Silent Film of the Month: Sleeping Beauty (1908)

 

Run Time: 11 minutes. Studio: Pathé Frères. Directors: Albert Capellani and Lucien Nonguet. Cast: Julienne Mathieu. Cinematographer: Segundo de Chomón. Original Title:  La belle au bois dormant. 

As some regular readers of my blog may already know, the early 20th century was filled with films that provided condensed tellings of literary classics. It was a time when audiences were admittedly more well-read than today. People knew these stories and showing the highlights was all that was needed. For those of us used to full complete stories in our films, this can feel more than a little alienating today. Not shockingly, the films of this type that hold up best today are the ones where the story is still well known to modern audiences or where the story is simple enough that it can still be followed in a condensed version. This 1908 film version of Sleeping Beauty falls into both of those categories. 

I am sure most of you have at least some familiarity with the basic story. If you aren't, however, here is how it goes. On the birth of a new princess the fairies in the kingdom each give her magical gifts. However, one evil fairy gives her a curse instead. The girl will one day prick her finger on a spinning needle and fall asleep for 100 years. When this happens, a young handsome prince comes to her rescue. 

As stated, before the simplicity of this tale makes the story much more accessible to modern viewers. Though this is still a condensed and simplified version of this classic story, you can still follow it without having to know the source material. However, the focus here is not on the story but the spectacle. This is a very handsome looking film. What will be surprising to many people who are unfamiliar with this era of film is that it is in color. Like other color films of this time, the color was hand painted onto the images themselves. This was a painstaking process but one which works extremely well. While the color may not be realistic, this is a fairy tale and it doesn't have to. The color perfectly captures the mood and atmosphere. It also just simply looks beautiful like a vintage painting. The sets are fantastic. They are incredibly well detailed and enhance the fantasy setting perfectly. The costumes are also perfect for this type of fairy tale story. Visually this film is a fairy tale come to life in the best way possible. 

For anyone wishing to watch this lovely film you can do so below. 

 

Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #302

 Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning and happy Halloween. Once again it is time for some spooky cartoons. 

Today's spooky cartoon selection begins with our favorite friendly ghost, Casper, in Fright From Wrong (1956). 

Next, we join Superman in The Mummy Strikes (1943). This is the 14th out of 17 theatrical cartoon shorts staring the famous DC superhero produced at first by the Fleischer Studios and then its successor Famous Studios. 

Now for the silent Felix the cat cartoon, Switches Witches (1927).

Now for a true classic starring Porky and Slyvester, Claws for Alarm (1954). This was the second of two cartoons (both directed by Chuck Jones) featuring Sylvester as the cowardly cat that must protect his owner Porky for murderous mice (the first being Scaredy Cat (1948)). Unlike other appearances of Sylvester, here the cat is treated more like a real cat and has no ability to speak. Chuck Jones would use this basic formula again for Jumpin' Jupiter (1955). That film would again feature Sylvester as a cowardly cat that must protect Porky. However, in that cartoon he would protect his master from a space alien rather than mice.  Claws For Alarm would later be used in the feature length compilation movie, Daffy Duck's Quackbusters (1988).

Now it is time for a commercial break.

Now for something completely different here is a completely serious cartoon short of the 1950's, The Tell-Tale Heart (1953). This film is not surprisingly from the UPA studio. The UPA studio at this time sought to move away from the violent slapstick of Warner Brothers or MGM cartoons, or the more realistic "illusion of life" featured in many Disney cartoons. They often experimented with what could be done with the color and design in animated films. These films often experimented with flat backgrounds, purposely limited animation and abstract color schemes that reflect the emotion of a scene rather than what something would really look like. As is true of all cartoon studios that do a lot of experimenting, sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. Tell-Tale Heart is one of the most successful and one of the most extreme experiments. Most American audiences at this time had never seen an animated short quite like this and many would never see something like this again. When a 1954 article in Home Movies talking about the Cannes Film Festival got to Disney's Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (1953) winning a prize, the writer had this to say, "It is unpardonable however that Disney should so openly and fully steal the style of the cartoon developed by the most excellent groups of artists, Steven Bosustow's UPA. It was no secret this was the case among those as the festival as UPA is well known and well respected in France. It is a shame that UPA recent and excellent 3D cartoon, The Tell-Tale Heart could not be shown at the festival, for it most certainly won the prize awarded to Disney." This cartoon is placed at 24 in Jerry Beck's book, The 50 Greatest Cartoons. 

