A Tribute to The Archers: 49th Parallel

Today it is my pleasure to join devoted film fans by posting a contribution to the Classic Film and TV Tribute to the Archers: A Powell & Pressburger Movie Blogathon.

Although the first film to officially feature The Archers onscreen logo is 1941s One of Our Aircraft is Missing I believe The Archers as a team was destined from birth to create some of cinema's most uniquely personal artistic triumphs and the greatest of these during the upheaval of wartime.

Director Michael Powell was raised in Canterbury with the poetic soul of his ancestors. His love of film led to his working in the industry in the 1920s, learning much from the Dublin born legend Rex Ingram in Hollywood on the classics Mare Nostrum and The Garden of Allah. He returned to England and began a prolific director of what he referred to as “quickie quota” films.

Hungarian born Emeric Pressburger was a writer who plied his craft throughout Europe one step ahead of the rise of Adolph Hitler. He found his home in England and work with producer Alexander Korda. The London Films (Korda) release of 1939 The Spy in Black starring Valerie Hobson and Conrad Veidt brought Pressburger and Powell together for the first time. The movie gods smiled. In 1940 they again joined forces with Hobson and Veidt for Contraband, one of the first movies to feature London during wartime with a timely plot and an Alfred Hitchcock like ambiance. Hitchcock was an admired associate and friend of Michael Powell’s.

It is an undeniable paradox that the movie 49^th Parallel aka The Invaders manages to be both a government sanctioned propaganda and a deeply personal statement. Emeric Pressburger had experienced the tyranny and oppression of life under Nazi rule and now his adopted countrymen were in the same battle. It was his duty and his privilege to strike a blow in that battle.

The Ministry of Information tasked Powell and Pressburger with creating a film which would not only show Britains what they were up against and what they were fighting for, but would strike a chord with American audiences whose participation in the conflict was considered essential for victory. It was while staring at a map of North America that Emeric was inspired to set the story in Canada. As a member of the Commonwealth, Canada was already at war and American audiences would have no difficulty identifying with their friendly neighbour to the north. Not only did the Ministry approve and provide funding, but Michael Powell was excited about the prospect of exploring and filming in Canada. The Canadian High Commissioner in London (later first Canadian born Governor-General) Vincent Massey provided letters of introduction and recommendation, and the film crew sailed the perilous Atlantic in April of 1940.

Powell and Pressburger traversed the country from New Brunswick to Ontario to Manitoba to British Columbia, interviewing and researching the vast Dominion. Emeric completed the first draft of the script on the boat back to England having decided on the format of four acts with Nazis stranded from a U boat encountering the citizens they plan to conquer while their meager force is steadily depleted.

Upon returning to England, Emeric Pressburger, an alien, was arrested and threatened with deportation. He and his loyal partner Michael Powell spent an uncomfortable night in jail until the Ministry intervened. For the next month, while he worked on the script of 49^th Parallel, Emeric Pressburger had to report to the police daily until his papers were straightened out. However, because of fear of further red tape, he did not return to Canada with Powell when location shooting began on the picture.

Raymond Lovell, Eric Portman, Niall MacGinnis

Peter Moore, John Chandos, Basil Appleby

49^th Parallel begins with the German U Boat 37 sinking a Canadian naval vessel in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. They evade the enemy by heading to Hudson’s Bay where a landing party of 6 is set ashore to secure fuel and supplies. When the Canucks destroy the submarine, the landing party is left on their own to reach neutral territory, the United States.

Our stranded Germans are a mixed bag of characters as Emeric did not want to merely show cardboard villains. Eric Portman is Lt. Hirth, a fully indoctrinated Nazi with a single-minded sense of purpose and unshakeable belief in his Fuhrer and his ideals. Second in command is Kuhnecke played by Raymond Lovell. He chafes at being second and is a bit of a small time bully. Niall MacGinnis plays Vogel, a sympathetic every man at the mercy of politics. Three younger sailors are the sneaky Lohrmann played by John Chandos, the nervous Kranz played by Peter Moore and the over-eager Jahner played by Basil Appleby.

Ley On, Laurence Olivier, Finlay Currie

Johnny the trapper: "He Canadian. He Canadian. I'm Canadian."

