1. Command Decision (1948) – Made just after WWII, this Air Force drama set in 1943 when the outcome of the war was still in doubt, is one of the most intelligent examinations of the burden of command ever put on film. Clark Gable is absolutely outstanding as Casey, a Brigadier General forced to give orders that on their face appear cold and even monstrous, but in truth are just the opposite. Caught between the Washington brass who have a war to sell and the men under him who see only a General ordering their comrades to certain death, Casey is a leader willing to be hated and even lose his command in order to do the greater good. What Casey cares about before anything is saving American lives. That means winning the war as quickly as possible, something which can only be accomplished if unspeakable sacrifices are made in the here and now.  

The film’s real strength lies in a refusal to demonize the different points of view represented. Walter Pidgeon plays Major General Kane, Casey’s superior and the man who has to worry about the political considerations of how Casey’s heavy losses will affect public opinion, which is just upstream from the financial decisions made in Congress. In a less intelligent, lazier film (translation: a modern one) Kane would be portrayed as a bureaucratic boob only worried about his own upward mobility, but not here. Ultimately, we may not like the way Kane’s forced to think but we’re made to understand the idea of competing goods.

Representing the men is Van Johnson who steals every scene oozing a contempt, and at times, an outright hatred for Casey. The moment when he comes to finally understand the bigger picture is both touching and understated – one of Johnson’s finest.

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2. Desperate Journey (1942) – Errol Flynn, Ronald Reagan, Raymond Massey and Alan Hale had such memorable chemistry together in Michael Curtiz’s “Santa Fe Trail” (1940) that the four of them were rounded up two years later for Raoul Walsh’s rousing WWII action/adventure set behind German lines. Shot down on a bombing run, Flynn, Reagan, Hale and Arthur Kennedy are captured by Massey’s Nazi Major who makes a career-mistake in thinking he can convince Reagan to give up secrets [great Reagan video]. What follows is a rollicking actioner very much in the spirit of “Gunga Din” with one of my all-time favorite closing lines delivered by Flynn with the gusto and panache that made him an immortal: “Now for Australia and a crack at those Japs!”

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3. Tomorrow is Forever (1946) – At first it’s easy to confuse this complicated look at a mother’s sacrifice as a soapy melodrama, even a gimmicky one, but that’s because the film doesn’t tell you what it’s really about until a very satisfying climax when the theme plays out fully and comes together. Claudette Colbert and Orson Welles are Elizabeth and John, just married and with their whole lives ahead of them. But it’s 1918, WWI rages and John goes off to do his duty. Alone with a young son, Elizabeth receives a telegram informing her John’s been killed in action. It takes years, but after some time she remarries and watches her boy grow into a man just as WWII begins. After losing her beloved first husband to one war, Elizabeth can’t bear the thought of losing her son to another. This changes when a visitor from war-torn Europe, who may or may not be a much older and nearly crippled John, helps her to understand that what’s at stake in this war is bigger than any mother’s love.

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4. Happy Land (1943) – A horrible title can’t diminish the emotional power of this 20th Century-Fox oddity – a mixture of “A Christmas Carol” and “It’s a Wonderful Life” — about Lew Marsh (Don Ameche-in his finest performance), a pharmacist living in picture-perfect small town America whose life is shattered after he loses his only son to WWII. The ghost of Gramps (the wonderful Harry Carey) snaps Lew out of a clinical depression by taking him on a tour of the past where Lew is allowed to discover things about his beloved son he never knew. This was a generous, selfless boy — a young man to be proud of and mature beyond his years who died for a higher cause he believed in.

“Happy Land” doesn’t simplify a father’s grief or pretend to have all the answers.  When the credits roll, Lew’s still devastated and even a bit bitter. We’ve only been allowed to see the beginning of  a healing process … and that this process will never end is made touchingly clear.

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5. The Fighting Seabees (1944) – One of John Wayne’s lesser known WWII-era films, and one that deserves better recognition. The seabees are C.B.’s as in “Construction Brigade Battalion.” These are the men who build the bridges and airstrips in battle zones. But once upon a time, according to the movie, they were unarmed civilians, not allowed to fight back and frequently picked off by enemy snipers. Enter Wedge Donovan (Wayne), the head of Donovan Construction, who has watched too many of his men die helplessly and so he sets out to allow them to become armed enlisted men – The Fighting Seebees.

What sets this apart from other Wayne films, besides the opportunity to witness Duke dance a jitterbug, is that Wayne plays the role he’s usually up against. Donovan is a not a wise, seasoned pro. He’s an immature hot head whose arrogance and stupidity ends up getting a lot of men killed. Seeing Wayne in this kind of role takes some getting used to, but it adds a memorable emotional stake to what could have been a rote programmer. Of course, Wayne’s character redeems himself – and it’s a spectacular redemption – but that’s all you’re getting from me.

