jef29bow Reviews

Janice Meredith (1924)

A grand historical epic with the wrong actress in the lead.

[7/10 · 10 May 2002]

It's been said that some film failures gain a charm as time passes; this is certainly true of JANICE MEREDITH, a mammoth film enterprise mounted by William Randolph Hearst in 1924 and starring his mistress Marion Davies. Davies was a first class comedienne, and why Hearst so misguidedly tried to push her stardom onto the public in vehicles that were completely ill-suited for her is one of the great Hollywood mysteries. JANICE MEREDITH is almost enough to make one believe in the CITIZEN KANE inspired legend regarding the Newspaper tycoon and his first love. One can almost envision Davies standing amid the hundreds of extras yelling: "Please Willie, just let me be funny. Forget spending the money!" Sadly, the message never got through to him. As it stands, JANICE MEREDITH is a huge, jumbled, blob of a white elephant that only proves once and for all that for Davies to shine, less was definitely more.

The previous year, Davies made another picture: LITTLE OLD NEW YORK. The film was a success with the critics and public. But if that film just barely managed to skirt a fine line between comedy, romance, and period epic, then JANICE MEREDITH is another matter entirely. The film was long believed lost until a print re-appeared in England several years ago (in fact, all the prints I've seen carry the film's British title of THE BEAUTIFUL REBEL). Watching the surviving print, which is in beautiful condition, you get the feeling that Hearst decided NEW YORK was a success for every reason except Marion Davies! In this Revolutionary War romance, we are treated to lavish re-creations of New Jersey plantations, Philadelphia ballrooms, and Parisian palaces (Joseph Urban's art direction is outstanding). We witness Paul Revere's ride, the battles of Lexington, Concord, and Trenton. George Washington crosses the Delaware and Harrison Ford (no -- not that one) saves the country. It all looks spectacular, and it ought to: Hearst shot the works for this film and in terms of sheer spectacle, there are parts of JANICE MEREDITH that rival any other film of the era -- including INTOLERANCE and NAPOLEON. Money is everywhere, and director E. Mason Hopper does an admirable job of making sure every bit of it shows on the screen, but where is Marion Davies amid all this historical hoopla? Beats me. You'll have to go a long way to find another film that's so un-suited to its star's talents. In the first few minutes of the film, there are dim traces of her comic touch, but it's soon overwhelmed by the plot and all we get is spectacle, spectacle, spectacle that lumbers on for a staggering two hours and twenty minutes. Unfortunately, Marion Davies was one star who could never be at her best in a spectacle. Her talents were always small scale, and against a normal background her subtle and humorous nature shined. Not here. There's so much going on in JANICE MEREDITH that Davies practically becomes a supporting player in a film that was supposed to be designed to showcase her talents. I swear, the aforementioned Harrison Ford, her leading man and love interest, has more screen time.

Because of such lopsided priorities, the end result in JANICE MEREDITH is little short of a grandiose misfire, and very close to a spectacular disaster. And yet, once one has adjusted to the mind boggling ineptitude of the conception, there's a lot of pleasure to be found in watching this gold-plated Titanic go down. It's the film equivalent of the Taj Mahal: a grand, empty monument to one man's love for a woman. An audience today probably couldn't even begin to understand the emotion that inspired it: we're left with an object that's baffling, mysterious, yet strangely inspiring. Maybe it is all wrong, but it aspires to nobility, actually believes in its greatness, and marches forth with a sincerity that is overwhelming. You can't help but get wrapped up in its woozy, drunken, grandiosity. And in truth, there are five whole great minutes in JANICE MEREDITH, which occur about an hour into the film when Davies attempts to secure the release of Ford by flirting with a drunken British officer, played by none other than W. C. Fields. It was his first appearance in a feature film, and the great icon is already completely formed. Davies' eye flutters vs. Fields' inept bungling succeed in raising JANICE MEREDITH -- however briefly -- to something approaching true grandeur, and once again proves that Davies real talent was as a comic (and it was only the best who could hold their own against Fields). That her talent went so largely unexploited is one of those tragedies that will forever be a blot on the names of William Randolph Hearst and Hollywood. For confirmation of that talent, see SHOW PEOPLE (1928), MARIANNE (1929), and NOT SO DUMB (1930).

Titanic (1943)

A film that should be seen before it's judged.

[8/10 · 8 May 2002]

Too many just dismiss this film outright as Nazi propaganda, and don't examine the film as a film. Certainly when compared to the 1953 Hollywood TITANIC it's a far better made and less sappy piece of drama. And if it has a lot to be desired as history -- well then so did the Hollywood film. The performances, direction, and special effects are all excellent for the time. In fact, it's very surprising that the German film industry was able to mount such a first class production as this in the midst of the war.

Which brings me around to the propaganda aspect of the film: to my mind it's been very much over stated in accounts on the film that I've read. Apparently, the most vicious part of the film's propaganda content, a trial scene and end title which condemned Britain as a country driven by greed, have been omitted from all current prints. Still, were it the "Hate the British" film it's often dismissed as, it's truly amazing to see the propaganda aspects in the film that are missed. The Third Class are never shown being locked below decks as the ship sinks (indeed, when the ship's engines stop, they march up to First Class to demand an explanation from the Captain), and the crew and officers to a man are shown being skilled, efficient, and brave. How could the Nazi's miss so many easy targets, and ones that have been included in almost every Titanic film to this day? And while it is true that Bruce Ismay is turned into a first class villain, driving his ship without regard for safety straight into the iceberg -- it's also been that way in every other Titanic film in which he's been portrayed (for example, the recent TV mini-series TITANIC -- which shows Ismay down in the boiler room screaming at the stokers to make the ship go faster -- like that really happened!). It's all just a question of degree. And if the film portrays the rich millionaires like John Jacob Astor as people who will use money, class, and power to achieve anything -- well, it's no worse than some of the stories -- printed amid all the bravery and self-sacrifice slop -- that appeared in 1912 newspapers. Remember, after the disaster Ismay and the White Star Line were acquitted, people were led to believe all the First Class men died bravely, Captain Smith was blamed for everything, and the poor souls who lost everything when the ship went down never got a penny in restitution. Thus, in the end, considering all the un-truths and legends that have sprung up around the Titanic story, I believe this film plays a lot less like a Nazi film and more like an anti-capitalist one. Little wonder it played in East Germany after the war with no problem. There's certainly enough "Hate the Rich" sentiment here to have warmed Stalin's heart.

So, to me anyway, it's almost refreshing to see a Titanic film that treats the whole affair as the monument to stupidity that it was. Since it has nothing to do with history, one must examine it as the first example of film makers trying to come to grips with the "Titanic Legend". (One could also award that place to the 1929 British film ATLANTIC -- but for some unknown reason that film tried to pretend it was fiction.) Looked at from that prospective, it's a fascinating piece of film making (and history) that deserves to be seen without the vicious "Nazi film" tag hanging over it. Certainly James Cameron must have seen a lot to admire in it; why else would he have copied shots and plot ideas un-masse. (He also coped shots and dialogue from every other Titanic film ever made.) Thankfully, he didn't copy the film's greatest (abet fictional) moment: wireless operator Phillips releasing his pet canary into the night as "Nearer My God to Thee" plays in the background. Did director Herbert Selpin crib this bit from von Stroheim's GREED? We'll never know, as it's said he was murdered by the Nazi's before the film was completed. So much for the benefits of creating a "Nazi film".