Howard Hawks: A Baker's Dozen

British film historian David Thomson once opined that if he could only save ten movies from a sinking ship, he'd take ten by Howard Hawks and leave the rest to the ocean deep.

Me, I'd reserve room for a DVD on boat building and another on edible plants, but I understand the sentiment. Hawks, more than any other director, covered the waterfront — Westerns, comedies, crime, war, action, sci-fi, musicals, straight-up drama, and even silent movies. And he didn't just make entertaining movies, he made genre-defining classics.

Hawks gave John Wayne his first great acting showcase, taught Katharine Hepburn how to play comedy and Lauren Bacall how to whistle, helped define 1930s gangster movies, 1940s film noir, and 1950s sci-fi spectacles, and put Marilyn Monroe in a slinky pink dress as she sang her signature song, "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend."

That he also directed two of the greatest Westerns in history, well, that's just showing off.

So what are my favorite Howard Hawks movies? Glad you asked.

In chronological order:

Scarface (1932) — Although Hawks had been directing since 1926 (including 1928's A Girl in Every Port, which put Louise Brooks on the map, and the first, best version of The Dawn Patrol in 1930), Scarface was the first indispensable movie of his career. I've written about Scarface at length (here, here and here) and I won't rehash any of that except to note that along with Little Caesar and The Public Enemy, this is one of the three great gangster pictures of its era. Brian De Palma remade it in 1983 with Al Pacino.

Bringing Up Baby (1938) — Some people, such as the aforementioned David Thomson, would include Hawks's 1934 comedy Twentieth Century here but although it made a star of Carole Lombard, to me it's more shrill than funny. Instead, I'll list Hawks's other screwball classic, Bringing Up Baby, in which a batty Katharine Hepburn and her pet leopard fall in love with a very goofy college professor played by Cary Grant. "Now it isn't that I don't like you, Susan, because, after all, in moments of quiet, I'm strangely drawn toward you, but, well, there haven't been any quiet moments." This was Hepburn's first comedy; it wouldn't be her last.

Only Angels Have Wings (1939) — Starring Cary Grant, Jean Arthur and a young Rita Hayworth, this one explores one of Hawks's favorite themes: men of action behaving according to a professional code, and the women who learn to love them. Grant plays a pilot trying to get a fledgling air mail service off the ground; Arthur is a showgirl stranded at his hotel. For fun, take a drink every time somebody says "Calling Barranca" — you'll be in the hospital by the end of the first act! A personal favorite.

His Girl Friday (1940) — A (superior) remake of the comedy The Front Page, this one stars Cary Grant as a hilariously ruthless newspaper editor, Rosalind Russell as his star reporter — and ex-wife — and Ralph Bellamy as the man she intends to marry. One look at Grant and Bellamy, and you know how this one's going to turn out but what a wild ride getting there with a very modern moral to boot: a woman's place is in the office, not the kitchen. Career best performances by all three leads. Holds the record for the fastest dialogue in movie history. Must see.

Ball of Fire (1941) — Another comedy. Typically, in Hawks's dramas, women must prove worthy of the men they love. In his comedies, the formula is reversed. Here, Barbara Stanwyck is a showgirl on the run from her gangster boyfriend. Gary Cooper is the virginal professor who gives her shelter. When the film's writer Billy Wilder (who would later win Oscars directing The Lost Weekend and The Apartment) confessed he didn't understand the plot, Hawks told him "It's a remake of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." Bingo!

To Have and Have Not (1944) — Set in French Martinique during World War II, Harry Morgan (Humphrey Bogart) has retreated from the messy political world into a cocoon of isolationism so complete he's willing to ignore the fascists in charge even as they are shooting his clients and pushing his friends around. Marie "Slim" Browning (Lauren Bacall in her first film role) teaches him how to whistle and forces him to realize that no matter how much he thinks he's successfully avoided sticking his neck out, his neck is out there. A loose adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's novel, the screenplay is by William Faulkner, to date the only time a Nobel Prize winner has written a screenplay based on the work of another Nobel Prize winner.

