THESE AMAZING SHADOWS: THE FABRIC OF OUR LIVES

Paul Mariano and Kurt Norton's These Amazing Shadows, a one-hour documentary, premiers on Independent Lens on PBS, Thursday, December 29, 2011 at 10 PM.

My favorite "history books" are movies. Want to know how people lived in 1912? Watch a 1912 movie. Want to know how people dressed in 1940? Watch a 1940 movie. Want to know a society's passion, prejudices, thoughts and dreams from any era in the 20th or 21st century? Right - watch a movie!

These Amazing Shadows presents the story of how the US Government finally got the point and passed legislation calling for a National Film Registry. Ironically, it all started with the "T" in our beloved TCM. Remember when Ted Turner thought it would be a good idea to computer colorize black and white films? 

James Stewart lent his voice to those against 
the colorization of black and white films

Remember the firestorm of artistic indignation (not to mention how really bad they all looked)? It was this action that lead to the congressional hearings that resulted in the passage of The National Film Preservation Act of 1988. Besides thanking Ted for our favorite commercial-free TV station, we can also thank him for inadvertently igniting the spark that lead to the Nation Film Registry, the list of films (currently at 550 ) deemed culturally, historically or aesthetically significant and  preserved in the Library of Congress.

The documentary presents a panorama of films that, pieced together, create a celluloid quilt of American cultural history in the last and present century. Referred to as the art form of the 20th century, films remain our most immediate communal artistic experience. Watched in a theater as it is meant to be, a movie is a unique art form. At once solitary and inward, its joys multiply when shared with a crowd. We know what we feel, but those feelings are validated by the rest of the audience. That's why I was so happy to see that Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles made the list.

Blazing Saddles? Yes! Sitting in a theater in 1974, I experienced one of my most memorable audience reactions while watching that famous campfire scene. You know the one - campfire, beans, Mr. Taggert... The sheer joy of being in a room full of so many laughing viewers is something I will never forget. The fact that this film made the registry tells me that this list truly is representative of public treasures. There is nothing more precious than laughter.


Filled with interviews from such a diverse group as John Waters, Zoey Deschanel, Barbara Kopple, Leonard Maltin, Rob Reiner, Christopher Nolan, Debbie Reynolds, and Anthony Slide, all attest to the influence and impact films have had upon their lives and art. You'd be surprised at the films that influenced future film makers. Debbie Reynolds describes movies as an escape when she was a child, noting that "I loved them all and I still do today." She's such a fan, bless her heart. My favorite comment is from Del Reisman, former president of the Writers Guild of America: "As a child there were no good movies or bad movies, just movies." We grow up to be such critics!


The registry is filled with expected films, such as Casablanca, The Godfather, The Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind, animated classics such as Fantasia and Toy Story, documentaries such as Harlan County USA and Grey Gardens, as well as a variety of newsreels, short subjects and even the famous "Let's All Go To the Lobby" promo for popcorn and soda.

Home movies, a true depiction of our life and times, are also part of the registry. One of the most fascinating is Topaz, a home movie that depicts the day to day life in a WWII Japanese Internment Camp in Utah. 

A vivid testament to a painful and shameful episode in our history, it lives as a permanent reminder for all future generations. Through the pain and injustice comes compassion and education. The sheer diversity of the films form a "national memory" of times, places and attitudes.

From the culturally and artistically significant, but often impossible to watch, Birth of a Nation, to Atticus Finch, a better angel of our national nature, in To Kill a Mockingbird, changing attitudes, social prejudice and social justice depicted in film hold up a mirror to society. Sometimes, what we see in the mirror makes us cringe, but sometimes it fills us with pride.

The film also examines the role of women behind the camera, noting that in early cinema, women were evident as writers and even directors. As the industry grew, the position of women waned. Sigh...

It's hard to cram over 100 years of film history into an hour, but I'm sure there are more than a few films and stories that will trigger a memory and a giggle, as well as those that will fascinate and educate. To learn more about These Amazing Shadows, click here.


For a list of the current National Film Registry, click here.


And now, let's all go to the lobby, stock up on some buttered popcorn, sit back and relax and enjoy the show! And, by the way... thanks, Uncle Sam. You're getting a bad rap these days, so it's nice to know you're doing something right!

I want you..... to support film preservation!

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BARBARA STANWYCK: STRONG THE STANWYCK WAY

Thirteenth and last in a series about strong women in film. Strong women are independent, beautiful, sexy, feminine and just want everything in life that a man wants and believe that they have every right to have it!

