"Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me...aren't you?"
---Benjamin Braddock
The basic story that everyone remembers from The Graduate is as follows: a young college graduate named Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) is seduced by one of his parents' friends, an older woman he refers to only as Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft). Things get complicated when Benjamin falls for her daughter Elaine (Katharine Ross) who is unaware that her mother has a young lover. When Elaine finds out, the challenge is on for Benjamin to forsake Mrs. Robinson and win Elaine back. However, what is interesting about this particular premise is that Benjamin's love for Elaine seems superficial; therefore his motives are equally questionable.
Many films have been made about people falling in love, losing that love, and then doing everything they can to win it back. For Benjamin, his love for Elaine seems to be more of an obsession than a real love. They only have one date together before she finds out he is sleeping with her mom, and from there he becomes obsessed with this "love" he feels for her when she rejects him. He follows her around and daydreams of a love they could share if he could just win her back. For the first half of the film, Benjamin is a pretty passive character who really has no obvious emotions other than disgust with his parents and their nouveau riche lifestyle with their equally artificial friends. He is emotionally dead around Mrs. Robinson, letting her use him for sex and nothing else, not even simple conversation. The one time he shows anger towards her is when she suggests that he is not good enough for her daughter. Which brings the question: is Benjamin trying to get Elaine back simply to prove Mrs. Robinson wrong about what kind of character he is?
The most telling scene of this problematic love is the last one, where Elaine and Benjamin are on the bus together, looking unsure. They are looking unsure and anxious because they do not know what is next for them, or even what the other person is thinking, realizing they do not know each other very well. It is safe to say Benjamin does not have a plan for what to do with Elaine once he gets her away from that church. He told his parents he wanted to marry her, but how can he when he does not really know her or her wants. An uncertain Benjamin is a reflection of the uncertain times the film was made in and that is probably why so many people from the sixties generation relate to and uphold The Graduate to this day.
FUN FACT: Although Mrs. Robinson is supposed to be the same age as Benjamin's parents, Anne Bancroft was actually only 35 when she filmed this movie and Dustin Hoffman was 29!
FAVORITE QUOTE: "It's like I was playing some kind of game, but the rules don't make any sense to me. They're being made up by all the wrong people. I mean no one makes them up. They seem to make themselves up." ---Benjamin Braddock
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
#16 SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950)
"Great stars have great pride."
---Norma Desmond
There is an unconventional and creepy love triangle, actually a pentagon, in Sunset Boulevard that most viewers remember when they think back to the memorable moments of the film. The triangle concerns Joe Gillis (William Holden), a young, struggling screenwriter who stumbles upon the rundown mansion of forgotten silent screen star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) and becomes her companion, collaborator, and sometimes lover. As the story progresses, Joe tries to start up a romance with his best friend Artie (Jack Webb)'s fiancee Betty Schaefer (Nancy Olsen), much to the chagrin of Norman Desmond. To further complicate things, Norma's butler Max (Erich Von Stroheim) is so protective of his mistress almost to the point of obsession because of a secret, unrequited love.
Director Billy Wilder and screenwriter Charles Brackett created in Norma a character who is both creepy and unhinged though not an entirely unsympathetic character to the audience. Her house is covered in photographs of the star in her golden years and in artifacts from her glory days. She screens movies of herself only and talks about how her audience is patiently waiting for her return to the screen. Gloria Swanson's unique voice, inflection and physical gestures add richness to her character that dominates your memories of the film. Besides Norma's unwillingness to let Joe live his life outside of her house and her demands over his time, Gloria Swanson strikes poses and facial expressions to emphasize her speech and turns her hands almost into claws to give Norma a predator-like quality. Norma is the predator and Joe Gillis is her prey. In spite of all these unlikeable qualities, Wilder makes the audience feel for this character by showing what a delusional world she lives in: re-enacting scenes from her early work for Joe's supposed amusement, working on an epic-length script that will never see the light of day, and reuniting with real-life epic director Cecil B. DeMille who must humor Norma's attempts at a comeback while protecting her from the truth that her star has fallen.
