Lisbon (1956)

Lisbon: City of Murder, Intrigue and Excitement!

Captain Jack (Ray Milland) is a professional smuggler with an eye for the ladies. He goes by a strict code of ethics: no murder, no narcotics, just straight smuggling. When Jack arrives at Lisbon port he finds Inspector Fonseca (Jay Novello) hot on his trail. But luckily Jack and his shipmate Tio Rabio (Humberto Madeira) hide their loot before the Fonseca and his team can find it. In Lisbon, Jack meets with career criminal Mavros (Claude Rains) who has an assignment for him involving the wife of an American imprisoned in a Communist country. Jack is to arrange for Sylvia Merrill (Maureen O'Hara) to have a clandestine business meeting with Mavros and to help Mavros' team smuggle Sylvia's husband Lloyd Merrill (Percy Marmont) into Portugal safe and sound. However Captain Jack is about to get more than he bargained for with this new job. He's equal parts smitten and confused by the beautiful Sylvia. It's clear that she married her much older husband for money. Is she really concerned about her husband's well-being or are her efforts to ensure her financial security? Sylvia quickly becomes enamored with Captain Jack. And she's not the only one. Mavros' live-in girlfriend/employee Maria Madalena (Yvonne Furneaux) also develops an affection for him. But the mercy of her boss and the infatuated Seraphim (Francis Lederer). When Mavros plants an idea into Sylvia's mind to ensure that her husband doesn't make it back alive, she dismisses the idea at first. But $24 million dollars and the chance at real romance with Jack is much more alluring. Will Jack break his code of ethics or will he stay true to himself?

Lisbon (1956) was shot on location in Portugal for Republic Studios. Filming in Europe was big business for Hollywood in the 1950s and 1960s and this film has the notable distinction of being the first film entirely shot in Portugal. The story was based on an original idea by Martin Rackin and was adapted for the screen by John Tucker Battle. Paramount held the rights to the story before it was purchased by Republic.

Ray Milland not only stars in the film but he also produced it and directed it. In the credits he goes by R.A. Milland for his producer role and R. Milland for the director role. After making Dial M for Murder (1954), Milland took his career in a different direction and Lisbon was the second film he directed and the only one in which he received credit as producer.

I'm half Portuguese so for me Lisbon (1956) was like time traveling back to my dad's home country around the time he was living there. He emigrated from Portugal in the late 1950s and moved to Brazil before moving to the United States in the early 1960s. I've spent time in Lisbon and it's a gorgeous city. And 1956 Lisbon looks beautiful shot in Naturama and Trucolor. There are lots of great shots of the city and Milland used a variety of Portuguese actors in the film including Vasco Santana, Joao Benard da Costa, Humberto Madeira and singer Anita Guerreiro. Nelson Riddle composed the music for the film and his rendition of Lisbon Antigua was a huge hit in the US. It's a  fado song (a type of traditional Portuguese folk music) and is sung by Guerreiro in one of the scenes.

Story-wise, Lisbon was kind of a disappointment. It took too long to get to the point and when it did I didn't care much. The beginning and ending scenes were great. I loved the resolution to the story. It's very satisfying for Milland's character. And the opening scene shows Claude Rains as the heartless Mavros as he lures and kills a bird to feed to his cat. It gives us some insight into his cruel nature. Maureen O'Hara is absolutely stunning in this film. She has the most complex character of the cast which isn't saying too much because a lot of these characters are rather two dimensional. It's worth watching Lisbon for the beautiful on location shooting by Jack A. Marta, the brilliant color made even more beautiful with the newly remastered Blu-ray, for the great cast and O'Hara and Furneaux's amazing wardrobe.

Amazon — Barnes and Noble —Deep Discount — Kino Lorber — TCM Shop

Lisbon (1956) is available on Blu-Ray and DVD from Kino Lorber. When you use my buy links you help support this site. Thanks!

The Blu-Ray comes from a new high definition master from a 4K scan of the original Trucolor negative. It also includes audio commentary by film historian Toby Roan and a variety of Kino Lorber related trailers.

Thank you to Kino Lorber for sending me a copy of Lisbon (1956) for review. 

Wallflower (1948)

Robert Hutton, Joyce Reynolds and Janis Paige in Wallflower (1948)

Sisters Jackie (Joyce Reynolds) and Joy (Janis Paige) are polar opposites. Joy is the flirtatious fun-loving one, always getting attention from the opposite sex. Jackie is the sensible one. A bit too sensible. She scares all the guys away with her straightforward demeanor. While on leave from college, Jackie and Joy are back home with their rather ditzy but well-meaning parents Mr. Linnett (Edward Arnold) and Mrs. Linnett (Barbara Brown). Jackie is excited to see her old pal Warren James (Robert Hutton). Warren is smitten with Jackie and the feeling is mutual. After having not seen each other in 5 years they both are surprised and pleased to see each other again. However, the voluptuous Jo, clad in a scintillating bathing suit, catches Warren's eye. Much to Jackie's chagrin those two start dating. When Mr. and Mrs. Linnett sponsor a local country club dance, everyone's got a date except for Jackie. Will Jackie be able to come out of her shell and blossom from wallflower to desirable match for Warren? Will Warren realize that Jackie, not Joy, is the girl for him?

