Foster on Film

I think of Rex Harrison as one of the great actors, yet “great” is not a word I use with his most famous films. Doctor Dolittle, Anna and the King of Siam, The Agony and the Ecstasy, The Yellow Rolls-Royce, and Cleopatra are all fine, watchable flicks, but no masterpieces, and I normally don’t even call them good without some kind of qualification. (My Fair Lady is a level up, but I still qualify any compliments I give it.)

Not that he isn’t in some great films—or I wouldn’t be making a list for him—simply that they tend to be less known. His finest films are indeed great works in need of viewing.

The top 8:

8 – The Constant Husband (1955) – By the writing/directing/producing team of Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder, which is always a good thing. Harrison is an amnesiac who finds that he may not have been a kindly guy.

7 – My Fair Lady (1964) – Audrey Hepburn is lovely. Harrison is fun. And the music is wonderful. It suffers from dubbing and the same flaw as the Broadway musical–the tacked on and in every way wrong “happy ending.” [Also on the Audrey Hepburn list]

6 – Storm in a Teacup (1937) – A political satire, that seems to be about a small affair being blown out of proportion, but is a look at how fascism works and needs to be fought. A brilliant film with a sadly weak ending.

5 – Unfaithfully Yours (1948) – A dark comedy by Preston Sturges, who made a career out of not fitting Hollywood expectations. This one has Harrison daydreaming how to kill his assumed-to-be unfaithful wife.

4 – Night Train to Munich (1940) – A WWII spy thriller set in the world of The Lady Vanishes. It leans more on fun than tension.

3 – Major Barbara (1941) – Harrison in another film based on a Shaw play, with a co-star who was in the movie of Pygmalion. A thoughtful movie, with a few moments which work better on stage.

2 – Blithe Spirit (1945) – A séance has the unfortunate effect of summoning the ghost of an author’s first wife. Witty English humor based on a play.

1 – The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) – A widow, escaping her in-laws, rents a sea-side cottage that is haunted by a sea captain. It’s charming and a bit sad.

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The 4th of the Big Three horror icons (of sound films), like Karloff before him, Vincent Price had a liquid-jeweled voice and range. Price’s early work was more often in Film Noirs, comedies, and a few adventure films. Except for brief sojourns, he didn’t switch to horror until 1953’s House of Wax, but once there, he was stuck for life. The shame wasn’t that he spent decades only able to make horror pictures, but that they were never A pictures. Still, he made many enjoyable B films and seemed happy.

Before the Best list, a few more honorable mentions than normal: An Honorable Mention for Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)—his part is too small to consider the film for his list. Then an honorable mention to The Invisible Man Returns (1940), which lacks in story, but Price talking to the scarecrow was a fantastic moment. Also an Honorable mention goes to His Kind of Woman (1951), which overall doesn’t quite work, but Price is wonderful in it. And a shout out to Witchfinder General (1968), which would be #9 below.

Finally, a group Honorable mention to a whole line of B horror films that are a lot of fun and a touch silly, including: House of Wax (1953), The Mad Magician (1954), House on Haunted Hill (1959), The Tingler (1959), The Diary of a Madman (1963), The Haunted Palace (1963), The Raven (1963), The Oblong Box (1969), and Theater of Blood (1973)

Which brings me to his best 8 films:

8 – The Last Man on Earth (1964) – The first and most accurate version of the novel “I Am Legend,” about a lone man fighting a world filled with vampires. Price and the theme makes this a must see.

7 – Tower of London (1939) – A horror-tinged version of the story of Richard III. Price is in a supporting role as the peevish Duke of Clarence who ends up on the wrong side of Basil Rathbone’s Richard and Boris Karloff’s Mord. (My Review) [Also on the Boris Karloff List]

6 – The Fly (1958) – THE mad scientist film of the ‘50s. Unlike the remake, this isn’t a monster movie, but a tragedy. The main character isn’t the genus inventor nor his brother (Price), but the none-too-clever wife. Her emotional strain is beautifully played. (My Review)

5 – The Masque of the Red Death (1964) – I don’t normally connect Roger Corman with deep themes but then he never made another film like this. It’s surreal and epic. Price is an evil prince who thinks Satan will protect him from Death.

