Midnight Oil:Movies and More

Picture Perfect

Gene Tierney’s breathtaking beauty in the title role adds to the performance of the ensemble cast accompanied by the memorable score composed by David Raksin. It all goes together to make this unforgettable classy film noir classic. TVOntario’s Interviews, (Aug.18,’07) include contributions from the leading man, Dana Andrews and director, Otto Preminger. The Interviews contain revelations into the evolution of this wonderful film that are almost as enjoyable as the plot reversals contained in the film itself .

See the Video Trailers for "Laura" (1944) 

. . . In the opening scene of the film, we first meet Laura through taking a virtual walking tour of her home. In the days before “video visits” in online real estate listings, it must have been something of a novelty to inspect the interior of another person’s home in their absence through the camera lens – a kind of early video voyeurism . . .

Read the entire archive for "Laura" from the Main Midnight Oil journal.

A Hunky Dunky Holiday

This Christmas on TVO's SNAM, Barbara Stanwyck and Dennis Morgan whip up some silly and frothy holiday fare that's just right for those of us who are in the mood for some seasonal schmaltz. 

Catch the TVO video preview.

Christmas day. It’s a day full of time-honoured traditions, culinary and otherwise: turkey and trimmings, my mother’s infamous orange jello salad and the traditional figgy pudding with brown sugar sauce.

I spent the day fluffifying, de-fluffifying and re-fluffifying my six year old daughter’s Li’l Lovables Tickle Teddy. (It’s a make-your-own personalized teddy bear craft kit complete with a fluff spinner and teddy adoption papers.)

My son industriously set about constructing his LEGO Star Wars Jedi Starfighter with hyperdrive booster ring.

My brother spent nearly the entire Christmas noontime meal cynically lamenting about the R.O.I.(return on investment) of his World Vision micro-industry chicken and rooster gift set. (My brother says he wants the charitable organization to provide an annual report of how many eggs the chickens have laid and how much profit his investment has generated for the recipient family.)

Hammy the hamster spent her time snoozing soundly after snacking away on her Christmas hamster treats and getting a good workout on her hamster wheel on Christmas Eve. Hammy’s cage was installed right near the Christmas tree. Even though Hammy was awake for most of the night in this excellent vantage point, she was unable to provide us with any reports of a sighting of Santa. Anything that happens during her nocturnal activities while the rest of the family is asleep tucked up in their beds she generally keeps pretty much to herself.

It’s really easy at Christmas time to enter into some kind of a weird headspace that’s chock-full of ooey gooey sentimentality and high calorie nostalgia. We should all know better by now than to indulge, but for some reason, because it’s the holiday season, we just let ourselves go and run hog wild with the schmaltz and the schlock.

For me, a movie like "Christmas in Connecticut" fits in there somewhere in that weird headspace. In his annual Christmas letter, a distant relative of mine recommended "It’s a Wonderful Life", "The Bishop’s Wife" and "White Christmas" for holiday season viewing pleasure.

They are all good films for cuddling up on a cozy winter’s evening while slurping up the egg nog and  gobbling left-over turkey and cranberry sauce sandwiches. (Honestly, who eats turkey and cranberry sauce sandwiches at any other time of the year? I guess it’s kind of a hazard of our holiday habits that include dining on oversized birds.)

"Christmas in Connecticut" appears to be firmly ensconced in the North American film répertoire as one of those ‘B’ type movies that the TV networks feel they can safely pull out during the holidays and still do something to maintain their ratings. (Maybe it’s due to that "weird headspace" phenomenon that goes on.)

Now, if I were one to quibble, I might argue that there are moments during "Christmas in Connecticut" that cause the Catherine "film-o-metre" to dip down dangerously low into the ‘C’ type film range. But, as most of us are feeling especially full of peace and goodwill towards all mankind these days, we won’t focus on that type of negativity.

I can sort of relate to the Elizabeth Lane character as played so ably by Barbara Stanwyck. Ms. Lane, a smart and sophisticated career woman, suddenly finds herself embroiled in a hair brain scheme that includes pretending that she has the ideal life circa 1945 which includes a husband, a hobby farm and a baby. In order to avoid a capital CLM (career limiting move), Ms. Lane embarks upon her merry pathway of deceit and diversion with the help of a number of co-conspirators.

