Safety Last! (1923)

I have written previously about how the Old Spaghetti Factory in Old Town Portland, Oregon influenced me cinematically in the early 1970s. As my family waited for a table to enjoy a large plate of spaghetti and meatballs with warm garlic bread dripping with melted butter, a 16mm projector played black and white shorts in the lobby starring silent film comedians like Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, and the Keystone Cops. In the men's bathroom, giant posters of Bela Lugosi as Dracula and Rudolph Valentino as the Sheik stared at you from all corners. There was one poster of a silent film comedian that overshadowed all the other posters. It was a poster of a young man in a suit with round black rimmed glasses, dangling from a clock high above a busy big city street. The photo was not photoshopped or created by AI.  It was real. That young man was silent film comedian Harold Lloyd. It was a still photo blown up from Lloyd's silent comedy SAFETY FIRST! (1923).

While the public remembers silent comedy film titans like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd is the forgotten third member of that elite silent film comedy club.  Chaplin had his signature little black moustache and Keaton his perennial droopy sad face. Lloyd was the clean-cut All-American alternative with the horn rimmed glasses and perfect white teeth. Chaplin had his Little Tramp character.  Lloyd's alter ego was referred to as the Glasses character. Lloyd made over 200 film comedies in his lifetime including full length hits like THE FRESHMEN (1925), THE KID BROTHER (1927), and SAFETY FIRST! (1923) At one time, Lloyd was more famous and popular than either Chaplin or Keaton, his films outgrossing both of them, allowing Lloyd to build one of the biggest mansions in Hollywood, the 45,000 square foot estate called Greenacres.

With a screenplay by Hal Roach, Sam Taylor, and Tim Whelan and directed by Fred Newmeyer and Sam Taylor (with plenty of uncredited input from Harold Lloyd on both story and direction), SAFETY FIRST! (Lloyd's third full-length film) begins with ambitious country hayseed Harold - The Boy (Harold Lloyd) packing his suitcase and telling his girlfriend Mildred - the Girl (Mildred Davis) that he's leaving their little hick town of Great Bend for the big city to make his fortune. In the big city, Harold shares a room with his pal Limpy Bill (Bill Strother), a construction worker where they struggle to make enough to pay for the monthly rent. Harold lands a job at De Vore Department store where he works as a lowly clerk.  He writes letters to Mildred every day, exaggerating his importance at the department store to impress her. Harold's nemesis at the department store is the floor manager (or floorwalker) Mr. Stubbs (Westcott B. Clarke) who keeps a close eye on Harold. 

After working a half day on Saturday, Harold prepares to hang out with Bill but runs into a friendly cop (Chester A. Bachman) outside the department store that he knew back in Great Bend.  Harold convinces Bill to help pull a prank on the friendly cop. Only they accidentally pull the prank on the wrong cop - Officer Jim Taylor (Noah Young) leading to Officer Taylor chasing after Bill who climbs up the side of a building like a human fly to escape the law.  Harold uses his week's pay to buy a pendant for Mildred and mails it to her back in Great Bend. Mildred decides to travel to the big city and surprise Harold. The department store is having a dress goods sale. Harold is swarmed by a mob of women shoppers, becoming disheveled from all their grabbing and pulling. Mildred arrives at the store and locates Harold. Mildred tells Harold how proud she and her mother are with his success, not realizing he's just a fabric salesman. Harold pretends that he's more important than he really appears, ordering his co-workers around to impress Mildred. Harold receives  a complaint card from Stubbs for his earlier disheveled appearance. Harold must go to the General Manager's office.

Harold waits for the real General Manager to exit his office before bringing Mildred in. Mildred thinks Harold is the general manager.  Harold presses a series of buttons on the General Manager's desk which beckons all the employees to show up, further impressing Mildred. The employees all leave when they realize the General Manager's not in his office. Harold manages to usher Mildred out of the office before he returns. Mildred realizes she's forgotten her purse back in the office.  Harold returns to fetch the purse and overhears the General Manager's Assistant (William Gillespie) talking to a press agent that he will pay $1000 for a new idea to attract customers to the De Vore Department Store. Harold remembers his friend Bill scaling a tall building to avoid Officer Taylor.  Harold pitches the idea to the General Manager's Assistant. He agrees to give Harold's idea a chance. Harold calls the local pool hall where Bill hangs out. Harold asks Bill if he'll climb the 12 floors of the Bolton Building for $500 for a publicity stunt for De Vore Department Store. Harold will receive the other $500. Bill agrees to the stunt. With a large amount of money nearly in his possession, Harold promises Mildred they will be married the next day. 

The press promotes the stunt in numerous newspapers.  They coin the man who will climb the skyscraper the "Mystery Man." Officer Taylor reads the headline.  He knows the identity of the "Mystery Man." He knows it's Bill.  Officer Taylor waits for Bill to show his face so he can arrest him.  Thousands of the public come to watch the stunt. Harold and Bill arrive and see Officer Taylor.  Harold tries to distract Officer Taylor.  He tricks a Drunk Man (Earl Mohan) into kicking Officer Taylor. Taylor begins to chase the drunk then remembers his original plan. Bill suggests Harold take his place and climb up to the second floor window where Bill will switch with Harold at that point. Only Officer Taylor spots Bill and chases him into the building.  Every time Bill tries to switch with Harold, Taylor almost catches Bill. Harold's forced to keep climbing higher and higher. Harold has bird seed spilled on him and he's attacked by pigeons. Harold finally finds Bill waiting for him next to a giant clock on the corner of the skyscraper. Bill accidentally knocks Harold onto the clock face where Harold famously hangs on one of its hands. After some more hair raising stunts, Harold manages to extricate himself from the clock and ledge of the building and reunites with Mildred at the very top. 

Chaplin had his Little Tramp character. Keaton was the perennial lovable loser. For Harold Lloyd, his "Glasses character" like the Boy in SAFETY LAST! was his signature persona. Lloyd was the All-American, Everyman looking kid with a suit, horn rimmed glasses, and a straw hat. Like most of Lloyd's successful silent films from 1922 to 1928 including SAFETY LAST!, the Boy strives to make his life better, a noble cause that moviegoers related to. Only in his efforts to become successful, the Boy instigates all kinds of hilarious predicaments that threaten to derail his ambitions and test his mettle. The Boy lies to his sweetheart in his letters to her, bragging of deals and promotions that are a mirage, bringing her to the big city to witness his supposed achievements. The Boy adroitly maintains the charade, using his wits to solve his problems like appearing to be the general manager in front of his Girl when he's just a lowly clerk. The Boy's scaling the skyscraper in SAFETY LAST'S! jaw dropping climax is a metaphor for the Harold literally climbing the corporate ladder to success. 

Having only seen the poster of Lloyd hanging from the large clock face high above the city streets, I never knew the context of the image until I viewed SAFETY LAST! How Lloyd ends up hanging to the clock is just a piece of SAFETY LAST'S! big climax which involves much more. Lloyd's the Boy isn't even supposed to climb the building. He enlists his friend and roommate Bill to be the "Mystery Man" meant to scale the department store building as a publicity stunt and split the $1000. Only Bill has the very angry Office Taylor chasing him up each floor after one of the Boy's practical jokes inadvertently involving Officer Taylor goes horribly wrong. The climbing of the skyscraper set piece is a tour de force of comic ingenuity mixed with jaw dropping scares. The Boy's ascent includes battling pigeons, a badminton net dropped from the sporting goods floor, the giant clock, a vicious dog tied to a long leash, overzealous gawkers who won't let the Boy back into a window, a tiny mouse that finds itself in the Boy's pant leg, two painters and a board, and a wind gauge. SAFETY LAST'S! final stunt is even more dangerous looking than the Boy hanging from the clock face. It's Lloyd swinging back and forth like a pendulum with a rope tied around his foot high above the street and crowd below. 

I had always assumed that Harold Lloyd did the entire climbing and stunts on his own in SAFTY LAST! Lloyd may have disseminated that notion to the press himself. It's not true. A combination of clever photography and a couple of stunt men besides Lloyd contributed to the harrowing sequence. Fake building facade sets built on three different sized buildings in downtown Los Angeles provided the perspective of dizzying heights allowing Lloyd to seemingly tip toe on ledges and cling to a clock stories above the busy sidewalks below. It wasn't until Lloyd died in 1971 that stunt man Harvey Parry revealed he stood in for Lloyd on long shots where it appeared Lloyd was performing the dangerous stunts himself. Bill Strothers who plays Lloyd's buddy Limpy Bill also doubled for Lloyd in some long shots where the Boy scrabbles up the building. It was Strothers who Lloyd saw perform the human fly stunt earlier, scampering up a tall building that gave Lloyd the idea for the finale for SAFETY LAST! Lloyd still did all the gags and pratfalls that were in medium and close ups including the famous clock set piece.

