Sullivan's Travels

SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS (BLACK AND WHITE, 1941)

Director: 

Preston Sturges

Cast: 

Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake, William Demarest, Robert Warwick, Franklin Pangbom, Porter Hall, Charles Moore, Eric Blore and Byron Foulger

Ages: 

7 and up

Plot: 

John Lloyd Sullivan (McCrea) is a director of escapist and comedy films, with names like Hey, Hey in the Hayloft and Ants in Your Plants of 1939. Suddenly he wants to direct a drama, and now he wants to direct a drama based on a novel on humanity, Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou? When his team points out that he knows nothing of hardship, he heads off as a tramp with only ten cents in his pocket. He soon meets a girl (Lake) and is saved twice by his reputation. Then, when he finds himself really in trouble, when he is left without any money and when his identity is stolen, he finds out the truth behind hardship.

Still of Joel McCrea in Sullivan’s Travels 

Why it’s good: 

Because it just is. Nobody can say much about a Preston Sturges comedy, but the truth is that this romance-drama-comedy is one of his best works.

The beginning is funny, the climax is sad, and in the end things start looking up. While the comedy gives everyone the laughs, the film is about hope and laughter. The message is clear (spoiler!): Who wants to see a sad movie when they can see a happy one?

While the jokes are Preston’s speciality (take for example, the word Amateur describing Sullivan as a tramp), the script is just so different, so much more civic-minded, and definitely better than the rest of his films.

Trivia:

Look for Preston Sturges’ cameo in the film. He is in the foreground when Veronica Lake was reading the newspaper and jumped in the air.

Parents’ Guide: 

There is romance in the air between Sullivan and the girl.

If you like this…: 

Sturges directed many comedies. It includes The Lady Eve (1941) about a heir to a beer company, The Palm Beach Story (1942) about an inventor needy for cash for his big idea, The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek and Hail the Conquering Hero (both 1944) about war, and finally Unfaithfully Yours (1948) about a musician.

The Trouble with Harry

THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY (COLOUR, 1955)

Director: 

Alfred Hitchcock

Cast: 

John Forsythe, Edmund Gwenn, Shirley McLain, Mildred Natwick, Mildred Dunnock, Jerry Mathers, Royal Dano, Barry Macollum and Dwight Marfield

Ages: 

7 and up

Plot: 

In a meadow in a small town in Vermont, Harry Worp, the husband of Jennifer Rogers (McLain), who hasn’t been staying with her, is found dead. Captain Albert Wiles (Gwenn) thinks he is responsible, and with the help of artist Sam Marlowe (Forsythe), help to bury him. Ivy Gravely (Natwick) thinks she is the murderer, and a few other people stumble pass the body (including Doctor Greenbow (Marfield) and a tramp (Macollom) without paying much attention. And then Marlowe and Rogers fall in love. Then the truth is revealed…

Still of (from left): Shirley McLain, John Forsythe, Mildred Natwick and Edmund Gwenn  

Why it’s good: 

Because it is the most atypical Hitchcock film ever made. It is definitely the funniest of them all, with a certain little style that is extremely different. It is a comedy without a name. 

Unlike other mystery-comedies, like The Thin Man (1934) and Charade (1963), it has the film directed with more comedy and much less mystery, and the film is in fact unique for its kind. A comedy would be totally new for Hitchcock, and he did it pretty well, with his whodunit becoming a who-didn’t-do-it story with a bang – who-thinks-he-done-it-but-didn’t-do-it-and-who-did-it.

The art world intervenes in the film, and an art critic and a millionaire pop in some time to see Marlowe’s exhibition and the art shop. The art is of the modern style, and the evidence is hidden in one of the paintings: Marlowe’s portrait of the Dead Man.

Trivia:  

Alfred Hitchcock’s personal favourite quote in any of his films was in this film: What seems to be the trouble, Captain?

Parent’s Guide: 

Practically nothing. There is a romance between Marlowe and Rogers throughout the story.

If you like this…: 
Other Hitchcock films. None are the same as this film in terms of style and plot. But it is the same director.

