Wonderland Burlesque's
Let's Go To The Movies:
Face Time
Part XIII
That look, that face...
It's all in the face. It can be read like a book. Or so these films would have us believe.
The silver screen has been home to so many beautiful (and not-so-beautiful) faces, lighting up the dark, showing us the way, sharing celluloid dreams. It seems only fitting that we take them at their word and look a these films one face at a time.
Yes, these faces may belong to a bygone era, but in the movies?
A face lives forever.
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The Face In The Fog
(1922)
Reformed crook, Boston Blackie Dawson, accidentally comes into possession of the Romanov jewels, which the Grand Duchess Tatiana and her friends have brought to the United States for safety. Terrorists in search of the jewels transfer their attention to Dawson, but he is able to capture them with the aid of new electronic equipment and to expose Count Ivan as their leader. When Dawson gives paste copies to the U. S. Government, which also seeks the smuggled jewels, and returns the originals to their owner, Tatiana and Count Orloff are free to find happiness.
This American silent film was directed by Alan Crosland and stars Lionel Barrymore, Seena Owen, and Lowell Sherman.
Produced by Cosmopolitan Productions and distributed by Paramount Pictures. An incomplete print, missing several reels, exists at the Library of Congress.
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A Face In The Fog
(1936)
Cast members of a show at the Alden theatre are being terrorized by a hunchback killer known as the Fiend. Using frozen bullets, two have been killed. Newspaper reporters Jean Monroe and Frank Gordon, accompanied by a bumbling photographer are on the story. Jean receives a note from Ted Wallington, the star of the play Satan's Bride, to meet him. She soon learns the note was a fake,. Then the lights go out and the Fiend strikes again! Wallington slumps to the floor dead. The show's playwright, Peter Fortune has helped the police solve previous cases and agrees to assist on this case. However, he insists on working alone. Jean and Frank have taken rooms at the Globe Hotel, where Reardon, an actor, is also a resident. A telephone message for Frank turns out to be a ruse in the hopes of getting him out of the hotel. Reardon suggests calling the police, but he's not on the up and up. A fight ensues and Reardon escapes. This gives the hunchbacked terror a chance to slip in the room to make another attempt on Jean's life, but the shot misses. Reardon is then taken into custody. During an re-enactment of the Wallington murder, Reardon is killed - another theory is exploded. However, an almost overlooked clue reveals a new suspect - one with a motive for murder.
This American mystery was directed by Robert F. Hill and stars June Collyer, Lloyd Hughes, Al St, John and Lawrence Gray.
You can watch this film in its entirety for free on YouTube.
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Faces In The Fog
(1944)
Tom and Cora Elliott love their active social life so much that they neglect their seventeen-year-old daughter Mary and fourteen-year-old son Les. Fred Mason, Tom's neighbor and the doctor at the defense plant employing Tom, worries about the effect that Tom and Cora's drinking and socializing have on the children. Les allows himself to be influenced by an older boy, Mike Taylor, who asks him to sneak Tom's gun out of the house. On the night that Mary goes to a party at Mason's house and becomes enamored of his eighteen-year-old son Joe, Les is injured when Mike accidentally fires the gun at him. Les's slight wound is tended to by Mason, who succumbs to Mary's pleas that he not report the incident to the police, even though physicians are required to report all gunshot wounds. The next day, Danny, one of the boys who witnessed the shooting, describes the incident to Sergeant O'Donnell of the juvenile bureau. As Mason and Tom are driving home that afternoon, Mason tells Tom about Les's injury and cautions him to supervise his children. Tom rudely tells Mason to mind his own business, and when he is met at home by O'Donnell, Tom incorrectly assumes that Mason involved the police. After Tom orders the love-struck Mary to stop seeing Joe, the youngsters take other dates to the school dance, although they spend most of the evening with each other. Jealousies arise, however, and Mary leaves with Mike, whose erratic driving prompts Joe to follow him. Joe arrives on the scene just after the drunken Mike has struck a pedestrian, and after admonishing Mike to report the accident, Joe takes the injured man to the hospital. Mike does not go to the police though, and in order to protect Mary from any unpleasant implications, Joe takes responsibility for the accident and is expelled from school. Joe enlists in the Army, after which he asks Mary to elope with him. The couple drive across the state border and are married, but are spotted by Mike at an auto court. Mike phones Tom, who, unaware that Joe and Mary are wed, shoots and seriously wounds Joe. Desperate to protect her father, Mary convinces Joe to keep their marriage a secret until after Tom's trial for attempted murder. Using the defense of the "unwritten law" that a father must defend his daughter's virtue, Tom is acquitted. Afterward, however, when Mary reveals that she and Joe were married, police officer Nora Brooks tells her that she must face the consequences of her false testimony. Mary readily acquiesces, although Nora allows her to leave for a week's honeymoon with Joe. Joe then reports to the Army, and Mary returns to live with the Masons and accept her responsibilities.