The stranded Nazis first encounter with the Canadian character is at a Hudson Bay outpost run by a Scottish Factor played by Finlay Currie, with untimely visitors in a trapper played by Laurence Olivier and his Eskimo partner Nick played by Ley On. Johnny the trapper has been in the wilds for many months and is shocked to learn of the war and Canada’s, particularly French Canada’s participation. Olivier’s performance perfectly embodies the independent spirit and joyously irreverent accent of the rural Quebecois. Johnny’s devil-may-care combative attitude and humour confound his German captors.

Research in Canada unearthed the existence of the Hutterites, a Lutheran sect living in communal settlements throughout the prairies. Emeric Pressburger was determined to use them in the film and created the role of Peter, the leader, for the incomparable Anton Walbrook. The Nazified Germans think that at last they have found their people, but their arguments of the bond of racial superiority are firmly discarded by Peter/Anton’s understated, yet impassioned response.

Anton Walbrook

"Someone has given you, no doubt deliberately, a completely false impression of us. We are only one amongst several foreign settlements in Canada. There are thousands of them in this part of the world. And they have been founded - some recently, some 80 years ago by people who left their homes in Europe because of famine, because of starvation because of racial and political persecution. Some, like ourselves, because of their faith. Some came only to find new land, new boundaries, and new worlds. But all have found here in Canada security, peace and tolerance, and understanding which in Europe it is your Fuhrer's pride to have stamped out.

You call us Germans – you call us Brothers! Yes, most of us are Germans. Our names are German, our tongue is German, our old hand-written books are in German scripts. But we are not your brothers. Our Germany is dead. However hard this may be for some of us older people, it is a blessing for our children. Our children will grow up against new backgrounds, new horizons and they are free. Free to grow up as children. Free to run and to laugh without being forced into uniforms. Without being forced to march up and down streets singing battle songs!

You talk of the New Order in Europe! A new order where there will not be one corner, not a hole big enough for a mouse, where a decent man can breathe freely. You think we hate you, but we don't. It is against our faith to hate. We only hate the power of evil which is spreading over the world. You and your Hitlerism are like the microbes of some filthy disease filled with the longing to multiply yourselves until you destroy everything healthy in the world. No. We are not your brothers."

Glynis Johns

The Hutterite sequence features a young Glynis Johns in the role of Anna whose parents were killed by Nazis. She replaced the originally cast Elisabeth Bergner who left the production to join her husband in America. Glynis became an immediate audience favourite.

The depleted landing party hits the big town when they land in Winnipeg, giving urban audiences a chance to see a familiar setting and experience the unsettling thought that the fellow next to them in a diner just might be the enemy.

Leslie Howard, Eric Portman

Traveling cross-country and taking what they want, the displaced sailors reach Jasper National Park. In the park, there are only two remaining when they cross paths with the dilettante author Philip Armstrong Scott played by Leslie Howard. Perceived as the decadent weakling of a morally corrupt society our wandering Nazis once again find themselves up against sterner stuff – and then there was one.

Eric Portman, Raymond Massey

The backtracking and unrepentant Hirth, a hero to his countrymen, makes his way to southern Ontario and a train heading stateside at Niagara Falls. The Hollywood-New York-London actor Raymond Massey, brother of the aforementioned Canadian High Commissioner, plays my favourite character in the movie. Andy Brock is a Canadian I can understand and relate to. Brock is a slightly AWOL soldier sneaking back to camp. He doesn’t think of himself as a criminal, just somebody who is fed up. He gripes about life in general and the army in particular with a sardonic sense of humour and sees the world through his own code. The exchange between Hirth and Brock tickles me greatly as the narrow-minded Nazi has not been able to figure out that individual humour and the freedom to express it is the basis of the Canadian character. A sense of humour is also finely tuned in our American cousins as well and the border inspector’s role in dashing Hirth’s escape is one of the all-time great movie punch lines this side of I Know Where I’m Going!.

In some ways, time has taken the edge off of a movie made for a specific audience and purpose at a specific time in history. In other ways, 49^th Parallel holds up as entertainment and a window into that other time. It was the only feature film to be funded by Britain’s government and was awarded the Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Story.

49^th Parallel was an amazing accomplishment and a fully realized opportunity to contribute something concrete to the war effort. Michael Powell considered the film one of his finest achievements and it held a place of special pride in Emeric Pressburger’s heart.

