Oscar Shmoscar

I got this question the other day about a recent film: "Is it Oscar worthy?" I get asked this often and it bugs the heck out of me. Actually, there are two ways to interpret this question:

1. Is this the type of film that the Academy will choose to honor whether it deserves the recognition or not? Fair question. Sometimes you can predict that a film such as Atonement will garner undeserved nominations while a terrific film like Zodiac will be ignored. Oscar nominations and winners can be predictable and baffling–or even both. Guessing what's going to be nominated then what will win can be a good parlor game.

2. The other way to look at the "is it Oscar worthy?" question is that the person asking the question considers the Oscar the gold standard for judging films. There are a lot of people like this (they are also known as causal film fans).

Here is a detailed and unimpeachable response to those who believe that the Oscars are the “be-all and end-all” of film evaluation.

Question: How many “Best Director” Oscars did the following group of directors garner between them? Alfred Hitchock (pictured above), Howard Hawks, Charlie Chaplin, King Vidor, Stanley Kubrick, William Wellman, Arthur Penn, Ridley Scott, Stanley Kramer, Sideny Lumet, Ernst Lubitsch, Robert Altman, Orson Wells and Alan J. Pakula. Answer: Zero. Zilch. Nada. None.

Here's another one. These gentlemen have never won a competitive best actor award: Cary Grant, Peter O'Toole, Richard Burton, Albert Finney, Leslie Howard, Edward G. Robinson, Claude Rains, Peter Lorre, John Barrymore and Kirk Douglas.

And the following ladies have been similarly neglected: Glenn Close, Irene Dunne, Deborah Kerr, Thelma Ritter, Jean Simmons, Myrna Loy, Ida Lupino, Janet Leigh and Jean Arthur.

It gets worse, folks. In 1933, Cavalcade won best picture over fellow nominees: Trouble in Paradise, King Kong, Duck Soup, Queen Christina and Dinner at Eight.

In 1936, The Great Ziegfeld won the statuette over Modern Times, Fury, My Man Godfrey, Show Boat, Swing Time.

In 1939, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Roaring Twenties, Stagecoach and Ninochtka lost to an overblown soap opera called Gone With the Wind

In 1940, The Grapes of Wrath, Foreign Correspondent, The Letter, The Great Dictator and The Philadelphia Story lost to Rebecca, a worthy picture but...

in 1941, How Green Was My Valley won the best picture Oscar over Citizen Kane.

In 1949, The Third Man was not nominated for best picture.

In 1951, An American in Paris beat out A Streetcar Named Desire, The Day the Earth Stood Still, African Queen, Strangers on a Train and A Place in the Sun. No joke.

In 1956, Around the World in 80 Days won best picture. The Searchers didn't. Seriously.

Two years later Gigi won the Oscar beating out something called Vertigo.

In 1967, In the Heat of the Night beat out both The Graduate and Bonnie & Clyde.

In 1971, The French Connection won. A Clockwork Orange, The Last Picture Show and McCabe and Mrs. Miller didn't.

Five years later the Academy awarded Rocky over Network, All the President's Men and Taxi Driver. (I'm not making this stuff up.)

Four years after that it was Kramer vs. Kramer over Manhattan and Apocalypse Now.
Not to be outdone, the 1980 ceremony saw the big prize go to Ordinary People, not Raging Bull.

One doesn't know whether to laugh or cry about this one. In 1989, Driving Miss Daisy beat out Do the Right Thing and Glory (there's all you need to know about Hollywood and African Americans).

In 1998, Shakespeare in Love was the winner, not Saving Private Ryan. Of course that was the year after Titanic's Oscar sweep.

And just a few years ago Crash got best picture. That alone is bad enough but is compounded by the fact that it won over Brokeback Mountain and Good Night, Good Luck.

Question: Is it Oscar worthy?

Answer: Who cares?

