BACK TO THE FUTURE (1985)

Sometime in 2014. Chris the ex-librarian has just had his first movie script green-lighted and it is about to be put into production. But what next?

(Hollywood, California. A prominent unnamed movie exec’s office)

Exec: Come on in kid. What have you got for me?

Chris: First I want to thank you again. I know you have limited time.

Exec: Just make sure you don’t waste it. I just wanted to repeat how much I appreciated the originality of your ninja/coal miner story, but you know what they say…

Chris: You’re only as good as your next one?

Exec: Right. I have taught you well. So I repeat…what you working on?

Chris: (standing up to add emphasis to his pitch) I’m working on a remake.

Exec: A remake, eh? A real hit or miss proposition there. What are we remaking? Nothing Victorian I hope. Nothing prestige at all. That’s not in this year. This studio needs money, not awards. And no Westerns! Wait, I forgot about True Grit. Is it a Western? Wait. That’s still to risky. I need something with boffo special effects. Our CGI department is top of the line, you know. I think it’s time for a sci-fi. Is it sci-fi? I do hope it’s something sci-fi.

Chris: You could say that.

Exec: Let me guess. Probably something from the 50’s. Forbidden Planet? No, too cerebral. That movie where five people are left on earth. What was that called?

Chris: That was called Five.

Exec: Five. That’s right. That would certainly save money on casting. One of my favorites is Them! That might work. Our F/X team could make some killer ants. How about The Day the Earth Stood Still?

Chris: They already remade that one and it stunk.

Exec: Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. Why don’t you just tell me? Stop being so shy!

Chris: Well, it’s nothing 50’s. I’m working on an update to Back to the Future.

Exec: Oh! That’s going to be a tough sell. A beloved film for our generation. My kids still watch it. I still watch it. Obviously you still watch it. What’s wrong with the original version?

Chris: Nothing. But don’t you get it? The original is from 1985 and Marty McFly goes back thirty years to 1955. This version will be set in 2015 and he goes back to 1985. Get it now?

Exec: So it’s about mathematics. Thirty is your magic number. Is thirty a prime number? I’m going to buzz my secretary and see if thirty is a prime number or not. Never mind. That’s not important. Anyway, is that all you’re bringing me? It’s going to take more than addition and subtraction for me to sell a Back to the Future remake. So where else you going with this?

Chris: Listen to this. Marty goes back to 1985 and he doesn’t know what to do to get his parents together because nobody has cell phones. Right? And he keeps looking for a computer to get on and he can’t find one and goes to a library and all they have is books! He’s got to get them together before the big Terms of Endearment dance…

Exec: I’m a little interested, but I’m hardly blown away, kid. You got any more?

Chris: Well, a few political jokes. Obviously some Reagan one-liners. Just like in the first one. The real kicker is when Marty tells him that a black man is now president of the United States. It refers to Goldie Wilson the mayor from the first movie, right?

Exec: That’s okay. But there were already two sequels. We know about the future of the series from them.

Chris: They won’t exist in this universe.

Exec: Oh, a full-franchise reboot.

Chris: Reboot. Remake. Whatever! Let’s go for it, C. B!

Exec: Hold your horses. What about the cast? Michael J. Fox’s don’t grow on trees.

Chris: Glad you asked. I was thinking about Dakota Fanning.

Exec: Maybe a good choice for Marty’s mother. That might work. But what about Marty?

Chris: I am talking about Marty. Dakota Fanning as Marty.

Exec: You want Marty to be a girl this time?

Chris: NO! I want Marty to be a boy, but played by a girl. Sort of like Cate Blanchett in I’m Not There.

Exec: That Dylan movie? Are you kidding! How many people saw that? Eight, maybe? So who you got in mind for Doc Brown? You thinking Sean Penn?

Chris: Glad you asked. Here’s the kicker. The Doc Brown character will be changed. The new professor character will be, and remember this is 1985 now….Bill Gates! In between the building of Microsoft, he’s also built a time machine! I’ve got a lot of computer jokes to go with this. You know, we’ll make fun of people not knowing what a floppy disc is. Bill could see an apple and tell Marty how apples aren’t good for him. Get it?. And the catch phrase of the movie will have bad guy Biff saying, “What the hell is DOS?”

