Life during wartime: Paris -v- Rome

Two contrasting looks at life in occupied cities during World War Two: Paris in IS PARIS BURNING? and Rome in THE SCARLET AND THE BLACK.

I have been on a Rene Clement jag recently, catching up with KNAVE OF HEARTS (MONSIEUR RIPOIS), THE SEA WALL, PLEIN SOLEIL and LES FELINS (THE LOVE CAGE) [all reviewed here] so I finally got around to that 1966 war movie IS PARIS BURNING? which he directed efficiently, with that huge cast of extras and mixing in newsreel footage cleverly with the action. Scripted by Gore Vidal and Francis Ford Coppola and shot in widescreen monochrome it should have made for an interesting, involving story, but sadly not. It was not a hit at the time and one can see why now.
The dvd blurb states: "As the Nazi jackboot maches through Europe, the freedom fighters of Paris mount a brave resistance. An insane and desperate Hitler sends a top general to determine if the Nazis can hold the city, if not Paris will be burned. This epic film boasts an international cast of screen legends .... and is a staggering portrait of heroism and brotherhood and one of the most rivetting stories to come out of World War II."



In fact the narrative is wildly confusing, there seems to be interminable sequences of shoot-ups and tanks catching fire, tension is minimal. This was the era of the big budget all-star war movie: Darryl Zanuck's THE LONGEST DAY, Carl Foreman's THE VICTORS, Carlo Ponti's OPERATION CROSSBOW, and this co-production for Paramount, followed by OH WHAT A LOVELY WAR, THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN and A BRIDGE TOO FAR., among others. This one though wasn't one we rushed to see back in 1966 despite the cast.

American stars pop up for a moment: Kirk Douglas, Glenn Ford, Robert Stack as military brass; Anthony Perkins and George Chakiris (just glimpsed at the end) as foot soldiers and as for the natives: there is a moment with Simone Signoret as a cafe owner, Montand in a tank, Delon and Belmondo in a couple of talky scenes (they get a moment together to showcase their first teaming); Leslie Caron is effective in a harrowing sequence as the woman trying to save her husband from being deported in a crowded train to a concentration camp. Best are Orson Welles as the Swedish ambassador and Gert Froebe as the German commandant tasked by Hitler to burn Paris if the Allies get too near .... its all efficiently done but would at 160 minutes have been a pain to sit through in a cinema. I dare say Clement did what he could with the material.

Much more involving and exciting is THE SCARLET AND THE BLACK, a superior telemovie from the '80s about the similar Nazi occupation of Rome and their resistance, led by Irish priest Father O'Flaherty, who was (this is a true story) based at the Vatican in 1943-45 and had been hiding downed pilots, escaped prisoners of war, and Italian resistance families. His diplomatic status in a Catholic country prevents his arrest, but O'Flaherty's activities become so large that the Nazi's decide to assassinate him the next time he leaves the Vatican. O'Flaherty continues his work in a variety of disguises. The older Peck is ideal here as we side with him playing his cat and mouse games with the Germans. His adversary is an icy Christopher Plummer as the hissable bad guy, ruthlessly determind to control Rome - a city of "priests and whores" as he tells Peck, however the proud Nazi will need a very special favour at the end. He and Peck have some splendid set-pieces, and also riveting is John Gielgud - usually content to glide through cameo roles on autopilot - as the troubled wartime pope Pius XII. Its a splendid piece of casting which Gielgud makes the most of. Good support too from the likes of Raf Vallone and Gabriele Ferzetti. Highly recommended. Directed by Jerry London, 1983.

A Matter of Life and Death

Is there a more amazing, lushly satisfying fantasy film in all of cinema than A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH? the Powell & Pressburger film from 1946 - from that mid-40s amazing run of films of theirs (COLONEL BLIMP, I KNOW WHERE I'M GOING, BLACK NARCISSUS, THE RED SHOES, and I still have to catch up with their A CANTERBURY TALE from 1943). From that opening surveying the universe and then coming down to that burning plane as pilot David Niven contemplates bailing out without a parachute and connects to the American girl (Kim Hunter) who is hearing his last words .... it all looks perfect and before that era of CGI, as photographed by ace Jack Cardiff. There is something so wonderful about '40s Technicolor - as Marius Goring as the beheaded French aristocrat puts it "We are starved of Technicolour, up there".... referring to Heaven or the world beyond the stars (an amazingly imaginative creation in monochrome, which may be happening in Niven's fevered imagination, where a celestial receptionist, Kathleen Byron, notices Niven's dead co-pilot Robert Coote waiting for him to join them, but that day's tally is one short ... we get baby-faced Richard Attenborough and Canadian Bonar Colleano joining them (as though they had just walked in from IN WHICH WE SERVE or THE WAY TO THE STARS) to literally collect their wings. So there is a celestial mistake, Niven is missing but he has fallen in love with Kim - what can the heavens do about that?

