Round Up The Usual Suspects

Some links before I get started today. Norma has been posting romantic passages from her books in recent days; you can find them here, here, and here. Parsnip had a Square Dog Friday. Eve had some Valentine's free verse. Krisztina had a style guide for guys. And look here for what Ivy did to her husband's blog. If you haven't seen it, also check my photoblog, where at the moment I am featuring ice carvings at Winterlude.

Now then, today is Valentine's Day, and so I thought I would review a very appropriate movie for the occasion...

“Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine.” ~ Rick Blaine

“I can’t fight it anymore. I ran away from you once. I can’t do it again. Oh, I don’t know what’s right any longer. You have to think for both of us. For all of us.” ~ Ilsa Lund

“I’ve often speculated on why you don’t return to America. Did you abscond with the church funds? Run off with a senator’s wife? I like to think you killed a man. It’s the romantic in me.” ~ Captain Renault

“Might as well be frank, monsieur. It would take a miracle to get you out of Casablanca, and the Germans have outlawed miracles.” ~ Ferrari

“You might as well question why we breathe. If we stop breathing, we’ll die. If we stop fighting, the world will die.” ~ Victor Lazlo

“Ilsa, I’m no good at being noble, but it doesn’t take much to see that the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you’ll understand that.” ~ Rick Blaine

The 1942 classic Casablanca has a well deserved place as one of the greatest films of all time. A wartime romantic drama, the film deals with themes of love, courage, heartbreak, idealism, sacrifice, intrigue, and more in the North African city, and boasts one of the finest casts ever assembled for a movie. Based on an unproduced play, it was directed by Michael Curtiz (Captain Blood, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Mildred Pierce)The film won Oscars, and has cemented its status as a favourite film for many critics and filmgoers ever since.

The film opens on an ominous note, reflecting the history of the time- Nazi Germany having had overrun most of Europe, a flood of refugees seeking escape by whatever route possible. For the sake of the movie, some have come a roundabout way to Casablanca in Morocco, under the control of Vichy France. There they wait for exit visas to safer shores, in a den of corruption and despair, not knowing when they might leave. Two couriers have been murdered, with letters of transit stolen from them, letters that could be priceless to refugees seeking a way out. Authorities are busy looking for the killer, or killers, and the letters of transit.

Many of the city’s inhabitants come to Rick’s, a nightclub and gambling den run by an American expatriate, Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart). It’s a popular place, made more so by the band and the pianist Sam (Dooley Wilson), and Rick has a friendly rivalry with Ferrari (Sydney Greenstreet), a nightclub owner who runs several illegal enterprises on the side.  Rick himself seems something of an isolated loner, cynical and bitter at the world, thoughtless where women in his life are concerned. He never drinks with customers, and seems to have withdrawn from the world. A criminal by the name of Ugarte (Peter Lorre) turns up with the letters, asking Rick to hide them for him for a couple of hours. Others arrive as well; Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains), head of the local police, is escorting a German officer, Major Strasser (Conrad Veidt), who’s suspicious of pretty much everyone, and Renault is looking for the letters. Ugarte is arrested as a display of Vichy competency, dying in police custody- Renault goes on to note that they’re not quite sure whether or not to chalk it up to a suicide.

Another complication has entered the picture: Victor Lazlo (Paul Heinreid), a Czech resistance leader wanted by the Nazis, has arrived in Casablanca, along with his wife Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), seeking a way out of the country. The Germans are determined not to let him slip through their fingers. Captain Renault is obliged to follow their wishes. And as it turns out, Ilsa has a romantic history with Rick.... and is the reason for his bitterness.

