last month with my top thirty from the preceding twenty-five year period (1975-1999). Next month I'll list my top thirty from 1925-1949. This month I offer my top thirty from 1950-1974. You're welcome. Not surprisingly it was much more difficult to narrow down the many films I love for this list than the previous two, in large part because the time period includes the first five years of the Seventies, my favorite decade of films. Also the fifties and sixties were a golden age  for foreign films. You will note there are five films on the list directed by Ingmar Bergman and four from Federico Fellini. You will also note that I include an honorable mention category at the end. This was because even after listing thirty pictures there were still five greats that deserved a mention. Finally, seventeen of the thirty films listed are in foreign languages as are three of the honorable mentions.

1. The Last Picture Show (1971) Bogdanovich

2. The Godfather (1972) F. Coppola/The Godfather 2 (1974)

3. Winter Light (1963) Bergman

4. Chinatown (1974) Polanski

5. The Searchers (1956) Ford

6. The Seventh Seal (1957) Bergman

7. La Dolce Vita (1960) Fellini

8. A Clockwork Orange (1971) Kubrick

9. Sunset Blvd. (1950) Wilder

10. Cabaret (1972) Fosse

11. Nights of Cabiria (1957) Fellini

12. 8 1/2 (1963) Fellini

13. The Emigrants (1971)/The New Land (1972) Troell

14. Amarcord (1973) Fellini

15. Umberto D. (1952) DeSica

16. Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972) Herzog

17. Through a Glass Darkly (1961) Bergman

18. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Kubrick

19. If….(1968) L. Anderson

20. L’Eclisse (1962) Antonioni

21. A Woman Under the Influence (1974) Cassavetes

22. The Flowers of St. Francis (1950) Rossellini

23. Psycho (1960) Hitchcock

24. Shame (1968) Bergman

25. The Burmese Harp (1956) Ichikawa

26. On the Waterfront (1954) Kazan

27. Persona (1966) Bergman

28. Vivre sa Vie (1962) Godard

29. The Great Escape (1963) J. Sturges

30. The Apu Trilogy: Pather Panchali (1955)/Aparjito (1956)/The World of Apu (1959) Ray

Honorable Mention:

The Last Detail (1971) Ashby

Red Desert (1964) Antonioni

Night of the Hunter (1955) Laughton

Rashomon(1950) Kurosawa 

Closely Watched Trains (1966) Menzel

Thank You For Your Support: Great Supporting Players from Hollywood's Golden Age

John Qualen (right) in Grapes of Wrath

All hail the screenwriter without whom there would be no story to film. All hail the producers who assemble and lead all the people necessary to create the film. All hail the director whose vision and leadership and coaxing is the crucial component in any picture. All hail the leading actors and actresses who embody the characters and make us laugh or cry or think. While we are in the midst of all these hosannahs let us not forget the many supporting players who add color, steal scenes and provide the foils, villains, comic relief and extra depth a picture needs. 

It seems to me that the heyday of the supporting player in Hollywood was in what has been billed as Hollywood’s Golden Age (the 1930's through '50s). There was a group of stock players and characters actors who were forever showing up in films, in roles both small and significant. Our familiarity with them added to the pleasure of seeing them show up in our favorite films. Among the most notable were Grant Mitchell, Edward Everett Horton, Jane Darwell, Una O’Connor, Eric Blore, Joan Blondell, Eugene Pallette, Charles Coburn, Beulah Bondi, Una Merkel (two Unas!), Franklin Pangborn, Guy Kibbee, James Gleason, Billie Burke, Gladys George and Spring Byington. But the most prominent for my money — what little there is of it — are the four gentleman listed below.

Pat Flaherty, left.

Pat Flaherty. It’s very likely that readers (both of us) don’t recognize this name. I barely do myself and I’m writing about him. Mr. Flaherty had an amazing 207 credits from 1934 to 1955. Many of the parts were so small that you dare not wink for fear of missing him. Pat was with the U.S. army during the Pancho Villa Expedition and was a fighter pilot during the First World War. He later played both professional football for the Chicago Bears and professional baseball for the New York Giants. In the early thirties he moved to Hollywood where he worked as a producer and technical advisor and later as a supporting actor. Pat played tough guys, construction workers, fighters, cops. I always associate him with The Treasure of the Sierra Madre where he sets Humphrey Bogart and Tim Holt straight about the crooked boss they’ve been had by. Here are a list of some of the more prominent films he popped up in.

