Mar 252018
  March 25, 2018

howardhawksHawks has the most masculine style of any of the great directors. His films were about men and for men. The relationships that matter were between men, and the only way a woman could have power in a Hawks film was by taking on masculine traits and becoming one of the boys. Thus was born the Hawksian Woman, best fulfilled by Katharine Hepburn, Rosalind Russell, Barbara Stanwyck and Lauren Bacall. In a sideways fashion, this made Hawks a (occasionally) feminist director. This testosterone-drenched style can become obnoxious in a very serious film, but worked great with humor.

Besides his manly-man style, and those aggressive Hawksian women, he was known for his quick dialog—with actors often speaking over each other—and his willingness to take on any genre. He made westerns, Film Noirs, comedies, musicals, war films, gangster films, action movies, dramas, and maybe a science fiction film (see the honorable mention).

Like Hitchcock, Hawks had a tendency of remaking his own films. A Song is Born (1948) is a remake of the far superior Ball of Fire. Rio Lobo (1970) is a rough remake of El Dorado (1967) which is a rough remake of Rio Bravo (1959).

Honorable mention for The Thing from Another World (1951), for which he is uncredited, and may or may not have directed.

#8 – El Dorado (1967) — Hawks worked best with humor. Rio Bravo took the plot seriously and it is hard to sit through. For El Dorado he shot the same plot, but with everything lighter and a good number of jokes.

#7 – Ball of Fire (1941) — A screwball comedy with Gary Cooper as a hopelessly naĂŻve professor researching slang and Barbara Stanwyck as a showgirl in need of a place to hide. The plot fizzles at the end and Cooper is miscast, but Stanwyck sells the show. [Also on The Great Actors List for Barbara Stanwyck]

#6 – I Was a Male War Bride (1949) — No one starred in more good films than Cary Grant. This one is fluff, but it is fun fluff, with Grant as a French soldier who marries an American and then tries to get to America on a law that assumes the spouse will be female.

#5 – Bringing Up Baby (1938) — THE iconic screwball comedy sees the nearly sociopathic Katharine Hepburn tricking the drab Cary Grant into helping her retrieve her leopard. [Also on The Great Actors List for Katharine Hepburn]

#4 – Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) — You can spend days analyzing the subtext of this Jane Russell/Marilyn Monroe musical, which ends with Monroe’s Lorelei Lee giving a defense of gold digging that is impossible to refute. The Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend number has become iconic.

#3 – To Have and Have Not (1944) — “You just put your lips together and blow.” Humphrey Bogart fell in love with his young costar, Lauren Bacall, and so did I, and Hawks found his ideal Hawksian Woman. [Also on The Great Actors List for Humphrey Bogart]

#2 – His Girl Friday (1940) — Who’d have thought gender-swapping one of the leads in a dramady newspaper play would produce this brilliant work. It has all the meaning and fun of the original, and extra layers of romance and feminism. It is extremely fast paced and very funny. Cary Grant excels as a fast-talking (very fast-talking) cad and Rosalind Russell is his equal. [Also on The Great Actors List for Cary Grant]

#1 – The Big Sleep (1946) — Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall make film magic and Hawks sculpts it all perfectly. This is my go-to film. I may have seen it more than any other. It is a joy, yet it still qualifies as Film Noirs. It’s funny, violent, twisted, nasty, and a great time. (Full Critique) [Also on The Great Actors List for Humphrey Bogart]