I have a warm spot in my heart for three Hathaway movies.Although there are many films made by him I like,I can watch these three again and again and again.One of them is "Niagara" .The two others were made the same year ,and,most amazing thing,they are as different as they can be:"Peter Ibettson" is a romantic fantasy film the influence of which was huge on the French Realisme Poétique of the late thirties/early forties.And there's "lives of a Bengal lancer".
I was about 13 when I saw it for the first time with two of my pals who,having already seen the film ,had warned me:" there's horrible "Chinese" torture in it".At the time ,we thought that Mohammed Khan and his men were the villains and the English were the heroes.It was the first time I had seen Gary Cooper.
I should hate the colonialism,the military spirit now ,and however I don't: I love this film.I love the story,I love the three characters (particularly Franchot Tone),I love all the supporting characters ,I love everything .
The screenplay is so absorbing,the characters are so endearing that the simple idea of blaming the writers for their chocolate box India and their praise of the British Empire does not even come to mind."It looks like the Arabian night's "says young Stone in full regalia in the emir's palace.Would you blame Alexandre Dumas for his "three musketeers" because his rendition of the French seventeenth century and his vision of the Cardinal de Richelieu are approximative and a bit naive.But after all it's true that Richelieu did use female spies;hence the Milady character...
In "lives" our milady is Tania.Played by a gorgeous actress whose career was short-lived,Kathleen Burke ,this lady has only four or five lines to say in one of the most underwritten parts of the whole cinema.So underwritten we do not even know what becomes of her when the film ends .She leaves with "a terrible headache" and that's it.How could the thirties audience accept that?"Lives" is definitely a male movie whereas the contemporary "Peter Ibbetson " is a female one.
Franchot Tone has replaced Cooper as my favorite.He is ,IMHO,the stand-out of a stellar cast .A really fabulous actor,who achieves the incredible feat to be funny even when he is on the verge of tears.His nod to Mac in the dungeon when they are in a real plight in unforgettable;and it's easy to understand why Mac's last words were "poetry".
Forsythe is the most endearing character ,and even his gaffes are sublime.When he meets a babe on the train ,Mac tells him he should know better and that there are spies everywhere."Melodrama Melodrama" he answers;little did he know his pal was right and that would happen later.And the flute which sounds like "Scottish pipe" which turns him into a reluctant snake charmer is the most hilarious scene of the American thirties.
Hathaway's genius is to have maintained a " delicate balance" between comedy and drama.There are at least as many funny scenes as dramatic ones (some are both).Dig this line :"I told you this mardi gras would be a washout!"
The Stone jr/Stone sr relationship has often been described as "devoid of humanity ,of sentimentality,of heart" .It's completely untrue :the old man desperately tries to communicate with his only son ,but he is too shy and too proud to let his feelings flow.Two admirable scenes show this frustration: the "letter" which Mac gives to Donald to take to the colonel,and the night before they learn his rapt,when the old ramrod cannot open his heart to his son's two mates who act as his "military " fathers and more .
If Mac sacrifices his life ,it's not only for defeating Khan.He mainly wants to hide Donald Stone's weakness "who has betrayed his country" as Khan points out in the dungeon.The last scene bears this out.To the accents of "God Save the King" Stone's tears begin to fall...and you feel like crying as they decorate the hero's horse.
I was about 13 when I saw it for the first time with two of my pals who,having already seen the film ,had warned me:" there's horrible "Chinese" torture in it".At the time ,we thought that Mohammed Khan and his men were the villains and the English were the heroes.It was the first time I had seen Gary Cooper.
I should hate the colonialism,the military spirit now ,and however I don't: I love this film.I love the story,I love the three characters (particularly Franchot Tone),I love all the supporting characters ,I love everything .
The screenplay is so absorbing,the characters are so endearing that the simple idea of blaming the writers for their chocolate box India and their praise of the British Empire does not even come to mind."It looks like the Arabian night's "says young Stone in full regalia in the emir's palace.Would you blame Alexandre Dumas for his "three musketeers" because his rendition of the French seventeenth century and his vision of the Cardinal de Richelieu are approximative and a bit naive.But after all it's true that Richelieu did use female spies;hence the Milady character...
In "lives" our milady is Tania.Played by a gorgeous actress whose career was short-lived,Kathleen Burke ,this lady has only four or five lines to say in one of the most underwritten parts of the whole cinema.So underwritten we do not even know what becomes of her when the film ends .She leaves with "a terrible headache" and that's it.How could the thirties audience accept that?"Lives" is definitely a male movie whereas the contemporary "Peter Ibbetson " is a female one.
Franchot Tone has replaced Cooper as my favorite.He is ,IMHO,the stand-out of a stellar cast .A really fabulous actor,who achieves the incredible feat to be funny even when he is on the verge of tears.His nod to Mac in the dungeon when they are in a real plight in unforgettable;and it's easy to understand why Mac's last words were "poetry".
Forsythe is the most endearing character ,and even his gaffes are sublime.When he meets a babe on the train ,Mac tells him he should know better and that there are spies everywhere."Melodrama Melodrama" he answers;little did he know his pal was right and that would happen later.And the flute which sounds like "Scottish pipe" which turns him into a reluctant snake charmer is the most hilarious scene of the American thirties.
Hathaway's genius is to have maintained a " delicate balance" between comedy and drama.There are at least as many funny scenes as dramatic ones (some are both).Dig this line :"I told you this mardi gras would be a washout!"
The Stone jr/Stone sr relationship has often been described as "devoid of humanity ,of sentimentality,of heart" .It's completely untrue :the old man desperately tries to communicate with his only son ,but he is too shy and too proud to let his feelings flow.Two admirable scenes show this frustration: the "letter" which Mac gives to Donald to take to the colonel,and the night before they learn his rapt,when the old ramrod cannot open his heart to his son's two mates who act as his "military " fathers and more .
If Mac sacrifices his life ,it's not only for defeating Khan.He mainly wants to hide Donald Stone's weakness "who has betrayed his country" as Khan points out in the dungeon.The last scene bears this out.To the accents of "God Save the King" Stone's tears begin to fall...and you feel like crying as they decorate the hero's horse.