pensive
This month, Turner Classic Movies in the U.S. is shining the spotlight on directors, and even if you don't necessarily subscribe to the auteur theory, there are many good films on the horizon from many good directors. The focus on this entry is a director who never worked with Carole Lombard (though I'm certain they had at least a passing acquaintance in this industry town called Hollywood), but he's one of my favorites -- and chances are after watching a few of his films, you may join that group, too.
His name? King Vidor. Sounds kind of haughty, regal, doesn't it? Well, don't let the moniker fool you; there was little pomposity about the man. ("King" was a not uncommon first name in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.) While Vidor worked in a variety of genres, as most directors did in the classic Hollywood era, his best and most personal films have a genuine humanity about them. TCM is showing several of them Wednesday night, and before I tell you about the movies, let me tell you about the man:
Born in Galveston, Texas in 1894, Vidor was six when a hurricane hit the Texas gulf town, causing widespread damage and casualties. In his teens, he became interested in motion pictures and became a cameraman in the embryonic newsreel industry; in 1913, he directed his first film, "Hurricane In Galveston," recreating the 1900 disaster on a minimal budget. A few years later, he moved to Los Angeles, the new capital of the film industry. but he didn't initially direct there; instead, he wrote screenplays and soaked up as much experience as he could (he was even an extra in "Intolerance"). By 1918, he was ready to direct, and made 14 two-reelers that year alone; the next year, he directed his first feature, "The Turn In The Road."
Vidor's reputation continued to rise, and he earned a long-term contract with Goldwyn Pictures in 1922 after "Peg O' My Heart," starring Laurette Taylor, became a hit. Goldwyn eventually was absorbed into MGM (long after founder Samuel Goldwyn had left the company), and Vidor was part of the move. He initially directed films under the "Metro-Goldwyn" or "Mayer" companies, but his first directorial outing for the now fully-marged Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was a smash, one of the best films of the 1920s -- "The Big Parade":
The film, a tale of the World War, propelled John Gilbert (above, with Renee Adoree) into a star.
Vidor contined directing for MGM into the early thirties (making the first all-black musical, "Hallelujah!", in 1929), but eventually chafed under Louis B. Mayer's producer-oriented philosophy. He began freelancing, and continued to make big films into the 1950s ("War And Peace"). In fact, when Victor Fleming left "The Wizard Of Oz" to work on "Gone With The Wind," Vidor directed the Kansas scnes of the movie, including Judy Garland's c;assic "Over The Rainbow" performance (something I was not aware of). Vidor died in 1982.
The Vidor salute on TCM actually begins with a 1973 documentary (and interview) at 8 p.m. (Eastern) on Wednesday, part of Richard Schickel's series, "The Man Who Made The Movies."
Now, here are the Vidor films TCM will show Wednesday evening into Thursday morning:
* 9 p.m. -- "The Crowd" (1928). From the famous opening shot, where we peer in on a huge office, eventually focusing on one man's story, this is ine if the very best silents ever made, full of humanity and charm. (It was one of two classics Vidor directed in 1928; the other, "Show People," will be aired exactly two months from now, when TCM does a 24-hour tribute to Marion Davies as part of its "Summer Under The Stars" series.) "The Crowd" is wonderfully realistic -- apparently too much so for Mayer, who never warmed to the picture, deeming it too downbeat -- and while there are sad moments, it remains on the whole a life-affirming experience. (Unfortunately, James Murray, shown above, never was able to duplicate his success here, and drowned, a penniless alcoholic, in 1936.) Every film buff should see this film at least once.
* 10:45 p.m. -- "The Champ" (1931). Wallace Beery is endearing in this story of a broken-down boxer seeking to retain custody of his son, but it's Jackie Cooper as the child who wowed the audiences. Still a crowd-pleaser.
* 12:15 a.m. -- "Duel In The Sun" (1946). Vidor directed this sparwling western spectacle for David O. Selznick, who hope to duplicate the epic success of his "Gone With The Wind." Not quite, David O. With Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten and Gregory Peck. One revirwer at the Internet Movie Database commented, "For those who prefer soap operas instead of horse operas, this western might be for you."
* 2:45 a.m. -- "The Fountainhead" (1949). Vidor might seem like an odd choice to convert objectivist maven Ayn Rand's work to screen (that's Rand, who wrote the screenplay, in between Vidor and star Gary Cooper), but he does reasonably well under the circumstances. This tale of an architect who refuses to compromise also stars Patricia Neal (who was chosen by Warners over the likes of Barbara Stanwyck, Ida Lupino and Bette Davis) and Raymond Massey.
* 4:45 a.m. -- "Our Daily Bread" (1934). Fifteen years before and 180 degrees removed from Rand's philosophy is this tale of a collective farm formed to fight the depression in America. (It was meant to be a followup of sorts to "The Crowd"l in fact, the lead characters share the earlier couple's names of John and Mary Sims. Vidor wanted James Murray to reprise his role, but Murray, now drunk and unreliable, refused to get himself into shape to play the role.) A stirring film at times, Vidor largely escaped the communist tag during the red scare of the late 1940s. Such was not the case for the film's female lead, Karen Morley.
Morley, an Iowan born in 1909, had appeared in "Scarface" and "Gabriel Over The White House," among other films, but left MGM when she wanted to not only marry but have children, something deemed unbecoming a studio starlet. Far to the left of Hollywood progressives such as Lombard and Myrna Loy, Morley became active in left-wing causes and unionizing in the 1940s, and her career was sunk when she pleaded the Fifth Amendment testifying before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947 ("Our Daily Bread" was cited as proof of her communist ties). In her later years, she regularly spoke on Pacifica radio (including WBAI in New York) and was featured in a 1999 Vanity Fair article on blacklist victims. She died in March 2003.