Actress Mildred Davis aka Mildred the Girl in SAFETY LAST! first began appearing with Lloyd in FROM HAND TO MOUTH (1919) replacing Lloyd's previous leading lady Bebe Daniels who wanted to be a star on her own. Davis has that classic silent film starlet look with an expressive face and curly hair.  Davis was afraid of heights, yet she performed her scenes flawlessly atop the building in SAFETY LAST! as Lloyd attempts to reach his love at the top of De Vore Department store in the film's climax.  After SAFETY LAST!, Davis retired from making films with Lloyd (she did make three more films without him before giving up acting in 1927). Harold Lloyd and Mildred Davis were married in 1923 and had two children and adopted a third child. 

Bill Strothers who plays the Boy's friend and roommate Limpy Bill in SAFETY FIRST! provided the inspiration to Lloyd for the daredevil climbing stunt in the film's final reel. Lloyd had seen Strothers perform his "human fly" stunt where he climbed a building without ropes or harnesses months earlier. Ironically, before filming SAFETY LAST! began, Strothers had been recovering from breaking his left leg. Despite doubts from Lloyd and his producer Hal Roach, Strothers insisted he could still climb and double for Lloyd in long shots on the real building's facade which he did. Watch closely when Strothers runs and climbs in the film. He favors his left leg. The writers humorously gave Strothers character the name Limpy Bill in SAFETY LAST! good naturedly poking fun at his recent injury. One of the most recognizable faces in SAFETY LAST! is Noah Taylor who plays Officer Jim Taylor - the Law. Taylor was a regular in Harold Lloyd films (FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE), playing either dumb cops or dumb villains. Taylor's film career ended with the dawn of talkie films.

Some final Harold Lloyd tidbits. In the ultimate comedy gag irony, Lloyd accidentally lost his right thumb and forefinger in 1919 when a prop bomb he was handed for a publicity photo turned out to be a real explosive and blew up in his hand. Afterwards, Lloyd wore a specially made prosthetic glove in future films like HAUNTED SPOOKS (1920) that hid his injury. For a good part of his career, Lloyd's films were produced by Hal Roach (who also contributed on the creative side to Lloyd's films). Lloyd and Roach rose up together in the silent film comedy industry becoming huge successes after struggling early in their careers. Lloyd and Roach eventually parted ways with Roach concentrating on a new kids comedy franchise called OUR GANG (retitled THE LITTLE RASCALS for television) and a new comedy duo known as Laurel and Hardy. Before Harold Lloyd came up with his successful "Glasses" character in 1917, Lloyd appeared early in his career as a Charlie Chaplin knockoff known as "Lonesome Luke" complete with little black moustache (except with a part in the middle of the moustache). Thankfully, Lloyd moved on to a more original and enduring persona. 

In his heyday in the 1920s, Harold Lloyd was more famous and successful than either Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton. Yet, the legacies of Chaplin and Keaton endured after the demise of silent films and the emergence of sound films while the career of Harold Lloyd was largely forgotten. Some attribute Lloyd's fading from the public's memory due to Lloyd himself owning and controlling all his films, keeping them out of the public eye for decades while Chaplin and Keaton's films still ran at revival houses to a new generation of fans. It wasn't until Lloyd began to show his films at film festivals and retrospectives in the 1960s (and finally on television) that a new generation of fans discovered the versatility and innovation of Harold Lloyd in films like SAFETY LAST! Like the title of the 1989 English documentary about Lloyd's career, Harold Lloyd was "the Third Genius" of silent film comedians, up there with Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. 

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Five of the best directors in Hollywood would put their careers on hold to help the United States with the war effort during World War II, some even getting right in the action. They were Frank Capra (MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON), John Ford (THE GRAPES OF WRATH), John Huston (THE MALTESE FALCON), George Stevens (GUNGA DIN), and William Wyler (WUTHERING HEIGHTS). Their story is detailed in the engrossing non-fiction book Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War by Mark Harris. The five directors would all be profoundly affected by what they saw during the conflict and shape their careers forever when they returned to moviemaking after the war ended.

John Ford filmed the actual Battle of Midway between U.S. and Japanese forces, almost getting killed in the process. John Huston was embedded with the U.S. army in Italy (although he staged some supposed battle scenes to make his documentary SAN PIETRO more authentic). George Stevens was with the first U.S. troops to witness the horrible atrocities in the Nazi concentration camps. And William Wyler focused on the crew of a B-17 bomber nicknamed The Memphis Belle  that flew an astonishing 25 bombing missions without losing any crew members. When the war ended in 1945, all these directors returned to Hollywood to resume their careers. Capra's first film after WWII ended was IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) with James Stewart who had also just returned from the war as a pilot. Huston made THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE (1948) with Humphrey Bogart. Ford made THEY WERE EXPENDABLE (1945) about the Philippines conflict with John Wayne and Robert Montgomery. William Wyler tackled a subject not often shown in films, the return of the soldier to every day life and their struggle integrating back into society and family in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946).

 
Today, this topic explored in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES would be a no-brainer for a modern film to tackle. In the mid-1940s, right after World War II, it was a subject matter that was taboo especially to the military who did not acknowledge that their soldiers might have trouble readjusting to civilian life after such an intense military campaign. John Huston made a documentary right after WWII called LET THERE BE LIGHT (1946) that candidly interviewed soldiers with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and other neurological disorders from the war who were getting treatment at a U.S. Army psychiatric hospital.  The U.S. government would suppress the documentary for more than 30 years.

With a screenplay by Robert E. Sherwood, based on the novel Glory for Me by MacKinlay Kantor and directed by William Wyler (BEN HUR), THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES opens with three servicemen returning home to Boone City (a fictional stand in for Cincinnati, Ohio) after the conclusion of World War II in 1945. The men are blue collar Fred Derry (Dana Andrews) from the Air Force; middle class Al Stephenson (Fredric March) with Infantry; and hometown sports hero Homer Parrish (Harold Russell) from the Navy. The three veterans first catch an ATC (Air Transport Command) B-17 flight together then share a taxi ride to their respective homes. Of the three, Homer is the only one physically handicapped from the war with hooks for hands, the result of losing his hands in a fire during the war. The three men are a bit apprehensive about going home as they take in the sights of their hometown. Homer is dropped off first. His parents (Minna Gombell, Walter Baldwin) are excited to hug their son. Homer's self-conscious about his hooks when his girlfriend next door Wilma Cameron (Cathy O'Donnell) arrives to greet him. Al surprises his wife Milly (Myrna Loy), daughter Peggy (Teresa Wright), and son Rob (Michael Hall) with his return. Fred's dropped off at his parents (Gladys George, Roman Bohnen) home near the train tracks where he learns his new wife Marie (Virginia Mayo) has moved out while he was overseas and into her own apartment. 

The three men begin to assimilate back into civilian life and their families with some unease. Ironically, on their first night back, the three men all end up at a bar called Butch's owned by Homer's piano playing Uncle Butch Engle (Hoagy Carmichael). Al, who's with Milly and Peggy, begins to exhibit a penchant for heavy drinking after a night of bar hopping. Peggy's introduced to Fred who still hasn't connected with his wife Marie who works at a nightclub. Peggy takes a liking to Fred. Butch gives Homer a ride home before he becomes too drunk. The Stephenson's try to drop Fred off at his wife's apartment but she's still not home. Fred sleeps at the Stephenson's where he has a nightmare, waking Peggy who calms Fred down. Fred and Peggy chat the next morning. Fred's not sure what work he wants to do. He doesn't want to return to his old job as a soda jerk. Al wakes up hungover and struggles to be intimate with his wife Milly. Peggy drops Fred off at Marie's apartment before going to work as a nurse. It's a happy reunion for Fred and Marie.

