Maybe Today Matinee

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Modern pop culture may be more familiar with the ‘80s iteration of Scarface, but the gangster film prototype was set in the early ‘30s by a number of pre-Hays mob flicks.  We discuss how the original Scarface (dir. Howard Hawks) filmmakers nevertheless dealt with an infuriating series of censorship setbacks before they arrived at a movie they could finally release.

Sources

Clarens, Carlos: Crime Movies : From Griffith to The Godfather and Beyond (1980) https://archive.org/details/crimemoviesfromg00clar/page/88/mode/2up

Thomas, Tony: Howard Hughes in Hollywood (1985) https://archive.org/details/howardhughesinho0000thom/page/74/mode/2up

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Otto Preminger’s The Man with the Golden Arm takes an early look at drug addiction as its makers pushed against the by-then gradually weakening restrictions of the Hays Code.  We discuss the film’s wish-fulfillment plotline as well as Frank Sinatra’s turn as a surprisingly talented actor.

Sources

Bloom, Rachel in “The Man with the Golden Arm” from Senses of Cinema: http://sensesofcinema.com/2013/cteq/the-man-with-the-golden-arm/

Dee, Jonathan in “Nelson Algren’s Street Cred” from The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/04/15/nelson-algrens-street-cred

Thompson, Lang in “The Man with the Golden Arm (1956)” from TCM: http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/3720/The-Man-with-the-Golden-Arm/articles.html#00

Wikipedia

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This month we discuss the role of censorship in filmmaking, starting off with Oscar Micheaux’s seminal work, Within Our Gates.  What kind of art were black filmmakers producing at this early period in film history?  What were the effects of censorship, internal or external, on “race films” like this one?  Why are silent films so prone to working with character archetypes? 

Sources

The Cinephiliac: https://thecinephiliac.com/2014/02/11/the-symbol-of-the-unconquered-1920-body-and-soul-1925-and-colorism/

Kanopy.com: search “Within Our Gates”

Micheaux Mission: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/micheaux-mission/id1080024347

Wikipedia

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Our final Halloween episode is Robert Wise’s classic, The Haunting.  Join us as we ponder psychological versus supernatural horror, depictions of gay characters in film, and the mysterious bendy doors and ghost dogs of Hill House.

Sources

“Elegant Chills: The Haunting” in American Cinematographer: https://ascmag.com/articles/flashback-the-haunting-1963

IMdB

Koresky, Michael in “Queer & Now & Then: 1963” from Film Comment: https://www.filmcomment.com/blog/queer-now-1963/

Passafiume, Andrea in “Behind the Camera- The Haunting” from Turner Classic Movies: https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/1560/the-haunting#articles-reviews?articleId=961615

Wikipedia

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Your hosts are at odds over this week’s pick, Naresh Mitra’s Kankal.  Regarded as the first still-extant Bengali horror film, it combines elements of melodrama and supernatural horror.  We examine the history of scary movies in India and ponder to what degree shoddy subtitling impedes our understanding of this polarizing picture.

Sources

Dhusiya, Mithuraaj in Indian Horror Cinema: (En)gendering the Monstrous https://books.google.com/books?id=jukrDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT35&lpg=PT35&dq=Kankaal+Bengali+movie&source=bl&ots=Et6LEwMc_k&sig=HDjTLlfLMYQsrM5ex6_ggvykqXg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjZ9r7Ahf7dAhWLbX0KHe3BBjI4ChDoATAGegQIAxAB#v=onepage&q=Kankaal%20Bengali%20movie&f=false

Indiancine.ma: https://indiancine.ma/FWQ/info

https://indiancine.ma/DGE/info

Wikipedia

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Today we examine an early talkie, a film which, despite the presence of audio dialogue and sound effects, still feels very much like a silent picture.  Even so, there’s something about Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Vampyr that is incredibly contemporary.  Join us as we discuss the second film in our month of Halloween horror.

Sources

Bordwell, David: “Carl Theodore Dryer’s Most Unusual Experiment” video essay on Criterion https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/6771-carl-theodor-dreyer-s-most-unusual-experiment

Carl Th. Dreyer website: https://www.carlthdreyer.dk/en

Craig Holte, James: “Not All Fangs Are Phallic, Female Film Vampires” in Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts

Wikipedia

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Prepare for a month of spoooooky Halloween episodes as we kick it off with a film many regard as the first example of Japanese horror cinema.  Pits of doom, possessed (?) masks, naked people running through fields of intimidating grass--Kaneto Shindo’s Onibaba has it all.

Sources

Bradshaw, Peter at the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2010/oct/15/onibaba-kaneto-shindo-devil-woman

Eggert, Brian at Deep Focus Review: https://deepfocusreview.com/definitives/onibaba/

TVTropes.org: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/Onibaba

Wikipedia

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Our last episode on animation covers an early ‘70s work of sci fi allegory.  We discuss the differences between American and European traditional animation, as well as the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of allegory in messaging about serious social issues.

Sources

Brooke, Michael: “Fantastic Planet: Gambous Amalga” in Criterion https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/4112-fantastic-planet-gambous-amalga

Csicsery-Ronay, Jr., Istvan: “What is Estranged in Science Fiction Animation?” in Simultaneous Worlds: Global Science Fiction Cinema, ed. Jennifer L Feeley and Sarah Ann Wells

Wikipedia

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Animation as we know it today would not be the same without Japan, and today we look at one of the earliest animated feature films to be released in the country.  Trying to build a Disney counterpart in the East, Toei Animation’s early films follow closely in the footsteps of Snow White and other classics, but gradually begin to carve out their own niche.  We discuss the animation process in detail, down to the evolution of technology and the labor disputes, and what really counts as “children’s media.”

Sources

Pelleas.net: http://www.pelleas.net/aniTOP/index.php/the-seconding-system-at-toei-doga

Thompson, Nathaniel at Turner Classic Movies: http://www.tcm.com/watchtcm/movies/82360/Magic-Boy/

Turner Classic Movies: http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/82360/Magic-Boy/

Tvtropes.org: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Anime/ShonenSarutobiSasuke

Washi’s Blog: https://washiblog.wordpress.com/2018/11/30/the-start-of-the-anime-industry-toei-douga-The Tale of the White Serpent/

Wikipedia

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This week’s unconventional pick might be better viewed in multiple sittings.  Harry Everett Smith’s one-man production may be less feature film and more art installation, leading us to question conventional methods of movie-viewing and what Smith’s intent was in creating this picture.  Does art have to have an audience?  And why do certain pieces of art make us feel personally insulted or angry?

Sources

Carroll, Noël: “Mind, Medium and Metaphor in Harry Smith’s Heaven and Earth Magic” in Film Quarterly

Harry Smith Archives: https://harrysmitharchives.com

Wikipedia