Lonelyhearts (1958)

Although Montgomery Clift won't be taking center stage here at They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To until next month, he's making an appearance a week early, as the 1958 drama Lonelyhearts is my contribution to the "Breaking News" blogathon.  Hosted by Comet over Hollywood and Lindsay's Movie Musings, this blogathon is all about journalism in classic film. It's sure to be a fantastic event, so you'll want to visit as many of the entries as you can.  Go HERE to get involved.

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Lonelyhearts, from 1958, is a bold, mature-themed drama, starring Montgomery Clift, Robert Ryan, Myrna Loy and Dolores Hart and featuring Maureen Stapleton in her Academy Award-nominated film debut. Based on the 1933 Nathanael West novel, Miss Lonelyhearts, this story had a 12-day run as a Broadway stage play in 1957.  I originally sought the film out because I was on a quest to see all of Monty Clift's work; however, subsequent viewings are more to enjoy the brilliance of Robert Ryan, who I believe is one of the most under-rated actors ever.

Adam White (Montgomery Clift), a kind, gentle young man with a desire to do right, hopes to land his dream job on the local newspaper, The Chronicle.  Having made the acquaintance of Florence Shrike (Myrna Loy), the wife of the paper's managing editor, he hopes to garner an introduction to said editor (Robert Ryan, who is absolutely stellar in this role).  Although Adam makes a bad first impression, Bill Shrike offers him a job.

Bill Shrike is a cynical, unlikeable man who believes it is impossible for people to be good, that people are all frauds and can't be trusted.  His relationship with his wife is condescending and ugly; ever since he caught her in an affair ten years earlier, he has treated her like a tramp, never forgiving her and constantly belittling her and humiliating her.

Bill promises Florence that he'll hire Adam, but only to prove the point that the man is a phony. It's not just Shrike's wife who is the target of his contempt---he informs one of his employees that he is as important to the department as Shrike's tonsils, which were lost 40 years earlier.

Adam is given the job as the editor of the Lonelyhearts column, and his responsibility is to respond to the advice-seeking letters that are sent to him.  At first, Adam laughs about the problems his readers are experiencing, but eventually, he begins to really care about the people behind each letter.  He longs to give them sound advice to help their hurting hearts; he begins to care too much and is somewhat emotionally involved with his audience.  For his part, Bill Shrike insists that the readers are all frauds and that they deserve what they have gotten; he challenges Adam to meet with one of the letter writers, just to prove his point.

Adam does meet with one of Miss Lonelyhearts' readers---Faye Doyle (Maureen Stapleton)---and she informs him that her husband was injured in an accident and that, as a result, they haven't had physical relations for seven years.  She needs advice as to what to do...but, within minutes, Mrs. Doyle is after more than advice---she wants Adam to kiss her, which he does, and before long, they are sexually intimate, an act which causes Adam to feel ashamed and Bill Shrike to triumphantly gloat that he was right all along, that Adam really is nothing more than a phony do-gooder.  How everything plays out is the balance of the film.

Upon my first viewing of Lonelyhearts, I gave it 3 stars (on Net Flix).  While it is an interesting, extremely well-acted drama, it is quite painful for me to watch, mostly because of the appearance of Montgomery Clift.  Right up there with Rock Hudson and Tyrone Power as one of the most beautiful men I have ever seen, Monty is fabulously gorgeous in all of his early works;  however, his 1956 car accident dramatically altered his appearance, and it was here in Lonelyhearts that I caught my first glimpse of the post-accident Monty. I have to admit, like movie-going audiences of the 1950's, I was shocked by the change in his facial appearance. (I think he even sounds different post-accident.) Since seeing Lonelyhearts for the first time, I've read Clift's biography, and I know how deeply grieved he was by the loss of his perfect looks. "While the man had confidence in himself as a creative artist, as a damaged commodity in an era of handsome rebels, he did not, and he continually wondered if his new face would keep him from being considered for parts." (p. 313-314)   "Self-conscious about his new face, Monty even took down most of the mirrors in his home...and he hated being photographed." (p 314)

