The Chris Moeller Archives

The 50 Great American Films 11-15

The next five films of the Chris Moeller Top 50 list, alphabetically, from C to D...


CITIZEN KANE directed by Orson Welles (1941)

It has been said that "Kane" is the movie that not only taught directors how to make movies, but taught audiences how to watch them. It is, above all, a testament to the concept of giving the filmmaker total control of his vision. The "boy genius" Welles was only 26 years old when he made this semi-biographical and largely unflattering story about publishing tycoon William Randolph Hearst. The movie has elements of other well-know figures of the time, but the Kane character is principally Hearst, a remarkably wealthy media mogul of the time who attempted to bribe RKO Studios into destroying the print.
Welles' cinematographer, Gregg Toland, pioneered deep focus photography, which directs the eye to specific objects on the screen. Welles and co-writer Joseph Mankiewicz peppered the script with overlapping dialogue. More than 60 years later, the movie still plays brilliantly because of it's energy, it's non-linear narrative, it's adult themes, and the brash, lively, and complex character at its center. The conventional wisdom is that Welles peaked at 26 and never again delivered on his enormous promise, but here he created a masterpiece, drawing upon his own character for Kane. We see his ambition, his bravura, his ego, his charm, the peak of his success and his subsequent disintegration. For one moment, a film genius triumphs over the system that would destroy him. Everyone should see it.


CITY LIGHTS directed by Charlie Chaplin (1931)

Speaking of the writer-slash-director-slash-actor-slash-producer, here is Charlie Chaplin, who is such a giant in the history of American film that he received two honorary Oscars- 43 years apart. "City Lights" is Chaplin at his most consciously poetic. It's equal parts sentimental and hysterical, and thoroughly inventive. After just several minutes of viewing, you forget that there is no dialogue. Words would only clutter the screen. The movie contains the famous boxing ring scene in which "the Tramp" uses fancy footwork to keep the referee between himself and his opponent. It also contains perhaps the most emotional scene in movie history when the blind girl has her sight restored and sees the Tramp for the first time. Chaplin's character is endlessly endearing, his performance so expertly timed and expressive. He was a gift to humanity.


DO THE RIGHT THING directed by Spike Lee (1989)

By putting our social actions on the screen and providing them with thought-provoking consequences, Spike Lee has achieved film's highest purpose. He, first, uses great precision to introduce the characters and inject them with love, humor, and anger. (The soundtrack contributes strength and immediacy.) By the time the movie has us examining our own lives and beliefs, we're able to judge the characters fairly. We have witnessed the complexity of their lives. When I first saw the movie, I was left angry. The destruction of Sal's Pizzeria is begun by a character that we are meant to like. Is it an act of betrayal? Lee's script- penned in just two weeks- doesn't play completely fair. The act of destruction is presented as the penultimate moment, and therefore it becomes the center of discussion and debate. Look deeper though. What led to it? Who's truly guilty? We see most of the crime in our nation's cities at its conclusion. The nightly news shows us the ending of the despaired lives. We don't see the details along the path that got us to the scene, only the blood on the street.


DOUBLE INDEMNITY directed by Billy Wilder (1944)

"Double Indemnity" is the perfect movie for a voice-over narrative because it's about that little voice in your head- the voice that usually tells you right from wrong, sometimes tells you to forget what's right, and, on occasion, seems to be emanating instead from the vacinity of your zipper. Walter Neff is an indistinguishable insurance salesman played by the indistinguishable Fred MacMurray. He's recruited by a bored socialite (Barbara Stanwyck) in a plot to murder her husband. The title refers to the life insurance policy in their scam, one that would pay off twice the amount for an "accidental" death- though the true payoff seems to be the satisfaction gleamed from the scam's successful execution. The movie's plot came up in strict violation of the Production Code of the '40s, but Wilder stuck to his guns and provided the film with what the author Ed Sikov calls "an unusual blend of finesse and vulgarity, narrative grace and sexual sewage." I think his skill is aptly demonstrated in this piece of dialogue-

"He'll be in then," says Stanwyck's Phyllis Dietrichson to Neff.
"Who?"
"My husband. You were anxious to talk to him, weren't you?"
"Yeah, but I'm sort of getting over the idea, if you know what I mean."
"There's a speed limit in this state, Mr. Neff. Forty-five miles an hour."
"How fast was I going, officer?"
"I'd say around ninety."
"Suppose you get down off your motorcycle and give me a ticket."
"Suppose I let you off with a warning this time."
"Suppose it doesn't take."
"Suppose I have to whack you over the knuckles."
"Suppose I bust out crying and put my head on your shoulder."
"Suppose you try putting it on my husband's shoulder."
"That tears it."


DUCK SOUP directed by Leo McCarey (1933)

The plot was never central to a Marx Brothers movie. In the Depression year of 1931, Variety magazine said the typical plot structure resembled "one of those California bungalows which spring up overnight." Still, for all of their legendary anarchy, you can never say the Brothers lacked purpose. In '33, with half of Europe embracing fascism and America fast asleep, Groucho, Chico, Harpo, and Zeppo went to work on a political satire- one without a sophisticated narrative or pointed message. It contained only the Brothers' aggressive chaos.
"Duck Soup" provides one inspired comedy moment after another, including the most captivating scene of the Brothers' career. Harpo, disguised as Groucho and having sneaked into a house, accidentally shatters a mirror. He's forced to reflect Groucho's movement to avoid detection, just as Chico stumbles in, also disguised as Groucho.
Of course, America at the time had no use for "Duck Soup." It flopped, and the Brothers changed studios, but the chaotic freedom on display in the film caught hold with college audiences in revival houses of the 1960s. A new generation of Americans was ready for the Marx Brothers. They understood that a hefty portion of anarchy is good for democracy.


Films 1-5 of the CM Top 50 were posted Dec. 18
Films 6-10 were posted Dec. 23

posted by CM @ 10:40 PM