Even though we can tell she is crazy, we can kind of see why Joe agrees to become her lover, out of pity and for personal financial gain. However, it is almost crueler what he does to her heart than if he had just stood against her advances. He falls in love with Betty, his best friend's girl, but does not let Norma know until almost the end that he never loved her. This ultimately sends Norma off the deep end but we can understand why. Here was this young, attractive man who took interest in an aging star, who let her shower him with gifts and luxury and adoration, and who pretended to care for her when few other people even remembered her. Though we do not condone Norma's actions against Joe, if you have been jilted by a lover you can relate to Norma's passionate anger. The twist ending, the wonderful acting by everyone, and the complex and engaging storyline make Sunset Boulevard one of the best movies about what happens to big stars when they unwillingly go away.
FUN FACT: The film Norma Desmond and Joe Gillis are watching in her house is a real film called Queen Kelly starring Gloria Swanson and was directed by the man who plays her butler, Erich Von Stroheim! Queen Kelly actually ruined Swanson's career as well as director Von Stroheim's, but they had patched things up by the time they filmed Sunset Boulevard.
FAVORITE QUOTE: "No one ever leaves a star. That's what makes one a star." ---Norma Desmond
---Norma Desmond
There is an unconventional and creepy love triangle, actually a pentagon, in Sunset Boulevard that most viewers remember when they think back to the memorable moments of the film. The triangle concerns Joe Gillis (William Holden), a young, struggling screenwriter who stumbles upon the rundown mansion of forgotten silent screen star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) and becomes her companion, collaborator, and sometimes lover. As the story progresses, Joe tries to start up a romance with his best friend Artie (Jack Webb)'s fiancee Betty Schaefer (Nancy Olsen), much to the chagrin of Norman Desmond. To further complicate things, Norma's butler Max (Erich Von Stroheim) is so protective of his mistress almost to the point of obsession because of a secret, unrequited love.
Director Billy Wilder and screenwriter Charles Brackett created in Norma a character who is both creepy and unhinged though not an entirely unsympathetic character to the audience. Her house is covered in photographs of the star in her golden years and in artifacts from her glory days. She screens movies of herself only and talks about how her audience is patiently waiting for her return to the screen. Gloria Swanson's unique voice, inflection and physical gestures add richness to her character that dominates your memories of the film. Besides Norma's unwillingness to let Joe live his life outside of her house and her demands over his time, Gloria Swanson strikes poses and facial expressions to emphasize her speech and turns her hands almost into claws to give Norma a predator-like quality. Norma is the predator and Joe Gillis is her prey. In spite of all these unlikeable qualities, Wilder makes the audience feel for this character by showing what a delusional world she lives in: re-enacting scenes from her early work for Joe's supposed amusement, working on an epic-length script that will never see the light of day, and reuniting with real-life epic director Cecil B. DeMille who must humor Norma's attempts at a comeback while protecting her from the truth that her star has fallen.
Even though we can tell she is crazy, we can kind of see why Joe agrees to become her lover, out of pity and for personal financial gain. However, it is almost crueler what he does to her heart than if he had just stood against her advances. He falls in love with Betty, his best friend's girl, but does not let Norma know until almost the end that he never loved her. This ultimately sends Norma off the deep end but we can understand why. Here was this young, attractive man who took interest in an aging star, who let her shower him with gifts and luxury and adoration, and who pretended to care for her when few other people even remembered her. Though we do not condone Norma's actions against Joe, if you have been jilted by a lover you can relate to Norma's passionate anger. The twist ending, the wonderful acting by everyone, and the complex and engaging storyline make Sunset Boulevard one of the best movies about what happens to big stars when they unwillingly go away.
FUN FACT: The film Norma Desmond and Joe Gillis are watching in her house is a real film called Queen Kelly starring Gloria Swanson and was directed by the man who plays her butler, Erich Von Stroheim! Queen Kelly actually ruined Swanson's career as well as director Von Stroheim's, but they had patched things up by the time they filmed Sunset Boulevard.
