In the fourth part of my series of thumbnail sketches of films I’ve watched on the Criterion Channel streaming service, I cover 10 films I watched in the second half of October 2021. Whereas the earlier groups of 10 featured a varied mix of American classics and international arthouse films, this particular set were all English language films (nine American and one British production).
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946): This film caught my eye on the Criterion watch list, because it was billed as Kirk Douglas’ acting debut. The noir-drama hybrid kicks off with a dark backstory and then skips forward nearly two decades into a plot involving greed, blackmail and murder. It’s primarily an acting vehicle for Barbara Stanwyck who plays the dark-hearted, ambitious Martha Ivers. Kirk Douglas as her weakling husband, Van Heflin as her childhood friend and Lizbeth Scott form the other three points of a quasi love quadrangle. There aren’t any pleasant characters in the film, so I can’t say that I “liked” watching it, but it’s definitely an engrossing film, beautifully shot by Victor Milner and considered an important entry in the film noir pantheon. Director Lewis Milestone, is perhaps best known for winning an Oscar for the 1930 anti-war drama, All Quiet on the Western Front, and in the 1960s, he directed the original Ocean’s 11 and Mutiny on the Bounty with Marlon Brando.
The Long Voyage Home (1940): A rare John Ford effort that stars John Wayne, but isn’t a Western (the other notable one being The Quiet Man), this bittersweet drama chronicles the lives of sailors on-board a merchant ship in the midst of World War II. Fans of John Ford will recognize his trusted cohort of character actors (informally referred to as the John Ford Stock Company) who make recurring appearances in a number of his films – Thomas Mitchell, Barry Fitzgerald, Ward Bond, John Qualen, Arthur Shields – who fill up the screen with their banter and antics. In fact, although Wayne receives top billing, he plays a supporting role in the film as the Swedish sailor Ole, a genial young man of few words. The sailors are shown as a brotherhood, who are deeply committed to each other, and their shipboard tasks, although they frequently argue and get into trouble with their captain. Frankly, they behave like a bunch of over-grown, but lovable children. It’s a relatively lightweight entry from John Ford, elevated by outstanding B&W cinematography by Gregg Toland, who a year later would capture the imagination of filmmakers around the world with his deep-focus cinematography on Citizen Kane.
The Brotherhood (1968): Paramount Pictures released this mafia drama that bombed at the box office and gave it an allergy to the genre, before The Godfather righted the scales four years later. The Brotherhood kicks off in Palermo, Sicily where American mafia boss Frank Ginetta (Kirk Douglas) and his wife are living in exile, under heavy guard, in his ancestral family village. The story then flashes back to explain how Ginetta, one of the top capos of the New York City mafia, fell from grace. Douglas is a truly remarkable actor, who can get into the skin of any character he plays…an extraordinary achievement for an actor who could have just relied on his rugged good looks. An early scene shows him at his gracious best during his younger brother’s wedding, charming the guests and dancing with the bride. Everything seems perfect in Ginetta’s life, but soon his headstrong approach puts him at odds with his own brother and the rest of the mafiosi. Director Martin Ritt was known for his sensitive portrayal of iconoclasts and loners (Paul Newman in Hud, Richard Burton in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Sally Field in Norma Rae), so one can understand why this story must have appealed to him.
Hold Your Man (1933): The third of six films pairing Clarke Gable with Jean Harlow, Hold Your Man is a breezy, comedy-drama typical of its time, featuring fast-talking, morally dubious protagonists, who end up having hearts of gold. The by-the-numbers plot was not designed to tax the brain cells, and six months after watching it, I honestly can’t remember much of the storyline. Fortunately, at just 87 minutes running time, it didn’t take up much of my time either. The film was one of director Sam Wood’s early efforts before he went on to fame directing the Marx Brothers in A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races, and then Oscar-worthy material like Goodbye, Mr. Chips and For Whom The Bell Tolls.
The Dead (1987): One of the most satisfying films I’ve watched in recent years, The Dead was released posthumously after director John Huston‘s death in 1987. It was an international co-production involving UK’s Channel 4 and other companies. A large part of the film’s 83-minute runtime is set at an annual Epiphany dinner hosted by the three Morkan sisters – Kate, Julia and Mary Jane. Guests including family, friends and students of Mary Jane (who is a music teacher) arrive, mingle, converse, sing, dance, play music, eat, drink, laugh and argue. There is no plot as such, just a nostalgic peek into the lifestyle, culture and conversations of the upper middle class at the turn of the 20th century. The dinner culminates with a vote of thanks given by the sisters’ nephew Gabriel (a subtle performance by Irish acting great Donal McCann), the entire sequence bringing tears to my eyes. The last act represents a significant downshift in pacing and tone – Gabriel and his wife Gretta (Huston’s daughter Anjelica) having returned to their residence, have a heart-felt conversation about life and love and death, an incongruous end to a high-spirited evening. This film is a truly remarkable epitaph to John Huston’s storied five-decade-long career, which encompasses all-time classics such as The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The African Queen, Moby Dick, The Misfits and The Man Who Would Be King.
