Vertigo (1958) #9

When Vertigo premiered on AFI's list. it was at number 61. Its climb of 52 spots between the two lists is eclipsed by only "City Lights" (1931) which climbed 65,  and "The Searchers" (1956), which climbed 84. Alfred Hitchcock was a <insert your superlative of choice here>  director. Consider he has #9 (Vertigo), #14 (Psycho), #48 (Rear Window) and finally #55 (North by Northwest) in the tenth Anniversary Edition of the AFI list. All the movies were on the first list and it was a split (2 up and 2 down) in the rankings for the second. It would be close to, if not completely impossible, to find any meaningful list of the top 5 or 10 directors of all time that wouldn't contain Hitchcock.

Vertigo is an example of him at his prime. Four years previous to Vertigo he directed "Rear Window".  He followed that up with To Catch a Thief (1955), The Trouble with Harry (1955), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) and finally The Wrong Man (1956). Not bad, right? His next 3 were Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959) and then he capped it off with Psycho (1960). Simply astounding. Hitchcock finds another blond for the female lead in Kim Novak (remember he worked with Grace Kelly, Tippy Hedron, Eva Marie Saint, Janet Leigh) ... He liked his blonds. On a side note I do have to say that Grace Kelly was simply stunning. I certainly wasn't around when she was a big star, but holy smokes. I mean she was stunning in "High Noon", she was stunning in "Rear Window" and she was stunning in every photo I've ever seen of her. But since my wife is already crabby at me for going on about Grace, I'd better shut up now.

The film follows the relationship between John 'Scottie' Ferguson (James Stewart) and Madelaine Elster (Kim Novak), the wife of a college buddy of Ferguson. Since Ferguson has just retired from the police force due to acrophobia (fear of heights), Gavin Elster asks him to follow his wife because she's acting strangely. In fact, his wife is acting so strangely that Elster believes she's been possessed by the spirit of a long dead woman named Carlotta Valdez (no relation to Juan the guy with the mule and coffee). Stewart and Novak fall in love but sadly Novak succumbs to the darkness of Carlotta and jumps out of a bell tower which sends Scottie into a spiral of melancholia. Miss Ellie from Dallas (Barbara Bel Geddes) helps to nurse him back to his feet.

About a year later he meets...well in today's terms stalks and then meets, a woman who looks amazingly like the dead Madelaine. The resemblance is so striking he remakes the woman into Madelaine's image using hair, clothes and makeup. It's really creepy and I think both Stewart and Novak do a remarkable job. What Stewart doesn't know is he's been the victim of a hoax and Kim Novak was one of the set pieces used in the deception. I'm not doing it justice by any means.

As is the case with all of Hitchcock's work the film is very meticulous. The camera angles and shot compositions are remarkable with the use of low camera angles to keep you thinking of height. Gently reminding you they are always there...tall buildings and towers and and and. Very subtle and effective.

A must see and worth the time, effort and money to get and slump in the Lazy-Boy and watch.

The Wild Bunch (1969) #79

For my money, this is the best work of director "Bloody Sam" (Sam Peckinpah).  The violence is raw and visceral as are the characters.  Peckinpah was a pioneer of the revisionist genre and "The Wild Bunch" is one of the seminal works of the genre.  The Production Code was no more and that freedom allowed Pekinpah to present a film with innovative depictions of violence as well as portraying anti-heroes.  Pike Bishop (William Holden) is the central character but his shooting of a comrade early in the film solidifies his position as an anti-hero and prepares the viewer for a film that will challenge some of the conceptions of the Western Genre.

Set against the early teens of the 1900's, the story follows aging outlaws whose time is coming to an end.  The automobile makes an appearance in the film and the initial gunfight includes actual sidewalks and park benches.  This places the film at the end of, rather than the beginning or prime of an era.  No longer is all the shooting with Colt revolvers and Winchester rifles, but with Semi-Automatic Pistols, Springfield Rifles and a Browning Machine Gun.  The outlaws are dirty and you can almost smell them as you see them on screen.  Strother Martin plays a despicable bounty hunter aptly described as "gutter trash" by Deke Thornton (Robert Ryan).  The Wild Bunch have to shoot their way out of town with the haul of "steel holes" and lose a significant number.  The gunfight is almost climactic in feel and would usually be seen at the end, rather than the beginning, of a movie.

Attempting to make one "big score", they take on the US Army now to steal weapons for  Mexican General Mapache (Emilio Fernández).  Note that one of his henchmen was Lt. Herrera played by Alfonso Arau, who moved up the ranks of Mexican banditry and by 1986 was El Guapo in "Three Amigos" with Steve Martin, Chevy Chase and Martin Short.  No, I don't know why Three Amigos isn't on the AFI list either.  It really is a travesty!  OK.  Yes I'm kidding but I did have to do the research after I realized I'd seen Arau in other movies.  The robbery goes off and they get paid their gold by Mapache.  But, then Bishop gets noble and attempts to save one of their own, Angel (Jaime Sánchez).  A lot of slow motion and blood would be one way to describe the fight sequence and it is very well done.   It's raw just as intended.