The Big Sleep (1946) — Bogart and Bacall again. This time, Bogart is Raymond Chandler's famous private detective, Philip Marlowe, while Bacall draws his eye as the beautiful, spoiled daughter of a rich client. The plot is incomprehensible (even Chandler didn't know whodunit) but the sparks fly and the dialogue sets some sort of record for sexual innuendo. Loads of fun.

Red River (1948) — One of the greatest Westerns ever made, John Wayne and his adopted son Montgomery Clift lead a cattle drive along the Chisholm Trail. Basically a retelling of Mutiny on the Bounty with Wayne as Captain Bligh. After seeing the movie, director John Ford (who had cast Wayne in the classic Stagecoach way back in 1939) exclaimed, "I didn't know the big son of a bitch could act!" Boy, could he.

The Thing from Another World (1951) — Based on John Campbell's classic novella "Who Goes There?" this is the story of soldiers and scientists in the Arctic Circle fighting an invader from outer space (and sometimes each other). Hawks is credited only as the film's producer but those who were there insisted he directed as well. Sure seems like it. Remade in 1982 by John Carpenter, this science fiction classic is full of danger and paranoia but also humor, camaraderie and a good-looking, no-nonsense Hawksian woman (Margaret Sheridan).

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) — Based on the novel by the immortal Anita Loos, gold digger Lorelei Lee (Marilyn Monroe) and her no nonsense pal Dorothy Shaw (Jane Russell in her best role) set sail for France with a boatload of handsome Olympians, a rich, eligible bachelor (aged seven) and a private eye determined to catch Lorelei in flagrante delicto. Features Marilyn Monroe's signature song "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend." One of the best musicals of the 1950s, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, as much as anything, proves Howard Hawks was the master of any genre.

Rio Bravo (1959) — Ostensibly the story of a border town sheriff (John Wayne) who squares off against a rich rancher and his army of hired goons, Rio Bravo is really a study of a professional doing his job and doing it well despite the imminent threat of death, an idealized code of conduct Hemingway called "grace under pressure." This is Hawks at his most compassionate, not an attribute I would always associate with his brusque heroes and no-nonsense women. But John Wayne watches over his ragged crew — a drunk, a cripple, and later a girl, a young gunslinger and even the manager of the local hotel — like a mother hen, with a love that is sometimes tough and sometimes tender, but always genuine. With Dean Martin, Walter Brennan and Angie Dickinson. The best Howard Hawks movie and my all-time favorite Western — and you know how much I love a good Western!

Man's Favorite Sport? (1964) — The least well-known of all the movies on this list, but a personal fave, this is a comedy about an expert fisherman (Rock Hudson) who confesses to the woman who's organized a tournament in his honor that he's never fished in his life — never even touched a fish! Paula Prentiss, in the best performance of her career, takes him in hand and teaches him everything he needs to know, some of it having to do with a rod and reel.

El Dorado (1966) — A loose comedic remake of Rio Bravo, with John Wayne again, Robert Mitchum as the drunk, and James Caan as a poetry-spouting gambler in a funny hat. Caan has the best line in the movie while wrasslin' the voluptuous Michele Carey in a hay barn. "Hey, you're a girl!" No kidding, Jimmy.

And if that's not enough, you might also try Sergeant York (1941) (which won Gary Cooper an Oscar), I Was a Male War Bride (1949) (with Ann Sheridan and Cary Grant in drag), Monkey Business (1952) (No, not the Marx Brothers — Cary Grant and Marilyn Monroe) and Hatari! (1962) (John Wayne basically playing a macho Marlin Perkins — and if you understand that reference, boy, are you old!).

In 1974, Hawks received an honorary Oscar as "a giant of the American cinema whose pictures, taken as a whole, represent one of the most consistent, vivid, and varied bodies of work in world cinema."

And that undersells him.

In 1996, Entertainment Weekly ranked Hawks fourth on the list of the 50 greatest directors of all time. In 2007, Total Film also ranked him fourth on its list of the 100 greatest directors of all-time.

And me? I have him on the Mount Rushmore of Hollywood film directors along with Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder and Steven Spielberg, a first among equals in my book. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Garson, Hepburn, de Havilland, Bergman: Round 3, Part 1

Round Three, Part One. Vote below. Voting continues until you've finished Wednesday's breakfast bagel.