I had to save the best for last! What is there to say about this lady that hasn't already been said? Beloved by her public and by her co-workers, she is the third jewel in the triple royal crown of American strong women in film alongside Bette Davis and Joan Crawford.

Stanwyck was often unfairly compared to Davis, but there really is no comparison. Of the three, she is the most even, the least neurotic and the one I'd most like to have my back. She may have never hit the acting heights of Davis or Crawford, but she never sunk to their depths. Her reputation in her field is spotless and it only grows as the years go by. There is no trace of artifice, no fuss, no muss. With Stanwyck, what you see is what you get. And what you see is a great screen actress. Period.

Known as "Missy" to her friends, Brooklyn's Ruby Stevens went from the telephone company to the chorus to Hollywood. Along the way, she won the love and respect of her co-workers (both in front of and behind the camera) and her audience. This was no Hollywood Diva!

If you want to be a strong, independent woman, or if you are an admirer of the type, you can learn a lot from Missy.

Barbara Stanwyck's Guide 

to Being a Strong, Independent Woman

#1: If you're strong, you can be soft and sweet

Barbara could be a vision of femininity  

#2:  If you're strong, you can take control of the situation

I would not take a chance those gloves were just for show

#3: If you're strong, you can admit you can't cook

Hey - that's why people hire chefs

#4: If you're strong, you can strip

Barbara played a stripper at least 3 times, so she felt
confident in the g-string

#5: If you're strong, you can ride a motorcycle as good as any man and look damn good doing it

Looking good with Elvis. I'm sure she could have driven, but I think she 
just wanted to get her arms around the King.

#6: If you're strong, you are a straight shooter

You'd have to be nuts to mess with her

#7: If you're strong, you see things through to the end (no matter how dirty the deal)

Taking murder seriously

#8: If you're strong, you can have a soft heart for the weaker ones

She could have, but she didn't

#9: If you're strong you can be a loving mother

Mother Love requires real strength

#10: If you're strong, you can beat the boys at their own game

If this woman is in the Executive Suite, she will run the show

#11: If you're strong, you can be sexy at any age

A legend in every way.

#12: If you're strong, you help those on the way up and they never forget it.

William Holden never forgot Stanwyck's kindness
during the filming of "Golden Boy"

At the 1978 Academy Awards, while the two were presenting the
award for Best Sound, Holden went off script, paid tribute to her
integrity and generosity and thanked Missy for saving his career.
In 1982, after Holden had passed away and while accepting her
honorary Oscar, she dedicated the award to her "Golden Boy."
What a classy lady!

And, if you're strong you are always fiercely yourself - beautiful like no other. Leave the conventional beauties to the conventional minded.

I think it's fair to say that in her career that spanned roughly 60 years, she never gave a bad performance. Here are just a few of those I think are her very best:
The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1932)
Baby Face (1933)
Stella Dallas (1937)
The Lady Eve (1940)
Remember the Night (1940)
Ball of Fire (1941)
Double Indemnity (1944)
Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers (1946)
Sorry Wrong Number (1948)

If I omitted your favorite, I apologize, but there are just so many wonderful films and so many more wonderful Stanwyck performances!

Bottom line: they don't come any better than Barbara Stanwyck. A total pro, she was the Ziegfeld Follies, pre-code, romance, comedy, Noir, westerns, and TV. What else is there to say? The best. Period.

The 2011 Complete "Strong Women in Film Series:


Bette Davis: No Apologies
Ann Dvorak: A Penthouse, Pre-Code and You
Joan Crawford: I Will Previal
The Flapper: Free, Female and 21
Ann Sheridan: One Swell Gal
Jane Russell: Nobody's Cupcake
Susan Hayward: Diminish at Your Own Risk
Mabel Normand: Paying the Price
Katharine Hepburn: Born This Way
Myrna Loy: The People's Queen
Irene Dunne: Delightful, Delicious and No Distress
Mary, Mae, Marlene and Doris: Industrial Strength Blondes

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Kay Francis: Where Have You Been All Of My Life?

Until recently, I never had any real interest in Kay Francis. I was aware of her, had seen her in a few films, but never was impressed enough to pursue her. Well, all I can say about me is - what a dope!

Now, I am all over this woman. An authentic "dark beauty," Kay Francis is a totally unique personality. Quite tall, beautiful in a singular fashion, and a famed clotheshorse, Kay Francis had a low, soothingly sexy voice with one little flaw - she could not say her "r"s. It's actually very noticeable and somewhat surprising that she made it up into the upper echelons of stardom on both stage and screen with such a speech impediment. I suppose it is kind of cute, but it gave her the nickname of "the wavishing Kay Fwancis."


