And even more decisions -- my plan for TCM Film Festival 2017

I consider myself extremely fortunate to be off to sunny LA next week:  airline ticket, hotel, and festival pass are all ready to go--Hollywood, here I come!  My brain doesn't feel as fortunate at the moment, as I just completed going through the schedule day by day, time slot by time slot, trying to plan what films and events I'll attend.  Those of you who've attended the festival know that the struggle is real.  Last year, I did pretty well -- see my plan here and my post-conference blog report here.  Despite the pre-conference teeth-gnashing, I did find the exercise very helpful in minimizing the daily struggle once in Hollywood, and I'm hoping for the same result this year!

A post about the festival would not be complete without a mention of the patriarch of the network, the eminent Mr. Robert Osborne, who sadly passed away earlier this month at age 84, and will be sorely, sorely, missed.  He was the voice and face of TCM for so many years.  I was glad I had the opportunity to see him live at my first #TCMFF in 2013.  It's been announced that this year's festival is dedicated to Mr. Osborne's memory.  Good for them.

In reviewing the schedule and making selections, my general strategy is to program for myself a combination of the following -- a healthy dose of 'lesser-known' films for which this is a great opportunity; 'gap-filling' -- seeing classics that I'd missed until now; followed by old favorites that I would be thrilled to see on the big screen, and finally unique explorations of film history that the festival offers.  So here is my *tentative* plan for the festival. 

Thursday, April 6, PM
Early Show:  Thursday is opening night, and unless we move up considerably on the waiting list for the "Essential" pass, I doubt we'll be seeing Sidney Poitier's appearance for the screening of In the Heat of the Night.  Bummer!  There are some great films programmed in parallel, and I've seen all of them and don't have a strong desire to see them again this year (Some Like it Hot, Jezebel, Love Crazy) so the film history lover in me is thinking about going to the "Dawson City: Frozen Time" screening, in which selections of over 500 films that were lost but preserved due to being frozen under an old hockey rink near the Arctic Circle(!) will be shared.  I'm still on the overall fence on this so could be talked into Love Crazy (1941) with a favorite comedy team of William Powell and Myrna Loy.  

Late Show:  No question here, it's Harold and Maude.  Never seen this 1971 classic about May-December romance and am excited for it.  I'll be guzzling coffee beforehand.

Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon as Harold and Maude

Friday, April 7, AM

So now that we are initiated, the marathon begins.  At the nine-o'clock hour, I still need to decide between Rafter Romance (1933) starring Ginger Rogers before she teamed with Fred Astaire, and Cry, The Beloved Country (1952) with honoree Sidney Poitier.

Late morning it's Beat the Devil (1953), which spoofs the international caper film, starring Jennifer Jones and Humphrey Bogart, and directed by John Huston.  It's new to me, but sounds hilarious.  

Friday, April 7, PM
The first screening of the afternoon for me is likely to be Barefoot in the Park (1967), the classic based on the play by Neil Simon, starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda.  Again, filling a movie-viewing 'gap' .  The final film before dinner is likely to be my first silent of the festival, an early Ernst Lubitsch called So This is Paris (1926).  I rarely pass up the chance to see silents on the big screen with live musical accompaniment, and this is no exception.  On the piano will be Donald Sosin, who I've seen perform at my neighborhood Coolidge Corner Theatre, with his wife Joanna.  

Dana Andrews & Gene Tierney
in Laura 

My evening selections will be Vigil in the Night (1940), a hospital melodrama starring comedienne Carole Lombard in a rare dramatic role.  I heard the Lux Radio Theatre radio recording of this, which included one of my favorites, Herbert Marshall, as the doctor, and I'm eager to see the film on which it's based.  That George Stevens directed is a bonus here.  Wrapping up the evening will be the noir/mystery Laura (1944), my choice among a tantalizing line up.  I've seen it, but I'm eager to see it again.  