To vote for actresses in the 1930s bracket, click here. To vote for actresses in the 1950s bracket, click here. To vote for actresses in the 1960s bracket, click here

Round Two, Part One: Vote Now!

Round Two starts now and runs until lunchtime Wednesday.

To vote for actresses in the 1930s bracket, click here. To vote for actresses in the 1950s bracket, click here. To vote for actresses in the 1960s bracket, click here

2016 Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tournament: Ravishing Redheads

The "Ravishing Redheads" division of the 1940s bracket. Collect your favorites, collect 'em all.

Voting begins on March 6.

Alternate Best Actress Of 1940

Almost Wasn't Wednesday #2: The Philadelphia Story With Clark Gable And Spencer Tracy

If you're reading this blog, I assume you know the sophisticated comedy classic, The Philadelphia Story. Designed as a comeback vehicle for Katharine Hepburn, the movie won two Oscars (Jimmy Stewart as best actor, and best screenplay) and features what many consider the best performance of Cary Grant's illustrious career.

But if Hepburn had had her way, the movie would have starred not Grant and Stewart but Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy. That's right—Hepburn, who owned the film rights, wanted Gable and Tracy, and if they hadn't been tied up with other projects, that's who the studio would have cast.

And in the context of the times, you can see where she was coming from. Gable was the most popular actor in Hollywood, fresh off the smashing success of Gone With The Wind. And he'd made a career of taking the mickey out of upper class actresses—his Oscar-winning turn across from Claudette Colbert in It Happened One Night, in the aforementioned Gone With The Wind with Vivien Leigh, and many others.

As for Tracy, he'd won two Oscars, and Hepburn's instincts that she and he would be good together was right on the money—they eventually made nine movies together, including such comedy classics as Woman of the Year, Adam's Rib and Pat and Mike.

Not to mention Grant and Stewart weren't necessarily sure things in early 1940. We look back on Hepburn's three previous films with Grant as being treasures, particularly Bringing Up Baby and Holiday, but the fact is, all their previous pairings had been flops at the box office—indeed, the colossal failure of the former is why Hepburn needed a comeback vehicle in the first place.

And while Stewart had earned an Oscar-nomination the previous year with Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, nobody was ready yet to put him on the Mt. Rushmore of acting.

But sometimes, not getting what you want is the best thing that can happen to you. While I'm certain The Philadelphia Story would have been a hit with Gable and Tracy, it would have lacked Grant's champagne fizz and Stewart's fevered act-three naivete. You don't tug on Superman's cape, you don't spit into the wind, and you don't mess with a movie that film guru Leslie Halliwell called "Hollywood's most wise and sparkling comedy."

Bonus Trivia: On Broadway, Joseph Cotten and Van Heflin played the Grant and Stewart roles, respectively.

First Round Results—And More Voting

One close race and a lot of blowouts so far in round one of the 1960s bracket of the Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tournament.

Some numbers for you:

In the "Song and Dance" category,
#1 Natalie Wood def. #8 Rita Moreno, 56-20.
#7 Shirley Jones def. #2 Shirley MacLaine, 45-42.
#6 Liza Minnelli def. #3 Barbra Streisand, 50-35.
#4 Ann-Margret def. #5 Diahann Carroll, 58-15.

In the "Foreign Affair" category,
#1 Catherine Deneuve def. #8 Jeanne Moreau, 43-22.
#2 Liv Ullmann def. #7 Lila Kedrova, 54-13.
#6 Romy Schneider def. #3 Anna Karina, 37-21.
#5 Claudia Cardinale def. #4 Giulletta Masina, 38-22.

"The Power of the Partridge," crowed Shirley Jones after her upset of #2 seed Shirley MacLaine. "Too many voters with too many memories of that hot MILF-y television mama—I couldn't lose!"

"I was jinxed from the word go," Shirley MacLaine said bitterly. "The first time I was ever kissed was in a cemetery. We went up there to smoke and somebody said kissing a smoker was like licking an ashtray, so we licked some ashtrays and then—oh, shut up and deal!"

In the other brackets, a couple of notable names went down to defeat—four-time Oscar winner Katharine Hepburn and silent film legend Louise Brooks.

