Politics At The Bijou

This week we acknowledged Super Tuesday with a selection of politically themed short films on display in our Bijou Mini-Matinee series on YouTube. Click the link under the marquee on the right to enjoy our timely collection of selected short subjects. (Film descriptions follow this post).

Whenever the subject of political movies comes up, the first titles to surface are usually big budget “A” movies like All the King’s Men, The Manchurian Candidate, The Last Hurrah, The Best Man, Advise and Consent, All the President's Men, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Candidate, Meet John Doe - and the list goes on.

However, many lesser known movies can provide unexpected pleasures and surprising insights into the Matinee at the Bijou world of the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Today we offer up for your consideration our recommendations for a handful of political films whose themes are painted on the American political canvas. Later this election year, we’ll come back with classic film recommendations with international political themes. All of the following can be found (many show up from time to time on Turner Classic Movies) but for some you’ll have to look a little harder.

GABRIEL OVER THE WHITE HOUSE (1933) Newly-elected US President Walter Huston, after an accident, goes from president - to emperor - to dictator in well-intended effort to overcome national depression-era suffering. Republican Louis B. Mayer delayed release of this social satire until Hoover was out of office.

WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND (1932) Corrupt congressional politics greets newly minted congressman Lee Tracy - who tackles lobbyists and prohibition-era bootleggers in his determined fight against official waste and corruption.

THE SENATOR WAS INDISCREET (1947) William Powell plays an eccentric blowhard Senator with a scandal-rich Washington diary that’s gone missing. Oh yes, he wants to become President in this very funny satire written and directed by George S. Kaufman.

WASHINGTON MELODRAMA (1941) Frank Morgan plays a rich industrialist lobbying congress for wartime favors in this political B-movie melodrama. Morgan wants Congress to approve funding for Nazi victims before America enters the war. Charming Dan Dailey plays a murdering scoundrel.


A FACE IN THE CROWD (1957) Elia Kazan directs Andy Griffith in an awesome performance as Dusty Rhodes, an Arkansas guitar-picking bum who rises to political fame with a little help from Patricia Neal and a lot of help from the new medium of television. Both Andy Griffith and Lee Remick had their screen debuts.

ROVIN’ TUMBLEWEEDS (1939) It's amazing how many B-western plots revolved around corrupt politicians or businessmen with greedy politicos in their pockets. Gene Autry and Mary Carlisle star and in this one, Autry runs for the US Congress to tackle a corrupt and cynical land baron. Mr. Autry goes to Washington and struggles to pass a flood control bill in this Republic outdoor melodrama with music. Consider the following sample dialog between villain Douglas Dumbrille and the crooked congressman Fuller:

CF: Did you hear what they said about me in that radio broadcast last night?
DD: Yes, I did hear.
CF: That’s liable to hurt my political career. I’ll sue that station.
DD: You can’t sue anybody for telling the truth.
CF: But, But …
DD: Oh, button your mouth.
CF: But he called me a cheap politician.
DD: What would you call yourself?

YOUNG MR. LINCOLN (1939) and ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS (1940)
Lastly, we call it a tie as to which is the better Abe Lincoln political movie. In the former, John Ford directs Henry Fonda as Abraham Lincoln, and Marjorie Weaver is Mary Todd Lincoln. In the latter, Raymond Massey is superb in an Oscar-nominated performance as Abe, and Ruth Gordon is outstanding as Mary. This one directed by John Cromwell.

Some of these films are as timely as today’s headlines. As we like to say here at The Bijou Blog "Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose" (The more things change, the more they remain the same.) One of the great things about the internet is that one's pronunciation is always unassailable. Come back next week for another dose of culture!