The Warner studio producer Hal Wallis acquired the rights for the play Everybody Comes To Rick’s after it had been recommended, a late 30s response by American travellers Murray Burnett and Joan Alison to the rise of Nazi Germany.  Four different writers were attached at various points to the project to turn it into a screenplay, and indeed when filming had begun, the screenplay wasn’t actually finished yet. Two brothers, Julius and Philip Epstein, are given the lion’s share of credit for the screenplay, with separate work done by Howard Koch and an uncredited Casey Robinson). Despite the multitude of writers and competing visions, the script as a whole has a refreshing unity to it. Curtiz was brought in by Wallis to direct when the original studio choice William Wyler was unavailable. Much of the filming was done in the studio, and the set crews evoked the busy atmosphere of a North African city and the tone of a nightclub with great detail. Curtiz had his cinematographer, Arthur Edeson, shoot the film with expressionist light and shadow, a standard in his films, and paid particular attention to the way Bergman was portrayed- she preferred her left side, so many of her scenes are shot from that angle.

The cast is outstanding, in every respect. Conrad Veidt was in fact a refugee from Europe, a German actor who had left Germany in 1933 when the Nazis came to power, and yet ended up playing Nazi officers in a number of films. He plays Strasser with arrogance and condescension, a jackbooted thug eager to do his part for the Fatherland. Strasser seems suspicious of everyone, lacks a sense of humour, and reminds one of a viper.  Dooley Wilson, playing Sam, has a good part. The character has accompanied Rick from France in the wake of the fall of Paris. He’s worked for Rick for years, considers him a friend, worries about him, and is loyal to him. It feels like Sam is the only one Rick can be himself around- when he’s drinking, miserable, and alone at his worst late at night, the rest of the staff is gone, but there’s Sam, the one person who understands. It’s interesting to note that while Wilson was a musician, he wasn’t actually a piano player, so the piano in the movie is the sound of another player. The voice, however, is his, and that rendition of ‘You Must Remember This’ is entirely his, and arguably the definitive take on the song.

Peter Lorre was another refugee from Europe who had left when the Nazis came into power, and was used to parts as criminals, eccentric loons, and oddballs. He had worked opposite Bogart before, in The Maltese Falcon, for instance. He plays the part of Ugarte memorably. The character is an opportunistic crook, a weasel you wouldn’t trust for a moment. It’s an oddball performance, but one that stands as a memorable character for Lorre. Sydney Greenstreet, who had spent most of his career on the stage before turning up on screen in The Maltese Falcon some years earlier, plays Ferrari. His character is a less sleazy version of Ugarte- he’s inclined to do some black market things from time to time, but he’s a crook who leaves the dirty work to others. There’s an amiable relationship with Rick- the two own rival nightclubs, but seem to get along well enough. Ferrari seems content to make a living in Casablanca, yet also seems to yearn to get his hands on the popular nightclub, leaving one to think of him as eternally greedy. Still, as was so often the case with a Greenstreet performance, he’s compelling to watch on screen.

Claude Rains gets one of the best roles, if not the best, of his career as Captain Louis Renault. The Frenchman is a womanizing, corrupt, and bemused official, seemingly laughing at the world. He’s charming where women are concerned and diplomatic where others are concerned, particularly with German guests. There’s a cynicism to the character too, concealing a well-guarded idealism and patriotism that we don’t see until very late in the game. You might not trust Renault- certainly not with your wife or daughter- until late in the film, but he’d be a tremendous fellow to sit down and have a drink with. The friendship he has with Rick, weaving back and forth as the plot unfolds, gives him warmth too, even as he finds his romantic plans with a desperate wife derailed by Rick’s re-emerging idealism. It’s such a compelling character, and Rains makes it that way.

One might think that Lazlo is something of a stiff, that he’s gotten a bad rap. The audience invests themselves in Rick and Ilsa, while Victor seems a bit on the outside. He might come across looking at him like that as the man more invested in his place in history, the resistance hero with much work to do, and a reputation to uphold- how much attention does he really pay to his wife? On the other hand, he wants his wife to get to freedom, is willing to return to concentration camps if it’ll ensure her safety. He does love her, and Rick knows it- just as he knows that Victor has been fighting the right cause while he’s withdrawn from the world. Paul Heinreid plays these aspects of the character in a multitude of ways, both in what he says and in how he acts. My favourite moment for the character is probably everyone’s favourite moment for the character: when he insists the band drown out the sound of the German officers singing by playing La Marsellaise. The music stirs every French citizen in the café in a display of defiance, and Victor is right there at the heart of it, leading them on. You can see, in that moment, why people would follow this man.