His name? King Vidor. Sounds kind of haughty, regal, doesn't it? Well, don't let the moniker fool you; there was little pomposity about the man. ("King" was a not uncommon first name in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.) While Vidor worked in a variety of genres, as most directors did in the classic Hollywood era, his best and most personal films have a genuine humanity about them. TCM is showing several of them Wednesday night, and before I tell you about the movies, let me tell you about the man:
Born in Galveston, Texas in 1894, Vidor was six when a hurricane hit the Texas gulf town, causing widespread damage and casualties. In his teens, he became interested in motion pictures and became a cameraman in the embryonic newsreel industry; in 1913, he directed his first film, "Hurricane In Galveston," recreating the 1900 disaster on a minimal budget. A few years later, he moved to Los Angeles, the new capital of the film industry. but he didn't initially direct there; instead, he wrote screenplays and soaked up as much experience as he could (he was even an extra in "Intolerance"). By 1918, he was ready to direct, and made 14 two-reelers that year alone; the next year, he directed his first feature, "The Turn In The Road."
Vidor's reputation continued to rise, and he earned a long-term contract with Goldwyn Pictures in 1922 after "Peg O' My Heart," starring Laurette Taylor, became a hit. Goldwyn eventually was absorbed into MGM (long after founder Samuel Goldwyn had left the company), and Vidor was part of the move. He initially directed films under the "Metro-Goldwyn" or "Mayer" companies, but his first directorial outing for the now fully-marged Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was a smash, one of the best films of the 1920s -- "The Big Parade":
The film, a tale of the World War, propelled John Gilbert (above, with Renee Adoree) into a star.
Vidor contined directing for MGM into the early thirties (making the first all-black musical, "Hallelujah!", in 1929), but eventually chafed under Louis B. Mayer's producer-oriented philosophy. He began freelancing, and continued to make big films into the 1950s ("War And Peace"). In fact, when Victor Fleming left "The Wizard Of Oz" to work on "Gone With The Wind," Vidor directed the Kansas scnes of the movie, including Judy Garland's c;assic "Over The Rainbow" performance (something I was not aware of). Vidor died in 1982.
The Vidor salute on TCM actually begins with a 1973 documentary (and interview) at 8 p.m. (Eastern) on Wednesday, part of Richard Schickel's series, "The Man Who Made The Movies."
Now, here are the Vidor films TCM will show Wednesday evening into Thursday morning:
* 9 p.m. -- "The Crowd" (1928). From the famous opening shot, where we peer in on a huge office, eventually focusing on one man's story, this is ine if the very best silents ever made, full of humanity and charm. (It was one of two classics Vidor directed in 1928; the other, "Show People," will be aired exactly two months from now, when TCM does a 24-hour tribute to Marion Davies as part of its "Summer Under The Stars" series.) "The Crowd" is wonderfully realistic -- apparently too much so for Mayer, who never warmed to the picture, deeming it too downbeat -- and while there are sad moments, it remains on the whole a life-affirming experience. (Unfortunately, James Murray, shown above, never was able to duplicate his success here, and drowned, a penniless alcoholic, in 1936.) Every film buff should see this film at least once.
* 10:45 p.m. -- "The Champ" (1931). Wallace Beery is endearing in this story of a broken-down boxer seeking to retain custody of his son, but it's Jackie Cooper as the child who wowed the audiences. Still a crowd-pleaser.
* 12:15 a.m. -- "Duel In The Sun" (1946). Vidor directed this sparwling western spectacle for David O. Selznick, who hope to duplicate the epic success of his "Gone With The Wind." Not quite, David O. With Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten and Gregory Peck. One revirwer at the Internet Movie Database commented, "For those who prefer soap operas instead of horse operas, this western might be for you."
* 2:45 a.m. -- "The Fountainhead" (1949). Vidor might seem like an odd choice to convert objectivist maven Ayn Rand's work to screen (that's Rand, who wrote the screenplay, in between Vidor and star Gary Cooper), but he does reasonably well under the circumstances. This tale of an architect who refuses to compromise also stars Patricia Neal (who was chosen by Warners over the likes of Barbara Stanwyck, Ida Lupino and Bette Davis) and Raymond Massey.
* 4:45 a.m. -- "Our Daily Bread" (1934). Fifteen years before and 180 degrees removed from Rand's philosophy is this tale of a collective farm formed to fight the depression in America. (It was meant to be a followup of sorts to "The Crowd"l in fact, the lead characters share the earlier couple's names of John and Mary Sims. Vidor wanted James Murray to reprise his role, but Murray, now drunk and unreliable, refused to get himself into shape to play the role.) A stirring film at times, Vidor largely escaped the communist tag during the red scare of the late 1940s. Such was not the case for the film's female lead, Karen Morley.
Morley, an Iowan born in 1909, had appeared in "Scarface" and "Gabriel Over The White House," among other films, but left MGM when she wanted to not only marry but have children, something deemed unbecoming a studio starlet. Far to the left of Hollywood progressives such as Lombard and Myrna Loy, Morley became active in left-wing causes and unionizing in the 1940s, and her career was sunk when she pleaded the Fifth Amendment testifying before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947 ("Our Daily Bread" was cited as proof of her communist ties). In her later years, she regularly spoke on Pacifica radio (including WBAI in New York) and was featured in a 1999 Vanity Fair article on blacklist victims. She died in March 2003.
