Some Great Films

Sidney Lumet died yesterday at age 86. He was a very great director although he is  not as famous as some of his industry contemporaries, and I'm afraid no one today is making films the way he did. I've got two very serious student directors at OA who are working hard on entries for the Hockomock Film Festival who seem to feel that they have to do something every second of their film or it will fail. Lumet subtly created backgrounds and let his actors perform. Perhaps my guys would feel the same if they were working with Henry Fonda and Paul Newman, but I doubt it.

Lumet's first film was 12 Angry Men (1957) with Henry Fonda and Lee J. Cobb and 10 other stellar stage actors. It began as a stage play and has an excellent script. You sat in the theater and watched the fellas argue-how does Lumet turn this into a film? As the apparently cut and dried case is pulled apart by Henry Fonda, Lumet moves the camera down from the top of the room to the level of the table and goes from wider shots to close-ups. The acting and script are still excellent, but the subtle direction adds to the intensity and power for the viewer.

A second Lumet favorite of mine is the neglected Power (1982). Here Richard Gere starts the movie as a slimy amoral political campaign advisor who finally (and unbelievably) redeems himself by the end of the film. The vignettes of the multiple campaigns Gere is running highlights how politicians are sold to the American public. Not a great film, but one you should see so the next time you view a political add you know just what is going on. Lumet warned us and still America voted for Bush. Twice! Admittedly America didn't vote for him the first time, and the second time had no real choice, but the Swift Boat Incident could have been cooked up by Gere's character!

The last film I'll mention is one of my favorite's despite its unbelievable courtroom procedures. That's 1986's The Verdict starring Paul Newman. The other cast members are outstanding including two from 12 Angry Men, but this is Newman's movie, his finest acting job I think, as Frank Galvin the failed alcoholic lawyer who suddenly gets a case that ignites a spark of moral courage. Lumet paints a cold wintery Boston background and let's his actors act. This is the ultimate movie about having the odds stacked against you-both because of your own mistakes and those of the system-yet somehow coming out with something like redemption. Newman is unforgettable throughout and has "the great speech" in his summation, but most people feel the greatest five minutes of the film are the cross examination of the Irish nurse played by Lindsay Crouse by villain plaintiff's attorney James Mason. Imagine the cachet Lumet must have had with Newman to give this wonderful scene to the second male lead and a bit player. The film, Lumet, Mason, and Newman were all Oscar nominated, but Gandhi was the big winner that year. Lumet never won an Oscar until he was given an honorary lifetime achievement award. Newman not beating out Ben Kingsley was another Academy mistake. Which movie are you likely to watch today-here we all have a lot of Frank Galvin in us and we all need his kind of redemption.