1942--The Year in Review

This is a VERY complicated year. Even after the previous drubbing of Citizen Kane by the Hollywood community, Orson Welles still had it in him to contribute another stunning masterpiece to cinema with his adaptation of Booth Tarkington's acclaimed novel The Magnificent Ambersons. However, when it came time to show the movie to the public, it was vengefully relegated to being a second feature trailing criminally lesser movies. Still, it got a Best Picture nomination, even though it was severely hampered by its studio RKO, who demanded (because of its downbeat ending and also as a blowback from the negative publicity following Citizen Kane) that its final minutes be reshot and re-edited by some now barely-remembered schlubs (so, when you see the movie, be aware the final abrupt and subpar scenes were NOT the work of Welles). For that outcome, its editor--later the diversely talented director Robert Wise, who actually was the last to see Orson Welles's now presumably destroyed finale--is often seen as an unwitting cinema villain (even though he was doing as he was told by the studio, surely he went to the grave with due regrets, as he was ordered to destroy the negatives of Welles' work). Welles' actual final minutes of the movie are now considered among the most desired pieces of film in all of cinema, and the day they're finally recovered--if they ever are--will be one of immense joy for film fans worldwide (we all know that The Magnificent Ambersons is a finer movie than we can even conceive of, as brilliant as it already is, and Agnes Moorehead as the fed-up Aunt Fanny is definitely one of the film's MVPs). As supreme as Welles work is, I have to give him points off in the Best Director category for letting his guard down regarding control over Ambersons, so for Best Director, I finally recognized someone who's not gotten enough due in his time or in times hence. Even now, if you watch Preston Sturges' The Palm Beach Story, you'll recognize it as being maybe the wildest, most unpredictable comedy ever made (its ridiculous ending will leave your mouth dropped open). With the actual Best Picture winner, the now insufferable WWII propaganda piece Mrs. Miniver, let's just say that it didn't deserve its acclaim and leave it at that (though I do love Teresa Wright in it--she had a superb year with this and The Pride of the Yankees). 

I need to say here: Casablanca, the winner of the 1943 Oscar, actually premiered in 1942, and with that, I have to note that all films in my YEARS IN REVIEW will hail from the actual year in which they were released (this becomes much more complicated as the years progress--especially when it comes to non-American films and festival darlings). Casablanca is a landmark movie, of course--even despite it being filmed without a solid screenplay--its script was pieced together, page by page, as filming went on. As a result, it's a bit confusing and treacly, even though it's difficult not to admire its compelling central romance (between two dazzling stars) and its terrific dialogue (which is so packed with quotable lines, I HAD to give it the adapted screenplay award over The Magnificent Ambersons). And that commanding and slyly hilarious supporting performance by Claude Rains is one of the main reasons such a devoted cult has grown around the movie. I mean, honestly, I know I'll be pilloried for my lack of devotion to Casablanca, but I have to remain true to my impressions--it's among the film classics that I find myself mystified by the love it engenders. Even with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman's indelible lead performances, I confidently hand the lead awards this year to James Cagney and Ginger Rogers, simply because they were venturing so far out of their wheelhouse (they each really deserved the Oscar for their immensely fun and physical performances). I should note this is the first year I'm giving an award to a Documentary Feature, and not to the one some film fans might expect. As World War II is now in total effect, we see its influence mainly in the short film category, where John Ford comes out with a superb color short about the battle of Midway. Then, in the animated films, Chuck Jones bests Disney's Donald Duck not with a Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck piece, but with an unforgettable one-off spoof of 1942 jocks. As for Best Song--it remains the best-selling song from a movie ever! NOTE: These are MY choices for each category, and are only occasionally reflective of the selections made by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science (aka The Oscars). When available, the nominee that actually won the Oscar will be highlighted in bold. 

PICTURE: THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS (US, Orson Welles)
(2nd: The Palm Beach Story (US, Preston Sturges), followed by:
Casablanca (US, Michael Curtiz)
To Be or Not To Be (US, Ernst Lubitsch)
Bambi (US, David Hand)
Went the Day Well? (UK, Alberto Cavalcanti)
The Pride of the Yankees (US, Sam Wood)
In Which We Serve (UK, David Lean, Noël Coward)
Saboteur (US, Alfred Hitchcock)
Cat People (US, Jacques Tourneur)
The Talk of the Town (US, George Stevens)
Woman of the Year (US, George Stevens)
The Major and the Minor (US, Billy Wilder)
Now, Voyager (US, Irving Rapper)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (US, Michael Curtiz)
For Me and My Gal (US, Busby Berkeley);
Random Harvest (US, Mervyn le Roy)
Road to Morocco (US, David Butler))