Exec: Wait. You got a few strained computer jokes, a female Marty McFly and the founder of Microsoft with a time machine. Have you got anything else?

Chris: Well, the Libyans are now Al-Queda. The Delorean is now an electric car. The clock tower scene would now be a digital clock scene, set at a bank. That would say something about the greed decade, right? And George McFly doesn’t become an author he….wait a minute.

Exec: What is it kid?

Chris: This is all wrong. This isn’t real. I just made this up. I made you up.

Exec: Now see here. You can’t come into my office and-

Chris: Shutup! You’re fictional. I just decided to think of a Back to the Future remake because I can’t believe it’s been almost thirty years since it came out. Thirty years! This is my therapy to deal with the passage of time.

Exec: And you’re trying to find a way to turn back the clock. Well, that explains a lot about me. I was beginning to feel pretty one-dimensional, I admit. Well, since we have determined my fictionalitization, may I go now to wherever it is fictional characters go?

Chris: I don’t think fictionalitization is a word.

Exec: I guess grammar is your problem, kid. By the way, the ninja/coal miner story…it stinks!

(The Exec disappears)

Chris shrugs and pulls out a copy of Back to the Future and decides to watch it again, but without thinking about it so much this time.

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PINOCCHIO (1940)

Pinocchio (1940)

Before Viewing: My final post in three weeks of posts from 1940's films is from my favorite Disney animated movie, Pinocchio. Will it remain so or will the whale of disappointment swallow me whole?

After viewing: Still up at the top of the list. Love Geppetto's cuckoo clocks. Great carnival of villains: Monstro, Lampwick, Honest John, Stromboli and the coachman who takes Pinocchio to Pleasure Island. Animation still looks fresh to my untrained eye and the morality tale doesn't seem forced. "Pinocchio, you are a real boy!"

And the final Elisa Cook Jr. supporting player award for the 1940's goes to...Geppetto. No. Check that. I took a poll of the house and the award will instead go to Jiminy Cricket. Just a poor, humble cricket who wants nothing more than to help Pinocchio and maybe get a nice badge from the Blue Fairy for this trouble. Sorry, Geppetto. If you'd just taken the time to walk with Pinocchio to school the first day, all of his problems may have been avoided.

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THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (1946)

I really enjoyed posting two straight weeks of blogs on Hollywood films from the 1930's, and so for the 1940's I'm going to up the ante and try for three weeks worth. Looking at titles I have left from the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die book, this shouldn't be a problem. As before, I’ll list my expectations for each film going in and state whether these expectations are reached or not. And I’ll once again give each film my Elisha Cook Jr. supporting player award because there was such a bounty of great supporting performers from this period and I just like doing it.

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
Expectations: I’ve never seen it. I have seen the Nicholson remake which I thought wasn’t all that memorable, but haven’t seen that one in years.

After Viewing: This film is based on the James M. Cain story is about a drifter played by John Garfield who falls for a restaurant owner’s young wife, played by Lana Turner. They fall in love and plot to do away with him. Interesting film noir. Liked it, but not as much as Double Indemnity. Though I definitely get more “heat” from Garfield and Turner than we get from Double Indemnity’s Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Lana Turner’s legs, since they are showed off to such effect in this film. Let's just say they're impressive...bordering on spectacular.

And the Elisha Cook Jr. supporting player award goes to… Cecil Kellaway, who has a pretty plum part as the colorful but doomed husband of Lana Turner. It’s certainly a better part than Tom Powers gets in the doomed husband role in Double Indemnity. There’s also a good role here for Hume Cronyn as a shady, but smart attorney. And who is that as Cronyn’s assistant? It’s none other than Alan “Fred Flintstone” Reed!

