Let it SNOW!!

The next see-for-free Christmas flick? 

SNOW

For the next week you can check out this movie at ABC Family's website for their 25 Days of Christmas Celebration. Cheesy? Yeah, but not without it's delightful little holiday moments. It's nothing we haven't seen before but it's worth a look. 

Synopsis 

In a modern retelling of the Santa Claus legend, Nick Snowden reluctantly takes over the family business. As if that wasn't pressure enough, with only three days before the big night, one of Nick's young reindeer is captured and taken to a zoo. Not only must Nick rescue Buddy-the-reindeer in time to complete his Christmas deliveries, he has to do it before the young buck learns to fly and the zoo realizes what its got. In the course of his adventures, Nick touches the lives of those at a boarding house including Sandy and eight-year-old-Hector. As only a true innocent can do, Nick tries to bring back the spirit of Christmas they lost long ago. Nick rescues Buddy, brings holiday hope to the boarding house residents, and in the process, finds his true love.

Design

For this movie I'm going to focus on the set design and special effects design. There are several parts of the movie that call for visual effects, flying reindeer for one. In this version of the santa legend santa doesn't travel by chimney, he travels by mirror. This was done mostly through camera tricks, but when the visual effects were used, they weren't bad. They weren't necessarily good, but this is a see-for-free movie. 

Most of the sets looked incredibly underdone, but I had my favorites. The best design was the main character, Sandy's, room. The subtle use of red and green was pleasant. I'm the super-fan of using great wall paper to spice up a set and I often think the right wall paper can raise the production value of a film. This was clearly the thinking of Marion Pon, the Art Director. I felt a kindred spirit in the design and for that I make this another Tell movie! 

Santa Claus Conquers the Martins!

So, for this See-for-free holiday movie blog I found a B-movie gem that is sure to get a reaction (what that reaction is depends heavily on your love or hate for movies of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 kind)

 I've been waiting to reveal weather the designs of these movies are Kitsch or Tell, until I've given a little insight into why I feel the way I do... but I don't think it's hard to guess that this movie is Kitsch. So, if you're into this science-fiction genre and want a little holiday cheer, this movie can be watched here totally free of charge. 

Classic
Even though there are hundreds of B-movies that cross genres, the kung-fu/horror, the sci-fi/western, or the mockumentary... I think this film took the genre blending a little too literally, and I'm shocked to say that it was a full two hours in running time. Directed by Nicholas Webster, this film takes you into two worlds that have been explored many different times... Mars and The North Pole. Santa doesn't actually conquer the Martians, but like the true American he is, he does set up Christmas for Martians to enjoy every year.

Design
Maurice Gordon was the Art Director, and he had his hands full with this jolly flick. Gordon had a very brief career in the sixties (he art directed only one other television episode after this) but who's to say this guy isn't a one hit wonder of film? Well, I think I might. This little picture to the right shows you just

about everything you'll get out of this film. His martians harken back to one of my all time favorite B-movies, The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T, but fall short after you have a look at them for more than a minute or two.
I wanted to love this design, because I am a huge fan of movies like this and I think the aesthetic of said films are lost on a modern audience and therefor don't get made by a money hungry film industry. I have to say though, that there was one amazing moment in the piece and it was the archival footage they used! (I'm pretty sure it was the footage used in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. 
Check It Out!
If you don't have time to watch the whole movie... you should defiantly check out this review... it says everything you'll need to know about Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.  

Benji's Very Own Christmas Story

This movie is featured on Hulu for the Holidays. Made in 1978, this short film was nominated for a Primetime Emmy. I was never a Benji fan and I wasn't sure if I wanted to give this little short a chance to make the list. Two minutes in - I knew I'd be watching the whole movie. This version of Santa ended up being something I never could have imagined. There is a crazy musical number " Multiplicity: I am what people think of me" that is a movie oddity I won't be able to forget any time soon.

Also one of my favorite actor's of all time Deep Roy makes a brief appearance as an elf and it was incredible! This movie is a bizarre little nugget of history nestled away in web 2.0.

