thelma ritter: an old clock running down

This month is Oscar season, so my DVR is full of TCM films. One of them is Pickup on South Street, a dark film noir about a pick-pocketer (played by Richard Widmark) who inadvertently steals government information from a wallet. The political drama is now outdated, but the film is still worth watching for its gritty script and great cast.

Classic character actor Thelma Ritter received her 4th Academy Award nomination for the film (she eventually lost six supporting nominations). Donna Reed won that year for her unlikely portrayal in From Here to Eternity but Ritter was perhaps much more award-worthy. In one particular scene, she steals the show. Since it involves a major plot development, those who haven't seen the film may want to avoid watching the clip below. But for those who are game, at the 2:26 mark, Ritter does amazing things as an actor playing a woman at the end of her day--alone (at least she thinks she is), tired, listening to a melancholy love song on her Victrola. It's a wrenching scene in its quietness and Ritter adds so much detail to create character. She registers a range of comedy, fear, and sadness in a short scene.

wild is the wind

The Wild One is dated and unpolished but remains a joy for Marlon Brando's iconic performance. The thin plot revolves around a boisterous Black Rebels Motorcycle Club who invade a small town, causing a ruckus. The desultory leader Johnny (Brando) becomes intrigued by the attractive yet "square" sheriff's daughter named Kathie who works at the local bar. Most of the conflict arises from rival gang, The Beatles (led by Lee Marvin in a striped T shirt) and what ensues from the locals as Johnny falls for Kathie.

Any Stanley Kramer production strives for social significance. The Wild One reflects the shifting generational change of postwar teens, who yearn to be rebels but are unsure about staking out their own unique identities. This would be typified in the following year with Nicholas Ray's far superior and much more moving Rebel Without A Cause.

This film relies heavily on Brando's appealing image and the looseness of his performance: that swagger and those shifty-eyed glances. Unlike many actors, Brando's sex-appeal is less dependent upon psychical attributes (as gorgeous as he was) and more on the inherent--the intense commitment to character. The Wild One breezes by in a brisk 78 minutes, but Brando's Johnny is forever.

-Jeffery Berg