Second Samuel

Films: David and Bathsheba
Format: DVD from NetFlix on rockin’ flatscreen.

I’m not going to pretend that I have a fondness for biblical epics, because I don’t. Sure, there are a few that I think are good and worth watching, but in general, they leave me cold. They tend toward the preachy and also tend to treat Old Testament stories not only as actual history, but as something edifying and filled with moral value. The truth is that I find the majority of the OT to be morally suspect at best and hideously immoral at worst (and in general). So it is with David and Bathsheba, a Hollywood-ized version of a story out of the second book of Samuel. We’re supposed to (I assume) learn about mercy, when this is a really nasty story once you dig even a little below the surface.

As the title suggests, this is the story of King David and Bathsheba. The story goes like this—King David (Gregory Peck) and his troops are fighting a battle. Placed in danger, David is convinced to retreat to Jerusalem. Before he goes, he talks to one of his higher ranking soldiers, Uriah (Kieron Moore). Uriah is recently married, but he hasn’t let that change what he thinks is his destiny—to die gloriously in battle for the benefit of his king.

Number 28

Film: Wilson
Format: Video from The Magic Flashdrive on laptop.

When I was about eight years old, my father taught me a memory trick and had me memorize the American presidents in order. To give you an idea of how long ago this was, Carter was president at the time (he’s 39th). Woodrow Wilson, the subject of the film Wilson was the 28th president. He was the man in charge when the U.S. fought to stay out of World War I and then was in office when we entered the war. Wilson is thankfully not a full-life biography of the man. It covers the end of his tenure at Princeton, his governorship of New Jersey, and then his eight years in office.

And, I hate to say it, but that’s really it. Wilson (Alexander Knox) is tapped by local Democratic machine politicians to run for governor after a failed attempt to democratize certain aspects of Princeton. Wilson is immediately accused of being just another part of the machine, but he manages to get elected almost because he seems to stand against party politics. And, for a wonder, the man is one of those rare people who can’t be bought. As governor, he stands up against the corrupt politics, and it’s not too long before he’s being considered for a run for the presidency.

Catch and Release

Film: The Old Man and the Sea
Format: DVD from NetFlix on laptop.

I should probably start off talking about The Old Man and the Sea by saying that I am not a fan of the writing of Ernest Hemingway in general. I’m happy to say that a number of his short stories are fantastic and worth reading, but I’ve never liked his novels. A large part of this for me is that Hemingway couldn’t write a woman character to save his life an anything longer than a couple of pages. That’s not an issue with this film, since virtually the entire film is Spencer Tracy sitting by himself in a boat. This film has other problems, though, which we’ll get to soon enough.

Know going into this that this will likely be a pretty short review. There’s not a lot here to write about in terms of plot or interaction between characters. Aside from the opening few scenes and the very end, this really is literally what I said above. Santiago (Spencer Tracy) is an old fisherman in Cuba whose best days are long gone. When the movie begins, Santiago has not caught a real sizable fish for nearly three months. The boy (Felipe Pazos) who worked as his apprentice has been sent to another boat by his parents. Now working for a “lucky” boat, the boy still looks after Santiago, buying him food and sardines to use as bait.

Caught in a Bland Romance

Film: Love is a Many-Splendored Thing
Format: Streaming video from NetFlix on laptop.

I was of two minds going into Love is a Many-Splendored Thing. On the one hand, I like William Holden in pretty much everything I’ve seen him in, so that’s on the positive side. On the other hand, it also stars Jennifer Jones, who I’ve never liked much and who always comes across as wooden on screen, at least in my opinion. I figured this was going to be pretty drippy, but I’m willing to put up with a lot for the sake of William Holden. Anyway, I needed to watch it sooner or later.

Dr. Han Suyin (Jennifer Jones) is Eurasian. While being of mixed race in Hong Kong in the post-World War II years is not specifically a problem, miscegenation is an issue. Eurasians are not quite Asian and not quite European, but are considered far more Asian than European. Cavorting with Europeans is fine socially but not romantically. So, of course that’s exactly where we are going to go here with the arrival of Mark Elliott (William Holden), an American journalist currently stationed in Hong Kong. Things are complicated by Mark being married but separated, adding an additional and unnecessary complication to the budding romance.

Mummery

Film: The Song of Bernadette
Format: DVD from NetFlix on laptop.

The Song of Bernadette opens with the quote, “For those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe in God, no explanation is possible.” To me, this is nothing more than an excuse to claim bullshit as real as long as people believe in it. And boy, is that what we’re going to get with this one. The Song of Bernadette starts with mummery, continues through with mummery and ends with the same. The opening quote is absolutely correct. For the religious, the story will be accepted without evidence. For the skeptical, the evidence provided is ludicrously thin.