Laughing Gravy's Crystal Ball-Part Two

In our last suspense-soaked episode, we dodged Morlocks to visit the far future and espy what cartoons, short subjects and serial chapters we could look forward to as DVD releases in 2008. This week, we channel the spirit of the great mystic seer Criswell to predict a bevy of top-notch feature attractions, from gritty film noir thrillers to massive Technicolor spectacles. In the latter category, the 1961 favorite El Cid starring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren arrives Jan. 29 in a spiffy new 2-disc edition. In the former category, look for the belated continuation of the Fox Film Noir series in March with Joan Crawford as Daisy Kenyon (1947), Ginger Rogers as the Black Widow (1953), and Jeanne Crain taking a Dangerous Crossing (1953). Also, VCI will offer three additional volumes of Forgotten Film Noir triple-features; amongst the highlights of the nine titles are Mr. District Attorney (1941, with Peter Lorre), pugilistic peril at Ringside (1949), and The Big Chase (1954, with Glenn Langan and Lon Chaney, Jr.).

Warners has two much-anticipated sets this spring including third volumes of the Warner Bros. Gangsters Collection (March) with Lady Killer, Black Legion, Brother Orchid, Smart Money, Picture Snatcher, and Mayor of Hell, and Classic Musicals from the Dream Factory (April), with Kismet, Deep in My Heart, Born to Dance, and Broadway Melody of 1936. As mentioned last week, both sets are packed with vintage short subjects. Also in March from Warner comes more early ‘30s pre-code delights with Forbidden Hollywood, Vol. 2, featuring The Divorcee, A Free Soul, Night Nurse, Female, and Three on a Match.

Getting back to gangsters, wherever there’s a crime there has to be a sleuth to solve it, and the king of the movie detectives, Charlie Chan, returns with a new collection from Fox in February. Titles – all of which star Sidney Toler – include Charlie Chan in Honolulu, in Reno, at Treasure Island, and in the City in Darkness. In April, VCI offers Mr. Wong, Detective: The Complete Collection, with five films starring Boris Karloff as the screen’s most improbable Asian crimefighter, plus Keye Luke in the final film of the series. We mentioned last week that May is Dick Tracy Month at VCI; in addition to all four Tracy serials they’ll have a boxed set of the four RKO features of the 1940s starring Morgan Conway or Ralph Byrd as Chester Gould’s trench-coated rackets wrecker. Bonus materials will be provided by former Tracy scribe and award-winning author Max Allan Collins.

Like cowboy pitchers? Well, pardner, who doesn’t? VCI will be serving up another Cisco Kid triple feature starring Duncan Renaldo in March, plus a massive collection of 13 vintage Cisco Kid titles. Grapevine Video will be offering their usual eclectic lineup of outstanding silent films, including the oaters The Last Trail (1927) with Tom Mix, Pony Express (1926) with Wallace Beery, The Devil Horse (1925), with Rex and Yakima Canutt, and Sign of the Claw (1926) with Peter the Great, who is apparently a dog, and not THE Peter the Great. Other highly anticipated Grapevine releases include James W. Horne’s comedy classic Cruise of the Jasper B (1925) with Rod LaRocque, Sappho (a/k/a Mad Love, 1921) with Pola Negri, and a collection of 7 silent versions of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, plus an early, rare sound version starring Sheldon Lewis.

Keep that mosquito spray handy, folks, because not only is Warner planning another Tarzan boxed set in 2008, but you’ll be able to see a somewhat flabbier but no less heroic Johnny Weissmuller out of his loin cloth and into jodhpurs in a Sony collection of Jungle Jim films. The Tarzan set will introduce Lex Barker as the Ape Man in such films as Tarzan’s Magic Fountain and Tarzan’s Savage Fury, while Jungle Jim stars in Mark of the Gorilla and Jungle Moon Men. A complete list of titles and release dates will be announced as soon as we can take a little Windex to our crystal ball.

Universal continues to greatly improve its vintage release schedule, and in April will release four much-admired screwball comedies, The Major and the Minor (Ginger Rogers & Ray Milland), She Done Him Wrong (Mae West & Cary Grant), Easy Living (Jean Arthur, written by Preston Sturges) and Midnight (Don Ameche, Claudette Colbert).

As you can see, the months ahead will be stocked with entertaining great and not-so-great films on shiny little metal discs that we can enjoy over and over from the comfort of our easy chairs. Oh, by the way, within 10 years movies will be projected from satellites in space directly onto our eyeballs and popcorn will be dispensed from itty-bitty popcorn machines planted up our nostrils. Laughing Gravy predicts!