Ball of Fire

BALL OF FIRE (BLACK AND WHITE, 1941)

Director: 

Howard Hawks

Cast: 

Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Dana Andrews, Oscar Homolka, Henry Travers, Tully Marshall, Lenoid Kinskey, Richard Haydn, Aubrey Mather, Allen Jenkins, Dan Duryea and Mary Field

Ages: 

7 and up

Plot: 

A group of nine lexicographers are working on a new encyclopedia. Their leader, Bertram Potts (Cooper), meets a garbage man (Jenkins) and Bertram feels that his own article on slang has no resemblance to the language used by the commoners such as the garbage man.  In fact, Bertram finds that his article is 20 years outdated. When Bertram goes off to find more users of slang, he ends up falling for a nightclub singer, Sugarpuss O’Shea (Stanwyck). Sugarpuss is actually the girlfriend of a gangster, Joe Lilac (Andrews), who is suspected for murder. Can he and his friends help Sugarpuss get out of the gangster plot?

Still of Gary Cooper in Ball of Fire

Why it’s good: 

Because it just is. The film is similar to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs but it is no worse than that 1935 Disney film.  In my view, Sugarpuss is Snow White, and the lexicographers are the dwarfs. The gangster is the evil queen (that goes a little too far, I guess). 

To the audience of that period, this film might’ve been a better option compared to Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  That’s because it’s realistic. By that time, people have realized that evil queens and princesses like the ones in Snow White cannot be found in the real world (maybe only in the child’s imagination). Then, America still had gangsters (Al Capone was still alive) and singers like Katharine ‘Sugarpuss’ O’Shea weren’t uncommon.

The whole movie owes its comedy to the screenwriter – Billy Wilder. Billy Wilder would later reformulate this plot to write the script for Some Like It Hot. Billy Wilder was genius and created fun scenes – a shoe-changing scene which could have happened in Cinderella, a dance scene involving eight of the lexicographers and a scene of a housemaid locked in a closet.

Trivia: 

Even though they play two of the "old men" lexicographers, Leonid Kinskey (Prof. Quintana) and Richard Haydn (Prof. Oddly) were both under 40 years old when they made this movie.

Parent’s guide: 

A bit of the Roaring 20s fashion which features revealing clothes.

If you like this…: 

Cooper and Stanwyck’s other 1941 comedy, "Meet John Doe", about a man who acts as a non-existent person.      

To Kill a Mockingbird

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (BLACK AND WHITE, 1962)

Director: 

Robert Mulligan

Cast: 

Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Phillip Alford, John Megna, Frank Overton, Collin Wilcox Paxton, Rosemary Murphy, Brock Peters, Ruth White, Paul Fix, Estelle Evans, Robert Duvall, James Anderson and Richard Hale

Ages: 

7 and up

Plot: 

Atticus Finch (Peck) is a widower and lawyer in Alabama during the Great Depression. He has two children, Scout (Badham) and Jem (Alford), who befriend their visiting neighbour, oddball Dill (Megna). Atticus is then asked by the sheriff (Overton) to take on an unpopular case where he has to defend a black man Tom Robinson (Peters) who has been accused of raping Mayella (Paxton), the daughter of a white man, Bob Ewell (Anderson). Meanwhile, the three children worry about a slightly spooky neighbour named Boo Radley (Duvall). Later, Atticus proves Tom’s innocence, but he cannot save him from the racist town. It costs Atticus many friendships, but he earns respect from his own children. 

Atticus Finch (Peck) defending Tom Robinson (Peters).

Why it’s good: 

I had just come back from a children's book club discussion this morning where we discussed books. I like reading, yes, and I also like movies, too.   

One of the topics we talked about at the book club was “books made into movies – which one is better, the book or the movie?” The one which came to my mind first was this book and this film, as To Kill a Mockingbird is an all-time classic in American literature.  I mentioned it; and the girl sitting opposite me said she watched it too. And she was about my age. And she liked it. It was black and white, she commented.

So the film is still fondly remembered and it is a really great movie. I read the first few chapters of the novel, and it was a totally great book.

The values in the movie are good. We should not discriminate others by skin colour and that we should always stick to our principles. Are the townspeople right to capture Tom Robinson? Would it be different if the whole thing happened today? All of the movie’s themes are great subjects for debate.

I also learned about the mockingbird from this movie.  "Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy.  They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us.  That's why it's a sin to kill a mocking bird."

And most uniquely, the story is told from a little girl (Scout)'s perspective.  This makes it easy for children to identify with the movie.

Trivia: 

Harper Lee’s only novel and Dill’s character is based on her childhood friend writer Truman Capote (who wrote “In Cold Blood”).

Parent’s guide: 

A dog is shot by Atticus. A boy's arm is broken by another character toward the end of the film, but only some tussling is shown.

