The Horse's Head

December 30th, 2008: The NFR reaches 500 movies (and 20 years) with the Class of 2008. As always, here’s my retrospective on those 25 films:

• White Fawn’s Devotion (1910): “barely passes by my standards for preservation, but hey, so do a lot of movies on this list.”
• The Perils of Pauline (1914): “the film serial that started it all”
• One Week (1920): “you can see how much of [Buster Keaton’s] comic genius was already on display”
• Foolish Wives (1922): “excess for the sake of excess…this one may just be for the film buffs.”
• So’s Your Old Man (1926): “[W.C.] Fields’ best work was in the sound era”, “this spot could have gone to someone else.”
• Hallelujah (1929): “‘Hallelujah’ crawled so that other, better movies could run.”
• The Invisible Man (1933): “certainly holds up better than most other monster films of the era.”
• Sergeant York (1941): “a memorial to a real-life American hero”
• George Stevens’ World War II Footage (1943-1946): “as close as we’ll ever get to seeing the war as it actually was.”
• The Killers (1946): “a great noir film with a well-crafted mystery”
• The Asphalt Jungle (1950): “quite possibly the best ensemble of ‘50s character actors in one film”
• Johnny Guitar (1954): “What the hell was that?”
• Disneyland Dream (1956): “a home movie that commands repeat viewings”.
• On the Bowery (1956): “a capsule of a long-forgotten American life, told in a unique, enticing format.” 
• A Face in the Crowd (1957): “ahead of its time, and just keeps getting more and more accurate.”
• The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958): “on this list by virtue of its kick-ass stop-motion technology”
• Free Radicals (1958/1979): “hits by trifecta for NFR experimental entries: It’s engaging, it’s representative of an important artist…and above all, it’s short.”
• Flower Drum Song (1961): “a second-rate film adaptation of a second-rate Rodgers and Hammerstein musical”
• The March (1964): “a succinct film that gives you a healthy sample of what that day was like.”
• The Pawnbroker (1964): “successfully translates the novel’s themes of isolation and grief into a visual medium”
• In Cold Blood (1967): “more-or-less invent[ed] the true crime film genre.”
• Deliverance (1972): “a strong movie with an equally strong legacy…complete with iconic banjo music!”
• …No Lies (1973): “a pass for NFR inclusion for its strong emotional resonance”
• The Terminator (1984): “The film’s lasting influence cannot be denied.”
• Water and Power (1989): “I just wish I knew what it all meant.”

You can currently watch “Water and Power” here.

The Plot: How the hell do I describe “Water and Power”? Well, it’s about 55 minutes long, and it centers around Owens Valley, L.A.’s primary water source, and how the area around it has become a mini-desert. It was directed by legendary experimental filmmaker Pat O’Neill, who describes it “a landscape film that became animated by the beginnings of human stories”. There’s plenty of timelapse photography and photoscopic effects conveying the valley’s overall decay and…yeah that’s about it.

Why It Matters: The NFR praises the film as “a brilliant examination of water in all its forms”.

But Does It Really?: As you’ve probably already guessed, I don’t have much to say about “Water and Power”. There’s some beautiful compositions throughout, and the whole thing gave me “Koyaanisqatsi” vibes, I just wish I knew what it all meant. It’s not so much a “Staring at Water” movie as it is a “Staring at a Lack of Water” movie. “Water and Power” is the kind of experimental film that should be playing on a loop in a museum somewhere, where the film can be given proper context and O’Neill can be given his due as an artist, but watching it as a standalone feature was a confusing experience for me, especially given my lack of knowledge of Los Angeles. I’ll give “Water and Power” a pass as another NFR entry that shines a light on L.A., but that’s about as generous as I’m feeling.

Shout Outs: There’s a handful of silent film clips interspersed throughout the film, and I’m pretty sure one of them is from “The Last Command”.