ACTOR: James Cagney, YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (2nd: Jack Benny, To Be or Not To Be, followed by: Humphrey Bogart, Casablanca; Gary Cooper, The Pride of the Yankees; Tim Holt, The Magnificent Ambersons; Spencer Tracy, Woman of the Year; Joel McCrea, The Palm Beach Story; Alan Ladd, This Gun for Hire) 

ACTRESS: Bette Davis, NOW VOYAGER (2nd: Ginger Rogers, The Major and the Minor, followed by: Ingrid Bergman, Casablanca; Carole Lombard, To Be or Not To Be; Katharine Hepburn, Woman of the Year; Claudette Colbert, The Palm Beach Story; Teresa Wright, The Pride of the Yankees; Jean Arthur, The Talk of the Town; Greer Garson, Mrs. Miniver)



SUPPORTING ACTOR: Claude Rains, CASABLANCA (2nd: Joseph Cotten, The Magnificent Ambersons, followed by: Norman Lloyd, Saboteur; Robert Dudley, The Palm Beach Story; Rudy Vallee, The Palm Beach Story; Ray Collins, The Magnificent Ambersons; Laird Cregar, This Gun for Hire; Cecil Kellaway, I Married a Witch)



SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Agnes Moorehead, THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS (2nd: Teresa Wright, Mrs. Miniver, followed by: Gladys Cooper, Now, Voyager; Celia Johnson, In Which We Serve; Betty Field, Kings Row; Marie Lohr, Went the Day Well?; Maria Ouspenskaya, Kings Row)



DIRECTOR:  Preston Sturges, THE PALM BEACH STORY (2nd: Orson Welles, The Magnificent Ambersons, followed by: Michael Curtiz, Casablanca; Ernst Lubischt, To Be or Not To Be; Alberto Cavalcanti, Went The Day Well?; David Hand, Bambi; Sam Wood, The Pride of the Yankees) 

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Preston Sturges, THE PALM BEACH STORY (2nd: Graham Greene, John Dighton, Diana Morgan, and Angus MacPhail, Went The Day Well?, followed by: Melchior Lengyel and Edwin Justus Mayer, To Be or Not To Be; Ring Lardner and Michael Kanin, Woman of the Year; Peter Viertel, Joan Harrison and Dorothy Parker, Sabotuer)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, and Howard Koch, CASABLANCA (2nd: Orson Welles, The Magnificent Ambersons, followed by: Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder, The Major and the Minor; Sidney Buchman, Irwin Shaw, and Dale Van Every, The Talk of the Town; Robert Pirosh and Marc Connelly, I Married a Witch)



DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: MOSCOW STRIKES BACK (Ilya Kopalin, Leonid Varlamov) (2nd: Prelude to War (Frank Capra and Anatole Litvak) 



LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM: THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY (John Ford) (2nd: Listen to Britain (Humphrey Jennings), followed by: Marines in the Making (Pete Smith); Three Smart Saps (The Three Stooges; Jules White); Matri Phony (The Three Stooges; Harry Edwards)

 
ANIMATED SHORT FILM: THE DOVER BOYS OF PIMENTO UNIVERSITY (Chuck Jones) (2nd: Der Führer’s Face (Jack Kinney), followed by: Pigs in a Polka (Leon Schlesinger); My Favorite Duck (Chuck Jones); Tulips Shall Grow (George Pal))

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Stanley Cortez, THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS (2nd: W. Howard Greene, Jungle Book, followed by: Nicholas Musuraca, Cat People; Arthur Edeson, Casablanca; Rudolph Mate, The Pride of the Yankees; Charles Clarke, Moontide)
 

ART DIRECTION: THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS, Casablanca, Jungle Book, Arabian Nights, This Above All

COSTUME DESIGN: YANKEE DOODLE DANDY, The Magnificent Ambersons, Jungle Book, My Gal Sal, The Black Swan

FILM EDITING: THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES, The Palm Beach Story, Cat People, Casablanca, Went The Day Well? 

