Tonight's Movie: The Public Enemy (1931)

I watched the early James Cagney classic THE PUBLIC ENEMY for the first time thanks to reviewing the new Blu-ray set Ultimate Gangsters Collection: Classics, just released on May 21st.

THE PUBLIC ENEMY provided a star-making role for James Cagney, who plays Tom Powers. Tom comes from a poor background and achieves a certain level of "success" as a racketeer during Prohibition, but ultimately his story proves that crime just doesn't pay.

The plot of this 83-minute film is a bit draggy from time to time, yet it contains many arresting, iconic moments which make it must viewing. Cagney smashing grapefruit in Mae Clarke's face, picking up Jean Harlow while driving down the street, staggering through the rain on a mission of vengeance -- it's all here, as the viewer watches the creation of a career and a genre.

Director William A. Wellman and cinematographer Dev Jennings create some simply unforgettable shots; I think my favorite was Cagney walking straight toward the camera in the final action sequence. The picture as seen on this new Blu-ray is quite stunning at times, particularly during the opening credits and some of the outdoor scenes; the picture is so detailed that I was momentarily distracted noting Jean Harlow's false eyelashes.

The ladies in the cast include not only Harlow and Clarke but frequent Cagney costar Joan Blondell, here playing the girlfriend of his best friend (Edward Woods). For Harlow and Blondell it would be onward and upward from here; Clarke didn't achieve their level of success but remained a steadily working actress for decades.

According to the very interesting featurette on the disc, Cagney was originally slated for Woods' role, but when he stole THE MILLIONAIRE (1931) in a supporting role, the actors' parts were switched. It's very difficult to imagine the film having been made without Cagney's energy and dynamism in the central role.

The cast also includes Beryl Mercer, Donald Cook, Leslie Fenton, Robert Emmett O'Connor, Sam McDaniel, and Helen Parrish.

In addition to the new Blu-ray, THE PUBLIC ENEMY has previously had a standard DVD release as part of the Warner Gangsters Collection, Vol. I and a TCM Greatest Gangsters Collection. It also had a couple different releases on VHS.

This key film of the pre-Code era is very much worth seeing. Thanks to Warner Bros. for making this Blu-ray set available for review; further details on the set are posted here.

Tonight's Movie: White Heat (1949)

I'd long resisted seeing Raoul Walsh's WHITE HEAT, thinking the intense, violent story of gangster Cody Jarrett (James Cagney) wouldn't really be my kind of movie.

However, in recent years I've gained increasing appreciation for several of the cast members, including Edmond O'Brien, Steve Cochran, and Virginia Mayo in addition to Cagney, and so I was quite enthused when I had the opportunity to review the film as part of the new Blu-ray set Ultimate Gangsters Collection: Classics, released this week on May 21st.

My verdict on WHITE HEAT: It's a terrific movie which grabs the viewer from the kinetic opening train robbery to the explosive "Top of the world, Ma!" finale. I thoroughly enjoyed it. There are superb performances by the entire cast; it's hard to believe, in retrospect, that Cagney and Mayo didn't rate Oscar nominations.

Cagney's Jarrett is a psychopathic killer who thinks nothing of ordering one of his henchmen to basically "put down" another of the gang who is too seriously injured to travel. Cody is married to the gorgeous if rather uncouth Verna (Mayo), but his heart really belongs to his mother (Margaret Wycherly), to whom he has a strong fixation. And, as it happens, Verna is making eyes behind Cody's back with his lieutenant, Big Ed (Cochran).

Cody develops a plan to escape a murder rap by confessing to a minor crime in another part of the country, and the feds, led by Philip Evans (John Archer), decided to send an undercover detective (O'Brien) into prison to bunk with Cody, win his trust, and solve the train robbery and murders.

