Howard Hawks
Howard Hawks
RANKED:
12. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
At at time in 1950s America when technicolor musicals and Marilyn Monroe were a fixation of popular culture, Howard Hawks' 1953 musical comedy "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" gave in to culture by combining the two. Of course, what everyone remembers from this film is her performance of "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend." Beyond that, it's a film about the nature of attraction and the reasons why gentlemen prefer blondes.
11. Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
It is hard to classify what Howard Hawks "Only Angels Have Wings" is - a war film? a drama? romance? My two cents are put on romance. Regardless, it's a film that deals with how we as humans gravitate towards that which is most dangerous. The thrill is what we seek, regardless of the consequences. Hawks's noire-esqe color usage of the film enhances this bleak addiction that lies at the heart of every human, as well as this picture.
10. Sergeant York (1941)
At the onset of America's involvement in World War I, Howard Hawks-directed "Sergeant York" was perhaps the most effective propaganda tool to get Americans enlisted in the U.S. military. Starring Gary Cooper in an Oscar-winning performance as a young Sergeant who goes from conscientious observer to war hero, the movie became the highest grossing film of 1941, especially after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. The movie would even get re-released throughout the war, replacing box office flops. It's message was clear: "I know your Christian values tell you that you shouldn't kill, but 'give to Caesar what is Caesar's' and come kill for the protection of our nation."
9. Twentieth Century (1934)
Through the winding river of genre gravitation in American cinema from the 1930s to the 1950s, Howard Hawks always rode the stream. In the early 1930s when the screwball comedy was making its grand entrance, Howard Hawks' "Twentieth Century" helped usher it in. Starring John Barrymore and Carole Lombard as an eccentric theater producer and a rising actress, respectively, the film is a boiling pressure cooker for two enormous egos as we the viewer watch as they clash together.
8. Ball of Fire (1941)
In a way, Howard Hawks' 1941 film "Ball of Fire" was screwball comedy well past its prime. Screwball comedies would continue on for decades and decades to come, however the period of heightened attention on the genre was starting to come to an end. This is especially true given the darker nature of films that directly stem from the World War taking place. "Ball of Fire" seems to signify how the genre became a comfortable formula. Although not revolutionary, it was certainly something familiar and dependable.
7. To Have and Have Not (1944)
In riding the aesthetic coattails of 1942's "Casablanca," "To Have and Have Not" manages to create a wartime film with plenty of intrigue and thrills. Taking place in German-occupied Martinique after France's fall in 1940, a sly yet heroic Humphrey Bogart, along with his past lover (and real life wife) Lauren Bacall, must covertly ship two very important people into and out of the city. In the thick of World War II, wartime propaganda like this film were used to create a somewhat detached reality of what the war was really like. However, these cheap thrills and German baddies were a way for the American public to engage with what was happening in a very safe and mild way.
6. Rio Bravo (1959)
At the tail end of his career, Howard Hawks made his 1959 John Wayne-led western, "Rio Bravo" as somewhat of a response to Fred Zinneman's 1952 film "High Noon." John Wayne and Howard Hawks were upset about "High Noon"'s 'anti-American' sentiment, as they called it. Really, "High Noon" was an allegory for Hollywood blacklists and McCarthyism. "Rio Bravo" was meant to showcase a true American hero who stands up for law and order. Regardless of the film's allegorical nature, it stands as one of the most regarded western film in Hollywood's history.
5. Scarface (1932)
In the early 1930s, gangster flicks were all the rage in the U.S. thanks in large part to the Great Depression. Among these gangster flicks, Howard Hawks' "Scarface" shines brightest. With its allegory to the American Dream, "Scarface" finds out protagonist Tony rising through the ranks of gangster society, met with wealth and excess. However, a bitterness runs through the heart of this film and gets purged through Tony's ultimate downfall, as everyone around him faces nothing but violence and tragedy. "Scarface" is an example of a gangster film that, like many others, that allows Depression-era audiences to purge their anxieties through thrills and pulp, while also matching their resentful sentiments of the falseness of economic success in the American landscape.
4. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
At the epoch of the screwball comedy genre in the 1930s, the Dudley Nichols and Hagar Wilde-penned and Howard Hawks-directed "Bringing Up Baby" came out as a shining example of the genre's greatness. Although it does not outshines the likes of Capra's "It Happened One Night," "Bringing Up Baby" can certainly make your head spin with its continuously building house-of-cards-style story structure. The film is a staple of the 1930s and even became a blueprint for contemporary rom-coms. If there is one thing "Bringing Up Baby" is capable of, it's making you smile.
3. His Girl Friday (1940)
What "His Girl Friday" succeeds at is where most screwball comedies fall short. Namely, adding biting socio-political commentary. The film centers on two newspaper writers who will do anything for a story - ANYTHING. The film succeeds at demonstrating the level of unethical depravity the media will go to not only submit a story, but to CREATE one as well. To encapsulate this thematic idea, the fast-paced dialogue and banter between the snappy, intelligent characters allows you to get swept up in their faux nonsense. This actively demonstrates the way in which we all can get swept up in media stories and sensational pieces of narrative. On top of all of this, the screwball comedy of it all will leave you with an enjoyable film anyway.
2. Red River (1948)
Howard Hawks' first foray into the Western genre, "Red River" could almost be considered a masterpiece. The only thing holding it back is its 'Hollywood'-wrapped-up-in-a-nice-bow happy ending. Despite this ending, "Red River" is a film, at its heart, about the young and old. The father and son. The greatest generation and the silent generation. Method acting and classic Hollywood acting. The film is an allegory of sorts about perhaps the most abstract concepts of our American history and about time itself. The changing of the guard, the progress of different generations, and the general attitude of the new replacing the old takes this allegory into biblical territory. It's a tale as old as time played out through these Texas cattle ranchers.
1. The Big Sleep (1946)
Many moviegoers initial reaction to Howard Hawks' 1946 film noir "The Big Sleep" was that the plot was convoluted and hard to follow. A BBC article even calls it "the most baffling movie ever made." While that may be true, the convolution of the plot certainly adds to the intoxicating web of conspiracy. It seems as though all of the characters in "The Big Sleep" are double-crossers, extortionists, liars, and perhaps even murderers. In the end, it's still uncertain who the 'killer' was, as the final piece of information given may have come from an unreliable source. However, literally anyone else in the picture being the killer is entirely possible. This is what gives this noir its blackness: the fact that everyone is not outside the realm of corruptibility and doing horrible things for their own self-interest. Even our protagonist in the end identifies someone who may not even be the real killer just to save his love interest from trouble. Everyone in the film is downright corrupt and there appears to be no certainty of truth to anyone's culpability or motives. This is why the convolution works.
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