Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

Well, it's Christmas time again, putting parents in awkward spots since....well, forever. How do you handle the Santa Clause issue to kids? Tell them or let them find out themselves? It's a great jumping off point for one of the all-time classic Christmas movies, 1947's Miracle on 34th Street.

In charge of organizing the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Doris Walker (Maureen O'Hara) is thrown for a loop when her Santa Clause turns up drunk on the float. She finds quite the stand-in, her new choice delighting the kids and parents in the crowd. He looks like Santa, talks like him, and is far better than previous Macy's Santas to the point he's offered the job as Santa Clause in Macy's, little kids lining up to see him and tell them what they want. There is an issue though. Named Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn), Kris says he is the Santa Clause. Doris finds herself in another spot, Kris has inspired an unlikely Christmas promotion nationwide in department stores across the country. What to do? Can she fire Santa? There's bigger issues though, a Macy's employee is taking the issue to court. Is Kris really Santa? Well, now it's for the court to settle.

The plot description for this 1947 Christmas movie from director George Seaton is tough. It's not that this is a complicated story, just an episodic one that covers a lot of ground for a Christmas movie. Clocking in at 96 minutes, it accomplishes a lot in its relatively short running time. Let's start with the look of the movie, a gorgeous, old-fashioned black and white that has aged quite well over the years. Steer clear of the colorized version! Seaton filmed on location in New York City as much as possible, giving us a good time capsule look at post-WWII NYC. There's some great footage early as Kris walks through Manhattan, as well as some even better behind the scenes(ish) footage of the Macy's parade. From the outdoor shots to the indoors at Macy's and Gimbel's, the look of the movie is pretty perfect.

That's all well and good though, but the best thing here is Gwenn as Kris Kingle, an old man with a round stomach and a big, white beard who claims he is the real Santa Clause. Could he be? Gwenn was nominated and won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his part, one of four nominations Seaton's film earned. It's easy to see why. First off, how do you play Santa Clause? Gwenn commits, and that's what is most key. The movie has its cynical moments -- about politics, Santa, belief/faith -- but the heart of the movie is Gwenn as Kris Kringle who convinces his employers at Macy's to help customers...wherever that may be, even if it's at another store! It's the spirit of Christmas, the time of the year for giving, for helping and for being thoughtful and generous. That's what Gwenn's Kris lives out and encourages.

In earning his Best Supporting Actor Oscar, Gwenn does just that; supports. He's in most scenes, but not all of them, his Kris Kringle character providing a jumping off point for the rest of the story and characters. Not quite episodic, but certainly approaching that territory. The focus is mostly on O'Hara's Doris, a single mom (I know, I was surprised as anyone to find out divorce existed in the 1940s!!!) who is trying to raise her daughter, Susan (9-year old Natalie Wood), basically as an adult, question everything and don't believe in all sorts of fairy tales and whatnot...namely Santa. What about when young Susan takes a liking to Kris, even if she's been taught not to believe in him? There's also the Walker's neighbor across the hallway, Fred Gailey (John Payne), a talented lawyer looking to make a name for himself who also strikes up a fast friendship with Kris, who stands for everything he shouldn't believe in. A good ensemble for sure, but there's more.

Also look for Gene Lockhart as the judge who presides over the Kris Kringle case, William Frawley (later of I Love Lucy fame) as his political adviser (how do you rule against Santa?), Porter Hall as Macy's amateur psychologist who gets on Kris' bad side and starts off the Santa circus, Jerome Cowan as the D.A. working against Kris, Philip Tonge as a nervous Macy's employee, and Alvin Greeman as Alfred, a 17-year old kid who volunteers as a Santa at a local youth club and meets Kris in his travels.

It's hard not to like this movie. 'Miracle' has its fair share of iconic moments from Wood's Susan suspiciously interviewing Kris at Macy's, famously pulling his beard, to Kris taking the stand at his own trial/hearing, answering enthusiastically and honesty about what he believes/knows to be the truth. The most famous scene though is obvious, Payne's Fred coming up with an ingenious way to prove Kris' identity. It's a great ending, followed up in the subsequent scenes which some good semi-twists. A Christmas movie that's aged incredibly well. Gwenn is excellent, young Natalie Wood a scene-stealer, their scenes together providing most of the movie's best moments. An easy one to recommend, one definitely worth checking out this holiday season.

