The Front Page (1974)

 

The Front Page - 1974

Coming up next we have 1974's "The Front Page", a film about a newspaper editor who tries to get his top reporter to cover one last story before he leaves the business to get married.

The film's cast includes Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Susan Sarandon, Austin Pendleton, Carol Burnett, Vincent Gardenia, David Wayne, Allen Garfield, Charles Durning, Herb Edelman, Harold Gould, Jon Korkes, and Martin Gabel.

There's big news in Chicago.  Accused/convicted Russian sympathizer Earl Williams is going to be executed.  His gallows are being erected right outside City Hall.

Chicago Examiner editor Walter Burns wants his top reporter, Hildy Johnson, to cover the story.  However, Hildy announces his retirement from the newspaper business and his intention to get married.  Burns does everything he can to change Hildy's mind, but Hildy says "Sayonara" to newspaper life.  Disappointed but not defeated, Burns starts to plot to get Hildy to stay.

Hildy's fiancée is movie house organist and "classy dame" Peggy Grant, who gets the audience involved with the song "Button Up Your Overcoat".

Burns goes to see Ms. Grant and spins all sorts of wild and wacky stories about her intended groom.  However, that doesn't work when Hildy calls on the phone and straightens everything out.

Meanwhile, back at the reporter's room at City Hall, prostitute Mollie Malloy, a friend of the doomed Earl Williams, pays the group a visit and condemns their portrayal of her relationship with Earl.  "If you was worth breakin’ my fingernails on, I’d tear your puss wide open," she says to the bunch.

Though she has feelings for Earl, the truth of their relationship isn't the way the reporters have painted it.  "That’s a lot of bunk!  Like all that other stuff you been writing.  Calling me an Angel of the Pavement and the Midnight Madonna.  Who ya kiddin’?  I’m a two-dollar whore from Division Street, and you know it!" she exclaims.

When Hildy comes to the reporter's room to announce his retirement, he isn't thrilled by the replacement that Burns has sent.  But, he shrugs it off, fully intent on saying goodbye the world of journalism.

However, a jailbreak by Earl Williams sends all those plans right out the window.  Williams eventually hides out in the reporter's room, and only Hildy knows what is happening, providing the Chicago Examiner with a very hot advantage over the rest of the city papers.

Mollie is on hand to help out with the injuries that Earl sustained in his escape.  Reading a report that she intended to marry him on the gallows, he asks her if it was true.  "Well, if it’s in the papers, it must be true.  They wouldn’t print a lie," she says to him with a smile, but she casts the reporters a sneer.

When Burns gets wind of the fact that Hildy has Earl Williams with him, he insists that nobody but Hildy get the story.  Of course, in the heat of the moment, Hildy casts off all of his previous plans and dives right on, vigorously pounding out the story on the typewriter.

Poor Peggy is left realizing that she will always in second to Hildy's first love: journalism.

The story reaches its peak when Burns and Hildy uncover the fact that the Mayor of Chicago and the Sheriff are hiding a reprieve for Earl signed by the governor.  Once it's made public, Earl is a free man.

After it's all said and done, Hildy joins Peggy on a train out of Chicago to get married and start a new life.  Burns wishes him well and gives him a watch as a farewell gift.

Of course, that's just a deviously sneaky way for Burns to send a telegram to the train's first stop so that the police can arrest Hildy for the theft of a watch.  Burns will stop at nothing to keep Burns working with him in Chicago.

Cast rundown:

   Jack Lemmon...........................Hildy Johnson

   Walter Matthau.........................Walter Burns

   Susan Sarandon.......................Peggy Grant

   Austin Pendleton.......................Earl Williams

   Carol Burnett...........................Mollie Malloy

   Vincent Gardenia......................Sheriff

   David Wayne............................Roy V. Bensinger

   Allen Garfield...........................Kruger

   Charles Durning........................Murphy

   Herb Edelman..........................Schwartz

   Harold Gould............................The Mayor

   Jon Korkes...............................Rudy Kepler

   Martin Gabel............................Dr. Max Eggelhofer

And that's it for The Front Page.  I think that a good blog is only as good as the material it covers.  Therefore, it should cover as much ground as possible, including films the blog owner both likes and dislikes.  For me, this film falls in the dislike category.  I hated the relationship between Lemmon and Matthau's characters in the movie.  Carol Burnett was very unhappy with her performance in the film (however, I liked it).  When it was shown on an airplane on which she was traveling, at the conclusion of the film she stood up and apologized to the passengers.

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Christmas With The Kranks (2004)

 

Christmas With The Kranks - 2004

2004's "Christmas With The Kranks" is our next film.  After their only child leaves them with an empty nest, Nora and Luther Krank decide to "skip" Christmas.  However, when their daughter announces her return on Christmas Eve, the Kranks have to pull off the impossible to give their daughter and her new fiancé a memorable Christmas.