Clifford Weimer
In The Balcony

Laughing Gravy's Crystal Ball-Part One

Cliff "Laughing Gravy" Weimer is back, and Bijou's got him. This week and next he'll be sharing his inside info on upcoming DVD releases.

Through the magic of the Internet, let’s take a peek into the future and see what’s in store for Matinee at the Bijou fans, shall we? Hmmm… Oh, dear. It seems we’re all going to be eaten by Morlocks! Tell you what, then, let’s set the Bijou Time Viewer to the “near future” and see what DVD releases we can look forward to in the first half of 2008, an altogether more pleasant prospect if you ask me.

At In The Balcony we always begin our show with a peppy cartoon, and Warners is releasing a 3-disc set of Oscar winners and nominated animated shorts in February, The Academy Award Animation Collection. Warners now controls the MGM and Fleischer cartoons as well as its own Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies staples, so the collection features a wide variety of stars of the silver screen cels, including Bugs Bunny, Superman, Popeye, Tom & Jerry, and many others. If you want to go the cost-cutting route, a separate 1-disc edition will include only 15 cartoons that actually won Oscars, which narrows the field and the entertainment value, says me. For more fun, furious, and furry cartoon fixes, look for a second boxed set of chronological Woody Woodpecker & Friends (Universal) in April, and Warner will return with a sixth volume of Looney Tunes and a second compilation of Popeye cartoons (dates to be announced). If your attention span is longer than mine and you enjoy feature-length cartoons (and cats and dogs), Disney is offering pumped-up special editions of The Aristocats in February and 101 Dalmations in March.

Next on our program is a chilling chapter of a sinister serial, and as always VCI Entertainment has an impressive lineup of classic cliffhangers scheduled for release. The fun begins in February with The Phantom Creeps (1939) starring Bela Lugosi as Dr. Zorka, who is bent on world conquest with the aid of a giant grimacing robot, li’l exploding mechanical spiders, and a hapless sidekick in a chauffeur’s outfit. This is a serial that’s been impossible to find in good condition, but VCI’s new DVD, which we got an advance copy of, is terrific. Also in February, look for a restored version of The Phantom Empire (1935) with Gene Autry and Junior G-Men of the Air (1942) with the Dead End Kids. The DVDs feature bonus cartoons, too.

The chapterplay releases will continue through the spring from VCI, and they’re graciously allowing me to reveal the titles here as an exclusive for Bijou readers, so write this down: in March, they’re offering Tailspin Tommy (1934), its sequel, Tailspin Tommy in the Great Air Mystery (1935), and Ruth Roman as Jungle Queen (1945). May is Dick Tracy Month at VCI, with a colossal boxed set of the four much-loved Tracy Republic serials, Dick Tracy (1936), Dick Tracy Returns (1937), Dick Tracy’s G-Men (1939), and Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc. (1941). All star Ralph Byrd as the stiletto-chinned crimefighter, and titles will also be available separately.

Love short subjects? Well, so do we. Once the “spice of the program”, these days the best we can hope for with a new movie is that the 30 minutes’ worth of pre-movie commercials will be at least passably entertaining as we await the start of the feature and the ringing of a cell phone in the next row. While no specific short collections have come to our attention, the various Warner releases will continue to present “Warners Night at the Movies” as DVD bonuses, allowing us to view trailers, cartoons, shorts, and newsreels from bygone years. For example, the third collection of Warner Gangster films (March) includes six feature films, nine trailers, seven cartoons, including Porky and Gabby and Slap Happy Pappy, and nine theatrical shorts, including musical Broadway Brevities like Kissing Time (1933) and Smart Set-Up (1931), Hi De Ho with Cab Calloway, The Audition with novelty dancers Larry & Larry (where’s Darryl?), and the Technicolor Civil War featurette Under Southern Stars (1937). Talk about getting your money’s worth! If they’d only put a lovely usherette in each DVD box, it’d be perfect!

Next week, he said in his best Knox Manning voice, don’t fail to see the second and concluding episode of our sneak preview, as we review upcoming feature film releases, including some rare titles not revealed anywhere else!

END OF PART ONE

Clifford Weimer
In The Balcony

It Never Happened Like That -- Serial Cheats!

