The Stratton Story (MGM 1949)

OK, OK...I admit it. The timing of this movie (especially when you consider the Plaxico Burress entry below) is a little strange. But mark my words when I say this...Plaxico Burress is no Monty Stratton!

The movie is about Chicago White Sox pitcher Monty Stratton (Jimmy Stewart), who in the 1930s, compiled a 37-19 won-loss record in three seasons. After he became the winningest right-hander in the American League, his major league career ended prematurely when a hunting accident in 1938 forced doctors to amputate his right leg. With a wooden leg and his wife Ethel's (June Allyson) help, Stratton made a successful minor league comeback in 1946, continuing to pitch in minor leagues throughout the rest of the 1940s and into the 1950s. (From IMDb)

I like this movie, of course if you've been a fan of this blog for awhile, I like just about every Jimmy Stewart movie. The Stratton Story is a great example of American courage and triumph.

Here is the trailer...

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (Columbia 1939)

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington now replaces Dumbo as the oldest conservative film to be reviewed on ECM! If you folks have never seen Mr. Smith, you're missing a great film about a man standing up to a corrupt government and a twisted media.

Whew! Glad things like this don't happen anymore, right?


Sound like a movie up your alley? You better believe it!

Here are some interesting facts about this movie when it was released in 1939...

It was bitterly denounced by Washington insiders angry at its allegations of corruption, yet banned by fascist states in Europe who were afraid it showed that democracy works.

The Washington press corps were highly indignant at the way they were portrayed in the film. Consequently a great deal of the initial reviews from the capitol were very negative. One of their chief objections was that the film made them all out to be drinking too much.

One of the real senators from Montana walked out of the screening he attended in disgust.

In 1942, when a ban on American films was imposed in German-occupied France, the title theaters chose Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) for their last movie before the ban went into effect. One Paris theater reportedly screened the film nonstop for thirty days prior to the ban.

The film was banned in Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Soviet Russia and Falangist Spain. According to Frank Capra, the film was also dubbed in certain European countries to alter the message of the film so it conformed with official ideology.

I am proud to say that Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is the Edge Conservative Movie of the Week!

Here is the trailer...and...



...here is the COMPLETE MOVIE below! Watch it now!

The Spirit of St. Louis (Warner Bros. 1957)

Here's a cool movie fact! James Stewart was 47 years old when he played the part of Charles Lindbergh in the movie The Spirit of St. Louis. The real Charles Linbergh was 27 when he made his memorable flight!

Why did this movie make the ECM movie of the week? When presented a challenge, Americans never quit! The very thought of a plane making a trip from New York to Paris was unthinkable! But leave it to American to lead the way with guts, smarts and even a little faith! Interestingly, Lindbergh during the better part of the film, was portrayed as a non-believer. Read the text from the movie below...

Father Hussman: How come I never see you around church? You don't believe?
Charles Lindbergh: Well, yes, I believe. I believe in an instrument panel, a pressure gauge, a compass, things I can see and touch. I can't touch God.
Father Hussman: You're not supposed to! He touches you!

Here is a brief movie summary from IMDb below.

Biography of Charles Lindbergh from his days of precarious mail runs in aviation's infancy to his design of a small transatlantic plane and the vicissitudes of its takeoff and epochal flight from New York to Paris in 1927.

This a cool flick, especially for you flyers out there! You won't regret this one!

Here is some REAL footage of the flight!



More footage! Landing in Paris!



New York parade!

Rear Window (Paramount 1954)

We've all done it. Watched our neighbors. Just seeing what there up to today. But only the great Alfred Hitchcock could make a film that would take something so innocent...and turn it into something so deadly.

In 1950-something New York, an adventuresome free-lance photographer finds himself confined to a wheelchair in his tiny apartment while a broken leg mends. With only the occasional distraction of a visiting nurse and his frustrated love interest, a beautiful fashion consultant, his attention is naturally drawn to the courtyard outside his "rear window" and the occupants of the apartment buildings which surround it.

Soon he is consumed by the private dramas of his neighbors lives which play themselves out before his eyes. There is "Miss Lonely-hearts," so desperate for her imaginary lover that she sits him a plate at the dinner table and feigns their ensuing chat. There is the frustrated composer banging on his piano, the sunbathing sculptress, the shapely dancer, the newlyweds who are concealed from their neighbors by a window shade, and a bungling middle-aged couple with a little yapping dog who sleep on the fire escape to avoid the sweltering heat of their apartment.

...And then there is the mysterious salesman whose nagging, invalid wife's sudden absence from the scene ominously coincides with middle-of-the-night forays into the dark, sleeping city with his sample case. Where did she go? What's in the trunk that the salesman ships away? What's he been doing with the knives and the saw that he cleans at the kitchen sink?

Even if you don't like Jimmy Stewart (Brooke) this is a good movie with a GREAT conservative theme (especially when you consider today's climate with the War on Terror) ... keep your eyes and ears wide open for anything... because folks, you just never know.

The trailer from Rear Window.



A Documentary on Rear Window from Central Florida film students.

It's a Wonderful Life (Liberty Films 1946)

Finally! FINALLY! ECM finally has a Jimmy Stewart movie on the blog and what better one to post than It's a Wonderful Life!

Now most everyone has seen the film, but some might not realize the conservative themes that go with it too! The movie talks about faith in God, country, family, friends, and doing the right thing when it matters the most... no matter how much it hurts...

George Bailey (Stewart) has spent his entire life giving of himself to the people of Bedford Falls. He has always longed to travel but never had the opportunity in order to prevent rich skinflint Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town. All that prevents him from doing so is George's modest building and loan company, which was founded by his generous father.

But on Christmas Eve, George's Uncle Billy loses the business's $8,000 while intending to deposit it in the bank. Potter finds the misplaced money and hides it from Billy. When the bank examiner discovers the shortage later that night, George realizes that he will be held responsible and sent to jail and the company will collapse, finally allowing Potter to take over the town. Thinking of his wife, their young children, and others he loves will be better off with him dead, he contemplates suicide.

But the prayers of his loved ones result in a gentle angel named Clarence coming to earth to help George, with the promise of earning his wings. He shows George what things would have been like if he had never been born. In a nightmarish vision in which the Potter-controlled town is sunk in sex and sin, those George loves are either dead, ruined, or miserable. He realizes that he has touched many people in a positive way and that his life has truly been a wonderful one.

Basically it's like this folks, if you have never seen this movie before you might be a member of the Communist party.

Here's the trailer from the film.




The lost original ending...