Friday, December 23, 2016

Best Pictures #26: 1929-30 (3rd) Academy Awards Outstanding Production Nominee, The Divorcee (1930)

by A.J.

Best Pictures #26: 1929-30 (3rd) Academy Awards Outstanding Production Nominee
The Divorcee’s nomination for Outstanding Production shows that the Academy’s interest in controversial but popular films existed since its early years. This film is based novel The Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott, which was also popular and controversial when it was released. The controversy of the novel and film stems from its subject matter: marital infidelity and divorce. MGM was hesitant to be associated with the racy novel, so the title of the film adaptation was changed to The Divorcee, a classier way to say “ex-wife” I suppose. This would not be a racy or controversial film today, but it remains quite entertaining. The Divorcee has interesting characters, good performances, and a good sense of humor and drama. The Divorcee was released on DVD in the TCM Archives Forbidden Hollywood Collection Volume 2, but this set has since gone out of print making tracking down a copy slightly difficult and expensive (it currently sells on Amazon.com for $130). However, it airs occasionally on TCM, and I very much recommend watching it should it be on the schedule.  
MGM may have acted like they did not want to court controversy, but is seems as though they didn’t put great effort into making The Divorcee any less controversial. The Divorcee may be tame and even conservative by 21st century standards, but modern viewers should keep in mind that this was a time when the subject of divorce, let alone female sexuality, made for impolite and improper conversation. This movie pushed boundaries, addressed the double standards of male vs. female infidelity, and, most of all, it had a good, well-developed, strong, and interesting female character as the lead.
I had been looking forward to watching The Divorcee since I haven’t seen many Pre-Code movies. Pre-Code Hollywood refers to the brief time period after the advent of sound films until the strict enforcement of the Hays Code in 1934. At this time films were not protected under the First Amendment because of a Supreme Court ruling in 1915, which declared films were purely commercial and not art. That unfortunate and idiotic decision would be overturned in 1952. The Hays, or Production Code, was actually created in 1930, but it was not enforced until the summer of 1934 when every film was required to have a Production Code seal of approval before it could be released. The Production Code severely regulated and limited a film’s content and subject matter. Before then movies were free to contain violence, risqué subject matter (like infidelity and divorce), and, most notable of all, highly suggestive innuendo.
The coveted title role of The Divorcee went to Norma Shearer, but it did not come easy to her even though she was married to MGM production chief Irving Thalberg. He originally wanted to cast Joan Crawford. At that time, Shearer was known for playing “lady-like” characters, so Thalberg thought she lacked the sensuality the role would require. To prove her husband wrong, Shearer had a series of photos taken of her posing provocatively in a revealing dress. Her plan worked. Thalberg cast her and she won Best Actress at the next Oscars. Shearer’s nomination, however, was for The Divorcee and her performance in another film, Their Own Desire (1929). When she was announced as the winner, only The Divorcee was specified and the reason for this remains unknown even to Academy historians.
The film begins with a group of friends having a getaway party at a country house. Jerry (Norma Shearer) announces her engagement to Ted, played by Chester Morris, much to the poorly hidden disappointment of her other suitors, Paul (Conrad Nagel) and Don (Robert Montgomery). Paul gets very drunk but still drives a car full of people, including Jerry’s sister, Dorothy, down a winding road. The car crashes and Dorothy is disfigured. As Jerry marries Ted in a pretty ceremony in a church, Paul marries Dorothy out of pity in a hospital room. After three happy years, Jerry discovers that Ted has been unfaithful and responds by having an affair of her own, with Don. Jerry and Ted divorce, and then Jerry decides to live it up.
I was worried that The Divorcee would be tonally uneven with the first half being light and romantic and the second half being mostly dramatic, such as with The Crowd (1928) and The Love Parade (1929). Like those films, it does begin as a light romance, then becomes a drama but never becomes too heavy to be entertaining. Though the second half of the film is where all of the drama and tension lies, it is not devoid of comedy. The Divorcee has a good sense of humor and delivers laughs at a steady, consistent pace. In a scene late in the movie, Don runs into Ted in New York. Ted is a mess from the divorce. The scene grows tense as Ted describes to Don what he’d do if he ever found the man with whom Jerry had her affair. It’s an awkwardly funny and tense scene that is capped with a good visual punchline from Montgomery.
