Final Thoughts on Howard Hawks

Well I hope you enjoyed my month long look at the works of Howard Hawks. He was one of the great economical directors who ever worked. You could say he gave you everything you needed to know in a scene and left no baggage. Hawks was underrated in his day, but now he's ranked among the greatest who ever lived. I think part of the reason Hawks was so underrated was because he made films that were entertaining first and foremost, but once you scratched the surface on what his films were really about, you could see a wonderful depth within them. Stay tuned next month for another special announcement.

Hawks World: Rio Bravo

I can't tell you how much joy I get out of watching a film like "Rio Bravo". It's special in many ways, for one reason it's the kind of film with a kind of pace that isn't done anymore, it focuses more on character than story, and it perfectly encapsulates everything Howard Hawks had been making in his films up to that point.

"Rio Bravo" was made late in Hawks' career and was probably his last great film. It's a western that may not be as psychological as John Ford's "The Searchers" or Hawks' own "Red River", but it has a certain charm and style that is all it's own. John Wayne plays Sheriff John T. Chance, who has his hands full when he arrests a killer and has to keep him locked up until the Marshall arrives. Unfortunately the killer just happens to have a wealthy brother who is buying his freedom with a bunch of hired guns. Chance has some help with his deputies; there's Dude (Dean Martin) a drunk who's trying to stay sober in order to do his job, Stumpy (Walter Brennan) a grumpy old coot who watches the jail, and then there's Colorado (Ricky Nelson) a young gun ready to prove himself. The men are all pros, which is something Hawks adored in his action films. The movie doesn't go for false heroics, these men are just good at what they do which keeps them alive.

Along with all the male bonding going on, there is also a lady involved by the name of Feathers (Angie Dickenson) who is one in a long line of Hawks' femmes. She is interested in Chance and therefore makes herself irresistible to him.

Although much like "Only Angels Have Wings" the real love story in the picture has to do with Chance and Dude. Dude has been a drunk ever since a girl he loved walked out on him. Through the film, Chance has been encouraging Dude to come back to action and to prove himself again. It's an interesting dynamic in the film and a relationship that Hawks revels in. It's not unlike the friendship formed by Humphrey Bogart and Walter Brennan in "To Have and Have Not", in that movie Brennan was the drunk, but Bogart never tried to reform him.

What's great about "Rio Bravo" and what makes it so wonderful to watch is Hawks attention to character. Hawks has always been a character driven director but this is probably the one film where he seems almost uninterested in action. I'm not saying there isn't any action, there are plenty of intense moments, but there is this whole feeling in the movie that all of that is secondary.

This film was made after Hawks spent about four years abroad in Europe, he hadn't made a film in all that time. He returned to America with a new more broader perspective on cinema. He complained about television and how all the shows on at that time were more concerned about getting from point A to point B they never stopped to consider the characters. Hawks set out to make "Rio Bravo" into a leisurely paced action film where he spent plenty of time on character development.

The film was also a critique on other popular westerns such as "High Noon", a film Hawks despised. Hawks was always preoccupied with showing men as professionals, where he thought the sheriff in "High Noon" was always looking for help from non-professionals who were married and never handled again. In the end of that movie the sheriff is saved by his quaker wife, an ending which no doubt Hawks would've balked at and probably did. In "Rio Bravo" you get the sense that all these heroes know how to handle themselves in a fight, and Chance is smart enough to know that even a drunk like Dude is more useful to him than someone who has never picked up a six-shooter.

Above all "Rio Bravo" is just a joy to watch, it's a film I can turn to any time and feel satisfied with. It is perhaps my favorite Hawks film although there are many that can compete with it. Hawks was the kind of director who was economical, he was never showy, he only put things in his scenes that were necessary to the audience. In "Rio Bravo" we see a confidence that you could only see in an experienced director like Hawks. "Rio Bravo" was more or less remade by Hawks two more times in "El Dorado" and "Rio Lobo" which all starred John Wayne. Perhaps he didn't have much else to say after "Rio Bravo". Hawks' cinema was quite unique in the way he simplified his films, but he always made them extremely entertaining. Perhaps there was no other director who could bring out such complex themes in such a mainstream way.

Those Daring Young Men in there Flying Machines: Only Angels Have Wings

If there was one film which would be the perfect example of what Howard Hawks cinema is, it would be "Only Angels Have Wings". The film is just about the best summation of the relationship between men, their profession, and the woman who try to understand them. "Only Angels Have Wings" dives deep into these themes along with giving us some truly suspenseful, breath holding flights.