SOUND: THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Bambi, Casablanca, Cat People


 
ORIGINAL SCORE: Max Steiner, CASABLANCA (2nd: Bernard Herrmann, The Magnificent Ambersons, followed by: Leigh Harline, The Pride of the Yankees; Frank Churchill and Edward Plumb, Bambi; Alfred Newman, The Black Swan; Max Steiner, Now, Voyager)

ADAPTED OR MUSICAL SCORE: Ray Heindorf and Heinz Roemfeld, YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (2nd: Frank Churchill, Bambi, followed by: Robert Emmett Dolan, Holiday Inn; Alfred Newman, My Gal Sal; Roger Edens and Georgie Stoll, For Me and My Gal)



ORIGINAL SONG: "White Christmas" from HOLIDAY INN (Music and lyrics by Irving Berlin) (2nd: "It Seems I've Heard That Song Before" from Youth on Parade (Music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Sammy Cahn), followed by: "At Last" from Orchestra Wives (Music by Harry Warren, lyrics by Mack Gordon) "Little April Showers" from Bambi (Music by Frank Churchill, lyrics by Larry Morey); "I Remember You" from The Fleet's In (Music by Victor Schertzinger, lyrics by Johnny Mercer); "There Will Never Be Another You" from Iceland (Music by Harry Warren, lyrics by Mack Gordon); "Tangerine" from The Fleet's In (Music by Victor Schertzinger, lyrics by Johnny Mercer); "Jingle Jangle Jingle" from The Forest Rangers (Music by Joseph J. Lilley, lyrics by Frank Loesser); "Be Careful, It's My Heart" from Holiday Inn (Music and lyrics by Irving Berlin)

Film #41: Dad, Can I Borrow The Car?

When I was about nine years old, I tuned in to The Wonderful World of Disney one night to watch what I thought would be your typical Disney fare--cartoons, or a live-action adventure with li'l prairie dogs, or even a faboo tour of Disneyworld (an episode kids always wanted to see).

Instead, what I got was something that blew my mind, and I hope it blows yours. But first...

I was never a big fan of cars. Anyone who knows me also knows that automobiles and I have never found common ground. Other kids were drawing Torinos and Corvettes during geography lectures--me, I was drawing spaceships and movie logos. I have always found sedans to be burdensome, dangerous objects--certainly something I didn't want to control myself. A 3000-lb burnin' hunk of metal powered by fermented dinosaur juices? No way. Not for me, you can have my share. Believe me, the roads are safer without me on 'em. Besides, I think cars make people mean as hell and start them down the road thinking of other cars as mere obstacles to be vanquished rather than potentially deadly objects being controlled by other stressed-out people. It's all a big video game to most drivers. And certainly everyone's getting crabbier behind the wheel now that gas is four bucks a gallon some places. Geez, what're guys gonna be like when it hits $20 a gallon?! It'll be Mad Max all over again.

When I got to be a teen and then a young adult, living in Atlanta (the East Coast car capital of the USA) was very difficult for a guy who was not only unwilling to drive, but actually would get physically ill behind the wheel of a car. Lemme tell ya, it made dating nearly impossible, unless the girl was willing to do the carting-around, which is still seen (unfairly, I think) as a sign of male weakness (and what girl wants that?)

It became a big issue for me. Why's everybody so car-crazy? Why is life like this? And I started to think and think about it, and I came to the only conclusion, really: that it's all about sex. This love affair we have with cars is because they make sex and access to it much easier, even inevitable. Yes, ya got those people who'll tell you it's about freedom. And it is. Freedom to get sex. Freedom to make money to get sex. Freedom to pick up girls who want to have sex. That's what cars are all about. Chicks love cars. They love feeling safe and pampered, going fast and having the world at their feet. It turns 'em on. And most guys like turned-on girls (including me!)

"But it's not just that! I love to drive! It's fuuuuun!" Look, Clarence, driving ain't supposed to be fun. You want fun, go get on a rollercoaster, laughing boy. That's fun. Driving's supposed to get you somewhere you wanna go and when you get there, then you have your fun. It's this "fun" idea that causes horrible, bone-crushing, gore-gushing accidents. And stop talking on your cell phone, for Christ's sake, you ignoramus!!! Goddammit, fuckstick, turn your goddamn radio down so you can hear me honkin' my goddamn horn at ya! Hey, Mac! See this?! See this?! Yeah! You know what you can do with that finger! Yep! You got it! Right up there, too--sun ain't shinin' down there!!! WHAT?! WHAT?! I'LL KIIIILLLL YOU!!! Ahh, same to ya, jerk-off! Jesus, God, just get me home...what time is it?!


I mean, I...I...sigh...I could go on about my dislike of cars, touching on their negative environmental, political, and cultural aspects, blah blah blah. But I won't...Orson will do it for me. The movie quote below is my favorite exchange from Mr. Welles' 1942 masterpiece The Magnificent Ambersons. Joseph Cotton plays an early inventor of cars and devoted suitor to Isabel Minafer, George Minafer's mother (played by Dolores Costello). George (the young Tim Holt) hates Eugene not only because he's stealing his mother away from him, but because he sees Eugene as an agent of change from the old ways to the new. With Uncle Jack Minifer (Ray Collins) at the table, patriarch Maj. Anderson (Richard Bennett) starts things off:

Maj. Amberson: So your devilish machines are going to ruin all your old friends, eh Gene? Do you really think they're going to change the face of the land?

