Caftan Woman's Choice - One for February on TCM

TCMs annual 31 Days of Oscar is once again upon us and my recommendation for the month is John Ford's The Long Voyage Home from 1940 which was invited to the Oscar party with six nominations, including Best Picture, but left empty-handed after the festivities.

Ford's frequent screenwriting collaborator Dudley Nichols (Stagecoach, The Informer, The Lost Patrol, Pilgramage, Judge Priest, The Hurricane, etc.) had an idea to unite "two poets" when he suggested a film based on Eugene O'Neill's plays of the sea. Ford and Nichols visited and received full approval and co-operation from the playwright and The Long Voyage Home was born. John Ford and Darryl Zanuck of Fox had had one of their falling outs, so Ford took the project to Stagecoach producer Walter Wanger and the movie was released under the Argosy banner.

Innovative cinematographer Gregg Toland, Ford's collaborator on another Best Picture nominee of the season, The Grapes of Wrath, contributed immensely to the poetic, moody feel of The Long Voyage Home. Henry Fonda said in an interview that Ford with his unerring eye "won Oscars for his cameramen", however it is obvious from the above credit card for the film that Ford had great respect for his fellow artist.

Barry Fitzgerald, John Wayne, Thomas Mitchell
David Hughes, John Qualen, Joe Sawyer, Jack Pennick

The Long Voyage Home has a wonderful ensemble of actors who bring to life the men of the Merchant Marine steamer the Glencairn. Our first look at the crew reveals "types" in everybody's pal Driscoll (Thomas Mitchell), the boisterous Yank (Ward Bond), the philosophical Donkeyman (Arthur Shields), the secretive gentleman (Ian Hunter), the youngster (John Wayne), the sneaky Cocky (Barry Fitzgerald) and others. Note: John Wayne was coached in his Swedish accent by actress Ossa Massen.

"The best thing to do with memories is forget them."

Throughout a perilous journey transporting ammunition through the war zone of the Atlantic, fear strips away the facades to reveal the souls of the crew through their trials, longings, bravery, and folly. The Long Voyage Home is an emotional drama filmed with great sensitivity and power.

Oscar nominations and winners:

Cinematography, black and white (winner, George Barnes, Rebecca)
Effects, Special Effects (winner, The Thief of Bagdad)
Film Editing (winner, Anne Bauchens, North West Mounted Police)
Original Score (winner, Pinocchio)
Picture (winner, Rebecca)
Screenplay (winner, Donald Ogden Stewart, The Philadelphia Story)

TCM is screening The Long Voyage Home on Tuesday, February 7th at 7:45 am. Note: the film is not airing on TCM Canada. Three of the cast members, John Qualen, Joe Sawyer, and Douglas Walton were Canadian born.

Lenny's Lesson Plan #3

Using some of TCM's Essentials Jr. summer programming as a guideline, I have appointed myself Grand Poobah of my newly-minted (August 16, 2010) niece Lenny's introduction to classic film.

It is never too early to begin opening your mind to the riches of entertainment and art available to us.

Lenny, be warned, Caftan Aunt is about to go total movie geek on you in a way you haven't seen yet! This week TCM has scheduled the perfection that is 1939s Stagecoach. Why is it perfect? Number one, it is directed by John Ford. Number two, it is a western. Number three, it is a western directed by John Ford.

Storytellers are often told, "show, don't tell". Storytellers, particularly cinematic storytellers, sometimes find this rule a challenge. John Ford was not one of them. With an artist's eye, he knew where to put the camera to fill the screen with images of people and surroundings that create beauty of frame and enhance our emotional response to characters and situations.

Stagecoach is a movie filled with drama, humour, adventure, and romance. It is a story of many characters facing their individual problems and their combined danger on a trip through wild western territory. This movie is an expanded adaption by Dudley Nichols of Ernest Haycox's story Stage to Lordsburg. Screenwriter Nichols and director Ford collaborated on 16 movies. They understood each other's sensibilities and story goals.

John Ford would bring his audience into a society fully formed and through a bit of dialogue or business introduce us to characters and let us make of them what we will. An example in Stagecoach would be of the gambler Hatfield played by John Carradine. His actions and words, both bold and evasive, tell us about his character and hint at his background. We round out his life from our imaginations and those clues.

John Ford was a director who displayed a fond understanding of the characters in his films, and a respect for their triumphs. He sometimes told the stories of great accomplishments, but his deepest admiration seems to me to be for those who never give up the struggle of the every day and are sometimes allowed a victory. In your life, Lenny, you will know both struggles and victories. You share this with all humanity.

Lenny, you should know that you come from a family with a strong Fordian background going back to your great-grandfather. When you grow up and go to film school they will try to turn you into a Kubrickian. Don't you let them!

J. Farrell MacDonald Movie Quotes

J. Farrell MacDonald

June 6, 1875 - August 2, 1952

Connecticut born J. Farrell MacDonald had a career or three in show business. He began as a minstrel performer and by the teens was directing for L. Frank Baum's Oz Film Manufacturing Co. and making a name for himself as a reliable character actor.