FAVORITE QUOTE: "No one ever leaves a star. That's what makes one a star." ---Norma Desmond
Thursday, October 28, 2010
#15 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)
"This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it."
---HAL 9000
The one thing that most people remember after watching Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey is how sinister the computer HAL 9000 is. For those who are paranoid about the eventual robot takeover the world may see centuries from now, this part of the film is the prime example of how man-made computers will take control and destroy their makers. HAL sees it as his programmed duty to stop astronauts Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea) and Frank Poole (Gary Lockwood) from devastating their Jupiter mission. This fight with HAL is only a section of the film: the majority of it is about man's evolution and space travel with the aid of an alien artifact known as the monolith. However this is the most famous and most talked about storyline from the movies and thus will be focused on here.
In the later part of the film, we are introduced to the astronauts on the secretive Jupiter missions, Dr. Dave Bowman and Dr. Frank Poole, and their computer companion and guide HAL 9000. HAL boasts to being a computer system with the inability to fail its missions. As a result, the astronauts put full trust in HAL's reports until something goes inexplicably wrong with one of their vessels. When this happens, Dave and Frank begin to doubt HAL and consider the idea that he is trying to eliminate the astronauts from the mission. The final confirmation of this idea comes when HAL releases Frank into space without oxygen or any way of getting back to the spaceship.
There isn't any love story in this movie, there isn't even a friendship, but we still feel an emotion akin to compassion when astronaut Dave must destroy HAL 9000. As HAL's main computer board is slowly disconnected, he tries to reach out to Dave to try and stop him from destroying him. He pleads to Dave, apologizes for his actions, and then slowly loses his memory and re-enacts his introduction to the scientists at the beginning of his life. The final pull at the audience is when HAL starts singing "Daisy", a sweet song he must have learned early in his computer life. As he slows down his speech, it is like a human dying and reliving their past right before their final breathe. There is not much compassion in 2001 because we do not get a sense of the characters as people with real emotions (Dave and Frank were hired for this mission because of their complete lack of emotion even in stressful or unusual circumstances). Strangely enough, the one character we feel sympathy towards, almost to a point where we can relate, is for a computer robot.
FUN FACT: The video screens inside of the spaceship's control panel are actually projection screens with an image projected from behind the astronauts!
FAVORITE QUOTE: "I know I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal." ---HAL 9000
---HAL 9000
The one thing that most people remember after watching Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey is how sinister the computer HAL 9000 is. For those who are paranoid about the eventual robot takeover the world may see centuries from now, this part of the film is the prime example of how man-made computers will take control and destroy their makers. HAL sees it as his programmed duty to stop astronauts Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea) and Frank Poole (Gary Lockwood) from devastating their Jupiter mission. This fight with HAL is only a section of the film: the majority of it is about man's evolution and space travel with the aid of an alien artifact known as the monolith. However this is the most famous and most talked about storyline from the movies and thus will be focused on here.
In the later part of the film, we are introduced to the astronauts on the secretive Jupiter missions, Dr. Dave Bowman and Dr. Frank Poole, and their computer companion and guide HAL 9000. HAL boasts to being a computer system with the inability to fail its missions. As a result, the astronauts put full trust in HAL's reports until something goes inexplicably wrong with one of their vessels. When this happens, Dave and Frank begin to doubt HAL and consider the idea that he is trying to eliminate the astronauts from the mission. The final confirmation of this idea comes when HAL releases Frank into space without oxygen or any way of getting back to the spaceship.
There isn't any love story in this movie, there isn't even a friendship, but we still feel an emotion akin to compassion when astronaut Dave must destroy HAL 9000. As HAL's main computer board is slowly disconnected, he tries to reach out to Dave to try and stop him from destroying him. He pleads to Dave, apologizes for his actions, and then slowly loses his memory and re-enacts his introduction to the scientists at the beginning of his life. The final pull at the audience is when HAL starts singing "Daisy", a sweet song he must have learned early in his computer life. As he slows down his speech, it is like a human dying and reliving their past right before their final breathe. There is not much compassion in 2001 because we do not get a sense of the characters as people with real emotions (Dave and Frank were hired for this mission because of their complete lack of emotion even in stressful or unusual circumstances). Strangely enough, the one character we feel sympathy towards, almost to a point where we can relate, is for a computer robot.