If you like this…:

Other dramas which explore similar themes about discrimination against blacks in America: "12 Angry Men" (1957) and "In the Heat of the Night" (1967) .         

12 Angry Men

12 ANGRY MEN (BLACK AND WHITE, 1957)

Director: 

Sidney Lumet

Cast: 

Henry Fonda, Martin Balsam, Lee J. Cobb, John Fiedler, E.G. Marshall, Jack Klugman, Edward Binns, Jack Warden, Joseph Sweeney, Ed Begley, Robert Webber and George Voskovec

Ages: 

7 and up

Plot:

Twelve jurors, led by juror #1 (Balsam), go into a jury room one hot day to reach a verdict on the case in which a teenage boy, a black, has been charged for stabbing his father. 11 of the jurors rule the son guilty; the one who does not is juror #8 (Fonda) as he thinks there is room for doubt. He then tries to convince the rest of the jurors that the suspect is not guilty.

The 12 Angry Men, stuck in the jury room. They can't leave until they have reached a unanimous decision on this case.

Why it’s good: 

Because it is the best movie in this bunch; it seems real time. There is only one room and then there are 12 men – angry ones. All eager to head home.

Maybe just from the snippet above you would think that kids would get bored with 1 hour and thirty minutes of that as all the action takes place in just one room, the jury room. But it is highly watchable, and you would appreciate the personalities of all the jurors. More importantly, it teaches us to be human and not discriminate others by skin colour. 

Lee J. Cobb has a son in this movie, though never shown, but kept being talked about. Robert Webber keeps jumping around the guilty-not guilty camps. Then there is the lead, Henry Fonda, who acts here wonderfully, and proves that he could play roles other than cowboys.

Not surprisingly, it lost the Best Picture Oscar to 1957’s "The Bridge Over River Kwai". The message, here, though, is very easy to convey and take in. It is not only a good movie, it is also good for you.   

After seeing this movie, I asked some people about the American judicial system, and they told me to go figure. I looked for more courtroom dramas, and I found no other movie like this. Most of the other courtroom drama had the action outside the jury room. So you could say this is more special than the rest.

                   

Parent’s guide: 

In re-enacting how the jury think the murder is committed, they use a knife, and it looks as if they are going to kill each other but the man holding the knife puts it in one of the juror’s ties.

Trivia: 

Henry Fonda was both actor and producer in this film. He was, however, very frustrated being producer and decided never to be one again. Juror #8, as portrayed by Fonda, has been voted one of the American Film Institute's top heroes.

If you like this…: 

The TV movie remake of the same name in 1997 bears much resemblance. It has George C. Scott and Jack Lemmon as two of the many jurors, with the accused being played by Douglas Spain.  "To Kill a Mockingbird" (1962) is another courtroom drama that explores the theme of racial discrimination in America.   

Gigi

GIGI (COLOUR, 1958)

Director: 

Vicente Minnelli

Cast: 

Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, Louis Jourdan, Hermione Gingold, Eva Gabor, Isabel Jeans and John Abbott

Ages: 

7 and up

Plot: 

Gigi (Caron) is a tomboy in 1900 Paris. Her grandmother (Gingold), though, wants her to be a lady and marry a wealthy man, so she sends Gigi to her sister (Jeans) to learn to be a courtesan. However, Gigi is already in love with playboy Gaston (Jourdan), whose uncle, Honore (Chevalier) had an affair with Gigi’s aunt way back. However, Gaston has a girl named Liane d'Exelmans (Gabor).  Will Gaston fall for Gigi?

Why it’s good: 

Maybe the plot is dated; no one now wants to raise girls just so that they can marry rich men. But the songs are nice, maybe provocative and sometimes even catchy and addictive.

This is considered Maurice Chevalier’s best film in his post-war years, after making Ernst Lubitsch comedy-musicals two decades before for swanky Paramount Pictures. The lyrics for Frederick Loewe’s music are written by Alan Jay Lerner. The Broadway play, originally written by Collette, is also quite good (with Audrey Hepburn as Gigi).

Leslie Caron’s Gigi is a strong personality, especially when she embarrasses Gaston.

Parent’s guide: 

There are scenes of drinking; one song is called "The Night We Invented Champagne".

Trivia: 

This film ended up winning nine Oscars, including one for Best Picture. The day after, MGM telephone operators were given the order to answer all phone calls with "M-Gigi-M".

