My 5 Favorite Underrated Dramas

Check out my guest post on the Rupert Pupkin Speaks blog! I share my list of my five favorite underrated dramas and why I love them.

Young Man With a Horn (1950)

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Young Man With a Horn (1950) airs on TCM Friday August 30th at 8AM EST for the Kirk Douglas Summer Under the Stars day and it's not a film to be missed. This post is my second contribution to this year's Summer Under the Stars Blogathon hosted by Jill and Michael.

The story is based on the novel Young Man With a Horn by Dorothy Baker. The books is considered to be the first jazz novel and is loosely based on real life jazz trumpeter Bix Beiderbecke but is really in essence a work of fiction. I plan to review the novel for my 2013 Summer Reading Classic Film Challenge so stay tuned for that!

The film follows the life story of Rick Martin (Kirk Douglas), a jazz trumpeter, from beginning to end. We first see Rick as a young boy. He's parentless and being raised by his sister. He discovers music, jazz in particular, purely by accident and is instantly enamored. Rick watches jazz musicians turn out tunes and dreams of owning the trumpet he sees in a local pawn shop. He's a white kid amongst a lot of African-American jazz musicians including Art Hazzard (Juano Hernandez), who would become his life-long friend. The years pass and Rick fine tunes his skills and becomes a professional jazz musician.

Rick meets Jo Jordan (Doris Day), the girl he should be with, and Amy North (Lauren Bacall), the girl he wants to be with. Jo is a singer who befriends Rick and tries to help him out during his many low points. However, Rick has his eye on Amy, a sophisticated and glamorous socialite who is enamored with Rick. She's talentless and is intrigued by Rick's wealth of talent. She goes to school and parties to fill the hours of her days because she's terribly bored. Rick and Amy marry but it's a turbulent marriage that sends Rick on a downward spiral.

Young Man With a Horn is a wonderful film. When reading the novel, I discovered that while the film doesn't stay very true to the original story, it focuses more on Rick's romantic life and downward spiral, it still stands well on its own. The film was released 63 years ago and is notable because, as of today, all three main stars are still alive: Kirk Douglas, Lauren Bacall and Doris Day. It deals with issues of race, love and alcoholism. Kirk Douglas is really good at playing characters who are intense and passionate and the character of Rick Martin is no exception. Doris Day has an opportunity to sing as well as to play the good girl character she's become known for in the years that followed. Lauren Bacall is really enticing as the femme fatale whose siren call is Rick's downfall. Lesbianism is hinted at in the story when Amy North brings home a female companion for what looks like a romantic rendezvous. Author Dorothy Baker didn't include this in the novel but was interested in homosexual characters and they appear in several of her novels. We talk a lot more openly today about homosexuality so for modern audiences this doesn't mean much but probably did mean a lot in 1950.

I've seen this film several times and feel a sort of bond with it. I watched the film early on when I started to develop an interest in classic movies and it has stuck with me ever since. Each time I watch it I get something new out of it.

So get up early or set your DVR for Young Man With a Horn (1950)! If you do miss it, it's available to rent from ClassicFlix and Netflix and you can purchase it as part of the TCM Greatest Classic Legends: Kirk Douglas DVD Set or the Doris Day Collection Volume 1. It used to be available as a stand-alone DVD but has since gone out of print.

Warner Archive Wednesday ~ Going Hollywood (1933)

 

Going Hollywood (1933) is just the sort of bizarre musical that needs to be seen to be believed. The plot is definitely not the reason to watch it. You need to see this film for the amazing musical numbers. Early 20th century music is under-appreciated in my opinion. Get acquainted with some of the classics from song writers Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed by listening to the Bing Crosby deliver them with his golden voice. Perhaps you might be weirded out by the scarecrows, the moving daisies or the turban-sleeved dancers in front of a vertical orchestra pit in some of the numbers. But that's okay. This film is the best seen when you are not in the clearest state of mind. For example, after you've had a couple strong cocktails, or in my case, when you are a little sleep drunk. It's trippy, it's bizarre, it's an odd little film that will confuse you, repulse you and titillate you at the same time.

So you want to know the plot? Fine, here it is. Marion Davies, that's William Randolph Hearst's girl, plays Sylvia. She's a French teacher at the most uppity stuck-up school of spinsters that you ever did see. The teachers at this school don't believe in life, love or music. The head teacher won't even allow radio to be played. Pshaw! Sylvia is not having any of that. She wants to dance and love and listen to dulcet tunes. She turns on her radio in an act of rebellion and listens to an amazing song by the popular crooner Bill Williams (Bing Crosby). Convinced she's in love with him after hearing one song, she quits her job and goes to find him.

Bill is on his way to Hollywood to film a picture with the French actress Lili (Fifi D'Orsay). In true stalker fashion, Sylvia follows him on his journey. She's everywhere. His hotel room, his train car, his movie set, etc. She even shows up in black face to confuse him! What is wrong with this woman? She's coming on way too strong and is scaring him off.

Sylvia doesn't get Bill's romantic attentions until a series of events happens in her favor. But things get complicated because of the other woman in Bill's life, Lili, and his new drinking problem. Does she win him over with her ::cough:: charm or will she lose him forever? There's the realistic ending and then there's the Hollywood ending. How do you think this one ended?

There are some notable performances in this film that I'd to point out. Sterling Holloway, also known as the original voice of Winnie-the-Pooh, has an uncredited part as a radio remote technician who works with Bill Williams. He has the funniest scene in the movie. Sterling's technician character follows Bill around to record a song for the radio as he's getting dressed.

Ned Sparks, forever known for playing loveable grumps, plays Conroy, the film director trying to find some order amidst a lot of chaos. Fifi D'Orsay is hilarious as the temperamental French movie actress who has her eyes on Bill. Bing Crosby's Bill sings Nacio Herb Brown's song Temptation to her in one scene and she gives these looks to the camera that are very reminiscent of the ones the robot Maria does in Metropolis (1927). I wonder if it's a reference? Patsy Kelly has a comedic role as the friendly tomboy sidekick of Sylvia. Stuart Erwin plays the financial backer to the film in the story and the guy who should get the girl but doesn't. I looked him up on IMDb and was sad to read that he missed out on the lead male role in the Blondie series.The Three Radio Rogues have a scene in the film and receive billing. I knew nothing about them but apparently they were a famous radio personalities who were known for doing excellent imitations. They do some in the film.

I thought it was interesting how much of a role Radio plays in the Going Hollywood. Radio is the catalyst for the chain of events that make up the film. Bill is a radio star, listening to the radio is banned at the school and is an act of rebellion on Sylvia's part, radio is what inspires Sylvia to follow Bill to Hollywood, etc. This film is a backstage musical about Hollywood but in many ways it's really a love letter to radio.


Did I intrigue you enough with my rambling review that you want to watch Going Hollywood (1933) now? Did I mention that there is a cat fight between Marion Davies and Fifi D'Orsay?! Or how about this amazing musical number in a train station?

 

Going Hollywood (1933) is available on DVD MOD from Warner Archive.

Warner Archive Wednesday - On (random) Wednesdays, I review one title from the Warner Archive Collection. I received Going Hollywood (1933) from Warner Archive for review.