My chief brushes with Kay came from her role as the bitchy wife of "In Name Only." Hey, anyone who makes my Cary Grant unhappy already has a black mark against them. I also saw her some very early poor films and some of her later poorer films. Somehow, I missed the glory  years. And then came a Kay Francis triple that blew me away. She was not the bitchy, brittle type at all. There is a genuine warmth about her and an intelligence that makes her a very appealing woman.


One Way Passage
Before Myrna Loy, William Powell was teamed with Kay and they made six films together, first at Paramount and then at Warner Brothers. She and Powell had great chemistry together. He is warm and romantic (on his way to the electric chair), and she is bright an vivacious (on her way to the great beyond). A very romantic film with two tremendously appealing and attractive stars.


Trouble in Paradise
It's really Miriam Hopkins and Herbert Marshall's show in this Lubitch treasure, but Kay adds real glamour and sophistication. She is as bright and glittering as a diamond as the careless-with-money and free-with-her-love heiress who happens to steal the heart of thief Marshall. A really great film.


Girls About Town
As a carefree gold digger with pal Lilyan Tashman (who steals the how), Kay is quite sexy in this naughty pre-code goodie directed by George Cukor. Added bonuses are a very handsome Joel McCrea, risque dialogue and girls in lingerie.


Career & Personal Life
What a woman! Kay was quite the gal off screen, racking up a total of 5 husbands and lovers by the score. She was a socialite, stage actress and film star and did it all with great style. Kay was a woman who lived for the moment!


Following some success on stage (she made her debut at 20 and already had a Paris divorce under her belt), she went to Hollywood in 1929. After initial success at Paramount, she moved to Warner Brothers where, for a short time, she shared the title "Queen of the Lot," with Ruth Chatterton. However, life changed for all actresses at Warner Brothers when a wind named Bette Davis blew in and subjugated all former queens to mere hand maidens. After leaving Warner Brothers at the end of the 1930, Kay's career went into decline, although she managed to make some interesting later films.


War Service
During World War II, she, along with fellow actors Carole Landis, Martha Raye and Mitzi Mayfair did tremendous volunteer work and entertained the troops in the field. Their adventures were described in the book Four Jills in a Jeep, which was later made into the a movie of the same name starring all 4 Jills. Kay also contributed greatly to the Red Cross and donated much of her time to the USO. Slinky and patriotic - what a gal.


After retirement, Kay left the bulk of her fortune to the The Seeing Eye, Inc., which trains guide dogs for the blind. Her personal papers and diaries were donated to Wesleyan University.


There are many great sites on the internet that give much more information about Kay than I am doing here. Two, in particular, that I like are:
The Kay Francis Fan Page  and Kay Francis - I Can't Wait to Be Forgotten.

Because I fully admit to being mesmerized by her alluring appearance, I offer a sampling of the dazzling Kay Francis, who goes into my book of dark ladies I love (alongside Pola Negri, Ann Dvorak, Louise Brooks and Miriam Cooper).

Okay, I'll stop now. And I will continue my exploration into all things Kay Francis. It's so much fun to discover a "new to me" favorite!


Kay Francis films on my list to see:
Behind the Makeup (1930)
Jewel Robbery (1932) - Yay - on TCM on December 1st!
Cynara (1932)
Mandalay (1934)
Wonder Bar (1934)
Living on Velvet (1935)

1925 portrait of Kay by Charles Baskerville

I just ordered her bio, and can't wait to read it. 2012 is going to be my year of Kay Francis!

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Classic Six Degrees of Separation: Tag - You're It!

Getting From Here:

To Here 

in Six (or so) Not-So-Easy Steps

So, Vince at Carole & Co.  conquered the first round of Page's Classic Six Degrees of Separation by successfully linking Mabel Normand to Walter Matthau. His challenge is to link Carole Lombard with Goldie Hawn. Lucky for me, I'm up first. 

My first choice is Carole and  Cary Grant in "In Name Only." (always happy to post a photo of Cary here).

I pass this over to Jessica at "Comet Over Hollywood."  Good luck, Jessica.

By the way, here's a recap (courtesy of Vince):

it started with Mabel Normand and Walter Matthau, and you had six degrees to get from one to the other. 

Page passed the torch on to Dave of "Dave's Classic Films." Here's how the game went:

* Dave chose Normand with Adolphe Menjou in "Head Over Heels" (1927), sending it to...

