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August 11, 2020 · 1:22 pm

The Set of 400: #17 – My Favorite Angel, Second Class

Today! Because I know what I’m gonna do tomorrow, and the next day, and next year, and the year after that –

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

Directed by Frank Capra

Starring James Stewart (x4), Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell (x2), Ward Bond (x3), Beulah Bondi, Gloria Grahame (x2), Henry Travers, Frank Faylen (x2), H.B. Warner (x2), Todd Karns, Virginia Patton, Sheldon Leonard, Frank Albertson, Samuel Hinds, Mary Treen, Charles Williams, Lillian Randolph, Charles Lane (x3), Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer (x2)

The movie I’ve seen in a theater the most times (eleven, as of this writing), It’s a Wonderful Life is still the only movie 100% guaranteed to transform me into a weepy, blubbery mess. And it’s not a gradual thing either – I’m in rough shape almost from minute one, when you hear all the townsfolk praying for George. It’s not just my favorite Christmas movie, and my vote for best Christmas movie ever made, it also features the Best Swimming Pool Dance Party in film history, and is the only movie I can think of where a man carries a pie in each hand and one on top of his head at the same time.

Harry Bailey – war hero and posture wizard

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Tagged as Christmas, Donna Reed, Favorite Movies Ever, Frank Capra, George Bailey, Gloria Grahame, Henry Travers, It's a Wonderful Life, Jimmy Stewart, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell

August 15, 2019 · 1:13 pm

The Set of 400: #275 – My Favorite Bye Bye Blackbird

Today! Because they didn’t burn down Rome in one day – you got to keep pluggin’ –

Melvin and Howard (1980)

Directed by Jonathan Demme

Starring Paul Le Mat, Mary Steenburgen, Jason Robards, Michael J. Pollard, Gloria Grahame, Robert Ridgely (x2), Charles Napier, Jack Kehoe (x2), Pamela Reed, John Glover (x3), Dabney Coleman, Elizabeth Cheshire

A very deceptive movie in its marketing and general awareness, Melvin and Howard ostensibly is about when milkman and all-around blue collar shlub Melvin Dummar met billionaire/eccentric/nutcase Howard Hughes in the desert one night and gave him a lift home. This is the scene that opens the film, and then isn’t mentioned again, for about an hour. And because of the bookending of the film with constant Hughes intrigue, not only did that become the focus of the movie, but everyone tends to forget the middle hour, as we watch the daily employment and marital struggles of Melvin, which is the key to the whole story.

Grizzled!

Otherwise, what really are you left with? Sure, Robards makes a great Hughes, but he’s in the movie for about ten minutes, and then is just mentioned endlessly, making it feel like he’s a much larger character. In fairness, the movie should’ve been titled Melvin and Lynda, as Mary Steenburgen has far more and trickier acting to handle, and rightfully won an Oscar for her efforts. The spurious will and debate is intriguing, and knots the whole film together, but (and this shouldn’t be much of a spoiler) with Melvin never really having a chance at the Hughes fortune, the dramatic heart of the movie defaults to Melvin’s good-natured bouncing from one setback to another across the story. You might be more an American Graffiti fan, but for my money, this is Paul Le Mat’s best work. Melvin could come off as a doofus, or a con man, or just super pathetic, but Le Mat’s delicate balance between these shades make for more of an endearing character than he probably deserves. Steenburgen and Robards got the lion’s share of attention, but it’s Le Mat’s steady work that drives the movie. Continue reading →