I first saw "Only Angels Have Wings" at a young age. By that time I had seen some of Hawks' films mostly his comedies starring Cary Grant. Seeing the cover of the film I assumed another Hawks/Grant comedy, yet that was not what I got. I can't say I can remember much about my first viewing of the film, I don't remember being that impressed with it. I don't think I really got the male camaraderie that Hawks was going for. I was confused about the middle section where Jean Arthur's character just seemed to disappear for a long period of time, thinking this was supposed to be a love story between her and Cary Grant.

Years later, after learning more about Howard Hawks cinema, I tried "Only Angels Have Wings" again and this time being much more impressed by it.

The film is about a rugged crew of pilots who operate a small air-mailing post in South America. We see very early on that their job isn't just a walk in the park. When an American showgirl named Bonnie (Jean Arthur) comes off a boat, two pilots see her and compete with eachother on who will be the one to buy her dinner. When one of the pilots, Joe gets the chance to ask her out, he is called upon by his boss Geoff (Cary Grant) to head out on a delivery. Joe leaves, and failing to obey orders, dives into a dense fog and crashes, Joe is dead. The next scene shows the pilots pretending Joe never existed, it's their way of coping, but Bonnie doesn't seem to understand it.

The beginning of this film is a brilliant set up to the danger these pilots deal with every day and the and the sort of silent bond with these men that Hawks is getting at. The fact that Joe dies comes as a shock, since we get to know him and see that he's a nice guy, and it's certainly too early in the film for a person to die just yet, we are all expecting him to survive the crash. The men know it wouldn't do any good to mourn for their fallen comrade, they know it's a common occurrence and they must move on in order to do their job.

Bonnie becomes somewhat of an observer to the professional attitude in these men, as she can't help but be interested in it, and predictably she must fall for Geoff who is the hardest of the men to break. The romance between Bonnie and Geoff almost takes a backseat to the more complex relationship between Geoff and his best friend The Kid (Thomas Mitchell). The two have been flying together for years, and the most emotional scenes in the film are the ones that include the two of them. One of the most heartbreaking scenes comes when Geoff must ground The Kid after he realizes he's going blind, and then (SPOILER ALERT) there is the brilliant underplayed death scene of The Kid where very little is said between the two, and when The Kid asks Geoff to leave him to die alone, it's as hard to take as any romance film.

The film was made in 1939 where it can be said that special effects weren't at their peak, and I'm not going to pretend the some of the planes we see in the air don't look like models, however because it was shown early on that men do die from this, Hawks makes every time a plane goes up in the air a life or death situation. Personally I don't like flying myself, and there were moments such as when a plane dives into a cliff or lands right at the edge of one where my heart didn't drop. It's a thrill, but at the same time it's drama as the characters are so well drawn, we put our stake into anyone who goes up there.

"Only Angels Have Wings" is one of Hawks' perfect films, and funny enough it was the only non-comedy he made with Cary Grant. Grant had good relationships with many directors, but it was really with Hawks he was able to show a variety of talents. As Geoff he keeps a very hard exterior, but we know there is more to him as the film progresses. Hawks knew how to get that out of Grant which is something other directors didn't or couldn't try with him. The film is a testament to their relationship.

"Only Angels Have Wings" is an important film in the cinema of Howard Hawks. It probably wasn't until I saw this that I was finally understanding what his movies were about and what they meant. It would cheapen Hawks' legacy to simply call movies he did like this one as a "guys movie". It isn't really, it's a film about guys, but Hawks was one of the few directors who knew there was something underneath the tough exterior, something that wasn't superficial but real and intense, and Hawks knew that perhaps the only other people who could understand men were other men.

Movies I've seen Recently

Haven't been to the movies as much as I have wanted to, still there were a couple I happened to catch in my travels to the multiplex.

