#725) Boys Don’t Cry (1999)

#725) Boys Don’t Cry (1999)

OR “Brandon Recognition”

Directed by Kimberly Peirce

Written by Peirce and Andy Bienen.

Class of 2019

The Plot: “Boys Don’t Cry” is based on the true story of Brandon Teena, a transgender man who was raped and murdered in 1993, one of many cases in the 1990s that led to more state and federal laws against hate crimes. Upon his arrival in Falls City, Nebraska, Brandon (Hilary Swank) befriends ex-con John Lotter (Peter Sarsgaard) and his group of friends, including John’s ex-girlfriend Lana Tisdel (Chloë Sevigny). Brandon keeps his biological gender a secret, with his new social circle totally unaware of his previous life as a woman (and as a wanted criminal for check forgery). Things get complicated as Brandon begins a romantic relationship with Lana, and everyone gets closer to the truth…or as close to the truth as we were able to comprehend in 1999.

Why It Matters: The NFR calls the film a “searing docudrama”, singling out Swank’s performance. The write-up also acknowledges the issues regarding sexual identity and transphobia brought up by this movie and includes a snippet from Janet Maslin’s New York Times review which praised the film for its uplifting qualities.

But Does It Really?: Admittedly, I was apprehensive about watching “Boys Don’t Cry” given what I knew about the film’s tragic ending, but I was quickly won over, thanks to Swank’s commanding performance and Peirce’s sensitive, caring direction. “Boys Don’t Cry” somehow manages to take a very distressing historical event and focus on the person at the center, helping an audience recognize our transgender citizens for the dimensional humans that they are. “Boys Don’t Cry” makes the NFR for its refreshing and respectful approach to its subject matter, and for its reminder of how far we’ve come in terms of transgender representation, and how much we still have left to go.

Everybody Gets One: While working on her MFA at Columbia University in the mid-90s, Kimberly Peirce read a Village Voice article about Brandon Teena’s murder, and was inspired to make a short film about Brandon that went beyond the sensationalist media headlines and focused on Brandon as a person. Peirce conducted research by traveling to Falls City, Nebraska, interviewing Lana Tisdale, and even attending the trial of Teena’s murderers. The eventual short film (also titled “Boys Don’t Cry”) caught the eye of producer Christine Vachon, who helped Peirce develop it into a narrative feature film. Film production stalled when Peirce was unable to cast the role of Brandon after auditioning hundreds of cisgender women (as well as several transgender men), but was finally won over by Hilary Swank, then best known as “The Next Karate Kid” and freshly fired from “Beverly Hills, 90210”. Swank prepared to play Brandon by living as a man for a month prior to shooting, to the point where Swank’s neighbors thought her brother had moved in with her. Reflecting on the part 20 years later, Swank stated that if she were offered the role of Brandon today, she would turn it down, believing that the character should be played by a transgender actor.

Title Track: The film was written and filmed under its original title “Take It Like a Man” but was changed to “Boys Don’t Cry” late in production. The film takes its name from The Cure song of the same name, and while the song does appear in the final film, it’s a cover/soundalike by Nathan Larson, then-guitarist for Shudder to Think.

Seriously, Oscars?: Despite playing in only a handful of theaters when initially released, “Boys Don’t Cry” was a strong awards contender throughout the season, ultimately receiving two Academy Award nominations. Chloë Sevigny lost Best Supporting Actress to Angelina Jolie in “Girl, Interrupted”, but Hilary Swank prevailed in the Best Actress category, beating out more established actors Annette Bening, Janet McTeer, Julianne Moore, and Meryl Streep.

