Reviews

I have seen this movie several times, and found it to be a powerful and visually and aurally mesmerizing experience. Considering that it was made in 1929, it is by any definition, an extraordinary achievement.

I think the acting is very compelling. Nina Mae McKinney has been singled out, and rightly so (she was 16 at the time!), but I also found Daniel L. Haynes very good with his 1000 kilowatt smile and deep baritone. In some of the smaller roles, Fanny Belle DeKnight as Mammy, Everett McGarrity as the kid brother, and Victoria Spivey as the sweet tempered and adoring Rose give simple and moving performances. In the case of all three of these actors, it was the only film they ever made! What a shame that Hollywood had no further use for the talents of so many gifted black actors.

To me, the great achievement of the film is its remarkable portrayal of a vanished culture. While many may say "good riddance", shouldn't we be thankful for this nuanced account? When I watch the movie, it has a dream-like quality to me; the imagery, music and sound have the resonance of something that has been retrieved from deep in my subconscious. Scenes of the cotton pickers in the fields, the cotton gin mills, the river boats, church revivals and river baptisms, honky tonks, and the interiors of the family cabin with the beds lined up in a single room have layers of detail and are immersed in a texture of sound and music. They have an air of authenticity that gives the movie a documentary feel at times, but with a heightened poetic realism.

The direction by King Vidor is surprisingly sophisticated and fluid. Memorable scenes and shots include Spunk riding slowly through town in search of his brother, a wonderful shot in the bar with anonymous dancers center frame and the main action between Zeke and Chick at the very edge of it, two intense scenes of religious fervor, one at Spunk's wake and the other at a revival in a small church, and the long dramatic chase in the swamp as the sound of the desperate splashing of Hot Shot is contrasted with the slow inexorable advance of Zeke. To me the layering of the sound and voices adds a great deal of depth to the movie.

I am also a big fan, I should mention, of the Our Gang shorts from this period, that is the very early years of sound. They have the same penetrating location shooting and leisurely fascination with the act of filming that the later, tightly edited shorts do not. It seems that with the introduction of sound, the directors sensual involvement in their work was reborn. They were content to let the cameras roll and absorb the complete experience of sound and movement.

This is on my must see list, for the same reason "Native Son" is such an important book. It opens a small window to a culture many of us know very little about. and it shows that culture in an ultimately positive light, with a loving family at the center.

This is a movie with so many extraordinary strengths and legendary parts that it is hard to even view it objectively any more. For many years when I was young- many years ago, this was my favorite movie. It had a mythical quality for me.

So let me just sum up what I think are the great and remarkable things that make this movie a must see:

1. Clearly, Marlon Brando. This is rightly considered to be one of the great performances in film history. Of all the brilliant choices he makes in crafting this role, there is one which (as an actor myself) I would like to point out as an illustration of his peerless technique.

The scene is the one in which Terry and Edie are walking along the waterfront in the park, having just met, or rather rediscovered each other for the first time since childhood. At one point Edie drops a glove- a small white dress glove, and Terry picks it up. As he sits on a child's swing, telling her his philosophy of life, he absently pulls the small white glove on his hand.

Whenever I watch this scene I literally shudder with pleasure at this gesture. It unleashes a flood of connotative information- Terry's vulnerability, his background as a boxer, his brutishness against the purity of the white glove. I don't know if this was an improvised or planned moment on Brando's part, but it demonstrates the genius that informed his instincts.

This is a performance that any actor can go to school on.

2. The locations and cinematography. Films are simply not shot entirely on location anymore and it shows. No amount of art direction will ever create a setting as convincing as this real one. Legend has it Kazan wanted the pale, sunken cheeks that filming during a cold New York (actually Hoboken) winter produced. This film is not only a great piece of fiction, but also a significant historical record.

3. The score by Leonard Bernstein. Others may find this a little much, but I think its some of the great music composed for the movies by a great composer. I particularly think of the moment when (spoiler) as Terry is being called for Charlie and at the last minute he and Edie narrowly escape a truck, the truck passes to reveal Charlie's body. The score resolves from a pounding tension to a lyrical passage. A composer might be able to illuminate what he does here with the chord change- I can't, but it is very powerful, and very moving.

4. The scene. For me the great pivotal scene only begins with the classic taxi cab scene- it doesn't end there. In one uninterrupted dramatic build we cut from the cab being driven into the back of a truck to Terry pounding on Edie's door. This is an almost equally famous scene as he breaks open the door, smashing the jamb, she fights him off and they finally collapse in an embrace, wedged in the tiny hallway of the apartment. There is the most momentary release of tension, and then we hear them calling Terry, telling him that Charlie wants to see him, and we are in the alley with the truck bearing down on them. This is all one long build from the cab, reinforced musically, and climaxes with the discovery of Charlie, hanging by a meat hook. The emotional complexity that Brando brings to this moment, as he gently lowers him, is heart-rending.

Obviously, I could go on about the entire film, which I think has the same level of texture, detail, and emotional complexity in every scene. The cast is uniformly brilliant as is the direction. A masterpiece.

This is a classic "chick flick". A real old-fashioned tear jerker.

Quite good Hepburn, actually. A perfect part for her- it encompasses all the complex and varied facets of her screen persona. Its surprising this movie didn't do better at the box office. Too political or controversial for 1930's audiences? Herbert Marshall as the love interest is excellent as well.

Although the film deals with a variety of women's issues- discrimination in the workplace for one, the real subject is the shame of having a child out of wedlock. It is hard for modern audiences to appreciate how much stigma was attached to this as recently as 40 years ago. Three lives are profoundly affected by the need to keep this secret.

One negative: the actress who played Hepburn's daughter was a disappointment. Too old and lacking the grace and beauty of Hepburn herself. Just goes to show how rare true star quality is.