Encore’s Birthday Marathon: Day 15

I sort of hate how slavish I am towards (the ghost of) Katharine Hepburn in that I tend to gravitate – at least momentarily – to things she likes. The thing is that her opinions are usually one point. Case in point: Spencer Tracy. I swear, I didn’t care two cents for Spencer Tracy until the memory of Kate invoked his ghost and now he’s one of my favourite screen couple. I immediately think of Tracy/Hepburn when I ruminate on iconic screen couples. It’s not just because of the prolific nature of their onscreen career, though and truthfully it doesn’t matter much that they actually had an enduring offscreen romance. In theory, they seem ill matched. Kate’s much too fantastical and brash and Spencer comes off as placid – almost stolid. But, they’re sort of magical together (proof, proof, proof.)

        

I can’t think of any cinematic couple to match their electricity except for Dick and Liz. True, they come off much more explosive than the general good-natured sanguine nature of Tracy/Hepburn, but it’s difficult to deny them their histrionics. They’re much more sensual, and it works even if it’s a bit disturbing if you consider what their actually “home” life might have been. The reason I bring this up is because I think of how contemporary Hollywood has eschewed all those great occurrences of real-life couples pairing up (successfully) on screen. I don’t care if I’m one of the few who had legitimate interest in Mr and Mrs Smith I like it for the chance of seeing a real couple on screen. As impersonal as everything is now, Hollywood has sort of lost that irreverence. Which is one of the reasons that I love Vicky Cristina Barcelona even more...

     

Don’t you wish more real life couples would do movies together? I want another Warren/Annette film. A Will Arnett and Amy Poehler comedy. More Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman. What about you?

Happy Birthday (times Classics, times three)

Some weeks are lucky to have one legend born in them, but not just this week – this day – marks the birth of three Oscar winning legends of the cinema: Bette Davis, Gregory Peck and Spencer Tracy. Because I’m such a devout follower of Kate Hepburn, it’s difficult for me not to think of Tracy in conjunction with her. He, obviously, has worth outside of his tempestuous liaison with the First Lady of Cinema. Tracy was the first man to win consecutive Oscars. Davis, was the second woman to win two Best Actress statues and I’m sure if I looked hard enough I’d find some Oscar record that Gregory Peck was a part of.

Of the three, I know the least of Peck – he reminds me of James Cagney in the sense that he’s obviously revered as an archetype of his time, but his name doesn’t endure like Brando or even Gable. I know that Paolo is a unremitting fan of Davis, another actor I can’t help but thinking in conjunction with Kate. When Kate won her third Oscar for The Lion in Winter Bette famously quipped that she’d never accept “half” an Oscar, which I find hilarious. I also think of her in conjunction with Kate because she was 1/3 of a flawless Best Actress trio in 1940 (other two being Hepburn and Fontaine) – naturally, none of them won, but I digress.

            

I can’t confess unmitigated love for all three – but I won’t deny that they’re each irreplaceable as far as classic cinema goes. Which three films of theirs would you remember them most for? My three: All About Eve, Woman of the Year, To Kill A MockingbirdWhat Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Inherit the Wind, To Kill A Mockingbird.

        

Which three films of theirs are your favourites? Which of their performances do you prefer?

Growing Older…and loving it…

I don’t know many old people (I use the term loosely), in fact I don’t any old people. The lone grandparent I knew died when I was a child, and other than the odd teacher my parents are the oldest people I really know (and they’re not even sixty). Add that to the fact they’re divorced and it’d suffice to say any amount of senescence on screen I see is vicariously enjoyed – what’s rarer and more enjoyable – is seeing characters growing old together. When they are seen on screen, it’s often as an afterthought. These five (to some extent) are exceptions.

       

Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer in The Last Station

I saw The Last Station so long after the fact that it never managed to get a mention in my year end musings on 2009 – which were already late to begin with. I like the film, and its strongest moments came when the eldest thespians Mirren and Plummer were on screen together. Helen Mirren is, admittedly, a handful and Plummer is a perfect match for her. Though I do like Robbie Turner, I wish the film’s focus was more on the aging couple.

        

Gena Rowlands and James Garner in The Notebook

Speaking of which, I’d have preferred The Notebook if it focused more on Gena and James and less on Rachel and Ryan. It’s ironic, of the young lovers I’m least enchanted by McAdams’ performance but with the aging couples I’m absolutely smitten with Gena Rowlands (best in show for me). Any emotion that exudes from The Notebook is too often a result of emotional manipulation but the connection between Garner and Rowlands is too beautiful to ignore.

          

Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent in Away From Her

This was another couple struck with Alzheimer’s. For obvious reasons they needed to be apart just as much as they were together, and of course Julie Christie being her luminous self always managed to garner the majority of our attention. For all it’s plot though, Away From Her was at its best in those finite moments where the two would just take up the screen doing the most mundane of tasks. Perhaps it wasn’t life changing cinema – but it was beautiful to watch.

         

Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?

The drive to the ice-cream parlour will always remain as my favourite scene in a long list of favourite scenes in this one. Do they have an unfair advantage? Probably. Still, all real life couples don’t exist so beautifully on screen and they’re just so nice together it’s beyond words. I’ll ignore the annoying precociousness of Katharine Houghton (Really, that’s what Kate and Spence’s daughter would be like?) and just enjoy the moments where Christina is willing to bend to her husband’s whim…not because she must, but just because she likes humouring him.

