Blaine: Day Six - Mark Sandrich
Blaine gives me a respite from criminals, crazies, rabbit holes, schemes, cops, robbers and thieves if only for a day with Sandrich's 1934 delight of a film...
The Gay Divorcee
I don't believe I've ever actually seen a Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers movie until today. At least not in its entirety. And now I get it...they have crazy chemistry.
Astaire plays professional dancer, Guy Holden, a true romantic who falls head over heels in love upon first sight of Rogers' Mimi Glossop...
That's how he looks at her the entire film. It's refreshing, considering the sons-of-bitches I've endured this week. In fact, Guy loves Mimi so much that he spends the first half of the film stalking her, doing everything in his power to get her attention. But she wants nothing to do with him. Sure he's handsome and charming but Mimi has a terrible secret...she's married.
Why is this such a secret? Maybe because it's 1934 and being unhappily married was different back then, but that's exactly what she is -- unhappily married. So much so that she wants a divorce. Her husband won't even discuss the possibility and she's left with no choice but to resort to scheming. Okay, maybe we're not quite done with scheming yet. But man, what a scheme it is...
Mimi, with the help of her somewhat annoying Aunt Hortense (Alice Brady), hires a lawyer to intervene. The lawyer, it just so happens, is also Guy's best friend...Egbert "Pinky" Fitzgerald....
This clown.
Apparently Edward Everett Horton was the "go-to" guy to play the comedic best friend in the 30's and he doesn't disappoint. Egbert and Aunt Hortense have a romantic history and things only get crazier from that point on. Egbert's plan? Simple. Have Mimi meet him at The Continental hotel where he will arrange for a "correspondent" to show up and the two will get caught red-handed having an affair. Her husband will have no choice but to ask for a divorce. Pretty fucked up plan, right? I KNOW! For most of this film I just couldn't figure out what a "correspondent" was. I mean, is he a male prostitute? Was this an actual job that people had back then? If you were a correspondent today you'd be at the top of my dead pool, pal.
The hijinx ensue almost immediately when Egbert begs his best friend, Guy, to tag along with him. Guy's been a little down since meeting Mimi and desperately wants to wait for her to come around but, being the great guy he is, goes along with Egbert for support. Somewhere along the way, Guy tells Egbert that "chance is a fool's name for fate." Egbert likes this line so much that he decides to use it as a password for Mimi and her correspondent. You can guess where this might get confusing.
Before I go any further, I would be remiss if I didn't mention a very spontaneous musical number that has nothing to do whatsoever with moving the story forward but has very much to do with yet another new obsession of mine...
This gorgeous doll...
Oh, Betty Grable. Another name I had obviously heard of but I've never seen a single film of hers (according to my Letterboxd account, which I have no reason to distrust). And since this was clearly her breakout role, I completely get why she became a huge movie star. She practically steals the entire movie away from two of the most charismatic leads I've ever seen. I bet Ginger Rogers hated her. Just a guess.
Anyway, Mimi's male whore finally shows up and is hard not to like. He's overly Italian but fairly harmless. I thought, for a moment, they were insinuating that he was a homosexual (also, not the first insinuation in the film) but turns out he's married with kids. He's given the password but little else to go on and off we go...
Guy, meanwhile, finally discovers Mimi at the same hotel and turns the stalking back up to eleven. She's a little more amiable this time around though, and you'll never guess what he tells her... yep...
chance is a fool's name for fate. She's a little disappointed to find out that this charming guy who's been flirting with her for days is nothing more than a gigalo but she really wants her divorce so the two go back to her room where they plan to stay the night.
There's some pretty funny misunderstandings and they do us a huge favor of not dragging any bit on for too long, especially since the dance numbers are...FUCKING PHENOMENAL.
Most notably, a 17 minute song and dance called The Continental where we finally get to see these two really shine. The takes are often long and well directed - the choreography makes it looks so easy but you can really see that these two didn't just waltz off the street and start dancing. No, these are two people who have been singing and dancing their entire lives. This shit must have been mind blowing back in 1934.
Anyway, the real "correspondent" finally shows up, hilarity ensues, and eventually the dreaded husband barges in demanding an explanation. Mimi tries to tell him that her and the Italian are in love but he just laughs it off. The Italian is obviously a correspondent. Again, were these jobs real? Mimi tries her luck with Guy but the husband is such a scoundrel that he doesn't care. He will not give Mimi a divorce and frankly, I don't blame him. We do, however, discover that the husband is actually already married to someone else so the jig is up and everyone ends up getting what they want. Except the husband, who should maybe consider a career as a correspondent. Shit, now that I think of it, maybe I should dig deeper into this thing...
Rating: 18 out of 20
Bechdel test: PASS!!! Whoo hoo!
Favorite line: "You're beginning to fascinate me and I resent that in any man."
