More Dickensian Celebrations

More Dickensian Hits!

By Kristin Battestella

You can bet your imaginary hoop skirt I’m going to spend some time talking about a Charles Dickens’ adaptation or two this winter!  It is after all, the bicentennial of the celebrated Victorian author’s birth.  And guess who else was born on February 7th? Yep, that’s right. Me!

Biography: Charles Dickens – Why not start with this 45-minute spotlight from the longstanding A&E series? Dickens experts and historians shed light on the more uncommonly known aspects of his 19^th century superstar life, from the novelist’s poor early years filled with stifling workhouses and family shame in a debtor’s prison to the darker adult depressions, marital losses, and his would-be inspiring infidelities. Despite having such a heavy, complex subject in a short television window, the focus remains on Dickens’ rising above social and personal difficulty and turning his pains into literary magnitude. While some of the stuffy interviewees and scholars might be 1995 dated, yes, (Gasp! 1995 is dated?) this streamlined but no less insightful documentary is perfect for a classroom conversation.

David Copperfield (1999) – Not only do we have all the heart breaking, cord striking 19^th century lows and sadness expected from this highly autobiographical Dickens tale; but this 2 part adaption boasts an all-star who’s who and interconnected Potter cast. Seriously, a fun Maggie Smith as Betsey Trotwood, Bob Hoskins (Who Framed Roger Rabbit?), Emilia Fox (Merlin), Pauline Quirke (Birds of a Feather) as Peggotty, Ian McKellan (Gandalf, people!), and the little HP himself, an utterly endearing Daniel Radcliffe.  And did I mention Madame Hooch and Viserys Targaryen? Forget any presumed nineties television datedness, the production values- ranging from Regency thru Victorian styles- are excellent.  Colorful characters are wonderfully stuffy, charming, or tongue in cheek over the top as needed in contrast to the loathsome Trevor Eve (Waking the Dead) as Murdstone. Dickens’ innate distinctions between high - or those who pretend to be upstanding but are cruel- and those who are poor but rich in character come across perfectly.  Again, though immediately autobiographical and of its time, it is also a little tragic how incredibly relevant David Copperfield still is. Today’s good-natured are still punished by the ruthlessness of others above, and the scenes of little David in pain could be too close for many or at the least, too upsetting for the classroom.  Naturally, there are changes due to the relatively short 3-hour length against the heft of the novel, but there’s still a lifetime’s worth of sacrifice and pathetic-ness to go around and then some. The second half, unfortunately, does drag a bit with the adult Trot Ciaran McMenamin (Primeval) as all goes ill. However, even in that darkest advantageous hour above love or happiness, Dickensian hope wins out in consummate fashion.

Oliver Twist (1948) – This restored adaptation written and directed by David Lean (also helmer of the 1946 version of Great Expectations) opens in frigid black and white fashion and continues the cruel, depressing youth impoverishment and desperate criminal childhood throughout.  Oscar Winner Alec Guinness (The Bridge on the River Kwai, Star Wars) gives a lovely performance as Fagin- unrecognizable and unlikeable but witty and twisted all the same- though the work is nevertheless jaded by the stereotypical makeup of the time and Dickens’ off color style. Some of the accents and forties screaming women might be annoying to contemporary audiences as well. Thankfully, John Howard Davies is so tiny and touching as Oliver. Today we often mock the ‘Please, sir…’ line- and the snotty dark humor of the material is here, make no mistake.  However, Oliver’s is such a heart-breaking request; no child should ever have to ask for food with such trembling necessity and mistake the humblest slop as indignation. We think we need more and expect to have everything handed to us because it is owed to us.  By contrast, itty-bitty Oliver is a sickly little starving thing- and yet he wants more. Suffice to say his want is not the indulgent desire as we perceive it in the 21^st century, and in one line Dickens’ encapsulates all that was wrong with the establishment of the day.  Strangely, in some ways, we have become the opposite- rewarding those who circumvent the system to their advantage while the hard working, rule-abiding poor go without.  Corners are cut of course, but social and literary critics might enjoy a new study on this relatively saucy post-war America subject matter. The anti-Semitic controversies of the novel and the subsequent delaying and editing of the film also provide plenty of material for modern analysis. Although charming in Oliver’s boyish innocence, this edition is too old and mature for kids. Younger schooling should stick to the Oliver! musical instead.

Scrooge (1970) - Golden Globe winner Albert Finney (Tom Jones, Murder on the Orient Express) stars as the titular miser along with Sir Alec Guinness (yes him again) as the chain rattling Jacob Marley in this acclaimed first musical adaptation.  Many lines from the book are faithfully retained despite the addition of a few questionable song selections.  We don’t really need this extra sentimentality, the thoroughly Cockney kids’ singing, or a begrudgingly tuneful Ebenezer to further heighten this quintessential holiday turnaround.  Actually, the cranky tunes and somber notes seem counterproductive for what is such a serious and scary ghost tale- the dark imagery and freaky effects are indeed superior to the would be musical fervor.  Having said that, the music is great for introducing A Christmas Carol to younger audiences- the locales are glorious, the costumes and Victorian décor enchanting. Yes, some sequences might be too scary for super youngins even with the upbeat tunes, but Albert Finney is an absolutely delight as both Scrooge the grump and the younger Ebenezer.  His almost unrecognizable dual portrayal makes viewers wonder why this seemingly obvious casting route is the exception rather than the norm for this oft told Dickensian tale.

 

I do mention Dickens in the classroom a lot, simply because I think such literary exercise is an essential part of today’s education.  Instead of bemoaning the difficult language and changed reading structures of modern audiences, we need to study Dickensian circumstance and irony, and continue to learn how we can make more strides and better changes in the next 200 years.

“This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased. Deny it.' cried the Spirit, stretching out its hand towards the city. 'Slander those who tell it ye. Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse. And abide the end.'
'Have they no refuge or resource?' cried Scrooge.
'Are there no prisons.' said the Spirit, turning on him for the last time with his own words. 'Are there no workhouses.'”

