Aug 5, 2022
For this Fox 1940 episode, we look at a couple of films with the same director (Henry Hathaway), same cinematographer (Arthur Miller), and same nominal star (Tyrone Power), but radically different stories. Brigham Young tells the story of the persecution of the Mormons and their journey westward from Illinois to the Great Salt Lake, recasting this American epic as an implicit anti-Nazi tale with progressive values. Then we shift from Fox's traditional sophisticated "rural" storytelling to their new urban focus with the crime drama Johnny Apollo, which casts a cool eye on the American system in this moment of transition from Great Depression to WWII.
Time Codes:
0h 01m 00s: BRIGHAM YOUNG [dir. Henry Hathaway]
0h 42m 50s: JOHNNY APOLLO [dir. Henry Hathaway]
Studio Film Capsules provided by The Films of 20th Century Fox by Tony Thomas & Aubrey Solomon
Additional studio information from: The Hollywood Story by Joel W. Finler
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* Marvel at our meticulously ridiculous Complete Viewing Schedule for the 2020s
* Intro Song: “Sunday” by Jean Goldkette Orchestra with the Keller Sisters (courtesy of The Internet Archive)
* Read Elise’s latest film piece on Preston Sturges, Unfaithfully Yours, and the Narrative role of comedic scapegoating.
* Check out Dave’s new Robert Benchley blog – an attempt to annotate and reflect upon as many of the master humorist’s 2000+ pieces as he can locate – Benchley Data: A Wayward Annotation Project!
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