8. Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)

Mutiny on the Bounty Movie Poster

I have to admit that I wasn't looking forward to watching Mutiny on the Bounty. I am not necessarily a huge fan of sea yarns. However, I soon realized my error as I was enthralled by not only the performances of the two main stars, Charles Laughton and Clark Gable, but I was also quite interested by the nefarious means by which Captain Bligh kept disciplining his sailors!

SPOILERS AHEAD

Mutiny of the Bounty starts with the impressing of soldiers. As seen by Fletcher Christian's willingness to drag men away from their lives for two years to go to sea, he was willing to follow the King's orders. He wasn't someone to just rebel because he felt bad for the others.

Before the voyage even starts, Captain Bligh shows how evil he really is when he has a man flogged before the ship's company even though he has already died due to his previous punishment. The man was guilty of striking an officer.

Charles Laughton as Captain Bligh - Mutiny on the Bounty

Over the course of the voyage to Tahiti, men were subjected to floggings and worse. The depths of Bligh's corruption and sadism were revealed as each punishment and death was worse than the last. He punished a man for taking cheese when he, himself, had ordered the same man to have it delivered for his own use. Then, a man was keelhauled as a punishment (dragged under the ship from bow to stern). After the ship landed in Tahiti, two men who had secretly went off the ship to see the island were brought back and thrown below in chains with little no water. However, the thing that really upset the men on board was when the well loved surgeon who was very sick was forced by Captain Bligh to go on deck to watch a flogging. He died before the men's eyes. Christian had had enough at this point and armed the men loyal to him to mutiny.

Fletcher Christian and Tehani
on Tahiti

The mutineers then returned to Tahiti. One of the officers who had been asleep at the time of mutiny, Roger Byam, disagreed with the mutiny even though he was good friends with Christian. He missed the boat to join Bligh and settled with the other men in Tahiti. Bligh and his followers were put in a boat at sea. Through Bligh's strong will, they were able to make it 3600 miles to safety with dwindling food supplies and by the end no water.

Captain Bligh and his followers
are on the small ship being
sent out to sea after the mutiny

Bligh returned to Tahiti to pick up the mutineers and take them back to English for punishment. Christian left with the mutineers but a few including Byam 'reported back for duty' to Bligh. He did not accept that they were loyal throughout and chained them in the hold. When they made it back to England after a treacherous journey, they had to stand trial. All the mutineers who had been captured were sentenced to death. However, Byam stood before the tribunal and explained how terrible conditions had been at sea. Byam ended up being saved in the end, and more importantly, the navy changed its rules about how superior officers were to interact with sailors on the high sea.

Mutiny on the Bounty was an interesting study in the way that a loyal man who has a grounding in good morals can go against the 'law' to do what is right. One thing that I found interesting was how many people actually went with or wanted to go with the Captain when he was put off the ship. Captain Bligh ranks up there for me as one of the worst 'bad guys' in movies. Sadly, as the movie portrayed, he was an amazing seaman. When it was required for him to step up to the plate and get the loyal men home to England, he found a way to make it happen. His hatred ran so strong that he did not accept failure at all. He needed to get home to punish Christian.

The real Captain Bligh

I read later that this was a fictionalized account of the real story. Even though the movie ends with Christian making it safely to another island with his wife and child, in real life things did not turn out so well. The men who fled Tahiti eventually settled on Pitcairn Island. Eventually, many of them were killed in an uprising between them and some of the Tahitian men who came with them. Interestingly, descendants of the mutineers still live on the island today.

Bligh went on to be promoted and made the governor of New South Wales, Australia. Here, too, he was faced with a mutiny which he survived. He ended up as seventh in command of the navy, Vice-Admiral of the Blue.

In terms of the actors, Charles Laughton was amazing as Bligh and Clark Gable's ability to deliver a line with a twinkle in his eye captured the spirit of Fletcher Christian. I have read that the antagonist in any movie needs to be so bad that it makes the audience move even further into the protagonist's corner. The way that the movie slowly built the case against Bligh was extremely well done, and by the end I was left wondering how any men could follow him. Overall, this was quite an enjoyable movie. In my next post, I'll got through it's beat sheet.

