Wednesday, December 2, 2020

 



Watchingwell 

                                                                              

                                                             Curated classic films







Sacrifice


                      I find myself thinking of some of the inspiring themes in films that we love to watch during the holiday season. Particularly, I am thinking about the ones that contain examples of sacrifice in light of the fact that it seems to be such an old-fashioned concept in this day and age. Maybe, it was always a hard sell, which is why Hollywood took it upon itself to persuade the public of its moral value.

 

In times of war and national emergency, Hollywood played a valuable role in convincing citizens to do their parts. Films which depicted the heroic sacrifices of soldiers stirred the public support of war efforts.  Just as films about the sacrifices made on the home front made everyone feel like part of the cause.

 


Bataan
 (1943) is one of many films about World War II, some obviously better than others.  But it goes beyond an appreciation of those serving and risking their lives. It depicts the actual sacrifice, which must have happened countless times in countless wars, of lives for the greater good. It is the story of a group of men who stay back to hold a bridge to slow the enemy advance, thus assuring the successful retreat of Allied forces from the Philippines. The fictional tale is sold by a great cast, including the screen debut of Robert Walker, headed by Robert Taylor, who keeps his machine gun firing until the end. Directed by Tay Garnett.




 Many films dealt with life on the home front and the adjustments civilians made, some out of  a feeling of solidarity with serving loved ones and some, grudgingly, because they are always with us.  Since You Went Away (1944), directed by John Cromwell, with a fine score by Max Steiner and beautiful black and white photography by Lee Garmes and Stanley Cortez, was released during the war and reflected the somewhat privileged lives of one part of society with family members serving overseas. It has been criticized for being overly sentimental, but the cast -- Claudette Colbert, Joseph Cotten, Jennifer Jones, Robert Walker, Shirley Temple, Monty Wooley, Agnes Moorehead, and Hattie McDaniel, gives moving performances, and the scene at the train station with Jones and Walker brings tears every time. It is a favorite Christmas film.    




A look at life on the home front among the working class, Tender Comrade (1943)  is the story of women, alone, working in the defense industry who, finding it hard to make ends meet, pool their resources by moving in together.  It got into disrepute post-war when certain red-baiters accused filmmakers of promoting communism. Now we can laugh, but even star, Ginger Rogers, later repudiated the film, even though it contained one of her best performances as a war bride, whose courtship and marriage to Robert Ryan is told in flashback. Directed by Edward Dmytryk.




                                                                                                                                                     


Still in the same war,  Casablanca (1942) is the iconic tale of romance and resistance activities in north Africa. Against the backdrop of desperate people trying to get out of the Vichy-administered city and Nazi-controlled Europe, Humphrey Bogart rekindles his romance with Ingrid Bergman, but, in the end, convinces her that they must part for the good of the war effort, because "it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world." Directed by Michael Curtiz.









Not just ordinary people are called upon to sacrifice for a noble cause, even royalty has to make unhappy choices for the good of the state.  So it was with Queen Christina (1933) of Sweden, played by the Swedish Greta Garbo, in one of her greatest performances. Having fallen in love with the Spanish envoy, she must choose between personal happiness and her royal responsibilities. It is clear which she chooses by her expression in the last shot. Directed by Rouben Mamoulian.







The same choice is faced by a more modern monarch (if this is not an oxymoron), Audrey Hepburn's princess in Roman Holiday (1953).  While visiting Rome, she makes a dash for freedom to escape a suffocating life and falls in love with Gregory Peck, a reporter, who keeps his profession a secret as he escorts her around Rome. In a challenge to our suspension of disbelief, she chooses her responsibilities over Gregory Peck. Directed by William Wyler.







Sometimes it isn't the fate of millions that  motivate the sacrifice.  Sometimes, it's the fate of  only one person.  In Name Only (1939) Carole Lombard, a single mother who has fallen in love with unhappily married Cary Grant, vows to give him up if his disapproving parents allow her into his hospital room.  Seemingly, his doctors think it's the only thing that will save his life. Hey, it's a movie! With Kay Francis and Charles Coburn, directed by John Cromwell.






There are abundant examples in the movies of mothers and fathers who sacrifice for their children.  Who can forget the pathetically frowsy Barbara Stanwyck in the last scene of Stella Dallas (1937) peeking through the window at her daughter at home with her new socially-prominent family? Although, apparently she had not thought of changing her wardrobe and hair-do as an alternative to dropping out of her child's life. I mention this because it seems to work in other films.  Directed by King Vidor.








Women often sacrifice in films from the classic era by giving up the baby when there is no husband or the husband dies before the baby is born. Olivia de Haviland gives a wonderful performance in To Each His Own (1946) as an unwed mother who gives up her son, goes on with her life, successfully, but keeps track of him from afar. Directed by Mitchell Leisen.







In the well-known and favorite Bette Davis film, Now Voyager (1942), Bette and the man she loves, Paul Henreid, agree to sacrifice personal happiness together for the sake of his daughter. Irving Rapper directs Bette as the woman who emerges from under her domineering mother's control to become the woman who finds love and confidence with an unhappily married man.







One of the most-loved holiday films, It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and its theme of the value that a single human life can have, also represents a life that is full of sacrifice. From George Bailey's sacrifice of his own dreams so that his brother can realize his to the lifetime of deferring his own best interests to the interests of the town, Frank Capra directs James Stewart in one of his most effective roles and one of his most inspiring messages.







And my favorite holiday film, The Cheaters, from 1945, which exhibits another kind of sacrifice. A selfish, social-climbing family on the brink of bankruptcy decides, in the end, to tell their houseguest that she is the real heiress to their uncle’s fortune. They had brought her to their country home to prevent her from learning this from the newspapers, but she makes them ashamed of the plot by being everything they are not:  kind, genuine, and grateful. Directed by Joseph Kane.



Be kind, genuine, and grateful.