A STAR IS BORN (1954)

Judy Garland and James Mason

A STAR IS BORN (1954). Director: George Cukor.

Esther Blodgett (Judy Garland) ignites the interest of movie star Norman Maine (James Mason) when he drunkenly stumbles upon the stage where she is performing a number for a Hollywood "Night of Stars" benefit. Esther is by no means a star, but rather a vocalist with a popular band. Norman is so impressed by Esther that he arranges a screen test for her and is instrumental in her taking over the lead role of a new musical production. Eventually Esther -- rechristened "Vicki Lester" by the studio -- and Norman marry, but as her career hits the heights and she does become a certified star, Norman's heavy drinking and bad behavior pay a toll ... 

The Man That Got Away

I've seen this version of the venerable story more than once in the past few years and my opinion of it waxes and wanes. I have now come to the conclusion that it is a very good and very entertaining classic motion picture, and the best version ever of this bit of Hollywood folklore. In previous years I may have been reacting negatively to the obsessive, near-hysterical reaction among some Garland fans who may have ruined many a screening of the picture. I first saw the film on television decades ago, chopped up by commercial interruptions and missing scenes that had even made the final theatrical cut. Color and cinemascope were lost. Now the film can be seen in its original three hour length in widescreen technicolor and stereophonic sound -- boy what a difference!

Born in a Trunk

There are times when you do get the impression that this is strictly A Judy Garland Extravaganza with the woman taking centerstage in one musical number after another and to hell with the story. But in the final quarter the film does get back to the central romantic relationship between Esther and Norman, and as for all of the musical numbers -- well, A Star is Born is a musical, after all, and the production numbers, featuring a luminescent and ultra-talented Garland at the top of her form, are extremely well-done and give the film its vitality. The long Born in a Trunk sequence is also quite stylish and memorable. 

Norman Maine overhears that he's washed up forever

Garland gives a terrific performance, and those who claim the Oscar was stolen from her may be correct. This time around I didn't find her overly mannered or too neurotic but pretty much on-target in her portrayal. Let's not forget James Mason, who is near-superb as the charming, dissipated Norman, who can be a pretty mean drunk when he wants to be. There is a lot we don't learn about Norman, unfortunately, which might have made him a bit more sympathetic, although when we see Mason as Maine in his bed listening to the studio boss tell Esther how washed up her husband is, you can't help but feel a stab of pity. 

Garland with Charles Bickford

Charles Bickford makes his mark as the studio boss, and he has two wonderful scenes with Mason in the Maine home and at the sanitorium where Norman is hopefully drying out. Bickford also figures in a especially well-written dressing room sequence when Esther tells of how helpless she feels trying to succor Norman and how there are times when she actually hates him due to his failure to control his drinking and all of his broken promises. Jack Carson also scores as the long-suffering publicity man who has had to put up with Norman's drunken antics for too long a time. Tommy Noonan is fine as Esther's friend, the band leader Danny, who gives her a needed pep talk, and there are bits from Irving Bacon as Norman's butler, Percy Helton as a drunk, Arthur Space as a court clerk, Frank Ferguson as a judge, Tristram Coffin as an assistant director, Grady Sutton as a reporter, and Richard Webb as a winner at the Oscar ceremony, and many, many other familiar names who show up only briefly. 

Get That Long Face Lost

In addition to Born in a Trunk, which includes a rendition of Swanee, the other song numbers include It's a New World, What am I here for? and Get That Long Face Lost which features two cute black children. Arguably the best number is The Man That Got Away, superbly delivered by Garland. One might wonder why she smiles during this torchiest of torch songs, but it may reflect a sheer joy in singing, and in this excellent Harold Arlen-Ira Gershwin song. (Arlen and Gershwin did the other numbers, aside from Born in a Trunk and Swanee). I confess that I've always found the number Garland does for Norman in her living room to be a little tiresome, but you can't win 'em all. In any case, Sam Leavitt's cinematography is first-class, as is Cukor's direction. 