Clivey Rules!

E.E. Clive (1879-1940)
The Hound of the Baskervilles

The character actors who grace our favourite classic movies came from varied backgrounds and brought a wealth of talent to their screen portrayals. E.E. Clive (his parents named him Edward) was born in Monmouthshire in Wales in 1879. Clive was 22 when he decided to abandon the path of respectability as represented by his medical studies to pursue a life in the theatre. Was it an easy decision? Had he found himself bilious at the sight of blood? Was he always the class clown who liked the attention? Did a pretty girl lead him astray? His wife's name was Eleanor Ellis. It could be the name of an actress. Whatever the reason, switching careers was the correct decision.

E.E. Clive, known as Clivey to his many friends, was successful and respected in his new life. For many years he toured the provinces becoming a master of every dialect the British Isles possessed. His facility for dialects would serve him well later in Hollywood where he could portray every sort of British character from crooks to butlers to peers in such films as Captain Blood, David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities, Little Lord Fauntleroy, The Earl of Chicago, Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula's Daughter, Tarzan Escapes, Congo Maisie, The Great Garrick, Arsene Lupin Returns, Foreign Correspondent and Pride and Prejudice. Clivey even taught William Powell how to fish in Libeled Lady.

Seeking new worlds to conquer, E.E. Clive emigrated to America in 1912 where he ran a company at the Copley Theatre, located near the Copley Plaza Hotel in Boston. Clivey produced, directed, acted in plays and mentored the young people who luckily found a start to their careers in the company, including Walter Pidgeon and Rosalind Russell. In her 1977 autobiography Life is a Banquet written with Chris Chase, Roz describes the theatre as a place where the kettle was always boiling for tea and where she learned much not only by performing, but by observing the professionals in the troupe. Here she describes a lesson in negotiation:

"...By now, though I'd been working a year and wanted more money, I didn't know how to approach Clivey. Having suffered the experience of graduation day, I wasn't anxious to see yet another manager backing out of a room gasping like a fish and trying to get his breath to call the cops. But I knew I deserved a raise. So I turned in my two weeks' notice, in writing. It'll kill 'em, I thought. They'll fall apart; the theatre will have to close.

And I waited. The first week went by. Nothing happened. Nothing. I started gibbering to myself. So we were into the second week, at the end of which I would have to leave. Miss Smart-Ass, hoist by her own presumption.

Clivey was not only our director, he sometimes acted with us, and he happened to be in the Ian Hay play. I started timing my entrances for the curtain call so that I'd walk up the stairs right in front of him. Or I'd stand next to him in the wings, ostentatiously asking him how he was tonight. On the stairs he didn't chat; in the wings he said only, "Fine, Rosalind, very fine."

It came down to the matinee of the last performance. My two weeks were up. I knew I'd have to go to the hotel - I was living at the Copley - and pack. After the curtain fell, Clivey finally spoke to me. "Come into my dressing room for a minutes, will you?"

In his dressing room he was a kindly uncle. For two weeks he'd been teasing, now he really wanted to know. "Why have you done this?" he said. "Has somebody been rude to you?"

"No, no," I Said. "I just feel I should have some more money."

"How much more money do you think you should have?" he said. My original plan had been to ask for a bundle, but I settled on fifty dollars. "Fifty dollars a week."

"I'll give you twenty-five," he said. "Now go back to work."

E.E. Clive and Claude Rains

Constable Jaffers confronts The Invisible Man

As he once crossed the Atlantic to broaden his career which included producing, directing and acting on Broadway, in the 1930s E.E. Clive crossed the continent to give Hollywood a whirl. He made an impression in the first of seven movies with director James Whale as the stubborn and doomed constable in The Invisible Man. Rosalind Russell and Clivey would cross paths in three movies, 1936s Trouble for Two based on Robert Louis Stevenson's The Suicide Club, 1937s Live, Love and Learn with a screenplay by Charles Brackett, and Emlyn Williams' Night Must Fall. Jacqueline Lynch's detailed look at Night Must Fall can be found at Another Old Movie Blog. I particularly like Clivey's role in the movie as an entrepreneur who conducts tours of a murder site. Proof positive that human nature hasn't changed much through the years.