Eugene: They're already doing it major and it can't be stopped. Automobiles...

[cut off by George] George: Automobiles are a useless nuisance.

Jack: What did you say, George?

George: I said automobiles are a useless nuisance. Never amount to anything but a nuisance and they had no business to be invented.

Jack: Of course, you forget that Mr. Morgan makes them, also did his share in inventing them. If you weren't so thoughtless, he might think you were rather offensive.

Eugene: I'm not sure George is wrong about automobiles. With all their speed forward they may be a step backward in civilization. May be that they won't add to the beauty of the world or the life of the men's souls, I'm not sure. But automobiles have come and almost all outwards things will be different because of what they bring. They're going to alter war and they're going to alter peace. And I think men's minds are going to be changed in subtle ways because of automobiles. And it may be that George is right. May be that in ten to twenty years from now that if we can see the inward change in men by that time, I shouldn't be able to defend the gasoline engine but agree with George - that automobiles had no business to be invented.

Brilliant talk there.

Anyway, this is all leading up to something much lighter. Back to Disney-time. So I'm sitting there, 1974 or so, Sunday night, and this INSANE thing pops up on screen as tonight's feature. I'll talk about it more later, after we watch it. So here it is, in three parts (it's 22 minutes long), via the wonderful You Tube (God, I love that site). From 1970 and narrated by a young Kurt Russell, get ready for: Dad, Can I Borrow The Car?



Gee, is there anything better than Dad, Can I Borrow the Car? Noooo. By far, the Disney company's coolest moment, it was directed by Ward Kimball, one of the original "Nine Old Men" who advised the Disney machine back in the day. He was an animator in the Diz biz since 1934, was the one who designed Jiminy Cricket from Pinnochio and redesigned Mickey Mouse from the '20s black-and-white little guy to basically the version of the character we know today. He'd won an Oscar the year before for another Disney short It's Tough to Be a Bird. So he was 56 years old when he produced Dad, Can I Borrow the Car? And you thought this was directed by some refugee from The Monkees or something. Nope. Kimball, pictured above, really let loose a bunch of old-guy hipness when he made this thing. That pic makes him look like a pretty funny character--I think that monster claw was even used in the movie!

The screams of laughter Dad provokes from my guttiwuts are endless--the wild-ass beginning with the "racing stripes" (if I were a rich man, I'd have exactly the car in this credits sequence, painted just like that buggy ends up); that bitchin' opening montage with that melange of oddball hotrods like a guy driving a burning cigar, a lemon on wheels, and a car hauling Mt. Rushmore away; that incredible, long B&W auto dealership commercial with all that gobbeldygook about "wrap-around hoods" and "pre-greased upholstry" (who IS that astounding actor with the fake bald wig anyway--that's the best commercial of all time!); those talking vehicles begging to be purchased (I love the old one that coughs and says "Get me soon, cause I'm goin' fast"...if only Cars could have been this cool); and, hey, was that a young, long-haired Jamie Lee Curtis as the girl who thinks he's trying to cheat off her test at the DMV? (The IMDB says Timothy Hutton's in this, too, but I couldn't spot him, could you? And, yeah, that was the Maytag repairman, Jessie White, a veteran of many a movie and TV show, doing some of the voices).

And, of course, there's all the references to sex and getting laid which, as I said, is what cars are all about. That scene with he and his friends taking the convertible under the car wash has to be one of the most suggestive things in a Disney film up to that period. I swear, some of the shots looked like soft porn! And with young Johnny watching over to the side, too! Gracious! Weird ending to this thing, too, with that kissing montage!

The killer graphic design was by John Emerson and Ed Garbert, with the stunning editing--the thing I think that first caught my young "WHAT IS THIS" eyes--is by Lloyd Richardson. And, naturally, there's Kurt Russell's funny, natural vocal performance, though I don't understand why they just didn't go on and use him as the lead actor; woulda made the movie that much better. I want to note that, though I saw this on TV, Dad, Can I Borrow the Car? did get a movie theater release, probably as a short in front of Superdad or The Cat From Outer Space or something. How do I know this? Because I have a movie poster for it!! Yayyyy! Coolest thing ever. I almost cried when I found it in this old warehouse I was helping clean up one time!! Score!!!