Miracle on 34th Street (1947): *** 1/2 /****

Sex and the Single Girl

One of my all-time favorite actors, Hollywood legend Tony Curtis died September 29 from a heart attack in Las Vegas.  Someone I've always thought of as an underrated actor, Curtis did it all in his career, and I've reviewed a fair share of his movies in the last two years.  He could do a screwball romantic comedy while also pulling off an epic historical period piece at the same time.  Comedy, drama, action, and anything in between, Curtis was an underrated, very versatile actor who I'll always like.  But of all his movies, he may most be remembered for his comedies where his natural charm translated well.  Everyone knows about Some Like it Hot, but add 1964's Sex and the Single Girl to the list of interesting flicks to check out.

Screwball comedies are pretty hit or miss typically for me, but I give most the benefit of the doubt depending on the talent involved.  The talent here made it worthwhile and caught my eye from the start.  The premise is not surprisingly pretty ridiculous with some digs at sex, affairs and some necessary miscommunication and confusion as to who everyone is.  It is 1964 so it can be pretty tame although gasp, 'virgin' is said once but never again.  Pretty scandalous stuff, right? But despite a really stupid ending that pushed my limits, I still liked the flick almost in spite of itself, even as stupid as it is at times.

A managing editor for Dirt magazine (think TMZ but dirtier and in print), Bob Weston (Curtis) is the best at what he does; trashing celebrities with blatant lies that readers eat up.  His next target? Dr. Helen Brown (Natalie Wood), a sex and relationship therapist who has gained fame from her best-selling book about how a single woman should live her life. Unfortunately for Bob, there's no easy way to prove that the very pretty Dr. Brown is living what she preaches.  Has she even been in a serious relationship with a man?  He finds his way in though, posing as his neighbor (Henry Fonda) who after 10 years of marriage is constantly fighting with his wife (Lauren Bacall). But in looking to reveal her as a fraud (surprise, surprise), Bob falls for her hard.  Can he still win her over, admitting what he's been trying to do?

Like a lot of the 1960s screwball comedies I've seen, there's something a little off, a little disturbing with the story.  Weston is basically trying to figure out if Helen is a virgin, and he's going to lie, cheat and steal his way into finding out the truth, at one point even resorting to just getting her drunk.  The 1960s weren't as classy as I figured I guess.  Thankfully, Weston develops actual feelings for her before he drunkenly takes advantage of her.  The whole thing seems tame at times and oddly inappropriate at others.  It never goes too far though because a movie where Tony Curtis takes advantage of Natalie Wood just doesn't seem quite right.

Finding that nice middle ground, director Richard Quine allows his actors to do their thing in getting the most laughs possible out of the story. Curtis treads that fine line between being a completely disgusting chauvinist and an overly charming ladies man.  I've always thought of Wood as more cute than out of this world hot, but she really turns it on here.  Maybe its the innocence of her character, but she's great in the part and looks gorgeous.  In the 1960s, few actresses had as much comedic talent (dramatic talent too), and with Curtis you've got quite a pair together.  Their scenes together are dialogue heavy, but it's great seeing them go back and forth with some really snappy exchanges.

Now as perfect as Curtis and Wood are together, I was surprised by the names I saw in the opening credits, especially considering I was just about to watch a screwball comedy.  Henry Fonda and Lauren Bacall, really?  The joke was on me I guess because they create the perfect subplot that at times is funnier than the main plot.  Fonda is a hosiery salesman who looks at womens' legs for a living, and Bacall as his wife objects thinking he's just a pervert who likes looking at women's legs.  They fight constantly, and Curtis' Weston has a source for information that he can turn around and pose as a husband in a troubled marriage.  For two actors like Fonda and Bacall who typically stuck with drama, it's great to see them branch out.  Are they great parts?  No, not at all, but seeing talent like that work in a comedy is always worthwhile.

Because they can't all be winners, we have the third and final act of 'Sex and the Single Girl.'  With mistaken identity that I Love Lucy would have been jealous of, all these different people cross paths and start chasing each other on the expressway outside Los Angeles in a variety of different cars.  Look for Larry Storch in a laughably bad part as a motorcycle cop caught up in the craziness. The humor leading up to all this wasn't exactly high-brow, but this chase reminded me of the lowest kind of slapstick, almost like a chase you'd see in The Monkees or maybe Scooby Doo.  The movie limps into the finish line because of the ending, but I'll still give it a mild recommendation.

