Till the End of Time (1946) is an RKO melodrama exploring the difficulties of repatriation in post-WWII America. The film stars Guy Madison as Cliff Harper, a highly decorated marine who heads home after almost 4 years at war. His failure to launch into the next phase of his life has his pushy parents concerned. He falls for local war widow Pat Ruscomb (Dorothy McGuire) who is holding steadfast to the memory of her dead husband Johnny while seeking solace in the arms of Harper and other vets. The story also follows his two war buddies. First there's William Tabeshaw (Robert Mitchum), a smart-mouthed marine who is determined to gather up the funds to start his ranch but is hindered bu the physical affects of the silver plate in his head, a result of a war wound. Then there's Perry Kincheloe (Bill Williams), a former champion boxer who lost both his legs in the war and struggles to move forward with his life.
Guy Madison and Dorothy McGuire
Bill Williams
The physical and mental trauma of war and the adjustment to civilian life are themes at the heart of this story. Directed by Edward Dmytryk , Till the End of Time was based on the novel They Dream of Home by Niven Busch. Many changes were made to the original story by Allen Rivkin to adapt it to the screen. For example, Kincheloe was African-American and Tabeshaw was Native American. That's not to say race didn't factor into the movie. In the latter part of the film, a bigoted group of WWII vets called the American War Patriots try to recruit the film's trio of buddies into their organization. They accept "no Catholics, Jews or Negros" a proclamation that angers Harper, Tabeshaw and Kincheloe and leads to an epic bar fight which becomes the climax of the film.
Caleb Peterson
Till the End of Time (1946) is a poor man's version of The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). The film was profitable for RKO but it suffers from a weak plot, poor character building and silly melodrama. The two principles played by Madison and McGuire proved to be a bland and uninteresting couple. I didn't care if they got together or they didn't. In fact I thought Madison's other love interest Helen Ingersoll, played by Jean Porter, was much more vivacious and interesting character and better suited to breathe some life into Harper. Porter met director Edward Dmytryk while making this film. He must have been captivated by her charm because the two married a couple of years later and stayed married until Dmytryk's death in 1999. Porter is the sole surviving cast member of the film at the time of this writing.
"I want to kiss you goodbye. But the room's too crowded." - Harper to Ruscomb
Dorothy McGuire
Jean Porter
I was particularly interested in how this film explored how WWII veterans suffered from the effects of the mental trauma of the war. There was one very engrossing scene with Richard Benedict. Harper and Ruscomb witness Benedict, credited as "the boy from Idaho", suffering from the shakes. It's clear he's going through some symptoms of PTSD. He doesn't want to go home because of the shame attached to "battle fatigue". It's a powerful scene and had there been more thought-provoking moments like that one it would have been a better movie as a result.
There are a lot of silly moments in this film. I thought it was hilarious that Madison's poor dancing skills were praised by the characters where as Jean Porter's real dancing skills were overlooked. And maybe it was the Howard Hughes touch but they did try to cram as much needless sexuality into this film. McGuire and Porter's characters are forward in their sexuality and punished for it. Heartthrob Guy Madison's good looks were over-utilized. Any time they could make an excuse to film him topless (in bed, on the beach, wherever) they took it.
Guy Madison, topless. Again.
Till the End of Time wins a prize for what is probably the most homoerotic publicity photo of the era. This image of Madison and Mitchum together has always confused me. What's going on? Why is Madison holding Mitchum like that? I'm glad I watched the film to finally solve that mystery.
This may come off as biased because I'm such a big Robert Mitchum fan
but he's really the best part about this movie, with the lovely Jean
Porter battling him for the top spot. The film would have been vastly
improved if it had focused on his character instead of Madison's Harper.
Mitchum's swagger is charming. He's a tough guy with a heart of
gold.
Warner Archive Wednesday - On (random) Wednesdays, I review one title from the Warner Archive Collection. Thank you to the Warner Archive for sending me Till the End of Time (1946) for review!