Because it’s Oscar Sunday and the whole world is focused on the Kodak Theatre and the red carpet parade about to happen, it seems fitting that Broadway throws Hollywood a bone today.  Also, considering every other Broadway show these days seems to be a staged version of a popular movie, (“Shrek”, “Wedding Singer”… Really?) it seems appropriate to shine a little light on a Broadway Musical that has been adapted to film. 

My opinion is that in most cases, Broadway musicals are rarely improved by their film adaptations.  Even the good film versions of musicals are still not as theatrically thrilling or as emotionally impactful as the experience of seeing these shows live.  “Chicago”, “Hairspray” and “Phantom of the Opera” are all very recent examples of fine film adaptations.  But I contend that even in the case of ”Chicago”, an Oscar winner, the theatre version was superior.

However, there are a few exceptions and in one extraordinary case, the film version is so superior than the stage version, that it is almost painful to sit through the original theatrical piece.  That exception is “The Sound of Music”.

The film version of “The Sound of Music” is superior to the original play in every way.  In fact, lately many local amateur productions of the stage version of “The Sound of Music” have even adopted some of the changes made for the film and implemented them on stage.

Since I come from the theatre perspective, it’s difficult for me to fully analyze what makes a film great, but I will point out the major differences between the original stage version and the brilliant movie.

Locations, locations, locations.

The biggest difference, and in many ways the most significant, is that through the film version we are actually transported to the beautiful locations discussed in the show.  We actually SEE Maria singing at the top of her lungs on a beautiful mountain on the Vienna/Swiss border.  We follow the children through the streets of Vienna as they learn to sing.  We are caught in a high-speed chase as the family flees the Nazis in the dark of night.  Austria is one of the characters in “The Sound of Music” and when you have to sit and watch a stage version you really miss those beautiful scenes in the film.

Nothing, nothing, NOTHING beats this incredible opening sequence and it can ONLY be done on film:

Now THAT’S a nun I could fall in love with.

OK, I know its a bit of theatrical heresy to state my next point, but thankfully, I am still anonymous and the theatre police will not come after me and lock me up for whispering a truth that we all know but are not supposed to reveal:  Mary Martin was never really that great.  I know, I know, she’s a legend and she has more Tonys than a good Little Italy restaurant and she was box office gold… but, come on!  Do you really believe that Captain Von Trapp would mess up a good thing with a baroness to take a chance on Sister Mary Martin?  And, wasn’t she a little too old to be a young novice?  I think she could have been a Mother Superior back in 1959.

Meanwhile, Julie Andrews was nothing short of perfection.  Her’s is a timeless performance and she is utterly believable not only as a young, innocent nun, but also as a beautiful romantic love interest and as a mother figure to the children.

Also, Christopher Plummer is brilliant in the very thankless role of Captain Von Trapp.  Again, believable as a stern but loving father, but he also makes a perfect transition to romantic love interest.  A huge improvement over the original Broadway casting of folk singer Theodore Bikel.

A few of my favorite things.

When the film version of “The Sound of Music” was written, the creators made a few structural changes to the show and re-arranged a few songs.  The minor adjustments they made are so incredibly logical and improve the flow of the story and the pace of the first act that it almost seems a crime that the original stage version is not officially re-written to reflect the film version’s structure.  The major differences are:

• On Broadway, during the rain storm when the children all come to Maria’s room to hide from the thunder and lightening, the song Maria sings to make them feel better is “Lonely Goatherd”!  Can you even imagine that song in that context now?  “My Favorite Things” is the PERFECT song for that scene and how they didn’t put it there in the first place is a mystery.

• Wait, it gets stranger… in the original Broadway version, “My Favorite Things” is actually a duet between Maria and Mother Superior sung at the convent prior to Maria going to join the Von Trapp family as a governess.  Mother Superior sings it to Maria to give her confidence to leave the convent.
• In the Broadway version, the characters of Max and Elsa (the baroness) are given a couple of ill-advised songs, “How Can Love Survive” and “There’s No Way to Stop It” that are wisely and thankfully excised from the film.  Max and Elsa don’t need to sing, and keeping these songs from them does not diminish their characters, in fact it gives them more weight and importance by keeping them “straight”.
• The love song between the Captain and Maria on Broadway is a real clunker called “An Ordinary Couple” which sounds more like an older couple planning their retirement years rather than two star-crossed lovers throwing convention aside and following their overwhelming emotional desire for each other:

An ordinary couple
Is all we’ll ever be,
For all I want of living
Is to keep you close to me;
To laugh and weep together
While time goes on its flight,
To kiss you every morning
And to kiss you every night.

We’ll meet our daily problems,
And rest when day is done,
Our arms around each other
In the fading sun.

An ordinary couple,
Across the years we’ll ride,
Our arms around each other,
And our children by our side…
Our arms around each other.

Zzzzzzzzzzzz….oh, I’m sorry, is the song done yet?  Compare those lyrics to the ones written for the film version:

Perhaps I had a wicked childhood
Perhaps I had a miserable youth
But somewhere in my wicked, miserable past
There must have been a moment of truth
For here you are
Standing there
Loving me
Whether or not you should
So somewhere in my youth or childhood
I must have done something good
Nothing comes from nothing
Nothing ever could
So somewhere in my youth or childhood
I must have done something good

Doesn’t that better reflect the seriousness of the romance?  And the way it is filmed is romantic and kinda hot!

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So this may be the only time you hear me say it, but if a stage version of “The Sound of Music” is playing near you…. ehhh…. skip it.  Get the DVD of the amazing film, and make your kids watch it.  The movie’s got EVERYTHING:

• GREAT songs
• GREAT cast
• Cute kids
• Beautiful scenery
• Funny nuns
• Beautiful romance
• And the bad guys are NAZIS!  What more do you want??!!??

What better song for this week’s finale than:  “So Long, Farewell”?  ENJOY THE OSCARS!

One more encore….

OOPS!  I almost forgot the trivia!  I ALWAYS like to share a little trivia or an inside theatrical anecdote about the shows we discuss on Sunday Matinee.  So… This week, I’ll merge the two themes:  “The Sound of Music” and award shows!

1960 is still one of the most debated and talked about Tony Award seasons ever.  It was chock full of competition and incredibly surprising winners.

In the Best Musical category “The Sound of Music” was up against another classic:  “Gypsy”, as well as “Fiorello!”, “Once Upon a Mattress” starring Carol Burnett in here legendary Broadway debut AND “Take Me Along” starring none other than Jackie Gleason in his triumphant return to Broadway. Also starring in “Take Me Along” and nominated for Best Actor in a Musical:  Robert Morse and Walter Pidgeon… also nominated for Best Actor in a Musical:  Andy Griffith in “Destry Rides Again”!

There’s more… while you were in town and you wanted to see a play instead of a musical, you could have seen:   Sidney Poitier in “A Raisin in the Sun” or Jason Robards, Irene Worth and Maureen Stapleton in “Toys in the Attic” or George C. Scott in “The Andersonville Trial” or how about Melvyn Douglas in “The Best Man”?  Or, Geraldine Page and Rip Torn in “Sweet Bird of Youth”!  Or, perhaps you couldn’t get tickets to those plays… you could settle for Anne Bancroft in “The Miracle Worker”!  Meanwhile, Jane Fonda in “There Was a Little Girl”, Roddy McDowell in “The Fighting Cock” and Warren Beatty in “A Loss of Roses” round out the “youth movement” in the 1960 season.

Imagine that season:  Jackie Gleason, Carol Burnett, Mary Martin, Ethel Merman, Andy Griffith, Robert Morse, Walter Pidgeon, Sidney Poitier, Jason Robards, Irene Worth, Maureen Stapleton, George C. Scott, Melvyn Douglas, Geraldine Page, Rip Torn, Anne Bancroft, Jane Fonda, Roddy McDowell and Warren Beatty… top ticket price:  $5.00

So, since this is awards day, let’s reveal the winners from 1960:

Best Musical:  A very rare TIE!  And NOT the two shows you expect:  “The Sound of Music” and….. that timeless classic, the often revived and unforgettable….. ”Fiorello!”  That’s right:  “Fiorello!”… NOT “Gypsy!”  NOT Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents and Jerome Robbins creating a masterpiece of American Musical Theatre… no, instead we honored “Fiorello!”.  What were they thinking (drinking)?  (Makes that whole “Shakespeare in Love” over “Saving Private Ryan” & “Life is Beautiful” almost acceptable, doesn’t it?)

Best Play:  “The Miracle Worker” beating out “Toys in the Attic”, “The Best Man”, “A Raisin in the Sun” and Paddy Chayefsky’s “The Tenth Man”!

Best Actor in a Play:  Melvyn Douglas over Poitier, Robards and Scott.

Best Actress in a Play:  Anne Bancroft

Best Actress in a Musical:  NOT Ethel Merman giving a performance anyone would give there right appendage to have witnessed.  NOT Carol Burnett in a performance anyone would have given their OTHER appendage to have seen… no, the winner that year was….   Mary Martin…. seriously… Mary Martin.  {sigh}

Best Actor in a Musical:  The man who never won an Emmy Award for his groundbreaking work on television… Jackie Gleason.  How sweet it is!

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