Sex and the Single Girl <---TCM trailer (1964): ** 1/2 /****

Kings Go Forth

In the midst of a world conflict that threatens the fate of the free world, it seems odd that personal conflicts and prejudices could play a part.  Take WWII where Allied forces did everything they could to stop Adolf Hitler from taking over the world.  Soldiers from countries all over the world worked together to accomplish this mission.  But what about a soldier-to-soldier basis?  They were united in their efforts, but that doesn't mean they thought alike.  They still had differences and prejudices that almost certainly made an impact on their lives.

It sounds stupid, but what about racist soldiers?  Wrapped in a worldwide conflict, some surely still found times to criticize or ridicule blacks, Hispanics, and any number of other ethnicities and cultural backgrounds.  Just because you're defeating Hitler doesn't mean you still can't have some fun, right?  I meant that sarcastically if you didn't pick that up.  That is the basic premise of 1958's Kings Go Forth where personal prejudices end up playing a large part in the relationships of two soldiers and a young French girl in the months following the D-Day invasion in 1944.

Working with an advanced observation unit positioned ahead of the lines, Lt. Sam Loggins (Frank Sinatra) is used to working in dangerous situations, doing his best to get his men through the war unscathed. The casualties continue to mount though with a new radioman, Cpl. Britt Harris (Tony Curtis) assigned to Loggins' squad who starts to stir things up.  While on leave in Nice, Sam meets a young French girl, Monique (Natalie Wood) who he instantly clicks with.  As the war wages onward, their relationship grows, but two things stand in their way.  Monique has a secret she's worried about sharing with Sam, and smooth, suave ladies man Britt shows up just in time to possibly steal her away from Sam.

The story description does come off as a bit too much like a soap opera, but it's not as painfully obvious while watching.  Sinatra, Curtis and Wood have a good chemistry together in making this love triangle (maybe the laziest plot device ever) not only entertaining, but believable.  It's fairly clear from early on in the movie that Sinatra and Curtis are going to butt heads, it is only a matter of time until we find out why and how.  I should also point out this is a love story set in WWII, not the other way around.  Don't go in expecting epic battle scenes with hundreds of extras.  What little action there is in the movie is saved for the end when Sam and Britt undertake a dangerous mission in a German-held Italian town.

Director Delmer Daves is hamstrung a bit by 1950s censors but gets away with a fair amount in his storytelling.  Parts are subtle so pay attention because you're not going to be hit over the head with any obvious reveals.  The secret Monique is so worried about is that her father was black so she thinks no American is going to want any part of her.  Sinatra's Sam seems more bothered about it while Curtis' Britt doesn't seem fazed in the least.  Of course, that would be too obvious an ending so don't think I gave anything a way.  These elements make the soap opera-esque story more worthwhile and not just three lonely individuals trying to find happiness in war.  If that was the case, I might have turned the movie off halfway through.

Telling this story, Daves wisely focuses on his three main characters with a few supporting parts worth mentioning.  Sinatra didn't have the greatest range as an actor, but when he found the right part he typically knocked it out of the park.  His Sam Loggins is a good example of what he can do with that right part.  Curtis gets to play against type to a bit, putting a harsher spin on his typical lovable rogue who you still like.  He's not a straight bad guy, but if there is a villainous character here, it is him.  It is fun though seeing two performers like Sinatra and Curtis work together with some meatier roles.  Other than her French accent, Wood is excellent as Monique.  The 20-year old actress looks beautiful and makes Monique sympathetic in her trials as she grows up, trying to figure out what she wants in life while dealing with this cloud over her head she has no control over. Leora Dana has a good if small part as Monique's mother while Karl Swenson is good as Sinatra's commanding officer.

Other things worth mentioning include the camerawork and the filming locations.  Daves shoots the movie in black and white, a good choice that makes the story and setting more sparse, more basic emotion.  With color, I don't know if the movie works as well.  With a few notable exceptions, the movie was also shot in France and Italy including some great shots of the French Riviera.  A beautiful movie to look at, and with a good story on top of it.  See this unheralded WWII love story for the acting thing, especially the three stars. 

