Around the World in 80 Days (1956)

Around the World in 80 Days is an adaptation of Jules Verne's novel about a Victorian Englishman, Phileas Fogg, who bets that with steamships, railways, hot air balloons and rickshaws he can... well make it around the world in eighty days. His companion is his valet Passepartout.  On their journey, they rescue a princess from India who is almost killed for sacrificial purposes.  They continue their way around making it to the wild West of America and back to England again.  

While a very long film, it actually is better than I thought it would be.  Fogg and his valet make a great team, and Passepartout, played by Mexican actor/comedian Cantinflas, was pretty funny.  It was quite an extravagant film with tons of sets, locations, and animals.  Even though the plot is pretty thin, the settings were rich enough to make the movie stand out.  It seemed like a Cecil B. Demille film with all the sets and cameos, but ya know...  actually good.  Some of my favorite cameos include: Frank Sinatra (a piano player), Marlene Dietrich (a slewy saloon owner) and the great Buster Keaton (train ticket taker).  So Shirley MacLaine's in this movie.  And she's fine.  But she played the princess that they rescue from India.  I don't know if you can recall MacLaine... but she doesn't really even kind of look Indian.  She just has brown hair.... that's it.  It was kind of strange.  And both Tim and I are pretty sure she wasn't even speaking.  We think her voice was dubbed over... and THAT person wasn't Indian either.  What?? It just seems so strange to me. Anyways... the ending seemed long and abrupt at the same time.  And the credits which showed every single cameo and actor in the film (aside from extras). That was pretty cute and unique.  Not my favorite but a solid film.  

Katie and I agree that this is the film that The Greatest Show on Earth should have been. Like that film, Around the World in 80 Days is a spectacle-filled event film with marvelous colors, sets and costumes except that a humorous tour around many countries of the world is much more interesting than a traveling circus and a ludicrous train crash. The title of the film is basically the entire plot- there’s really not a lot to it outside of their various multicultural adventures. The true highlights of the film are the gorgeously diverse and vast number of locations that the filmmakers were able to secure for the time period. A possible romance between Phileas and Princess Auoda is hinted at but it never really comes to fruition. The musical score is almost always playing in this film, and it takes the audience on a tour also as it includes just about every traditional English folk song and musical styles from whatever place they are located. After about the 300^th iteration of “Rule Brittania,” however Katie and I were over it. We get it, they’re British. If we had made a drinking game out of it, we would have died before intermission. Several fun cameos are in store for the viewer- personal favorites of mine include Peter Lorre and Frank Sinatra. More a film that I will appreciate than love, Around the World in 80 Days is worth your time at least once… if you can withstand “Rule Brittania.” 

The film used 140 sets built at six Hollywood studios, as well as in England, Hong Kong and Japan.

• 74,685 costumes were designed, made or rented for use in the film.
• The cast and crew flew over 4,000,000 miles.
• 68,894 extras were used while shooting the film in 13 countries.
• 90 animal handlers managed the record 8,552 animals used (3,800 sheep, 2,448 buffalo, 950 donkeys, 800 horses, 512 monkeys, 17 bulls, 15 elephants, 6 skunks, and 4 ostriches).

Princess Aouda: Mr. Fogg, why must you be so... so British? 

Marty (1955)

Marty is a nice but lonely middle-aged butcher who is constantly harangued by his customers and mother to settle down and marry a “nice Italian girl.” One night while out with his friends he is paid to take plain-looking schoolteacher Clara out on a date by a man trying to be rid of her. After discovering that they have a lot in common, including the same feelings of loneliness and giving up on love, they have a great evening and look forward to another. Unfortunately, selfish pressures from family and friends are trying to maintain a status quo and keep them apart, and it is up to Marty and Clara to decide if they can work through their awkward social skills to give love one more chance.

After a long slate of war films, historical epics and romances, Marty is very refreshing and unexpected. It’s the polar opposite of Gone With the Wind- it’s short, simple, to the point and there is no swelling of a lush musical score and a melodramatic falling into each other’s rich and attractive arms for a romantic reconciliation. Marty is a much quieter story of two “normal” people that awkwardly begin a relationship despite feelings of self-deprecation. Leads Borgnine and Blair are not unattractive and they dip into the pity pot one or two times too often but they don’t have movie-star looks, and that’s what makes this movie work. Borgnine’s Oscar-winning turn here is very impressive in that he can portray a psycho a la From Here to Eternity and charming, love struck Marty effortlessly. I’ve always been a fan of Borgnine’s durable and versatile career which has taken him everywhere from The Wild Bunch and The Dirty Dozen to Escape From New York and BASEketball; it truly is a shame that he passed last year and he will be missed. Marty arguably ends too soon without being a fully developed relationship story, but it has a rare distinction among the Best Picture winners so far in that it ends and you feel really good. Hearing Marty defend and stand up for Clara from the awful comments from his mother and friends make you stand up for him too and hope that you too have friends like Marty. As this blog project proves, I know I have at least one friend like that. Thanks Katie!

