"Meet Me in St. Louis" (1944)

It's clear that this movie was meant to showcase two things:  Judy Garland and color.  There were several scenes where Garland's attire is opposite of those around her in order for her to stand out a little more.  Who can miss the stripes when she first appears?  In the first party scene, her blue is in such a shade that it stands out against the other folks' apparel.  Later, when those surrounding here are costumed in very very festive colors, Garland is in black--which both makes her stand out and frames her face.  The house, too, is repainted (not repainted within the storyline) to best showcase each season of the year.  And, of course, who can not enjoy the dramatic depth-of-dimension of a well known alto vocalist in the age where "crooners" are highly valued.

For a musical, the plot was believeable and held the songs together well-enough.  It was curious to have the adults/older figures reprimand the younger for lying and then  would turn around and do it themselves in both the same and in other circumstances.

"Mystery of the 13th Guest" (1943)

Decent enough light-mystery detective story from the 40s.  Black and white.  Equal opportunity dingbat characters.  Not a bad way to spend an hour.  Not sure the story ever explained the title, but that's okay.

"State Fair" (1945)

Sweet, sweet story.  Light and fluffy.  Any lighter and fluffier and it would be whip cream.  Nice music, except for the "Iowa" song--that was just corny (for lack of a better word).  One scene I kept going, "Something familiar about that character."  Good grief, it was a very young Harry Morgan (MASH);  all the more interesting since State Fair is a film one of the MASH episodes centers around.  Dick Haymes (as "Wayne Frake") reminds me of the strong features of face of the men on my mother's side of the family.

Overall, very much enjoyed this musical.  (Still puzzling over that Iowa song, though)

"The Sea Hawk" (1940)

An Errol Flynn movie again with music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold.  Grand, rich, exciting music.  Interesting music spots:  The music leading up to the jungle ambush didn't use foreboding music.  It was almost light-hearted.  Maybe because the audience already knew the ambush was coming.  I liked that better because it helped to dispel the tension some.  I don't care for high-tension necessarily.  So, this gave me a chance to keep just enjoying it.  The end sword-fight was an interesting whirlwind of music choices--liked that, too.  Black & white movie.  The end-speech was the only direct indicator of its 1940s historical release (noble-ness inspiring, going to war and all that).

"Citizen Kane" (1941)

 A lot of history behind this film.  Maybe there is something behind studying the production and distribution of films.  MacDonald says this was the first film to use music as sound bridges in the transitions.  While music was used to transition, there were also places where the sound was abrubt.   Death comes, then instead of a smooth bridge, there's an abrupt sound cut to bouncy jaunty music; or the parrot screech.  Definitely  themes of death throughout the movie.  There's also some other sound themes that it would be nice to look closer at:  stomped on lines (though, not likely to find anything surprising), placed sounds of rain, use of laughter, use of reverb, point of audition--especially in relation to the opera premiere--or maybe it was deliberately out of balance (acc. more over-powering than the melody that couldn't keep on top of the power balance), and sudden crashes in sound (also not likely to have any surprising correlations/commentary here).  There were sounds that, at least today, are not surprising any more--the noisy discordant music accompanying the montage of "you're going to keep singing opera" or the impassioned strings at the end.  And sounds done "different"--the heavy breathing during the suicide attempt and hearing the breaking in of the door from the inside from Mrs. Kane's point of view--although, she likely wasn't hearing anything, even though we were hearing things from her point of view.  [Okay, I took notes this time.  Can you tell?]  It's a shame I haven't had a chance to read the article of use of silences before watching this; the slander scene (between the two politicians and the former and future wives).  Then there's the play of reality--both the mirrors of mirrors of mirrors with Kane; and the scream in the background when Mrs. Kane "should" have screamed and didn't after being slapped.  Other than the mirrors, there were some visual things that I noticed, too.  There's the foreground/background and size of figures/people in relation to other people. There's the camera angles between the drunken Jedediah and Kane show-down (the first one--where Jed asks to get sent to Chicago).  The ending image of Susie's first opera also struck me as being very similar to some of the shots from the original King Kong; the story parallels are incredibly close, too.  I read in MacDonald the analogy of the sound as a jig saw puzzle like the story was.  What about the analogy of Kane as an opera singer.  Susie makes the remark that the "whole audience doesn't want you" and that fits a description of Kane, too.  So, is he an inept "opera singer"?  trying to sing a melody that's too high for him [MacDonald of Susie], trying to make it in something that's out of his league--like the opera (the Olympics of voice) is for Susie?  He doesn't come across as being out of his league except for the accusations Susie makes of his lack of ability to love.  Then there's the whole aspect of the audience finding out and knowing who/what Rosebud was and the world of the film never finding out.  What does that say about reality and what is representative and telling or not, or who has power?  I'm not sure I agree with the distorted "Dies Irae" theme [Hermann calls it a "variation" which is probably more accurate than a distortion] as being about "futility"--but it's kind of dangerous ground to disagree with a quote from the composer himself.    I think it's more about death than futility; although, in the case of this movie, I don't think they're divorced from each other.  Then there's the title:  Citizen Kane.  Is it saying that being a citizen is "futile"?  And there's the analysis in connecting the film to Coleridge's poem--though I'm assuming that's been "done".  There's the deliberate voiceover in the newsreel bringing in Noah, but unless there is further commentary on being a citizen by that reference, I can't see it saying anything between Kane and Noah--and I don't think it's just about there being a lot of animals; although, that might have been the original intention.