Kings Go Forth <----trailer (1958): ***/****

The Burning Hills

Author Louis L'Amour's novels and short stories have been a frequent source for movies and television shows over the years.  His westerns are typically old-fashioned stories where the line is clearly drawn between good and bad, the good guy always wins and usually gets the girl in the process.  It's basically a giant cookie cutter for a movie that can be duplicated time and time again with a few cast changes here and there.  There's one basic element that can ruin it -- check that, there's probably hundreds but I'll be talking about one -- and that's casting.

By the mid 1950s, you'd think Hollywood would have learned and stopped casting white people in roles that they just couldn't pull off; minorities.  Thankfully no instances of blackface come to mind, but Hispanics, Indians, Mexicans and any number of European nationalities were all ripe for the picking.  Some people can pull off playing a minority, but they seem few and far between.  Make-up and a phony accent do not alone make a part believable.  One of L'Amour's early novels of the same name was turned into 1956's The Burning Hills, a western that is undone by some awful choices in casting, several minority related.

In 1965's Major Dundee, Richard Harris laughs at a struggling Charlton Heston, stating 'You make an unlikely looking Mexican."  I love the line for its delivery, but also a trend that still lasts in movies.  Thankfully in this western from director Stuart Heisler only one part qualifies exactly with the Harris line.  That role is 18-year old Natalie Wood playing a Mexican girl, face-darkening makeup and awful accent included.  It's not Wood's fault because she would show in many other movies that she was an above average actress, but it does make a movie hard to take seriously whenever she's on-screen.  All things considered though with this oater, Woods as a Mexican girl is the least of the problems.

After finding his brother murdered on their land with a bullet in his back, Trace Jordan (Tab Hunter) tries to track down the three men responsible for the killing. The trail leads to the ranch house of Joe Sutton (Ray Teal), a rich land owner and cattle rancher, but when Trace confronts him, he is forced to shoot Sutton.  Trying to escape, he too is wounded and is forced to hide at the home of a poor Mexican family, including teenage Maria (Wood).  But time is short for Trace who as he tries to recuperate finds out a posse is gunning for him led by Sutton's son Jack (Skip Homeier) and ranch foreman Ben Hinderman (Claude Akins), and the group won't settle for anything less than Trace's dead body.

Working off L'Amour's novel, the story is everything that can be right about a western.  Simple but effective, exciting and rarely boring.  For all the flaws here, there is potential, much of it in how the chase and hunt are handled.  Characters are ruthless, and their actions often show a complete disregard for anything but the moment at hand.  A fight between Hunter's Trace and a cowboy/gunman played by Earl Holliman is particularly brutal in a knock-down, drag 'em out fight that leaves the viewer feeling like they were part of the fight.  The same for the finale between Trace and Jack as the two basically fist-fight their way down a mountain.  The ending is a little weird though because Homeier's Jack seems to just float away down a river without explanation.

One part casted badly is one thing, but a second and third all but doom a movie.  As mentioned, I can't completely fault Wood for someone else choosing her and casting her as a teenage Mexican girl.  But that said, the part is pretty awful.  Then there's her relationship with Hunter, that perfect kind of movie falling in love relationship where two people fall in love minutes after meeting because of the extremes of the situation they meet.  As for Hunter, he's too vanilla for the part he's playing.  He's not really bad or really good in the lead, he's just there, and that's it.  The western hero needs some sort of edge, and it just isn't here with the part as played by Hunter.

Where the lead is pretty plain, the villain is laughably evil.  Homeier was in a string of successful westerns in the 1950s, usually in a supporting role.  As the villainous Jack Sutton, he's laughable and looks to be auditioning for the part of the original gay caballero.  Decked out in an all black outfit -- leather vest included -- he isn't intimidating at all and any attempts at being that feared bad guy produce laughs, not goosebumps.  It'd be like a meek librarian, glasses perched on his nose, yelling at you.  Some other parts include an underused Akins as the foreman, and Eduard Franz as Jacob Lantz, a Ute tracker leading the posse.  A German actor playing an American Indian, just one more odd choice in a long list from this western.

An overall pretty bad attempt at a star vehicle for rising stars Hunter and Wood, this one bored me to tears.  A few supporting parts make it at least bearable to watch with some exciting, well-choreographed fight scenes, but not much else to go on here.  Watch it at Youtube, starting with Part 1 of 9.   

