Raoul Walsh

[Robert Regan]

Thanks, Theresa, for a new perspective on an old favorite High Sierra, plus connecting it to the four other films.

Glad you mentioned John Huston, Goddess. Theresa's mention of his Fat City reminded me of how many of his films are about failure! They never find the Falcon. The gold is scattered all over the Sierra Madre. The African Queen does sink the Louisa, but it is by accident. There are many other examples, but these are some that stand out. An interesting preoccupation for a man who was so successful throughout his adult life.

[MissGoddess]

HI Robert,
And let us not forget my two favorite Huston movies: The Misfits and Night of the Iguana. I think men of that generation who made movies were very sympathetic to portrayals of characters on the edge of becoming obsolete. Men who would not fit into the new mold, or any mold because they were individualists. Or maybe it's because they all fancied themselves Irish outsiders.

This may be part of why I find their movies, and the men in them, so attractive (I was born obsolete!).

[Robert Regan]

Right, Goddess and Kingrat! I guess I identify because, in spite of my love for the great twentieth century art form, I am essentially a nineteenth century man. Bob

[JackFavell]

I love your comparison, Maven, with Ace in the Hole. Absolutely. It's such a canny precursor, that I'm amazed it didn't ever occur to me. That's why YOU are the MAVEN.

I also see the comparison to Fat City, strongly, and I realize now thanks to Goddess and Robert and kigrat that Huston really was about grand failure just as much as Walsh was. And yet, I think I would hate to have seen Huston direct this picture. He's so cynical and a bit hard, and Walsh is not.

Maven, your description of Earle's life spinning out like a top is just perfect, the events are so out of control and come so fast....

I too noticed the script for High Sierra this time, oh it's a beaut!

There are ironic spirals upon spirals and hundreds of foreshadowings in it - The jack rabbit barely escaping across the desert when the cars skid together (this is particularly interesting to me since Walsh lost an eye in a similar accident, this was not in the original script). The Circle Auto Court. Mac sitting with millions of dollars waiting to be cashed in, stone cold dead. The whole speech about Pard's being bad luck at the beginning. The fact that Mendoza lives but the other more trustworthy accomplices, Red and what's his name, die. The fact that Roy and Marie only fall in love as he is closest to his doom. The day that the money is supposed to come and Roy must go out in is the day his face appears in the papers. He and Marie are celebrating their freedom as the man outside is figuring it all out, the only moment of happiness is really just that, a moment.

There are so many lines I wish I could remember that almost hurt, they prefigure the ending so well, little throwaways I hadn't noticed before.

I saw a guy take a dive once. He made quite a splash.

or during the card game in the cabin:
"I'm sorry. For a moment my mind was not on the game."
"Dumb luck, plain dumb luck."
"Maybe if you didn't kick so much you'd do better."
"It's all in the cards."
"Let's finish out this hand."
"It's that dumb luck again. I can't beat it!"

Is Roy an emotional cripple?

Velma's operation makes her 'normal', but is 'normal' a good thing? Once you are on the inside of things, instead of outside, do you become calloused or cold?

Another thing I absolutely love about the film is Slim, the gunman, going up behind Roy on the mountain. He's another of those plain good Americans, like the fellow in Strangers on a Train who goes under the merry go round. Or the guy in Mr. Deeds who tries to kill Deeds because he is pulling stunts while others are starving. Little injections of reality they are. Slim is a quiet unassuming but strong man, of some ethnicity, with an unusual skill, who simply does the job without thought of himself. Yeah I can do it. It is something he has to figure out, how to get up there. No one has ever done it before. Kind of like the directors of Walsh's age, who paved the way for others in the film industry. Quietly doing a job of work without too much fuss.

[RedRiver]

ASPHALT JUNGLE is backstreet poetry. They don't get the money. They can't fence the jewels. One guy gets shot; another shoots himself. And all our poor hero wants is to go home! There are times I think this is the best of all crime dramas. Then I switch to something a little slicker and cuter, with snappy patter and stylish stars. But for hardcore, in your face, cops and robbers, this is the textbook. One critic accurately called it "the one all other heist films are derived from."

[Robert Regan]

You said it, RedRiver, Asphalt Jungle is the heist movie that they all try to top, but don't quite make it. Also, it's nice to see Marilyn Monroe before Fox turned her into a cartoon!

[CineMaven]

That was a great write-up, Theresa, one of my favorites by you. And if I may, I'd give a nod to John Huston who wrote the script, too.

Thank you April. ( And thank you for the link to OpenFlix on YouTube!!!!! A treasure trove of...treasure. )

Huston?! Now seeeee, I didn’t remember that! It all boils down to the script, doesn’t it. That’s the foundation film hangs from. That's why I'm also lovin' Preston Sturges. He writes these ideas...and then has the visual acumen to film them.

...on the edge of becoming obsolete.

That phrase makes me feel very sad.

I love your comparison, Maven, with Ace in the Hole. Absolutely. It's such a canny precursor, that I'm amazed it didn't ever occur to me. That's why YOU are the MAVEN.