The movie runs just under 2 1/2 hours and did move slowly at times.  The influence from "Seven Samurai" is then passed on to Tarantino in "Reservoir Dogs" and other movies.  Film makers John Woo, Martin Scorsese and others directly attribute influence from "Bloody Sam".  Another film on the list, "Unforgiven", is heavily influenced by the Wild Bunch and portrayal of the anti-hero.   Later Spaghetti Westerns were certainly influenced as were other movies with Clint Eastwood.  The cast is great and includes Ernest Borgnine, Warren Oates and Ben Johnson,  all of which you'd recognize from other works.  The screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay up against "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", "Bob and Carol & Ted & Alice", "The Damned" and "Easy Rider".  Losing to Butch Cassidy et. al. had to take some of the sting out of it.

Peckinpah's work influenced a generation of film makers.  His hard drinking and drug abuse are legendary as well as his combative personality.  Anyone who is mentioned alongside "The Duke, John Cassavetes, Lee Marvin" with a case of whiskey by Denis Leary had to have done something wrong/right.

Certainly should be on the list.  It's a seminal work of a genre.  Great Movie.

Apocalypse Now (1979) #30

Apocalypse Later?

There was a whole list of things that went wrong during the filming of Apocalypse Now. A star had a heart attack (Martin Sheen), there was severe weather that destroyed sets (Typhoon Olga), and another star showed up very overweight for filming (Marlon Brando). Heck, the movie took so long to produce that Laurence (billed as Larry) Fishburne, who was 15 when he said in the movie he was 17, was 17 when the movie was released. Clear?

The uncharitable part of my soul wonders if Coppola shouldn't have taken a hint. If the primary reason for a film's “being” is to entertain, then this fails. I don't think Coppola wanted to entertain much since he was depicting the difference between good and evil and making a statement on modern warfare.  He was trying to get a reaction rather than entertain.

If you haven't seen the movie yet, then you probably want to stop reading. Lots of spoilers to follow.

The movie is an adaptation of the novella "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad. In the written work, the introspective Marlow journeys up the Congo River to meet the reputedly idealist and very able Kurtz. During the journey Marlow views abuse, excess and insanity on the river. He witnesses brutality to civilians and a lack of leadership. You should get picture. Apocalypse Now has the same general elements. Captain Bejamin L. Willard (Sheen) stands in for Marlow and witnesses much of the same type of excesses. He continues to read reports and information about Kurtz as he travels up the river and begins to admire him.

So the plot is:

1. Officer asked to travel up river to kill renegade (and nuts) Colonel
2. Officer reads about Colonel and starts to admire and empathize with nutty Colonel
3. Officer sees strange, cruel and “insane” actions by both the US and the Vietnamese/ Cambodians
4. Officer makes it to Colonel. Colonel IS nutso, army officer kills Colonel and gets back on boat
5. Boat heads up or down river (in the version I watched it's not clear which). The Officer has either fulfilled his mission and is going back to base or has decided to take over the position of nutty Colonel.

A few days ago I wrote about "Duck Soup" and felt it was a number of gags held together by a little story. I think Apocalypse Now is a bunch of images and snap shots held together by a little story. Coppola shot millions of feet of film for this movie and many of the images are stunning and interesting. But, how many times do you need to see 20 helicopters flying in formation in one sequence? Does that add to the emotional impact of the film or does it just show everyone how pretty the cinematography is? Some of the imagery is as it is because Brando was so overweight. Not only did that require filming in a very dark and stylistic fashion, but it also required changing the ending from what was originally intended by Coppola. The ruins where Kurtz is found look like Khmer, most notably the carvings/statues of faces that have weathered until it's clear they are a bunch of rocks not just one big rock. But...this wasn't filmed in Cambodia but in Manilla....so...full marks for historical accuracy I guess.

There are some very memorable scenes/quotes such as Robert Duvall and his famous little chat about napalm smelling like victory. Dennis Hopper plays semi nutty and frenetic Dennis Hopper...again...as the photojournalist who's spent time with Kurtz.   Some of Kurt's lines are memorable and even have some deeper meaning I suspect. But honestly I don't like to think that hard when I'm watching a movie. I like to watch movies to be entertained. Sure the movie can have a message and I'll even ponder the deeper meaning and symbolism but only to a point. T. S. Elliot's "The Hollow Men" is recited by Kurtz but I don't think the most famous portion of the poem, the conclusion, is:

This is the way the world ends

This is the way the world ends

This is the way the world ends

Not with a bang but with a whimper

Should it be on the list? I think so. Many people much smarter than I am rave about the movie. Critics are mixed but the film is widely touted as great and did portray how messed up Vietnam was, or at least how messed up we've been lead to believe it was. How's that for recursive? It's about good vs evil and gives us a message about being ruthless in war and whether that makes the war worth winning.

Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) #98

I'm Canadian and my wife 'merican.  Our thoughts on this movie will differ some I suspect.  The Biopic based on the life of George M. Cohan has just a little flag waving...well a lot of flag waving.  But that only makes sense.  Cohan was a loud and boisterous patriot based on his work.  He even received a Congressional Gold Medal from FDR, but it was in June of 1936, not during WW II as portrayed.  The medal was for morale during WW I for the songs You're a Grand Old Flag and Over There.  He was the first recipient from the entertainment industry, as mentioned by FDR.  I think I might have the indentations of stripes and stars on my forehead from being beaten with the flag...but this was 1942 and Cohan was a flag waver.  I'm pretty sure my wife was sniffling with pride whenever one of the patriotic numbers was being shown.

Cagney beat out Gary Cooper (Lou Gehrig in The Pride of the Yankees) to win his only Oscar for Best Actor that year.  Ironic, since Cagney is best remembered for his work as playing gangsters.  It was only a decade since his breakthrough movie The Public Enemy (1931) that contains the fantastic scene of him smushing a grapefruit into the face of Mae Clarke.  Cagney was like, as my Grandfather would say, a Bantam Rooster always looking to push back.  And this part of his personality shines through in this role.  Cagney started as a song and dance man and his singing style matched Cohan's.  I don't think anyone would say he wasn't a much better hoofer than singer.

Now, you may have noticed this is a Musical and the AFI seems to LOVE musicals.  But, the movie was nominated for Best Picture although it lost to Mrs. Miniver??  Good job on that one Academy!  I can't say for sure on Mrs. Miniver (since I haven't seen it...but to be fair I hadn't even heard of it until I looked to see who won the Oscar in '42) but it's surprising to me how many best picture winners don't appear on the list at all.  The Last Emperor or Shakespeare in Love or Cimarron or The Life of Emile Zola are "probably" not going to make an appearance.  I REALLY like Mel Gibson as an actor.  I loved the Mad Max movies and thoroughly enjoyed Braveheart.  But does anyone think it'll be on the list of the 100 greatest movies of all time??  Anyway, Yankee Doodle Dandy was well received when released, and Cohan was a titanic force on Broadway.  He's probably the father of musical comedy for stage.  Cagney can dance, and sings well enough so the movie is enjoyable to watch even now.  My only real complaint is they could have cut a bunch of Fay Templeton (Irene Manning) singing with a more operatic style.

Probably should be on the list.  Just don't expect me to be waving the Stars and Stripes while watching it.

Duck Soup (1933) #60

In the original AFI list, Duck Soup was #85 so it climbed a healthy 25 spots.  The new #85 is A Night at the Opera (1935) which debuted on the tenth anniversary list.  Ain't coincidence great?  Duck Soup was the last Marx Brothers film for Paramount.  During production there were bitter contract negotiations going on.  The plot is simple and the movie relies on gags from the Marx Brothers glued together with a little story.  Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho) is appointed leader of bankrupt Freedonia at the insistence of Mrs. Gloria Teasdale (Margaret Dumont).   Harpo and Chico are spys for rival state Sylvania.  Zeppo, in his last Marx Brothers film, plays the straight man secretary to the over the top Groucho.  There's a war between Freedonia and Sylvania later in the movie due to Groucho's insults of the Sylvanian Ambassador.   That's the plot summary.

The gags are funny.  Chico and Harpo messing with a street vendor and all three of them swapping hats is funny.  Not laugh out loud funny...but amusing.  The mirror gag (two actors facing each other with one pretending they are the reflection of the other) was a classic then and Harpo and Groucho perform it well.  If you like the Marx Brothers then you'll love the movie.  If you don't then you won't.  I don't think the movie has aged well.  It would seem the judges for AFI thought it did but I can think of half a dozen comedies I'd much rather see that weren't even on the list.  Just being old shouldn't be any part of the criteria for inclusion.

Actually it's probably time to lay out the process used by AFI to come up with the list.  There was a ballot of 400 movies sent to 1500 judges.  There are some fantastic comedies that didn't even make the list of 400 movies.   I suspect the inclusion of the film boils down to two basic items:

1. Everyone has heard of the Marx Brothers and while you may not have seen it recently or remember specifics you "know" they're funny since well...everyone knows they're funny.
2. The mirror scene/gag.  While not the first it was a great rendition and was then used a number of times by others.

Sorry but I don't think it should be in the top 100.  Perhaps A Night at the Opera will fare better.  At least I hope it will.