The fabled year of Hollywood greatness, 1939, would see Clivey featured in 13 movies, many fondly recalled by fans including The Little Princess, Raffles, Rose of Washington Square and Mr. Moto's Last Warning. He would cross paths twice with Mr. Sherlock Holmes. In The Hound of the Baskervilles he is a cabby with a startling revelation. In The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes he is a stubbornly wrong-headed Inspector Bristol.

Warner Oland and E.E. Clive
Charlie Chan in London
"I must write that down. That's our method here, Mr. Chang."

Since my movie universe revolves around the Charlie Chan series, it is an especial treat for me to watch E.E. Clive as Detective Sergeant Thacker in 1934s Charlie Chan in London. The Sergeant is wary of the courtly and famous Inspector from Hawaii, but gradually comes to respect Chan and take pride in helping solve the case. Clivey is but one of the joys of the movie which features a young Raymond Milland, and some of the loveliest evening gowns this side of Gosford Park (wink).

Reginald Denny, John Howard, E.E. Clive, John Barrymore
Algy Longworth, "Bulldog" Drummond, Tennison, Colonel Nielson

Clivey also spent time in an official capacity, that is portraying Bobbies, with some other crime solvers in 1934, Walter Connolly as Father Brown, Detective and Ronald Colman in Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back.

Bulldog Drummond would figure prominently in Clivey's career when Paramount would bring "Sapper" McNeile's intrepid adventurer back in a series of movies with a cast that included John Howard (The Philadelphia Story) as Drummond, and John Barrymore (Twentieth Century) and later H.B. Warner (It's a Wonderful Life) as Colonel Neilson of Scotland Yard. Reginald Denny (The Lost Patrol) plays Hugh's pal Algy, the sort of amiable twit who would fit in quite nicely at P.G. Wodehouse's Drone's Club. Heather Angel (The Last of the Mohicans) was the actress most often cast as Phyllis, the more than understanding love interest. Fun trivia: Barrymore and Denny co-starred in 1922s Sherlock Holmes.

Clivey plays Drummond's valet Tenny, or Tennison for the more formal among you. Tenny was often annoyed at the complications brought into the household by Captain Drummond's exploits, but he was ever loyal, frequently resourceful, witty, and a vital part of the team. There were seven Bulldog Drummond pictures made between 1937 and 1939 and I find something to enjoy in each of the titles.

A popular performer until his untimely death from a heart attack at age 61, once seen on screen there is no doubt that Clivey Rules!

The Return of Caftan Woman and Dr. Moreau

The old PC has been in mothballs for the past month while the homestead has been undergoing renovations. I can hear you now - "Really, Caftan Woman, it's a wireless world. What is your deal?" Well, my deal is that all the cool, new toys will have to wait until I've finished paying for the renovations, and by the time I've finished paying for the renovations we'll all be communicating telepathically!

And speaking of communicating telepathically, I hope you woke early on March 3rd for what would have been Caftan Woman's Choice for March on TCM, Paramount's 1932 production of Island of Lost Souls, the first screen version of H.G. Wells' The Island of Dr. Moreau.

Charles Laughton is magnificent as the maddest mad doctor of them all. Driven from his native England for his obscene experiments, the scientist rules over a Pacific island where he plays god, trying to turn animals into humans, creating tortured nothings. Bela Lugosi (Dracula, The Black Cat) is the leader of the unfortunates. Into this garden spot comes shipwreck victim Richard Arlen (Wings, The Virginian, Artists & Models). At first grateful for rescue by Moreau's alcoholic assistant Arthur Hohl (The Scarlet Claw, Moontide), our hero quickly assesses the true nature of the island. Luckily, his fiancee Leila Hyams (Freaks, Ruggles of RedGap) plans a rescue. Maybe not so lucky. Moreau sees in the new arrival a substitute for his diabolical plans for a Panther Woman played by Kathleen Burke, a beauty contestant who won the role.

How will it all end? It ends as it must for all mad scientists. A true horror film that plays on deep fears and ethics, with Laughton as enjoyable to watch as his character is abhorrent.

TCM's next screening of Island of Lost Souls is June 6th at 2:15 pm. Don't miss it!

Desperate Housewives of Film Noir

Caftan Woman's number one movie rule:

  "All film noir are crime drama, but not all crime drama are film noir."

