French Cancan

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Lincoln Spector

I finished French Cancan last night. I say “finished” because I started it Tuesday night, streaming on Hulu Plus. About 25 minutes before the ending, when the big opening night stage show begins, either Hulu or my Internet connectionI started giving me trouble. It would freeze, start, freeze, start, and so on. Forty minutes later and 15 more minutes into the movie, I gave up.

This evening I tried again, starting where I left off, and rewinding to just before the point where the problem started. Everything went fine.

So I saw the movie in two parts. Not ideal, but I still got the gist of it.

If you primarily know Jean Renoir from Grand Illusion and Rules of the Game, French Cancan can throw you for a loop. This is more like something coming out of MGM’s Arthur Freed unit–especially The Band Wagon. It’s a backstage musical shot in three-strip Technicolor, funny, upbeat, and utterly entertaining. And, since it’s French, it’s far sexier than anything Hollywood would have made in 1954.

Renoir spins an origin myth, this one about the birth of the famous Moulin Rouge nightclub. It has no more bearing the true story than Adam and Eve have with evolution. But then, one should never look to a myth for historical accuracy.

Renoir fixture Jean Gabin–looking grayer and pudgier than in Grand Illusion, stars asfrench_cancan a theatrical producer of style, taste, ambition, and little money. He struggles to find backers while juggling mistresses. The main mistress is young, red-haired, and initially innocent (Françoise Arnoul). She must choose between the exciting world of dance and the young baker who loves her ardently and jealously.

Now here’s a difference between American and French musicals. She must choose between an honest young man who will always be loyal to her, and a philanderer and charlatan. Renoir has us rooting for the philanderer. The baker’s insistence on fidelity makes him an unlikeable jerk.

Also wonderful: The thin and extremely flexible Philippe Clay steals every scene he’s in as a performer who moves like no one else, sings comic songs, and twists his body like a pretzel.

This is Jean Renoir having fun.

Filed under: Comedy, Music | Tagged: , , , | Leave a Comment »

What’s Screening: June 15 – 21

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Lincoln Spector

Only one festival this week, but it’s a big one. Frameline LGBT continues through this week and beyond.

A- Your Sister’s Sister,Kabuki, Embarcadero, opens Friday. This romantic sex comedy kept surprising me. I thought it was shallow; then the your_sisters_sistercharacters deepened. I figured out whom was going to end up with whom, and what artificial crisis would end the second act.  Boy, was I wrong! It just kept getting better–more surprising, more character-driven and realistic, and funnier, because the humor came from a knowledge of real human behavior. So many movies start promising and deteriorate; it was nice to see one that just kept getting better. Read my full review.

Best of God (Wednesday) & Best of Drugs (Thursday), Balboa. Comedian Owen Egerton takes his audience through two different collections of film clips, one from "the most outlandish religious films from the 1930′s to modern day," the other moves from "Reefer Madness and Marijuana Girl to the sincere PSAs of the 1980′s featuring Pee Wee Herman, Clint Eastwood and McGruff the Crime Dog all the way to haunting neo-classic anti-meth videos of today."

B- Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Stanford, Friday through Sunday. Howard Hawks’ musical battle of the sexes contains a handful of wonderful dance numbers and some good comic moments, but there are too many weak scenes to wholeheartedly recommend it. The real surprise is in the leading ladies. Gentlemen helped turn Marilyn Monroe into a star, but co-star Jane Russell blows her out of the water. In this film, at least, Russell is funnier and sexier. On a double bill with another Howard Hawks comedy, Monkey Business, which stars Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers, with a yet-unknown Monroe in a small role. Film historian David Thomson will introduce Saturday’s 7:30 screening.

A Comedy Short Subject Night, Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum, Saturday, 7:30. The laugh line-up is exceptionally good this month. "Easy Street" is one of Charlie Chaplin’s best two-reel comedies. The same goes for Buster Keaton’s "Neighbors" and Charlie Chase’s "Mighty Like a Moose." I’ve never seen "Should Married Men Go Home," but it’s Laurel and Hardy. How bad could it be? Judy Rosenberg will tickle the ivories while Chaplin, Keaton, Chase, and L&H tickle your funny bone.

A Dr. Strangelove, UA Berkeley, Thursday, 9:00. We like to look back at earlier decades as simpler, less fearful times, but Stanley Kubrick’s “nightmare comedy” reminds you just how scary things once were. Thank heaven we no longer have idiots like those running the country! It’s also very funny.

A Headhunters, Aquarius, opens Friday. Roger Brown (Aksel Hennie) leads the good life. He’s rich, powerful, and has a beautiful wife. But even his high-paying, high-status job can’t pay for his lavish lifestyle, so heheadhunters moonlights as a burglar, breaking into homes and stealing expensive paintings. But then something goes seriously wrong. Then it gets worse. Much worse. Before long, avoiding the police is the least of his worries. The result is the most entertaining new movie I’ve yet seen this year–a thriller of Hitchcockian quality. Warning: This movie has several very violent scenes. See my full review.

Yellow Submarine, Elmwood, Saturday, noon. The Beatles’ one animated feature–which to my knowledge hasn’t played the Bay Area in years–has been restored, and is receiving special theatrical presentations. It’s been too long since I’ve seen this whimsical fantasy for me to issue a grade. If memory serves, Yellow Submarine is a wonderful movie for taking drugs, and equally wonderful for taking your kids. Just don’t take both.

Filed under: Weekly Newsletter | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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