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August is traditionally Westerns month at Films on the Hill. In past Western programs we have covered some of the outlaw gangs such as the Daltons, Billy the Kid and the Younger Brothers as well as some of the famous marshals such as Wyatt Earp. This time we'll see Randolph Scott as leader of the Doolin gang in The Doolins of Oklahoma. Joel McCrea, another great western star is seen in a Technicolor print of South of St. Louis. Buck Jones, whose long career in westerns was cut short by the notorious Coconut Grove fire appears in only his second talking film Shadow Ranch which is paired with Randolph Scott in Frontier Marshal.
Friday, August 1 at 7:00 p.m.South of St. Louis (1949) in TECHNICOLOR!
A big classic Hollywood Technicolor Western. Joel McCrea, Zachary Scott and Douglas Kennedy are a trio of Texans whose Three Bells Ranch is destroyed by Victor Jory and his band of Union partisans in the early days of the Civil War. The three are forced to part ways--one joins the Confederate army and the other two get involved in gun running schemes while competing with a rival gun-runner (Bob Steele). Despite their differences, the three remain friends and each wears bells on their spurs as a reminder of their ranch. Some complex plot twists along with solid hard-hitting action, both military and melodramatic. As Bosley Crowther of the New York Times said, "And before the Inevitable Conflict has been ended ... there's been the doggondest passel of ridin', shootin', stabbin' and jawin' you could name..." The Western tradition was inherent in Joel McCrea's family. One grandfather had come west via wagon train to San Francisco and the other ran a stage line and fought Apaches. Authenticity became McCrea's stock in trade as a Western film actor and his family heritage played a vital role in his honest portrayals of western characters. The film is a westernized remake of the 1939 Warner Brothers film The Roaring Twenties which had starred Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney and Jeffrey Lynn. A fine supporting cast includes Dorothy Malone, Alexis Smith as a saloon queen, and Alan Hale in one of his last roles. Some big names are behind the camera--Karl Freund did the cinematography and Max Steiner did the music. Click on the links for pictures: Zachary Scott. A Belgian Poster. An ad: "You couldn't tell a traitor from a hero ... and south of St. Louis nobody cared!" Another ad: "With thunderclap violence comes this never-told chapter of Southwest history! Legions ambushing friend and foe alike in a fight that might have gone on forever! A Spanish lobby card: "In this lawless land, a man killed his best friend for a worldly woman ... She had a deceiving smile, a wild soul and the body of a goddess."
DIRECTED BY RAY ENRIGHT. 1949. 88 MINUTES. CAST: JOEL McCREA. ZACHARY SCOTT. DOUGLAS KENNEDY. ALEXIS SMITH. DOROTHY MALONE. VICTOR JORY. BOB STEELE. ALAN HALE. MONTE BLUE.
Preceded by a Tex Avery Technicolor cartoon, Magical Maestro (1952). A magician, scorned by the great opera singer Poochini, gets a spectacular revenge. Replacing the conductor, the magician turns the hapless singer into one thing after another while assorted props appear and disappear. Poochini gamely tries to focus on his performance, which changes each time a different costume pops on and off him. This cartoon contains one of Tex Avery's most famous and notorious gags: a hair seemingly caught in the film projector's gate. The hair twitches annoyingly for a couple of scenes in the lower left side of the screen, until Poochini stops singing and casually plucks and tosses it away. The gag is perfectly set up, and the movement of the hair quite realistic (it slides out of frame a couple of times before getting "caught" again); so real is the gag that conscientious projectionists in theaters around the country complained to MGM about being duped. A label was then slapped onto each film can warning that the "hair" in the film is not real and should be ignored. Click on the links for some of Poochini's costumes:
With the rabbits.
In a Chinese costume.
In an Indian costume.
In a ballerina's tutu.
In a little boy's sailor suit.
A poster.
Wednesday, August 20 at 7:00 p.m.A Double Feature!
Frontier Marshal (1939)
Randolph Scott plays Wyatt Earp and Cesar Romero is Doc Holliday in this superior B western expertly directed by the great Allan Dwan. Wyatt Earp helps to civilize Tombstone after eliminating a murderous gang in the OK Corral. The film was based on the novel Wyatt Earp, Frontier Marshal by Stuart Lake and John Ford's 1946 film My Darling Clementine was wholly drawn from this film. Fox mogul Darryl Zanuck, insisted the actual name of Wyatt Earp be used in this production, which caused the studio to pay $5,000 to an Earp relative for the use of the name; the relative still sued after the film was released. The film provides historical background including references to Jennie Lind, Lillie Langtry and Eddie Foy (played here by Eddie Foy, Jr. whose father really was kidnapped and forced to perform his act), but it is mostly legend and fiction. As Allan Dwan said, "It was never meant to BE Wyatt Earp. We were just making Frontier Marshal and that could be any frontier marshal." With Ward Bond, John Carradine and Binnie Barnes. Click for pictures: A lobby card with Cesar Romero. A lobby card with Randolph Scott and Nancy Kelly. A lobby card with Randolph Scott. A lobby card with Randolph Scott. A lobby card: "I'm the law in Tombstone! ... from now on it's up to you whether the city or the cemetery is going to grow the fastest!" A costume sketch for Cesar Romero's character.
DIRECTED BY ALAN DWAN. 1939. 71 MINUTES. CAST: RANDOLPH SCOTT. CESAR ROMERO. JOHN CARRADINE. BINNIE BARNES. WARD BOND.
Shadow Ranch (1930)Buck Jones in his second talking film. Buck's friend (Frank Price) asks him to come to Shadow Ranch where he is trying to help the owner (Marguerite De La Motte). But he arrives too late, just as his murdered friend is being buried. Buck avenges his friend's death and aids the ranch owner who has been fighting a losing battle against vicious land-grabbing, cattle rustling Al Smith. A blazing showdown sets things right again. Atmospheric and a little darker than most Westerns of the time. The film was so popular that it was remade two years later with Ken Maynard. After two hitches in the army, Buck Jones (1889-1942) appeared in various Wild West shows and circuses. In 1917 he began his film career as an extra and stuntman. By 1919 he was playing lead roles and by 1921 he was a popular star. By 1928 things were going so well, Buck formed his own production company and produced his first film which flopped. He then formed his own Wild West show which also failed. Buck had lost a lot of money on these two ventures and went back to the studios. Joining Columbia Pictures, he made his first talkie in 1930. That film and the next seven (including this one), were produced under the auspices of Sol Lesser and many were directed by Louis King, younger brother of the better-known director Henry King. After the first eight films, Columbia continued the series through 1934. Click for pictures: A lobby card: "All talking whirlwind western." A beautiful poster with scenes from the film. A poster.
DIRECTED BY LOUS KING. 1930. 64 MINUTES. CAST: BUCK JONES. MARGUERITE DE LA MOTTE. KATE PRICE. ALBERT J. SMITH.
Friday, August 22 at 7:00 p.m.The Doolins of Oklahoma (1949)
Randolph Scott stars in this above-average chronicle of one of the last real-life outlaw gangs of the Southwest, the notorious Doolins. The film begins with the massacre of the Dalton gang in 1892; Scott survives and recruits a new gang, including John Ireland and Noah Beery, Jr., leading successful raids against banks and trains. But when things get too hot for them, he insists that they lay low for several months. While the gang members get itchy, Scott is befriended by a deacon and marries the deacon's daughter (Louise Albritton), settling down to a new life as a farmer. But soon the past catches up with him and his old gang tracks him down... Randolph Scott gives a terrific portrayal of a westerner trapped by the coming of the modern age. As one of his partners says, "Before you know it, it'll be against the law to carry a gun." Brisk action, standout cinematography and a well-researched screenplay which provides considerable black humor. With George Macready as the lawman who hunts Scott down. Click for pictures: A poster. A German poster.
DIRECTED BY GORDON DOUGLAS. 1949. 90 MINUTES. CAST: RANDOLPH SCOTT. LOUISE ALBRITTON. GEORGE MACREADY. JOHN IRELAND.
Preceded by a Tex Avery Technicolor cartoon, Deputy Droopy (1955). Droopy and the sheriff are guarding a shipment of gold and move it safely from the stagecoach to a safe; meanwhile two villains are watching and waiting their chance. The sheriff decides to take a nap and tells Droopy, "Now remember the signal: Any kind of noise, drop a pin, let out a yell, anything, and I'll come a-shootin'." The robbers sneak in and attempt to rob the safe but Droopy decides to have some fun with them trying to make them produce a noise. Avery begins with the old cartoon standby of a sneaky person stubbing his toe and running outside to scream, then repeats it in every possible way, funnier each time, until his time runs out. Droopy made his first appearance in Dumb-Hounded (1943). His meek personality and dead-pan voice were modeled on the Wallace Wimple character from the radio comedy Fibber McGee and Molly. Bill Thompson, who played Wimple, was the original voice of Droopy. Click for pictures:
The sheriff.
The tall robber.
The tall robber gets his feet stuck in glue with a firecracker in his mouth.
This year is the centennial for Bette Davis, born in 1908 and we'll celebrate Bette in Special Agent (1935). Our silent film this month is a comedy Hands Up! (1926), considered to be Raymond Griffith's masterpiece and with an organ score composed especially for us by Ray Brubacher. A Technicolor Robert Mitchum is the only American actor in Foreign Intrigue (1956), one of the first films based on a TV series.
Friday, September 5 at 7:00 p.m.Special Agent (1935)
Bette Davis stars with George Brent and Ricardo Cortez in this fun, fast-moving and well-paced Warner Brothers gangster picture. Local efforts to put gangsters in jail are ineffective, but the federal government has some success by charging criminals with evading taxes on their ill-gotten gains. George Brent, a treasury agent posing as a newspaper reporter, is assigned to the case of slimy racketeer Ricardo Cortez. Brent uses his charm on Bette Davis, the gangster's bookkeeper and the only one who knows the secret code that is used to keep the books. Although fearful for her safety, she agrees to help him--but there is an inside mole in the DA's office... Lots of machine gun rat-a-tat-ing, witnesses disappear or are snatched from the courtroom and a bang-up ending! And the menacing Ricky Cortez nearly steals the picture. The New York Times called it "... a wild and woolly gangland saga of crime and punishment, crisp, fast-moving and thoroughly entertaining melodrama." This is one of three films George Brent and Bette Davis made in 1935; they were in 12 films together. Bette said, "Ham [Nelson, her husband at the time] gave me a great review, too, sort of. He said the way I looked at George Brent in Special Agent meant I just had to be in love with him. He didn't believe me when I said that's how an actress is supposed to look at her leading man. But he wasn't far wrong." The story was by a New York Times reporter and the film is populated with wonderful Warner Brothers character actors. Click for pictures: A poster.
DIRECTED BY WILLIAM KEIGHLEY. 1935. 78 MINUTES. CAST: BETTE DAVIS. GEORGE BRENT. RICARDO CORTEZ.
Preceded by a two-reel comedy to be announced.
Thursday, September 11 at 7:00 p.m.Hands Up! (1926)
A truly great Civil War comedy starring the underrated Raymond Griffith as a Confederate spy out to stop a Yankee agent from acquiring gold for the Northern cause. One marvelous sight gag after another builds to the end, when Griffith must choose between the two equally beautiful girls who love him; it ends with a cinematic punch line equalled by Joe E. Brown's last line in Some Like It Hot. This brilliant final gag was often deleted by unamused censors, but our print is complete. Raymond Griffith's screen persona was that of a comic con man and debonair crook. Suave, sophisticated and neatly mustached, he was always elegantly outfitted in a silk top hat and swirling cape. Film historian Kenneth Brownlow wrote, "Griffith had a more thorough groundwork of comedy training than any other comedian. Besides the years he spent as a dancer, as an actor, on the vaudeville circuitsd, with the mime company, he also went through the various grades of the Mack Sennett company. He not only acted for Keystone, he worked as a gag writer, and became Sennett's right-hand man." In 1926, when Hands Up! was made, columnist Selma Robinson said, "Griffith is one of the brainiest men in pictures today. A man with a brilliant mind, scintillating humor, an instinctive feeling for proportion, a genius for writing and directing motion pictures and an infallible rhythm that makes his characterizations so perfectly timed." Hands Up! is a comic gem full of inventive, original comedy and clever vignettes, a film deserving of greater recognition. Silent with an organ score composed especially for us by Ray Brubacher. Click for pictures: President Abraham Lincoln (George Billings) and his cabinet in despair with an empty treasury. The South needs gold too and General Robert E. Lee sends Jack (Raymond Griffith), his hand-picked man West to get it--while a third person drops dead beside them. "Now it's just between the two of us." Going West: Yankee Captain Logan (Montague Love, at left), and mine owner Silas Woodstock (Mack Swain at right) have their suspicions about Jack (Raymond Griffith). But the mine owner's daughter Alice (Virginia Lee Corbin) finds Jack fascinating. The mine owner's other daughter Mae (Marion Nixon) likes Jack also. Sitting Bull (Noble Johnson) and his braves capture Jack and the Woodstocks and prepare to burn them at the stake. Jack effects their rescue, strips Sitting Bull of his regalia and substitutes a new war dance for the tribe. Jack's private tour of the mine is conducted by an old family retainer now in Woodstock's employ. With the first gold shipment East ready, Captain Logan's suspicions grow. Jack denounces Logan to Woodstock as the rebel spy. A Yankee double agent (Guy Oliver) reveals that Jack is the real Confederate spy. Jack is dragged off to be hanged as the rebel spy. Raymond Griffith outside the mine ready for shooting to begin. The cast and crew. Raymond Griffith on the set with gag writer Monte Brice. A glass slide used to advertise the film.
DIRECTED BY CLARENCE G. BADGER. 1926. 70 MINUTES. CAST: RAYMOND GRIFFITH. MACK SWAIN. SILENT WITH RECORDED MUSIC SCORE BY RAY BRUBACHER.
Preceded by a two-reel comedy to be announced.
Friday, September 12 at 7:00 p.m.Foreign Intrigue (1956)
"The most startling spy hunt ever filmed!" shouted the ads. Based on Sheldon Reynolds' popular TV series, this Cold War thriller with a noir-ish look was shot in Vienna, Paris, the Riviera, Stockholm and nearby Swedish islands. Robert Mitchum's employer, a mysterious multi-millionaire living on the French Riviera, dies and suddenly everyone is extremely interested to find out what his last words were. Traveling the length and breadth of Europe in search of clues to his boss's past, Mitchum is pulled into a plot involving blackmail and shady political deals while being chased by spies, counterspies, a treacherous brunette (Genevieve Page) a seducible blonde (Ingrid Thulin) and other traitorous types, most of whom would be happy if he disappeared for good. Mitchum is the only American actor in this all-European cast; his constant wearing of a disheveled raincoat started a fashion trend in wearing trenchcoats. We have a real Technicolor print showing off all the exotic locations. Click for pictures: Inga Tidblad and Ingrid Thulin. A lobby card. A lobby card. A lobby card: "He raced from Stockholm to Vienna to the Riviera... Only one bullet ahead of half the secret agents of Europe... and still he wouldn't let go of the deadliest secret a man ever carried". A lobby card. A poster: "Robert Mitchum is the hunted... Europe is the hunting ground... And half the secret agents on the continent are the hunters in Sheldon Reynolds' full length production in color of Foreign Intrigue". A Spanish poster.
DIRECTED BY SHELDON REYNOLDS. 1956. 106 MINUTES. CAST: ROBERT MITCHUM.
Preceded by a cartoon to be announced.
All films are 16mm. Tickets are $5 unless otherwise noted. All films begin at 7:00 p.m. The doors to the building open half an hour before the show begins and the theater doors open 15 minutes before showtime. Programs are subject to change.
Films on the Hill is located at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, 545 Seventh Street, S.E., Washington, D.C. 20003. Telephone: (202) 547-6839.
Last updated on August 15, 2008.