The French have a word for it. Not only does "noir" perfectly evoke the fatalistic driven plots and dense cinematography of Hollywood crime pictures of World War 2 and post-War era, but it is so much fun to say. Everybody, on three, 1 - 2 - 3, "nwarh".

A movie gets my noir seal of approval if it gives me an emotional kick in the gut and sustains that mood. Many scholars and fans have a checklist of expectations to define film noir. Topping many such lists is the femme-fatale who drags our "hero" into the depths of despair and tragedy. Aw, poor baby. Did the strong, sexy woman scare the little man?

Film noir is not only populated by obsessive cops, vengeful crooks, and stubborn private eyes. Some stories focus on the keeper of the house, she of the starched apron. Every lifestyle has its pros and cons, and the mid-century housewife was equally the object of envy and scorn. Many senior citizens of my acquaintance look back at that time as a golden one when the kids were young and the hubby still had all his hair. However, the makers of crime pictures told their stories from the angle of lives lived in quiet desperation.

Without Honor (1949)

We meet Jane Bandle (Laraine Day) in her sun-filled kitchen tending to shish kebob skewers for the evening's repast. Dennis Williams (Franchot Tone) furtively enters the home and anxiously confronts Jane with the news that a detective has been nosing around and they have been found out. Jane is so relieved about no longer having to hide her love that she doesn't initially comprehend her lover's anxiety and references to his impressionable teenage daughters. When it finally dawns on Jane that her disloyalty has been for naught, she becomes hysterical and attempts harakiri with a kebob blade. Dennis is at least gentleman enough to struggle with Jane and is himself stabbed.

It is a shocking situation to find oneself with blood on her hands and a body in the laundry room. It is in shock that Jane changes into a demure frock and calls a cab to get her away from the house. Honourably, she does intend to go to the police station, but her ill-formed plans are scuttled by the arrival of her brother-in-law Bill (Dane Clark). No love is lost between these two, although Bill's dislike has crossed the border into pathological land. Not only has Bill hired the detective who discovered Jane's affair, but he has also arranged for all interested parties to convene at the house for a grand showdown where his brother will be freed from Jane's clutches.

Laraine Day, Agnes Moorehead

Mrs. Williams (Agnes Moorehead) is sympathetic and noble, playing by her own rules and not willing to play Bill's game. Jane's husband Fred (Bruce Bennett) is more easily manipulated as the revelation of his wife's betrayal is a surprise to him. As we know, Jane has a further surprise of her own to share before the day comes to an emotional end.

Without Honor was directed by actor/director Irving Pichel (Quicksand, They Won't Believe Me) from a succinct script by James Poe (Lilies of the Field, Last Train from Gun Hill) which is able to make some telling comments about relationships. The main flaws in the film are the cheapness of the production and, unfortunately, Max Steiner's exclamation point filled score which undermines the subtler aspects of the performances. In another incarnation Without Honor might have been the best-remembered episode of an anthology series, but as a motion picture, it misses the mark.

Cause for Alarm! (1951)

Ellen Jones (Loretta Young) lives a lonely life caring for her invalid husband George (Barry Sullivan). On the day we meet her Ellen is so weary that even her housework fails to give her pleasure, but she brushes aside such selfish thoughts. After all, George is bedridden with a heart condition and needs her to be cheerful. In a flashback, she recalls meeting the devil-may-care pilot during the war when they shared a picnic of potato salad and ration cards and dreamed of a future together. Ellen will soon come to realize that George has planned a very different future not only for her but for their family physician and best friend Dr. Graham (Bruce Cowling). George imagines the two are having an affair and mean to do away with him. So strong is George's delusion that he has, that very day, had Ellen mail a letter to the district attorney outlining the plot. George plans to shoot Ellen and use a self-defense claim to trap Dr. Graham. George has issues! George also has that heart problem and dies with a pistol pointed at his shocked wife.

A dead husband with a bum ticker is one thing. A dead husband and an incriminating letter on its way to the DA's office is quite another. One misconception people have about those who work at home is that their time is their own. Not true. Unwanted phone calls and unexpected visitors annoyingly fill the hours. In the case of a woman facing a murder frame, these interruptions are alarming.