FUN FACT: The video screens inside of the spaceship's control panel are actually projection screens with an image projected from behind the astronauts!
FAVORITE QUOTE: "I know I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal." ---HAL 9000
Friday, October 22, 2010
#14 PSYCHO (1960)
"A son is a poor substitute for a lover."
---Norman Bates
Alfred Hitchcock's most famous and most seen work is Psycho, named the most thrilling movie according to AFI. Though it was made cheaply with his television crew backing him, this film is the most shocking and the most memorable in Hitchcock's canon. Despite a horrible color remake in the nineties, audience members who see it now are still deeply affected by the disturbing story he presents. The film was ground-breaking for its cinematography (especially during the shower scene) and its controversial portrayal of sex, violence and the mentally insane.
The most shocking scene in Psycho is the shower scene, and most of its shock-value is created by the audience members themselves. Although Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) is naked and bathing herself when she is murdered, we do not see any of her private parts, nor do we actually see any flesh torn or any blood coming from any part of her body. Hitchcock created this famous scene by setting up over 45 camera angles and editing all the footage together to give the illusion of a violent and graphic murder scene. This illusion was so well crafted that many critics and moviegoers at the time were outraged at how disturbing the film was. Besides the shower scene, the portrayal of extramarital affairs and sex is handled in a way that was unconventional for movies at that time. Marion has a secret, admittedly mostly sexual, relationship with her boyfriend Sam Loomis (John Gavin). The first scene in Psycho is the two of them in their underclothes on a motel bed. In later scenes we see Marion dressing and undressing in her bra and panties. We watch as Norman removes a portrait from the office wall so he can discreetly watch Marion undress in her motel room.
The relationship between Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) and his mother is the most disturbing relationship between a mother and son ever shown in the movies up to that point. Solely raised by his mother for most of his life, Norman was almost unnaturally in love with her. So much so, that he would go to any lengths to protect that love. It would be tragic to reveal the twist in the movie to someone who has not seen it (or has not been told it) before, so I will not say what exact lengths he takes. Norman admits that he feels trapped by his circumstances and we initially believe he means he is trapped taking care of his supposedly invalid mother. What we soon learn is that his trap is one created by his own madness, a sick secret he carries. Norman speaks of his mother's illness, but we will find out it is Norman's illness that is the real meaning behind the film's title. Maybe Norman cannot help the way he feels, the way he acts, and maybe he really is suffering with something he cannot possibly control. Regardless, that is not an excuse for the terrible actions he takes throughout the movie. All of this makes Psycho a richly complex and engrossing film that is still one of the best thrillers ever made.
FUN FACT: When Psycho was first released in theaters, Alfred Hitchcock insisted that no one be allowed in after the film started! He even had policemen and theater managers stand outside each screening and turn away people who arrived late. This encouraged the start of lines forming before screenings. Also, Hitchcock makes his cameo about six and a half minutes into the film, standing outside Marion Crane's workplace, wearing a cowboy hat.
FAVORITE QUOTE: "It's not as if she were a...a maniac, a raving thing. She...she just goes a little mad sometimes. We all go a little mad sometimes. Haven't you?"
---Norman Bates, Psycho
---Norman Bates
Alfred Hitchcock's most famous and most seen work is Psycho, named the most thrilling movie according to AFI. Though it was made cheaply with his television crew backing him, this film is the most shocking and the most memorable in Hitchcock's canon. Despite a horrible color remake in the nineties, audience members who see it now are still deeply affected by the disturbing story he presents. The film was ground-breaking for its cinematography (especially during the shower scene) and its controversial portrayal of sex, violence and the mentally insane.
