Words and Movies

Reel 91b: Humphrey Bogart Joins the Resistance, Pt.2

We continue this episode with To Have and Have Not, a 1944 production directed by Howard Hawks. In this film, Bogart plays a sport tourism fisherman who's asked to use his boat to assist the French Resistance in Martinique. He meets up with Marie "Slim" Browning (Lauren Bacall) and that's where the fireworks started, both on and off screen. If you don't know how to whistle, Bacall offers up a fine lesson for you. COMING ATTRACTIONS: Next time, we take our first foray into silent films, with DW Griffith's Intolerance, from 1916, and Liberty Heights, from 1999, directed by Barry Levinson. These films were made in response to criticisms of earlier films from those directors. Join us, won't you?

Reel 91a: Humphrey Bogart Joins the Resistance, Pt.1

Casablanca is a film that Sean and I have wanted to cover for a long time, but there was a little bit of a struggle to find a good film to pair it with. Not because there were so few, but because there were so MANY. Finally we came up with focusing on Humphrey Bogart himself rather than on the overall theme of the film. And then there was the realization that Bogart had a couple of films where he was a reluctant hero in a World War Two setting, with the key word being "reluctant." So we open with Casablanca, from 1942, directed by Michael Curtiz. Hal Wallis got the rights to the play just a few weeks after Pearl Harbor, so it wound up having a much bigger impact than it might have had before we entered the war. In Part Two, we see how Howard Hawks would handle a reluctant hero.

Reel 90b: At the Ballet, Pt.2

In the second half of our episode, we take a peek at THE COMPANY (2003), a fictional story involving a real ballet company, with a couple of actors thrown in who aren't professional ballet dancers. As with any Altman film, there's a lot going on, usually simultaneously, and there are are a couple of throughlines making their way through a bunch of set pieces. But once you get used to Altman's cadences, you'll enjoy yourself throughout. COMING ATTRACTIONS: In our next episode, Humphrey Bogart joins the Resistance. We begin with CASABLANCA, which we could have easily spent the entire episode reviewing. Fortunately for you we showed some restraint and moved on to TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT, which takes a very different tack on the subject. Join us, won't you?

Reel 90a: At the Ballet, Pt.1

In today's episode we're going to have a look at a couple of films made several decades apart that look at the goings-on behind the scenes in ballet companies. In this half of the episode, we're reviewing THE RED SHOES (1948), directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. We have impresario-type behavior, composers with big egos, love triangles, and all of it rather thinly overlaid on a Hans Christian Andersen story. But that's not a bad thing, even though there's at least one sticking point where Sean and I disagree. (It's minor, but we're each staying to our own side of the street on this one.) In Part 2 we jump into this century for a Robert Altman film.

Reel 89b: Backstage Adaptations, Pt.2

In Part 2 of today's episode, we look at TRISTRAM SHANDY: A COCK AND BULL STORY, directed by Michael Winterbottom. Steve Coogan is an exaggerated version of himself (we hope), playing the title character in the film adaptation of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. He's constantly sparring with another actor in the film over the relative importance of their roles. The director doesn't appear to have a good handle on the source material, but oddly enough the two people who do are constantly ignored. If you've ever watched a film and wondered "How did this get made?", this might provide the answer. COMING ATTRACTIONS: Next time, we go to the ballet, starting with the 1948 film THE RED SHOES, written and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Sean and Claude both enjoyed this film while having some rather different opinions about it. From there we move on to 2003's THE COMPANY, directed by Robert Altman. It follows a season of rehearsal and performances at the Joffrey Ballet. It stars Neve Campbell, James Franco, and Malcolm McDowell. As with any Altman film, it's a little hard to follow at first but once you relax into his rhythms, you'll have a great time. Join us, won't you? .