springfieldrental

Older black-and-white movies have long inspired modern filmmakers. Producer Val Lewton's low-budgeted RKO motion pictures have had a special place in the minds of Hollywood writers and directors over the years. One of the more popular Lewton films casting a large net over those influencers in film is August 1943's "The Seventh Victim." Roman Polanski's 1968 "Rosemary's Baby" is directly linked to "The Seventh Victim," as film reviewer Chanan Stern points out. "In that movie we were introduced to a chilling Satanist cult operating in the middle of Manhattan and populated by seemingly regular people who put a chill in your heart," Stern wrote. "I came to the realization that I was looking at the same horrific cult populated by the same seemingly normal but evil people that were in Polanski's masterpiece. Who would have thought that Polanski took his idea from Lewton." In "The Seventh Victim," film editor Mark Robson's directorial debut, a group of seemingly normal Greenwich Village Manhattanites are actually manipulative satanists (Palladists) who psychologically persuade any member who reveals their cult's secrets to commit suicide. Six have already gone that route, and Jacqueline Gibson (Jean Brooks), a cosmetic business owner, is next on the chopping block to be the seventh. The Palladists are upset she has sought treatment for her depression with Dr. Louis Judd (Tom Conway). The movie is so grim, it prompted one observer to ask Lewton, "What is this film trying to say?" The producer's response was, "Death is good." Lewton's intention in "The Seventh Victim" is apparent from its opening with poet John Donne's quote, "I come to Date and Death meets me as fast and all my pleasure are as yesterday." Besides Polanski's "Rosemary's Baby," Alfred Hitchcock, a big fan of the macabre, adapted his slasher movie 1962's "Psycho" using elements from Lewton's film. Both contain shower scenes of intended victims. Mary Gibson (Kim Hunter in her movie debut) takes a leave of absence from her boarding school to search for her missing sister Jacqueline. Mary discovers Jacqueline has a secret husband, Gregory Ward (Hugh Beaumont). Through her investigation with the help of Gregory, Mary stumbles upon her sister's membership in the satanic cult. One of the female Palladists warns Mary in the middle of taking a shower to buzz off, a scene eerily reminiscent of Norman Bates, dressed as his mother, entering Mary Crane's motel bathroom with a knife.

Composer Nino Rota in 1974's "The Godfather, Part II" seems to have borrowed several passages of Roy Webb's "The Seventh Victim" soundtrack music, notably during the dramatic moments when young Vito's immigration ship passes by the Statue of Liberty. Film reviewer Nate Yapp notes Lewton's film is "One of the most effective thrillers I have ever seen. Director Robson knows how to build suspense, creates a sense of foreboding, and generally draws the audience in, moment by tense moment." Somehow "The Seventh Victim" squeezed through the strict Hays Office's censors with such forbidden subjects as suicide and nihilism. Film historian Steve Haberman describes Jacqueline's existential outlook on life as "a meaningless existence, trying to find meaning, always failing and in the end seeking a sort of peace through death." Besides 1937's "A Star is Born," not many Hollywood films were permitted to depict such a desperate act of self-annulation. The relationship Jacqueline has with her close friend Frances Fallon has also placed the film as part of the LGBTQ genre, a fact Turner Classic Movie's series 'Screened Out' included the movie as part of the channel's gay and lesbian themed-classical Hollywood cinema with lines such as, "The only time I was ever happy was when I was with you!" states Frances to Jacqueline.

Mark Robson, who assisted Robert Wise in editing 1941's "Citizen Kane," and then edited Orson Welles' 1943 "Journey into Fear," was elevated to director in "The Seventh Victim." This launched his successful directorial career, earning an Oscar nomination for 1957's "Peyton Place." He handled Frank Sinatra's 1965's "Von Ryan's Express," as well as the critically-panned 1967 "Valley of the Dolls," working right up to 1978 when he sustained a fatal heart attack after directing Lee Marvin's "Avalanche Express." Kim Hunter, an Oscar winner for her role in 1951's "A Streetcar Named Desire," was a Detroit-born, Florida raised aspiring actress when she joined a theatre group at 17. At 20, she signed a contract with producer David O. Selznick after a Pasadena, California stage performance. Proceeding her first film in "The Seventh Victim," she played in several prominent roles before getting in hot water sponsoring a peace symposium in 1949. Later blacklisted for her communistic sympathies in the 1950s, Hunter's acting career rebounded in numerous television appearances. Today she's known for playing Zora, the compassionate chimpanzee scientist in 1968's "Planet of the Apes." Hunter"s final film was with Clint Eastwood in 1997's "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," dying of a heart attack on September 11, 2002 at 79.