Other notes

  • First, let’s pour one out for Fox Searchlight Pictures, which dropped the “Fox” from its name after being acquired by Disney in 2019. “Boys Don’t Cry” is the first Fox Searchlight film on the Registry, joined four years later by “12 Years a Slave”.
  • One of Peirce’s goals with this film was not to mythologize or lionize Brandon Teena, and I feel she succeed on that front. The film always feels authentic; everyone’s dialogue sounds true to life (a very difficult feat to pull off), and all the performances are grounded and realistic. Even the moments where emotions run high never feel too forced or overly dramatic. It makes you trust the film and its portrayal of Brandon as a real person caught in a horrible situation.
  • Everyone in this movie is great, but Swank is the undeniable MVP. There is something quite compelling about Swank’s work; her Brandon is so instantly likeable that you accept his situation immediately and root for him, even if you know this story won’t end well for Brandon. On a lighter note, my favorite detail in Swank’s performance is the aggressive manspreading Brandon has while seated. It’s a nice subtle touch.
  • The rest of the ensemble rises to Swank’s level and delivers good work. Peter Sarsgaard is the right balance of charismatic and threatening without ever tipping over into cartoon villain territory. You recognize John (and his accomplice Tom as played by Brendan Sexton III) as a regular guy whose internal struggles led to some very bad decisions. I also really enjoyed Chloë Sevigny, playing Lana as troubled and contradictory, but always real and alluring. And no, you are not seeing things; Lana’s friend Candace is played by Lecy Goranson, aka Becky #1 from “Roseanne”. Goranson was cast based on her resemblance to Lisa Lambert, the real person the composite character of Candace is based on.
  • I don’t have a lot to say about the film itself, mainly because I was so engrossed with it during my viewing, but also because the film is just that good: there’s only so many ways I can complement any aspect of this film without becoming repetitive or breaking out my thesaurus. Also, as a cisgender male I do not feel qualified to discuss the nuances of transgender identity presented by this film. I will, however, give one more department their due and shoutout this movie’s cinematography. Kimberly Peirce started out as a photographer, which explains why she and cinematographer Jim Denault include several shots of the Nebraska night sky presented through timelapse photography (inspired by the work of Jan Staller). I’m not sure what it all means, but you can’t begrudge Peirce for wanting to add a bit of artistic flourish to the proceedings, especially something that doesn’t harm or disrespect the real story being told.
  • The sex scenes between Brandon and Lana are noteworthy because of the double standard that seemed to stem from them. Peirce has talked at length about how “Boys Don’t Cry” was initially rated NC-17 but was bumped down to an R after some trims. While most of these edits pertained to the rapes scenes later in the movie, Peirce was upset that it was the sex scenes between a cisgender woman and a transgender man that more concerned the MPAA, particularly the length of Lana’s orgasm. Peirce talks more about her issues with the MPAA rating system in the great documentary “This Film is Not Yet Rated”.
  • At some point I knew that “Boys Don’t Cry” was based on real events, but I forgot prior to this viewing, so it was a surprise to me when the film ended with text explaining what happened to John and Lana after Brandon’s death. The film mercifully doesn’t begin with some variation of “Based on a True Story”, which allowed me to get caught up in the lives of these characters rather than the historical accuracy of it all (I spent the last third of my viewing yelling at Brandon and Lana to get out of town like it was a horror movie). The end text was a sobering reminder that this all happened, and despite the progress made in the last quarter century, is still happening. 

Legacy

  • After premiering at the New York Film Festival, “Boys Don’t Cry” opened in October 1999 in about 25 theaters across the country. The film went in a wider release following its two Oscar nominations, and by March 2000 (the same month of the Oscars) the film had grossed almost three times its production budget.
  • While “Boys Don’t Cry” was a hit with critics and award shows, one person who didn’t like it was the real Lana Tisdel, who sued Fox Searchlight for unauthorized use of her name, and for portraying her in the film as “lazy white trash” (Tisdel eventually settled out of court). While Brandon’s mother JoAnn Brandon never accepted Brandon’s lifestyle and refused to be interviewed by Peirce for the movie, she has since become more understanding of Brandon and those like him, and appreciates what “Boys Don’t’ Cry” has done to raise awareness for the transgender community.
  • “Boys Don’t Cry’ has gone on to be a landmark in queer representation in film, helping pave the way for larger conversations about our transgender community. While the film’s cultural footprint throughout the 2000s was primarily as a transphobic punchline on TV, that has thankfully lessened in more recent years, and the film and its subject matter continue to receive the respect they deserve.
  • Hilary Swank followed up “Boys Don’t Cry” with several big movies, including Clint Eastwood’s “Million Dollar Baby”, for which she won her second Best Actress Oscar. Peter Sarsgaard continues to grace our screens with reliable character work, as does Chloë Sevigny, whose work as an actor is matched by her work confusing the internet with her fashion choices.
  • Kimberly Peirce’s next film was 2008’s “Stop-Loss” based on the experience of American soldiers in the Iraq War. To date, Peirce has only made one other theatrical movie – a 2013 adaptation of Stephen King’s “Carrie” – but she continues to work frequently in episodic TV. Peirce is also an activist for queer and woman’s rights. Upon the NFR induction of “Boys Don’t Cry” in 2019, Peirce called the moment “a culmination, unimaginable and wonderful.”

Further Viewing: “The Brandon Teena Story”, the 1998 documentary by Susan Muska and Greta Olafsdottir which features interviews from many people that knew Brandon, including JoAnn Brandon and Lana Tisdel.

#724) Show Boat (1936)

#724) Show Boat (1936)

OR “Mississippi Yearning”

Directed by James Whale

Written by Oscar Hammerstein II. Based on the stage musical by Hammerstein and Jerome Kern, and the novel by Edna Ferber.

Class of 1996

Not the original trailer, but a fun approximation using a radio spot.

The Plot: “Show Boat” chronicles 40 years in the life of the Hawks family as they travel the Mississippi in their riverboat Cotton Palace, putting on shows in every port town. In the late 1880s, Magnolia Hawks (Irene Dunne), daughter of the boat’s Cap’n Andy (Charles Winninger), becomes the show’s leading lady when Julie LaVerne (Helen Morgan), a light-skinned Black woman married to a White man (Donald Cook), is chased out of town by miscegenation laws. Despite the objections of her mother Parthy (Helen Westley), Magnolia becomes romantically involved with Gaylord Ravenal (Allan Jones), her leading man with a mysterious past. The loves and losses of Magnolia and her family span the decades, and just like the river they travel on, they just keep rolling along.

