Goodbye Mr. Chips

Mr. Chips’ great, old-fashioned film
Video Viper for Sept. 25,2009
ROBERT DONET plays Charles E. Chipping in "Goodbye Mr. Chips."

“Goodbye Mr. Chips” is one of those old-fashioned films that has a lot going for it.

It was the first of the dedicated teacher movies which plots life from young, inexperienced instructor to stooped-over, graying relic who is loved and respected by his peers.

The film has been remade and the plot has been reused, but this is the best version.

Also, the film came out in 1939, which automatically makes it a pure classic. Virtually everything that came out that year, from “ The Hunchback of Notre Dame” to “Stagecoach” to Wizard of Oz” to “Gone With the Wind” is an unquestionable artistic and popular success.

Mind you, I'm not judging Chips” by the year it was released only. And yes, if you had to guess the ending, it wouldn't be difficult. In fact, I will give you the ending right now. SPOILER ALERT: Chips dies.

Also, there are times you must suspend belief. First off, his real name is Charles Chipping. Funny in itself. But it takes years before anyone gives him the nickname “Chips.” Come on. In the real world, he would have been dubbed with that moniker on Day 1.

Played effectively by Robert Donat, Chips’ first experience in the classroom isn't good. He can't discipline the children and is told by the headmaster of the ancient and venerable boys school Brookfield he must control his class or be fired.

So he becomes overly strict and won't let the kids out of class on the day of the big cricket match. When Brookfield loses the match, he learns as valuable a lesson as the children.

The film quickly progresses to middle years and Donat is given an extra layer of makeup. He believes he will become head of one of the dormitories but is passed over despite his seniority. We come to realize after many years, Chips isn't a particularly good teacher.

His friend and German master Max Staefel, played by Paul Henreid of “Casablanca” fame, invites him on a walking tour of Austria as a different kind of vacation. While climbing the Alps, Chips meets a beautiful, independent woman, played by Greer Garson, who after must awkwardness, becomes his wife.

One of the best scenes is when Chips brings his new wife to visit the faculty and his fellow teachers believe she will be dour and frumpy, but she's beautiful and charming.

She teaches Chips to loosen up, joke with the kids, make school educational and fun. Sadly, she dies in childbirth, but the lessons she teaches Chips make him a better teacher and person.

There are so many poignant scenes. When Chips learns his wife and son are both dead, he insists on teaching his class anyway and the unknowing students try to pull an unfunny April Fool's joke on him.

When World War I erupts, many of the students and faculty we have come to know during the picture die in battle.

In this sense, “Chips” would make a pretty good double feature with the 1930 version of “All Quiet on the Western Front.”

love the atmosphere of the film, its sense of worth and purpose. We can feel the school's rich history, even though it was probably filmed on a back lot.

There are many unforgettable scenes in the film, one being when Chips realizes he is engaged and runs after the train carrying the Garson character.

It's old fashioned, the acting may be a bit broad for some and you might spend more time than you should looking at Donat's wrinkle-necked makeup.

But “GoodbBye Mr. Chips” is a treasure of a picture, one you will want to own and get it out and enjoy on cold, rainy nights.

GOODBYE MR. CHIPS

• Directed by Sam Wood

• Written by R.C. Sheriff and Claudine West

• Runtime: 114 minutes

• Suitable for the entire family

• 4 1/2 stars out of 5

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

‘Nick and Norah’ infinitely too long, terrible
Michael Cera and Kat Dennings in "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist."

Video Viper for Sept. 18, 2009

I have to admit, I wasn't prepared for as bad as “Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist” was.

It's supposed to be a teen romance comedy, but these supposed teens look and act more like people in their 20s, there's little romance or chemistry among the actors and nothing funny about it.

Michael Cera, who the year before was in the infinitely better “Juno,” plays the similar quiet, nerdy kid who happens to be in a rock band and is breaking up with his girlfriend.

Now the girlfriend, played by Alexis Dziena, goes to a Catholic girls school where they all wear the little Catholic uniforms. Among them is friend Norah (Kat Dennings).

The girls end up at a concert in which Cera’s band plays. The whole film takes place in one night, following the cast around. These types of movies have worked well in the past. Remember “Adventures in Babysitting?”