Watchmen: A thinking man's super hero movie if there ever was one. I must admit I read the graphic novel first to get me into the world of "The Watchmen". I wanted to separate myself from the novel when reviewing the film but I'm not sure how well that worked. First of all let me just say I enjoyed the film and perhaps better than the novel. I felt they actually improved on the ending, I also enjoyed the music choices provided which is something you don't hear in a regular super hero movie. My favorite part of both the film and the novel is the philosophical discussion between Dr. Manhattan(Billy Crudup) and Laurie Jupiter(Malin Akerman). It's one of the only times a comic book movie turned into something poetic. 3.5 stars out of 4

Coraline: As a fan of stop motion animation I was interested in seeing this film. "Coraline" isn't your regular kids movie which is often sweet and sentimental, it's refreshingly creepy and ominous. Part of that comes from the fact that we are dealing with a more stylized stop motion world other than a more polished and realistic looking computer generated one. Director Henry Selick creates a fantastic world where things come at you unexpectedly. My only regret is not seeing this in 3-D. 3.5 stars out of 4

Ball of Fire: Sex and Slang

Howard Hawks was known for creating some of the greatest comedies ever made, however I confess that my favorite is one of his most underrated gems. "Ball of Fire" isn't usually uttered along with Hawks' better known comedies like "Twentieth Century", "Bringing up Baby" or "His Girl Friday", but it's every bit as funny as it puts a light touch on taboo subjects as sexual repression. Along with that it is probably Hawks' most poignant and surprisingly touching comedy.

Working from a brilliant script by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett who would collaborate on some of Wilder's own classic films, "Ball of Fire" is a variation on "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" only this time the Dwarfs are replaced by seven very sheltered professors who for the past nine years have been living together in a big house writing an encyclopedia. Each professor is an authority on their respective subjects, one is a mathematician, one is a botanist, one is a historian etc... the seven men are inseparable and a running gag in the film is Hawks always films them as a group rather than individuals. The eighth member of the group is Professor Potts (Gary Cooper) who is the youngest and specializes in languages and words. When a garbage man enters their house with some trivia questions for them, Potts is astonished by the man's speech pattern. He speaks in a certain slang that Potts is fascinated with, and he decides probably for the first time to go out in the real world and see how people speak.

In his travels Potts stumbles upon a sexy nightclub singer named Sugarpuss (Barbara Stanwyck) who seems to speak a new kind of slang every time she opens her mouth. When Potts propositions Sugarpuss with a scientific study on slang language she takes him up on it, but only because her boyfriend happens to be a gangster (Dana Andrews) who's suspected of murder, and she decides to hideout with the eight professors so she can avoid questions from the cops.

When Sugarpuss arrives, she brings all her street smarts with her, which is something the reclusive scientists aren't used to. Things begins to get complicated and the usual routine the professors are used change. Sugarpuss is a live and vivacious girl which is something these men have not come across in quite some time, perhaps never for some of them. It becomes predictable that Potts who at first is annoyed by her interruption of his work ethic soon is infatuated by her. Stanwyck plays Cooper like puddy in her hands not unlike what she did to Henry Fonda in "The Lady Eve" made the same year.

Hawks was never afraid of being unsubtle and you can see how the innuendo filled script provided by Wilder and Brackett opens up his brilliant comedic staging. "Ball of Fire" could be considered as screwball, as it is filled with it's share of madcap craziness particularly near the finale with a showdown with some gangsters. However the film is far more restrained compared to his other comedies. In "Bringing up Baby" Hawks always complained that every character was off the wall, there was no one to relate to. In "Ball of Fire" it seems he has learned from his past mistake. Each of the professors are seen in somewhat of a caricature however Hawks looks at them as more of an exaggeration on human behaviour. We never forget that these men are all kind and charming, we never get the sense they are dirty old men for letting a much younger and sexy woman living with them. They treat her as if they were her father or grandfather and we accept that.

There is even a moment in the film where Hawks allows for some pathos, when all the men are sitting together bonding in pure Hawks fashion and the one widower of the group Professor Oddly (Richard Hayden) reminisces about his deceased wife. It's as if at that instance, the film becomes something else, and we begin to care more about these men than we thought.

Even though "Ball of Fire" isn't as well known as Hawks' more famous comedies, those who have discovered it seem to be in agreement that it is a special movie for the director and stars. Cooper perhaps has never been more clueless and clumsy in a movie yet so delightful. He keeps his masculine charm, but his character reveals a stronger vulnerability than we are used to seeing him in. As Sugarpuss, Stanwyck creates one of her most memorable comedic characters. She exudes sexiness but also a savy and a wit to her character. Sugarpuss may be the most uneducated person in the room, but she is certainly the smartest.