Norman accidentally smacks Esther at the Oscar ceremony

Some things you just have to take with a grain of salt. Why would Norman Maine insist that Esther have a screen test when he's never actually seen her act, just sing? Sure her interpretive singing skills are impressive, but that doesn't mean she can act. Still, this is Hollywood. Based on the initial reviews and audience reaction, everyone expected A Star is Born to be a tremendous hit, but the studio cut forty minutes out of it so there could be more showings. I'm not certain if that really would have hurt the box office, but in any case the movie lost money and Garland only made two more pictures. Her big comeback was both a triumph and a failure. 

Verdict: A hell of a lot of work went into this picture and it shows! ***1/2.  

A STAR IS BORN: JUDY GARLAND AND THE FILM THAT GOT AWAY

A STAR IS BORN: Judy Garland and the Film That Got Away. Lorna Luft and Jeffrey Vance. Running Press; 2018. 

"Every song was attenuated to such a length that I thought I was going mad ... after we had endured montage after montage and repetition after repetition, I found myself wishing that dear enchanting Judy was at the bottom of the sea." -- Noel Coward.

This generously illustrated coffee table tome, co-written by Judy Garland's daughter Lorna Luft, takes an exhaustive look at A Star is Born and especially examines why a film that won much critical acclaim and should have had boffo box office, died on the vine after the studio cut the running time in order to fit in more screenings. This was to be Garland's big comeback film, and while she did do a couple of movies afterward, her days as a major film star were over. The book looks into the previous versions of the story, as well as the Barbra Streisand version (which was a commercial success), and recounts Garland's career and personal life both before, during, and after the making of A Star is Born. Luft is blunt about her father, Sid Luft, and his abilities (or lack thereof) as a producer. The final sections of the book delve into the reconstruction of the film, which is now available on DVD so the reader/viewer can judge for themselves if the film -- and Garland -- are overpraised or not. The section on Garland's gay fans is somewhat unintentionally comical and a bit dated all told. But this is a very good bet for Garland fans! And while I quite understand where Noel Coward was coming from (see quote above) I can't say that I agree. Some of the other individuals involved in the film, such as James Mason, might have come in for a little more praise. 

Verdict: Attractive, well-written volume on a classic motion picture and its tormented star. ***.

DAVID COPPERFIELD (1935)

Freddie Bartholomew and W. C. Fields

DAVID COPPERFIELD (aka The Personal History, Adventures, Experience, & Observation of David Copperfield the Younger/1935). Director: George Cukor.

"They seem rather obstinate oysters!" -- Aunt Betsey.

After his beloved mother's death, little David Copperfield (a wonderful Freddie Bartholomew) finds himself at the mercy of his hated stepfather, Murdstone (Basil Rathbone) and his equally loathsome sister (Violet Kemble Cooper), then sent off to work in a factory where he is befriended by the benevolent Micawber (W. C. Fields, pictured). Then the poor boy has to make his way on foot, penniless, to the home of his peppery Aunt Betsey (Edna May Oliver). The problem is that when David grows to manhood and is played by the relatively colorless Frank Lawton, he becomes a supporting character in his own story, which on the whole is full of too many characters that you just don't care about. For the most part, the acting is excellent, however, with Oliver and Rathbone as good as ever -- not to mention Jessie Ralph as nurse Peggotty -- and Roland Young making a striking Uriah Heep. Lewis Stone, Elsa Lanchester, Lionel Barrymore, Una O'Conner and others are lost in the episodic and sometimes dull picture, but Fields and Bartholomew make an engaging pair. Even at 130 minutes' running time there's simply too much plot crammed into the movie, and the second half is not nearly as good as the first. I generally like honest sentiment, but in David Copperfield the sentiment is often treacly, the characters' affection for one another bordering on the cloying. Everyone is just too "cutesy." However, the movie certainly has its admirers.

Verdict: Has its moments, but it's no Tale of Two Cities. **1/2.

A LIFE OF HER OWN

A LIFE OF HER OWN (1950). Director: George Cukor. 