Hugh Beaumont, known for playing Ward Cleaver (coincidentally using Ward as his character in "The Seventh Victim") in television's 'Leave It to Beaver,' was from Lawrence, Kansas. He began appearing on stage and nightclubs in 1931 at 21 before jumping into film in 1940 in dozens of small roles. Beaumont appeared in several early TV programs, which led to his role as the Beaver's father. His paternal role ranks him 28th of "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time," according to TV Guide. As a writer for several TV screenplays, Beaumont eventually gave up show business to become a Christmas-tree farmer in Grand Rapids, Minnesota in the early 1970s after suffering a stroke. He died of a heart attack in 1982 at age 72.

RKO demanded Lewton trim "The Seventh Victim" to a shorter movie, creating a nebulous conclusion. The movie proved not to be one his larger successes, forcing the producer to scrape two future planned movies, 'The Screaming Skull' and 'The Amorous Ghost.' Today it has gained a far more positive assessment, with critic Jonathan Rosenbaum ranking it as one of his favorite horror films. It's one of '1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.'

Universal Pictures, the king of the early horror films, added another 'monster' to its stable of creepy characters in the form of Erique Claudin in August 1943's "Phantom of the Opera," the first Technicolor movie based on Gaston Leroux's 1910 novel. This biggest money-maker for the studio at the time was Universal's first horror film to win an Oscar, this for Best Color Cinematography.

As an update to Lon Chaney's 1925 silent black-and-white classic, the 1943 production used the silent movie's old sets, including the massive interior replica of the Opera Garnier House. Known as Stage 28 sitting on Universal's backlot, the Opera House was the backdrop to several film classics as well as on television shows for its 90-years of existence, only to be torn down in 2015 for a new attraction in the Universal Theme Park. For the 1943 "Phantom of the Opera," the stage was soundproofed with $100,000 worth of new paneling. The big-budgeted film, costing nearly $2 million, was an anomaly for a studio known for its cheap features and serials.

Most modern film reviewers echo British critic Tony Rayns' assessment on the movie, claiming, "Too much opera, not enough phantom." As a melodrama with some horror scenes thrown in, the preponderance of opera singing may be attributed to the presence of Nelson Eddy and Susanna Foster, both accomplished wobblers. Eddy, most famously as an on-screen partner to Jeanette MacDonald, had just signed a two-picture contract with Universal after spending seven years with MGM. Foster, 19, whose speciality was possessing an unusual operatic voice in her young age, saw the movie establish her as a major star, however brief it was. Claude Rains is the villain Erique Claudin, who takes a back seat to the two lovers. Raoul Dubert (Edgar Barrier) competes with Nelson Eddie's Anatole Garron for Christine DuBois' (Foster) affections.

This 1943 version of "Phantom of the Opera" departs from Leroux's novel and Chaney's character by spending the first third of the movie delving into Claudin's slippery slide into evilness. A twenty-year employee as a violinist for the Paris Opera House, Claudin is laid off because his dexterity on his instrument is noticeably regressing. A misunderstanding about selling his piano concerto score to a publisher results in acid thrown at Claudin's face, scarring him for life, unlike previous Claudins who were born with a facial deformity. He seeks shelter in the sewer ducts underneath the opera house to escape the police for murdering the publisher.

Universal was planning to have Abbott and Costello appear in "Phantom of the Opera" as a comedy, with Lon Chaney Jr. As the phantom. Then Charles Laughton was considered before Claude Rains was felt to draw more sympathy from the audience. The actor came with one stipulation: to not have his appearance as dramatically horrendous as Lon Chaney's. Says film reviewer R, B, Armstrong, "The problem is that the Phantom is really a nice guy that becomes an outcast through unusual circumstances. The audience sympathizes with Claudin--we're never afraid of him." This new "The Phantom of the Opera" still includes the famous scene where Claudin cuts the massive opera house chandelier high above a packed audience, but a miniaturized replica by way of special effects is used instead of the real thing. The underground liar the phantom sets up as his abode is jarred by gunshots when Anatole and Raoul come to rescue the kidnapped Christine. The two actors Nelson and Barrier, because of their high marquee value, were replaced by body doubles while filming the dangerous sequence, but poor Susanna, who was considered fodder, had to scramble on the set in the middle of falling rocks.