I agree with Tim.  This movie was so refreshing.  I, however, don't agree with everything he said.  I liked the way the movie ends.  Marty chooses to be with Clara despite what his lame-o single bros are saying.  So he calls her up and asks her out.  Such a cute ending!  It leaves you feeling wonderful.  Marty is finally going to be happy!  The part that was hard is when Clara gets stood up at the dance.  As someone who has struggled with "Funny Girl" syndrome (more about that later), I can relate to her particular situation.  She's just a sweetie looking for someone not made at the douche factory and the guy she's starts out with is the prototype at the douche factory.  He is checking out girls left and right and keeps complaining that he only has one night every three weeks off and he'd much rather be spending it with someone easier on the eyes.  Obviously this guy doesn't get a happy ending.  They don't show him again after he stands Clara up but in my mind he got a severe case of the "clap" and had to be off the dating market indefinitely.  But that's just my overactive imagination...  Don't worry too much about Clara.  In real life, Betsy Blair married my long-time crush, Gene Kelly, lucky gal.  And in the movie, Clara and Marty are perfect for each other because they each want to share their quiet lives with someone who will listen.  It was fun to watch a love story happen overnight.  In many ways, I feel similarly to how my feelings with Tim began. 

At 90 minutes long, this has the shortest running time of any film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. 

Marty Pilletti: You don't like her. My mother don't like her. She's a dog. And I'm a fat, ugly man. Well, all I know is I had a good time last night. I'm gonna have a good time tonight. If we have enough good times together, I'm gonna get down on my knees. I'm gonna beg that girl to marry me. If we make a party on New Year's, I got a date for that party. You don't like her? That's too bad. 

On the Waterfront (1954)

 Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) once dreamed about being a prizefighter but instead works for Johnny Friendly, a corrupt boss at the dockers union. After Terry inadvertently participates in the death of Joey Doyle, he begins to rethink his life when he begins having feelings for Doyle’s grieving sister Edie. Edie and Father Berry (Karl Malden) help Terry to see that he’s capable of more than the life he has created for himself, and Terry’s loyalty to his tight-knit but criminal family is tested as Terry finds himself the symbol and leader of union labor rights.

It's nice to be back to blogging with the oldies.  Don't get me wrong!  Tim and I totally enjoyed writing about the Oscars nominees but it's kind of fun to get back to the fifties. On the Waterfront was a great film.  I had never seen it before and thought it was about wrestling.  But I was very wrong.  The movie has an excellent script.  The last fifteen minutes alone were so suspenseful.  It also leaves you feeling uplifted, like any man, regardless of his station in life can make a difference.  Very powerful.  Brando's performance was outstanding.   Brando's character was a very lonely person (before the dame) and took care of his uncle's pigeons.  When the pigeons (spoiler) get killed, he cries more over them more then a person which he inadvertently killed.  The movie to beat On the Waterfront for glorification of pigeons is, of course, Mary Poppins with the "Feed the Birds" song.  There are so many birds... why pigeons?

Marlon Brando’s name seems to be a sacred word when discussing acting and it’s easy to see why after his earthshaking performances in this and A Streetcar Named Desire (also directed by Elia Kazan). I first saw On the Waterfront after tracking down several Brando films after seeing The Godfather for the first time when I was about 12, and it’s easily one of my favorite Best Picture winners so far. Leonard Bernstein composes a rare film score which elevates the drama with its kinetic energy, even if it occasionally overpowers the onscreen action. There’s a lot of suspense and power to this film; the concluding fight and Brando’s walk to the “finish line” rivals the ending of films like Rocky in crowd-pleasing relief. Terry is a great character that undergoes a fascinating and extensive evolution, resulting in a character and a cause that the audience can really root for. Despite a controversial personal life, Kazan was an accomplished filmmaker that may have never reached higher heights than On the Waterfront. The Criterion Collection just re-released this film, making it a perfect time to experience it for yourself (and meaning I have to buy it again… damn). 

Sam Spiegel forgot to pay for rear-projection equipment, hence the reason why the cab where Marlon Brando and Rod Steiger play out the film's most famous scene has blinds.

Terry: You don't understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it. It was you, Charley.