Lily James (Lana Turner) leaves her dead-end small town for a life of glamor, modeling, and excitement in New York and gets a little more than she bargained for. After a variety of adventures and mis-adventures, she becomes involved with a married man (Ray Milland) who has a crippled wife (Margaret Phillips). Dismissed as soap opera and "fluff" by the critics at the time of its release and after, this is actually a hard-hitting drama with an excellent script and dialogue by Isobel Lennart. Cukor, well-known as an actors' director, certainly worked his magic on the cast. Lana Turner is first-class throughout, giving what may have been her best performance in films, and Ray Milland, often a Great Stone Face, is much more impressive than usual. Ann Dvorak almost walks off with the movie as the aging model, Mary Ashlon, who is hoping for a comeback that even she realizes is unlikely. Tom Ewell, Louis Calhern, Margaret Phillips and Sara Haden (as a nurse) are also notable. Barry Sullivan superbly delivers a great super-cynical speech near the end of the film. Although one could argue that the movie sticks to a dated sin-and-suffer formula, it actually is true to its essentially dark tone (even though the original ending was softened quite a bit). 

Verdict: Fascinating stuff in its own way and very well-performed. ***1/2.

LES GIRLS

Elg, Kendall and Gaynor

LES GIRLS (1957). Director: George Cukor.

Retired dancer Lady Sybil (Kay Kendall of Wings of Danger) has written a book about her life in which she claims that a former colleague, Angele (Taina Elg), attempted suicide out of her unrequited love for their boss, Barry Nichols (Gene Kelly). Angele is outraged -- and so is her husband, Pierre (Jacques Bergerac of The Hypnotic Eye) -- so a libel suit results. Most of Les Girls consists of flashbacks

"Wild One" Kelly and his Leather Boys

as Sybil tells her story, then Angele tells hers, and finally Barry comes into court to tell his side of things. Les Girls has an interesting hook with the libel suit, but the script becomes increasingly stupid with each section, and even Cole Porter's songs are second or third-rate for this composer. The film's highlight is a sequence when Kelly walks in with a gang of motorcycle toughs and does a splendid dance number with Mitzi Gaynor [The Joker is Wild], but most of the production numbers are disappointing. Kelly and the ladies are all excellent, however. Henry Daniell plays the judge presiding over the case and Patrick Macnee [The Avengers] is one of the lawyers; Leslie Phillips is Kendall's husband. In CinemaScope and Metrocolor. This was Porter's last film score, and Kelly's last MGM musical. 

Verdict: Cute but unremarkable. **1/2. 

A DOUBLE LIFE

Shelley Winters and Ronald Colman

A DOUBLE LIFE (1947). Director: George Cukor.

Anthony John (Ronald Colman) is a well-known theater actor who is divorced from, but still in love with, his ex-wife, Brita (Signe Hasso of A Reflection of Fear). They have remained friends and co-workers and decide to do their rendition of Shakespeare's Othello. Never too tightly wrapped to begin with, Anthony begins unraveling as the successful show goes on month after month, developing an intense jealousy over Brita (and a publicist named Bill played by Edmond O'Brien), that threatens to rival Othello's equally unfounded jealousy over Desdemona. Is someone going to pay the ultimate price for Anthony's madness, and who will it be? A Double Life has a famous star -- Colman won a Best Actor Oscar for his performance -- and director, but the movie is successful neither as drama nor suspense film. The characters in the script by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin are too superficial to make us actually care about anyone, and there is no real tension in the movie, Shelley Winters plays a waitress that Colman dallies with, but this very good actress is hardly given enough to work with in her two brief scenes with the star. Signe Hasso comes off better as Desdemona than Colman does in his okay but often hammy interpretation of Othello. There are people who really love this movie (they go on about it as if were along the lines of he actual Othello) and Colman's performance, but I think Colman has given better performances in much better pictures than this. Betsy Blair has a nice bit as a hopeful actress, and Ray Collins, Whit Bissell, and Joe Sawyer also have minor supporting roles. Cukor has directed better melodramas than this, including Gaslight and A Woman's Face. In the final sequence Hasso seems to be indulging in a bit of silent movie acting! I believe Colman's Oscar was given for his body of work. This bears some similarities to the earlier The Brighton Strangler, which some may actually consider the better movie..