And the second James M. Cain cuckold award goes to... Cecil Kellaway

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DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944)

I really enjoyed posting two straight weeks of blogs on Hollywood films from the 1930's, and so for the 1940's I'm going to up the ante and try for three weeks worth. Looking at titles I have left from the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die book, this shouldn't be a problem. As before, I’ll list my expectations for each film going in and state whether these expectations are reached or not. And I’ll once again give each film my Elisha Cook Jr. supporting player award because there was such a bounty of great supporting performers from this period and I just like doing it.

Double Indemnity (1944)
Expectations: Another in the category of it’s been many years since I’ve seen it, but remember it as being one of the best of the film noirs.

After Viewing: Billy Wilders’ film based on the James M Cain book is considered by many the first film noir. The plot is about an insurance man (Fred MacMurray) who gets involved with an unhappy young wife (Barbara Stanwyck) and they both plot to do away with her husband and collect the life insurance money. I still really like Double Indemnity, I’m happy to say. Stanwyck is good and the usually likeable MacMurray is even more effective in this change of pace role. The one draw back, which has also been pointed out by others, is the “lack of heat” between the lovers MacMurray and Stanwyck.* They kiss a little and occasionally change positions on the sofa during scene breaks. I honestly can’t tell if they just had sex or were about to play a game of Parcheesi. The major problem, of course, stems from the censorship of the era. I’ve mentioned before that I thought censorship may have actually helped some films from this era as it forced filmmakers to be more creative. In this case, I think if hurt. However, this is a small complaint to a film that would still be on my favorite 100 films of all-time if I ever take the time to compile such a list.** The setting, music, tone, direction and story are all first class in my book.***

And the Elisha Cook Jr. supporting player award goes to…Edward G. Robinson. MacMurray and Stanwyck are impressive in their roles as lovers, but Robinson as the Insurance claims adjuster absolutely steals this movie in every scene he is in. When he goes on and on about statistics on suicides, he’s really fun to watch (I'm not kidding!).

And the first James M. Cain cuckold award goes to…Tom Powers as Stanwyck’s doomed husband. Cheated on and murdered. And not as good a role as Cecil Kellaway had in The Postman Always Rings Twice. Sorry, Tom.

*For more heat of course, you could just watch Body Heat.
** Still haven’t taken the time to compile such a list
***Book for sale in your theater lobby.

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ADAM'S RIB (1949)

I really enjoyed posting two straight weeks of blogs on Hollywood films from the 1930's, and so for the 1940's I'm going to up the ante and try for three weeks worth. Looking at titles I have left from the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die book, this shouldn't be a problem. As before, I’ll list my expectations for each film going in and state whether these expectations are reached or not. And I’ll once again give each film my Elisha Cook Jr. supporting player award because there was such a bounty of great supporting performers from this period and I just like doing it.

Adam’s Rib (1949)
Expectations: I remember in the 70’s, one of the networks had a prime time program called simply The Movies, which showed clips from films from Hollywood's past. I actually tried to write most of the ones down I remembered at the time. I'd like to read the list, but it's really turned the pages have pretty much turned to brown at this point. Anyway, Adam’s Rib was featured on one of the clips. So it’s taken me thirty-six years or so to get around to watching the whole thing. Adam’s Rib was also a short-lived TV series from the early 70’s with Blythe Danner and Ken Howard which I have a vague recognition of.

After Viewing: The plot of Adam’s Rib involves Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn as lawyers on the opposite end of a trial involving a woman accused of attempting to kill her husband. That’s really all you need to know. This movie relies mostly on the chemistry of the two stars (which is considerable) and the sharp script by Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon.

And the Elisha Cook Jr. supporting player award goes to…David Wayne as the witty, gay rival of Tracy for the affections of Ms. Hepburn (And yes, Wayne proves definitively that you can be gay and in love with Katherine Hepburn.) And honorable mention goes to Judy Holliday for her wonderful Melanie Griffith impersonation.

Great Librarian moment: There’s no great librarian moment in Adam’s Rib, but I’d like to mention another Tracy/Hepburn movie, Desk Set from 1957, which is one long great librarian moment. The plot involves an efficiency expert played by Tracy who is looking at the possibility of using or replacing the gallant librarians (led by Katherine Hepburn) working for the conglomerate Federal Broadcasting Company with a computer. The scene where the IBM computer is unable to properly decipher a sophisticated question and the librarians quickly save the day by using books for the answers is really exciting! Honestly! Well, maybe you have to be a librarian.

