Tag: Frank Capra

Happy 141st Birthday, J. Farrell MacDonald!

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If you’re an old-movie aficionado, you’re familiar with the face of J. Farrell MacDonald, born 141 years ago today in Waterbury, Connecticut (at least one source says MacDonald was born June 6, 1875, and we honestly don’t have a clue which is correct, but we’re going with today). Even if you only occasionally tune to Turner Classic Movies when nothing else is on, there’s a good chance you’ve encountered MacDonald’s mug in a motion picture or two.

MacDonald is one of those actors who turns up in seemingly every third film of the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s, and though his range may have been limited (at least, the range he was allowed by those in charge of casting), he was always memorable. J. Farrell MacDonald played tough guys—sometimes amiable, some times grumpy, sometimes they were good guys, sometimes not—who were frequently, like MacDonald himself, of Irish descent.

Lest you think we’re exaggerating MacDonald’s ubiquity, consider this: Over the course of his 41-year career, he appeared in more than 325 motion pictures (he also directed 44 flms from 1912 to 1917—in fact, he was the principal director for L. Frank Baum‘s Oz Film Manufacturing Company, a short-lived studio that aimed to make family-friendly pictures in an era when children were seeing mostly shoot ’em-up westerns.

J. Farrell MacDonald

MacDonald attended Yale University, where he played football and graduated with a B.A. in 1903. He then continued on to study law and geology at Stewarttown University in Ottawa. His first job after graduation found him taking part in a government geological survey through Mexico, Colorado and into the Rockies.

Farrell began his acting career as a minstrel performer before touring in legitimate theatrical productions for two years. He made his first appearance in a motion picture in 1911 and didn’t stop until shortly before his death in 1952. He frequently played cops, but he appeared in a good number of westerns too. He was seen frequently in the films of Frank Capra (for whom he appeared in four pictures), Preston Sturges (eight pictures) and John Ford, for whom MacDonald appeared in more than twenty pictures from 1919 through 1946.

As one might expect of someone who worked so frequently, not all of MacDonald’s pictures are well-remembered today, but he appeared in a number of films that are considered classics, among them Topper, It’s a Wonderful Life, My Darling Clementine, Sullivan’s Travels and even Superman and the Mole Men. His film appearances were frequently (though not always) brief, but nearly always memorable.

Happy birthday, Mr. MacDonald, wherever you may be!

Happy Birthday, Jean Arthur!

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We recently read John Oller’s biography of Jean Arthur, who was born 115 years ago today, and it was a little disheartening. For all her success and acclaim, Arthur, born Gladys Georgianna Greene in Plattsburgh, New York, seemed rarely, if ever, to find contentment. She was prickly in dealing with others and seemed generally dissatisfied with her lot, even if, to those of us assessing her life and career from the outside looking in, she had it pretty darned good (but of course, we’re in no position to truly know).

Eccentric and difficult as Arthur may have been, her voice was a comedic gift from the gods. Director Frank Capra once described it as “a thousand tinkling bells.” Susan King in the Los Angeles Times termed it “an almost undescribeable blend of a squeak and froggy croak.” And strange as it may seem, they’re both right—sort of.

Jean Arthur quote

Arthur developed a sense of comic timing that was nearly unparalleled, and we wish she’d been paired at some point with the great Preston Sturges (she did star in Easy Living [1937], a movie Sturges wrote, but Mitchell Leisen ably handled the direction of that delightful picture).

But seriously, consider the roster of comedy classics that Arthur starred in; few actors could top it: The Whole Town’s Talking (1935), If You Could Only Cook (1935), Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), The Devil and Miss Jones, The Talk of the Town (1942), The More the Merrier (1943)…the list goes on.

Jean Arthur is one of the few actors whose name in a cast list is enough to convince us to watch a movie we know nothing else about. If you’re not familiar with her work, a fine place to start is George Stevens‘ The More the Merrier, which has the added bonus of Joel McCrea and Charles Coburn starring opposite Arthur, and features the sexiest scene you will ever see in a 1940s romantic comedy. We won’t spoil the surprise, just watch it. You’ll know it when you see it.

Happy birthday, Jean Arthur, and thanks for the laughter!