4 – Champagne for Caesar (1950) – The hardest to find film on this list. In this zany comedy, Ronald Colman plays a brilliant man who decides to bankrupt an arrogant businessman by winning a quiz show. Price is the businessman. [Also on the Ronald Colman list]

3 – The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) – There aren’t enough art-deco horror films. And there are few that are anywhere near this witty. It’s elegant and violent with Price as a deranged musician out for revenge.

2 – The Ten Commandments (1956) – There are thoughtful and spiritual religious films. This isn’t one. This is the Bible via Lord of the Rings and Mad Max. And Price is capable of bombast with the best of them.  (My Review) [Also on both the Edward G. Robinson list and the Charlton Heston list]

1 – Laura (1944) – And as with Lugosi, this horror icon’s best film isn’t horror. It is one of the great Film Noirs, with Price as a playboy gigolo. (My Critique)

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Lugosi had a presence, a charisma, that shaped scenes and entire films. Was he a good actor? It’s hard to say. He wasn’t really given a chance. With his thick accent and less-than-perfect English, his roles were going to be limited. Add in the tendency to pigeonhole horror actors and his own poor choices, and he ended up with a troubled career. But he had a few moments, and those have made him an icon.

For these “best of” lists for actors, I am not considering the actor’s best performances, but best movies. Nor am I worried about if the actor was the lead. Only when the actor has nothing but a brief cameo have I shifted great films into the “Honorable Mention” category (such as Audrey Hepburn’s few seconds in The Lavender Hill Mob). If it is more than one short scene, the film counts for that actor’s list. So, for Lugosi, I’ve ended up with three of my eight choices having him barely in the films. But even in those cases, he does make an impression.

An Honorable mention to Mark of the Vampire (1935) for the art design, cinematography, and for the iconic vampire pair of Lugosi and Carol Borland. And another honorable mention to the incredible set design for The Black Cat (1934).

8 – Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943) – Not a great film, but as the best of the Universal monster-mashups, it is fun. Lugosi’s performance is not good, but then his lines were cut in post. (My review)

7 – The Body Snatcher (1945) – There are more Victorian body snatcher movies than there were Victorian body snatchers, and this is the best. It is Boris Karloff that rules the film, with Lugosi in a lesser part as a servant.  [Also on the Boris Karloff list]

6 – Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) – Perhaps the best horror comedy of all time. It stands out for many reasons, including treating the monsters respectfully. It was Lugosi’s second best outing as a vampire (which point toward Universal not using Lugosi as they should have).

5 – Son of Frankenstein (1939) – A surprisingly good third entry in the franchise. It is seeped in German expressionism. Karloff gets a reduced role; Basil Rathbone is the lead, but Lugosi steals the film in what is probably his best performance as Ygor. (My review) [Also on the Basil Rathbone list and the Boris Karloff list]

4 – Island of Lost Souls (1932) – A powerful, thoughtful film with Charles Laughton as the evil scientist. Lugosi portrays a beast-man, a small but memorable part. (My review)

3 – Dracula (1931) – One of the greatest and most important horror films, Lugosi is stunning as Count Dracula. (My review)

2 – The Wolf Man (1941) – My personal favorite of the Universal monster movies. Lon Chaney, Claude Rains, and Evelyn Ankers are fantastic in this masterpiece. Lugosi has a small part as the initial werewolf. (My review)

1 – Ninotchka (1939) – Yes, the best film of the first horror icon of talking pictures is a comedy, but then it is one of the greatest comedies. Lugosi plays the Commissar that sends Greta Garbo’s Ninotchka to Paris where she meets the playboy count. [Also on the Great Directors list for Billy Wilder]

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If I’m doing a list for William Powell, then I should do one for Loy, and even more so as this is an easy list to make—it has a great deal of overlap with my Powell list (I’ll even keep some of the brief descriptions).

