2016 has been a brutal year for the entertainment world. The death tolls began a few days shy of New Year’s when rock legend Lemmy Kilmister died on December 28, 2015 and R&B queen Natalie Cole passed just a few days later on New Year’s Eve. Just 10 days after that, the stakes were raised when Ziggy Stardust himself took his last breath. And less than a week after that, the world lost Hans Gruber, Professor Snape, and the “voice of the one true God” when Alan Rickman shuffled off this mortal coil.
This trend hasn’t let up. We’ve seen 2016 deliver the final appearances of Anton Yelchin (at only 27 years old), the enigmatic Prince, Jon Bunch (lead singer of influential rock band, Sensefield), pioneer BMX biker Dave Mirra, the incredible character actor George Kennedy, Merle Haggard, Garry Marshall, Gary Shandling, Muhammad Ali, Michael Cimino, and an exhaustive list of other actors, directors, musicians, and other entertainment personalities. Many have resonated with the nation, with names like Bowie, Prince, and Rickman topping the list of people whom the nation has grieved and mourned over at a nearly universal level. Another such name of grand importance and immense worthiness of tribute was added this week when Gene Wilder joined his the cast on that big soundstage in the sky.
As we begin our Cinapse Selects journey on the week of Willy Wonka’s death, it struck me that never on Cinapse has there been a discussion about the 1971 family musical that 3-4 generations have grown up with. Writing about a film that has been everpresent and beloved in my life, such as Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, is quite tempting, especially when that film is synonymous with the man I’m eulogizing with this inaugural entry into Cinapse Selects; however, Gene Wilder’s filmography is wide reaching and filled with many lesser known gems. One such gem is the other family musical of the early ’70s featuring the talents of the late Mr. Wilder, The Little Prince.
Directed by Stanley Donen, classic musical director known most for his seminal work Singin’ in the Rain, The Little Prince is an ensemble piece featuring Broadway star and multiple Tony winner Richard Kiley, renowned musical choreographer/director/actor Bob Fosse, A Chorus Line‘s original “Cassie” Donna McKechnie (also known for her role of Amanda Harris/Olivia Corey in the original run of ABC’s Dark Shadows), Sir Joss Ackland (most well known to genre fans as one of the main villains in Lethal Weapon 2, but was a very well known British actor on stage and screen long before his days fighting Murtaugh and Riggs), and several other actors Donen had worked with before. There are notable similarities to many of the musicals of the ’50s through ’70s in both look and feel, but with a more fantastical twist. The main character, The Little Prince, accompanies a stranded and lost pilot wandering the desert. through their time together the prince tells the pilot morality tales about the characters he encountered prior to coming across the pilot. The Little Prince came to Earth from another planet and returns home to his planet with some “help” from the snake he encountered earlier in the film. The prince disappears, leaving the pilot to believe he may have been experiencing a hallucination of sorts. While the audience never knows for sure if it was indeed a hallucination or it was real, the man finds some comfort in the end when he hears the laughter of the boy coming from the stars and is able to get his plane off the ground for the first time since becoming stranded in the first place.
Our dearly departed Mr. Wilder plays the role of a wily old fox, whom actually befriends the boy prince. His musical number is endearing and he shows every bit of the screen presence that Wonka fans have come to expect. He also provides some very strong insight in the words he shares with the prince:
While he plays a larger role in many of his other films, this film reminds us that Wilder can represent magic and wonder, as well as love and sincerity. His embrace with the prince is as warm an embrace as any. Even as a magnificent actor, that type of feeling cannot simply be acted, it can only be shown by someone that truly filled with genuine love and care.
Whether you choose to enjoy this or any of his other gems, try to carve out a little time this week to pay some honor to one of the greats. Willy, Dr. Frankenstein, Jim, Leo, Skip, Abe, Lord Ravensbane, Rabbi, Dave… by whatever name you know the late great actor, Gene Wilder will be missed but his mark on American cinema won’t fade anytime soon.
In the spirit of the holiday season as well as the current gloom stemming from recent political outcomes, I thought the time couldn’t be more perfect to revisit a still somewhat undiscovered cinematic treasure from the master of classic movie sentimentality, Frank Capra. The film in question is Meet John Doe and if many familiar with the director’s work may not recognize it, that’s perfectly understandable. The film doesn’t hold the same place in movie history as Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, or even Capra’s most signature film, It’s a Wonderful Life. However, what Meet John Doe lacks in popularity, it more than makes up for in ideology, truth and overall importance in what was Capra’s most skillfully political and poetic film.
