Topper (1937)

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George Kerby, a wealthy businessman, played by Cary Grant, has a way to enjoy his life. His lifestyles are complimented by his wife Marion Kerby, played by Constance Bennett.

This life contrasts to that of Cosmo Topper, played by Roland Young, who leads a much planned and scheduled life. He is the chairman of a bank of which George is one of the board members.

Controlled mostly by his wife Clara, Cosmo Topper leads a life of mechanical routine, something he cannot change and is forced by his wife to dictate matters in every matter of his life.

George and Marion, fuelled by the energetic adrenaline, die in a car accident. To enter the passage of heaven, they must do some good deeds. So they are turned into ‘transparent ghosts.’

Topper is upset to hear the news of Kerby’s death. He buys the Kerby’s car and meets with an accident when excited by its speed, loses control of the vehicle. The Kerby couple introduces themselves to Cosmo. Cosmo Topper becomes a target to gain entry to heaven. Marion looks set to change Cosmo’s life.

A lot of laughs in the next part of the story, mainly the mess Cosmo Topper gets into because of the pranks played by Marion and George.

As a result of his newfound spontaneity, Cosmo’s popularity increases and attracts many social invitations.

The comical scenes are well shot throughout the movie. The hotel scene, lipstick mark on Cosmo’s cheek, Clara Topper gets annoyed with Cosmo’s new found lifestyle, Marion tempting Cosmo, Jealous George wanting to settle scores with Marion and Cosmo, the dog house detective scene, the car being driven with no driver and many more.

The movie culminates when Cosmo is getting treated in hospital after he meets with an accident. Clara promises him not to be dominant in the future. Kerby’s bid goodbye to Topper as they head towards the gates of heaven.

Released in 1937, Topper was adapted from a novel by ‘Thorne Smith,’ directed by Norman Z McLeod. This was the first black and white movie to be ‘colorized’ in 1985.

It earned two Oscar nominations – Roland Young for Best Supporting Actor and Best Sound Recording.

Born to be Bad (1934)

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A young woman has got a raw deal from her youth, decides to leave her job at a book store searching for money, and becomes a night club dancer, more of a seductress.

She has a seven-year-old kid Mickey, whose father is unknown. She teaches Mickey to lie, steal, and all the things that would make him street smart. Apt to the title of the movie – Born to be Bad

Mickey has an accident when a truck driven by Malcolm Trevor, played by Cary Grant, knocks him down, not severely injured. Knowing Malcolm is rich, Letty, played by Loretta Young, schemes to make money by issuing a lawsuit against Malcolm. She is proven guilty for lying and accused of being a bad mother who taught her son to lie in court and fake his injury.

Mickey is taken away from her. Malcolm and his wife Alice happily accept to raise Mickey as they cannot conceive their child. With time, Mickey is attached to both of them, and this fact makes Letty jealous. She wants Mickey back and also some fortune of Malcolm’s.

She pretends to be sick and seeks refuge at Malcolm’s house when her plan of running away with Mickey fails. She seduces Malcolm and records the conversation to blackmail him. Her dreams turn sour when Malcolm tells Alice about him being in love with Letty, and she accepted it.

Letty learns a lesson in seeing Alice’s selfless love and decides Alice and Malcolm to have Mickey so that he becomes a good man. She returns to her old job at the book shop, and the movie ends there.

However, this movie had other claims to fame. It ran into censorship problems from the start because of skimpy outfits worn by Loretta Young. It was rejected twice by the censor board (Hays office). After several cuts and retakes, this movie was eventually passed and given an approval certificate.

Released in 1934, Born to be Bad was directed by Lowell Sherman.

Once Upon a Time (1944)

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A showman Jerry Flynn has to find a new sensation to save his production from getting closed. He has a warning from the theatre owner to make matters worse. As he is looking out for a ‘sensation’ through which he can make money, he comes across a boy named ‘Pinky’ and discovers a dancing caterpillar ‘Curly’ with him.

Curly was not a usual caterpillar; it could dance. Looking at this, Jerry is convinced about the dancing caterpillar being the rescue agent.

The mean-minded that he is, he promises Pinky to make ‘Curly’ a superstar and Pinky agrees on one condition that, he wouldn’t be selling ‘Curly’ at any cost.

As he fights with Pinky’s elder sister, played by Janet Blair over this issue, Jerry secretly deals with Walt Disney after ‘Curly’ was perceived as a big jackpot.