Besides his distress over his appearance, here in the late '50's, Monty was in a deep, dark, troubled period (which would last the remainder of his too-short life); he was in poor health and constant pain, addicted to drugs and alcohol, angst-filled over his sexuality, and, due to his bizarre, erratic behavior, on the "outs" in Hollywood. Because I love Monty so much, and because Lonelyhearts was made during such a difficult time in his life, this film is exceedingly painful for me to watch (as are all his post-accident works).  Looks and personal demons aside, though, Monty, who was always adept at portraying men with deep inner struggles, gives his usual top-notch performance here in Lonelyhearts. Knowing the severe drug and alcohol addiction Mr. Clift was facing at this time of his life, I find it remarkable that he was able to perform at all, let alone to do so as wonderfully as he does.  His portrayal of the troubled, guilt-ridden Adam is really great, and his chemistry with Dolores Hart, who plays his girlfriend, Justy, is terrific, as is his chemistry with Ryan and Loy.

Clift's chemistry with Loy may well have been no acting job.  According to Montgomery Clift, a Biography, "Monty was impressed with Loy---by her wit, her compassion, her commitment to liberal causes...For several years, she was entangled in his romantic life.  They saw each other frequently and traveled together...Many of Myrna's friends thought she was deeply in love with Monty and that she wanted to marry him."  (p. 336-337)   

While my first-time viewing of Lonelyhearts garnered 3 stars, subsequent viewings have seen me going with 4 stars.  Yes, it's still painful watching the troubled Montgomery Clift, but I've gotten past that and am able to concentrate on the good.  For one thing, it is a very bold, mature story. (I love meaty dramas and will take one any day of the week.)  And the performance of Robert Ryan, who was always super at playing the unlikeable, is totally spectacular.  I love Ryan when he is playing nasty...he is simply brilliant.  In my opinion, he is even better than Clift here; in fact, I feel he steals the show.  Mr. Ryan was in his late 40's here, and I must say, I think he aged well...I love the little touch of gray at his temples.

Myrna Loy's part is fairly small and it is out of character for her, but she does a great job. She is in her early 50's here, and I think she, too, aged well.

Maureen Stapleton is spectacular in her screen debut.  It's easy to see why she received a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nomination.

Finally, and I greatly appreciate this, the sexual encounter is left totally to the imagination, unlike today, when graphic sex and nudity fill the screen.  I really don't need to see everything we're privy to today; for me, less is more.

While some people might find the film's ending (which differs from the book) to be lame and unrealistic, I rather like it.  As one who believes in the power of forgiveness, I can easily accept what happens.  (I won't say more, so as not to give anything away.)

To my knowledge, Lonelyhearts is not out on DVD (at least in Region 1); however, it is available on You Tube, both as a whole and in several parts.  I hope you get a chance to see it...even if just for the opportunity to watch Robert Ryan doing what he does so well---playing a cynical, hardened, unlikeable man---and to catch Monty Clift doing what he does so well---portraying a deeply troubled man in the midst of a moral crisis.

Happy viewing!!

NOTE:  All quoted material from Montgomery Clift, a Biography, by Patricia Bosworth, Limelight Editions, 1978.

Manhattan Melodrama (4 stars)

Manhattan Melodrama, from 1934, is a crime drama starring Clark Gable, William Powell, and Myrna Loy.  This film is one I've seen several times, and since it's one of my five favorite Clark Gable films, I decided a re-watch was in order during his birthday month.  Winner of the Academy Award for Best Writing, Manhattan Melodrama also has the distinction of being my absolute favorite of the many Powell/Loy pairings.  While I occasionally consider Evelyn Prentice my favorite of their films, after my most recent viewing of this one, I've changed my mind and swapped the two films around.  (Actually, Manhattan Melodrama is more like 4.5 stars...very close to a "love it!")

Telling the story of two young boys---life-long friends---who grow up on opposing sides of the law, the film begins in 1904, when a pleasure cruise turns deadly. (To learn about the real-life tragedy upon which this scenario is based go HERE.)  Among the many people who lose their lives in the tragedy are the parents of Jim Wade and the mother of Blackie Gallagher.  Already good friends with one another, the two boys are rescued by a priest and then taken into the home of a man whose young son also perished in the fire.  Although that man soon dies and Jim and Blackie no longer live together as brothers, they remain very dear friends; as the years go by and the boys grow to manhood, Jim (William Powell) becomes a lawyer and vows to fight corruption as a prosecutor,

while Blackie (Clark Gable) travels with a rough crowd and runs a gambling establishment.

