Classic Film Review: A Matter of Life and Death (1946)

A Matter of Life and Death tells the story of flyer Peter Carter (David Niven), a man who knows he's heading for death as his plane is going down and he has no parachute. He reports his situation to June (Kim Hunter), an American radio operator, and they spend a few moments talking before he bails out of the plane. Unfortunately, the conductor (Marius Goring) sent to escort him to heaven loses him in the fog and Carter finds himself instead on the beach where he reunites with June. When asked, he refuses to meekly carry on his journey to heaven and appeals against the date of his death. In the 'real' world Dr Reeves (Roger Livesey) tries to save him from the hallucinations but the matter will only be solved after the appeal.

Needless to say, this film certainly deserves its reputation. It's witty, intelligent and both lovingly acted and directed. David Niven, one of the most reliable leading men of the era for me, is excellent, never too melodramatic in a film that could easily stray too far along that spectrum. Equally, Kim Hunter is beautifully reserved as June, creating a love story that the audience wants to see succeed. In fact, perhaps the word to describe this film is 'quiet', though I mean it in the best possible sense. It's quietly wonderful and delicately assembled.

The use of black and white for the heaven sequences and vivid colour for the rest is an inspired decision, particularly when, towards the end, we then get the crossover between the two. The film also uses silence effectively when the conductor appears and freezes everything. Probably my favourite scene was between Carter and the conductor as they sit on the heavenly escalator discussing potential counsels for the defence, primarily because of the dialogue. You can see this film as an easy fantasy and enjoy it that way or you can really immerse yourself in the dialogue and live every word and historical reference.

Unquestionably, this is a film I'll watch again at some point - and no doubt more than once. A classic deserving of the title.

Classic Film Review: How the West Was Won (1962)

How the West Was Won is an epic Western focusing on three generations of the same family. As well as three tremendous directors, it boasts a phenomenal cast: Carroll Baker, Lee. J. Cobb, Henry Fonda, Carolyn Jones, Karl Malden, Gregory Peck, George Peppard, Robert Preston, Debbie Reynolds, James Stewart, Eli Wallach, John Wayne, Richard Widmark, Walter Brennan, Agnes Moorhead, Harry Morgan, Thelma Ritter and Russ Tamblyn. Oh, and it's narrated by Spencer Tracy.

There are distinct sections in this film and it's rather difficult to review in light of all the separate bits. I will say that I enjoyed the opening parts with parents played by Karl Malden and Agnes Moorhead and the daughters played by Carroll Baker and Debbie Reynolds, the first of whom captures mountain man James Stewart and the second toys with Robert Preston before entrapping Gregory Peck. This is one of those films where it's much easier to refer to people by their actor name because it's a film where characters are symbols, the means by which we live through outlaws, white water, civil war, the railroad and Indian battles. The only character who lasts the film out is Lily (Debbie Reynolds), but even she only appears in three of the five sections. It makes latching onto character difficult, though Thelma Ritter makes an impact as a woman in search of a husband and Jimmy Stewart, despite being too old for his part, is as enjoyable as ever.

That said, it's certainly a film that merits watching at least once for what it depicts. It feels like an amalgamation of every Western every filmed and including some of the heavyweights of the genre certainly helps its credentials. There are some spectacular sequences including the white water scene in the first section and a brilliant train battle towards the end. Ultimately, these scenes are more memorable than any of the characters and, more memorable than even those, is the overarching ideal of the West that comes across via Spencer Tracy's narration.

Classic Film Review: Tom Thumb (1958)

An adaptation of the famous fairy tale, Tom Thumb stars Russ Tamblyn as the boy no bigger than a thumb whose existence is granted as a wish to Jonathan (Bernard Miles) and Anne (Jessie Matthews) by the Forest Queen (June Thorburn). While Tom falls into trouble with villains Ivan (Terry-Thomas) and Antony (Peter Sellers), the Forest Queen is also faced with the fact she wants to become human to be with Woody (Alan Young), but is he worthy of her love after he loses Tom?

