Icons of the 1950's

With Elizabeth Taylor's death my dad and I have been writing to each other about the female icons of the 1950's.

Four women, each displaying unique qualities, exemplified idealized qualities which women at the time (and even women today) long to have. As my dad said, Taylor was the great beauty. Audrey Hepburn was the thin, birdlike and foreign beauty. Marilyn Monroe was the sex bomb. And Grace Kelly was the refined ice queen (to quote my dad). Nowadays we have copies of these women but do not have actresses who together define a generation of women as perfectly as they do.

Why is it that even today these actresses still capture the public's interest? Go to any gift shop in Los Angeles and you'll find mugs, t-shirts and postcards with images of these four actresses. Even if people don't know the majority of their movies it's their image that continues to survive.

My fascination with these women goes beyond the image. It is the dichotomy of the image versus the real woman that has led me to read their biographies. My favorite biographer, Donald Spoto, has written a book about each of these women. In his books he not only describes these actresses’ lives but also dissects what it is about these women that make them the icons they are today and how their image was only that, an image not the reality.

In his latest biography about Grace Kelly Spoto described this perfectly;

"Never mind that Marilyn Monroe was actually a woman of keen intelligence and serious purpose: she had to serve the studio's manufactured image of her if she wanted to maintain her popularity and position. And never mind that Audrey and Grace were both healthy young women who dated, had love affairs, wore jeans, occasionally used a four-letter word and liked to balance hard work with a good time and laughter. They both exhibited a natural refinement and were unfailingly courteous to colleagues and strangers, but these qualities were presented as the sum total of their personalities. They were nothing like goddesses in person, although they were certainly beautiful, stylish and always considerate. They were women to respect, but they could never be fully defined as merely respectable- a term that alternately amused and annoyed them both. "

Now, studios do not have complete power over its actors. At the time of Grace, Marilyn, Audrey and Liz the studio had the power to tell its actors what movies to make, whom to date and how to dress. The studios even controlled what the gossip columnists would say about its stars, feeding the public these images which collectively define how generations now view the 1950's. Since Taylor's death gossip, entertainment and news websites have been flooded with stories and photos of her life. Her movies have been shown on film networks day and night. It is a true testament to the power of these icons from the past.

So in remembrance of Liz, Grace, Marilyn and Audrey here are my recommendations of their films:

Liz- National Velvet, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, A Place in the Sun, Giant

Grace- Rear Window, The Country Girl, Dial M for Murder, High Noon

Marilyn- Some Like It Hot, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Bus Stop

Audrey- Roman Holiday, My Fair Lady, Sabrina, Breakfast at Tiffany's

Enemy at the Gates

In the opening sequence of the film Enemy at the Gates, Russian men, women and children are herded onto trains, the men are thrown off, some are given guns or ammo in a disorderly fashion and then thrust onto boats which are being bombed by the German Army. Upon landing in Stalingrad, which is only a skeleton of the city it used to be, the men are told via speakers that they must attack and if they refuse they will be shot by their own army. In a horrific sequence the men, unprepared and unarmed, charge forward to their deaths.

It is a beginning comparable to Saving Private Ryan, but that's the only time that Enemy at the Gates comes close to being as good as Ryan.

Loosely based on a true story, Enemy is about a heroic young Russian soldier named Vasily (Jude Law). With Hitler's army demolishing their city, Russians were in need of a hero to give them hope. A talented sharp shooter, Vasily went from being a shepherd to a Russian hero thanks to the PR talents of political officer Danilov (Joseph Fiennes). In the film Danilov and Vasily become friends and help each other to further their careers and positions in the army (although in reality there is no evidence they were ever friends). Both men fall in love with Tanya (Rachel Weisz), a beautiful girl who is fighting with the militia. When Hitler's army finds out about Vasily they send one of their best officers, Konig (Ed Harris), to hunt and kill the Russian hero.

War, heroism, a hunt, a love triangle, the bonds of friendship; it's all there. The problem is that there is so little time spent developing the characters that the reality of the situation is lost in order to spend time on Hollywoodizing the story of Vasily. Instead of concentrating on the fascinating aspects of the Russian's and the German's ideals, the strife and struggle of the solders and common folk or the difficulty Vasily faced in being a hunted hero, the film mostly focuses on a soap opera-like love triangle.

Only the moments when Konig is playing a cat and mouse chase with Vasily does the film seem authentic. As Konig stalks and Vasily runs the story picks up and shows the danger and horror of the war. But sadly most of the film is spent on cheesy dialogue and unrealistic love scenes accompanied by James Horner's out of place sweeping score.

