Soldier in the Rain... and a favorite femme fatale

I watched Soldier in the Rain (1963) for the second time in my life this week. The initial viewing was on a local New York television station some four decades ago.  I was many things different back then starting with “impressionable” followed by “young”. Soldier in the Rain resonated with me as a soulful vibe back in the long ago… and I discovered that it still does.

The film, based on William Goldman’s novel, comes to life through the wonderful texture of the friendship between the Army lifer, MSgt Maxwell Slaughter, played with seamless verve by Jackie Gleason and the cone-pone, simplistic Sergeant Eustice Clay, portrayed by an amazingly unaffected Steve McQueen.

Clay idolizes Slaughter as the consummate inside operator with the plush air conditioned office complete with executive desk and Pepsi machine.  He would love to emulate his hero, but knows he never can. The naïve Southerner compensates by repeatedly conjuring up get-rich schemes for the pair of them when his hitch is up. If only Maxwell would ditch the stupid Army and join him on the outside, they’ll have it made. Clay’s absurd notions tend make Walter Mitty a pragmatist and his much wiser pal humors him along as he looks forward to hearing about the next screwball idea.

For his part, Slaughter is an ultra-confident sharpie who seems to have his world licked, but inwardly knows he is a lot closer to the end than the beginning. The Army's equivalent of a Zen Master, he becomes distinctly uncomfortable while briefly pondering his future. Letting his guard down for a moment while the two are having ice-cream at the base PX, Slaughter confides, “Eustice, I’ve always been fat. It’s not funny. Do you know what it is like to be the only fat kid on the block? I remember that world and I am not looking forward to joining it again." The naïve Clay doesn’t get it, doesn’t understand that his hero is vulnerable and Slaughter quickly changes the subject as the moment passes. The two men finally agree to meet at an island that Slaughter visited briefly during World War II.   It is the G.I. version of Nirvana. “The women who live there”, enthuses Slaughter as McQueen’s eyes open wider than Peter Lorre’s “wear nothing at all and their breasts… well Eustice, they’re inverted upwards!

Just when you start to wonder what the hell this movie is really about, Bobby Jo Pepperdine, a bodacious Southern belle played by the perfectly-cast Tuesday Weld enters the picture. After a brush with the law involving Bobby Jo and a pair of hardass M.P.s, Eustice decides to fix up his best buddy Maxwell with the teen-aged Bobby Jo on a double date. Gleason, an extraordinarily underrated dramatic actor, is at his best opposite Weld as both of them come to terms that their relationship cannot be sexual- Slaughter is a man with a moral compass- but is nonetheless affectionate. There is a sequence at an amusement park that is wonderfully touching and beautifully played by both actors. Talk about incongruously delightful: Jackie Gleason and Tuesday Weld having a private moment together!  

Although brutal reality and tragedy inevitably intrudes into the relationship between the two soldiers who, aside from the Army, had nothing in common but their friendship, Soldier in the Rain is a sweetly whimsical movie with unusual nobility and charm.

The director of Soldier in the Rain, Ralph Nelson, is a largely forgotten filmmaker. A pioneer of early television- Climax! Studio One Playhouse 90- his transition into feature films in the early 1960’s couldn’t have been more distinguished. Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962), Lillies of the Field (1963), Fate is the Hunter (1964), and Charly (1968) comprise pretty heavy lifting for any director. Add to it, the great Blake Edwards who produced and co-wrote the screenplay with Maurice Richlin. Although Edwards was already busy with The Pink Panther (1964), he believed in Soldier in the Rain enough to give it his all.

To pursue this line of thought: In 1963, Jackie Gleason was still the king of television and although he had been Oscar nominated for The Hustler (1961), his indelible image of comic excess reinforced weekly-“LIVE FROM MIAMI BEACH, IT’S JACKIE GLEASON’S AMERICAN SCENE MAGAZINE!” gained nothing from a dramatic role in a modestly budgeted Allied Artists production.   

Clearly The Great One believed in Soldier in the Rain as did Steve McQueen who was red-hot coming off of The Great Escape. Unfortunately, timing means both everything and nothing. Soldier in the Rain was released on 27 November 1963; five days after the assassination of President Kennedy. No one was thinking about movies or much of anything after November 22^nd. Soldier in the Rain quickly disappeared from public view.  

