Movies On My Mind

Watched “ Madagascar” recently on DVD and could not shake the feeling “been there, done that, boring, boring, boring!” Am I getting older or these movies are getting more and more predictable? In their stupidity as well – how about a lion fighting his carnivorous hunger, so that he does not eat his zebra friend (?!…). I’ll be writing a review on this one for sure, just wanted to vent a little! The story did not seem so bad when given in bits and pieces by the ads and trailers – pampered animals from the New York Zoo through Marty the Zebra’s drive for freedom and machinations of the naughty commando-type penguins (?!), also looking for a way out of the Zoo, end up on the coast of Madagascar, the Lemur Kingdom. The Lemurs seem to be strangely familiar with New York sports teams vocabulary, by the way – really stroke me as odd and rather annoying at times – not everyone is a New Yorker after all! In a couple of days, after almost becoming the food for hyenas they finally realize that they are not cut out for living in wilderness (with the notable exception of Melman the Giraffe, who was whining about that all along). The sight of their ship ramming into the shore brings them a hysterical joy – little do they know that the ship is not going anywhere, because the penguins were at the helm – which also brings a question of whatever has happened to that guy last seen gagged and bound on the ship? The story is devoid of any signs of any logic, however absurd, and seems like it consists of bits and pieces you’ve already seen somewhere. Same deja-vu happened to me while watching the “Robots” – I kept thinking “could they come up with something new for a change?!” The appearance of the characters is different, but the situations and general story line are taken from very few standard variations. I think the last movie, where the story seemed somewhat innovative was “Shrek 2”, though come to think of that “Shrek 2” story really consists of a string of very well known fairy tales, only very creatively twisted with a rather satirical slant. Maybe I should stop watching the animated movies for a while?…

Howard Hawks’s “I Was a Male War Bride”(1949) is one of the most funny movies with Cary Grant I’ve ever seen. As a matter of fact, it is one of the most hilarious movies ever. The story is set in a postwar Germany, with ruins on the background, but the life seemingly coming more or less to normal. Henri Rochard (Cary Grant) is a French Captain from the French Economic mission, who is often supported in his missions by the US Army Lieutenant Catherine Gates (Ann Sheridan), a sharp-tongued female interpreter. From the very first scene in the movie, when Henri finds Catherine in her office to (quite publicly) return her very personal belongings he’d gotten by mistake on their previous trip, one can see a certain level of attraction, masked by a fierce, but very funny bickering on the subject of their previous work together.

As fate would have it, for his new mission Henri is slated to go with Catherine again. The news does not seem to bode well with Henri, who seemed to have had a certain share of mishaps during their previous missions together, which he fully attributed to Catherine. However, he does not have much of a choice and off they go on a search for a skilled lens grafter in Bad Neuheim to save the poor man from the clutches of the black market and put his services to the benefit of society. Catherine’s no-nonsense attitude does indeed put poor Henri into some very precarious situations from time to time, but it’s not intentional, and Henri gradually comes to realize that. What’s more, they grow more and more attached to each other during that trip until they realize that they love each other and want to get married.

That’s where the most oddball part of the movie begins. Since Catherine is still an officer of the US Army, the marriage has to be approved through the Army channels, causing a lot of consternation and anxiety to the two love birds and really testing their intent to marry. With the marriage finally happening (three times!) life should be full of roses for the newlyweds, but the Army had to have a final laugh and Catherine is ordered to go back to the States right away. Henri is an alien and it would be a matter of a long time before he gets all the papers allowing him to join her in the US.

They are running around the bureaucratic offices, trying to secure Henri’s departure with her, but it’s all in vain, until one of the officials gives them an idea to use the congressional Act granting wider opportunities for the war brides to enter the United States. The only problem is Henri’s not a woman! They do manage to get him the war bride status, which leads to more hilarious situations – like poor Henri filling in the questionnaire, where one of the standard questions is whether Mrs. So-and So is pregnant and how many months along!

All this finally out of the way exhausted Henri and Catherine reach after all the last obstacle on their trip to the States – the Navy guards are not letting Henri on board the ship and the ship is just about to leave. In a sudden stroke of inspiration, Catherine disguises Henri in the uniform of the Army nurse and they sneak on board of the ship past the sailors. They do get caught eventually, after a hysterical episode when Henri is called upon to fulfill the nurse’s duty during childbirth, but the ship is already at sea and nothing can be done about it. They do get to see the Statue of Liberty together after all.

The DVD picture quality is not all that great, just tolerable – apparently they could not do much restoration on it. The special features include the usual Still Gallery, the trailers, Cary Grant Theater feature – about his other famous films – and a couple of short mute documentary reels on the making of the movies and its first release.