The Film Junkie

For all the faults in the plot and characters of this film, in the end it is a massive undertaking of an epic that takes chances and introduces new ideas of special effects into mainstream Hollywood.

To be honest, the first hour and forty minutes or so is pretty dull.  It is the story of Blackie (Clark Gable) a bar owner and community leader who discovers a young new singer in Mary (Jeanette Macdonald) and eventually falls in love with her.  However she is courted by another man and he is pressured by his best friend, Father Mullin (Spencer Tracy), to leave her be.  For the majority of the film, Macdonald grates on your nerves and her singing rings in your eyes, not in a good way.  Gable has that same old charm, but you never really get why he would like such a dull and prissy young woman.  The best character in the film is Tracy’s, he is a complex man who grew up on the rough streets but took an entirely different path than Blackie yet still understands both sides of life.  Tracy was nominated for an Oscar for this role and you can easily see why, he commands the screen.

The last fifteen minutes or so of this film are remarkable.  The earthquake of 1906 destroys the city and leaves our characters in disarray.  The scenes capturing the earthquake are entirely believable and the special effects are eerily real (with the exception of one shot of Gable walking away from a large fire which was obviously filmed in front of a large projected image).  The sound effects are groundbreaking and these final moments will shake you to the core.

All in all, a film with one hell of an ending and that’s about it.

Grade: B-

I have seen many Tracy-Hepburn movies over the years, and for the most part I have preferred Katharine Hepburn with Cary Grant, that is until I saw this pre-feminist take on equality in America.

It follows the two as married lawyers who take the opposite sides of a case, she defending a scorned wife who shot but did not kill her husband, and he as the Deputy DA.  Judy Holliday is fantastic as the wife who takes revenge.  She represents the kind of women many Americans thought they had to be.  The kind of lady who believes smoking is “unfeminine”.  She completely messes up the shooting of her husband, but fully admits to it thinking she can just return home since he was not killed.

The film quickly becomes a battle between traditional men and the “new woman”.  A marriage that once worked is tested by the fundamental ideas that the two clash on.  However the best part of this film is that, unlike so many ‘equality’ minded films of the time, the “new woman” never backs down.  She never loses her fire to appease her husband, but works to change his mind. 

In this film, Hepburn is a woman to be reckoned with.  Her character raises so many critical ideas that helped to change the world over 20 years later.  I am stunned by how ahead of its time this film was.  Great script by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin.

Grade: A

Last weekend I had my first bridesmaid experience as one of my closest friends got hitched and this film rang true to the chaos, madness, mistakes and good intentions that come with planning and executing a wedding.

This was #83 on the AFI’s 100 Funniest Movies of all time not because it is remarkably funny, dramatic or moving, but because it is all three at once without being corny.  Spencer Tracy plays the befuddled title character with more heart and less cheese than Steve Martin in the lamer remake.  Elizabeth Taylor plays the bride who only wanted a simple wedding but is pushed into a large extravagent wedding by her mother (Joan Bennett) who regrets her own small wedding.

The film is beautifully shot and directed by Vincente Minnelli.  The man was able to bring you into a location like few others and he makes you feel every inconvienient moment and sadness with his brilliant staging.  Thus not only are we swept up in the hilarious frustration of Tracy’s experiences, we are also drawn in by the lush visuals.

A funny and sweet film that still rings very true.  Skip the remake and see this, the original.

Grade: A-

This is a sorta feminist film about a female athlete trying to assert her independence despite the wishes of her fiance.  Katharine Hepburn is delightful, but somewhat depressingly weak-willed, in her role as Pat.  Pat is skilled in various sports and is used by Mike (Spencer Tracy) until he begins to see that he can make more money from her as a legitimate athlete than by fixing her matches.

There is chemistry between the two, however this is well into their coupling and the freshness they once had is no longer there.  Tracy is dull and boring, I have never understood his appeal, and Hepburn is semi-feminist, but also falls under the wayside of her passions toward both men.

Grade: B+