We spend up all of our educational resources and efforts on red tape, finances, and technicalities that either put away our youth in constant downward spirals or dismisses them to the humdrum of Working for the Man where they can never rise above.  Dickens’ manuscripts and their numerous adaptations still show us there is so, so much more.  Amen.

 

The Glenn Miller Story

The Glenn Miller Story is Just Dynamite!

By Kristin Battestella

                                                                                                                          

James Stewart stars as Glenn Miller, a poor musician courting Helen Burger (June Allyson) in this 1954 biopic. Miller pawns and borrows instruments as needed between gigs - which he’s usually tossed from thanks to his radical, jazzed up arrangements. When Glenn and piano man Chummy (Harry Morgan, Dragnet, MASH) finally get a steady tour with the band, success comes calling- only to be followed by more pawnshops.  After years of ups and downs, adoptions, and scrimping and saving; solid acclaim finally arrives thanks to ‘Moonlight Serenade’ and the ‘Glenn Miller Sound’.   When war breaks out, Captain Miller and his entire Orchestra enlist and embark on an overseas tour. The boys entertain the troops through the blitz- literally- before a pre-Christmas tragedy intervenes in 1944.

“He’s not dead, he’s missing!” So says Bea Arthur as the Glenn Miller obsessed Dorothy Zbornak on The Golden Girls.  When asked if she’s a fan in the fifth season episode ‘Dancing in the Dark’, Dorothy responds, “Are you kidding? I was in the search party!”  Today’s younger generation probably only knows ‘In the Mood’- if you’re lucky and they know Miller at all.  Although, I suppose I’m a bit of an over fan; my husband says people our age aren’t supposed to like Glenn Miller.  When I say put on a record, he chooses one from thirty years ago when I’m thinking 1930s!   Unfortunately, as of yet, I’ve been unable to find Miller’s headstone at Arlington National Cemetery, though I have searched for it on a trip or two.  There’s simply so much more to this World War II MIA casualty than to be forgotten by contemporary audiences, and The Glenn Miller Story highlights the famed musician from his humble rise and big band heights to career success and his final military service. 

Naturally, The Glenn Miller Story is not quite a traditional fifties musical as we might expect, nor is it actually that accurate for a biography.  Embellishments on the stories behind Miller staples like ‘String of Pearls’, ‘Pennsylvania 65000’, and ‘Little Brown Jug’ are reaching just a bit towards the love story and over dramatization. Even so, frequent Stewart director Anthony Mann (Winchester ’73, Bend of the River), and writers Valentine Davies (Miracle on 34^th Street, It Happens Every Spring) and Oscar Brodney’s (Tammy and the Bachelor) Oscar nominated tale is still light hearted, toe tapping, and charming.  Though only ten years removed from his tragic crash, The Glenn Miller Story doesn’t capitalize, but rather celebrates an American rags to riches story with great people and awesome tunes.  Even with said liberties on the facts and the not a musical per se label, the innocent romance, musical scenes, and dynamite compositions are balanced together wonderfully.  We have concert sequences and stage performances to accent the human story, and as superior as the music is, it doesn’t replace the focus on the man and his dreams.  The Glenn Miller Story also breaks a few 1954 taboos and features black and white musicians playing together- even though there are segregated club scenes, too.  I can see some die-hard Miller enthusiasts actually being upset with The Glenn Miller Story; the entire presentation is actually pretty unrealistic. There are obvious errors, timeline confusions, musical anachronisms, and more embellishment than the real deal.  I wouldn’t recommend this for the formal classroom either. Here we have a film about one of the greatest composers of the 20^th century, and you hardly ever hear any musical terms!  So what if parts of The Glenn Miller Story are completely ridiculously, fifties faults, and marshmallow? This is still an endearing little encapsulation of great pre-war music and mid century sentiment, and it’s an absolute delight!

He’s Jimmy Stewart and he’s Glenn Miller. We instantly like golly gee Glenn because he certainly has a touch of George Bailey, doesn’t he? Stewart (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Harvey, Rear Window, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, I’ll stop…) is himself- the actor and veteran we know and love- and yet, he is also completely in the vein of Miller’s look, persona, and mannerisms.  Miller is a man often down on his luck and low on cash, but he never lets that interfere with his seemingly outrageous dreams. Yes, Stewart is obviously not playing diddily on that slide trombone, but so what? It sounds good; looks good, the man and the music come across perfectly and wonderfully embody an iconic American success story.  It’s just amazing how a little pair of glasses can make such a big difference! Of course, the June Allyson romance is a little too Wonderful Life as well, and Allyson doesn’t have much to do beyond being the sassy, good little woman doing all the Mrs. Miller inspiring behind the scenes. However, Allyson does have that button cute style and does sassy so well- heck, she practically made a career out of playing Stewart’s good little woman with Strategic Air Command and The Stratton Story. Unfortunately, there are a lots of great tunes that aren’t heard because room was made for laying the sappy on so thick, but The Glenn Miller Story is still a fine introduction for a younger casual big band fan or a trip down memory lane. This is how a rock bio should be! Who needs all that sex, drugs, and rock n roll thrust on us today when we can have music and stars like this?  Not to be outdone, surprise appearances by the likes of The Modernaires, Gene Krupa, and Louis Armstrong add more fun to The Glenn Miller Story.  In that regard, there is a lot of footage and musical history that you can’t get anywhere else.  

