"Captured" (1933) with Leslie Howard and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.

"Captured" starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Leslie Howard, Margaret Lindsay, Paul Lukas and J. Carroll Naish may at first seem like an innocuous forerunner to later POW films, but it is much more. It is an exploration of both the captured and their keepers. It explores the duty to ones comrades as well as the duty to what both are fighting for in the first place. And the validity of it all.

The prisoners are French, British, Italian and American. At first they are held in inhumane circumstances and likely to die of starvation and disease. The ranking British officer is able to come to an agreement with the prison camp commander, guaranteeing more humane treatment for all the prisoners. To effect this agreement, he guarantees their obedience to the Commandants rules, which are not unreasonable.

Is brutality ever justified, or does some leniency result in a more ordered situation for both sides? And just how far should this cooperation extend? And, how far does personal vengeance go in the scheme of larger issues? All eternal, and still unanswered, questions in these modern times.

Although these things may seem obsolete in the modern era, the theme of the film is still valid. When other powers, with whom we have no personal quarrel,  are at war, how far should the common soldier go in his personal struggle to escape, and what are his obligations to his comrades who have been temporarily removed from the larger struggle by their captivity?

In this film, all of these themes are played out when a British prisoner of war becomes imprisoned alongside his best friend from home, unaware that while he was captured earlier, that same friend began an affair with his wife. When that friend then escapes, jeopardizing the other prisoners safety, he is also charged with criminal rape and murder of a local peasant woman. What then is the moral obligation of his friend, who is also the superior officer?

When the enemy calls for the British Command to return the escapee to face trial for war crimes. The question then arises as to whether any loyalties remain to unite these two friends in their common struggle, personal differences notwithstanding.

Is that struggle, in which they are only pawns, undermined by personal betrayal? And more importantly, at what point do personal differences between friends, and responsibilities to those under ones command, begin or end?

Are the actions of the senior officer in this instance motivated by personal revenge, a sense of right and wrong, or is he doing his duty to protect the many for the war crimes of one man?  

This film delivers on all these points, and with its pristine restoration, and a rousing finish, is well worth the viewing.

Francois Villon - Written for a Bridegroom

One of my all time favorite films is "The Petrified Forest" with Humphrey Bogart and Leslie Howard. The scenes in which Leslie Howard trades his views on life, and love, with Bette Davis are the meat of the film. For years I have watched this movie time and again, always awed by the scene in which Bette Davis reads Francois Villon's "Ballad for a Bridegroom." It's a beautiful poem, one that speaks of true love and the protections and responsibilities that come with it. It is, I believe, one of the most beautiful sentiments ever put to pen.

This woodcarving is one of Villon done in the mid 15th century, upon the publication of one his books of poetry. Here is the translation from the French by the English poet and author Algernon Charles Swinburne.

"Ballad Written For A Bridegroom" by Francois Villon
(translated by Algernon Charles Swinburne)

At daybreak, when the falcon claps his wings,
No whit for grief, but noble heart and high,
With loud glad noise he stirs himself and springs,
And takes his meat and toward his lure draws nigh;
Such good I wish you! Yea, and heartily
I am fired with hope of true love's meed to get;
Know that Love writes it in his book; for why,
This is the end for which we twain are met.

Mine own heart's lady with no gainsayings
You shall be always wholly till I die;
And in my fight against all bitter things
Sweet laurel with fresh rose its force shall try;
Seeing reason wills not that I cast love by
(Nor here with reason shall I chide or fret)
Nor cease to serve, but serve more constantly;
This is the end for which we twain are met.

And, which is more, when grief about me clings
Through Fortune's fit or fume of jealousy,
Your sweet kind eye beats down her threatenings
As wind doth smoke; such power sits in your eye.
Thus in your field my seed of harvestry
Thrives, for the fruit is like me that I set;
God bids me tend it with good husbandry;
This is the end for which we twain are met.

Princess, give ear to this my summary;
That heart of mine your heart's love should forget
Shall never be: like trust in you put I:
This is the end for which we twain are met.

"The Petrified Forest" with Leslie Howard, Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart

Before Humphrey Bogart became typecast as, well, Humphrey Bogart, he worked as an actor on Broadway. And he was good. In 1935 he was in a play, "The Petrified Forest", acting opposite Leslie Howard, who would go on to be forever immortalized as Ashley Wilkes in "Gone With the Wind." The play concerned a ruthless gangster named Duke Mantee, played by Bogart. After escaping from prison with 3 other fugitives they head for the Mexican border. When a sandstorm strands them, they wait and hijack the first car that comes along. They then seek shelter in an out of the way cafe owned by an old man, played by Charlie Grapewin, and his son,played by Porter Hall, along with the old man's grandaughter, Gabrielle, played with perfect innocence by Bette Davis. When an idle dreamer wanders into the cafe, Leslie Howard's role, the dynamics of all three parties are changed as each of the characters attempt to assert themselves, and the things in which they believe. When the former occupants of the stolen car arrive, the circle is closed and the tension mounts.

This movie might not have been made were it not for the generosity and fellowship of Leslie Howard for his friend, and acting partner, Humphrey Bogart. In late 1934 Robert Sherwood was casting for the play of a book called "The Petrified Forest." He had seen Bogart earlier that year in "Invitation to a Murder" and decided that he would be perfect in the role of Duke Mantee. Bogart got the part and the show opened on January 7th, 1935 to rave reviews for Leslie Howard. Bogart was not even named along with the cast in the Herald Tribune.

The show was a hit and Warner Brother's studios bought the book, intending to make it into a movie. Leslie Howard had already promised Bogart that if a movie were made from the play, Bogart would have his original part. But this was not his promise to make.

When Bogart got word that warner's had bought the book, and that he was only to be "optioned" for the role of Duke Mantee, he sent a cable to Scotland, where Leslie Howard was on vacation. Leslie Howard shot a telegram to Warner's that stated either Bogart was in, or Howard was out. Bogart got a $400 per week contract and the role as Duke Mantee. The rest, is of course, history.

The movie itself is a real gem. Over-emoted in places, this is a real old fashioned melodrama, where each character has a deeper meaning. Duke is Evil, but with his own sense of honor. Gabrielle is Innocence, and she falls for Leslie Howard's Dreamer with his ever questioning cyniscm, walking across the country, on his way to the Pacific "to drown, perhaps." The old man represents Memory, and he clearly rejoices in Duke's living outside the law. His son represents the old ways, the way things have always been and should be, with no room for change. The banker, his wife and chauffer are the Establishment, thinking only of money and looking to buy their way out of any situation they are in.

But the real star in this finely written and directed movie, is love. Leslie Howard loves Gabrielle so much that he strikes a deal with Duke. He wants to be shot as Duke leaves, after all Duke is already on death row, so what can they do to him? In turn, he has signed his life insurance over to Gabrielle, so that she can leave the desert and pursue her dream of living in France to become a writer. I told you this was a melodrama...

The interaction between the black chauffer,Joseph, played by John Alexander and his counterpart in Duke's right hand man, Slim, played by Slim Thompson, is a visual lesson in "lean freedom versus fat slavery."

This is one of my all time favorite films. I used to watch it on PBS on Saturday nights when they ran classic films. Classic films have now become the province of AMC and TCM, where there are always classic films playing. And I enjoy them all. But somehow I find myself missing those late Saturday night viewings. They seemed so special when you had to wait.