NFR Project: 'One Froggy Evening' (1955)

NFR Project: “One Froggy Evening”

Dir: Charles M. Jones

Scr: Michael Maltese

Animated by Ken Harris, Abe Levitow, Ben Washam, Richard Thompson, Robert Gribbroek, Philip DeGarde

Premiere: Dec. 31, 1955

6:56

It is deemed one of the greatest cartoons of all time.

This one has a lengthy pedigree. This film began as a magazine story written by one of radio’s best writers, Lucille Fletcher. The story was adapted as a radio play by none other than the great Norman Corwin, as “My Client Curley.” This in turn was adapted into a screenplay by Lewis Meltzer and Oscar Saul and made as Once Upon a Time (1944), starring Cary Grant. It is said that this long chain of ideas playing out from their initial inspiration all influenced Chuck Jones and company over at Warner Brothers cartoon studios..

Interestingly, it contains none of the studio’s patented “starring” characters – Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Porky Pig. It’s a prefect little gem of a cartoon. It requires no dialogue whatsoever; we only hear the singing voice of the short’s diminutive star. It’s vivid, punchy, perfectly timed, filled with subtle expressions and bold conceptions.

In it, a construction worker uncovers a sealed box in the cornerstone of an old building. He opens it, and out jumps a singing frog, complete with top hat and cane. (Cornily, it croons the hits of the turn of the 20^th century.)

The worker sees dollars signs, literally. He grabs the frog and takes him to a talent scout. He presents the frog, who does nothing. The scout throws him out. The man rents a theater, packs it with people. The frog is singing. The curtain opens. The frog stops. In fact, it only performs when it and the worker are alone.

The worker goes nuts. His life falls apart. He’s sent to the funny farm. With the frog. Finally, he is wandering psst a construction site. He finds the cornerstone. He puts the box with the frog in it inside and flees. Fast-forward to the distant future. A worker is disintegrating the now-old building and eposes the cornerstone. He finds the box. The frog leaps out and puts on a show. The worker grabs the box and gallops off. Once again, the frog has found a victim.

It’s a great little shaggy-dog story, the nightmare of knowing or possessing something special and not being acknowledged for it. The worker sees, hears the frog; why can’t anyone else? Is he nuts? Does this frog just have it in for him? Is life but a sadistic joke wit ha recurring punchline?

The NFR Project is one writer’s attempt to review all the films listed in the National Film Registry in chronological order. Next time: The Searchers.

 

 

NFR Project: 'Modesta' (1956)

NFR Project: “Modesta”

Dir: Benjamin Doniger

Scr: Benjamin Doniger, Luis A. Maisonet, Rene Marques

Pho: Luis A. Maisonet

Ed: Paul Falkenberg

Premiere: 1956

35:55

This remarkable little film shows us a way of using cinema to implement an agenda.

Read Daniel Eagan’s essay at the National Film Registry here; it is good and comprehensive about this film and the context in which it was made.

It is but one of 65 short films made by Puerto Rico’s Office of Community Education between 1950 and 1975. These informational films were directed at rural audiences, seeking to improve their lot.

Here we have a tale of primitive feminism. A husband comes home and disrespects his wife. She hits him in the head with a stick, driving him away. She becomes the leader of the local group of women, who all take up sticks in solidarity with her. They and the men confront each other; the men back down.

A simple story, well and efficiently told, using local talent in front of and behind the camera, and sometimes utilizing non-acting locals. Director Benjamin Doniger was an experienced cinematographer – he had worked for director Robert Flaherty on Louisiana Story (1948) -- and he, straightforward and efficient, tells us a story.

The NFR Project is one writer’s attempt to review all the films listed in the National Film Registry in chronological order. Next time: One Froggy Evening.

NFR Project: 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' (1956)

NFR Project: “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”

Dir: Don Siegel

Scr: Daniel Mainwaring

Pho: Ellsworth Fredericks

Ed: Robert S. Eisen

Premiere: Feb. 5, 1956

80 min.

First, read the definitive essay on this film, by the great Robert Sklar, at the National Film Registry.

To it I can only add:

Here is a portrait of an alien invasion, insidious and silent. The many vectors of interpretation of the political or social ramifications underlying the movie simply prove the universal terror of being taken over by The Other, any other, of being reduced to something less (or even more) than human. It resonates with all manner of people, in all sorts of ways.

A small-town doctor notices a bunch of appointments being made at his clinic and then cancelled. Citizens stumble in, claiming that their relatives and loved ones are not themselves anymore. The doctor (Kevin McCarthy) tries to rationalize his way through the problem – until he encounters large seed pods that spawn identical copies of their intended human hosts.

From that point on, it’s a race for survival that is, again, nightmare fodder. Imagine a whole town turned against you, seeking to change you into one of them. Their reasonableness. Their persistence. Mainwaring and Siegel evoke the fight-or-flight impulse straight to the reptile brain. Our hero is prey for an alien race. And there is no mercy for Miles.

The source material is impeccable. The original novel The Body Snatchers was written by Jack Finney, a noted science-fiction writer. Daniel Mainwaring, who wrote the screenplay, had crafted such excellent scripts as his noirs Out of the Past, The Big Steal, and The Phenix City Story. Here he captures Cold War paranoia in a crisply-moving succession of uncanny setups in a nondescript rural town in California.

The protagonist, Miles Bennell, is played by the iconic Kevin McCarthy, whose reputation rests largely on his accomplishments here. He plays the hero as a reasonable man driven to madness as he warns an oblivious world of a conspiracy against its very human soul. The original ending of the movie has him ranting in the midst of traffic. “You’re next! You’re next!” he roars, and we drive past him, sheepishly. What does he know that we don’t?

Considering the lack of A-list resources at their creation, the results achieved with light, analog special effects, and subtly pitched performances make this a believable and haunting classic, a common nightmare brought to life. Ellsworth Frederick's cinematography is beautiful and well thought out. The score by Carmen Dragon is surprisingly top-notch.

The studio intervened and had them construct a framing story, a la The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Miles is brought into the nuthouse as he’s been found wandering in traffic. After the film originally ends, a scene informs us that Miles’ worst fears have root in reality.

The authorities react appropriately. Miles is left gasping as they sweep into action. He is disoriented, grieving (despite gobbling speed, his lover Dan Wynter falls asleep and instantly transforms into the Other). He lost everyone he cared about. The End. A bitter note seeps into the finale despite the studio’s rewrite. Body Snatchers resonates because it’s about first being swept away by the majority – and then hunted by it.

The NFR Project is one writer’s attempt to review all the films listed in the National Film Registry in chronological order. Next time: Modesta.