 And let’s talk some more about that charming music, because it just needs a paragraph all its own! From the opening bars of ‘Moonlight Serenade’ sweeping in with the credits to the tear jerking ‘Little Brown Jug’ finale, Joseph Gershenson (Thoroughly Modern Millie) and Henry Mancini’s (Breakfast at Tiffany’s) Oscar nominated adaptation and scoring of Miller’s tunes are like a character unto themselves in The Glenn Miller Story. Even with such a heartwarming story, this is an incredible film just to listen to- for the budding forties music fan or those unfortunately unaware, it is simply amazing to hear so many great songs and realize, well, that these are great songs! Though it can be frustrating that all the songs aren’t named onscreen, there are so many recognizable hits and melodies both lingering in the underscore or being played to the hilt with full orchestra arrangements.  I simply adore the totally feigned serendipitous appearance of ‘I Know Why and So do You’ and there’s a great dance routine to accompany ‘Tuxedo Junction’. ‘Over the Rainbow’ and ‘At Last’ are here as originally envisioned without Judy Garland and Etta James, and ‘Chattanooga Choo Choo’ arrives just in time to rally the troops. Damn this show gets me every time! I want to cry, I want to get up and dance, gosh darnnit I can’t help myself. If you don’t want the sappy embellished story, you can always pick up this hit soundtrack. Though obviously the compositions here are rerecords and some original Glenn Miller Orchestra names and musicians are entirely missing from The Glenn Miller Story, these tunes are still ten times better than the quivering pop drivel of today.

To accent all the solid sounds, The Glenn Miller Story also has fun fifties scenery, great club locales, and sweet, classic décor. Oh, the cars, the hats, the candlestick phones! Men in dinner jackets and fedoras, gloves, flashy showgirls, and cool color slides.  Yes indeed, it is a little more fifties than some of the earlier decades supposedly portrayed, but it all still looks just golden. Those turntables and newspaper montages, sigh. That house, sweet Jesus and those great old-fashioned microphones!  The wartime styles, real military footage, and a forties Christmas…If this film doesn’t put a smile on your face, bring a tear to your eye, or have you tapping your toe, nothing will.

Again, The Glenn Miller Story will be too dated or picture perfect rather than true biography for many.  For nostalgia lovers, music fans, budding big band connoisseurs, and classic film aficionados, however, this little ditty is tough to beat.  Relive that Glenn Miller sound anytime of year with The Glenn Miller Story.Remember, after all, “He’s not dead, he’s missing!”

Winter Horror Pros and Cons

Winter Horror Hits and Misses

By Kristin Battestella

Are you displeased with all the happiness in the New Year?  Snowed in and afraid you might do something…rash… unless you can have a scary movie marathon? Here are a few freaky flicks to enjoy and one or two open for a chilly debate.

The Changeling- An awesome cast- including Oscar winners George C. Scott (Patton) and Melyvn Douglas (Hud) with John Colicos (Battlestar Galatica) and Trish Van Devere (One is a Lonely Number)- is simply delightful in this old school 1980 haunted house tale purportedly based on an actual experience. The wonderfully creepy mansion scenery and touches of 19^th century grandeur gone awry highlight this convincing murder mystery beautifully. Fine music, scares, and tragedy are tossed in, too- along with a few bits of unintentional humor, yes. Perhaps a few styles, fashions, and mannerisms are dated now as well. The mismatched look of real life couple Scott and Van Devere might bother some audiences, too- along with some genuinely heart stopping moments that might have you checking your pacemaker. Nevertheless, the poltergeist aspects, psychic action, and ghostly revenge build excellently for a solid and spooky finale.

The Other – The coming of age style and innocence gone wrong in director Robert Mulligan’s (To Kill A Mockingbird) 1972 horror mystery is slightly obvious, granted.  Twins Chris and Martin Udvarnoky are filmed in such a way that careful viewers will spot a lot of the forthcoming mysterious fun, brewing twists, and freaky psychic action. Fortunately, Uta Hager (Reversal of Fortune) is great as the wise grandma Ada. It is a typical role in a horror movie, but Hager adds warmth, old-fashioned clout, and class to the spooky spins. Brief Star Trek alum Diana Mulder is also lovely as our not quite all there widowed mother, but she isn’t there enough- nor is the very young, very briefly onscreen John Ritter (Three’s Company).  The 1935 scenery is a little more seventies dated, but the nostalgic element adds to the rural fears, farm horrors, and great juvenile morbidity.

The Rite – Anthony Hopkins (must I?) is superb as always in this 2011 exorcism thriller co-starring Colin O’Donoghue (The Tudors) and Alice Braga (Predators). While there are spooky elements here- and very scary and creepy demonic things do occur- I’m not sure this deserves a horror classification or the frightful expectations of boobs and slice and dice that come with the contemporary horror label.  Director Mikael Hafstrom (1408) and writer Michael Petroni (Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader) present a more spiritual film dealing with faith, doubt, possession, and the mysteries of god and man with supernatural turnabouts and twists tossed in. The Rite makes the viewer think before it scares. Who actually becomes possessed? When?  Why?  The great use of Italian language and Roma locations adds real world international culture and panache, even if O’Donoghue is a little lightweight against Hopkins.  But really, who isn’t?  Rutger Hauer (really?) is also greatly under utilized, but overall, I’m not sure why people don’t like this one.

Splitsville

The Countess- Actress turned writer and director Julie Deply (Before Sunrise) perhaps wears one too many hats for this 2009 biography. Her make up and hairstyles as the infamous Elizabeth Bathory are too stern, even ugly, and her accent is iffy, with weird pronunciations and strange mixings of languages. Despite strides towards outspoken humor, the titular lady is played a bit too bitchy and unlikeable in what is actually supposed to be an anti Countess Dracula angle. The scripting is slow, disjointed in the first half, and takes too long to get to the reallly nutty bloody everyone’s expecting.  The viewpoint is confusing as well, with the Daniel Bruhl (Inglourious Basterds) narrating Bathory’s internal monologue on speculation from his future deathbed…huh? Such eerie historical feminism might have been too ambitious a subject for Deply’s full length directing debut- just tell it straight one way or the other. We have style and good-looking costumes, but the drab, authentic color lacks opulence and full on period lush. The battles are decent, but brief, natural and rustic. There’s blood, but not proper horror.  There’s weird man slave action, but the nudity is too tame, with murder montages skimping over all the action.  Oscar man William Hurt (Kiss of the Spider Woman, Children of a Lesser God) is also too brief, put aside for a hokey victim of love and weird smear campaign for misunderstood Bathory.  It is quite odd to have a historical drama where there is such a horror opportunity. Normally it is the other way around, with those trying for scares and paranormal at any length. The period music is lovely, but everything here just seems too uneven, first draft, overly sparse, and unable to make up its mind. 