No Ordinary Time

The central character in Jean-Pierre Melville's Army of Shadows (1969), Philippe Gerbier, is a totally ordinary looking fellow, perhaps bordering on homely.  Gerbier's appearance is appropriate to the film.  There are no handsome, dashing leading men. No exciting chases, dramatic explosions, or torrid love scenes. Instead, Melville presents the story of the French Resistance as being comprised of regular folks, in many cases, doing quite regular deeds to confound and defeat their Nazi oppressors during the occupation.

Army of Shadows is realistic in depicting the resistance. But more than a study of that time in history it is a look at people thrust into extraordinary circumstances and how they react. An informer is caught and brought to a house where he is to be killed but neighbors have moved in next door and would hear the gunfire. Our heroes have no silencers and no knives but they are under orders to do away with the young man who has betrayed some of their fellows. What follows is a heart wrenching scene of execution that is graphic more in what it shows about the psychological toll on humans that killing can exact than on the physical act of dying.

There is another scene in which an elaborate plot is hatched to free a compratiot from the Gestapo. The plan is neither spectacularly successful nor heart-breakingly foiled. At the point of nearly succeeding the plan becomes sadly unnecessary. Such things happen after all.

One of the greatest French directors, Melville was a lover of America and American films (he even Americanized his name) and best known for such gangsters films as Bob Le Flambeur (1956) and Le Samourai (1972). But as a veteran of the Resistance he knew the territory in making Army of Shadows. Perhaps that is why he did not glamorize it.  Instead he showed people facing decisions in pivotal moments that could cost them their life or the lives of many others.

Lino Ventura, who portrays Gerbier, is ideal as the film's central figure. He is a realist not swayed by sentiment but he is reflective and thoughtful. His long sad face draws our attention and in its stoicism keeps us grounded in the awful grind of  war. When he runs from the Gestapo it is not an exciting dash for freedom but a desperate attempt to stay alive so as to fight another day. The sound of Gerbier's  shoes against the sidewalk provide punctuation to his dash.  We also clearly see that to survive in war, as to succeed in sports, it is better to be lucky than good.

Melville was also careful in the rest of his casting, with only Jean-Pierre Cassell adding any glitz to the cast. The lone female lead is played by Simone Signoret who here is more of a dowdy middle aged aunt than screen siren.

The only real lightness comes when Gerbier and his boss are taken to London. There, in addition to business, they take in Gone With the Wind at a movie house and Gerbier later finds shelter in a lively bar during a blitz. Later back in France,  the strains of Glenn Miller  – and especially the faces of a lovely young lady from the bar – are vivid pictures in Gerbier's mind when his death seems immenent.

Meanwhile the Nazis are not made out to be monsters.  That would be too easy and Melviille doesn't go for such cheap tricks. After starting the movie with an unforgettable march of Nazis down the Champs Elysees, Melville doesn't much focus on the Germans anyway.

Army of Shadows is full of wonderful moments such as when the French policeman riding in the back of the police van with Gerbier and chatting idly with him pauses to look down at Gerbier's handcuffs. Melville holds the camera on the cop's face for a few seconds as we see his smile fade in remembering his companion's circumstances.

This is not a depressing movie.  No film this well made can be – it is my number two ranked all time foreign language film behind Grand Illusion (1937). Army of Shadows could be seen as a tribute to those who sacrificed their lives or part of their souls in resisting Nazi oppression. But like any great film its themes are broader than that. It is the story of what people do, how they get up each morning and take care of whatever business that awaits them. Whether they are living in a small village at a time of peace or in a war torn city during an enemy occupation. It's also about how, regardless of external circumstance,  we all face choices.

But what choices these people faced!

I Love These Old Photos of Berkeley

Please note there are no people sitting in oak trees in any of these pictures.

I Swear I Didn't Do it!

It can be merely aggravating, terribly frustrating or even be fatal. It is a terrible feeling when someone, or indeed many people, don't believe you. It was as common to the films of Alfred Hitchcock as the beautiful blonde.