Synopsis 
This TV special was directed by long-time Benji entrepreneur Joe Camp. When Benji leads her human pals on a journey to the North Pole, loveable old Santa shows them how different cultures celebrate Christmas. And yes, they discuss the "True Meaning" of the Holiday. - Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide 


Design 

Harlan Wright was the production designer for the project. Wright worked on several Benji short films, but never worked on any other shows. There is only a limited amount of information available about this movie considering it's limited significance and the fact that it was shot over thirty years ago. I found the design to be refreshing for a short and I thought that the interesting ideas of the film were well supported by the design. This Santa was a Kris Kringle/Santa Claus combination character and throughout the movie he adorned different culture's wardrobes. 

In the scene to the left his two wardrobe elves needles and pins bring out my favorite prop of the film: a huge book with all of Santa's cultural stylings. It's a strange moment in the film, but the book is fantastic. I thought the scene in the CEPAC center was also incredibly original. The design was futuristic for the late seventies, but feels so dated now. I think those designs are fabulous. They make a comment about the time period they were made in without consciously meaning to. That's what I liked most about this entire design. There were so

many dated yet really original ideas. 
Multiplicity 
Santa's wardrobe global wardrobe changes were the most stereotypical parts of the film and most of them took place during the Multiplicity song and dance scene. This scene actually had a few truly terrifying moments but justified why itself in terms of why they were showing these different sides of Santa... 

Kitsch or Tell? 


This film made an educational statement that I respect. The design was well thought out and incredibly telling of the time it was made. I think the scenes were all quirky and fun. Despite a few terrifying moments out of Kris Kringle, I think the charm of the piece could be found in the design. This is my first Tell movie of the Christmas season!! 

Christmas Cheers!

Now that I have a new approach to this personal blog, I have decided to get into the Christmas spirit by bringing you five christmas movies that you can See-for-Free this Holiday Season! 


The Most Wonderful Time of the Year 



The Most Wonderful Time of the Year - Inside Story - Free videos are just a click away


The Hallmark Channel has been showing this Christmas movie for free on it's website as a part of it's Countdown to Christmas celebration. I actually checked this movie out at my local redbox!

Synopsis 
A modern-day female Scrooge gets a taste of Christmas romance in this family film from the Hallmark Channel. Jennifer (Brooke Burns) is a stressed-out single mom whose holiday spirit is awakened when her eccentric uncle Ralph (Henry Winkler) comes for a visit and brings along a handsome stranger, Morgan (Warren Christie), who was stranded at the airport. - Sandra Bencic, All Movie Guide

Design
The concept of the design behind this made-for-tv christmas special was undeniably flat. This could have been due to the budget or the quick shooting schedule but that's what makes these kinds movies more fun to sift through... when a design really "pops" it's nearly a sure sign of something magical brewing. I love christmas movies, even the made-for-tv flavor and Peter Andringa , the Production Designer, was nominated for a Leo Award in 2007 for his work on Everything's Gone Green. He was also the Art Director of a few Fringe episodes (that look pretty amazing). Andringa's set dresser, Dave Paddon, has worked on crews since the mid nineties, never really breaking in to anything other than the made-for-tv scene. So what went wrong with The Most Wonderful Time of the Year? Let's take a look:

Frame Real Estate

This is the opening shot of the movie. Typically, designs should set up the expectation from the first frame on screen. There will realistically always be low scenes and cover sets that have to be accounted for in low budget movies but this shot should have said it all. They invested in a crane shot for this opening! If they are putting that much money into the execution of the shot, why not do the same with the set design?
What we end up seeing is a two dimensional use of space at best and a devastatingly dark, unbalanced frame at worst. The uniform and slightly boring white lights set up the neighborhood and play a small role later in the movie but it's unbelievable that Paddon and his team only decorated the faces of the houses. Without even so much as a candle in the windows to add a little balance to the frame, this shot pales in comparison to the potential Andringa has shown in his body of work so far.