The rest of the movie is a series of incidents that make ‘Curly’ very popular, much to Jerry Flynn’s delight, played by Cary Grant. ‘Curly’ had become so popular that one of the war planes was painted with Curly’s picture.

The controversy with the caterpillar and its ability to dance arouses a lot of attention with the scientists as they challenge to undermine the caterpillar’s ability.

Amidst events, Pinky becomes aware of Jerry’s intentions, and the movie culminates with Jerry understanding the kid’s sentiments and allows ‘Curly’ to have a life of its own.

Once Upon a Time, released in 1944, was a disaster due to its lousy screenplay. Directed by Alexander Hall, this movie failed to capture the minds of the audience.

The Howards of Virginia (1940)

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Set in colonial Virginia in the 1750s, this movie is a story about Matt Howard and his wife Jane Howard when America was fighting for their independence.

Although there were cultural differences between Matt and Jane, there was no love lost between them when they kissed for the first time and fell in love.

Despite Jane’s brother opposing the marriage, they go through the ritual and raise a clutch of children. Their elder child’s lameness reminds Matt of his brother-in-law, and he manages to ignore the child for the very same fact.

The movie shows Matt, his friendship with Thomas Jefferson, and his unique portrayal of a farmer. In 1776, Matt enrolled to be part of George Washington’s army to fight for independence. In search of their father, Peyton and James, Matt and Jane’s sons decide to join the military. They meet their father.

Listening without being seen to his two sons arguing over the rebellion, he discovers Peyton to be the closest to his principles than his beloved James. He tries to communicate his love, but war comes in between.

The movie culminates in America getting Independence from British and George Washington becoming the First President of the United States.

The movie was commercially unsuccessful, and Cary Grant later confessed to him being miscast as Matt Howard.

Although the movie conveys the history of Virginia and the United States, there are few chronological errors. The costumes, however, have a period appeal to the 1750s.

The Howards of Virginia was directed by Frank Lloyd and earned two Oscar nominations for Best Music Original Score and Best Sound Recording.

The Last Outpost (1935)

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Adapted from a novel by Britten Austin titled ‘The Drum,’ The Last Outpost featured two of the upcoming stars of the ’30s in Cary Grant and Claude Rains.

The movie is set during WWI when British officer Michael Andrews played by Cary Grant, is captured by a band of Kurdish raiders on the Eastern front and is rescued by a man who doesn’t reveal his name.

They both combined to avert an attack on British troops and also saved the civilians of Kurdish. Michael Andrews gets severely wounded and is sent for treatment to Cairo military camp.

He falls in love with the nurse Rosemary, played by Gertrude Michael and vice versa. Although married, she had not heard from her husband in the last three years.

When fit and alright, Michael Andrews is sent on a mission in Africa. After three long years, John Stevenson, played by Claude Rains, comes to claim his wife. John also happens to be the same guy who had saved Michael Andrews.

Rosemary tells John about her newfound love and is shocked to hear Michael being the one. John joins the troop of Michael to settle the scores.

The movie culminates in combining as a team to combat the enemies in the war while they resolve their differences.

Released in 1935, The Last Outpost was directed by Charles Barton and Louis J Gasnier.

Without Limits (1998)

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Five days staying in a room not going out isn’t that great for the mind, body, or soul. I managed to do that. I went out to my friend’s place to have lunch, we chatted for a while, and then I went shopping for some groceries before heading back to The Apartment.

I spent those days watching movies, a hell of a lot of movies, reading few things on the internet, sleeping, just about cooking to satisfy the hunger bug, and few visits to the toilet. I had not touched the main door of my apartment. I managed to survive, although this routine had given birth to certain ghosts. It had because, I can safely say, I am burying them with this blog.

In 2005 when I won the Sports Quiz at NLS (National Law School, India), I missed a question. I felt terrible that I didn’t know about it. There is nothing to feel bad about it in hindsight, but you see, my heart was shaped that way.

It feels like the itch of not knowing certain things. For a while, it itches. The mind then takes over and I don’t know about the itch and how old it is. In my case, it was a four-year itch.

Thinking about the athlete whose name I missed has given me a chance to see life from a different perspective and something I was looking for at the end of 5 days. It was not a panache but did have some ‘Mojo’ to bury the ghosts. I feel the change as I continue to write.

The question I missed was about a man who died at the age of 24. I am 24 now.

He was the best athlete the American distance running team had in the late ’60s and 1970s—a distance runner who had his ideology about running and winning.

