Eight great all-American movies for the Fourth

"Yankee Doodle Dandy." (Courtesy photo)

American movies began lighting screen fireworks even in silent days. Maybe the first was “The Organ Grinder’s Fourth of July” in 1900. Fifteen years later, D.W. Griffith really put American history on the movie map with “The Birth of a Nation,” though with a racial slant that leaves it off our list of films worth viewing for the Fourth of July.

Consider these a bonus for the holiday, each a proven vote-getter in the long campaign to remind us of our roots, values and history. All are out on DVD.

1. “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” (1939) — Only Sen. Jefferson Smith (James Stewart) can keep America on course, with help from a marble Lincoln and the opposition of a sell-out senator (Claude Rains) with marble-like hair. Jean Arthur is the Capitol Hill cynic who sees the ideal light in Jeff’s eyes, especially when he stages a filibuster that rallies the youth of America. It’s all Capra, every moment.

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2. “Young Mr. Lincoln” (1939) — Henry Fonda had a landmark role as young Abe, a country lawyer whose canny ways hint broadly but not brazenly of coming greatness. He loses his first love, yet wins his first really important trial. With a clean, stripped style, John Ford directed around most of the mush traps. Only Raymond Massey had similar classic impact in “Abe Lincoln in Illinois” (alas, hard to find).

3. “The Grapes of Wrath” (1940) — Ford’s film of the then-new Steinbeck novel about Depression “Okies” and their migration west, superbly shot by Gregg Toland, has early Dust Bowl and road trip scenes it could not match later. Despite a sag over halfway through, it rebounds with the heart-rending departure of radicalized Tom (perfectly cast Henry Fonda) from stoical Ma Joad (Jane Darwell). The New Deal values and hardships have a revived echo in 2009.

4. “Yankee Doodle Dandy” (1942) — James Cagney in his early forties was the cockiest Irish rooster on film. His hamming and hoofing as George M. Cohan still defines show-biz Americana that loves theater, girls, songs and the Red, White and Blue. This ear of corn pops our eyes and ears, never more sweetly than in “Mary.”

5. “1776″ (1972) — The modest Broadway hit became an effective, pre-Bicentennial movie about the Founding Fathers, singing their argumentative way to the Declaration of Independence. OK, the songs are not fabulous, but they tap into great issues and some silly stuff doesn’t hurt the central seriousness. The fine, patriotic cast includes William Daniels, Howard Da Silva, Ken Howard and lovely Blythe Danner, who should have gone on to a much bigger movie career.

6. “Glory” (1989) — The Civil War saga of the Massachusetts 54^th Regiment of black volunteers is commemorated by a great statue, but Ed Zwick’s salute breaks through statuary. Everyone is alive and at risk, right through a fairly suicidal charge down South. Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman are two new soldiers learning the hard way, and Matthew Broderick is their leader, James Gould Shaw. It’s a black story, yet Broderick may be the most moving young commander on film.

7. “Avalon” (1990) — Drawing on family history, Barry Levinson starts this story of a Polish-Jewish clan shaping their new 20^th century life in Baltimore on the Fourth, and then spins out a loamy, funny, intimate history. Vivid dialog and images sustain many struggles and kvetches for Aidan Quinn, Kevin Pollak, Lou Jacobi, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Elizabeth Perkins, and also young Elijah Wood. The climax is a tremendous fire shot as a personalized Fourth.

8. “The Last of the Mohicans” (1992) — Before the Revolution there were the French and Indian Wars, bloody and now mostly forgotten. Michael Mann’s violent and brilliantly staged film of the Fenimore Cooper novel brings the history back. Nathaniel “Hawkeye” Poe is given exhilarating physical force by Daniel Day-Lewis, with Wes Studi as the toughest brave and Madeline Stowe leading the females who didn’t just cling to their men.

With these film fireworks, you won’t get burned. Enjoy them!

David Elliott is the SDNN movie critic.

Tags: 1776 movie, Avalon, Barry Levinson, Daniel Day-Lewis, Denzel Washington, Fourth of July movies, Glory, Henry Fonda, James Cagney, James Stewart, Jane Darwell, Matthew Broderick, movies July 4, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, SDNN, The Grapes of Wrath, The Last of the Mohicans, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Young Mr. Lincoln

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 27th, 2009 at 11:46 pm and is filed under 8 great, Arts & Entertainment, Movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.