Bringing Up Baby (1938) (Movie Review)

 



Director: Howard Hawks

Screenwriter(s): Dudley Nichols & Hagar Wilde

Producer: Cliff Reid & Howard Hawks

Distributor: RKO Radio Pictures

In Theaters: February 18th, 1938

Run Time: 102 minutes

Starring: Katharine Hepburn & Cary Grant

Genre(s): comedy/romance

Storyline: Mild mannered zoology professor Dr. David Huxley is excited by the news that an intercostal clavicle bone has been found to complete his brontosaurus skeleton, a project four years in the construction. He is equally excited about his imminent marriage to his assistant, the officious Alice Swallow, who is interested in him more for his work than for him as a person. David needs the $1 million endowment of wealthy dowager Mrs. Carleton Random to complete the project. Her lawyer, Alexander Peabody, will make the decision on her behalf, so David needs to get in his favor. However, whenever David tries to make a good impression on Peabody, the same young woman always seems to do something to make him look bad. She is the flighty heiress Susan Vance. The more David wants Susan to go away, the more Susan seems not to want or be able to. But David eventually learns that Alexander Peabody is her good friend…

Movie Trailer:


My Review: I remember the first time I watched Bringing Up Baby. I was lucky enough to have a mother who brought home VHS tapes of countless classic movies, and not just starring Katharine Hepburn. For me, when it came to my understanding of comedy, it came from actors like Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn before I even discovered Lucille Ball. But being able to see a movie like this on the big screen just can’t compare. If you ever get a chance to see a classic on the big screen I cannot stress enough how much you should jump at the opportunity to see whatever it is.

These two have done a few others movies together but this one is my favorite. It truly showcases Katharine’s sense of humor, something many, including herself, have said she never truly had. In fact it was Cary who showed her the art of timing. And boy did she master it beautifully. Unlike other duos of their day (Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland or Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers) they didn’t have singing or dancing that made them flow together so well. It was their fantastic acting ability and it didn’t hurt that they both have larger than life personalities on the screen. It’s hard to notice anyone or anything else other than them when they are on the screen but do try because the ensemble cast in this movie just helps in so many ways to move this comedy along.

My Rating: ★★★★

Dark Shadows (2012)

Title: Dark Shadows

Director: Tim Burton

Screenwriter(s): Seth Grahame-Smith

Producer: Richard D. Zanuck, Graham King, Johnny Depp, David Kennedy

Distributor: Warner Bros.

Production Company: Dan Curtis Productions, GK Films, & Infinitum Nihil

In Theaters: May 11th, 2012

Run Time: 113 minutes

Color: Technicolor

Starring: Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter & Eva Green

Genre(s): comedy/fantasy

Storyline: In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass and Barnabas (Johnny Depp) has the world at his feet-or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy...until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green). A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive. Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin. The dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better... Written by Warner Bros. Pictures

Movie Trailer:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePV8WGngJRQ]

My Review: If you haven’t seen this movie yet but are planning on going to see it this weekend DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW!!

Let me also say that I’ve never seen the original television series or read the book that this movie was loosely (very loosely) based on. I did not go expecting Oscar worthy performances and I was not disappointed there. I went because it’s a Johnny Depp movie with Tim Burton directing it. How could I not go see this movie!? There are very few actor/director combinations today that work as well as theirs does. I was also surprised (and a bit delighted) to see Seth Grahame-Smith wrote the screenplay for this movie as well.

Now onto the bad news. This movie is NOT their best collaboration. I might be so bold to say it’s among my worst for me. Why? Well, for the first time, I felt like Johnny over acted this role to the point of making me uncomfortable. I honestly felt this role was made for him. Especially after all the crazy roles he’s played before this, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Sweeney Todd, and Willy Wonka, to name but a few. Yet, he came across unreal as a vampire (pardon the pun).

My family also chimed in with their opinion of the movie based on the trailer alone. They grew up with the gothic soap opera so they know it VERY well. Never missed it in fact. And according to them this movie is a farce! A spoof of a great cult classic. Take that opinion as you wish and read on.