On the start of Friday of the TCM Classic Film Festival, I was more than ready for some movies. I met up with my good friend Carley of Married at the Movies (she also recently started a new podcast) and we headed over to the Chinese Multiplex for Intruder in the Dust (1949).
Carley and I were joined by some friends including Meg, Aurora and Kellee.
TCMFF is all about the selfies.
Film historian and expert on African-American cinema Donald Bogle gave an introduction and sat down with former child star Claude Jarman Jr. I'll have a full report on this movie soon. It was a great conversation and the film really moved me. And this particular screening sold out that it was shown again on Sunday for those who missed it the first time around.
Then it was off to the Egyptian theatre to catch Witness for the Prosecution (1957). This classic court room drama has eluded me for years and I was finally able to enjoy this one with a great crowd. I got some seats with Carley and her husband Martin who met for the first time at the festival back in 2013. So if you're single and you love classic movies maybe the festival is a good place to meet your future spouse!
Ruta Lee who has a small but pivotal role in the film, regaled us with stories about how Frank Sinatra helped her career, how Billy Wilder almost didn't hire her for Witness because she wasn't a brunette and some not so PG stories about her encounters with Charles Laughton. The introduction was one of the best I've heard and Ruta said she was willing to stay for hours to chat with us and to order sandwiches and champagne. Oh how I wish that really happened!
When The Set-Up (1949) was announced early on as one of the TCMFF films I was stoked. It's one of my top favorite noirs and I've watched it many times over the years. If you read my post about my TCMFF plans you'll remember that it was in a spot in the schedule where it conflicted with me getting to see Marsha Hunt at None Shall Escape. Luckily, Larry Edmunds Bookshop was hosting a Marsha Hunt book signing on Sunday. I easily gave up my spot for that movie and headed to the Egyptian for The Set-Up. I was surprised to see my friend Jay in line! He and I spoke briefly about the film in our two-part Rocky podcast for Cinema Shame. He hadn't seen The Set-Up so I was glad we are able to sit down together for this one.
The Noir of Czar and Noir Alley host Eddie Muller presented. It was a great introduction until it was not. He had a surprise guest in the form of a young man, whose name I didn't catch. He's a local poet, writer, rapper. Very personable and charming guy and he grew up watching classic movies so he's got cred. The Set-Up was inspired by a long form poem and the special guest was there to recite part of it. However he didn't have the poem on hand. There must have been some miscommunication to get to that point. It took way too long and we endured an uncomfortable silence until he finally found the poem. At that point I was no longer interested in it and just wanted to watch the movie already.
After The Set-Up I had drinks with Jay and hung out with some friends in the Hollywood Roosevelt lobby. I even had time for dinner. Crazy! If you go to TCMFF, it's okay to miss a programming block so you can have some down time/social time and a bite to eat.
This break also allowed me to head over to the Chinese Multiplex early to get in line for Romeo and Juliet (1968) which was my #1 must-attend event at this year's festival. There was no way I was going to miss this one.
I was quite emotional to see Leonard Whiting (Romeo), Olivia Hussey (Juliet) and Michael York (Tybalt) in conversation with TCM host Alicia Malone. It was a great interview. Unfortunately my audio recording cut out early but I'll try to get a full report up soon. The biggest takeaway is that they all loved making the film, loved working with each other and the movie did wonders for them. They remember it very fondly. I met Whiting and Hussey on the red carpet (a video will be up soon). It was a treat to see Michael York and to hear his booming deep British voice travel across the audience. Wow!
I sat with my friend Kim of I See a Dark Theater and was able to have a good one-on-one chat with her. One thing I did differently this year is ignore my spot in line if I spotted a friend further down the way. Some folks in line got annoyed with me and one time a staffer tried to get me to move. But I'd much rather be with a friend chatting in line and before the movie than by myself because I have a better number.