Now there's a movie where hilarious, interesting and compelling stuff happened to the characters. You won't find that in “Infinite Boredom.” (I hated the movie, I get to rename it.)

Maybe I should just describe what constitutes humor in this film. For instance, Cera drives a battered Yugo. So there are lots of scenes of the Yugo. The camera focuses on the Yugo nameplate as he is backing up so you remember it is a Yugo. The Yugo barely starts, It has a difficult time going forward. Somebody thinks it is a taxi. Do I have you rolling on the floor? Actually, this is probably the funniest thing in the film.

Now Nick's band includes two others who are gay. So people refer to it as “that gay band.” Are tears rolling down your eyes from laughing so hard?

And band members keep wanting to change the name of the band to another crude expression. What fun!

Then there's friend Caroline, played by Ari Graynor, who gets drunk and repulsive. The running joke is she keeps chewing her gum no matter what. So she goes into a dirty, public restroom and we get to see her vomit. Then she puts her hand in the vomit-filled toilet and fishes out the gum and puts it back in her mouth.

OK. If you had any desire to see this film, please reread this past paragraph.

Now in true romantic movie fashion, Nick and Norah must become a couple. But romance movie plot dictates Nick must first try to get back with original girlfriend, played by Dziena. Keep in mind there is no chemistry among any of these people. Nick must realize at some point he loves Norah, and leaves old girlfriend to find her.

All I'm thinking is let this thing end.

The “Infinite Playlist” refers to Nick's interest in music and making mixed CDs. Yet there is nothing to hint in this film why he or any other characters are interested in music.

All I can say is once you have met Nick and Norah, you never want to see them again.

NICK and NORAH'S INFINITE PLAYLIST

• Directed (sort of) by Peter Sollett

• Written by Lorene Scafaria (screenplay), Rachel Cohn (novel)

• Runtime: 90 minutes, it just seems longer

• Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material including teen drinking, sexuality, language and crude behavior

• 1/2 star out of 4 (only for the Yugo)

Studio One

Step back to early TV with ‘Studio One’

BETTY FURNESS shows off a 1950s Westinghouse refrigerator on "Studio One."
Star Beacon for Sept. 11, 2009

OK, bear with me for a short history lesson, then a review.

The industrial revolution of 100 years ago resulted in fewer people working on farms. It meant a bit more leisure time. Unfortunately, technology hadn't gotten caught up yet. During evening hours, you could play games, read, but there was no TV, no radio and movies were still pretty much a novelty. They would show them on the wall at night in the drug store after it closed.

As a result, there were many traveling shows, operas, lectures, plays that would travel from city to city. Even small cities.

Once radio entertainment, which included comedies and dramas, became mainstream in the late 1920s, traveling shows became less in demand. Also, you had movie theaters opening, sometimes large and ornate with huge pipe organs to produce the soundtrack to silent films.

Ah, but after World War II, a new novelty was produced, which again brought us programs, operas and plays, right in our own homes.

It came on a tiny, fuzzy, 10-inch display and they called it television.

Imagine sitting at home in 1949 and watching a play with professional actors right in your own home. It must have been an unbelievable experience.

“Studio One,” sponsored by Westinghouse, was one such experience. It aired from 1948 to 1958 and was produced live. A huge studio included many obvious cardboard backdrops and everything was live.

“Studio One” episodes are available on DVD and if you have Netflix, proves to be an interesting history lesson on early television.

Television may have been technically pretty crude back then, but it was much more highbrow. The latest plays, the classics, would come into your living room, including “Wuthering Heights,” “Julius Caesar” and newer stuff, like “Twelve Angry Men.” This latter play, by the way, was thought to be lost but was discovered by a researcher for The History Channel in 2003.

The only way to preserve these programs back then was to point a film camera at a TV monitor as the live broadcast went out and record the proceedings. Even then, narrow-thinking individuals later ordered some of this film destroyed because they were taking up too much room.

Big movie stars of the time couldn't be seen on TV, so it was up to largely unknowns to play the parts. You may have heard of some of them: Jack Lemmon, William Shatner, Ed Asner, James Dean, Warren Oates, Charleton Heston, Lee Remick and so many more.

Shatner, in one of the extras, describes the huge cameras used with the silent, whirring fans needed to keep them cool.

