Joel Schumacher (1939-2020)

Joel Schumacher, the director of such films as The Lost Boys, Falling Down, and Flatliners, died yesterday at the age of 80. Schumacher had an eclectic career that began in the fashion industry, where he discovered his passion for filmmaking. His first foray in to movies was as a costume designer for films including Woody Allen's Sleeper (1973) and Interiors (1978). He wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of the Broadway musical The Wiz (1978) before making his film debut with The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981), starring Lily Tomlin.   

Schumacher would go on to the direct one of the seminal "Brat Pack" films, St. Elmo's Fire (1985), as well as the provocative Falling Down (1993), featuring one of Michael Douglas' best performances. But Schumacher's career was often overshadowed by his contribution to the Batman franchise. Warner Bros. decided to take the series in a lighter direction after Tim Burton's Batman Returns (1992) was criticized for being too dark and grotesque. Schumacher was brought on as director due to him directing several successful films for the studios. 

Batman Forever (1995) was a commercial success and a sequel was fast-tracked. Batman & Robin (1997) doubled down on the camp and is seen as one of the worst comic-book films ever made. I'll defend Batman Forever as having good elements, including Val Kilmer as Bruce Wayne/Batman and his relationship with Dick Grayson (Chris O'Donnell). It was the ideal Batman film for kids, the one I grew up with and for which I still have a soft spot.

Schumacher's name became synonymous with "campy superhero" films. However, looking at the rest of Schunacher's filmography, it is filled with films about racism, rage against society, snuff films, and the Vietnam War. Schumacher made mid-budget, adult-skewing dramas- the anti-thesis of superhero blockbuster culture, and films are increasingly hard to get made in Hollywood. And his Batman films are amongst the most directorially distinct of the sub-genre.  

Schumacher was also unique in that he was an openly gay man directing major Hollywood films, and his Batman films have been viewed through a Queer lens. His 1999 film Flawless also dealt with homosexuality and transgenderism. In the film Philip Seymour Hoffman plays a gay man helping the homophobic security guard played by Robert De Niro recover from a stroke.  

Schumacher also directed Phone Booth, a very good one-location thriller starring Colin Farrell as man held hostage in one of the last phone booths in New York City.

So, what's your favourite Joel Schumacher film? How do you feel about his Batman films? Comment and let me know.

Performances I Love: Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda in "The Lady Eve" (1941)

Spoilers for the film  below

Acting is often about having the right balance. Go too far one way, you can become too campy, too far the other way, too serious. And when actors play off each other they have to be in perfect sync with one another- like a duet. Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda perform one of the great romantic comedy duets in Preston Sturges' The Lady Eve, his third film and my favourite of his. In their second pairing- after 1938's The Mad Miss Manton- Stanwyck and Fonda's combination of con-woman and klutz make for an endearing and quite sexy pair.

Stanwyck plays a con artist named Jean Harrignton, partners with her father (Charles Coburn). whose latest target is Charles Pike (Fonda), the heir to a brewery fortune. Jean and Charles ends up falling in love and plan to get married, which complicates the scheme, to say the least. Charles discovers Jean's true identity, calling off their engagement. Jean wants to get back at Charles so she pretends to be the British Lady Eve Sadwich. Charles believes Eve looks too much like Jean to be her, though his valet Muggsy (William Demarest) isn't fooled.

About 10 minutes in to the film, in an unbroken shot, Stanwyck caresses Fonda's face and plays with his hair for several minutes in what I think is one of the sexiest scenes ever put to screen. Fonda never looks at Stanwyck during this. He stares straight ahead, almost lost in another world. He's intoxicated by her/  Before movies could really show sex, the implication of sex was a very powerful thing. The scene exemplifies the film's perfect combination of comedy and sensuality. 

And speaking of comedy, Fonda has to be both the straight man while also performing most of the film's physical comedy. This could result in an inconsistent performance but Fonda deftly never plays Charles' pratfalls too broadly, allowing him still to be the straight man in the centre of this farce. Moreover, Charles is gullible but his reasoning for believing Eve isn't Jean- why wouldn't she disguise herself?- makes sense in the context of this movie's universe.   

Stanwyck plays Jean as mischievous rather than outright cruel. She pretends at wanting vengeance for being scorned by Charles but she really wants him back. In the scene when Charles breaks off the engagement Stanwyck reveals Jean's vulnerability as well as her bitterness at being caught. She jokes about the "rotten likeness" of her picture. Jean then attempts to convince Charles she was going to tell him the truth before they were married. Charles lies and says he knew from the start who she was,  which reveals how bitter he is. Stanwyck and Fonda play this scene beautifully. They know this is the centre of the film, and has to give weight to Jean and Charles' relationship. Without the necessary poignancy, the audience won't desire them getting back together.  

Stanwyck and Fonda didn't receive Oscar nominations for their performances and I'd argue those are two of the biggest acting omissions in the Oscars' history. They would team one more time-the same year- in You Belong To Me but The Lady Eve is their most remembered work together. It's a wonderful duet.