Working until the last few years of his life, MacDonald's face can be spotted in hundreds of movies as a cop, a doorman, a doctor - always in support, but always more than a "bit". Outstanding roles include Mike Costigan, one of John Ford's 3 Bad Men who break your heart in 1926. He's adorable as the photographer in F.W. Murnau's Sunrise. The sympathetic Windy in 1936's Show Boat or the junk man in 1946's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn become memorable in MacDonald's hands. In 1935's Our Little Girl when runaway Shirley Temple encounters a hobo, we know it will be alright when "Mr. Tramp" is played by J. Farrell MacDonald. He worked, and he worked with the best.

Movie fans all have our favourite moments from our years of watching classic movies. Maybe they're not always the ones that make the AFI lists, but nonetheless, they touch us. Three of my favourite movie quotes all came out of the mouth of J. Farrell MacDonald.

MacDonald made 25 pictures with John Ford starting in the silent era. What times they must have had! Number 1 on my JFM countdown is from Ford's first post-war film, My Darling Clementine. In speaking with other western fans I know that I'm not the only one who anticipates the small exchange between Henry Fonda's Wyatt Earp and MacDonald's barkeep.

Henry Fonda (Wyatt Earp), J. Farrell MacDonald (Mac)

Wyatt: Mac, have you ever been in love?
Mac: No. I've been a bartender all me life.

In his real life, MacDonald was married to actress Edith Bostwick (1882-1943). The couple appeared together in silent films and were the parents of a daughter, Lorna.

Preston Sturges was a writer/director who knew a good character actor/actress when he saw one, and he used them well. He used J. Farrell MacDonald in 8 of his pictures from The Miracle of Morgan's Creek to The Sin of Harold Diddleback.

In The Palm Beach Story, MacDonald is cast in the familiar guise of a cop. One look at that mug and you can feel his aching feet. It's no wonder Joel McCrea's character refers to him as "Mulligan". The response "The name happens to be O'Donnell if it's all the same to you" speaks volumes. His admonishment to bickering couple McCrea and Claudette Colbert is #2 on my countdown.

"Why don't you two learn to get along together? I had to."

It's the time of year when all thoughts turn to Frank Capra's first post-war project, It's a Wonderful Life. The trio of directors represented here all had their "stock companies" and that use of character greats maybe one of the factors that give their films such lasting qualities. MacDonald has three Capra pictures to his credit, including "Sourpuss" in Meet John Doe.

In It's a Wonderful Life the newly not born George Bailey is seeking evidence of his existence. He goes looking for his car, which was last seen smashed into a tree. The substantial citizen of Pottersville who owns the tree is rightly suspicious of the overwrought stranger in his yard. Sizing up the situation and taking a whiff of Stewart's breath JFM sums up the situation with #3 on my list.

"You must mean two other trees."

Gems all! What other J. Farrell MacDonald gems are waiting for me in classic movieland? Were they gems on paper or did they become so in the hands of the right actor? What do you think?

You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby!

George O'Brien

1899 - 1985

Greetings classic movie fans and welcome to this April 19th online birthday card for the late movie star and U.S. Navy hero, George O'Brien.

A lot of George's fans come to him through Sunrise (1927), but I'm a backward gal. I first fell for the tragic and interesting Sam Collingwood in John Ford's Fort Apache (1948). Here was a character portrayed by an appealing and talented actor.

Later I found titles such as The Dude Ranger (1934) and The Marshal of Mesa City (1939) as irresistible as their handsome, athletic star. Here was a fellow as easy with the action, riding, and fisticuffs as with romancing his beautiful leading ladies. I don't think there's ever been an actor who shows more grace in manner and movement and ease in front of the camera.

Within the last year, I finally saw Murnau's legendary Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) in a theatre setting with live musical accompaniment. George is "the Man", driven to the brink of madness and murder then redeemed by love to his true nature. The movie and his performance is an experience. Such unabashed commitment to character and baring of one's soul is uncommon. That George was capable of more than "cowboy pictures" was proven and that he always brought his A game to his 30s westerns was shown by his popularity and his box office power.

George O'Brien was not a typical movie star. As a youngster, he lived through the 1905 San Francisco earthquake. His father, Daniel O'Brien, was the Chief of Police of the City. George enlisted in the Navy in WWI and when WWII blighted the earth he re-enlisted and was highly decorated for his service. Later, he would serve in Korea and Viet Nam. His one marriage was to beautiful screen star Marguerite Churchill (1910 - 2000). They were married for 15 years and had two children - the late writer Darcy O'Brien and New York Philharmonic bassist Orin O'Brien.

George O'Brien is recalled by contemporaries with admiration and loyalty. He garners more fans with the availability of his features on DVD and films airing on TCM. Check out recent releases of The Iron Horse (1924) and 3 Bad Men (1926).