Loy was as Northern European as they come, but her unusual beauty got her typecast in “exotic” roles–Asians, Arabs, Indians, and Gypsies. She started to wiggle out of this a bit, but it wasn’t until The Thin Man with William Powell that things changed—then she was typecast as “the perfect wife,” although in better films with a higher salary. It was in her co-staring films with Powell—fourteen in total—where she shined. Outside of those, she had some good roles, but had a large number of melodramatic romances and over-done dramas. (As with Powell, I am only referring to her talkies. I have missed too many of her silent and “part-talkie” pictures to voice an opinion).

Honorable mentions go to her comedy with Cary Grant, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948), the only Thin Man movie not to make the top 8, The Thin Man Goes Home (1945), and the remaining Powell/Loy screwball comedy, Love Crazy (1941). Also, an honorable mention goes to The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), an important movie with a vital political and moral message dealing with the aftermath of war. However, it passes being drama on its way to becoming a lecture and approaches a sermon. It’s heart is in the right place and it makes that really, really clear.

And a mention–somewhat honorable, somewhat dishonorable–for The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932), where she plays the evil Chinese daughter of that well know Chinese actor Boris Karloff. Racial issues aside (and they aren’t going anywhere), it is a fascinating and sometimes fun picture. Karloff and Loy are amazing in a movie she was happy to forget.

8 – Song of the Thin Man (1947) – Nick and Nora were characters of the ’30s (they’d have fit in the ’20s as well). The ’40s didn’t work as well for them. The 5th film in the series had tried to restrain them (Nick giving up drinking and worrying about how his father saw him) to make them more acceptable. This 6th film allows them to be themselves, and simply makes them out of step with the world. That works well enough as the characters are what makes the films work. This is a fine end to one of the great film series.

7 – The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947) – A twisted romantic comedy with Cary Grant as a bohemian artist (Hollywood-style) and Myrna Loy as a stiff Judge. Grant is forced to pretend he is as taken with teenage Shirley Temple as the teenager is with him. I’m thinking this movie wouldn’t be made now, and the world is poorer for it. Remembered for this exchange: “Hey, you remind me of a man. What man? Man with the power. What power? Power of hoodoo. Hoodoo? You do. Do what? Remind me of a man…”

6 – Shadow of the Thin Man (1941) – The 4th Thin Man film and the 4th best. Powell and Loy are as good as ever, the dialog is solid, and the mystery is fun. It is now clear that adding a child was a bad idea, as well as a servant, but otherwise, the series is still going strong.

5 – I Love You Again (1940) – It may not be a Thin Man movie, but it’s still Powell and Loy. This time Powell has been an obnoxiously straight-laced boor who wakes up after a blow on the head to realize he’s had amnesia for years, and is really a con artist. [Also on the William Powell list]

4 – Libeled Lady (1936) – Powell and Loy again in a four-way romantic comedy with Spencer Tracy and Jean Harlow. Powell is hired to stop Loy from suing a newspaper for libel, any way he can. [Also on the William Powell list]

3 – Another Thin Man (1939) – The third Thin Man film and its nearly as good as the first two. Nick and Nora have to deal with murder connected to Nora’s father’s business partner. Like the others, it is great fun. [Also on the William Powell list]

2 – After the Thin Man (1936) – Much like the first Thin Man film, but with Jimmy Stewart added, this is a very close second place. Taking place soon after that film, the pair is summoned by Nora’s snobbish family because a husband is missing and Aunt Katherine wants to avoid scandal. The relationship is wonderful, the humor is spot on, and the mystery is engaging. [Also on the William Powell list]

1 – The Thin Man (1934) – She’s a rich socialite; he’s a retired PI (now living the high life on her money) who gets sucked into a murder case. Funny and charming, this introduction of Nick and Nora Charles is as good a time as you can have at the cinema. I lucked out, getting to see it on a big screen around 50 years after its release. The mystery stuff is good, but it is the husband and wife interactions that make this film special; they are my favorite couple after Gomez And Morticia Addams. [Also on the William Powell list]

In old Hollywood, that sold the appearance of sophistication, Powell was the sophisticate’s sophisticate. No one was smoother. He was class personified. I like him in any movie, even when the movie is not so good. No matter the part, Powell made it better.