Saturday, April 8, AM

Likely feeling the need to get 15 more minutes of sleep, I'll start the morning at 9:15 with Stalag 17 (1953), directed by Billy Wilder, and another 'essential' I haven't yet seen.  Jeopardy host Alex Trebek will be on hand to introduce the film.  After brunch, also known as a bag of popcorn while standing in line, I'll head over to see The Last Picture Show (1971) at 12:15. I have a soft spot for Westerns since my 'Western Movie Summer' last year. Actor Ben Johnson, a noted veteran of director John Ford's films,who was late in his career, won an Oscar for his role here. And a very young Jeff Bridges also has a prominent role. Director Peter Bogdanovich got his name on the map with this film, and will be present to screen his 'director's cut' version.  I anticipate enjoying this one quite a bit. 

Ben Johnson in The Last Picture Show

Saturday, April 8, PM

In the early afternoon, I'll take a break from movies and head to Club TCM to get to know Lee Grant in a Q&A discussion with the actress, and then stick around for a special presentation of home movies of famous classic Hollywood stars.  I've heard great things about this annual featured presentation.

After a quick dinner I plan on my first pre-code film of the festival, from 1931 it's Street Scene with lovely Sylvia Sidney, and directed by the fantastic King Vidor.  

The final film of the day is Preston Sturges' Unfaithfully Yours (1948) a dark comedy starring Rex Harrison and Linda Darnell.  The 'Czar of Noir' Eddie Mueller will be introducing the film.  

Sunday, April 9 AM

Assuming I'm still alive on Sunday, you'll find me first at Cock of the Air (1931), another pre-code, independently produced by maverick Howard Hughes, OR, at the film announced as the 'TBA' of the morning if it's more enticing.  Sticking with producer Hughes' work, the film version of The Front Page, also from 1931, is calling my name for the 11:30 slot.  Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur wrote the play that inspired Hughes, and it also recently had a revival on Broadway with John Slattery, John Goodman and Nathan Lane.  It's a newsroom comedy with themes that are more than relevant today.  

Sunday, April 9, PM

Down the festival home stretch, after lunch I choose The Landlord (1970), a film with Lee Grant, whom I'll have gotten to know better from her live interview on Saturday afternoon.  The film is a 'dramedy' and directed by Hal Ashby, who also directed Harold and Maude.  If I'm in the mood for a bit of history, I might instead attend the "Republic Preserved" presentation about discoveries from 'Poverty Row' studio Republic Pictures.
At 4:30, it's time to wind things up with Detective Story (1951) with Kirk Douglas, William Bendix and Eleanor Parker, directed by William Wyler.  It will be hard to turn away from Singin' In the Rain, a picture I love but have seen recently, with Todd Fisher in attendance.  If my sentimental side wins out you'll find me there instead.

Harold Lloyd as a taxi driver, with Babe Ruth
 in Speedy

Last but definitely not least, is the classic silent clown Harold Lloyd in Speedy (1928), accompanied by the metallic sounds of the Alloy Orchestra, a group I've had the pleasure of seeing several times.  This film is perfect to kick off baseball season, as Babe Ruth, slugger and sometime movie actor, has a small role here!

After we've laughed ourselves silly, it will be time to party with all our friends, new and old, to wrap up the festival.  If I make it that far, and if I see half the films on this list, I'll consider the 2017 festival to be a success.

The Unexpected Beauty in SHANE (1953)

To celebrate the Oscar season, I'm pleased to be adding this post on George Stevens' Shane for the 31 Days Of Oscar Blogathon -- The Motion Pictures, hosted by Paula's Cinema Club, Outspoken and Freckled, and Once Upon a Screen. The film, based on the book by Jack Schaefer (1949), won the Oscar for Loyal Griggs' cinematography, and garnered another five nominations: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Palance), Best Supporting Actor (deWilde), Best Director (Stevens), and Best Screenplay (Guthrie).