Suspiria – Finally a show without a ‘the’! In addition to a pleasingly threatening atmosphere and discomforting locations, there are some very good scares in this 1977 European witch fest. The performances from Joan Bennett (Dark Shadows), Jessica Harper (Stardust Memories), and Alida Valli (The Paradine Case) are all good, too, carrying the mystery and the suspense and keeping things entertaining. The main theme music from Goblin is also equally juicy.  Unfortunately, the dang music and sound effects are way too much! Everything- but the dialogue, of course- is totally loud and headache inducing.  Some of the odd lighting, weird angles, and color variations from director Dario Argento (Dracula 3D) are great as well. But again, a lot of this subterfuge is much too much, creating a visual excess that overall distracts more than helps the meandering plot and limp ending. All of those soft vocals and poor dubbing doesn’t help the toughness, either.  Naturally, Suspiria is all well and good for out there audiences and innovative foreign horror fans, but this will be quite annoying and odd for more traditional witchy fans. 

Remember, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”

Band of Angels

Band of Angels Flawed but Yet Classy

By Kristin Battestella

On a bit of a whim, I decided to write about the 1957 Civil War drama Band of Angels.  Though likeable thanks to its stars, and I do like this film, I strangely found this flawed and uneven presentation tough to write about and reflect upon. Do the askew racial perceptions behind the camera ruin the style on screen?

Upon her father’s death, Amantha Starr’s (Yvonne De Carlo) “colored blood” is revealed, and she is subsequently sent to a slave auction and bought by a mysterious gentleman with a past, Hamish Bond (Clark Gable).  Hamish treats Amantha as an equal, despite animosity from maid Michele (Carolle Drake) and Hamish’s second Rau-Ru (Sidney Poitier). Raised with respect, education, and inheritance by Hamish, Rau-Ru nevertheless despises his position and escapes to join the Union Army.  As Amantha and Hamish warm to each other and develop an unusual love, the Civil War unfortunately comes calling.  Will Southern defiance split them apart?

 

1957, it turns out, was a little too soon for director Raoul Walsh (They Died with Their Boots On, Captain Horatio Hornblower, R.N.) to take on writer Robert Penn Warren’s (All the King’s Men) titular source novel.  The slavery presentation here can be just downright cruel. Either the bound are totally menial, ignorant, and subservient or happy nymphomaniacs who can’t get enough of taking the white master’s proffered treats.  The interracial storylines and culture clashes try to present some goodness, but the execution is too over the top and comes off as inappropriately fake:  “You white trash!” cue dramatic crescendo!  Naturally, demeaning terms like negress or worse are used, and it is indeed tough to hear today. However, such talk is meant to reflect the attitudes of the time onscreen- and it glaringly showcases the tone behind the camera, too.  There’s plenty of latent naughty and kinky innuendo about what these men do to keep their female slaves from getting “uppity”, too.  It all makes Band of Angels so ironic. The breaking of such shocking taboos, showing suicides and shamings- it would seem to make great strides in racial storytelling and portrayals. Yet the ills are inadvertently reinforced by the dated, flawed sensibilities and uneven filmmaking of the day.  Despite some lovely performances, these errors will make Band of Angels tough for many audiences. Things do get a little better when the Civil War enters the stage, though the schism is also subparly handled, or at the least, not recreated on the scope it should have been.  That is perhaps the worst part of Band of Angels- it could have been much, much more.

 And yet, there’s something delightful here, largely due to the outgoing grace from Academy Award winner Clark Gable (It Happened One Night, Gone with the Wind, Mutiny on the Bounty). Okay, he’s a little worse for the wear in 1957 compared to those inevitable “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn” memories and pre-war heights. He is long in the tooth and tough to believe now as a young, active leading man, but this adds an extra element to Hamish Bond.  There is a feeling of the old guard-onscreen and off- taking one final bow. Gable carries Hamish as an on form, timeless leading man nonetheless.  The opening bidding scenes are a little too much like the bazaar scene in Gone with the Wind, indeed, and yet Gable’s gentlemanly presence somehow turns this off-kilter mixed slavery melodrama into some sort of star-crossed Southern romance.  Back in the day, I’m sure some women would not mind being bought by Clark Gable for $5,000!   Band of Angels seems slower when he’s off-screen, and you wonder why in the heck Amantha has such an attitude about his treating her so well.  Really, only Rhett Butler can talk his way out of a duel with totally pimp-acity! (and no, I didn’t mean pomposity, either, like spell check thought.)  Hamish’s only fault is he is a little too grey and somewhat out of touch to Amantha and the changes happening around him.

Yvonne “the great Amantha Starr” De Carlo is far, far superior in The Munsters, The Ten Commandments, and McLintock!, oh yes.  Of course, she is without a doubt lovely as always, even when she is supposed to be uglied up. However, De Carlo is just too miscast and out of place. Was it really so unacceptable to have an actress who looked anything but white play a half-black heiress? This hypocritical start only makes Amantha’s actions tougher to swallow. She pouts about Hamish’s saving her from far worse sex and slavery, and then uses his position to pretend she is white and seek other men’s marriage proposals. Amantha hates Rau-Ru, but calls him for help when nasty white men would force themselves onto her!  I love, love Yvonne De Carlo, but the back and forth, up and down, and insipid backhanding from Band of Angels’ supposedly star character is sketchy at best, and downright unlikable and insulting at worst. Even with all the unkosher racial aspects aside, how is the audience supposed to root for a woman who turns out Clark Gable?