It's time to attend Betty Boop's Halloween Party (1933). This is pure pre-code Betty at her best with fast paced action, bizarre cartoony gags, an energetic music score and a heck of a lot of charm. The following are two exhibitors' reviews from the Motion Picture Herald. "BETTY BOOP'S HALLOWEEN PARTY: Betty Boop Cartoons—Good cartoon and sound. It's just a toss-up which is the best cartoon, "Mickey Mouse," "Betty Boop" or "Popeye the Sailor," with "Popeye" slightly in the lead.—S. H. Rich, Rich Theatre, Montpelier, Idaho, Town and Rural Patronage." "BETTY BOOP'S HALLOWEEN PARTY: Talkar- toons—Better than the average Betty Boop. Good short for any program. - H. E. Newberry, Y.M.C.A. Theatre, Ware Shores, S.C. Small Town Patronage."

Next comes one of the earliest of Disney's Silly Symphonies, Hell's Bells (1929). What is amazing about this film is that it is animated by only three people. Wilfred Jackson animates the scene introducing the devil and his court, the scene with the devil's band, the pool of lava, the three dancing bats, the devil king applauding and ringing the bell, the imps carrying the bowl of fire to the devil king, the devil feeding the three-headed dog and the devil pursuing the imp. Ub Iwerks (who also directed the cartoon) animates the opening and closing shots, the single dancing bat and the devil king falling from the cliff and being devoured by the flames. Les Clark animates the serpent swallowing the bat, the dragon/cow and the devil threatening an imp. Animation for this film was done from September to October 1929. Its New York opening was at the George M. Cohan on November 10-16. It played along with the feature film, Song of Love (1929). However, its Los Angles opening would have to wait until it played at the Fox Boulevard theatre, February 20-26, 1930. It would play alongside the feature film, The Cock-Eyed World (1929). 

Of course, a Halloween tradition for cartoon fans is the Treehouse of Horror episodes of The Simpsons. Here is a delightful segment from the very first Treehouse of Horror.

Thank you for joining me. Come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry. 

Resources Used
Walt Disney’s Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series by J.B. Kaufman and Russell Merritt

https://mediahistoryproject.org/

Movie Review: Wicker

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B

A raunchy but sweet feminist fable. 

In this film, a single fisherwoman is treated as a joke by all the citizens of her village. With hopes of getting the villagers off her back, she asks the basket weaver to make her a husband. The weaver makes her a living man made out of wicker that is deeply in love with her. To her surprise, she falls for him as well. 

Even with its raunchy sense of humor and frankness about sex, this story is first and foremost a fable in the traditional vein. This takes place in a world that immediately sets itself up as some place distinctly different from our own. Like many fairy tales, this story takes place in what is obviously the past. However, where and when this past we are seeing is not specified. Setting it apart from any specific time or place makes the fantasy easily more acceptable. When the film starts, we see a wedding that resembles our own weddings but has different traditions that don't really exist in our world. Immediately we are thrown into a world that is quite different from our own yet still holds a mirror up to our society. Because of this, the movie can make commentary on gender roles and marriage without ever sermonizing to us, the way a realistic film set in modern day might. This also allows for us to believe any fantasy concept that the story has for us without any questioning. 

This movie also has a really sweet heart to it. There is something that is automatically charming about the main romance. Despite the emphasis on their sex lives, the love they feel for each other has an almost pure and innocent feel to it. This is especially true as it is contrasted with the more traditional marriages we see from the other characters (which provide a cynical representation of what a traditional marriage looks like). As the film goes on, we care more and more about this relationship. This makes some scenes quite touching and moving. 

The film also benefits from an extremely strong cast. The fisherwoman is a type of role we have seen Oliva Colman play before, but she is so perfect for it that you may not care. Bill Skarsgaurd is wonderful in the role of the wicker husband, giving a real humanity to this other worldly creation. Peter Dinklage is ideally cast as the wise basket maker with his voice perfectly fitting the fable-like feel to this film.  