As expected, Cagney is completely entertaining in a no-holds-barred performance as Jarrett, but he's also surrounded by a deep cast who are all on the top of their games. Edmond O'Brien is subdued yet quick-thinking and confident as the FBI man on the inside of the prison, and he gives the audience someone to identify with and root for amidst a sea of lowlifes. O'Brien certainly has great gangster/noir credentials, which also include THE KILLERS (1946), D.O.A. (1950), and 711 OCEAN DRIVE (1950).

Verna is glamorous on the surface, but Mayo bravely allowed her character to be filmed in an unflattering light, including a scene where she's snoring! Verna has an interesting trajectory, wanting to leave Cody but giving up on the idea in order to live; she then hits the bottle.  Mayo captures Verna's pathetic side along with her more calculating and lethal aspects. Cochran likewise makes a strong impression as Big Ed, who thinks he's smart but unfortunately isn't quite smart enough to match wits with Cody.

Released in the late '40s, this gangster film crosses into noir territory, particularly in the scary, shadowy nighttime sequence where Cody goes after Verna and Big Ed. At times the movie is almost a docu-noir; since I love procedurals, the depiction of how law enforcement follows Cody using radio waves was fascinating.

WHITE HEAT was filmed in black and white by Sid Hickox. The screenplay of this 114-minute film was by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts.

The supporting cast includes Fred Clark, Wally Cassell, and Paul Guilfoyle, who meets his end late in the movie in one of the film's more memorable scenes; it's a great example of less being more. No blood, no guts, but wow, that moment with Jarrett "letting some air in" to the car trunk stays with you.

The Blu-ray print is absolutely gorgeous. The film is a visual pleasure as well as dramatically compelling.

In addition to the new Blu-ray, WHITE HEAT has previously had a standard DVD release as part of the Warner Gangsters Collection, Vol. I and a TCM Greatest Gangsters Collection. It's also had multiple releases on VHS.

The film and the Blu-ray are both highly recommended. More details on the Blu-ray set are posted here. Thanks to Warner Bros. for making the collection available for review.

Blu-ray Set Review: Ultimate Gangsters Collection: Classics

On May 21st Warner Bros. released a terrific new Blu-ray set, Ultimate Gangsters Collection: Classics.

The set contains four true classics of the genre: LITTLE CAESAR (1931), THE PUBLIC ENEMY (1931), THE PETRIFIED FOREST (1936), and WHITE HEAT (1949).

Two of the films, THE PUBLIC ENEMY and WHITE HEAT, star James Cagney, while LITTLE CAESAR made Edward G. Robinson a star and THE PETRIFIED FOREST stars Humphrey Bogart.

All four of these films were newly remastered for Blu-ray, and they look wonderful, especially WHITE HEAT. Of all the films in the set, this is the one that really blew me away, in terms of both the film itself and the Blu-ray print quality. I only own a handful of Blu-ray discs and really enjoyed seeing just how good a classic film can look on Blu-ray.

Each disc imports the plentiful extras from the standard DVD releases of a few years ago. University of Southern California Cinematic Arts professors Rick Jewell and Drew Casper provide commentary tracks on LITTLE CAESAR and WHITE HEAT, respectively, while Bogart biographer Eric Lax provides commentary for THE PETRIFIED FOREST and Robert Sklar does the honors for THE PUBLIC ENEMY.

Additional extras include featurettes and Leonard Maltin hosting the "Warner Night at the Movies" with shorts, newsreels, and cartoons preceding each feature film. The featurettes are very worthwhile, with insights from experts including Martin Scorsese, Drew Casper, Alain Silver, Andrew Sarris, and more. I particularly enjoyed Drew Casper's comment in the WHITE HEAT featurette that gangster films allowed the audience a vicarious "walk on the wild side."

The Ultimate Gangsters Collection also includes a standard DVD containing the 2008 documentary PUBLIC ENEMIES: THE GOLDEN AGE OF THE GANGSTER FILM. Having seen it a couple of years ago, I didn't rewatch it for this review; I recall it as being enjoyable though somewhat overlong, clocking in at an hour and 45 minutes according to IMDb.