Foster, born Suzanne DeLee Flanders, in Minnesota to an impoverished family, was discovered at 12 by MGM. Three years later she displayed her mature singing voice in 1939's 'The Great Victor Herbert.' Four films later she signed with Universal, with her biggest role yet in "Phantom of the Opera." She dropped out of film in late 1945 to sing in operas. Divorced from baritone singer Wilbur Evans in 1956, Foster lived in and out of poverty, experiencing mental illness and alcoholism. She died at the Lillian Booth Actors Home, an assisted living residence in Englewood, New Jersey in January 2009 at age 84.

By seeing "The Phantom of the Opera's" several times, critics have softened their negative assessments, as reviewer Gary Loggins admits, "I didn't really like it the first time I saw it. It's only through repeated viewings I've softened my stance and learned to appreciate the film. Claude Rains's performance in particular has made me a convert. His Claudin's mind has become as scarred as his face, and like the best of monsters, he's a figure to be pitied, not hated." "Phantom of the Opera" was nominated for four Oscars, winning Best Art Direction and Best Color Cinematography (Hal Mohr and W. Howard Greene). The film was also nominated for Best Music Score (Edward Ward) and Best Sound Recording.

George Gershwin called Irving Berlin, "the greatest songwriter that has ever lived." Berlin devoted three and a half years during World War Two composing and managing the musical which was adapted to film, August 1943's "This is the Army." The patriotic extravaganza, Warner Brothers first three-strip Technicolor movie, was cinema's number one box office film of the year, with all the profits going to the Army Emergency Relief.

Berlin personally handled the stage production traveling throughout the world in front of thousands of service men and women at military bases, and at times in places dangerously close to the front lines, all for no salary. The entire proceeds after expenses from the Broadway, road shows, and the movie, went to the relief organization, over ten million dollars, giving emergency aid and interest-free loans to United States Army soldiers and their dependents. The musical consisted of over three hundred talented soldiers traveling with Berlin, who had updated his earlier 1918 musical revue, 'Yip Yip Yaphank,' while he was serving in the Army at Camp Upton in Yaphank, New York. The World War One musical with a thin plot was updated to the WW2 times. Starring George Murphy as song-and-dance man Jerry Jones, "This is the Army" co-starred Ronald Reagan as his son Johnny, who puts on the updated show. Reagan was serving with the U. S. Army Air Force as a public relations officer during the war, and was ordered by his commanding officer to take a break to act in the film.

Warner Brothers was able to showcase all the soldiers who were in the musical's road show when the stage production swung by the West coast. Camping out in military barracks near the film studio in Burbank, California, the soldiers marched in formation every morning at six while still undergoing the rigors of military drilling, physical fitness training and firearms practice whenever they weren't called on the set. The soldiers were under strict orders not to fraternize with the actors and actresses at anytime. When they were rehearsing and filming, director Michael Curtiz had to go through their officers to instruct them what to do.

As in the "Stage Door Canteen," a large number of famous performers made cameo appearances in "This is the Army." Heavy-weight champion Joe Louis demonstrated his boxing skills, while Kate Smith sang her signature Irving Berlin song, "God Bless America." The tune was originally written for the 1918 Yaphank musical, but was remarkably shoved aside. With the rise of Germany's Adolf Hitler in 1938, Berlin revived the 'peace song' and arranged Kate Smith to perform it on her Armistice Day radio broadcast show that year. Actress Dolores Costello, 40, former wife to actor John Barrymore and grandmother to actress Drew Barrymore, appeared here in her final movie, retiring to manage an avocado farm, ending a film career that began in 1909.

The grand finale of "This is the Army," the number 'This Time is the Last Time,' was filmed on the largest stage Hollywood had ever built, illuminated by two hundred arc lights, three times more than previously used. The finale took three weeks to rehearse and five days to shoot. In the previous number, 'Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning,' was sung by composer Irving Berlin. A stagehand, unaware of the song's writer, was working on the set and told a co-worker if the person who composed the song ever heard Berlin singing it, he would be rolling in his grave.

"The screen version is more pep rally than drama, designed to emphasize the sentimental tradition of military service more than the killing and dying," described film reviewer Noel Murray.

"This is the Army" was the highest grossing film musical of all-time until it was surpassed by 1954's "White Christmas," another Irving Berlin composed work. It won the Oscar for Best Musical Score while it was nominated for Best Sound and Best Art Direction.