Verdict: See a performance of Othello instead. **.

GASLIGHT (1944)

Boyer and Bergman

GASLIGHT (1944). Director: George Cukor.

Paula Alquist (Ingrid Bergman) lived in a house in London with her aunt, a famous opera singer who was strangled to death. Years later she comes back to that house with her new husband, Gregory Anton (Charles Boyer). The autocratic Anton berates Paula for her bad memory and for losing things and inexplicably taking pictures from the wall and hiding them. Is Paula going crazy or is there something more sinister going on? Gaslight doesn't make any attempt to disguise the identity of the bad guy in this, but the film is suspenseful in spite of it. Bergman won her well-deserved first Oscar for her portrayal of the confused Paula, and Boyer is equally expert and fascinating. In her first film role, Angela Lansbury [A Life at Stake] scores as the saucy, borderline rude maid, Nancy, and Dame May Whitty is charming as the nosy old biddy, Miss Thwaites. Joseph Cotten offers another effective portrait as a policeman who once met Paula's aunt and is struck by the resemblance; against orders, he takes a new interest in the case. Barbara Everest is also notable as the cook, Elizabeth. The best scene in the film is when Paula nearly has a nervous breakdown at a piano concert. Although Cukor was not a suspense specialist along the lines of Hitchcock, he still manages to craft a nifty thriller, as he did with A Woman's Face. Bergman and Boyer re-teamed for much less felicitous results in Arch of Triumph, as the chemistry just wasn't right for those particular characterizations. At one point Paula shows her husband a glove worn by her aunt and signed by no less than Charles Gounod, in whose Romeo and Juliet she had performed -- what a memento! This is far superior to the 1940 British version of the story.

Verdict: A mesmerizing performance by a resplendent Bergman and fine support from Boyer, Cotten, and Lansbury.  ***1/2. 

JOAN ON THE BBC

JOAN CRAWFORD ON THE BBC.

Crawford did a late sixties interview for the BBC which covered her entire career and her thoughts on current movies and performers. At first Joan seemed a bit guarded and not relaxed, and complained how the British seemed obsessed with age (apparently some reporters came right out and bluntly asked her how old she was). "I know some people think there are very few things before my time," she said. She relaxed a bit more as the interview with the young admiring host continued, although when she answered a question she didn't always really answer the question, but said -- as stars are wont to do -- what she wanted to say. She talked admiringly of Bette Davis and said she enjoyed working with her on Baby Jane, calling Davis a "fascinating actress" but saying they really hadn't had time to become friends. She was, however, close friends with Barbara Stanwyck, whom the interviewer compared to her, pleasing Joan. Joan apologized in a way for making negative comments about Liz Taylor's personal life, but praised her acting skills, and said, next to Gable, John Garfield was her most dynamic co-star. Joan said that "I never had a sense of humor about myself until I worked with George Cukor." During the interview she is friendly, smiles, makes amusing comments and reacts to same, but it still comes off, understandably considering her years in front of the camera, as if it's another performance. and while it may not be fair to say she is humorless, she is,as mentioned, holding herself in warily. She expresses the wish that pictures had more romance and glamor, and suggests that Warren Beatty is ornery, while admiring Natalie Wood, whom she feels hasn't reached her potential, that there was no longer any help or guidance for actors as in the studio days. Joan talks affectionately of Lionel Barrymore, but while admiring his genius, admits that John Barrymore could be difficult while making Grand Hotel. Basically Joan is ever the professional, and the interview, while not that probing, is a good one. It probably didn't hurt that Joan seems to like the kind of cute interviewer.

Verdict: Joan talks! ***.

THE CHAPMAN REPORT

THE CHAPMAN REPORT (1962). Director: George Cukor.

"The one thing we must remember: we must be sensible."

"Why?" 