Although we might look back on this film and be slightly bemused by another generation’s conception of what constitutes either the ideal woman or the ideal upper middle class lifestyle, I think that the film still holds some ground in that it depicts a basic conflict that many women of this generation still encounter. Lots of women today still struggle with pursuing career and balancing it off with quality family life.  Some of the factors in the equation and the conclusions to the dilemma may have changed over the years, but the essential struggle still continues for many.

A cast of minor characters help Barbara Stanwyck maintain the façade of the idyllic country life of the perfect homemaker slash famous columnist. Particularly memorable amongst them are the cook, Uncle Felix (S.Z. Sakall) and Norah the housekeeper (Una O’Connor). Uncle Felix together with Norah supply things that are evidently missing with the Elizabeth Lane character: Uncle Felix provides wonderful culinary arts and a robust sentimentality while Norah fills in with her common sense home making skills and heightened moral sensibilities.

No one can live up to self-perpetuated illusions of perfection. Elizabeth Lane finds herself in a real pickle because of the creation of the pseudo-identity of the ideal female role model for her column’s readership.

Happily, by the end of the film, Ms. Lane discovers that she doesn’t have to be the ideal woman in order to luck out and get a storybook romance ending. Jefferson Jones (Dennis Morgan) as the obligingly eligible bachelor is more than willing to participate in the mayhem of the moment. He manages to keep a smile on his face and adapt quite well through the convoluted mishaps that include a broken engagement, a baby’s gender confusion and a night in jail.

With the part of Elizabeth Lane, Barbara Stanwyck appears to be well underway with playing the part of the tough as nails female character for which she became famous. The screwball comedy genre in this case helps us to see the other side of that character; the soft, feminine and even naïve side of a woman who wants to just cut loose and fall in love with love.

Anyways. All’s well that ends well. Everything in this film finishes up just "hunky dunky", as Uncle Felix would say, just as it should in 1945 on the cusp of the post-war era. Never mind what lies have been told, what improbabilities have been ignored and what awkward realities have been easily smoothed over. It’s the Christmas season. At times like this we’re as willing to overlook such things as easily as we forgive the fake snow scene on a Hollywood back lot. Everyone, along with Ms. Elizabeth Lane, is poised to enjoy the wholesome, positive atmosphere that engulfs the promising new beginnings of a New Year.

Suggested Reading:

• Living the not-so-perfect Christmas holiday
• Getting beyond Christmas kitsch
• Living with the phantom perfect woman: Getting comfortable with the skin you're in
• Tired of failed New Year's Resolutions? Get over the guilt and move forward

The Games People Play

“There never was a woman like Gilda!” There never was a film like “Gilda”. TVO’s discussion of the Femme Fatale during the Interviews (Aug.18/07) examines Rita Hayworth and the fascinating subject of the female role in film noir.

Video trailer of "Gilda" (1946)

I hurt my back a week or so ago. Youch! The injury? Bending over and tying my shoelaces. While I was sitting down. On the toilet seat, if you must know, with the toilet lid closed. I had just finished with my exercises for the day and was taking off my running shoes. I spent the rest of the day hobbling around with the aid of a broomstick. I spent the rest of the week wondering whether I had done right to leave my broomstick behind whenever I went out the door.

Now, does this mean that I will never engage in exercise again for fear of injuring my back? Never wear shoes with shoelaces? Never sit on a toilet seat ? Well, I could do that, but it would curtail my lifestyle pretty severely, not to mention being unhealthy. (Never sit on a toilet seat again? Let’s not go there in terms of healthy lifestyle choices. I could get into the debatable medical merits of “squatting”, but . . . )

Both life’s experiences and considerable stud y have taught me that the human body has immense recuperative powers, provided that we don’t get in the way. . .

“I knew it scared her. Anyone as superstitious as Gilda . . .asking for disaster,” The voice over narrative of Johnny Farrell played by Glenn Ford provides us with clues as to the “proper” interpretation of different dramatic and psychological elements of this film. The character of Gilda definitely has her foibles, superstition being one of them. Gilda’s superstitious streak makes for a nice touch, helping to create the sense of foreboding that is so deliciously played up in this film noir classic.