Everybody Gets One: Raised in Inglewood, Pat O’Neill became interested in filmmaking while studying photography in art school. Allmost all of Pat O’Neill’s films center around Los Angeles, starting with his 1963 short “By the Sea”, filmed on location at Muscle Beach. Although O’Neill has talked at length about making “Water and Power”, he’s not quite sure where the initial idea for the film came from: “I grabbed it, wherever I got it.” Oh, and in keeping with a longtime NFR tradition, Pat O’Neill is a UCLA graduate.

Seriously, Oscars?: No Oscar nomination, though “Water and Power” did win the Sundance Grand Jury prize in 1990. 1989’s Oscar winner for Best Documentary Feature was fellow NFR entry “Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt”.

I realized while writing this post that I’ve never actually compiled a list of the “Staring at Water” movies that I reference every so often on this blog, and after almost 10 years it’s time to do something about that. Here are the NFR entries that are either fully or in part lingering shots of water with little narration or context:

The Plot: Teenager Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) lives a privileged life in Beverly Hills, but is determined to do good deeds for others. After setting up two of her teachers (Twink Caplan and Wallace Shawn), Cher and her best friend Dionne (Stacey Dash) set their sights on making over awkward new student Tai Frasier (Brittany Murphy). Cher also spends the school year trying to set Tai up with the right guy, while simultaneously trying to make things happen with metrosexual student Christian (Justin Walker). Also on hand is Cher’s ex-stepbrother Josh (Paul Rudd), who Cher may have feelings for. Will she figure it out, or will she remain clueless?

Why It Matters: The NFR calls the film “a time capsule of clothing, music, dialogue and teenage life.”

But Does It Really?: I’ve nominated “Clueless” a few times in the past, so no argument from me for NFR inclusion. I can’t remember the first time I saw “Clueless”, but I’ve always been aware of its place in pop culture; permanently defining mid-‘90s SoCal with its fashion and vernacular. Despite its timeliness, “Clueless” still manages to work over 30 years later as both timeless and very, very funny. As Breckin Meyer’s stoner character says, “Two very enthusiastic thumbs up. Fine holiday fun.”

Shout Outs: References to “The Wizard of Oz”, “Gigi”, “Some Like It Hot”, “2001: A Space Odyssey”, “Forrest Gump”, and a clip from “Sparatacus”.

Everybody Gets One: Alicia Silverstone was a relative newcomer to film when she got cast in the music video for Aerosmith’s “Cryin’”, subsequently appearing in their videos for “Amazing” and “Crazy”. It was her work in these videos that caught the eye of Amy Heckerling and got her cast as Cher in “Clueless”. Silverstone has continued to act on film and TV over the last 30 years, and is also an outspoken activist for PETA. This is also the NFR debut for most of the cast, including Paul Rudd, Stacey Dash, Brittany Murphy, Breckin Meyer, and Dan Hedaya.

Wow, That’s Dated: Much like Heckerling’s “Fast Times” and the ‘80s, “Clueless” is inseparable from the ‘90s. Among my favorite ‘90s references: a shoutout to Tower Records, a slam on Pauly Shore movies, and a simpler time when Mel Gibson was just a Hollywood leading man and nothing else.

Seriously, Oscars?: No Oscar nominations for “Clueless”, though the film did earn a few precursor nominations and wins for Amy Heckerling’s screenplay, as well as Alicia Silverstone’s breakthrough performance.

• There isn’t a false performance in the ensemble. Of course it begins and ends with Alicia Silverstone, who successfully navigates Cher’s wisdom beyond her years while still being a 15-year-old. Only Silverstone can make spoiled look so adorable. We’re also treated to great supporting turns by the entire cast, especially from the wonderfully naive Brittany Murphy. My personal MVPs are Donald Faison giving us a preview of the comic energy he’ll be bringing as Dr. Turk on “Scrubs”, and Dan Hedaya as the rare supportive, present parental figure in a Heckerling teen comedy.
• Shoutout to costume designer Mona May. Half the success of “Clueless” is its costumes, which May apparently was able to get for cheap, as she considered the characters to be “mall rats, not models”. May also makes a cameo appearance within the film as Fabian the masseuse.
• As I’ve learned from this blog, a movie quote really catches on when you repeat it multiple times in the movies. Cher’s disgusted “As if” is said six times throughout “Clueless”.

