Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 212-214: Sounds of the Seventies

Throughout each decade of Oscar-winning films, there have always been a handful of musicals that have done particularly well. The majority of these have been glossy big-budget spectaculars that have had fairly light storylines. But, as we approach the 1970s, the themes of the musicals are getting a lot darker and one in particular contains a handful of songs that are incredibly sinister rather than being particularly uplifting.

We start though with a film musical that feels incredibly old-fashioned and has a comic element which lends itself to the screwball films of the 1930s and 1940s. That film is Hello Dolly!, which was nominated for Best Picture at the 1970 ceremony, and stars Barbara Streisand as widowed matchmaker Dolly Levi. Dolly arrives in Yonkers supposedly to meet up with wealthy store-owner Horace Vandergelder who is to travel to New York in order to meet up with and marry hat-store clerk Irene Malloy. However, instead of matching the pair, Dolly seemingly wants Horace for herself so arranges for his two clerks to hook up with Irene and her assistant Minnie. On arrival in the city the clerks, Cornelius and Barnaby, pretend to be wealthy gentlemen in order to ensnare Irene and Minnie. Meanwhile, Horace's niece Ermengrade has also travelled to New York in order to prove to her uncle that artist Ambrose is a good enough match for her. In New York, Dolly arranges a number of deceptions in order to keep all the parts of her plan a secret until she is able to put the offer of a proposal on the table at one of her favourite restaurants. Obviously the obstinate Horace wants everything to stay the way it was but eventually comes around to everything that Dolly has set up.

I don't think it's insulting to say that Hello Dolly! is definitely an old school musical by late 1960s/early 1970s standards. The whole thing feels very staged with a lot of the action fairly static and confined to a certain set. In fact, a lot of it put me in mind of The Music Man, which was made seven years earlier, as both have that old school feel to them. At the same time, there's no denying that Hello Dolly! is an incredibly enjoyable musical and I have to say that I got fairly swept up in it. Gene Kelly sits behind the director's chair and you can see his stamp all over the well-choreographed set pieces. Indeed, the two scenes that stay in the memory are the extravagantly filmed parade, which is accompanied by the iconic 'When the Parade Passes By' and the culmination of all the plots in the restaurant scene. The restaurant scene is also the place in which we hear the film's title track and the famous duet between Streisand and Louis Armstrong. Talking of Streisand she's perfectly cast as the interfering widow who is full of life but at the same time is struggling to move on from her first husband. Walter Matthau is the ideal foil for her schemes as he perfects his grumpy old man character while Frank Spencer himself - Michael Crawford plays the idiotic Cornelius with great aplomb. In addition to the signing and performances, Hello Dolly! is beautifully designed with some brilliant costumes to boot. While it's never going to win any awards for subtlety, when it comes to an all-singing all-musical visual spectacular they don't come much better than this film.

Two years later, the next musical film arrived with Fiddler on the Roof - which documents the lives of one Jewish family living in Tsarist Russia in the early 20th century. Our narrator throughout the film is Tevye, played by Chaim Topol, a simple man who often bemoans the fact that God has given him five daughters. One of the film's unique narrative devices is the fact that Tevye regularly breaks the fourth wall and addresses the audience directly. Tevye tells us about the small Jewish community that lives constantly in fear of the larger Christian community that neighbours the village. The Jews and the Christians live in peace but we get the impression that our characters are constantly under threat from attack. The bulk of the film's story sees Tevye's three eldest daughters all find love and marry someone they love, rather than someone who has been chosen for them by the town's matchmaker. Eldest daughter Tzeitel wishes to marry her poor childhood sweetheart Motel while second daughter Anatevka later accepts a proposal from idealistic Ukrainian scholar Perhick. Though Teyve's wife Golde disapproves, he manages to talk her around while at the same time the younger generation prepare to change the way things are done. However, the second half of the film gets bleaker as Teyve's community is moved from their homes by the Christians, while he also disowns third daughter Chava after she secretly marries one of the Christian boys. Though ultimately the entire community is moved from their homes there is a sense that things will only get better.