7. It Happened One Night (1934)

It Happened One Night
Movie Poster

Ahhh - Romantic Comedy. How I love you. This is the Grandaddy of them all. It Happened One Night was so enjoyable. For one thing, I'd had six days of drama and tears and real life. I needed a lighthearted comedy. Here was a great example that stands up to today's standards.

I had only experienced Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind. While I loved his rakish attitude in that movie, I honestly didn't get what all the furor was over him - why Judy Garland sang lovingly to his picture, "You made me love you." However, after this movie I think I get it. His comic timing was great. He and Claudette Colbert had chemistry and worked so well together to make this movie really work. 

SPOILERS AHEAD

Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in It Happened One Night

The movie starts with a wealthy girl named Ellie runs away from her father. She had married someone who he disapproved of, and he had her locked up on a yacht while he got an annulment through. She escapes by jumping off the yacht and swimming away. 

Penniless, she hocks her watch to get new clothes. She then gets on a bus to head to her husband in New York City. Her father sends detectives and more after her. Peter Warne, played by Gable, is a down-on-his-luck newspaper reporter who soon discovers who she really is. He agrees to help her if he can get an exclusive on her trip to New York. Hijinks ensue. They pretend to be married and spend a night in a hotel room divided by a bedspread. I absolutely loved the part where Gable started singing "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf" - classic!

The next day, they get on the bus. One of the men on the bus sees a newspaper article offering a reward of $10,000 for anyone who finds Ellie. He realizes that she is on the bus and decides to approach Peter about splitting the profits. Peter pretends he's part of a kidnapping ring and scares the man into keeping the story quiet.

They decide to leave the bus behind in case others get the idea to turn her in. They end up hitchhiking in one of the funniest scenes of the movie. Ellen proves that 'the limb is mightier than the thumb'.

They end up at another hotel. After a conversation about marriage, Ellen tells Peter she loves him. He's not sure at first how to respond. Once she's asleep he runs off to sell his exclusive story to the newspaper about Ellen and him for $1000. In the meantime, Ellen thinks he's left her and goes ahead and calls her father. Peter drives past her, her father, and her husband on the way back to propose to her.

On the day of the 'official' wedding, Peter has requested to meet with Ellen's father to settle up financial matters. Ellen thinks he's come for the reward. However, he only asks for the money to pay for the actual expenses of the trip. Before he leaves, he tells her father that he does love her. Later, as her father walks her down the aisle, he reveals that Peter didn't want the reward. She leaves her husband at the altar and runs to Peter. The movie ends with the pair married and on their honeymoon.

What's amazing is the number of scenes repeated in romantic comedies throughout the years. The movie Leap Year has so many similarities, it's amazing. There's the road trip, the bedroom scene, the 'wealthy' sheltered girl and the working class guy. The more movies I watch, the more I realize that they have all been done before, it's just find the new edge that makes them great. 

It Happened One Night Beat Sheet

It Happened One Night 
Movie Poster

Here is my attempt at the Beat Sheet for It Happened One Night (1934). If you would like more information about beat sheets and the 15 beats every great movies shares, check out this page. 

Opening Image – The film opens on a yacht. Ellie Andrews has been locked in her stateroom by her wealthy father until he can get an annulment through for her recent elopement. Her father is complaining that she is on a hunger strike. 

Set-up – Ellie escapes the yacht and swims to Miami where she hocks her watch to buy clothes and a bus ticket to New York where her husband waits. In the meantime, Peter Warne is a down-on-his luck newspaper reporter who has just been fired by his boss in New York City. He, too, is taking the bus to New York. 

Theme Stated  – In modern screenplays, the theme is normally stated to the protagonist around minute 5. In this movie, the theme is one of growing independence. 

Catalyst – Ellie gets on the bus and travels to New York. 

Debate – There is not much debate before Act Two, more set up to get to the main part of the movie. 

Break Into Two  – Act Two is the upside world of Ellie traveling on a bus with little to no money and only Peter to help. 

B Story – Peter Warne, the newspaperman, at first follows Ellie to get a story and later falls in love with her. 

Fun and Games –  We see Peter and Ellie at various bus stops.  They go to a motel where they have to share a room. 

