Today, Java journeys through old movie posters. We'll take a brief gander at those images designed to make us plop down cold, hard coinage, grab some Good and Plenty and become transported to another world. Let's have fun.
This Month's Theme: January Releases.
You Only Live Once (1937)
United Artists released
You Only Live Once 75 years ago this month
. It's the story of an ex-convict (
Henry Fonda) and his wife (
Silvia Sidney) who go on the lam after being framed for murder. But you wouldn't guess that from the poster (on the left).
This looks like the cover of a torrid romance novel where the most action you'll get is the lady fainting from a love that cannot be expressed for the man whose name must not be mentioned.... All that stuff.
The French poster (on the right) - with a prominent jail cell, police search light and an act of violence - is a bit busy, but it does a better job of conveying urgency, danger and (best of all) the plot!
The Man Who Came To Dinner (1942)
On January 1st seventy years ago, moviegoers in the U.S. lined up to watch
Bette Davis play indulgent secretary to
Monty Woolley's bombastic radio star in
The Man Who Came To Dinner.
This ad reads in part, "There never was a better reason for 'going to the movies.'" This suggests people might have been turning away from cinematic diversions for a bit. It's understandable that everyone's mind was now focused on more serious matters; the attack on Pearl Harbor was not even a full month before the premiere of
Dinner.
With that in mind, it's no wonder the marketing department felt the need to give a reason for attending the theater. Every mouth on the poster is in mid-laugh. "Distract yourself," seems to be the message.
The Cimarron Kid (1952)
Another man-on-the-run tale was released in January fifteen years after
You Only Live Once. This one involves the wild west, train robberies and
Audie Murphy. It's
The Cimarron Kid. Beating back the rise of black and white television westerns, this movie brings a cowboy story in Technicolor! Just to get your kiddies unglued from the boob tube, each poster or lobby card is almost its own comic strip. There are are guns drawn, horses rearing, Yvette Dugay doing her best Jane Russell impression.... You almost don't need to see the movie!
The Three Stooges Meet Hercules (1962)
Capitalizing on the sword and sandal movie fad of the time, the
Three Stooges (via time machine) run into the son of Zeus. Most of the posters for this film carve the title out of giant 3D blocks, or have the demigod hovering above, flexing, which is fine. However, the most interesting ones have the myth interacting with Larry, Moe and Curly- all of whom are helpless before him. The French poster above is a case in point, where Herc's phenomenal power allows him to pull the comedy team from white space.
See you next month in Classic Movie Posters.
1. The famous scene when Lady Bracknell interrogates her very nervous, prospective son-in-law, Mr. Worthing, is usually set in her nephew’s parlor. In Parker’s version, Worthing must visit Lady Bracknell’s house, passing through an enormous set of doors before stopping at the royal purple/blood-red inner sanctum. The experience is like being caught in a Venus fly trap. Perfect for the scene. 
2. Worthing’s big speech near the finale, accusing his best friend, Algernon, of using deceit to gain admission to his house and stir up everyone’s lives is another brilliant scene. This speech is rather a long-winded one, and often onstage is spouted while standing in one spot. However, the director here has the character walk about, picking up various objects that serve as “evidence” of Algy’s misconduct. Worthing is rather like an attorney at closing arguments. A funny and clever framing of potentially dry dialogue.
Another, more passive, inanimate character, one that does not seem to impose its will on the family’s daily life is the garden muse - a brick archway with seating that leads from the backyard garden to the alleyway. The muse stands as an unwavering sentinel watching important story points.
I couldn’t for the life of me figure out the meaning of this garden muse. “C‘mon, Java,” I said to myself, “Not everything in a film has to have deep meaning. Sometimes an archway is just an archway; you‘re Bogdanoviching again.” Then it hit me (I hope you‘re not eating) - the muse is a symbolic womb.
The third and final muse scene occurs years later. Catherine, still single, has said goodbye to her cousin and her cousin’s young children, watching them drive out of the alley. Relatives have invited her for a visit but she always declines. Poised, she walks silently back to the house, slowly passing under the archway and gathering toys strewn about, almost like a mom. There is no doubt that she has emerged from her trials a woman. 