Hmm, wonder if I'd generate this many thoughts all the time if I took notes on a film?

"The Big Sleep" (1946)

Another Humphrey Bogart private eye movie.  Again, well written plot that keeps you watching.  I had to do a shout out when he asked the book salesgirl to take her glasses off.  What's wrong with glasses??!!  Good-looking girls can't have glasses, huh?  Okay, I know.  That's a "thing"--girls with glasses don't get the lead; or if they do, they end up ditching the glasses part way through the story.  Yeah, minor thing--and nothing surprising.  It was just interesting to see it so blatant in the movie.  The same line of thinking exists in later movies, but they're more subtle about it.  Not sure which I prefer--be blunt yet open about a stereotype or perpetuate it but pretend it doesn't exist.  And I know doing this with any stereotype isn't new either.  Lauren Bacall.  Got to hear her sing a little piece of a song--back when alto leads were okay to enjoy.  Max Steiner music.  Almost have to watch the movie a second time to make sure I got all the Who-Dun-It-To-Who straight.  This Bogart's character (Philip Marlowe) was still gruff/blunt and good at thinking on his toes.  Not sure I see much difference between this character portrayal and the character of Sam Spade.  So, why bother changing the name?  Variety, I guess.

"The Maltese Falcon" (1941)

Forgot that I had seen this before.  Humphrey Bogart as the character Sam Spade.  This is the movie (or one of them) that all the detective/private eye spoofs (trench coats, dames in distress, lots of cigarettes) is based on.  Even with having seen it before, it was a pleasure to watch it again--partly because of all the twists and turns of the plot, partly because of the way Spade's character was portrayed (gruff voice, mysterious--well sorta, trying to guess what he'll say next).

"Meshes of the Afternoon" (1943)

Sound (mostly) not from within film; black and white. My book calls "American avant-garde" and "psychodrama". Yeah, those fit. SPOILER ALERT: Perhaps also schizophrenic encounters herself, or what happens when bad dreams come to life. And, may I say, when a knife falls by itself out of a loaf of bread from an odd angle, that that's some bit of foreshadowing/omen.

"Sergeant York" (1941)

This was a movie that was a "very long wait" on my Netflix list and I just now finally got it. Boy was it worth the wait. Again, I don't rate many movies the highest marks, but this is one of them. Paints a real clear picture of an Appalachian fella who (later in the movie) gets drafted into WWI. Gary Cooper stars. Love the clear set up in the first half of the movie. Love the crossing of cultures, all too brief as it may be, in the later part of the movie. If a movie is going to keep me up thinking about it and mulling over the good parts, that not only commends much to the movie, but leaves me wordless. That's what this movie done.

"The Third Man" (1949)

The description calls this a Film Noir. Orson Welles, actor. Adaptation from a novel. Black and white. I can see why this made the Criterion Collection. Cinematography Oscar--tilted camera angles, black and white photogenicness of war hit Vienna. The music puzzles me most--zither only--reminds me of something that should be for a comedy set in the Carribean. Musically puts this movie into the same class as "Convoy", meaning lots of puzzling "why this choice?" Wasn't as bad as the first film noir I saw. One actor you see early reminds me of the Grinch--face and smile; it was kind of distracting. SPOILER ALERT: Worth watching to get the context of this quote: "After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

"On the Town" (1949)

Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly--another sailor movie, only this time there were 3 sailors instead of two. Leonard Bernstein did the music--and it sure showed it. To me, Bernstein music always sounds like it would be a lot of fun to play. Makes me envious. The collection songs seemed kind of strange, but then it was a fluffy musical, so what do you expect. I enjoyed the one they danced in a museum. Who wouldn't want to dance and play with a bunch of museum stuff. Not all the dance numbers were necessarily tap--one was ... modern?

"She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" (1949)

John Wayne western. Music was good. Scenery was pretty and wasn't at odds with the story line. Just a pleasant movie. (Actually what I needed today). Was trying to remember how open fifths got associated with Native Americans/Indians. Also interesting how much Southern references/confederacy shows up in Westerns. Shouldn't surprise me considering the time frame. Just something I've noticed.  Pretty good movie.

