Two late 40's comedy gems

 

A Foreign Affair 1948

Billy Wilder’s acid take on post war Berlin. He actually went there to film many of the exterior scenes of the destruction of the once beautiful city, and its shocking to see. He would return once again in 1961 to film One, Two, Three. This  story is about corruption and deceit among the American troops stationed there and a particular relationship between an army captain played by John Lund and a former Nazi who now sings for her suppers in a hole of a nightclub played by Marlene Dietrich. It’s a comedy. Into their tattered paradise comes a congressional committee to investigate the morals and corruption of the American victors and the havoc that is raging within their ranks. All the members of the committee are old men with the exception of one woman, congress person from Iowa who is uptight and tightly wrapped and aptly named Phobe Frost and she is played by the great Jean Arthur. As the movie moves on she becomes less uptight as she is courted by Lund in order to hide his misdeeds and dalliances with Dietrich. He plays her. Wilder with his co writers bring their acerbic wit to the proceedings with their usual flair and sophistication and generally hit their marks.  Dietrich looks swell in her black market gowns and sings three songs all written by Friedrich Hollaender who actually plays the piano for her in the dank club. There are some great lines: Dietrich to Arthur “I only live three ruins away” along with some hit them over the head political flag waving, that’s to be expected after all the war was only over for a few years. The film is a little dated and sometimes the situations wind up flat but it still has a nice poisonous punch in the punch. Nominated for best screenplay Oscar.

 

Adam’s Rib 1949

Released right on the cusp of the new year, this George Cukor biting comedy about marriage starred the team of Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. They play a couple caught up in the tabloid spectacle of a jilted and cheated on wife who shoots up her husband and his girlfriend and is brought to trial by the assistant D.A. played by Tracy and is defended by his wife played by Hepburn who is a lawyer. The film featured a great supporting cast including Judy Holiday as the wife, Tom Ewell as the cheating hubby and Jean Hagen as the smart ass girlfriend. All three are top notch and really shine  bringing lots of laughs and smiles. Holiday who was just about to break through to stardom and an Oscar by repeating her role in “Born Yesterday” is treated with great care by the screenplay which was written by a real life married couple Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin, and is shown to best advantage by Cukor and Hepburn. Hepburn made sure that Holiday got the best camera set up in their initial meeting in the jail house because Holiday was being put down by Harry Cohen who didn’t want her to repeat her role in the movie version of  Born Yesterday. So in the scene Hepburn is in profile while Holiday is shown to best advantage in full close up. Also in the cast is the next door neighbor who is a successful composer played by David Wayne and it is not always easy to read him. I assume he was a stand in for Cole Porter who wrote the sweet song “Farewell Amanda” for the film and I also assume that he is gay, even though the screenplay muddies the waters as he is constantly coming on to Hepburn to the annoyance of Tracy who makes biting remarks about his masculinity. Much is hidden (closeted)  between the lines here especially what we now know about some of the players and the creative team. It was however a forward looking piece on marriage and justice equality and feminism which was not a common topic for movies back in the 40’s, so applause for everyone involved. Cukor did some on location filming in a now vanished New York, and I had trouble trying to figure out the locations used. Also in the cast is the great Hope Emerson as a former acrobat who in a courtroom scene proves her strength as a woman by lifting Spencer Tracy in the air. You can make out the wires holding him up because of the finely restored transfer. Nominated for 1950 screenplay Oscar.