Superstitious though she may be, Johnny’s observation about his “ex” manages to avoid the one most obvious thing about Gilda: she’s a knock-out. Rita Hayworth in 1946 in her heyday is quite the sight. Rita’s former career as a dancer, the extra electrolysis work on moving back the hairline, the red hair dye, the post-pregnancy girdle, the song dubbing by Anita Ellis; it all works together to create a marvelous onscreen effect.

Oops! Maybe I’ve revealed a tad too much. Nothing that you couldn’t find out for yourself through a few minutes of research on INDb. Well, these were just minor “enhancements”. The rest of what we saw onscreen with Rita was all the genuine article. Maybe Rita Hayworth was limited as a songstress, merely good as a dancer, and perfectly adequate as an actress, but, what with a bit of movie magic to set off her natural endowments, she sure looked great onscreen.

The more I watch the film the more I am convinced that it was no small feat for Rita as an actress to pull off the delicate balancing act that the role of Gilda requires. Gilda is both the irresistibly alluring siren and the vulnerable victim of circumstance. It keeps us all nicely off balance during the film as we run back and forth between these two alternative explanations of the Gilda character.

We can hardly believe our eyes because the visual image of Gilda and the playacting are so powerful. The truth lies somewhere in between. In my opinion, Gilda is both; victim and vixen. No wonder Johnny is confused! Everything about Gilda says one thing about her but in the end, we are called upon to believe the complete opposite.

The two versions of the song “Put the Blame on Mame” displayed in the film nicely frame the two competing versions of Gilda. On the one hand, Gilda as the nightclub performer is a brazen, devil-may-care chanteuse who can’t help but drive all the men in the joint wild. On the other hand, the private screening of the same song for Uncle Pio reveals a different side to Gilda. She is fragile, human, full of desperate yearning.

Gilda’s role calls for some emotional verity to make this duality believable. If we can’t believe that Gilda is for real when she is emotionally naked in the empty nightclub as she sings to Uncle Pio, the film just doesn’t work. I for one, think that Rita is able to pull it off.

Conveniently, the Hollywood Hays Code works in collusion with Gilda to limit what the audience sees of her misadventures. There are lots of intimations, but few facts actually available. Basically, we only see what Gilda wants us to see and what the producers agree to let us see. We’re in something as the same boat as Johnny Farrell when it comes to figuring out Gilda. It’s a great recipe for getting people all hot and bothered.

Apparently people did get all hot and bothered about this film at the time. It’s not all that hard to imagine why. This is the film that defined Rita Hayworth as one of the most famous pinup girls of the era. In one scene just before the dénouement at the end, Rita gives us one glimpse of “the girl next door” look as she glances back over her shoulder at Uncle Pio over the empty bar. The moment is notable if only because it is so uncharacteristic of Rita in this film. Intentionally sultry and sizzling might be better words for Gilda’s look during the rest of the movie.

As for Johnny – well, the understated Glenn Ford does a pretty good job of going from the rumpled look of the “down-on-his-luck” drifter to the carefully pressed look of the nouveau riche as Mundson’s invaluable henchman. Mundson refers to his newly acquired lackey boy as his “little friend”. Uncle Pio insists on calling him “a peasant”. Gilda says that Johnny is just plain “cockeyed”. It seems that no matter how you dress him up, Glenn Ford as Johnny Farrell “just don’t get no respect”.

The “cockeyed” look that Johnny wears so well throughout the film seems to be made up of one part gambling addict, two parts hustler, and one part jealous ex-lover. As Johnny supposedly consolidates his control over the situation, his vantage point on reality becomes more and more skewed. It’s as if he’s spent too much time peering through those horizontal blinds up in Mundson’s office.

Eventually, Johnny’s empire is starting to crumble and fall through his fingers. Police detective Obregon spends quite a bit of time setting Johnny straight. Obregon chastises Johnny as he places him under house arrest: “How dumb can a man be! I’ll have to get out of here before you realize what a heel you’ve been. I couldn’t bear to see you break down and feel like a human being. I’m a very sensitive man for a cop.”

Obregon’s inside information is supposed to make the surprising turnaround in the next scene a possibility. Low and behold, Obregon’s prediction is exactly what happens to Johnny in the next scene. Johnny eats a giant sized slice of humble pie: “I know I did everything wrong . . .I want to go with you. Please take me.”

The amazing thing is that for once in his life, Johnny isn’t playing the con. Two people who by their own admission are great one’s for getting revenge finally come to the place of burying the hatchet through being more honest with each other than they’ve been in a long time. It’s time to call it quits on “the game”.

