Christy, I'm so glad you wrote about last night's showings. If you hadn't, I would have. The last two celebrity programmers have been just great....Ellen Barkin and Spike Lee were both excellent at choosing films.
I am always amazed at how celebrities, directors, even the most high and mighty movies stars start to gush when talking about classic film, or when they meet Robert Osborne.
I think Spike was actually overwhelmed. It surprised me.
Lee is one of my favorite directors, and he obviously cut his teeth on classic film. Even before last night, it was obvious to me that he knew classic film, just from the camera angles he chooses, and his grasp of how to tell a story. I love his style, very visual, very thoughtful though, leaving the audience to make up their own minds about what they just saw without any directorial comment. He's a rather literary director, even when dealing with a heat wave in
Do the Right Thing, or how women see life, men and the whole damn thing in
She's Gotta Have It, or when making a biopic, like
Malcolm X. Now that he has the skills to make really great movies, it's hard for him to find a backer. For Shame, Hollywood!
My favorite moment was when he excitedly pulled out his framed lobby card - and proudly pointed out the signatures of Billy Wilder and Kirk Douglas on it. He talked about his getting to meeting them. It was a real fan moment.
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ACE IN THE HOLE SPOILERS ***************************************************************
We're coming, we're coming Leo/Oh Leo don't despair/While you are in the cave-in hopin'/We are up above you gropin'/And we soon will make an openin' Leo./We're closer, we're closer Leo/And soon you'll breathe fresh air/While you are in the devil's prison/Keep the spark of life a fizzin'/We'll soon have you out of prison, Leo./Oh Leo, Leo, Leo, Leo.
Watching
Ace in the Hole again, I was struck this time at how Biblical it all was. Did you notice?
Kirk Douglas/Chuck Tatum starts out as the snake in the Garden of Eden, or maybe it's Satan cast out of Heaven and down into the nether regions.
Jan Sterling's Mrs Minoza is Eve. In fact there is a beautiful shot of her opening her mouth wide to take a bite of apple that serves as a coda to the scene where she and Kirk/Chuck meet.
There is literally nothing there when Chuck and his young photographer arrive at the aptly named
Mountain of the Seven Vultures. Only underneath the mountain is the invisible Adam who will make Chuck famous. He's about to be swarmed by ants.
Chuck makes his way deeper and deeper into the cave, literally entering the rings of hell. He finally crawls through that little skinny passageway, and who does he come face to face with? Himself. Not Minoza, really. The devil,
himself. All of
Billy Wilder's work seems to deal with just such a scenario. A heel who must finally confront his own faults. Really, it's a theme I never noticed before but plays out over and over again in Wilder's films -
Sunset Boulevard, Love in the Afternoon, Some Like it Hot, the Fortune Cookie, The Apartment, Hold Back the Dawn, even way back in the script for
Ninotchka. Wilder's anti-heroes have a deep self hatred, and eventually must see themselves for what they are, deep down. How their actions hurt, no matter how ingrained or ingratiating. Those deep seated faults (some would say they are just man's essential nature) must be brought to the forefront in order to be exorcised forever, through love or sometimes through death. It's the Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde story, but told from the point of view of Mr. Hyde, as he turns back to Jekyll for one last soul searching time.
How many times does it take, confronting the ugly, the unpleasant, the downright evil, until you become that way too? Chuck's been doing this job for so long, he doesn't even care anymore, like Robert Ryan in
On Dangerous Ground. Which came first, Chuck being a b******, or his buddies in the newspaper business being jerks? It's hard to tell, the viciousness with which they retaliate at the end leads me to believe that this is a parable of big business. "It's how we do things". The way of the world.
