Michael's Christmas Movie Guide: Star in the Night (1945)

 In the 1930's and 40's Warner Brothers was known for making some of the most hard boiled and cynical films. Rarely did they delve themselves into the sentimentality MGM, so often did. Even the studio's cartoons were rarely sentimental. However there was another idea the studio was known for promoting as well. They were working man films made for the average Joe. This plays a huge part in A Star in the Night, making the short film feel like a Warner Brothers picture while it unabashedly goes into sentimentality. Despite this the sentimentality is extremely effective and heartwarming, making this a must watch for the Christmas season.

Nick (J. Carroll Naish) runs an inn. Everyday he sees people act selfishly and has lost his faith in humanity and therefore Christmas. A hitchhiker (Donald Woods) tries to convince him that deep down people are good and Christmas is therefore an important time. One day a woman (Lynn Baggret) and her husband (Anthony Caruso) come to the inn. They have no place to stay and the woman is with child.

At the time this film was made Jack Warner and Don Siegel were arguing. Jack Warner as a sign for the two to declare peace gave Siegel the opportunity to direct to short subjects. Don Siegel suggested this film, excepting Warner to reject it. However Warner accepted the idea and Star in the Night was made.

Though his name may not be much remembered today, J. Carroll Naish (the star of this short movie) will probably be recognized by fans of movies of this era. He was in hundreds of movies in very small parts. He appeared in such movies as What Price Glory, Elmer the Great, Front Page Woman, Captain Blood, Lives of a Bengal Lancer, Sahara, House of Frankenstein and so many more. In Star in the Night he proves that he could easily hold his own as the lead in a movie. He is fantastic here and a pure delight to watch. He not the only great thing about this short. Saul Elkins' script is fantastic. It is touching and lovely without ever feeling forced. Everything just flows naturally. Life's problems are not just glanced over instead, they are treated as still being harsh. What this movie does show is a basic goodness lying under all our cynical exteriors, and that a bit of optimism and faith can help us make life seem a little bit better. For anyone who has a soft spot for Christmas sentimentality this film is a must watch. However even the greatest cynic may find their heart melting.

This short movie won an earned an Oscar for best live action short subject and I say it is well earned.


Resources Used
http://jbkaufman.com/movie-of-the-month/star-night-1945

Cowboy Church #5

Happy Sunday my friends and welcome back to Cowboy Church.

Again we begin our musical portion off with a song from Roy Rogers and Dale Evans' 1959 gospel album Jesus Loves Me, today it is a delightful song called The Lord is Counting on You. Next up comes The Carter Family with their 1934 recording of I'm Working on a Building. Next is Pasty Cline's 1959 recording of a gospel classic Life's Railway to Heaven. Here she is backed by the Jordanaires, who also backed many of Elvis Presley's great gospel recordings. George Hamilton IV once said about Pasty Cline singing this song "I'd never heard it sung with so much power and authority" and I can't disagree with that assessment. Though Hank Williams wrote the gospel song I'm Gonna Sing, he never released the song. Instead he gave it to Charlie Monroe (Bill's brother) to record in 1950. However Hank did perform the song on a 1951 episode (May 17th episode to be exact) of the Mother's Best Flour radio show and that version is what we are going to enjoy here. Next is Johnny Cash with a 1994 live recording of A Cowboy's Prayer. Last up is Charley Pride with the title track off his 1971 gospel album Did You Think to Pray.

Here is an 1963 article from American Cinematographer about the Disney feature length western, Savage Sam (1963). This movie was a sequel to the studio's huge hit Old Yeller (1957). Interestingly the studio only made two feature length sequels during Walt's life and both were released in 1963, the other one being Son of Flubber (1963) a sequel to The Absent-Minded Professor (1957). Savage Sam was much more of a traditional western than Old Yeller.





Next we have a silent short film starring the movie's first cowboy star, Broncho Billy Anderson. This short is lovely in its simplicity. It is more sentimental than one may except from a silent western, but it is genuinely touching. So enjoy Broncho Billy's Fatal Joke (1914).



