The following was part of a series reviewing the ASUW film series at the University of Washington that were broadcast on KCMU-FM in 1976--I found the old scripts and thought it might be interesting to post them here--with no editorial alteration or comment. I have no doubt that my attitude to some of these films has changed over the years--ageing does that--but to just erase my opinions from back then and tack on my new-found objections would do a disservice to the reviewer who was just a "stinky kid" back then. It'd be like making Greedo shoot first.
Stage Door(Gregory LaCava, 1937) It's hard to say what I like best about Stage Door--not the story, it's pretty much the "tough-road-on-the-way-to-success" trope. But the dialogue is original--snappy and delivered at a break-neck pace, sometimes overlapping (and you don't see that very often in modern movies)*It all tends to make watching old-time movies invigorating.
Maybe it's the acting, delivered by an all-star cast headed by Ginger Rogers (again), Gail Patrick as a primary sufferer,Lucille Ball as a wicked-tongued Seattle-ite (but don't hold it against me), (and) Eve Arden as an aspiring actress who is permanently attached to a cat. All live together in various stages of animosity when Katherine Hepburn makes another of her grand entrances and proceeds to steal the movie as easily as candy from a bunch of talented babies. Her role is somewhat autobiographical--rich society girl trying to make it into acting because it's a thrill and it's different. To see newcomer Hepburn--a small strap of a girl squaring off against a star-since-silent-days Adolphe Menjou and run acting rings around him is a certifiable thrill. It's Hepburn that is best about this movie, but then Hepburn has always been one of the best things about the movies. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Well, you did if you saw any Robert Altman movies at the time, and I'm sure I did--at least Nashville and California Split and M*A*S*H and The Long Goodbye! But the last movie I saw where the movie was seriously over-lapping and going at this pace was Clooney's Leatherheads (and I think I was the only one...)
I notice I neglected to mention such stars of the future as Ann Miller and Jack Carson (one of my favorites). Well, these things could only be two minutes long...and it should be noted that this is the film where the Hepburn trademark line "The calla lilies are in bloom a-gain!" came from. Any actress or comedian who wanted to do a quick impression of Katherine Hepburn (in the days before Martin Short) would just say that line and people would immediately get the connection.
One interesting little piece of trivia: Gail Patrick was the long-time executive producer of the "Perry Mason" TV-series.
This was part of a series of reviews of the ASUW Film series back in the '70's. Except for some punctuation, I haven't changed anything from the way it was presented, giving the snarky, clueless kid I was back then a break. What was that line from Hondo? "Him very young. Will learn." "If he lives..." Any stray thoughts and updates I've included with the inevitable asterisked post-scripts.
But there are some very neat things here, too. Some familiar faces--Fred and Ginger, Randolph Scott,Harriett Hillyard(who would become world-famous as the TV and real-life wife of bandleader Ozzie Nelson), and in lesser roles,Betty Grableand Lucille Ball. There are the songs by Irving Berlin("Let Yourself Go,""Let's Face the Music and Dance") orchestrated by film music great Max Steiner. And then there are the dance numbers--the reason this film was made, its the reason this film is structured the way it was, and it's what made Astaire and Rogers stars, doubly and singly. There is a mutual smash-up-your-partners'-work dance rehearsal about 3/4 through the film that will undoubtedly impress as a great number of stumbles, but is actually as well-choreographed as any of the other dance numbers in the film.*** So, gee whiz gosh, folks, why don't you forget your 70's whatever-it-is attitude and enjoy yourself.
There's not much I can add, other than to say that Follow the Fleet introduced the standard "Let's Face the Music and Dance," and that the choreography of Astaire (with Hermes Pan) and the dance performance of Astaire and Rogers (and remember, "she had to do everything he did...only backwards and in high-heels!") are some of the most sublimely beautiful things you will see in movies. In all the years since I've seen this film and the others, I've never seen anything that can compare. Sure, Gene Kelly had that ferocious athletic aggressiveness...but Astaire and Rogers achieved Grace with a capital "G." 2020 Addendum: Oh, there's a LOT I can add: Astaire (originally Frederick Austerlitz—on imdb.com, he is "nm0000001/") had a disastrous screen-test at RKO: "Can't sing. Can't act. Balding. Can dance a little." read the card-synopsis; producer David O. Selznick—who signed Astaire to his RKO contract wrote in one of his famous memo's "I am uncertain about the man, but I feel, in spite of his enormous ears and bad chin line, that his charm is so tremendous that it comes through even on this wretched test." Astaire's first film for RKO, Flying Down to Rio, had him fifth-billed—right after Ginger Rogers. He didn't want to be part of another dance duo (he started out on-stage with his sister Adele); he wrote his agent "I don't mind making another picture with her, but as for this 'team' idea, it's 'out!' I've just managed to live down one partnership and I don't want to be bothered with any more." But, they made nine films together in one of the greatest pairings in film. Katherine Hepburn (who'd worked with Rogers on Stage Door) said of them: "He gives her class and she gives him sex appeal." Astaire said of her: "Ginger had never danced with a partner before Flying Down to Rio. She faked it an awful lot. She couldn't tap and she couldn't do this and that ... but Ginger had style and talent and improved as she went along. She got so that after a while everyone else who danced with me looked wrong." Part of that is Ginger Rogers proved to be a consummate actress. Yes, she could get the routines "down," but most importantly, she could act the dance and its emotional effect—like a good opera singer who can hit all the notes, but also emote beyond them to touch the audience. It's athleticism and skill to hit the marks, but the acting makes it less of a spectator sport and brings the audience in to become part of the experience. Astaire was likable, but Rogers made him a romantic lead—just by her acting. One might not like musicals. One might not like dancing in films. But, watching Astaire and Rogers is experiencing artistry...and that is thrilling, whatever one's prejudices. Excellence always beats them.