The most shocking scene in Psycho is the shower scene, and most of its shock-value is created by the audience members themselves. Although Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) is naked and bathing herself when she is murdered, we do not see any of her private parts, nor do we actually see any flesh torn or any blood coming from any part of her body. Hitchcock created this famous scene by setting up over 45 camera angles and editing all the footage together to give the illusion of a violent and graphic murder scene. This illusion was so well crafted that many critics and moviegoers at the time were outraged at how disturbing the film was. Besides the shower scene, the portrayal of extramarital affairs and sex is handled in a way that was unconventional for movies at that time. Marion has a secret, admittedly mostly sexual, relationship with her boyfriend Sam Loomis (John Gavin). The first scene in Psycho is the two of them in their underclothes on a motel bed. In later scenes we see Marion dressing and undressing in her bra and panties. We watch as Norman removes a portrait from the office wall so he can discreetly watch Marion undress in her motel room.
The relationship between Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) and his mother is the most disturbing relationship between a mother and son ever shown in the movies up to that point. Solely raised by his mother for most of his life, Norman was almost unnaturally in love with her. So much so, that he would go to any lengths to protect that love. It would be tragic to reveal the twist in the movie to someone who has not seen it (or has not been told it) before, so I will not say what exact lengths he takes. Norman admits that he feels trapped by his circumstances and we initially believe he means he is trapped taking care of his supposedly invalid mother. What we soon learn is that his trap is one created by his own madness, a sick secret he carries. Norman speaks of his mother's illness, but we will find out it is Norman's illness that is the real meaning behind the film's title. Maybe Norman cannot help the way he feels, the way he acts, and maybe he really is suffering with something he cannot possibly control. Regardless, that is not an excuse for the terrible actions he takes throughout the movie. All of this makes Psycho a richly complex and engrossing film that is still one of the best thrillers ever made.
FUN FACT: When Psycho was first released in theaters, Alfred Hitchcock insisted that no one be allowed in after the film started! He even had policemen and theater managers stand outside each screening and turn away people who arrived late. This encouraged the start of lines forming before screenings. Also, Hitchcock makes his cameo about six and a half minutes into the film, standing outside Marion Crane's workplace, wearing a cowboy hat.
FAVORITE QUOTE: "It's not as if she were a...a maniac, a raving thing. She...she just goes a little mad sometimes. We all go a little mad sometimes. Haven't you?"
---Norman Bates, Psycho
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
#13 STAR WARS (1977)
"I find your lack of faith disturbing."
---Darth Vader
Like potato chips, it is hard to watch just one of George Lucas' Star Wars movies. To review the first Star Wars movie, I watched all six Episodes in sequential order. Consequently, it is difficult to see the first one, also known as Star Wars: Episode 4 A New Hope, as its own separate film for review. Nevertheless, this first one, considered worthy of being in the top 20 best movies ever made, is an amazing film on its own for its breakthroughs and innovations in technology and special effects.
The first Star Wars movies centers on Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and his initiation into the war between the evil Empire and the Rebel leaders who are fighting on the side of good. He is brought into this world by Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness), known to Luke as hermit Ben Kenobi, and is thrust into a search for Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), a Rebel leader who holds the key needed to destroy the Empire's evil reign. Luke's companions and fellow Rebels are Han Solo (Harrison Ford), C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker); his ultimate adversary is Darth Vader (acted by David Prowse and voiced by James Earl Jones). All of these characters add to the richness of the story and interest the audience maintains throughout the complex sags. The real star of this film is the special effects, which keep the audience fascinated even when they lose sight of the characters' motivations in the story.
While Episodes I-III are known for the romance between Padme (Natalie Portman) and Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christiansen), there is just a small romance between Han Solo and Princess Leia in the later Episodes. This romance is only a flirtation in the original Star Wars, so the real love story is about one's love for their people and their homeland. Luke joins the fight with the Rebel Alliance because he wants to be on the side of good, the side the aunt and uncle who raised him would have wanted him to be on. He is fighting on behalf of his homeland and so is Princess Leia, who seeks to avenge her destroyed home planet. The whole Star Wars saga returns to this theme of duty and honor and the fight for good. It is the journey through this fight that makes Star Wars on the best series of movies ever made.
