Meet John Doe was fine. Gary Cooper is charming and the story had the same "little guy makes a big difference" theme as some of Capra's other well-known films like It's a Wonderful Life and Mr. Deeds Goes to Washington. Barbara had little to do in the third act except sob and look ill. It's interesting to see how much difference the role itself makes. She's so powerful and memorable in the roles that give her things to do - Stella Dallas, Ball of Fire, Double Indemnity - but even with all that talent, if the script just calls for her to be a secondary character, then that's what she is. Sigh. Oh well.
The Searchers is the tale of Ethan Edwards, a hard-bitten Civil War veteran with a shady past. He comes to visit his brother, Aaron, and Aaron's family out in Texas and, not long after his arrival, there is a Comanche attack. Aaron, his wife, and their son are all killed while the two daughters are kidnapped. The older of the two daughters is eventually discovered dead but the younger one continues to be held captive by the sinister Comanche chief, Scar.
The film centers on Ethan's years-long search for his niece. Edwards' is shown as an angry, violent racist who, we find, would rather have his niece dead than defiled by a Comanche. It's surprisingly dark and unyielding for a film of the 1950s though it's not without its moments of seemingly required slapstickery and silliness. The real treat, at least of the version I saw, was the cinematography. The version Netflix sent me has been digitally restored and the colors are sharp and the textures are really clear. Ford composed some truly gorgeous pictures for sure.
Anyway, both films are good though neither really rocked my world. I've got Stagecoach waiting for tonight - another John Ford/John Wayne western. I'm trying to sprinkle my list of things I have to see (westerns, musicals) with movies I want to see (noirs, thrillers). So after I do this stint in the Old West, I'll get Ricardo Montalban as a leading man in the 1949 noir Border Incident. How can you go wrong with that much rich, Corinthian coolness?
I mean, it's this guy:
and this guy:
What else do you need?
5 comments:
Did you read where Ricardo Montlban recently passed away?
Of course, the movies will be much better than Fantasy Island although he was always handsome and charming!
Yeah, in fact that's why I moved Border Incident up on my list of movies to watch - in honor of Mr. Roark's passing.
Ahh, thanks for the picture of Montalban's fake pecs from Wrath of Kahn. Those always bring me a smile.
I thought the Searchers was a quality film, but I don't believe it is The Best Western Ever Made. I agree that it is wonderful to look at, and I agree that for its era it's got a lot of gravitas (and as you point out, slapstickery) but it's just very good, not Great. I'd rather watch Rio Bravo for the hundredth time than watch the Searchers for my third.
P.S. have you seen the Proposition? Nick Cave wrote the screenplay in, like, three weeks. It's a violent, spare, and dark western that I really really liked.
While wasting time this afternoon, Tawnya and I watched "Space Seed" (The Kahn episode) on my laptop.
It's really so much more precious than I remembered.
"I grow fatigued."
No, really - I do.
We just got off "da plane, da plane", and i had to post my amusement at darling Avery's comment on "da blog, da blog" ! Many have had the desire for Han, but rarely the plan !
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