Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you have a great celebration today and enjoy your time off!
I've been giving my number one choice a lot of thought this week. I wanted to pick something perfect. So basically here was my thought process: Thanksgiving is a quintessential American holiday, so it is only fitting that my choice is also a great American film about Americans. Next I think genre. Great American film about Americans? My mind jumps to Western or War/Action, but I'm not particularly fond of watching westerns on holidays and well war/action might be a little intense. So...what about a great American film about regular everyday Americans. No hero needed. Maybe just a nice depiction of the American family. That got me thinking... How about *** ***** ******? That's got to be it!
My #1 movie pick for this Thanksgiving is . . .
"The Human Comedy" is the 1943 film based on William Saroyan's screenplay (Saroyan would publish the novel after writing the screenplay, but before the film was released). And while the title contains the word "comedy" I consider the film to be in the genre of drama. The film takes a very honest look at a small American town and the people living in it during World War II. Most of the story follows Homer Macauley, the middle son of the Macauley family. The father of the Macauley family has passed away, and the eldest son is off at war, so Homer is responsible for watching out for the family back home. There is no plot. The almost two hour movie is a glimpse into everyday life, with very real situations and emotions. One reason this makes an especially great Thanksgiving day movie is that it provides a powerful exploration of the importance of love and friendship in keeping a town alive.
Mickey Rooney plays the main character Homer, and shows off his versatility as an actor. For his performance he was nominated the Best Actor Academy Award in 1944. Other notable actors include Fay Bainter, Van Johnson, Marsha Hunt, Frank Morgan (aka the Wizard of Oz!), and James Craig. It was also in this film that the adorable Jack Jenkins made his debut as Homer's little brother. Later in the film, a rather young Robert Mitchum crops up as well. "The Human Comedy" was very well received by the movie community. At the 1944 Academy Awards, William Saroyan won an Oscar for Best Writing. And while that was its only win, the film was nominated in four other big categories, including Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role (which I mentioned), Best Director, and Best Cinematography.
I know you're gonna love this film! (If you're looking for it, try HmnCmdy(youtube) or rent it or something). =)
Here's the trailer: I really didn't plan for it to say "The Great American Motion Picture", it just worked out that way! I guess we agree! Haha. Enjoy!
My second movie pick for Thanksgiving is "The Sound of Music." If you haven't seen this classic, I'll put it plainly, you've really been missing out. This 1965 musical is one of my all time favorites! "The Sound of Music" is the film adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway production of the same name. Sadly, the stage show was the last musical collaboration of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Hammerstein would die in 1960, five years before the release of this amazing film adaptation.
Produced by 20th Century Fox and directed by Robert Wise, this film highlights the importance of friendship and family, and of course music, in good times and in bad. While the plot involves a very heavy subject, Germany's occupation of Austria immediately before the start of WWII (mostly towards the end of the movie), the frequent outburst of song keep the mood light (the mood at the end is much more somber).
The children of the Von Trapp family
"The Sound of Music" follows the Austrian Von Trapp family and the governess (nanny) hired to take care of the Von Trapp children. The head of the Von Trapp family is Captain Georg (not spelled or pronounced George) Von Trapp, a retired navy captain whose wife has died (not shown in the movie) and left him to care for seven children. The children are very well behaved with their father, as a captain's orders are not to be taken lightly. However, you know the story, once they are out of his sight and under the care of a governess, they prove too much for one person to handle. Now, this is where the whole movie basically begins. Enter Maria. Maria is a care-free just plain happy nun, who is given instructions to live with the Von Trapp family as the new governess to the children (a few of the last ones haven't worked out so well). Upon arriving at the very lavish home of the Von Trapp family, Maria encounters the quite serious Captain Von Trapp and his whistle (which he uses to signal for his children and others now and then). The confident Maria lets him know early on that answering to a "dog whistle" isn't for her. After being introduced to the children, Maria quickly learns that she is going to have to find some way for them to become friends. Naturally, music is the answer. Maria's talks with the children reveal how much they love their father, but how distant he is from them. Maria sets out to fix this problem as well. By fixing the problem though, she creates another situation for herself. Captain Von Trapp has a girlfriend (who the children don't like), and Maria is starting to fall in love with him (don't forget she's still a nun). I'll leave it at that! This is too good of a movie to spoil.
An estonished Maria and Captain Von Trapp with his infamous whistle
The main players are Julie Andrews as Maria, and Christopher Plummer as Captain Von Trapp. I honestly can't think of anyone else who could have filled either of those roles as well. Julie Andrews perfectly personifies the spunky adventurous Maria, as Christopher Plummer does the confident and self-assured patriot Georg. Plus, they have great on screen chemistry! I love watching them act together!
The main cast singing away
Here are two clips from the movie that I especially love. The first clip is from a puppet show the kids put on with Maria. The second is of Captain Von Trapp singing Edelweiss after a request from Maria and the children. (In case you are wondering who the other characters are, the woman in pink is Georg's girlfriend and the other man is Uncle Max, Georg's friend.) :
So Thanksgiving is right around the corner and I'm super excited! That said, I've been thinking about what movies would make the best Thanksgiving movies, aka the best movies to watch on turkey day! There are six days until the big day and I've decided to have a blog countdown to Thanksgiving with three classic films that I recommend. I'll blog on my favorite pick Thanksgiving day, so stay posted.
