Sunday, October 27, 2019

thoroughly awful

The sublime Julie Andrews has a new book to pitch - "Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years" (Hatchett Books) - and, not surprisingly, for the occasion, she'll join Ben Mankiewicz on Tuesday evening  for what I anticipate will be another swell Turner Classic Movies conversation.

Four titles from those Hollywood years will be screened, starting with George Roy Hill's dismal "Thoroughly Modern Millie," an unwatchable 1967 pseudo-musical that TCM disinters with (thankfully) only limited regularity. The movie was made during Andrews' brief reign in the '60s as Roadshow Queen (it was filmed back-to-back with Hill's "Hawaii), and its brand of forced fun apparently still enjoys her embrace and enthusiasm.

It remains an affront that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, an outfit known for thoughtlessly throwing away Oscars, saw fit to reward this mess with seven - count 'em - seven Academy Awards nominations, including one for Carol Channing's screeching, amateurish supporting turn.

There's a reason why some stage performers never make it in movies.

And it remains jaw-dropping that Universal was oblivious to its film's batant racism. The presentation of Asians here, as personified by the wince-producing performances of Jack Soo and Pat Morita, is unacceptable, a brand of racist entertainment tossed off as innocent fun by Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s.

t was a different culture back then but times had supposedly changed by the time "Thoroughly Modern Millie" was made in the so-called, enlightened late '60s - a prevalent theme these days unlikely to be addressed during Ben and Julie's pre- and post-screening discussions.

If Julie was to celebrate one of her other roadshow films during the same period, I'd have nudged her towards Robert Wise's brilliant, hugely underrated "Star!" (1968) or Blake Edwards' troubled "Darling Lili" (1970).

The three other titles selected for screening are Arthur Hiller's "The Americanization of Emily" (1964), with a screenplay by Paddy  Chayefsky, and two by Edwards, the urbane "Victor/Victoria" (1982) and the little-seen family affair, "That's Life!" (1986), starring Jack Lemmon, Sally Kellerman, Robert Loggia, Felicia Farr and all the Lemmon, Edwards and Andrews children. The film was a last-minute addition to the 1986 Toronto Film Festival and it was the first - and only - time that I met Andrews.

She was one of the singularly nicest movie people I met and perhaps the most beautiful. I was struck by her incredibly dreamy complexion.

 Regarding Comments: All comments are enthusiastically appreciated but are moderated before publication. Replies signed "unknown" or "anonymous" are not encouraged. Please sign any response with a name (real or fabricated) or initials.  Be advised that a "name" will be assigned to any accepted post signed "unknown" or "anonymous." Thank you. -J

* * * * *
 ~images~ 

~The poster art for "Thoroughly Modern Millie"
~photography: Universal 1967©

~ Julie Andrews in "Star!"
~photography: Twentieth Century-Fox 1968©

~Andrews with Jack Lemmon in "That's Life!"
~photography: Sony 1986©
at

30 comments:

  1. Alex11:29 AM

    At least "Mille" gave Elmer Bernstein his one and only Oscar for Best Score. Granted, any one of his other 14 nominations was more worthy of an award, but at least he won one.

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  2. joe baltake11:31 AM

    The Academy never fails to amaze.

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  3. Brian Lucas11:41 AM

    Alex- This is another case of a talent winning the Oscar for the wrong film. It's inarguable that "Millie" is not the most representative of Bernstein's expansive work. He wrote much better stuff for his Hollywood dramas. But, as you say, at least he was finally honored for something.

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  4. pat11:59 AM

    I completely agree with this post!

    I first watched it on TV a few years ago, and I could hardly get through it (even now, I can't recall if I made it to the end or not)!

    I am a huge fan of musicals, the crazier and more colorful...the better.

    But, not so with TMM!

    Besides everything you mentioned, I find the film, frankly just boring.

    Great review!

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  5. Sonia M.12:09 PM

    What I always found disconcerting is that "Millie" was considered a huge personal hit for Andrews, while Wise's ambitious and adventurous "Star!" was casually written off as an embarrassement in its day. That film is worthy of re-evaluation

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  6. joe baltake12:23 PM

    Sonia- Absolutely. -J

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  7. attmay1:13 AM

    20th Century Fox did Star! no favors by cutting it. It is only because they cuts were made to the 35mm dupe negatives and not the 65mm negative itself that the uncut version survives. It seemed like musicals disproportionately got subjected to the post-production/post-release hack-and-slash treatment during this period, and that as much as anything else made the new breed of studio executives wary of musicals.