"Great minds discuss ideas," Hepburn said afterwards, "average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people. And idiots vote for someone other than me! I won four Oscars, I wrote great books, I slept with Spencer Tracy, John Ford and Howard Hughes! And I was a huge star! I mean, I was in Rooster Cogburn and the Lady, dammit! What more do they want?"

Louise Brooks was unavailable for comment, busy doing her own thing and having much too good a time to bother chatting with blog typing sock monkeys.

Part Two of the first round starts now and runs until Saturday night. Remember:

Monty of All Good Things is hosting the 1930s bracket (click here).
Desiree of Rosalind Russell: Dazzling Star is hosting the 1940s bracket (click here).
Kristen of Journeys in Classic Film is hosting the 1950s bracket (click here).
and yours truly is hosting the 1960s bracket (you're already here)!

Your 33rd Favorite Actress

Of those actresses who didn't make it out of the second round of Monty's Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tournament this year, five—Ingrid Bergman, Marlene Dietrich, Katharine Hepburn, Deborah Kerr and Vivien Leigh—have won multiple Katie-Bar-The-Door Awards here at the Monkey.

A little side poll reveals that the Great Kate is your favorite among them, making her, by my calculations, your 33rd favorite classic movie actress. If Hepburn were a state, she'd be Kansas.

Cary Grant, who was openly supporting Deborah Kerr, nevertheless stopped by to congratulate his co-star from The Philadelphia Story.



That's class!

The vote totals:
Katharine Hepburn - 26
Vivien Leigh - 20
Ingrid Bergman - 16
Deborah Kerr - 8
Marlene Dietrich - 6

Meanwhile, over at All Good Things, the final pairing is set for the conclusion of this year's tournament: Ginger Rogers versus Natalie Wood. Not exactly who I would have put my money on when this whole thing started, but that's democracy!

Voting starts tomorrow, I believe.

Close Races Elsewhere

While as many as 98 votes have been cast (in the Joan Crawford-Marlene Dietrich contest), none of the Round Two races here at the Monkey is closer than ten votes. Meanwhile, each of the other host sites have some real barnburners going (if burning a barn is your idea of a good time).

In the 1940s bracket, Vivien Leigh leads Gene Tierney by a single vote, 28-27; and Olivia de Havilland leads Katharine Hepburn, 30-28.

In the 1950s bracket, Audrey Hepburn leads Deborah Kerr, 40-32.

And in the 1960s bracket, Susannah York leads Julie Christie, 26-23, and Catherine Denueve leads Lee Remick, 28-24.

It's fun to vote here at the Monkey, but don't forget to vote in these other tight races.

The Katie-Bar-The-Door Awards (1968)

Question: Is anybody other than me enjoying this daily edition of the Katie-Bar-The-Door Awards?

I ask because come Friday I can either keep going with the 1970s, or I can stop and begin promoting Monty's March Madness Best Actress Tournament—the Monkey is hosting the Silent Era/1930s bracket (with voting to begin on March 5).

Either way, you will get a daily dose of your favorite stars' photos. They'll just either have names like Jane Fonda, Gene Hackman and Al Pacino, or Mary Pickford, Carole Lombard and Irene Dunne.

It's up to you.

PICTURE (Drama)
winner: 2001: A Space Odyssey (prod. Stanley Kubrick)
nominees: Faces (prod. Maurice McEndree and John Cassavetes); The Lion in Winter (prod. Martin Poll); Night of the Living Dead (prod. Karl Hardman and Russell Streiner); Planet of the Apes (Arthur P. Jacobs); Rosemary's Baby (prod. William Castle); Targets (prod. Peter Bogdanovich)

PICTURE (Comedy/Musical)
winner: The Producers (prod. Sidney Glazier)
nominees: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (prod. Albert R. Broccoli); The Odd Couple (prod. Howard W. Koch); Oliver! (prod. John Woolf); Pretty Poison (prod. Marshall Backlar and Joel Black); Yellow Submarine (prod. Al Brodax)

PICTURE (Foreign Language)
winner: C'era una volta il West (Once Upon a Time in the West) (prod. Fulvio Morsella)
nominees: Baisers volés (Stolen Kisses) (prod. Marcel Berbert and François Truffaut); Il grande silenzio (The Great Silence) (prod. Adelphia Compagnia Cinematografica and Les Films Corona); Skammen (Shame) (prod. Lars-Owe Carlberg)

