panama hattie ( film )
panama hattie (1942) - - (movie clip) just one of ...
panama hattie (1942) - - (movie clip) i' ve ...
a nightclub owner in panama takes on nazi spies in panama hattie (1942), starring ann sothern, red skelton & lena horne .
a nightclub owner in panama takes on nazi spies in panama hattie (1942), starring ann sothern, red skelton & lena horne. >
panama hattie (1942) - - (movie clip) i' ll dip ...
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the wartime musical / comedy panama hattie was a hit on broadway for songwriter cole porter and its star ethel merman .
the film was adapted from the broadway musical panama hattie, which opened at the 46th street theater in new york october 30, 1940 and ran for 501 performances .
hattie maloney runs a saloon in panama where assorted characters congregate where they frequently sing and dance cole porter numbers. an upper class gentleman arrives and sparks fly between him and hattie. they try and overcome complications betweens songs .
with the headline: the screen;' panama hattie' - - or what is left over of a musical comedy - - with ann sothern, opens at the capitol theatre .
hattie maloney runs a saloon in panama where assorted characters congregate where they frequently sing and dance cole porter numbers. an upper class gentleman arrives and sparks fly between... see full summary »
panama hattie
was finished last fall. at several sneak previews, it cast a great pall. metro revised it, with scissors and pen, but it couldn' t put
panama hattie
together again. and the consequence is that the conversion of this musical comedy stage hit is just a jumble of songs and dull slapstick, as it finally reached the capitol yesterday. view full article in timesmachine »
opening scene with the chorus then ann sothern in the title role, with a cole porter tune ethel merman sang in the broadway production, red skelton, rags ragland and ben blue her admiring sailors, in mgms panama hattie, 1942. >
this video is from the motion picture' panama hattie' (1942). the clip is probably most famous because of the' balcony scene'. remember the berry brothers is the only dance act who could rival... the nicholas brothers! enjoy !
. sequels were fairly uncommon in classical hollywood film. it is minnelli' s last film in black and white .
turner classics movie (the best cable channel around…or do you prefer bet? ? ?) has announced that they will devote their lineup on friday may 21st to films starring or featuring lena horne including the duke is tops the 1938 black “race” film which was her first film, cabin in the sky and panama hattie. unfortunately her most famous film stormy weather is not included because it was a 20th century fox film and therefore unavailable to tcm. still here’s a perfect opportunity to see the legend and why they just don’t make them like her anymore .
title character ann sothern with pal flo (virginia obrien) plans to impress gerry (jackie horner), the snooty young visiting daughter of her canal zone - based soldier fiancè dick (dan dailey), whos brought butler jerkins (alan mowbray) from philadelphia, in panama hattie, 1942. >
is clearly designed to be a pro - black film. are the film' s sometimes stereotyped characters simply a minor flaw? or are they a serious problem, enough to condemn the film ?
a quick look inside: madison, indiana - in popular culture, louis b. mayer - mgm boss, 1958 in film - events, 1962 in film - notable films released in 1962, 1970 in film - notable films released in 1970, forest lawn memorial park, glendale - m, dean martin - solo career, peggy king, panama hattie - film, 1954 in film - notable films released in 1954, 1963 in film - notable films released in 1963, eva marie saint - mid - career, orry - kelly - costume design credits, yolanda and the thief, julian eltinge - in popular culture, richard widmark - broadway and films, film noir - parodies, l. a. confidential (film) - pre - production, academy award for best director - multiple nominations, an american in paris - use in film, 1944 in film - notable films released in 1944, cultural depictions of vincent van gogh - film and television, ingrid thulin - partial filmography, the cobweb (film), undercurrent (1946 film), on a clear day you can see forever (film), vincente minnelli - personal life, olga lehmann - film, television, and theatrical design, film noirs - parodies, the long, long trailer, finian' s rainbow (film) - critical reception, 1952 cannes film festival, directors guild of america award for outstanding directing - feature film - 1950s, the long, long trailer - reception, lester gaba - new york career, john saxon (actor) - career, and much more ...
a stand - alone scene featuring no other cast members, so that theater owners in the south could remove it if they chose, lena horne as herself happens to appear at the club in the canal zone, with a cole porter tune, her first scene in her first mgm picture, from panama hattie, 1942. >
( 1943) is a musical film in black - and - white - the last musical vincente minnelli would make that is not in color. most of this film is not very good. minnelli thought it was his worst film .
. the resemblance is discussed in more detail in the article on that film .
. and the narration is like the narration of that film. the killer in
( 1964) is a comedy. perhaps vincente minnelli' s worst film ,
( and tracy' s nightmare of sinking into the floor in that film) .
of other minnelli films return here, also playing a kinetic role in the film .
