THE MT VOID
06/07/24 -- Vol. 42, No. 49, Whole Number 2331
Co-Editor: Mark Leeper,
mleeper@optonline.netCo-Editor: Evelyn Leeper,
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Topics:
Mini Reviews, Part 25 (DRAGONWYCK, BABBITT, THE DOCTOR
AND THE DEVILS) (film reviews by Mark R. Leeper
and Evelyn C. Leeper)
THE LONGEST DAY and Other D-Day Films (letters of comment
by Jay E. Morris and Hal Heydt)
This Week's Reading (THE YEAR OF THE FIVE EMPERORS)
(book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
===================================================================
TOPIC: Mini Reviews, Part 25 (film reviews by Mark R. Leeper and
Evelyn C. Leeper)
This is the twenty-fifth batch of mini-reviews, three older films.
DRAGONWYCK (1946): DRAGONWYCK is a little-known, little-seen film
which really deserves more attention. It is similar in atmosphere
to films such as WUTHERING HEIGHTS and REBECCA: a Gothic
sensibility, with characters who motivation and personality are
not necessarily obvious at first, but are gradually revealed,
usually in scenes involving storms. But DRAGONWYCK also reveals a
little-known aspect of American history, the patroon system of the
Hudson Valley. Basically it is what is referred to as
share-cropping when described in the South, and was the target of
the Anti-Rent War touched on in the film. Patriarchy, religious
zealotry, and other undesirable aspects of mid-19th century life
also play a role. [-ecl]
Released theatrically 19 April 1946.
Film Credits:
<
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038492/reference>
What others are saying:
<
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dragonwyck>
BABBITT (1934): BABBITT is based on the Sinclair Lewis novel of
the same name, but how much can one do with a novel that tries to
portray an entire social phenomenon in 82 minutes? On the other
hand, movies from that era are revealing of social phenomena in
ways they never intended.
For example, is the sign board in front of a new housing
development that says "HIGHLY RESTRICTED" supposed to be a good
thing, or a bad thing? It wasn't until 1947, with GENTLEMEN'S
AGREEMENT, the whole issue of restrictive covenants was addressed
in a mainstream film.
And the maid, played by Hattie McDaniel, is pretty much a
stereotypical portrayal of the time of an African-American maid.
At least it's at the level of Mammy from GONE WITH THE WIND, as
opposed to Butterfly McQueen's Prissy. [-ecl]
Released theatrically 08 December 1934.
Film Credits:
<
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024851/reference>
What others are saying:
<
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/babbitt>
THE DOCTOR AND THE DEVILS (1985): THE DOCTOR AND THE DEVILS seems
to be the latest of the films based on the West Port murders,
usually referred to as the Burke and Hare murders. If the IMDb
can be trusted, the first was Val Lewton's THE BODY SNATCHER
(1945). As with many of the films, it is based on Robert Louis
Stevenson's story "The Body Snatcher". Stevenson drew on
Edinburgh history for this story, just as he drew on Deacon Brodie
for "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde".
The version in particular is based on the script written in 1940s
by Dylan Thomas. (Apparently producer Mel Brooks wanted to ditch
Thomas's screenplay, but director Freddie Francis convinced him to
retain as much of it as possible.) William Burke and William Hare
are renamed Robert Fallon and Timothy Broom; Dr. Knox becomes Dr.
Rock. The IMb also claims this film holds the record for longest
time between completion of the script and the movie of the movie.
(Clearly they are ignoring movies such as HAMLET.)
Lewton's version is pretty much straight drama. He has only one
body snatcher (Cabman Gray), and the doctor is MacFarlane. HORROR
MANIACS (1948) was forced by British censors to change the names
to Hart, Moore, and Dr. Cox. THE FLESH AND THE FIENDS (1960) was
able to use the real names, as did BURKE & HARE (1972), which
injected more humor than the previous films. This should not be
confused with BURKE AND HARE (2010), even more a comedy film
directed by John Landis.