ACTOR (Drama)
winner: Steve McQueen (Bullitt)
nominees: Tony Curtis (The Boston Strangler); Charlton Heston (Planet of the Apes and Will Penny); Peter O’Toole (The Lion in Winter); Cliff Robertson (Charly); Max von Sydow (Skammen a.k.a. Shame)

ACTOR (Comedy/Musical)
winner: Zero Mostel (The Producers)
nominees: Dean Jones (The Love Bug); Jack Lemmon (The Odd Couple); Walter Matthau (The Odd Couple); Ron Moody (Oliver!); Peter Sellers (The Party)

ACTRESS (Drama)
winner: Katharine Hepburn (The Lion in Winter)
nominees: Claudia Cardinale (C'era una volta il West a.k.a. Once Upon a Time in the West); Julie Christie (Petulia); Mia Farrow (Rosemary's Baby); Gena Rowland (Faces); Liv Ullmann (Skammen a.k.a. Shame); Joanne Woodward (Rachel, Rachel)

ACTRESS (Comedy/Musical)
winner: Tuesday Weld (Pretty Poison)
nominees: Julie Andrews (Star!); Jane Fonda (Barbarella); Sally Ann Howes (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang); Barbara Streisand (Funny Girl)

DIRECTOR (Drama)
winner: Stanley Kubrick (2001: A Space Odyssey)
nominees: Ingmar Bergman (Skammen a.k.a. Shame); John Cassavetes (Faces); Sergio Leone (C'era una volta il West a.k.a. Once Upon a Time in the West); Roman Polanski (Rosemary's Baby); George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead)

DIRECTOR (Comedy/Musical)
winner: Mel Brooks (The Producers)
nominees: Carol Reed (Oliver!)

SUPPORTING ACTOR
winner: Henry Fonda (C'era una volta il West a.k.a. Once Upon a Time in the West)
nominees: Jack Albertson (The Subject Was Roses); Anthony Hopkins (The Lion in Winter); Boris Karloff (Targets); Kenneth Mars (The Producers); Roddy McDowell (Planet of the Apes); Oliver Reed (Oliver!); Jason Robards (C'era una volta il West a.k.a. Once Upon a Time in the West); Gene Wilder (The Producers)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
winner: Ruth Gordon (Rosemary's Baby)
nominees: Lynn Carlin (Faces); Kim Hunter (Planet of the Apes); Sondra Locke (The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter); Estelle Parsons (Rachel, Rachel); Delphine Seyrig (Baisers volés a.k.a. Stolen Kisses); Estelle Winwood (The Producers)

SCREENPLAY
winner: Sergio Leone and Sergio Donati (screenplay), from a story by Dario Argento, Bernardo Bertolucci and Sergio Leone, English translation by Mickey Knox (C'era una volta il West a.k.a. Once Upon a Time in the West)
nominees: John Cassavetes (Faces); James Goldman, from his play (The Lion in Winter); Neil Simon, from his play (The Odd Couple); Michael Wilson and Rod Serling, from the novel by Pierre Boulle (Planet of the Apes); Mel Brooks (The Producers); Roman Polanski, from the novel by Ira Levin (Rosemary's Baby); Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke (2001: A Space Odyssey)

SPECIAL AWARDS
"Springtime for Hitler" (The Producers) music and lyrics by Mel Brooks (Song); Ennio Morricone (C'era una volta il West a.k.a. Once Upon a Time in the West) (score); Claudio Maielli, Elio Pacella and Fausto Ancillai (C'era una volta il West a.k.a. Once Upon a Time in the West) (Sound); Anthony Masters, Harry Lange and Ernest Archer (2001: A Space Odyssey) (Art Direction-Set Decoration); Ray Lovejoy (2001: A Space Odyssey) (Film Editing); Stanley Kubrick (2001: A Space Odyssey) (Special Effects); William A. Fraker (Bullitt) (Cinematography); John Chambers (Planet of the Apes) (Make-up); Morton Haack (Planet of the Apes) (Costumes); Yellow Submarine (Animated Feature); Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (Animated Short)