Up next, another Astaire/Rogers/Sandrich collaboration which, I am sure, will not disappoint...
Carefree
The gang is back in their fifth movie together (including director). After just watching The Gay Divorcee, my expectations were low for this one. I figured after doing these movies for so long, they would become stale...
Nope. This movie is fucking awesome and I'm pretty sure it did not intend to be. Not in the way I enjoyed it anyway...
Sandrich has grown up before my very eyes. While GD had some spectacular dance sequences, they were mostly wide shots that were well choreographed. If GD was Alien 3, Carefree is Fight Club.
We're first introduced to a drunken Steve Arden (Ralph Bellamy), who asks his old friend and Psycho-analyst (lulz), Tony Flagg (Astaire) to help him. You see, Steve's fiancee has changed her mind and no longer wants to marry Steve.
I don't blame her.
Tony agrees to help out his old chum and sets up an appointment with the bride-to-maybe-be for the following day. Tony is expecting a ditz but instead finds this waiting outside his door...
Damn.
Meet Amanda Cooper (Rogers). Amanda is as smart as she is beautiful and immediately the two find it difficult to work with each other. Rogers is OUTSTANDING in this film. While in GD she played an unhappy wife who basically did whatever was asked of her, in this film she paves her own road. And just as I was beginning to think I was going to be disappointed because Astaire was playing a "Psycho-analyst who used to dream about being a song-and-dance man", Sandrich shows us exactly why he is Fred Astaire.
In a scene where Tony tries to impress Amanda, Astaire sings and dances his way around several golf balls while switching clubs and striking the balls so perfectly it's almost unbelievable he wasn't a professional golfer. These weren't cuts with special effects. The man actually had to do this on camera. All I could think about was who the fuck could do this today? Maybe Neil Patrick Harris. Maybe.
After the golf sequence I was all in and somehow the film kept getting better. There's some obligatory character development and talk about the subconscious mind and finally Amanda passes out in her bed and has a dream. And let me tell you something, I've never seen something so marvelous.
It might not look like much: a simple fog lense (or whatever the hell it's called) and two people dancing in a surreal setting. But Sandrich does something here that is so simple and obvious I can't believe he didn't do it before...
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dance in slow...fucking...motion. It's serious eye heroin. I don't think I took a breath for two minutes.
Amanda wakes up from her dream and has convinced herself that it's not Steve she wants, it's Tony (duh). Tony is completely unaware and then there's the complication of Tony and Steve being old friends so now Amanda is in the quite the pickle. She almost confesses to Tony about the dream but instead makes something up about being a big bad wolf and other such nonsense, so much so that Tony thinks he has finally found an actual case worthy of study. He then doses her with some kind of sleep agent so that he can access her unconscious mind and we are given the gift of Rogers showing off her comedic skills.
I won't go into too much detail but suffice it to say, it was brilliant. Her stumbling, her smirks, her sarcasm...if she continues to give these kind of performances I simply cannot wait.
And then the film takes a dark turn. I'm not kidding. It goes to WEIRD places that nobody should ever go. So, remember how Amanda is in love with Tony? Well, she tries to tell Steve that Tony helped her realize she's in love and Steve cuts her off and just assumes she means with him. So now, Steve makes the big announcement to everyone and Amanda doesn't know what to do. So, she tells Tony the truth, essentially ruining the friendship forever. First fucked up thing.
Then, in thinking he's doing the right thing, Tony HYPNOTIZES HER into being in love with Steve and hating Tony. He plants the idea in her mind that Tony is a scumbag who deserves to be shot down like a dog. Fucked up thing number 2.
He immediately realizes his mistake in another clever set piece by Sandrich whereas Tony has a conversation with his subconscious...
1938, people.
Anyhoo, after realizing that he is in love with Amanda (duh) Tony tries to unhypnotize her (?) but she's gone. This is the second time Tony messed with her mind only to have her wander the streets under some kind of influence. But this time things get slightly darker...
Yes. This is from the same movie.
See, Amanda went to find Steve who was in the middle of a skeet shooting contest and when Tony arrives she tries to kill him. You know, like the dog he is. It was actually kind of a terrifying scene but Sandrich kept the tone comedic somehow. Tony eventually snaps her out of it but she still has the imprint of loving Steve and hating Tony.
The next day, Tony finally confesses everything to his old pal, Steve. He tells him how the only reason she wants to get married to Steve is because she's hypnotized and that she really loves Tony and Tony loves her. Steve pretends to understand but then quickly has a judge file a motion that Tony can't be anywhere near Amanda. Fucked up thing number 3. Now, it's possible that Steve is just an idiot and thinks that Tony wants to mess with Amanda's mind but I think he knows exactly what he's doing. He doesn't care WHY Amanda loves him, just that she does.
Tony resorts to his old tricks by scheming to get Amanda back and decides the only way for him to reach her subconscious mind before the wedding is to...
well..