Thankfully, fellow Oscar winner Sidney Poitier (Lilies of the Field, In the Heat of the Night, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner) anchors Band of Angels beautifully. His Rau-Ru is classic and suave- the perfect young rival to Gable with the strength and education to gracefully buck the system and stereotypes presented.  Rau-Ru is menacing and threatening as Hamish’s almost pseudo-presumptive heir; he is obviously ready to rebel or supplant and is portrayed as a danger to the already delicate balance. But is the audience really supposed to believe that a slave discontented with his would be higher station and wanting freedom is a villain? Band of Angels gets the racial aspects at its core quite wrong, yes. However, Sir Sidney has the best-written dialogue here and delivers every word with real weight, honesty, and conviction. Rau-Ru’s tug and pull with Hamish is far more interesting than Amantha’s over the top scandal. You can see the off-screen ideologies of Gable’s day giving way to the Poitier’s movements to come. Band of Angels tries- I really think it does.  What it does well is quite classy thanks to the male leads, but the show is inevitably handicapped by the attitudes of the time. Oddly enough, this time capsule also makes the film all the more fascinating to watch.

 Yes, the costumes are a little inaccurate and the music is more fifties than 1850s, too. Fortunately, the gowns are still awesome, and all the colorful styles and Victorian vibes set the necessary tone. The men’s top hats and frocks are so, so much more stylish than today. The boys with their pants around their knees couldn’t handle Gable’s suave even if they tried! Granted, the sets are a little stock; this budget was definitely not on the scale of Gone with the Wind. The plants are also a little too, um, plastic! Some of the New Orleans flavors and panache is just right, but other times the underutilized French touches and clichés imply or presume too much.  Moreover, the over the top Southern accents and 19^th century via fifties dialogue may be tough to some- lots of stereotypical “hisself” talk with plenty of double negatives.  It doesn’t make up for all the off color ways by any means, but the grandiose looking staircases and courtyards are pretty pretty!

Strangely, I always think of Band of Angels together with the 1956 Charlton Heston mail order bride yarn The Naked Jungle, though I’m not really sure why.  I suppose both are a little preposterous to start and have classic men to carry what turns out to be a very flawed film. Again, the errors made here mean Band of Angels is not for everyone.  However, film students or social scholars may enjoy an examination of the movie’s mistakes and ill attitudes onscreen and off. Fans of the cast, lovers of sordid Tales of the South, or classic period piece audiences can also enjoy Band of Angels- classy, flawed, and all.  

More Elvis Christmas Music!

Elvis Sings the Wonderful World of Christmas and His Christmas Album, Again!

By Kristin Battestella

Originally released in 1957, Elvis’ Christmas Album was so good; they just had to keep reissuing it!  I’ve chatted about the original proper previously, but as we can’t ever really get enough of Elvis at Christmas; here are a few thoughts on the 1971 LP Elvis Sings the Wonderful World of Christmas and those pesky Elvis’ Christmas Album reissues, too.

O Come All Ye Faithful and The First Noel open Elvis Sings the Wonderful World of Christmas in unique but reverent fashion. Though Elvis seems to be struggling just a bit, both deliveries are soul felt. Faithful’s unusual rock opera type arrangement and the country church tone for Noel are a touch of seventies, but also old school good.  After such a heavy religious aspect on his previous Christmas album, I must say it is a bit odd that these are the only two carols here.  I wonder why? On a Snowy Christmas Night allows more time for Elvis to take it easy and still have a seasonal spiritual message. The flow here is much more suited to his style, and thus this track sounds a lot less dated even though it carries the same power and choir of the opening two sessions.

 Winter Wonderland also gets to have some fun with a little hillbilly rock guitar jazzing up this staple along with Elvis’ bluesy voice. The titular The Wonderful World of Christmas has the most traditional sounding style here, recalling more old school winters of yore. Ironically, it’s not how the rest of the album sounds at all. It Won’t Seem Like Christmas carries more of a Kentucky Rain light feeling with lots of mellow soul and Christmas romance.  It is a ballad that seems solely meant just for Elvis in many ways. Though not all original compositions, most of the tracks here aren’t very well known or at the very least, feel Elvis exclusive and that is not a bad thing.

Side B continues with the similarly titled I’ll Be Home on Christmas Day and If I Get Home on Christmas Day. You would think they would have placed them further apart in the listing, but I digress. I’ll Be Home on Christmas Day puts the back up singers aside and let’s Elvis get singer/songwriter seventies country gospel as only he can.  It’s only fault is it doesn’t sound that much like a Christmas song and some of the lyrics are tough to understand. Oh, this is a love lost and coming home tale that just happens to be on 12/25? If I Get Home On Christmas Day is a little easier, breezy, and able to understand or sing along to, but it also doesn’t feel as timeless as the essentials from Elvis’ Christmas Album. Both are certainly likeable listens for Elvis fans, but they are too of the moment in seventies soul arrangement. Holly Leaves and Christmas Trees suffers much of the same.  Elvis sound good and mentions the titular seasonal obligations, but it’s more of that same Kentucky Rain power. 

Thankfully, Merry Christmas Baby rocks it up a bit.  Elvis gets down and naughty here in true guitar bluesy fashion. Though it is odd, I must say, for one who often kept his hip jiving rock and gospel music separate, to have this combination of sexy Yule, but it works. This is the Elvis we expect, and Merry Christmas Baby stands out wonderfully unlike the rest of Elvis Sings the Wonderful World of Christmas’ same same. Silver Bells slows the seasonal down for the finale, and Elvis has room to hold the notes above the choir for a solid traditional finish.  Perhaps because I didn’t grow up with this record as much as Elvis’ Christmas Album, it isn’t as classic to me.  Outside of a few staples, one might not even notice this was a Christmas album- which is perfect for more causal fans who don’t want his earlier gospel Christmas sound. Actually, if you pick and choose your favorite individual downloads, fans can listen to the essence of Elvis Sings the Wonderful World of Christmas anytime of year. Yes, some may find this slightly tired Elvis pseudo Christmas sound a bad thing- and if it were anyone else, I’d agree. Fortunately, these tunes are still soft seasonal sweetness for a rotating holiday dinner playlist.  Elvis die-hards, fans of his later sound, seventies soul lovers, and those in need of secular delights can take up Elvis Sings the Wonderful World of Christmas again and again.  Those who like their carols traditional should stick with the 1957 album, but at least Elvis offers the best of both worlds!