What the people involved did was pretty extraordinary. There was no stopping, no retakes. If you made a mistake, you went on. In “The Remarkable Incident at Carson Corners,” children in a classroom invite their parents one evening for what inevitably shocks them, a mock trial in which they charge a janitor with contributing to the death of a child from a faulty fire escape.

The play is interesting, not outstanding. In one scene, a boy who looked maybe 10 is on the stand and is asked to describe an incident leading to the death. There is a flashback.

In a movie, the flashback scene may be filmed days or weeks later or before the courtroom and repeated as necessary until perfect.

This is live television. This boy had to jump from the chair and run to another set, change clothes and be in the flashback scene.

And remember, there is a minefield of wires and cords about the stage.

In one of the extras, actor Johnathan Harris describes how he was in one scene and when it switched to the next scene, was in that one too. There were no breaks. He was in a different shirt and tie. Harris, best known as the ornery Dr. Smith in “Lost in Space,” was there, but admits, “I don't know how they did it.”

Sometimes the technology of the day made you concentrate on the plot less. When a woman was working in a prop kitchen, I wondered if she could get water from the faucet. At one point, she indeed did.

Maybe the highlight of the whole process was the Westinghouse commercials. They are a hoot.

Betty Furness, who was an actress in a “Studio One” episode, filled in on a commercial when the regular person failed to show. She did such a good job, she was hired as the permanent Westinghouse spokeswoman.

We see her discuss the marvels of Westinghouse frost-free refrigerators, stoves with sensors that would make certain nothing on the stove boiled over (what happened to those?), clothes washers she called “Laundromats” and fancy, 21-inch televisions that required only one dial to tune stations. Plus, if color TV ever becomes available, a black-and-white Westinghouse could be converted (that never happened.)

And “Studio One” had great writers, including Rod Serling, later of “Twilight Zone” fame.

You can tell cast and staff strived for excellence within the means of its time when producing “Studio One.”

It is worth a nostalgic look back.

Boy in the Striped Pajamas

‘Striped Pajamas’ new look at Nazi tragedy

ASA BUTTERFIELD in "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas."


How many ways can you make a movie about the atrocities of Nazi Germany?
As it turns out, plenty.
How about through the eyes of an innocent child who remains naïve throughout the film “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.”
Bruno (Asa Butterfield), 8, is the son of a Nazi death camp commander. His father, played by David Thewlis, doesn't seem particularly cruel. He's concerned about the family welfare. When he's promoted to head a Nazi concentration camp and the family must leave their large Berlin mansion, Dad tries to make the transition as smooth as possible while protecting his own career.
Bruno's grandmother, the commander's mother, played by Sheila Hancock, voices her worries about Adolph Hitler and the Nazis. She isn't the last in this no-holds-bar film.
The new home is fenced in, guarded by Nazi soldiers. From his room, Bruno can see what looks like a farm in a distance. Bruno misses his friends. He can't go beyond the gate and there is nobody to play with. He thinks at the “farm” there must be lots of kids and lots of fun.
No matter the hints, Bruno is too young to realize the debts of cruelty that human beings can conflict. He wonders how the sickly, bent over servant who peels potatoes and does odd jobs can actually be a doctor. Why would a doctor give up his career to peel potatoes for a family?
Bruno's older sister, played by Amber Beattie, is taken by a Nazi soldier and swallows the whole Hitler deal, including posters on the wall.
Mother, played by Vera Farmiga, is ill-at-ease about the whole situation. She is taken back by these living dead Jewish creatures who work at her home. She argues with her husband. She really comes unglued when a soldier tells her what the black smoke and awful smell comes from.
Meantime, Bruno finds a way to visit the “farm” and meets a young boy played by Jack Scanlon on the other side of the barbed wire. He wonders why the boy is there, can he come out to play and why is he always hungry?
He never understands what the farm is and can't comprehend when his tutor describes how Jews aren't even human, when his friend seems perfectly fine.
There are some gruesome and sadistic scenes, like when the Jewish doctor-turned servant accidentally spills some wine because he is so weak and is brutally beaten. Bruno watches as his father does nothing.
If there is a criticism of the film, it is the fact everyone speaks with strong British accents but are supposed to be Germans. It takes some getting used to.
Seeing the atrocities of Hitler through a child's eyes adds a new perspective to an old subject.
The ending is especially startling. I'll leave you to discover it for yourself but you won't forget it.
“The Boy With the Striped Pajamas” is worth your time and attention.