Researcher Dr. Chapman (Andrew Duggan) and his assistant Paul (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.), interview several women about their sex lives. These include Sarah (Shelley Winters), a married woman who is having an affair with a theater director named Fred (played by who else but Ray Danton); Naomi (Claire Bloom), whose nymphomaniacal activities doomed their marriage; Teresa (Glynis Johns), who is happily married but requires one fling with a really hot man (Ty Hardin of Berserk); and Kathleen (Jane Fonda), a widow whose late husband complained of her frigidity. In an unlikely development Paul finds himself drawn into a romantic relationship with Kathleen. While the movie is obviously inspired by the Kinsey report (and a trashy potboiler by Irving Wallace), the types in this movie are no different from women in countless other movies and the really eyebrow-raising stuff in Kinsey's report is avoided. So what we're left with is a reasonably entertaining soap opera with some fine acting. Zimbalist is no better than he ever is, Duggan has nearly a bit part, but the ladies offer something more. Bloom gives an affecting performance as a lonely, semi-alcoholic woman who is gang-raped in one chilling sequence. Winters is excellent as the wife with an unattractive husband (Harold J. Stone) who needs passion in her life with a handsome partner. Johns is okay in a sequence that is played primarily for laughs (John Dehner is her unsuspecting husband). Jane Fonda, always more talented than her father, gives another wonderful performance. Chad Everett shows up briefly as a hunky water man who appears at Naomi's house, and Corey Allen [The Big Caper] is very effective as the slimy musician, Wash Dillon, who casts a sick spell over Naomi. Perhaps the best performance comes from Henry Daniell [The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake], a psychologist who fears that Chapman may be setting things in motion without the appropriate follow-up.

Verdict: Laughably unscientific but entertaining. ***.

EDWARD, MY SON

Marital discord: Deborah Kerr and Spencer Tracy

EDWARD, MY SON (1949). Director: George Cukor.

"The trouble with drink is it makes it just a little bit uncouth."

Arnold Boult (Spencer Tracy) is determined to make sure that his son, Edward [who is never seen] has the greatest life possible, and commits all manner of crimes to insure this, his ruthlessness even driving people to suicide. His wife Evelyn (Deborah Kerr) watches in horror, tries to interfere, and turns to drink, only inspiring more contempt from her husband. Boult has an affair with his secretary, Miss Perrin (Leueen MacGrath), but finds her as disposable as most of the people in his life, including his partner Harry (Mervyn Johns). This absorbing, adult portrait of a supreme narcissist and his spoiled son packs a wallop, due to an excellent script by Donald Ogden Stewart [Keeper of the Flame]  and superb playing by Tracy [State of the Union] and Kerr [The End of the Affair]. MacGrath, Johns, Ian Hunter [Tower of London] as a doctor who is sympathetic to Evelyn, and Tilsa Page as Miss Foxley, are also excellent. 

Verdict: Powerful marital drama. ***1/2.

KEEPER OF THE FLAME

Tracy confronts Hepburn

KEEPER OF THE FLAME (1942). Director: George Cukor.

A wooden bridge collapses in a rain storm and famous philanthropist, beloved war hero,  and would-be politician Robert Forrest is killed when his car crashes into the ravine. Journalist Stephen O'Malley (Spencer Tracy) wants to write an admiring biography of the man, but he senses that people in Forrest's inner circle are strangely alarmed by his interest and doing their best to keep secrets from him. He finally gets to meet Forrest's widow, Christine (Katharine Hepburn, who doesn't appear until 25 minutes into the running time), and she at first wants no part of him or of his project. But she relents. But the more O'Malley digs, the more he suspects something strange is going on, and the more he is drawn to the attractive young widow ... Keeper of the Flame is one of the most compelling films to feature the duo of Tracy and Hepburn, and, as usual, they play very well together. Tracy is excellent throughout, and while Hepburn is a touch stagey at times, she also gives a very good, underplayed performance. Also notable are Margaret Wycherly as Forrest's senile and desperate mother; Richard Whorf [later a director] as Kerndon, Forrest's associate; Audrey Christie as Jane, a fellow reporter who's carrying a torch for O'Malley; and Forrest Tucker as Christine's over-protective cousin, Geoffrey. Donald Meek, Frank Craven and Stephen McNally are also first-rate in smaller roles, as is Darryl Hickman as a young boy greatly affected by Forrest's death and befriended by O'Malley. Keeper of the Flame not only works as a first-rate and unusual suspense item but illustrates the dangers of blind hero-worship, and is still interesting enough to have transcended whatever its original political motivations may have been. William Daniels' cinematography is an added bonus. This was Christie's first credit. She was also in Carousel but mostly did work in television.