Winning is nothing when you haven’t given your best.

It doesn’t feel the same when you win without giving one’s best. His coach tried to change his philosophy; he couldn’t. He represented the University of Oregon.

He shared a healthy relationship with the US running team coach, and they both agreed to disagree. Every time, they questioned each other’s fundamentals and philosophy of running and winning.

The first sign of protest came when the athlete took on AAU (Amateur Athletics Union) and demanded the athlete’s right to participate when qualified.

He was tipped as one of the favourites to win 5000m Olympic Gold in 1972 at Munich games, eventually losing out to Finland’s Lasse Viren. He finished 4th after leading the race till the last lap.

He couldn’t bear the loss.

He took some time out until he could come to terms with reality and distanced himself from his love. He hated so much that he didn’t have words to say to the one he loved.

Finally, he started training, refused an offer to turn professional, thereby kicking the chance to earn 200,000 dollars. He went to his coach and tried a new pair of shoes that his coach had made for him. He went for a run and agreed to be an Amateur and seek redemption at Montreal’s 1976 Olympics.

He raced pretty well in the trials, and he had planned to set a world record to win the 5000m in 12min 36 seconds. That was the time he had chosen, a world record back then.

Those were the last words he said to his friend. While on his way to his girlfriend, with whom he had just got good terms, he dropped his friend and met with an accident while foreseeing his race and commenting on his possible 1976 performance and how he would shatter the world record.

It wasn’t to be, his car was hit by another vehicle, and he was killed on May 30th, 1975.

I hope most of the readers are smarter than me; the athlete was Steve Pre Fontaine. Nicknamed ‘Pre,’ he was born on January 25th, 1951.

Now that name is on, I am sure there are better websites dedicated to providing his information in detail. I would just like to share few things:

  • In 1978, AAU agreed for athlete’s guarantee rights to compete wherever qualified.
  • The small shoe company which the coach had inadvertently had begun went on to became what we know today as ‘NIKE.’ The coach was none other than Bill Bowerman, founder of Nike.
  • ‘Without Limits’ made in 1998 is the movie’s name that depicts the life of ‘Pre’ played by Billy Crudup.

The final words by Bill Bowerman in the movie sums up ‘Pre’ –

“All my life, man and boy, I’ve operated under the assumption that the main idea in the running was to win the race. Naturally, when I became a coach, I tried to teach people how to do that. I tried to teach Pre how to do that. Tried like hell to teach Pre to do that. And Pre taught me. Taught me I was wrong. Pre, you see, was troubled by knowing that a mediocre effort can win a race, and a magnificent effort can lose one. Winning a race wouldn’t necessarily demand that he give it everything he had from start to finish. He never ran any other way. I tried to get him to; God knows I tried… but… Pre was stubborn. He insisted on holding himself to a higher standard than victory. ‘A race is a work of art’; that’s what he said, that’s what he believed, and he was out to make it one every step of the way. Of course, he wanted to win. Those who saw him compete and those who competed against him were never in any doubt how much he wanted to win, but how he won mattered to him more. ‘Pre’ thought I was a hard case. But he finally got it through my head that the real purpose of running isn’t to win a race. It’s to test the limits of the human heart. That he did… Nobody did it more often. Nobody did it better.” That’s the ending of the movie.

All I say – Watch the movie, don’t think whether to watch it or not – ‘JUST DO IT.’

She Done Him Wrong (1933)

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Mae West playing the role of Lady Lou is a nightclub owner in New York. One can imagine a lady of that stature to have many friends. She had more male friends than one can imagine.

The movie involves various scenes inside the night club and how few males try their luck to impress ‘Lady Lou.’

Although Captain Cummings is in no mood to embrace her, she does find his liking. One of Lady Lou’s lines – “Why don’t you come up and see me sometime?” is one of the best lines considered by many film critics and been voted in the Top 100 lines in many movie sites.

This movie was more focussed on Mae West, who proved why she was one of the best in the business of ‘comical sexuality.’

After this movie, The Nation legion of Decency was formed in 1933, stating the film and Mae West be one of the prime reasons.

The movie showcases the pride of the character ‘Lady Lou’ who, endowed with jewels, hip swishing, proclaims to the public, ‘I am the finest woman who walked the streets.’

Captain Cummings, played by Cary Grant, warns her about the consequences because of her attitude, and it is he who helps her at the end of the movie.

This movie is based on Mae West’s play titled ‘Diamond Lil’ in the late 1920s.