. both men are film directors, just as van gogh and gauguin are painters .
hattie maloney (ann sothern) is a gaudy, good - hearted nightclub singer who tends to love above her station. this time, it' s pedigreed officer dick bulliet (dan dailey, jr .), and it' s for real. but there' s one little problem: he' s got a small daughter so ladylike she makes emily post look like tugboat annie - - and she' s not impressed with hattie' s bangles and bows. and hattie' s got a trio of protectors, three goofball gobs who think that maybe hattie' s too good for dick. this world war ii musical sparkles with cole porter numbers like
just one of those things ,
classic buffoonery from red skelton, ben blue and rags ragland as hattie' s spy - hunting sailor pals and - - last but not least - - the screen debut of miss lena horne. can a salt - of - the - earth gal capture a society guy? of course she can - - and getting there is half the fun !
( 1945) is a strange, whimsical film musical. it shows plenty of talent, and some superb visual stylings from director vincente minnelli, but the film also has problems .
. it suggests and affinity between his family, and the one in the earlier film .
also ophulsian: the way one gets a servants' view through much of the film .
- but it does have the brilliant red decor of the garage in that earlier film .
it is hard to think of parallels to this film in today' s american cinema .
. the first shots of the film, show bulbs being planted in round flower pots .
she died tonight at a hospital in manhattan where she lived. she was 92. the modern - day world knew her best as a singer. but lena horne was the first black performer signed to a long - term contract by a major hollywood studio - - in 1942 she appeared in panama hattie for mgm where she languished in mostly musicals, her film career thwarted by the color of her skin. she started in the chorus at the cotton club, graduated to broadway and then the movies. her last film was 1978' s the wiz. she came back to broadway to win a tony award for [... ]
wallace beery rides armored mobile forts in a scene from the film' the bugle ...
, about the dutch painter van gogh, and his work in france. the whole film of
. they also bear candelabra, as in the previous film. they are more explicitly men in
on broadway, and who would go on to star in minnelli' s film. in both
in all of these things, illegitimate children resemble gay people. the film never makes such parallels explicit. but so many similarities are developed in the film, that it is hard not to see such a resemblance. one suspects that it is intended as a subtext of the film .
proverbial for the collision between rich and poor. the symbolism was perhaps extended in the liberal film
american actress rita hayworth (1918 - 1987) in a publicity still for the film ...
frank morgan holding dice in a scene from the film' any number can play', 1949 .
although this film is a musical, it also has strong elements of mystery. in this it resembles
, he expressed huge reservations about the cultural tradition embodied by burton' s character in the film .
. it is far from the standard armor worn by european knights, at least in old movies! minnelli armor is decorative and complex. it varies from film to film, and seems utterly distinctive .
( follow the link). this discussion will concentrate on some additional aspects of this rich film .
. he cuts forwards and backwards far more often than he did in the earlier film. and while
these shows all began as movies that eventually became broadway musicals that were adapted once again for film .
against all this must be set the largely positive racial portrayals of most of the film. it was a major step up in 1943 hollywood, to have a film featuring blacks in richly developed lead roles .
wallace beery rides armored mobile forts in a scene from the film' the bugle sounds', 1942 .
, in which great care was taken to make the film' s uniforms be as varied as possible .
they are one of the few scenes in film history since the early silent days to criticize child labor .
heroes who start out with goals at the beginning of a film, and a film whose story ends with success or failure at that goal, constitute what bordwell defines as the standard paradigm of classical hollywood storytelling .
in comic books and film. they are often worn by refined young men from upper middle class families .
. but she is perhaps an unsympathetic character - and the hero dismisses her ideas. the film also seems to object to
working women
, in a way atypical of minnelli. however, because of the film' s wavering and vague viewpoints, it is hard to tell what the film is really saying .
gets inspired by the producer, as do to a lesser degree the director and writer in that film .
otherwise poor musical has some good dance numbers directed by vincente minnelli, as an apprentice starting hollywood film making .
patricia neal and gary cooper looking at blueprints in publicity portrait for the film' the fountainhead', 1949 .
a group of dogs that take turns playing the role of lassie in a scene from the film ...
. the eye - popping visuals of a minnelli film can in fact make them resemble a dream or reverie .
. that film was a musical; this is a drama. that film was shot on the backlot of metro in hollywood, this one is shot on location in france. the film seems completely personal for minnelli. yet at the same time, it seems to use different techniques from many earlier minnelli films. the sets look different .
i lean towards an approach that tries to recognize this film' s many positive accomplishments - but which does not try to obscure its failings. on the whole, i think the film' s positives greatly outweigh its negatives .
taylor makes his first appearance in the film, when doors are opened, and he is seen in the background .
is correctly called a
biographical film
, its thorough grounding in a technical subject should be highlighted as well .
libby flashes light from a mirror onto theron in the study. this is the best light art in the film .