We get that amazing staircase and that heavenly tribunal, as Roger Livesey pleads for our couple. Anglo-American relations at the time are highlighted with the appearance of Raymond Massey, and its all just stupendous as this fantasy romance unspools. It’s a truly imaginative film with some of the most gorgeous use of colour I’ve ever seen. The film switches between bold color in the real world and black & white for the after life. The cast too is large and eclectic. Its a marvellous achievement to have made so soon after end of world war two. It's strange to think that the supernatural ITS A WONDERFUL LIFE was made the same year. No great coincidence: the 1940s were awash with heaven-and-earth films, but this is the best and most imaginative and romantic.

For me it confirms the Powell & Pressburger team (above) and David Lean as the two most important (British) directors of the '40s, with Carol Reed not far behind. It's a film one never tires of as there is always something new to discover.

Jazz On A Summer's Day

Totally exhilirating to re-see this classic in a sparking new HD print. Not seen it in years but its still magic - the Newport Jazz Festival in 1958 as captured by photographer Bert Stern (who later went on to do Marilyn's Last Session photos). We start with lovely images of reflections on water with those iconic titles and fonts, as Jimmy Giuffre captivates with that tune. Then some shots of Newport Rhode Island and people - young, old, hipsters, that 1958 look (very Paul Newman-Joanne Woodward) and boats and cars. It really captures that time and place.



The concert is terrific as we get Anita O'Day, Mahalia Jackson, Louis Armstrong, Giuffre and others all at the top of their game, including Dinah Washington, Chuck Berry, Gerry Mulligan, George Shearing. A lovely way to spend a summer's day - now or in 1958. Annoyingly maybe for jazz purists its not a straightforward concert film as its as much about the summer's day as about the jazz - but thats what so interesting for me, as we explore Newport RI as well as taking the music. A decade later the documentary MONTEREY POP showed the new breeed of hippie Californians enjoying the outdoors before heading off to WOODSTOCK - and then 40 years flew by!

People We Like: Jeffrey Hunter

Jeffrey Hunter (1926-1969) was one of the more attractive players of the 50s and 60s, equally at home out west (as both a cowboy or indian brave) or as a marine (those war films like HELL TO ETERNITY, IN LOVE AND WAR, NO MAN IS AN ISLAND and SOLIDER TO THE KING) or back in a business suit, as in DREAMBOAT and 1957’s NO DOWN PAYMENT with that roster of 20th Century Fox players: Patricia Owens as his wife, Joanne Woodward, Barbara Rush (his ex-wife), Tony Randall, Sheree North etc. The’50s was really his era, he was under contract to Fox until 1959 and his many movies with them included RED SKIES OF MONTANA, LURE OF THE WILDERNESS, A KISS BEFORE DYING, THE JAMES BROTHERS for Nick Ray. His signature role though remains the John Ford Warner Bros hit in 1956 THE SEARCHERS where his Martin Pawley holds his own standing up to John Wayne at his most iconic. He, Natalie Wood and Vera Miles are the 50s in aspic here. A delirious treat recently was the 1954 PRINCESS OF THE NILE with Jeff topless and in a turban in this piece of exotica with Debra Paget.

Jeff was teamed several times with that other Fox contract player Robert Wagner and there are lots of photos of them on the sets of their various movies but Hunter is hardly mentioned in Wagner’s recent memoirs – perhaps they were more rivals than friends? John Ford had a habit of testing Wagner for several roles but never gave him one (which still rankles, as per RJ's book), but he, Ford, used Hunter 3 times – THE LAST HURRAH and SERGEANT RUTLEDGE in 1960 as well as THE SEARCHERS. Jeff's Little Dog in the 1955 WHITE FEATHER, again with Wagner, is another of his better roles. Like most Fox players they were both in THE LONGEST DAY.

KING OF KINGS in 1962 for Nick Ray should have been a landmark role for him but somehow his career never regained momentum after that, there were European movies like GOLD FOR THE CAESARS but perhaps it was the 60s and a new raft of young actors were stepping out. Jeff went into STAR TREK but did not stay in it – and he died in 1969, aged 43, after complications following an operation after a fall. It’s an axiom of mine that most good-looking actors get ten years success if they are lucky and are luckier if they can then continue in lesser roles and become character actors as they get older – Michael York for instance is a case in point. Jeffrey Hunter – like Stephen Boyd or Laurence Harvey or Stanley Baker – died too young though the career was already winding down. It’s a sad end to a solid career; he comes across as a nice guy and those startling blue eyes and chiselled looks ensure Jeff will long be remembered, and THE SEARCHERS will always be playing somewhere.