Al visits his old bank and meets with his boss Mr. Milton (Ray Collins) who offers Al a vice president position. Fred checks out his old soda shop and discovers it has been transformed into a drug store. Marie quits her nightclub job. Fred struggles to find any kind of meaningful work. He tells Marie they're broke having spent all his military pay. Fred takes a job behind a perfume counter at the drug store to make ends meet. Marie's not happy with their situation. She wants to go out every night. Homer struggles to connect with Wilma. Homer's bothered by the neighborhood kids staring at his hooks for hands. Al helps Mr. Novak (Dean White), a fellow G.I. with a loan. Al doesn't ask for collateral which angers his boss Mr. Milton. Peggy runs into Fred at the perfume counter. They have lunch together. Walking back to their cars, Fred impulsively kisses Peggy. Peggy begins to develop feelings for Fred. Peggy tells her parents her feelings for Fred. Al confronts Fred at Butch's and asks him to stop seeing Peggy. Fred agrees and calls up Peggy from the phone booth, breaking up with her.

Fred returns to his old soda jerk job. Homer stops by the soda shop where he gets into a disagreement with a customer (Ray Teal) about the war. Fred comes to Homer's defense and punches the customer. Fred quits his job before he's fired. He tells Homer to marry Wilma.  He'd be crazy to lose her. That night, Wilma pays a visit to Homer. Homer shows Wilma what she would have to deal with, removing his hooks at night, helping him get dressed and into bed. Wilma tells Homer she loves him, for better or worse. Tired of staying at home, Marie asks Fred for a divorce which he agrees to.  Fred packs up and moves back with his parents. Fred plans to leave town. As Fred waits at the airport, he wanders around a nearby military plane graveyard and climbs into one of the planes he flew bombing missions in - a B-17. Fred peers down through the bombing chute, reliving his nightmares. A junkman yells at Fred to get out of the plane. The junkman, also a returned veteran, is making pre-fabricated houses out of the metal from the planes. Fred asks for a job and the junkman hires him. THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES ends with Homer and Wilma getting married at Homer's parents home. Fred's the best man and Al, Milly, and Peggy arrive as guests. Al is on the wagon, drinking fruit punch instead of vodka. Homer and Wilma exchange vows and kiss. Fred approaches Peggy and they kiss. It's a new beginning for these three unsung heroes of WWII. 

THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES shines a spotlight on three returning veterans, focusing on a different issue that each one grapples with as they adjust back to civilian life. Director Wyler never makes their struggles maudlin or cliche. The film honestly portrays real life issues that veterans faced as they integrated from wartime to regular life. For Al Stephenson (Fredric March), who made life and death decisions as he led men into combat in the Pacific, he now has to get permission from his bank superiors to approve loans for G.I.s trying to start fresh. Al turns to drinking to make him happy, much to the chagrin of his wife Milly (Myrna Loy). Fred (Dana Andrews), who had the enormous responsibility of dropping bombs on the Germans while avoiding flak from the enemy, can't find a meaningful, good paying job after his sacrifice for his country. He's haunted by nightmares of crewmen who died around him. Fred's money problems will filter into his marriage failing with his younger, gold-digger wife Marie (Virginia Mayo). Homer (Harold Russell), even with his handicap, is the most grounded of the three men. But it's how he thinks he's perceived by his family, the neighborhood kids, and his girlfriend that affects him. Homer, who was a star athlete in high school, feels everyone thinks he's a freak with hooks for hands. He assumes Wilma won't want to marry him due to his disability. All three men will face trials and tribulations as they readjust from the war to begin to live a normal life again.

Two powerful scenes towards the end of THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES solidify this film as a classic. The first is when Homer and Wilma finally have a heart to heart talk at night in Homer's bedroom. Homer shows Wilma what she would have to deal with day after day, night after night with a disabled veteran.  Dressing and undressing him.  Taking off and putting on his mechanical hooks. Wilma is undaunted by Homer's physical limitations. Wilma tells him plainly and simply she loves him, has always loved him, always will love him. It's a simple, poignant scene that provides an emotional release for Homer. The film ends with Homer and Wilma getting married in front of family and friends.

The second scene is Fred passing time at the airport before heading east. Having quit his soda jerk job, his marriage to Marie in shambles, and his promise to Al to not pursue Peggy, Fred has nothing to keep him in Boone City. Director Wyler has a quick insert of Fred's Dad finding Fred's Citation for Bravery, awarded for completing his mission while injured. Fred wanders into an airplane graveyard beside the airport, climbing into a decommissioned B-17 like the ones he flew bombing missions in. Fred sits in the nose compartment where the bombardiers sat, reliving his nightmares (expertly shot by famed cinematographer Gregg Toland), a cathartic moment where he purges himself of his demons. He's snapped back to reality by a junkman who tells Fred to get out of the plane. That junkman will end up hiring Fred to help him build pre-fabricated houses from metal taken from those planes, keeping Fred in Boone City. Fred rediscovers his purpose, regains his confidence. He's Homer's best man at the wedding and he approaches Peggy for a second chance at a relationship which she gladly accepts.

Because Homer and Fred's stories are more dramatic, Al Stephenson's storyline has a humorous edge even with the fact he's drinking too much. The music soundtrack is light and bouncy as Al hits the town his first night back with his wife and daughter.  Al's not a violent drunk or even an obnoxious drunk.  He's a fun one. When Al wakes up hungover the next morning, he takes a shower (still in his pajamas).  Milly laughs and rolls her eyes. She's trying not to be too judgmental too soon.  We see the effect it's having on Milly when she and Al go to the Union Club with Mr. Milton. Milly marks the number of drinks Al has with her fork on a napkin. She's afraid Al will embarrass himself during a speech. Al manages to slyly make a dig at his bosses without getting fired. There's no big dramatic scene where Milly confronts Al about his drinking. At Homer's wedding, Al casually mentions that Milly has convinced him to stop drinking as he pours himself a cup of fruit punch. The three men all laugh.  Al's drinking problem seems to be resolved.

Although Fredric March won an Academy Award for Best Actor for THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, my favorite performance in the film is Dana Andrews as pilot Fred Derry. March was an accomplished actor, one of the best during the Golden Age of Cinema, playing challenging, dramatic, flawed characters better than anyone else in films like Rouben Mamoulian's DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1931), Richard Boleslawski's LES MISERABLES (1935), and William Wellman's A STAR IS BORN (1937) where March played alcoholic actor Norman Maine. March's Al Stephenson in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES is becoming an alcoholic albeit a humorous one. Al's not a violent drunk or a sloppy one. He turns to alcohol to cope with returning to normal life after the war, to forget the horrors he witnessed in the Pacific, and to numb his anger at his bank superiors who seem ignorant to the dangers the returning servicemen endured during the war that are now jumping through hoops for basic loans. March probably won his Best Actor Oscar for his sarcastic, funny speech he gives in front of his wife Milly and banking peers including his boss Mr. Milton where Al equates a veteran putting up collateral to the bank for a loan to risking their lives to take a hill during a battle.

Dana Andrews' Fred Derry is the most complicated of the three servicemen. He's dealing with three issues that real veterans faced when returning home. Fred has nightmares (or PTSD) when he sleeps from the war. He's struggling financially, unable to find a good paying job after his service to his country. And his marriage is crumbling. When Fred married Marie (Virginia Mayo) before the war, they were newlyweds and carefree. Marie's a bit younger than Fred. The war will change Fred. His values change. He's more pragmatic, serious. Marie's living in the past. She wants to stay out all night and party. Fred begins to yearn for the more mature Peggy Stephenson (Teresa Wright) who he meets his first night back. Andrews handles all these different emotions adroitly. I first came upon Andrews as the cop who falls in love with the painting of murdered Gene Tierney in Otto Preminger's LAURA (1944). Andrews was already on his way to becoming a major star when THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES was released with solid credits prior including William Wellman's THE OX-BOW INCIDENT (1943) co-starring Henry Fonda; Walter Lang's musical STATE FAIR (1945), and an actual war movie set in Italy A WALK IN THE SUN (1945) directed by Lewis Milestone. 

Harold Russell who plays disabled Navy veteran Homer Parrish in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES was the neophyte of the group, having never acted before which director Wyler liked. Russell was training paratroopers at an Army camp in North Carolina in 1944 when some explosives he was handling detonated, causing Russell to lose both hands. Russell's Homer is the All-American boy. A star athlete in high school (we see the pictures in his room) and in love with the literal girl next door Wilma (Cathy O'Donnell). Homer's come to accept his disability. Even with hooks, he's adept at lighting cigarettes, holding a glass of beer, or playing the piano. It's his perception of how others see him that plays tricks in his head. He doesn't believe Wilma will want to marry him now that he's disabled. Russell would win two Oscars for his performance in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES. He unexpectedly won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and a special Oscar that the Academy created for him as an inspiration to returning veterans (he wasn't expected to win the Best Supporting Actor award). Russell would not make another film until Richard Donner's INSIDE MOVES (1980) with John Savage as a young man who becomes handicapped after a failed suicide attempt.

Not to be outdone by the male star power in March and Andrews, the three main actresses in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES were equally strong from established leading lady Myrna Loy to rising stars Teresa Wright and Virginia Mayo. In fact, Loy has top billing even though her screen time is limited. Loy and Wright (and O'Donnell) are calming influences to the returning men. Loy's Milly Stephenson doesn't overreact as she observes her husband Al acclimate back into the family and his banking job with some hiccups along the way. She's a domestic general for their family. Besides managing Al's increasing drinking, Milly navigates her daughter Peggy's emotions with a burgeoning relationship with the married airman Fred Derry. After Fred's wife Marie puts down Fred to Peggy on a double date, Peggy vows to become a home wrecker and save Fred. It's Milly (and Al) who calm her down, admitting their marriage has had its ups and downs. Loy played sexier, wilder roles early in her career in films such as  THE THIN MAN (1934) and its sequels opposite William Powell and Jack Conway's TOO HOT TO HANDLE (1938) with Clark Gable. THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES was the beginning of Loy playing more matriarch type roles in films like Lewis Milestone's THE RED PONY (1949) based a series of short stories by John Steinbeck.

For Teresa Wright, her Peggy Stephenson in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES was a step up to play a more complicated, mature young adult than her ingenue roles she had  played like in Alfred Hitchcock's SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1942) which she's very good in. Peggy begins to have feelings for the married Fred Derry just back from the war. Even after they share a secret kiss after a lunch date, Peggy's uneasy about the relationship until she meets Fred's wife Marie on a double date she engineers. Hoping to like Marie and end her foolish thoughts, she ends up wishing to be a home wrecker to the Derry's marriage after Marie badmouths Fred to Peggy in the powder room. A nurse by trade, Peggy nurses Fred psychologically back to civilian life whereas Marie lets him down. Wright was a favorite of director Wyler, also appearing in Wyler's THE LITTLE FOXES (1941) with Bette Davis and MRS. MINIVER (1942) with Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon. 

Some might look at Virginia Mayo as Fred's wife Marie as the villain of THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES. That label would be inaccurate. Marie represents one of the realities servicemen faced upon returning home. A marriage that has changed due to the war and time and one's priorities. Fred and Marie got married before the war, perhaps too soon. Marie's younger than Fred.  She's all about going out and having a good time.  Fred liked to have fun early in their marriage.  When Fred returns from the war, he's changed forever by his war experiences.  Marie hasn't changed. She works at a nightclub to get by, up all night, sleeping most of the day. Fred's slow return to normal life and a finding a decent job will clash with Marie's need to maintain her nocturnal social life. When Fred comes home to find Marie about to go out with a handsome friend of hers (Steve Cochran), the writing is on the wall for Fred and Marie's marriage. Mayo was not director Wyler's first choice as Marie. Studio head Samuel Goldwyn pushed for Mayo and got his way.  THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES was a breakout role for Mayo who quickly transitioned to leading lady in various films from the comedy THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (1947) with Danny Kaye to James Cagney's unscrupulous girlfriend in Raoul Walsh's WHITE HEAT (1949) to damsel in distress in Jacques Tourneur's THE FLAME AND THE ARROW (1950). 

Some final THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES trivia tidbits. The title is never mentioned in the film although Virgina Mayo's Marie comes closest during an argument with Fred when she says, "I've given you every chance to make something of yourself. I gave up my job. I gave up the best years of my life!" Besides March and Russell winning Academy Awards for THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, the film won 7 other Oscars including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay for Robert E. Sherwood, and Best Director for William Wyler. In the film, Russell's Homer needs help taking off his artificial hands. In real life, Russell was capable of taking off and putting on his hooks with no assistance. Lastly, actress Cathy O'Donnell who plays Homer's girlfriend Wilma received her first film credit for THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES.  She was primed to have a successful career until she married William Wyler's brother Robert Wyler, a producer. Studio head Samuel Goldwyn who had groomed O'Donnell had an acrimonious split with director William Wyler after THE BEST YEAR OF OUR LIVES. Goldwyn would cancel O'Donnell's studio contract. She worked rarely after 1948 and her last well know role would by in William Wyler's biblical epic BEN HUR (1959) starring Charlton Heston.

THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES shined a light on the plight of hundreds of thousands of returning veterans from World War II trying to readjust to their regular lives after the horrors of fighting a global war. For most of THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, we observe our three returning servicemen toiling to integrate back into their personal and work lives.  Civilian life almost seems hopeless for Al, Fred, and Homer and we feel helpless for these men. Director Wyler skillfully resolves their stories from despair to hope in the final third of the film, making us feel the three men will overcome their fears and doubts and succeed in their everyday lives, in no small part due to the love and support of three amazing women who stand by these soldiers. For Al, Fred, and Homer, the best years of their lives are ahead of them. 

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)

A good theme song will worm its way into your brain and never leave which is a credit to the composer. Think John Williams and the bass strings for Steven Spielberg's JAWS (1975). Or Vangelis's synthesizer score for the Olympic runners in Hugh Hudson's CHARIOTS OF FIRE (1981). When I was a kid, the moment I heard composer Ennio Morricone's avant garde theme for Sergio Leone's THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY (1966), I became obsessed with its unique motif forever. I would hum it out loud walking to school or in the privacy of my bedroom. The combination of a man yodeling and howling like a coyote is perhaps the most recognizable movie theme in cinema history. 

Although none of the films are connected except for the fact that Clint Eastwood stars in all three of them, THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY was the culmination of Italian director Sergio Leone's Spaghetti western trilogy affectionally known as "The Man With No Name" series (even though Eastwood's characters had a name in each film) that began with A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS (1964) followed by FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE (1965). THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY is the biggest and baddest of the three films, the most epic, and the most intricately plotted including a massive Civil War battle set piece inspired by the Battle of Glorieta Pass during the New Mexican campaign between North and South in 1862. 

But it's not just Morricone's iconic theme song that sets THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY apart from the usual western, it's Sergio Leone's reinvention of the western genre, relocating the American West to the desert-like, arid, scrubby badlands of Almeria, Spain. It's changing the John Wayne heroic character into a laconic anti-hero with young American television star Clint Eastwood (RAWHIDE). Leone took the classic western archetypes audiences were familiar with and twisted them with extreme close ups, three way Mexican standoffs, and supporting actors who were Italian and Spanish (dubbed in English) and not the familiar Ward Bond and Walter Brennan types American audiences were accustomed to.

With a screenplay by Agenore Incrocci, Furio Scarpelli, Luciano Vincenzoni, and Sergio Leone (special kudos to Mickey Knox for the English translation) based on a story by Luciano Vincenzoni and Sergio Leone and directed by Italian director Sergio Leone, THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY is a sprawling saga with double and triple crosses and shifting alliances set during America's Civil War in the Southwest around 1862 that begins with two bandits Blondie (Clint Eastwood) and Tuco Ramirez (Eli Wallach) running a bounty hunter scam in various dusty western towns and Angel Eyes aka Sentenza (Lee Van Cleef), a mercenary on the trail of a missing Confederate cash box with $200,000 in gold coins. After rescuing Tuco from bounty hunters, Blondie hauls Tuco into town to collect the $200 reward for Tuco's capture. As Tuco's about to be hung by the local sheriff and townspeople, Blondie shoots a bullet through the hangman's rope, providing cover fire as he and Tuco flee with the reward money. Angel Eyes tracks down the name of the alias that Jackson, one of the Confederate soldiers involved with the stolen cash box, is using from another conspirator Stevens (Antonio Casas) before killing Stevens and his oldest son. Jackson is using the alias Bill Carson. Angel Eyes returns to tell Baker (Livio Lorenzon), the third conspirator who hired him, Carson's name before killing Baker as well. Blondie and Tuco run their scam in a new town only Blondie misses cutting Tuco's rope the first time before hitting it on the second shot. Tuco's upset about Blondie's marksmanship and Tuco having to risk his neck every time.  Blondie decides to cut ties with Tuco, riding off and leaving Tuco without a gun or horse in the middle of  nowhere.

Angel Eyes learns from a double amputee informant he calls Half Soldier (Alfonso Veady) that Baker, Stevens, and Jackson/Carson were all part of a Confederate regiment escorting the $200,000 in gold. The regiment was supposedly ambushed by the Union. Only those three men survived. Two are now dead at the hands of Angel Eyes. Angel Eyes pays a visit to Jackson/Carson's new whore Maria (Rada Rassimov) who tells him Jackson/Carson rejoined the 3rd Calvary headed for Santa Fe. Tuco wanders out of the desert into a new town, takes some guns from a meek storekeeper (Enzo Petito), and recruits three pistoleros from his old gang hiding out in a cave to help him kill Blondie. Tuco tracks Blondie to a hotel in Santa Fe where the Confederates are fleeing the town as cannon fire echoes in the distance. Blondie kills the pistoleros outside his room. Tuco crashes through the window, gun drawn on Blondie. Tuco repays Blondie the favor, putting a noose around his neck, about to shoot the legs off the stool Blondie stands on when an artillery shell hits the room. The floor collapses. The dust settles and Tuco looks up at an empty noose. Blondie has escaped.

The Good

Tuco tracks his ex-partner across the countryside and finds Blondie running the same bounty scheme with a new partner Shorty (Jose Terron). Tuco prevents Blondie from shooting Shorty's noose (so long Shorty). Tuco forces Blondie to march 70 miles through the desert (revenge for what Blondie did to Tuco) without water or shade. Tuco prepares to shoot the thirsty and dehydrated Blondie when a runaway horse drawn ambulance materializes out of the sand dunes carrying three dead Confederate soldiers and one barely alive soldier with an eye patch named Bill Carson aka Jackson (Antonio Casale). Carson begs for water. He tells Tuco about $200,000 gold stashed in Sad Hill Cemetery. Tuco needs the name of the grave. He races to fetch Carson water. When Tuco returns with his canteen, Carson lies dead beside Blondie. But Carson told Blondie the name of the grave where the gold is hidden before he died. Now, Tuco must keep Blondie alive. Each knows a key part to the location of the gold. They're partners again. Tuco takes Blondie to the Mission San Antonio under the guise of Confederate soldiers so Blondie can recuperate under the care of Tuco's estranged brother, Father Pablo Ramirez (Luigi Pistilli). Blondie recovers and they depart the mission (Tuco assuming Carson's identity with the eye patch) to find the stolen gold.

Blondie and Tuco come across an army troop riding toward them. The troop look like the Confederate army until they get closer. An officer brushes off the gray dust revealing a blue coat underneath. They're Union soldiers. Blondie and Tuco are brought to a Confederate Prison Camp where Angel Eyes happens to be serving as a sergeant. When Angel Eyes hears the name Bill Carson during prisoner roll call and Tuco responds, he has Tuco brought to his quarters. Angel Eyes has the sadistic Corporal Wallace (Mario Brega) torture the name of the graveyard out of Tuco. Angel Eyes knows Blondie won't give up the name of the tombstone under duress and proposes they team up. Wallace handcuffs himself to Tuco and they board a train so Wallace can collect a $300 bounty on Tuco. Tuco leaps off the train chained to Wallace, kills Wallace, and frees himself from his shackles. Angel Eyes brings five of his gang to keep an eye on Blondie. In a bombed-out town, Blondie and Tuco reunite and dispatch of Angel Eyes' henchmen. Angel Eyes gets away. Blondie and Tuco stumble into a massive battle between Union and Confederate forces fighting for a bridge. An alcoholic Union Captain (Aldo Giuffre) shows Blondie and Tuco around, lamenting the needless carnage and death on both sides. During a break in the fighting, Blondie and Tuco rig the bridge with dynamite and blow it up. They awake in a bunker the next morning to find the armies have left. Tuco tells Blondie the name of the cemetery. Blondie tells Tuco the name on the graves marker is Arch Stanton. They reach the cemetery only to find Angel Eyes waiting for them. It's a three way Mexican standoff for the cache of gold.  Who will come out the winner?

The Bad

There is so much to discuss about THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY but let's continue with composer Ennio Morricone's amazing score. Morricone's music was diverse, using fender guitars and trumpets as well as real sounds including whistles, whips, spurs, and gunfire. For THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY, Morricone gives each main character a distinctive theme, using the main motif but with a different sound for each character. Blondie is represented by a flute; Angel Eyes an ocarina or potato flute; and Tuco by human voices. Morricone repeated this in ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1968) giving Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale, Charles Bronson, and Jason Robards their own leitmotif. Besides the main theme, three other outstanding tracks in THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY include "The Ecstasy of Gold" with vocals by soprano Edda Dell'Orso as Tuco races around the cemetery searching for Arch Stanton's grave and "The Story of a Soldier" played by a group Confederate prisoners of war outside a building where Tuco is nearly beaten to death for the name of the graveyard hiding the gold. Morricone ends the film with "The Trio" as Blondie, Angel Eyes, and Tuco form a triangle before dueling it out for the payoff. 

For all its gunfights and battle scenes, THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY is an anti-war film. No where is this more evident than in the big Civil War battle scene toward the climax of the film. Both the Union and the Confederates take turns each day storming a bridge over a river, inflicting carnage and death on each other with neither side ever gaining control of the bridge. Not the most sympathetic soul, even Blondie sees the futility of this war. "I've never seen so many men wasted so badly." Blondie even comforts a dying soldier, providing the soldier with one of his cigars and a coat to stay warm before he dies. Besides needing to get beyond the fighting soldiers to locate the stolen gold, Blondie and Tuco blow up the bridge to stop the fighting and prevent men from both sides from dying. They save lives by destroying it, providing some "good news" to the mortally wounded Union captain driven to drink from leading his men to slaughter each day.  Leone shows the dehumanization of soldiers in hospitals and prison camps and the toll of war on every day citizens, their towns blown up and deserted. Whether Leone was making an early statement about the recent Vietnam War in 1966 or looking back ruefully at how the Civil War forced American to fight and kill American, THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY for all its brutal, sometimes sadistic violence is not a proponent for war. 

The Ugly

By the time of release of THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY, Clint Eastwood had become an international movie star, thanks to his performances in Sergio Leone's previous two Spaghetti westerns A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS and FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE. Yet, the real star of THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY is Eli Wallach's Tuco (the Ugly) who director Sergio Leone seems to have fallen in love with in this story. Tuco has more screen time and dialogue than either Blondie or Angel Eyes. We learn more about Tuco's back story than either Blondie or Angel Eyes. At first, Tuco justifies the description read by an Officer of the Law before one of his hangings. "...perjury, bigamy, deserting his wife and children, inciting prostitution, kidnapping, extortion..."  Several scenes cut from the original release but reinserted for DVD and theatrical rereleases provide Tuco with more depth. He reunites with his old gang to help find and kill Blondie (which doesn't go well for the old gang). It reveals that Tuco's not a loner and an outcast. He had fellow bandits who were like brothers to him. Speaking of brother, Tuco will bring Blondie to his estranged brother Father Ramirez, a man of a the cloth, to heal Blondie. We learn from Tuco's brother that their mother and father have died, never reconciling with Tuco, the black sheep of the family. These added scenes give more nuance to Tuco and make him more likable and sympathetic. 

By his third film, director Leone was fully confident in his storytelling and visual style he had developed in his first two films and it shows in THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY. With the help of his Director of Photography Tonino Delli Colli, shots jump from extreme wide shots to extreme close ups with the next cut. A pair of eyes or a weathered, sweaty face often fills the whole screen. The final Mexican standoff between the three gold seekers is a ballet of composition and movement. THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY is an odyssey, rife with obstacles. Setting out for Sad Hill Cemetery, Blondie and Tuco get caught by the Union (dressed as Confederates) and thrown into an Andersonville like Confederate prison camp.  They manage to get out only to run into a major battle between the North and South blocking their journey.  A dying man whispers the name of the cemetery where the stolen gold lies to Tuco but the name of the grave to Blondie. And the grave's name has a twist. No one ever has complete control over the situation which keeps everyone guessing until the end.

Clint Eastwood was 35 years old when THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY was released, a late bloomer like Harrison Ford (STAR WARS) when it came to becoming a major movie star. This would be Eastwood's third and last film with Leone in "the Man With No Name" trilogy (Eastwood did have a name in each film actually). Blondie is probably the best role of the three films. Although Eastwood's Blondie has the title "Good" of the three main characters, he's still an anti-hero. He's pretty brutal to his partner Tuco, leaving him high and dry in the desert after tiring of Tuco's complaints about the bounty reward scam they're running. Blondie kills plenty of bounty hunters, bandits and desperados (who deserve what they get). Yet, there is an angel-like quality to Blondie. He rescues Tuco from some nefarious bounty hunters. When Angel Eyes spots Blondie perched in a barn as Tuco's about to be hanged, he comments, "Even a filthy beggar like that has got a protecting angel. A golden haired angel watches over him." Blondie's the most sympathetic to the senseless slaughter he witnesses between the two armies fighting over a bridge. He even comforts a wounded soldier with his coat and a puff on his cigar before the soldier dies. Leone's influence on Eastwood as a director would carry over with some of Eastwood's westerns most notably HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (1973), PALE RIDER (1985), and UNFORGIVEN (1992). 

For Lee Van Cleef who plays Sentenza aka Angel Eyes, THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY was a high point for the actor after over a decade of supporting roles. Van Cleef was a connection to the classic Hollywood westerns Leone was both paying homage to and twisting the genre's conventions. Van Cleef made his film debut in Fred Zinnemann's HIGH NOON (1952) with Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly, played a baddie in John Sturges' GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL (1957) with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas as well in John Ford's THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (1962) with James Stewart and John Wayne. Van Cleef's first prominent role with Leone was as bounty hunter Col. Douglas Mortimer in FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE. In THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY, Van Cleef's Angel Eyes is the definition of the "Bad."  If Blondie is an angel, Angel Eyes/Sentenza is the devil with dark slits for eyes. He's evil incarnate. Angel Eyes kills both a father and his son, the man who hired him to find the gold, and he orders Tuco to be tortured for the name of the remote graveyard. Van Cleef would make a few more Spaghetti westerns in Europe in the late 60s and early 70s. My generation discovered Van Cleef in John Carpenter's sci-fi adventure ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK (1981) with Kurt Russell doing his best Clint Eastwood imitation as Snake Plissken. 

Eli Wallach who plays Tuco Ramirez aka "the Ugly" of the trio was the most classically trained actor of the three leads, having attended the Actors Studio where Marlon Brando and Paul Newman studied. Like Van Cleef, Wallach was also a bridge for Leone to Hollywood's western past. Wallach played the Mexican bad guy Calvera in John Sturges' THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (1960) and was one of 25 big stars in HOW THE WEST WAS WON (1962) co-directed by John Ford and Henry Hathaway. Wallach has the flashiest role as Tuco in THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY and he takes full advantage of that opportunity. Tuco is part child; part maniac. As previously pointed out, Leone provides more back story for Tuco than either Blondie or Angel Eyes. We learn Tuco was the leader of a gang that he briefly reunites with. We discover that Tuco had parents (who have died) and a brother who's a priest who has disowned him for deserting their family. Even with all the despicable things Tuco does, he still believes in the Lord, genuflecting in times of crisis or to protect him. 

Director Sergio Leone began his career in the Italian film industry as an assistant director on sword and sandal films in the 1950s before getting his big break to direct THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII (1959) in the middle of production when the original director Mario Bonnard became ill. As renowned and revered as Sergio Leone became, he was not a prolific director. Besides "The Man With No Name" trilogy and ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, Leone only made two more films: DUCK, YOU SUCKER! (also known as A FISTFUL OF DYNAMITE) in 1971 with James Coburn and Rod Steiger and his final dream project, the gangster themed ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA (1984) starring Robert DeNiro and James Woods. With THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY, Leone reached new heights with his stylized, brutal violence; his gorgeous wide screen compositions; his edits from a panoramic wide shot to an extreme close up; and a magnum opus of a story full of twists and turns of fate within a real historical event - the Civil War.

Some final THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY thoughts and trivia. Sergio Leone was famous for picking unique actors with unforgettable faces for large and small roles in his films. One of my favorite faces that Sergio Leone showcased in two of his films including THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY was Canadian actor Al Mulock (credited as Al Mulloch in TGBU). Mulock is the first person you see in THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY as the One Armed Bounty Hunter, stepping into frame in one of Leone's signature close ups. Mulock also appeared in Leone's ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST as Knuckles, one of Frank's (Henry Fonda) gang waiting to kill Charles Bronson at the start of the film. Mulock tragically committed suicide right after filming his scenes, jumping to his death from his hotel in Guadix, Spain. One of the unique features of Leone's early Spaghetti westerns like THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY was that all the dialogue was done post synchronization, meaning the actors recorded their lines after the filming was done. Leone's films were fairly low budget and not recording the actual dialogue on set saved the production money. Except for the American stars of THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY like Eastwood, Van Cleef, and Wallach, the supporting actors were mostly Italian, Spanish, or German. Post synchronization allowed Leone (and English translator/screenwriter Mickey Knox) to translate some dialogue into more American vernacular for English audiences and to dub the supporting actors with American voices when they really had Italian or Spanish accents. 

The Golden Age of the Western brought us John Ford's STAGECOACH (1939), Howard Hawks' RED RIVER (1948), and George Stevens SHANE (1953) among the best but the genre was beginning to wane in the 1960s with rising production costs and television churning out quicker and cheaper western stories. It would take an Italian director named Sergio Leone who watched those classic American westerns while growing up in Rome, Italy to redefine the western, his westerns affectionally given the nickname Spaghetti westerns. Taking a page from Akira Kurosawa's Japanese samurai films with characters that were loners and anti-heroes, Leone created an international movie star in Clint Eastwood and a stylized visual style that has been imitated and parodied countless times. THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY is the pinnacle of Leone's "The Man With No Name" trilogy, where all his themes and visual ideas blend into a sprawling, entertaining epic tale of greed and perseverance. 

Great Expectations (1946)

One of my favorite things about cinema is that movies are like cliff notes for the great literary works in history. Now, I like reading a great piece of literature as much as the next bibliophile. I've read a few great works in middle and high school including John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urberville, and Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms. But I avoided some classic novels due to the language at the time or the size of the book (War and Peace). Novels like Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina or Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility or Alexander Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo I never found time to read. All three of those novels have been turned into numerous film and television adaptations that emphasis the key plot points and remove some of the excess from the stories. One of my favorite classics is Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol. I read an abridged version of the Dickens Christmas tale in my youth and have watched a few film versions including the 1938 A CHRISTMAS CAROL with Reginald Owen as Scrooge and my favorite, the 1951 A CHRISTMAS CAROL with Alastair Sim as the definitive Ebenezer Scrooge. As for Dickens other famous novels like A Tale of Two Cities or Oliver Twist, I never did attempt to read those books. Thankfully, London and Hollywood saved moviegoers time by making film versions of most of Dickens novels. 

MGM Studios, the most prestigious of the major studios during the Golden Era of Hollywood, took the first crack at Dickens, releasing two big budget adaptations of Dickens novels in 1935 with DAVID COPPERFIELD (no, not the magician) directed by George Cukor (LITTLE WOMEN) and starring young Freddie Bartholomew in the title role and comedian W.C. Fields in a supporting role and A TALE OF TWO CITIES directed by Jack Conway and starring Ronald Coleman (A DOUBLE LIFE) and Elizabeth Allan. After World War II, England ran with the Dickens torch, making two excellent black and white Dickens adaptations of their own with GREAT EXPECTATIONS (1946) and OLIVER TWIST (1948), both directed by an up and coming film editor turned director named David Lean (LAWRENCE OF ARABIA). I watched both films about a year ago and found GREAT EXPECTATIONS the more exciting of the two.

I mentioned that A Christmas Carol was the only Dickens story I had read as a young person. However, after watching GREAT EXPECTATIONS and hearing the character names like Pip and Miss Havisham, somewhere in the dark recess of my brain I feel like I did read Great Expectations in school. Besides those two names, I don't recall a single thing about the book. Did I read it? Did a character from another book I read talk about Great Expectations and that filtered into my head? I may be imagining it all. I'm sure I would have remembered the atmospheric opening sequence in GREAT EXPECTATIONS with Young Pip in the church cemetery visiting his parents graves, the wind howling and the tree branches creaking as he runs into escaped convict Magwitch. It's a fantastic opening and I'm sure taken directly from the novel. If I had read that beginning (or any of the book), I do not recall it. 

Based on the novel by Charles Dickens, adapted by a cadre of screenwriters including David Lean, Ronald Neame (also the producer), Anthony Havelock-Allan, Kay Walsh (Lean's wife), and Cecil McGivern and directed by David Lean, GREAT EXPECTATIONS begins in the early 1800s on the marshes of Kent, England. Young Pip (Anthony Wager), an orphan visits his parents graves at a distant churchyard on a cold, blustery day. About to head home, Pip encounters an escaped convict from a nearby "hulk" or prison ship named Abel Magwitch (Finlay Currie). Magwitch orders Pip to bring him a file to escape his chains and some food for him or else. Pip gives the convict his word and runs home to his guardians, the gentle blacksmith Joe Gargery (Bernard Miles) and his overbearing wife Mrs. Joe (Freda Jackson) who whips Pip for disappearing without telling her. They hear cannon fire in the distance, signifying a convict has escaped the "hulks." Pip nicks a file and a meat pie and returns to the churchyard to meet Magwitch. Pip comes across a second convict (George Hayes) with a scar who flees upon seeing Pip. Magwitch thanks Pip for the file and food. Pip returns home for dinner where the Gargery's entertain Uncle Pumblechook (Hay Petrie). Just as Mrs. Joe discovers her meat pie missing, the King's Soldiers show up, looking for the escaped convicts. Joe, Pip, and Pumblechook follow the soldiers who catch Magwitch and the second convict in the mud flats. As Magwitch is taken away back to the prison ship, he returns the favor to Pip, claiming he stole the file and meat pie from Joe's house, saving Pip from the wrath of Mrs. Joe.

A year passes. Uncle Pumblechook informs the Gargery's that the rich, eccentric Miss Havisham (Martita Hunt) requests Pip's presence. At her mansion, they're greeted by the young, pretty Estella (a young Jean Simmons) who takes only Pip to meet Miss Havisham. The elder woman wants Pip to keep her company and play cards with her adopted daughter Estella. Estella tortures Pip, teasing him one moment and allowing Pip to kiss her on the cheek the next. Pip falls in love with Estella. On Miss Havisham's birthday, Pip meets the old woman's relatives, the Pocket family. A young, lanky boy in her garden, Herbert Pocket (John Forrest) challenges Pip to a fight. Having never fought before, Pip knocks Herbert down twice. Pip continues to visit Miss Havisham and Estella. Pip tells Miss Havisham he wishes to become a gentleman, to climb up from his humble origins. Three months later, Mrs. Joe dies. Pip turns fourteen. It's time for Pip to begin his blacksmith apprenticeship with Joe. Miss  Havisham informs Pip that Estella is leaving for France for her education. Pip kisses Estella one more time before they part. Pip's boyhood has come to an end.

After six years as a blacksmith alongside Joe, Pip (now played by John Mills) is visited by the gregarious Mr. Jaggers (Francis L. Sullivan), a lawyer from London. Jaggers informs Pip a mysterious, unknown benefactor has bequeathed a tidy sum of money to Pip to travel to London and learn to become a "gentleman." The benefactor wishes to be anonymous until the right time to reveal themselves. "Pip! A young gentleman of great expectations," exclaims Joe Gargery. Before heading to London, Pip visits Miss Havisham to tell her the good news. Miss Havisham already knows (Jaggers is her lawyer as well). Pip travels to London to begin his new adventure. He goes to Jaggers office where Mr. Wemmick (Ivor Barnard) takes Pip to the Barnards Inn where he will board with Herbert Pocket (Alec Guinness), the lanky boy he boxed with as a kid. Herbert reveals more about Miss Havisham as he teaches Pip manners he'll need to improve on. Pip learns dancing, fencing, and boxing. Pip turns 21. Jaggers scolds Pip for his spending. Jaggers still won't reveal who Pip's benefactor is. Joe the blacksmith comes to London to visit Pip. Joe looks out of place and Pip knows it. "In trying to become a gentleman," Pip laments, "I had succeeded in becoming a snob." Joe tells Pip that Miss Havisham wishes to see him.

Pip returns to Kent to visit Miss Havisham and finds a grown up Estella (Valerie Hobson) is back from Europe. Miss Havisham wants Pip to love Estella. Estella comes to London where she soon accumulates many admirers including Bentley Drummle (Torin Thatcher), making Pip jealous. On a stormy night, a stranger wearing an eye patch appears at Pip's door. The stranger is the convict Abel Magwitch who we learn was shipped off to Australia where he became a wealthy sheep farmer. Magwitch is Pip's mysterious benefactor, repaying Pip for his kindness on the marshes many years past, thinking of Pip as his own son after he and his wife gave up their child to adoption during hard times. Pip visits Jaggers to tell him the news. Jaggers doesn't want to know. Magwitch is still wanted as a criminal in England and has enemies who wish him hanged. Pip vows to help Magwitch get out of the country. Pip visits Estella one last time at Miss Havisham's. He professes his love to Estella. She reveals she's engaged to Bentley. Miss  Havisham realizes she's pointed Estella to the wrong man. As Miss Havisham rises from her chair, her dress brushes the fireplace and catches on fire. Pip tries to save her but he's too late. In GREAT EXPECTATIONS climax, Pip returns to London where he and Herbert try to sneak Magwitch onto a steamer, away from his enemies and Pip learns a secret about Estella that will change their lives forever. 

One of the reasons I love A CHRISTMAS CAROL is its supernatural element (three ghosts visiting Scrooge on Christmas Eve).  GREAT EXPECTATIONS is not a supernatural story but it has ghost story moments. The opening sequence as Young Pip visits his parents graves at a spooky coastal church showcases Lean's directorial expertise. Lean's use of sound, the wind whipping through the graveyard, the branches scraping each other, reaching out like arms as Pip runs into the massive escaped convict Magwitch is worthy of any Val Lewton (ISLE OF DEAD) horror film. Miss Havisham's house in Kent is equivalent to a haunted mansion. Its interior decaying, filled with cobwebs, curtains shuttered to keep out any sunlight, the clock tower's hands stuck for eternity at one fateful hour and minute. Miss Havisham is like a ghost, dressed in translucent white, her hair a fright. She's alive on the outside but mostly dead inside after her fiance left her at the altar the day of her wedding years before. Her dining room remains frozen in time, decorated for the wedding reception that never came to pass.

Dickens had a penchant for creating characters that were so detailed and memorable that they literally jumped from the page into your imagination. Lean and his production crew accomplish the impossible in GREAT EXPECTATIONS as every actor in the film looks the embodiment of a Dickens character. The Young Pip and Young Estella (played by Anthony Wager and Jean Simmons) seamlessly become their adult versions played by John Mills and Valerie Hobson. Even the young, skinny Herbert Pocket (John Forrest) uncannily resembles Alec Guinness who plays the adult Herbert Pocket. From Pip's guardians, the kind and humble blacksmith Joe Gargery (Bernard Miles) and his polar opposite wife the mean spirited Mrs. Joe Gargery (Freda Jackson) to the colossal London lawyer Mr. Jaggers (Francis L. Sullivan) and the equally intimidating convict Abel Magwitch (Finlay Currie) to the affluent spinster Miss Havisham (Martita Hunt) still wearing the wedding dress from the wedding she never had, Lean and his writers create vivid, unforgettable cinematic versions of the characters Dickens dreamed up in 1861 when his novel was published.

Dickens plots can be intricate and complicated with characters appearing early in the story and reappearing at various times throughout. The escaped convict Magwitch, head shaven, scares Young Pip and the audience at the beginning of GREAT EXPECTATIONS before he's recaptured. We think we'll never see him again as he's rowed back to the moored prison ship. We're teased with a red herring that Miss Havisham is Pip's secret benefactor until Magwitch shows up years later at Pip's room on a stormy night. He now has long white hair and an eyepatch. Magwitch became wealthy as a sheep farmer when he was exiled to the penal country of Australia and returned Pip's kindness that blustery day by paying for Pip to become a gentleman. Young Pip first casts eyes on the lawyer Mr. Jaggers at Miss Havisham's gloomy home. They exchange no words. Jaggers will later show up in young adult Pip's life with the opportunity of a lifetime, courtesy of an unknown benefactor. It turns out Jaggers is the lawyer for both Miss Havisham and Magwitch. Jaggers is the keeper of many secrets that Pip will slowly uncover including (SPOILER ALERT) that Estella was adopted by Miss Havisham from Magwitch and his wife Molly who Jaggers got acquitted from a murder charge. 

One of my pleasant surprises watching GREAT EXPECTATIONS was the unexpected delight discovering two British actresses I had only seen previously in one of my favorite vampire films of all time both have noteworthy roles in GREAT EXPECTATIONS. In the Hammer film BRIDES OF DRACULA (1960) directed by Terence Fisher, Martita Hunt who plays Miss Havisham in GREAT EXPECTATIONS appears as Baroness Meinster, a Transylvanian version of Havisham dealing with her son Baron Meinster (David Peel) who happens to be a vampire. Freda Jackson who dominates her few scenes in GREAT EXPECATIONS as Mrs. Joe Gargery plays opposite Hunt as the Baroness's servant Greta (complete with a maniacal cackle). Hunt and Jackson bring cache to BRIDES OF DRACULA. Dickens stories are usually male heavy but Hunt and Jackson make memorable and unforgettable female characters in GREAT EXPECTATIONS. Hunt is especially good as the jilted Miss Havisham, part matchmaker, part marionette as she influences both Pip and Estella. 

Some of Lean and his production team's casting choices for GREAT EXPECTATIONS are no brainers as several actors had played their roles in earlier stage productions of the Dickens tale. Martita Hunt as Miss Havisham and Alec Guinness as Herbert Pocket had performed the same roles in stage versions of Great Expectations. Francis L. Sullivan had played Jaggers previously in an earlier 1934 version of GREAT EXPECTATIONS directed by Stuart Walker. For Alec Guinness, GREAT EXPECTATIONS was the beginning of a long, fruitful collaboration with director David Lean including one of Guinness's finest performances as the unbending British Colonel Nicholson in Lean's WWII adventure film A BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER KWAI (1957). In GREAT EXPECTATIONS, Guinness shows off his comedic skills as Pip's roommate and etiquette teacher Herbert Pocket. Herbert was the boy Estella teased and discarded first before moving on to Pip. Herbert becomes Pip's only true friend in London. 

A Tale of Two Young Careers. Child actors who morph into adult characters (and different actors) is a tricky balance that can make a film sink or soar. GREAT EXPECTATIONS gets it right with both Anthony Wager as Young Pip and Jean Simmons as Young Estella. Wager's Pip is the embodiment of most young Dickens boy characters. Loyal, curious, naive, and ultimately, brave, Wager's Pip is the anchor for the first third of GREAT EXPECTATIONS. Chosen by director Lean out of 700 applicants for the role, Wager's career sadly never took off (he grew too tall after GREAT EXPECTATIONS to play any more child roles). Wager worked in television in Australia in the late 1960s. Bad health led to Wager's early death in 1990 at the age of 58. 

Young Jean Simmons career trajectory was the opposite of  Wager's. After GREAT EXPECTATIONS, Simmons had significant roles in Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's BLACK NARCISSUS (1947) starring Deborah Kerr and she played Ophelia in Laurence Olivier's version of HAMLET (1948). Hollywood came calling and Simmons obliged starring in Henry Koster's biblical drama THE ROBE (1953) with Richard Burton and Joseph L. Mankiewicz's musical GUYS AND DOLLS (1955) with Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra. Simmons became a major Hollywood star. In Simmons early roles like Estella in GREAT EXPECATIONS, she exhibited a provocative sexuality for a young female character coming of age. Young Estella teases and tortures Young Pip with her feminine guiles, goaded by Miss Havisham who had been abandoned herself as a young woman on her wedding day.

The actors who play the adult versions of Pip and Estella are equally good with John Mills slightly more memorable as Pip than Valerie Hobson's subdued and mercurial Estella (Hobson is still beautiful and alluring). Mills was the British equivalent of Gary Cooper or Tom Hanks, a versatile actor who was comfortable in a variety of different genres from comedy in David Lean's HOBSON'S CHOICE (1954) to military drama in Sidney Gilliat's WATERLOO ROAD (1945) to adventure in Ken Annakin's SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON (1960). In GREAT EXPECTATIONS, Mills effortlessly picks up where young Wager left off in the story as Pip's life changes forever with a secret benefactor's generosity. Mills expertly conveys Pip's journey from humble blacksmith in Kent to aspiring "gentleman" in London.

Valerie Hobson career started off in Hollywood and she captured my attention with her lustrous dark hair and doe eyes in two Universal horror films as Dr. Frankenstein's fiancee Elizabeth in James Whale's BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935) and as the werewolf's wife in Stuart Walker's WEREWOLF OF LONDON (also 1935). Hobson returned to her native England in the 1940s and appeared in some excellent British films including Robert Hamer's dark comedy KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS (1949) with Alec Guinness and Anthony Pelissier's fantasy drama THE ROCKING HORSE WINNER (also 1949) co-starring John Mills. In GREAT EXPECTATIONS, Hobson's performance as Estella is muted. She's beautiful but a bit cold. She's a pawn for Miss Havisham to groom and manipulate. Still, what a leap for Hobson from scream queen ingenue in her early horror film days to one of Britain's leading ladies in the late 1940s.

One can't praise the cast of GREAT EXPECTATIONS without mentioning two supporting actor giants (literally) whose performances and appearance are straight out of Dickens casting.  With his bulldog jowls and mutton chop sideburns, Francis L. Sullivan is perfect as the solicitor Mr. Jaggers. Jaggers knows all the story's secrets, keeping them close to his vest, allowing Pip to discover them over time as he matures. Sullivan was so authentic as a Dickens character that he appeared in three other film adaptations of Dickens novels including playing Mr. Jaggers previously in an earlier version in Universal's attempt at GREAT EXPECTATIONS in 1934.  Sullivan co-starred in Stuart Walker's MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD (also 1934), an adaptation of Dickens unfinished novel starring Claude Rains and his GREAT EXPECTATIONS co-star Valerie Hobson and Sullivan was in David Lean's second Dickens adaptation OLIVER TWIST (1948) as Mr. Bumble. 

For the imposing Finlay Currie (at six feet two inches tall) who plays Magwitch, GREAT EXPECTATIONS kick started a long career for the Scottish actor with primarily supporting and bit roles in numerous period films including Henry Hathaway's THE BLACK ROSE (1950), Richard Thorpe's IVANHOE (1952), and William Wyler's biblical epic BEN HUR (1959). Currie's Magwitch is the most surprising character in GREAT EXPECTATIONS. At first, Magwitch comes off as sadistic and cruel as the desperate, escaped convict.  We think we'll never see him again when he's captured. When Magwitch turns up later in the film, he's a completely different person. He's Pip's benevolent angel, a wealthy sheep farmer secretly rewarding Pip for Pip's generosity towards him years earlier. Currie brings pathos to the one eyed Magwitch. 

Some final GREAT EXPECATIONS trivia tidbits. Actress Valerie Hobson's first husband Anthony Havelock-Allan was a co-writer and one of the producers on GREAT EXPECTATIONS. Director David Lean's wife Kay Walsh also was a co-writer on the film. Later in life, Hobson was married to British politician John Profumo who had an extramarital affair with a 19 year old model Christine Keeler in 1961 and was forced to step down from his political career. This incident was later made into a 1989 film called SCANDAL starring Ian McKellen, John Hurt, and Joanne Whalley. Similar to Miss Havisham catching on fire toward the end of GREAT EXPECTATIONS, actress Jean Simmons apron caught fire during a scene and Anthony Wagers put the fire out. Lastly, having made two of the best film versions of Charles Dickens novels with GREAT EXPECTATIONS and OLIVER TWIST, David Lean claimed he had never read a Dickens novel before working on the film.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS is a great film adapted from a great novel by Charles Dickens. The film has the benefit of an up and coming director in David Lean becoming more confident in his craft. It has a cast that included three actors who had played their characters previously either on the stage or an earlier film version and knew their roles inside and out. GREAT EXPECTATIONS is a fine example of taking the best and most important parts from the novel and shaping it into a tight, exhilarating film that feels like you are watching a novel. If I have built up your expectations for GREAT EXPECTATIONS than guilty as charged.