• Not a revolutionary opinion, but it’s my first opportunity to address it here on the blog: Paul Rudd doesn’t age. Rudd was 25 when he made “Clueless”, and cites good sleep, exercising, and a healthy diet as contributions to his ageless appearance. Side note: I assume Rudd’s favorite clip from this movie is when the kid in the wheelchair falls off the cliff while a small alien looks on. Though that might be from another movie…

• Ms. Geist is played by Heckerling regular Twink Caplan, who also serves as the film’s associate producer. Mr. Hall is played by Wallace Shawn, who, factoring in his appearance here and in “The Incredibles”, now has seven NFR appearances. He’s inching towards Ward Bond territory.
• Hey, another movie for my “Die Hard Not Christmas” list. Does this make “Rollin’ with My Homies” a Christmas song?
• “Let’s blow off 7th and 8th, go to the mall, have a calorie fest, and see the new Christian Slater.” … They’re going to see “Murder in the First”?
• Favorite line in the movie: Cher’s dad to Christian before he takes Cher out; “Anything happens to my daughter, I got a .45 and a shovel. I doubt anybody would miss you.”

• Also dated: a performance from The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Man, remember ska?
• I don’t have much to say about the film’s third act, other than I love Tai’s line, “You’re a virgin who can’t drive”, perhaps the ultimate put-down in a teen movie. I’m also a fan of third act “Main character is sad” montages, and this movie gives us one courtesy of an “All By Myself” cover performed by Jewel.

• As much as I enjoy this movie, I’m still iffy on the whole “ex-stepbrother” thing. The movie goes to great lengths to remind us that Josh and Cher are not related to each other, which is also the strategy in most adult films (so I’m told). I don’t know, it just doesn’t sit right with me.

• “Clueless” became a TV series in 1996 for a season on ABC, then two more seasons on UPN. Most of the film cast reprised their roles for the series, with Rachel Blanchard filling in for Alicia Silverstone. Other “Clueless” spin-offs include a series of novels and comic books, and even an Off-Broadway musical.

• Attempts at a sequel series starring Alicia Silverstone have been on-and-off for the last few years. As of this writing, the series is on, but so far the closest we’ve gotten is the 2023 Super Bowl commercial with Silverstone and Elisa Donovan (Amber) reprising their roles. What-ever.

The Plot: While in New York, sailor Michael O’Hara (Orson Welles) meets and falls for Elsa Bannister (Rita Hayworth), who has just returned to New York from Shanghai. Michael soon learns that Elsa is married to famous criminal defense attorney Arthur Bannister (Everett Sloane), who offers Michael a job on his yacht. As things become complicated between Michael and Elsa, Michael meets Arthur’s business partner George Grisby (Glenn Anders) who, knowing of Michael’s criminal past, offers him $5000 to confess to murdering Grisby so that Grisby can fake his own death and disappear. That’s all I’ll reveal for now, not because I’m worried about spoilers, but rather because the plot becomes so confusing at this point that I genuinely couldn’t explain it to you even if I tried. It ends in a hall of mirrors, that much I can confidently tell you.

Why It Matters: The NFR states the film “is renowned for its stunning set pieces…baroque cinematography and convoluted plot.”

But Does It Really?: As much as I’ve enjoyed watching and studying Welles’ other NFR films, “Lady from Shanghai” threw me for a loop. Welles’ movies are off the beaten path; you either lean into their chaos or let them drive you mad. I could go along with “Citizen Kane” (and to an extent “Magnificent Ambersons” and “Touch of Evil”), but “Shanghai” is a whole other animal. Part of that is its film noir crypticness, and muddling of its source material, some of that is (say it with me) studio meddling of Welles’ original film. Still, it has the hall of mirrors scene, which has become so much of a trope it’s incredible to realize it came from a single movie. “The Lady from Shanghai” is iconic enough that its NFR induction is understandable, but man alive is it weird.

Wow, That’s Dated: Grisby’s entire plan hinges on corpus delicti; Michael can’t be convicted of murdering Grisby if the police can’t find his body. While still a rarity, advancements in forensic science have since made it possible to convict someone of murder using circumstantial evidence.