Despite their differences, though, the two men remain very close.

As 1920 rolls around, Blackie is having problems with his girlfriend, Elinor (Myrna Loy).  Though she loves him,

 she hates the hoodlums, gambling houses, and graft which fill his life, and she urges him to leave it all behind, which, of course, Blackie has no intention of doing.

One evening, Blackie asks Elinor to meet up with his old friend Jim while he attends to some other business.  Although he promises Elinor he will catch up with her and Jim as soon as possible, Blackie never joins them, leaving Jim and Elinor all to themselves.  Having enjoyed Jim's company, Elinor realizes she does want the kind of life that Blackie will never give her and so breaks off with him; eventually, with Blackie's blessing, she and Jim get married.

As Prosecutor, Jim's job is to clean up the city, and he vows to do so even if it means fighting Blackie and his crowd; therefore, when Blackie is connected to a murder, Jim vows to convict him and see that he gets the death penalty.  Elinor, though, still having a friend's fondness for Blackie and believing that he is innocent, insists that her husband go easy on him.  Will Jim go easy on Blackie?  Will the love and affection he has for his lifelong friend cause him to turn the other cheek as far as the law goes?  Will the ultimatum Elinor has given him cause Jim to go back on his promise to fight corruption?  All these questions play out in the remainder of the film.

(There is alot more to the story, of course, including another murder, a left-behind overcoat, and a possible governorship for Jim; however, I don't want to give away too much by revealing anything more.)

Manhattan Melodrama is an interesting, exciting film, and it makes a great discussion piece.  At one point Myrna Loy's character says to William Powell's, "Do you realize what you are sacrificing for the sake of some principles?"  What a great thought to ponder on...doing right even when it is a sacrifice to do so.

The casting of this film is excellent, as all three stars have great chemistry with one another.  While I have long thought William Powell and Myrna Loy were totally fabulous together, I think both of them have amazing chemistry with Clark Gable in this film.  The three of them, meshing together so perfectly, are definitely what make the film work.  All of them give superb performances; however, for me, the standout performance is Gable's. I think it's one of his very best.  Finally, this film has a few touching moments (for me), and I find myself lightly misty-eyed a few times.  (As an aside...a very young Mickey Rooney portrays Blackie as a boy.)

This must-see film, which I highly recommend, is out on DVD (as part of the William Powell/Myrna Loy Collection), so it should be fairly easy to track down.  I hope you get a chance to see it.

Happy viewing!!

The Best Years of Our Lives (5 stars)

The Best Years of Our Lives, the Academy Award winning film from 1946, is our family's annual Veteran's Day movie.  I have to admit, that is a hardship for me.  Oh, not because I don't like it...on the contrary.  I absolutely, totally love this film.  It is easily one of my top ten favorite movies of all time, which means, I really would prefer to watch it more often than once a year; however, to keep it "special," watching it once a year is precisely what I am doing.  (Sort of like keeping It's a Wonderful Life for the once-a-year Christmas night viewing.)  Since today is Veteran's Day, it's time for me to enjoy this beloved film once more, and even though most everyone probably knows it, I'm re-running the review I posted when I first began this blog in February.

The Best Years of Our Lives was the Academy Award winner for best picture in 1946. In fact, it won many Oscars that year, including Fredric March for Best Actor and Harold Russell for Best Supporting Actor and William Wyler for Best Director. It was this movie that shut-down the beloved It's a Wonderful Life in the Oscars that year.

A bit on the long side (about ten minutes shy of three hours), The Best Years of Our Lives is a wonderful movie that explores a problem that was very much in existence in those early days after the second world war....the plight of the war veterans who were returning home to a country that in many ways had gone on without them while they were away. The movie stars Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, Harold Russell, and Virginia Mayo.

The movie begins when Al Stevenson (Fredric March), Fred Derry (Dana Andrews), and Homer Parrish (Harold Russell), all war veterans from different branches of the service, attempt to find flights home to the hometown they share in common. Unable to find an available commercial flight, they are routed onto a military craft, and lifelong friendships are born as the men get to know one another.