Why It Matters: The NFR write-up praises the film’s direction, its leading players, and Paul Robeson’s “heartfelt rendition” of “Ol’ Man River”. The write-up also goes out of its way to slam the 1951 remake, which “has lush Technicolor but not the heart and soul.” Ouch. An essay by film expert Phil Hall declares the film James Whale’s “ultimate triumph”, gives proper historical context, and takes the time to criticize the 1951 remake. Jesus, it can’t be that bad!

But Does It Really?: I understand why “Show Boat” is an important part of film history, but also why it has disappeared from the conversation of classic films. Movie musicals were still in their infancy in 1936, and “Show Boat” is leaps ahead of what other musicals were doing in terms of story and sophistication (this is aided by the source material, a stage musical ahead of its time). Despite this innovation, the film’s racial elements (all developed by White creatives), really don’t hold up. They’re never at a “Birth of a Nation” extreme, but they are prevalent enough throughout to make a modern viewing difficult. Much like its source materials, the film of “Show Boat” was a breakthrough in its day, but its problematic story beats have caused it to age poorly. “Show Boat” is on the NFR for reasons more historical than artistic, but is worthy of its designation nonetheless.

Wow, That’s Dated: BLACKFACE WARNING: We unfortunately must add Irene Dunne to the list of classic movie stars that have performed in Blackface thanks to Magnolia’s “Gallivantin’ Aroun’” number. And this scene’s not even in the show, it was added for the movie!

Seriously, Oscars?: No Oscar nominations for “Show Boat”. Universal’s major Oscar players that year were Best Picture nominee “Three Smart Girls” and fellow NFR entry “My Man Godfrey“. Irene Dunne was nominated for Best Actress that year for her work in another movie: the Columbia screwball comedy “Theodora Goes Wild”.

Other notes

  • Showboats were an actual type of theater throughout the 1800s, its popularity waning with the rise of motion pictures. After hearing a throwaway reference to showboats made by director Winthrop Ames, Edna Ferber became fascinated by the dramatic potential of showboats and began researching them for a novel. The book was published in 1926 and caught the eye of composer Jerome Kern, who pitched Ferber on the idea of a stage musical adaptation. The musical opened on Broadway in December 1927, and was a landmark in dramatic musical productions, back when stages musicals were frivolous comedy revues with minimal – if any – story. Universal had the film rights to the novel “Show Boat”, and began production on a silent film adaptation, but the popularity of the musical, along with the rise of sound pictures, led to the addition of sound sequences featuring songs from the musical. Ultimately unsatisfied with this Frankenstein-ed attempt at a “Show Boat” film, Universal greenlit an all-sound adaptation of the musical in 1933, and after a few false starts (and another director – Frank Borzage), production began in 1935.
  • We’re off to a good start with an elaborate opening credits sequence, the first musical number (“Cap’n Andy’s Ballyhoo”), and a rapid introduction of all the main characters. Right from the start you get an idea of this movie’s overall issue: trying to cram a three-hour musical (itself an encapsulation of a 341-page novel) into a two-hour movie. There’s just too much territory to cover and not enough time to do it all justice.
  • Our two leads are…okay. Irene Dunne is pleasant and convincing enough as a young woman blossoming into adulthood, and as best I can tell did all her own singing. Allan Jones was last-minute casting for Ravenal, joining the film after it had already started shooting! He sings fine, but you never really believe him as a shady gambler. It helps that their first duet together, “Only Make Believe”, is a favorite of mine: Part of a subgenre of Hammerstein songs about people saying they’re in love without saying they’re in love (see also “People Will Say We’re in Love” and “If I Loved You”).
  • “Show Boat” is a lovely reminder that James Whale directed movies outside of the horror genre he is forever identified with, directing this shortly after making “The Bride of Frankenstein” (with murder mystery “Remember Last Night?” in-between). Whale would later state that “Show Boat” was his personal favorite of all his films.
  • If only one scene from this movie could be preserved, it would undoubtedly be Paul Robeson belting “Ol’ Man River”. Robeson’s powerful, no-holds-barred performance earns the scene its iconic status, matched by some inventive expressionistic cinematography, including an impressive-for-its-time rotating crane shot. Now if only this song about the struggles of our Black citizens wasn’t written by two White guys…
  • Ah yes, the mixed-race conundrum. The film retains the plotline about Julie passing for White, but it’s there to serve its story purpose and is never mentioned again. The moment of Julie’s husband Steve slicing Julie’s hand so he can suck the blood and rightfully claim that he also has “negro blood” inside him is startling, especially for a first time viewing. I didn’t realize what was going on and thought Steve was a vampire (this is a Universal picture, after all).
  • The theater sequence (the actual show of “Show Boat”) goes on way too long and serves no real purpose. Is this why people hate live theater? And just when you think it’s finally over, the curtain rises on Irene Dunne is full Blackface, a sequence that – I repeat – was added for this movie. You did not need to include this, and we all would have been better off.
  • Even in the early days of movie musicals we have the golden rule of stage musical movie adaptations: Any cut song goes into the underscore. Of the plethora of songs deleted from original score, listen out for “Life Upon the Wicked Stage”, “After the Fair”, and “Why Do I Love You?”, the latter of which was filmed but cut from the final release.
  • The film’s Herculean effort to cram in every element of the story starts to collapse with this film’s editing of Act Two, which chronicles about 35 years in under an hour. Always a problem onstage, this film’s solution is to cut the second act down to its minimum, and I do mean minimum. I think Magnolia was pregnant for about 40 seconds.
  • “Ah Still Suits Me” is one of three songs written especially for the film, in this case to expand the roles of Queenie and Joe, who are otherwise absent from the film’s second half. It’s a fine, light number, and one last chance to see Hattie McDaniel and Paul Robeson together, but that’s about it.
  • Helen Morgan originated the role of Julie in the original Broadway production of “Show Boat”, reprising it for the 1929 part-talkie film, the 1932 stage revival, and this film. As great as she is in this (especially her rendition of the torch song “Bill”), her performance is sadly overshadowed by the unfortunate parallels between the tragic declines of both her character and herself. 
  • And then the movie just sort of ends with as happy an ending as this story can have, plus a tacked-on reprise of “Ol’ Man River” by an off-screen Paul Robeson. I’m glad I saw this movie, but I’m in no rush to see it again.