But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:26)And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow — not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below — indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)

-Michael J. Ruhland 

Charlie Chaplin's The Kid Called Unfit for Kids or Adults

With the amount of pure vulgarity and raunchiness that finds its way into so many movie comedies today, it is hard to believe that anyone could have ever found a movie like Charlie Chaplin's The Kid (1921) objectionable. However certain censors were not happy with the film. This actually ended up backfiring as even back then people knew that the movie was a brilliant work of art and definitely not objectionable. This story is told in an article from Exhibitors Herald (dated October 9, 1926). Here is that article.

"Death of Chief Justice Timothy D. Hurley of the superior court of Chicago recalls his historic debate with William A. Bradley on the motion at an open meeting of the Chicago City Council several years ago.


"Judge Hurley was leader and spokesman for a large group of women's organizations, who were demanding more rigid censorship of films in Chicago. Several newspapers sided with them. Brady at the time, was president of the N. A. M. P. I. and heading a large delegation of film people, who came to Chicago to fight the proposed ordinance.

"Censorship advocates seemed to be gaining the upper hand, when Judge Hurley made the mistake of attacking 'The Kid' Chaplin's masterpiece, as 'unfit for any child or adult to see.'

"Newspapers the following day branded the entire movement as 'fanatic,' basing their conculisions entirely on 'The Kid.' The new ordinance was defeated in Chicago and many believe that Judge Hurley's widely quoted attack on 'The Kid' turned public sentiment against the censorship movement which was gaining headway in all parts of the country."

It is telling that in 1926 (the year after The Gold Rush), The Kid was still being heralded as Chaplin's masterpiece. While Chaplin has made too many film I love for me to hail any as his masterpiece, The Kid certainly shows the filmmaker at his absolute best. It blends comedy and drama together perfectly. An opening intertitle of the film states "A picture with a smile - and perhaps a tear." The Kid definitely supplies both featuring some Chaplin's funniest moment as well as some of his most touching. You can watch the film below.



Update: Some times a researcher finds something accidentally after he has published a post. Maybe he (in this case its a he) should have maybe waited to publish the post until later so he could have found this first. So I found an article in Moving Picture World (dated February 19, 1921) that gives further insight into this. Here is a brief quote that is important to this conversation, "but the high point of comedy reached in the proceeding, which decidedly farcical value was touched on by Mr. Hurley in making a charge against the popular picture, 'The Kid,' recently released, which he said displayed the extreme ignominy of prenatal neglect, in showing a mother leaving her child in an ash barrel." Maybe I'll post that whole article in a later post, but I feel adding this brief quote adds more important insight to this point.    

-Michael J. Ruhland          

Movie Review: Stan and Ollie

Michael's Movie Grade: A

Review: A sweet and charming film that will no doubt delight every Laurel and Hardy fan out there.


There are many beautiful movies about romantic relationships out there, but too few beautiful movies about close friendships. Stan and Ollie captures the latter perfectly though. This is a movie about close friends who have been together too long to exist apart from each other. While the duo's classic movies are filled with silly slapstick humor, underneath that is always an unbreakable bond between the Stan and Ollie characters that add so much to the charm of those films. This movie shows that a similar bond truly existed among the actors themselves. Like their on screen characters they fought and got mad at each other, but underneath all of it they deeply cared about each other, sharing a friendship that nothing could break. While this film definitely shows that the two offscreen where different from the two onscreen, we can see clearly that both the characters and the men shared this bond. Because of this the underlying sweetness of that made the old Laurel and Hardy films so great also make this movie great.

John C. Reilly and Steve Coogan can not get enough praise for how well they played Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy here. As a lifelong fan of Laurel and Hardy films, I thought it would be impossible for any actors to capture the men as perfectly as they do here. They are many times during this movie in which you forget you are watching a movie about Laurel and Hardy and think that you are actually watching Laurel and Hardy. This is especially true of the times when they recreate scenes from Way Out West (1937), County Hospital (1932) and Zenobia (1939). These are near perfect recreations and the closest anyone will ever come to recapturing the magic of those classic films. They have even the subtlest gestures down pat. Even when they perform sketches that Stan and Babe (as people called Oliver Hardy in real life) never actually filmed you can feel the closest thing to the pure magic of Laurel and Hardy outside of the old films.