Ingrid Bergman, in a career of great roles, had her absolute best role with the poignant, bittersweet Ilsa. She finds herself torn between two men she loves, the husband she thought she lost and the man who healed her heart for a time in Paris- until her world was thrown up into upheaval. She’s a woman who keeps much to herself, but is wounded by Rick’s bitterness. It’s a bitterness that seems well warranted, and it cuts deep for her. It even fuels her desperation on the night she comes to Rick’s apartment for the letters of transit- is she there to shoot him or seduce him? I leave it to you to decide if they slept together that night (personally, I think they were). She has great chemistry with Bogart, and we can also see why her character would make a life with Lazlo. Bergman expresses so much with her eyes in this film-love, sadness, tenderness, regret- and ultimately the character finds herself sacrificing one love for another, and for the right cause.

When you look at Humphrey Bogart, the man had a career of great performances that really took off in the late Thirties and never looked back. Rick Blaine is his masterpiece performance. We find him a bitter, deeply cynical man when we first meet him, totally withdrawn from the world. He’s thoughtless where women are concerned, and at first glance, he seems to be harbouring a deep pain. The audience warms up to him during the flashback sequences in France, where we see a kinder man falling in love with Ilsa, and we feel his heartbreak when things go wrong. We can understand that kind of broken heart, so we can relate to him, and that makes the character so compelling. From there, then, the character re-emerges into the world, finding his idealism again, and Bogart plays that very carefully. One of my favourite sequences in the film has Rick helping a young couple to win big at roulette after the wife’s pleading, thus preserving her virtue and giving them a way out of the country. Rick might be losing money, but he’s doing the right thing, and it’s a moment that makes you feel proud of the character; it's his first awakening back to idealism. Ultimately, as his idealism reasserts itself, and he launches on his own plan, he realizes that being worthy of Ilsa’s love means he has to let her go. He knows her life must be with Victor, while his life is going to involve getting back to fighting for a good cause, and doing the right thing means giving up the woman he loves.

Casablanca is a masterpiece, a grand story that mixes together romance, drama, a hint of comedy, intrigue, suspense, and lots of subtext. There is much left to personal interpretation, and even the small moments between minor characters are filled with complexity. It is a film that never gets old, that is timeless and a true classic. It gives us love, sacrifice, honour, loyalty, and fighting for the right cause. To say it’s the best film ever made… is an understatement. 

The Fundamental Explosions Apply

Self-Absorbed Director Plans To Stomp All Over Movie History

Los Angeles (AP) Director Michael Bay, the demented pyrotechnic fan behind films like Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, and the Transformers franchise, announced a new film initiative this weekend to waiting reporters. Bay, who is presently filming a rebooted Gone With The Wind, is known for high octane action thrillers that overwhelm the senses with repetitive explosions, little regard for logic, and no emphasis on characterization. He also has a reputation for being pretty full of himself.

Reporters were gathered at Digital Domain, one of the production companies run by Bay. A spokesperson for the company assured those gathered in the auditorium that Bay would be arriving shortly. “He wants to look his best for the camera,” Digital Domain official Serena White told the assembled reporters. “He has very exacting standards, I’m sure you understand.”

This reporter, doomed to cover the press conference after inadvertently laughing during the funeral of his editor’s cousin, rolled his eyes. No doubt Bay simply couldn’t tear himself away from the mirror. It has been said that the one great love of Michael Bay’s life is his reflection in any mirror.

Finally Bay emerged onto the stage, grinning like a man who’s been hit on the head too many times by a football. It has long been the opinion of many a reporter that there’s not much activity going on inside his head. As usual, he had a two days stubble growth on his face.“Good morning!” he called in greeting after one final glance in a small mirror, replacing it in his jacket.