Howard Hawks would go on the make other comedies, most of them starring Cary Grant, however "Ball of Fire" was probably the last comedy he made that had him working on all cylinders. He would go on to make later masterpieces in different genres, but you could say from "Twentieth Century" in 1934 to "Ball of Fire" in 1941, no one made a greater string of comedies.

Initial Thoughts on Howard Hawks

I'm not quite sure what to say about Howard Hawks. Sure he is one of the great Hollywood directors, and one of the few who was able to work in various genres of film and making them his own. I've watched his best films time and time again and consider them my favorites, the problem I have with his is I just don't know how to describe them.

Howard Hawks was a maverick if there ever was one, he worked in every genre, with every studio and star known to man. It didn't seem to matter what kind of film it was in the beginning, Hawks would always make it uniquely his. Hawks could be thought of as a very stylish director, but he also could make very harrowing and realistic portraits of real men and women.

Hawks' best film dealt with the relationships and camaraderie towards men, there was a certain fraternity in them, and sometimes women were invited into the club. This type of film was probably best exemplified in his two best films "Only Angels Have Wings" and "Rio Bravo". Both of those films are about men facing dangerous and almost impossible odds, but Hawks always sticks to their relationship as friends and as professionals. In both of those films, a woman is brought into the mix but their is always a touch of toughness to their character. Hawks was known as a masculine filmmaker who made movies about men and for men, but by doing this he made some of the best roles for women as well who could do what the men did just as well or even better. Think of Rosalind Russell in "His Girl Friday", or Barbara Stanwyck in "Ball of Fire", or Lauren Bacall in "To Have and Have Not" and "The Big Sleep".

Hawks also mastered a more realistic way of speaking. In the early sound era when actors spoke more crisp and clearly in order to be heard through the microphone, the films sometimes lost some of its weight, while Hawks who was an engineer experimented with ways of speaking on film. He mastered the overlapping of dialogue which gave his films (particularly his comedies) a hipper more fast paced edge.

Though often to compared to fellow maverick John Ford, Hawks was quite different with his technique. Ford often let his images tell the story in a certain poetic manner, while Hawks was more interested in relationships, and his style came through with the way he would handle the situation and the characters. Hawks was more gritty than the more refined Ford, sometimes his imagery wasn't subtle and it didn't have to be. Look at the original "Scarface" which in my opinion still stands as the best of the early gangster films, where Hawks would cleverly place an "X" somewhere on screen everytime someone was killed.

Howard Hawks was underrated in his time, today it's hard to imagine that he only received one Academy Award nomination for Best Director "Sgt. York", a film that is better remembered for Gary Cooper's performance than a true Howard Hawks film. Hawks films never got the recognition they deserved perhaps because like Hitchcock, he often worked in popular genre. His films have only grown in appreciation today, and Hawks himself can also be thought of as a pioneer of the independent movement since he was one of the first directors to finance his films himself.

No matter what decade, no matter what genre, Howard Hawks' films are a testament to the golden age of cinema, when he decided to make a film he would own it.

Favorite Movie Moments

Here is March's list in a continuing series of images or moments from film that stand out for me. Again there is no particular order, these are mostly from films I have revisited recently or have just thought about.

The Searchers: The opening shot.

Pinnochio: Lampwick's transformation into a donkey

To Have and Have Not: Lauren Bacall's cool reaction to sitting on a cigarette.

The Big Sleep: Elisha Cook Jr. is poisoned while Bogart is in the next room listening in.

Red River: A cowboy makes too much noise with pots and pans while looking for sugar and starts a stampede.

Red: Practically everytime the color red appears in the film.

Singin in the Rain: Gene Kelly singin in the rain (It's a given but I love it anyway)

The Long Voyage Home: When we find out the fate of Thomas Mitchell

Bringing up Baby: "David you fainted" (Katherine Hepburn after Cary Grant saves her from a mad leopard)

The Apartment: When Baxter recognize Miss Kubilick's broken mirror

March's Director Spotlight

It's business as usual in March as this month I will focus my attention on that movie Maverick Howard Hawks. Hawks was one of those rare directors who seemed to work in every genre of film whether it be westerns, comedies, adventure, or film noir, he made some of the best ones. He's known for perfecting rapid fire overlapping dialogue, and was known as a real man's man director, even though he created some of the best parts of women. So join me won't you for a month of celebration for this man's work.