DC Film Society: Adam's Rib June 2021

The Highest Peak

In the 1920s, Babe Ruth hit over 50 home runs in four seasons, over 40 home runs in eight seasons, led the major leagues in home runs for eight seasons, hit over .350 six times, led the majors in runs batted in four times, while his Yankees won six pennants and three World Series. From 1958-1965, Jim Brown led the NFL in rushing eight times, total yards six times and touchdowns four times. In the last ten full years of Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls career, he led the NBA in scoring all ten times, scored over 30 points a game eight times, and led the Bulls to six NBA titles. Only a handful of athletes have ever dominated their sport the way Ruth, Brown and Jordan did. Who would be their equivalent in film history?

Hollywood provides plenty of awards recognizing work in a particular film. Certain institutions, including the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the American Film Institute and the Kennedy Center will also recognize entire bodies of work with lifetime achievement awards. To the best of my knowledge no one has honored actors, directors or other film artists for their work over a few years when they shined the brightest, and that’s where I come in.

Of course the logical question is how you measure what baseball historian Bill James called “peak value.” Oscars are one possibility, but those do not always stand up to the test of time. Neither does box office, by which the highest peak value in the late 70s and early 80s would have been Burt Reynolds. Instead, I looked at work on films that are still part of movie culture, that enthusiasts rewatch and discuss, that still resonate in some way. These are all films where if one asked “Could you talk about key works from that era without mentioning XXXX?” the answer would be a resounding no. Yes, my definition is highly subjective, but if it wasn’t the debate wouldn’t be much fun at all.

My other subjective criteria:

No more than a 10 year span – The idea is to capture a relatively short period, to see how that person shaped a particular time in film.
At least six notable films within that time – A high standard but a necessary one to winnow out who had the most sustained run of excellence vs. someone who had 2-3 good years here and there.
No more than two years between notable films – Again, we are looking for sustained excellence and three years or more is too long of a gap.

Those three high standards leave many familiar names off the list. Steven Spielberg? A four year gap between Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Raiders of the Lost Ark, not consistent enough in the 80s, and not enough movies in the 90s. Martin Scorsese from 1973-1983 directed masterpieces such as Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and The King of Comedy, but the disappointing New York, New York between 1976 and 1980 keeps him off. Even Eddie Murphy in the 80s doesn’t make it, with a lackluster time between 1984 and 1987. No Harrison Ford or Tom Cruise either.

Of course, some of the peak value also corresponds with peak opportunity, which does not always correlate with talent. Lack of opportunity is the main reason why there’s only one African-American and one woman on the list. None of this list is to detract from those who didn’t make the cut, but it does deepen the appreciation for those names that follow. So many factors go into a classic film that anyone who is part of so many in such a short amount of time is worth celebrating:

10. Cary Grant, 1938-1941

1938: Bringing Up Baby
1939: Gunga Din, Only Angels Have Wings
1940: His Girl Friday, The Philadelphia Story
1941: Suspicion

Going into 1938 Cary Grant had already established himself as a successful leading man, but there were many of those in that era whose names have long been forgotten. Grant will never be forgotten, largely because of these four years when he showed all of what he could do onscreen. Director Howard Hawks pushed Grant further than he had gone before, knowing audiences would still love him and root for him. In Bringing Up Baby, Hawks had Grant play against type as a stuffy scientist. Grant’s willingness to look completely ridiculous and his chemistry with Katharine Hepburn (whom he verbally sparred with again in The Philadelphia Story) are the key reasons many fans still consider Bringing Up Baby a defining screwball comedy of its era even though it did not succeed commercially. Two years later Hawks created comedic magic with Grant again, pairing him up with Rosalind Russell in His Girl Friday. Grant and Russell’s playful mastery of the rapid-fire dialogue kept the movie going at an almost dizzying pace. A year earlier Grant proved his action hero chops in Gunga Din, which admittedly has not aged well but was a huge hit and an early influence on quippy adventure films for years to come. Grant displayed a tougher side as a jaded pilot in Only Angels Have Wings, also by Hawks. Alfred Hitchcock saw that Grant’s charm could be used as a mask for a more sinister shade in Suspicion, the first of their four collaborations. Grant had made the leap from star to legend.

