The Bolero

Dir. William Fertik, 1973.
Favorite composer, favorite conductor, neat little package...

#22: The Pirate

Starring: Gene Kelly and Judy Garland
Dir: Vincente Minnelli (1948)

Um. Oh my. Um, where... where was this movi--(pardon)--WHERE WAS THIS MOVIE WHEN I WAS A HORMONAL TEENAGER?? WHERE?!? MY SOUL IS CRYING. GENE KELLY IN TIGHTY PIRATE CUTOFFS. ENTIRE YEARS WASTED. AN OCEAN OF REGRET! SO MUCH TO MAKE UP FOR!! HE EATS THE FREAKING CIGARETTE!!!!!!
First, let me just say, I'd always heard that this was one of MGM's biggest musical flops. I'd heard it was a box-office wreck. And having seen a few truly horrible musicals in my time (*cough*Athena*cough*), I thought it was best to be avoided. Besides, Gene Kelly with a mustache. But DAMN ALL OF YOU WHO LIED TO ME. DAMN YOU TO HADES!!
This movie was ADORABLE. It was hilarious and fantastic and not too long and the best kind of ridiculous and soooooooo incredibly cute. Okay so the musical numbers were horrendous (apart from the dancing) and I definitely expected more from Cole Porter, but the rest of the movie more than made up for that. Gene Kelly and Judy Garland were surprisingly endearing together, and watching Serafin scream his passionate declarations as Manuela stomped flat-footedly around her boudoir yowling like a banshee was easily one of my new most favorite movie moments, to be added to the mental list along with William Holden and Nancy Olson flirting on the edge of the bathtub in Sunset Boulevard. (I seriously need to make an actual list of these.)

I would be lying though if I didn't say that, apart from the obvious moneymakers like Tighty Pirate Cutoffs Dance, the real charm of this movie was Judy and Gene. The heart of their romance wasn't beautiful ballads and fifteen-minute Technicolor ballet sequences, it was screeching and throwing furniture and double-crossing and jittery, mustached attraction (respectively). And they were actually kind of believable.

I have no idea what the actors' relationship was like off set, but every shot of this movie looked like fun. I can never watch Singin' in the Rain without imagining Debbie Reynolds' bleeding feet, so I'd rather not look into the real story behind the scenes of The Pirate (Edit: I did. Wish I hadn't. Oh well), but just on the surface this movie seemed much more relaxed. Gene carried most of the big song and dance numbers, and Judy mainly had to sing (which was her thing anyway) and be funny. It worked. For some reason, watching it all felt like being in on the huge, over-budgeted musical parody.

Bad: The songs. Especially "Nina." I mean, if it wasn't for Gene's cigarette maneuver, just, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD.
Good: I always love Judy Garland as a comedienne. And... Gene Kelly is a fox.

'Nuff said.

Stars: 4.5 of 5

#21: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Starring: Jimmy Stewart, Jean Arthur
Dir: Frank Capra (1939)

Well, I finally saw it. I've checked it out from the library probably two dozen times but I finally went through with it last night and what can I say, it was pretty much what I expected -- patriotic and corny and Capra, but of course totally lovable and wonderful too, and despite the corniness I kind of had to be like "Yeah but that's right..." 

Just a couple weird things - I feel like every background character actor from every movie I've ever seen was in this: Guy Kibbe, for one, and then the fat "I want my breakfast!" man from The Lady Eve and Robin Hood, and the mean guy who bossed Shirley Temple in Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and the sad pharmacist from It's a Wonderful Life, and then I recognized Diz, too, but I'm not sure from what. Anyway. In addition I felt that for a movie that ran over two hours, it was awfully rushed most of the time. It was always flitting from scene to scene, apart from the really juicy moments with most of Jeff's speech-making. It was actually kind of distracting.

The bad: Cute kids! I just don't think old movie cute kids are cute, end of story. Always too many freckles and not enough front teeth and too much Boys Town.

The good: Oh Jean Arthur, for crying out loud! Love of my life! And the fact that her character goes by her last name is just so badass! Also Jimmy Stewart being all mussy-haired and hometown-y and noble and tall and cute and dropping his hat all over and saying endearing things to his secretary, gaaaah I just melt right down to my toes! I love him always, so I can put up with any cheesy plot if he's at the sweet center of it, even if he does have scrawny knees.