A very nice plus new to the Blu-ray collection is a beautifully produced 32-page booklet which provides brief background and thoughts on each film, along with some very well-chosen photos.

I'd previously only seen one of the films, LITTLE CAESAR, which I reviewed after watching the standard DVD in February. The Blu-ray version looks great.

I've written full-length reviews for WHITE HEAT and THE PUBLIC ENEMY which are being posted simultaneously with this review of the overall set; a separate review of THE PETRIFIED FOREST will also be posted in the near future, and I'll update this post with the link as soon as it's available.

The Ultimate Gangsters Collection: Classics can be purchased online from the WB Shop.

It can also be found at Amazon, Deep Discount, and Barnes & Noble.

For those who may be interested, Warner Bros. simultaneously released another Blu-ray set, Ultimate Gangsters Collection: Contemporary.

Thanks to Warner Bros. for providing a review copy of this excellent set.

Quick Preview of TCM in August: Summer Under the Stars

The complete list for the actors to be celebrated in the annual Summer Under the Stars festival on TCM this August is now available!

Here are the actors to be celebrated this August, in date order:

Humphrey Bogart

Doris Day

Alec Guinness

Mary Boland

Charlton Heston

Joan Fontaine

Fred MacMurray

Ramon Navarro

Steve McQueen

Lana Turner

Henry Fonda

Catherine Deneuve

Mickey Rooney

Bette Davis

Gregory Peck

Ann Blyth

Wallace Beery

Natalie Wood

Randolph Scott

Hattie McDaniel

William Holden

Maggie Smith

Elizabeth Taylor

Charles Coburn

Clark Gable

Jeanne Crain

Martin Balsam

Shirley Jones

Glenda Farrell

Kirk Douglas

Rex Harrison

This is a terrific list, with many personal favorites including MacMurray, Fontaine, Blyth, Scott, and Crain.

I'm especially happy that TCM is honoring Crain as TCM has to make extra efforts to obtain many of her films, given that she spent the majority of her career at 20th Century-Fox. I'm excited about GUNS OF THE TIMBERLAND (1960), a movie she made with Alan Ladd which I've never seen; it was released by Warner Bros.

I'm also glad to see an early Joan Fontaine film I've never seen on her list, MUSIC FOR MADAME (1937). And ESCAPE (1948), with Rex Harrison and Peggy Cummins, looks interesting too.

Gregory Peck's day will include the rarely seen THE MACOMBER AFFAIR (1947)! It's a very interesting movie costarring Joan Bennett and Robert Preston.

The complete official schedule isn't available yet, but many of the titles are now listed at the TCM discussion forum.

For anyone who's curious about which actors have been part of Summer Under the Stars in recent years, here are the lists for 2010, 2011, and 2012.

I'll be posting more details on the August schedule at the end of July. In the meantime, Eleanor Parker is the Star of the Month for June and Paul Henreid will be celebrated in July.

Tonight's Movie: Kismet (1955) at the TCM Classic Film Festival

As I mentioned in my overview of the last day of the TCM Classic Film Festival, KISMET proved to be an unexpected highlight of the weekend. Of all the wonderful movies I enjoyed at the festival, KISMET was the one that moved me to tears of joy.

Ann Blyth discussed the film with Robert Osborne prior to the screening, as seen below in these photographs courtesy of TCM.

Ann said that on the set "There was beauty everywhere," yet she was surprised to find director Vincente Minnelli curiously disengaged from the making of KISMET. She had been excited to work with Minnelli, but she believed he had not been interested in KISMET and was very much focused instead on the upcoming LUST FOR LIFE (1956).

Ann said that it had been odd to play Howard Keel's daughter, especially as they had just played opposite each other in ROSE MARIE (1954), but she felt that he pulled off making the age difference believable thanks to makeup and his performance. I concur with her opinion.

She closed by saying that she's had a blessed life, and she expressed gratitude to the audience for all of their support over the years. She is truly a lovely person, inside and out.