Legacy

  • “Show Boat” was a hit upon its release in spring 1936, but not enough of a hit for the film’s producer and Universal founder Carl Laemmle. The financial success of “Show Boat” was a rarity for Universal under Laemmle (and his son Carl Laemmle Jr.), whose track record primarily consisted of overbudget flops. Shortly after the release of “Show Boat”, both Laemmle Sr. and Jr. were ousted from Universal in a hostile takeover. Neither made another movie in their lifetimes, and Carl Sr. died just a few years after his unceremonious firing.
  • In the 1940s MGM, hitting their stride with lavish movie musicals, bought the film rights to “Show Boat” from Universal with the intention of remaking it. They also bought the rights to the 1936 film, primarily to remove it from distribution so it wouldn’t compete with their remake. MGM’s version, starring Ava Gardner and Howard Keel, was released in 1951 and is a streamlined and somewhat sanitized version of the show. While this remake was successful in its day, the gradual return of the 1936 version on TV and home video led to a re-evaluation, which – as evident from the above NFR write-ups – deemed the ’51 remake the inferior movie.
  • The stage version of “Show Boat” was revived often during the 20th century, each version making its own additions and tweaks, including interpolating songs written especially for the 1936 film. The last major American production of “Show Boat” was a successful 1990s Broadway revival directed by Hal Prince. While the show’s popularity has certainly waned over the years, it did enter the public domain on New Year’s Day 2023, and at least one theater company is taking a shot at a major royalty-free revision.
  • Although references to “Show Boat” in modern culture are mainly reserved for the show itself rather than the 1936 film specifically, Paul Robeson’s rendition of “Ol’ Man River” has kept the film’s legacy afloat (if you will). “Ol’ Man River” became Robeson’s signature song, and while many have covered it across the decades, the version I always think of is Billy Crystal’s Oscar parody celebrating Clint Eastwood’s “Mystic River”. “You produce/You write the score/You sang in ‘Paint Your Wagon’/ Please don’t sing no mooooo-oooore”.

Listen To This: Before theater cast albums were commonplace, the 1932 Broadway revival of “Show Boat” received a recording, which was inducted into the National Recording Registry in 2005. While not the full score, this is one of the first cast recordings of its kind in theater history and features both Helen Morgan and Paul Robeson performing their songs four years prior to their filmed reprisals. An essay by “Show Boat” expert Todd Decker is a track-by-track breakdown of the album and its artists.

#723) Lady Helen’s Escapade (1909)

#723) Lady Helen’s Escapade (1909)

OR “The Woman with No Name”

Directed by D. W. Griffith

Written by Stanner E. V. Taylor

Class of 2004

Until recently, “Lady Helen’s Escapade” was one of the hardest NFR titles to track down; no physical media release, no internet uploads, nothing short of scheduling a screening at the Library of Congress. That all changed recently thanks to the efforts of Benjamin Wilson (curator of this comprehensive NFR YouTube playlist) and a GoFundMe campaign to get a print from the Library of Congress digitized and uploaded to YouTube. Additional thanks to Eric Levy from filmregistry.net for bringing this development to my attention and hosting the film’s online premiere.

The Plot: Bored socialite Lady Helen (Florence Lawrence) wants to add some excitement to her life, so she answers a newspaper ad and takes a job as a boarding house servant. Much hilarity ensues as she stumbles through her new job, while simultaneously pining for a tenant – a handsome violinist (David Miles) – and fending off the advances of some enamored dinner guests. But the real story behind this short is one about its lead’s run as the first American movie star, as well as the story of this film’s recent resurrection.