On this day of all days, Ellen must cope with the little neighbourhood Hopalong Cassidy fan (Brad Morrow), George's overly solicitous aunt (Margalo Gilmore), and a suspicious neighbour (Georgia Backus). Above all, she must find a way around the loquacious and officious mailman (Irving Bacon) and his bureaucratic superior (Art Baker). How would you deal with these stresses? Exactly. Ellen does no better than you or I might. She does not suddenly become a cool and collected mastermind. Her desperation and fear simmer just below the surface boiling over to hysteria before something commonplace upsets George's plan.

Directed by Tay Garnett (The Valley of Decision, Bataan) from a story by Larry Marcus (Dark City, The Bigamist), Cause for Alarm! is a tense story nicely paced with fine juxtaposition between the terror of the situation and the everyday setting. The use of intermittent narration does not mar the story, but neither does it add anything to the presentation.

Cause for Alarm! is a must-see for the next wedding shower you are asked to organize.

Crime of Passion (1957)

Kathy Ferguson (Barbara Stanwyck) is a successful advice columnist for a San Francisco newspaper. Assigned by her dismissive editor (Jay Adler) to work up the "woman's angle" on a murder case, Kathy causes a sensation with her article and gains a career opportunity with a New York paper. The case also introduced Kathy to L.A. detective William Doyle (Sterling Hayden). Kathy is an ambitious career woman who considers marriage a life sentence, but when she's wrapped up in Bill's strong arms she dreams only of being the "little woman".

The wifely idyll is not enough for Kathy who is a total fish out of water. The card parties with their circle of friends, other cops and their wives, drive Kathy to distraction. She cannot cope with the insipid gossip of the females and their constant fawning over the captain's wife, Sara (Virginia Grey). She is not welcomed as one of the boys where they sit in court to Captain Alidas (Royal Dano). When the captain takes credit for a work coup pulled off by her Bill, Kathy has had enough. All of her thwarted ambition goes into improving Bill's position. Never mind that the easy-going detective has no dreams of professional glory, only of making a home with his girl.

The next step up from Bill and Kathy's circle is that of the superintendent, Inspector Tony Pope (Raymond Burr) and his wife Alice (Fay Wray). Kathy maneuvers her way into that set, cutting Sara out by becoming Alice's new friend. However, Kathy has more in common with Tony. They recognize in each other a drive that sets them apart. Quickly Bill becomes attached to the Inspector's office with duties that frequently take him out of town. Kathy also manufactures an incident which disgraces Captain Alidos and sends him into exile.

At this point, Kathy and Tony could be said to be having an affair of the mind. He shares his most interesting cases and she casually has liquor on hand for the not unexpected visits when Bill is away. When Tony confides his imminent retirement to care for an increasingly ill Alice and ponders his replacement Kathy moves in for the kill. Her Bill must have that promotion and Tony's promise is implicit in the night they spend together.

In the cold light of day, Tony decides Captain Alidos is the right man for the job, not Bill, and Kathy should cash in her chips while she is ahead of the game. Foolish man. Hell hath no fury like Stanwyck scorned. Opportune access to a gun used in a crime and bound for the property room seals Tony's fate. After the body is discovered Bill phones Kathy to ask her to look after Alice. I am moved by the way Barbara Stanwyck says "Alice" as if hearing the name for the first time and suddenly realizing the world of pain she has given to a friend. Kathy has also proven to everyone the worth of her detective husband as he doggedly tracks the evidence to his own doorstep.

Crime of Passion was directed by Gerd Oswald (A Kiss Before Dying, Screaming Mimi) and written by newsman Jo Eisenger (Gilda, Night and the City). Kathy may be an extreme example of stifled ability and misdirected energy, but Eisenger makes a strong case for madness from the mundane.

The next time you watch His Girl Friday imagine that this could have been Hildy if Walter hadn't kept her from marrying Bruce.

Nice photograph of our stars of Crime of Passion holding their 1961 Emmy Awards for The Barbara Stanwyck Show and Perry Mason.

Nothing beats a Nick Barkley fight!