The supporting cast is also great here. I love Shirley Henderson and Nina Arianda as Stan and Babe's wives. They were fantastic and added a lot of great enjoyment and humor to this film as well.

It would have been so easy for a movie about two men growing old to be depressing. However this film avoids that trap very well. This is because along with the sadness there is the warmth of the two men and the passion clearly felt for the films subject matter. It can clearly be felt that this movie was made by people who love Laurel and Hardy as much as I do, and this passion and joy can be felt though the whole movie.

I may have to say though this movie is aimed towards fans of Laurel and Hardy. While this was perfect for me and was a huge part of why I love the movie, it may not work for everybody. I suggest if you haven't watched the classic Laurel and Hardy films, I suggest you watch at least one of their classic films before seeing this, it will make the experience all the better. This is not to say you won't enjoy it if you aren't familiar with the classic films, but only that you'd be missing out on quite a bit. I suggest Way Out West (1937), because it is not only a great movie, but quite a bit of this film references it.

I love everything about this movie and if you are a Laurel and Hardy fan as I am, I say you should watch this as soon as possible.


-Michael J. Ruhland  

The Bells of St. Mary's (1945) at the Old Town Music Hall

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of seeing The Bells of St. Mary's at the Old Town Music Hall in El Segundo California.


Like always at the Old Town Music Hall, the feature film did not take up the whole show. Before this Bill Field played us a medley of Christmas carols on the Mighty Wurlitzer Organ (a pipe organ that dates back to 1925 and was designed to accompany silent movies), this was followed by a sing along of classic Christmas songs including Santa Claus is Coming To Town, Frosty the Snowman, Silent Night, Jingle Bells, and White Christmas.

 After this we were treated to a 1923 silent version of A Christmas Carol entitled Scrooge. This film was accompanied by Bill Field on the Mighty Wurlitzer Organ. Now if you have never seen a silent movie with live musical accompaniment I must urge you to do so. There is nothing quite like it and it is a completely different experience from watching these films on DVD or TCM. The short itself is a fascinating one. It is a short film that condenses the story to a 25 minute short. As such there is quite a bit of the story we all know not included here. For instance Bob Cratchit's family is never seen and this includes Tiny Tim. The ghosts all show Scrooge only one vision each and seem to disappear as quickly as they appear. Still it is quite a good film in its own right. Russell Thorndike is delightful as Scrooge giving a very human performance and the special effects are quite good and hold up very well.

After a brief intermission came our feature film and what a great movie it is. Leo McCarey is one of my all time favorite directors and this movie shows perfectly why. It blends gentle comedy, sentimentality, great characters and an excellent sense of atmosphere perfectly. Bing Crosby is excellent in the main role (who had earlier appeared in Going My Way (1944)) and shows that he was an incredible actor as well as a singer. Speaking about his singing, he sings some great songs here. Ingrid Bergman is also fantastic in her role. She has perfect chemistry with Bing and provides some of this films most charming moments. Though these two often get all the praise for the movie's great acting, but young Joan Carroll as Pasty is just as amazing here. Her performance is amazingly human and hits every mark from comedy to sentimentality perfectly.

This movie has a very light story, but this is a major part of this film's charm. The film isn't about some big storyline instead it is about these characters. The characters are so real and human. This is also an uplifting movie that can never fail to put a smile on my face. A cynic can argue that the things that happen in this movie could never happen in real life, but the rest of us will fall completely under its spell. This is a movie that shows there is good in all humanity, and all one needs to do is look for it to make it evident. If you can get rid of the cynic inside you for just a tiny bit, it is not hard to fall in love with this movie's sentimentality and believe in good once again (even if it is only for 2 hours and 6 minutes). McCarey was a devout Catholic and that leads this movie to have a charm many directors could not have brought to it, as it is a movie about the rewards of faith and patience showing this with an honesty and respect that few directors could have bought to the screen so effectively. As a Christian myself (though protestant) this message fully hit home with me.  

This is a movie of undeniably charm and it is full of fantastic little moments such as Pasty's report on the sixth sense, Sister Mary teaching a young boy how to box (despite knowing nothing about it herself) and the school Christmas pageant. These scenes are so charming they might even win over those cynics I mentioned earlier.