If you like this…: 
Leslie Caron’s other good MGM musical, "An American in Paris" (1951), set in the same location four or five decades later.   

It's a Wonderful Life

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (BLACK AND WHITE, 1946)

Director: 

Frank Capra

Cast: 

James Stewart, Lionel Barrymore, Donna Reed, Henry Travers, Thomas Mitchell, Beulah Bondi, H.B. Warner, Ward Bond, Frank Albertson, Gloria Grahame, Todd Karns and Samuel S. Hinds

Ages: 

7 and up

Plot: 

George Bailey (Stewart), who helps out at Mr Gower’s (Warner) drugstore, is a boy who wants to be an explorer, but he seems destined to remain in Bedford Falls with his mother (Bondi), father (Hinds), uncle (Mitchell) and brother (Karns), whom he saves from a near drowning incident. His father’s business, Bailey Building and Loan, is challenged by local "fat cat" Henry F. Potter (Barrymore), who, when George’s father dies, wants George to take over or else there shall be consequences.  George does that, though it means he has to give up his dreams. He later marries Mary Hatch (Reed) and finds himself at the end of his rope on Christmas Eve when his uncle loses $8,000 and when Potter requests for a warrant for his arrest. So from heaven comes the wingless angel Clarence (Travers) to help resolve his problems. Clarence prevents George from killing himself by showing him what the world would have been like without him.  

George Bailey surrounded by his family and friends in a scene that moved me to tears.

Why it’s good: 

Because to kids it is a real tear-jerker and a real heart-warmer. And it's my favourite movie of all time. Before this movie, no one has ever shown audiences what the world would be like without us, but Frank Capra managed to do just that. In addition, this movie communicates the value and importance of being caring and generous exceedingly well.

He did it through directing and co-writing the script with Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich. But he was not all who made the movie. It was James Stewart who made the movie come to life. His acting was marvellous, arguably his best role (even he said so himself). This is arguably his best movie.

It was the first style of his new acting, yes, after World War II when he came back from the war. His style was different now – darker, heavier, less cute. Frank Capra was, too, he too had come back from a directing unit in the war.

And thus the message and point of the movie is conveyed. That we matter, each and every one of us matters. Even if you know you are bad, the world would be much, much worse if you did not exist. And Capra and Stewart knew this beforehand, making this movie into a magical Christmas classic.

Trivia: 

Jean Arthur was originally Frank Capra’s first choice for the role eventually played by Donna Reed. Unfortunately, she was committed to a Broadway stage play. The film originally ended with the song "Ode to Joy" but it was changed to "Auld Lang Syne".

Parent’s guide: 

Thomas Mitchell’s character is seen drunk and James Stewart became drunk, too. A married character punched another character at a bar.   

If you like this…: 

James Stewart-Frank Capra were a team, who made "Mr Smith Goes to Washington" in 1939 and "You Can’t Take It with You" in 1938. Capra also made, in 1944, "Arsenic and Old Lace" with Cary Grant.       

King Kong (1933)

KING KONG (BLACK AND WHITE, 1933)

Director: 

Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack

Cast: 

Bruce Cabot, Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Frank Reicher, Noble Johnson, Sam Hardy, Steve Clemente and King Kong

Ages: 

7 and up (but it depends)

Plot: 

Carl Denham (Armstrong), John Driscoll (Cabot) and Captain Englehorn (Reicher) are heading to Kong Island to film a nature documentary, but they currently lack an actress. They soon chance upon Ann Darrow (Wray) and they set off. Halfway on the trip, Ann and Driscoll fall in love. However, Ann is soon captured by King Kong (Himself), who is worshipped by a native tribe led by a chief (Johnson) and a witch king (Clemente). The crew soon starts a mad chase to save their beloved actress.

Film poster advertising the movie.

Why it’s good: 

Because it has less of those horrific scenes than the 1976 and 2005 versions and remakes. Those are actually good, but please, it is such a horror that you might not speak for days and you will not dare to ever go to Pacific Islands where you know big gorillas run.

This is entirely different, perhaps, not much of a scare, but rather an adventure film and thriller. King Kong looks really fake; though to some toddlers might look like an ugly beast. In addition, the scares and thrills are not that scary in today’s standards.

For today, those effects could be 0/100 for the CGI special effects where you use computers and Macs. The shots, though, might be a little too violent in some (see the parent’s guide).

But as a whole, it remains the best of the three King Kong movies.