“It’s five thirty in the afternoon,” a Reuters correspondent told him.

“It is? Wow, time flies when you’re gazing in the mirror,” Bay said, flashing another grin. “Well, it’s morning somewhere in the world. Welcome to Digital Domain, and welcome to the big announcement. I’m sure you’ll all be pleased and ecstatic when I tell you what I’ve come to say.”

“Have you decided to retire and never make another film project again?” this reporter asked.

“Oh, that’s funny!” Bay said with a laugh, apparently not grasping the seriousness of the question. “Come now, the world needs Michael Bay films. They need to bask in the magnificence and glory that is me. They need to root for the heroes in my story. They need to laugh with the smart dialogue. They need to see the scantily clad young heroine polishing a car while the soundtrack plays a guitar riff. They need to see explosion after explosion after explosion. I can’t retire. My services to humanity are far too important. I am, after all, the greatest film director of all time. Am I right or am I right?” He looked out over the crowd of reporters, none of whom responded. They were too busy rolling their eyes and sighing in dismay, no doubt wondering what terrible thing they had done to merit being subjected to a Michael Bay press conference.

“Look, it’s all very simple,” Bay went on. “I am in the midst of directing my all star Gone With The Wind remake. It got me thinking. Why not reboot another classic of the silver screen? So my next project, ladies and gentlemen, the next big film that will secure me plenty of Oscars... is Casablanca.”

The crowd of reporters fell absolutely silent. Bay looked around at everyone, the same stupid grin on his face, oblivious to the appalled thoughts of the journalists at hand. “You want to remake the Bogart and Bergman film?” the Reuters correspondent asked.

“Yes, absolutely!” Bay insisted. “Not only remake it, but make it a thousand times better!” He laughed. “You see, there’s too much talking in that film, not enough explosions. I mean, really, it’s the Second World War, right? So we’re going to change all that by injecting some life into the story. And by life I mean pyrotechnic fireworks and explosions and death. Take, for instance, that whole ending in the original film. Rick shoots Major Strasser, and Strasser just falls down and dies. I mean, come on. Wouldn’t it be better if Strasser was smoking, stumbled away, fell into a whole pit full of explosives, TNT, dynamite, and that sort of thing, and the lit cigarette set everything off? The way I’m planning the scene, it’ll be a big enough explosion that Winston Churchill could see the smoke in London. That’s going to be typical of my version of Casablanca. Why not feature the whole city getting blown sky high? It makes for really good explosion scenes, and you have to have good explosions in a movie. And while we’re at it, I’m really not comfortable having that French anthem being played in the big scene as you see it in the movie. That’s just not going to play well in America. The audiences will hear that and wonder why a godless socialist song like La Marseillaise has to be sung. So I’m just going to have everyone sing The Star Spangled Banner.”

This reporter looked at his colleagues, all of whom had the same expression of horror on their faces. Bay continued. “Without further ado, let me introduce you to our cast. First, playing Rick Blaine, you know him as a frequent collaborator of mine on screen...” There was a collective gasp among the reporters. Surely Bay could not have chosen him to step into the shoes of Rick Blaine. “....I give you Shia LaBeouf!”

The collective gasp echoed. Some of this reporter’s colleagues were throwing up in the aisles. LaBeouf stepped out in stage, looking dazed and confused. It is, after all, a common expression for him. “Hi there!” he called out. “It’ll be a real pleasure playing this character, and showing up that Bogart moron for the bad actor that he is.” He stood with Bay, both of them grinning like idiots. This reporter contemplated alerting the Bogart estate that their illustrious forefather was being dragged through the mud.

“And where Shia goes, Megan must follow!” Bay declared. Megan Fox stepped out on the stage, smiling and showing off her cleavage. “Playing Ilsa Lund, I give you Megan Fox!”

“It’s an honour!” Fox told everyone.

“You have got to be joking!” another reporter blurted out.