There is also I SELL THE DEAD (2008), another comedy inspired by
Burke and Hare even if not strictly speaking based on them. [-ecl]
Released Theatrically 04 October 1985.
Film Credits: <
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089034/reference>
What others are saying:
<
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_doctor_and_the_devils>
===================================================================
TOPIC: THE LONGEST DAY and Other D-Day Films (letters of comment
by Jay E. Morris and Hal Heydt)
In response to Mark and Evelyn's comments on THE LONGEST DAY in
the 05/31/24 issue of the MT VOID, Jay E. Morris writes:
Most of the major actors in THE LONGEST DAY were much older than
the actual service members. John Wayne was 55 when he played Lt.
Col. Benjamin Vandervoort who was 24 in WWII. Average age of
officers was around 28.
Richard Todd played Major John Howard of the Ox and Bucks Light
Infantry who led a glider force to capture the Pegasus and
Ranville bridges. Under heavy German fire they were reinforced by
the 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion, the first officer to
report to Major Howard being Lt. Richard Todd. And yes, that
scene is in the movie. [-jem]
Hal Heydt asks:
How could you overlook the 1952 TV documentary series, "Victory at
Sea"? Granted, it should be subtitled "how the US Navy won WW2
with a little help from its friends" but it does cover D-Day (as
well as the rest of the war) and all of the footage was actually
from the war (though some was short in various studios...but
during the war). The archival footage used came from all the
countries involved ... on both sides. [-hh]
Evelyn responds:
We were just commenting on the films that Turner Classic Movies
was running for their D-Day marathon, not choosing films on our
own. It's not surprising that TCM didn't run "Victory at
Sea"--it's 13 hours long. [-ecl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
When you get a book off the shelves at the public library, or for
that matter in a bookstore, you have some idea what you're
getting. If the catalog (or your feet) direct you to the fiction
section, you're getting fiction. If you're sent to Dewey Decimal
937, you're getting ancient Rome through the fall of the Western
Empire. So when I went looking for history books about the Year
of the Five Emperors (hereafter referred to as the Y5E), I would
know I wanted a 937. In Hoopla, however, there is no such clue,
which is how I ended up with THE YEAR OF THE FIVE EMPERORS by
Robert Eckert (actually two books: THE YEAR OF THE FIVE EMPERORS:
PERTINAX and THE YEAR OF THE FIVE EMPERORS: SEVERUS). From the
title, I figured they were histories--silly me. They were
historical fiction, mush as in THE DAUGHTER OF TIME, when the
sergeant is asked for a history of Richard III, he brings back THE
ROSE OF RABY, a historical fiction about Richard's mother (which
is, by the way, not a real book).
Anyway, having checked them out, I figured "what the heck?" The
books got decent reviews, and I don't think I found any
non-fiction books about the year that were available.
PERTINAX actually starts out on the last day of 68, rather than in
69, the actual Y5E. This is both necessary and desirable, since
Commodus was assassinated on the last day of 68, and we wouldn't
want to miss that, would we? (And no, he's not stabbed by Maximus
in the gladiatorial circus.) And it's necessary to set up
everything that comes after.
Unfortunately, unlike THE ROSE OF RABY, THE YEAR OF THE FIVE
EMPERORS takes liberties with history. It describes a different
death for Commodus that the histories of the time, and explains it
away by having all those present agree to cover up the truth with
a lie. It also gets wrong how Didius Julianus became emperor.
There are undoubtedly other events that differ from history. And
much of the real history is told in info-dumps, where two or more
characters have a long discussion of how the legions are
disbursed, or the political machinations of the Praetorians, or an
incredibly long description of a trip through ancient Rome which
indicated that the author had a detailed street map and just had
to use it. [-ecl]
===================================================================
Mark Leeper
mleeper@optonline.net He seems
To have seen better days, as who has not
Who has seen yesterday?
--George Gordon, Lord Byron
MT VOID, 06/07/24 -- Vol. 42, No. 49, Whole Number 2331