Midpoint - A man on the bus recognizes Ellie and wants to return her to her father for a $10,000 reward. Peter manages to turn him away but they must now leave the bus. 

Bad Guys Close In – Ellie and Peter have no money. Peter's suitcase gets stolen. All they have to eat is carrots. They stay at a motel without any means to pay for it. 

All is Lost – Ellie gets woken up in the middle of the night to find that Peter is gone. She thinks that he has left her. She calls her father to get his help. Peter passes them as they leave the town and sees her with her husband. 

Dark Night of the Soul – Both Peter and Ellie are devastated. 

Break Into Three – Ellie decides that she should just go ahead and remarry her husband in a large wedding and forget about Peter, especially after she thinks he wants to collect the reward. 

Finale – Peter comes to visit Ellie's father and only wants the money he spent on getting her home, not the reward. He tells her father that he loves Ellie. As her father walks Ellie down the aisle, he tells her that Peter didn't want the reward, and that she should not get married. She leaves in the middle of the ceremony to find Peter. 

Final Image – In one of the coolest endings, we see the outside of the Ellie and Peter's motel room, hear a trumpet sound, and see a blanket (the walls of Jericho) fall before the screen goes black. 

Cavalcade Beat Sheet

Cavalcade Movie Poster

Here is my attempt at the Beat Sheet for Cavalcade (1933). If you would like more information about beat sheets and the 15 beats every great movies shares, check out this page. 

Opening Image – An image of a coin bearing Queen Victoria’s image and a note which says: “This is the story of a home and a family … history seen through the eyes of a wife and mother whose love tempers both fortune and disaster… As 1899 ends, England is at war with the Boers in South Africa, but the tide of battle is against her… It is a national emergency… New Year’s Eve…our London family, sheltered through two generations of Victorian prosperity, awaits the headlong cavalcade of the Twentieth Century…” The scene then opens on Big Ben at night in the fog, rining 11:45 and then moves to a grandfather house in an old home.

Set-up – We meet the husband and wife and their children along with the servant and his wife and daughter. The husband and the servant are heading off to war with the Boers. Both wives don’t want them to go. They all celebrate New Years at the millennium together and then march off to a ship to fight in Africa.

Theme Stated  – When Robert Marryott says, "Give the future a chance," to his wife Jane, she replies, " We don't know if there is to be a future." This is repeated throughout the movie mainly by the women when talking about love with the men. It is echoed in the song "Twentieth Century Blues": In this hurly burly of insanity, our dreams can not last long.
 

Catalyst – The men have to leave to go to war.
 
Debate – The women don’t want the men to go but they explain that they must.
 
Break Into Two  – The men head off on the ship to Africa and the women are left behind .

B Story – The love story is between the husband and wife, Robert and Jane Marryot. They represent the solidity of  the 19th century as opposed to the changes in the early twentieth century.

Fun and Games –  The men return and life continues as before for the Marryots. Queen Victoria dies which has a huge impact on the nation. Then the Bridges leave service to start their own pub. 

Midpoint - Alfred Bridges is killed by the Coach driving through the streets.  

Bad Guys Close In – Edward and Edith die on the Titanic. Joey then joins the military to fight in World War I. 

All is Lost – Joey's dies right before the armistice at the end of World War I. 

Dark Night of the Soul – Jane Marryot, Joey's Mother has to deal with the loss of her second child. 

Break Into Three – Life continues after their losses, but the world is changing. Men return from the war hurt physically and mentally. The government is shown as corrupt. The society is moving away from God. They've got the 'Twentieth Century Blues' according to the song sung by Fanny Bridges. 

Finale – Robert and Jane share New Year’s Eve together in 1933. Everything passes, even time. Robert still believes in the future. They are older and happy together. Jane gives a toast to: "The future of England. Let’s couple the future of England with the past of England. Let us drink to our sons who made part of the pattern, and our hearts which died with them. Drink to the hope that this country of ours which we love so much will find dignity and greatness and peace again."

There is a montage of music and preachers and the deaths and the war and the world leaders, and there is a cacophony while Fanny is singing. Then the scene returns to the two of them drinking to  dignity, greatness, and peace. 

