Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 275: Fonda Family Values

Throughout these 1980s posts I've primarily been concentrating on stars from the 1970s as well as those who made it big in the current decade. But one film contained two actors whose progress we've been following for the best part of fifty years and who both won acting Oscars for the movie in question. Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn were the stars in question and On Golden Pond would be his last film and her last major role also. In it they play old married couple Ethel and Norman Thayer who spend their summers in the titular lake community where nothing really happens. Their trip coincides with Norman's eightieth birthday and this occasion prompts the couple's estranged daughter Chelsea, played by Henry's real-life daughter Jane, to join them. Chelsea brings along her new dentist boyfriend Bill and his teenage son Billy Ray the latter of whom really doesn't enjoy spending time with an old married couple. Unfortunately this is just what he's forced to do when Ethel agrees to look after the youngster while Chelsea and Bill go on holiday round Europe. The cantankerous Norman and the disenchanted Billy Ray initially clash but later bond over their shared love of fishing. Billy Ray, whose often been disregarded by other adults, comes to love the elderly couple who really appear to care for him. On her return, Chelsea is dismayed to learn of the bond that Norman has formed with Billy Ray as she feels that he was never caring enough towards her.

The relationship between Norman and Chelsea apparently mirrored that of Henry and Jane Fonda who never really saw eye to eye. In fact Jane brought the rights to the play on which the film is based as she thought her father would be perfect in the lead role. I would agree with her as Fonda adds an air of dignity to a role that would seem cliched in the hands of a lesser actor. He also shares a wonderful chemistry with Katharine Hepburn and I was surprised to discover that the two had never even met up to this point. It was clear that they got on wonderfully to the extent that Hepburn even lent Henry the hat of her late partner Spencer Tracy which he would go on to wear throughout the film. Even before learning it was based on a play, On Golden Pond felt particularly stagy and the majority of the film plays out as a collection of scenes often with just two characters talking. Thankfully director Mark Rydell has added a certain cinematic flair to proceedings with some beautiful shots of Squam Lake in New Hampshire which doubled for Golden Pond. If there was a weak link in the film that it was Jane Fonda whose scenes and presence on screen were the only occasions when On Golden Pond lapsed into melodrama. Though I'm sure it was a fairly personal project for the actress I felt she was over-performing and her pondering over whether Norman never showered her with affection just felt a little corny. Ultimately, On Golden Pond played out as the Hepburn and Fonda show which I didn't think was a bad thing. They were both fantastic and deserved their respective Oscars even though it's slightly sad that this is the last time we'll see either of them on this list. However I felt that this exploration of growing old and family life in general was a fitting song for two of the greatest performers of all time.

Next up we meet an actress who won two awards during the 1980s for her leading performances in two inspiring films.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 207: An All-Star War

Following on from How the West Was Won; we look at another ensemble action film in the form of The Longest Day. Unlike the western though, The Longest Day isn't an all-colour rambling epic but rather it's a focused study on the events that led up to the D-Day Landing. The entire film was the vision of producer Darryl F. Zanuck who employed four directors to tell every side of the story. Employing a documentary style and shot completely in black-and-white, The Longest Day sees the D-Day landings plotted by both the Germans and the Allies. Unusually for the time, the film used German and French actors to speak in their own language, rather than using English actors to put on dodgy accents a la 'Allo 'Allo. It appeared to me as if Zanuck wanted to get events as realistic as possible so had a lot of the events play out in real time. These events included the British glider missions to secure the Pegasus Bridge and the counter attack that was planned by the American paratroopers. The film itself ends with the iconic Normandy Landings as troops on both sides are quickly shot down. For me, this was where the film really got going and I felt that Zanuck had paced the movie well up to this point.

The main problem I had with The Longest Day was there wasn't any major plots, instead this was more of a docu-drama focusing on one specific event. As there were so many characters, it was impossible to keep up with who was who and a lot of famous faces popped up briefly, most-notably Sean Connery, who was just about to become a household name courtesy of a certain spy. While there are indeed some recurring plots, including one involving a card game, it is obviously the battle that takes priority and therefore this comes across as more of a documentary than a fictional piece. What I felt that Zanuck did well was the set-pieces, especially the aforementioned landings themselves, and I'm not surprised that the film won the Best Special Effects Oscar that year. I also felt the majority of the cast played their parts well, however minor they were, and really made me care about the plight of the allies. This however doesn't apply to John Wayne who, as Benjamin Vandervoot, never really convinced and just seemed to playing himself. Overall I found The Longest Day to be a gripping account of a much talked about moment in military history although one that goes on a bit. It also suffers from lack of story and far too many characters, but ultimately it's the film's visual style that's its saving grace.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 206: A Star-Studded History Lesson