However, before the obligatory happy ending can ensue, one further plot complication in the form of Ballin Mundson has to be laid to rest. Aside from providing a properly dramatic conclusion for the story, the event of the Mr. Mundson’s dispatching also provides the opportunity for Johnny’s character to expand into a new role; that of hero. Johnny steps up to defend Gilda; Uncle Pio defends Johnny as “the gentleman I always knew he was”. Although Detective Obragado maintains that Uncle Pio and Johnny can quit being noble any time (because he’s not going to arrest either on of them for a capital offense), this is a good old fashioned type of morality play that ultimately tells us that “handsome is as handsome does.”

I’m with Detective Obragado on this one when it comes to “Gilda”. Like many of the original viewing audience and probably like many others still today, “I’m a sucker for a love story.”

Suggested Explorations in Cyberspace

• Ouch! That must have hurt! – It is reported that Rita actually broke Glenn Ford’s tooth with her “slapshot” during the filming of “Gilda”.
• Rita, herself, said, "Every man I have known has fallen in love with Gilda and wakened with me." Be Loved for Who You Are
• Johnny and Gilda: Soul Mates- Does it work for you? (Video: Use Internet Explorer and punch “segment one”)
• What Gilda Wanted (?): Exclusive Entanglement
• How can anyone believe that silly happy ending stuff anyways? Video: Venia – Forgiveness
• Because everyone’s a stinker, now and again: starting over.

Picture Perfect

Gene Tierney’s breathtaking beauty in the title role adds to the performance of the ensemble cast accompanied by the memorable score composed by David Raksin. It all goes together to make this unforgettable classy film noir classic. TVOntario’s Interviews, (Aug.18,’07) include contributions from the leading man, Dana Andrews and director, Otto Preminger. The Interviews contain revelations into the evolution of this wonderful film that are almost as enjoyable as the plot reversals contained in the film itself .

See the "Laura" Video Trailers here

My tastes in home décor definitely run toward the classic . A mantle clock under glass sports 19^th century ladies and gents caught up in an eternal circular dance. A finely upholstered wing chair sits beside a gas fireplace accompanied by a brass table lamp inviting one to read into the late hours of the night. Lace curtains, a finely finished oval oak coffee table and a portrait of two young ladies in linen circa 1830 over the mantelpiece complete the picture.

It sounds so idyllic and serene – and so it was when I first designed it all in my mind’s eye. The original design for my living room didn’t take into account the stresses and strains of the invasions of real life: LEGO strewn around the room with my son’s creative structures filling up all available table space and more, protective throws on the furniture continually askew, cookie crumbs under the couches, the clock dancers’ whirling waltz interrupted by batteries that have ceased to function.

Ahh, this is the life. At least, this is my life.

In the opening scene of the film, we first meet Laura through taking a virtual walking tour of her home. In the days before “video visits” in online real estate listings, it must have been something of a novelty to inspect the interior of another person’s home in their absence through the camera lens – a kind of early video voyeurism. Waldo Lydecker, ably played by Clifton Webb, is more than happy to oblige as the tour’s host. Lydecker’s character provides voice over commentary for the house tour and for the rest of the film.

The camera pans over various art objects in the apartment coming to rest on an oil painting of Laura herself. The portrait is very lifelike and very beautiful (It was a photo of the dazzling Gene Tierney, painted over to look like an oil portrait). The narrator intones, “I, Waldo Lydecker, was the only one who really knew her.” As we soon learn, Lydecker has no problems assuming that his opinion is the final word, in fact the only word worth knowing, on just about any subject.

Playing opposite Waldo Lydecker is Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews), a tight-lipped police detective who also knows his own mind, although he is perhaps less hasty in forming and reforming his opinions about a situation. Andrews plays the part of the detective as holding things very close to his chest, with hardly a ripple of emotion permitted to escape. He keeps himself calm by playing a little handheld pinball game. McPherson says that it helps him to keep his mind clear.

The trio of men who surround Laura is completed by Shelby Carpenter, a Southern playboy, labelled a “male beauty in distress” by Lydecker. Carpenter’s prime function in life seems to be to mooch off of those who can afford his company. His other prime function, at least in this story, is to serve as the all too obvious prime suspect in Laura’s murder. As noted in the Interviews (Aug.18,’07), a decision was made to heighten the contrasts in personality of the three male characters so that they would play off one another.