Why It Matters: The NFR write-up is a brief ode to Florence Lawrence – “the first true star in American cinema”, with the film proper being referred to only as “sprightly”. An essay by NFR expert Daniel Eagan is a biography of Florence Lawrence, mixed with the little information we have regarding “Lady Helen’s”.

But Does It Really?: This is definitely another early 2000s “What don’t we have yet?” NFR entry. Florence Lawrence, while almost entirely forgotten today, is an important player in American film history, and having one of her films in the NFR makes sense. As a film, “Lady Helen’s Escapade” is fine if not outstanding, but it does a good job of representing Florence Lawrence as an actor (and is sadly one of her few surviving films). Why it took so long for this film to become readily available is beyond me, but thankfully that has been rectified, and hopefully a new generation of film lovers can discover Florence Lawrence and keep her legacy alive.

Everybody Gets One: Turns out the first American movie star is Canadian; Florence Lawrence was born Florence Bridgwood in Hamilton, Ontario. Her mother was Charlotte Bridgwood, a stage actor who performed under the name Lotta Lawrence. Florence began acting in her mother’s theater troupe at age three, though they eventually settled in New York after Florence’s father died and the Lawrence Dramatic Company disbanded. Unable to find work on the New York stage, Florence (now using “Lawrence” from her mother’s stage name) started acting in the new medium of film, eventually signing with Biograph in 1908. “Lady Helen’s Escapade” was one of dozens of shorts Lawrence made for Biograph in 1908 and 1909; though always uncredited. Film studios at the time never credited their actors, partly because most actors did not want to be associated with this new “low-brow” medium; but mainly for fear from the studios that name recognition would lead to actors demanding higher salaries (they were right). Fans of Florence Lawrence didn’t know who to address their letters to, so Biograph received tons of fan mail praising “The Biograph Girl”.

Wow, That’s Dated: Mostly the kind of slum tourism, aka slumming, that Lady Helen participates in by taking this job. The idea of visiting impoverished or disadvantaged places out of adventure or curiosity is still around but is now widely (and justifiably) criticized.

Other notes

  • One very important note regarding this film’s YouTube presentation: for whatever reason, the print made available by the Library of Congress did not include intertitles which, as you can gather from the complex plot synopsis, would have been very helpful to have. During our post-screening discussion back in September, it was theorized that the digital version was scanned from a paper print (which would have only included the visuals and not the text). If you’re going to watch “Lady Helen’s Escapade”, do yourself a favor and read a plot description beforehand (feel free to read mine again).
  • If nothing else, “Lady Helen’s Escapade” is a chance for me to watch and write about a D. W. Griffith film that isn’t mired in controversy. It’s also interesting to watch a Griffith film while he’s still figuring out this new medium. No revolutionary close-ups or cross-cutting, just point and shoot. “Lady Helen’s” was released eight months before “A Corner in Wheat”; one of Griffith’s first toe dips into the pool of artistic filmmaking.
  • Florence Lawrence is quite a capable leading lady, never overselling the comedy the way some of her co-stars do, which unfortunately leads to her getting wrongfully upstaged in her own movie. It’s a shame there isn’t more of Lawrence’s filmography around to see what kind of range she must have had.
  • I’m amused by the massive fur coat being worn by Lady Helen’s boyfriend. It looks like he’s being eaten by a wooly mammoth in real time. PETA would need an entire Sherwin-Williams to take this guy down.
  • As is often the case in these kinds of early romantic comedies, the men pining for Florence are ignoring her obvious disinterest in them. If only this print had intertitles, then she could have made her plea.
  • Once again, you owe it to yourself to read a plot synopsis before watching “Lady Helen’s Escapade”. The ending is so quick and disjointed that you get the sense the intertitles did a lot of heavy lifting. At the online premiere, our excitement before the film turned into bafflement by the end; a sort of “That was nice, but what happened?”

Legacy

  • Shortly after making “Lady Helen’s Escapade”, Florence Lawrence was lured away from Biograph to Independent Moving Pictures with the promise of better pay and – more importantly – billing. Lawrence’s reign as America’s first movie star continued into the 1910s, though a series of personal setbacks, as well as injuries sustained in a 1915 fire, led to her decline in stardom. By the 1920s, Lawrence was working solely as an extra or bit player (almost always uncredited, somewhat ironically). Florence Lawrence’s final films were as a bit player for MGM before her death in 1938.
  • Perhaps Florence Lawrence’s greatest contribution to history is one outside of her film work. In 1914, Lawrence invented an “auto signaling arm” for cars, but didn’t patent her idea, which would go on to become both the turn signal and the brake signal. Sadly, given my own experience on the road, most people do not use Lawrence’s invention when changing lanes on the freeway. Do not let her legacy be in vain!
  • D. W. Griffith continued to crank out shorts for Biograph through 1914, when he left following disputes regarding budget overruns. Griffith continued to push the envelope for films as an artform, and if you’ve read this far then you’re well aware of what he made in 1915. Moving on…
  • Although most of Florence Lawrence’s filmography has been deemed lost, “Lady Helen’s Escapade” survives, and in 2024 was finally made available online. My thanks again to Benjamin Wilson for his work campaigning for this film’s digitization, and Eric Levy for inviting me to its online premiere. It was wonderful meeting so many film lovers face-to-face (via Zoom) and sharing our silent film knowledge with each other. Bonus shoutout to Isabel of “Irresistible Cinema”, who was also in virtual attendance and covers the NFR on her website. Check her out!