Peter Breck

1929-2012

Nothing beats a Nick Barkley fight! On TV's The Big Valley (1965-1969), actor Peter Breck gave us Nick Barkley. Nick the hot-headed. Nick the hard-headed. Nick the fighter. Nick would fight with anybody and everybody. He might take on a whole saloon or maybe even a whole town - single-handed. Fists flying, furniture throwing, leaping from staircases, Nick was in the thick of it. There would be a point in the proceedings where things would look pretty bleak for our lad and then Nick would get that second wind and "Yee-haw" his opponents had no chance.

Every once in a while he'd get help from brothers Jarrod (Richard Long) and Heath (Lee Majors), but there was no doubt that Nick Barkley would always finish what he started. Nick's boisterous personality hid a sentimental nature, especially where his family was concerned. Of course, he was willing to fight kin when he had a just cause, but one look from his mother Victoria (Barbara Stanwyck) and Nick would be meek as a lamb.

Lee Majors, Peter Breck, Richard Long, Barbara Stanwyck, Linda Evans

A working actor for most of his life, Peter Breck had a pragmatic and honest attitude toward his profession. A few years ago he hosted a marathon of The Big Valley on a Canadian television network. He reminisced about his co-stars and the fun he had with the success of the show with genuine affection and humour.

With Peter's passing at age 81 on February 6th his friends and family have lost someone close to them. For fans, the darkly handsome and personable Peter Breck will always be fun to watch on all those tv shows such as Black Saddle, Maverick, Perry Mason, Gunsmoke, etc.

Note: Currently only season 1 and volume 1 of season 2 of The Big Valley are available on dvd.

Frankly, My Dear: Rianna's film survey

The charming Rianna of Frankly, My Dear poses some interesting classic movie questions and, being as I want to avoid my Saturday chores, I'm more than happy to oblige with some answers.

1. Favorite classic Disney?

"The little elephant with the big ears - Dumbo!"

Seamless storytelling that expertly combines the sentimental and the cynical with a lovely Oscar winning score.

2. Favorite film from the year 1939?

John Ford shows everybody how to make a movie.

3. Favorite Carole Lombard Screwball role?

Lily Garland from Howard Hawks' Twentieth Century
Carole Lombard and John Barrymore

4. Favorite off screen couple? (It’s ok if it ended in divorce.)

Roy Rogers and Dale Evans
No divorce for these lovebirds.

5. Favorite pair of best friends? (i.e: Barbara Stanwyck and Joan Crawford)

Frank McHugh, Pat O'Brien, James Cagney

James Cagney and Pat O'Brien were not only compatible screen partners, with ten movie collaborations to their credit, but pals (drinking buddies) outside of work as well.

6. Favorite actor with a mustache?

The Mouthpiece himself - Warren William.

7. Favorite blonde actress?

The world's most talented girl next door - Doris Day.

8. Favorite pre-code?

The pace is remarkable in this not for the politically correct thriller. You can't take your eyes off the screen for a moment or you'll miss something. Lewis Stone as a senior citizen James Bond type going up against a maniac Boris Karloff bent on world domination? Irresistible.

9. Which studio would you have liked to join?

The studio sorting hat places this community theatre character actress at Twentieth Century Fox where she can appear in Charlie Chan movies, be spotlighted in the odd film noir, kick up her heels in a musical or two and maybe have a bit in a John Ford film.

10. Favorite common on screen pairing that SHOULD have gotten married?

John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara

11. Favorite I Love Lucy episode?

One? The Operetta from Season 2. It is so very funny.

12. Out of these actresses which one do you like best: Lucille Ball, Ingrid Bergman, Natalie Wood, Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Greer Garson, Grace Kelly, or Katharine Hepburn?

My favourite actress of those listed is Katharine Hepburn. Her versatility and strength continually astounds me. Although I could make a strong case for all of the ladies listed.


13. Shadowy film noir from the 1940’s or splashy colorful musicals from the 1950’s?

So, you're asking me to choose between Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Laura? Impossible. Although, once I recommended a movie to someone and she asked "It's not one of those noir things you like, is it?" So, I guess I'm really the dark, moody type.

14. Actor or actress with the best autograph (photo preferred).

Have you ever seen a neater hand than Randolph Scott's? I appreciate nice handwriting.

15. A baby (or childhood, or teenage) photo of either your favorite actress or actor (or both, if you’d like.)

Little Jimmy Cagney would grow up to be my favourite actor. The kid was born with attitude.

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.