I scanned the Huffington Post Entertainment section today, and I'm reading about what a box office winner Toy Story-3 is shaping up to be. Wow, this is a surprise.
As I scroll down the page, I see names like Miley Cyrus, Lindsey Lohan, and Megan Fox. I note that Angelina Jolie visited Haiti and that Jake Gyllenhaal was caught by a camera examining a woman's derriere. (I forgive him.)
Meanwhile, there is not a line that I could find about the passing of a true giant of British film: Ronald Neame.
Yes, everyone's waiting for you to write the Neame salute, John, I chuckle to myself, and you're sure to be bombarded with appreciative comments. NOT.
Lack of anticipated feedback aside, it makes me sad that we are all so collectively mired in the hyper-superficial, materialistic, flashy "moment of now" that we no longer even pause to acknowledge a man who helped bring some of the finest British films ever made to the screen.
For those of you who care enough to read on, Neame, who passed away a couple of days ago at age 99, came from a colorful and accomplished show-business family in England, and over the course of his career, was a cinematic jack-of-all-trades: effects man, cinematographer, producer, writer, and finally, director.
In a business built on collaboration, he started out working with the best, and never left that sphere: from his opening stint as an uncredited assistant cameraman on Hitchcock's Blackmail (1929), he went on to build his career partnering with the likes of Michael Powell and David Lean, Alec Guinness and John Mills.
Surely this is a figure to be celebrated- and well beyond TV Guide's bizarre summing up of the Neame legacy: "Ronald Neame, director of The Poseidon Adventure, Dies..."
It's maddening: Neame did so much stellar work before that waterlogged but undeniably popular disaster entry made his name more familiar to American audiences, yet "Poseidon" is what gets referenced as his epitaph.
Still, in fairness, how would anyone be expected to know about his earlier films, when in contrast to the thousands of crappy new releases readily available these days, quite a few of Neame's best titles from the forties cannot even claim quality DVD releases.
The classic Powell-Pressburger film One Of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942), for which Neame got his first Oscar nod (for effects) is only available in an inferior print on a public domain label, which I suppose is better than nothing. Major Barbara (1941), the film that made a star out of Wendy Hiller, is also available, but only as part of a larger set (happily, you can rent it individually on Netflix).
However, two other early gems, This Happy Breed (1944) and Blithe Spirit (1945), both Noel Coward adaptations for which Neame took cinematography and writing credits (under David Lean's direction), are inexplicably out of print. Another storied Neame production about the invention of the motion picture camera, The Magic Box (1952), starring Robert Donat, has, to my knowledge, never been available on DVD.
To me this just defies reason.
Here are a few more classics on DVD that bear the stamp of Ronald Neame. (The first four titles were partnerships with Lean, the last two he directed himself.) Watch any of them, and you'll understand why I think a little more fuss should be made over a filmmaker of Neame's caliber. May he rest in peace, even as his work lives on.
In Which We Serve (1942) -- Based on the wartime exploits of his friend Lord Mountbatten, co-director/writer Noel Coward (in a most atypical role) plays Captain Edward Kinross, commander of the destroyer HMS Torrin, which is sunk by the Nazis. As Kinross and his small remaining crew cling to a small raft in hope of eventual rescue, we experience the recent lives of each survivor via flashback; notably, Kinross himself and one Seaman Shorty Blake (John Mills). With Britain in the pit of the Second War, playwright Coward was desperate to do a morale-boosting film, and "Serve" was the inspired result. The normally effete Coward is appropriately "stiff upper lip" as Kinross, and a young Mills stands out in a first rate ensemble cast which also includes Bernard Miles and Celia Johnson as Coward's wife. (Also look fast for a young Richard Attenborough!) With Coward at the helm as writer, star, and even score composer, David Lean handling most of the directing (and all the editing), and future director Ronald Neame the cinematography, the result is one of Britain's very finest war films, which accomplished everything Coward set out to do for his country. (Neame was cinematographer.)