Once a Dreamer 

Andringa may not be an advocate of the opening sequence "pop" I referred to, but he does have a way with his dream sequences. This scene was my absolute favorite in the film. Andringa and Paddon created a really exciting contrast that had a sophisticated sensibility. In the midst of all the yule-tide-romance blather, this scene is a diamond in the rough. The room where they sit is hallow and lifeless. There are

little details that sell this dream-like idea. The color scheme is incredibly strict, dominate by tones of white, this piece uses only deeply saturated  reds and very delicate hues of green. This contrast is key to the scene's concept. It makes things disproportional and unrealistic. This santa clause (the only representation in the film) is also fantastic. The small details make this character work: his missing beard and goatee replacement, the lack of a collar under his jacket, and his disheveled appearance. Jennifer's

outfit adds to the dream sequence. The oversized collar and silver pendant give her look an outdated feel. Her hairstyle harkens back to the fifties new wave up-do . Even her shoes look to be fifties inspired. With the all white table decked in deep red tones her costume contrast works well in the scene. Each piece of the frame is used by the art team to instill one idea: This is a sophisticated Christmas nightmare. Uncle Ralph makes a charming exception to the rule and though there

is no explanation as to why the designers choose to deviate from the color palette for his character, I find it a delightful quirk in the design. His orange patterned argyle sweater and bow tie combination should stick out like a sore thumb but in this sequence it makes nonsense, dream logic sense. This is clearly a strong collaborative moment for Andringa's team... it's just sad that the film has to right back to undeveloped (and under-designed) scenes like this:

Kitsch or Tell? 
This Holiday design has a few interesting attempts, but I have to say you get what you pay for. This free holiday movie lacks the design cheer that it needs to sustain the even weaker plot points. I'm making this movie the first on my winter Kitsch list.

If you still want to check it out... click here. ( I mean who can turn down a free Christmas movie?)

THANKS!!

After reading some criticism about my blog, I have to say I feel truly grateful. John's insights were extremely helpful and I realized the error of my ways. I considered each film I watched as an opportunity to dissect the film material in an academic way. In other words... I was stuck in film school.

My New Media Blog always seemed to come a bit easier, because strangely I felt like I had more freedom to make mistakes... no matter how dumb they seemed. But picking films as my blog topic was maybe a little too weighty given the fact that I write academically about them all the time. I need to step back and see if I can get at me strengths... I enjoy writing (partly why I didn't understand my struggle with blogging) and I know a little insider gossip about the world of Production Design in film. Maybe I can marry my two passions and make my blog a little more personal and a little less "academically structured".

Thanks John... If you ever check out my blog again (although I would understand why there would be no need) I appreciate your honesty! It really helped me connect some dots!

The Pale Man

** New approach. Taking a look at things through my perspective.**

Synopsis

Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth is a gritty fairytale piece set in post-war Spain. It follows young Ofelia (Ivana Baquero)  as her stepfather, Capitan Vidal (Sergi Lopez) , terrorizes the rebels. Ofelia fights to save her mother and unborn brother by completing tasks given to her by the mythical fawn, Pan(Doug Jones). After her mother dies, Ofelia sacrifices herself for her brother and becomes a princess in a fantasy world. Pan’s Labyrinth

is a deeply layered film with stunning visuals and an intricately formed environment. Eugenio Caballero and Pilar Revuelta won the Oscar for bringing Del Toro's vision to life on screen through production design and art direction. Their collaborative effort was meticulous, artistic, and imaginative. Through their art, they take an inaccessible world and make it a hyper-realistic experience for the viewer.

The Pale Man's Den 
“The one who gorged on excess was banished to a den in the netherworld... He kept a watchful eye on a dagger… Once the blade was removed he collapsed unto himself and faded from existence.”(The Pale Man’s Legend) Del Toro drops twelve-year-old Ofelia into this den to complete the task of retrieving the Pale Man’s dagger. Beautifully capturing the era, this scene addresses all the themes of the film. As Ofelia works towards a right of passage, the boundaries between reality and fantasy fall away. The visual motifs comment on the connection between deviant behavior and a child’s imaginative ability to create monsters to explain that behavior. 