Not unlike the way the mysterious title character rode unexpectedly into the lives of the Starrett family in late 19th century Wyoming, Shane, the film, sneaked up on me. As a relatively new enthusiast of classic film, I had focused most of my attention on the black and white era--the silents, the pre-codes, some screwball comedies, etc.  Yet, here was this 1950s technicolor Western, previously unknown to me, that after I first watched on a whim due to a recommendation from Netflix (!), I found myself watching multiple times.  Why?  After reflecting on this I came to the conclusion, as I'll share here, that it possesses varied elements of unexpected beauty that make viewing it a great pleasure, and no doubt contribute to its being an enduring classic.

Visual Elements
The film's lone Oscar win was for Loyal Griggs' cinematography.  Certainly the location setting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with the rugged Grand Tetons in the background, made for many beautiful vistas in the film.  In several of the outdoor shots, Griggs used a long focal-length lens that brought the mountains forward into crisp focus while keeping attention on the foreground action.

Joe and Joey Starrett in foreground, Marian Starrett doing laundry in rear,
and a wagon approaching, all set against the gorgeous Grand Teton range
near Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Beyond this, though, director Stevens' choice of focus on the earth with the muddy trenches, plentiful wildlife, and rushing streams, shown at eye or ground level, created the breathtaking beauty for me -- it was as if I were in the picture, and the picture was not a fairy tale  place but a real locale, with flesh, blood, joy, death, and new life, all commingled.  What was going to happen in the film, then, was real, and then really mattered.

Great shot using natural (stormy) lighting, and highlighting the muddy
trench at the showdown between Palance's and Elisha Cook Jr's characters

Wildlife, streams, plains and mountains from eye level

In the DVD audio commentary, George Stevens Jr. quotes comments made by his father that unlike most westerns of the time, the costumes (Edith Head) were not out of some "Western Costume Corporation" all crisp and robust, but were worn and weathered to enhance the realism.  George Stevens had worked extensively with technical adviser Joe DeYong, a deaf-mute authority on Western history, to get this as well as other details of the period exactly right--how ropes were hung, knots were tied, saddles were designed, etc (1).  From the way the film was shot, you, as viewer, felt you were there, and thus naturally had a greater emotional investment in the story.

Music
Long-time Paramount contract musician Victor Young must have reached his apex in his creating and sustaining the varied moods of the film with his music, a blend of new composition and folk tunes.  The primary theme of Shane, "Call of the Faraway Hills", is introduced during the title sequence with a short four-note trumpet fanfare, placed over the Paramount logo, that suggests a bombastic story, yet then unexpectedly relaxes into a quiet chord, followed by woodwind arpeggios, and then the strings that lead into the gorgeous plaintive melody.  The melody becomes the theme of the movie, and for the title character.  We know right away that the character seen riding his horse down into the valley is going to have an element of sadness to his story--he's not going to be the bombastic hero some may expect.  The title scenes and the accompanying music can be seen here:

Similarly, the character of Marian Starrett has her own theme, a soft melodic (3/4 or waltz time) line from the folk tune "Put Your Little Foot", indicating her essential goodness and gentility, and symbol of home and hearth.  This melody is played early in the film, when Marian is making dinner for Shane and her family, and in those interactions between her and Shane that indicate an unspoken mutual attraction.  Marian's theme (2):

This attraction is underscored in a key scene in which Shane and Marian dance together briefly at a 4th of July picnic to a melancholy western folk waltz called "Goodbye Old Paint--I'm Leaving Cheyenne."  The few times I've seen the film I found this tune stuck in my head at the end, even though it lasted less than one minute in the score.  I discovered that it's a fairly well-known cowboy tune--for a sense of this beautiful melody check this out, as performed by Roy Rogers & Dale Evans:

The Actors
Montgomery Clift, star of PLACE IN THE SUN, was an early choice of George Stevens for the role of Shane; while he would arguably have been an excellent choice, it's now hard to imagine anyone other than Alan Ladd embodying this character. Ladd was a major star at Paramount at the time, and was chosen without much hesitation by Stevens when Clift was not available. Along with his resonant baritone, Ladd had a talent for conveying his characters through evocative facial expressions--and projecting both a sinewy toughness and a melancholy tenderness, critical for many of his noir roles.  Those talents are used to great advantage for the character of Shane. There is a scene early in the film, at the dinner table, when suddenly startled by a loud noise -- Ladd goes from a sudden fear to embarrassment from what he knows is an overreaction, in about 2 seconds -- masterfully portrayed in his face and body.