#722) Our Daily Bread (1934)

#722) Our Daily Bread (1934)

OR “Red Acres”

Directed King Vidor

Written by Vidor, Elizabeth Hill, and Joseph Mankiewicz

Class of 2015

The Plot: Big city dwellers John and Mary Sims (Tom Keene and Karen Morley) are hit hard by the Depression and struggle to pay their bills. Desperate for help, the Sims accept an offer from Mary’s Uncle Anthony (Lloyd Ingraham) to move to farmland he is paying mortgage on and grow crops to earn a living. John and Mary quickly relocate to the country, only to discover the land is barren and that they have zero farm skills. With the help of local farmer Chris Larsen (John Qualen), John develops a co-op community where men lend their trades to the farm in exchange for a place to live. Soon dozens of men and their families join the co-op and work amidst many setbacks to grow corn for harvest. It’s a tale of community and creative problem solving, set during the last time this country ever had an overall positive reaction to Socialism.

Why It Matters: The NFR gives the film its historical context, calling it a “radical exception” to the typical escapist films of the day. The write-up also admits that the film was “[c]riticized for its purportedly socialist ideas and also for its seemingly fascistic traits.”

But Does It Really?: This is on the “historically significant” side of things. As a film, “Our Daily Bread” is a bit clunky and heavy-handed, focusing more on its ideas than its story or characters. But the film’s unique Depression-era viewpoint, as well as its interesting behind-the-scenes development, help it stand out among so many other films of the era. I get why “Our Daily Bread” is on the NFR, but I also understand why there was no rush to get it on there; this is another movie whose viewing should be reserved just for us film list completists.

Shout Outs: If the names John and Mary Sims sound familiar, that’s because they are the same names King Vidor used for his leads in “The Crowd“. “Our Daily Bread” began life as a continuation of “The Crowd”, though all that survives of that concept are the names.

Wow, That’s Dated: This movie could only be made during the 1930s when America, discouraged by the politics that got it into the Depression, was still willing to consider Communism, Socialism, and other alternatives to representative democracy. Damn it Stalin, you just had to ruin it for everyone didn’t you?

Title Track: “Our Daily Bread” is one of two NFR movies that get its title from the Lord’s Prayer. The title is said once in the film proper when the Lord’s Prayer is being recited after the first crop growth.

Other notes

  • Once the Great Depression hit, King Vidor started thinking about how John and Mary from “The Crowd” would be affected. The idea of them moving to a farm and starting a co-op came about when Vidor saw a Reader’s Digest article proposing a similar idea as a solution to unemployment (hence the film’s declaration “Inspired by the Headlines of Today”). In 1933, Vidor had a deal with RKO to finance the picture, but after months of development the deal fell through once RKO realized that Vidor could make a higher profit on the film than the studio. Unable to get any other studio interested, Vidor financed the film himself under his newly formed Viking Productions (though he did eventually secure a loan from Bank of America) and used his friendship with Charlie Chaplin to get a distribution deal with United Artists.
  • King Vidor had originally planned on hiring his leads from “The Crowd” – James Murray and Eleanor Boardman – to reprise their roles as John and Mary. By the time production began, however, James Murray had relapsed into alcoholism and Eleanor Boardman had separated from her husband…King Vidor. Tom Keene and Karen Morley were cast instead based in part on their physical resemblances to the original actors. Once you know that casting tidbit it becomes obvious that these actors were cast based on their looks because neither one is that great. Heck, Tom Keene would go on to star in “Plan 9 from Outer Space”!
  • All this “Crowd” talk begs the question: Is “Our Daily Bread” a sequel to “The Crowd” or not? While most internet listings refer to this film as a sequel, the real answer is “Not really”. Despite the same lead characters, the two films aren’t directly connected, and no prior knowledge of “The Crowd” is needed to understand “Our Daily Bread”. Still, there’s nothing stopping you from considering it a direct sequel if that’s what you really want, although at some point in the intervening six years, John and Mary have learned to speak without the use of intertitles. And didn’t they have kids?
  • This film continues the early film trope that Swedes by their very nature are hilarious. They pronounce j’s like they’re y’s! Isn’t that nutty? Side note: Chris’ actor John Qualen played Swedes/Scandinavians for comic relief in several movies, including another NFR film; “The Searchers“.
  • Having no prior knowledge of the plot, I was worried that this movie would just be the tribulations of two city folk adjusting to farm life. Once John proposed a co-op, the film finally piqued my interest, and its NFR placement made a lot more sense. Side note: As someone whose primary skill set is watching and writing about films, I would not do well in a commune. “If you help build my house, I can put ‘Citizen Kane‘ in its proper historical context for you. Please?”
  • Shoutout to whoever did the production design. I love the makeshift co-op village constructed from whatever materials were on hand. My favorite is the house made from a disassembled car, with a dismantled car door serving as their front door, complete with roll-down window! Related Fun Fact: The farm scenes were partially filmed on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Los Angeles ranch: the appropriately named Tarzana.
  • “There’s nothing for people to worry about, not when they’ve got the earth.” Okay sure, but what if we screwed up so badly we don’t have the earth anymore? Can one of you build the Axiom for us?
  • All this plowing footage and no stirring narration about how great our government’s New Deal programs are?
  • The most inconspicuous part of the film for me was the arrival of Sally, a young Joan Blondell-type who winds up in the co-op and causes some marital strife between John and Mary. In a movie with so much inherent conflict regarding the survival of the land and its inhabitants, did we need a homewrecker subplot? Maybe sassy platinum blondes were a requirement for all 1930s films. Also, it turns out my “Green Acres” joke at the top wasn’t too far off, because Sally is played by Barbara Pepper, 30 years before her work as Doris Ziffel. It’s all connected!
  • Today in lines that sound dirty but aren’t: John comforting Mary with “We’ve licked everything together so far.” John, that stays between you and your wife, alright? 
  • The last act of the film is devoted to the community coming together to build the irrigation needed to water their crops. It’s long, but it perfectly encapsulates the film’s “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few” mentality, and it’s easily the film’s most exciting sequence. Like the sniper scene in “The Big Parade“, Vidor filmed this with a metronome to time the action and increase the pace as the sequence progresses.