Ofelia's Room 
Upon arrival, Ofelia is instantly at odds with her natural world and retreats by reading a book of fairytales that come to life before her eyes. The color palette of her new room is shaded in blues, greens, and grays denoting a cold impersonal place. The sparseness suggests that it was furnished out of efficacy

 not embellishment. Despite the fact that Captain Vidal has money, he chooses to live in a world of strict utility. In a room with unconventionally high walls and low furniture, she is always placed in the lower third of the frame to subtly put forward the notion of submission. Ofelia is forced to reside in Vidal’s home and by extension she is confronted with a new set of values.
Concept and Construction 
When Ofelia’s book animates itself, the color palette from the fantasy world bleeds into her reality. Reds, golds, and browns fill the empty page demonstrating the dramatic contrast between her reality and the

fantasy world she is about to enter. She follows the magical instructions, drawing a door on the wall with magic chalk and when it opens an enchanted world is revealed.  The warm tones of the fantasy world are embryonic.  This is a direct reflection of Ophelia’s subconscious. Her young brother is about to be born and her mother falls ill. This threatens two lives that she deeply cares about. The color palette and shapes are uterine like her mother’s belly. They have 

biological and intimate connotations for Ofelia and the viewer.The contrast between worlds is showcased as soon as Ophelia enters the Pale Man’s chamber. She climbs into the entryway on a small wooden chair from her room, immediately creating a sharp distinction between reality and fantasy. The fantasy world is incredibly organic. Tree-like columns rooted in a red-checkered floor support the cavernous lair. Lights in the ceiling represent the lunar cycle. 

Monsters and Men
The first sight of the Pale Man sitting at his banquet table is extravagant. It is a direct replica of Vidal’s kitchen table in an earlier scene, making a strong comparison between the evil actions he commits, and the manifestation of a monster in Ofelia’s mind. The Pale Man sits motionless at the head of the table on a blood red throne. This visually establishes the monster’s power while comparing him to Vidal. Both characters are two-dimensional representations of malevolence. This is yet another visual representation of the link between Ofelia’s subconscious and her fantasy world. The fireplace behind the monster is a direct replica of his likeness. It

mirrors his eyeless face and gaunt jaw. The fireplace increases his menacing presence in the shot. The key light in the scene comes from directly above the monster causing harsh shadows and immediately denotes danger. The dome above the monster’s head displays hieroglyphic paintings of the monster throwing, stabbing, and eating small children. The images link the evil creatures inner workings with an ancient tradition. Each image is a more threatening foreshadowing of his capabilities. The paintings reveal the Pale Man’s evil nature while giving the chamber a sense of timelessness.
Brutal Disobedience 
As she leaves, she admires the beautiful feast placed before the Pale Man. The table is filled with ham, red gelatin, grapes, and wine.  Each treat is a dark temptation. The camera slowly pans across the feast and as the movement pauses the monster’s long pointed fingers are revealed motionless on both sides of 

a gold platter that holds two eyeballs. Against Pan’s warning she eats one small grape. The monster comes to life. This act of deviance shows Ofelia’s need to rebel against authority as she finds her place in adulthood. Rebellion in her fantasy world results in a near death experience and visually mirrors her entire coming of age experience, while referencing another commonly used mythological device. The Pale Man puts the eyes into the slits in his hands and advances towards Ofelia. 

He cannot see unless his hands are immobilized. This is an outward visual of the monster’s half-life curse. He stumbles and staggers giving the impression he hasn’t walked in several lifetimes. 


Sights for Sore Eyes

It took over six hours of make-up to get the pale man to look like the monster he does in the picture above. Dave Jones, who also played Pan the Fawn, was also the Pale man. He often had to wear the suit for thirteen hours a day. I'm sure things looked a little different from his perspective, but I must say... it was worth the effort. 

No Country: 2nd Installment

In No Country for Old Men there is a strange juxtaposition between what can’t be seen and what can’t be heard. The door creaks as Chigurh enters Moss' hotel room in the infamous battle scene, but the viewer never sees the door open. He turns the air valve on his captive pistol but his weapon is never seen. Chigurh is never visually in the scene but his presence is still strong. Conversely, what can’t be heard is equally unsettling. Only Chigurh’s footsteps can be heard. He is never heard breathing and when he gets shot he doesn’t even grunt. In each case the same unnerving feeling is achieved.

