Author: thehorsesheadblog

#146) Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

OR “What If Pod Was One of Us”

Directed by Don Siegel

Written by Daniel Mainwaring. Based on the serial novel “The Body Snatchers” by Jack Finney.

Class of 1994

The Plot: Small-town doctor Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) returns from his vacation to find many of the townspeople acting strangely. Some claim their loved ones are imposters, only to dismiss their own accusations the next day. While attempting a night out with his ex-girlfriend Becky (Dana Wynter), Miles is called over to the house of his friends Jack & Teddy (King Donovan & Carolyn Jones) to discover a body that looks exactly like Jack. They soon discover that the entire town is being replaced by replicates that emerge from large pods. The mass hysteria that follows can only be the science fiction of Eisenhower’s America!

Why It Matters: The NFR calls it “influential and chilling” and praises the direction, writing, and cinematography. There’s also an essay by late film critic Robert Sklar.

But Does It Really?: “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” is an iconic piece of ‘50s science fiction for sure, but I found it…just okay. There are some exciting scenes and good work being done throughout, but it just never fired on all cylinders for me. A lot of this is because of watered down tampering by Allied Artists Picture (and where are they now?). In addition, the subtext is so subtle and vague even the people who made the film aren’t sure what it is. Perhaps if Don Siegel and company were allowed to make the film they wanted to make I could get behind all of this, but as is, “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” is an okay film with just enough influence to warrant preservation.

Everybody Gets One: Most of the people involved, including the two leads. Kevin McCarthy was already an Oscar nominee for playing Biff in the film version of “Death of a Salesman”, and Dana Wynter had been in America for less than two years before being cast in this film (and winning the Golden Globe for Most Promising Female Newcomer).

Wow, That’s Dated: Lots of Atomic Age paranoia in this one. Plus the ‘50s were that time when live bands at restaurants were being replaced by jukeboxes.

Seriously, Oscars?: Like many B-pictures of the time, “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” got no Oscar love. This adds to my conspiracy theory that at one point in the ‘50s, pod people replaced the Motion Picture Academy. I’m working on a “Room 237”-esque documentary about it. Someone please help me, I am very ill.

Other notes

• Gotta love the countless widescreen formats that were created in the early ‘50s. “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” is presented in Superscope!
• I know the framing device was tacked on by the studio and everyone hated it, but we do get one of my favorite tropes because of it: A flashback dissolve!
• Surprise appearance by Dr. Mel Cooley (Now that’s a spinoff we should have gotten).
• The movie was originally scheduled to film in Mill Valley, the Northern California town the original story is set in. Budget cuts prohibited this, but I gotta say that the real Mill Valley isn’t too different from the fictional Santa Mira.
• Becky enters the scene with her own theme music!
• Fun Fact: Dana Wynter was born in Germany to a Hungarian mother and a British father. And now you understand why her accent is all over the place in this movie.
• That’s future film director Sam Peckinpah as the meter reader at the beginning. He got his start as an assistant director and dialect coach for many of Don Siegel’s films.
• Kevin McCarthy has one hell of a part in his hair. I’m surprised I can’t see his skull.
• I confess to not recognizing Carolyn Jones without her “Morticia Addams” wig. Who knew she was a blonde?
• This movie wins no points for backstory/exposition. Everyone refers to each other by their occupation and past experiences.
• The story goes that this 80-minute film was much longer, but the studio insisted that humor did not belong in a horror film, so the funnier and more humane parts were cut. I would love to have seen the extended cut of this film.
• Jack kinda looks like young Mr. Roper.
• I went into this film assuming it was a commentary on Red Scare paranoia. Watching the actual film makes a pretty vague case for that interpretation. Turns out that while director Don Siegel did notice some parallels, none were intentionally inserted into the film.
• Ladies and gentlemen: The Hot Dog Show!
• This movie has its flaws, but the ending is not one of them. Some serious chills were happening, I’ll tell you what.

Legacy

• Several remakes over the years. Many will argue the 1978 version starring Donald Sutherland is superior, while not many will even validate the existence of the 1993 or 2007 versions.

• Thanks to this movie, the term “pod people” has become synonymous with conformity.
• Many parodies over the years, including a particularly strange one from Bugs Bunny.

Bonus Clip: Kevin McCarthy’s brief but pivotal cameo in the 1978 “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”.