Twentieth Century

The Thin Man

Modern Times

My Man Godfrey

A Day at the Races

His Girl Friday

The Grapes of Wrath

The Great Dictator

Meet John Doe

Ball of Fire

The Best Years of Our Lives

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Key Largo

The Asphalt Jungle

From 1931 and the pre-code era through 1974 and the birth of cable TV John Qualen had 222 acting credits. Born in Canada of Norwegian ancestry, John often played Scandanavians. Mr. Qualen was a student at the university of Toronto when he left school to join an acting troupe. He eventually reached New York where he got a part in a Broadway Production of Street Scenes. He reprised the role in the film version two years later. John had notable roles in three John Ford films, The Grapes of Wrath, The Long Voyage Home and The Searchers. He also had a key role in Casablanca as Berger, Victor Lazlo’s first underground contact. He was also the prisoner scheduled of execution in His Girl Friday. Here are all of his appearances in noted films. 

Counsellor at Law

Our Daily Bread

Nothing Sacred

His Girl Friday

The Grapes of Wrath

The Long Voyage Home

The Devil and Daniel Webster

Casablanca

The Searchers

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Ward Bond with John Wayne in the Searchers

Ward Bond would be familiar to anyone who’s a fan of film from the thirties through the fifties and especially devotees of John Ford. However he may be best known as Bert the cop in It’s a Wonderful Life. He totaled a staggering 278 credits starting in 1928 and culminating with a regular gig on the TV show, Wagon Train, ending with his death in 1960. Bond was born in the wonderfully named town of Benkelman, Nebraska. Bond was a football teammate and good friend of John Wayne at the University of Southern California. It was there that they and their entire team were hired to appear in a Ford film, Salute. Bond and Wayne and befriended the director and were thereafter regulars in his movies. While Bond had many short appearances he had meaty roles in Young Mr. Lincoln, The Maltese Falcon, the aforementioned It’s a Wonderful Life and notably in The Searchers. Here are his most noteworthy films.

The Big Trail

Heroes For Sale

Wild Boys of the Road

It Happened One Night

The Informer

Topper

Bringing Up Baby

Confessions of a Nazi Spy

Young Mr. Lincoln

The Grapes of Wrath

The Long Voyage Home

The Maltese Falcon

My Darling Clementine

It’s A Wonderful Life

Fort Apache

Mister Roberts

The Searchers

Starting in 1927 William Demarest had 165 credits the last in 1978. Besides his extensive TV work which included 215 appearances on My Three Sons, Bill was a familiar face on the silver screen. He’s most recognizable for being a regular for Preston Sturges in the early 1940s, notably his scene-stealing performance in The Lady Eve (“positively the same dame”) and his hilarious role as Constable Kockenlocker in Miracle of Morgan’s Creek. Demarest came to movies as a two-decade veteran of vaudeville. Demarest, who served in the army during World War I, lived to the ripe old age of 91. Here are his best films.

Easy Living

The Great Man Votes

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

All Through the Night

The Devil and Miss Jones

Christmas in July

The Great McGinty

The Lady Eve

Sullivan’s Travels

The Palm Beach Story

The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek

Hail the Conquering Hero

James Gleason in Meet John Doe

Here are my ten favorite supporting actor performances from Hollywood’s Golden Age:

James Gleason in Meet John Doe

William Demarest in Miracle of Morgan’s Creek

Franklin Pangborn in Hail the Conquering Hero

Edward Everett Horton in Holiday

Roland Young in The Philadelphia Story

Thomas Mitchell in Stagecoach

Robert Benchley in Foreign Correspondent

John Qualen in The Long Voyage Home

Ward Bond in The Searchers

S.Z Sakal in Christmas in Connecticut

Here are my ten favorite supporting actress performances from the same period:

 

Ruth Hussey in The Philadelphia Story

Virginia Weidler in The Philadelphia Story

Gail Patrick in My Man Godfrey

Margaret Dumont in Duck Soup

Jane Darwell in Grapes of Wrath

Aline McMahon in Heroes for Sale

Joan Blondell Gold Diggers of 1933

May Robson in Bringing Up Baby

Linda Darnell in My Darling Clementine

Helen Broderick in Top Hat