Legacy

  • “Our Daily Bread” premiered at the Chicago World’s Fair in August 1934 before its general release that October. At some point after its initial run, “Our Daily Bread” was re-released by its new distributor Astor Pictures Corp. under the much more evocative name “Hell’s Crossroads”. King Vidor revealed years later that while the film recouped its investment, it did so just barely with little to no profit.
  • As with many a film on this list (especially those not financed by a major studio), “Our Daily Bread” lapsed into public domain and was frequently played on TV. In fact, “Our Daily Bread” was one of the first films ever shown on TV, airing on New York’s experimental W2XBS (now WNBC Channel 4) in April 1940! If a movie airs on TV but no one owns a TV yet…
  • While “Our Daily Bread” has lingered in relative obscurity for the last 90 years, it is not without its fans, including Orson Welles who once called it one of his top 10 favorite movies. The film’s reputation has improved over the last decade, starting with the film’s NFR induction in 2015, plus a screening at the 2020 Berlin International Film Festival as part of a King Vidor retrospective.

#721) Boulevard Nights (1979)

#721) Boulevard Nights (1979)

OR “Easy Lowrider”

Directed by Michael Pressman

Written by Desmond Nakano

Class of 2017

The Plot: “Boulevard Nights” centers on two brothers in East L.A.’s Mexican community; older brother Raymond (Richard Yniguez) loves driving his souped-up Chevrolet on Whittier Boulevard and going out with his girlfriend Shady (Marta DuBois), while younger brother Chuco (Danny De La Paz) is a member of the local street gang VGV, which is embroiled in a rivalry with the 11th Street gang. As a former member of VGV, Raymond tries to persuade Chuco to see his potential outside of the gang, getting him a part-time job at a local auto shop. As Raymond and Shady prepare to get married, Chuco’s devotion to VGV gets him into further trouble as their beef with 11th Street escalates into a full-out turf war. And if none of that interests you, this movie offers a whole bunch of great ’70s cars to feast your eyes on.

Why It Matters: The NFR calls the film “a pioneering snapshot of East L.A.”, and contextualizes the film with the other “gang” films of the era: “The Warriors”, “The Outsiders”, etc.

But Does It Really?: In all honesty I couldn’t get into “Boulevard Nights” and was ready to write it off as an anomaly on the NFR. But shortly after I finished this post, something remarkable happened to this movie: It got a Blu-ray release. Suddenly a number of articles popped up about this film’s significance as documentation of 1970s East L.A., and I had to rethink this whole post. As a standalone movie, “Boulevard Nights” is okay, but you’ve seen better versions of this same story in 100 other movies. Prior to its very recent reevaluation, most write-ups about this film’s importance could only connect it to “The Warriors” and the countless other gang films of the late ’70s. And if that’s all this movie had going for it, why not just induct “The Warriors”, which is much better remembered today and as of this writing still isn’t on the NFR? Fortunately, the support from this film’s Blu-ray release made me see the love a small but spirited group of L.A. cinephiles have for this movie, so “Boulevard Nights” gets a pass for its NFR induction. I’m happy for the people who champion this movie, but I’m ready to move on.