Poor Margaret Lockwood. No one would believe her elderly companion existed in The Lady Vanishes (1938). Pity Cary Grant. Those evil spies would not believe he wasn't also a spy in North by Northwest (1959). Imagine innocent Henry Fonda, suspected, arrested and convicted of a hold up he didn't commit in The Wrong Man (1956). Likewise Derrick De Marney wrongly accused of murder in Young and Innocent (1937). And what about Robert Cummings, believed to have committed sabotage in Saboteur (1942). And I haven't even gotten to Jimmy Stewart in Rear Window (1954) or Gregory Peck in Spellbound (1945).

To be wrongly accused, or have your claims of witnessing something disbelieved, touches a central human fear. It is to be alone, and to be suffering an injustice in that isolation. It perverts our basic relationship with society and thus can literally drive us insane.

Hitchcock explored this, and the elemental desire for people to prove themselves. The need to be redeemed became primal in these characters and their efforts thus bordered on the super human. In most cases the characters were "ordinary" people to begin with. Grant an advertising man, Fonda a musician, Stewart a photographer, Cummings a factory worker, De Marney a writer, etc.

This provided two elements to the story. One is that none of us are immune to a seemingly random accusation – innocents are regularly being cleared by DNA evidence of crimes of which they were convicted. The "It could happen to you" aspect of such stories is a great device to engage audiences and show the arbitrariness of human life. The other element this adds is that we are all capable of great deeds in the name of justice, even if motivated by self interest.

I'm not giving anything away by pointing out that in Hitchcock's films the innocent is ultimately believed and cleared. It is also important to note that it is almost invariably by their own efforts that they are redeemed, not by those of establishment figures like the the police or government. Also, our hero usually benefits from the assistance of a confederate, often a comely blond like Grace Kelly, Eva Marie Saint or Priscilla Lane. We may feel alone as the falsely accused, but in this world we can usually count on someone to help.

It is essential in such stories to restore the world to its proper balance (especially absent this inevitably in real life). Happy endings are generally preferable in films, but in the you've-got-the-wrong-guy fiction I believe them to be a must. Generally speaking, only a nonfiction story should allow the innocent to suffer.

Of course, with Hitchcock we always enjoy the ride, too. There is action, adventure, romance and sometimes even laughs along the way. This softens the hard reality of our character's dilemma and provides the requisite entertainment.

Alfred Hitchcock, the master of the"I-swear-it wasn't-me....."

The Incredible Changing Man

There are some things in life I just don't get – and likely never will.  Many of these things relate to films.  For example: How did Roger Ebert pick Crash as the best film of  2004 and how did it win the best picture Oscar?

As a Hallmark Hall of Fame Movie of the Week from 1983, it would have been pretty good. But as a major motion picture in the 21st century it was just past mediocre. Crash was well intentioned but the story was preposterous.

I also don't get how Woody Allen's Zelig (1983) is not a more revered film. In its execution alone Zelig is brilliant. No pseudo documentary has ever been better, and yes, I'm considering the marvelous works of Christopher Guest.

Allen stars as Leonard Zelig, the incredible changing man, a human chameleon who takes the form of others around him. The story is told in documentary form as if people of the present were looking back on the story of Zelig, who achieved international celebrity in the '20s and '30s before fading into obscurity.

The melding of Allen and other actors, most notably Mia Farrow, into actual film footage from the '20s and '30s is remarkable. To have Allen and other actors appear to be in footage shot 50 years previous would be a technological feat today, never mind in '83.

You could easily fool many people into supposing this was a true story – if that they could get past the fact that a man can become suddenly obese merely by chatting with obese people or become Chinese when with Chinese, or speak French with Frenchmen, or even become one himself when around African Americans.  It sounds silly, I know, but seeing is believing.  It's all done so seamlessly and with such earnestness that a person would not have to be too young or gullible to "buy it."

Perhaps the  best real tip off is that this is not the real deal is that Zelig is played for laughs. The supposed filmed sessions between Zelig and his love interest/psychiatrist (Farrow) include Zelig reeling off several Allenesque one-liners.

Many real life notables appear in the film to comment on the Zelig phenomenon, including Susan Sontag, Saul Bellow and former Jazz Age restaurateur, Bricktop. Others appear in archival footage, sometimes with Zelig edited into the action. They include Lou Gerhig, Adolph Hitler, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Charlie Chaplin.