            The film is a  textbook example of how to use sound. Each element deals with loudness, pitch, and timber. The Coen brothers eliminate speech and music from most of the clip and strip it down to an intense use of noise. The mixing is perceptive. The overall feel is achieved in an intense and artistic way. All of the sounds are diagetic and it improves the overall believability. The attention to detail heightens the quality of the film. It is meticulous in every way. It is never underwhelming even though it is often very bare bones. No Country for Old Men is a superb example of how to successfully and artistically use sound in film. 

New Approach: A Turning Point

Sadly, I didn't consider the fact that I would eventually run out of Nicholas Ray films to watch. So now instead of focusing on one director I'll use a couple of blogs a week to dive into films that have caught my attention. 

This Week: No Country For Old Men... The Sound of Perfection

In No Country for Old Men, the Coen Brothers are clearly genius in their attention to detail. The entire film is a masterpiece and the sound design is nearly perfect in my opinion. Even the weakest scene in the film still holds up under scrutiny. Each scene has several interesting sound motifs. The two main characters weapons’ have motifs. The sound of flies always accompanies death. Each character has a wind motif as well. It uses over 40 sound bridges in scene transitions alone. I thought the use of sound to aid editing was clever and it took the film to a higher level. The film also employs a strong sound perspective. It's always heard from the viewer’s POV. It was delicately and realistically done.

Even though they never actually share any screen time, there is an electric scene where the two main characters have an incredible exchange. Anton Chigurh played by Javier Bardem is a hired assassin who finally meets up with Llewellyn Moss (Josh Brolin) because there is a transponder in the two million dollars he stole from a Mexican drug deal gone bad. In the scene Chigurh has a shotgun with a silencer and a captive bolt pistol (an air tank and hose that shoots out a small metal disc and sucks it back in.) Moss’ only weapon is a shotgun.

The design of this scene is an interesting look at complexity vs. simplicity. Even though something relatively simple happens in the clip, forty-three different diagetic sounds are heard and there are over eighty different sound transitions. In this clip the wind motifs for both characters meet for the first time. The fidelity of the clip doesn’t hold up, but it works nevertheless. The gun's clicking, the wind, the lock hitting the ground, and the sound of the trigger are louder than they would be in reality but the shotgun blast is much quieter. These little details become one intense scene that is full of a tension I've never experienced before in the movies...

Where will it go from here?

Resentful Romantic: Bitches Together (Part 2)

Ray takes the characters to the brink of sanity before he drops them off the ledge to their cinematic ends. Each woman has a physical breaking moment. When Christabel lies about her Aunt Clara (Virginia Farmer) who is deathly sick, the tone of the entire film changes. The audience becomes aware that they are watching Christabel’s whole world unravel because of her desire for revenge. Christabel spends the final part of the film scrambling to regain the control she lost. She is frenzied and manic, leaving phone messages, writing notes, and otherwise leaving incriminating evidence for every lie she tells. In the end, Christabel simply fades out of the limelight and is forgotten by the people she worked so hard to control.

            Emma faces a similar demise. When she storms the saloon and Turkey (Ben Cooper) is killed, the tone becomes instantly grave. Once again there is audience awareness about the plight of this character. She is spinning out of control and the result is bloody. Ray’s blocking is masterful as Emma leads the townsfolk to aggressively attack Vienna. When they begin to question her mania, Emma leans against a tree and starts spewing any slander that comes into her head. She looks unsure, trying to convince herself more than any one else, that Vienna is a threat to their way of life. She becomes more and more angry as the mob surrounds her. Using the tree as a defense post she tries keeping the men at a distance. Unable to convince them to commit her crime, she has to take on Vienna alone and pays with her life. 

            Ray portrays both of these women as opposites of the same tragic charter. Emma and Christabel are incapable of experiencing the fulfillment they are so desperate for, and though they deal with it differently, the result is the same. Ray has a clear point of view about this kind of woman and it is seen repeatedly in his work. His use of blocking, beats, and style make his opinions visible to the viewer. He uses each of these films to explore the darker side of this archetype and it reads brilliantly in both films.

