Ten films I recommend for Labor Day viewing, in no particular order:
On the Waterfront (1954)- was Director Elia Kazan’s response to the criticism he received for naming names before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1952. It was also a masterful examination of mob control of Longshoremen’s unions that made life on the docks a living hell for the average longshoreman.
Guns for San Sebastian (1968) is a forgotten masterpiece in which Anthony Quinn, as an outlaw pretending to be a priest, saves a village of hardworking peasants from outlaws and Yaqui Indians. Unexpectedly profound for what is basically a Spaghetti Western filmed in Mexico.
Lilies of the Field (1963). The film was based on William Edmund Barrett’s novel of the same name which was inspired by his admiration for the Benedictine Sisters of Saint Walburga in Colorado. Sidney Poitier gives the performance of his career as a man who catches the zeal of the Mother Superior to build a chapel.
Witness (1985)-For Hollywood a good look at the Amish who in many ways live lives of ora et labora.
The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)- One of the great aviation films. Starring Jimmy Stewart, the film tells the harrowing tale of a plane forced down in the Libyan desert due to the engines becoming clogged by a sandstorm. Featuring an all star cast, Stewart is perfect in the role of the veteran pilot Frank Towns. An aviator for decades, Stewart rose from private to full Colonel in the Army Air Forces during World War II, leading bombing raids in Europe. He would stay in the Air Force reserves until 1968, rising to the rank of Brigadier General. In the film he represents the generation of aviation pioneers, beginning to die out. In 1965, it was only 62 years since Kitty-hawk, and pilots were still alive who had received their licenses from the Wright brothers.
His antagonist in the film is unemotional, albeit abrasive, German Heinrich Dorfmann (Hardy Kruger), a passenger on the flight, who hits upon the idea of cannibalizing remnants of the plane to build a new one, and using it to fly their way out of the desert before they die of thirst. A designer of planes, only late in the film is it revealed that he is a designer of model powered planes, Kruger and Stewart engage in a battle between knowledge gained in books and experience gained over decades of flying. Stewart opines at one point that the Earth is going to be inherited by the men like Kruger with their slide rules, yes the film is that old, and their computers. What the film illustrates well is that both knowledge and experience are crucial in making the plan work, along with the hard work of the surviving passengers. Tales of men, in exotic locales, triumphing over adversity is as old as The Odyssey , and the film is a nail biter which I highly recommend.
The Magnificent Seven (1960)-A film inspired by Akira Kurosawa”s Seven Samurai, it is the tale of seven gunfighters who protect a Mexican village. Charles Bronson gives an eloquent salute to the hardworking fathers of the village in the above scene.
Modern Times (1936)-Charlie Chaplin’s hilarious take on the plight of workers in the midst of the Great Depression.
Cool Hand Luke (1967)-A masterpiece that works on many levels, the film has special significance to anyone who has done hard physical labor in broiling weather.
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)-Colonel Nicholson, unforgettably portrayed by Alec Guiness, in The Bridge On the River Kwai, is a fascinating character. Fearless, beloved by his men, he is in many ways an admirable, even heroic, man. However, by agreeing to efficiently build the bridge that can only aid the Japanese war effort, after he wins his battle that his officers will not do manual labor but will lead their men, he betrays the whole reason for his men and him being in the British Army. Focusing on relatively minor things while forgetting the whole purpose of an organization always leads to disaster.
The Cowboys (1972)-Boys become men on a cattle drive under the tutelage of their hard bitten boss with a heart of gold. Perhaps the best of the late John Wayne films.
I always enjoy your weekend recommendations, Donald … Thanks!
I believe I would have to add “The Shootist” to the list. It was the story of how a real man faces the certainty of his coming end. A case of art imitating life as most fans did not realize at the time that John Wayne has less than a year to live.
Lilies, Magnificent Seven, and Kwai are three of my “remote drop” movies. Guinness’ Nicholson is the epitome of how human pride often plays out – the attempt to impose one’s own order in a chaotic environment leads to downfall.
The shocked “what have I done?” he says is how I imagine how Adam and Eve would have reacted when everything went to hell after eating the fruit in Eden.
Kwai is a very interesting movie. Initially we are led to believe that the Colonel is the hero, with his defiance no matter the consequences to himself. At the end we realize that, unwittingly, he has fallen into the role of collaborator.
I love “The Cowboys”. A few years ago I worked in the hospital, and I went in one day to spend time with an elderly patient who needed someone to be with him 24/7 because of his dementia. We watched Cowboys, and it was the only time he ever sat still for that long. I personally had never seen the movie and greatly enjoyed it myself.
The Shootist was filmed over the period running from 13 January to 5 April, 1976. Wayne was discovered to have stomach cancer in January of 1979.