Zelig is an interesting slice of culture from the '20s and '30s. The narration by Patrick Horgan is perfect (Horgan's name is probably unfamiliar to you but his voice is instantly recognizable to baby boomers).

But Zelig is more than a good time.  It is a parable for the desire many people have to fit in at any cost.  Zelig is a man who is pathological in his desire to be like others.  In given situations we all want to fit in to one extent or another. Sometimes we'll go along with any trend or opinion just to avoid being an outcast.  In this sense,  Zelig is very much a metaphor for fascism particularly, I think, as it existed in Nazi Germany.  It is also a commentary about celebrity in modern culture.  See how quickly the famous can raise and fall and how they can be exploited before their star dims. But Zelig is also a love story, and an important one as it shows how the positive love of one can override the negative false love of many.

This summer marks the 25th anniversary of the Zelig's theatrical release.  It is yet to achieve the reverence it so rightly deserves.

I don't get it.

Twist N Shout

Entertainment Weekly's online edition has a list of 22 movies with the best twist endings entitled, "You Got Swerved."  There are some memorable films on the list such as Fight Club, The Usual Suspects and Psycho. But what struck me after looking over the 22 was the ones I didn't remember.

Imagine a movie with a surprise ending and you've forgotten all about it. What does that tell you? It tells me that a twist at the end is not enough to save a bad or mediocre film. A film resonates if, taken as a whole, it's a good or excellent viewing experience.

From EW's list  there were several that for me but were hazy memories. For example, I'd forgotten  everything about The Others save that there were ghosts in it and it starred Nicole Kidman. Little did I recall about The Phone Booth other than Colin Ferrell played a slimy character who was trapped in a phone booth (remember those pre-cell phone structures?) by a sniper, and all I remembered about The Prestige was that I was totally disappointed by it and another magician movie from 2006, The Illusionist.   

Admittedly there are some movies that I didn't enjoy that stay in the mind such as Bad Lieutenant which I remember  well because Harvey Keitel's character was so repellent. And there are some movies that I like while watching  but forget about once the final credits are done, such as the latest Indiana Jones movie. It was diverting entertainment while on the screen but nothing to ponder afterwards.

A twist ending cannot save a movie that is otherwise lacking.  Indeed, while it can enhance a good movie, the twist is never what makes it good in the first place.  Psycho and Fight Club in particular were outstanding films evens sans twist. The Usual Suspects may have relied more on the twist for its overall impact but the whole movie built up to it – it was not an add on.

It's crucial that the twist not be tacked on for effect as a gimmick but be an integral part of the story.  Like nudity or violence, the twist should not be gratuitous.

A Mere 25 Great World War II Films

I was going to compile my definitive list of great films set during World War II. Too long.  

Then I considered a list of films about World War II that, taken together, would comprise a history lesson about the war. Also too long. 

So instead, I've come up with this: an eclectic groups of films set during World War II.  Not definitive, not comprehensive, many notable omissions, but able to convey just how damn many good movies the great man-made cataclysm inspired. Why the "Good War" has inspired so many outstanding movies is a topic for another time.

Suffice it to say, these films all come highly recommended.

1. Saving Private Ryan (1998) Spielberg. With its opening scenes on D-Day and its climactic last stand, Ryan set the gold standard for cinematic battle scenes.
   
2. Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) Fleischer/Fukasaku. The day that will live in infamy and the lead up to it as seen by both the Japanese and Americans. Have a history lesson along with your entertainment.
   