 

Of course, unlike the entirely unique Elvis Sings the Wonderful World of Christmas, the 1958 reissue of Elvis’ Christmas Album is just that, a re-release with an identical line up to the original record.  This RCA issue is the one with the snowy blue cover sleeve, which is probably more iconic for some than the original red presents edition that subsequently returned for the brief CD release. I have a picture of my parents from the Christmas before they were married, and you can clearly see this album in the background, no lie!  The 1970 Pickwick redo record, however, shakes things up a bit- and not just with its jazzy red ribbons on the album cover.  While Blue Christmas, Silent Night, and White Christmas are retained among others from the original 1957 Elvis’ Christmas Album, they sound somewhat different here.  There’s no information of a rerecording or use of alternate takes- understandable on an obscure record, but not for Elvis- so maybe it’s just me being used to the CD versions.  That and this record might just be really flat!  After all, one shouldn’t actually play Elvis records anymore- just display them.  

Unfortunately, the four B-side gospel tracks are gone from this 10 tune, paired down Pickwick set, having been replaced with If Everyday Was Just Like Christmas and Mama Liked the Roses.  While If Everyday Was Just Like Christmas pays for the affordable price of admission on the reissue with its heartfelt sentimentality, Mama Liked the Roses is an odd selection for a Christmas album.  It’s a nice memorial ditty indeed, but it’s just a bit out of place.  Then again, I suppose some might have found the gospel inclusions on Elvis’ Christmas Album in 1957 unusual, but are they not quintessential holiday listens now? 

Collectors of the record editions can find Elvis Sings the Wonderful World of Christmas or the Pickwick do over if you search long enough, but fortunately, you don’t have to keep on such valuable vinyl Yule after Yule. The Christmas Peace and Elvis Christmas CDs combine all Elvis’ holiday music in one convenient place, and digital options and MP3 downloads make it much easier to keep your seasonal Presley favorites handy.  Though dated with some unique sounds and track choices, Elvis Sings the Wonderful World of Christmas is perfect for fans of a soulful secular season, and seriously, there is no reason to not have any version of Elvis’ Christmas Album handy every December. 

Whew!

Jane Eyre (2011) Blu- Ray Review

The New Jane Eyre is Better on Blu-Ray

By Kristin Battestella

Instead of a Dickensian Christmas- that Victorian treat is being saved for Dickens’ bicentennial in a few months- I’m taking time out to revisit the new 2011 Jane Eyre on blu-ray.  After all, it is the Fassbender Festivus, don’t forget.

Governess Jane Eyre (Mia Wasikowska) abandons Thornfield Hall and the manor’s mysterious master Edward Rochester (Michael Fassbender) - with whom she has fallen in love.  While recuperating at the home of minister St. John Rivers (Jamie Bell), Jane remembers her unscrupulous Aunt Reed (Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky) and the ruthless Lowood School before coming to meet housekeeper Mrs. Fairfax (Judi Dench) and her charge at Thornfield, Adele (Romy Settbon Moore).  Will Jane be able to escape society’s confines and Thornfield’s secrets and be true to herself?

Charlotte Bronte’s 1847 tale is a familiar one indeed. Thankfully, director Cary Fukunaga (Sin Nombre) and screenwriter Moira Buffini (Tamara Drewe) play with an untraditional timeline- and the changes are great.  This flashback storytelling creates more suspense and mystery- especially if one didn’t know the Jane Eyre story. The Lowood scenes are also dynamic, with just enough twistedness. I do, however, wish there was more of Freya Parks (Creation) as sickly little Helen and newcomer Romy Settbon Moore as Adele.  Those unfamiliar with the novel might not quite understand her relationship to Rochester here.  Fortunately, the literary dialogue shines in lovely fireside scenes. Though everyone is held in check by the Victorian customs, there is plenty of heat and tension amid the firelight or nighttime blue conversations. The superb natural camerawork, light and shadow plan, and period photography all do wonders- but I do wish there were more of the missing cuts and deleted scenes instead of a few slower transitions. This Jane Eyre is not slow paced by any means- the suspense telling is quite the contrast from other period films in fact. However, we shouldn’t pause for pretty reflection and romantic montages when there is so much more from the book to tell.  Likewise, despite those great darker storytelling strides, the presentation could have been a lot spookier. I always find it a disappointment as to what was really going on in the depths of Thornfield Hall, but romance fans and period drama lovers will eat this Jane Eyre up. All the societal barriers, conflict, and love triangles are here without being uber sappy and overwhelming for non-fans. Again, the retained language from the book is just great; you want to be able to quote this stuff in regular conversation! I actually prefer this Jane Eyre here on blu-ray more than having seen it in the cinema. At home, you can see everything, hear everything, and read the words onscreen.  Sigh. 

 Though a delightful encapsulation and presentation all around, I do have a few quibbles. The deleted scenes- snips only available previously in the Jane Eyre trailer- are not restored in the film proper. Most of these scenes are longer set up bits and transition extras and probably excised for good reason, yes. However, there is no reason to not put these 16 minutes back into the picture for the video release, as several of these pieces give much needed exposition about Rochester’s relationship to Adele. Their absence takes a lot away if you consider the fact that this Jane Eyre film is trying to do in 2 hours what the 2006 miniseries did in 6.  The loss of extra scenes with Helen’s ghost and a very creepy Bertha also makes this Jane seem somewhat lightweight- even as it prides itself on its would be horror tone.  What’s worse is some bits still appear to be missing from the trailer.  Awards acclaim is happening for Jane Eyre, but not as much as there could be, in part perhaps because it is as if the production didn’t go all the way or at least take their Jane Eyre vision as far as they could have.  The blu-ray release is indicative of this fault.  Take the time you need, tell your tale to the fullest, sell your ‘for your consideration’ on video where there are abso-toot-ly no restrictions.