Below, my own photograph taken from the audience.

At the press conference prior to the start of the festival, Robert Osborne had shared that KISMET wasn't his first choice to show at the festival as part of the tribute to Ann, but it was the only one of Ann's MGM musicals which could be obtained in a nice-looking print. He added that Ann really likes KISMET so it worked out well.

As I wrote previously, I'm an MGM musicals fan but had only seen KISMET once, years ago, and not been very impressed, other than enjoying the singing. However, when I saw it at the festival, it was the right movie at the right time. All it took was for the CinemaScope print to start running, with the gorgeous music playing during the opening credits, and I was moved to tears, something I would experience again more than once during the movie.

This story of a beggar (Keel) whose lovely daughter Marsinah (Blyth) marries a prince (Vic Damone) still isn't a perfect movie...it's hard to believe that the director of visually sumptuous films such as MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944), YOLANDA AND THE THIEF (1945), and many more created a film that looks pretty bland and "brown" much of the time. Blyth's comments about Minnelli's detachment seem to provide the explanation for that aspect.

Hugh Fordin's classic book on MGM's storied Freed Unit confirms Ann's account, providing the information that not only was Minnelli focused on LUST FOR LIFE, he had protested that he hated KISMET and didn't want to make the movie.

I'm also not a fan of Jack Cole's choreography in this film; it just doesn't work for me. Part of the issue may be that none of the lead characters dance, but I just didn't go for the style here. I'm hard-pressed to think of another film where I actually dislike the dance numbers.

That said, I was completely swept away by the singing of Keel, Blyth, and Damone, and this time around I also appreciated Dolores Gray's performance as Lalume. The music was absolutely glorious, with many highlights including "Baubles, Bangles and Beads," "Night of My Nights," "Not Since Nineveh," "And This is My Beloved," and especially my favorite, "Stranger in Paradise." For a musical fan such as myself, "Stranger in Paradise" is a deeply moving scene of musical beauty.

The movie left me with the unique "high" I get from MGM musicals. I was so glad I gave it another chance on a big screen! The entire viewing experience, including the preceding interview with Osborne and Blyth, was very special for me.

The supporting cast includes Ted de Corsia, Sebastian Cabot, Jay C. Flippen, Monty Woolley, Mike Mazurki, and Jack Elam.

IMDb indicates that Stanley Donen did uncredited directing work on the film, which runs 113 minutes. It was filmed by Joseph Ruttenberg.

KISMET was released on DVD in the set Classic Musicals From the Dream Factory, Vol. 3. It can be rented from ClassicFlix.

It also had a release on VHS.

KISMET will be shown on Turner Classic Movies on August 16, 2013. I believe this will be a day celebrating Ann Blyth as part of the annual Summer Under the Stars festival. The trailer is at the TCM website.

Around the Blogosphere This Week...

...will not appear this weekend.

I spent most of Sunday walking many miles at Disneyland as our family team competed in the MouseAdventure Musical game. We had a great time and are looking forward to the results being published later this week.

If you missed last week's big link roundup, it can be found here.  The roundup will return Memorial Day weekend!

There's lots of blogging coming in the near future, including reviews of more films from the TCM Classic Film Festival, a photo post on my recent visit to Monument Valley, a review of the new book THREE BAD MEN: JOHN FORD, JOHN WAYNE, WARD BOND, and a review of a new Blu-ray set, Ultimate Gangsters Collection: Classics.

Have a great week!

Tonight's Movie: Alias Boston Blackie (1942)

ALIAS BOSTON BLACKIE is the third film in the long-running series starring Chester Morris as a reformed safecracker. It's an enjoyable mystery set during the yuletide season.

This time around Blackie takes a group of performers to entertain at a prison on Christmas Eve. The movie's off to a fun start when it becomes apparent that the bus driver is none other than Lloyd Bridges in a nonspeaking bit part -- one of 25 films Bridges appeared in which were released in 1942!