3.  Open City (1945) Rossellini.  Rome in 1944 under Nazi occupation. The resistance.  Lots of ordinary people who'd been through the events depicted in lieu of professional actors. Actual locales used.  A veritable historical document.
4.  Mrs. Miniver (1942) Wyler.  The British home front during the blitz, the evacuation of Dunrkirk.  Strong cast led by Greer Garson.
5. Das Boot (1981) Peterson.  Life and death on a German submarine. Epic and intimate. A positively great film.
6. The Great Escape (1963) J. Sturges. The true story of the audacious plan for over 200 allies to escape from a POW camp.  Steve McQueen, James Garner, Charles Bronson, Richard Attenborough, Donald Pleasance, James Garner.
7. Army of Shadows (1969) Melville.  Extremely realistic, extremely powerful look at the French resistance in occupied France. One of the great films of all time of any kind.
8. Casablanca (1942) Curtiz. On top of everything else, Casablanca gave audiences a real sense of the desperation of many Europeans to get the hell out of Nazi-occupied Europe. A rightly beloved film that conveyed much truth about what was transpiring at the time.
9. The Shop on Main Street (1965) Kadar/Klos.  From Czechoslovakia, a look at the effect of the Holocaust on non Jews and the horrible decisions they were forced to make.
10. The Story of GI Joe (1945) Wellman.  The story of the American foot solider as seen through the eyes of the premier war correspondent Ernie Pyle, portrayed by Burgess Meredith.
11. Soldier of Orange (1977) Verhoeven. The war from the perspective of a group of Dutch friends who go in different directions once the Nazis invade. Rutger Huaer features as a member of the underground.
12. Schindler's List (1993) Spielberg. Powerful. Heart-breaking. Depressing. Inspiring.  The horrors of the Holocaust and the heroic efforts of one man to save  as many Jews as possible. Ralph Fiennes' portrayal of a sadistic German officer is one of the most indelible performances of evil in cinema.
13. Since You Went Away (1944) Cromwell. One family at home in the U.S. with father off fighting. A touching film about the home front.
14. Downfall (2004) Hirschbiegel.  Hitler and company's last days through the eyes of his secretary.  Bruno Ganz is amazing as Der Fuhrer.
15. Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) Lean. Alec Guiness,  William Holden, Sessue Hayakawa,  Jack Hawkins, the jungles of Burma,  culture clash, action, a dash of romance, moral confusion, and a bridge.
16. The Last Metro (1980) Truffaut. Another excellent film depicting Parisians hiding from Nazis. Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu star.
17. Action in the North Atlantic (1943) Bacon.  The role of the heroic merchant marines in the war (like my dad!).  Humphrey Bogart, Raymond Massey and Alan Hale star.  Somewhat realistic, certainly exciting.
18. Europa Europa (1990) Holland.  A Jewish lad in the Hitler Youth?  Come on!  But it's a true story!  It's the fascinating tale of an innocent switching sides in an effort to survive. Too many people have missed it.
19. The Pianist (2002) Polanski.  Another Holocaust story. Another tale of survival. This one starring Adrien Brody as a Jewish musician in Warsaw, Poland. Amazing performance and even more amazing set designs.
20. Lacombe Lucien (1974) Malle. Set in Vichy France; the protagonist is a collaborator.  War does funny things to people, usually without their even realizing what's going on. Our "hero" is an 18 year old farm boy who has a Jewish girlfriend but ends up working with the bad guys.
21. Twelve O'Clock High (1949) King. Yes there is action in the air but this film is highlighted by the manner in which it shows the psychological strain of war.  Gregory Peck is brilliant in the lead role.
22. Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) Eastwood.  The famous battle from the Japanese perspective. Much better than its preceding companion film, Flag of Our Fathers.  Stark, unflinching look at battles and the men who, out of a sense of duty, fight in them.
23. Closely Watched Trains (1966) Menzel. The war is seemingly a backdrop to this story of a young Czech railway dispatcher's apprentice and his efforts to "grow up."  However those who didn't go to war often found that the war came to them.  Difficult decisions must be made. Bittersweet.
24. Hell in the Pacific (1968) Boorman.  It's pretty much just Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune on an island during the war. The ultimate odd couple. A great the-folly-of-war picture.
25. To Be Or Not To Be (1942) Lubitsch. Why not a comedy to round out the list?  Carole Lombard and Jack Benny, along with a delightful supporting cast, in this funny story about an acting troupe that takes on the Nazis in occupied Poland.
    