So I was pleasantly surprised to discover Soldier in the Rain had been recently reissued in DVD via the Warners Archive Collection.  Something that always stayed with me from when I originally saw the film was Gleason responding to McQueen’s salutation of “See you later Maxwell” with, “Until that time, Eustice, until that time.”  I am glad that this particular time…and film has come back around to me again.

Speaking about the Warner’s Archive, another notable film that hit the street this month from WB that was previously available only via TCM and bootleg DVDs is The Woman on Pier 13 (1949) aka I Married a Communist. I am fond of this movie and screened it at two different festivals over the last several years. Produced at RKO by the redoubtable Howard Hughes, whose hatred for Commies-domestic, foreign and reputed-was legendary, The Woman on Pier 13 is more than a Red Scare period curiosity piece.

Although the film’s premise that the threat of domestic Communism was personified by a gang of waterfront gangsters led by Thomas Gomez and William Talman (his film debut, btw) is patently absurd, The Woman on Pier 13 plays extremely well. The entertainment value is principally due to the triangle between the angst ridden Robert Ryan, an appealing Laraine Day and one of my favorite noir fatales, Janice Carter. Carter, who seduces Ryan’s brother (John Agar) into becoming a fellow traveler, primarily labored in the trenches of the Columbia “B” unit playing a series of tawdry, backstabbing waitresses, models and nightclub chanteuses.

Metaphorically speaking, if femme fatales were hotels, Stanwyck and Crawford might be the Ritz Carlton, but Janice Carter is Courtyard by Marriott; always credible, dependable and frequently underrated. Carter’s sexy élan really makes The Woman on Pier 13 go.

A Worthy Charity Prize: Dinner with Eva Marie Saint!

Eva Marie Saint and her husband, documentary filmmaker Jeffrey Hayden, have made a donation to have dinner with a lucky contributor to the Children's Neurobiological Solutions research foundation at http://www.cnsfoundation.org/site/PageServer  A worthy cause and a nice gesture by a great star.

Here are the details. http://www.charitybuzz.com/auctions/cns2009/catalog_items/108217

Philip Yordan... The Rest of the Story

In addition to my article about Phil Yordan, (here's a link to the Film Noir Foundation website, http://www.filmnoirfoundation.org/), here are some other interesting details gleaned from my research about Yordan:

Claimed to have watched every movie with Jean Gabin who served as a model for his Western characters in Anthony Mann’s movies.

Believed that The Bravados wasn’t successful because director, Henry King, was too old.

Wanted to use the standing sets from Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) for something called, Luke the Magnificent for $1million from Paramount but Samuel Bronston turned him down.

His approach toward Joan Crawford to convince her about the script revisions on Johnny Guitar: “I’ll do anything you want. Anything you want, I gotta do”

During his glory days with Samuel Bronston, Yordan lived in a Paris apartment that had 28 foot ceilings in a 2 story complex at the foot of Avenue Victor Hugo.

Originally tried to cast Richard Burton as Jesus in King of Kings (1961), but after having trouble with his agent, used the $200,000 ticketed for Burton to cast all eight principal actors except the title role that ended up going to Jeffrey Hunter.

Yordan on Method Acting:

“If you asked a New York actor to sit during a scene, he would ask ‘Why’? ‘Why should I sit down?” I’m standing. What is my motivation to sit down’ I cured that by telling the asshole if he stood and the other actor sat we couldn’t get both of their faces in a close shot”.

Producer Sam Bischoff:

“Nice fella, but this is a guy that should be running a bookie joint”.

Yordan and the King Brothers

Frank King was like a “300 pound Chinaman with a fresh cigar between his lips and his file desk drawer was filled with chocolate peanut Hershey bars. He was puzzled why he was overweight. Maurice King had an undistinguished career as a pugilist and subsisted principally on black coffee.”

“The rumor persisted that they were gangsters. They weren’t, but they did own a string of slot machines. If they had any other illegal enterprises, I never found out about it.”

“I had to repeat my offer to Mama King in Boyle Heights when I asked for a cash advance to live on. She had to approve each film. She treated me like the fourth King Brother (God, help them).”

About his long term friend and colleague, Bernard Gordon:

“Had Bernie been given a proper budget, I truly believe he could have been a vital force in cinema”

On screenwriting:

“Do not drown your script with endless dialogue and long speeches. Every question does not call for a response. Whenever you can express an emotion with a silent gesture, do so. Once you poise the question permit it to linger before you get a reply. Or better yet, perhaps the character cannot reply, he or she has no answer. This permits the unspoken response to hang in midair’.

