NFR Project: 'The Mark of Zorro' (1940)

 

NFR Project: ‘The Mark of Zorro’

Dir: Rouben Mamoulian

Scr: John Taintor Foote

Pho: Arthur C. Miller

Ed: Robert Bischoff

Premiere: Nov. 8, 1940

94 min.

How do you remake a classic? If you are director Rouben Mamoulian, you do it by following your own path.

The silent-era Mark of Zorro (1920) starred Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., and marked his transition from a comedic character actor to a swashbuckling hero in the movies. The original Zorro is almost all action, in keeping with the robust physicality Fairbanks made a cornerstone of his personal brand.

When 20^th Century Fox decided to remake the film, it emphasized dialogue over action. They selected the well-spoken and dashing Tyrone Power for the Zorro role, and surrounded him with the best supporting actors they could find. Joining Power were such old acting pros as Montagu Love, Eugene Pallette, Gale Sondergaard . . . and especially Basil Rathbone as a ruthless villain.

Mamoulian was known for his direction of opera and musicals – he famously directed the first staging of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. When he moved into film, he directed prestige projects such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Love Me Tonight, and Becky Sharp. Mamoulian gave the impression of speed and movement in this movie by editing the film in a unique way – cutting in the middle of motion onscreen instead of moving from static shot to static shot.

Here, Power is Don Diego Vega, son of a wealthy 19th-Century California landowner, who returns from Spain to discover that his father is no longer the alcalde, or ruling representative of Spain in California. Instead, the area is run by the corrupt Don Luis, who is really the catspaw of the sadistic and braggardly Captain Esteban (Rathbone). The peasants are being taxed to death, and those that resist are tortured.

Don Diego protectively assumes the attitude of an effeminate fop, lulling the villains into treating him with contempt. Meanwhile, Diego dresses in black outfit and mask as Zorro (Spanish for “fox”), and fights the oppressors, soon making the bad guys quiver in their boots. This he does while wooing the innocent niece of Don Luis, Lolita (Linda Darnell at the tender age of 17!).

The plot device of a hero in disguise who pretends to be a sissy in normal life was taken from Orczy’s 1905 novel The Scarlet Pimpernel. Zorro would perpetuate this device; in fact, it is said that Zorro influenced the creators of Batman, Superman, and other heroes in the same manner. By the time we arrive at the blood-pumping finale of a duel between Diego and Esteban, the audience is completely caught up in the story.

Zorro would later be revived as a Disney television series in the late 1950s. To date, all the incarnations of the bold masked vigilante onscreen have been memorable.

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

NFR Project: 'Knute Rockne, All American'

 

NFR Project: ‘Knute Rockne, All American’

Dir: Lloyd Bacon, William K. Howard (uncredited)

Scr: Robert Buckner

Pho: Tony Gaudio

Ed: Ralph Dawson

Premiere: Oct. 4, 1940

98 min.

This film biography outlines the short but busy life of football coach Knute Rockne (1888-1931). He is best known for incorporating the forward pass into the game, and for his successful coaching of the Notre Dame football squad.

The film reads like a marvelous and continuous series of successes that propelled the honored coach to prominence. Rockne is played by Pat O’Brien, an Irish-American actor who specialized in fast-talking tough guys. Rockne was known for his rapid-fire patter, and O’Brien captures that here.

Rockne is treated worshipfully here; he is almost a secular saint, in fact. How accurate is the film? Well, for one, Rockne was never named an All-American player or coach. Most Hollywood biographies were known for their inaccuracy (Yankee Doodle Dandy, They Died with Their Boots On). Movies almost never let the facts get in the way of a good story. His exploits on the field are summarized with great energy. Interestingly, Rockne was a trained chemist, and almost took that career path instead of coaching.

Ronald Reagan is here, playing the doomed freshman halfback George Gipp, who dies at a tragic young age and, on his deathbed, encourages Rockne to, when things looked bleak for the team, to “win one for the Gipper.” This Rockne did years later, when the team was down in a game. His speech inspired the team to make a comeback and win.

Rockne moves from success to success, right up to the time of his untimely death in an air crash at the age of 43. The movie is inspirational; as such it was adored by boys of all ages.

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

NFR Project: 'His Girl Friday' (1940)

 

NFR Project: ‘His Girl Friday’

Dir: Howard Hawks

Scr: Charles Lederer

Pho: Joseph Walker

Ed: Gene Havlick

Premiere: Jan. 18, 1940

92 min.

His Girl Friday has a lot going for it. It is grounded in the playscript for Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur’scomedy The Front Page, which premiered in 1928 and was first adapted for film in 1931. It’s made by the master craftsman, director Howard Hawks. It’s shot with economy and energy, with the sensation of watching the shooting a live play. And its main characters are played by comedy experts Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. They are surrounded by a bevy of great character actors.

It seems that Hawks wanted to remake The Front Page, which had proved so successful. The story of a corrosive friendship between manipulative editor Watler Burns and cheeky, rebellious reporter Hildy Johnson, it was a huge success. In readthroughs for the new adaptation Hawks asked one of his female employees to read Hildy’s lines – and decided he liked the switch from male to female.

He soon got a small succession of writers to turn a withering satire of corruption into a battle of the sexes. The film still takes place in the frenzied, fast-paced setting of daily journalism. Hildy (Russell) was now Walter’s (Grant) ex, and she has quit his newspaper and is off to get married to quiet, loving Bruce Baldwin (Ralph Bellamy). Seeking to thwart their impending marriage, Walter resorts to crazier and crazier ploys to keep Hildy on the trail of the hot Earl Williams (John Qualen) execution story.

Williams escapes. Hildy hides him in a roll-top desk in the courthouse’s press room. Burns struggles to get the story and get Hildy back at the same time. The pace is frenetic throughout, with people talking over each other – very unlike the Hollywood style of dialogue. Hawks encouraged the speed of delivery and manipulated the studio microphones to cover the action, resulting in an intrivate sound plot.

The basic premise of most screwball comedies is the eventual get-together of a man snd a woman who completely misunderstand each other at the beginning. The woman is usually the catalyst of the change.With movies such as It Happened One Night, 20^th Century, Bringing Up Baby, and all of Preston Sturges’s work, from 1933 to 1942, this short-lived genre captivated audiences.

However, in The Front Page, it is Hildy who changes – back to her old self. Walter, at best an indifferent husband when his mind is set on business, merely reiterates the love of the chase the two of them share, and convinces Hildy to dump Bruce and get married to him – again. A rather facile ending, and the last we see of Hildy she is trailing Walter, lugging a suitcase. There is likely to be no more consideration for her than in the past, and she’s fine with that.

There is a slew of great character actors here, too, including Gene Lockhart, Cliff “Ukulele” Ike Edwards, Roscoe Karns; Abner Biberman, and Billy Gilbert. The movie is a fast-paced pleasure, and deserves the high esteem in which it is held.

The NFR is one writer’s attempt to review all the films listed in the National Film Registry in chronological order. Next time: Knute Rockne, All American.