#1942 films

[cressida-jayoungr]

One Dress a Day Challenge

February: Coeli's Monochrome Picks

Casablanca / Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa Lund

What a timeless classic look! You could pull this off today and no one would bat an eye. It looks cool and comfortable for a warm climate and would probably even pack well.

(Note: I found the bottom photo on Pinterest. I think the left-hand shot is a cosplayer, but it's a very good recreation of the costume. The right-hand picture shows the length of the original dress.)

[adamwatchesmovies]

Holiday Inn (1942)

For many reasons, Holiday Inn is a classic but one particular scene prevents it from being a film you'd happily watch over and over. It makes me uncomfortable for multiple reasons but I can kinda-sorta defend it in this movie because of the context in which it's used. It sounds like a weak argument but hold on, listen to what I’ve got to say before you judge. Even if the scene in particular is a deal-breaker, there's a solution.

Jim Hardy (Bing Crosby), his fiancé Lila Dixon (Virginia Dale) and Ted Hanover (Fred Astaire) are a trio of successful singer-dancers. As Jim prepares to retire from the hustle-and-bustle of non-stop performances to live on a farm with his future wife… his partners announce they have no intention of stopping and ditch him. Finding the farm life back-breaking, he converts his home into “Holiday Inn”, an entertainment venue open only on holidays and featuring elaborate dance and musical numbers. The first performer to join Jim's new troupe is Linda Mason (Marjorie Reynolds), whom he quickly falls for but is afraid to show his feelings to due to a broken heart.

Plot-wise, there’s plenty going on. After Holiday Inn is up and running, Linda catches the eye of Ted and his agent, Danny Reed (Walter Abel). They don’t know what her name is, which prompts Jim to hide her from the two and try to keep her “for himself”. It creates all sorts of drama and comedic situations between the whopping twelve original numbers featured throughout this musical. The best and most well-known is White Christmas - yes, this is where that tune comes from. It's never been better than here. The song is romantic and beautiful. Seeing it in its original context fills your heart with warmth. Overall, this is a charming, romantic story filled with sometimes insecure and often messy characters. This is one of those movies that on paper would look awful but in action, works. Big credit goes to Marjorie Reynolds, Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, who are great together.

Now let’s address the giant stain at the center of this story; the reason why you’ll probably wind up seeing an edited version of it on TV. Once Jim realizes that Ted is searching for Linda, he is desperate to find a way to hide her from his former partner. Unfortunately, he also needs to keep his clients happy with a stage number for Lincoln’s Birthday (February 12, for those who don’t know). His solution is to run the minstrel show number Abraham. This means Crosby and Reynolds (along with the band) appear in blackface so that no one watching will recognize them. It makes your skin crawl and isn’t helped by the limited amount of dialogue given to the black actors in the film (other than Louise Beavers, there aren't any other people of colour in significant roles) but as far as uses of a racist, offensive and disrespectful form of theatrical make-up, it’s probably the least offensive version you’ll see because it's less of a "let's make fun of Black people/find a way to avoid hiring Black actors in our movie" and more of a "hey, it's ok to use this as a costume/disguise, right?". It's still not ideal, but it could've been much worse.

A standout moment in Holiday Inn has aged so poorly that it threatens to derail the entire film. The rest is a funny, romantic and entertaining holiday story. The dance numbers are outstandingly shot, staged and performed. It’s extra exciting to watch because of how few edits break up the footwork and because you know the people making those moves were really doing them. No wires or backgrounds were removed via computer effects. As for the songs, they range from pretty good to instant classics. In the end, I choose not to judge Holiday Inn for its worst scene and would rather focus on its strongest moments. If you don’t think you can, this is one instance where I would break my usual policy and recommend you view the edited-for-TV version. (On DVD, November 30, 2019)

[mistress-light]

Your mother can't be with you anymore.

[misandriste]

Bambi (1942)

[20th-century-man]

Veronica Lake / publicity photo for René Clair’s I Married a Witch (1942)

[389]

Bert Hardy, A groups of men in a Chinese hostel in Liverpool, 1942

[clarulitas]

Rita Hayworth and Fred Astaire photographed by Earl Theisen during a reharsal for You Were Never Lovelier (1942)

[secretceremonies]

Bette Davis as Groucho Marx at the Hollywood Canteen

One of the founders of the Hollywood Canteen, actress Bette Davis, is one of its most indefatigable workers and persevering performers. Bette appears almost nightly for the service men. But the distinguished actresses' appearances are hardly dignified, nor even glamorous. Twice awarded Oscars for fine acting, Bette stoops to captivate her G.I. audiences with a hilarious takeoff on Groucho Marx. Here's Bette Acquiring the Marxian eyebrows and moustache at the hands of Perc Westmore, makeup expert.

[adventurelandia]

Bambi (1942)

[chronophotographic-gun]

Casablanca (1942)

[la-cocotte-de-paris]

#undertones

MAM'ZELLE BONAPARTE (1942), dir. Maurice Tourneur

[cressida-jayoungr]

One Dress a Day Challenge

Anything Goes December

Holiday Inn / Marjorie Reynolds as Linda Mason

Another Edith Head design. I always knew this dress just had to be gold! The colorized version of this film is honestly not bad, and they took the trouble to research the actual color of the dress. As you can see in the bottom photo, they faithfully reproduced the color. It also has a slit down the back for easy movement. The silver strip creates an interesting effect like a yoked collar, and it also offsets the deepness of the V-neck so that it is less noticeable.

I'm sure Fred Astaire was glad that, unlike the most famous beaded dress on one of his dancing partners, this one didn't have wide sleeves to smack him in the face!

It's also too bad Marjorie Reynolds didn't have more of a film career, because I do find her enjoyable in this.

[gameraboy2]

Peter Lorre in Invisible Agent (1942)

[mistress-light]

Bambi 1942 • The Great Prince of the forest

[mudwerks]

(via Film Noir Photos: @Play with Veronica Lake)

vacationing in Sun Valley, 1942

[20th-century-man]

Veronica Lake / production still from René Clair’s I Married a Witch (1942)