. here these are the flames of war, and have a much more sinister meaning than in the earlier film .
other changes in the play and film reflect the treatment of gayness. the word homosexual could not be used in the movies, nor could gays be shown, according to the production code. the film sticks to these restrictions. i am not trying to defend these censorship rules, which were clearly designed to belittle gay people. but the pro - gay film
american actress rita hayworth (1918 - 1987) in a publicity still for the film' cover girl', 1944 .
discussions of this film all state that the colors here are influenced by vincent van gogh. unfortunately, i just don' t see this in the film itself. van gogh rarely painted such glamorous urban scenes as those found in this sequence .
. it' s a film i' ve never been able to like, and am baffled by its enthusiastic reception .
( 1965) is one of vincente minnelli' s most underrated films. the film deals with many familiar minnelli subjects .
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans. it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
red skelton (red) ann sothern (hattie maloney) rags ragland (rags) ben blue (rowdy) marsha hunt (leila tree) virginia o' brien (flo foster) alan mowbray (jay jerkins) dan dailey, jr. (dick bulliet) jackie horner (geraldine bulliet )
on broadway june allyson was seen in sing out the news, very warm for may, higher and higher, panama hattie, best foot forward and forty carats. her numerous film credits include
good news ,
till the clouds roll by ,
girl crazy ,
best foot forward ,
all girl revue ,
the prisoner of swing ,
sing for sweetie ,
dime a dance ,
ups and downs ,
the stratton story ,
the glenn miller story ,
strategic air command ,
little women
and
the shrike .
ms. allyson died july 8 at her home in ojai, california. she was 88 .
several of the guests are dressed in costumes based on objects. a somewhat similar approach is in a non - minnelli film ,
the film is often fascinating in its visual style, however. much of it is highly inventive, in its visual techniques .
the film has a series of sympathetic supporting characters, such as the dentist and the actor. these anticipate similar supporting characters in
lacks any obvious political commentary. the presence in the film of the liberal in real life katherine hepburn and the conservative robert taylor does not align with any political orientation in the film. the washington setting of part of the tale, and the political prominence of taylor' s character suggests that some political commentary is about to emerge, but it never materializes. the film also resembles somewhat
is an example of a non - noir film, that thus employs tactics familiar in film noir, such as a narrator. flaubert' s narration has something of the same effect as a flashback - although it is not strictly speaking a flashback at all .
other minnelli imagery runs through the film: statues, fancy uniformed soldiers, candelabra, flowers. there is a car wreck, anticipating
employs techniques most often used in film noir. it has a narrator, and a flashback structure. there is a dream sequence .
( 1976) is the last film directed by vincente minnelli. he reportedly experienced much interference during its production, from the studio .
the word
gay
is one of minnelli' s favorite words. it recurs in film after film, in which a character will state that being gay is the goal towards which they are striving. it is ambiguous: it can mean either joyful or queer .
a group of dogs that take turns playing the role of lassie in a scene from the film' sun comes up', 1949 .
after the wedding - film sequence, the dispersing crowd includes a technician who is holding some sort of machine that generates a small flame .
. it is the first of vincente minnelli' s non - musical comedies to be shot in color. the film is stylistically remarkable .
however, there are other color schemes in the film, as well. these tend to be subdued. i could find no trace in
we see a glass - walled building lit up at night, at the studio, while they are taking out the film cans for the preview. probably it is some sort of sound stage or photographic facility, maybe like the early, greenhouse - like film stage buildings seen in
are a mixture of minnelli enthusiasts, who regard the film as a highbrow example of cinematic art, and starstruck fans of the rat pack: frank sinatra and dean martin. this gives the film an unusually broad constituency. this delightful film can be enjoyed on both of these levels, and others too. it is a product of an era when filmmakers tried to use their creativity to give audiences pleasure in multiple ways .
flaubert (james mason) serves as narrator. and the main film unrolls as his telling the story of his novel on the witness stand .
, british actors or scenes of any sort are largely missing in his films. when he did finally make a film with richard burton, in
. but a few women in each film are in very pales shades of some color, such as a very light blue. the women in
later in the film, the hotel switchboard operator gets involved in a second deception. a switchboard will later play a role in the mystery in
hunting is also ambiguous. partly pure macho fun in a traditional culture - partly destruction rather than creation. the film sees it as both .
the contessa is another vincente minnelli character who disappears near a film' s end, prompting a search by the other characters. the search in
( 1955) is a drama set in a high - toned psychiatric asylum. the film is overwhelmingly grim, and cannot really be recommended to casual viewers looking for light entertainment. still, the visual style and dramatic events are impressive, and the film is a key vincente minnelli work .