A Walk With Love and Death (1969): After watching Angelica Huston in The Dead, I jumped back in time to watch her debut film, also directed by her father. A historical romance and adventure drama, set during the 14th century Jacquerie uprising in northern France, Ms. Huston plays a young noblewoman who while on the run from armed peasants, crosses paths with a peace-loving student from Paris, who is journeying up to the coast. As both are caught up in the swirling violence of the revolt, they fall in love with each other and try their best to find peace and safety. This film is frequently overlooked during discussions of both father and daughter’s work. By today’s standards, it is too slow-paced to qualify as an adventure film and a bit tame for a romance. An interesting piece of trivia is the fact that Huston’s co-star in the film, Assi Dayan, was the son of Moshe Dayan, the Israeli Minister of Defense and Foreign Affairs in the 70’s (famous for his distinctive eye patch).
Drums Along the Mohawk (1939): A typically entertaining Western from director John Ford, it features screen legends Claudette Colbert and Henry Fonda as a newly married couple, Lana and Gil Martin, who embark on frontier life in the Mohawk Valley, just as the events of the 1776 War of Independence are playing out. With the constant threat of attacks by Native Americans and British soldiers hanging over their heads, the Mohawk Valley settlers form a militia, who are called into action several times to protect their property. John Ford’s company of character actors including Ward Bond, Arthur Shields and John Carradine round out the cast, with character actress Edna May Oliver getting an Oscar nomination for playing the crotchety, but kind-hearted Mrs. McKlennar. Drums Along the Mohawk is one of director Ford’s lesser known films, sandwiched between two other Henry Fonda starrers he directed in the space of two years – Young Mr. Lincoln and the multi-award winning Grapes of Wrath.
Libeled Lady (1936): A screwball comedy featuring the classic pairing of Myrna Loy and William Powell, Libeled Lady was the fifth of their 14 films together (which included the six Thin Man murder-mystery films). However, it was an even bigger star, the “bombshell blonde” Jean Harlow, who got first billing, while rising star and future acting icon Spencer Tracy, rounded out the cast. The script allows all four actors to shine in a variety of entertainingly contrived situations, which ends with a happily-ever-after. Harlow would tragically die of kidney failure the following year at the age of 26. Libeled Lady was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, but lost to The Great Ziegfeld which also starred Loy and Powell.
Cluny Brown (1946): This film is a comedy of manners, constructed on a rather silly plot, but carried along by the exotic charm of Charles Boyer, for whose sake I watched it. Boyer plays Czech political refugee Adam Belinksi, who is invited by a high-society benefactor to stay with his parents at their country manor outside London. There, he enters into a platonic relationship with eccentric parlour-maid Cluny Brown (played by acclaimed actress Jennifer Jones), who has been sent by her uncle to work there, in order to “straighten her out”. Belinski and Brown enter into a platonic relationship, which becomes increasingly complicated due to Brown’s romantic entanglement with the local chemist. I was faintly amused by all the goings-on, but I can’t say that I really enjoyed it, which I suspect, is because I’ve never liked Jennifer Jones. This was the last film of director Ernst Lubitsch’s celebrated career, which included classics like Ninotchka, The Shop Around the Corner (remade as You’ve Got Mail, with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks) and To Be or Not to Be.
Lonely Are the Brave (1962): A neo-Western set in the 50’s, this film is an early example of the deconstruction of the Western genre, preceding the work of Sergio Leone, Sam Peckinpah, and ultimately, Clint Eastwood. Kirk Douglas considered it his favourite film, with cowboy Jack Burns among the most tragic of the many such characters he has played in his career. One of the posters for the movie has the headline “Life Can Never Cage a Man Like This!“, a pretty good description of Burns’ impetuous and untamable spirit. Burns is a Korean War vet who makes a living as an itinerant ranch hand, with no interest in conforming to modern society. While traveling through New Mexico, he learns that a friend has been jailed for aiding illegal immigrants. He impulsively sets out to break the friend out of jail, resulting in an escalating series of events that culminates in Burns and his horse being pursued by a Sherriff (Walter Matthau) and his lawmen into the Sandia mountains. The conflict between the protagonist and the law, and the harrowing chase scenes, reminded me to a degree of Stallone’s First Blood. This is definitely a must-see film for fans of Kirk Douglas, of Westerns and of anti-establishment films. It is considered to be director David Miller’s best work; his other notable films were the noir thriller Sudden Fear, the John Wayne war film Flying Tigers and Love Happy, the Marx Brothers’ last film.
For reference, here are the links to films #1-10, #11-20 and #21-30 in my Criterion Channel journey. Next up, #41-50, which I watched in late Oct/early Nov 2021.
Chronophlogiston 
10 thoughts on “A Criterion Channel journey, films #31-40”