Final Image – People gathered on New Years Eve to sing Auld Lang Syne. They go out on their balcony and the husband gives her a really sweet kiss, then they have their heads tougher as they look up in the sky to a cross on top of St. Paul’s  and God Saves the Queen plays while the bell rings. 

6. Cavalcade (1933)

Cavalcade Movie Poster

Cavalcade won the Academy Award for best picture in 1933. Before today I knew nothing of the movie more than its name. However, I love Noel Coward, and this was based on a play he wrote in 1931. What I didn't expect is that I would be watching a precursor to Downton Abbey and its upstairs/downstairs dichotomy. Ironically, Cavalcade even includes the Titanic disaster, just as Downton. I wonder if Julian Fellowes was in any way affected by this tale. 

Cast of Downton Abbey

Cavalcade follows the story of two families in England: One the wealthy owners of a home in London and the other their servants. It starts on New Year's Eve, 1899. Interestingly, we can now relate in some ways to the feelings of those who brought in the change in the millennium. And that is what this movie is really about: how the world changed from 1899 to 1933. The movie does not present the changes as pretty or nice in any way. We encounter a world of increasingly dangerous wars, changes in the social order, the evils of alcohol, and the movement away from God.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Herbert Mundin as Alfred Bridges, Diana Wynyard as
Jane Marryot, Clive Brook as Robert Marryot, and
Una O'Connor as Ellen Bridges in Cavalcade

This moral tale builds slowly. At first, it is just the story of two women, both whose husbands are going away to serve in the Boer War. The master and servant are both shipping out at the same time. They leave behind their wives and children. However, they both return and do not seem that changed by the war. However, the servant, Robert Bridges, has bought himself a pub from someone who decided to stay in Africa. He and his wife, mother, and daughter move to the pub.

The story fast forwards and Bridges is now a drunkard who rarely pays his bills. His wife sends him away so that he won't embarrass her when 'her Ladyship', Lady Jane Marryot, comes to visit. He comes back early and interrupts, causing a scene. He leaves the house, gets in a fist fight, and then is killed by a coach and four.

Margaret Lindsay as Edith Harris and
John Warburton as Edward Marryot on
their honeymoon aboard the Titanic.

The next scene has the two families meet up at Brighton Beach. Bridge's daughter, Fanny, is a young but considered a wonderful dancer. The Marryots are all there, and the elder son, Edward, is going to marry a woman named Edith. This scene quickly follows with them standing together on a ship, talking about first their love. Then they move into more serious territory with Edith saying that she doesn't think that their relationship will be happy in the long run, that things are different than they were in the past. They step away to reveal they are on the Titanic.

Later, World War I begins, and Joey can't wait to join. Before he does, he rediscovers Fanny and they start an intimate relationship which continues each time he has leave. He returns to the front one last time after asking her to marry him. She basically says that even though she loves him, that she will not. That their lives are just too different. On the front, he sees his father one last time. The armistice is called for, but Joey dies before it takes effect.

This is where the filmmakers throw the issues of the day in our faces. They start by showing the men injured during the war, even weaving baskets - a scene that today would be seen as sarcastic but was completely believable at the time. Then we break to a number of short scenes with discussions about disarmament followed by talk of keeping stores of mustard gas. We see a man speak out against the existence of God followed by a priest proclaming from Luke 9:25: "For what is a man profited, if he gain the whole world, and lose or forfeit his own self?" This is followed by Fanny Bridges singing the "Twentieth Century Blues," which includes the theme of the movie, "In this hurly burly of insanity, our dreams cannot last long." I'm including the scene below to show what I mean:



Finally, the film ends on another New Year's Eve in 1933 with Sir Robert and Lady Jane Marryott together toasting the future. However, even though Robert is still positive about it, Lady Jane is more realistic. She states, "[Let's] drink to the hope that this country of ours which we love so much will find dignity and greatness and peace again."