"Battleground" (1949)

A telling of the Battle of Bastogne (Battle of the Bulge??) from the ground inside one company (?).  Cinematography Oscar--it did have some nice shots.  The war montage at the end had simultaneous overlapped images--like a double exposure.  The storyline worked in nicely repeated lines within different contexts to give the movie added unity--Chants and careless tossed off remarks later get repeated with a whole different ring and meaning to them--sometimes as irony, sometimes as a tribute or truth.  And how the movie started (marching chant) is how it ended--again with a different ring and meaning to it.  The brief chaplain appearance happened to be Lutheran in character.  :)  Music was confined to opening and closing credits and to the occasional radio song (diegetic sound, if I'm learning my terms right).  The movie is 40s/50s war accurate in that the gruesome stuff is included but not shown or overly present--decent job of it.  Not a bad movie at all--kept me interested.  Black and white.  Opening credits said the "Screamin' Eagles" were appearing as themselves--I think this was a reference to the actual planes flown???

"Little Women" (1949)

This book was a childhood favorite, one that I read over and over numerous times. The 1994 adaptation was the first adaptation I saw--and it has its merits. However, this adaptation captures all of the "best parts" that I loved as a kid--all of them. I love the colors chosen for this adaptation and I love the selections they chose to include. And the parts that made me cry for joy when reading the book did the same for the movie. :) I have a movie that has hit the top score.

"The Heiress" (1949)

1st Half--Night 1:  Interesting in a puzzling way characters--but seeing as the movie is based on a Henry James novel, I probably shouldn't be surprised at all.  And likely if it is true to Henry James, I won't like the ending.  The music is very very good.  Reminiscent of Aaron Copland--some parts more than others--yet his sound keeps ringing within the movie scoring.  Considering I didn't like the one Henry James novel that I've read, I'm not real optimistic that I'm going to like the ending of a movie that is Henry James-esque.

2nd Half--Night 2:  I was right.  I didn't care for the ending.  Though I suppose if you were a misandrynist--or a Henry James fan, you might love the movie.  So, the movie music score was really good--and a study of the characters would give somebody a hey day.  I'm still not a Henry James fan.  I will admit this was a smidge better than "Portrait of a Lady", but not by much.  Based on his "Washington Square".  Rain to wash away the delusions was true to form.

"Late Spring" (1949)

Japanese movie. Post-war (so, current for the time filmed). A low-key movie without being slow. A relaxing movie without being boring. The phrase I read "The celebration of every day life" is apt. Also about how life heart-changes are tough. Music was very fitting. 2 short music phrases of "Here Comes the Bride" surprised me. A lot of marriage wisdom shared by the father to his daughter that I wish could be shouted loud. Bittersweet but true (as in straight). Had to pause movie once for tears so that I could keep reading the subtitles, but don't let that deter you. This is a movie I recommend.

"Easter Parade" (1948)

Fred Astaire. Judy Garland. Love Square. Do the guys get the girls they want and the girls settle? or do the girls get the guys they want and the guys settle? Music to dance numbers was just fine. One disconcerting moment--when the trio of extras are sitting in the back of Judy Garland's first vocal number miming the instrumentals, they were pretty close to doing it well. Why they didn't use REAL musicians instead of choosing to mime it is beyond me. What's more, you saw a regular trombone, but you heard a trombone with a mute in it. It is a bit disconcerting to hear one instrumented sound while watching a mimed different one. One lick in a later number had jazz timpani. The other female lead wore dogs with her dresses; she picked which pet dog to hold depending on the color of her outfit.

"Joan of Arc" (1948)

Not sure why the cinematography award--maybe because color pictures was still a scattered thing? Story line well done--although, I would've liked a trailer or tag or words or something to cover the fall out--but that's just my normal reaction. I'm sure the ending the chose was the best. Music actually was really good--but I'm also pretty partial to French horns and the music did a good job making use of them. I think they character acted this well.

"Hamlet" (1948)

Very interesting camera angles.  The visuals and camera angles would create quite the worthwhile study.  Low-tech special effects, but allow for the time period of movie creation.  Other than the heart beats and perhaps a bassoon to show sneaky and sinister, the music isn't anything "special".  Still pretty stagey in places in how some lines are delivered, but not as bad as the 1935 "Mid-summer Night's Dream".  In many other places, the delivery isn't bad.  Some of the monologues are done as voice overs and at times pretty seamless over into actual delivery.  Laurence Olivier--partially stylized delivery and melancholy character portrayal.  Hamlet and Ophelia both blonds--not quite my picture--although, I can see why for a black and white picture.  Only blonds in the whole cast.  All the more to seem out of sync with the picture in my head.  Castle is almost all arches and stairs, very little of textile texture in castle.  Costumes a different story.  Lots of texture there.

"The Red Shoes" (1948)

Tragedy. Ballet-Concert included--foreshadowing/parallel storying the ending. Different style of story telling. Lots of French. Stravinsky/Kronos Quartet kind of music. Didn't watch the last 45 minutes of the movie. Interesting set with the internal 'Red Shoes' Ballet.