FUN FACT: The giant Banthas on the planet Tatooine are actually elephants covered in fake hair and tusks! George Lucas has said that it would have been to costly and time-consuming to create real Banthas with clay animation, as some of the other creatures are in the film.
FAVORITE QUOTE: "We're fine. We're all fine here now, thank you. How are you?"
---Han Solo, Star Wars
---Darth Vader
Like potato chips, it is hard to watch just one of George Lucas' Star Wars movies. To review the first Star Wars movie, I watched all six Episodes in sequential order. Consequently, it is difficult to see the first one, also known as Star Wars: Episode 4 A New Hope, as its own separate film for review. Nevertheless, this first one, considered worthy of being in the top 20 best movies ever made, is an amazing film on its own for its breakthroughs and innovations in technology and special effects.
The first Star Wars movies centers on Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and his initiation into the war between the evil Empire and the Rebel leaders who are fighting on the side of good. He is brought into this world by Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness), known to Luke as hermit Ben Kenobi, and is thrust into a search for Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), a Rebel leader who holds the key needed to destroy the Empire's evil reign. Luke's companions and fellow Rebels are Han Solo (Harrison Ford), C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker); his ultimate adversary is Darth Vader (acted by David Prowse and voiced by James Earl Jones). All of these characters add to the richness of the story and interest the audience maintains throughout the complex sags. The real star of this film is the special effects, which keep the audience fascinated even when they lose sight of the characters' motivations in the story.
While Episodes I-III are known for the romance between Padme (Natalie Portman) and Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christiansen), there is just a small romance between Han Solo and Princess Leia in the later Episodes. This romance is only a flirtation in the original Star Wars, so the real love story is about one's love for their people and their homeland. Luke joins the fight with the Rebel Alliance because he wants to be on the side of good, the side the aunt and uncle who raised him would have wanted him to be on. He is fighting on behalf of his homeland and so is Princess Leia, who seeks to avenge her destroyed home planet. The whole Star Wars saga returns to this theme of duty and honor and the fight for good. It is the journey through this fight that makes Star Wars on the best series of movies ever made.
FUN FACT: The giant Banthas on the planet Tatooine are actually elephants covered in fake hair and tusks! George Lucas has said that it would have been to costly and time-consuming to create real Banthas with clay animation, as some of the other creatures are in the film.
FAVORITE QUOTE: "We're fine. We're all fine here now, thank you. How are you?"
---Han Solo, Star Wars
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
#12 THE SEARCHERS (1956)
"That'll be the day!"
---Ethan Edwards
Most people know John Wayne as the major star of westerns. Some people know that director John Ford was known for directing westerns. And some even know that John Wayne starred in many of the westerns John Ford directed. What people may not know is that, although they made numerous films together, The Searchers is arguably their finest work together due to the film's controversial and uncharacteristic portrayal of John Wayne as an unsympathetic character who would kill his own flesh and blood because of his beliefs. The Searchers story revolves around the search for the kidnapped niece of Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) after a tribe of Comanche Indians attacks and murders his brother, his brother's wife, and two of their children. The only survivor of this massacre is Ethan's nine-year-old niece Debbie (Natalie Wood), and the rush is on to save her before she becomes a young woman and is taken as the wife of Comanche chief Scar (Henry Brandon). What is disturbing about Ethan's character is that he will forsake his niece if he finds that she has become brainwashed by the Comanche and has had her purity taken away by Scar. To Ethan, she is as good as dead to him once this happens.
Ethan's feelings are not shared by his only fellow searcher, Martin Pawley (Jeffrey Hunter), a young man who was taken in as a baby and raised by Debbie's family when his family was murdered by the Comanche. Martin believes that they must rescue Debbie no matter what because she is family, even if she is not his actual blood family. Like Ethan, Martin's girlfriend Laurie (Vera Miles) thinks that the search for Debbie is useless if she has been ruined by the Comanche. The only love story in this movie is between Laurie and Martin, though he does not realize how much he loves her until she is about to marry postal carrier Charlie McCorry (Ken Curtis). Laurie, on the other hand, has loved Martin since she was three years old and is hurt that he does not openly acknowledge his love for her, until he has to engage in a fistfight with Charlie for Laurie's love (this she enjoys watching). This love story is mostly comedic and provides light-heartedness to the otherwise dramatic and draining search for the missing Debbie.
