Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 157: Just Before Eve

For most film fans the name Joseph L Mankiewicz will be most familiar as the director and writer of All About Eve one of the most nominated Oscar films of all time. However one year prior to this success Mankiewicz won the directing and screenwriting awards for another film entitled A Letter to Three Wives. The three wives of the title are Jeanne Crain's Deborah Bishop, Ann Sothern's Rita Phipps and Linda Darnell's Lora Mae Hollingsworth who are all informed via a letter that one of their husbands has ran off with mutual acquaintance Addie Ross. The problem is that Addie's letter doesn't reveal which husband it is so all three women, who are about to board a boat to volunteer on a picnic for orphans, have to play the waiting game until they reach dry land. Addie Ross narrates the piece from beginning to end showing us around the neighbourhood and introducing the three women however she is never seen. In flashback we see the state of the three marriages and why the husbands may've run off with Addie. Firstly Deborah, who is married to Addie's first love Brad, a farmer's daughter who met her husband while they were both in the navy and is now nervous about meeting his friends whom she feel are in a higher class than herself. In the flashback we see her journey to her first dance with the other couples and getting so nervous that she drinks too much and ends up throwing up just as Addie turns up at the end. Next we see Rita's marriage to school-teacher George, played by Kirk Douglas, who writes for the radio and is often dominated by her boss who demands constant re-writes. George often feels emasculated by his wife who earns more than him and we flashback to a dinner party thrown in her boss' honour however she is so busy that she has forgot her husband's birthday something that Addie hasn't done giving him a record as a present. Finally Rita Mae's marriage to retail king Porter is depicted in detail showing her living in squalor next to the railway tracks and wanting to be a wife to someone of Porter's status but there is a hint that he himself is also taken with Addie as there is a picture of her on his piano. The end of the film reveals who it is that has run off with Addie and the consequences that this revelation has.

At first watching A Letter to Three Wives I felt that I was getting some soppy melodrama but once I learnt that Mankiewicz was involved and I was introduced to the characters I really got into it. I could really see elements of All About Eve in the film including the narration from someone who isn't necessary involved in all parts of the story as well as a strong female presence and the themes of advancing in social circles. Indeed the film also features two uncredited roles for All About Eve cast-members with Thelma Ritter playing the Phipps' home help Sadie who is very similar to the role of Birdie that she would play in Mankiewicz's next film while Celeste Holm was also present in voice form only giving an airy quality to the mysterious Addie. Of the six central performances I think Kirk Douglas was brilliant as the put-upon George a man who has to deal with his lot in life and the fact that his wife earns a lot more money than he does. Of the wives themselves Linda Darnell is both sexy and compelling as the woman who has come the furthest and who secretly loves her husband even though you wouldn't know it. The script is incredibly clever and the direction is masterful and while this film isn't as great as Mankiewicz's classic it is certainly a pre-cursor to what this man would produce the following year.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 151: All About Bette

So I'm in catch-up mode with three films that I watched last year but haven't yet reviewed so will start off with the absolute classic that has stayed with me long after I finished watching it.

I'm talking of course of  All About Eve a glorious film and a classic which I ashamedly hadn't watched previously. It did win the Best Picture award in 1951 but shockingly only one acting award for George Sanders' memorable performance as the bitchy journalist. The film starts with Bette Davis' Margo Channing and Celeste Holm's Karen Richards both reminiscing about the first time they met Anne Baxter's Eve Harrington as she wins an award for her acting. Karen, the wife of a scriptwriter, introduces Eve to star actress Margo who eventually hires her as an assistant despite suspicions from her current helper Birdie played with vigour by the brilliant Thelma Ritter. As the film goes on Eve plants herself into Margo's life more with the actress now becoming paranoid it seems that Eve has now become Margo's understudy later garnering rave reviews after intentionally making Margo late for a performance. Eve then starts flirting with Sanders' Addison who thinks he's figured out but then she starts lying to him about an affair she is having with Karen's wife Lloyd. Addison finally unravels Eve's backstory and then the whole thing finally comes full circle when a girl like Eve comes to her doorstep claiming admiration for her. Everything is right about All About Eve which is evident from its fourteen nominations and only six wins. It's always obvious to wax lyrical about Baxter or Davis but for me it's Celeste Holm who holds everything together by not playing a person who is part of the showbiz set and who is genuinely taken with the young innocent Eve. This is a film that demonstrates the perils of fame and what some people will do to get ahead but is presented in a way that never alienates the audience by in the end letting the characters get their just deserts. Overall a brilliant film that deserves all the accolades it picked up at the 1951 ceremony.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 115: It's All a Bit Mental

A while ago I did a course about the use of institutions, such as prisons and hospitals, in films which focused mainly on mental hospitals. One film that didn't feature was The Snake Pit which was nominated at the 1949 ceremony featuring a top notch performance by Olivia De Havilland. We are plunged straight into the action as De Havilland's Virginia wonders about her surroundings and what she's doing in what she believes in a prison. It turns out that Virginia has been committed into a mental institution and her story is told in flashback firstly by her husband Robert and then by Virginia herself. We find out about how Robert and Virginia met and then about Virginia's past engagement and her relationship with her parents. These flashbacks are transposed by Virginia's journey through the mental instution at different times she is in the most extreme ward and at other times she is in the low security ward with its strict nursing. Again we are never given all the information and don't often find why Virginia is shifted around to various cells although we can usually guess due to watch leads up to it. All the time you are wondering about the other characters most notably Dr. Kik, Virginia's original doctor who at some times is asked not to treat her hinting at something darker in his past. Overall Virginia seemingly recovers but there is still something lurking in the background that you're not 100% sure.