The Burning Hills (1956): * 1/2 /****

The Silver Chalice

They can't all be winners, right?  Over a long career, at some point movie stars have to have a dud every so often.  In most cases though you'll never hear the star actually admit that part of the equation.  Well, most cases other than Paul Newman.  One of Hollywood's greatest actors and a true legend, even Newman had to start somewhere, making his screen debut in 1954's The Silver Chalice. It's been critically roasted, and more than that, roasted by Newman who took out a full page ad in a newspaper in the 1960s to encourage TV viewers not to watch this movie when it was shown on TV.  Now that's the kind of honesty we need more of.

Let's get this out of the way early.  'Chalice' is a bad movie, a truly bad movie, that is entertaining in its awfulness.  It was an early trendsetter in huge Biblical epics like The Ten Commandments, The Robe, King of Kings, Spartacus and many others.  But you know what all those epics had going for them?  A somewhat decent script and some actual scale in terms of sets, costuming and 'a cast of thousands.'  Directed by Victor Saville, 'Chalice' has none of those things.  Other than an impressive cast full of not quite yet stars and some hopefully unintentionally funny scenes, this one is a big stinker.

Twenty years after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, a Greek silversmith in Antioch by the name of Basil (Newman) is fighting for his freedom after his uncle throws him into slavery.  He is offered freedom by a man named Joseph of Arimathea (Walter Hampden) who presents a challenge for him as an artist.  Joseph owns the cup Jesus used during the Last Supper and wants to give it a proper resting place in the form of an immense chalice that will feature the faces of all those closest to Jesus, mainly the apostles.  Basil accepts the challenge and goes to work, but surrounding powers want to get their hands on the Holy Grail, including a revolutionary group led by Mijamin (Joseph Wiseman) and a magician named Simon (Jack Palance).

I'll start with the positives -- however few there were.  The cast is something to behold because many of the actors and actresses involved went on to much bigger and better things, Newman obviously at the top of that list.  There's also Italian beauty Pier Angeli, future Bonanza star Lorne Greene as Peter, a young Natalie Wood as a slave girl, E.G. Marshall as Basil's adopted father, Michael Pate as Angeli's worrying father, and Virginia Mayo as the key ingredient in the always interesting love triangle. Of course some of these parts are nothing more than a 'blink and you'll miss them' appearance, but with as 'involving' as the story is, it shouldn't be hard.

One of the selling points of these huge historical epics was the lavish sets, costumes and uses of thousands of extras.  'Chalice' basically passes on all three of those -- okay, the costumes are interesting.  The sets are absolutely ridiculous, and I'm guessing about $18 was spent putting them together.  It's very clear these are on soundstages with gigantic stage-like curtains in the background standing in for actual background.  At times, the sets look like Legos or Duplos assembled by toddlers.  They're so bad it becomes funny to see how cheesy they look.  Check out the backgrounds in THIS scene, the inside of a temple. It looks like they drew in 'the bricks' with a sharpie marker.

Newman later stated in interviews that he thought this was his worst ever performance.  I haven't seen all of them, but I'm inclined to agree.  He's miscast as a Greek to begin with, and he hasn't developed that on-screen persona, that charm that made him so likable in so many later movies.  The rest of the cast isn't exactly challenging for any Oscars either.  Mayo looks done up like some sort of drag queen with eyebrows that look like they'd stab someone.  Her sexy magician's assistant (seems right at home in a biblical movie) is torn between Basil and Simon, but she looks too ridiculous to even take too seriously.  As for the rest of the cast, Angeli has a sexy accent, and Wiseman is a creepy enough 2nd villain.

But more than all the cheap sets and sluggish dialogue, the one star really breathing some life into the movie is Jack Palance as Simon, a magician who believes he has the talent, the ability to convince the Christians he is more powerful than Christ.   He chews scenery like nobody's business, hamming it up with his monologues and magic tricks.  His Simon also provides one so unintentionally funny moment late in the movie that I almost felt bad for having laughed...almost being the key word.  It's the one true worthwhile part of this dud, but if curious, watch it at Youtube starting here with Part 1 of 15.

The Silver Chalice <----trailer (1954): * 1/2 /****