The Resentful Romantic: Bitches Together

Nicholas Ray explores two sides of the resentful romantic through Born to be Bad’s Christabel Caine Carey (Joan Fontaine) and Johnny Guitar’s Emma Small (Mercedes McCambridge). Though these characters dwell in different cinematic circumstances, they have conspicuously similar characteristics. Both women are obsessed with revenge, devoted to their villainous ways, and motivated by their sexual frustrations. Ray’s directing style draws distinct parallels between these women. Through his creative use of blocking, meticulous attention to beats, and unique stylistic touches, Ray creates intriguingly comparable nuances in these women.
Synopsis: 

In Johnny Guitar, Emma Small is hell-bent on destroying Vienna (Joan Crawford). Emma is hopelessly in love with Dancin’ Kid (Scott Brady) and can’t stand the fact that Vienna receives all his attention. The entire film centers on Emma’s vicious revenge attempts. She stops at nothing in her pursuit and because of this singular devotion she ends up in a shootout that she can’t win. Born to be Bad focuses on Christabel Caine’s deceitful neurosis. Her inability to be honest with herself drives each of her malicious actions. Under the guise of a soft-spoken do-gooder, Christabel infiltrates a group of upper class socialites and subsequently destroys each of their lives by pursuing her misguided attempts at self-fulfillment. Christabel ruthlessly sacrifices all of her meaningful relationships and in the end loses any chance at being truly fulfilled.

Old Ways: 
Both Christbael and Emma radiate a false confidence and almost always appear uncomfortable with the men they have true feelings for. Both women frequently share the frame with a multitude of male characters that hinge on their every move. Ray depicts these women as one-step-ahead until they reach the apex of their deception and maliciousness. Both Emma and Christabel have physically apparent breaking moments, become frenzied and manic shortly after they are exposed, and end their quests on a tragic note (death in Emma’s case, and the loss of Nick Bradley Christabel’s case.)

In Born to be Bad, Ray portrays Christabel Caine as falsely confident through carefully crafted beats. She always has her self-assured look fade just after the other character buys into her deception. When Curtis (Zachery Scott) has second thoughts about Donna (Joan Leslie) in the jewelry store, Christabel has a momentary look of fear and excitement slide across her face. Blocking plays into this moment because Curtis is directly behind Christabel examining the larger jewelry piece as Christabel reveals her true self to the camera. The tension created on screen is electric and Ray follows a similar pattern every time Christabel lies. She displays complete confidence in her falsehood, leans into a physical assertion of her presence, displays a quick glimmer of fear/relief, and the pattern begins again.

True Romance: 
Ray uses a completely different approach when he portrays Emma Small as falsely confident. Christabel was soft and seemingly innocent; Emma is aggressive, loud and fiery. Emma displays a similar pattern of manipulation, but when she lies her aggressiveness tries to mimic truthfulness. In the first saloon scene Vienna (Joan Crawford) calls her out for her feelings about Dancin’ Kid. When confronted, Emma spits fire, fixes piercing glares on Vienna, and even goes as far a curling up her fists. Ray elevates these attributes in Emma every time Vienna evades her grasp. Her level of intolerance rises to epic proportions and Ray’s use of blocking plays right into that emotion. Moving to the forefront of nearly every frame she occupies, Emma becomes a brutal and threatening force.

Emma is always seen leading a gaggle of townsfolk followers. This large group, comprised completely of males, hinges on her every move.  Even Marshall Williams (Frank Ferguson) takes a sidekick role in her headhunt. He is always seen on her left, nodding in ready agreement and taking cues about whom he should keep his eyes on. These men not only rally around Emma but they also get swept up in her power. Much like Christabel, Emma has a strange and unexplainable control over men.

            Christabel is always in the spotlight with men. Gobby (Mel Ferrer) spends hours and hours painting her in his studio. When he’s not painting her he’s helping her decorate for events, coaching her with life advice, or dropping by for mid-morning drinks. Nick Robert Ryan) seems to wine and dine her nearly every night. Carey, a man who is happily engaged, takes her ring shopping, accompanies her to events, and goes out of his way to make her feel comfortable and accepted. Christabel is always seen balancing this attention from men. She nearly always shares the frame with a male character and often makes some physical connection with them. Even when she wants something from her Uncle, she turns on the charm and gets what she wants.

