Hidden Treasures - Week of Jan. 14th

THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (1924)
Had it not been for the steadfast determination of Hollywood legend Douglas Fairbanks Sr., THE THIEF OF BAGDAD, one of the most popular films of the silent era, may have never come to pass. Along with starring in the film, Fairbanks was also responsible for bringing both the film’s director (Raoul Walsh) and costume designer (Mitchell Leison) to the project. The story is the stuff of fairy tales: a lifelong thief (Fairbanks) falls in love with a beautiful Princess (Julianne Johnston), who is the daughter of the Caliph of Bagdad (Brandon Hurst), the most powerful man in the entire city. Despite the fact that he’s a criminal, the Thief is permitted to compete against other royal suitors for the honor of marrying his beloved, and must undertake a perilous task to prove himself worthy. As the Thief, Fairbanks Sr. gives a colorful performance, complete with flailing arms and a huge, beaming smile. It’s obvious he enjoyed this role immensely, and as a result, the film has a light, entertaining air about it. From all appearances, it was the part Fairbanks was born to play. Forget what the final credits say; THE THIEF OF BAGDAD was, from start to finish, a Douglas Fairbanks film.

WINCHESTER ‘73 (1950)
Of the five westerns that teamed star James Stewart with director Anthony Mann, I consider 1950’s WINCHESTER ‘73 to be the finest. Lin McAdams (Stewart) has just won a sharpshooters contest in which the grand prize is an 1873 model Winchester rifle, believed to be the finest rifle ever constructed. When Dutch Henry Brown (Stephen McNally), a man whom McAdams has been chasing for years, steals the gun, McAdams and his sidekick, High Spade (Millard Mitchell), set out to recover it. All of the westerns that Stewart and Mann collaborated on (including BEND OF THE RIVER, THE NAKED SPUR and THE MAN FROM LARAMIE) possessed a structural arc in which the only predictable element was a level of unpredictability. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Mann realized that the true western frontier (at least the one he was interested in exploring) never adhered to the standard formula, and life in the real American West was rarely told in three acts. As a filmmaker, Mann broke from tradition by implementing his own view of the west, one much more authentic than what was to be found in the typical Hollywood vehicles of the day. Working within a genre that boasted a rich and vibrant history, Anthony Mann managed to stand out, and WINCHESTER ‘73 is the pinnacle of his individuality.

REAP THE WILD WIND (1942)
Cecil B. DeMille liked making big movies, with larger than life stories and casts grand enough to support them. Initially, one might be reluctant to place REAP THE WILD WIND in the same category as DeMille’s more recognizable epics, such as 1959’s THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, but I believe this movie is as ambitious in its scale as any of the filmmaker’s other works. In 1840, the business of America was conducted by sea, and the waters surrounding the Florida Keys were among the most traveled in the country. Loxi Claiborne (Paulette Goddard), a Captain of her own salvage ship, rescues Capt. Jack Stuart (John Wayne) and his crew when their ship strikes a reef. As Loxi is busy rescuing the crew, the Keys’ most notorious profiteers, the Cutter Brothers (Raymond Massey and Robert Preston), make off with Stuart’s cargo. To end the tyranny of the Cutters, Stuart must team up with Steve Tolliver (Ray Milland), the second in command at the shipping company for which he works. Unfortunately, Stuart doesn’t like Tolliver very much, and things are further complicated when both men fall in love with Loxi. If you’re looking for excitement, then REAP THE WILD WIND will give you more than your fill. The film starts strongly, with an extremely tense shipwreck, and continues at this same level throughout, culminating in a nail-biting underwater battle with a giant squid. In true Cecil B. DeMille style, REAP THE WILD WIND is a good, old-fashioned Hollywood spectacle.

VERTICAL RAY OF THE SUN (2000)
Director Ahn Hung Tran’s VERTICAL RAY OF THE SUN is a beautiful film, not to mention a beautiful experience. In Hanoi, Vietnam, three sisters are preparing for a banquet in honor of their deceased parents. Suong (Nguyen Nhu Quynh), the eldest sister, owns the small café where the memorial will take place. Khan (Le Khanh), the middle sister, has recently discovered she’s pregnant, and both she and her husband, Kien (Tran Manh Cuong), are thrilled by the news. Their younger sister, Lien (Tran Nu Yen-Khe), is unmarried, and shares an apartment with their brother, Hai (Ngo Quang Hai). All three are dealing in their own way with the recent discovery that, years earlier, their mother may have had an extra-marital affair. As they delve deeper into their parents past, the sisters must also confront varying levels of deceit in their own relationships as well. In conjuncture with these complex, yet well-established, interrelationships, VERTICAL RAY OF THE SUN also features the artistic cinematography of Pin Bing Lee, whose exquisite use of imagery is the perfect match for the story at hand. Alive with poetry and the energy of performance, VERTICAL RAY OF THE SUN is pure beauty played out over 112 minutes.