I was also disappointed in the storyline. Again, I have not seen the television show or read the book but basing my opinion solely on the movie I can say there was so much there to build on, so much depth that could have been shown on screen. Instead, the “sex” scene between the witch and the vampire was given about 3 minutes time that was a waste. It also felt like it was just shoved in there awkwardly.

Michelle Pfeiffer was actually the best part of the whole movie for me. Also, the boy and girl who I felt were not given enough of a story line. Especially since (spoiler alert) the teenage girl turns out to be a werewolf! Hello! If they were going for surprise there it worked but again it felt sort of shoved into the story awkwardly. I’d feel better if I knew there were more Dark Shadows movies to come? And if there are, then I’d wonder why this movie felt so rushed to tell a story that obviously is in depth since the tv show ran for over 1,200 episodes!! (I looked it up on IMDb)

I find myself about to watch Sweeney Todd or ANY of the Pirates movies in order to remind myself just how great Johnny Depp is and realize every writer, director, & actor has their bad film. I just hope this is the only one they’ll have!

My Rating: C-

Born Yesterday (Movie Review)

Title: Born Yesterday

Director: George Cukor

Screenwriter(s): Albert Mannheimer & Garson Kanin

Producer: S. Sylvan Simon

Distributor: Columbia Pictures

In Theaters: December 26th, 1950

Run Time: 103 minutes

Color: Black & White

Starring: Judy Holliday, Broderick Crawford, & William Holden

Genre(s): comedy/drama/romance

Storyline: Uncouth, loud-mouth junkyard tycoon Harry Brock descends upon Washington D.C. to buy himself a congressman or two, bringing with him his mistress, ex-showgirl Billie Dawn. Brock hires newspaperman Paul Verrall to see if he can soften her rough edges and make her more presentable in capital society. But Harry gets more than he bargained for as Billie absorbs Verall's lessons in U.S. history and not only comes to the realization that Harry is nothing but a two-bit, corrupt crook, but in the process also falls in love with her handsome tutor. Written by Paul Penna

Movie Trailer:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upJ5pZdyZlM]

My Review: Yet another stellar evening at the movies with Ms. Hedda Lettuce and her comedy pre-show.

If you've never seen this version perhaps you are familiar with the remake? Melanie Griffith reprises Judy Holliday's role although not as brilliantly. I've seen this original several dozen times but never until now did I notice just how much of the movie revolves around politics. Not the politics of today but how corruption first started out on a small scale. Your average, run of the mill gangster, thinks he can do what he wants and get anyone he wants to do his bidding because he has money at his disposal. So while Harry is busy pushing around his cousin, his lawyer, and a congressman, his fiance Billy is learning how to be cooth from Paul (William Holden).

All she has to do is learn how to speak good, but instead of teaching her the basics Paul pushes her mind to the limit. A light bulb finally goes off in Billy's head and she sees Harry for who he really is, a bad man! She calls him out on his operation and brings him down to size in a scene that could only be expressed with such intensity by Ms. Holliday herself. You'll find yourself laughing, smiling, and you might even shed a tear for the shear joy this feel good movie will bring you from beginning to very happy ending.

My Rating: A

Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore (Book Review)

Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story

by Christopher Moore

304 pages

Simon & Schuster, September 1995

romance/comedy/horror

Read in 8 days

Another Review…

Star Rating: ★★★ 1/2

Amazon.com | BN.com

My Review: Meet C. Thomas Flood, a writer, who's in San Francisco with little money and no place to stay. After making a shrewd $50/wk deal with a Chinese man to share a room with 5 men named Wong, he then manages to procure a job as a night manager at the local town market. His luck does not stop there. After befriending the Emperor of San Francisco and the Animals who work the graveyard shift at the market he manages to get himself a girlfriend. We should ALL be so lucky! Then again, perhaps we should not count our chickens before they’ve hatched. For you see, all is not as it seems for C. Thomas Flood. Probably he should have taken his fathers advice and stayed home to learn the family farming business.