Of the three musical films I'm writing about, I would say that Fiddler on the Roof is definitely the least memorable. Indeed, probably the strongest element of the entire film is Topol's lead performances as he really makes a connection with the audience right from the beginning of the picture. His warmth and passion for the character really makes you believe in Tevye's motivations and you feel for his plight throughout his story. There are only a few songs that are truly memorable with 'If I were a Rich Man' and 'Matchmaker' being the two prime examples. In addition, there are a number of interesting set pieces most notably the scene at Tzeitel and Motel's wedding where Perhick encourages the men and women to dance together. However, at almost three hours in length, the film really started to drag and I felt the bleak aspect of the final third of the movie really added to this fatigue. While Fiddler on the Roof isn't a bad film by any stretch of the imagination, it wasn't one that I truly connected with in the way that I did with the final musical on the list.

That musical, released a year after Fiddler on the Roof, is Cabaret a film that is loosely based on the Broadway production of the same name. I say loosely as director Bob Fosse discarded many of the songs from that film and got lyricists Kander and Ebb to write new songs. In addition to the song changes, Fosse scrapped many characters and brought in some new ones to freshen up the tale. He also changed the lead character of Sally Bowles to an aspiring English movie star who couldn't really sing to an aspiring American movie star with an amazing voice. In the film, Sally meets young Englishman Brian Roberts who has come to Berlin to teach English. Sally, who is a lead attraction at the seedy Kit Kat Club, builds an attraction to Brian as both rent rooms in the same rundown apartment block. Though the pair begin a relationship, Sally's head is soon turned by rich baron Maximilian who can offer her the finer things in life. Eventually all three spend a weekend at the baron's family home where both end up having sexual encounters with the rich German. The film's backdrop is the rise of the Nazi movement in Berlin in the early 1930s as the Jews are attacked and a subplot involving a friend of Brian's explores religion and love. Meanwhile, Sally discovers she's pregnant and wonders whether or not to keep the baby.

As opposed to the other two musical films on the list, all of the songs in Cabaret are performed rather than used as an alternative to dialogue. The vast majority of these songs are performed in The Kit Kat Club by either Sally or the shadowy Emcee, the film's narrator and host at the club. The character of Emcee is an interesting one as he doesn't interact with any of the characters apart from Sally and that's only through the method of song. Though Emcee's songs do reflect the plot of the film, we see that they are all being performed to a club full of punters. Instead of being particularly uplifting, these songs are often sinister in nature talking about money-grabbing, sharing sexual partners and being unlucky in love. The tone of the film is perfectly exemplified in one scene in which Emcee and his backing group perform a dance routine that mocks the Nazi regime. To me, the film is one of the best examples of the screen musical as every song adds to the plot rather than detracting from it. From the opening bars of Willkommen to Sally Bowes' glorious love song 'Maybe This Time' to the final bursts of its title track, Cabaret's musical score is extraordinary. The film was incredibly successful at the 1973 Oscar ceremony, winning eight awards and earning the distinction of being the most-rewarded movie at the Oscars not to win Best Picture. Among the award-winners were Liza Minnelli who was absolutely captivating as the lovelorn and eccentric Sally Bowes. Meanwhile Joel Grey also picked up a supporting actor statuette for his role as the sinister yet entertaining Emcee. Bob Fosse's outstanding direction was also honoured as were the film's stunning cinematography, score, sound, art direction and editing. As you can tell I really enjoyed Cabaret and, in any normal year, it would've won Best Picture but it did come up against one hell of a contender.

Next time we'll look at the rise of the epic disaster movie with two Oscar nominated examples of the genre.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 195 and 196: Girls in Love

Regular readers of this blog will know how often I like to group two or three films together in one post. Usually, I've planned this in advance but occasionally I'll do a double film post out of the blue. This is one such post as I noticed a link between two that being young women routinely getting their heartbroken. The stories are centuries apart but both centre around young lovers and hurdles put in their way to stop them finding love. 