Tony

If you were young in the mid-50s (I was 10) and had just missed James Dean then Tony was IT - along with the emerging Elvis. Those Universal programmers like MISTER CORY, MANY RIVERS TO CROSS, BLACK SHIELD OF FALWORTH, THE PERFECT FURLOUGH and then that run of good ones: TRAPEZE, SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, THE DEFIANT ONES, THE VIKINGS, SOME LIKE IT HOT, SPARTACUS ... it must be difficult to have five years of classics and then to have to keep going in lesser material ... but thats what actors have to do. His Josephine in SOME LIKE IT HOT (channelling Eve Arden) along with Lemmon's Daphne and Marilyn's Sugar Kane and Joan Shawlee's Sweet Sue will always be in my top 10, and we love Eric the Viking and "I am SPARTACUS" and "why would a guy want to marry a guy?" and his books are full of hilarious stories... he and Janet were just ideal, just one of his many lives. He of course worked with practically everyone: Janet, MM, Olivier... the ones with Vitti (a dim farce THE CHASTITY BELT) and Claudia (McKendrick's DON'T MAKE WAVES) were thrown away as supporting features. He also wrote the introduction to Bob Willoughby's book (below), and of course took up painting.
Tony inspires so much affection that the London "Times" devoted 9 pages to him - 2 page news story, cover picture, editional comment, 2 page obituary + 2 pages in the comment section on his life and times. No one since Katharine Hepburn got that kind of coverage at their passing!

Modesty - she's back again

The Ghost: paranoia thrillers revived

Roman Polanski's latest, THE GHOST [or THE GHOST WRITER as the American dvd is titled] splendidly revives the paranoia thriller of the '70s (like Pakula's trio KLUTE, THE PARALLAX VIEW and ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN) and also has that 'look': the metallic steel colours, creepy destinations and the feeling of not being able to trust anyone. Robert Harris's book was a terrific read and could hardly be more topical - a British ex-Prime Minister lying low while preparing his memoirs as moves are made to try him for war crimes regarding the war in Iraq.

The publishers have a problem as the first ghost-writer brought in to knock the dull manuscript into shape has been washed up dead off Martha's Vineyard where our PM and his entourage are holed up in the winter off-season. Hack writer Ewan McGregor (a tad too young perhaps?) is brought in and gets the gig and is soon on his way to the deserted USA East Coast. Kim Catterall is Amelia the brisk, rather under-written, aide who welcomes him to the bunker-like retreat as he settles down with the manuscript, which cannot leave the premises. The vistas of the gloomy retreat are nicely done, with the incessant rain and cold, and our hero is about the only guest at the empty Inn - apart from the odd man who asks if he knows Adam Lang (our PM in hiding - Pierce Brosnan is just right here with that mix of arrogance and bluff).

Slowly our un-named ghost begins to find out about what happened to his predecessor as his fears grow for his own safety. Where does the Prime Minister's wife Ruth fit into all this - Olivia Williams is also perfectly judged here ... showing the bitterness of the wife in exile, whose husband seems to be closer to his aide Amelia (Catterall). Out cycling in the rain the ghost comes across the old guy who insists the body could not have been washed up where it was found - this is a few minutes cameo by Eli Wallach, now in his 90s (in movies since the mid-50s, with memories of his Guido in THE MISFITS for one) its great to see him here, even if briefly. On using the car last used by his predecessor its satnav delivers him to that house deep in the woods with the unwelcoming professor Emmett (Tom Wilkinson, also splendid as ever). Minor quibbles here are surely that everything used by the previous ghost would have been removed by Lang's security, and can one really Google information about operatives of the CIA?



While Lang and his aides are away the ghost and the PM's wife tentatively get closer, but then the tension racks up with our ghost being tailed from the professor's house (just as his predecessor was) but Ewan is cleverer and manages to get off the ferry giving his followers the slip ... then Lang returns as events come to a head. Back in London the manuscript is now successfully published as Amelia invites the ghost to the opening and a chance remark of hers leads him to the secret contained in the manuscript. This is nicely handled in the book as the ghostwriter realises he must flee and go into hiding, but the ending seems rather rushed here - it seems improbable that a car would be waiting for him so quickly ... but the last image of the pages of the manuscript blowing away in the wind is perfectly apt, and its CHINATOWN all over again.

Polanski (I passed him in Sloane Square, Chelsea once back in the late '60s) now in his mid-70s is at the top of his form here, and no matter what else, he is one director actors will want to work with. [I still rewatch his delightful 1967 spoof DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES and of course REPULSION, CUL-SE-SAC and CHINATOWN are essential]. He assembles a terrific team here, it was filmed in Germany I believe fitting in nicely for the East Coast USA, but surely it looks under-populated - often there is nobody else around on those deserted roads and towns; but as a film it is leagues better than those tedious, boring, uninvolving so-called thrillers like MICHAEL CLAYTON which I had enough of after 40 minutes!

Robert Harris was one of prime minister Tony Blair's inner circle until leaving over the Iraq question, so he writes with knowledge of the workings of British politics, and its amusing to see the Langs as the Blairs. The book is a terrific read - literally unputdownable - and the film does it justice. The cast is just right, particularly Olivia Williams. Highly recommended then. Polanski was also involved in setting up a film of a previous highly readable Harris novel POMPEII, pity that did not happen...it just became a mini-series, it would have been fascinating seeing what Roman did with it. I have been keeping Harris' new highly praised novel LUSTRUM (more intrigue in Ancient Rome) as a holiday read but I don't think I can wait that long now...