The Old Town Music Hall is one of my favorite places to watch old movies and if any of you go to (or live in) Southern California, I couldn't recommend it more. To look at their schedule click here. 

Merry Christmas and God bless.      
-Michael J. Ruhland 

Michael's Christmas Movie Guide: Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

One of the most popular and influential Christmas movies is also one of the best.

This was the fourth film from director George Seaton, at least as a director before becoming a director he had been a writer at MGM then Fox. He had written for such films as The Wizard of OZ, A Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races, and The Song of Bernadette. Before this film he had directed  Diamond Horseshoe, Junior Miss and The Shocking Miss Pilgrim. Seaton also wrote this film.

Edmund Gwenn was not only a convincing Santa Claus to the audience, but also to then child actress, Natalie Wood. She believed he was the real Santa Claus, and who can blame her. She didn't realize he wasn't until she saw him out of costume at the wrap party. Not surprisingly Edmund Gwenn won a well deserved academy award for best supporting actor.

Maureen O'Hara was forced into this movie. She had in fact returned to Ireland, before being called to come back to America to play the role of the mom. She however fell in love with the script.

Despite the fact that this is obviously a Christmas film, Fox studio head, Darryl F. Zanuck felt the movie should be released in June, instead of at Christmas time. His reasoning was that people don't go to the theaters at Christmas time. Because of this most of the film's advertisements avoid saying this film had anything to do with Christmas or Santa Claus. Even the original title of the film, Christmas Miracle on 34th Street, was changed to Miracle on 34th Street.

Zanuck even felt this film was too cheesy for audiences. Boy was he wrong this film grew to become a classic, and boy is it. This is an excellent movie by any standards. The cast is perfect, the directing is great, the writing top notch and everything comes together perfectly. There are so many scenes that are so charming they can even win over someone whose heart is two sizes too small. One of my favorite of these scenes is the scene with Kris and the little Dutch girl. This scene is not necessary to the movie, but  it adds so much. It makes us love Kris all the more and helps us understand why such a doubting little girl starts to believe Kris is Santa. What also helps this film to work so great is that it never tells us whether or not Kris really is Santa. We have to go on faith just as Susan and Doris do. Watching this movie many of us become like children again, believing in something, because of our hearts rather than our cynical mind. A man who embodies Christmas so perfectly and wins over our cynical adult selves, must be Santa and we don't need the movie to show us what we feel in our hearts to be true. This is a movie that challenges the cynic in us by winning us over with pure childlike joy and wonder. This is not one of those movies that's beloved because it's considered a classic, but a classic because it is rightfully so beloved. This is a must watch.

This film is one of only three Christmas films to ever be nominated for best picture. The others were The Bishop's Wife (released the same year), and It's a Wonderful Life (released the year before).

This film also has appearing in the toy department Warner Brothers cartoon characters despite this being a Fox film. This is odd, but perfectly in line with the film's message.

This film won Boxoffice Magazine's Blue Ribbon Award to read more about this (from Boxoffice Magazine itself) click here.

The following is an article from Boxoffice Magazine (dated July 12, 1947).

"PITTSURG - 'Duel in the Sun' and 'Miracle on 34th Street' both in extended runs, were leaders, the former playing at Loew's Penn at increased prices, with the latter on view in J.P. Harris at regular prices. Other downtown offerings grossed under par. Admissions generally in the area are hitting only 75 per cent of average this period.


"Record crowds are turning out for sports events, including night games, operettas, park attractions etc."


The following is from the same issue of Boxoffice magazine.


"CINCINNATI - With exception of the Shubert, which did alright with 'Miracle on 34th Street,' Cincinnati box offices fell off considerably during a desultory week. 'Miracle' did a big 160 per cent; the Lyric did average business with a duel program, 'The Two Mrs. Carrolls' and 'Dishonored Lady.' All other houses fell below average."    