This American drama was directed by John English and stars Jane Withers, Paul Kelly, John Litel, Adele Mara, Eric Sinclair and Lee Patrick.
In 1942, Withers signed a three-year, $225,000 contract with Republic Pictures. This was the third of four films she would make for them under that contract.
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A Face in the Crowd
(1957)
Watch the rise of a raucous hayseed named Lonesome Rhodes from itinerant Ozark guitar picker to local media rabble-rouser to TV superstar and political king-maker. Marcia Jeffries, an innocent Sarah Lawrence girl who discovers the great man in a back-country jail, is the first to fall under his spell.
Based on the short story Your Arkansas Traveler by Budd Schulberg from his 1953 collection Some Faces in the Crowd, this American satirical drama was directed by Elia Kazan and stars Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal and Walter Matthau.
Marlon Brando was offered and turned down the film's lead role.
This was the film debut of Andy Griffith. In stage performance, Griffith noted, he would work gradually up to his most intense moments, but needed to conjure that up spontaneously when shooting such scenes for Elia Kazan. In some instances, he asked to have a few discarded chairs available to destroy, in order to work up his rage before filming.
This marked Patricia Neal's return to the screen after a four-year absence from Hollywood, an absence that was precipitated by a much-publicized affair with Gary Cooper (who was married at the time) and a subsequent nervous breakdown. Elia Kazan cast Patricia Neal after seeing her in a production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, a play that he originally directed on Broadway.
Lee Remick, making her film debut as the sexy baton twirler, showed up at the set three weeks early, so she could train with the local high school's majorettes. This was also the feature film debut of Lois Nettleton, who played a nurse (uncredited) and Rip Taylor. And it was to be the film debut of Charles Nelson Reilly - he played a saxophonist - but his scene was cut before the film's release.
When it came to casting, Elia Kazan selected several "people from Nashville; Lonesome Rhodes' friend who twitches his toes, he's from the Grand Ole Opry, a regular comedian there. We went around a lot of clubs, picking up entertainers. I had heard Andy Griffith on record, then I saw him on TV . . . He was the real native American country boy and that comes over in the picture. I had him drunk all through the last big scene because it was the only way he could be violent. In life, he wants to be friends with everybody."
The Lonesome Rhodes character was based on several real-life personalities, including Arthur Godfrey, Huey Long, Will Rogers and Billy Graham. Schulberg had stated that a conversation with friend Will Rogers Jr., son of Will Rogers (who was known for earthy anecdotes and folksy style) had inspired him to create the Lonesome Rhodes story. The younger Rogers stated that his "father was so full of shit, because he pretends he's just one of the people, just one of the guys".
The critics loved it. The New York Times critic Bosley Crowther called it a "sizzling and cynical exposure". While Harrison's Reports wrote: "On a whole, however, it is a fascinating picture, superbly directed and finely acted. Much credit for the film's impact is due Andy Griffith, a newcomer to the screen, for his exceptional performance in the principal role." Hy Hollinger of Variety praised the film as "provocative and hard-hitting", saying that "Kazan once again demonstrates his ability as a director and why major studios are willing to give him carte blanche in selecting his own story material and working under his own conditions" Edwin Schallert of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Far and away outstanding in their stellar performances are Griffith, Miss Neal and Matthau, with Franciosa also very capable."
Politics in Hollywood? For some reason the picture, despite the critical raves, the incredible screenplay, and the blazing performances, failed to receive a single Oscar nomination.
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Face In The Rain
(1963)
Rand, an American spy in Nazi-occupied Italy, seeks shelter in the house of Anna, who is having an affair with German officer Klaus.
This American war drama was directed by Irvin Kershner and stars Rory Calhoun, Marina Berti, Massimo Giuliani and Niall MacGinnis.
Calhoun was married three times, once to his first wife and twice to his second wife. He had three daughters with first wife Lita Baron.. When Baron sued Calhoun for divorce, she named Betty Grable as one of 79 women with whom he'd had adulterous relationships. Calhoun replied to her charge: "Heck, she didn't even include half of them."
Rory Calhoun
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And that's all for now, folks!
Tune in next time...
Same place, same channel!
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(1957)
.JPG)