I’d also like to hand out a bonus Elisha Cook Jr. supporting player to…the lovely Sue Randall of Desk Set. Playing a librarian no less! If you don’t recognize the name, she played elementary school teacher Miss Landers on Leave It To Beaver. I believe this is the first time I’ve seen her in anything else. As as long as we're talking about black and white era teacher crushes, let's throw a rose to June Marlowe who played Miss Crabtree in the Our Gang comedies. Good ole Miss Crabtree...Good ole Miss Landers...

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NOTORIOUS (1946)

I really enjoyed posting two straight weeks of blogs on Hollywood films from the 1930's, and so for the 1940's I'm going to up the ante and try for three weeks worth. Looking at titles I have left from the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die book, this shouldn't be a problem. As before, I’ll list my expectations for each film going in and state whether these expectations are reached or not. And I’ll once again give each film my Elisha Cook Jr. supporting player award because there was such a bounty of great supporting performers from this period and I just like doing it.

Notorious (1946)
Expectations: It’s been many a summer since I’ve seen this one. Mostly remember the scenes from Claude Rains’s wine cellar.

After Viewing: I was actually surprised that this movie seemed to get off to a slow start. It seemed to drag in the establishment of the Ingrid Bergman-Cary Grant relationship. But when the movie goes to Rio and Bergman and Grant get their assignment to get the goods on Nazi sympathizer Claude Rains, the movie takes off and certainly earns its rank in the Hitchcock pantheon. And the final scene is as good as any of them.

And the Elisha Cook Jr. supporting player award goes to…Claude Rains, of course. I’m used to Rains playing a bad guy that you can’t help but liking just a little, as in The Adventures of Robin Hood, even though he wants to kill the main character. Or as a bad guy, whose really not so bad at all, as in Casablanca. He usually seems to do this with charm and almost winking at the audience. Not so in Notorious. Dignified: Yes. Winking at the audience: No. He is as terrified meeting the disapproval of his Nazi colleagues and his domeineering mother and he elicits our sympathy to him from go. And who could blame him for falling head over heals for Ingrid Bergman? Even Cary Grant concedes how easy falling in love with her is. So this role is slightly different for Mr. Rains, but he pulls it off well.

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THE OX-BOW INCIDENT (1943)

I really enjoyed posting two straight weeks of blogs on Hollywood films from the 1930's, and so for the 1940's I'm going to up the ante and try for three weeks worth. Looking at titles I have left from the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die book, this shouldn't be a problem. As before, I’ll list my expectations for each film going in and state whether these expectations are reached or not. And I’ll once again give each film my Elisha Cook Jr. supporting player award because there was such a bounty of great supporting performers from this period and I just like doing it.

The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
Expectations: I remember back in the days of Poli Sci at good ole watching this film along with a film about the Leo Frank/Mary Phagan criminal case. Both are good examples of mob justice reaching the wrong conclusion.

After Viewing: Another case of a studio head (Zanuck of Fox) making a film that he knew wasn’t going to make a profit simply because he (buoyed by the persistence of director William Wellman) knew it could be memorable film. And he was right in my opinion.

Glamorous leading ladies needed: So much for the glamorous leading ladies of the forties. The two females with any screen time at all in this film are Jane “Ma Joad” Darwell and Margaret “Wicked Witch of the West” Hamilton. That’s all right, The Ox-Bow Incident is a more of a guy thing, anyway.

DVD commentator discrepancy: Two commentators on this DVD. One, William Wellman Jr., discusses how rare it is that his father would change any original material when he adapted a book for a film. The other commentator then gives us several examples, including two characters that were morphed into one, of how the senior Wellman did just that.

And the Elisha Cook Jr. supporting player award goes to…Harry (Henry) Morgan. One of movies and TV’s greatest sidekicks. I’m guessing this was one of his earliest roles as Henry Fonda’s, uh, for lack of a better word…sidekick.

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