Having seen Lloyd Bridges this year in a very memorable role in TRY AND GET ME (1950), it's fun to see him when he was just starting out. It's also fun if the viewer knows that Larry Parks, who plays a prison inmate who escapes on the bus, was Bridges' closest friend. Bridges was best man when Parks married Betty Garrett, and she later became the godmother of Beau Bridges.

But enough trivia and back to the story! Parks plays Joe, who was sent up the river for a murder he didn't commit. Joe's sister Eve (Adele Mara) is one of the chorus girls Blackie takes to entertain at the prison. Needless to say, it's up to Boston Blackie to find the real murderer and clear Joe's name.

The movie is a well-paced 67 minutes, and the Christmas touches here and there make it a bit different from the usual series mystery. This would be a fun "outside the box" title for TCM to show at Christmastime. Jacqueline looked further at the Christmas angle in a post last December at Another Old Movie Blog.

Chester Morris gives another assured performance as Boston Blackie. Morris enjoyed doing magic tricks off the screen, and his abilities in that regard surely add an extra-smooth touch to Blackie's expertise removing handcuffs and pulling other sleight-of-hand tricks.

The usual series regulars are along for the adventure, including Richard Lane as Inspector Farraday, Walter Sande as Detective Matthews, Lloyd Corrigan as Blackie's friend Arthur, and George E. Stone as Blackie's sidekick, the runt.

Adele Mara appeared as Rita Hayworth's sister in YOU WERE NEVER LOVELIER (1942) the same year ALIAS BOSTON BLACKIE was released; as a matter of fact, Larry Parks had a small role in that film too.  Mara is seen here at the right in a YOU WERE NEVER LOVELIER still along with Hayworth, Leslie Brooks, and Catherine Craig. Mara later married TV writer-producer Roy Huggins of MAVERICK and THE ROCKFORD FILES. Her brother, Luis Delgado, was James Garner's longtime stand-in and assistant.

This is the first of three Boston Blackie films directed by "B" movie specialist Lew Landers. I've been enjoying catching up with Landers' films in recent months; a complete list of Landers reviews can be found at the end of this post. Landers keeps the story moving along, including an entertaining chase scene with cars careening around the city streets of the Columbia backlot.

A small number of BOSTON BLACKIE films have been released on MOD DVD-Rs from Sony/Columbia, but this does not appear to be one of them.

Previous BOSTON BLACKIE reviews: MEET BOSTON BLACKIE (1941) and CONFESSIONS OF BOSTON BLACKIE (1941).

Films directed by Lew Landers which have previously been reviewed at this site: NIGHT WAITRESS (1936), WITHOUT ORDERS (1936), FLIGHT FROM GLORY (1937), THEY WANTED TO MARRY (1937), THE MAN WHO FOUND HIMSELF (1937), DANGER PATROL (1937), DOUBLE DANGER (1938), CRASHING HOLLYWOOD (1938), SKY GIANT (1938), SMASHING THE RACKETS (1938), TWELVE CROWDED HOURS (1939), CONSPIRACY (1939), STAND BY ALL NETWORKS (1942), THUNDER MOUNTAIN (1947), DAVY CROCKETT, INDIAN SCOUT (1950), and MAN IN THE DARK (1952).

The TCM Classic Film Festival: Day Four

All too soon it was Sunday, the final day of the TCM Classic Film Festival.

For me it was another great day spent with packed audiences...

...in the Chinese Multiplex theaters.

It was a day for me to look with fresh eyes at three films I'd seen previously, and it was also a second opportunity for me to see both Norman Lloyd and Ann Blyth, who had made appearances on the previous day.

Sunday started off seeing Blyth in the MGM musical KISMET (1955).

Although I've been a huge fan of MGM musicals since childhood, I'd previously only seen KISMET once, and never on a big screen.

Prior to the movie Robert Osborne interviewed Ann Blyth, as seen in my own photo...