Everybody Gets One: Both this film’s director and screenwriter were the children of showbiz fathers: Michael Pressman’s father David was a blacklisted director, and Desmond Nakano’s father Lane was an actor. Desmond wrote the screenplay for “Boulevard Nights” while studying at UCLA, and it won the school’s Samuel Goldwyn Writing Award. This got the attention of producer Tony Bill, who optioned the script and financed the film independently with Warner Bros. serving as distributor. Pressman seized the opportunity to direct “Boulevard Nights” to prevent being pigeonholed as a comedy director (he had previously helmed “The Great Texas Dynamite Chase” and “The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training”).

Wow, That’s Dated: This whole thing is very late ’70s but look no further than Raymond’s feathery hair. It’s beautiful, but it dates everything.

Title Track: It tickles me that this movie has a theme song. I have no idea what Warner Bros.’ marketing strategy was, but we got “Street Tattoo (Theme from ‘Boulevard Nights’)” as a result. The song is performed during the end credits by George Benson, with music by Lalo Schifrin, lyrics by Gale Garnett, and additional special lyrics written and performed by Greg Prestopino.

Other notes

  • “Boulevard Nights” was notably filmed entirely on location in Los Angeles. Despite concerns that filming in East L.A. would be dangerous, production went smoothly, in part because the filmmakers insisted on collaborating with the community, employing many residents both in front of and behind the camera.
  • I feel like this movie starts on the wrong foot. Throughout the opening credits, we follow two 11th Street gang members as they walk through East L.A. early in the morning. As one of them is spray-painting the 11th Street insignia over a VGV tag, the VGV show up and start beating him. This only stops when Raymond appears, and the young 11th Street members run off. This was all set up in a way that made me think the 11th Street gang was our protagonists, and the next scene of Raymond and Chuco getting ready for work prompted me to say out loud “Wait, he’s the main guy?”. The whole opening is being told from the wrong perspective, taking me a little bit longer to get used to this movie. Speaking of the opening credits: Is that the “Welcome Back, Kotter” font?
  • Once I adjusted to Raymond being the protagonist, the film follows him on an exciting Saturday night cruising on Whittier Boulevard. This got me on board with the idea that “Boulevard Nights” is a “Saturday Night Fever” / “American Graffiti” kind of thing; young people hanging out and coming of age. But then they really veer into the gang movie tropes and I guess this is the movie now.
  • No disrespect to this cast, many of them making their film debuts, but they are across the board not great. No one’s terrible, but no one stands out as being particularly good. But in everyone’s defense, the screenplay is of no help in that department, with too many cliches and tropes working against any authentic performances.
  • The only actor I recognized from this cast is Carmen Filpi, who plays Mr. Diaz the local tattoo artist. I know Filpi best as Jack, the hobo that rides the rails with Pee-Wee in “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure”.
  • I’m always happy to hear a Lalo Schifrin score (his “Cool Hand Luke” theme is one of my favorites), but what’s with the sad “Incredible Hulk” music as Chuco walks the streets by himself? (And for the record “The Lonely Man” was composed by Joe Harnell)
  • [Spoilers] The plotline of Raymond and Shady getting married goes smoothly; so smoothly in fact that I became increasingly suspicious that something terrible was going to happen to these two. Raymond and Shady go through with the wedding as planned, but during the reception an 11th Street gang member, aiming for Chuco, shoots Mrs. Avila (Raymond and Chuco’s mother) instead. Having recently gotten married myself (humble brag), I’m glad I didn’t see this movie before my own wedding. Granted, I currently have no beef with any local gangs that would prompt such a tragic occurrence, but you know me, I’ll worry about anything.
  • I really don’t have a lot to say about this movie. It was fine, but its NFR standing is more historical than artistic. In an effort to end on a positive note, I will say that I liked the car stuff with the hydraulics. That was cool. Why couldn’t the movie be more about that?

Legacy

  • “Boulevard Nights” was released in March 1979, just a few weeks after “The Warriors”, and was met with similar protests from people who were worried the film would incite riots and gang activity in the theaters. Despite Warner Bros.’ attempts to downplay the film’s gang elements, there were a handful of fatal shootings and stabbings upon the film’s release, prompting San Francisco to pull the film entirely. Despite these setbacks (and a mixed-to-negative critical response), “Boulevard Nights” managed to make a small profit in theaters. Since then, the film has attained what the NFR calls a “semi-cult status”, with the likes of Quentin Tarantino championing the film’s detailed presentation of East L.A.
  • Desmond Nakano would go on to write the film adaptation of “Last Exit to Brooklyn”. He also wrote and directed two feature films: 1995’s “White Man’s Burden” and 2007’s “American Pastime”, the latter based on his father’s experience in a Japanese internment camp during WWII.
  • Michael Pressman’s directing career continues to this day, primarily in television, directing episodes of everything from “Picket Fences” to “Weeds” to “Blue Bloods”. And because I had to put this somewhere: In 1991 Michael Pressman directed – and this is true – “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze”. Cowabunga indeed.