Overall: I actually got a little riled toward the end, like I was really mad at the evil senator and the evil newspaper man. And while the movie was pretty cheesy in sum, I liked the message behind it and the leading man in it... and that's pretty much all I have to say about that.

Stars: 3.5 of 5, deducting 1.5 because it's undeniably cheesy and despite my love of a certain kind of schmaltz I am really a cynical person at heart.

some that fell through the cracks (nos. 17-20)

Pat and Mike

Anchors Aweigh

Fallen Angel

Brigadoon

#doesn'tcount: White Christmas

General: "Who let Potato out of her box?!"
Susan: "POTATOGRAM!"

#16: Holiday

Starring: Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant
Dir: George Cukor (1938)

This is one of those movies that puts me in mind of similar ones that are better. I love watching Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant together in anything, though, and in my mind this movie is just a wonderful warm-up for The Philadelphia Story - which is obviously the best movie in the entire world.

Holiday was actually a lot of fun in its own right. I loved the way the Seton family was its own enormous entity (I found many of the Setons referred to their family unit in similar language my siblings and I use for our own), and I especially loved all the dysfunction flying around between the siblings. The whole package obviously originated on the stage, but that gave it a nice contained sort of feel. I especially liked the neat handling of Julia's character - the plot held out admirably until the last minute, and then turned her into a horrible bitch. I like things being made easy for me like that.

Good: We'll start with Ned! I always felt like he was about to say something horrific. His character had a real edge that I really liked, and he played well with Linda. Cary Grant turned quite a few tricks in this movie, of course, which I found plenty exciting, and his adorable little face and adorably messy hair were positively at their peak. Linda was obviously wonderful since any time Katharine Hepburn plays a snarky, repressed and lovelorn sophisticate I get a kick out of it. Gee whiz I just love her.

Best: The Potters! God bless them! I haven't seen Edward Horton outside of a buffoonish role before, but in this film I felt like he had all of the cleverest lines and one of the most likable characters I've ever watched. They were just so damn cute! I want to meet them!

Bad: Linda's emotional outbursts (especially her vindictive farewell speech to her father and Julia) were just a tad too intense and a tad too lengthy for my comfort. When I see Katharine Hepburn pissed, I want to see a trembling chin and a whirlwind of chilling insults - not expansive declarations about love and support and commitment to peanuts.

Summary: Fun! Not where I'll go first to see this duo perform, but definitely worth the watching.

Stars: 3.75 of 5, rounded awkwardly due to the fact that every scene with Linda and the Potters rates an automatic 5 out of 5 but I just can't commit to a 4

#15: Two for the Road

Starring: Albert Finney, Audrey Hepburn
Dir: Stanley Donen (1967)

Such a cute scene!!

I felt pretty nicely neutral about this movie after I finished it. It was nowhere near getting New Favorite status, but it was plenty charming.
Bad: Albert Finney's Humphrey Bogart impersonations. A lot of the emphasis on sex that might have been fresh at the time seemed too heavy-handed at certain points in the movie. Mainly the middle third, I think, where I felt like there wasn't a single scene in which exactly where the rocks in Mark and Joanna's marriage were wasn't being defined... which is mainly a problem because to me Audrey Hepburn is too ladylike to have a sex life. At all. The end.
Good: I liked the chance to see Audrey Hepburn in a different kind of role than those I was already familiar with. She was equally impressive as both young and old Joanna - I really loved how she managed to appear totally believable at both ends of the spectrum. The young Joanna is so naive and bubbly and cute, while the older one is jaded, spoiled, and resentful, but the way Audrey plays it there is still plenty of continuity.
Albert Finney was a little less dynamic - his main thing was surprising me (generic viewer person) with how much he actually loved his wife, even after he'd said something heartless, and just when it seemed like he was about to leave for good.

Much has been made of Audrey's outfits in this movie, too, but blah blah blah I think she's adorable no matter what she wears and that is pretty much that.

Summary: The cheery appeal of a couple romping through Europe was this movie's main draw for me at first, but as it progressed I just loved watching Audrey Hepburn do a million different things. Princess Ann she is not.

Stars: 3 of 5