As for the character of Laura herself, it seems to be a case of “absence makes the heart grow fonder”. Her conspicuous absence during the first part of the film adds all the more mystery to her character and suspense to the plotline. Laura seems to be altogether too lovely to be real; the “girl next door”, an independent self-made woman, smart and sexy, sweet and sophisticated.

Laura is a lot like the theme music that David Raksin has composed for her . The repetition of the “Laura” theme music, although it comes up over and over again in different settings and at different tempos, is never tiresome, but somehow manages to add to the haunting beauty of Laura herself. No wonder detective Mark McPherson falls for her like a ton of bricks, sight unseen. In fact, everyone around Laura seems to be bewitched by her. They all adore her from Betsy the parlour maid to that cranky old columnist, Lydecker, who seems so full of himself that there couldn’t possibly be room in his life for anyone else in his life.

But there it is. Waldo Lydecker has been bewitched. Or perhaps possessed is a better word for it. There is this tricky business of who possesses whom in this odd December/May relationship between Waldo and Laura. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that Lydecker is not only frightfully possessive about certain objects of art that he wishes to reclaim from Laura’s apartment after the investigation, but that he is overly attached to the young lady herself. Making use of a razor sharp wit and his poison pen (a goose quill dipped in venom, by his own report), Lydekker manages to dispose of Laura’s suitors quite handily one by one.

And what delicious dialogue has been served up for Lydecker via Vera Caspary’s novel of the same name and the team of screenwriters! Oh my, Waldo: “Young woman: either you have been raised in some incredibly rustic community where good manners are unknown, or you suffer from the common feminine delusion that the mere fact of being a woman exempts you from the rules of civilized conduct. Possibly both.” No wonder Clifton Webb was lured back to Hollywood from the New York stage after an absence of almost 20 years by such a scrumptious part as Waldo Lydecker. It was a great success for Webb as an actor, relaunching an onscreen career.

Laura has evidently had a profound effect on those around her (including some, like McPherson, who haven’t even met her yet in person). Lydecker claims that Laura’s effect on him has been an entirely beneficial one: “Laura considered me to be one of the wisest, the wittiest, the most interesting men she had ever met. I was in complete accord with her on that point. . . .You may not understand this but I tried to become the kindest, gentlest, most sympathetic man in the world.” McPherson quips in response, “Have any luck?”

Although it may be in doubt in the beginning, by the end of the film we find out that Lydecker has not had much luck either in remaking himself or in keeping Laura’s affections to himself. Lydecker has had some remarkable success in maintaining appearances, thanks to his native intelligence and his wonderful storytelling abilities, but in the end, that’s all that it is; a well crafted story that sounds very convincing on the surface.

Laura reveals to Mark that Lydecker has this uncanny ability to rewrite history, not only for his hearers, but also for himself. In explaining to the detective why she is forever grateful to Lydecker for giving her a start in her career, Laura lets slip that the whole incident of the pen endorsement was a story Lydecker invented for his column. The truth about the situation was considerably less spectacular and less complimentary to both parties involved. It was all a skilfully woven fabrication that takes everyone in(including the audience).

It takes Laura some time to sort out the truth from the fiction. It also takes a process of various unveilings in order for her to sort out her feelings towards the men in her life. Of course the process is as fascinating and as entertaining as the Dance of the Seven Veils. It all culminates with a dramatic rescue by the knight in shining armour (Andrews) and the unmasked villain (Lydecker)getting his comeuppance.

If only things in real life in complicated and dangerous relationships could get sorted out as easily, preferably within a 2 hour timeframe. It would be so much easier and so much more satisfying than the kinds of painful and confusing relational gymnastics that happen in the real world. But hey, this is Hollywood ! Pass the popcorn and let’s all settle down for a cozy evening’s tête à tête with a wonderful gem like “Laura”.

Suggested Reading:

• INDb  reports that the character of Waldo Lydecker is based loosely on the real life personage of Alexander Woollcott 
• Dangerous Liaisons: seeing your way through a codependent friendship 
• Avoid being someone’s prized possession: be loved for who you really are
• Breakawy: escaping the shark pool of an emotionally abusive relationship 
• Hero to the rescue: grounds for a safe relationship