: the sexism of the society the film depicts. this society would be enough to cause anyone intense anxiety in their attempts to cope with it .
. he reportedly also did the many tall ornamental finials and wands carried by people in the film. they do not resemble much of anything else in film history. the way they can be carried and moved around reminds one a bit of the kinetic art aspects of minnelli' s other films .
the orange in the film is sometimes provided by actual orange clothes: in the finale, there are people with orange shirts moving in the crowd .
however, some passages in the film regard the contessa more sympathetically than madame bovary ever was. emma bovary gets condemned, the contessa gets celebrated .
( 1945), another serious dramatic film in which katherine hepburn marries a politically prominent man with country estates, and in which mysterious situations abound. cukor' s film is as political as minnelli' s is apolitical. the tone of the two films seems similar; the political content does not .
( 1945) is a non - musical romance film, set in new york city during world war ii. robert walker plays a serviceman with 48 hours leave, who meets secretary judy garland. the film tells of their romance, and little adventures while they explore the city. it is vincente minnelli' s first non - musical film, and the first set against a fairly
realistic
background, as opposed to his richly stylized musical films .
this is part of the emerald city section of the film, which is entirely designed in bright green, anticipating minnelli' s lavish use of color .
, ordinary people think in terms of high technology communication. when taylor disappears in the middle of the film, tracy conducts the search via telephone. such
. that film also showed men as obsessed with standards, and doing everything they could to condemn and hurt others that do not live up to them .
is full of stars that have strong appeal to men, frank sinatra and dean martin, and many of the issues explored in the film are about men' s lives. the film also mixes serious drama with glamorous settings, photography and clothes, another example of the broad mix of genres and approaches here .
principal cast: ann sothern (hattie maloney), dan dailey (dick bulliet), red skelton (red), marsha hunt (leila tree), virginia o' brien (flo foster), rags ragland (rags), alan mowbray (jay jerkins), ben blue (rowdy), lena horne (herself), joe yule (waiter) .
what would have been defeat at any other studio, however, was just the signal to get back to work at mgm. freed got studio head louis b. mayer to give him another $ 300, 000 to fix the film. then, while discussing changes with sothern on the set of her next film ,
the two actors who play john and lon also look alike. both also look much like john kerr, who starred in minnelli' s much later film ,
lon has the relationship with john that esther wants. lon does everything he can to help her. the film shows the two relationships as equivalent and parallel .
mitchum' s disappearance is handled differently. his vanishing stretches out over many years of story time, and over much of the run time of the film .
the characters repeatedly move down stairs, while minnelli' s camera follows them. late in the film, the camera also follows taylor partly up the stairs .
confetti is thrown indoors, and rice outside, during the wedding. the opening of the film shows the set covered with confetti, making fascinating visual patterns .
in film and comic books. al is seated next to a spray of lilacs on the table, whose pale purple echoes the deep purple of his sweater .
. the fog roiling through sulfur bottom is also a version of the colored smoke minnelli loves. in this film too, it is associated only with death .
towards the beginning of the film, there is a long sequence showing the hero and heroine falling it love. it recalls a similar and much celebrated sequence in
the dance at the barbecue, at the film' s start, is a traditional dance, in which men dance with other men. such dances also permeated
in film and comic books. the hero is also booted: something not too common in minnelli, outside of military uniforms, or the fox hunting garb in
who is tootie? what is she like as a person? what is the film trying to tell us, by including her? these are not easy questions .
many of these locales are places of high dramatic tension. they are also places of public encounters. they do not include any of the film' s bedrooms .
is overwhelmingly designed in
red and green
, a favorite minnelli combination. at least fifteen locales in the film are in this color pattern. many walls in
. the film opens with a boom shot, traveling over the astonishing recreation of penn station built for the film. then a moving camera shot on the ground picks up walker, moving through the crowds. the first person walker meets is played by the film' s producer, the legendary arthur freed. freed was in charge of the freed unit that made the famous mgm musicals of the 1940' s and 1950' s, including minnelli' s. freed offers walker a book of matches. it seems symbolically important that freed will open the series of encounters that walker has in the film. he stands at the entrance of this complex studio - created world of
the first jewelry lesson (right after the lunch) is then in pink, green and gold. this color combination had just been used by minnelli in his previous film
( 1963) is usually described as a comedy. actually, it is often an extremely grim film, about the aftermath of the death of a wife and mother .
. much of the earlier film revolves around ugly issues of money: finding a well - to - do husband, spending vast sums on an ostentatious wedding. by contrast ,
? this is a tricky question, and i will argue that the film is ambiguous on this issue. one might note that well - known critics disagree: serge daney thought
, and also in the telephone call in that film. both of these scenes were associated with romance. many of the overhead shots here also have elements of romance and adventure .
mitchum is introduced wearing a leather jacket. it too looks as if it might be brown, although it is hard to tell in a black - and - white film. in
betty hutton: annie get your gun and dancing with fred astaire (photo: betty hutton in annie get your gun) [ see previous post :
betty hutton movies:' it had to be you.'