           
Katharine Hepburn and Henry Fonda in On Golden Pond

Incidentally, this couple waited decades before they ever met each other. Yes, they’re two of their generation’s greatest so we shouldn’t shirk at how good they are at pretending to love each other for years, but it still amazes me. On Golden Pond’s cast is all around greatness but no one can match the sincerity (fake or not) in the relationship between the leads. Who knew that talking to birds in a lake could be romantic? Who knew that people over seventy could be romantic?

               
Kate and Henry will always be the summit when it comes to elderly love for me. What say you?

Judgment at Nuremberg

Wilder and Lemmon had their thing, Kazan had Brando, Cukor had Kate, Scorsese had DeNiro and then DiCaprio and Stanley Kramer had Spencer Tracy. Being the benevolent man I’ve heard, Spencer Tracy probably thanked heavens for Stanley Kramer. An excellent actor when given the chance, no other director has consistently pulled greatness out of Spencer. From Guess Who’s Coming Dinner, to Inherit the Wind and this magnum opus Judgment At Nuremberg. Although Inherit the Wind is my favourite stand alone Tracy performance, I always return to Judgment at Nuremberg when I think of the good work the two have done together. Sure it got steamrolled by West Side Story, and all (undeservedly in a few categories) but I still remember Judgment at Nuremberg, fondly (well as fond as you can think of a film so harrowing). It should be ranked atop the list of great films with all those other classics of the era.

                   

The thing is though, I can wax on for pages about Spencer’s excellence – I’m an ardent admirer; but as brilliant as he is here it’s Maximilian Schell that deserves effusive praise. This would probably rank high on a list of Oscar shockers. I’m not sure who was the buzzed winner, but Max’s win (his nomination even) is not indicative of what we usually associate with the Oscars. In fact, the same year the Supporting Actor performance went to the George Chakiris’s obnoxiously loud Bernardo (a variation of Shakespeare’s Tybalt). I don’t think subtlety really begins to describe Max here. Yet, it’s not an understated performance in any way. In fact, it’s probably more strong supporting than actually leading – but that’s just opinion. Max’s performance ranks as one of my favourite decisions from Oscar and he and Tracy are both memorable here.

            

I wouldn’t say I’m smitten with Judy Garland – the actress, but few of her performances touch me as much as her turn here. It’s not wholly loved, but I don’t care. It’s a bizarre performance from her, when we think of the screen characters we associate her with. Irene Hoffman is a woman who has gone through a number of trials, in a way it’s a perfect fit for Judy who was at her lowest (it was only a few years before her suicide). She was never the greatest technical actress, but what she was able to do was connect with the sensitivity in her character. She does this here, excellently. Montgomery Clift, with just a few minutes of screen time gives another great performance and Marlene Dietrich is brilliant, as always.

Judgment at Nuremberg is a brilliant piece of cinema. It’s based on true events, and unlike so many stories of the war it deals with the aftermath – something we rarely see. The entire film permeates with a tension that’s almost overwhelming and the black and white only adds to the apprehension. Kramer did his best work here, and even though he’s rarely remembered today when we think of the greats – his brilliance is assured. Judgment at Nuremberg probably isn’t that cheerful, but it’s still an excellent piece worthy of your time. It’s #46 on my list of favourites.

Spencer and Kate and George

Kate and Spence; sure I’m as biased as they come – but is there any screen couple more iconic. I suppose Richard and Liz would give them a run for their money but Kate and Spence trump them in age, celebrity, and longevity and aren’t we all suckers for happy endings? I’ll be honest, my interest in Spencer was only incidental since he seemed to be a single entity with Kate, who was my first love. The couple made a host of films together – some good, some fair, and some excellent. This probably falls into the last category. I always wonder why the film wasn’t more successful and why it isn’t more celebrated today. Unless I’m mistaken, no other Kate/Spencer films captures the brilliance of lovers on screen more than this self aware comedy Adam’s Rib.

Speaking of people I’m fond of, George Cukor probably ranks up there with the greats when it comes to directors I admire. The man has a talent for brilliance, regardless of genre, though he’s most remembered for his comedies. I always credit George for two of Kate’s other excellent pieces (Little Women, and The Philadelphia Story) and with Adam’s Rib he repeated the excellence of these two pieces, which altogether probably represent stages of the woman. Kate’s Jo March was the now developing girl, her Tracy Lords was the woman caught on a precipice and in Adam’s Rib her Amanda Bonner. We can’t really ignore the subtle gender politics of the film (remember the middle section of The Philadelphia Story) but it’s not exactly a crutch for the film. And who cannot forget Judy Holliday (Oscar winner to be) in her first screen appearance. It’s now legend that Kate and company lobbied for Judy to star in Adam’s Rib to convince producers that she could hold her own (as in Born Yesterday). It’s a gamble on a newcomer that works, because even if Judy is not the greatest actress she’s completely aware of the scope (and limits) of her talent. She turns her significant defendant into a wonder.

           

Why is it that I come back to Adam’s Rib so often? It’s not as ridiculously funny as Desk Set, or as light on its feet as Pat & Mike, it doesn’t get be teary eyed like Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner but it’s just an all-round delight. It’s not just two lovers acting as lovers on screen. It’s as if with Adam’s Rib we get a rare (and almost voyeuristic) look in on the private life of that revered couple, and it does it while all the while being an excellent film. It’s #40 on my list of favourites.