For starters, the roommates he starts out with all want his hand in marriage! You read right. They’ve heard that a gay marriage is just as legal a way of procuring a green card to stay in America as a heterosexual one. Why he declines their offer of taking good care of him for as long as they all shall live is beyond me. Then there’s the slightly crazy yet harmless Emperor who lives in the streets he protects with his two dogs Bummer and Lazarus. His latest adventure finds him in search of a vampire who he believes is the killer behind the latest string of vicious attacks. The Animals are, I’m sure, the stereotypical group of guys you’d find working the night shift at just about any supermarket. The things men do when left to their own devices! Lastly, there’s his girlfriend. How he meets could be called coincidence but it wasn’t. Why he agrees to move in with her immediately and do (almost) her every bidding is a mystery as well. Let’s call it love? Either way the real reason boils down to Jody being a vampire. Albeit a new vampire, she’s quickly learning the ropes of how to survive. All while being watched by the more than 800 year old vampire who made her into who she is now.

This is a love story. The likes of which you’ve probably never read but will find yourself searching for the rest of this trilogy to see what happens next. And don’t worry, I’ll be reviewing those for you in the coming weeks.

To learn more about Christopher Moore, please visit his site.

The Bishop's Wife (1948) (Movie Review)

The Bishop’s Wife (109 minutes, B&W)

directed by Henry Koster

Robert Nathan (novel), Writer

Samuel Goldwyn, Producer

RKO Radio Pictures, Distributor

February 16th, 1948 (in theaters)

comedy/drama/fantasy/romance

My Rating:

Starring

Cary Grant, Loretta Young, David Niven, Monty Woolley, Elsa Lanchester

Storyline: (IMDb.com) An Episcopal Bishop, Henry Brougham, has been working for months on the plans for an elaborate new cathedral which he hopes will be paid for primarily by a wealthy, stubborn widow. He is losing sight of his family and of why he became a churchman in the first place. Enter Dudley, an angel sent to help him. Dudley does help everyone he meets, but not necessarily in the way they would have preferred. With the exception of Henry, everyone loves him, but Henry begins to believe that Dudley is there to replace him, both at work and in his family’s affections, as Christmas approaches.


Movie Trailer:
 

My Review: From the moment I started this movie I was hooked. I’ve always been an admirer of Cary Grant’s work. If you’ve seen any of his movies, his comedies are my favorite. And although this movie does have some laughs and humor, it’s underlying theme that miracles can and do actually happen, is present from beginning to end. To me, this will easily become a timeless classic. How I’ve never seen this movie before is beyond me.

I am not familiar with Loretta Young’s work but when Monty Woolley appeared on the screen I gasped and smiled simultaneously! His portrayal of Mr. Whiteside, alongside Bette Davis, in The Man Who Came to Dinner is a riot on so many levels! But I’m straying off topic.

The other surprise “star” in this movie was Elsa Lanchester. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her in a starring role but she is a presence in any movie that demands to be recognized, and do I ever! This is one of the smallest roles I’ve seen her play but her eyes are what make her scenes all the more important to the movie.

Movies from the 1940’s were about more than what we over use today in movies. Back then you HAD to be a good actor! And every person in this cast was great. Now onto the movie itself!

David Niven who plays the Bishop seems to be battling his own “demons” if you will when an angel comes to him. The Bishop thinks he’s there to help him secure his precious cathedral he’s been working on, but when he feels everything is NOT going his way he quickly tries to “pray away” this angel. Little does he realize it’s his wife that brought the angel there and it is only she who can send him on.

The most memorable scene for me in this movie would have to be when Cary Grant, who as you may have guessed, plays the angel, is telling little Debby (the daughter of the bishop and his wife) a story. I’ve never heard a bible story told quite like that before and I was hanging on his every word the entire time he told it. I won’t spoil it for you by telling you which story he tells the little girl. Just watch the movie and witness the miracles that unfold in all the lives the angel touches.