Verdict: A top triumvirate of Tracy, Hepburn and Cukor. ***.

A STAR IS BORN (1954)

Mason accidentally smacks Garland at the Oscars

A STAR IS BORN (1954). Director: George Cukor.

Re-tailored for the talents of Judy Garland, this version of the venerable story does away with the early scenes of small-town home life and the old grandma in the 1934 original. This version is practically a musical, with production numbers for the star inserted at regular intervals. Some of the dialogue from the first film is used in this one as well. This version also has a lengthy scene [cut after the original release] which shows star Norman Maine (James Mason) searching all over Hollywood for Esther (Garland) after their first encounter; stills are mostly all that survive of this sequence. The "Born in a Trunk" number, which is very well done, has been reincorporated as well. Mason, Garland, Charles Bickford as a studio head and Jack Carson as the publicity man are all quite good, although it could be argued that in her more emotional scenes Garland displays technical virtuosity but is a touch over-rehearsed and mechanical, which may have cost her an Oscar. One scene that should have been left on the cutting room floor has Mason acting as a one-man cheering squad as Garland performs "Someone, Somewhere." On the other hand, Garland sings the pants off the excellent number "The Man That Got Away." Basically this is entertaining despite its length, handsomely produced, and well-edited. Others in the cast include Chick Chandler, Irving Bacon, Percy Helton, Olin Howland, and Grady Sutton.

Verdict: Garland's movie for better or worse. ***.

WHAT PRICE HOLLYWOOD?

Neil Hamilton, Constance Bennett and Lowell Sherman

WHAT PRICE HOLLYWOOD? (1932). Director: George Cukor. Based on a story by Adela Rogers St. John.

"By midnight you'll have forgiven me."

"By midnight I'll have forgotten you."

Before there was A Star is Born -- all three versions -- there was What Price Hollywood?, which had a similar plot line and was greatly influential on the later films. Mary Evans (Constance Bennett), who works as a waitress at the famous Brown Derby, is a Hollywood hopeful who meets famous, heavy-drinking director Max Carey (Lowell Sherman) at the restaurant. Carey takes Mary under his wing, and after a false start or two, gets her started in motion pictures. But as her star rises, alcoholic, unreliable Carey's is on the wane. In the meantime Mary marries wealthy Lonny Borden (Neil Hamilton), which leads to rather stupid developments.  Sherman and Bennett are okay -- Hamilton is Hamilton -- but their characters are one-dimensional and not very likable, and Bennett was always a cold fish as an actress, talented but not sympathetic [and portraying innocence is not in her metier]. Gregory Ratoff is cast as Julius Saxe, essentially the same kind of producer part he would essay years later in All About Eve. The picture does have some sharp and on occasion daring dialogue. When Borden sarcastically suggests that Carey would be more comfortable in his bed instead of the guest room, it's as easy to imagine Borden is suggesting Carey wants to sleep with him as it is that he wants to sleep with Mary. Interestingly, there is no hint of a romance between the two main characters -- A Star is Born would fix that problem -- and if Carey has any particular feelings for Mary, Sherman never quite gets it across. George Cukor later directed the second version of A Star is Born with Judy Garland and James Mason.

Verdict: Gets credit for its influence, but much better movies about Hollywood were to come. **.

A WOMAN'S FACE

 

A WOMAN'S FACE (1941). Director: George Cukor.


"What the well-dressed gargoyle will wear."