* Becky of "ClassicBecky's Brain Food" linked Menjou with Kirk Douglas in "Paths Of Glory" (1957); it then went to...

* Dawn of "Noir And Chick Flicks" paired Douglas with Gena Rowlands in "Lonely Are The Brave" (1962); next up was...

* Page again, who linked Rowlands to Rock Hudson in "The Spiral Road" (1962) -- from there it went to...

* Priscilla of "Reel Revival," who stayed with "Spiral Road" and linked Hudson to Burl Ives; she then handed it to me.

* Vince of "Carole & Co." successfully made the connection, and linked Ives and Matthau together in "Ensign Pulver" (1964).

* Vince started a new game challenging us to link Carole Lombard to Goldie Hawn.

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SPELLBOUND BY MOVIES? YOU MUST GO AND SEE "HUGO"

Martin Scorsese's "Hugo" is a film rich in surprises. Buried beneath dazzling 3D effects, beautiful 1930-ish Paris locales, and charming children lies a heartfelt work about a topic near and dear to all classic film lovers  - our never-ending enchantment with movies and the very serious importance of film preservation. 

Based upon the book "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," by Brian Selznick, "Hugo" tells a fanciful story of an orphan boy who lives in the walls of a Paris train station. After his father dies in a fire, Hugo is taken by his brutish uncle to live with him at the station where he maintains the clocks. After the uncle disappears, Hugo continues to maintain the clocks in the station. His days consist of working the clocks, stealing food to survive, dodging the Station Master (who lives to send children to the orphanage) and fixing a machine called an "automoton" - a broken mechanical man whose message Hugo hopes will bring him closer to his dead father. Through some botched attempts at thievery, he comes in contact with a crusty old Toy Seller at the station who makes life miserable for the adorable blue-eyed Hugo by taking possession of the precious notebook that belonged to the boy's father. Luckily for Hugo, he strikes up a totally charming adolescent relationship with the Toy Seller's goddaughter, Isabelle. Isabelle offers to help Hugo retrieve his father's notebook from the Toy Seller and Hugo introduces Isabelle to the movies, something her godfather has forbidden. Through a very clever turn of events , we learn that this old curmudgeon is the great, and very forgotten, early French film maker, Georges Méliès. With the help of a kindly book seller, the children come in contact with a film historian who is fascinated with Méliès, and thus begins a rediscovery of those early masterful films and an appreciation of the master's art.

The early wizard of special effects, Méliès created hundreds of fanciful films that were an expression of his earlier work as a magician. Through trial and error, he discovered that cinema magic (though such techniques as time-lapse photography and multiple exposures) was much more potent than stage magic. Truly flights of fancy, the most enduring of all of his films is the 1910 "Trip to the Moon," with this iconic image:

.

What film lover does not know this image? And yet, in the 1920s and 1930s, when film preservation was not on the radar, only those who actually saw it so long ago remembered. World War I and the rise of Hollywood put an end to Méliès' magical studio. But magic it was.

Films were hand-tinted to an even more magical effect.

If you love movies, your heart will swell because, thanks to the intrepid children, Méliès is restored to his rightful place in cinematic history. The film also gives us a mini-history of early silents up until the glory days of Fairbanks and Chaplin. One of the most charming scenes in the film is one where Hugo and Isabelle, enraptured, watch Harold Lloyd hanging from that clock in "Safety Last."

Ironically, Hugo ends up in a similar situation. 

There are so many fun film references for the movie-lover here, including a Hitchcock-like cameo by the director.

The actors are all wonderful. Asa Butterfiled as Hugo makes an adorable orphan and Chloe Grace Moretz, as Isabelle, is just magnificent - an intrepid Nancy Drew with an Ingrid Bergman look. Sacha Baron Cohen, as the Station Master, is not only amusing, but also touching, and Sir Ben Kingsley gives depth and pathos to an almost broken man who, like his automoton, needs to be fixed.

Sir Ben Kingsley as Georges Melies

The real Georges Melies

Scorsese, who deserves his own revered place in film history, has painstakingly recreated Méliès' films and film making process. Dreams, Magic and Adventure are words that are often used in this film. They are words that accurately describe those early days of film, but still hold true today. Just as the earliest audiences ducked in their seats when they saw the image of an oncoming train on the screen, so, too, do modern audiences when the magical effects of 3-D are well done. Leave it to Scorsese to make the use of 3-D not only magical, but evocative.

Thank you, Martin Scorsese. Wrapped in a beautiful family film is the message all lovers of cinema long to hear: the past is the present and future and all that came before is precious and important.

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