Midnight Oil:Movies and More

“The List of Adrian Messenger” (1963) a film directed by John Ford, produces an interesting mystery and an even more interesting list of cameo character appearances by famous Hollywood stars of the day. The premise of the film has a semi-retired MI6 officer, George C. Scott, investigating the whereabouts of a puzzling list of men who appear to have all gone missing. Kirk Douglas pops up throughout the film, eventually revealing himself to be one George Brougham, a long lost son who re-emerges from the Colonies (a.k.a Canada).

A fox hunt and a manhunt ensue. Will the fox be caught? Will the innocent young heir to the family fortune be spared a gruesome fate? Will his attractive widowed mother end up with the right suitor? All is set right in the end and the villain is “unmasked”.

But what really kept my interest the first time I saw the film on SNAM in the wee hours of the morning many moons ago was the hunt for the Hollywood stars. I just couldn’t figure out how you could manage to get Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis, Robert Mitchum and Burt Lancaster into this odd little production. The joke was on the audience of course. The ending reveals all!

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"Philadelphia Story" (1940) IMDb stars Katharine Hepburn whose ex, played by Cary Grant, complicates her present wedding plans enormously, as recorded by a tabloid reporter, James Stewart. The star-studded cast goes down in film history in this classic romantic comedy. The broadway hit, which also starred Ms. Hepburn in the lead female role, was recycled into a highly successful film adaptation thanks to great casting and wonderful dialogue. Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn) takes us all on a roller coaster ride leading up to the big day of her society wedding accompanied by a great assortment of annoying relatives, expensive wedding gifts, a knock-out wardrobe, interfering members of the press and a bothersome ex-husband or two hanging around in the wings. Cary Grant is perfectly understated until just the right moment as C.K. Dexter Haven (I just can't resist letting that lovely name just roll off the tongue). Plans come more than slightly unraveled as a result of prying eyes, a drink or two too many and general foolishness and pride. But, all's well that ends well. Everyone, including the audience, is most content with the state of matrimonial bliss by the film's finish.

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Catch the video clip for "Philadelphia Story" (1940) here.

“Coal Miner’s Daughter”(1980) IMDb employs the considerable singing and acting talents of Sissy Spacek along with those of Tommy Lee Jones. As might be expected, the biopic of singing star Loretta Lynn contains a full dose of country and western music. I’m with Doo on this one. I’m normally not partial to country, but I do like Loretta’s singing in this film. Of course the music is not the whole story here in this recounting of the ups and downs of Loretta’s life, but the singing obviously cannot be minimized. The film demonstrates that Loretta Lynn had a wealth of material to draw on from her own life’s experiences to both write and sing from the heart with all those "hurtin’ " songs you heard coming out of the radio.

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Catch the video trailer for “Coal Miner’s Daughter” (1980)

In “Malcolm X” (1992) IMDb, Denzel Washington plays the title role of the black civil rights and religious leader also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. This bio-pic directed by Spike Lee reveals much about the public and private life of this important modern-day figure of American history as based on the autobiography written by Alex Haley. Denzel Washington does an admirable job of capturing the complexity of a man in search of himself as he searches for a meaningful ethnic and religious identity. Although the politics of the times loom large in this film, it is the personal journey of growth and the fascinating interplay of religious and cultural influences that are of particular interest to me.

Don’t miss the informative TVO SNAM Interviews segment devoted to the subject of the making of “Malcom X” as well as the producer’s blog entry about the “re-discovery” of the man behind the film. The SNAM mini-doc is entitled “By Any Means Necessary”.

"The Dandies-Shorty& Malcolm" courtesy of Movie Screenshots

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See the video trailer for “Malcolm X” (1992)

 

"Father of the Bride" (1950) IMDb with Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor provides an interesting look into the subject of marriage, weddings and father/daughter relationships. Joan Bennett plays the bride to be's mother and Don Taylor the prospective groom. A very young Liz Taylor makes for a convincing first-time bride while Tracy hams it up in the role of the doting daddy. While

the perspective on marriage and general naïvité of the young persons involved might seem a little odd for today's audience viewing this film, the dynamics of the internal family relationships may prove to be more familiar ground.

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Catch the video trailer for "Father of the Bride" here.

 

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