The film's cast includes Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dan Aykroyd, M. Emmet Walsh, Erik Per Sullivan, Cheech Marin, Jake Busey, Austin Pendleton, Tom Poston, Julie Gonzalo, Caroline Rhea, Felicity Huffman, and Elizabeth Franz.

Just after Thanksgiving, Luther and Nora Krank's daughter Blair is headed off to join the Peace Corps in Peru.  After bidding her a tearful farewell, the Kranks head home.

While looking over their past Christmas expenses, Luther finds out that he and Nora spend an astonishing average of about $6,000 a year on Christmas.  Now that Blair won't be there for Christmas, he sees no reason to spend on such an extravagant Christmas and has plans to put the money to a "better" use.

He books a 10-day Caribbean cruise.  At first, Nora is reluctant about the idea of skipping Christmas, but Luther convinces her that it's the right move.  She starts to become more and more enthusiastic about the idea.

The neighbors quickly take issue with the Kranks' apparent lack of holiday spirit.  Their house remains undecorated, and they refuse to do any of their traditional Christmas giving to local charities.

The neighborhood kids even launch a "Free Frosty" campaign.  Every house in the neighborhood has a Frosty that goes on the roof.  This year, the Kranks keep their's in the basement.

On Christmas Eve, Blair surprises her parents by calling them from an airport.  She announces that she'll be home in twelve hours, and she expects a Christmas with all the trimmings, as she's bringing home her new fiancé, who has never had a traditional Christmas.  Of course, Luther and Nora freak out.

When Luther goes to buy a Christmas tree, he finds that all the best trees have already been sold.  He basically ends up stuck with a stick with no pine needles on it.  By special arrangement with a neighbor who is going out of town, Luther borrows a Christmas tree to use in his house.

Things go awry when Nora tries to buy a hickory honey ham (Blair's favorite).  It gets run over by a huge truck.  She ends up having to buy smoked trout, which Luther is not thrilled about.

While she's out shopping, Nora runs into someone who seems to know everything about her, including where she lives, and all about Blair.  Thinking she's just forgot who he is, Nora asks him to come over later that night for the traditional Krank Christmas Eve party.  He's thrilled about the invitation, though by the end of the conversation Nora still hasn't a clue about who he is.

Luther struggles to decorate the outside of the house single-handedly.  While attempting to place Frosty on the roof, Luther falls off of it.

When the ambulance comes to make sure Luther is okay, the neighbors also gather around to see the commotion.  When the Kranks tell them that Blair is on her way home, the neighbors decided to join together to help Nora and Luther put on a Christmas party to remember.  Everyone brings something to help with the set-up.

As the evening progresses, the man whom Nora ran into at the store shows up.  He introduces himself to Luther as Marty, and he also brings them a hickory honey ham.  It later becomes clear to Nora and Luther that Marty seems to know everyone, but nobody seems to know him.

Eventually, Blair and her fiancé Enrique arrive, and the party goes off without a hitch.  Enrique feels so welcome that he even sings a song in Spanish with Marty.

Luther really starts to get into the Christmas spirit.  He slips away from the party to pay a visit to some neighbors who are having some personal struggles.  He gives them the cruise that he and Nora were going to take.  He even volunteers to watch their cat, who has been his arch-nemesis throughout the film.

Luther gets the surprise of his life when he finds out that Marty is actually Santa Claus, which explains how he knew everyone.

Nora joins Luther outside and they embrace.  They muse how skipping Christmas was not such a good idea after all.  With his reindeer and sleigh, Marty sweeps over the neighborhood and shouts, "Merry Christmas!"

Cast rundown:

   Tim Allen.................................Luther Krank

   Jamie Lee Curtis.......................Nora Krank

   Dan Aykroyd............................Vic Frohmeyer

   M. Emmet Walsh.......................Walt Scheel

   Erik Per Sullivan.......................Spike Frohmeyer

   Cheech Marin...........................Officer Salino

   Jake Busey...............................Officer Treen

   Austin Pendleton.......................Marty

   Tom Poston..............................Father Zabriskie

   Julie Gonzalo............................Blair Krank

   Caroline Rhea...........................Candi

   Felicity Huffman........................Merry

   Elizabeth Franz.........................Bev Scheel

And that's it for Christmas With The Kranks.  This film was based on John Grisham's book "Skipping Christmas".  During the filming, reports claimed that the cast and crew ingested over ten pounds of fake snow.  This was the first Christmas movie in which Tim Allen starred that was not associated with his "Santa Clause" trilogy.

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