Christmas 2019: December 5th

Three Godfathers (1936)

Never let anyone tell you that Hollywood makes too many remakes or sequels nowadays. Anyone with a proper grip of cinematic history understands that the golden age of Hollywood, the thirties and forties, ran on sequels. They also know that filmmakers have been remaking other movies since pretty much the beginning of filmmaking. Some well regarded classics are, in fact, remakes. Look at John Ford's classic Christmas Western, 1948's “3 Godfathers.” That is actually the sixth film based on that story. It followed three silent versions, a sound adaptation in 1930 under a different title, and another sound version under the proper title merely six years later. Probably because I'm weird, I decided to watch that particular take on “Three Godfathers” this December.

Four outlaws ride into the South-Western town of New Jerusalem, a week before Christmas. They are the black-hearted Bob, the illiterate Gus, the scholarly but ill Doc, and troubadour Pedro. They rob the local bank, Bob senselessly killing the teller and Pedro being gunned down. The three survivors ride into the desert, on the run. At the first watering hole, they discover a sickly woman and her baby. After she dies, the three men take the child with them as they begin the long journey through the desert to the nearest town. After their horses drink from a poisoned well, they continue onward on foot.

“Three Godfathers” swings wildly between two different tones. The first half-hour is largely concerned with light-hearted humor. The character of Gus provides a lot of comic relief, especially when compared to the erudite Doc. The outlaws are invited to the town's before-Christmas feast, which includes a cute scene of Gus slicing the florets off some asparagus spears. Or the odd practices of the town dentist. Yet even this amusing, laid-back beginning has its grim touches. Such as Bob's decision to murder the bank teller, strictly because he's that big of a bastard. Earlier, he menaces an ex-girlfriend of his, who is marrying another man soon. While there's humor and Christmas atmosphere in “Three Godfathers'” first half, dark things are ahead.

This proves true after the trio head into the desert. At that point, “Three Godfathers” becomes a surprisingly grim survival drama. It seems every watering hole the men come across on their trek is poisoned. Their canteens soon run empty. The sun beats down, the film focusing on the flatness of the land and the sweat on their foreheads. The audience truly feels the heat of the desert sun, the men's growing exhaustion. “Three Godfathers” shockingly never backs away from the hopelessness of their situation. Even in this dire situation, the film finds room for moments of touching humanity. Such as when Doc, realizing the end of his life is near, asks Gus to hand him his copy of “MacBeth,” the other man unable to read the covers. Or Gus similarly awakening in the middle of the night and recite a Bible verse he recalls from his childhood.

What makes “Three Godfather” even more endearing are the likable performances at its center. Its surprising how unforgiving Chester Morris is as Bob. He makes no attempt, at first anyway, to play the character as anything but a total bastard. It takes quite a while for his heart to defrost, making his eventual redemption seem totally earned. Lewis Stone as Doc is effective at hiding his inner pain while projecting a caring and intelligent exterior. Walter Brennan, who would win an Oscar the same year for “Come and Get It,” is utterly charming as the child-like Gus. Honestly, both characters are so sweet that you wonder what they are doing hanging out with a scumbag like Bob.

“Three Godfathers'” holiday elements might seem on the margins. After all, this is probably not the holiday you associate with desert heat and Western outlaws. Yet the Christmas feast features  a man dressed as Santa, some garland, and the singing of carols. Moreover, the film's themes of forgiveness and innocence speak to the deeper meaning of the holiday. Naturally, there's a reference to the Three Wise Men as well. While the John Ford version from the next decade is more widely regarded – I guess I'll review that one next December – I have to say the 1936 take is very strong itself. It'll be hard for a remake to top its grimness and sincerity. [7/10]

Pinocchio’s Christmas (1980)

As I've mentioned before, after their iconic successes in the sixties and seventies, Rankin/Bass kept making Christmas specials. And as the eighties dawned, the company was clearly starting to run out of ideas. Which brings us to “Pinocchio's Christmas.” Carlo Lorenzini's iconic little puppet boy and his dad Geppetto are getting ready to celebrate Christmas. Pinocchio receives an arithmetic book and, disappointed, turns around and sells it to earn money to buy a gift for his dad. He soon encounters the traitorous Fox and Cat, who hoodwink the boy in various ways. A convoluted series of events follow that include Pinocchio working in a marionette show, falling in love with an inanimate puppet, fleeing into a haunted forest, meeting a talking cricket and a blue-haired fairy, being sold to a local nobleman and given to his kids as a Christmas gift, and eventually meeting Santa Claus.

As I've previously discussed, the plots for the Rankin/Bass' holiday specials are frequently bizarre, winding affairs. “Pinocchio's Christmas” makes a typically random yuletide plot even more ridiculous by attempting to also adapt Lorenzini's book. (Which had a highly episodic plot to begin with.) The result is one of the most rambling Rankin/Bass specials yet. By throwing in well-known episodes from the “Pinocchio” story – such as a villainous puppet master, two animal swindlers, and appearances from Jimminy Cricket and the Blue Fairy – in addition to a typical Christmas-y message about the power of love and gift giving, the special just becomes a series of events that are happening around to Pinocchio. There's no forward momentum to the plot at all. It's just one dumb thing after another.

Then again, criticizing a Rankin/Bass special for its lack of narrative fortitude is really a fool's errand anyway. These things have always floated by on their likable characters, catchy songs, Christmas atmosphere, and charmingly lo-fi animation. “Pinocchio's Christmas” only has that last detail covered. The stop-motion techniques Rankin/Bass employed had gotten pretty fluid by 1980, as far as these things go. Everything else sucks though. Pinocchio's characterization here is closer to the book, where he's a mischievous little asshole. The villains are especially annoying, as the simple-minded Cat speaks in a stoned mumble and the puppet master peppers his speech with annoying geological references. The Christmas elements feel largely disconnected from the living puppet premise, as Pinocchio teaching the nobleman a moral about family and Santa's appearances are shoved hastily into the back end.

The songs, however, are the most grating part of the special. All of Geppeto's numbers, which include a duet with his reflection, are hopelessly sappy. Fox and Cat's big song features, by far, the most painful melody and rhymes I've heard in any of these things. Almost none of the songs contribute to the actual plot, further adding to the meandering story. Just as the special is getting ready to end, a disco-esque number about Pinocchio teaching the toys in Santa's workshop to dance is added. In other words, this is another one strictly for Christmas completest only. I suspect Rankin/Bass was hoping to launch an on-going series of “Pinocchio” specials, as this ends with a postscript featuring other well-known events from the book. (They previously produced a stop-motion Pinocchio show in the sixties and this might've been an attempt to revive that.) [4/10]