bertpi

Henry Aldrich was a staple in American entertainment from the late 1930s into the 1950s, though he's largely forgotten today. It all began as a Broadway play, which eventually gave rise to a radio series, a film series, and later a television show. This film marks the beginning of the film series, with which Paramount undoubtedly aimed to counter the immense popularity of MGM's teenage Andy Hardy films at that point of film history.

What made the film interesting to me was the screenplay work by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett. I had listened to a few episodes of the Henry Aldrich radio series some time ago, and those gave the impression of a harmless, somewhat nostalgic Americana-style comedy about youth. Wilder and Brackett, however, were generally known for much more cynical material. How does that fit together?

While Henry Aldrich doesn't end up dead in a pool like the lead character in Wilder's ,Sunset Boulevard', the tone of this film is still much darker than what I had experienced from the radio series (perhaps also due to the Broadway play it's based on). It deals with teenage anxieties; we see parents with excessive expectations, indifferent or actively bullying classmates, and mostly frustrated and bitter teachers. High school is portrayed as a kind of hell where Henry gets the stick for everything, and there are more than a few shots fired at the school system -the Andy Hardy series never dared to be that subversive. While the film ultimately delivers the expected happy ending, it only comes after considerable hardship. And it also tells us: Henry can only be happy at a different, special kind of school and with more understanding teachers, not at a generic Central High that works better for smooth-talking opportunists and yes-men. Even today, some students still slide more easily through the school system than others, and these are mostly those who are quirky, edgy, complicated, or simply don't fit the mold - in that sense, the film remains timeless.

Jackie Cooper does a solid job in the lead role; Betty Field may be a bit too old on paper to convincingly play a teenager (she was ten years older than her 17-year-old co-star), but as the excellent actress she is, she still pulls it off. Vaughan Glaser plays perhaps the most interesting supporting role, as the weary and at times sarcastic principal. The direction, unfortunately, is fairly standard and uninspired, with almost no interesting camera work or editing choices. As a result, the film's origins as a stage play are quite noticeable.

Overall, a quite good comedy-drama and a kind of time capsule into the American school system of the 1930s.

I'm not an American, so I have very little expirience what happens on the 4th of July and I am sometimes allergic to overly glossy Americana. Was it the case with this film? I was interested in this film because I read that it was the only comedy Eugene O'Neill, the grandmaster of dark but great plays, ever wrote - and also because I had seen some MGM pictures of that time.

Clarence Brown's film is not revolutionary or suspenseful in the way it works, but I found the movie nevertheless a very good one. The movie plays in the 1900s and makes some gags with the things that changed in the past 30 years - obviously a bit the same as watching a movie from today which plays with 1980s nostalgia. But while the movie is a bit nostalgic and melancholic, it never comes across as sugary or false (like a lot of the other MGM family pictures). And that's quite an achievement for Brown, because a small, soft-spoken and gentle story like this can easily be ruined by one false note.

And it's perhaps also an achievement by the actors, because the cast works very well - Eric Linden has to carry most of the film and I only knew him from his small role in "Gone with the Wind", but he works beautifully as the idealistic and bright young student. Obviously, boyish roles were his speciality, but never achieved the transition to more mature roles. The rest of the cast, which includes some famous names, are well-cast and believable in their roles.

Gwenda Young published the book "Clarence Brown: Hollywood's Forgotten Master" as the first full biography about him in 2018. I read the chapter about "Ah, Wilderness" and she ranks it high among his works. Notably, Brown also grew up in the 1900s under somewhat similiar circumstances. For me it feels like Brown burns the days of his youth on the screen - in contrast to O'Neill, who more or less created a counterpoint against his own hellish family life. And O'Neill brings his ironies and dark undertones into it: Is this simple, smalltown life everything one should exspect from life? Also, the visit in the bar and the characters of the unmarried aunt / uncle show how easily a false step in your lifeline can have great consequences. So with both Brown's truthfulness, O'Neill's wisdom and slight irony and great acting performances we have a very beautiful film.

"Voci nel tempo" is obviously a little-seen film since I am the first person to write a commentary here. And despite the fact that the film met critical acclaim at the Venice Film Festival in 1996.

As in many of director Franco Piavolis films, the cycle of life and nature plays a crucial role: We are brought by the camera in to the small, beautiful world of a little Italian víllage in the Lombardy. Step by step, life stage by life stage, we meet the people who are living there. The generations live side by side and sometimes meet with each other, but there is always one generation in the focus. We see a few older people watching the endearments of the teenagers and the games of the children, which some of them now seem to be blocked from due to the unstoppable forces of age and immobility. Yet, there are also many moments of fulfillment and happiness for all generations in the film.

I have seen the film in Italian and I don't speak that language, but the film works anyway: There are only a few dialouges and they appear rather irrelevant to me: To create a powerful vision, Piavoli mostly works with visuals, with faces, with music, with sound. "Voci nel tempo" not only works on a philosophical level, but also feels like a little relaxing holiday trip to an idyllic version of Italy. It's bittersweet in it's melancholy but also finds beauty in the fact that everything changes and moments of happiness and despair are fleeting.