As I previously mentioned in my post on The Graduate, the 1960s were definitely a decade of change when it came to film-making. At the same time, several of the old-fashioned epic style films were being made, some with bumper casts. The next two posts will deal with these star-studded epic films and we start with How the West Was Won. The film was an interesting one, as it split its story into five parts with three of these directed by Henry Hathaway and the other two by John Ford and James Marshall respectively. In addition, How the West Was Won marked itself out visually as it was filmed in a three-strip cinerama which had both post and negative affects on the viewing experience. The story itself deals with generations of the same family initially known as the Prescotts, whose daughters would both go on to marry and have children. Over time we saw how the families battled the wild rivers to get to the west, how they battled through the civil war and ultimately dealt with outlaws to claim the land for themselves. The two sisters - Eve and Lilith, had different fates with the former creating a homestead on the place where their parents died. Eve's son Zeb would later go on to fight in The Civil War and negotiate with the Native Americans. Lilith meanwhile hooks up with a gambler and inherits a run down gold mine before finally reuniting with Zeb and his growing family. The story comes full circle as the Prescott family finally settle in the west once and for all.

Seeing as it was made in 1962, How the West Was Won has a very old-fashioned feel to it and almost seems a little out of place Similarly, the big name cast are mostly wasted with John Wayne being the biggest example as his role is nothing more than an extended cameo. Indeed, the actors who have the biggest parts are Debbie Reynolds and George Peppard, neither of whom are promoted as the main stars of the piece. I felt that actors such as James Stewart, Henry Fonda and Gregory Peck popping up for two minutes did nothing to enhance the film and instead made the story feel a little flabby. That's not to say I didn't enjoy How the West Was Won and found it to be a colourful western epic which passed the time fine. The sweeping scenery and Spencer Tracy's assured narration were definitely the film's biggest strengths while I learnt a lot about the formation of America. At the same time, I was never blown away by the film and none of it really stuck with me after the DVD had finished playing. The three-strip cinerama process also made the film seem a little odd with the visible strips of paper almost looking a little messy. Overall, while not a bad film, How the West Was Won was quite unremarkable endeavour which is odd when you consider who was involved.

Next time a similar sort of film to How the West Was Won, but one that is a lot darker.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 147: Going Stir Crazy

Basically all of the films on this list are coming from either LoveFilm or various YouTube sources so if I can't reference a movie on either of those then I probably won't get to watch it. A nominee from the 1956 ceremony, Mister Roberts, was one such film which I had already banished to the unwatchable pile so imagine my surprise when it suddenly appeared on the T.V. listings for a Channel Five Saturday afternoon. Thanks to that I was able to watch the film whcih it turned out was a comedy-drama set during the final days of World War 2 on a naval Cargo Ship. To me it reminded me of The Caine Mutiny which I recently watched as it was about mundane life on a ship featuring a quartet of impressive performance from big names - Henry Fonda as Mister Roberts, James Cagney in his final MGM performance as the tyrannical Captain, William Powell in his final performance as the world-weary ship Doctor and Jack Lemmon winning the Supporting Actor Oscar here as the jovial ensign in charge of morale and laundry. For me this was one of Henry Fonda's best turns, apart of course from 12 Angry Men, playing a man who is desperate to serve properly and writes weekly letters to be let off the ship however Cagney's Captain sees him as an asset so keeps him around and he is well liked by his crew members whom he doesn't impose strict rules on. As time goes on the Captain is frustrated by Roberts and feels he isn't respecting him so he grants the crew their leave as long as Roberts tows the line and agrees with his orders. When the crew finally find out about this they decide to forge a letter from the Captain and get him transferred from the ship and he finally gets to serve in Japan the film tragically ends with the news that Roberts died when a suicide bomber killed all the crew of his new ship. While the death of your main character would usually be a downer in the case of Mister Roberts it was slightly more poignant and uplifting as he died getting what he always wanted to do and that was serve properly during the war.

I have to say I really enjoyed Mister Roberts mainly how easily it was able to demonstrate how not all men had heroic jobs during the war some of them just were there to ship cargo from one port to another and weren't happy about it. There are a lot of comic segments throughout the film demonstrating this including one where the men try and spy nurses on a nearby island while they are in the shower while one long scenes sees Fonda, Powell and Lemmon try and knock up some home-made scotch. These segments are transposed with some truly heart-wrenching moments such as Cagney opening up to Fonda about his life before he became a captain which was fairly reminiscent of Bogart's speech to his crew in The Caine Mutiny and also the scene in which Fonda goes crazy after he realises that he might not serve when peace in Europe is announced. Lemmon's performance is indeed great combining his comic timing with more dramatic moments of clarity personally his ways of getting revenge over a captain he's scared of are particularly memorable. All in all a great quartet of performances coupled with John Ford's skilled direction and a great script means that Mister Roberts is one of the better Oscar nominees never to take home the prize.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 127: My Day in Court

So finally a new decade in the Oscar challenge and we move from the tumultuous 1940s to the glorious 1950s in which the big screen came alive as Technicolor became more and more frequent and the cinemas were dominated by large, colourful epics luckily Oscar still had place in its nomination slots to honour smaller films that were well written but may've only had two or three sets to their name. And we're starting off with two such films both based in a courtroom setting.