PUNCH HER IN THE FACE. Do I even need to say it? And just when he's about to do just that, he changes his mind. But Steve comes running and in an attempt to punch Tony, misses and punches Amanda instead. Needless to say she wakes up and marries Tony instead.
It's hard to believe but this entire film only has four dance sequences and they are all amazing.
What a joy.
As much as I CLEARLY love this movie, I will say I do have one specific gripe -- why is it called Carefree?
Rating: 19 1/2 out of 20
Bechdel test: Pass again!
Favorite Line: "You know I don't dance at your age."
Well, the vacation is over. Tomorrow we go back to criminals, crazies, rabbit holes, schemes, cops, robbers and thieves. All in one film.
The Gay Divorcee
I don't believe I've ever actually seen a Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers movie until today. At least not in its entirety. And now I get it...they have crazy chemistry.
Astaire plays professional dancer, Guy Holden, a true romantic who falls head over heels in love upon first sight of Rogers' Mimi Glossop...
Why is this such a secret? Maybe because it's 1934 and being unhappily married was different back then, but that's exactly what she is -- unhappily married. So much so that she wants a divorce. Her husband won't even discuss the possibility and she's left with no choice but to resort to scheming. Okay, maybe we're not quite done with scheming yet. But man, what a scheme it is...
Mimi, with the help of her somewhat annoying Aunt Hortense (Alice Brady), hires a lawyer to intervene. The lawyer, it just so happens, is also Guy's best friend...Egbert "Pinky" Fitzgerald....
Apparently Edward Everett Horton was the "go-to" guy to play the comedic best friend in the 30's and he doesn't disappoint. Egbert and Aunt Hortense have a romantic history and things only get crazier from that point on. Egbert's plan? Simple. Have Mimi meet him at The Continental hotel where he will arrange for a "correspondent" to show up and the two will get caught red-handed having an affair. Her husband will have no choice but to ask for a divorce. Pretty fucked up plan, right? I KNOW! For most of this film I just couldn't figure out what a "correspondent" was. I mean, is he a male prostitute? Was this an actual job that people had back then? If you were a correspondent today you'd be at the top of my dead pool, pal.
The hijinx ensue almost immediately when Egbert begs his best friend, Guy, to tag along with him. Guy's been a little down since meeting Mimi and desperately wants to wait for her to come around but, being the great guy he is, goes along with Egbert for support. Somewhere along the way, Guy tells Egbert that "chance is a fool's name for fate." Egbert likes this line so much that he decides to use it as a password for Mimi and her correspondent. You can guess where this might get confusing.
Before I go any further, I would be remiss if I didn't mention a very spontaneous musical number that has nothing to do whatsoever with moving the story forward but has very much to do with yet another new obsession of mine...
This gorgeous doll...
Anyway, Mimi's male whore finally shows up and is hard not to like. He's overly Italian but fairly harmless. I thought, for a moment, they were insinuating that he was a homosexual (also, not the first insinuation in the film) but turns out he's married with kids. He's given the password but little else to go on and off we go...
Guy, meanwhile, finally discovers Mimi at the same hotel and turns the stalking back up to eleven. She's a little more amiable this time around though, and you'll never guess what he tells her... yep...
chance is a fool's name for fate. She's a little disappointed to find out that this charming guy who's been flirting with her for days is nothing more than a gigalo but she really wants her divorce so the two go back to her room where they plan to stay the night.
There's some pretty funny misunderstandings and they do us a huge favor of not dragging any bit on for too long, especially since the dance numbers are...FUCKING PHENOMENAL.
Anyway, the real "correspondent" finally shows up, hilarity ensues, and eventually the dreaded husband barges in demanding an explanation. Mimi tries to tell him that her and the Italian are in love but he just laughs it off. The Italian is obviously a correspondent. Again, were these jobs real? Mimi tries her luck with Guy but the husband is such a scoundrel that he doesn't care. He will not give Mimi a divorce and frankly, I don't blame him. We do, however, discover that the husband is actually already married to someone else so the jig is up and everyone ends up getting what they want. Except the husband, who should maybe consider a career as a correspondent. Shit, now that I think of it, maybe I should dig deeper into this thing...
Rating: 18 out of 20
Bechdel test: PASS!!! Whoo hoo!
Favorite line: "You're beginning to fascinate me and I resent that in any man."
Up next, another Astaire/Rogers/Sandrich collaboration which, I am sure, will not disappoint...
Carefree
The gang is back in their fifth movie together (including director). After just watching The Gay Divorcee, my expectations were low for this one. I figured after doing these movies for so long, they would become stale...
Nope. This movie is fucking awesome and I'm pretty sure it did not intend to be. Not in the way I enjoyed it anyway...