The tagline for The Divorcee asked the scandalous question: If the world permits the husband to philander, why not the wife? When Jerry and Ted become engaged they agree that their marriage will be a partnership and they would be equals. The film takes subtle steps to suggest that Jerry is the equal of her male counterparts. In the novel, the main character’s name is Patricia, but— according to the DVD commentary by film historians Jeffrey Vance and Tony Maietta— was changed to Jerry for the film to represent gender equality. Vance and Maietta cite other elements like Jerry wearing masculine clothing (trousers) in the opening scene and her turning down Don with a polite handshake as aspects showing that Jerry would treat people and situations the way a man would, not the way society dictated a woman of the time would. I concur with their assertions. When Jerry confesses her infidelity to Ted, which she feels very guilty about, she begs him to remember what he told her about his own affair: it didn’t mean anything. As Jerry confronts Ted with this role reversal, the movie confronts the audience with the double standard towards female infidelity. Ted does not take it well. Jerry’s indiscretion is done in part as an act of revenge, but also an act of equality.
I can see why Shearer want to play the part of Jerry; it’s an interesting, well-developed, and challenging role for any actress to play. The great thing about Jerry is that even while “living it up” she is never indecent or immoral. The film’s climax is a test for her character: she runs into Paul who tells her that he still is and always has been in love with her and is ready to leave his wife, her sister, for her.
The Divorcee has everything I’d hoped to see in a scandalous Pre-Code movie. The parties the characters attend throughout the movie are big, glamourous, and ornate with balloons and streamers, and lots of alcohol, even though the movie was made during Prohibition. The parties are what you think of when you imagine parties of that era. It is interesting to see how films of the Pre-Code era managed to be risqué without being crude or crass. The Divorcee, like all Pre-Code films, implies more than it shows which ends up making certain scenes more provocative and effective. The movie shows us Jerry sitting close to Don in a taxi with a devious look on her face. The next thing we see is a shot of a window and curtains closing.
The Divorcee has a fair share of visually interesting moments beginning with a shot of everyone at the country house standing in the doorway watching Jerry and Ted. The scene of a drunken Paul driving a speeding car down a winding road is already tense enough, but the POV shots of the road speeding toward the screen intensifies the danger and suspense. Perhaps the most memorable sequence is a brief montage of Jerry meeting men after her divorce. She is dressed glamorously and her hair is done up gorgeously. The film shows us each man’s hand holding her hand. She accepts jewelry from one of the gentlemen saying, “I’ve heard of platonic love but I didn’t know there was such a as thing as platonic jewelry.” The movie leaves it up to the audience to decide what happens before or after each shot.
I found The Divorcee quite entertaining as both an attempt at social commentary and as a romance film. By addressing the real and stressful moments that often do rear their ugly head on a happy couple, The Divorcee becomes a film of substance and emotion. While its ultimate conclusion seems old fashioned or “traditional” by today’s standards, it also ends with a happy couple, which fits the tone of the movie. It’s clear to any modern viewer that the film treats divorce as something that is detrimental to everyone and seems more forgiving of male infidelity, however, The Divorce as a whole should not be disregarded because of these dated aspects. I hope that modern viewers won’t dismiss it as a quaint but unsuccessful attempt at a feminist movie. It is a glimpse at what a particular era thought of marriage, infidelity, and sexuality. It is also enjoyable to see a strong female character as the lead in a film from the 1930’s—something that remains unfortunately infrequent in films of today.
Nominee: MGM
Producer: Robert Z. Leonard
Director: Robert Z. Leonard
Screenplay: continuity and dialogue by John Meehan, Treatment by Zelda Sears and Nick Grinde, based on the novel Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott
Cast: Norma Shearer, Robert Montgomery, Chester Morris, Conrad Nagel
Release Date: April 30th, 1930
Total Nominations: 4, including Outstanding Production
Win: Actress-Norma Shearer
Other Nominations: Director-Robert Z. Leonard, Writing-John Meehan

Friday, December 16, 2016

Best Pictures #25: 1929-30 (3rd) Academy Awards Outstanding Production Nominee, Disraeli (1929)

by A.J.

