Denton
One of the Regulars
- Messages
- 281
- Location
- Los Angeles
I have always been curious about Gabriel Over the White House but have never gotten a chance to see it. Very interesting discussion above.
I just watched The Torrid Zone (1940), which presents a different political conundrum. It sometimes has the feeling of a pre-code movie -- a lot of adultery, salty language, bad behavior, and morally complicated grownup behavior. It also sometimes seems to have the politics of a Warner Brothers movie from a few years earlier, including gratuitous use of the phrase "new deal" and remarkably bitter depiction of big business.
But at the same time the story celebrates the ruthlessness of Steve Case, the middle man working for the Baldwin Fruit Company (a clear stand in for the United Fruit Company). Case is played by Pat O'Brien, a brilliant performance that shows what he would have been like as Walter in The Front Page rather than Hildy. James Cagney is also great, and full of acrobatic energy, as the efficient plantation manager.
And then there's a character called Rosario, who is sometimes treated as a shiftless bandit, and sometimes as a noble revolutionary figure with a modest land reform project. This part of the plot seems to anticipate the conflict between the United Fruit Company and the Arbenz administration in Guatemala a decade later.
Depending on what scene you're watching, the movie is either about how terrible it is that a private company based in the US can replace the government and write the laws of a foreign country, or it's about how wonderful and exciting it is that private companies have the power to do that.
I just watched The Torrid Zone (1940), which presents a different political conundrum. It sometimes has the feeling of a pre-code movie -- a lot of adultery, salty language, bad behavior, and morally complicated grownup behavior. It also sometimes seems to have the politics of a Warner Brothers movie from a few years earlier, including gratuitous use of the phrase "new deal" and remarkably bitter depiction of big business.
But at the same time the story celebrates the ruthlessness of Steve Case, the middle man working for the Baldwin Fruit Company (a clear stand in for the United Fruit Company). Case is played by Pat O'Brien, a brilliant performance that shows what he would have been like as Walter in The Front Page rather than Hildy. James Cagney is also great, and full of acrobatic energy, as the efficient plantation manager.
And then there's a character called Rosario, who is sometimes treated as a shiftless bandit, and sometimes as a noble revolutionary figure with a modest land reform project. This part of the plot seems to anticipate the conflict between the United Fruit Company and the Arbenz administration in Guatemala a decade later.
Depending on what scene you're watching, the movie is either about how terrible it is that a private company based in the US can replace the government and write the laws of a foreign country, or it's about how wonderful and exciting it is that private companies have the power to do that.
Those guys and girls might look dated, but in a classic way. I went to high school in the '70s, nobody looks classic today.