“Don’t let an actor pull a gun or knife without using it”

About himself:

“I guess I was a whore whose services were always in need”.

Robert Ryan Centennial Tribute At the Egyptian

 

Please join me at the Egyptian Thetre on Wednesday November 11th for a Centennial Birthday Tribute to the great Robert Ryan. The American Cinematheque will be screening two of Ryan's best films, The Set-Up (1949) and The Naked Spur (1952). I will introduce the screenings with Ryan's daughter, Lisa and the one and only... Marsha Hunt in attendance.

For information on ticket prices and other details on the screening, please open this link
http://www.americancinematheque.com/archive1999/2009/Egyptian/specialevent_NOV_ET_2009.htm#THE%20SET-UP

 

Celebration of a life well lived... and a new tome

My initial shock about director/producer Arnold Laven's death last month has morphed into regret and appreciation.  Regret for only knowing him for slightly under a year and appreciation for the brief time we spent together talking about his career and the movies..

After attending a celebration of his life at Arnold's residence today, I was awed with the outpouring of genuine love for a man who literally spent his life giving of himself to his friends and family. Yes, there were some of his old television and movie friends present; Dick Van Patten, Dennis Dugan and Johnny Crawford who spoke movingly of his close relationship with Arnold that began with multiple auditions for The Rifleman. However, many of Arnold's friends have nothing to do with show biz. There were his old tennis buddies,(for many years, Arnold ran the Arnold Laven Memorial Tennis Tournament at his place every Memorial Day Weekend) there was the guy who had the locker next to him at the health club, his CPA, old friends from his days in the 1st Moton Picture Unit, neighbors in Encino along with the sons and daughters of old friends who had passed on and looked upon Arnold as a surrogate Uncle or Father.

Everyone spoke of Arnold's humility, his righteous  love for his wife and family, an unabashed zeal for all things living (he would stop a tennis game to have everyone observe a squirrel) and generosity of spirit about everything.  Although I only knew Arnold more than slightly, every moment rang true. Arnold was one of those rare people who could converse about any subject and was interested in everyone else. A microphone was passed around and everybody had an opportunity to remember what Arnold Laven meant to them. It was joyfully moving. We sat next to a young man that Arnold and his wife virtually adopted and raised as a grandson. In addition to Arnold's sister and his daughter and son, I chatted with an old Army buddy of Arnold's who grew up on the Universal backlot and was an extra in The Bride of Frankenstein.  There were so many other nice people and they were all there for Arnold. 

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the presence of  99 year old Arthur Gardner, now the last surviving member of Hollywood's most enduring production partnership of  Levy- Gardner- Laven. The three of them had  a handshake agreement for over a half a century and that was all that was necessary.  Arthur remains in amazing shape for his age- walking around kibitzing with a glass in his hand- with his son confiding to me that he finally took his car keys away only last year.

Arthur was much grieved for his friend and said that "Arnold was the artistic one, Jules was the business end and I was themin-between." They just don't make them like Arnold anymore. R.I.P Arnold Laven, a very good man.

Here's a link to my interview with Arnold that dates back to 2008 and was published this year. I have more of Arnold Laven on tape talking about workingwith William Wyler on The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) , the Rifleman etc. Will have to get all that great stuff out into some sort of piece soon.

http://www.filmnoirfoundation.org/arnoldlaven.pdf

On another note, I recently read Gregory Mank's new tome, Karloff and Lugosi: The Expanded Story of A Haunting Collaboration  that is coming out next month from McFarland. The word, "tome" is appropriate. You can put the dumbbells in storage and do arm-curls with this book! It is a massive, lavishly illustrated volume that, once dipped into, provides immediate CPR from the hefty $75 cover price. Mank, a renowned film historian and accomplished author,  made this particular volume an obsessive crusade  over several decades. The sheer number of interviews encompassed  from the original 1990 book along with this major revision is simply amazing. I stopped counting at 63 distinct personages many who appeared in the original Universal Horrors films with the legendarystars. To do this book justice, the  "expanded story" equates to an entirely new book.  Mank's book is about much more than a collaboration; it is a wonderfully synthesized biography of both men and the final word about many of their famous films along with details about their complex personal lives. 

If you are a horror film buff or simply love the minutaie of vintage Hollywood, Karloff and Lugosi is a must.