            
New Love: 
The only time Christabel is ever portrayed as uncomfortable is when she is around Nick (the telling sign of a resentful romantic). He may be the only person she has true feelings for and she rejects this happiness. Ray brilliantly uses this opposite to great effect. In the opening scene Christabel thinks Nick is an intruder. The blocking of the scene displays her discomfort. She can’t see him behind the refrigerator door, then she caters to him like a housewife would (handing him salt and pepper), then she becomes frustrated with his arrogance. This foreshadows their entire relationship. Later when she sits in the car with Nick after a date, she literally walks away from him as he opens up to her. She knows what they have isn’t genuine and Ray shows this depth through her actions. When she tries reasoning her way around cheating on Curtis, she grows increasingly more agitated and uncomfortable when Nick tries to get an honest answer from her. Her trigger between intimate and aggressive is sensitive and it only takes the slightest change to flip it.

            Ray uses this same opposite for Emma. Her feelings for Dancin’ Kid are obvious, but her role as the resentful romantic keeps from being able to express those desires. In the opening sequence she has a brief dance with the Dancin’ Kid and her face looks nearly terrified. She uncomfortably participates in the dance and becomes more aggressive once those feelings are stirred inside her. Vienna points out Emma’s discomfort with her sexuality and Emma’s reaction is chilling. Her face contorts with fury and her glares become frighteningly intense. When Dancin’ Kid enters the saloon later the look on Emma’s face is revealing. Partially because of the quick edit, it leaves the impression that she is hopelessly in love and mentally disturbed by the feelings.

Rebel Without a Cause: Examination and Action

Iconism: An Examination 

Having seen this film multiple times before, I had a very different take on it then I do with most Ray films. The newness was gone and I started to feel myself slipping into that critical phase of movie watching that is uncomfortable and inappropriate. I was fighting the urge nitpick, when something amazing happened. As James Dean was walking off screen someone in the front row was scooting out of the theater in step with him. He looked nearly identical to James Dean: Leather Jacket, slicked hair, and simple t-shirt. He even hunched over in a similar manner. The film instantly took on a new life. Are we a generation, unintentionally shaped by the iconism of former celebrity? I started watching the film as if it were the first time, as if it were a new exploration of pop culture in our generation. The implications were startling. Could Ray have known that he was orchestrating the sentiments of generations for decades to come? When Jim fights against his parents’ ideals, when he labors to make sense of their conflicting attitudes, he taps into an undying sentiment in youth culture. What does it all mean? He screams the line, “You’re tearing me apart!” and though it isn’t always articulated so melodramatically, people can relate to the extreme anxiety that Dean is expressing. 

A Personal View: Consumerism 

I continued watching as if the film were some encrypted message from the past, beckoning us to take our lives more seriously and see the traps that our predecessors were setting for us. How long before we all simply concede to the mentality that is marketed to us every day? How long before our consumerism eats us up? How much more of this can we tolerate as a society? Who is right? Who is wrong?  

Buzz: A Man of Action 

“We have to do something right?” Buzz Gunderson, played by Corey Allen poses the question coolly as he hops into his last joyride. Our generation could learn a thing or two (or three, or more) from this exchange. It isn’t about pacifism; it’s about getting to the root of the problem and doing something it about. It’s about feeling alive; it’s about regaining control. Buzz chose to aggravate, agitate, instigate and otherwise push the people around him to maddening limits. Without this accelerating personality he felt he might fall into the masses of pacifists who have lost a sense of worth. 


Meaning: Rebel Without Cause
What was Ray saying to the fifties generation? It’s clear that he wanted the youth culture of the time to be the next movers and shakers. It’s clear that he couldn’t help but be one himself. What can we, as a modern audience, take from these intimate moments? What was Nick Ray really trying to say? I’ll apply it to the standard of living that we adhere to today. I’ll look at it in terms of one man’s quest to explore his inner struggles and in doing so I’ll look at my own. Ray’s power of persuasion is impressive and I think that if we all look closely we can find that rebellion in all of us.