THE BOY WITH THE STRIPED PAJAMAS • Written by John Boyne (novel) and Mark Herman (screenplay) • Directed by Mark Herman • Rated PG-13 for mature themes about Nazi holocaust • Runtime: 94 minutes • 4 1/2 stars out of 5

Lakeview Terrace

A great villain in ‘Lakeview Terrace’

Chuck Zlotnick/Screen Gems

Samuel L. Jackson in "Lakeview Terrace."

“Lakeview Terrace” would be just another run-of-the-mill suspense, stalker film if it wasn't for the talents of Samuel L. Jackson.
Even a less-than-stellar script can be compensated for with a really good actor playing a really good villain.
Just think of the greatest film villain of them all, Robert Mitchum, as the nasty in “Night of the Hunter” and the original “Cape Fear.”
Jackson plays that kind of role in “Lakeview Terrace.” He has the ability to smile and say nice words while sending a cold shiver down your spine.
Jackson is Abel Turner, a stern widower who rules his two children with an iron fist. His wife died under mysterious circumstances while riding with her boss.
Enter the new neighbors, Chris Mattson (Patrick Wilson) and his wife, Lisa (Kerry Washington).
Ron Glass, formerly of "Barney Miller" fame, plays Lisa's rich father.
Abel takes an instant dislike to the interracial couple and starts playing mind games that escalate into real violence. Oh yeah, and Abel is a Los Angeles police officer. So who is the couple going to complain to?
The Wilson character quickly learns living next to the Jackson character won't be easy. He has strong security lights posted about his home that shine into the Wilsons' bedroom. Abel smiles and says he will take care of the lighting problem, but never does.
His dislike for the couple grows when he and his children can see them having sex at their pool.
Rich daddy Glass doesn't help the matters. While discussing problems with the new neighbors, he barely acknowledges Patrick's existence until Patrick asks that he address them both. Glass's character suggests they leave their "starter" home and buy another one with his help. The starter home looks pretty decent in size, with a full-sized swimming pool and a to-die-for view. The view becomes another character in the film when a wildfire in the valley gets closer and closer.
It's not the only wildfire in this film. Jackson's character hires a man to smash up the couple's home during a block party. When wife goes home early, Jackson is forced to shoot the man, turning the swimming pool a shade of pink.
The suspense mounts toward the violent ending. I won't give that away. But if you like movies with really bad guys and a shoreline that actually improves as the plot progresses, check out “Lakeview Terrace.” You might even appreciate your neighbor more.

LAKEVIEW TERRACE • Directed by Neil labile • Screenplay by David Laugher and Howard Order • Runtime: 110 minutes • Rated PG-13 for intense thematic material, violence, sexuality, language and some drug references • Three stars out of four

Little Children

Compelling stories in ‘Little Children’

New Line Cinema

Sadie Goldstein, Kate Winslet, Ty Keegan Simpkins and Patrick Wilson in"Little Children."

“Little Children” paints an absorbing portrait of several dysfunctional adults and how their lives play out within their spheres of acquaintances and individually.

Each character's foibles and hang-ups help make this a compelling story.

I've watched this film twice and got more out of the tale the second time around.

Kate Winslet is Sarah, whom we are supposed to believe is a bit on the plain side. She isn't.

She meets other mothers from the neighborhood at the local park where they sit and gossip while their children play. The other mothers are focused and organized. At precisely 10:30 their children are called by their mothers for the morning snack. Invariably, Winslet's character forgets her snack for her daughter and the others must share so the little girl doesn't go without.

The highlight for the other women is when "the prom king," as they call him, takes his child to the park.

The prom king is a stay-at-home dad played by Patrick Wilson. He has a law degree but can't seem to pass the bar examination. His wife, played by Jennifer Connelly, is the driven business executive who earns the family's living.

Ah, but there's more.