Mad Men couldn't get any more corrupt or cynical. To be the best is to be the worst. A VERY modern theme. I mean, not only does Chuck Tatum lie, cheat and maneuver his way into a bigger and better story, killing an innocent man along the way, he also corrupts a young person, teaching him to be a 'man', like all the other schmucks we see - Chuck's 'buddies" at the newspapers he's worked at. The sheriff, too filled with his own ego, and thrilled with the idea of jacking himself up into a political position to help 'poor' Leo. The weak engineer, who backs down from doing the right thing when he expresses his opinion that all the cave needs is shoring up. Why? Because he doesn't want to lose the work. Mrs. Minoza, who wants enough money to leave town, skip out on her husband. Or Mr. Federber, eager to have his kids 'educated' by this slice of life, but really just a gawker who wants his share of death and the limelight because he was the first on the scene. The only folks who care what happens to 'poor Leo' are strangely silent. They don't 'speak the language'.
The kid reporter, well played by
Bob Arthur, wants to be just like Chuck, and at first this stokes Chuck's ego. A mini Chuck, to carry on the tradition. Or maybe he really thinks he's doing the kid a favor... Thank goodness he sees the error of his ways, before it's too late. For the young kid, that is. One wonders, will Herbie the photographer learn anything at all from this exercise in horror? Or are the seeds of competitiveness now planted deep within him, slumbering until it's his turn at the show? We'll never know. Wilder leaves the question hanging.... and rightly so.
I couldn't help but notice the name of the carnival company on the side of the trucks as they passed through the gates of the little desert trading post and trinket shop -
The S&M Carnival Corporation.
Porter Hall is simply magnificent as the boring but un-corruptible Jacob Q. Boot. The more I watch this movie, the greater his performance becomes as the good angel perched on man's shoulder. In every shot, Hall is flanked by crosses, by symbols of goodness - the cross-stitch on the wall in the newspaper office - "Tell the truth." looming behind him.
Hall's perfect inflection for dry wit is evidenced in several exchanges at the beginning of the film. Hall tosses these off with such perfection, one cant help but notice the luscious epigrams and their hidden meanings:
Chuck Tatum: Now, then I find myself in Albuquerque with no money, a burnt-out bearing, bad tires and a lousy reputation.
Jacob Q. Boot: Bad tires can be dangerous.
Chuck Tatum: Mr. Boot, I was passing through Albuquerque; had breakfast here. I read your paper and thought you might be interested in my reaction.
Jacob Q. Boot: Indeed I am.
Chuck Tatum: Well, to be honest, it made me throw up. I don't mean to tell you I was expecting the New York Times, but even for Albuquerque, this is pretty Albuquerque.
Jacob Q. Boot: Alright, here's your nickel back.
Porter Hall is simply one of the best character actors we ever had, and his way with a line belies the depth Hall gives to Boot. When Chuck comes 'home' to the office, at the end, stabbed fatally in the stomach after trying to kill Mrs. Minoza (if ever a dame deserved it, she does), Boot calmly accepts Chuck back into the fold, the prodigal son has returned. There are no recriminations, no hysterics. Hall has obviously, from the lines quoted above, seen it all - he's seen as much as Tatum, so why is he not cynical or competitive or out for himself? I picture Boot as an older, wiser Tatum, just as Herbie is the younger Tatum. A Tatum who has learned about human nature the hard way. A MAN, one who will tell the truth, no matter the cost to himself. He is cautious yes? But why? Has he seen first hand what Tatum and his 'buddies' have done to the world? I think so. Ad he either opted out, or no one at a big city paper would have him - he made them too uncomfortable.
Oh and yes, Mr. Boot wears a belt and suspenders... anyone notice that when Tatum comes back to his room after being stabbed, he takes off his suspenders and throws them away? Another brilliant touch by Wilder. Throwing caution to the wind.
This is the first time I really watched
Richard Benedict. Who you say? He's simply transcendent in his role as
Leo Minoza. His combination of fear, sweetness, foolish (or is it) superstition and dumb good humor captivated me this time. Watch him next time you see the movie. The guy deserved an academy award for his portrayal. If you could just get past one of Kirk Douglas' finest performances.