Stay tuned as I'll have recaps soon for the Saturday and Sunday of the TCM Classic Film Festival.
In my quest to be the world renown expert on all things Charles Emmett Mack (McNerney), I have been trying to get my hands on as many films of his as I can. I had waited not-so patiently, for well over a month, for ClassicFlix to send me America (1924) (only to discover that Netflix had it as available immediately, darn!). The film overall was a bit of a disappointment. It's directed by D.W. Griffith, known far and wide as the man who created such epic and controversial films as The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance. Griffith was a jerk to say the least and a racist one at that. I don't like him nor do I care to learn anything about him. However, he is an important figure in Charles Emmett Mack's life. Griffith discovered Mack when Mack was a prop boy and took him under his wing, placing Mack in several of his films. These included Dream Street (1921), One Exciting Night (1922) and The White Rose (1923). Their last collaboration was America (1924).
America would prove to be Griffith's biggest failure and it marked the beginning of the end of his career.
America tells the story of the American Revolution. Like many directors in the Silent film era, Griffith took on a big subject and focused it by telling a larger story through the lives of a few characters. The problem is Griffith got carried away with the larger story and lost focus of the smaller one and the film turned out to be a complete mess. Nathan Holden (Neil Hamilton) is a farmer and a Rebel. He's in love with Nancy Montague (Carol Dempster), a delicate British belle who sympathizes with the king. Though they are at odds politically, they fall in love. Charles Emmett Mack plays Charles Montague, Nancy's brother. He's got a dual personality. On the outside he's the epitome of British pomp and frill and privilege. On the inside, he deeply admires General George Washington and wants to fight with Nathan and the rebels, even though doing so would shame his father. Oh yeah and Lionel Barrymore is in there too as Captain Walter Butler.
It's a good concept but the story gets muddled. As a collection of American Revolutionary War reenactments, this film is superb. I was very impressed by the scenes of Paul Revere's midnight ride and the fact that they shot on location in places such Lexington, MA and Concord, MA (nearby towns for me). However, the main story gets lost in all these reenactments and the confused audience loses track of the characters and what they are doing. The title cards are horribly written, the characters hardly get any dialogue and we, as viewers, are left puzzled. Griffith threw tons of money at this movie and sincerely hoped it would be his next epic but it was cursed from the very beginning. Even his favorite actress, Lillian Gish, didn't want to be associated with the film (she was originally singled out to play Nancy Montague).
Charles Emmett Mack is only a minor character in this film and I wished his character would have been more substantial because I thought his storyline had potential. I managed to get some screen shots of him and I thought I'd share. Also, my new discovery, Neil Hamilton who was quite the looker.
Neil Hamilton
Charles Emmett Mack
Here Mack's Character Montague meets and embraces General George Washington.
For anyone who loves the 1940s music, dance and overall style, discovering Soundies is an absolute treat. What is a Soundie you may be asking? The Soundie was a precursor to the music video. These bite-sized musical short films were the length of a song and featured performers singing, dancing and even acting out skits. Soundies were produced specifically to be played in a Panoram, a coin-operated jukebox with a small screen. These short musicals made on low budgets with up-and-coming talent and highlighted contemporary trends in pop culture. They gained momentum especially during WWII and eventually petered out after the war was over. To me each Soundie is a little window into a bygone era.
Kino Studio Classics has blessed the public with the release of Soundies: The Ultimate Collection, a four disc Blu-ray set includes 200 Soundies as well as numerous introductions by curator Susan Delson, Media Conservationist Ina Archer as well as interviews with Soundies experts Matt Barton and Mark Cantor. A booklet inside includes essays as well as an extensive list of themes and individual Soundies in order of appearance. This list proved especially helpful to keep track.
Each disc features 6 themed with 8 Soundies each. The themes vary and an introduction helps put them into context. Themes include: trending song and dance forms, the WWII homefront, sexuality and subversiveness, urban and rural culture, Latin, Asian and African-American styles as well as a four-part Straight from the Panoram series which plays 8 different Soundies as they would be shown on a real Panoram.