Fortunately, Mia Wasikowska (The Kids are All Right) gives everything to her embodiment of the eponymous governess, measure for measure indeed.  Mia makes no pretentions as Jane nor trumps up any airs or graces, and yet there is such a poise and old world class to her performance.  Despite being a truly good girl, Jane just can’t help but put her intelligence and self-respect above her station- which was a big Victorian no-no.  We instantly like Jane and enjoy her transformation from sickly and pale to radiant and confident. Jane’s unusual relationship with Rochester opens them both up, and Bronte’s dialogue is delivered in perfect banter and timing. Jane sounds so good, strong, and natural.  It really makes you wonder why we don’t speak like this anymore or carry ourselves with such properness or value.  But of course, these societal barriers must be broken down for Jane, and this silent battle and forgetting oneself is addictive! Despite being bound by their respective conventions, Jane and Rochester recognize their kindred souls. Mia and Fassbender are great together, and that’s all the more props and ‘Go Jane!’ for not giving into Rochester! I wish more women today stuck to their convictions as Jane does. And don’t say we do, just take a look at all the talentless people selling their souls on reality television! Charlotte and Jane are quite progressive for their day, with great Dickensian circumstance before Dickensian turnabout was so decidedly Dickensian!

And what of That Fass? Oh, if there was ever a greater literary introduction than Rochester’s- and Fassbender works it!  Rochester’s angry debut was my favorite part of reading the book as a kid. I found it so scary, as if the Master of Thornfield is just an apparition, a dreamed up phantom. Who is this nasty guy wanting such respect and service and yet being such a pesky ass himself? All this brood is established in the character, but Fassy’s Rochester is also dang cool. You want to slap him for his initial snarky and attempts at jealous with the shallow Ms. Ingram.  But Rochester is also socially unobtainable to Jane, and thus all the more attractive. Fassbender layers in a great spin to his voice, a deeper, harsh, received Victorian, and that fireside conversation with Jane is simply excellent. Fassbender keeps Rochester menacing, but sexy, tongue in cheek, and intelligent.  Not many actors today can pull off such balance, much less look so perfect about it. Fassbender hides Rochester’s loneliness with begrudging attitude. He wants a friend and trusts no one but Jane, this spitfire who doesn’t quite know it yet has just stirred him so! When Rochester does get frank and opens himself up, it is no less intimidating even if there is quite the sigh worthy and backwardly flirtatious wink wink. The audience gets swept up along with Jane, as Fassbender again completely disappears into his performance.  He looks totally dang different in every frickin film he’s in this year, and hardware is rolling in for Fassy’s work in Jane Eyre, X-Men: First Class, A Dangerous Method, and Shame.

The fan girls may make Jane Eyre just another episode in The Michael Fassbender Show, but I wish more attention was paid to Jamie Bell (The Adventures of Tin Tin, Billy Elliot) as St. John Rivers. He is warmhearted yet stilted by his position. John is not willing to break his society’s standards regardless of how he really feels.  We like him, but feel sorry for him at the same time. There also isn’t much time spent on Imogen Poots (Centurion) and Tazmin Merchant (The Tudors), though there is an intriguing examination in their opposite representations- snotty Blanche deserving none of her privilege and poor but entitled to more Mary Rivers. Amelia Clarkson (The Sarah Jane Adventures) is also wonderful as the young Jane. You could have spent the entire two hours just on her at Lowood! I don’t have much to say about Dame Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love) except that she is simply awesome and time traveled to research this role, I swear!

I am quite pleased to see Jane Eyre getting some- a few but not all- technical awards and recognition.  The costumes- upscale, humble, men, women, horses!- are just divine.  I love everyone’s frilly nightgowns and heavy frocks- I love the word ‘frocks’ almost as much as this wardrobe! There is no reason to not award the clothes or décor in this picture.  This Jane Eyre has the looks of today with modern filmmaking in mind, yet it also seems to be old, as if it were made then. The music and score are also wonderfully authentic, with emotional strings and piano from Oscar winner Dario Marianelli (Atonement).  Even the horrid Lowood school looks wonderful along with all the locations and decorations high and low Oh, Thornfield!  There is such a bright and happy castle charm, but also a cold, foreboding, mysterious slight. The Hall does seem like Jane’s salvation, but it is a delicate balance between that happiness and the spooky and brooding.  Jane Eyre’s foggy, stormy scenery allows for illusions and phantoms on the wind while the lovely English gardens visually layer the happiness, ornamentation, or upscale torment as needed. Major props also for the perfect use of that period lighting. The flickering casts change to highlight characters- Lowood is overshadowed and bleak but Helen’s scenes have a halo aspect to them. It’s all natural lighting, and yet there’s just a hint of supernatural glaze. The candles and firelight work two fold in creating old-fashioned warmth and ambiance and more darkness and shadows. This dark and light looks just perfect on blu-ray; you can see everything clearly amid the lovely glow.

But of course, for all the glory that is the visuals on blu-ray, the BD live features and meaningless previews are a real pain! These long winded opening delays and annoying pop ups aren’t trailers like the cinema- they are commercials.  Don’t kid us!  I also had a panic when I couldn’t immediately find the subtitles option. Not only were they somewhat cumbersomely placed, but a soft spoken period picture with great English English of olde such as this requires them.  The  director’s commentary is nice, but the behind the scenes features are too brief.  Separate shorts on music and lighting are better, but the total is not nearly enough for today.  More insightful interviews and featurettes can be found online. Again, Jane Eyre’s release on video seems like it was a bit rushed or even an afterthought when it could have been much, much more.  Where are the costuming features? Full cast interviews and video diaries? A conversation with screenwriter Moira Buffini and a book to film discussion would have been awesome!

