Reel Reflection: Looking Back at 2022's Movie Anniversaries

 

by Michael Lyons

Well, we seem to say it a lot lately in late December, but, again - What. A. Year.

As all of the events of 2022 whirled past us, movie fans could always find something to celebrate, as some notable films marked anniversaries this year.  Here is a look back at just some of them before we close the calendar:

 

The Avengers (2012) - Ten Years

Big Marvel Cinematic Universe movies seem so commonplace today that it's hard to believe that a decade has gone by since this first merging of several-super hero films.  Even though the franchise has grown, changed, expanded, and brought many different thoughts from fans, there's no denying this movie still packs a big ol' entertaining wallop.

 

Treasure Planet (2002) - Twenty Years

Released over Thanksgiving weekend of 2002, when it faired poorly at the box office, many were quick to dismiss this as "Disney's Holiday Turkey."  So unfair.  This science-fiction take on Treasure Island features brilliant character animation and pure heart and emotion that sneaks up on you.  An underrated gem, a "treasure," indeed.

 

Unforgiven (1992) - Thirty Years

Who better to helm a revisionist Western movie than Clint Eastwood?  The director and star's brutal take on the genre deservedly won the Best Picture Oscar that year, and is still impactful three decades later.

 

Tootsie (1982) - Forty Years

So funny.  That is the only way to describe this brilliant comedy.  Dustin Hoffman is perfect as a struggling actor so desperate for work that he disguises himself as a woman to get a role on a soap opera and becomes a star.

Not only filled with great humor but also messages about how different genders are perceived and perceive life.  Plus, the scene where Bill Murray calls Dustin Hoffman "a slut" is still classic!

 

The Godfather (1972) - Fifty Years

Still one of the greatest films of all time.  Francis Ford Coppola's Corleone crime family saga is perfect storytelling and much more than a "mob movie." It's a tale of the seductive nature of power, how that power can be corrupted, and how the power of family creates an indestructible bond.  There is a reason this movie is still discussed half a century later. 

 

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) - Sixty Years

If not the best, then one of the best film adaptations of a book ever made.  Gregory Peck embodied the role of lawyer Atticus Finch in this translation of Harper Lee's novel about a lawyer who defends a black man in small-town Alabama when the man is wrongfully accused of rape.  Set against the backdrop of not just the small-town South but coming-of-age understanding, To Kill a Mockingbird, the book, and this film, seem to become more powerful and relevant as the years pass. 

 

Casablanca (1942) - Eighty Years

They don't get more iconic than this.  In one of the defining roles of his career, Humphrey Bogart is Rick, the cynical ex-patriate who owns a nightclub in Morocco that gets caught in the crosshairs of World War II as he unexpectedly encounters his one-time love, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman).

So many unforgettable scenes and lines of dialogue ("Of all the jin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine," "We'll always have Paris," "Here's looking at you, kid," "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.").

Casablanca is a story of the power of alliances and how we can never escape our past.  It's the gold standard of the age of the silver screen.

 

As we head into the long holiday weekend, look ahead, reflect and take some time to remember these and other wonderful films that reached milestones in 2022.

Wishing everyone a Happy and Healthy New Year!

 

 

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There's Magic in Store: The 75th Anniversary of the Original "Miracle on 34th Street"

 by Michael Lyons

 

Pure Movie Magic.  How many times have you heard that phrase?  Or have you seen it splashed across a movie poster?  It's beyond overused and applies only to certain movies.

One of them is the original Miracle on 34th Street.  The movie that's become a classic Christmas tradition and part of many film fans' seasonal rotations has magic to spare. What's most remarkable, as it celebrates its 75th anniversary, is that Miracle on 34th Street does this without the benefit of visual effects and, instead, tells a down-to-earth story overflowing with the ethereal wonder of the season.

The film tells the now-familiar tale of how Macy's department store in New York City hires a kindly gentleman as their seasonal Santa Claus, only to learn that he claims to be the real Saint Nick himself. What follows is a tremendous amount of speculation, resulting in a hearing to determine if Santa is really who he says he is.

Director George Seaton and his wife were vacationing with writer Valentine Davies and his wife when Davies told Seaton about his idea for the story.  Seaton then crafted the screenplay (which won him an Academy Award) and stepped behind the camera as director to helm Miracle on 34th Street.

When it was ready to be released, Darryl F. Zanuck, the head of 20th Century-Fox, decided to release the film not during Christmastime but on June 11, 1947, as Zanuck believed that more people went to the movies during the summer.

All marketing and promotion at the time, including the original trailer and poster, had no images of Christmas and kept the story shrouded in mystery to entice audiences to theaters.

Once critics saw Miracle on 34th Street, however, the secret was happily out of the bag.  In The New York Times, Bosley Crowther wrote: "For all those blasé skeptics who do not believe in Santa Claus - and likewise for all those natives who have grown cynical about New York-but most especially for all those patrons who have grown weary of the monotonies of the screen, let us heartily recommend the Roxy's new picture, Miracle on 34th Street. As a matter of fact, let's go further: let's catch its spirit and heartily proclaim that it is the freshest little picture in a long time and maybe even the best comedy of the year."