Best Pictures #25: 1929-30 (3rd) Academy Awards Outstanding Production Nominee
Disraeli is not the first biopic to earn a Best Picture nomination, that distinction goes to The Patriot, nominated at the 2nd Academy Awards, but since that film is tragically lost, Disraeli is the first biopic I’ve seen for this project. It will be the first of many. Disraeli, also one of a great many Best Picture nominees adapted from a stage play, stars George Arliss as the title character. Arliss won Best Actor for his performance, becoming the first actor to win an Oscar for a role created on the stage (and in a previous silent film adaptation) by the same actor.
Disraeli focuses primarily on the flamboyant 19th century British Prime Minister’s attempt to seize control of the Suez Canal for his queen and country. George Arliss does a very fine job at bringing to life the lively, flamboyant, and clever Victorian historical figure. With his peculiar hairstyle, ringed fingers, and vibrant speeches, Arliss’s Disraeli is one Victorian era politician I know would not be dull company. The film begins with scenes of people in different parts of London talking up Disraeli’s political rival, William Gladstone. They fear and despise Disraeli, and also build an interest in him. In addition to rivals within the British government, he also has to contend with Russian spies that want control of the Suez for their own empire. The Prime Minister proves to be more cunning than his opponents believed of him, working on negotiations to purchase shares of the canal in secret while Parliament is out of session.
Disraeli reveals his political and practical wisdom through monologues that, while lengthy, are not preachy and are excellently delivered by Arliss. His monologue to convince his protégé, Charles of the necessity of British control of the canal is similar to one of Plato’s dialogues. Through a lengthy back and forth Disraeli allows his listener to reach the conclusion he wants through what the other person thinks is their own conclusion. This is most effective in the heated speech Disraeli delivers to secure final financing for the purchase of the canal shares. In addition to those particular scenes, Arliss has several good speeches delivered with solid, thunderous authority. I’m sure some scenes playout as they did on stage, but they still work on the screen because of the performances from the fine cast.
Any casual student of film has at some point read or heard about the low ceilings in Citizen Kane. It was the first film to significantly show ceilings and if you wonder why that is a big deal I would show you the unusually tall walls of several rooms in Disraeli. Since these rooms are sets built on sound stages, the high walls hide the rest of the soundstage comfortably. It is slightly distracting since you know the building they are in has a second floor.
The sound quality of the film is so good that you don’t notice it, aside from a couple of times when it cuts out for less than a second, but that is likely just an issue with the VHS tape I was watching—to date, Disraeli has yet to be released on DVD and is somewhat difficult to track down. The sound quality of the outdoor scenes is vastly improved from the first outdoor talkie, In Old Arizona—made only a year prior.
Disraeli is not all politics and foreign relations, however. There are many light and humorous moments throughout, thanks mostly to the personality of the Prime Minister. A perhaps unintentional humorous moment comes when a female Russian sympathizer eavesdrops on Disraeli’s conversation with Charles about the canal by hiding behind a bush, but her very ornate and very visible hat pokes out from behind the bush.
Disraeli’s purchase of the Suez Canal might be a footnote today, but it is a footnote that changed the course of world history. I doubt that the details of the true story of Disraeli securing the Suez Canal line up with the scenes in this film, but movies have never been good sources of history, even during the classic era. No matter how accurate or inaccurate to real events, Disraeli is a well-made, entertaining dramatization of one of Britain’s most famous Prime Ministers and his major accomplishment.
Nominee: Warner Bros.
Producer: Jack L. Warner
Director: Alfred E. Green
Screenplay: Julien Josephson, from the play by Louis N. Parker
Cast: George Arliss, Doris Lloyd, David Torrence
Release Date: November 1st, 1929
Total Nominations: 3, including Outstanding Production
Win(s): Actor-George Arliss
Other Nominations: Writing-Julien Josephson

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Best Pictures #24: 1929-30 (3rd) Academy Awards Outstanding Production Nominee, The Love Parade (1929)

by A.J.