Ladd was also gorgeous, and Stevens was not afraid to highlight this in the film--the camera illustrated something about this character that was perhaps a little other worldly.

The Lone Gunman after the final battle --
wistful that he won't be able to escape his past.

Stevens had the ability to create the right conditions to allow Ladd to fulfill his potential as an actor, and as a result the actor and director developed a strong mutual respect and friendship. Ladd was at a turning point in his career when he made Shane (3).  After filming wrapped, he signed up to make a few movies in Europe, and Shane was not released until two years later, Stevens working over that time to edit the film and Paramount not sure what they had.  (Widescreen was also just coming into vogue and this caused a controversy at the time of the film's release, and beyond--read about that here.)  By the time the film was released to great acclaim, Ladd had committed to leave Paramount for Warner Bros., where he hoped to exert more control over his film choices as well as to command a greater salary.  It is largely accepted that such were the politics that resulted in Paramount not promoting Ladd for a best actor Oscar nomination for Shane.  For these reasons Ladd's career really didn't benefit from his exceptional turn in Shane, but there were positives.  He gained a long-term friend in Van Heflin; and, with his entire family on location, 16-year old son and future award-winning producer Alan Ladd Jr. relished the opportunity to see a first class production up close, and was an avid student (3).

At the beginning of the film

Jean Arthur was perhaps an odd choice to play the role of Marian Starrett -- she was nearly 50 at filming, eight years older than Van Heflin and 13 years older than Ladd.  Once again, Stevens recognized her potential to demonstrate the right blend of pioneer-woman ruggedness and loveliness.  With the right make-up, and soft focus close-ups, and despite a poor wig choice, Arthur was radiant as Marian.  Over the course of the movie, she is shown in progressively more feminine clothes, perhaps highlighting the feelings that Shane stirred in her.  This was the last film Arthur made, retiring to periodic stage and television appearances.

Wearing her wedding dress later in the film (with Heflin)

Academy award nominee Jack Palance was terrific as the personification of evil, and perhaps the only two-dimensional character.  Dressed in mostly black, was he meant to be the devil?  Nine-year-old Oscar nominee Brandon deWilde, as the Starrett's young son, Joey, from whose eyes much of the story is presented, is also wonderful.  In common criticisms of the film many find his portrayal too cloying (his adoration of Shane) or two annoying (he often runs around yelling "bang! bang!" over the adult dialogue).  Well, that IS annoying, but what nine year old kid isn't going to annoy, or hero-worship? A breakthrough performance for someone who went on to have a solid career, though one cut short by a death in car accident at age 30.

Speaking without Words 
For me particularly, one of the most satisfying pleasures in this movie is the conveyance of character and relationships with elegant understatement:  The nature of Shane's past is conveyed only obliquely--for example, the reaching for his gun defensively when startled by a loud sound; his references to young Joey that 'you can't live with a killing'.  In fact, only intuition drives Joe and Marian Starrett to trust and accept Shane into their home without knowing anything about him, other than his apparent strength, need for companionship, willingness to help them in domestic tasks and to stand up to the antagonists.  Roger Ebert, in his Great Movies essay on the movie, shared his fascination with the psychological complexity of Shane, and observed, "Looked at a certain way, the entire story of "Shane" is simply a backdrop against which the hero can play out his own personal repression and remorse" and "Shane is so quiet, so inward, so narcissistic in his silent withdrawing from ordinary exchanges, that he always seems to be playing a role.  A role in which he withholds his violent abilities as long as he can, and then places himself in a situation where he is condemned to use them, after which he will ride on, lonely, to the next town."