I'm sure I must've seen this when I was younger but all the detail had passed me by so I came to it fresh. Russ Tamblyn is phenomenal, both in acrobatic ability and charm. He's so perfect for the role that I honestly can't imagine anyone else playing it with such energy. The rest of the cast is equally as enjoyable, Terry-Thomas and Peter Sellers in fairly typical roles for them and hamming it up something rotten. I enjoyed the interplay between June Thorburn and Alan Young and, really, every minor role was brilliantly cast.

This is a very flamboyant, colourful film and it has two centrepiece musical numbers - 'Tom Thumb's Tune' and 'Talented Shoes', both of which are extremely catchy and likely to torment you for days. The first is Tom's greeting by the toys in his room which showcases Tamblyn's athletic ability wonderfully and the second is a number in the town square with - you've guessed it - talented dancing shoes. If I have one niggle with this film it's that the scene in the villains' lair went on a little too long but it was funny enough and gave a little tension to the finale. The special effects are not at all shabby for 1958, not spectacular by any means but in keeping with the story as a whole and thoroughly enjoyable.

Definitely one I'd rewatch - and perhaps with my father too since he came in the room for two minutes and stayed for half the film!

Book Review: The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices by Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens

The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices is a humorous narrative of the walking tour Collins and Dickens undertook in 1857 and was originally published in Household Words. Collins becomes Thomas Idle (truly idle) and Dickens becomes Francis Goodchild (laboriously idle). It's split into five parts - the first covers their mountainous walk and Idle's ankle injury, the second follows on from that and includes a ghost story penned by Collins, the third comprises Thomas Idle essentially explaining why he's idle, the fourth includes a very disturbing tale penned by Dickens that frightened me in broad daylight, while the final portion is set at Doncaster during Race-Week.

Separately, these two are brilliant; together they're even better. I spent so much time chuckling at this book, quite a bit of it in public too. The interplay between the two characters is wonderful, particularly during the fourth number, and the exaggerated personas are excellent throughout. The recounting of Idle's accident in the first part sets the bar high for the rest of the book and it certainly delivers.

Both the ghost stories are creepy enough, and definitely memorable. While the one penned by Collins has one real moment of creepiness though, the one by Dickens is more malignant and was both enjoyable to read and incredibly unsettling.

It's difficult to say too much about a book that's only 130 pages long. I will say, as a side point, that the Hesperus Press edition is beautiful and compact. I love their books for those reasons and I was delighted to find The Lazy Tour in such a neat little package. Highly recommended to any fans of Collins and Dickens and, most especially, to fans of both.

This book was read as part of the 'TBR' reading challenge, details here.

Book Review: Felix Holt, the Radical by George Eliot

Felix Holt, the Radical tells the story of political upheaval around the time of the Reform Act in a provincial town. Harold Transome returns from years living abroad to claim his estate and also to stand for election as a Radical, rejecting his Tory roots. At the same time, Felix Holt returns home and sets about working hard in poverty when he could be something better. Felix befriends the Dissenting minster, Rev. Lyon but initially has something of a tetchy relationship with his daughter, Esther Lyon. However, as the election approaches, secrets begin spilling out and both Harold and Felix find themselves in difficult situations.

I've struggled with Eliot in the past but I really enjoyed this book once I got into it. It seemed to take a little while to get going, but once all the main players were in place it was a smooth read. Of the major secrets in the novel, one is obvious from the start, giving a colour to every interaction between certain characters that one of them is completely unaware of. In addition, I adored the interplay between Felix and Esther. Their sparring conversations in the early part of the novel are certainly one of the highlights, as are their slow realisations that they don't dislike each other as much as they think they do. Also, while Rev. Lyon irritated me a little in his opening few chapters, he develops quite well as the nature of his relationship with his daughter changes.

The riot scenes which Felix gets himself involved in are extremely evocative without being a litany of what every individual was doing at any given time. While the outcome of the riot is, perhaps, a foregone conclusion, Eliot's representation of both it and Felix is delicate and well-handled. The riot, along with the scene preceding it where Felix and Esther are skirting around the issue of their love are two of my favourite scenes in the novel, though I did also enjoy the court and prison scenes. I suppose that suggests that the best portions of the book come towards the end and that may well be the case.