What I Learned From the Movie

1. The filmmakers needed to a do a little more showing and a little less telling. I don't believe I've ever had a theme or these type of moral messages thrown in my face quite as obviously as what happened in the last third of this movie. Even though I think that most of the message was quite good, it should have been incorporated within the framework of the movie and not as a sequence in and of itself. Instead of feeling preached to, I would have felt that I was experiencing the changes along with the characters. 
2. Transitions are so important to keeping a movie flowing. In these early days of film, they still hadn't gotten scene transitions down. There were many abrupt scene changes that were jarring to the viewer and broke the 'fictive dream' that the story was attempting to tell. 
3. Some scenes dragged on too long. There was too much exposition and not enough movement. This was especially true during some of the song numbers. This was not a musical, yet at least three times in the movie we listened to entire songs. Even though these included commentaries on the time, they made me as a modern movie goer a little frustrated. Important lesson for me in my own writing endeavors. 
4. As a way to show the tragedies of the war, the filmmaker juxtaposed images of soldiers marching and  singing songs like "Smile, Smile, Smile" while women back home were singing to inspire men to enlist while men were falling over dying in front of the same church. If this sounds like a jumbly mess, it was. The sounds were dissonant, but not in a way that added to the drama. Instead, they made me wish for a better sound mixer. The images were repetitive, and the fact that they all died in the exact same spot even though new years (1915, 1916, 1917) were being shown on the screen was just silly. 
5. Throughout the movie, the women are portrayed as realists, and the men are children. The women understand that war means death, and the men are jumping to go fight again and again. The men talk of love, and the women talk of the uncertainties of the future. It seems like in many of these early movies, the screenwriters picked sides in the battle of the sexes. Women were either silly or smart, men were either in control or oblivious. 
6. While we might think all things change, in reality life just seems to repeat itself. Here is a generation back in 1933 writing about the 'good old days'. Today, many look back at the 50's in the same way. Someday soon, the 80's will be the time to remember. I can see myself in my old age railing about the way kids behave. Someday. 
7. I loved the relationship of the Marryotts throughout the film. It was gentle and loving and rarely seen in movies. 

In the end, I enjoyed the movie despite its shortcomings. Of course, that could be chalked up to me being an anglophile and loving all things Downton and Mr. Selfridge!

Grand Hotel Beat Sheet

Grand Hotel Movie Poster

Here is my attempt at the Beat Sheet for Grand Hotel (1932). If you would like more information about beat sheets and the 15 beats every great movies shares, check out this page. 

First, before beginning this beat sheet, I decided that there really wasn't one character whose story is being told. With this in mind, I decided that the protagonist for the story, at least in my mind, is the Grand Hotel itself. I used this throughout this Beat Sheet

Opening Image – The film opens in a busy switchboard room at the Grand Hotel. The operators are busily connecting calls. 

Set-up – The filmmakers ingeniously introduce the various characters by having them talk on the phone. The camera switches from one to the next so we see all their major issues. One wants a business deal, one plans to steal something, one's wife is pregnant, one is dying and spending his days enjoying himself, and the last person is the maid to the famous ballet dancer, Grusinskaya, who is afraid her mistress will not perform.

Theme Stated  – Nothing ever happens here. This makes no sense when looking at the stories themselves. However, if you think of the hotel as the protagonist, then nothing really does change. People come and people go but it remains the same. 

Catalyst – This was a tough one for me. Each individual story had its own catalyst. For example, the Baron needed to pay a debt which was the catalyst for him to plan and steal Grusinskaya's pearls. However, the catalyst in terms of the movie was simply that everyone was coming to stay at the same hotel. 

Debate – If the catalyst of the movie was everyone coming to stay at the hotel, the debate section involved each of the individual characters dealing with their specific problems. 

Break Into Two  – Act Two is usually the 'upside down' world - where the protagonist is thrown into something it is not used to. In this story, the individual characters each have their own 'funworld' versions of reality. I believe that Act Two begins when we understand the backstories for each character and what it is they want. 

B Story – There are a number of love stories, however I think the true B Story is the love of the Baron for  Otto Kringelein. He can't steal from him, and he ensures that Flaemmchen, the stenographer, is there for Otto too.  

Fun and Games –  The Baron is planning his theft but also planning to date Flaemmchen. He helps Otto learn how to enjoy himself. Flaemmchen begins working for General Director Preysing. Basically, we are learning more about each of the characters and watching how they interact. 