There is beauty in portrayal of the chaste relationship between Shane and Marian.  Not a single word or touch passes between them beyond what is necessary, but rather, only looks, and later, motivations for action, can convey the depth of their feelings.  Because of the need to establish their feelings without words, Stevens set up some gorgeous shots of the two of them.  This is one, in two mirror image shots the two contemplate each other:

Marian  (Arthur) and Joey (deWilde) look at Shane from the inside (we see this from Shane's POV)

The mirror image shows Shane's upper body almost ghost-like outside, from Joey's POV

.

The two men working to remove the troublesome stump

Much is made, and rightly so, of the relationship between Shane and young Joey, but I'd like to highlight the kinship that forms between Shane and Joe Starrett, played warmly and affably by Van Heflin, which comes to life mostly with looks and actions. The two men are bonded in work, in family, and in mission against the antagonistic ranchers. Early on, Shane takes it upon himself to start chopping away at a tree stump that has been in a troublesome location on the homestead. Starrett joins him and the two men succeed, together, in accomplishing this goal, with almost no dialogue.  Later the two men join forces with their fists against the enemy mob -- there is a great shot where the two glance at each other with broad smiles as the tide of the brawl begins to turn their way, but only as a result of their teamwork.  When Shane rides away at the end of the film, we are sad that his relationships with all three Starretts, young Joey, Marian, and Joe, will now be relegated to the past.

A brief moment to relish their teamwork during the big brawl

The familial relationships among the Starretts, and the strength of the relationships among the settlers in the valley, are similarly established with expert understatement, but are felt strongly by the audience, especially in contrast to the unease and wariness between the families and the ranching cohort.

The Message
On the surface the plot of Shane pits the 'good guys' vs. 'bad guys' and conflict is resolved by intimidation, fists, and then guns, in conventional Western fashion.  But rather than glorifying the use of weapons or violence, the film surprises in that it is arguably an elegy for the inability of humans to find other solutions.  Director Stevens experienced guns in war during his time in WWII, and came back disturbed that afterward German children idolized American soldiers and cowboys with their rampant gunplay.  He said about this film "I wanted to show that a .45, if you pull directly in a man's direction, you destroy an upright figure....we wanted to indicate the violence of the West for what it was.... (the film) was a Western, but it was really my war picture.  When you ask a man to fight and to take a life, you not only ask him to risk his own life but you ask him to make a great sacrifice of his moral ideals." (1)
A bit of dialogue illustrates this:

Marian Starrett: Guns aren't going to be my boy's life!

Shane: A gun is a tool, Marian; no better or no worse than any other tool: an axe, a shovel or anything. A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it. Remember that.

Marian Starrett: We'd all be much better off if there wasn't a single gun left in this valley - including yours.

near the end of the film...

Shane (to Joey):  Tell your mother...that there aren't any more guns in the valley.

I attribute my enjoyment of Shane to the beauty inherent in so many elements of its film-making.  Others have called it poetic --perhaps a different way of naming the concept--, notably Woody Allen, for whom it is a favorite film.  He said about the film: ''If you were asking me, I would say that 'Shane' achieves a certain poetry ...for whatever reason, probably because Stevens himself had some of the poet in him.'' (4)  Still others find many other reasons to connect with the film, and perhaps it leaves others flat.  I just know that I'm thrilled to have discovered it, and mark it among my growing list of favorites on this classic film journey of discovery.

Director George Stevens (center) with his actors Ladd and Heflin

Ladd, Arthur and Heflin on set

Shane will air on TCM on Sat., April 2nd at 8:00 PM Eastern.

Numbered References:
(1) Mary Ann Moss, Giant:  George Stevens, a Life on Film;  (2) Timothy E. Scheurer, Music and Mythmaking in film: Genre and the Role of the Composer; (3) Marilyn McHenry & Ron DeSourdis, The Films of Alan Ladd; (4) Woody Allen on Shane: NY Times Article by Rick Hyman, Aug 3, 2001.