] betty hutton ’s career would reach its peak in 1950: top billed, she danced with fred astaire in norman z. mcleod ’s aptly titled let’s dance. though not a great movie, the pairing with astaire signaled prestige; the rko - turned - mgm star was certainly more well - regarded than the likes of sonny tufts, john lund, don defore, or macdonald carey. that same year, betty hutton replaced a problematic judy garland in mgm’s george sidney - directed film version of irving berlin ’s annie get your gun. of note: on broadway, the role of annie oakley had been played by none other than hutton’s panama hattie nemesis, ethel merman. annie get your gun was to be one of mgm’s biggest productions of the year. hutton was even featured on the cover of time magazine ,
the wife becomes a missing person. there is some dialogue about this, at the start of the film - but we don' t actually see a search. this is unlike other minnelli films with disappearing characters - the search is usually extensive, and the climax of the film. the disappearance here, and reconciliation afterwards, are in the rain - as in
this film is more
realistic
than most other films, in recording a major social event that was occurring, but which was taboo to mention. it echoes other such notices in minnelli. minnelli is often (correctly) thought of as an aesthete. yet, minnelli is one of the few film makers to record to ugly reality of child labor, in
these three sections are not explicitly marked in the movie - i. e. there are no title cards, chapter marks or intermissions separating them. but the film seems strongly structured along these lines. for example, as soon as theron enter the film, we move from a prologue centering on the parents and rafe, to a story strongly centered on theron .
( 1989), minnelli came up with the basic idea of this number - but did not create the version in the film, and disliked what had been done with his ideas .
men in the film often wear blue suits, or red ties; these contribute towards the color scheme. gray suits are also common; these are part of the neutral background colors .
the italian film producer, is set against a background of a blue striped couch. his blue and grey clothes make a color harmony with this background, a familiar effect in minnelli .
( 1955), another celebrated film photographed by alton. but while that film noir was in black and white, this ballet sequence is in color - and how! alton does astonishing things, apparently with colored lights and filters, to make this scene full of non - naturalistic colors and lighting effects. the smoke here also recalls the fiery pirate number in minnelli' s
started life as a 1953 broadway play, a major hit. the play was extensively reworked for the screen, in part to meet the strict film censorship restrictions of the time. ever since, it has been a cliché to suggest that the movie is simply a watered down, bowdlerized version of the play. a comparison of the play and film suggests a drastically different conclusion .
( 1954), and systematically by such contemporary film makers as pedro almodóvar, danny boyle and gus van sant. minnelli will use this color scheme in other films as well, such as
the army trucks, with their thin pillars on their sides, also recall the moving pavilions of that film. and the leaf camouflage on the pillars recalls the garlanding in earlier minnelli films .
at her screen test, a camera follows the heroine from back stage, while she moves through a corridor full of film lights. this recalls judy garland' s procession from back stage in
is it a crime ?
is a modest musical number. it is a pleasant song, but not as good as the first - rate numbers that remain in the film. its simple staging is also pleasant - but - not - notable. one is glad it survives, and can be seen today. but the filmmakers were perhaps right to cut it from the film .
the servicemen throughout the film are also of a certain type. they tend to be good looking, romantic leading men types. like most of the extras in the film, they seem refined and well mannered, in a sophisticated new york mode. few if any are the sort of macho roughnecks one often sees in uniform in hollywood films, such as robert mitchum in edward dmytryk' s
. in a _ film _ by, both brad stevens and joe mcelhaney discuss
rumors
that vincente minnelli directed the finale of this thriller. brad stevens says that it resembles the finale of
contains a mystery of identity. the heroine has to figure out who her husband' s first girlfriend was. she does this by piecing together a number of clues, throughout the film. like
minnelli sometimes places his camera at a slightly bigger angle to a wall of a room. when he does this, oftentimes there is a piece of furniture in the shot that is exactly parallel to the frame of the film. for example, in the brother' s office, the green chair is in exact alignment with the film frame, while the wall is somewhat at an angle .
by todd garbarini robert z. leonard ’s 1940 film pride and predjudice, which stars lawrence olivier, edmund gwenn, marsha hunt, greer garson, and maureen o’sullivan, will be screened at the the royale laemmle theater in los angeles. based upon the novel by jane austen, the 118 - minute film will be screened on tuesday, december 8th, 2015 at 7: 00 pm. actress marsha hunt, who played mary bennet in the film, is scheduled to appear in - person to discuss the film and answer audience questions. from the press release: this lush, oscar - winning film from the heyday of mgm is the most entertaining of the many screen adaptations of jane austen ’s best - loved novel. laurence olivier plays mr. darcy, greer garson is elizabeth bennet, and they give definitive performances as the archetypal battling lovers who set the model for almost every rom - com of the future. the supporting cast includes edmund gwenn, mary boland, edna may oliver ,
later, they eat a green salad, also as in the long, long trailer. the dialogue calls the salad
green
: unfortunately the film itself is in black - and - white .
the number is in red, a gray - that - approaches - blue, and white. this links it to the red - blue - and - white
by strauss
earlier in the film .