In his early years of acting, Cary Grant plays second fiddle to the more renowned Mae West. Paramount Productions hired him, and this movie saved Paramount Pictures from bankruptcy, and they owe it to Mae West and her popularity at that time.

Released in 1933, She Done Him Wrong was directed by Lowell Sherman and was the shortest movie in duration (66 minutes) to receive a Best Picture Oscar. Besides, it is the only movie (at the time of writing this post) to be nominated Best Picture category without nominations in other categories.

Every Girl Should Be Married (1948)

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‘Every Girl Should be married,’ is what Dr. Madison Brown says. Anabel Sims, played by Betsy Drake, takes the advice and goes about searching for a perfect husband.

Dr. Madison Brown, played by Cary Grant, plays a reputed paediatrician. He is a noted bachelor too.

Anabel Sims is determined to find Mr. Right finds Dr. Madison very apt as her perfect husband. The movie involves a series of plots in which she stalks Dr. Madison.

She plays the role of a department store salesclerk; when Dr. Madison asks for her help to purchase few things, she decides him to be the one.

She finds all possible information about him, routines, and whereabouts. Knowing her intentions, Dr. Madison tries his best to fend off her.

She uses the help of Roger Sanford, who is a thrice-married playboy. It so happens, Roger falls in love with Anabel. She uses this to tease Dr. Madison and make him feel jealous. All of them turn out to be unsuccessful.

After a series of funny plots and dialogues, the movie culminates when Dr. Madison knows of Roger’s success with a woman and tries to stop them from getting married.

While waiting for Anabel at her place, Old Joe, long-time hometown beau of Anabel, unexpectedly. In the end, Dr. Madison does ask her hand for marriage.

Released in 1948, this movie directed by Don Hartman was one of the highest grosser of 1948.

This romantic comedy is hilarious, and Cary Grant proves his mettle with his sheer comic timing. A pretty Betsy Drake plays a role of a stalker literally.

Countdown to the D-Day Part I

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This very day, April 6th, last year, will go down as the trigger day, or should I say the day that determined my future path. Just as when I had a feeling, I had quite a challenging stroll in the park, though I did an excellent job of going through it.

But it Happened One Evening. It was a Sunday, April 6th, 2008. I was able to appreciate it better because of few events that preceded this day. Although one cannot fathom the relevance, personally, all the events were necessary for what I turned out to be on that day.

This goes back to December 2007, when I was making plans about visiting Rajasthan with my mother. It was just two of us. I had made all the plans for the visit.

I got a mail from a very revered senior from my college about teaming up for an All India Cricket Quiz, sponsored by History Channel. I agreed. The next few days, we spoke at the most unexpected times, No hello, Just a funda (an appreciated factoid) from cricket would pop up, when I was working, sleeping, or having food.

That was the passion he had, or the superior managerial skills to pump up the intensity before a contest.

The quiz was to be held in Delhi on the last week of January 2008. We did well to weather the cold in the first place. It so happened, I got myself acquainted with a friend of mine in Gurgaon. She was kind enough to allow me to stay in her house, made Pav Bhaji one evening, took me out with her friends to have a hot cup of chai (tea) at midnight.

That was cold, and I never experienced that before coming to Switzerland.

Pradeep and I dreamt about smashing the quiz in our very own style. This was the second time we paired up as a team, the first one for the Cricinfo Quiz conducted by Siddhartha Vaidyanathan and George Binoy in Bangalore.

The theme was cricket, and we qualified for the finals and felt a bit warm inside the auditorium. The finals didn’t turn out the way we wanted. We missed quite a few sitters, coming third in the end. We left the hall disappointed and off we went to the airport. I messaged him early the next morning about taking part in the second round at Mumbai.

I was running short of cash since I had made all the arrangements for a long Rajasthan trip.

But, something inside me was haunting throughout. It was a case of redemption for me and us as a team in general. It is not often we get a chance to prove to ourselves that we are one among the league of very good Sports Quizzers in India. We knew we had to do it for ourselves if not for Rs 50000 as a cash prize for winners.

A fortnight later, Mumbai it was. On Valentine’s Day, I land in Mumbai. Oh, Ya, Good way to celebrate it, isn’t it? In my case, it was the best possible way to ward off the feelings from my previous relationship.

The next day, while he had some work to finish, I took this opportunity to meet Keith, a good friend from my undergrad days. We chatted after a long time.