Released by Warner Bros. Wallflower (1948) is a whacky screwball comedy. Just the sort of light fare needed for a post-WWII generation. It's directed by Frederick De Cordova who is best known as the longtime executive of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. He worked on the show for 22 years and stayed on in an advisory capacity when Jay Leno took over and did so until his death in 2001. In the mid-to-late 1940s De Cordova was mostly working on romantic comedies. Wallflower was based on a play by Reginald Denham and Mary Orr. It was adapted to the screen by husband and wife team Henry and Phoebe Ephron. The Ephrons worked together on numerous films including There's No Business Like Show Business (1954), Daddy Long Legs (1955), and Captain Newman M.D. (1963). They're also the parents of one of my favorite directors/writers Nora Ephron.

The story starts off as a sweet family comedy about two very close sisters, as different as can be, and their meddling yet clueless parents. When Hutton's Warren steps into the picture it escalates into a screwball comedy complete with a drunken attempt at elopement. Several scenes in the film reminded me of Good News (1947) and It's a Wonderful Life (1946). There's nothing earth shattering here. This is light 1940s fluff for people who love 1940s fluff. And if that's not your thing then this movie is not for you.

As of the publication of this article, female leads Joyce Reynolds and Janis Paige are still with us. This is quite remarkable for a film from the 1940s! Reynolds had a very short lived career with Warner Bros. Just as she was getting more starring roles in films, she abruptly retired from the film industry after making her final movie Girl's School (1950). Paige went on to have a long career in TV and film. Reynolds and Paige are a delight in Wallflower. I love that their characters are not pitted against each other even with their differences and competition for the same man. There's no real animosity between the two.

Wallflower (1948) is new to DVD and available from the Warner Archive Collection. When you use my buy links you help support this site. Thanks!

George, Matt and D.W. discuss Wallflower on the Warner Archive Podcast's October Sweet Horror episode (about 18 minutes). George Feltenstein calls the film "buoyant and charming".

Warner Archive Wednesday - On (random) Wednesdays, I review one title from the Warner Archive Collection. Thank you to Warner Archive for sending me a copy of Wallflower (1948) for review!

Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers

Kino Lorber's 

Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers Blu-ray Set

curated by Shelley Stamp

Amazon — Barnes and Noble — Best Buy — TCM Shop

In collaboration with the Library of Congress, Kino Lorber and film historian Shelley Stamp have curated an impressive and comprehensive collection of early female directed films. Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers is a 6 disc Blu-ray set (also comes in DVD format) that contains over 50 films ranging from shorts, feature films and incomplete movies. The set also includes 8 short informational documentaries, various commentary tracks and original music. What began as a Kickstarter campaign now is is a bonafide piece of film history that any movie buff would be proud to own.

We talk about Pre-Codes, that time period after the silent film era and before the strict enforcement of the Hays Code, when filmmakers had more free rein on releasing films with explicit content. But what about the pre-studio era of silent films? In the early days of motion pictures, the art form wasn’t taken seriously. This opened doors for African-American, Jewish and Female filmmakers to use their creative talents in a new field. Being a film director was a viable career for women because there was no set gender standard. According to film historian Cari Beauchamp, there were over 100 movie studios in the 1910s and between 1920 and 1933 those consolidated into only 7. Along with the male-dominated unions and guilds that sprung up during this time, female filmmakers were shut out making room for the male directors who would take over Hollywood. For one glorious period in early film history however, there was an output of great films that ranged in breadth, depth and subject matter.

“The films that these female pioneers wrote, produced, and often directed have an emotional depth one doesn’t find in other films.” – Ileana Douglas

Included in Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers are 58 of these films, each offering a look into an incredible time in the early history of film. Each disc is arranged by theme and a handful of the films included are exclusive to the Blu-ray set which makes that one even more valuable. With 80% of silent films lost, it’s incredibly important to appreciate what we have and that includes incomplete films. According to Rob Stone, Moving Image Curator for the Library of Congress, fragments tend to languish in vaults and are even more forgotten than whole surviving films. I’m grateful that the Pioneers set includes fragments as well films with some damage, restored to the best of the ability of the preservationists who worked on this project.

Each of the 6 discs contains extras, either commentary tracks or documentaries, averaging about 15 minutes each, on different subjects. These documentaries add real value to the set and I encourage you to watch them before tackling any of the films. They provide context and background information that is crucial to appreciating the movies you are about to see. The talking heads in these docs include principal curator Shelley Stamp as well as other curators, film historians, experts, archivists, preservationists, etc. My only small critique is that these extras start rather abruptly and could have used a short intro for more ease in viewing.