The real tear-jerker does not happen until the end when Ethan realizes what Martin has been telling him all along: Debbie is family no matter what. This realization is what makes this film memorable and one of the best westerns ever made. Family is important no matter what its members go through. We cannot turn our backs on someone in our family just because they are suffering or are leading lives that we do not approve of. It is our duty to love them no matter what and to support them if they are dealing with difficulties we cannot understand. That is what The Searchers is really all about.
FUN FACT: John Wayne's son Patrick has a small role in the film as a young soldier, and Natalie Wood's real-life sister Lana plays the younger version of her Debbie character!
FAVORITE QUOTE: "What do you want me to do? Draw you a picture? Spell it out? Don't ever ask me! Long as you live, don't ever ask me more."
---Ethan Edwards, The Searchers
---Ethan Edwards
Most people know John Wayne as the major star of westerns. Some people know that director John Ford was known for directing westerns. And some even know that John Wayne starred in many of the westerns John Ford directed. What people may not know is that, although they made numerous films together, The Searchers is arguably their finest work together due to the film's controversial and uncharacteristic portrayal of John Wayne as an unsympathetic character who would kill his own flesh and blood because of his beliefs. The Searchers story revolves around the search for the kidnapped niece of Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) after a tribe of Comanche Indians attacks and murders his brother, his brother's wife, and two of their children. The only survivor of this massacre is Ethan's nine-year-old niece Debbie (Natalie Wood), and the rush is on to save her before she becomes a young woman and is taken as the wife of Comanche chief Scar (Henry Brandon). What is disturbing about Ethan's character is that he will forsake his niece if he finds that she has become brainwashed by the Comanche and has had her purity taken away by Scar. To Ethan, she is as good as dead to him once this happens.
Ethan's feelings are not shared by his only fellow searcher, Martin Pawley (Jeffrey Hunter), a young man who was taken in as a baby and raised by Debbie's family when his family was murdered by the Comanche. Martin believes that they must rescue Debbie no matter what because she is family, even if she is not his actual blood family. Like Ethan, Martin's girlfriend Laurie (Vera Miles) thinks that the search for Debbie is useless if she has been ruined by the Comanche. The only love story in this movie is between Laurie and Martin, though he does not realize how much he loves her until she is about to marry postal carrier Charlie McCorry (Ken Curtis). Laurie, on the other hand, has loved Martin since she was three years old and is hurt that he does not openly acknowledge his love for her, until he has to engage in a fistfight with Charlie for Laurie's love (this she enjoys watching). This love story is mostly comedic and provides light-heartedness to the otherwise dramatic and draining search for the missing Debbie.
The real tear-jerker does not happen until the end when Ethan realizes what Martin has been telling him all along: Debbie is family no matter what. This realization is what makes this film memorable and one of the best westerns ever made. Family is important no matter what its members go through. We cannot turn our backs on someone in our family just because they are suffering or are leading lives that we do not approve of. It is our duty to love them no matter what and to support them if they are dealing with difficulties we cannot understand. That is what The Searchers is really all about.
FUN FACT: John Wayne's son Patrick has a small role in the film as a young soldier, and Natalie Wood's real-life sister Lana plays the younger version of her Debbie character!
FAVORITE QUOTE: "What do you want me to do? Draw you a picture? Spell it out? Don't ever ask me! Long as you live, don't ever ask me more."
---Ethan Edwards, The Searchers
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
#11 CITY LIGHTS (1931)
"Yes, I can see now."