Al is an Army veteran who has been married to Millie (Myrna Loy) for twenty years and has two upper teenage children. Fred, a bomber pilot, had a whirlwind romance and married Marie (Virginia Mayo) only a few short days before leaving for war. And Homer, who joined the Navy fresh out of high school, has two hooks in place of arms, the result of a shipboard tragedy. (I must digress here and say that Harold Russell, who plays Homer, was not a professional actor at all. Rather, like his character, he was a real disabled Navy veteran, who had lost his arms at sea...He actually won two Academy Awards for this role...the best supporting actor and an achievement award as well.)

Anyhow, the men's arrival home is difficult, as life has gone on without them. Al barely recognizes his children, so grown they are. Fred's wife has taken a job and moved out of his parents' home and into an apartment of her own. And when he finally tracks her down, she is none too keen on the fact that he is not a man in uniform anymore. And Homer, painfully aware that his two hooks are disturbing for his family and high school sweetheart to look at, withdraws into himself.

The first night home, Al takes his wife and daughter Peggy (Teresa Wright) to a local bar, where he unexpectedly meets up with his two new friends, Fred and Homer. When Al and Fred end up totally drunk and completely passed out, Millie and Peggy take them back to the Stevenson apartment so they can sleep it off. Peggy puts Fred in her bed, removes his shoes, and heads to the couch. In the middle of the night, however, she is awakened by Fred screaming, as he has a nightmare about a bombing raid. She soothes him, and then they both go back to sleep. In the morning, she drives him to his wife's apartment, and there is a definite connection between them.

Fred's reunion with his wife does not go well. She doesn't like that he now needs to find a civilian job or the fact that he is a man out of uniform. (The uniform was one of the reasons she had wanted to marry him!!) Add to that, she wants to party and be out all the time, including hanging out with other men. When the only job Fred is able to obtain is as a soda jerk at the drugstore where he formerly worked, Marie belittles him.

Al, who is a bank executive, begins to be unsettled with the bank's treatment of war veterans who are applying for loans. When these men, who have faithfully served their country, are denied loans because of insufficient collateral, Al is angered and often attempts to extend loans anyway.

And Homer, feeling like a freak show with his two hooks, is angry all the time. He no longer wants to marry Wilma and completely withdraws from her...and everyone, except for Al and Fred.

To reveal anything more about this movie would spoil your viewing pleasure, so I'll stop here. I hope that I've whet your appetite, that I've made you interested in the characters so that you want to discover how things turn out. I totally love this movie....it's on my top 10 list, and although I am an It's a Wonderful Life fan, I am SO in agreement with all the awards The Best Years of Our Lives racked up.

Not only is this film out on DVD, but TCM airs it frequently, so you shouldn't have a problem tracking it down.  I think it's a definite must-see!!  Happy viewing!!

Evelyn Prentice (4 stars)

The team of William Powell and Myrna Loy made well over a dozen films together, many of them part of The Thin Man series.  But Powell and Loy didn't just shine as Nick and Nora Charles; on the contrary, they were magical in just about every film they did together.  The chemistry between them was fabulous...always.  My favorite of the Powell/Loy pairings is the 1934 drama Evelyn Prentice.

John and Evelyn Prentice are a happily married, socially prominent couple who seem to have it all.  However, as a high-powered defense attorney currently working on a high-profile case, John works round the clock, a practice which greatly grieves his loving wife.  In fact, as Evelyn tells a friend, the two seem to have dinner together only about once a week.  She longs for him to be home more.

Alone with friends one evening, Evelyn visits a nightclub, where she catches the eye of handsome ladies' man, Larry Kennard.  He immediately begins pursuing Evelyn, sending her books of poetry and invitations to tea.  Though her relationship with Larry is totally above board and quite innocent, Evelyn begins to feel that continuing to see him is unwise, so she decides to break things off.  However, after it begins to look as though John has been having an affair with his just-acquitted client (Rosalind Russell, in her film debut), Evelyn runs back to Larry.

In the end, though, Evelyn realizes that she cannot have an affair with Larry, so, once again, she tries to break things off, even asking him to return to her the letters she had written him.  Larry, however, sure that Evelyn will pay dearly to keep her innocent, yet easily-misconstrued letters, from reaching her husband, isn't willing to part with them.  Blackmail and subsequently murder then arrive on the scene.