Sandrich has grown up before my very eyes. While GD had some spectacular dance sequences, they were mostly wide shots that were well choreographed. If GD was Alien 3, Carefree is Fight Club.
We're first introduced to a drunken Steve Arden (Ralph Bellamy), who asks his old friend and Psycho-analyst (lulz), Tony Flagg (Astaire) to help him. You see, Steve's fiancee has changed her mind and no longer wants to marry Steve.
Tony agrees to help out his old chum and sets up an appointment with the bride-to-maybe-be for the following day. Tony is expecting a ditz but instead finds this waiting outside his door...
Meet Amanda Cooper (Rogers). Amanda is as smart as she is beautiful and immediately the two find it difficult to work with each other. Rogers is OUTSTANDING in this film. While in GD she played an unhappy wife who basically did whatever was asked of her, in this film she paves her own road. And just as I was beginning to think I was going to be disappointed because Astaire was playing a "Psycho-analyst who used to dream about being a song-and-dance man", Sandrich shows us exactly why he is Fred Astaire.
After the golf sequence I was all in and somehow the film kept getting better. There's some obligatory character development and talk about the subconscious mind and finally Amanda passes out in her bed and has a dream. And let me tell you something, I've never seen something so marvelous.
Amanda wakes up from her dream and has convinced herself that it's not Steve she wants, it's Tony (duh). Tony is completely unaware and then there's the complication of Tony and Steve being old friends so now Amanda is in the quite the pickle. She almost confesses to Tony about the dream but instead makes something up about being a big bad wolf and other such nonsense, so much so that Tony thinks he has finally found an actual case worthy of study. He then doses her with some kind of sleep agent so that he can access her unconscious mind and we are given the gift of Rogers showing off her comedic skills.
I won't go into too much detail but suffice it to say, it was brilliant. Her stumbling, her smirks, her sarcasm...if she continues to give these kind of performances I simply cannot wait.
And then the film takes a dark turn. I'm not kidding. It goes to WEIRD places that nobody should ever go. So, remember how Amanda is in love with Tony? Well, she tries to tell Steve that Tony helped her realize she's in love and Steve cuts her off and just assumes she means with him. So now, Steve makes the big announcement to everyone and Amanda doesn't know what to do. So, she tells Tony the truth, essentially ruining the friendship forever. First fucked up thing.
Then, in thinking he's doing the right thing, Tony HYPNOTIZES HER into being in love with Steve and hating Tony. He plants the idea in her mind that Tony is a scumbag who deserves to be shot down like a dog. Fucked up thing number 2.
He immediately realizes his mistake in another clever set piece by Sandrich whereas Tony has a conversation with his subconscious...
Anyhoo, after realizing that he is in love with Amanda (duh) Tony tries to unhypnotize her (?) but she's gone. This is the second time Tony messed with her mind only to have her wander the streets under some kind of influence. But this time things get slightly darker...
See, Amanda went to find Steve who was in the middle of a skeet shooting contest and when Tony arrives she tries to kill him. You know, like the dog he is. It was actually kind of a terrifying scene but Sandrich kept the tone comedic somehow. Tony eventually snaps her out of it but she still has the imprint of loving Steve and hating Tony.
The next day, Tony finally confesses everything to his old pal, Steve. He tells him how the only reason she wants to get married to Steve is because she's hypnotized and that she really loves Tony and Tony loves her. Steve pretends to understand but then quickly has a judge file a motion that Tony can't be anywhere near Amanda. Fucked up thing number 3. Now, it's possible that Steve is just an idiot and thinks that Tony wants to mess with Amanda's mind but I think he knows exactly what he's doing. He doesn't care WHY Amanda loves him, just that she does.
Tony resorts to his old tricks by scheming to get Amanda back and decides the only way for him to reach her subconscious mind before the wedding is to...
well..
PUNCH HER IN THE FACE. Do I even need to say it? And just when he's about to do just that, he changes his mind. But Steve comes running and in an attempt to punch Tony, misses and punches Amanda instead. Needless to say she wakes up and marries Tony instead.
It's hard to believe but this entire film only has four dance sequences and they are all amazing.
As much as I CLEARLY love this movie, I will say I do have one specific gripe -- why is it called Carefree?
Rating: 19 1/2 out of 20
Bechdel test: Pass again!
Favorite Line: "You know I don't dance at your age."
Well, the vacation is over. Tomorrow we go back to criminals, crazies, rabbit holes, schemes, cops, robbers and thieves. All in one film.
I had to stop reading your Carefree write-up once you said it was better. I can’t imagine anything better. I’m going to find it and watch it ASAP.
ReplyDeleteRemember that time you were shocked to learn that Dewey Crowe is from Australia?
Erik Rhodes (the correspondent 😍) is from Oklahoma!
Mind blown. Also, Carefree was maybe better because I had such low expectations. It's definitely worth seeing though
ReplyDelete