My personal favorites from the set include: Swing for Sale, Hot Chocolate, Got a Penny for Benny, G.I Jive, Frim Fram Sauce, Four or Five Times, Paper Doll, He's a Latin from Manhattan, Time Takes Care of Everything and Ta Ha WaHhu Wa.
There is so much energy and vivacity in these Soundies that it seems a shame to watch them sitting down. I highly recommend getting up and dancing to the beat. A much more enjoyable way to experience these Soundies.
This set is an absolute winner. I love the packaging and design, the number of diverse selection, and the introductions that helped provided historical and cultural context. The Soundies themselves are of mixed quality depending on their source material but overall they look really fantastic on Blu-ray. I do wish the intros and interviews were a bit more higher quality in presentation. Otherwise I think this is an outstanding Blu-ray set and would make the perfect gift for a classic movie fan.
I'm thrilled to have interviewed the series curator Susan Delson. Check out the interview below:
Historian Susan Delson. Photo courtesy of Susan Delson
Interview with Curator Susan Delson
Raquel Stecher: As a cultural historian, how did you first become interested in Soundies?
Susan Delson: I came across Soundies while writing a previous book, Dudley Murphy, Hollywood Wild Card. It’s a film study and biography of a little-known director whose career crossed over from silent film to sound. Murphy had an adventurous career—from Ballet mécanique to The Emperor Jones—and closed out his Hollywood years by making ten Soundies in 1941.
I started by screening Murphy’s Soundies at the Library of Congress—there weren’t many on YouTube at that point. Then I discovered the breadth of the LC’s Soundies holdings, which are vast. And I was hooked.
Raquel Stecher: It's clear that a lot of thought was put into curating the collection of soundies into different categories for this blu-ray collection. Can you tell me a bit about how each program was curated and what you hope viewers will pay special attention to?
Susan Delson: I spent years screening and researching Soundies before I began writing my book, Soundies and the Changing Image of Black Americans on Screen: One Dime at a Time. I’d been a film programmer in the past, and right from the start, potential program themes were part of my Soundies thinking. I figured I’d present these films eventually, one way or another.
As I started programming the Kino Lorber set, I knew that I wanted to explore the full scope of the history embedded in the films—American history, African American history, entertainment history, and especially the change-making undercurrents in the culture back then. Soundies are a terrific way of getting into all of that—and at the same time, a lot of fun.
Each of the four [Blu-rays] in the set has its own theme, and those took shape pretty quickly: Introducing Soundies, Life in the Soundies Era, Musical Evolutions, and Women, Sexuality, and Gender.
There are six eight-film programs on each [Blu-ray], and all of them explore a different aspect of that disc’s theme. Except for the last program on each disc, called “Straight from the Panoram.” With those, I re-created an eight-film reel exactly as the Soundies Corporation released it back then—a program from a different year on each disc.
In response to your question, what I hope viewers will pay attention to is probably all of the above—the history, the cultural undercurrents, and above all, the fun. I also hope they discover lots of terrific performers they hadn’t known about. For me, that was one of the most exciting things about the whole project.
Raquel Stecher: I was particularly interested in the Soundies programs that reflected different aspects of American life during WWII. How do these Soundies give viewers a window into the culture of that era?
Susan Delson: There’s an immediacy to Soundies’ depiction of home-front life that you don’t generally get in Hollywood movies of that era. There’s nothing quite like Louis Jordan making sly double-entendres in Ration Blues to give you a sense of what living with wartime rationing might have been like. Or the Pretty Priorities (what a name!) doing a joking, patriotic strip tease to support scrap drives for the war effort in Take It Off.