Starring Barbara Stanwyck…

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Barbara Stanwyck is TCM’s Star of the Month for December, and really, who could hope for a better Christmas-Hanukkah-Kwanzaa present than that? Wednesdays through December, they’ll showing 55 pictures from her illustrious career and one 1991 documentary, Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire, that tries to sum up what it is that made her so special.

David Thomson wrote of Stanwyck in his Biographical Dictionary of Film: “While she was alive, she did not seem to be one of the great stars. But at her death, it was clear how widely she was loved. She was honest, sharp, gutsy, and smart. Terrific.”

Honest, sharp, gutsy and smart. We don’t think Stanwyck can be summed up any better (though Thomson left out sexy, which she certainly was, and in spades).

The month-long celebration kicks off tonight with 24 consecutive hours of Stanwyck pictures, and it’s fitting that the movies being shown over that span reflect the range and diversity of her work.

From pre-code classics like Baby Face (1933) and Ladies of Leisure (1930) to melodramatic “women’s pictures” such as Stella Dallas (1937) and So Big (1932) and even Meet John Doe, the 1941 Frank Capra classic for which she’s so well remembered today, there’s something for everyone in this initial lineup.

So warm up those DVRs, kids. The divine Ms. Stanwyck is in the house.

And to whet your appetite, here’s a memorably snappy scene from Double Indemnity.

Direct(orial) mail

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Stamps depicting Frank Capra, John Huston, John Ford, and Billy WilderIt’s the first day of issue for a set of four postal stamps honoring a quartet of great (native or naturalized) American motion picture directors, and we can’t argue with the selection of a single one of them. Here’s what the USPS has to say about the occasion:

These Great Film Directors (Forever®) stamps honor four great filmmakers who captured the many varieties of the American experience. Frank Capra, John Ford, John Huston, and Billy Wilder created some of the most iconic scenes in American cinema. They gave audiences an unforgettable (and in some cases, deeply personal) vision of life.

These four filmmakers received multiple Academy Award nominations, 15 Oscars, and numerous other honors during their lifetimes. But their greatest accomplishment lies in the vitality and artistry of the stories they told through film. The stamp art combines a portrait of each man with a scene from one of his most iconic works.

The background art for the stamp honoring Frank Capra shows a scene from It Happened One Night, a comedy in which a runaway heiress (played by Claudette Colbert) and a reporter (Clark Gable) compare their hitchhiking skills.

For the John Ford stamp, the background recalls a scene from The Searchers, an influential Western starring John Wayne and making Ford’s characteristic use of the American landscape.

The Maltese Falcon inspired the background art for the John Huston stamp. In this classic mystery, gumshoe Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) goes up against various unscrupulous characters (among them Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet).

And for Billy Wilder, the background artwork was inspired by Some Like It Hot, a farce about two male musicians (Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis) who seek refuge from gangsters by posing as members of an all-girl band featuring luscious singer Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe).

Art Director Derry Noyes designed these stamps using art by award-winning illustrator Gary Kelley, who created the images using pastels on paper.

You can purchase these stamps, along with First Day of Issue color postmarked envelopes and other related items, here.

A tip o’ the hat to Capra

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Caricature of Frank CapraIt’s Frank Capra’s birthday, and we’re going to recommend that you do two things to commemorate the occasion: First, arrange to watch a Capra picture today. TCM is showing several of his best throughout the day, but, in a rare misstep for that network, the last one airs at 6 p.m. ET (really, TCM? No prime time for Capra on his birthday?). But surely you can make other arrangements—patronize an area video store, borrow a disc from a friend, whatever you have to do. Netflix has Arsenic and Old Lace and Here Comes the Groom available for streaming; neither is what we’d choose for you to watch, but they’re better than nothing.

Amazon offers Arsenic and Old Lace, You Can’t Take It with You, It’s a Wonderful Life, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Platinum Blonde, Meet John Doe, Lost Horizon, It Happened One Night, American Madness, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, among others, available for streaming (some are even free, if you’re an Amazon Prime member).

The second thing we strongly recommend is that you avail yourself of Trav S. D.‘s insightful, heartfelt, and passionate commentary “Why We Need Frank Capra.” It’s a must-read, plain and simple, and we agree with virtually every word in it.