I re-watched the opening sequence of Nothing Sacred and I can't pinpoint down what it is or what's lacking in this sequence that initially didn't grab my attention. Now that I look at it more carefully, it's pretty well written and well thought out. I hate to say that it's the Technicolor, but I'm starting to think that's what's bugging me. In any case, the opening to this film does exactly what all films should do: establishes the tone and premise straightaway.
If I go further back from the opening scene, I really didn't like the opening credits. That Fredric March clay model freaked me out. If it was supposed to be funny, it was lost on me. I suppose though that through the credits, the tone was being set. But then once the credits are done, we're informed we're in New York, the land of skyscrapers, "where the Slickers and Know-It-Alls peddle gold bricks to each other ... and where Truth crushed to earth, rises again more phony than a glass eye ...." A criticism? Next there's a banquet where newspaper editor, Oliver Stone, played by Walter Connolly, is getting set to introduce the guest of honor. The first lines he says is that there are only two people qualified to introduce their guest, one is his "humble self" and the other his esteemed reporter from the Morning Star, Wally Cook, played by March--who was sleeping or drunk, I'm not sure which and I'm not sure why since it's never explained, and if it's supposed to be funny, again it was lost on me. The fact that right off the bat a character can attribute themselves as humble in front of a large audience tells you that this isn't a regular drama or even comedy. And while the dialogue from there on out isn't that memorable, there is that great moment when Hattie McDaniel enters the banquet with the police and her four children to denounce the Sultan, who's the honored guest played Troy Brown, as her husband.
So the joke is on the Morning Star that the Sultan is really a shoe shiner from Harlem. When Stone has words with the "Sultan," he gets all livid in what's supposed to be an exasperated rant. Connolly in It Happened One Night was simply great as the millionaire dad willing to go to great lengths to get his daughter back, but I didn't like some of his performance in Nothing Sacred. This isn't always true, though. Later on, when Wally goes to talk to Stone about doing the Hazel Flagg story, Connolly is fine playing the overstressed newspaper editor. It just seems that when he's to get all out of wits that it just kind of falls flat for me. But in any case, the fact that the Sultan turns out to be a shoe shiner puts the Morning Star in a bad light and that's the impetus needed for the story. Stone removes Wally from the Land of the Living and sends him, where else but to the Obituaries Department as punishment for disgracing the newspaper.
March at the Obituaries desk is funny. It seems there's no room for the department anywhere else, so there is a desk in between file cabinets and in front of stairs and a water cooler. And of course, it seems that everyone gets in the way, from people throwing empty cups over at Wally's desk to people going up the stairs and having bits of paper fly over and land all over him. It is obviously a horrible place for a writer to get any work done. Here, Wally has yet another motivation to make it up to Stone. Not only does he want to restore his reputation, but he also wants to get out of the Obituaries. He pleads his case to Stone, claims ignorance about the Sultan's true identity, and then presents the Hazel Flagg story, which is the story we're about to follow. Of course, Stone shakes on it and allows him to go and find the story. And Wally promises a great story or else Stone could put him in short pants and make him Marble Editor. So, although the two leads have yet to meet, the premise is set up, the motivations are there, and we know that this isn't a serious piece.
Personally, I think there's something missing from this piece. But if I'm honest, all the right ingredients are there. Perhaps it's a bit of putting it all together that doesn't go quite well for me. But in reality, the premise is set up right away, as well as the motivations behind the characters. It could've been zanier, especially when it comes to journalism--a shot at the competition at the banquet taking pictures and calling editors to stop the presses and dictating new headlines. As I mentioned, I didn't quite get what Wally was up to in the beginning of the film. I assumed he was drunk, but what did that have to do with anything? Was that to contrast the fact that he was the Morning Star's ace reporter? It would've been better if they would've followed through with that character trait then. Have Wally approach Stone in a drunken state and announce he's had an epiphany while having his seventh scotch and if he goes to Warsaw, Vermont, the newspaper's reputation will be redeemed. And of course Stone will go ahead with it because Wally is his ace reporter even if he is a drunk and he has nothing left to lose.
I liked the play on words "from the land of the living," and then placing Wally in the Obituaries Department. It is here, in this great frustrating scene, where apparently he discovers Hazel Flagg's story and decides to sell it to Stone, even if it is just to get out of that godawful place. Furthermore, I liked that in essence he does leave the land of the living to go in search of a story in Warsaw, Vermont.
Nothing Sacred has an opening sequence that hits all the right points and is well-written with some funny bits. Perhaps for a screwball comedy, a little more screwiness could've occurred, but overall the film does exactly what it should. We know this is a world in which the ordinary isn't the norm, and a problem is presented right away so that the characters are motivated to fix it. There's some play on words, and while one of the two leads is yet to grace the screen, she is introduced through dialogue with a promise that her story is the one we're about to discover.
No comments:
Post a Comment