Brief Encounter (1945) -- Based on a play by Noel Coward, this is the simple, wrenching tale of two people married, but not (maddeningly) to each other, who meet by chance in a train station and embark on a short, intense romance. Both seem to recognize their relationship cannot last, yet at the same time are helpless to deny their powerful feelings for each other. End it must-but how? This subtle, heartfelt British gem will still drench most anyone's Kleenex sixty-five years after its first release. Direction and script are suitably understated so that the proceedings never once feel tawdry, and performances by Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson are nothing short of impeccable. Effective use of Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto throughout the film also heightens the sentiment quotient. Even with the traditional British reserve very much in evidence, the overall effect is intensely moving. Don't miss this one. (Neame co-wrote and produced-script was Oscar-nominated.)
Great Expectations (1946) -- In British director Lean's superb rendering of the Dickens classic, we follow the changing fortunes of Pip, an orphan who reaches young manhood (as John Mills), only to discover he has an anonymous benefactor intent on making him a real gentleman. With his new friend Herbert Pocket (Alec Guinness), Pip sets out to make his mark in bustling, 19th-century London. But just who is Pip's mysterious sponsor? Perhaps the finest Dickens adaptation ever, this rich, fascinating film about chance encounters and changing fortunes begins with a nerve-rattling sequence in a graveyard that's one of the finest moments in British film. Both Mills and Guinness are a trifle old for their roles, but their virtuosity fully compensates. Guinness, in his first significant screen appearance, is particularly striking as pocket, giving us a tantalizing taste of things to come. A bona-fide classic. (Neame co-wrote and produced- again, script was Oscar-nominated.)
Oliver Twist (1948) -- Left on the doorstep of an orphanage as an infant, young Oliver Twist (John Howard Davies) is subjected to various cruelties at the hands of those in charge of his care. Eventually, he runs away and joins a gang of homeless child ruffians led by the charismatic Fagin (Alec Guinness), a professional pickpocket. Oliver's adventurous life on the streets of London appears to draw to an end after he meets kind-hearted Mr. Brownlow (Henry Stephenson), but Fagin has no intention of letting his ward slip away to a life of genteel comforts. This masterful adaptation of the Dickens novel was the second for Lean, who abridged the author's long-winded story about a young orphan's changing fortunes in Victorian England into a beautifully paced two-hour film. Among a splendid cast, Guinness and Robert Newton are truly exceptional, respectively playing the captivating Fagin and his evil accomplice, Bill Sikes, with gusto. Also fun to watch is young Anthony Newley as the Artful Dodger. Essentially a tale of triumph in a world of degrading poverty and repellent class bias, "Oliver Twist" is a first-rate drama brimming with hope, pathos, and fury, from opening shot to last. (Neame produced.)
Tunes Of Glory (1960) -- Major Jock Sinclair (Alec Guinness), the rugged and popular temporary commander of a Scottish battalion, is resentful when replaced by Lt. Colonel Basil Barrow (John Mills), a rigid leader from an old, distinguished military family. Thus begins a subtle yet fierce battle between the two officers for the allegiance of their men. Director Neame's battle of wits is a perceptive reflection of the British class system, revealing the dire consequences when two men of opposing wills, backgrounds and character collide in competition for the loyalty of the soldiers they lead. Both Guinness and Mills match each other's high standard, each delivering stunning portrayals of two very different men. Don't miss the jaw-dropping conclusion. An unsung triumph.
The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) -- Blindly devoted to her pupils and fiercely determined to imbue her gray 1930's Edinburgh surroundings with passion and color, Scottish schoolmarm Miss Brodie (Maggie Smith) is very much her own person-a spirited, eccentric freethinker given to divulging her personal life and politics in the classroom. But she soon runs afoul of the rigid headmistress (Celia Johnson), who's determined to see Brodie out the door of her exclusive girls' school. English actress Smith captivated viewers in 1969 with her Oscar-winning portrayal of the title character in director Neame's outstanding film. Based on a novel by Muriel Spark, this hit film doesn't shy from presenting Brodie's enthusiasm for Mussolini, nor her affair with a married man (played by Smith's real-life hubby Robert Stephens). A poignant character study of a woman whose incomplete life and untamed spirit combine to blur her judgment, the movie is a fabulous showcase for Maggie Smith's dazzling talent.
For over 2,100 top-flight titles on DVD, visit www.bestmoviesbyfarr.com.
To see John's videos for WNET-Channel 13, go to www.reel13.org.