Of course we all know the hurdles that are put in the way of Romeo and Juliet - family rivalry, mates being killed and ridiculously large balconies. Obviously Shakespeare's play has had many different screen versions however Fraco Zeffirelli's adaptation, which was nominated at the 1969 ceremony, is one of the most famous. In fact at the time the film was the most commercially successful film version of a Shakespeare play ever partly due to its contemporary feel. Another reason for its appeal is that it was the first time that the two actors playing the titular lovers were of a similar age. Teenage viewers saw the film in their droves due to the fact that fifteen year old Olivia Hussey and seventeen year old Leonard Whiting played the lead roles. Indeed their casting caused controversy not least because of Hussey appearing in a very brief nude scene. I personally felt that their casting added a lot to the overall believability of the story and can see why it would appeal to a younger audience. Hussey especially excelled at portraying Juliet's naive qualities and really made you believe that Romeo was her first love. Personally I wasn't as much a fan of Whiting, however he was still compelling in the scenes in which Romeo kills Tybalt and essentially ruins any chance of happiness he had with Juliet. While we're on the subject of the cast I felt that Michael York was perfectly snide as Tybalt while Milo O'Shea was a great choice to play Romeo's confident Friar Lawrence. The whole film was also given a bit of Shakespearian authenticity by the fact that Laurence Olivier provided the voice-over for the film, even though he was never credited. 

Away from the casting, the other reason for the film's success was its use of colour and setting to convey the story. I personally loved the Oscar-winning costume designs which were used to differentiate the two warring families. While the Montagues war drab greys and blues, the Capulets were decked out in brighter colours and were definitely viewed as the richer of the two tribes. The fact that the whole film was shot in Rome added to the authenticity of the film and the exterior shots were particularly impressive. Indeed Pasqualino De Santis' cinematography also won an Oscar and I felt his visuals shone throughout the film. I personally felt that the balcony scene and the duels which saw the deaths of both Mercutio and Tybalt were brilliantly filmed. Even though the style and the casting were spot on, I can't say that I was completely wowed by the film. At well over two hours, I found the film dragged and there were some scenes that still didn't really work on film. Overall though, Zeferelli was the first director to give Romeo and Juliet that cinematic flare that it so richly deserved. The use of colour, setting and age-appropriate actors all added to the original text and I ultimately found this film to be a rewarding watch. 

We now rewind back seven years for the second film in this double bill. The film in question is Fanny, whose titular character is played by Leslie Caron of Gigi fame. In the 1950s we saw Caron star in two musicals, An American in Paris was the other one, however here Fanny is a musical with the songs removed. Caron's Fanny is an eighteen year old fish-seller who is desperately in love with young bartender Marius. Marius has been ear-marked by his bar owning father Caesar to take over the family firm but his son dreams of becoming a sailor. Fanny later receives an offer of marriage from elderly bachelor Panisse but turns him down as she wants to be with her true love Marius. Fanny eventually realises that Marius feels trapped and doesn't want to pressure him into a relationship. The two spend one last night together, but she still encourages him to go abroad and tells him that she's rather marry Panisse for his money. Two months after Marius' departure, Fanny discovers she is pregnant with his child and accepts Panisse's offer of marriage mainly to save face. Even though Panisse realises he'll be raising another man's child, he wants his family name to continue and feels this will be the only way to do so. Marius soon discovers the truth but finds out that Panisse will not let Fanny takes his child away and so she turns down Marius once again. Obviously Fanny is torn between her love for Marius and for her young son, and so will be left heartbroken either way.  

I have to say it took me a while to warm to Fanny, mainly because the first twenty minutes or so all revolved around the characters either selling fish or playing cards. It was only after Marius and Fanny had their first heart-to-heart that I really got into the story and found myself really caring about the characters. Indeed Fanny has at least four stand-out performances not least from Caron who is much improved from her turn in Gigi. It's also interesting to see veteran actors Charles Boyer and Maurice Chevalier appear here as both have featured in films on this list since the early 1930s. Boyer, the only member of the cast to get an acting nomination, anchors the film as the passionate yet lonely Caesar. But it was Chevalier who impressed me most in what was a fairly dramatic role, his Panisse was a man who'd never truly found love and used his money to marry Fanny. However Chevalier played a man who really did care for this young woman and longed for her to love him. Horst Buchholtz was a brilliant Marius and had great chemistry with Caron and Boyer meaning that his relationships with both characters were utterly believable. Jack Cardiff's Oscar nominated cinematography captured the French shipping town well and really added to the overall mood of the film. While Fanny was by no means perfect, I found myself getting rather emotional towards its climax and ultimately found it to be an affecting and well-played romantic drama. 

And as I've revealed my soppier side here, I feel the only way to go next is with an iconic sword and sandals epic.