Title Track: The film at one point shared a working title with its source novel: “If I Die Before I Wake”. Other titles considered included “Black Irish” and “Take This Woman” before the final, more mysterious “The Lady from Shanghai”.

• In my research for this post, everything specifically about Rita Hayworth’s performance centered around her hair, famously cut short and bleached blonde for this film. And who says no one took her seriously? I think she does the best she can with a very constricted part. Like many a “dame” in film noir, Hayworth’s Elsa has to play everything close to the chest, not allowing her much to do outside subtle glancing. She gets better as the film progresses, but you hate to see a good actor get upstaged by her own hair.
• Bannister’s yacht was “played” by Zaca, owned at the time by actor Errol Flynn. As per his contract, Flynn was always present during the Zaca shoots, skippering the boat between takes. Also blink and you’ll miss Flynn in the background of the Acapulco cantina scene. As of this writing, Zaca is still active, though given the amount of refurbishment it takes to keep a nearly 100 year old ship going we may have a Ship of Theseus situation on our hands.
• When Elsa goes swimming of the Acapulco coast, she returns to the boat with immediately dry hair, which then becomes wet in her next close-up and then dry again in the next shot. What is in that water?
• And then Grisby arrives and things take a turn for the weird(er). Part of that is Glenn Anders’ unrestrained performance (Anders was a stage actor and “Lady from Shanghai” was a rare film performance), and part of that is the juxtaposition from Welles’ original vision for the film and Columbia’s mandated reshoots. Side note: the $5000 Grisby offers Michael would be over $75,000 in today’s money.
• And then Bannister and his crew make port in Saulsalito and the film becomes a nice travelogue of late ‘40s San Francisco. The first notable filming location is Michael and Elsa’s secret rendezvous at the Steinhart Aquarium at the California Academy of Sciences. The aquarium has changed quite a bit in the last 80 years, but seeing it here was a pleasant surprise (even if they use optical trickery to make the fish look bigger).
• [Spoilers] This movie gets real confusing real quick once Michael tries to pull off the murder plot. Without revealing too much, I’m no expert on this sort of thing, but when you’re trying to kill someone to stop them from talking, you gotta make sure they’re actually dead! Come on people, is this your first film noir?
• The film’s third act becomes a real circus with several plot revelations colliding into each other (including a few that only make sense if you’ve read the book). First we get an extended courtroom drama as Arthur tries to defend Michael, with lots of overdubbed expository dialogue (I’m guessing in an attempt to clear up the plot. Didn’t help). This is followed by a chase through Chinatown, and finally the film’s legendary showdown inside a hall of mirrors. It’s easily the most visually engaging sequence in the whole movie, seemingly the only time Welles’ vision made it onto the big screen (although Columbia cut it down from its initial 20 minutes to under 5). Speaking of the finale, pour one out for Playland, the gone but not forgotten amusement park that once resided next to Ocean Beach.

• But the film’s most enduring legacy is its Hall of Mirrors finale. Many a film and TV show has featured a climactic shootout in a hall of mirrors, including another NFR entry: “Enter the Dragon”.

The Plot: On the outskirts of an Arizona town in the Old West, Johnny Guitar (Sterling Hayden) enters a saloon, having been sent for by the saloon’s owner, Vienna (Joan Crawford). Shortly thereafter, Vienna is confronted about her connection to the Dancin’ Kid (Scott Brady) and his gang, who have been accused of murdering the brother of Vienna’s longtime rival Emma Small (Mercedes McCambridge). With the prospect of Vienna’s saloon being closed down, Johnny agrees to stay and protect Vienna. But this is just the tip of the iceberg as plenty of secrets will be revealed in this Western that doesn’t play by anyone’s rules.

Why It Matters: The NFR calls the film “one of the stranger, kinkier Westerns of all time” with “enough symbolism to keep a psychiatrist occupied for years”. An essay by “the dean of classic film distributors” Michael Schlesinger digs into some of that symbolism.