In many films, there’s a creative, playful attention to personal style—this was the zoot suit era, after all. There’s a focus on dance, too, which makes sense when you realize that in the 1940s everyone danced, whether it was the foxtrot, the samba, or the jitterbug. There are some Soundies, like Hot Chocolate (“Cottontail”) or Swing for Sale, that people might have watched over and over just to pick up some new dance moves.
The company behind Soundies—the Soundies Distributing Corporation of America— released a new eight-film reel every week. That’s over 400 films a year. They had to keep pace with popular culture, if only to keep the product flowing. The films had to be made quickly and cheaply. And with little or no time for rehearsal, let alone directorial vision, performers often had a lot of say in how they presented themselves on screen—much more than they might have had in Hollywood. With Soundies, you get a street-level, pop-culture perspective that you don’t get in mainstream media of the day.
Raquel Stecher: The blu-ray set features a diverse mix of Soundies with Black, Asian and Latino performers. I was particularly delighted to see Soundies featuring Dorothy Dandridge, the Mills Brothers, Ricardo Montalban, Nat King Cole and more. Can you talk a bit about why this was important and what you believe are some of the highlights of the collection?
Susan Delson: The diversity you’re talking about is really important. It’s what distinguishes Soundies from most of 1940s popular culture, and I’d say it’s the main concept behind the whole Kino Lorber set.
As you can see in the [Blu-rays], the Soundies Corporation was committed to presenting a diverse array of talent. Not out of idealism or altruism—they were a business and they absolutely wanted to make money. But the Soundies Corporation recognized an underserved audience when they saw one, and they knew there was a market for films that showed, on screen, a more complete view of who we were back then—Black, Latinx, Hawaiian, Asian, Eastern European, and more. There’s so much talent here that doesn’t appear on screen anywhere else during these years.
Among the highlights, I’d have to start with the first film on disc 1, Duke Ellington’s Jam Session. It’s by far the most popular Soundie online, closing in on 3 million YouTube views (mostly under the title “C Jam Blues,” which is the number the band is playing). Dorothy Dandridge’s Soundies are another highlight—she was 19 when she made them, and she’s absolutely incandescent.
Then there are the discoveries. The vocal harmony trio Day, Dawn, and Dusk has such a smart, sophisticated take on high culture, on American history, and gender play. We have three of their Soundies in the set, and every one is a gem.
My colleague Ina Archer, who does some of the on-camera intros in the set, calls another vocal harmony group, the Delta Rhythm Boys, the house band for Soundies. I agree. They really set the style for Soundies produced in New York, and they’re wonderful to watch.
Raquel Stecher: I have so many favorites from this collection, especially Hot Chocolate, Paper Doll, Frim Fram Sauce, Johnny Zero, etc. What are some of your personal favorites?
Susan Delson: All of the ones you mention are terrific. I also love Along the Navajo Trail, with John Shadrack Horace and Johnny Moore’s 3 Blazers. It’s the only country-western Soundie I came across that stars Black performers, and they’re great. Sticking with country-western, I also love Why Did I Fall for Abner, with Carolina Cotton and Merle Haggard. Everyone looks like they had a terrific time shooting that one—including the all-woman backup band, the Glee Gates Trio with two additional musicians. They’re terrific.
I also have a soft spot for Soundies that make me laugh, like A Little Jive Is Good for You and Operatin’ Rhythm. And just about all the films on disc 4 that explore women’s sexuality and gender play.
Raquel Stecher: What do you hope viewers will get out of watching Soundies: The Ultimate Collection?
Susan Delson: I hope the films will add some nuance and complexity to our thinking about the World War II years, beyond the “Greatest Generation” gloss. The culture back then was a lot more complicated and contradictory than people might think—emphasis on contradictory—and we see that in the films.
In my introductory essay in the [Blu-ray] booklet, I write that Soundies speak in multiple voices, and they don’t all say the same thing. For me, that’s a real plus. If there’s one thing I hope viewers take away from Soundies: The Ultimate Collection, it’s that our country is, and long has been, a place of multiple voices, cultures, and peoples.
