Irene Dunne

So TCM has been having it's "Summer Under the Stars" this month. Each day is dedicated to one particular star, and the other day it was Irene Dunne.  While I've always enjoyed her movies, I really gained an appreciation for her with this line-up.  And there's a few I'd like to call out:

Consolation Marriage - 1932 (No Known Photo)

She and Pat O'Brien are both jilted by their "True Loves", so go to the nearest speakeasy to drink away their sorrows.  They meet, realize they like each other, and become terrific friends.  Several months in to the friendship, they decide to marry for convenience, and have a seemingly happy, maybe not passionate, marriage.  A few years later, the True Loves return to tempt them away from each other.  And it's here where they learn what True Love really is.  It's not one of her notable films, and it may be hokey, but I call it out, as it's a terrific early example of naturalistic acting. Prior to this, acting in sound pictures was pretty stiff.  But here the actors are natural and actually appear to be enjoying each other.

Theodora Goes Wild - 1936

One of the great yet unappreciated screwball comedies.  Irene plays an uptight New England lass, who's from the most prominent family in town - who just happens to be the pseudo-named author of the country's most scandalous novel.  Her secret is discovered by Melvyn Douglas, and he proceeds to blackmail her into hosting him. If she doesn't take care of him, he'll spill her secret.  Along the way they fall in love, and just when she thinks love will conquer all, she discovers that he has secrets of his own.  She then turns the tables on him - HILARIOUSLY!

The Awful Truth - 1937

Here Irene is paired with Cary Grant. They play a married couple who are in the process of a divorce, because he thinks she's been indiscreet.  While waiting the 60 days for the divorce to be final, they both undermine each other's new relationships, with hysterical results.  Eventually they realize they may not want to be divorced after all.

Tip: watch for the scene where she drops in on his society girlfriend's dinner party, pretending to be his drunken sister.

A Guy Named Joe - 1944 (No Known Photo)

Irene stars as a flyer in the Women's Air Service.  She's pining for her lost love, Spencer Tracy, when she meets flyer Van Johnson. Tracy also happens to be Johnson's guardian angel, so there's a love triangle.  By the end of the picture, she learns to let go of the past love and move on with the new.  Notable for being one of the few instances in films of the time where the lead actress was nearly 20 years older than her leading man.  And also for being Steven Spielberg's all-time favorite movie.

Night of the Iguana

Ok, so admittedly I'm not a fan of most Tennessee Williams movie adaptations.  They're typically super serious, super neurotic, super self-important, and super talky (although, I can appreciate the occasional Brando "Stella! Hey Stella!" or Elizabeth Taylor "Maggie the Cat is alive!" impression).  So when "Night of the Iguana" came on the other day, I was pretty tempted to skip it.  I saw it once years ago, and it was SERIOUSLY all of the above.

But the thing is, I'm the world's biggest fan of Deborah Kerr. So how could I not watch, at least for a few minutes, right?  Well, let's just say that few minutes turned into watching pretty much the entire picture.  Shot on location in Mexico, it's really a story of a group of lost souls, trying desperately to hang on to whatever goodness is still in them.  And while I still say that Tennessee Williams is just too much, my opinion has changed of this one.  For one thing, it has plenty of atmosphere. And for another, it is seriously Deborah Kerr's best work ever.  I've seen enough plays and movies to know when acting is good, and man - she was good in this.  Really, she should have gotten nomination #7 for this one.  And not only that - it's Ava Gardner's best work ever. She was known more for being a beauty, but she was seriously underrated as an actress.

That said, I'm not a huge fan of Richard Burton - he's always trying to make his diction too precise, and he never knew the meaning of the word subtle.  And my opinion doesn't change here.  Really - the picture belongs to Deborah Kerr and Ava Gardner, in the last great parts of their careers.  What a note to end on!

Word to the wise: If you do decide to watch this - make sure the kids are not in the room. This one's for grownups.

Bourne Legacy

I haven't been to the theater much this summer - but if you're looking for a cool action movie, I have to recommend "The Bourne Legacy".  Granted, it's not about Jason Bourne, and it doesn't have Matt Damon.  But it's the continuing story of the Treadstone program, and when someone starts picking off operatives, Jeremy Renner comes to the rescue. Along the way he picks up scientist Rachel Weisz.  They go from New England, to Boston, to DC, to Manila, trying to unravel the conspiracy and save each other's lives.  There's plenty of action, and Jeremy Renner is pretty dreamy (Matt who?).  And how can you not love a picture that puts Stacy Keach back in theaters?

Summer of 2012

Ok, so I've been very remiss at keeping up with my "all movies all the time" blogging, so we'll play a little catch-up by talking about some key movie experiences and thoughts from the summer of 2012:

To start off - Is it just me, or have we lost quite a few film luminaries this summer?  Andy Griffith, Ernie Borgnine, Celeste Holm, Richard Zanuck, Marvin Hamlisch - and I'm sure I'm leaving out some more.  I might just mention some of my favorite performances and contributions from each of the above, may they rest in peace.

 Andy Griffith was known mostly as a TV star. But in the mid-1950's, he had quite a career going for himself in the movies.  A couple of cases in point - "A Face in the Crowd", and "No Time For Sergeant's".  In the former, he was a country boy who overnight becomes a TV star, and before long starts believing his own press, to the point where he becomes what he rails against on his show.  Andy Taylor he ain't, and he should have gotten a nomination for it.  In the latter, he plays an innocent and idiot bumpkin who goes into the service and gets in one ridiculous scrape after another.  This was the character that became the precursor to TV's Gomer Pyle.

Ernie Borgnine was not the handsomest of actors.  But he had heart, and you loved him, even when he was playing a baddie, as he did quite often. But check him out in one of my all-time favorites, "Marty".  Here he's a homely, lonely, lovelorn butcher, who meets a homely, lonely, lovelorn teacher played by Betsy Blair. They connect, and he realizes that "You and me, we're not such dogs as we think we are." Heartbreaking and heartwarming all at once, and impressive enough to earn him the Oscar.

Celeste Holm was originally a Broadway star. Casual fans may not know that she was the original 'Ado Annie in "Oklahoma".  But she later won an Oscar for a terrific film, "Gentleman's Agreement", the first of the post-war message movies, about a reporter (played by Greg Peck) who wants to know what it's like to feel discriminated against, so he pretends to be Jewish.  Celeste is his friend and fellow reporter. And she's fabulous.  Or, if you're looking for her in lighter fare, I personally adore her in "High Society", the musical remake of "The Philadelphia Story".  She and Frank Sinatra are reporters sent to cover Grace Kelly's society wedding, and get more than they bargain for.

Richard Zanuck was the son of one of the original Hollywood Moguls (Daryl F. Zanuck).  In the mid-60's, he took over for the old man as Head of Production of 20th Century Fox. He greenlit and produced such pictures as "The Sound of Music", along with "The Sting", "Jaws", and later, "Driving Miss Daisy".  Not a bad track record.

Marvin Hamlisch - composer extraordinaire.  A true prodigy, he composed the music for "The Way We Were", "Ice Castles", "The Spy Who Loved Me", "Sophie's Choice", and a host of others.  His music was THE sappy soundtrack for movies in the 70's and early 80's.  And oh yeah, he arranged the music for another little picture "The Sting".  (See, you're humming "The Entertainer" right now, aren't you?)