In the cinema of the late 40s and 50s, you can see Hollywood in conflict between old and new. You still had the crusty old producers who had been around since the beginning and directors who cut their teeth in the silent days, but you also had up-and-comers who wanted to tear up the rulebook and do things their way. Although they sometimes had to give ground to the new generation out of practicality, the studios weren't yet ready to give these young sprouts free reign, and to be fair few of these young filmmakers weren't yet ready to take it.
The Men was the first collaboration between writer Carl Foreman, producer Stanley Kramer and director Fred Zinnemann. The production does have the feel of a new and relatively young team, being idealistic, earnest and a little naïve. Foreman's screenplay is sensitive, poignant and tightly structured, but it falls short when it comes to convincing dialogue and deep characterisation. It's a best-intentions story, one that probably came a little too late for the zeitgeist of post-war adjustment pictures. After all, it doesn't really say much that hadn't already been said more eloquently in Best Years of Our Lives.
The strongest link of the creative team is Zinnemann, who was also the most experienced. People often make reference with these pictures to Zinnemann's background in the documentary unit at MGM, but for the wrong reasons. In spite of his seemingly getting pigeonholed as a director of topical pictures, he didn't take the rough, journalistic approach of the neo-realists. Those MGM miniatures he used to make were largely made up of reconstructions, and relied upon the director's ability to fake real events. And, perhaps surprisingly the aim was not always to be totally realistic – it was more important to give an impression of a real place and situation. Consequently, Zinnemann always takes care over background detail and extras – for example the earliest shots in the hospital ward bustle with activity and are cluttered with medical paraphernalia.
But Zinnemann was also developing as a dramatic director. Zinnemann's earliest pictures were sometimes spoiled by their being overly technical; he would use space and lighting to saturate a scene in a particular mood, which again is a documentary technique. Now however he does the same thing to help define the story. Those very busy shot compositions in the hospital are great for setting the scene, but at key moments Zinnemann carefully chooses his angles so that characters are framed against simpler backgrounds. As the story begins to develop he increasingly uses low-level lighting and keeps fewer people in the shot at a time, to literally bring the characters out of the mass.
By far the best thing though about The Men is the presence of Marlon Brando in the lead role. Yes, his acting is very modern, arguably groundbreaking, but what is most astonishing is how confident, how seamless his performance is for such a young and inexperienced player. What is great about it is that he is playing the kind of man who does not like expressing his emotions, yet is going through a heart-wrenching ordeal, and in line with that he conveys depths of emotion with incredible subtlety and restraint. Unfortunately Brando is in constant competition with the musical score, which is overly emotive and annoyingly conspicuous, even by the standards of the day.
Brando may have begun his film career with a first-class performance, but the weakness of the script and the general uncertainty of the whole production meant he didn't get the attention and Oscar nods until his appearance in A Streetcar Named Desire the following year. The Men has many great elements, but overall has the feeling of a student production, made by people who need to spend a few more years studying.
The Men was the first collaboration between writer Carl Foreman, producer Stanley Kramer and director Fred Zinnemann. The production does have the feel of a new and relatively young team, being idealistic, earnest and a little naïve. Foreman's screenplay is sensitive, poignant and tightly structured, but it falls short when it comes to convincing dialogue and deep characterisation. It's a best-intentions story, one that probably came a little too late for the zeitgeist of post-war adjustment pictures. After all, it doesn't really say much that hadn't already been said more eloquently in Best Years of Our Lives.
The strongest link of the creative team is Zinnemann, who was also the most experienced. People often make reference with these pictures to Zinnemann's background in the documentary unit at MGM, but for the wrong reasons. In spite of his seemingly getting pigeonholed as a director of topical pictures, he didn't take the rough, journalistic approach of the neo-realists. Those MGM miniatures he used to make were largely made up of reconstructions, and relied upon the director's ability to fake real events. And, perhaps surprisingly the aim was not always to be totally realistic – it was more important to give an impression of a real place and situation. Consequently, Zinnemann always takes care over background detail and extras – for example the earliest shots in the hospital ward bustle with activity and are cluttered with medical paraphernalia.
But Zinnemann was also developing as a dramatic director. Zinnemann's earliest pictures were sometimes spoiled by their being overly technical; he would use space and lighting to saturate a scene in a particular mood, which again is a documentary technique. Now however he does the same thing to help define the story. Those very busy shot compositions in the hospital are great for setting the scene, but at key moments Zinnemann carefully chooses his angles so that characters are framed against simpler backgrounds. As the story begins to develop he increasingly uses low-level lighting and keeps fewer people in the shot at a time, to literally bring the characters out of the mass.
By far the best thing though about The Men is the presence of Marlon Brando in the lead role. Yes, his acting is very modern, arguably groundbreaking, but what is most astonishing is how confident, how seamless his performance is for such a young and inexperienced player. What is great about it is that he is playing the kind of man who does not like expressing his emotions, yet is going through a heart-wrenching ordeal, and in line with that he conveys depths of emotion with incredible subtlety and restraint. Unfortunately Brando is in constant competition with the musical score, which is overly emotive and annoyingly conspicuous, even by the standards of the day.
Brando may have begun his film career with a first-class performance, but the weakness of the script and the general uncertainty of the whole production meant he didn't get the attention and Oscar nods until his appearance in A Streetcar Named Desire the following year. The Men has many great elements, but overall has the feeling of a student production, made by people who need to spend a few more years studying.