Year: 1939

• Director/s: Victor Fleming and (although they don’t appear in the credits) George Cukor and Sam Wood.
• Producer: David O. Selznick. In this case the producer is very important, as Selznick is the creator,  the “alma mater” of this film. Only he had enough faith to fight the battle to get this film out in public.

Cast:

• Vivien Leigh (Scarlett O´Hara)
• Clark Gable (Rett Butler)
• Olivia de Havilland (Melanie Hamilton)
• Leslie Howard (Ashley)

Sitting down on a November afternoon to watch Gone with the Wind, converted a regular day into an unforgettable one. I spent nearly five hours together with my daughter, who I had managed to convince to watch the film with me, hiding the fact that it was nearly five hours long, and who, consequently, didn’t take her eyes off the screen for a split second. It is clear that Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh continue to capture women of all ages and generations.

Gone with the Wind could be classified as “The FILM”, in capital letters. Adventure, love, conflict, suspense, comedy… It has it all. Although David O. Selznick made many other great films, he will always be remembered for this masterpiece.

It contains infinite memorable scenes in nearly five hours of film, which is an awfully long time. My preferred scene is when Scarlett is dressing with Mami, who is tightening her corset. For me, the black maid’s interpretation is one of the columns of success for the film. Not in vain was she the first colored woman to receive an Oscar from the Hollywood Academy, which she highly deserved.

Vivien Leigh’s interpretation is superb; her superior, jealous, greedy, hurt, desperate and mischievous expressions are masterly.

The scene when she enters the party when wearing the eye-catching scarlet dress is captivating, and where all the guests are dressed much more modestly, and more caste would be a shameless wink at “Jezebel”.

The meetings between Scarlett, totally distanced from the desperate love and charms of Rett Butler are mixed with love and hate. Clark Gable is impressive and one can never tire of watching him.

The unending, enormous stairs throughout the entire film are marvellous. The almost “Hitchcock-like” scenes (in fact, Selznick asked the suspense master’s advice on a few occasions), are slow with a ticking sound of a clock, where the women impatiently and desperately wait, immersed in an absurd and useless entertainment, for their husbands to gracefully leave the bandit’s assault.

Gone with the Wind will always be one of the most famous films in the history of cinema. Within this film the Golden Era of Hollywood amalgamates, by pure accident, surely. It is a simply unrepeatable film, and an icon for all lovers of classic cinema.

Awards:

• Plaque of Honor for William Cameron Menzies for the use of color, reinforcing the film’s dramatism.
• Oscar to Vivien Leigh for Best Actress; for Best Supporting Actress Hattie MacDaniel (Mami), being the first black woman to be nominated, and to receive an Oscar; for the Best Artistic Direction by Lyle R. Wheeler; for the best color cinematography; for the Best Director (Victor Fleming); for the Best Editing; for the Best Film; for the Best Adapted Script and a special award for the Best Technical Innovation.
• Nomination for Best Actor (Clark Gable), for Best Supporting Actress (Olivia de Havilland), for the Best Special Effects, for the Best Soundtrack and for the Best Sound.

Curious Facts:

• 1400 actresses were interviewed to play the role of Scarlett.

• Very few of the actors actually liked the roles that they were given to play. Amongst others, Clark Gable only accepted the role upon an extra pay that he received in order to settle his divorce with Carole Lombard. Leslie Howard thought that he was too old to play the role of Ashley.

• Gary Cooper rejected the role, convinced that it would be a complete failure (“I’m glad it’ll be Clark Gable falling flat on his nose, not me” said Cooper)

• The phrase “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn” is placed in the top 100 of best cinema quotes.

• It was the first color film to win an Oscar.

• The four main characters only appear together in one scene (following the attack on Shantytown).

• Judy Garland was going to play the role of one of Scarlett’s sisters, however, she opted to do another film: The Wizard of Oz.

• At the beginning, due to its length (nearly five hours) the film was going to be done in two parts.

• All the existing Technicolor cameras were used for the fire in Atlanta scene. The firemen were ready to take action in the case of it getting out of control, and there was a 5000 gallon reserve (nearly 20,000 litres) of water for the eventuality (after the filming, the fire had to be put out).

• Clark Gable was enormously reluctant to film a scene in which he had to cry. Olivia De Havilland was the one who finally convinced him.

• If the film’s takings were to be adjusted to the current inflation, Gone with the Wind would continue to be the biggest box office success in history (in 2005 it had earned more than 3,700 million dollars and 200 million cinema tickets), with Star Wars being the second.

• None of the interior scenes were filmed with a roof.

• The actress who played Scarlett’s mother was 28 years old, whilst Vivien Leigh, at 25 years, played the role of a girl of 16 years.

