popcorn and red wine: December 2016

Saturday, December 24, 2016

Merry Christmas: Lou Costello sings "White Christmas" (1952) ["The Colgate Comedy Hour]

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

A Kind-Of Christmas Movie: Remember the Night (1940)

Preston Sturges was having a hard time during the creation of this classic Christmas film against Paramount producer Al Lewin. "Writing [...] almost caused me to commit hara-kiri several times, but I postponed it for some later assignment. The trouble was in finding a way to get some pizazz into the story." (Sturges, Preston Sturges by Preston Sturges: His Life in His Words) Initially inspired by personal experience, falling in love with second wife and socialite Eleanor Hutton on a road trip to Palm Beach (which would also be mirrored in "The Palm Beach Story"), the problems laid in motive.

"When I had Fred MacMurray, as the district attorney, take Barbara Stanwyck, the girl on trial for theft, up to the mountains to reform her, the script died of pernicious anemia. When I had him take her up because his conscience bothered him having had her trial continued after the Christmas season, it perished from lack of oxygen. When I had him take her up by charitable impulse and the Yuletide spirit, it expired from galloping eunuchery. So I thought of a novelty. The district attorney takes her up to the mountains for the purpose of violating the Mann Act."

Once in production, director Mitchell Leisen (who also directed "Easy Living") further pared down "Remember the Night" so much, it would push Sturges into both writing and directing his films from that point on. Leisen found MacMurray's dialogue "a bit theatrical, and the wordiness of the dialogue demanded a certain articulate quality on the part of the actor that MacMurray simply didn't have. Cutting MacMurray's lines down to the minimum, Leisen played up the gentle strength MacMurray could project so well." (Remember the Night (1940) - Articles - TCM.com) "The girl on trial for theft," Stanwyck's Lee Leander would end up being the main focus, the crime being committed at the beginning of the film causing both the audience and Fred MacMurray's John Sargent to hate to only evolve into loving her at the end of the film. Ironically, Sturges would end up winning for Best Original Screenplay that year.

"Remember the Night" was 8 days ahead of schedule and 50,000 under budget thanks to Leisen's leading lady. ""[She] was the greatest," he said. "She never blew one line through the whole picture. She set that kind of pace and everybody worked harder, trying to outdo her. She was always right at my elbow when I needed her. We never once had to wait for her to finish with the hairdresser or the make-up man." While on set, Sturges would even pitch her the idea to write a screwball comedy just for her which would become the great "The Lady Eve."

The end result had pickpocket Lee stealing a bracelet from a jeweler for no good reason. We never find out the reasoning why she did it, but it takes her directly into court before Christmas complete with an idiot for a lawyer and an assistant District Attorney who doesn't want the Christmas spirit to infect the jury. Halting the trial, Sargent finds himself feeling guilty for leaving Lee in jail over the holiday and gets a bondsman to set her bail until the next trial. But she has nowhere to go in New York City with her hotel room rent overdue, so Sargent finds himself taking her back to their mutual home state of Indiana.

Frank S. Nugent of The New York Times would consider "Remember the Night" as "the real curtain-raiser for 1940." "It is a memorable film, in title and in quality, blessed with an honest script, good direction and sound performance. Its character drawing is deft and in splendid proportion. The incidents chosen to work the changes in the hearts and minds of the central folk are apt and aptly presented. Rarely has a theme been so smoothly advanced and so pleasantly played out so sensible and credible a conclusion." Sturges best described his own film as "love reformed her and corrupted him, which gave us the finely balanced moral that one's man meat is another man's poison, or caveat emptor. As it turned out, the picture had quite a lot of schmaltz, a good dose of schmerz and just enough schmutz to make it at the box office."

Monday, December 19, 2016

#ManCrushMonday #HolidayEdition 6 Times Bing Crosby Made Christmas Happen

"O Sanctissima"

from "The Bells of St. Mary's" (1945)

"White Christmas"
from "White Christmas" (1954)

"Ave Maria"

from "Going My Way" (1944)

"White Christmas"
from "Holiday Inn" (1942)

"Silent Night"
in Promotion for "Going My Way" (1944)

"Adeste Fidelis"

from "The Bells of St. Mary's" (1945)

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Deathmatch: Holiday Inn (1942) vs. White Christmas (1954)