Meet John Doe opens on newspaper columnist Ann Mitchell (Barbara Stanwyck), who has just lost her job as a result of the paper she writes for being taken over by a conglomerate. As her final farewell, Ann quickly types up an editorial based on a letter she claims was sent in by a man calling himself John Doe. The letter is an impassioned criticism of 40s society and humanity in general, which ends with a proclamation stating that John Doe will jump to his death off of city hall on Christmas Eve as a form of protest and disgust at the state of things.
The column causes a stir and Ann’s job is saved after she convinces Mr. Connell (James Gleason), the paper’s Editor-in-Chief to let her keep publishing John Doe’s “letters” in an effort increase readership. He agrees and the two begin a hunt to find a John Doe they can present to the public. When they find a homeless former baseball pitcher named Long John Willoughby (Gary Cooper), they believe they have their man. Long John agrees to go ahead with the scheme in exchange for the money Ann and Connell have promised him. However, it isn’t long before John develops feelings for Ann while wrestling with his conscience over the fraud he’s taking part in as “the John Doe movement” continues to grow across the country.
The primary reason most don’t cite Meet John Doe among the legendary Capra’s collection of inspiring films is its decidedly grim nature. The film ventures into the realm of social unrest, disenchantment with society and an America which has all but forgotten so many of its own citizens. The large collection of homeless men who show up at the newspaper office claiming to be Ann’s John Doe may have been played for laughs, but there’s a definite sadness at seeing so many lost men who would rather risk legal trouble pretending to be someone they’re not than spend any more time on the street.
However, the film takes an even darker turn when D.B. Norton (Edward Arnold), the head of the conglomerate who has taken over the paper takes an unhealthy interest in funding the John Doe movement. As the John Doe’s of the world unite and conditions among society genuinely begin to improve as a result of Ann’s words and Long John’s delivery of them, Norton and his band of wealthy men seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with the intent of forming a third party which will serve as a platform for their own personal agenda, benefiting no one but them and their already-bloated bank accounts.
But Meet John Doe is a Capra film. And no Capra film would be complete without the director’s trademark heart and love of people. Indeed there is a great amount of humanity in the film thanks to its incredibly well-written script, which is full of long wraps of dialogue which speaks to the importance of loving one’s own fellow man. “If anyone were to ask you what the average John Doe is like, you couldn’t tell him because he’s a million and one things,” Long John says at the start of one of his speeches in which he’s describing the average man. “He’s Mr. Big and Mr. Small. He’s simple and he’s wise. He’s incredibly honest, but he’s got a streak of larceny in his heart. He seldom walks up to to a public telephone without first sticking his finger in the slot to see if anyone left a nickel there.”
All the ideological sentiments about tolerance, love and unity between countrymen are played for everything they’re worth. However it’s in the film’s ending in which a frantic Ann, delirious with fever, pleads with a suicidal John atop of snow-covered city hall on Christmas Eve where the core of Meet John Doe is reached. Pleading with Long John to spare his own life, Ann struggles to make him realize that it doesn’t matter if he was a fake or not, or what Norton and his goons had planned, the movement represented the people, and was bigger than all of them. “If it’s worth dying for, it’s worth living for. You don’t have to die to keep the John Doe idea alive,” explains Ann. “Someone already died for that once – the first John Doe… and he’s kept that idea alive for nearly 2,000 years. It was he who kept it alive in them and he’ll go on keeping it alive forever and always. For every John Doe movement these men kill, a new one will be born,” she tearfully exclaims.
Meet John Doe was anything but a hit for Capra when it was released. The film was considered grim and depressing by all who saw it. This was mainly due to an original ending which saw Long John actually carry out his suicidal plans. Dropping said ending didn’t help matters much as the film was considered a failure despite earning a Best Original Screenplay Oscar nomination. Making matters even worse in the years since the film’s release was the fact that Meet John Doe was an independent production, the first from Capra’s own company and was not tied to any major studio. As a result, the film has since fallen into public domain with a variety of shoddily-made DVD editions floating around, all but ensuring the film will never get the quality, pristine treatment it so richly deserves.
There’s no doubt however that Meet John Doe is the most quintessential of Capra films as evidenced by the gusto of its characters and the pulse of its undeniably powerful message. It goes without saying that Meet John Doe remains an important film today more than ever. In a country which stands more divided than it has in years, and with powerful men claiming to have the welfare of the people at the forefront of their greedy, opportunistic minds, a film such as Meet John Doe proves far more timely than even Capra could have ever imagined it would. If the film’s dark traits are alive and kicking, then it stands to reason that its good ones are as well, specifically the idea of humanity, brotherhood and the strength and power to make the world better than it is which Capra truly believed exists within each and every individual.
Christine Baranski (Actor), Pierce Brosnan (Actor), Ol Parker (Director) | Rated: PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned) | Format: Blu-ray (301) Release Date: October 23, 2018 Buy new: $19.92 $19.90 36 used & new from $7.99