9. Bernard Hermann, 1956-1963

1956: The Man Who Knew Too Much
1958: Vertigo
1959: North by Northwest
1960: Psycho
1962: Cape Fear
1963: Jason and the Argonauts

One theme throughout this list is having the right collaborators. From 1956 to 1964, Hermann scored every Alfred Hitchcock film. Hermann’s music played a crucial role in all of these films, but none more so than in the 1956 version of The Man Who Knew Too Much, where the music literally serves as a critical story element, and Hermann fittingly plays a conductor. For Vertigo, Hermann’s spiraling, haunting score underlined the pain and obsession of Jimmy Stewart’s character. Hermann’s all-strings Psycho score grew more unsettling as the film did. He used violins as a musical knife during the famous shower scene. Two years later, Hermann’s relentless score for Cape Fear filled viewers with dread. The score captured the evil in the film so perfectly that Martin Scorsese used it again for his 1991 remake. Hermann’s music wasn’t all darkness, as he showed with his rollicking scores for North by Northwest and Jason and the Argonauts. During this time Hermann’s mastery wasn’t confined to film, as he also composed the original main theme for TV’s “The Twilight Zone.”

8. Samuel L. Jackson, 1989-1997

1989: Do the Right Thing
1990: Goodfellas
1991: Jungle Fever
1992: True Romance
1993: Jurassic Park
1994: Pulp Fiction
1995: Die Hard with a Vengeance
1997: Eve’s Bayou
1997: Jackie Brown

In the 1990s alone, Samuel Jackson worked with Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee, Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Kasi Lemmons, Steven Soderbergh and George Lucas. His peak covers films before, during and after he became a star. Jackson had very limited time in both Goodfellas and True Romance, but created characters so indelible that I wished they didn’t get killed so quickly. Lee was one of the first to see what Jackson could do with more screen time. In Do the Right Thing, Jackson guided viewers through the fateful day while also serving as the film’s moral compass. Jackson drew on his own history with substance abuse to make Gator in Jungle Fever tragic and heartbreaking, much more than just a crackhead. In Jurassic Park, Jackson brought a much needed gravitas to what could have been an ordinary role. With Pulp Fiction, Tarantino made Jackson larger than life. Jackson’s innate coolness and his ability to build anger and danger was perfect for Tarantino’s type of storytelling. Tarantino’s dialogue felt like it was made for Jackson who could deliver it with a style like no one else. They teamed up again for the underrated Jackie Brown, where Jackson added a menace to his flair. In between Jackson’s chemistry with Bruce Willis kept Die Hard with a Vengeance from becoming an unnecessary sequel. Jackson also produced and starred in the astonishing Eve’s Bayou, which Roger Ebert named the best film of 1997.

7. Diane Keaton, 1972-1977

1972: Play it Again, Sam
1972: The Godfather
1973: Sleeper
1974: The Godfather, Part II
1975: Love and Death
1977: Annie Hall
1977: Looking for Mr. Goodbar

Keaton won an Oscar for Annie Hall, but I’d still call her underrated especially during this part of her career. With Play it Again, Sam, Sleeper and Love and Death, Woody Allen knew how to make the most use of Keaton’s daffiness and timing as she became the decade’s premier comic actress. She could have just stuck with that, but Keaton showed she could do much more than comedy. As Kay in the first Godfather she’s the audience surrogate, trying to comprehend the world she’s gotten into. She’s even better in The Godfather, Part II, showing a steely determination underneath Kay’s sadness while Michael (Al Pacino) grew more irredeemable. She went toe-to-toe with Pacino in the riveting scene where Kay confronts Michael telling him the truth about her pregnancy. In Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Keaton travelled to some dark places as a self-destructive schoolteacher. It’s a brave, revelatory performance. Her look, manner, and talent in Annie Hall made the title character a cultural touchstone for American women. While her Oscar was for Hall, many critics believed that Academy voters were actually honoring Keaton for Goodbar as well.

6. Hal Ashby, 1970-1979

1970: The Landlord
1971: Harold and Maude
1973: The Last Detail
1975: Shampoo
1976: Bound for Glory
1978: Coming Home
1979: Being There

While so many filmmakers came of age in the 70s or did their best work then, you could argue that no director exemplified these glory days of American cinema quite like Hal Ashby. He never garnered the recognition of some of his more famous contemporaries, but Ashby was certainly the most consistent throughout that decade. His films also seemed to exemplify the struggles of America, whether it was race, workers’ rights, the treatment of Vietnam veterans, or the growing role of television in popular culture. Ashby harnessed the counter-cultural ideals of the 60s and had particular affinity for the iconoclasts struggling with their world. He made character-centered films and always seem to draw out masterful performances from his actors, who won four Oscars and another seven nominations during this period. It’s no wonder that stars like Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Goldie Hawn, Jane Fonda, Jon Voight, Shirley MacLaine and Peter Sellers all wanted to work with him. While not often thought of as a visual stylist, his innovative work with cinematographer Haskell Wexler in Bound for Glory helped introduce the Steadicam to filmmakers and audiences. Unfortunately, Ashby’s reputation faded due to a string of subpar films in the 80s, many of which were ruined by the studios, and Ashby’s premature death in 1988. Still, many filmmakers working today credit Ashby as an inspiration and an excellent 2018 documentary, Hal, helped bring back the recognition he deserved.