---Blind Girl
City Lights is one of Charlie Chaplin's greatest film achievements, which is saying a lot because all of his films are wonderful. This one is recognized as being one of his best as a result of his careful planning and attention to the build up of the romance in the story, not just his trademark comedy. City Lights is about Chaplin's famous character The Tramp falling in love with a blind girl who sells flowers. The Tramp feels for her malady and relates to her poverty so he sets out to earn money for her to get a surgery that will restore her sight. The heart-breaking part of the story comes when he gives her the money and then disappears from her life for fear that she will not accept the fact that he is a poor and silly-looking little man. The infamous yet ambiguous final scene of the movie leaves the audience still questioning the status of The Tramp and the Blind Girl's romantic friendship.
The Little Tramp undoubtedly loves and unconditionally cares for the Blind Girl (Virginia Cherrill), and the audience is constantly cheering for his efforts on her behalf. From picking up the excrement of horses and elephants, to entering an amateur boxing match, The Tramp tries everything he can to raise money for the girl's surgery. What is especially heart-warming about his actions is that he obviously does not have a normal job and just does what little he has to do to get by, including befriending a drunk, eccentric millionaire (Harry Myers). So for him to actually seek a job is indicative of his sympathetic character.
The dedication that The Tramp has for the poor girl is also what makes the climax so sad: he has done everything for her but he must hide himself so she will not see the real person he is. It is sad that he feels so inadequate that he will not even let her thank him in person for restoring her sight. City Lights has one of the best endings ever in the romantic-comedy genre. Their ultimate meeting at the end is built up in such a fantastic way that the audience actually feels nervous for him because we really are not sure what her reaction will be when she finally sees him. And the unresolved ending leaves us thinking about what would happen next in our own versions of the story. Charlie Chaplin did amazing things in the silent era of movie-making, and City Lights is just one example of how he magnificently made perfect blends of drama, emotion, and comedy.
FUN FACT: Charlie Chaplin shot the scene where The Tramp first meets the Blind Girl over 300 times! He had trouble figuring out how to make the blind flower seller mistake The Tramp for a wealthy man.
FAVORITE QUOTE: "Tomorrow the birds will sing."
---The Tramp, City Lights
---Blind Girl
City Lights is one of Charlie Chaplin's greatest film achievements, which is saying a lot because all of his films are wonderful. This one is recognized as being one of his best as a result of his careful planning and attention to the build up of the romance in the story, not just his trademark comedy. City Lights is about Chaplin's famous character The Tramp falling in love with a blind girl who sells flowers. The Tramp feels for her malady and relates to her poverty so he sets out to earn money for her to get a surgery that will restore her sight. The heart-breaking part of the story comes when he gives her the money and then disappears from her life for fear that she will not accept the fact that he is a poor and silly-looking little man. The infamous yet ambiguous final scene of the movie leaves the audience still questioning the status of The Tramp and the Blind Girl's romantic friendship.
The Little Tramp undoubtedly loves and unconditionally cares for the Blind Girl (Virginia Cherrill), and the audience is constantly cheering for his efforts on her behalf. From picking up the excrement of horses and elephants, to entering an amateur boxing match, The Tramp tries everything he can to raise money for the girl's surgery. What is especially heart-warming about his actions is that he obviously does not have a normal job and just does what little he has to do to get by, including befriending a drunk, eccentric millionaire (Harry Myers). So for him to actually seek a job is indicative of his sympathetic character.
The dedication that The Tramp has for the poor girl is also what makes the climax so sad: he has done everything for her but he must hide himself so she will not see the real person he is. It is sad that he feels so inadequate that he will not even let her thank him in person for restoring her sight. City Lights has one of the best endings ever in the romantic-comedy genre. Their ultimate meeting at the end is built up in such a fantastic way that the audience actually feels nervous for him because we really are not sure what her reaction will be when she finally sees him. And the unresolved ending leaves us thinking about what would happen next in our own versions of the story. Charlie Chaplin did amazing things in the silent era of movie-making, and City Lights is just one example of how he magnificently made perfect blends of drama, emotion, and comedy.
FUN FACT: Charlie Chaplin shot the scene where The Tramp first meets the Blind Girl over 300 times! He had trouble figuring out how to make the blind flower seller mistake The Tramp for a wealthy man.
FAVORITE QUOTE: "Tomorrow the birds will sing."
---The Tramp, City Lights
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