However, as much as the story works, the raunchy humor often falls flat. Despite the amount of comedy here I only laughed a couple times. Most of the jokes are very raunchy but that does not automatically make them funny. Simply having characters talk graphically about sex and ogle the wicker man's giant penis is not funny in and of itself. Some scenes feel raunchy just to be raunchy without actually adding anything to the story or providing any laughs.        

This film was directed by the team of Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson. It is their second feature film as directors. The first was the sci-fi comedy Save Yourselves! (2020).

Though as a comedy it may fall flat, this is a very charming and intelligent fable. 

Movie Review: Clayface

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B+

An excellent comic book horror movie. 

This film tells the origin story of the Batman villain Clayface. Actor Matt Hagen is massively scarred just when his career is fully taking off. He becomes a test subject for an experimental treatment that will restore his face. However, when the side effects allow him to morph his face into anyone, he uses this for revenge against those that had wronged him.  

What makes this movie work so well is Matt Hagen, himself. This movie does a wonderful job of exploring how this character goes from being a tragic figure to a full-on supervillain. This transition happens gradually but completely believably. As this happens, we go from rooting for him to being terrified of him. Having a character be essentially both our protagonist at times and our villain at others can be a difficult feat to pull off. However, this movie does a great job at this. Much of this is due to Tom Rhys Harries performance as the title character. 

As body horror, this movie does an excellent job as well. There are many moments that will turn your stomach. They are truly grotesque in the best possible way. None of this feels unnecessary though. Each grotesque and gory scene comes out of the story and characters rather than being there simply for shock value. As such there is an emotional and narrative effect to each of these scenes that makes the movie all the more effective and scary. 

If I were to fault this movie, it would be heavily in its first act. The filmmakers seem to be rushing to get to the point where he is scarred and volunteers for the experimental treatment. As such everything before that goes by much too fast. There is a lot of exposition in these early scenes that feels clumsy and forced as if the filmmakers just want to get this information out of the way. 

An R-rated horror movie based off a Batman villain was a risky move but one that certainly paid off.  

Movie Review: Christmas at the Kringles

 

Michael's Movie Grade: F

A bland and forgettable dark comedy. 

In this movie, a family moves to the country. Their Christmas-obsessed next-door neighbors at first seem extremely friendly and welcoming. However, it turns out they are much darker and dangerous than they seem.

With such an over the top and silly premise, it would seem that the film would either be hilarious or so bad it would be kind of entertaining in unintentional way. Yet it is actually neither. Instead, it is just simply bland and forgettable. The movie never embraces its absurdity the way it should but instead simply seems too sanitized. The humor often focuses on safe easy jokes that would be better fitting for a sitcom than a high-concept dark comedy. That is when there actually are jokes. There are many moments in which the film expects the absurdity of the premise to single handedly carry the comedy. Yet the movie never goes far enough with its absurdity for this to work. Because of this we are left with a comedy that has no laughs at all. A game cast is obviously trying their best with the material, but no one can make this script work. Beverly D'Angelo gives a ridiculously over the top performance that should have been hilarious. Yet the script gives her nothing that could ever be considered funny. Donald Faison gives a very good comedic performance as the guy who simply doesn't want to be there. Again, though he is not given any real jokes. 

The character are also simply terrible here. The main family have very little if any personality beyond their roles as father, wife and son. The Kringles are supposed to be master manipulators that at first appear charming. Yet they are creepy from the get-go and it hard to understand how anyone could fall find them charming. 

There is no reason this should have been as bad as it is. 

Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #301

 Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again, it is time for some classic cartoons. 

Today's cartoon selection begins with Mighty Mouse in The Electronic Mouse Trap (1946).

Next comes Mickey Mouse in The Haunted House (1929). Despite its spooky setting, this film was released closer to Christmas, premiering in movie theaters on December 2, 1929. Still the spooky setting is very effective, and this sense of atmosphere makes it one of my favorite early Mickeys. Though legendary animator and pioneering Disney director, Ub Iwerks had by this time mostly been dedicating himself to the Silly Symphony shorts rather than the Mickey Mouse, you can see some of his work here. However, this is in reused footage from the famous first Silly Symphony, The Skelton Dance (1929), which was released earlier the same year. This film did run into trouble with the state censors though not for any of the creepy parts. Instead, they objected to gags involving a chamber pot and an outhouse.

Next comes the Columbia Color Rhapsody cartoon, Snowtime (1938). If you have ever wondered where snow comes from, this very educational film should answer all your questions. 

