Now that my hair has grown into Seventies ballplayer mullet territory, I've realized that I need to stop fucking around. This quarantine is serious, and you, my faithful readers rely on me to give you ideas of what classic films to watch during this critical time. So here's what I watched to stave off the insanity that lurks just under my sofa.
Miller's Crossing (1990)
One of those insipidly viral Facebook post-y thingies that has flourished in this isolated time asked me to list my favorite gangster flick. I can now say without a drot of online sarcasm that it's
Miller's Crossing. The third film from Joel and Ethan Coen is pure mob poetry.
Tom Reagan (the icily enigmatic Gabriel Byrne) is the number one guy of Irish crime boss Leo (Albert Finney in a bravura turn). So why is Tom screwing Leo's lady (delightfully duplicitous Marcia Gay Harden) and making a rumpus with his Italian enemy (the perfectly porcine Jon Polito)?
This film is full of the Coen Brothers' signature touches- a whip-smart script, an insanely talented and quirky band of actors, a luxurious production design that makes you want to hop into a time machine, and a viciously dark sense of humor.
Miller's Crossing questions the underpinnings of mob film classics like
The Godfather (1972) by exposing the "ethics" of a criminal enterprise and the frail nature of loyalty.
The scene where Leo is attacked in his home is a textbook example of the Coen style- brutal, fanciful, and funny. Amazingly, not a single Oscar nom was granted to
Miller's Crossing. But six years later they would make up for it with noms and wins for their modern crime classic,
Fargo (1996).
Humoresque (1946)
I'm often asked, "Hey, Lance, you fanatical Joan Crawford nut, what is your favorite Joan film?" My reply, "All of them." And then I exhale a veil of cigarette smoke and slap them in the face. But if I did have to choose a favorite from Joan's long and storied career, I would say 1946's
Humoresque. Hot off her Best Actress win for
Mildred Pierce (1945), Crawford is Helen Wright, a classical music benefactress whose parties are full of young men eager to light her cigarette while her husband looks on in doleful resignation. A young violinist (the intense and volatile John Garfield) plays a damned good fiddle and zing goes the strings of Joan's heart.
Humoresque is interesting in how director Jean Negulesco depicts the female gaze. In scene after scene the camera focuses on women watching men- from motherly to sexually- and those watching and judging that intense scrutiny. The act of a woman looking is punctuated by Crawford wearing glasses. But those cheaters can't hide Crawford's stunning beauty, and a performance that is equal parts bitchery and vulnerability.
Humoresque has one of those "only on a Hollywood set" locations- a piano bar called Teddy's that I wish existed so I could go there for a drink the minute this quarantine lifts.
Dodsworth (1936)
Don't ask me why- but I thought this movie would be about a butler. Well, it's not. Instead, Walter Huston's (Anjelica's grand-pappy) midwestern auto manufacturing company is bought out, and his wife (Ruth Chatterton) encourages him to experience the good life by taking her to Europe for a couple months. The only problem is that wifey's idea of the good life starts to include dashing rues and cads who make poor Walter look positively provincial.
This American morality tale about the sins of chic-ness could have been unbearable, but in the hands of prolific director William Wyler, the sharp edges of righteousness are sanded away. Chatterton is infuriatingly selfish- but takes the time to show the underpinnings of a woman terrified of growing old. Huston is equally nuanced- a pushover who can only be pushed so far before he breaks.
Mary Astor lends her worldly stateliness to the proceedings as does not-having-it potential mother-in-law Maria Ouspenskaya. Nominated for seven Academy Awards,
Dodsworth feels ahead of its time... even if it's not about a butler.
Now, when can I get a haircut?
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