With such talented actors as Law, Fiennes and Weisz it's too bad there wasn't a better script to back up their skills. With that said though, Law does succeed in making Vasily seem heroic, as well as show his doubts in his talent when he's up against the superior Konig. But even Law, who is like a romantic Don Juan in real life, can't make the love scenes with Weisz sing. Weisz, with her big brown eyes and intelligent demeanor, is perfect for the spirited and tough Tanya, yet she isn’t able to give Tanya more than one dimension. At one moment she is describing how her parents were carted off by Nazis and violently murdered and the next she's falling in love and fighting the battle on the front lines. If the war and her loss have affected her it does not show.

Enemy had the makings of a great film but fell short in its desire to make war romantic and entertaining.

Me and Orson Welles

In High School Musical 1, 2 and 3 Zac Efron portrayed the ideal all American boy; handsome in a pretty way, talented at sports and able to sing like a pop star. In all three movies the dialogue and plots are hokey and the acting is over the top. With lines like "Dude, Ms. Darbus has snapped her cap!" Efron wasn't exactly quoting Shakespeare, but in the film Me and Orson Welles Efron is finally given a chance to not only perform a little Shakespeare, but also show that he can really act.

Me and Orson Welles is the fictional story of a high school student (Efron) who ventures into New York City one day and finds himself in an impromptu audition on the street for Orson Welles. After Welles sees that Efron's character Richard is able to carry a tune he is hired with no pay and a small part in Welles's new production of Shakepeare's Julius Cesear. Welles's production opens Richard's eyes as he gets sucked into the seductive and exciting world of theater. During the rehearsals for Cesear the drama, egoism and cattiness, which always occur behind the scenes during a show's pre-production, unfold into a spectacle more entertaining than the actual play. A self-absorbed actress worries obsessively about the lighting, rehearsals fall into chaos when music cues occur at the incorrect time, actor's fight over stage direction and sprinklers are set off, flooding the entire theater.

Then, on top of everything, there is Orson. This is Orson, famous for his radio shows and previous theater experience, but before Citizen Kane and The Third Man. Even at this stage he is a genius egomaniac who thinks he's so superior that he takes an ambulence to quickly get from place to place. There is a madness to his life. His pregnant wife is left at home while he flirts and seduces every beautiful woman around him. He shows no interest in keeping to a schedule or keeping to a script. He listens only to himself and knows that his creativity greatly surpasses everyone else's around him. He is someone you would never want to work with or be close to but he is completely entralling.

Christian McKay not only looks exactly like Welles at this time of his life, but also captures Welles's spirit and personality so perfectly that you forget you're not actually watching Welles. We, the audience, observe Welles through the eyes of Richard enhancing Welles's over-the-top personality and magnetism. As Richard is held captivated by Welles so are we and as Richard witnesses and experiences the theater so do we. It is this ingenious storytelling device, as well as great performances by everyone, that makes Me and Orson Welles an entertaining movie you can't take your eyes off.

Nowhere Boy

I've been so busy lately that I haven't had a lot of time to keep up with my blog. I love writing here so I'll always be posting even though it won't be as regularly as I would like. Lately I have seen a few movies so I'll try to start updating my blog with my thoughts on them.

I'll start with the film Nowhere Boy.


Before John Lennon was John Lennon he was a teenager bursting with attitude who didn't know where to place his energy or how to channel his untapped talent. Raised by his aunt and his uncle in a straight and rather strict household the boy, who was part of the music group which would later change and influence music for generations, seems like a typical moody teenager. His need to rebel is fulfilled when he reconnects with his mother. It is through his relationship with her that his talents are awakened and the star John Lennon is born.

Similarly to John Lennon's transformation, the film Nowhere Boy seems to dazzle most in the scenes where John and his mentally unstable mother connect. As his mother introduces him to rock n' roll music, smothers him with affection and strums out a song for him on the guitar John Lennon finds the woman he's been missing. It is these scenes that work well and seem truthful in Nowhere Boy. Anne-Marie Duff, who plays Lennon's mother, has a wild craziness in her bug eyes. Her portrayal of Julia captures a woman who is weak and damaged but with a spirit and energy that is contagiously charming but also enigmatic. Her performance is so good that the movie suffers when she is not in it.

Nowhere Boy also suffers in its ability to tell the story of a boy and his relationship with his two mother figures convincingly. Instead of concentrating on dialogue and character development, the film uses loud music and montages to further time and events as well as to show how a character feels or changes. While these techniques create many fascinating images, they are missing the soul needed to make well rounded characters. Instead of watching the transformation of a boy into John Lennon, we view a few dramatic scenes that seem almost out of context due to the lack of narrative. In return, these scenes don't ring true or seem genuine. Nowhere Boy is based on the fascinating true story of one boy's traumatic beginning and his development into the man who would become an icon. It's too bad Nowhere Boy didn't let this story carry the film for it had great actors who could have done it justice.