Powell’s breakout role was as detective Philo Vance in a series of four films, but those have been eclipsed by his superior run as Nick Charles in six Thin Man films, and no film series is better. I can watch them over and over and they are always a joy. The first film is based on a Dashiell Hammett novel although is not a Film Noir, but a mystery nearing comedy. His co-star was Myrna Loy as Nora Charles and their collaboration was so successful that they were in fourteen films together. Five of my eight choices below are Powell/Loy films, and if I doubled the size of the list, a majority of the additions would include the pair.

Honorable mentions go to Life with Father (1947) and the rest of the Thin Man films. I could as easily have put two more Thin Man movies (Shadow and Song) on the list, but since it was close I decided to side with the non-Thin Man films just for the sake of diversity.

#8 – How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) – An older Powell plays 4th banana to Lauren Bacall, Marilyn Monroe, and Betty Grable. It’s candy floss, but tasty.

#7 – I Love You Again (1940) – It may not be a Thin Man movie, but it’s still Powell and Loy. This time Powell has been an obnoxiously straight-laced boor who wakes up after a blow on the head to realize he’s had amnesia for years, and is really a con artist. He decides to take advantage of his social position but is thrown off when he discovers he’s married to Loy but she plans to divorce him. [Also on the Myrna Loy list]

#6 – Libeled Lady (1936) – Powell and Loy again in a four-way romantic comedy with Spencer Tracy and Jean Harlow. Powell is hired to stop Loy from suing a newspaper for libel any way that he can. [Also on the Myrna Loy list]

#5 – Another Thin Man (1939) – The third Thin Man film and its nearly as good as the first two. Nick and Nora have to deal with murder connected to Nora’s father’s business partner. Like the others, it is great fun. [Also on the Myrna Loy list]

#4 – Mister Roberts (1955) – This layered dramady was Powell’s last role. Henry Fonda is the lead and Jack Lemmon and Jimmy Cagney get the best lines, but Powell gets enough to do in a fantastic film that it is a fine send off for him. [Also on the Jack Lemmon list]

#3 – After the Thin Man (1936) – Much like the first Thin Man film, but with Jimmy Stewart added. Taking place soon after that film, the pair is summoned by Nora’s snobbish family because a husband is missing and Aunt Katherine wants to avoid scandal. The relationship is wonderful, the humor is spot on, and the mystery is engaging. I would place it #2, but originality does count. [Also on the Myrna Loy list]

#2 – My Man Godfrey (1936) – One of the great screwball comedies–and for my money, the greatest–it is zany and wild, but also has some depth dealing with social inequity. Powell is a “forgotten man” with a secret, found by rich, pampered society girls as part of a game. He ends up as their butler.

#1 – The Thin Man (1934) – She’s a rich socialite; he’s a retired detective (now living the high life on her money) who gets sucked into a murder case. Funny and charming, this introduction of Nick and Nora Charles is as good a time as you can have at the cinema. I lucked out, getting to see it on a big screen around 50 years after its release. The mystery stuff is good, but it is the husband and wife interactions that make this film special; they are my favorite couple after Gomez And Morticia Addams. [Also on the Myrna Loy list and on the Maureen O’Sullivan list]