Executive Producer Ron Hall has a fascination with serials that used cheat endings to entice audiences to come back the following week. Ron talks about the phenomenon in this week's post. He really enjoyed rounding up some outrageous examples for your amusement.

At the end of every serial episode the hero appears to die. Next week, naturally, he jumps out of the car before it goes over the cliff or runs out of the building before it explodes. They didn't show us that shot so we would come back next week, but that's not cheating. That's the fun of serials!

A cheat ending is when the serial shows one shot of certain doom, and then the next week shows something entirely different. A burning wagon barrels down a hill toward a shack where the hero is trapped, crashes into the building and bursts into an inferno. "Continued Next Week." Maybe the kids forgot exactly what they saw a week later, and so.... the wagon wheel hits a stone, swerves and the wagon misses the building completely! But no, we didn't forget. How dumb do they think we are? Boos, catcalls and raspberries sweep the theater. (By the way, exactly which western serial is that cheat ending from?)

At the end of Chapter #2 of "Undersea Kingdom" Crash Corrigan plummets three stories down an elevator shaft. The next week he grabs a rope at the top and doesn't fall at all. Cheat!

The fun book "Sinister Serials" quotes J.E. Stocker's 1936 review of Ace Drummond: "This is an above-average serial as serials go. There is a mystery angle that keeps them guessing, but why, oh why, do they do such things in serials? For instance at the end of Chapter 10, when the hero is seen plunging down to pure death. At the start of Chapter 11, (there is) not the sign of a fall other than a few feet, which got the razz it deserved. That intelligent serial producers should make such blunders is beyond me, and they do it week after week. The children look for them weekly, but even the children give those kind of endings the razz."

In Chapter #2 of "Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island," Mala is surrounded by hostile natives standing on a plank over a pit of bubbling lava. The plank is released and he plummets into the pit. Next week, instead of the plank falling, he starts a fight while friends pull him to safety with a rope. In Chapter #10 of the same serial, Mala is fighting with the pilot of a small airplane. The plane crashes into the ocean. Logically, we expect that he does indeed crash, but since it's into water he will swim away unharmed. Guess again. At the start of Chapter #11, the plane pulls out of its dive and never crashes.

Chapter #8 of "The Desert Hawk" with Gilbert Roland is unique. Half-way into the chapter at the eight minute mark, a close-up of the Grey Wizard's crystal ball clears to show a scene. The Hawk, his sidekick and the princess leave the wizard's cave. They ride into the desert, lose their horses and come across a slave caravan. That night they overcome the guards and free the slaves. The scene cuts away to the Hawk's evil twin plotting how to capture the Hawk. The trap works! The Hawk is shot with arrows, thrown in a pit and covered with boulders. The Columbia serial narrator intones: "What will become of the Princess now that the Hawk and Omar have perished?" At the start of Chapter #9, the narrator recaps by saying: "The old magician lets them gaze into his crystal ball and they see what would happen should they insist on continuing their journey." Although the ball was briefly seen in #8, the scene of them looking into the future was conveniently omitted!


In chapter #7 of "The Vigilantes Are Coming," the masked Eagle has a spirited sword fight with five baddies. He trips and falls to the floor. They close in and five blades hack down at his helpless body that is out of view. Next week he doesn't trip, keeps fighting and escapes. The ending of chapter #4 is far worse. The Eagle fights in a gold mine where a guillotine-like rock crusher keeps rising and falling. He is knocked unconscious under it. We see the deadly weight fall! While an honest serial would cut here and leave fate to our imagination, this one shows the weight crashing into his chest. He groans in pain. Fade-out. However, next week his buddy pulls him out before he gets crushed!
If you know of a good cheat serial ending that we haven't mentioned, send us a comment. We can't get enough of this stuff!

In Memoriam-Rusty Cassleton

We are deeply saddened by the unexpected death of Rusty Casselton.

Rusty was internationally known for film preservation and restoration. He had an enormous film collection, and worked with the Fargo Film Festival every year. Filmdom has lost another passionate and dedicated film preservationist who will be missed by all who knew him.

Rusty and his mentor, Ted Larson, had supplied "One Frightened Night" to Season 4 of the original Matinee At The Bijou. Rusty was excited about contributing some of his rare "Screen Snapshots" to the Return of Matinee at the Bijou.