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  8. joe baltake7:16 AM

    attmay: You are absolutely correct about the way the big musicals of the 1960s were mangled by the studios that made them. The roadshow musical was the primary victim - routinely cut down from its 2 1/2-3 hour running time to something more suited to continuous performances. And the cutting usually was done by a house hack, not the credited editor who originally worked on the film with the director. Both "Sweet Charity" and "Half a Sixpence" underwent such unnecessary cosmetic surgery,each losing about half an hour. Luckily, the roadshow versions of each film still exist on home entertainment.

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  9. attmay7:38 PM

    Ross Hunter's cinematic waterloo was the musical version of Lost Horizon, which cast no actual Asians except the late James Shigeta. This was 6 years after Millie.

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  10. Paul Gottlieb4:56 PM

    There are also Jewish stereotypes in the film.

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  11. joe baltake6:43 PM

    Oh, yes, I forgot about the cringe-worthy wedding celebration when Julie Andrews sings something called "Drink La Chaim." Pretty bad.

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  12. Daryl Chin9:15 PM

    Unfortunately, box office success equates to merit, and THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE was the most successful film that Julie Andrews starred in (after THE SOUND OF MUSIC and MARY POPPINS). It's rare for TCM to acknowledge the important but financially unsuccessful movie, and with THE SOUND OF MUSIC and MARY POPPINS being such "event" movies, it fell on THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE to be the standard bearer for Julie Andrews as a "star". (Two of the most interesting movies that Andrews made, THE AMERICANIZATION OF EMILY and HAWAII, were stuck in the midst of her big musicals: she has acknowledged EMILY as significant in her career, as her first acting role not in a musical; if TCM were interested in "quality" as opposed to success, EMILY should have started off the evening.) It's also interesting to remember, in its time, EMILY was a success. Ok, it wasn't a blockbuster on the order of MARY POPPINS or THE SOUND OF MUSIC, but it was a success, and Andrews received excellent notices, and EMILY was nominated for several Academy Awards, including one for Paddy Chayefsky's screenplay.

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  13. joe baltake2:15 PM

    I'm with you, Daryl. -J

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  14. Sheila2:18 PM

    You mention "Millie." I wish the station would declare a moratorium on that film and "Breakfast at Tiffany's" for the reason you give. Both have sequences that are terribly racist, not to mention "Babes in Arms." A stand should be taken. I sincerely hope that I don't come off like a book-burner here. I've an open-mind about all things, except racism and sexism. Thanks for listening

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  15. joe baltake2:29 PM

    No,Janet, what you say makes sense. There is a big difference between someone who wants to ban a book because it is provocative either intellectually or sexually and someone deeply concerned about and disheartened by the hatred inherent in racist and sexist depictions in films.

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  16. jim2:53 PM

    As a 13 year old, I was totally entranced by Thoroughly Modern Millie. I loved it all from the Mod fluorescent orange posters to the hokey mugging by the cast. Today I can’t bear to sit through it! The overt racism is appalling, something that completely went over my head as a teenager. I hear it was quite a successful Broadway musical. Having no familiarity with it I can only assume changes were made to make it less offensive. Speaking of offensive, my favorite Black face is the “Bojangles of Harlem” number from “Swing Time.” The way Astaire is worshipped “Bojangles” is rarely mentioned among Astaire’s work but it’s every bit as offensive as any other Black face ground out by the Hollywood factories.

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  17. Alex3:04 PM

    Adding to Janet and jim's thoughst: There is a wealth of movies available for televising. There is no need to showcase those that demean a certain people, regardless of their status as "classics"

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  18. Charlotte3:47 PM

    Thank you for calling out this film's racism, Joe. "Millie," that is. I hadn't seen it since it was originally released, and the intervening years I'm sure haven't been good to it.

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  19. Vienna3:51 PM

    Oh dear, what can I say. I remember loving this film when it was released in the late 60s. Havent seen it in a while but still remember it fondly. Maybe I need to think about the stereotyping. But loved the songs and cast.
    And I wanted to love Star as I am a big admirer of Gertrude Lawrence. Julie just didn’t have the Lawrence look - the way English actress Patricia Hodge had. There’s still a great musical to be written about Gertrude.

