The Crack of Dawn

Volume #199

12/25/22

Newsletter #199

The Crack of Dawn

Upon their return from service in WWII, top Hollywood directors, Frank Capra, William Wyler and George Stevens, decided to proclaim their independence, stop working for the bosses at the studios, and form their own company called Liberty Films.  The first picture to go into production was Capra’s, It’s a Wonderful Life (1946).  The film is based on a short story that was sent out as a Christmas card.  When the film was finished being edited, the editor asked Capra if there would be a logo for the new company.  Capra said to get a stock shot of the Liberty bell ringing.  This was done, but nobody bothered to include a notification of copyright.  Up until fairly recently if you “published” or released your film without a copyright notice, it immediately went into the public domain, and you lost all copyright protections.  The other famous film that made this same mistake was Night of the Living Dead (1968).  When VHS tape copies of movies were first introduced in the early 1980s, two of the first titles available were: It’s a Wonderful Life and Night of the Living Dead.

It's a Wonderful Life had gone considerably over budget, then failed at the box office, which promptly killed Liberty Films.  All that remained were the scripts that Liberty had acquired, and the three big directors who wanted to make them.  Liberty sold out to Paramount, then set up independent production companies for the now hyphenate, producer-directors, Capra, Wyler and Stevens.  This set-up worked great for William Wyler and George Stevens, who now had autonomy (as long as they stayed on budget), as well as the facilities and distribution of Paramount Pictures.

My man, Willy Wyler, went into a magnificent decade of superb, beautifully produced, slightly low-budget movies (meaning, contained dramas with small casts) that allowed him to finally express his taste in stories.  It’s a brilliant line-up: The Heiress (1949), which launched the career of Montgomery Clift, got Olivia de Havilland her second Best Actress Oscar, and another Oscar for the powerful score by Aaron Copeland.  I love this movie.  Then Detective Story (1951), which solidified Kirk Douglas as an A-picture leading man and is one of his best roles.  Eleanor Parker is as good as she ever was in anything and received an Oscar nomination, as did Wyler, as well as newcomer, Lee Grant, for Supporting Actress.  Then Carrie (1952), with Laurence Olivier and Jennifer Jones.  This movie has slightly haunted me my whole life.  When I first saw it at the age of about 14, I was stunned by the ending.  I’d never seen an intelligent Hollywood drama get that creepy.  Then Roman Holiday (1953), which is not one of my favorite Wyler films, but it was a huge hit, introduced Audrey Hepburn to the screen and she won the Oscar.  Then The Desperate Hours (1955), a great drama of escaped prisoners, led by Humphry Bogart, holding a family hostage.  Then Friendly Persuasion (1956), one of my very favorite movies, with Gary Cooper at his best, gorgeous color cinematography, and young Anthony Perkins giving a terrific performance.  Then one of my other favorite movies, The Big Country (1958), with Gregory Peck, and Charlton Heston giving his single best performance in a movie.

George Stevens came out of Liberty Films with two scripts that I believe are his two best movies: A Place in the Sun (1951) and Shane (1953).  Stevens both produced and directed the films and did a brilliant job.  They are both stunning-looking films, and both of them won Best Cinematography. George Stevens peaked out right there.

On the other hand, by becoming his own producer, Frank Capra was destroyed.  He never made another movie that made money.  State of the Union (1948), a second-rate, serious Tracy/Hepburn picture; Riding High (1950), a second-rate Bing Crosby vehicle; Here Comes the Groom (1951), another second-rate Bing Crosby picture; then A Hole in the Head (1959), a painful, second-rate Frank Sinatra vehicle; then A Pocketful of Miracles (1961) with Bette Davis and Glenn Ford, that I just loved as a kid.  It’s a remake of Capra’s own 1933 film Lady for a Day, and I thought Bette Davis as Apple Annie, Peter Falk in one of his first showy roles, Hope Lange, and young Ann-Margret were all wonderful.  But it tanked, too, and that was end of Capra’s career.

So, even though Liberty Films only produced one, mistakenly not-copyrighted, though very good film; it engendered quite a few great films, and must therefore be considered a success.

A lovely day to everyone.