Parent’s guide: 

Two of the characters kiss. Fay Wray is held by King Kong and at one point half-dressed, though unnoticeable. King Kong fights with several dinosaurs, some of the sailors and later falls off the Empire State Building, but the scenes are not at all graphic.

Trivia: 

There is no true height of King Kong. On the island, the model of King Kong was 18 inches high. When he was chained to the wall, the model became 24 inches. When on the Empire State Building, he was more than 50 inches tall.

If you like this…: 
The 1976 and 2005 King Kong. If you can find it, get Mighty Joe Young (1949) with Terry Moore and Ben Johnson, which was remade later in 1998 with Bill Paxton.       

Rio Bravo

RIO BRAVO (COLOUR, 1959)

Director: 

Howard Hawks

Cast: 

John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Angie Dickinson, Ward Bond, Walter Brennan, Claude Akins, John Russell and Pedro Gonzalez

Ages: 

7 and up

Plot: 

Small-town sheriff John T. Chance, with the help of a drunk, Dude (Martin), manages to capture local bad guy Joe Burdette (Akins), brother of a rancher named Nathan (Russell). Many of Joe’s gang, including his brother, want him out of jail and captures Dude. To help him, John hires shady lady/card player Feathers (Dickinson), Colorado Ryan (Nelson), who used to help out John’s old friend Pat Wheeler (Bond), jail guard Stumpy (Brennan) and hotel owner Carlos (Gonzalez). When they decide to trade Joe back for Dude, the two parties start a battle against one other.

From left: Ricky Nelson, John Wayne and Dean Martin 

Why it’s good: 

Because it is the most classically classy western with a really splendid cast, from John Wayne as a sheriff, Dean Martin the comedian as a drunk, early rock star Ricky Nelson as Colorado Ryan and Angie Dickinson as the extremely shady card player.

But most of all, it is the opposite of the values presented in "High Noon" (1952), another classic western. "High Noon" presents the view that leaders should ask for help while this film says that leaders should not beg for help but rather allow other people to help them. This film says that in brilliant Technicolor.

Laying their messages aside, it has a rather slow pace which could be quickened somehow. But the slow pace showcases the acting skills and story plot of this film. John Wayne isn’t really fast or dynamic, but still a moving piece of a movie star.

The singing is also a close equal of the action. Stumpy and Colorado sing ‘My rifle, my pony and me’ and ‘Do not forsake me, oh my darling’ - two great pieces of music you might want to hear over and over again.

Parent’s guide: 

It was G-rated by the Canadian censorship. There are some violent action sequences, where Joe Burdette’s gang pushes Dude into a bucket of water. Pat Wheeler is shot in a warehouse while one man falls off the ceiling in a bar.

Trivia: 

During filming, Ricky Nelson celebrated his 18th birthday. As a gift, John Wayne and Dean Martin gave him a 300 lb. sack of steer manure, which they then threw Nelson into as a rite of passage.

If you like this…: 

Check out the extremely loose remakes, "El Dorado" (1966) and "El Lobo" (1970). Both of them are made by the John Wayne-Howard Hawks team. They were also together for Red River (1948), co-starring Montgomery Clift and Walter Brennan again.

The Thin Man

THE THIN MAN (BLACK AND WHITE, 1934)

Director: 

W.S. Van Dyke

Cast: 

Myrna Loy, William Powell, Cesar Romero, Margaret O’Sullivan, Porter Hall, Edward Brophy, Nat Pendleton, William Henry, Minna Gombell, Harold Huber, Edward Ellis, Henry Wadsworth, Natalie Moorhead and Asta

Ages: 

7 and up

Plot:

Nora Charles (Loy) and her husband, Nick (Powell), with their terrier Asta, go to New York. Nick is an ex-detective while Nora is a playful and rich heiress. Nick finds his old friend Dorothy Wynant (O’Sullivan) who is the daughter of an inventor, Clyde (Ellis), ex-husband to Mimi (Gombell), now married to Chris (Romero). Dorothy is now actually engaged to Tommy (Wadsworth). Clyde has a lawyer named MacCaulay (Hall) and another son, Gilbert (Henry). Later, the inventor realizes that Julia (Moorhead) and her gangster boyfriend Joe (Brophy) have stolen his bonds. When Julia ends up dead, Nick, Nora and Asta try to solve the case.

Why it’s good: 

It was the start of the six "Thin Man" movies. And this was arguably their best. There was a hint of humour in the air, as well as the smell of alcohol, such as Martinis.