5. Tom Hanks, 1992-1995

1992: A League of Their Own
1993: Sleepless in Seattle
1993: Philadelphia
1994: Forrest Gump
1995: Apollo 13
1995: Toy Story

Believe it or not, Tom Hanks was stuck in a slump when the 1990s began. His first film of the 1990 was the comedy flop Joe Versus the Volcano and that was the good part of the year for him. Later that year came Bonfire of The Vanities, which quickly became one of the legendary disasters in film history. A League of Their Own was the perfect comeback for Hanks, as he didn’t need to carry the film. As the washed-up alcoholic manager he displayed another side of his comedy skills, but added some pathos and depth. He went back to more familiar territory teaming with Nora Ephron for the innovative romantic comedy Sleepless in Seattle. But nothing prepared audiences for what he did in Philadelphia. It’s easy to forget that major American movie stars simply didn’t play gay roles before Hanks did, and that the major studios basically had ignored AIDS. From today’s lens the film’s story may feel a little pat and melodramatic, but Hanks’ performance never does. Hanks was vulnerable and truthful while illustrating his character’s quiet strength. How many other actors could then do a complete 180 into the cultural phenomenon that was Forrest Gump? Hanks’ innate accessibility and authenticity made us accept such a representational creation. By the time Hanks played Captain Jim Lovell in Apollo 13, he had become as much of an icon as he was a star. He was America, or at least how much of America liked to see itself. When Pixar was ready to start making computer animated feature films with Toy Story, who better to make us believe that a toy could talk than Hanks?

4. Alfred Hitchcock, 1954-1960

1954: Rear Window
1955: To Catch a Thief
1956: The Man Who Knew Too Much
1958: Vertigo
1959: North by Northwest
1960: Psycho

The last four on this list overlap with Bernard Hermann at #9, evidence that one of Hitch’s many talents was picking the right people for his team, both behind and in front of the camera. Hitchcock knew how to use movie stars, and the audience’s identification with them, to sharpen his storytelling. With Rear Window, we instantly empathized with the laid up Jimmy Stewart, who is watching his neighbors across the street just as we are watching him onscreen. His connection with what he sees deepened just like ours does when he suspects his neighbor of murder. Hitchcock built off this concept to a masterclass of claustrophobic voyeurism. To Catch a Thief, admittedly the weakest of the group with a barely there plot, gets its charms from pairing two other Hitchcock mainstays, Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. Their collective elegance, beauty, charisma and charm make you wish the two had co-starred more often. Hitch went back to Stewart to remake one his 1930s British hits, The Man Who Knew Too Much, a finely tuned thriller. Their next collaboration, Vertigo, showed that Hitchcock was never afraid to challenge himself or his audience. He pushed our feelings for Stewart by having him play a man losing himself to a growing obsession. Vertigo becomes Hitchcock’s most personal film, as Stewart molded and shaped a woman in a way similar to what the director was infamous for doing. While initially drawing a disappointing critical and commercial reaction, Vertigo now shows up on many critics list of the finest films ever made. Hitch switched gears again with North by Northwest, a sleek and fun action movie featuring one of the landmark set pieces in film history, Cary Grant trying to outrun an assassin’s plane. Then with Psycho, Hitchcock stunned everyone by taking what had worked for him up until then and throwing it away. Instead of the lush Technicolor he chose black-and-white. Instead of using movie star identification, Hitch subverted it by killing off his one star after only 40 minutes. Alfred Hitchcock reinvented himself and changed film history by essentially creating the modern horror movie. While it’s easy to use “Hitchcockian” to describe a certain type of film the truth is that when he was at his best, the man had a reach and a repertoire far wider than he got credit for.