In addition to the docs and commentary is a 76 page booklet which includes an introduction by Ileana Douglas, an essay on the history of female filmmaking by Shelley Stamp, essays on the restoration and spotlights on one particular film and one particular filmmaker, information about the Women’s Film Preservation Fund and a thorough index of credits for the films included in the set. It’s a substantial booklet that reads like a film history book on its own. Another element that adds a lot of value to the set is the original music by silent film accompanists and composers such as Ben Model, the Berklee Silent Film Orchestra, Renee C. Baker, Makia Matsumura, Maud Nelissen, Dana Reason, Aleksandra Vrebalov, etc. I was particularly struck by the score for Back to God’s Country (1919) by Dana Reason and Salome (1923) by Aleksandra Vrebalov.

Going through the Pioneers set was an education in itself. It’s feminist film history in a box. These trailbrazers set a precedent that film history has forgotten and it’s up to us to make sure those lessons are not lost. The subject matters range from gender identity, marriage, adultery, birth control, religion, sexual abuse, etc. However not all of these directors were progressive proto-feminists. Lois Weber for example was a former missionary and had very conservative views. As we’ve learned over the years of studying the history of film, the more perspectives the better.

Some of my favorite films in this set include Mabel Normand’s comedies, Alice Guy Blache’s rags-to-riches-to-rags short A Fool and His Money (1912), Zora Neale Hurston's ethnograph vignettes of African-American life in rural Florida circa 1928, Lois Weber’s controversial feature Where Are My Children? (1916) (starring Tyrone Power Sr.!), Weber’s marital drama Too Wise Wives (1921) (featuring a very young Louis Calhern), Nell Shipman’s Back to God’s Country (1919) (she’s my favorite of the early female filmmakers) and Nazimova’s fantastical Salome (1923).

The Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers set contains the following:

Disc 1: Alice Guy-Blaché 
Disc 2: Lois Weber
Disc 3: Genre Pioneers
Discs 4 & 5: Social Commentary
Disc 6: Feature Films Era

Directed by Alice Guy-Blaché 
Greater Love Hath No Man (1911)
Tramp Strategy (1911)
Algie the Miner (1912)
Canned Harmony (1912)
Falling Leaves (1912)
A Fool and His Money (1912)
The High Cost of Living (1912)
The Little Rangers (1912)
Burstup Homes' Murder Case (1913)
The Coming of Sunbeam (1913)
A House Divided (1913)
Matrimony's Speed Limit (1913)
The Ocean Waif (1916)

Directed by Lois Weber
On the Brink (1911)
Fine Feathers (1912)
From Death to Life (1912)
Hypocrites (1912)
The Rosary (1913)
Suspense (1913)
Lost By a Hair (1915)
Sunshine Molly (1915)
Idle Wives (1916)
Scandal (aka Scandal Mongers) (1916)
Where Are My Children? (1916)
Too Wise Wives (1921)
What Do Men Want? (1921)

Directed by Helen Holmes
Hazards of Helen Ep. 09: Leap From the Water Tower (1915)
Hazards of Helen Ep.13: The Escape on the Fast Freight (1915)
The Hazards of Helen Ep. 26: Wild Engine (1915)

Directed by Grace Cunard
Purple Mask, The; Episode 5, Part 1 (1917)
Purple Mask, The: Episode 12 (Vault of Mystery) (1917)
Purple Mask, The; Episode 13, Part 1 (The Leap) (1917)
A Daughter of "The Law" (1921)

Directed by Mabel Normand
Caught in a Cabaret (1914)
Mabel's Blunder (1914)
Mabel Lost and Won (1915)
Mabel and Fatty's Wash Day (1916)

Directed by Nell Shipman
Back to God's Country (1919)
Something New (1920)

Directed by Ida May Park
The Risky Road (1918)
Bread (1918)
Broadway Love (1918)

Miscellaneous
49 - '17 (1917) directed by Ruth Ann Baldwin
The Colleen Bawn (1911) script by Gene Gauntier
That Ice Ticket (1923) directed by Angela Murray Gibson
Ethnographic Films (1929) directed by Zora Neale Hurston
The Call of the Cumberlands (1916) directed by Julia Crawford Ivers
Motherhood: Life's Greatest Miracle (1925) directed by Lita Lawrence
Eleanor's Catch (1916) directed by Cleo Madison
Her Defiance (1916) directed by Cleo Madison
The Song of Love (1923) directed by dir. Frances Marion
Salome (1923) produced by Alla Nazimova
The Red Kimona (1925) directed by Dorothy Davenport Reid
Linda (1929) directed by Dorothy Davenport Reid
When Little Lindy Sang (1916) directed by Lule Warrenton
The Cricket (1917) directed by Elsie Jane Wilson
The Dream Lady (1918) directed by Elsie Jane Wilson
Curse of Quon Gwon: When the Far East Mingle with the West (1916) directed by Marion E. Wong

Extras/Short Documentaries
An Introduction to Series
About the Restorations
Alice Guy-Blache
Lois Weber
Mabel Normand
Serial Queens
Social Commentary
The End of an Era

Thank you to Kino Lorber for sending me a copy of Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers for review.