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used
http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/83570/Miracle-on-34th-Street/articles.html
http://mediahistoryproject.org/

Michael's Christmas Movie Guide: The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

Enrst Lubitsch, is a name that will probably be recognized by any classic movie fans reading this. Lubitsch is best known as the master of sophisticated comedy, and is considered by many to be one of the greatest comedy directors of all time. However he was just as great at sentiment as he was at comedy. One of the best examples of this is The Shop Around the Corner. This is a extremely lovely movie. In fact James Stewart remembered it as one his favorite movies he ever worked on (which considering his filmography was saying a lot).

In 1939 Lubitsch had singed with MGM to make Ninotchkia and one more film. That one more film turned out to be The Shop Around the Corner. Lubitsch had owned the rights to a play called Parfumerie. He would sell the rights of this play to MGM for $62,500 and then began work with writer Samson Raphaelson to make this into a movie. Lubitsch based much of the film off of his years as a child in his father's tailor shop in Berlin. Lubitsch wanted to be sure this film was not like the movies he was known for. The way this film would be different would be by being much less glamorous than those movies. He went to such great lengths to achieve this that he left a dress that Margret Sullivan (the film's leading lady) would wear in the movie out in the sun, and later even had it altered to make it fit her worse. Margret Sullivan had in fact before this bought a dress she thought worked perfectly for her part, but Lubitsch said it looked too good.

The film centers around a man named Alfred (played by James Stewart) and a woman named Klara (played by Margret Sullivan) who have been writing each other anonymous love letters (excuse me... cultural discussions through the mail). They both end up working at a little shop owned by a man named Hugo Matuschek (played by Frank Morgan). They meet and grow hate each other, while still unaware that they have been writing each other. To make matters worse Mr. Matuschek seems to be growing colder towards Alfred, leading Alfred to get fired and Klara to blame this on herself. This all leads to a Christmas Eve that will change everything for both of them.

The movie rightfully became a huge hit when it was released, which surpised the whole MGM studio, who felt that this was just an assuming little film. Luckily for us, this film is just as charming today as it was when it was originally released in 1940. This beautiful little film remains one of Lubitsch's best movies.


Part of what makes this movie so great is its sense of atmosphere. Watching this movie one truly feels like they are transported to this little town. It is so easy to get swept away in the characters as well. These are not simple little characters, but fully formed human beings. It doesn't take long until we accept these people to be as real as our friends and family. This movie is fact overflowing with humanity. In fact some of the sadder scenes in this movie are in fact painful to watch, I admit even feeling a little hurt by the "insignificant little clerk" remark. On the other hand the happier scenes are a complete joy and never fail to put a smile on my face. Even with how moving the drama is, this movie is still a comedy there are plenty of times I laughed out loud watching it. This is truly what makes the movie so special. Every element comes together to create a nearly perfect whole. This is one of those movies that reminds movie lovers like me why we fell in love with film in the first place.   

This film is so charming in fact it was later remade as a movie musical in 1949, another great film (and big hit) called In the Good Old Summertime. Charles Smith who played Rudi in The Shop on the Corner would also appear in In the Good Old Summertime in a small uncredited role. It was later remade again as You Got Mail in 1998.

To see san original review from Box Office Digest click here.


The following is a brief article from The Film Daily (dated January 26, 1940).


"SRO business greeted the opening of 'The Shop Around the Corner' yesterday at Radio City Music Hall where morning and afternoon figures were described as being equal to those on the opening day of 'Ninotchka.' The MGM picture is topping normal business from 18-43 percent in Baltimore, Springfield, Mass. Albany, Indianapolis, Rochester, Syracuse, Kanas City, Toledo, St. Louis, Nashville, Louisville and Dayton."  

The following is from an article in the Motion Picture Herald.

"Matt Saunders' exploitation campaign for 'The Shop Around the Corner' at Loew's Poli, Bridgeport, was featured by a full-page cooperative ad in the local Post. Contracting neighborhood merchants, Sanders arranged for a display, day before opening, featuring ads of various dealers including luggage, furniture, photographs, service stations, carrying copy plugging 'The Shop Around the Corner' and urging readers to shop at these places following their visit to the theatre. The title of the film itself was fitted with the individual ads."
-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/413/The-Shop-Around-the-Corner/articles.html 
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033045/?ref_=rvi_tt
http://mediahistoryproject.org/