As I said, Evelyn Prentice is my absolute favorite of the William Powell/Myrna Loy films.  While it might seem a bit strange to see them in dramatic roles, since they were fabulous in more lighthearted, comedic films, I think they both do an excellent job here.  Definitely, Powell and Loy were extremely versatile actors who excelled in all they did.

 By the way, today is Myrna Loy's birthday...her 106th.  Why not watch Evelyn Prentice---or any number of other fabulous films---in celebration of her.  Happy viewing!!

The Best Years of Our Lives (5 stars)

The Best Years of Our Lives was the Academy Award winner for best picture in 1946. In fact, it won many Oscars that year, including Fredrich March for Best Actor and Harold Russell for Best Supporting Actor. It was this movie that shut-down the beloved It's a Wonderful Life in the Oscars that year.

A bit on the long side (about ten minutes shy of three hours), The Best Years of Our Lives is a wonderful movie that explores a problem that was very much in existence in those early days after the second world war....the plight of the war veterans who were returning home to a country that in many ways had gone on without them while they were away. The movie stars Fredrich March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, Harold Russell, and Virginia Mayo.

The movie begins when Al Stevenson (Fredrich March), Fred Derry (Dana Andrews), and Homer Parrish (Harold Russell), all war veterans from different branches of the service, attempt to find flights home to the hometown they share in common. Unable to find an available commercial flight, they are routed onto a military craft, and lifelong friendships are born as the men get to know one another.

Al is an Army veteran who has been married to Millie (Myrna Loy) for twenty years and has two upper teenage children. Fred, a bomber pilot, had a whirlwind romance and married Marie (Virginia Mayo) only a few short days before leaving for war. And Homer, who joined the Navy fresh out of high school, has two hooks in place of arms, the result of a shipboard tragedy. (I must digress here and tell y'all that Harold Russell, who plays Homer, was not a professional actor at all. Rather, like his character, he was a real disabled Navy veteran, who had lost his arms at sea...He actually won two Academy Awards for this role...the best supporting actor and some sort of achievement award as well.)

Anyhow, the men's arrival home is difficult, as life has gone on without them. Al barely recognizes his children, so grown they are. Fred's wife has taken a job and moved out of his parents' home and into an apartment of her own. And when he finally tracks her down, she is none too keen on the fact that he is not a man in uniform anymore. And Homer, painfully aware that his two hooks are disturbing for his family and high school sweetheart to look at, withdraws into himself.

The first night home, Al takes his wife and daughter Peggy (Teresa Wright) to a local bar, where he unexpectedly meets up with his two new friends, Fred and Homer. When Al and Fred end up totally drunk and completely passed out, Millie and Peggy take them back to the Stevenson apartment so they can sleep it off. Peggy puts Fred in her bed, removes his shoes, and heads to the couch. In the middle of the night, however, she is awakened by Fred screaming, as he has a nightmare about a bombing raid. She soothes him, and then they both go back to sleep. In the morning, she drives him to his wife's apartment, and there is a definite connection between them.

Fred's reunion with his wife does not go well. She doesn't like that he now needs to find a civilian job or the fact that he is a man out of uniform. (The uniform was one of the reasons she had wanted to marry him!!) Add to that, she wants to party and be out all the time, including hanging out with other men. When the only job Fred is able to obtain is as a soda jerker at the drugstore he formerly worked at, Marie belittles him.

Al, who is a bank executive, begins to be unsettled with the bank's treatment of war veterans who are applying for loans. When these men, who have faithfully served their country, are denied loans because of insufficient collateral, Al is angered and often attempts to extend loans anyway.

And Homer, feeling like a freak show with his two hooks, is angry all the time. He no longer wants to marry Wilma and completely withdraws from her...and everyone, except for Al and Fred.

To reveal anything more about this movie would spoil y'all's viewing pleasure, so I'll stop here.  I hope that I've whet your appetite, that I've made y'all interested in the characters so that you want to discover how things turn out. I totally love this movie....it's on my top 21 list, and although I am an It's a Wonderful Life fan, I am SO in agreement with all the awards The Best Years of Our Lives racked up.

For our family, The Best Years of Our Lives is a Veteran's Day tradition. It is THE PERFECT Veteran's Day movie, though I must admit, viewing this movie only once a year is a bit of a hardship for me.  I love it so much and could actually watch it more often than we do.