Remembrance may be shared at alt.movies.silent and at the Wright Funeral Home website.

Cinema Treasures Interview

In any given year more classic American movie theaters close than reopen. Recently we wrote about Patrick Crowley and Ross Melnick, founders of Cinema Treasures, and passionate crusaders who are working to turn this trend around. Today we ask Patrick and Ross what Bijou Blog readers can do to participate in the saving of America’s movie palaces and local theaters.

What can one do if there's an "at risk" theatre they care about?
Learn all you can about the theater in question. Has it been or can it be landmarked? Check with local and state jurisdictions to determine the status (Be careful, it may be only the façade that is protected). Who owns the building and who owns the land? Often there are separate owners and circumstances. Are owners open to a grassroots effort to save the theater?

Armed with this knowledge, motivate key community members to action. Create a website for your theater as a community rallying point. If not affordable, the Cinema Treasures website is a free, user-generated site with separate pages for over 19,000 theaters. There you can post news and information about your preservation efforts and find additional volunteers and resources. You should also contact the League of Historic American Theatres who are experts in this area. Also, try to partner with local preservation organizations which can provide free legal and logistical assistance and may even be able to connect you with donors and other supporters.


What's the greatest stumbling block faced by those trying to save a local theater?
Underestimating or not fully understanding the challenges. Land is often the lynch pin. The MacArthur Theater in Washington DC opened as a single screen theater in 1945 and was triplexed before closing in 1997. Drugstore chain CVS took over the lease of the building that same year and the once proud interior of the MacArthur became a place to buy discount band-aids. Sadly, a number of DC's classic movie theaters have also been acquired by drugstore chains (a troubling nationwide trend). Almost all of the grand movie theaters (Rialto, Loew’s State, Paramount, Criterion) in Times Square are gone now because of high land values. On the flip side, for many years, property in downtown L.A. was severely distressed, making money unavailable for redevelopment. This helped keep many of these theaters from being torn down. We’re keeping our fingers crossed during the current building boom in downtown L.A.

What's the big message you’d like to communicate on saving theaters?
Think carefully about the venue and context of exhibition. The challenge to theater survival is to create compelling experiences that engage the community in as many ways as possible. Theaters often lag in changing environments and movies alone may not always sustain their survival. Concerts, live theater, closed-circuit HD presentations and other crowd-pleasing experiences may be the key to longevity.

Are other organizations helping in the effort?
The situation differs state by state. In California, the L.A. Conservancy is very proactive in the preservation of historic buildings. The League of Historic American Theatres is an international, not-for-profit membership association that promotes the rescue, rehabilitation and sustainable operation of historic theatres throughout North America. The League defines a "historic theatre" as a place of public assembly that is at least 50 years old or has cultural, historical, social or architectural significance. The Theatre Historical Society of America highlights these venues through tours, publications and other activities. Their annual conclave demonstrates the national and international interest in these buildings.
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What's been your biggest frustration; the one that got away?
Since the site launched in December 2000, among many others, the Indian Hills Theater in Omaha, Nebraska comes to mind. It was designed especially for Cinerama and opened in 1962 featuring a 105 ft screen (the largest in the US). The theater had achieved local landmark status but was lost to the wrecking ball days after the designation was conferred. This despite numerous protests from all over the world and from such luminaries as Leonard Maltin, Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Ray Bradbury and many more. Like that old cliché, it was literally replaced by a parking lot.

What has given you the greatest satisfaction?
There have been lots of small success stories that add up and make a difference. Over the years, we’ve met a number of people who have reopened theaters they found on Cinema Treasures, found jobs through the website, and donated money and/or time to theaters based on information they found on our site. We’re also delighted by the wide age range of Cinema Treasures users. Although theater preservation is traditionally associated with those over 40, our users range from 14 to 80 and everywhere in between. That bodes well for the future.

We salute Patrick and Ross for their continuing struggle to make a difference. Cinema Treasures and Matinee At The Bijou are indeed kindred spirits in a shared passion to preserve and perpetuate America’s cinematic heritage in all its glorious manifestations.