A Medal for Benny

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Movie
Original title A Medal for Benny
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1945
length 77 minutes
Rod
Director Irving Pichel
script Frank Butler ,
Jack Wagner
(additional dialogues)
production Paul Jones
for Paramount Pictures
music Victor Young
camera Lionel Lindon
cut Arthur Schmidt
occupation

A Medal for Benny (German A Medal for Benny ) is an American film drama by Irving Pichel from the year 1945. Dorothy Lamour , Arturo de Córdova and J. Carrol Naish are occupied in the lead roles.

The script goes back to a story by Jack Wagner , who asked his friend John Steinbeck to help him write a script with him and to exert his influence so that the dream of a film adaptation could come true after various Studio bosses had initially rejected his story. It tells the fate of a young man who is driven out by the citizens of his small hometown, joins the army and falls in a battle. Now that he's a war hero, those same citizens pretend they've always valued him.

action

It was 1942 when Joe Morales bought a boat in Pantera, a small Californian fishing village, to make a living because he was planning to marry Lolita Sierra. The small town claims to be a proud city. He borrowed the money for the purchase from Charley Martin. Lolita, however, has already been promised to Benny Martin, Charley's son, who repeatedly caused unrest in Pantera and took the gun from a police officer during an argument, whereupon he was banished from the city. Even if the boat was damaged because it was briefly submerged, Joe Charley Martin still owes the loan amount. Charley insists that he repay the sum because after his son's expulsion he got into financial difficulties himself.

Lolita steadfastly refuses to give in to Joe's advances. Although she hasn't heard from Benny in months, she remains loyal to him. When Joe learns from little Chito, Lolita's brother, that Benny always gave Lolita nice presents, he steals another 25 dollars from Charley, who is all too naive, and buys a dress for Lolita to wear to the city festival. Lolita, who now knows how the purchase came about, declines the gift. During the dance festival, Joe appears with a woman who calls herself Toodles Castro and claims to know Benny well. She is now wearing the dress Joe bought for Lolita and also a ring on her finger that Lolita identifies as her father's wedding ring. She had given it to Benny before he had to leave town. A fight ensues between the women as Joe sneaks away, ashamed. To her surprise, Lolita finds that she feels more about Joe than she'd ever wanted to admit.

In order to be able to pay his rent debts, Charley tries to get a bank loan and even offers his animals as collateral. However, the rude bank clerk refuses his loan application. Charley is just a second-class impoverished citizen to them. To the surprise of the residents of Pantera, the intelligence service reports that Benny Martin from Pantera was killed as a war hero in the Philippines. President Franklin D. Roosevelt awarded him a Medal of Honor for single-handedly killing a hundred Japanese soldiers during the battle.

The Mayor of Pantera visits Charley in person to tell him that Benny is a hero and that the medal will be awarded posthumously by the governor and an army general in a solemn ceremony. The local city council takes the opportunity to use this event to advertise Pantera and gives Charlie a beautiful house because they don't want to show him in his modest home and it should look like Benny comes from the Spanish upper class. When Charley realizes what is going on, however, he refuses to agree to such a farce and so the General presents Benny's father his medal in his real home. In tears, Charley gives a speech to his son and assures that Benny will live on in his and Lolita's heart. Shortly thereafter, Lolita asks Joe to understand her decision not to marry him anytime soon, as that would break Charley's heart. Joe then volunteers for the army.

production

Production notes

Filming lasted from the beginning of June to the end of July 1944.

Hans Dreier , Hal Pereira and Stephen Seymour were responsible for the production design. The costumes were in the hands of Edith Head , while Wally Westmore was responsible for the mask and make-up . Farciot Edouart , Gordon Jennings and Jan Domela were responsible for the visual effects, and W. Wallace Kelley , Paul K. Lerpae , Harry Perry and Irmin Roberts for the photographic effects . George Parrish, Leo Shuken and Philip Wisdom worked in the music field. Rosita Moreno (1907-1993), who embodies the role of Toodles Castro in the film, should not be confused with the actress Rita Moreno (* 1931), who also appeared under the name Rosita Moreno at the beginning of her career. Irving Pichel's film is a variation on Preston Sturges ' comedy film Heil the Victorious Hero (1944).

The foreword to the film says: “Pantera in the spring of 1942 - a small Californian town that pretends to be a proud town. The Paisano-Americans, whose ancestors go back to Indians and Spaniards, live in the old town. Simple, friendly people who have lived here for over a hundred years and made up the original California settlers. This is a story of these people, but especially the story of… A medal for Benny . ”Benny himself is never seen in the film, only the subject of the story told.

publication

The film had its premiere in New York on May 23, 1943, after it had previously been presented to a select audience on April 16, 1945. General publication in the United States was on June 29, 1945. In Mexico, A Medal for Benny was published on November 30, 1945. In 1946 it started in Sweden and Portugal, and in 1947 in Finland and Spain. It was also published in Argentina, Brazil, Italy and Japan.

The working title of the film was Benny's Medal .

reception

criticism

Bosley Crowther was very fond of the film and wrote in the New York Times , the deep and understanding affection of John Steinbeck for little people, especially for those like the warm paisanos of the California coast, shines with tenderness and humor also through this enchanting film, made the paramount from a story by Mr. Steinbeck and Jack Wagner. Indeed, this film shows the inclination of many people towards simple humanity and surely the millions who would see it would open their own hearts through it. Crowther praised Frank Butler's script and the brilliant naturalistic direction that Irving Pichel gave the film and translated into pictures. The performances in the film are exceptional. J. Carrol Naish is heartwarming and vivid in the role of Benny's father, Dorothy Lamour is surprisingly real the virtuous girl. Arturo de Córdova is a beautiful romantic scoundrel and Mikhail Rasumny, one of the Paisano people, is extremely funny. Another testament to the eloquence of the story is that, although Benny does not appear in the film, he is perceived as a fully outlined character and a rare personality.

The Movie & Video Guide called the film an “excellent comedy drama” and Halliwell's Film Guide characterized it as “effective but not memorable”.

Emmanuel Levy wrote on his side that the film honored the contribution of ethnic minorities to the war effort, but from today's perspective it was not only sentimental, but also condescending towards these minorities. Nevertheless, some ideological tensions are shown that are not easily reconciled with it. The film shows how, under the right circumstances, here war, Benny and Joe, two little paisanos who are outsiders in terms of ethnicity and behavior (Joe is a conformist ), would be formed into insiders: into respectable middle-class citizens.

Awards

Academy Awards 1946

Golden Globe Awards 1946

  • Award for J. Carrol Naish in the category "Best Supporting Actor"

Aftermath

Dorothy Lamour appeared on October 15, 1945 on a Lux Radio Theater broadcast on A Medal for Benny .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ A Medal for Benny (1945) see original print information at TCM - Turner Classic Movies (English).
  2. ↑ a b c d A Medal for Benny (1945) Notes at TCM - Turner Classic Movies (English)
  3. ↑ Irving Pichel see page britannica.com (English).
  4. ↑ Bosley Crowther : "A Medal for Benny", Richly Human Drama of "Paisanos", With J. Carrol Naish and D. Lamour, Opens at the Rivoli
    In: The New York Times , May 24, 1945 (English). Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  5. ^ Leonard Maltin : Movie & Video Guide, 1996 edition, p. 844.
  6. ^ Leslie Halliwell : Halliwell's Film Guide, Seventh Edition, New York 1989, p. 665.
  7. ↑ Emmanuel Levy: Medal for Benny, A: Small-Town Movie, Starring J. Carrol Naish and Dorothy Lamour
    see page emannuellevy.com (English). Retrieved February 2, 2020.