...and a pair of photos courtesy of TCM:

My previous viewing of KISMET, roughly 20 years ago, had not left me with very positive memories, other than the singing of Blyth, Vic Damone, and Howard Keel, but I wanted to take advantage of another opportunity to see Ann Blyth, as well as the chance to see this CinemaScope film as it was meant to be seen.

As it turned out, KISMET was an unexpected highlight of the festival for me, which left me with a real "movie musical high." I'm so glad I chose to see it!

I'll be sharing more about Ann's comments and my thoughts on the film in a full-length review of KISMET in the near future. (Update: Here it is.)

Right after KISMET I got in line for IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934). I'd seen this multi-Oscar winner many, many times over the years, including a big screen viewing at the Vagabond Theater when I was in my teens, but it had been a long time since I last saw it.

I honestly picked IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT without a great deal of enthusiasm, simply because I've seen it so many times in years past.  But there wasn't anything else in that particular time slot I wanted to see, and I could fit it in before the next movie on the schedule. It was introduced by a film historian whose remarks, in all honesty, did not impress me as particularly insightful; I felt every other introduction I saw at the festival was excellent.

As with KISMET, I ended up very happy I'd picked IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT. I don't know when I've enjoyed it more! It had been long enough since I last watched it that the movie felt completely fresh to me, and I marveled at its perfect construction.  A real delight. Since I've never reviewed the film here on the blog, I plan a post about it in the near future, along with KISMET.

The last film of the day for me was DIAL M FOR MURDER (1954), which I previously reviewed here in 2009.

The pull for me at this screening was that it was being shown in a restored digital 3D print, and I was curious to see the film as it had originally been shot by Alfred Hitchcock.

As with Hitchcock's THE LADY VANISHES (1938) the day before, the movie was introduced by Leonard Maltin, who led off with background on the film's 3D history, and the very entertaining Norman Lloyd, who shared some general stories about his friend and colleague, Alfred Hitchcock.

These photos are courtesy of TCM:

The 3D effects were quite impressive; the opening credits seemed to be just a yard or so in front of me, and I was able to notice many interesting details, such as items on the tables in the apartment. It was a wonderful opportunity being able to see this film in 3D! I was delighted the screening was sold out, despite the competition of a restoration of Buster Keaton's THE GENERAL (1926), playing simultaneously with a live orchestra in the main Chinese Theatre.

All too soon it was time to head over to the closing night party at Club TCM at the Hollywood Roosevelt...

... where I had the chance to meet Robert Osborne and have him sign my pass:

I thanked Mr. Osborne for showing MARGIE (1946) on Christmas Eve a couple years ago and offered the suggestion that TCM obtain the rights to show 20th Century-Fox's CENTENNIAL SUMMER (1946). I was delighted when he said he'd love to show CENTENNIAL SUMMER if possible, and he mentioned the Jerome Kern score. CENTENNIAL SUMMER stars Jeanne Crain, Linda Darnell, Cornel Wilde, and Constance Bennett, and it's long been on my viewing "wish list."

I sadly said farewell to my fellow classic film bloggers, who were all so much fun to enjoy movies with in person, with promises for us all to meet again in 2014!

My tally for the festival was 11 films plus the presentation of home movies from the Academy Archives. I saw three film noir titles, three Hitchcocks, a pre-Code, a musical, a romantic comedy, and two classic dramas (in fact, though I've put MILDRED PIERCE in this category, some might classify it as film noir).  If only I could have fit in a Western too!

The top titles I wish I'd had time to see: SUDDENLY IT'S SPRING (1947), I AM SUZANNE! (1933), THE DESERT SONG (1943), and THE TALL TARGET (1951).

As I mentioned in my introductory post, the TCM Classic Film Festival was one of the happiest movie experiences of my life. I feel very fortunate that I was able to attend the festival and share the experience with my readers in detail.

I encourage anyone who's considered attending the TCM Classic Film Festival to make 2014 the year to be there!