“Of course I’m not,” Bay declared. “Why do people keep thinking that about everything I do? Now, the next cast member is pivotal. He’s been nominated for Oscars, and I’m confident this time he’ll win, and he’ll help us win the Oscars in a huge sweep too. Playing Victor Laszlo in my new film, I give you... Leonardo DiCaprio!”

DiCaprio stepped out on stage, waving to the reporters. There was another gasp. Why would DiCaprio work with someone as foolish as Michael Bay? “It’s a pleasure,” he told the reporters. “Michael tells me this is the role that is going to win me that long overdue Oscar. Now, I’ll admit, I’ve never actually seen the original Casablanca, but seeing that Victor gets the girl and the happy ending, that makes Victor the main character, right?”

This reporter asked, “Why are you doing this, Leo?”

“Because I really, really, really want that Oscar.”

“Yes, we know that, but you’re not going to get it with him as a director,” the Reuters correspondent remarked. “And seriously... what kind of person has never watched Casablanca?”

“I’ll remind you that you said that when I’m accepting Best Actor,” DiCaprio promised.

This reporter sighed, all too aware that Victor Laszlo is not the main character in the film. Bay continued as his three actors stood together. “And we’ve got other parts cast as well for the big film. Playing Captain Louis Renault will be one of my favourite all around actors, ladies and gentlemen, give a big hand to Nicolas Cage!”

Cage stepped out on stage, waving. “Great to see you! Oh, this is the role I was born to play, daddy-o. With the paycheck I’ll be getting from this, I can go back to burning my way through money by buying things I don’t actually need.”

This reporter wondered how much worse this could get. “And playing the part of Sam the piano player... you know him best while he’s crossdressing as his signature Madea role, Mr. Tyler Perry!” Bay boasted.

Another collective gasp of horror. Perry stepped out on stage. “Nice to be here, Hollywood! I’m going to put my own take on this guy. I really don’t think Dooley Wilson gave a good performance. Sam was stale in that first version, so I’m here to shake things up in a big way!”

This reporter looked at his colleagues. Right about now would be a good time for an earthquake to turn up and swallow everyone on stage into the depths of the earth. “And we have three more actors to reveal for you today. Major Strasser, Signor Ferrari, and Signor Ugarte were played by Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, and Peter Lorre in the original film. I can do these characters better by casting the right people in the roles. So I give you, as Strasser, The Rock! As Ferrari, Jon Voight! And as Ugarte, Steve Buscemi! Give them all a big hand!” The three actors stepped out on stage. The Rock arched his eyebrows.

“I just want to say I’m sorry,” Buscemi said. “I signed a contract back in the day that I have to do nine films with him, and he insisted this had to be one of them. I’m really sorry for this desecration of movie history.”

Bay laughed. “Oh, Steve, that’s so funny! You just crack me up!”

“Actually, I was being serious,” Buscemi told him.

Bay seemed oblivious. “Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the main cast of Casablanca! We’re gonna be kicking it in high gear once I’m done with the Gone With The Wind reboot. And I’m gonna win so many Oscars for it by the time we’re all said and done. Because I deserve plenty of Oscars. Is that perfectly clear? Plenty of Oscars.”

This reporter spoke up. “Mr. Bay, I would point out that The Rock is not, well, ethnically German. It’s highly doubtful that someone of his background could play a part of an officer in a society run by white supremacists.”

“Oh, that’s just silly!” Bay insisted. “Those are just trivial notions, and my audiences don’t care about that sort of thing. They care about rock music underscore, and explosions, and hot babes, and more explosions...”

“Mr. Bay!” the Reuters correspondent said forcefully. “Has Warner Brothers signed off on this?They do take responsibility for the well being of the original film very seriously.”

Bay shrugged. “Oh, we’ll work that out with them later on. I’m sure it’ll all be fine. All any studio cares about is making plenty of money.”

This reporter, disgusted by the entire press conference, spoke again. “Mr. Bay, what would you say to someone who feels that you are stomping on a true cinematic classic by trying to remake it? What would you say to someone who feels that you are a complete and total hack whose films are nothing more than cinematic emptiness?”