Midpoint - To me, the midpoint comes when the Baron decides not to steal from Grusinskaya and instead falls in love with her. They quickly pair up. This is definitely a false victory. 

Bad Guys Close In – The Baron needs to get money to pay a debt. He has refused money from Grusinskaya and resists the temptation to steal from Otto. 

All is Lost – The Baron decides to steal from Preysing. However, he gets caught and Preysing kills him. 

Dark Night of the Soul – Everyone including the hotel staff is upset about the death of the Baron. 

Break Into Three – Flaemmchen and Otto decide to join together and travel to Paris together in the hopes of finding a cure for Otto. 

Finale – Grusinskaya leaves the hotel, still thinking that the Baron will come to meet her at the train station. Flaemmchen and Otto leave for Paris. Preysing is arrested. Only the Doctor who seems to live at the hotel remains and states as he did at the beginning that people might come and go but nothing happens at the Grand Hotel. 

Final Image – We draw back from the revolving door of the hotel to see a conveyance bearing the title Grand Hotel pulls up with new arrivals.

5. Grand Hotel

Grand Hotel Movie Poster

And so we turn to Grand Hotel. Ensemble movies like The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Love Actually can trace their roots to this movie which was based on a play of the same name that based on a novel written  by Vicki Baum. This is the first film on the list that relied on characterization more than setting or events happening to the main characters. The actors in Grand Hotel truly stepped up to the plate, and watching it was like watching a virtual who's who of old Hollywood: Greta Garbo, Joan Collins, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore. These are all names that have lived through the years. Another name that I have heard over the years watching the Academy Awards is Jean Hersholt. The humanitarian award named after him is periodically given to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to humanitarian causes. In this movie, he played the porter who's wife is in the hospital about to have a baby.

John Barrymore and Greta Garbo in Grand Hotel

Both Barrymore's played quite interesting roles. John was the main love interest of both leading ladies as the 'Baron' who is planning to steal from Garbo to pay off a debt he owes. Lionel played the dying working man who has decided to finally live life to the fullest. As he says, "For the first time in my life, I tasted life." I really enjoyed both their performances. It was hard to believe that the Lionel would someday play 'Old Man Potter' in It's a Wonderful Life.

Joan Crawford and John Barrymore in Grand Hotel

I have read that when they filmed the movie, they never wanted to have Garbo and Crawford in the same scene together because they'd be afraid they would overshadow each other. I could definitely see why after watching the film. While both played their roles well - Garbo as the long-suffering dancer and Crawford as the young stenographer trying to make her way in the world - I enjoyed Crawford's character more. Garbo utters her famous line, "I want to be alone," near the beginning of the film. She plays a diva with such gusto. But Crawford has a comic glint to her eye that brings humor to every scene she graces. Her lightness of touch is refreshing after all the overacting of the previous films. She and John Barrymore are closer to modern day actors than most of the others in the film. It's crazy to think that she is the same woman as portrayed in Mommy Dearest. I guess some people just aren't cut out to be parents.

SPOILERS AHEAD

The film starts and ends with the same sentiment stated by Dr. Otternschlag: "Grand Hotel . . . always the same. People come, people go. Nothing every happens." And then the movie goes on to prove otherwise. Yet at the same time, there is something unchanging about a hotel. While little dramas are occurring all around, these do not change the essence of the place.

One interesting thing that I found about the film was that it was able to combine a number of different elements into one cohesive plot. There was a thief, an unscrupulous businessman, an attempt at adultery, a love affair, a dying man, a drunkard doctor, and a murder, and all the stories worked.

The method for introducing the wide range of characters was quite unique: each was making a telephone call explaining their situation. From that point, the plot moved easily from humor to drama, from love to lust, from love of life to death by murder. There is much for a writer to learn from this early example, and I finished the movie feeling as if I had left a master class on ensemble films.


After only five films, I have to say that I am already seeing how films have begun to evolve and how they relate to the films of today. Blake Snyder says that when any good screenwriter in Hollywood decides to sit down and write a film, he goes back and watches the films in that genre to see how it was done before. So many scenes from later movies can be traced directly back to these early films.