Fans of the Charlotte Bronte classic should definitely see this Jane Eyre. Even in even this short adaptation, there is so much to dissect, divulge, and study.  While some definitive enthusiasts might find the reduced time or structure changes here too altered, this quick Bronte fix is perfect for classroom analysis, fans of the cast, and period piece aficionados. Fortunately, the blu-ray price has come down in recent months, too, so there’s more opportunity to rent or buy. Indulge your Victorian sensibilities and spend the night at Thornfield with Jane Eyre.  

Christmas in Connecticut

Christmas in Connecticut Losing Its Luster

By Kristin Battestella

I’ve always been a little unfond of the 1945 essential Christmas in Connecticut, but this year’s viewing has all but confirmed it. The dated presentation- focused on misunderstood romantic comedy instead of holiday spirit- is waning and does not hold up against other Christmas classics of yesteryear.

Smitten nurse Mary Lee (Joyce Compton, They Drive by Night) writes to Alexander Yardley’s (Sidney Greenstreet) home magazine in hopes her patient and potential fiancé, recovering sailor Jefferson Jones (Dennis Morgan), can have a restorative house visit with columnist Elizabeth Lane (Barbara Stanwyck).  Unfortunately, Liz and her editor Dudley (Robert Shayne, Adventures of Superman) have been making up the literary down on the farm inspirations unbeknownst to Yardley.  When Yardley approves Jones’ visit and wants to come along for Christmas Eve, Liz agrees to marry architect John Sloan (Reginald Gardiner) and set up on his Connecticut farm to feign her column and save her job. When Jefferson arrives, however, Liz finds her feelings about love and marriage irrevocably changed.

Director Peter Godfrey (The Two Mrs. Carrolls) keeps Christmas in Connecticut dry to start, with the secondary players slow to get the titular events from writers Lionel Houser (Sabotage), Adele Comandini (Three Smart Girls), and Aileen Hamilton (Slightly Dangerous) going. It’s all charming enough for classic romantic comedy audiences, but the real amusement doesn’t begin until we leave the city for the country troubles.  Though there is no outright slapstick, the outlandish lies and convoluted cover-ups build to confusing twists and misunderstandings like a supersized Three’s Company holiday episode. Sometimes it’s just a little tough to care, and the tone is not as full on Christmassy as one might expect. This is not It’s a Wonderful Life where Christmas becomes the heart and soul and is dressed to the seasonal hilt.  The holiday here is just a backdrop to set the romance in motion. The would-be heartfelt wartime inspirations, unfortunately, are also somewhat ignorant.  How nice it would have been for those overseas to think of home with Christmas in Connecticut- but Liz has faked this country life and makes a mockery of what is so precious to so many.  It comes across as pretentious to say the least. All this trouble to chase a sailor when you’re pretending to be married?  If the tale had toned down the sass and snark in favor of more homespun wartime sentimentality and holiday meaning, perhaps it wouldn’t come across as so pompous today.  In the end, it feels like Christmas in Connecticut is about an hour and a half too long.

As you can probably guess, I’m not much of a Barbara Stanwyck fan- though her Liz is quite progressive here. She lives alone, wears pants, doesn’t want folks to tell her what to do, and does what she has to do on her sly way to the top. Liz doesn’t want to marry or live the farm life she hypocritically plugs, and it’s all supposed to be an amusing situation. Unfortunately, Stanwyck comes off as kind of bitchy and unlikeable- we want Liz to be knocked down a notch thanks to that lovin’.  Although the viewer also has to wonder why all these men surround her, there are a few amusing moments when Liz has to stammer and think on her feet in her convoluted tale.  But there isn’t enough of that charm to carry Christmas in Connecticut, I’m sorry to say.  Despite her numerous films and a variety of roles, I always end up feeling as though Stanwyck plays the same similar but different spitfire over and over in films like The Lady Eve, Meet John Doe,  and Ball of Fire.  Christmas in Connecticut is much the same, unlike her lovely noir Oscar nomination in Double Indemnity.

Dennis Morgan (Kitty Foyle, The Hard Way) is also a little too much like every other forties contract leading man, but at least the runaround romance and stumbling sparring is on par with Stanwyck even if there is simply no chemistry. Liz is so anti-love, but bland Jones stirs her heart love at first sight- despite Reginald Gardiner’s (Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation) equally unappealing sham marriage? I’m not buying it.  What we see of the servants is also too stereotypical and even insulting. African Americans being so jolly in their subservience and bumbling rotund little men like S.Z. Sakall (Casablanca).  Forget him being the warmhearted Uncle Felix- I can barely understand him!  And Una O’Connor (Bride of Frankenstein) makes another flaky and fluttery old lady maid appearance! Only Sidney Greenstreet (The Maltese Falcon) remains fun, lighthearted, classy, and always cool.  Seriously, the baby switcheroos at the fulcrum of Christmas in Connecticut are really weird- simply not amusing at all.

Though crisp and pretty, the black and white photography puts a damper on the Christmas feelings, too.  With a title such as this, the audience expects something bright and colorful.  The opening seafaring action is also a little hokey, and the Christmas party scene is used as an excuse for romance before holiday dressings. Thankfully, the swinging tunes are great, with some traditional holiday music laced in the score and carols played on the piano.  Oh, that big old tree with tinsel up to wazoo! Actually, that is really the only indication that this tale plays out on Christmas Eve! The snows and sleighs look awesome as well- even if it is totally fake winter weather. That trickery, however, adds to the fun.   There are cool cars, and that typewriter! The furs, frocks, long dresses, uniforms- all of it is swanky perfect with a side of sweet décor and nostalgia.

Of course, there are longtime audiences that adore Christmas in Connecticut and watch Yule after Yule, and fans of forties comedies and romantic films and those who grew up with these seasonal viewings can continue to enjoy, indeed. However, the uneven style, put on romance, and lack of Christmas in Christmas in Connecticut is a lot to ask of today’s audiences.   Fans of the cast or families looking for an old time secular or neutral holiday film can tune in, but viewers looking for the big Christmas classics should look elsewhere.