In addition to its story, Miracle on 34th Street is buoyed by the performances. Young Natalie Wood is amazingly natural as the "older-than-her years" little girl Susan Walker; Maureen O'Hara as Susan's mother, Doris, the Macy's manager who hires Kris Kringle, reveals great strength and vulnerability as she is torn between fantasy and reality; John Payne brings warmth to his role as Fred Gailey, the attorney who defends Santa in court and learns to believe; Gene Lockhart is hysterical as the skittish judge, and holding the film together, in the kindest, gentlest performance film has ever seen is Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle.

The performance won Gwenn a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, and he delivered one of the greatest acceptance speeches when he said, "Now I know there is a Santa Claus."

In the seven and a half decades since its release, Miracle on 34th Street has become more beloved each Christmas season. Although there have been remakes, such as a made-for-TV version in 1973 and the big-budget theatrical remake in 1994, none compare to the original. 

Author Sarah Parker Danielson wrote a book chronicling the making of the film, aptly titled Miracle on 34th Street, in which she states:

"Though its setting is the Christmas season, the film's message is a simple one applicable year-round: Life’s intangibles are what make living worthwhile. As Fred Gailey points out, what really matters are the things that Kris Kringle stands for - hope, joy, kindness, and love. That the characters in the film come to understand the meaning of these intangibles is the miracle on 34th St."

In other words: pure movie magic.

Happy 75th anniversary to Miracle on 34th Street, and Merry Christmas to one and all!

Sources:

Sarah Parker Danielson, Miracle on 34th Street, JG Press, 2006

Wikipedia

 

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Just Like The Ones We Used To Know: Looking Back on Bing Crosby's Last TV Christmas Special, 45 Years Later

 by Michael Lyons

Bing Crosby and David Bowie during their iconic

performance on Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas

Of all the memories of watching Christmas specials on TV through the years, there's one that is indelible.

It happened on November 30, 1977.  I was eleven years old and watched the annual Bing Crosby Christmas special with my mother and father, as we did each year.  It was called Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas, and, as he did each year, he ended the special by singing his iconic trademark song, "White Christmas."

My mom started crying as Bing sang it on our furniture-sized television.  When "White Christmas" finished, my mom said, "That's the last time."

Many watching Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas felt the same way that evening.  Sadly, Bing Crosby had just passed away in October of 1977, not long after taping the special (it had been a tough year as Elvis Presley had passed in August).

As it did then, Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas still feels like an end of an era.  Oh sure, there were, and have been similar, variety show-like Christmas specials since, but Bing Crosby represented a time when those comforting Christmas carols weren't re-recorded by every artist with a microphone and weren't played 24 hours a day on the radio.

When you heard Bing Crosby, it was Christmas.  Sure, he was known for more, but thanks to "White Christmas" and the movie of the same name, as well as Holiday Inn, seeing him and hearing him felt like a sign of the season.

That's what makes watching Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas bittersweet.

The special's "story" centers on Bing receiving an invite from a distant relative ("Sir Percy"), inviting him and his family to England to spend Christmas there. Bing, his wife Kathryn, and children Harry, Mary, and Nathaniel, spend the holidays at Sir Percy's estate.

While there, they meet the butler, the cook, and the maid (all played by Scottish comedian Stanley Baxter) and spend some time with Sir Percy's neighbor, David Bowie (during which he and Bing perform the medley of "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy," which would not only bridge musical generation gaps but also become a hit single in the 1980s).

Also, model and singer Twiggy joins the Crosbys for a discussion about some of Charles Dickens' most famous characters (many of them played in this ethereal sequence by actor Ron Moody, who had played Fagan in 1968's musical Oliver!).

Toward the conclusion, the Trinity Boys Choir joins all for a rousing medley of such Christmas songs as "Jingle Bells," "Winter Wonderland," "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day," and "Carol of the Bells."

And it all concludes with Bing, standing at the piano, for that touching, last rendition of "White Christmas."

Recorded in England, Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas aired on November 30, 1977, on CBS, a little over a month after Bing's passing on October 14th.  Bing's wife Kathryn recorded a special introduction that aired before the special.

Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas ad

featured in TV Guide.

Watching Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas today, 45 years after its debut, it's not only a reminder of how closely Bing was connected to the holidays but also a memory of "another time" when Christmas specials such as this were like televised Christmas cards, from entertainers.  And an era when families scheduled time to gather together to watch them.

It was a wonderful time, and Bing Crosby was a wonderful part of it and an amazing talent, who has left quite the legacy, that we get to enjoy every Christmas season.

And Bing's closing words in the special, just before he sings "White Christmas," still resonates today:

“Really, I guess Christmas has a way of calling up the best in people. It's time to review your blessings, to renew your faith, to share the warmth of the season with new and old friends, with family. It's a time of joy, of closeness, a time to look back with gratitude of being able to come this far, and the time to look ahead with hope and optimism to a future day when there'll be peace on earth and goodwill towards all men. We wish you all the blessings of the season and a dream to place under your pillow to see you through the cold nights.”  

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