Anna Holm (Joan Crawford) is a bitter, disfigured woman who heads a gang of petty criminals and blackmailers. But in her future are fateful encounters with an oily sociopath, Torsten Barring (Conrad Veidt), whom she loves, and a blackmailing victim's husband, Gustav (Melvyn Douglas)  -- who just happens to be a plastic surgeon. Will Anna find love, happiness, and a pretty face -- or will she become inveigled in Barring's plot to kill off his lovable nephew, Lars, for dollars? The plot may sound pretty silly but A Woman's Face is a winner all the way, with a strong performance from Crawford [who, ironically, looks strikingly beautiful in some shots], and a superb supporting cast, including Douglas and Veidt, as well as Connie Gilchrist and Donald Meek as members of Anna's gang; Marjorie Main as a feisty housekeeper; Henry Daniell and George Zucco as officers of the court; and little Richard Nichols as the little boy, Lars. And we mustn't forget Osa Massen as Gustav's wife, who was given the most memorable role of her career in this picture. Dickering with Anna over the price of some indiscreet love letters, she makes the mistake of exposing the latter's scars and insecurity and gets slapped around for her trouble in the picture's liveliest scene [see video]. However, there are other highlights, such as a suspenseful sequence in a cable car and the sleigh ride climax. While Cukor may never have been a Hitchcock, he handles these sequences quite well. Despite the grimness of the subject matter, Donald Ogden Stewart's screenplay doesn't eschew humor any more than it does pathos.

Verdict: Absorbing and first-class all the way. ***1/2.

IT SHOULD HAPPEN TO YOU

IT SHOULD HAPPEN TO YOU (1954). Director: George Cukor. Screenplay by Garson Kanin.

Recently fired from her job, Gladys Clover (Judy Holliday), who wants to be somebody, decides to use her limited resources to put her name in big letters on a billboard in Herald Square. Her new friend Peter (Jack Lemmon, who was introduced in this film) is appalled that she's wasting her money on an idea that has no real purpose. Indeed, Gladys is not only a moron, but she is so untalented that she can't even read off cue [or "idiot"] cards without sounding mentally deficient. Peter Lawford plays a Madison Avenue man who tries to romance Gladys even as he wants to buy away her advertising space. After much tedium and not a single real laugh, we finally arrive at the movie's obvious point, when Gladys turns down an offer for the Army to name a plane after her. "It isn't just making a name," she says, "it's making a name stand for something." (Wise words for Paris Hilton and her ilk.) I don't believe for one minute that Gladys is really bright enough to come to such a conclusion (anymore than Paris Hilton is). Honestly, although I sat through this entire dull, annoying film I could have left the room at any point, shaved, cut my nails, made a few phone calls, had dinner and shopped, and come back and not missed a single moment of value. Lemmon occasionally overacts; Lawford is as pleasantly bland as ever. The problem with the casting of Holliday is that when you have a dopey-looking person playing a dope, it makes them twice as irritating. Possibly the worst film that Cukor and Kanin ever worked on.

Verdict: It Should NOT happen to you. *.

OUR BETTERS

OUR BETTERS (1933). Director: George Cukor.

"Think of the people who have married for love. After five years do they care for each other any more than those who married for money?"

An American gal named Pearl (Constance Bennett) marries an impoverished British Lord and becomes Lady Grayston, only to learn on her wedding day that all her husband is interested in is her money and that he already has a lover on the side. Thereafter cynical, sophisticated Pearl becomes the giver of some of England's most notorious parties. Her friends include gossipy Thornton (Grant Mitchell, the father in The Man Who Came to Dinner); Duchess Minnie (Violet Kemble Cooper) and the gigolo, Pepi (Gilbert Roland), that she's keeping; and Arthur (Minor Watson), a pleasant middle-aged man who's in love with her. Then there's the dance instructor, Ernest (Tyrell Davis), who shows up at the end and is as ludicrous a gay stereotype as anything in The Producers. Taken from a play by Somerset Maugham, the movie is full of good dialogue and has some funny scenes, especially a rib-tickler involving Pepi. Bennett is arch and hard and very good, Roland is amusing, and Cooper nearly steals the picture as the somewhat unrealistic, addle-pated, but hopelessly romantic Minnie. As Pearl's more upright younger sister, Bessie, Anita Louise gives one of the worst and most affected performances ever seen in a movie.