Most of what works about The Snake Pit can be attributed to Olivia de Havilland who is absolutely brilliant in this film. Virginia is paranoid at some points, normal at others and she guides as through all the gaps in between and really makes us relate to her plight. De Havilland was nominated for Best Actress but lost out to the brilliant Jane Wyman in Johnny Belinda. De Havilland had previously put in a great performance in Hold Back the Dawn but this was much better however it would only be a year in which she triumphed in the same category. The story is also fairly clever cutting between time periods and different wards in the institution, Virginia's realisation and ultimate conclusion are both fairly neat and I felt the need for a neat wrap up after an interesting and thought-provoking film. The male characters also don't get a good rap although Robert seems nice enough and Dr Kik is seemingly a nice guy there's always the sense that they are manipulating Virginia. But overall this was a fantastic film that I'd never previously heard of but I'm so glad that I've seen and it would certainly suit the nature of the course I was on very well.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 83: Have I Got Jews For You

We're back to the winner's enclosure again with the social commentary film that got the Best Picture award at the 1948 ceremony. The film deals with the theme of anti-Semitism something that 20th Century Fox boss Daryl F Zanuck felt strongly about at the time after being refused entry to the L.A. Country Club on account of his religion. Zanuck was approached by other studio heads, most of them being fellow Jews, to ask him not to go ahead with the project as they feared it would stir up trouble for them as well. The role of journalist Philip Green was originally offered to Cary Grant but he turned it down and Gregory Peck took the part against the advice of his agent. However in the end the film triumphed against this initial adversity and went onto win three Oscars - Picture, Director and Supporting Actress for Celeste Holm.

The plot itself looks at Peck's Green a widowed reporter who moves to New York with his son and mother to write for a new magazine. His boss tells him to write about anti-Semitism and he eventually decides to go undercover as a Jew to see how he is treated by various members of the community. Throughout the film Phil deals with several incidents including being treated differently by a doctor who is dealing with his mother's heart condition and also sees his son being bullied at school for having a Jewish father. Phil also romance's his bosses niece Kathy who is aware of his article but advices him against it. After a brief courtship they are to be married however Phil gets annoyed at Kathy when she tells members of her family about her new fiancée not being Jewish at all. Phil is again met with adversity when he tries to book a honeymoon at a posh hotel but is told that they are all booked up when they discover that he is Jewish. Phil's old friend Dave, who is Jewish, comes to stay with him while he looks for a house for him and his family however the Jewish Dave is met with adversity when he finds a lot of landlords won't rent to Jews. Kathy then reveals to Phil that there is a Gentleman's Agreement among landlords about not renting to Jews something that astonishes him. The character of Kathy is the film's most interesting as she admits to being against anti-Semitism but at the same time doesn't do anything to stop it and indeed admits to Dave that she didn't say anything when someone made an anti-Semitic joke at a dinner she had. As well as Dave the film's only other Jewish character is Elaine, Phil's new secretary, who reveals that she has hidden her religion in order to get the job and later is stunned when Phil reveals that he isn't actually Jewish. Elaine's role in the film is to show that sometimes even Jews are made to feel ashamed of themselves and want to escape the stigma attatched to be Jewish. After Phil's article comes out he is praised but at the same time wants to leave New York after breaking up with Kathy over her feelings about his article. Phil is comforted by the magazine's fashion editor Anne, a woman whom he had built up a friendship with throughout the film, who tells him that Kathy is nothing more than a hypocrite and Kathy realises why Phil was angry with her after a meeting with Dave. The film ends with Phil arriving at Kathy's apartment presumably to reconcile with her.

While not being entirely perfect Gentleman's Agreement was still a fairly enjoyable film with a direct message but one that was never hammered home. I felt that the message about anti-Semtisim wasn't as blatant as it could've been and that the cast played their roles well. Gregory Peck made Phil seem like a real human being although one who may've been a bit too worthy for his own good, he was willing to do good for all around him while at the same time encountering adversity. For me though the supporting characters were much more interesting, I'm not sure why Celeste Holm won the Oscar but her character is a breath of fresh air, she is a woman in a man's world and floats through the room dishing out insults and at the same time becomes a shoulder to lean on for Phil. Also worth a mention are John Garfield and Anne Revere who were both compelling as Dave and Phil's mother respectively. However my favourite performance came from Dorothy McGuire as the mixed up Kathy, her journey is the film's most interesting and Mcguire gives a layered performance that earned her an Oscar nomination. Overall a well-written and well-acted message film that I'm glad won the Best Picture award because it proved it initial critics wrong if nothing else.