* Now, bear in mind, I was writing this during the "disco" 70's! Everybody was wearing platform shoes and bell-bottoms, fergodsake. ** I believe I was being sarcastic here, but I'm not sure. I think I was merely pandering to the audience of a 10 watt rock station on the University campus and this was the first review I'd written (I think). I was being unsure and general—why else would I start with an explanation of RKO Radio Pictures" (it would be "explained" musically in Rocky Horror on the next night, after all), plus I thought I had to "sell" an Astaire-Rogers musical to the "hipsters" on campus. Balderdash. Anyway, the review of The Rocky Horror Picture Show is here and the one for Private Parts is here. Stage Door, we will represent next week. ***
Two Smart People(Jules Dassin, 1946) Jules Dassin's last job as a contract director for M-G-M (before tearing up the screen when he moved to B-movies at Universal) is a slight caper movie heavy on the relationship side of things; the tension comes not from the "will they pull it off" aspect so much as the "when does the betrayal happen" question. The screenplay is a collaboration between Ethel Hill (her last credit in a career that started in the silent era) and Leslie Charteris—who's most known for creating "The Saint." There are elements of that, but no halo's. It follows two con-artists—Ace Connors (John Hodiak—he starred in Hitchcock's Lifeboat) and Ricki Woodner (Lucille Ball) who meet at a swanky Beverly Hill hotel. Well, they don't so much as collide; "clash" might be the better term. Both have their sights on a mark (the easily befuddled Lloyd Corrigan—but he had a history of playing con-men, as well) Ace has some oil futures he wants to sell to him, but Ricki has enough smart patter—and a deflecting "master-work"—to lure the investor to her side. That is, until Ace exposes it for a forgery, thus making those oil deeds a bit more tempting.
Make of it what you will two cats fighting over a ball of yarn, or a larcenous tennis match, but it puts Ricki and Ace on the same wavelength—one that has a lot of static on the line, but a certain simpatico frequency. Plus, Ace has a reputation—the rumor that he has half a million dollars in stolen bonds squirreled away somewhere, a nice little dividend if she can get her hands on it. But, there's another reason to get close to Ace—she's being threatened by Ace's former partner "Fly" Feletti (Elisha Cook Jr. in full weasel mode), who has a grudge against Ace and wants the bonds, as well. Already, the relationships, as they say, are "complicated."
And just a little slippery. With this couple of swindlers, you need someone you can depend on, so in walks Detective Bob Simms (Lloyd Nolan) who has absolutely no con to play, but does have have a job to do involving Ace; Simms is the cop investigating the stolen bonds and has the duty of escorting him to Sing Sing as part of the con's plea-deal for turning over evidence against Feletti (but not the bonds, the existence of which Ace won't even acknowledge). Simms is a practical man. He likes Ace (he's not a murderer, after all) and when Ace suggests they take the slow-road to Sing-Sing to visit old haunts and indulge in the finest meals that they don't provide on the menu at The Gray Bar Hotel. Simms is a straight arrow, but practical. An extended train-trip sounds like fun and they're in no hurry.
Trouble is, trains are public transportation; anybody can buy a ticket. So, Ace and Bob are surprised to find that Ricki has come along for the ride (and unbeknownst to them, so has Feletti), which sets up a dynamic where everybody is looking for the bonds that Ace has stashed. He won't betray their location and everybody wants to betray him. What's a con-artist to do? Sit back and enjoy the ride and make the best of it.
Hodiak looks like he's enjoying himself, and Nolan is a trooper. But, Ball, who since denounced the film as "a dog," looks none too happy. Oh, she goes through the motions, but you sense that there's a lip-twisting "Ewwww..." forthcoming in every scene. She had every right to be a bit brittle about it. Like, Dassin, this was going to be her last film before being released from her contract with the prestigious M-G-M. Despite the elaborate costumes she sports throughout the film, there was nothing flattering about the pink slip she'd be getting at the end of it.
I wonder whatever became of her? Well, one of the key technicians on the film was ex-pat cinematography master Karl Freund, who had learned enough from the German Expressionist era to highlight her cheekbones and make her look luminous despite the disadvantage of black-and-white doing nothing for her flaming red hair. Lucy must have taken notice and been appreciative, though. When she and husband Desi Arnaz launched Desilu Productions with their first series idea "I Love Lucy," they hired Freund to apply his same talents behind the camera and enhance the audience-friendly "3-camera technique" that would become of staple of those shows "filmed before a live audience." Even career set-backs provide valuable lessons. Talk about "smart people."
like best about Stage Door--not the story, it's pretty much the "tough-road-on-the-way-to-success" trope. But the dialogue is original--snappy and delivered at a break-neck pace, sometimes overlapping (and you don't see that very often in modern movies)* It all tends to make watching old-time movies invigorating. 
like best about Stage Door--not the story, it's pretty much the "tough-road-on-the-way-to-success" trope. But the dialogue is original--snappy and delivered at a break-neck pace, sometimes overlapping (and you don't see that very often in modern movies)* It all tends to make watching old-time movies invigorating. 
me), (and) Eve Arden as an aspiring actress who is permanently attached to a cat. All live together in various stages of animosity when Katherine Hepburn makes another of her grand entrances and proceeds to steal the movie as easily as candy from a bunch of talented babies. Her role is somewhat autobiographical--rich society girl trying to make it into acting because it's a thrill and it's different. To see newcomer Hepburn--a small strap of a girl squaring off against a star-since-silent-days Adolphe Menjou and run acting rings around him is a certifiable thrill. It's Hepburn that is best about this movie, but then Hepburn has always been one of the best things about the movies.
