Monday was Groundhog Day, the quirky winter holiday that’s also synonymous with Bill Murray, timeloops and Sonny and Cher. In honour of Phil Connors’ endlessly repeating day, here are a few films which prove just how much can happen in twenty four hours.
On the Town (1949) “There’s just one thing necessary in Manhattan/ When you’ve got just one day/ Gotta pick up a date/ Maybe seven or eight on your way/ In just one day!” Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munshin play sailors on twenty-four hours’ shore leave who discover that New York really is a wonderful town, and find love and mayhem along the way. If ever a musical embodied the spirit of a city, it’s this one. Kelly (who co-directed the film with Stanley Donen) insisted that at least part of it be shot in New York, making it the first musical feature film to be shot on location. From the exuberant opening number—breezing through Central Park and past the fountain at Rockefeller Centre—to the last act romp through Coney Island, On the Town is a paean to New York City that will leave you longing for your own jaunt through the Big Apple.
High Noon (1952) One of the finest westerns ever made. Gary Cooper won the second of his two Oscars for his performance as Will Kane, a town marshal about to retire and settle down with his new wife (Grace Kelly) when he receives bad news: Frank Miller, a notorious criminal he helped put away, has been freed and is due to arrive on the noon train. The townsfolk know Miller is out for revenge and Will asks them for help. When they all refuse, he decides to stand and fight alone. High Noon takes place in almost real time, with a narrative as tightly wound as the clocks we see all over town. The brief sequence set just before noon—in which Will calmly writes his will, Miller’s gang prepares to meet him at the station and the townspeople cower in church or the saloon—is a masterpiece of editing, music and performance that never ceases to amaze me.
Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) A one-armed man, John J. Macreedy (Spencer Tracy), arrives in a tiny desert hamlet that’s allergic to strangers. The hotel clerk won’t rent him a room, the garage won’t rent him a car, and the few friendly locals advise him to leave town. Macreedy is asking questions about a Japanese-American farmer named Komoko and the townspeople (Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan and Lee Marvin among them) are determined not to give him any answers. Director John Sturges builds tension slowly, methodically, relentlessly, until the film feels as taut as piano wire, and Tracy uncovers an ugly truth that’s startling to see in a film made only a decade after World War Two.
12 Angry Men (1957) The courtroom drama that spawned a thousand imitations. Twelve jurors are tasked with deciding the fate of a young man on trial for murder. They all think he’s guilty, save one. Henry Fonda (who also produced the film) leads an all-star cast of character actors as Juror 8, the lone holdout who forces his peers to set aside their prejudices and look again. The film examines issues like justice, bigotry and complacency with a clarity that is sometimes discomfiting. We all hope that we would have the courage to be Juror 8—but few of us are sure.
Dog Day Afternoon (1975) Sidney Lumet’s raw portrait of frustration and despair, based on real events. On the hottest day of the year, Sonny Wortzik (Al Pacino) and his friend Sal Naturale (John Cazale) hold up the First Brooklyn Savings Bank. What should have been a quick robbery escalates into an hours-long siege, stoked by a media circus and a hungry crowd. Sonny and Sal are astonishingly amateurish and, despite the danger they put their hostages in, strangely sympathetic. When the police try to intimidate Sonny, he paces back and forth like a cornered animal, yelling “Attica! Attica!” (a reference to the excessive force police used in response to the 1971 Attica Prison riots) while the crowd roars its approval. It’s Sonny at his most cocksure, and most pathetic.
It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) ‘Smiler’ Grogan (Jimmy Durante), an old robber just out of jail, accidentally drives his car over a cliff. Before he dies, he tells the motley gaggle of bystanders where he buried his loot. Concern for the dead man quickly fades as the strangers realize they all have good reasons to get to his treasure first—$350,000 worth of reasons to be exact. The stampede that follows stars a Who’s Who of comedy including (deep breath) Mickey Rooney, Sid Caesar, Ethel Merman, Terry-Thomas, Phil Silvers and Jonathan Winters, as well as Peter Falk, Joe E. Brown and Edward Everett Horton, with cameos by Buster Keaton, Jack Benny, Jerry Lewis, Carl Reiner, Zasu Pitts and the Three Stooges. Spencer Tracy stands well back and watches the chaos unfold. The Saul Bass title sequence is worth the price of admission alone.
Murder by Death (1976) and Clue (1985) Two zany whodunits for the price of one. Guests arrive for a fancy dinner party at an isolated house, only to be saddled with a murder to solve. One film skewers famous detectives (Hercules Poirot, Miss Marple, Nick and Nora Charles); the other, the beloved board game. Both are uproarious fun. Was it Colonel Mustard, in the library, with the revolver? Dick and Dora Charleston are on the case!
The Breakfast Club (1985) The quintessential high school movie. A brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal share Saturday detention together and realize they have more in common than they thought. Writer-director John Hughes captures the insecurities, foibles and raw desire to understand and be understood that mark teenage life, without once mocking his characters. Watching it for the first time, I had the rare feeling that a film was speaking directly to me. The poster remains a fixture of college dorm rooms (including mine) for a reason: Hughes didn’t just make films about teenagers, he made films for them.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” High school senior Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) jumps in a classic Ferrari and takes his best friend (Alan Ruck) and girlfriend (Mia Sara) on a joy ride through the Windy City that they’ll remember for the rest of their lives. Everyone ought to have a day like this one.
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