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  20. Nelson4:11 PM

    Joe! No mention of Mary Tyler Moore?

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  21. joe baltake4:14 PM

    That was no accident, Tracy. She's pretty bad in the film, not through any fault of her own. We all know that Moore was a terrific actress, but the film sadly misused her, and the director, Hill, seemed to encourage her to give an annoyingly mannered performance. The movie, a musical, also failed to utilize her talents in that area. She danced a little but if my memory serves me (I've tried to block the film in my head), she has no songs. Julie did all the singing.

    "Millie" was her first film after Moore made such a huge impression on the Van Dyke show. Universal snapped her up but then did nothing with her. The studio put her in this and in the Elvis film, "Change of Habit," and in a faux Doris Day romcom, "Just Don't Stand There." It wasn't until Robert Redford came to her rescue and cast her against type in "Ordinary People" that Moore had a chance to impress on the big screen. Finally.

    I've always felt that she would have been perfect for the role of Rosemary in "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." While Michelle Lee is perfectly fine in the film, in my mind, I saw Moore in the role. A missed opportunity.

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  22. k.o.4:35 PM

    I never saw T M Millie. It sounded awful and one time I was doing a chat show in Philadelphia Carol Channing was the guest. And I was thoroughly speechless. I couldn't take my eyes off her thoroughly extreme makeup. Joe, it is impossible to describe the brown and white clefts that were applied to what once may have been a human face. I rarely watch crime shows like CSI because you see the bodies at their worst. This was worse than those agents could imagine. Oh, I never saw Darling Lili either where Rock Hudson was madly in love with Julie. She should have quit with The Americanization of Emily. Nuff said.

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  23. Paul Margulies2:28 AM

    Regarding cutting after road shows... I remember the travesty of Half a Sixpence, which lost entire musical numbers. But, the worst movie cutting in the world had to be Philadelphia tv stations that would cut films to fit in the 90-minute "afternoon movie" spots.

    I remember channel 6 once showed My Fair Lady sans music. I honestly think it's where Woody Allen got his "turning My Fair Lady back into Pygmalion" joke. They even managed to shows Sinatra's Robin and the Seven Hoods without his signature song, "My Kind of Town".

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  24. Bunuel10:54 AM

    Awesome article.

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  25. mike schlesinger12:18 PM

    Okay, I have to be the turd in the punch bowl. I liked the film in 1967 (I was prepared not to; I took my grandmother for her birthday) and like it even more today. Unlike most of Andrews' other musicals of the era, it's a comedy, and a darn funny one. Julie is relaxed and loose, Beatrice Lillie was phenomenal, and who wants a subdued Carol Channing? The songs are lively and it moves like a rocket. Is is perfect? No. (Fox is kind of a stiff.) But I'll sit through it 100 times before I trudge through SOUND OF MUSIC again. So there.

    P.S.: If we ban every vintage movie that demeans women and minorities, TCM would go out of business. You can't rewrite the past, so let's just act like adults, mmkay?

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  26. joe baltake1:12 PM

    Mike! OK, you've convinced me. After 50-some years, I'm giving "Millie" a second chance and watching it again tonight (Tuesday). -J

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  27. mike schlesinger1:23 PM

    I await your report with keen anticipation! :-)

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  28. Audrey7:59 PM

    never saw it but after reading your piece and the comments, I'm excited to watch!

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  29. joe baltake10:14 AM

    Mike- The film is still practically the same as I remember it - a mess of forced fun. I am still floored by the pandering, gratuitous Jewish wedding number which seems to come out of nowhere. That said, Julie is positively adorable in the first half of the movie, but even she becomes a tad annoying the second hour in. As for Channing, a little bit oh her goes a long, long way. I've no idea why she, of all the performers was touted for an Oscar by Universal and Ross Hunter. If anyone carries off the movie, it's the singular Beatrice Lilly. -J

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  30. mike schlesinger6:05 PM

    Okay, well, I appreciate your giving it a second chance. Sorry it didn't change your mind, but hey, that's what makes horse races. Well, and horses. And I suppose betting.

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