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Fred Astaire is the king of cinematic dance. No one is even close. I’ve loved watching him dance all my life, though the movies he danced in didn’t always live up to his talents. But his finest are the cream of film musicals. Astaire is best known for his paring with Ginger Rogers. They made ten films together and changed the nature of dance on film. The top Astaire/Rogers films sparkled on three fronts: musical numbers, comedy, and a fantastical world. All three were very important to depression era audiences. Great dancing was always present in any Astaire film, but the comedy could be uneven. Strangely, it was neither of those, but the world building that split off the early films. In those, the two danced not in our world, but in an art deco paradise, beautiful and immaculate far beyond the dreams of reality. The lesser of the ten, such as The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939) and The Barkleys of Broadway (1949) still had a Hollywood version of reality, but it wasn’t the marble dream of Top Hat and Shall We Dance.

Outside of the paring, Astaire had numerous great film dances, but few of the total films worked (and a few were horrible, such as the miserable Finian’s Rainbow–shocking not only because Astaire couldn’t save it, but because the Broadway show is quite good with several excellent songs). In later life he had a few non-dancing roles—some worked; some didn’t.

Honorable mentions go to The Towering Inferno (1974) for being exactly what one would hope it would be, The Band Wagon (1953), which fails as a film but succeeds as a series of fantastic dance numbers, and the magnificent “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” that ends the weak Follow the Fleet.

Starting at #8:

8 – Flying Down to Rio (1933) – The first pairing of Astaire and Rogers, though not as the leads. It was intended as a vehicle for breathtaking Mexican actress Dolores del Rio and she’s good, but the pair steal the film. Beyond the music, there’s the exquisite and totally unreal world. Brazil never looked like this but I wish it did. This is a pre-code film; jokes about rounded heels (look it up) and what South American women have that’s better below the equator would have been censored a few years later. Likewise the transparent tops of the female wing-walkers.

7 – Silk Stockings (1957) – An unnecessary musical remake of Ninotchka, with a weak Cole Porter score (of note: a weak Cold Porter score is better than most composer’s best score). Cyd Charisse is wonderful in the dances and the sidekicks are all amusing.

6 – Swing Time (1936) – The 6th Astaire/Rogers film, it has some of the best dance numbers, but with a weaker script than their earlier films. The humor fails and the world is not as magical, none of which matters when Astaire sings “The Way You Look Tonight.”

5 – On the Beach (1959) – A fable of the best in humanity after the results of the worst, this post-apocalyptic anti-nuke story is moving and engrossing. Gregory Peck is the star with Astaire taking on a non-dancing role as a doctor and race car driver as the world dies. (Full Review)

4 – Shall We Dance (1937) – Another Astaire/Rogers, with another assist from the always good Edward Everett Horton and Eric Blore. I find this to be the funniest Astaire film with Astaire playing a jazz dancer whose made it in ballet so must put on a persona of an arrogant Russian. The songs are solid, with “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” the standout.

3 – Holiday Inn (1942) – Astaire gets to play the bad guy, messing up Bing Crosby’s love life. This is a perfect holiday movie for pretty much every holiday as it has songs for New Years, Valentine’s Day, Easter, the 4th of July, and Washington’s Birthday, though the black face Lincoln’s Birthday number might be a hard sell. It also includes the song “White Christmas” and it was from this film’s re-recorded sound track that it became a hit. (Full Review) [Also on the Bing Crosby list]

2 – The Gay Divorcee (1934) – The 2nd Astaire/Rogers film, and the first with them as leads, this one has Rogers attempting to get a divorce from her absent husband and mistaking Astaire as the gigolo she planned to use for cause. Horton and Blore appear again.

1 – Top Hat (1935) – The 4th Astaire/Rogers picture and they’d perfected the routine. The jokes are solid and the fantasy world of shining marble is wondrous and where I want to live (much less depression era audiences). And of course the dance numbers are fantastic. Rogers falls for a very forward Astaire until she incorrectly deduces that he’s the husband of her good friend. Horton, Blore, and Helen Broderick add to the comedy.