. as in that film, these colors are mixed in with neutral backgrounds, such as whites and off - whites, as well as an occasional cool, refreshing green. as discussed in the article on
the climax of the film has montand performing a psychic search for the heroine in new york city. this is shown in the song
come back to me
, and gets an ingeniously stylized treatment .
. a sequence is set in venice. after all the glowing references to venetian art in earlier minnelli films, it is great to see the director at last getting a chance to make a film there .
). in these scenes, the costume is modified right on the actress. the costume designer is working in three dimensions, with the costume worn exactly as it will be used in the film to come .
. the set even has the repeated arched doorways of the previous film. the contrasting colors of green and purple keep showing up throughout the whole ballet, as they did in the early part of the finale of
there are brilliant red objects scattered throughout the film. these tend to be small, fiery and highly conspicuous; they concentrate an extreme of the red - orange part of the color scheme into a small space .
is a film in which people stand around and talk about their relationships. today, such films, when they are made at all, are aimed at an exclusively female audience :
chick flicks
. yet
this is the only time vincente minnelli was able to direct his daughter liza minnelli in a film. also, unlike his mgm period where vincente minnelli often directed the same actors repeatedly, most of the cast of
says that it depicts an idealized america. in some ways this is certainly true: the peaceful life shown in the film must have seemed intensely nostalgic to war time audiences. but in other ways, the society in
there is a queer interpretation: we are seeing expressions of gay or bisexual behavior. cross - dressing will recur in minnelli' s gay lib film tea and sympathy, as well as the ballet in the bandwagon .
( 1948) also opens with the heroine looking at a series of paintings that tell the back - story of the film, and there is a similar suggestion that one is involved in a world described by painting .
- although the film goes out of its way to establish that she is not a
floozy
, and that she was good at school. this makes her far more respectable and educated, than the heroine of
right before the dancing tobins ought to film a new production, his wife tells freddy tobin that she' s pregnant. so the producer desperately has to seek a replacement and starts a... see full summary »
is related, but different. it has two people searching for each other, rather than one missing person being looked for by lots of people. and it occurs in the film' s middle, not the end .
. two similar long tall window panels are to the right, also like the windows in the house in the earlier film. the repeated men in their red coats also form strong repeated verticals, like the standing soldiers in
dancing in the dark
opens with that minnelli favorite, a ride in an open carriage. here it is not in a historical film, but in a modern day setting, new york' s central park .
the white collar husband encounters a lot of working class men throughout the film. these relationships are always polite - but they usually involve the husband paying out cash to the men, for services rendered for the trailer. in
in minnelli. it also has a moving wheel on top. the huge swinging gates of the mine yard are also kinetic art. later on in the film, the weavers' looms will also be kinetic art objects .
the film was directed by norman z. mcleod, roy del ruth, and starring red skelton, ann sothern, rags ragland among others, with special features by james, warren and nyas berry of the berry brothers .
the director is the only character in the film to develop a successful family life, with marriage and children. his dining room has an ellipse - shaped mirror on the wall, like a similar mirror in the dining room in
some critics have seen buchanan' s character to be a satire on vincente minnelli himself, with his various highbrow aspirations in american film. the red smoke that fills buchanan' s faust sequences seems like a minnelli signature, after
. the film begins with sung narration, first by an unseen chorus, then joined by an unseen soloist. minnelli films often experiment with different methods of narration. this is one of the most unusual and avant - garde .
the kitchen, seen early in the film, also has reddish decor and green food. (later, during the big revelation between theron and his mother, the kitchen is stripped bare of all but its pinkish wood. )
, something condemned by that film. if it' s bad for gigi to learn how to extract presents of jewelry from wealthy men - and i agree that it is - shouldn' t it be bad for the heroine of
has perhaps used them to advantage, somewhat paradoxically. the play had two characters who represented evil adult homosexuals. this has been removed from the movie version. because of this, while the play depicted gayness as evil, the movie does not. by any standards, this is a big step up, morally and politically. the change is particularly striking in the treatment of the coach, an obnoxious villain in both play and film. in the play, he is a repressed gay. the revelation about these yearnings at the play' s end is treated as a big, guilty secret, showing how evil and rotten he is. all of this has been toned down, perhaps eliminated in the film. the coach in the film seems to be heterosexual. he is still rotten to the core. but the film traces his viciousness to his rigid adherence to macho norms. in the film, these norms are seen as a sick part of mainstream heterosexual culture. the coach is seen as representing heterosexuals at their worst. he is a person who spends much of his time enforcing macho norms, and persecuting anyone who falls outside of them .