Jackie Earl Haley, whom as a youngster was one of the cutters in "Breaking Away," and was one of the "Bad News Bears, " plays a child molester who is released from jail. His mother, played by Phyllis Somerville, says he isn't a bad boy, he's just done some bad things. She knows her time on this planet is limited and wants him settled down with a nice girl.

Gregg Edelman plays Winslet's husband, who jeopardizes his career and marriage by starting a love affair with an Internet porn site.

Winslet and Wilson's characters find they have more in common with each other than their spouses and begin an affair.

The plot is actually a myriad of side stories. Besides Wilson's affair, he joins a rough-and-tumble pickup football team but enjoys watching kids skateboard.

Noah Emmerich plays a former cop who accidentally kills a boy who has a toy gun. He tries to make up for it by ridding the neighborhood of the pedophile.

This movie is a vignette of sidestories and for the most part they work.

The story lines don't tie up neatly, as our lives and troubles don't neatly come to a conclusion at a certain point.

But you will become drawn to the stories and characters.

"Little Children" is an apt title. Watch this for the immaturity in us all.

LITTLE CHILDREN

• Directed by Todd Field

• Story by Field and Tom Perrotta

• Runtime: 130 minutes

• Rated R for strong sexuality and nudity and language

• 3 stars out of 4

Perry Mason

RAYMOND BURR as Perry Mason.

Perry Mason proves guilty pleasure
Video Viper for July 24, 2009

What I consider the major part of the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court designate Sonia Sotomayor is when new Sen. Al Franken, formerly of "Saturday Night Live" fame, discussed the lawyer series "Perry Mason" with her.
Sotomayor said she became interested in the law by watching "Perry Mason," the dean of lawyer shows. It aired from 1957 to 1966 on CBS, returning with a new cast from 1973-74 and then in TV movies on NBC in the 1980s and 90s.
Actor Raymond Burr, the murderer himself in Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window," became synonymous with the role of Mason.
It has been described as the first television drama with the same cast each week.
But in a question which could make or break her getting on the Supreme Court, Franken asked Sotomayor which episode had Mason losing a case.
For all of those years, the plot line was much the same. We were introduced to the week's guest characters. Often one of them was particularly nasty. That person would end up murdered and Perry's client would be arrested. When the 52-minute episode was over, Perry would peg the real killer, often in a courtroom showdown, and free his client.
The fact such an incident may have happened once in the annals of real courtrooms, this happened for 271 episodes of the original series alone. Sad to say, Sotomayor failed to guess the case that Perry lost.
But Franken can't talk. He didn't know either. Fret no more. Mason lost in “The Case of the Deadly Verdict,” which first aired Oct. 17, 1963.
It is included on a DVD set, “Perry Mason 50th Anniversary Edition.”
Besides 13 episodes, it includes the TV movie “Perry Mason Returns,” which saw Burr return to the character in 1985 after 19 years.
The set includes the only color episode of the original series, episodes with a young Robert Redford, James Coburn, Adam West, Burt Reynolds, Leonard Nimoy and Margaret O'Brien.
When Burr required surgery and was laid up, Bette Davis filled in as fellow attorney Constant Doyle. That episode is also included.
If you plow through this set — and the series is addictive — you can begin checking out the entire original series, which is being released on DVD sets a half season at a time. While these include pristine, complete episodes you won't find in this quality on television, they contain no extras. So far the releases have hit season 4, disc 1. There were nine seasons, so that means half the episodes are out.
Mason originated with Earle Stanley Gardner, an attorney who found he liked writing pulp detective novels, using a dictating machine.
His books were turned into a series of B movies in the 1930s, a radio show in the 40s before hitting television in 1957. It's return to the air in 1973 with Monte Markham in the title role failed to gell with viewers and was canceled after half a season.
Some of the plot lines may appear quaint by today's standards. People are accused of murder to preserve the family's good name. Blackmail is common because someone has information that would ruin the victim.
"Perry Mason" is family friendly and retains a bit of the film noir popular in movie theaters in the 1940s. It takes on some topics you didn't normally see on TV back then, like drug addiction and out-of-wedlock pregnancies, but there is nothing that would embarrass you from watching this with younger kids.
You don't need to aspire to be on the Supreme Court to enjoy this classic series.
Heck, you don't even need to have appeared on “Saturday Night Live.”