King Vidor
King Vidor
RANKED:
10. Show People (1928)
In this rare comedic turn for King Vidor, he decides to poke fun at Hollywood. Starring Marion Davies, "Show People" shows a naïve young woman going to Hollywood to make it big, only to butt heads with the pretentious and uptight. After fitting in with the comedy crowd, she finds her way to dramas. Once she becomes a big drama star, she turns into the same uptight snob that butted heads with her in the beginning. Oh how stardom makes monsters of us all (but I wouldn't know).
9. Duel in the Sun (1946)
In one of the most bizarre Westerns ever constructed, "Duel in the Sun" vacillates between miraculously intriguing and laughably written. Pearl Chavez, played by Jennifer Jones, is orphaned and taken to her father's cousin's ranch. There, she faces racism and hatred from her family, especially Gregory Peck's Lewton. However, that doesn't stop Pearl from being attracted to the bad boy. The film seems to be an exercise in excess. Color films at the time were primarily new, and Vidor's venture into the technicolor landscape of the West lent itself to explorations in what color could bring, the good and the bad. This thematic venture is also due to David O. Selznik's script of indulgences, which seem to be an exercise in seeing what he could get past the Hayes code. This laughably bad yet mystically intriguing film lets the color fly, as well as its sexual excesses.
8. The Fountainhead (1949)
Based on the Ayn Rand novel of the same name with the screenplay written by Rand herself, "The Fountainhead" examines the nature of individualism. However, it's hard to determine whether King Vidor's direction elevates or undermines Rand's script. On the one hand, Vidor's cooled and stark visual tones could represent the modernism with with its protagonist aspires. On the other hand, this could present us with an expressionist view of the cold and inhumane characters. This, along with the phallic imagery, seem to paint a very clear picture of how self-important Vidor views these individuals. After all, Vidor's primary theology of film is that of presenting characters as humanist as possible.
7. The Citadel (1938)
During a time in which perceived utopias were being constructed, whether it was a capitalist utopia, a communist utopia, or a fascist utopia, King Vidor directed the adaptation of the novel, "The Citadel." The film is an exploration of a young doctor's quest to build his own medical utopia. His dreams, however, are squandered by ignorant civilians and a meddling bureaucracy. Instead, he becomes a sell-out, and enlists in the capitalist utopia in which he panders to rich patients - which then leads him to a revelation about the malaise he has found himself in. With the film, Vidor implores the viewer to continue to strive for ambition and not fall into the fallacy of a utopian expectation for yourself and your society. The joys of life lie in what's unexpected. Like the steps of a citadel, constantly moving up without ever actually seeing what lies on the next step.
6. Hallelujah (1929)
With his first sound film, King Vidor was able to showcase the black experience. This was an important feat during a time when studios were not interested in such stories. Because of this, Vidor had to foot the bill. The film turned out to be a massive success. It's exploration of the black experience through its community, its faith, and its suffering offered an emotional experience most audiences were not accustomed to. Through his typical humanist lens, Vidor was able to craft a progressive film that enabled a spiritual and existential look at genuine human experience.
5. War and Peace (1956)
King Vidor was a director who pioneered the 'epic.' With his adaptation of the classic novel, "War and Peace," Vidor was able to accomplish one last epic in his lifetime. Using similar methods he employed in his silent masterpiece, "The Big Parade," Vidor used scale to expand the emotionality of individuals, and used the intensity of individual emotions to bring a human element to large-scale events. With this expansive adaptation, Vidor is able to craft a story both big and small, making both epic.
4. The Champ (1931)
In the midst of The Great Depression, Vidor crafted a film about the effects of poverty on children. Following a down-on-his-luck boxer and his charismatic son, "The Champ" tackled incredibly contemporary issues for its time. The intense and compassionate relationship between father and son is the heart of the film, and watching them go through hard times makes it ever more emotional. However, the ill-crafted decision making of the father asks the question of whether love matters in a money-dependent world.
3. The Big Parade (1925)
With his World War I silent masterpiece, "The Big Parade," King Vidor defines what an epic is and what it could be. Balancing the personal with the grand, Vidor combined the large-scale scope of our ever changing world with the intimacy of human experience. He was able to construct a film with the emotional, lived experience of a man going through the anxieties of a wide-reaching war.
2. Stella Dallas (1937)
Taking the themes of "The Champ" and switching out father-son for mother-daughter, Vidor constructed an adaptation of the Olive Higgins Prouty novel, "Stella Dallas." Stella, a woman trying to climb the economic and social ladder, must slow her pace when her daughter is born. As her daughter grows, Stella must shed her selfish indulgences and put her daughter's needs first. This comes in the form of economic advancement, as the world they live in only welcomes those financially endowed. Throughout her journey, Stella comes to the conclusion that her place is at the bottom of the totem pole. So, she sacrifices her relationship with her daughter in order to provide her a better future. In the fallout of the economic collapse 8 years prior, Vidor contemplates how our capitalist class system becomes a detriment to human relationships, including familial.
1. The Crowd (1928)
In the 1960s, Jean-Luc Goddard was asked why he doesn't make films about 'ordinary people,' to which his response was, "'The Crowd' has already been made. So why remake it?" In his magnum opus, Kind Vidor crafted a revolutionary film about the life of...well...YOU. The film is simple enough. An ordinary man tries to have it all: a job, a wife, and children. However, what's exemplary about this plain story comes the closeness with which we find ourselves to the protagonist. Subverting an objective narrative to create a shared reality, Vidor attempts to remove the shackles of the 'self' and demonstrate how we all share the same experiences of life. The film carries the message of humanity, and allows the viewer to recognize themselves in others. It is in this way that the film is about you. Just as the protagonist learns, you are not above the person you are sitting next to. You are not above the crowd; in fact, you ARE the crowd.
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