With these films, you really get the sense that as a nation, our diversity is our strength. And they make that point in a way that’s fun to watch and listen to. I hope everyone has as much fun with these films as I had in putting the programs together.
Greetings from the Hollywood! On Friday I attended my fifth hand and footprint ceremony and it's my fourth time covering this event for my blog. The honorees this time were Carl Reiner and Rob Reiner. It was the first time a father and son have been honored with dual imprints in cement. There were lots of special guests. We got to hear speeches from Ben Mankiewicz, Tom Bergeron and Billy Crystal. Also in attendance was Norman Lear, Cary Elwes and Kevin Nealon among others. I'll have a full report soon. In the meantime here is a sneak peak.
Kevin Nealon
Billy Crystal
Carl Reiner and Rob Reiner
Cary Elwes and Norman Lear
Afterwards I had some time to kill so I ate lunch and hung out at the Delta charging area. They had three photo stations where you could pose with backdrops. The films featured were Born Yesterday, The Palm Beach Story and The Graduate.
Delta also had a photo printout station. All you had to do was tweet or Instagram a photo using hashtag #TCMFF and they could print out a commemorative copy for you. Of course I had to have a copy of that epic moment when I met Dick Cavett. I think out of all the years that Delta has had a charging station, this year's concept was the best. The seats were great, I loved the backdrops and the photo printout idea was a winner.
Then I attended my first movie of the day, Panique (1946). Every year I try something new. This French film directed by Julien Duvivier was one I had not heard of and I'm glad I saw it. I'll have a full report soon. In attendance was Pierre Simenon, son of author Georges Simenon. The film is an adaptation of Simenon's book. Surprise guest Norman Lloyd was in the audience. Seeing him at TCMFF never gets old.
Then I made my way over to Larry Edmunds Bookshop. I had a great chat with Jeff and Sean and I bought a couple of books while I was there. If you're ever in Hollywood, make sure you stop by. It's a classic movie lover's paradise.
Larry Edmunds Book Shop
Edward G. Robinson's memoir All My Yesterdays
I then headed over to the Egyptian theatre to get in line for my favorite pre-code of all time Red-Headed Woman (1932). We had about half an hour before they seated us so Jay, host of #Bond_Age_ and the Cinema Shame podcast and cocktail connoisseur, and I headed over to the Pig n Whistle for some gin gimlets. Having a cocktail with Jay was high on my list of TCMFF must dos so I'm glad we were able to find a window of time to make it happen.
Cheers!
Cari Beauchamp introduced Red-Headed Woman at the Egyptian. The film seemed a lot sillier when I watched it with an audience.
Jay and I made our way over to Grauman's Chinese theater for Mel Brooks' High Anxiety (1977). I had never seen this Alfred Hitchcock spoof. Mel Brooks was in attendance and we were treated to a hilarious interview that ended up being even funnier than the film. Ben Mankiewicz and Mel Brooks could have talked for hours and we'd all be okay with that. I noticed this year that TCM is projecting the interview on the big screen so people in the back can see the host and special guest. This was brilliant and made the experience much more enjoyable.
Mel Brooks and Ben Mankiewicz
Another item high on my list of TCMFF musts was to attend the midnight screening of Zardoz (1974). While I'm glad I did it, I had a very mixed experience. This film was just terrible and I was so exhausted I slept through at least half of it. Midnight screenings are all about the social experience and so many of my friends were there. Millie of Classic Forever convinced Carlos to come. He had a blast. My favorite moment of the screening was when it's revealed in the movie that the name "Zardoz" comes from the Wizard of Oz. Everyone exclaimed "oohhhhh". It was a nice aha moment when the film was primarily filled with what-the-hell-is-going-on moments.
I don't know if I'll review this film here. Probably not. Let's just say it was really bizarre and everyone involved must have been on some serious drugs.
The midnight screening crew and a bonus shot of Matt Patterson