I’ve wanted to make this dumb little video for years, and this blog is as good an excuse as any. Whatever holiday you’re celebrating this time of year, make it a good one!

Tony

#145) Nothing But a Man (1964)

OR “Can’t Get Enough of That Wonderful Duff”

Directed by Michael Roemer

Written by Roemer and Robert M. Young

Class of 1993

No original theatrical trailer, but here’s a modern one by the British Film Institute.

The Plot: Set in and around Birmingham, Alabama during the Civil Rights movement, “Nothing But a Man” is the story of two African-Americans who fall in love. Railroad section hand Duff (Ivan Dixon) is uncompromising in his dislike for the racist treatment he and his race have received, while schoolteacher Josie (Abbey Lincoln) wishes to coexist with the town’s white population as is, following the example of her preacher father (Stanley Green). Both Duff and Josie’s morals are challenged by the ongoing racial tension, Duff’s inability to find steady work, and his strained relationship with his alcoholic father Will (Julius Harris).

Why It Matters: The NFR praises the film’s soundtrack and “naturalistic almost documentary visual style”.

But Does It Really?: “Nothing But a Man” is the kind of film the National Film Registry is all about. Sure, it’s for the classics, but it’s also for films that captured their time perfectly and need to be remembered. “Nothing But a Man” shows the complexity of the African-American life of the early ‘60s without making it preachy or sentimental. This film is grounded by its neorealism, as well as some excellent chemistry between Ivan Dixon and Abbey Lincoln. Celebrated by critics and scholars in more recent years, “Nothing But a Man” has never gotten its fair share of praise, and its inclusion on the NFR is a chance for future generations to discover this wonderful film.

Everybody Gets One: Director Michael Roemer based this film partly on his experience as a child surviving the rise of Nazis in his native Berlin. He felt the persecution towards him and his Jewish family paralleled the persecution of African-Americans in the south. Abbey Lincoln was a jazz singer with several hit albums under her belt by the time she made “Nothing But a Man”. Her brief appearance in the 1956 film “The Girl Can’t Help It” inspired her to launch an acting career.

Wow, That’s Dated: Gas is 27 cents a gallon! And keep an ear out for a song by “Little” Stevie Wonder.

Take a Shot: No one says the title, but the real drinking game is every time a white character calls Duff “boy” and/or every time Duff calls Josie “baby”.

Seriously, Oscars?: Due to its very limited release (I don’t think it ever played Los Angeles), “Nothing But a Man” received zero Oscar nominations. It didn’t start getting acclaim until it was rereleased with a restored print in 1993 (the same year it made the NFR list).

Other notes

• The DVD of this film comes with a reprint of an all-encompassing essay by Jim Davidson from a 1998 issue of Common Quest. If you want to know anything about the making of this film, track this article down. I also recommend this essay by Judith E. Smith. You’ll learn more here than on the IMDb trivia page, that’s for sure.
• Yes, this movie was directed by a white man, but Michael Roemer has stated that he only did it because he felt no one else was telling this story. In the years since, he has said that enough films by/about African-Americans have been made that white people should no longer direct them.
• If nothing else, this film has a great soundtrack
• Duff, never call a woman “ma’am”. Especially if you’re trying to get with her.
• A morally complex man trying to date a repressed relative of the town preacher…oh my god, it’s a remake of “Hell’s Hinges”!
• When a group of clean-cut white men show up, it can only be trouble. And I’m not talking about the movies, I mean in real life.
• I understand this was made on a shoe-string budget, but there are several out-of-focus shots throughout the film. Cinematographer (and co-writer) Robert Young should have stuck to his old job of family physician.
• I’m glad that “Nothing But a Man” is pro-vaccination.
• That’s Gloria Foster as Will’s wife Lee. If you know her only as the Oracle from “The Matrix”, you owe it to yourself to look up her other work.
• “(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave” doesn’t strike me as a slow-dance kinda song.
• Blink and you’ll miss Esther Rolle (aka Florida from “Good Times”) as one of the churchgoers in the wedding scene.
• Be on the lookout for not one, but two driving shots in the movie where someone on the street waves at the camera.
• “Stop being so damned understanding!” Now that’s a line you don’t hear in most movies.
• Along those lines, I appreciate that this film never pits Duff and Josie against each other. They fight and argue sometimes, but through it all you can see that they love each other.
• The guy with the broken car was the winner of the 1964 Truman Capote lookalike contest.
• We learn towards the end that Will is 48, and that is a rough 48. To add to the confusion, Julius Harris was 40 during filming, while his on-screen son Ivan Dixon was 32.