• It is the longest film to have won an Oscar.

• In popular surveys to choose who would play the role of Scarlett, Vivien Leigh received only one vote.

• Olivia de Havilland went to a maternity hospital to see what giving birth was really like, in order to make the scene of her daughter’s birth as real as possible.

• Clark Gable never liked the film, categorizing it as a “Woman’s film”.

I leave you with the film’s trailer and a few memorable scenes:

Images: taringa.net y Wikipedia.

Year: 1938

Cast:

Director: Howard Hawks

Katharine Hepburn: Susan

Cary Grant: David

Leopard: Baby

Photography by Russell Metty

With all its trip-ups, stuttered words, costumes, nonsensical dialogues and unbelievable situations, the first few minutes of the film already indicate that we have before us one of the most enjoyable comedies in the history of cinema.

First we have the splendid Katharine Hepburn playing the role of a capricious, reckless and perhaps somewhat hyperactive rich heiress. Then we have the absent-minded, elegant and attractive Cary Grant.

It is a film charged with vitality and optimism, one of those which raises your spirits on a sad Sunday afternoon, and that makes your roar with laughter more than once whilst truly enjoying yourself.

These are three of my most memorable scenes:

The broken dress scene: a crazed Katharine that does not allow an absent-minded, muddle-headed and innocent Cary Grant speak, as he gullibly falls into Hepburn’s grip whilst she handles his every whim.

The scene of the robe, when Katharine’s aunt unexpectedly presents herself at the house to discover Cary Grant covered in feathers and gossamer.

Also, the prison scene, which nearly reminds you of a scene from one of the Marx Brother’s famous movies.

It is a comedy in which everything complicates itself to unexpected levels of romance and pure disorder, so absurd and silly that it makes you laugh. All this, together with splendid photography, an incredible atmosphere and, above all, a masterful interpretation by the two starring parts, make an unforgettable film that still provokes us to roar with laughter today.

Awards:

• Awarded in 1990 by the National Film Preservation Board.
• According to Entertainment Weekly it is placed at number 24 in the best films of all time.
• Premiere magazine voted it “One of the best 50 comedies of all time”.
• In 2007 the American Film Institute placed it at number 88 of the Best Films in history.

Curious Facts:

• Katharine Hepburn had never done a comedy before. She had to be taught by various Vaudeville specialists, such as Howard Hawks. On the other hand, Cary Grant was already a specialist in comedies.
• Katharine had no problem doing the scenes with the leopard, whilst Cary Grant was always substituted by a double.
• In many scenes a baby leopard was used, however, in others a partitioned set technique was used, and mounted together later on. A real feat for the period.
• It was a box office failure. Howard Hawks was fired and the nickname of “Box Office Poison” was given to Katharine Hepburn.
• Howard Hawks modelled Cary Grant’s character around the actor Harold Lloyd’s personality, he even gave him glasses.
• Cary Grant’s character makes references to Pato Donald and Mickey Mouse. RKO was the Disney distributor at that time.
• The film has no soundtrack.
• The scene in which Katharine Hepburn breaks the dress and Cary Grant helps her to cover up is based on a real situation that happened to Grant: he caught the zipper on a woman’s dress in a theatre and, impulsively, went behind her. Howard Hawks found it so amusing that he decided to include it in the movie.
• Cary Grant was so scared of the leopard that in order to torture him, Katharine Hepburn placed a stuffed leopard toy in one of the open air vents. “He ran out of there like lightning”, she wrote in her memoirs.
• The scenes in which the leopard moves freely (especially those in Susan’s apartment) were filmed inside a cage, in which the cameras were strategically placed.
• It is the second of four films that saw Grant and Hepburn united.
• In its day, although many now consider this to be Hawks’ best film, its director stated that Bringing up Baby was no good due to its characters being over-“irrational”.

I leave you with a few of the funniest scenes:

Images:

jamd1973.blogspot.com y http://www.imdb.com/

Year: 1938

Director: William Wyler

Cast:

Bette Davis (Jezebel, or Julie)

Henry Fonda (Preston Dillard)

George Brent (Buck Cantrell)

Margaret Lindsay (Amy)

William Wyler makes Bette Davis the indisputable main star of this Southern melodrama.

Bette plays the role of an authoritarian, impulsive and capricious mother. Her character is a disobedient young girl who refuses to follow the strict rules of the late nineteenth century Southern American society. Julie is astute, proud, intelligent, but above all she is provocative and manipulative. All this makes her an immature and capricious youngster, who is ready to do anything in order to reach her objectives.

The need to always be the center of attention and to push every situation to its limit is what provokes her fiancé, Preston Dillard, the cold, calculating and workaholic role starred by Henry Fonda, to abandon both her and the city upon not being able to dominate such a tornado of a woman.