Next comes Yankee Doodle Donkey (1944). This film stars Spunky the donkey and is his first appearance without his mother Hunky. The Hunky and Spunky cartoons were made for the Fleischer Studio. When the Fleischer Studio was replaced by Famous Studios, the characters would at first disappear for a few years. Starting with this film, Famous Studios would bring back Spunky without Hunky. As well as giving Spunky a couple of solo cartoons, the young donkey would also play a major role in the Casper cartoon, Boo Kind to Animals (1955). 

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

Next comes a classic Norman McCabe directed Daffy Duck cartoon. Though he only directed three Daffy cartoons, Norman McCabe more than proved himself as a perfect match for this character. Though his Daffy was still wild and crazy, Norman's cartoons gave him a more fully formed personality than previous directors did. Besides just the personality these films were extremely high energy cartoons that were extremely fun. Norman McCabe would continue working with the Looney Tunes characters well past the golden age of Looney Tunes, as he would be a timing director for the TV shows, Tiny Toon Adventures (1990-1991), Taz-Mania (1991-1995) and The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries (1995-1996). So, enjoy Impatient Patient (1942). 

Now for the Terry Toons cartoon, Jack's Shack (1934).

Next comes an early example of one of Disney's Silly Symphonies, Arctic Antics (1930). Like all Disney cartoons of this era, this short film benefits from an incredible cast of animators. The opening scene with the bears and seals was animated by Frenchy de Tremaudan. Wilfred Jackson, who would go on to direct some of the finest Silly Symphonies shorts animates more of the bears and seals as well as the penguin leader and the little penguin during the march. Dave Hand, who would later be the supervising director for the Disney feature films, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Bambi (1942), animates the bear cub on the ice cake and much of the penguin march. Les Clark, one of Walt's future Nine Old Men and one of the best Mickey Mouse animators, animates the large bear on the ice cake and a penguin doing a dance by himself. Norm Ferguson, whose animation would help define the character of Pluto, animates the operatic walrus (reused animation from the Mickey Mouse cartoon, Wild Waves (1929)) and the penguins dancing in a chorus line. Ben Sharpsteen, who was the supervising director for the Disney feature films Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940) and Dumbo (1941), animates the four dancing seals, the seals applauding (reused animation from the Mickey Mouse cartoon, Wild Waves (1929)) and the walrus with the fish. Dick Lundy, who would go on to be a great Woody Woodpecker director, animates the seal dancing by himself and the seal balancing a fish on his nose. Johnny Cannon animates the seal squeezing the walrus' nose. Jack King, who would go on to direct some wonderful Donald Duck cartoons animates more of the penguin march. This short film would make its TV debut on an episode of the Mickey Mouse Club that aired on February 17, 1956. 

Now to close with a song. 

Resources Used

Of Mice and Magic: A History of the American Animated Cartoon by Leonard Maltin

Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History by J.B. Kaufman and David Gerstein 

Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series by Russell Merritt and J.B. Kaufman

Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Brothers Cartoons by Jerry Beck and Will Friedwald 

https://mediahistoryproject.org/

Movie Review: Whalefall

 

Michael's Movie Grade: C

An okay thriller. 

This movie involves a young man who is eaten by a whale. He is trying to survive in that whale and escape before he is completely swallowed. 

The main reason to watch this movie is Austin Abrams performance. Once again, he is simply fantastic here. He has to spend much of the film being the only person on screen. Yet he holds our attention perfectly and hitting every needed emotional beat. The visuals are also surprisingly good here. The idea seems very visually limited, but the filmmakers find a way to make it feel cinematic. There is a lot of imagination on display in these scenes as well as a real sense of claustrophobia.

Despite its virtues this is far from being a classic. Spending the majority of the movie inside a whale leads to a very repetitive experience and can honestly get kind of boring at times. The father son drama at the heart of the story never truly connects as it just follows typical story beats in a bland and forgettable way. The main problem with the film though is that it takes itself too seriously. The plot is ridiculous and silly. To make this kind of plot work, the film needs to fully lean into this silliness or to embrace a sense of fantasy. However, what we get here treats the story in a completely earnest way, while trying to also present itself as something realistic.   

Despite a strong lead performance and great visuals, on a narrative level there is nothing to make this story stand out.