Destination Common Cause

There's something comforting and comfortable about watching World War II movies made at the time of the war and for the first few years after it ended. Yes, the subject is war and there are deaths, violence, and destruction, but those horrors are rarely the theme of the film and they're not graphically depicted.

It wasn't until the late 1950's with films such as Bridge on the River Kwai that there was a more cynical edge to war pictures and the suffering shown was more realistic. By the time of Arthur Hiller's Americanization of Emily (1964) war movies were becoming philosophical and were more likely to dwell on the folly of war rather than serving as patriotic drum beatings. Three years later, in the spirit of the 1960's, The Dirty Dozen was belittling army officers.

WWII films have been fewer and farther between recently with those that are made being absolutely unflinching in the depiction of blood, brain matter and blown off limbs, Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan is a case in point.

Last night I watched Destination Tokyo, directed by Delmar Daves in 1943. It was downright cozy. Yes, there was death and destruction but it was highly sanitized. When an American was killed it was sentimentalized. When Japanese were killed it was justice. Blood and gore were absent.

Like virtually all war pictures made during WWII, Destination Tokyo was war propaganda, plain and simple. It was a patriotic rallying cry for Americans to support the war and see the value of the cause. The Japanese, Cary Grant's character told us, were victims of a horrible system that must be wiped out. Not only for our sake but for the Japanese as well. So films like Destination Tokyo (set almost entirely on a submarine heading from San Francisco to Japan via the Aleutians) were not terribly realistic and wore their messages on their sleeves. What's the possible attraction?

It's a chance to hang out with the guys. What WWII movies like Destination Tokyo did so well was to put together a group of people from various walks of American life with a common cause. In this picture you had your scared but ambitious kid, your playboy, your gruff but lovable cook (Alan Hale, who else?), your philosophical future doctor, your wily veteran, your cool collected leader (Grant); in other words a potpourri, if a commonly used one, of men. The quirky, the urbane, the cool, the fiery, the hyphenated American and the Yankee Doodle do or die. Between them they were everymen. Representing the wide array of attitudes, feelings, hopes, dreams and fears that we all encounter within our simple hum drum lives. The men had their differences but always managed to work things out. In times of peril they pulled together. In terms of the American ethos it was Eden.

Watching World War II movies from the 1940s is like the best time you ever had hanging out with the fellas. A difference here or there but everything worked out and a good time had by all. What a great group of guys! Destination Tokyo also happens to be watchable because of a strong performance by Grant, his co star, John Garfield and the rest of the ensemble cast. It was also an excellent directorial debut by Daves who recreated the claustrophobia in and tension of being on a war time submarine.

One can only imagine the effect such movies had on audiences at the times of its release. Americans. by and large. supported the war and were proud to participate in the shared sacrifices ( a far cry from today when nothing is asked of us except to shop till we drop). Destination Tokyo must have been a feel good movie. Feel good about the war, the sacrifices, and our fellow Americans.

It feels good today, too. War is just the backdrop – it's a movie about people working together, successfully, no less. What a concept!

The Stars Are Superfluous

I've put together a great supporting cast for a movie. Here goes:

• Frank Faylen as the Cab Driver.
  
• Walter Connolly as the Father.
  
• Franklin Pangborn as the Hotel Manager
  
• Charles Lane as the Desk Clerk.
  
• Eric Blore as the Butler.
  
• Robert Greig as the other Butler.
  
• William Demarest as the Cop.
  
• Douglas Dumbrille as the District Attorney.
  
• Beulah Bondi as the Mother.
  
• Ruth Donnelly as the Aunt.
  
• Guy Kibbee as Pop.
  
• Jack Carson as the Neighbor.
  
• Charles Ruggles as the Major.
  
• May Robson as Granny.
  
• Pat Flaherty as the Bartender.
  
• Roscoe Karns as the Reporter.
  
• Allen Jenkins as Barney.
  
• Glenda Farrell as Fay.
  
• John Qualen as Lars.
  

The Stars? Take your pick from William Powell, Myrna Loy, Robert Montgomery, Barbara Stanwyck, Melvyn Douglass, Jean Arthur, James Cagney, Joan Crawford...you know – the usual.