But Does It Really?: Unfortunately I side with most 1954 critics when I say, “What the hell was that?” I’m not a fan of Westerns to begin with, so you’d think one that subverts all the tropes would hold my interest a little more, but nope, “Johnny Guitar” is just another Western I had to muddle through for this blog. Now before I hear you cry “You just didn’t get it”, clearly this movie has enough devotees to admit it might be working on a frequency I’m just not catching. “Johnny Guitar” isn’t bad, it’s just weird, but it’s another one of those underrated Westerns that film scholars love, so it finds a deserving spot on the NFR, despite my misgivings.

Title Track: Composed by Victor Young with lyrics by Peggy Lee (who also performs the song), “Johnny Guitar” plays briefly over the end titles, which clearly wasn’t enough to get the song an Oscar nomination. Speaking of…

Seriously, Oscars?: No Oscar or precursor nominations for “Johnny Guitar”, though it did land at 9th place in the French magazine’s Cahiers du Cinéma’s annual top ten list, the first hint that this film’s appeal lays abroad.

• I feel bad for Sterling Hayden. He may be playing the title character, but this is clearly Joan’s movie. He has a few heroic moments, but at the end of the day is movie really should have been called “Vienna”. There’s even a long stretch in the middle where Johnny is absent from the action. He doesn’t even get above-the-title billing! Oh, and it’s pretty obvious that Sterling Hayden doesn’t know how to play the guitar, which you’d think would be a major prerequisite for the part
• My biggest qualm with the movie: there’s too many secrets going on at the beginning. The first big scene in the saloon features all the main characters, each with some secret that won’t be revealed until later in the movie, meaning there’s a lot of opaque dialogue happening that makes you feel like you came in the middle. Not helping matters is that once the character secrets are revealed, I didn’t care.

• Somewhat infamously, everyone hated everyone else on this shoot. Crawford didn’t like Mercedes McCambridge (she wanted Claire Trevor to play Emma) and their rivalry soured production for everyone else. Crawford also didn’t get along with Sterling Hayden, and the feeling was more than mutual, with Hayden stating later that there wasn’t enough money in the world to get him to work with Crawford again, adding “And I like money.”
• Speaking of McCambridge, I liked her performance in this, mainly because it was unapologetically campy. She plays Emma with scenery-chewing gusto, making no effort to hide her desire for vengeance against Vienna. Also, as mentioned in many an essay about the film, you can definitely read a lesbian subtext into the Vienna/Emma dynamic. Ultimately this movie is about their relationship.
• As with any Western, there’s a plethora of familiar faces. There’s Ward Bond in his umpteenth NFR appearance leading the posse. The Dancin’ Kid’s gang consists of a pre-fame Ernest Borgnine, plus Royal Dano aka Robot Lincoln (hey that’s two Disneyland references in one post!). And one of Vienna’s loyal employees is John Carradine, who gets slightly more to do with his screen time here than he did in “The Court Jester”.
• Several references are made throughout the film to Albuquerque, New Mexico, but everyone pronounces it “al-ba-kirk”. Only three syllables? Not Al-ba-kirk-ee? Or even the Bugs Bunny sanctioned Al-ba-koik-ee?
• Man, I really don’t have much else to say about “Johnny Guitar”. To reiterate, I don’t think it’s a bad movie, it just didn’t hold my interest in the way I hoped it would. But hey, there’s over 900 movies on this list, I’m not going to enjoy all of them. As “Johnny Guitar” reached its inevitable showdown conclusion, all I could think as I was watching was, “What the hell was that?”

• Roy Chanslor wrote another western novel that would get turned into a movie: “The Ballad of Cat Ballou”.

• Among the filmmakers inspired by “Johnny Guitar” is Pedro Almodóvar, who included the film during a pivotal scene in “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown”. 

• During my viewing I wondered if the film was ever a play at some point. Turns out it wasn’t just a play, it was a musical! A musical adaptation of “Johnny Guitar” played Off-Broadway in 2004, and according to the aforementioned Schlesinger essay played up the implied lesbian subtext between Vienna and Emma to the hilt.
• And of course, electric guitarist Johnny “Guitar” Watson got his stage name after seeing this movie.