there are two long take sequences at the party. the first occurs during the musical number
skip to my lou
. it starts when esther enters the shot carrying a tray of drinks, and eventually ends much later when john sings
lost my partner, skip to my lou
. this sequence is immensely complicated. the camera movements are all coordinated with the dance numbers in the film. the camera sometimes soars over the dancers' heads. it can move rapidly and forcefully, or make small adjustments. the most intricate dancing in the film takes place here, an ensemble piece that also contains many individual brief numbers for small groups of dancers. i cannot imagine how hard this was to rehearse. it is unclear whether this moving camera sequence in the work of minnelli, or of charles walters, the film' s choreographer. walters would soon go on to be a director himself. his first film ,
. startling plot revelations follow immediately after the bildungsroman ends, and theron comes home after his first sexual encounter. the whole focus of the film changes. there are no longer any goals: the story keeps moving in unexpected directions .
( 1956) is a biography of the painter vincent van gogh. the film is an example of vincente minnelli trying to bring high culture to a mass audience. it also shows his love of france, as a center of art .
the beat actor (frank gorshin) gets spoofed for his casual clothes. but the film seems to respect his talent as an actor. he is also presented as a person with sincere feelings. minnelli will return to a bohemian milieu in
is also minnelli' s first film of religion - based fantasy. this is a genre to which minnelli would return throughout his career. many of minnelli' s realistic, non - fantasy films, will also include the christian imagery prevalent in
( 1944) is a romantic comedy, mainly directed by and credited to alexander hall. hall had to leave to start another film a few weeks before this one finished. vincente minnelli was reportedly brought in to direct the last few weeks of
is that i wanted to make them more
visible
to viewers. these comments might seem
obvious
to anyone who watches the film. but it is clear that many people are ignoring or not seeing this aspect of the movie .
is full of mirrors, and scenes are often staged in front of them. mirrors are one of the main motifs in film noir, so perhaps these mirrors reflect the genre. they also recall minnelli' s other films with mirror sequences .
. the fathers in that film are frighteningly efficient. they take one look at a situation, size it up accurately, and make a non - negotiable demand on their sons to take some macho - driven course of action. the father in
. this song is a musical version, of the sort of frantic hunt for a missing person that often forms a climax in minnelli. it takes place at night and around water, anticipating the desperate search in minnelli' s next film ,
guétary is always dressed to the teeth. throughout the film he is dressed in a series of beautifully tailored double - breasted suits. he is a
dandy
, a man who takes great pleasure in being dressed well. the film suggests that this gives great pleasure to everyone around him, too. the dandy has a long tradition in both life and art. he is clearly a figure whom minnelli celebrates. many of minnelli' s young men are also dandies, such as those in
the garage late in the film where the husband discusses alternate routes, is filled with red color harmonies. light orange brick and light pink brick walls, are behind bright red machinery. the husband' s blue jacket forms the sole contrasting touch .
both heroines in the film are in orange clothes on their introduction. martha hyer is in a refined, glamorous evening gown whose color is a soft, restrained orange - pink, while shirley maclaine shows up in a blinding red - orange outfit .
the skyscraper building where montand sings
come back to me
, has some sort of polygonal shaped roof. (it is hard to tell exactly from the view in the film, whether it is a hexagon, an octagon, etc. )
, though it is less elongated than those in previous minnelli. instead of being elongated, it is close to being a circle. the contessa has a long elliptical mirror on a dressing table, one more used in the bulk of the film .
( 1956) is vincente minnelli' s look at men who do not fit into gender norms. the hero is a male prep school student who is deeply female like. it shows his ferocious persecution by adult authority figures in the school, his male classmates, and by his own father. the film constitutes a detailed record of the war on gays that was fought from the 1930' s through the 1970' s in the united states. this war was fought in media silence - the media of the time were not supposed to notice it was going on, or record any of it. so the fact that a film like this was made at the time is fairly amazing, and one wonders how it ever got by film censorship .
the black and white ball towards the end of the film is one of minnelli' s richest scenes. the screen is so overloaded with detail, that even with the stop motion capabilities of today' s film machines, that it is virtually impossible to take in all the detail. walter plunckett created a huge variety of costumes here, his only contribution to the film. these are rich, sensuous and complex. they have the flattering quality of his finest work. one wonders what it would be like to wear such wonderful clothes in real life. the clothes of both guétary and kelly have a look evoking adventure films, a genre in which plunckett specialized. minnelli had previously included the black and white costumed dance number of
la traviata
in
there is a beautiful still life of breakfast, at the start of the film. minnelli loves such still lifes of food. many of the plates on the table are geometric. once again in minnelli, the food is soft: grapefruit and poached eggs .