#3: "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938)
This is a great movie to watch with the family, and practically any friend! That's basically why I chose this as a movie you should watch over Thanksgiving weekend. Well that, and there is a feast scene that reminded me of Thanksgiving dinner - haha.
Directors Michael Curtiz and William Keighley prove very successful at delivering an engaging plot and combining elements of action, comedy, and romance in a cohesive manner. Not many films can so easily switch the mood of a scene from comedic to dramatic or vice versa, as this Warner Brother's production does. A quick note, Michael Curtiz actually took over direction of this film, essentially replacing William Keighley who failed to impress Warner Bros. with his direction of the action scenes.
I hope most of you know the story of Robin Hood. If not, I'll let this trailer sum it up:
As for the players of this great epic:
The dashing Errol Flynn landed the main role of Sir Robin of Locksley (originally meant to be played by James Cagney). The carrot top playing the sly Prince John, brother of Richard the Lion Heart, is none other than Claude Rains (I was pretty surprised the first time I noticed this). The fair Lady Marian is portrayed by the always lovely Olivia de Havilland. And appropriately, Basil Rathbone again fills the role of the villian, this time as Sir Guy of Gisbourne.
At the 1938 Academy Awards, the film won three Oscars, for Art Direction, Original Score, and Film Editing. Unfortunately, neither the director/s nor any of the superb actors of "The Adventures of Robin Hood" were nominated. However, the film was notably nominated for Outstanding Production. The winner of Outstanding Production that year was "You Can't Take It With You" from Columbia Pictures.
Lastly, here's a funny clip someone put together. I'm sure it'll make you laugh!
So I've been looking forward to this post for a while. "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" is a 1963 comedy directed by Stanely Kramer. The following year, "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" was nominated in six Oscar categories and awarded the Oscar for best effects and sound effects in 1964. It features a long list of famous comedians: Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett, Ethel Merman, Dick Shawn, Phil Silvers (one of my favorites), Terry Thomas, Jimmy Durante and Jonathan Winters. More comedians make short cameo appearances including: Tyler Fitzgerald, Jerry Lewis, Jack Benny, Don Knotts, and even The Three Stooges. There are so many other top names. The last one I'll mention is Spencer Tracy, who plays Captain Culpepper of the Santa Rosita Police Department.
The film opens with a car zooming along a winding road in the mountains. The man driving loses control of his car and goes "sailing right out there" off a cliff. Four cars that were on the road stop and a few of the drivers/riders go down to see what happened and to see if the man driving the car is ok. Obviously he isn't ok after being thrown out of his car which was going probably 100+mph. Before he kicks the bucket (both figuratively and literally, making for a quite comic scene), the man tells of $350,000 that he hid 15 years ago in Santa Rosita State Park under a big "doubleya" (W). Following the man's death, everyone returns to their vehicles and basically that's when the race to find the money begins. Now, I know what your thinking "$350,000? That's all?" Well, according to eHow money (not sure how credible it is, but I trust it) $1 in 1963 would be around $6 in 2009 (not sure I'm guessing it would be something more than $6 for 2011). So keeping that in mind, $350,000 is really like $2,100,000 in today's money. Now wouldn't that entice you to put all your plans on hold to race down to some park miles away to look for a big W and the millions underneath it? Haha. If so, you've got to see the end of this epic movie.
Now, who gets how much of the money?
Getting back to the plot, everyone's in their cars racing down to Santa Rosita, but little do they know that the man that told them about the money was a thief. Not only that, but Captain Culpepper of the Santa Rosita Police Department has been watching this thief Smiler Grogan for years. After the police find out Smiler died, and that the people at the scene of his death all seem to be speeding somewhere, it isn't hard for them to put two and two together. Captain Culpepper orders that they start their surveillance of the group right away, but it takes a long, long, long, long while before anyone in the race catches on. And surveillance of this group isn't easy mind you. The people in each car splinter off, each eager to reach the money before the others. Some ride faulty planes, one gets stuck on a tricycle for a while, and many end up on the maddest road trip of their lives. Again I'll say it: This movie is laughs all the way through! The characters are AMAZING, as are all the twists and turns. You've got to go see it NOW!
Here is a video of a few of the old promotional commercials for the film featuring a few of the many great comedians from the film:
And some quick trivia:
* Santa Rosita State Park is not a real location. The scene was shot in Rancho Palos Verdes in California at a place called Portuguese Bend.
* Some other locations filmed in this movie include Long Beach, California and Highway 74 and other areas near Palm Desert, California.
Ok, so I promise this is related. I've noticed that all the In-And-Out Burgers I've been to always have a pair of palm trees crossed in an X formation. For the longest time I thought it was because it was for "X marks the spot". But...it actually turns out that the founder of In-And-Out Burger, Harry Snyder, was a fan of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World." And...wait for it...wait for it...the "big X" formation is meant as a tribute to the "big W." I know, I thought it was pretty cool too! Take a look:
