Wednesday, March 24, 2004
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Wednesday, March 24, 2004 |
| Declaration of Principles By LINDSAY BIANCHI In the interest of cutting myself some slack and for all the film buffs and cineastes out there, I am giving this column over to the general discussion of movies once a month. Not only will it give me a chance to breathe between stage productions, but I hope to be able to spotlight some forgotten classics, both good and bad. Of course the good ones, I will gush over and the bad ones I will sear with my humble, but correct, opinion. This month, mostly just to get it out of the way, is Newspapers in the Movies. And like everything else that comes from Hollywood or thereabouts, it’s not as glamorous as it looks! Take “Citizen Kane,” for example. Sure, he lived in a great big house with a bathroom the size of Rhode Island, but was he happy? He thought it “would be fun to run a newspaper.” It was fun for a while. Then he got into politics. Even in the ‘40s a smear campaign made headlines. Charles Foster Kane, the great American disaster. He made his “Declaration of Principles” and ended up with a snowglobe in his hand mumbling about a sled. Not exactly uplifting, but simply put, the best black and white film you will ever see. And you thought Jed Leland was opinionated! As for Orson Welles, William Randolph Hearst put the kabosh on his career. Thankfully “Kane” was not touched, but his next project, “The Magnificient Andersons,” was butchered to half its size. It was all downhill from there. There were other highs like “The Lady From Shanghai” and “The Trial,” yet nothing as wonderful to watch as those old Mercury Players films. That’s as short as I can put my “Kane” thesis. Pauline Kael beat me to the punch on that one. As such, no film buff should be without Kael’s “The Citizen Kane Book.” One newspaper movie I’ve seen as much as Kane is “All the President’s Men,” starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman. Both fascinating and disturbing, the newsroom never seemed so exciting! With a great supporting cast, including Hal Holbrook as Deep Throat and Jason Robards as Ben Bradley, the inner workings of a big city newspaper are revealed. Redford and Hoffman play good reporter-bad reporter to the hilt, second-guessing each other right up to press time. Scary because it’s true! On the lighter side, a couple of comedies set in the world of newspapers can be a fun contrast. “The Front Page” is probably the all time hilarious send-up of the newsroom. Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon ham it up even more than in “The Odd Couple.” With the help of Carol Burnett and Susan Sarandon, the farce is on. This Ben Hecht-Charles MacArthur stage play has come to the screen several times, but this easy-to-find version from 1974 is a favorite. Matthau is at his best as the conniving editor. Lemmon does his best to wriggle out of his bosses’ trap. Fun for all ages! On the even ligher side is Don Knotts in his masterpiece, “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken.” This was his first feature film after leaving Mayberry. It has that smalltown feel of “The Andy Griffith Show,” but the focus is on typesetter Luther Haig. Nervous Knotts spazzes his way through the film, which concerns a supposed haunted house and the truth behind it. The prettiest girl in town becomes his bride, putting this film in the science fiction catagory. Nostalgic and funny without being offensive. Just one of the many big screen offerings not showing in Mt. Pilot! Last, but not in the least, um, least is “The Hudsucker Proxy.” I know it’s not purely a newspaper film, but the turns put in by John Mahoney, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Bruce Campbell as vintage ‘50s newshounds are magical to watch. A real set piece with lots of Art Deco and softly falling snow, “The Hud” is the Coen brothers’ most poetic creation. Leigh goes “undercover, as it were” to get the real scoop on Norville Barnes, the proxy of the title. Paul Newman has a juicy role as Mussburger, the man behind the Hud. It’s gorgeous to look at and the score is big and beautiful! I’m sure there are other newsie movies out there like “Newsies.” All I can say about that one is, “Didn’t see it.” That’s not a review. It’s a statement of fact. I’m not proud of it, but there it is. I haven’t seen “Newsies!” Sorry, I draw the line at singing paper boys.
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