Ozu Double Feature (sort of...)

 

 (youtube)

A STRAIGHTFORWARD BOY-1929-Once a 38-minute silent short, all that remains of this adaptation of an O. Henry story by Yasujiro Ozu is about 14 minutes. You get the gist of the comic tale, two kidnappers grab a little boy but he proves too much for them. It has a funny final scene.

 (imdb)

I GRADUATED, BUT…-1929-Unfortunately, this feature silent film by Ozu is very incomplete. Only around 10 minutes survives! A recent college graduate turns down a receptionist job thinking it's beneath him. He has no other offers and has to keep his secret from his wife and mother.

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Japan

I WAS BORN, BUT...-1932-The great but sometimes overlooked Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu made this silent film after the advent of sound (Chaplin made MODERN TIMES in 1936). It's about a family that moves to a new town and the trouble two brothers have with some bullies at school but later with the help of an older delivery boy they become the leaders. Their dad is a clerk who constantly acts subservient to his boss to try and improve his position. When his two sons realize this they have a mini-revolt. They question their father about his behavior but don't like his answers. They throw temper tantrums that result in a spanking but later after his children are asleep he confides to his wife how he hates what he does and hopes his sons will never have to act the same way. Eventually the boys learn and accept the strange ways of adults.



This is a very touching comedy drama with good acting especially from the two brothers (Tomio Aoki & Hideo Sugawara). Some of the "little rascals" type humor with the kids is very funny. Ozu who's career started in silents wasn't nearly as well known in the US as fellow countryman Akira Kurosawa due to the fact that Japanese International distributors thought his movies were "too Japanese" for western audiences. Thankfully he's now getting some long overdue respect. The actor who plays the father Tatsuo Saito had over 140 film credits (and some as director). One of his last was in LORD JIM.

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Three Very Fast

Three short reviews tonight:


THERE WAS A FATHER-1942-(CHICHI ANIKI)-A poignant film from the great Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu that details the long relationship between a kindly sacrificing father (Chishu Ryu) and his devoted successful son (Shuji Sano). It’s up to the viewer to decide whether the father made the right decisions or not. A beautifully made film that fans of Ozu seem to go out of their way to criticize.



THE DELINQUENTS-1957-This serious look at juvenile delinquency was one of the first feature films by director Robert Altman. Future Billy Jack star Tom Laughlin is Scotty a seemingly decent guy but for some reason his girlfriend’s parents won’t let them go steady. He winds up getting involved with a guy named Cholly (Peter Miller) and his gang of punks (featuring perennial snot nosed greaser Richard Bakalyan). They have an illegal party and get busted by the cops and later they get Scot drunk and pin a gas station hold up on him but eventually Scotty gets tough.



MANSLAUGHTER-1922-Cecil B. DeMile directed this highly moral melodrama about a self possessed high society woman (Leatrice Joy) who accidentally kills a policeman with her car. Her own fiancée (Thomas Meighan) prosecutes her and she’s found guilty and sent to prison. DeMile moves the story along fairly fast and the acting (especially by Joy) is highly dramatic.

At the time Joy was married to John Gilbert and would work in several more DeMile projects including THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. Her great grandson is low budget film making David Prior. Lead actor Meighan was a major star at this time but unfortunately is forgotten today.


"It takes a great man to be a good listener"-Calvin Coolidge

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