Legacy

• Ivan Dixon continued acting, most famously on “Hogan’s Heroes” for five seasons. Dixon would go on to direct films and episodic television, including fellow NFR entry “The Spook Who Sat by the Door”.

• Abbey Lincoln would continue her singing career well into the early 2000s. Her acting career never took off, but she did manage to snag a Golden Globe nomination for playing the titular maid in “For Love of Ivy”.

• When Michael Roemer’s follow-up film “The Plot Against Harry” couldn’t find distribution, his directing career all but ended. It was only after he converted his film to video for his children that they started getting recognition.

#144) Big Business (1929)

OR “Holly Jolly Stan & Ollie”

Directed by James W. Horne

Written by Leo McCarey. Titles by H.M. Walker.

Class of 1992

The Plot: Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy are two door-to-door Christmas tree salesmen (like you do), trying and failing to peddle their wares in Southern California. A heated exchange with one particularly unenthusiastic homeowner (James Finlayson) leads to an all-out war on the man’s front yard.

Why It Matters: The NFR calls Laurel & Hardy “the perfect team for the transition from silent film comedy to sound.” An essay by Laurel & Hardy expert Randy Skretvedt calls “Big Business” the team’s best silent film.

But Does It Really?: I laughed a lot, but I feel the same way about this as I did about W.C. Fields’ silent NFR entry “So’s Your Old Man”: Laurel & Hardy without sound is only half a film. It’s all very entertaining, but I don’t know if it absolutely needs to be preserved. And how this made the NFR list before their more iconic films “The Music Box” and “Sons of the Desert” is quite puzzling.

Everybody Gets One: James Finlayson appeared in 33 films with Laurel & Hardy, always as their adversary. He gets an extended biography in the aforementioned Skretvedt essay. Like so many before and after him, Jim was a Scottish tinsmith who caught the acting bug. P.S.: The moustache was fake.

Take a Shot: Stan says “big business” once (via title card) about six minutes in.

Seriously, Oscars?: The only reason “Big Business” didn’t win Best Live Action Short was because the category didn’t exist yet. It would first appear in 1932, the winner being L&H’s “The Music Box”.

Other notes

• The supervising director (and uncredited screenwriter) for “Big Business” is Leo McCarey, while the cinematographer is George Stevens. Both men would go on to become acclaimed directors in their own right, both winning the Best Director Oscar twice. Between the two of them, McCarey and Stevens directed 15 films that have appeared on the National Film Registry. Hal Roach knew how to pick ‘em.
• Note to self: Start answering door with hammer.
• Watch closely: Stan calls Ollie “Babe” in one take. Babe was Oliver Hardy’s real-life nickname.
• Does anyone in this crowd want to do literally anything to help?
• The inside of the man’s house seems to consist solely of vases.
• The boys are hilarious throughout this short, but I miss hearing them speak.

Legacy

• It doesn’t happen in this film, but Laurel & Hardy foil James Finlayson would go on to exclaim “d’oh” in their sound films, inspiring Dan Castellaneta to make that annoyed grunt Homer Simpson’s trademark.

And my personal Mt. Everest just got a bit taller.

Here are (in chronological order) the 25 films selected for the National Film Registry in 2017. Films noted with an asterisk are films that I submitted on my nomination ballot.

• Interior New York Subway, 14^th Street to 42^nd Street (1905)
• The Sinking of the Lusitania (1918)
• Fuentes Family Home Movies Collection (1920s-1930s)
• He Who Gets Slapped (1924)
• With the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in Spain (1937-1938)
• Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
• Dumbo (1941)
• Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)
• Ace in the Hole (1951)
• Spartacus (1960)*
• Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967)*
• Wanda (1971)
• Lives of Performers (1972)
• Time and Dreams (1976)
• Superman (1978)
• Boulevard Nights (1979)
• The Goonies (1985)
• La Bamba (1987)
• Die Hard (1988)*
• Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser (1988)
• Field of Dreams (1989)
• To Sleep with Anger (1990)
• 4 Little Girls (1997)
• Titanic (1997)*
• Memento (2000)

These 25 films have been added to my official rotation, the first write-up will appear on this blog in February 2018.

In addition, the Library of Congress’ YouTube channel has added a selection of films from the Registry. Check it out, I know I will.