sandra dee' s young english girlfriend has a crush on one of the soldiers at buckingham palace. minnelli includes the
changing of the guard
ritual in the film. he ties in with the other glamorized men in uniform in minnelli, in films like
some of the movements in the boar hunt show first the boar, and later the hero, moving towards the camera. at the film' s end, the hero disappears by moving away from the camera, in a reverse echo of the earlier hunt.
panama hattie is a 1942 american film produced by arthur freed and directed by norman z. mcleod . substantial retakes were directed by roy del ruth with choreography by danny dare and musical numbers staged by vincente minnelli . the film used only four of porter 's songs and substituted other songs . the cast featured red skelton as red , ann sothern as hattie maloney , rags ragland as rags , ben blue as rowdy , marsha hunt as leila tree , virginia o'brien as flo foster , alan mowbray as jay jerkins , dan dailey as dick bulliard and lena horne as singer in phil 's place . songs used in the film are as follows : " hattie from panama " ( roger edens ) - chorus " i 've still got my health " ( porter ) - ann sothern " berry me not " ( phil moore ) [ instrumental , danced by the berry brothers ] " just one of those things " ( porter ) - lena horne [ from jubilee ] " fresh as a daisy " ( porter ) - virginia o'brien " good neighbors " ( edens ) - red skelton , rags ragland , ben blue and chorus " let 's be buddies " ( porter ) - sothern with jackie horner , and o'brien with alan mowbray " hail , hail , the gang 's all here " ( arthur sullivan ; theodore f. morse ) [ instrumental ] " did i get stinkin ' at the savoy " ( e. y. harburg and walter donaldson ) - o'brien " the sping " ( moore and j. legon ) - horne [ danced by the berry brothers ] " the son of a gun who picks on uncle sam " ( harburg and burton lane ) - company
panama hattie is a 1942 american film produced by arthur freed and directed by norman z. mcleod. substantial retakes were directed by roy del ruth with choreography by danny dare and musical numbers staged by vincente minnelli. the film used only four of porter's songs and substituted other songs. the cast featured red skelton as red, ann sothern as hattie maloney, rags ragland as rags, ben blue as rowdy, marsha hunt as leila tree, virginia o'brien as flo foster, alan mowbray as jay jerkins, dan dailey as dick bulliard and lena horne as singer in phil's place. songs used in the film are as follows: " hattie from panama " (roger edens) - chorus " i've still got my health " (porter) - ann sothern " berry me not " (phil moore) [ instrumental, danced by the berry brothers ] " just one of those things " (porter) - lena horne [ from jubilee ] " fresh as a daisy " (porter) - virginia o'brien " good neighbors " (edens) - red skelton, rags ragland, ben blue and chorus " let's be buddies " (porter) - sothern with jackie horner, and o'brien with alan mowbray " hail, hail, the gang's all here " (arthur sullivan; theodore f. morse) [ instrumental ] " did i get stinkin' at the savoy " (e. y. harburg and walter donaldson) - o'brien " the sping " (moore and j. legon) - horne [ danced by the berry brothers ] " the son of a gun who picks on uncle sam " (harburg and burton lane) - company
panama hattie is a 1942 american film produced by arthur freed and directed by norman z. mcleod. substantial retakes were directed by roy del ruth with choreography by danny dare and musical numbers staged by vincente minnelli. the film used only four of porter's songs and substituted other songs. the cast featured red skelton as red, ann sothern as hattie maloney, rags ragland as rags, ben blue as rowdy, marsha hunt as leila tree, virginia o'brien as flo foster, alan mowbray as jay jerkins, dan dailey as dick bulliard and lena horne as singer in phil's place. songs used in the film are as follows: " hattie from panama " (roger edens) - chorus " i've still got my health " (porter) - ann sothern " berry me not " (phil moore) [ instrumental, danced by the berry brothers ] " just one of those things " (porter) - lena horne [ from jubilee ] " fresh as a daisy " (porter) - virginia o'brien " good neighbors " (edens) - red skelton, rags ragland, ben blue and chorus " let's be buddies " (porter) - sothern with jackie horner, and o'brien with alan mowbray " hail, hail, the gang's all here " (arthur sullivan; theodore f. morse) [ instrumental ] " did i get stinkin' at the savoy " (e. y. harburg and walter donaldson) - o'brien " the sping " (moore and j. legon) - horne [ danced by the berry brothers ] " the son of a gun who picks on uncle sam " (harburg and burton lane) - company