So, shoes off because we’re jumping into the deep end of Catholic dogma with both feet, and I’m going to keep this short and sweet (unlike the film itself). The film is about the “discovery” of the healing properties of the waters of Lourdes. It’s worth noting that the Catholic Church recognizes 69 official miraculous healings thanks to the waters of this particular shrine. That sounds pretty amazing until you realize that about 200 million people have visited since the shrine was created, meaning the chances for a miracle cure are about 1 in 3,000,000. Anyway, that’s neither here nor there.

Band Practice

Film: Alexander’s Ragtime Band
Format: DVD from NetFlix on rockin’ flatscreen.

There are two basic kinds of musicals. There’s the type where everyone in the movie sings his or her feelings at various times and the story is moved forward in large part by the music and lyrics. I often have a verisimilitude problem with this sort of musical, but I can deal with them if the movie itself is good enough. Singin’ in the Rain is a prime example of this sort of musical and perhaps the greatest example of the style. The other sort of musical is, more or less, a musical about musicals. All of the characters are performers and the songs tend to be less about the current emotions of the characters but are instead a part of a show they are performing. Alexander’s Ragtime Band, the film in question here, is of the second sort.

As with many a musical of both stripes, Alexander’s Ragtime Band begins with a meet-cute between all of the members of our eventual love triangle. Society child and musical virtuoso Roger Grant (Tyrone Power) scandalizes his family by pursuing fame in the realm of ragtime rather than classical music. He and his band, including songwriter and pianist Charlie Dwyer (Don Ameche) have a try-out at a nightclub, but have forgotten their music. They spot a song called “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” and play through it, not realizing that the song belongs to singer Stella Kirby (Alice Faye). Hearing her music playing, she jumps on stage and sings, and the group is hired, but only as a complete group, meaning that Alice has a band and the band now has a singer. And, thanks to the song, Roger Grant is now dubbed Alexander and the band has a name.

A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight

Film: In Old Chicago
Format: DVD from NetFlix on laptop.

I’ve set up my NetFlix queue to be frontloaded with all of the “very long wait” films at the top. What this means is that I typically get one of those films because there are so many of them. That’s great, but it also means that what shows up on a given day is something of a crapshoot. I’m never sure what I’m going to get, and sometimes I get something that’s not really what I’m in the mood to watch. Such is the case with In Old Chicago, a bizarre little film that combines a lot of plots and a spurious legend.

What spurious legend? That’s not too difficult to figure out. The film takes place in Chicago in the 1870s and the main characters last name is O’Leary. Think there’s going to be a fire? Think it might get started by a cow kicking over a lantern? The shame of In Old Chicago is that it isn’t specifically about the Chicago fire, because that might have been more interesting and certainly would have been a hell of a lot less misogynistic.

Bombs Away

Film: Twelve O’Clock High
Format: Streaming video from NetFlix on laptop.

So the goofy post titles are back. Final results were 13 in favor, 3 against, and 3 who didn’t care.

I appear to be on a war film kick lately. I’m not sure what appealed to me about Twelve O’Clock High today, but since it was streaming I figured I’d give it a go. This is much more of a standard war movie than yesterday’s film. As someone who grew up watching military films, it was not unlike slipping into an old pair of comfortable shoes. This is World War II all the way and air combat all the way. I felt right at home.

At least for the first couple of minutes, that is. We learn right away that while Twelve O’Clock High isn’t going to show us a lot of graphic violence, it’s not going to pull its punches with regard to the men flying bomber missions over Europe. We start with a short framing story. A man unknown to us discovers an old mug in an antique shop and buys it. He then travels out to an open field that used to be a World War II airbase. This takes us into the past and we see a group of bombers returning from a mission. Any illusions we may have had that this will be straight propaganda are blown out right away. The bomber group has been hit hard.

State Fair

Format: Turner Classic Movies on rockin’ flatscreen.

I’ve never been to the Iowa State Fair. As a matter of fact, I’ve never been to any state fair. The rest of my family has been to the Iowa State Fair multiple times; we have family in Des Moines. Sadly, for me, I’m always busy on the weekend my family goes, which means I spend a weekend by myself while they go eat funnel cakes and spin around rapidly on rides put together a few days before. I bring this up because State Fair takes place at the Iowa State Fair, although we don’t actually see much of it.

This is the story of the Frake family. Father Abel Frake (Will Rogers) spends a good deal of the film obsessing over his prized hog Blue Boy. Abel’s entire time at the Fair is all about tending to his pig and the rather unusual ailment that the pig seems to go through. Essentially, Blue Boy is lovesick over a sow also at the fair. When she’s in a nearby pen, he’s fine. When she’s not, he rolls over onto his side and becomes listless.