Verdict: An amusing, occasionally trenchant, trifle. **1/2.

DINNER AT EIGHT

DINNER AT EIGHT (1933). Director: George Cukor.

"You couldn't get into the men's room at the Astor!"

The only thing on the mind of airy Millicent Jordan (Billie Burke) is the dinner party she's planning, so she doesn't realize that her husband Oliver (Lionel Barrymore) has serious business woes and even more serious health problems. But then most of the guests have their own preoccupations. Dr. Talbot (Edmund Lowe) is having an affair with an increasingly clingy Kitty Packard (Jean Harlow, pictured), whose grumpy, much older husband Dan (Wallace Beery) wants to take over Oliver's business. Faded actress Carlotta Vance (Marie Dressler) has money troubles, but not as bad as has-been Larry Renault (John Barrymore), who can't pay his hotel bill and whose agent (Lee Tracy) has to deliver some devastating news. The Jordan's daughter Paula (Madge Evans) has fallen in love with Larry, even though she already has a fiance.

Although the pace sometimes drags, this is a brilliant comedy-drama that has many highly amusing lines and situations but can also slide effortlessly into tragedy as we witness the grim fate of Larry Renault. John Barrymore handles the horrifying situation with his usual aplomb. Harlow and Beery have a great scene battling together and telling each other off, and Marie Dressler is perfection (she has a funny scene with fawning Elizabeth Patterson -- Mrs. Trumble on I Love Lucy -- in a bit.) All the performances are excellent.

Verdict: They really don't make 'em like this anymore. ****.

MY FAIR LADY

MY FAIR LADY (1964). Director: George Cukor.

George Cukor, primarily concerned with actors and not with being "cinematic," may not have been the best choice to helm the film adaptation of the smash Lerner and Loewe musical, but the film is still so entertaining and well-acted that there seems little point in complaining about its static, theatrical aspects. Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, and Stanley Holloway are all superb, and they are bolstered by an outstanding supporting cast made up of the likes of Gladys Cooper as Henry Higgins' mother (wish we saw more of her) -- Cooper, of course, was the dragon-mother of Now, Voyager -- Wilfrid Hyde-White as Pickering; Mona Washbourne as the housekeeper Mrs. Pearce; and Theodore Bikel as that "ruder pest" from Budapest, Zoltan Karpathy etc. This is probably one of the few (only?) film adaptations of a Broadway musical that includes all of the songs (the adaptation of Fanny dropped the songs entirely, although you at least heard the music in the background). Great story, great score, great entertainment. Eliza's haunting refrain of "what's to become of me?' echoes -- along with a great sense of loneliness -- as she returns to the place where she once sold flowers and none of her old companions fully recognize her. You really can't go home again.

Verdict: Loverly. ***1/2.

WILD IS THE WIND

WILD IS THE WIND (1957). Director: George Cukor.


Widower Gino (Anthony Quinn) decides to marry his sister-in-law Gioia (Anna Magnani, pictured) and flies to Italy to bring her home to his family in America. The movie spends the first hour doing its best to inject drama into the situation -- Gino keeps comparing Gioia to her dead sister; the two argue over killing wild horses -- but the movie doesn't really live up to its "wild" title until Gioia begins an affair with Gino's handsome young ward, Bene (Tony Franciosa). The script by Arnold Schulman may never really rise above a soap opera level, but somehow it doesn't matter much because the direction, cinematography (Charles Lang), and acting are of such a high order that they smooth over all the imperfections of the story. Magnani is as wonderful as ever, but Cukor wrests fine performances from Quinn (one of his best ever), Franciosa, and the entire supporting cast as well. Joseph Calleia and Lila Valenty score as Quinn's brother and sister-in-law, and Delores Hart is lovely in the small role of Quinn's daughter. Once it gets going this is quite absorbing and has a very nice ending.

Verdict: Definitely worth a look. ***1/2.