There was also great chemistry between Myrna Loy and William Powell. Like the rest of the sequels, they remain the same, investigating between martinis and establishing a romance a viewer would comprehend easily. This creates a unique brand of comedy. 

There is a gallery of suspects – Cesar Romero’s Chris, Margaret O’Sullivan’s Dorothy, Henry Wadsworth’s Tommy. Oh, and in the Thin Man genre, there is bound to be someone more unexpected. The ending is always a shock.

Likewise, there will be all the suspects gathered around for the revelation time of the film. Well, that is what I call it. Like in the rest of the Thin Man movies, there will be a shock among yourself and the people  you are watching with. The villain could be anybody. And the thing is you cannot always tell which side the detective is on. Sometimes he thinks it is him, sometimes he thinks it is her. But the sleuthing technique was not like anything from Sherlock Holmes or Phillip Marlowe from the Raymond Chandler novels.

It was of a dreamy technique involving all the drinking and all the innuendo between the two leads. This sleuthing technique probably beats Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.

Parent’s guide: 

There are several killings off-screen. One character smacks another character at the dinner table.

Trivia: 

The film was shot over only two weeks. For that, the director, W.S. Van Dyke, had the nickname "One-take" Woody. Originally, Chris’ surname was Rosewater. It was changed to Jorgenson afterwards.

If you like this…: 
Watch the sequels to this movie. "After the Thin Man" (1936) is the other good one, with the young James Stewart in the cast as a lover to one of Nora’s relatives. The rest are, in order: "Another Thin Man" (1939), "Shadow of the Thin Man" (1941), "The Thin Man Goes Home" (1945) and "The Song of the Thin Man" (1947). However, one must admit that by the last film they seem to be tired out from all that alcohol from the film and all the comedy thrown into the film.       

Shane

SHANE (COLOUR, 1953)

Director: 

George Stevens

Cast: 

Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Brandon De Wilde, Van Heflin, Ben Johnson, Jack Palance, Edgar Buchanan, Paul McVey, Emile Meyer and Elisha Cook, Jr.

Ages: 

7 and up

Plot: 

Shane (Ladd) is a drifter and ex-gunfighter who one day wants to cross through a settlement in the old west. He meets the Starrett family, which comprises of Marian (Arthur), her son Joey (De Wilde) and husband (Heflin), who have had trouble with the powerful Ryker clan, led by Rufus (Meyer), who wants the land for himself. The clan also includes of hired gunfighter Jack Wilson (Palance) and Chris Calloway (Johnson) and the clan associates itself with store owner Sam Grafton (McVey). The townsmen pool their resources together and help each other and protect each other from the Ryker clan. Rufus, upon learning this, asks Jack to kill one of them, Stonewall Torrey (Cook) and burns the house of Fred Lewis (Buchanan), another man who wants to take action. Now, Shane convinces himself he should help this town before moving on.

Alan Ladd as Shane (Left) and Brandon De Wilde (Right) in the western Shane.  

Why it’s good: 

It is one of the world’s slowest, atmospheric and moodiest westerns. Before this, westerns usually had action, leaving little space for a dramatic landscape. This one, though, can manage to do just that

As the film advances, Shane becomes more heroic. Morally and physically, Shane is quite a hero in both categories.

The supporting roles are played by extremely great actors. Marian is played by Jean Arthur who had just escaped the wrath of veteran director Frank Capra. Brandon De Wilde as the young Joey is an absolute genius, with a best supporting Oscar nomination in hand. Van Heflin plays Joe, Marian’s husband, Jack Palance plays Jack Wilson the hired gun and Emile Meyer plays the role of Rufus, the ultimate bad guy.

But the actors do not give this film its ultimate pleasure. The pleasure shines through the laws of Western film-making, the world disappearing into a place in the past, with its atmosphere still there in fruitfulness.

Parent’s guide: 

Bits of Western violence, a bar fight goes on at Grafton’s store. It involves punching and the use of wooden chairs. Later, Heflin uses a long stick and charges into the bar. In the end, Shane has a shootout with Rufus and Jack Wilson. In one scene, one of the men in the Ryker clan shoots Stonewall Torrey as he walks pass.

Trivia: 

This was Jean Arthur’s final film. George Stevens wanted, originally, for Shane to be played by Montgomery Clift and Marian’s husband to be played by William Holden. Unfortunately, they went for other projects.

If you like this…: 

Alan Ladd’s Proud Rebel (1958) is another good western.