Best Pictures #24: 1929-30 (3rd) Academy Awards Outstanding Production Nominee
Director Ernst Lubitsch’s final silent film, The Patriot (a Best Picture nominee the previous year), is a lost film unfortunately, but, thankfully, his first talkie and musical has been preserved and is available on home video as part of the Eclipse series released by the Criterion Collection. It also airs occasionally on TCM. The Love Parade received the most nominations of any film at the 3rd Academy Awards with a total of six, including nominations for Maurice Chevalier and Ernst Lubitsch, but it did not win in any category. This film is allegedly the first movie musical to incorporate songs and performances into the narrative, as opposed to a backstage musical, such as The Broadway Melody, in which the characters are singers and dancers.
Lubitsch, who had directed many silent films, takes to talking pictures quite well right out of the gate. There is nothing clunky or awkward with the composition and staging of shots or overall style that suggests someone working through a learning curve. Of course The Love Parade has several strong elements working together in addition to Lubitsch’s skill behind the camera. Based on the play The Prince Consort, the script is loaded with lively dialogue, a sharp sense of humor that does not shy away from innuendo, and likeable characters. Maurice Chevalier plays Count Alfred, who is recalled from Paris to his homeland of Slyvania after (several) scandals involving married women.
Lubitsh transitions from silent filmmaking to working with sound and dialogue smoothly. He does not over indulge in dialogue and music and still uses silent visuals to great effect. When a servant in the Queen’s palace asks why Alfred has a French accent, Alfred says that he went to see a doctor about a cold but was greeted by the doctor’s wife. The movie cuts to an exterior shot of the palace and through a window we see Alfred whisper the rest of the story to the servant. When the movie cuts back inside Alfred says that the cold was gone, but he had that terrible accent. I had never seen a movie starring Maurice Chevalier before and he is as charming and lively and French as I’d imagined.
Jeanette MacDonald, in her screen debut, plays Queen Louise who in addition to having the responsibilities of a governing queen is also under pressure from her ministers and advisors to marry. The trouble with finding her a suitor is that he would be only Price Consort and have no power or responsibility in governing. She meets Count Alfred to reprimand him for his scandals, but they both quickly charm each other and flirt through song.
Aside from a dolly shot or two, I must confess that I was so caught up with the characters and story that I hardly noticed the camerawork, or lack thereof. Lubitsch fills the screen with entertainment, so even static shots are hardly dull. The songs are pleasing and catchy. The palace sets and costumes are opulent and impressive. There are memorable scenes both with and without music. From his balcony at the beginning of the film, Chevalier sings his goodbye to Paris and the women on nearby balconies. His valet, Jacques, played by Lupino Lane, joins in and sings goodbye to Parisian maids. Then Chevalier’s dog sings, by barking, to the female dogs of Paris. We see none of Alfred and Louise’s first date. Instead we see the Queen’s advisors, her ladies in waiting, and Jacques and the Queen’s maid spying on the date and reporting to each other like a game of telephone. The Queen’s maid, Lulu, played by Lillian Roth, and Jacques have some good songs together too.
The Love Parade is almost overwhelmingly enjoyable, up to a point. There are two distinct halves to this movie. The first half is very funny, jaunty, and romantic. The second half, after Alfred and Louise are married, deals with their marital problems. There is still humor and entertainment value in this half of the film but at a diminished level. Queen Louise and Alfred seem to misunderstand and mistreat each other immediately after they are married and solely for the sake of dramatic conflict. Their main conflict is that Alfred does not have the traditional role of a man in their marriage or in the monarchy. Queen Louise runs the country and palace. Traditional gender roles in marriage and government being the central conflict of a musical from 1929 is interesting, however, as you might imagine, these issues are addressed but not challenged. The two tonally different halves of The Love Parade make for an uneven but overall enjoyable musical. There is still a lot to enjoyed in The Love Parade and it is a good step forward for the nascent musical genre.
Nominee: Paramount Famous Lasky
Producer: Ernst Lubitsch
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Screenplay: Ernest Vadja and Guy Bolton, from the play The Prince Consort by Leon Xanrof and Jules Chancel
Cast: Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Lillian Roth
Release Date: November 19th, 1929
Total Nominations: 6, including Outstanding Production
Win(s): N/A
Other Nominations: Actor-Maurice Chevalier, Director-Ernst Lubitsch, Cinematography-Victor Milner, Art Direction-Hans Dreier, Sound Recording-Franklin Hansen