“I’d say they’re all jealous of true genius.” Bay smiled. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got an appointment with a tanning bed. It takes a lot of care to look as smashing as I do, you know. Look for Casablanca to be burning up the silver screen in a huge way come 2017. Lots of explosions, lots of hot babes, lots of sizzling sex. Play it again and again and again, Sam!”

Bay strode off stage, followed by his cast. The reporters were left behind to talk amongst themselves. Our common feeling was that at this very moment, Bogart and Bergman were rolling over in their graves.

The Soldier, The Crook, And The Hurricane

Check out Norma's blog today for a certain item of, shall we say, etiquette, but don't do so on a full stomach. Now then, I'm doing a movie review today, and by a stroke of timing, Maria posted some background on the star of today's classic over at her blog. Head on over and take a look at it. And if you haven't read it before, check out an earlier review I wrote for The Maltese Falcon.

"When your head says one thing and your whole life says another, your head always loses." ~ Frank McCloud

"After living in the USA for more than thirty five years, they called me an undesirable alien. Me, Johnny Rocco. Like I was a dirty Red or something." ~ Johnny Rocco

"You don't like it, do you, Rocco? The storm? Show it your gun, why don't you? If it doesn't stop, shoot it." Frank McCloud

Director and master storyteller John Huston reunited with Humphrey Bogart in 1948 for Key Largo, an intense character study trapping good and bad people together in a storm. It was also the last on screen performance together with Bogart's wife Lauren Bacall, after the classics To Have And Have Not, The Big Sleep, and Dark Passage. The film featured performances from outstanding actors, one of whom won an Oscar, and told a tense, tightly wound story that stands today as a true classic.

Frank McCloud (Bogart) arrives in Key Largo to pay his respects to the father of George, a soldier he commanded during the war, a friend who died in Europe. He finds himself at the old man's hotel in Key Largo, meeting the widow, Nora Temple (Bacall), and a handful of guests, all of whom seem shifty.  There's another guest in the hotel, someone keeping to himself, but who came with the others. Then he meets the man he's come to see. James Temple (Lionel Barrymore) still runs the establishment with Nora's help, even though he's confined to a wheelchair. Frank tells Nora and James about the death of George, and before long, the weather starts to turn. 

Frank, Nora, and James quickly find themselves held hostage by the others, criminals under the employ of the last guest, a gangster named Johnny Rocco, exiled to Cuba (this being before the days of Castro, mind you) after the feds went after him. Rocco (played by Edward G. Robinson), envisions his return, has big plans, and his presence at the hotel ties into those plans. As the night wears on, the hurricane builds in intensity, and tension persists between the two sides, the audience is taken along through that tension as it builds and builds.

Huston of course is one of the masters of Hollywood directing, spending an illustrious career making classic films. He adapted Key Largo alongside screenwriter Richard Brooks from a Broadway play by Maxwell Anderson. You can see the stage roots of the story; much of the story is set in and around the hotel, and it's intensely character driven. Huston's skill is in driving up the tension in a story that features very little action, and he succeeds. The antagonism and clashing personalities just keeps building throughout the film, leaving the audience on the edge. Some of the exteriors were shot on location in Florida, and Huston used stock footage from another film for the hurricane itself, while interiors were shot on set in LA. Huston even uses lighting- or the lack thereof- to convey the threat of a hurricane, and even incorporates it into the dialogue. At one point the mention of a previous hurricane's toll sends a chill up the spine.