There were some things about the book that grated slightly. I didn't like how long it took to get going, as mentioned above. I also found Eliot's segues into the mind of random voters (whilst completely understandable) a little tiresome. I found I was trying to keep names in my head that were only going to pop up once or twice again and for very little purpose. However, the milieu Eliot was trying to create certainly comes across on the page so I suppose that's a victory.

Ultimately, I enjoyed Felix Holt, the Radical for the characterisation of a few - Felix, Esther, Rev. Lyon and Mrs Transome - and some splendid scenes. I may have been at last converted to a 'proper' Eliot fan.

This book was read as part of the 'Victorian Bingo' reading challenge, details here.

A Smidgen of Success

January was another one of those months where I felt as though I'd been dangling from the roof of a hyperactive carousel. Spinning around with the world all topsy-turvy gets old and I've definitely been doing it for long enough. I had some bright spots with a friend and my nieces but, really, I was happy to see the month coming to an end. Then the final few days threw up a couple of surprises.

On Friday I found out a short story has been accepted for publication in April. I'll post more of the details closer to the time but the jolt I got from that was excellent and I'm very proud of the story.

While deliriously happy about that, I got something of another shock. Late Saturday night I learned that I'd won first prize in the Literary Journalism Competition organised by Dickens Journals Online. That was one of those delightful moments where I opened up the page, scanned the list of runners-up and commended entries and allowed myself a moment of disappointment before actually lifting my eyes a bit. Then, quite naturally, I ran downstairs to get my poor father to check I wasn't seeing things. He thought the house was burning down. Again, I'm really proud of the story and I'll let you know when it's available on the DJO website to read. Incidentally, if you're unfamiliar with them, they host digital copies of Household Words and All the Year Round and they're a brilliant resource for academics and nineteenth-century book lovers alike. It's one of those sites you can fall into and come out three days later dazed and talking like Mr Dickens himself - well worth a look.

One of my goals for 2015 was to have a little more success with my short stories to build on the start I made last year. I think we can tick that box already.

I'm floating back down to earth now but I wish I could bottle that euphoria. As ever, the first thing I did when I got the news was burst into an appropriate song - 'It's a Hit!' from Merrily We Roll Along seemed like the perfect choice and it's been stuck in my head since Friday. As the ever-wise Charley sings:

Success is like failure, 

It's how you perceive it,

It's what you do with it, 

Not how you achieve it,

And I can't believe it's a hit!

And, if Sondheim doesn't float your boat, try a little Judy and Barbra...

Classic Film Review: From This Day Forward (1946)

Utilising flashbacks, From This Day Forward tells the story of Susan (Joan Fontaine) and Bill's (Mark Stevens) marriage and the difficulties their face both before the war and in the present with Bill waiting in line at the employment office. It's a slice-of-life domestic drama which also features Rosemary DeCamp as Susan's sister Martha and Harry Morgan as her husband Hank.

Although this film gets it right in places, it's a bit of an unshapely mess designed to promote the work the US Employment Office was doing post-war. We start with Bill filling in forms and he doesn't want to do it for whatever reason so we get flashbacks to his engagement and early married life. The problem is that there's no real urgency in the narrative. We don't find out Bill's 'fear' about why he won't get a job for quite some time and, by then, it's ceased to matter. There's no real on-going thread beyond the marriage and that gets stale. Something else which irritated me was the representation of Hank. I appreciated his layabout nature in the majority of the film - it contrasted neatly with Bill's work ethic and gave a more negative portrayal of a marriage with Harry Morgan once again proving his worth as an excellent supporting actor. However, by the end of the film he seems to be a reformed character with no explanation of why.

The performances overall are good, however. Joan Fontaine might be a little miscast as a New York housewife but she's stunning in every scene and that more than makes up for it in my opinion. I feel as though the role of Bill could've been played by anyone but Mark Stevens makes a good job of it. In their early scenes, though, Rosemary DeCamp and Harry Morgan are just brilliant and it's their representation of married life which lingers more potently for me.

Overall, this film feels a little laboured but has some good moments. It would've been better had it not been a blatant piece of propaganda for a government office with a plot tacked on but Fontaine still sparkles.