Well...I'm something alright! Red River dubbed me Ravin' Maven. ( I burst out laughing behind that one Red, if you're reading this... )

I also see the comparison to Fat City, strongly, and I realize now thanks to Goddess and Robert and kigrat that Huston really was about grand failure just as much as Walsh was. And yet, I think I would hate to have seen Huston direct this picture. He's so cynical and a bit hard, and Walsh is not.

A great point the three of them made re: failure. I see it now once they listed their examples. And again, what I'd like to have at my fingertips is readily knowing the difference between how Walsh would show it, and how Huston would examine it. I liked how you laid out those ironic foreshadowing spirals in the film.

Is Roy an emotional cripple? Velma's operation makes her 'normal', but is 'normal' a good thing? Once you are on the inside of things, instead of outside, do you become calloused or cold?

Good question. Roy sure wanted a fresh start with a fresh kind of girl. Maybe that prison stretch stunted his growth. Velma had a nice little ribbon in her hair and looked like a fresh-scrubbed kid when she had the club foot. And then after...lipstick, powder 'n paint. And dancing with John Eldredge. ( Yeccch! )

Another thing I absolutely love about the film is Slim, the gunman, going up behind Roy on the mountain. He's another of those plain good Americans...Quietly doing a job of work without too much fuss.

A good reminder to pay attention to those deep subsidiary characters who add wonderful footnotes to things.

[JackFavell]

I don't know why my eye goes to those people on the fringes all the time. I'm a periphery kind of gal I guess. I think in both High Sierra and Strangers on a Train, the true hero of each film is the guy who just comes in and does his job, to protect the community. In Strangers on a Train, it's almost like they put that merry go round guy in there to point up Farley Granger's lack of heroic qualities. Granger is certainly not a particularly nice guy, he's a random victim, but his life is a mess, and he's not a perfect innocent. Which of course is where Bruno takes such advantage...Hitch is really saying to us, "Tie up your loose ends. Don't fake it, don't lie, stand up and do the right thing, and for goodness sakes, make sure your life is an open book."

[JackFavell]

Oh yeah, and as for the differences between Huston directing and Walsh, I probably cannot tell you what differences there would be in any constructive way. My thoughts on the subject are woefully inadequate, but sound like this:

Huston is minimal, Walsh is expansive.

Huston is extremely precise in the layout of his movies, his shots are almost clinically arranged. I can't, for some reason, ever catch Walsh directing... I think because his pacing is so tight, I become oblivious to his camera angles. His stories flow more organically for me than Huston's.

Both directors have a grand view, especially of failure - here is the meeting point of the two directors.

SPOILERS
Huston is cynical, but I don't think Walsh is. Walsh is still gonna believe at the end of his film that Roy is free. He 'crashed out'. At the end of Asphalt Jungle, Sterling Hayden's final wish falls just an inch too short of getting what he wants. He's missed it, along with everything else. Huston's made a comment on Hayden's life, actually man's life, which is basically you can't win, even by dying.

I almost think that Walsh's approach to Earle's 'crashing out' is the more moving, he let's US do the mourning, we may feel cynical about it all, but Marie's face is radiantly, profoundly relieved for Roy. He's free. Maybe Roy has actually 'won' by never letting anyone take him.

[Rita Hayworth]

Raoul Walsh

I read this entire thread ... and I will chip in my two cents in and be brief about it. I never, ever been a fan of him ... I know he is a great director but some of his movies (about 35-50 percent of them) ... I never, ever, got a handle of because when I do watch his movies I have a hard time following it because of his unique directorial style that he has.

Sorry, I read and re-read this thread and I just wanted to let you all know (honestly) that I have a difficult time relating to his work and I usually do not watch his films even its has my favorite actors and/or actresses in it.

[RedRiver]

I LOVE the old guy who crawls under the merry-go-round! Love that guy! When a "non-character" steps in to perform the function for which he, and not the hero, is trained, it adds a whole level of credibility to the story. Some of the great suspense novels feature unlikely heroes. Not always workers on duty. But a concerned neighbor, a friendly stranger, even a criminal with a conscience. Stephen King does this once or twice, to great effect.

Continuing the ****************SPOILER******************for ASPHALT JUNGLE.

Sterling Hayden's final wish falls just an inch too short of getting what he wants.

Does it? He wanted to get back to Boone County, KY. To the family farm. He made it. Just barely. But he made it. If he had the chance to do it over, I think he'd do the same thing. This theme is very close to me. I, also, returned to Kentucky after many years in the jungle of Chicago. It hasn't been all I hoped for. But at least, I'm home. To hooligans like me and Dix, that's what matters.

[JackFavell]

I thought he was outside the fence at the edge of the farm, Red, but I may be wrong.

I think there is a case to be made that the two directors were very much in synch with one another about life and man's hopes and failures. My take on the two may be skewed a bit, but I love both of them.

[MissGoddess]

Love your thoughts on both Walsh and Huston, Wendy, you always put things that are floating in my head down into coherent words. I believe what you say about Walsh and how he saw Roy's end.

Red, I just knew you were a hooligan.

[JackFavell]

Thanks MissG! I wasn't even sure I made sense in that post. My deep feelings for Walsh as a director make it hard for me to analyze him or compare him.