History

"Holiday Inn" was always to star Bing Crosby, composer Irving Berlin practically insured it in pitching the idea to director Mark Sandrich during a chance meeting. Having already moved from RKO (having helmed three other Astaire-Rogers vehicles there) to Paramount, Sandrich was immediately swayed insisting his new studio had to get the currently freelancing Fred Astaire to play opposite Crosby. It was a difficult endeavor, Paramount believing the song and dance man to be too expensive and outside their budget. But Sandrich got his wish, announcing to the press that "I call this picture the A B C of American musical comedy. Astaire, Berlin, Crosby. Get it?" ("Holiday Inn")
With Crosby and Astaire in place, actresses were a harder casting. Two of Astaire's dancing partners, Ginger Rogers and Rita Hayworth, were mentioned, but Paramount put their foot down. As long as expensive Astaire was in the feature and having to pay hefty paychecks to both Fred and Bing, it was a budgetary decision to cast unknowns. The role of Linda Mason, a new dancing partner for Bing's Jim Hardy, went to Marjorie Reynolds and the ex-dancing partner and Broadway diva Lila Dixon went to Virginia Dale.
The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor just around the time production went underway in late 1941 and costume designer great Edith Head and her wardrobe department felt the pinch in the rationing of materials. According to one press release, claiming one of Reynolds's gold-beaded outfits had used on one the last beads in Hollywood, "beads or such garments [had] been strung by the Czecho-Slovakians [sic] for generations, and the stringing part is unknown in the United States. With importing of the beads a thing of the past, American designers have used up all there are."
"Holiday Inn" would find itself at number 8 in the top grossing movies of 1942 receiving positive reviews. Theodore Strauss of "The New York Times" called "Holiday Inn" "very easy and graceful; it never tries too hard to dazzle [...] skipp[ing] back over the year in an affectionate and light-hearted spirit." ("Movie Revew -- THE SCREEN; Irving Berlin's "Holiday Inn," Co-Starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, Has Navy Benefit Premiere at Paramount - NYTimes.com") "A winner all the way" with "sterling" performances by the male leads, compliments the Harrison's Reports. Film Daily pronounced it "a completely satisfying musical filled with crisp comedy, fetching music, snappy dance routines, first-rate acting, smart story touches and lavish and beautiful settings."

Twelve years later, Paramount wished to recreate the "A B C of American musical comedy" once more but now the irony laid in the budget than the casting. Crosby, wanting to spend more time as a father to his two sons after his wife's tragic passing, left just around the time Astaire had terminated his contract with Paramount in favor of making "Daddy Long Legs" with 20th Century Fox. A few weeks later, Crosby returned to the news that Astaire would be replaced by Donald O'Connor. But after being injured, O'Connor would end up being replaced by comedian Danny Kaye. Kaye would cost Paramount "200,000 plus ten percent of the gross." ("White Christmas (1954) - Articles - TCM.com")
"White Christmas" came out of the box office in high numbers but mixed reviews. Bosley Crowther from The New York Times considered the "colors on the big screen" as "rich and luminous, the images clear and sharp, and rapid movements are got without blurring -- or very little -- such as sometimes is seen on the large screens. Director Michael Curtiz has made his picture look good. It is too bad that it doesn't hit the eardrums and the funnybone with equal force." Variety was more forgiving. "Crosby and Kaye, along with VV, keep the entertainment going in this fancifully staged [...] production, clicking so well the teaming should call for a repeat... Certainly he (Crosby) has never had a more facile partner than Kaye against whom to bounce his misleading nonchalance." But the film had the people as the top moneymaker of 1954, earning $12 million in theatrical rentals.

Story

In "Holiday Inn," Jim Hardy (Bing Crosby), Ted Hanover (Fred Astaire), and Lila Dixon (Virginia Dale) have been in a musical act for many years. Jim and Lila have been romantically intertwined and while he plans to marry her and retire to a farm in Connecticut, but Lila has different plans. Not wanting to give up her career, or romantic affair with Ted, she dumps him... on Christmas Eve.

Hardy retires regardless and tends to his farm for a year until coming back into New York City the next year on Christmas Eve. This time, he has plans to turn the farm into a "Holiday Inn," which would only be open on public holidays complete with a floor show. Ted and his manager Danny Reed (Walter Abel) finds the idea ridiculous but wish him luck.

When Reed goes to the flower shop to get flowers for Lila for Ted, he gets accosted by the florist (Marjorie Reynolds) who knows hin as a talent agent and is determined to be a singer. Reed immediately offers her a spot at Ted's nightclub. Linda pretends to be a celebrity playing hard-to-get and Hardy, already an established business owner. Linda joins him at the farm the next day ready to work where they build this club from the ground up complete with a performance and song for each holiday of the year... until Ted comes back and wreaks havoc in more ways than one.

Previous WW2 soldiers Captain Bob Wallace (Bing Crosby) and Private Phil Davis (Danny Kaye) end up becoming a famous entertainment duo turned Broadway producers after the war. It becomes slightly annoying for Bob, who is ready to settle down from the hectic urban life, especially when Davis constantly reminds him he saved his life from an explosion at the army camp in manipulating decisions in his direction.

One such decision is having to check out who they believe an old soldier buddy's sisters singing duo (Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen). It is instant chemistry between Bob and Betty with Davis ecstatic he can get the overbearing stiff off of his hands for awhile.

It is further serendipity when they find out the sisters are heading up to the Columbia Inn in Vermont which is owned by their former commander Major General Waverly (Dean Jagger). Intrigued and without their sleeping rooms on the train with Davis offering them to the sisters, the boys find themselves helping the man they used to serve with a "let's make a show" arc for the rest of the film as Bob and Betty's relationship grows then falters to only to grow all over again.

Deathmatch Round

I personally couldn't choose one over the other. There are elements I enjoy and love from both of them.

Favorite Underrated Song:

"Minstrel Number: I'd Rather See a Minstrel Show/Mr. Bones/Mandy" from "White Christmas"

"Choreography" from "White Christmas"

Favorite Bing Crosby role:

Captain Bob Wallace from "White Christmas"

Favorite Acting Performance:

Rosemary Clooney as Betty Haynes "White Christmas"

Favorite Underrated Acting Performance:

Dean Jagger as Major General Thomas F. Waverly from "White Christmas"

Favorite Costume: