Viewing notes – in brief

/ Colin McGuigan

Just a few very brief comments to ensure the place doesn’t stagnate completely, which I’ve posted elsewhere, all on some movies I’ve been revisiting lately. Normal service should be resumed soon. I hope.

 

The Magnificent Seven (1960)

God knows how many times I’ve seen this over the years. Even so, as soon as Bernstein’s famous score kicks in there’s that same tingle of excitement and anticipation I first experienced as a child. Even though John Sturges is almost certainly best remembered for his longer movies such as this and The Great Escape, I think he did his most effective work on the shorter and more tightly structured films he made in the previous decade. While the first half of this one has some terrific scenes and moments – Calvera’s initial appearance, the ride up to Boot Hill and back etc – there is padding there too.
Something else I’ve become aware of over time is the way Steve McQueen’s “look at me” performance has lost a lot of its appeal. I find it very self-conscious, mannered and less satisfying every time I see it. On the other hand, Brynner’s work stands up well while Bronson is crafty, subtle and quite affecting.

 

The 39 Steps (1935)

Donald Spoto reckoned this movie improved with age and familiarity and I fully agree. It’s the best version of Buchan’s story (not the most faithful by any means, but that’s neither here nor there) and I consider it the best of Hitchcock’s British movies. The Lady Vanishes might run it close, but it’s the little moments, what John Ford would refer to as grace notes, such as Peggy Ashcroft’s aching wistfulness or Lucie Mannheim’s doomed spy that elevate it.

 

The Wrong Man (1956)

More Hitchcock and this time a man trapped in the relentless and merciless machine that is the justice system. I’ve a hunch I only saw this film once before, and that was a very long time ago. In some ways it is atypical Hitchcock, stylistically anyway – measured, sober, with a gritty realism. In another sense, thematically, it’s very characteristic with the title itself telling us that and it’s also very Catholic, even more so than I Confess.

My memory was of a rather harsh and decidedly grim picture and that’s exactly what it is, and it’s possibly the reason why it’s so long since I revisited it. Still, it’s a terrific movie which is held together by two fine, understated performances. Henry Fonda was always an immensely dignified actor, even down to his posture and gait, that quality adding much to his portrayal of a shell-shocked regular guy. Of course the real gut punch comes from what happens to Vera Miles, something which can’t be easy to convey in such a controlled way.

43 thoughts on “Viewing notes – in brief”

  1. I have a fond and satisfying memory of The Magnificent Seven, especially the first segment of Brynner rounding up of the Seven. Brynner, Bronson, Coburn and Bucholz and Wallach did impress therein.

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      • Here’s a recently published book I can recommend to the RTHC gang. It’s “Magic Time: The Films and Scripts of Billy Wilder” by JR Jordan. The descriptions and analyses of the films are not long, covering around a dozen pages, including stills from the movie. However, Jordan squeezes good value into those pages, describing script development, casting, the making of and the critical reception for each film. His plot outlines are judicious and informative. You can open at any of the short chapters and have an enjoyable, insightful read.

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  2. It’s fascinating to compare THE 39 STEPS to NORTH BY NORTHWEST. Obviously two very very similar films. THE 39 STEPS is much shorter, much better paced, more exciting and more suspenseful. The chemistry between the two leads is superior and their relationship is more interesting.

    From 1934 to 1938 Hitchcock was on fire. The 1934 THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, THE 39 STEPS, THE LADY VANISHES, YOUNG AND INNOCENT – four superb films in quick succession.

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    • All told, I prefer Hitchcock;s work when he moved to Hollywood – it’s just richer in every way. Nevertheless, I think this is a genuinely great movie. Saboteur is another variation on the story and it’s a film I’m very fond of. And Young and Innocent follows a similar path of course.

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      • Hitchcock’s filmography really is bizarre. No great director made so many towering masterpieces. And no great director made so many truly awful movies. And it’s not like he had a great period followed by a decline. The masterpieces and the turkeys are all mixed in together.

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        • North by Northwest is 45 minutes too long. It’s a slow plodding thriller.

          I wonder if the problem was that no-one was prepared to tell him that his movies were becoming bloated and needed some drastic editing.

          His 1956 The Man Who Knew Too Much is one of his turkeys but even it might have been OK had it been trimmed by half an hour.

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            • The last good spy thriller Hitchcock made was The Lady Vanishes. His subsequent spy films were either fatally flawed (Notorious) or dull nothing movies (Foreign Correspondent and Saboteur) or snoozefests (the 1956 The Man Who Knew Too Much and North by Northwest) or turkeys (Torn Curtain).

              He just lost the ability to make exciting spy thrillers after the 1930s.

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              • Each person will have his or her own tastes of course, but I really can’t go along with that assessment at all. With the exception of Torn Curtain, which is problematic but still has some points of interest, I would rate all of the movies mentioned between very good and great. The only genuine turkey I can find in Hitchcock’s output is Topaz, but that’s forgivable coming on the heels of a solid and often spectacular 35 year run.
                I don’t think the actual “spying” was ever of primary importance in any of his movies – mainly, it provided motivation for characters and a backdrop for the adventure, suspense, melodrama to be played out.

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                • It could be that I admire Hitchcock’s best films so much that I’m hyper-critical of his lesser efforts. It could of course also be that I’m hyper-critical of classic movies in general. But I do think movies like I Confess are pretty hard to defend.

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  4. I agree with you completely about MAGNIFICENT 7 – the action is rather spread out so that I now prefer the by necessity more episodic ESCAPE (and its knockout finish). 39 STEPS in equally episodic but just keeps getting better with each viewing. WRONG MAN I remain in two minds about – I like its low key ambience and strong performances but also find a bit sluggish. Also, it would appear that it was not quite a faithful to the facts as it presented itself, which is always an irritant for me (well, unless you pull off a brilliant coup as the did in REVERSAL OF FORTUNE of course).

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  5. The Magnificent Seven, and The Seven Samurai I watch a good half dozen times a year each. Both are front runners with Seven Samurai winning by a slight edge at the finish line for me. The Mag 7 ran here last week and of course I took it in.

    I have never seen THE 39 STEPS and it has been 20 plus years since THE WRONG MAN has been watched by me. It so happens, I recorded it off TCM yesterday and will give it a re-watch this week.

    And speaking of THE GREAT ESCAPE it is another one I watch at least 3 times a year. Love it!!!!!!

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    • I used to revisit or rewatch a lot of movies more often. Now, even when it comes to absolute favorites or what are sometimes referred to as comfort viewing I try to space them out a bit more. And it’s for practical reasons – if I didn’t make an effort, there would be no hope whatsoever of getting through all the unwatched stuff I’ve managed to accumulate.

      I do recommend you try to see The 39 Steps – it is pacy, consistently entertaining, technically impressive, and it has heart. It’s usually easy to find high quality prints online if you want to check it out without committing yourself.

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      • I think spacing out rewatches is a really good idea. I like rewatching a movie I haven’t seen for twenty years, then maybe watching it again ten years later. I often have totally different reactions each time.

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  6. I was wondering where you’d gotten to. Good to have you back. The Magnificent Seven was a childhood favourite but I haven’t seen it in years. Did see the recent remake, which wasn’t as bad as I’d feared.

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    • Just dipping my toe back into things at the moment, chum, can’t promise a full resumption just yet.
      I’ve not seen the M7 remake myself – I got “burned” with a few remakes before and I think the timing of its release wasn’t one that suited me all that well either and I’ve not gone out of my way to catch up with it since. I will probably stumble on it at some point on TV of course.

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      • I just can’t get interested in seeing remakes of great movies. If it’s a great movie there’s no reason to remake it. And some of the remakes I have seen from the last two or three decades have been shockingly bad.

        Popular culture these days just seems to be cannibalising its past.

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  7. Thanks Colin on your suggestion on, THE 39 STEPS. You were right on there being a nice looking print on the internet. Hopefully I can get to it this week.

    Gord

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  9. Would it be fair to say that Hitchcock’s British films are somewhat under-rated (Barry will probably pick me up on this) because his work in Hollywood from 1940 on are what he is most famed for??
    I agree with Dee that “YOUNG AND INNOCENT” should be better known and rated, presumably for the reason that the two (excellent) leads are not well-known names. The only film that doesn’t work for me is his last in Britain “JAMAICA INN”.

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    • Hi, Jerry. I think there’s no getting away from the fact Hitchcock’s work gained both polish and complexity with the move to Hollywood, which is not take anything away from the successes he enjoyed in the five years or so before leaving Britain.
      I sometimes wonder if some of his British films suffered a bit by being seen for a long time via prints that weren’t in the best shape and so looked a bit creakier than they are in reality. Most of them have been spruced up considerably in the last 10 years or so and I feel that has benefited their reputation somewhat. As for Jamaica Inn, it has grown on me over time, but it has to be said Charles Laughton plays his role with voracity.

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      • When I first saw his great 30s British films they were prints that were in terrible condition. I thought they were wonderful anyway but I can see how a lot of people would have been put off by the muddiness and murkiness of the prints.

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  10. Hitch’s British films seem a tad underrated and overlooked these days to me. Such a shame. The 39 Steps is fantastic and laid the groundwork for the innocent man on the run films like North By Northwest and Saboteur.

    I love Sabotage and Young And Innocent(love that fantastic cut from the woman on the beach going to scream to the screeches of seagulls) too. The Wrong Man is one of his most frightening because it’s real. I think it also features arguably Vera Miles best screen performance.

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    • The pre-Hollywood British movies have been overshadowed for sure, and that’s understandable I think, but they have plenty of fans too and those from The Man Who Knew Too Much, perhaps even from Murder, on are pretty well regarded.
      That’s a good point on The Wrong Man – the fact it is based on real events means that the kind of distancing we can more easily indulge in with entirely fictional stories is harder to achieve.

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    • That’s good to hear. Personally speaking though, 4K is a path I can’t ever see myself going down. My viewing arrangements wouldn’t justify it and if I’m honest I am perfectly satisfied with Blu-ray, and indeed with DVD in the majority of cases.

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      • I agree. Most good Blus are certainly good enough with great picture and sound. Blu and DVD are such an advance on went before that I’m glad I get to enjoy them. I like to pick off 4Ks here and there Kubrick’s films for example and they are really nice. Still Blu is a fab format.

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