The first of these two films is 1958 nominee Witness for the Prosecution the adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel starring Charles Laughton as the belligerent Sir Wilfred a brilliant barrister who has just returned to his chambers having suffered from health problems. It is not long before Wilfred is visited by a solicitor friend who has a new client - Leonard Vole who is accused of murdering the wealthy spinster Emily French with strong circumstantial evidence pointing towards him as the killer. The only person who can vouch for his whereabouts and act as his alibi is his German wife Christine, here played by the sultry Marlene Dietrich, but Wilfred warns that a testimony from a loving wife doesn't hold up to much. The best scenes of the film happen in the Old Bailey mainly because the set is so impressive, it had been recreated by Alexandre Trauner, and is also where the trial begins The prosecution calls several witnesses before their key witness is revealed as Christine acting as the titular Witness for the Prosecution. Anything I say from there would spoil the film and I was told specifically at the end of the film by a stern voice-over not to tell my friends anything about the film's conclusion. I will say however that I very much enjoyed Witness for the Prosecution and most of that is down to Laughton's performance a mix of drama and comedy he captures what I believe the character needed and ultimately is able to do the right thing. It is odd to see Laughton act this way after portraying a bunch of villains in the 1930s, in films such as Les Miserables and Mutiny on the Bounty, however he did display comic flare in Ruggles of Red Gap and he uses that here getting a Best Actor Nomination but ultimately losing to Alec Guinness. The other Oscar nominee here is Elsa Lanchester who plays Sir Wilfred's fussing personal nurse Miss Plimsoll with whom Wilfred clashes but by the end they have a grudging respect for what the other does while I did enjoy this performance I'm surprised Dietrich didn't get a nomination for playing her feme fatale role to great effect. Sometimes the tone doesn't feel just right, occasionally the comedy feels misjudged especially since this is a film about an old woman who has been murdered but the great ending which I didn't see coming makes up for any shifts in tone.

Also nominated at the 1958 ceremony was a film which is still my favourite of all time that being the late Sidney Lumet's classic 12 Angry Men. If you haven't seen the film then you need to as, in the words of one of my friends, it's good for you but I will indulge you with a small plot summary nonetheless. Almost all of the film takes place in a jury room in which the twelve men who make up the jury are discussing whether the boy on trial killed his father or not and if they find him guilty he will go to the chair. The boy has been raised in a slum and two witnesses attest to seeing the boy stab his father or that they heard him shout that he was going to kill him. Initially only Henry Fonda's Juror Number 8 stands up for the boy voting Not Guilty in the first round of votes so that there can be a discussion about the trial and whether all the evidence was completely accurate. Some people bring their own prejudices to the table for example one juror has a problem with people from slum backgrounds while another lets his personal issues cloud his judgment. The best thing about the film, in my opinion, is the way in which the plot unravels and the characters are given more depth as the time goes on. We only learn two of the juror's names and that only happens in the very final scene instead they are referred to simply by their juror numbers. Despite the cramped setting, filmic techniques are still employed throughout 12 Angry Men including using different shots to focus on either the whole set or one character in particular for example a close-up on Juror Number 4 who in his own words never sweats but is in fact seen perspiring during one key moment. I honestly can't find fault with this film and have seen it so many times and I'm still horrified that it didn't win Best Picture or at least Best Screenplay. The only actor nominated for his role in the film was Fonda which I think is a mistake there are plenty of strong performances most notably from Lee J Cobb as the last angry man Juror No. 3. Overall a masterpiece and that's my final word on the matter.

Big Oscar Challenge Day 95-96: Catch-up Part 5

But for every light-hearted film the 1940s, unlike the decade that came before, definitely gave a lot of bleaker moments. For example John Ford's adaptation of  John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath focuses on a family who are going through joblessness and depression and have to hit the road in order to find a better life. Henry Fonda's lead performance as Tom Joad is particularly effective but he lost out to a lesser performance from Stewart in The Philadelphia Story. Ford won a deserved Best Director Oscar and the film also won a Best Supporting Actress for Jane Darwell for playing the Joad matriarch desperately trying to keep her family together.