Post Lunch, Pradeep and I were back for some Quizzing action. Bang bang, we were right on target from the go. We topped the prelims by miles, and it felt right for us in the finals. We earned it! Delhi episode was just a blur.

The form continued in the finals as we thrashed everyone by a 130-point margin. It was ruthless, felt for a while, as to why I idolise Sachin, Schumacher, and Sampras. It was for kicks for being sheer ruthless, not quite the way that undermines others, though. It was a point to prove for ourselves. To restore our pride, in some way, lost dignity. It was all in our minds.

“How about the All India Motorsports quiz?” – Pradeep
I said – “Let’s do it, mate.”

While I sat on a late-night flight to Bangalore from Mumbai, I wondered, Can we repeat this?

Let’s see, for the moment I was looking forward to my trip to Rajasthan.

Countdown to the D-day Part II

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Few hours from the moment I landed in Bangalore, I knew I have to come back again. My mother and I were all excited about the trip. First Stop – Jaipur, I was on a nonstop flight travels much to my liking in the past few weeks, and I had more to go.

We rested the night of the 16th before heading out for a city visit around Jaipur. The places we visited include Pink City, Hawa Mahal, City Palace, the Bhool Bulaiya Place, and the ‘Rang de Basanti’ place.

I appreciate my mom for giving me as a company. At that moment, she was the only one who could tolerate my silence and a sense of awkward behavior without asking why I am behaving the same.

Later that night, we went to Choki Dani – traditional Rajasthani village, Sawai Man Singh Cricket stadium and did a lot of shopping for my sister, cousins, and few friends. What about me?

And during this time, I went in search of oxidised bangles for a friend. Little I realised that time, I was being fooled, and she told me a year after when I finally managed to give it to her. Rajan, this isn’t oxidised bangles. Gosh, what’s wrong with her!!!

The next day, the flight to Jaisalmer was exhilarating. It was on an ATR, top of Pokhran desert, we manage to land on the Air force base. Jaisalmer has no airport, and we had strict Air force people taking us to the nearest stop point.

One of the officers showed me the area which was bombarded during the Kargil war in 1999. We relaxed for a while at the hotel before setting out to see the Thar Desert.

It was a hot afternoon; I had my jacket to protect myself from heat. We went on a jeep.

I had this fascination to ride on a camel’s back, and the driver took me to the place.

My mom wasn’t interested, so she went in the jeep and relaxed a few miles ahead in a caravan. Oh man, it’s an experience riding on a camel’s back. It’s so scary at times, because of the height.

It’s a pleasant feeling when it is sauntering, but we had to cover a lot of distance. It was like a movie, a deserted place, just me, the camel, and the camel owner.

When the camel is ambling at speed, the jerky movements are not pleasant for a newcomer like me.

Finally, I was all alone in a desert. I sat for a long time, wondering, all my life, especially the past year. A time, just for me.

And I cannot quite express how it feels to see no one for a long distance. I was alone, not lonely, though. I sensed a feeling of change in the way I looked at things. I knew the experience was worth a million dollars.

Actually, it’s priceless.

I always dreamt of the desert in my childhood. I am happy; I ticked one of the dreams off my list. Sunset was a sight to watch.

The next day, I visited on my own to Jaisalmer palace and other parts as my mom was not able to walk long distances and climb steps. Later that evening, we headed to Udaipur.

One of the reasons for the visit was to attend the wedding of Mun-Mun. She became a friend of mine during my last trip to Udaipur in 2006; she also happens to be my best buddy’s sister. I met their family, and the next two days, we went about having loads of fun.

My other buddy, Anmol, joined us too. It was hilarious. I had a chance to go to Lake Palace once again, City Palace, and other places. I (a Bangalorean) was the guide of Udaipur for Anmol and Mom.

I vividly remember the streets in Udaipur. The food was something out of this world. Overall, I was happy I managed to see all my college project mates in a few days. It started with Keith in Mumbai, and here in Udaipur, it was Anmol and Raj. Ahemadabad being close to Udaipur, I had decided earlier to drive down there from Udaipur. It was close to five hours to go by cab.

We took a flight to Bangalore, and that culminated our trip to Rajasthan.

It was five days, five flights, yet we managed to cover the places I had dreamt of. My mom was happy to see me back to my usual self at the end of this trip. I just got to know her a touch better. I owe this change in me to her.

Ok, excellent rejuvenation, here I was ready for Times Speed Quiz, India’s first Motorsports quiz.