There are scenes which brush with perfect interpretation; always, of course, with Davis as the main star.

These are my most memorable scenes:

The dance scene when she decides to attend wearing a red dress instead of the white dress requested by the dress code.

The entrances where she takes control of the screen, and brightly and elegantly descends down the staircase are spectacular.

I do not have the words to describe Bette Davis’ face when her ex-lover introduces her to his wife: astonished, cold, desperate, hateful… all these feelings mixed into one and shown in a few seconds on the screen.

Bette Davis’ expression when she’s dressed in white, singing at the foot of a staircase surrounded by children, broken by pain and trying to hide it, is simply unforgettable.

This is not only a story of impossible love in the life of a rebellious and manipulative woman, but also a critique of the archaic strict and almost medieval customs of the time; a time when Julie is despised for dressing inadequately, whilst facing the conventionalisms and not caring for the social rejection that it provokes. All in all, she is a rebellious and brave woman.

Bette is immense on each level. Those enormous dresses framed by a refined bourgeois style convert her into a real Queen of the film, eclipsing everyone who comes beside her. Bette fills every corner of the screen with a sublime interpretation that is worth watching if only to enjoy her gaze.

Awards:

Oscars:

Award for Best Actress (Bette Davis)

Award for Best Supporting Actress (Fay Bainter – Aunt Belle)

Nominations: Best Film, Best Soundtrack and Best Photography.

It was one of the 10 Best films of 1938, according to the National board of Review.

Jezebel was awarded by the National Film Preservation in 2009.

A special Award went to William Wyler in the 1938 Venice Festival for his career. There was also a nomination for the Mussolini Cup in the same year.

Curious Facts:

• A rumor that Bette Davis was offered the part of Jezebel upon having lost the opportunity to star in Gone with the Wind, is false. Jezebel began filming before they even decided who Scarlett would be.
• According to Robert Osborne, the “red” dress was actually bronze, as it showed up better in black and white.
• Henry Fonda was a last minute addition. The role was originally going to be played by Jeffrey Lynn.
• The Oscar won by Bette Davis was auctioned by Christies for 57,800$ in 2001. Steven Spielberg bought it and immediately returned it to the Film Academy.
• Bette Davis took 45 takes of the scene in which she lifts her riding skirt with the whip. An unforgettable shot that will definitely not go unnoticed.
• One of the reasons for the film’s delay was due to the birth of Henry Fonda’s daughter Jane.
• Warner Bros bought the rights of the film at a very low price as the Broadway Show had been a failure.

I leave you with a tribute video to Jezebel:

And a trailer for the film:

Images: Cine patas, wikipedia, lorenagil.com, unapizcadecmha, retornoamanderleyblogspot,

Year: 1935

Director: Mark Sandrich

Cast: Fred Astaire (Jerry Travers), Ginger Rogers (Dale Tremont), Edward Everett Horton (Horace Hardwick), Helen Broderick (Magde)

We could not miss out a Fred Astaire film in our “Movie Wednesdays”. Astaire was considered to be the all-time King of Musicals and the best tap dancer in history.

From all the characters in this film, I would choose to highlight Helen Broderick’s role as Magde. I love the elegance and kindness with which she interprets her fun, rich, free, and easy fifty-something year old character. I also adore the good taste and distinction with which she shows off each and every one of the beautiful 1920s models that she wears throughout the film; they are all exquisite.

Although script-wise the film is perhaps a little weak, it is worth seeing for the fantastic dance numbers with the most glamorous, elegant and romantic couples of the Hollywood dance floors: Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The couple literally eats up the whole screen. Unparalleled in style, elegance and class they masterfully interpret the catchy songs that Irving Berlin composed especially for this film. This would be the composer’s first collaboration with the couple, another five were to come later.

However, speaking of “Top Hat” is, above all, to speak of a song and a dress “Cheek to Cheek”, a feathered dress that is already an icon in the history of film. It is a dress so flowing that it seems to take on a life of its own when Ginger Rogers starts to glide over the dance floor.

If you are a fan of dance and good music, I assure you that only to see this dance number is already worth seeing the entire film.

Awards:

• Nominated for the following Oscars: Best Art Director, Best Choreography, Best Original Song and Best Film.  It was the first film in history to get four nominations. Although it did not manage to finally win any of them.
• National Film Preservation Award 1990.
• Satellite Award for the Best Classic DVD of 2005 and 2006.

Highlighted scenes:

And finally, the official trailer:

I hope you enjoy one of the most elegant musicals of the period!

Imágenes: sqsmaravillosa.wordpress.com,Wikipedia, pretty-clever-films2.com,