The cast is wonderfully assembled, and ideally cast. It starts with Rocco's underlings, all of them character actors of the time: each of them are abrasive in different ways, playing lowlife thugs. The audience already doesn't like them before we know what they're up to. There's a wild card among them, Rocco's girlfriend Gaye (Claire Trevor). She's a boozing former nightclub singer, a bit volatile, used to being treated badly, but she does have a conscience. Trevor won the Best Supporting Actress for the role, and it's a well deserved award. It's a difficult role to play, a weak and self destructive person in many ways, but also sympathetic. Robinson spent his career playing mainly gangsters and nefarious types, and this is one of his best roles, if not his best. The character is explosive, cruel, and bullying, with an unhealthy sense of delusions of grandeur. He's a sociopath and a monster who doesn't care who gets hurt, just as long as he gets what he wants. And like all bullies, there is something of the coward in him. Lionel Barrymore, who spent much of his life on stage and screen playing character roles, gets to have a sympathetic role this time out as James Temple, confined to a wheelchair. He mourns his son, has principles and integrity, and isn't afraid to stand up to bullies.

The two leads share marvelous chemistry, not a surprise given their off screen lives. Bacall plays Nora as a strong, outspoken woman, mourning the loss of her husband, but also loyal to and protective of her father-in-law. It speaks volumes that in the years since her husband's death, she has stayed on with James. She is stoic in the face of danger, and brings such expressiveness in her performance. Bogart gives his character a world weariness and disillusioned quality through much of the film. There's an accusation made in the midst of the narrative about his time in the war, and we are left to wonder if that accusation is true... or if he's merely biding his time, wisely waiting for the right moment. It's another terrific performance in a career of good performances.

Key Largo still stands today as one of John Huston's finest films. He gives us sheer tension with minimal action just through a dangerous situation and taut, measured dialogue. And he manages a cast who inhabit their roles, on two sides of a gulf between right and wrong. The cast rises to the occasion magnificently, playing characters with hidden depth and complicated personalities, giving us memorable performances. 

The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of

Some business to see to today first, before I get to the movie review I have in mind. Have a peek over at Norma's blog for a Snippet Sunday post she did with a selection from a future work. As well, one of my fellow writers, Lorelei Bell, has just released a book on Amazon called The Cat Whisperer. Here's a little bit about it:

This is a non-fiction account about how one feral female cat came into our lives, and changed it. My husband (the cat whisperer), took pity on her one summer day, and fed her some table scraps, against my warnings it might be a female. Of course, feeling that was an invitation, she stayed, expecting to be fed...  and then dropped her litter of kittens in the hollow of a tree in our yard. This is how the kitty dram began. This is her, and her kittens' story and how we dealt with the joy of watching their antics, the pain of losing them to predators, and their love/caring for one another

Now then, to the classic at hand....

“The cheaper the crook, the gaudier the patter.” ~ Sam Spade

“I distrust a close-mouthed man. He generally picks the wrong time to talk and says the wrong things. Talking’s something you can’t do judiciously, unless you keep in practice.” ~ Kaspar Gutman

“Look at me, Sam. You worry me. You always think you know what you’re doing, but you’re too slick for your own good. Some day you’re going to find it out.” ~ Effie Perine

The Maltese Falcon, a 1941 classic by first time director John Huston, who quickly established himself with this film as one of the best in the business, is a personal favourite. The private eye film gives us Humphrey Bogart in one of his best roles- if it’s not his best, it’s pretty close- and is the finest example of the film noir genre. Adapted from a novel by Dashiell Hammett, who also wrote Nick and Nora Charles in The Thin Man, the film stands today among the greats of cinematic history.

A woman (Mary Astor) arrives at the offices of Spade and Archer to hire the detectives to find her missing sister. Sam Spade (Bogart) and Miles Archer (Jerome Cowan) take the case, and Archer quickly ends up gunned down late at night (in the only scene in the film that doesn’t feature Bogart). Spade finds himself caught up in a web of lies, crime, and intrigue as he tries to determine the truth about his partner’s death. On the one hand, his client’s story is not the truth, and she keeps evading the truth as she goes along, revealing herself as Brigid O’Shaughnessy. On the other are a trio of criminals (Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, and Elisha Cook Jr.) with an interest in a certain figurine, a priceless falcon figure that’s been passed through various hands for centuries. One death leads to another, and Spade finds himself under suspicion by the police… some of whom he gets along with, and others… not so much. Only by finding the truth can he clear himself.