3. Humphrey Bogart, 1941-1950 or 1942-1951

1941: The Maltese Falcon
1942: Casablanca
1944: To Have and Have Not
1946: The Big Sleep
1948: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
1948: Key Largo
1950: In a Lonely Place
1951: The African Queen

Humphrey Bogart was only a movie star for the last 16 years of his life, but he accomplished so much in that short amount of time, in particular during the ten years shown here, whichever one you pick. With The Maltese Falcon, Bogart along with writer-director and frequent collaborator John Huston, created a core persona – the cool, hard-bitten, weathered, insolent man who has seen too much and may pretend not to care, but who will do the right thing when pushed. Bogart took that persona throughout the 1940s shading it with a more romantic aspect in Casablanca. The internal battle between the selfish cynicism of Bogart’s Rick Blaine, and his reawakened idealism gave the film much of its power. Director Howard Hawks, who had fostered such chemistry between Cary Grant and his leading ladies a few years earlier, did the same with Bogie by pairing him with Lauren Bacall in To Have and Have Not and The Big Sleep, creating an indelible team onscreen and off. While it would have been easy for Bogart to stay within his persona, he went beyond it, again under Huston’s guidance, in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Bogart played Fred C. Dobbs so compellingly as a tragic figure descending into greed and a paranoia. For In a Lonely Place Bogart took the audience on another treacherous journey, playing again on our sympathies by slowly revealing sides of a dark and difficult man. Huston once again drew more out of Bogart with The African Queen. Bogart found the comedy in the drunk old boat captain Charlie Allnut, shedding the coolness we’d come to expect from him. He also embodied Allnut’s sadness, all the more poignant given Bogart’s real-life struggles with alcohol.

2. Buster Keaton, 1923-1928

1923: Our Hospitality
1924: Sherlock Jr.
1924: The Navigator
1925: Seven Chances
1926: The General
1928: Steamboat Jr.
1928: The Cameraman

I still haven’t come down on one side in the age-old “Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton” debate. Both of these silent film comedic greats created magic with their artistry and showmanship. Only Keaton makes this list because he was more prolific, while Chaplin took much longer between his essential films. At this point of his career, Keaton had the financial backing, through independent producer Joseph M. Schenck, to make whatever films he wanted. Keaton directed or co-directed these films while also starring in them and doing all of his own stunts. With each film Keaton pushed himself farther, exploring what more he could do on camera. Much of Keaton’s humor came from his physicality, as he would literally do anything for a laugh. It’s amazing he didn’t kill himself. He created these elaborate set pieces that relied on precision timing and execution. Keaton also played with the cinematic form in films such as Sherlock Jr., where he goes into and out of a movie within a movie, and The Navigator where he used underwater photography. We have to remind ourselves that he did this all almost a century ago, when movies’ existence was still relatively new. When Schenck could no longer bankroll his films, Keaton (against Chaplin’s advice) signed with MGM. The studio gradually whittled away Keaton’s freedom and inventiveness, but not before he made one last masterpiece, The Cameraman, where he played with the idea of how to make a movie.

1. John Williams, 1975-1982

1975: Jaws
1977: Star Wars
1977: Close Encounters of the Third Kind
1978: Superman
1980: The Empire Strikes Back
1981: Raiders of the Lost Ark
1982: E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial

Early in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, scientists developed a method of communicating with an alien civilization, and came up with a five note musical signature written by John Williams. How fitting that a Williams composition would connect so fully with anyone that even aliens would relate to it. Williams wrote and conducted film scores that went beyond classic and even went beyond iconic. Each one so completely captured their films’ delights that it’s virtually impossible to think about these films without their music. When Williams first played the minimalist Jaws shark theme Steven Spielberg thought he was joking. The score became so ingrained in filmgoers consciousness that over 45 years later if I’m swimming and someone’s humming the theme I’ll take a quick look around just to be safe. Spielberg famously recommended Williams to his friend George Lucas for Star Wars. While the Jaws theme built up slowly, Star Wars immediately hit audiences with all of its power and grandeur, setting the stage for all that’s to come. Williams did the same with his majestic Superman theme, which Christopher Reeve credited for making it believable that a man could fly. Two years later Williams built on his Star Wars success for The Empire Strikes Back, creating indelible pieces such as “The Imperial March,” which has come to define villainy to such a degree that sports venues still play it while introducing the opposing team. My wife and I walked down to the aisle to the rousing Raiders of the Lost Ark theme, which embodied the fun and adventure of Indiana Jones. Williams filled his E.T. score with the film’s childlike wonder. That moment when Elliot and E.T. fly the first time soars both visually and musically. Up until then Williams slowly used parts of the theme, deftly building up to the crescendo so when the full theme finally plays it had the power to give the flying scene exactly what it needed. Williams made beautiful film music for over 60 years and thankfully is still doing so today. For eight of those years, he had a peak like no one else.

Adam Spector
June 1, 2021