The Grapes of Wrath didn't win Best Picture but won that did triumph was The Lost Weekend which looks at an author who is unable to control his alcoholism and goes on a bender. The Lost Weekend did seem like a bit of an odd choice because of its lead being a bit of an anti-hero and to an extent never finding redemption but a cracking script and Ray Milland's lead performance both see the piece becoming a classic. Milland, the script and director Billy Wilder all also won Oscars but the brilliant cinematography failed to capture glory despite it being one of the things that made the film great.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 88-89: Catch-up Part 2

Next to the Wild West firstly with John Ford's classic western Stagecoach which fell to the superior Gone With the Wind at the 1940 ceremony. Set primarily in the titular Stagecoach it sees a lot of disparate characters heading from Arizona to New Mexico. Among them are Claire Trevor's prostitute Dallas, Thomas Mitchell's alcoholic Doc Boone, Lucy Mallory a woman travelling to see her injured husband and a corrupt banker who is trying to abscond with $50,000 dollars from his place of employ. On their way the party pick up and arrest Wayne's fugitive The Ringo Kid but the group have to quickly bond together in order to avoid being finished off by the Apache gangs in the area. Along the way Lucy goes into labour and Doc Boone is called into action and later Ringo and Dallas form a relationship with Ringo proposing to Dallas who doesn't feel herself good enough to deserve happiness. Although some of the party don't make it all the way most of the people get their happy ending or receive their comeuppance. I really did enjoy Stagecoach finding it both a well-shot Western and a very intriguing character piece featuring some great performance especially from Trevor and Mitchell who won the award for Supporting Actor.

The other Western was a nominee from the 1944 ceremony, The Ox-Bow Incident, which didn't really have a chance up against Casablanca. Despite this it is an interesting little film about mob mentality after one of their ranchers is supposedly killed in an incident involving cattle rustlers a group of 25 set out to find those responsible. Among thsi group is Henry Fonda's Gil and his friend Art who join the group mainly to avoid suspicion themselves when three men are found they are automatically thought to be guilty. After finding the gun belonging to Kinkaide, all but seven of the group agree that the men have to be hung. As the group return they find out that Kinkaide is still alive and the men who they hung had nothing to do with it. The final scene in which all the members of the mob go to the saloon and drink in silence is particularly effective.The Ox-Bow Incident has a simple story and some good turns in a cast lead ably by Fonda, while it didn't do any particular damage at the Oscars I still think it deserved its nomination.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 34: She's Just a Devil Woman

One good thing about this project is that it is getting me watching a lot of the older stars of the screen that I'm not really aware of for example I have become enamoured with both Charles Laughton and Lionel Barrymore's acting skills and the beauty of Claudette Colbert. Here though for the first time is Bette Davis, the main thing I know about her is that are eyes are somewhat worthy of a song, and to be fair they are quite startling. In 1939 the film Jezebel was nominated for Best Picture but it lost to You Can't Take It With You. However it also saw Davis win back-to-back Best Actress statuettes, her first win was for the film Dangerous which wasn't nominated for Best Picture so won't be watched by me in the near future. In Jezebel she plays Julie a strong-willed Southern Belle living in New Orleans who is to be married to Henry Fonda's banker Pres. Julie likes to be different riding around on a horse that Pres doesn't want her to and wearing red to a ball that she should wear white to. The scene at the ball is very effective indeed as Pres forces Julie to dance in the dress and we can see how uncomfortable she feels. Pres and Julie separate and he goes up North returning a year later with a new wife. Julie then tries to egg on new admirer Buck to quarrel with Pres but he has to leave to help his Doctor friend deal with the outbreak of yellow fever and Pres' brother ends up duelling with Buck and fatally shooting him. Pres eventually has to go to an island when he himself is diagnosed with yellow fever and Julie convinces Pres' wife that it should be Julie that goes with him and not her. The end of the film sees Pres and Julie leaving for what is essentially a leper colony.

Davis more than justifies her Best Actress win in this picture playing a character that no man dare get involved with. From the minute she rides in on her horse we know that she means trouble and she is a free-thinking woman especially for the time the film is set (1850). She owns every scene she's in and even makes Henry Fonda look inferior which is a hard task. By the end of the film you wonder why anyone would want Julie as one of her men is shot dead and the other is on his death bed. Apart from Davis' performance the most striking thing about Jezebel is the score which is always seems to imply some kind of danger or some scheming of Julie's. The supporting cast are all adequate but there is no standout this is almost a one woman show and a very effecting film however I think audiences at the time preferred the light-hearted You Can't Take It With You to this very dark and ultimately depressing tale, another great character study from William Wyler.