Huston had a background in screen writing before he took this on as a director, and it’s astonishing to see so much of his future in this film. Take a look at his screen credits: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The African Queen, The Red Badge of Courage, Across the Pacific, Key Largo, The Man Who Would Be King. This is a master storyteller, and all of that is on the screen through his first film. He tells the story through Spade’s point of view, adapting the novel very much as Hammett wrote it, but using the filmmaker’s touch to give the story his signature. He crafts scenes around his actors, using their strengths to move the story along. He pays close attention to detail, to lighting (or the lack thereof), to the positioning of an actor in a given place at a given time. Something like having a character tell some backstory, in the hands of a lesser director, could bore the audience, but Huston writes the screenplay and directs the actors in such a way that a bit of backstory is utterly compelling. Given the censorship codes of the times, he implies where the novel would be more specific- things like Cairo’s sexual orientation, the fling between Spade and his partner’s wife, the relationship between Sam and Brigid. And the dialogue, much of it straight from Hammett, is sharp, smart, and memorable. It really defines the characters and the performances.

His cast is astonishing. This was the first time that Sydney Greenstreet appeared on the screen as an actor, but his presence is formidable. Kaspar Gutman is a seemingly hospitable man, quite formal in the way he conducts himself, but behind that hospitality is a deviousness, and a ruthless nature. He’s a man quite happy to sell out his allies if the need rises, obsessed with the wealth of the falcon, the statue he so desires. He might not be the sort who bloodies his hand doing his own dirty work, but Gutman is a menacing figure, and compelling to watch. Peter Lorre, the esteemed character actor who’d left Europe years before, turns up as Joel Cairo, the eccentric crook who is tied up in the entire affair. He’s a bit unpredictable as an accomplice to Gutman, playing to his own ends, trying to pass himself off as tougher than he is. The third member of the trio, Wilmer, played by Elisha Cook Jr., is doing some of the same, thinking he’s more dangerous than he is. Well, he’s more dangerous than Cairo, certainly, but no match for Spade. Ultimately he comes across as a kid with a hair trigger temper, easily provoked.

Mary Astor is the femme fatale of the film, a chameleon playing her game, trying to keep Spade on her side. There’s steam and chemistry between Brigid and Spade, and she manipulates as much as she can- though Spade can see that for what it is. She brings these qualities to the role, along with a neediness that fits into her character’s motivations. It’s a complicated role, but she makes it work. There are a couple of other women in the film in smaller roles, but should be noted. Gladys George is Iva, Archer’s widow, not particularly torn up by her husband’s murder, and she’s had a thing for Spade. She’s throwing herself on Spade in the aftermath, and we’re left to wonder what she’s been up to. The other woman in question is Lee Patrick, playing Spade’s loyal secretary Effie. She’s probably the one character in the movie Sam trusts completely. She’s smart, sassy, willing to speak her mind to Sam, and probably head over heels in love with him. She humanizes Sam, and he needs that.

Bogart had been playing various crooks and tough guys through the thirties, but started getting serious notice in the years leading up to The Maltese Falcon. In this film, he really establishes himself as a leading man. He plays Sam as the hardened man, cruel perhaps at times (he doesn’t particularly care that his partner has died, and he’s eager to keep the widow out of his way). He’s a listener- he gathers information by letting everyone talk around him and absorbing what they say, the signs of their body language. He’s a great observer. He has a dry and deeply cynical sense of humour, a sense of how to provoke the reaction he wants out of others in a room. And there’s a fierce dangerous quality to the man that makes him so compelling. He’s quick to act, fast to disarm a threat, has no problem inflicting violence. And he has no problem setting aside matters of the heart. We’re not sure what to make of this man, but at the core, he has principles. It doesn’t matter what he thinks of his partner, he has to solve the case, because you’re supposed to do that when your partner dies. It’s a powerful performance, and the core of a true classic film.