Caftan Woman's Choice - One for February on TCM

TCMs annual 31 Days of Oscar is once again upon us and my recommendation for the month is John Ford's The Long Voyage Home from 1940 which was invited to the Oscar party with six nominations, including Best Picture, but left empty-handed after the festivities.

Ford's frequent screenwriting collaborator Dudley Nichols (Stagecoach, The Informer, The Lost Patrol, Pilgramage, Judge Priest, The Hurricane, etc.) had an idea to unite "two poets" when he suggested a film based on Eugene O'Neill's plays of the sea. Ford and Nichols visited and received full approval and co-operation from the playwright and The Long Voyage Home was born. John Ford and Darryl Zanuck of Fox had had one of their falling outs, so Ford took the project to Stagecoach producer Walter Wanger and the movie was released under the Argosy banner.

Innovative cinematographer Gregg Toland, Ford's collaborator on another Best Picture nominee of the season, The Grapes of Wrath, contributed immensely to the poetic, moody feel of The Long Voyage Home. Henry Fonda said in an interview that Ford with his unerring eye "won Oscars for his cameramen", however it is obvious from the above credit card for the film that Ford had great respect for his fellow artist.

Barry Fitzgerald, John Wayne, Thomas Mitchell
David Hughes, John Qualen, Joe Sawyer, Jack Pennick

The Long Voyage Home has a wonderful ensemble of actors who bring to life the men of the Merchant Marine steamer the Glencairn. Our first look at the crew reveals "types" in everybody's pal Driscoll (Thomas Mitchell), the boisterous Yank (Ward Bond), the philosophical Donkeyman (Arthur Shields), the secretive gentleman (Ian Hunter), the youngster (John Wayne), the sneaky Cocky (Barry Fitzgerald) and others. Note: John Wayne was coached in his Swedish accent by actress Ossa Massen.

"The best thing to do with memories is forget them."

Throughout a perilous journey transporting ammunition through the war zone of the Atlantic, fear strips away the facades to reveal the souls of the crew through their trials, longings, bravery, and folly. The Long Voyage Home is an emotional drama filmed with great sensitivity and power.

Oscar nominations and winners:

Cinematography, black and white (winner, George Barnes, Rebecca)
Effects, Special Effects (winner, The Thief of Bagdad)
Film Editing (winner, Anne Bauchens, North West Mounted Police)
Original Score (winner, Pinocchio)
Picture (winner, Rebecca)
Screenplay (winner, Donald Ogden Stewart, The Philadelphia Story)

TCM is screening The Long Voyage Home on Tuesday, February 7th at 7:45 am. Note: the film is not airing on TCM Canada. Three of the cast members, John Qualen, Joe Sawyer, and Douglas Walton were Canadian born.

Lenny's Lesson Plan #3

Using some of TCM's Essentials Jr. summer programming as a guideline, I have appointed myself Grand Poobah of my newly-minted (August 16, 2010) niece Lenny's introduction to classic film.

It is never too early to begin opening your mind to the riches of entertainment and art available to us.

Lenny, be warned, Caftan Aunt is about to go total movie geek on you in a way you haven't seen yet! This week TCM has scheduled the perfection that is 1939s Stagecoach. Why is it perfect? Number one, it is directed by John Ford. Number two, it is a western. Number three, it is a western directed by John Ford.

Storytellers are often told, "show, don't tell". Storytellers, particularly cinematic storytellers, sometimes find this rule a challenge. John Ford was not one of them. With an artist's eye, he knew where to put the camera to fill the screen with images of people and surroundings that create beauty of frame and enhance our emotional response to characters and situations.

Stagecoach is a movie filled with drama, humour, adventure, and romance. It is a story of many characters facing their individual problems and their combined danger on a trip through wild western territory. This movie is an expanded adaption by Dudley Nichols of Ernest Haycox's story Stage to Lordsburg. Screenwriter Nichols and director Ford collaborated on 16 movies. They understood each other's sensibilities and story goals.

John Ford would bring his audience into a society fully formed and through a bit of dialogue or business introduce us to characters and let us make of them what we will. An example in Stagecoach would be of the gambler Hatfield played by John Carradine. His actions and words, both bold and evasive, tell us about his character and hint at his background. We round out his life from our imaginations and those clues.

John Ford was a director who displayed a fond understanding of the characters in his films, and a respect for their triumphs. He sometimes told the stories of great accomplishments, but his deepest admiration seems to me to be for those who never give up the struggle of the every day and are sometimes allowed a victory. In your life, Lenny, you will know both struggles and victories. You share this with all humanity.

Lenny, you should know that you come from a family with a strong Fordian background going back to your great-grandfather. When you grow up and go to film school they will try to turn you into a Kubrickian. Don't you let them!