The Lusty Men: And Women

Epic Is as Epic Does 

This film has some fantastically exciting moments. I’ve become more and more  eager to watch the next film in Ray’s body of work because it’s like going on an Easter  egg hunt. After wading through conventions (no matter how delightful) there are  moments of genius nestled into places where I least expect it. Knowing that there was no  script, so to speak, it is both interesting and intriguing that this felt like one of Ray’s most  streamlined and complete films. The story was unusually focused and the depth of the  characters was fantastic.     Dreams: With Robert Mitchum

Robert Mitchum is a gem. Jeff McCloud is one of Ray’s most hopelessly romantic characters. There are so many delicate moments in a character that is so ragged. The way  that McCloud is always seen as removed and distanced is not as stereotypical as the lone cowboy character is often portrayed. He has a decisive demeanor that is constantly  planning and plotting. It keeps from being entirely lost and vulnerable and opens his character up to have more intimate moments. 
Badass Babe: You Win Some You Win Some

Susan Hayward has, in my opinion, has the best moment of the film. When she walks into the bar to save her marriage, there is a sense of empowerment in her character that fills the whole scene and steals the show. When she dumps her drink on (Babs?)  head, there was an audible reaction from the crowd. This is a rare moment in film when  people can’t contain themselves. It’s exciting and encompasses the feelings I have about  these “Ray moments.”  Arthur Kennedy has a fantastic transformation. It’s obvious from the conception of his scheme that he’s inviting hi own downfall, but it doesn’t make it any less interesting to watch. It’s great that you want to see him succeed in the competition even though that means he’s contributing to his own demise. From beginning to end this movie is great. It has a really streamlined plot, great  performances and is decidedly one of my favorite Ray films.  

On Dangerous Ground: Almost Horror(ble)

FIRST AND SECOND THOUGHTS: 

Blind girls and bad cops will always have a place in cinema. Should they fall in love in a snowy mountain cabin? I’m sadly going to have to say no. This film felt very short and incredibly devoid of character. I am a huge Robert Ryan fan but I felt like his character was completely lost in this film. Ida Lupino is a much better actress than this film would lead you to believe. I just can’t help but point a finger at Nicholas Ray and ask, “What happened?”

            The first part of the film dives right in to the stereotypically angry cop from the city and doesn’t go anywhere with the character until it’s too late to do anything with him. I didn’t find the film hard to sit through though, totally the opposite. I was constantly waiting for something to happen. During the shots where Jim Wilson is driving his cop car around alone at night, I got this tremendously eerie feeling. It almost felt like a psychological horror film, where we can only see the relatable side of the killer until it’s too late. I kept expecting more brutality, more emotional drama, or at least a small  character or two that led the Wilson down an unforgiving path of mystery and adventure.

COME BACK TO YOURSELF RAY!

            Some of the most satisfying moments in Ray’s films are when characters with strong pent-up emotions let loose. When Donna Foster confronts Christabel Cane in Born to Be Bad, or Louise Merritt shoves the bimbo from the bar in The Lusty Men, there is a sense of empowerment and a reality that accompanies it. This film lacks both. I wanted to see Ida Lupino break out and scream. I wanted to see her character reach a breaking point that only Jim Wilson could fix. I wanted to see Robert Ryan’s character loose it the way Dixon Steele or Emma Small did. 

            I had an expectation for this film that I didn’t have for the other films and that may have distracted me. I can still say with confidence that this film didn’t live up to that expectation. None of the characters experienced at realistic change. That kind of change is inevitable in these kinds of films, but the importance isn’t that the change is made, it’s how the characters come to their realizations and how they deal with their situations when the change is happening. None of these characters catch on to their faults soon enough and that leads to flat performances with no room for character growth.

NOT A HOOK (UP): 

            I didn’t even want to see Jim Wilson and Mary Malden hook up (despite the beautiful babies I’m sure they’d make). There is no way of fully recognizing why the performances felt so empty or why the characters felt so incomplete, but in both cases I felt that way.

ALMOST HORROR: 

            On a different note, I truly enjoyed the cinematography and felt that the snowy mountain location would have been great for a horror film. In fact, a lot of this film gave off a really great horror film vibe, and had it been a little more perverse and a little less flat I think it would have made a great horror film. The scene where Jim Wilson flips the car is fantastic. Seeing him wake up in a frozen wasteland next to another abandon car is not only interesting, it’s eerie. I think had these elements been pushed to the limit I could have really gotten into it, but sadly I found myself distracted and dissatisfied.