ALL SCI-FI

Pow · Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2021 1:57 pm Post subject: Keeper of the Flame (1943)

"Keeper of the Flame" was released on January 28, 1943 by M-G-M Studios and directed by George Cukor.

It was based upon the novel by I.A.R. Wylie. The screenplay was written by David Ogden Stewart.

On a rainy night, national and beloved hero Robert Forrest is killed when he drives his car over a small country bridge that has collapsed. America goes into mourning.

Admirer and renowned journalist Stephen O'Malley (Spencer Tracy) plans to write a biography on Forrest.

O'Malley finds that Forrest's widow Christine (Katherine Hepburn) refuses to speak to any press about her late husband.

Eventually O'Malley is able to meet Christine who reveals to him that her husband was anything but a hero.

I found this movie fascinating. Part film noir and part gothic mystery it has a message that still rings true even 78 years later.

The excellent cast is lead by the legendary Tracy & Hepburn.

Watching O'Malley unravel the truth about Robert Forrest is compelling. The final denouement about Forrest as told by his widow Christine in a cabin in the woods on the Forrest estate is dynamic and startling.

Bud Brewster · Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2021 11:59 am Post subject:

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I've seen this movie twice on TCM, and it does indeed have a chilling message as true today as when it was made, smack in the middle of WWII.

The idea that millions of people could be mislead by lies, half-truths, and blatant propaganda has a relevance today that many folks refuse to accept . . . unfortunately. Sad

Pow · Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2021 3:15 pm Post subject:

Yeah, I always felt that this gem of a movie is greatly under-appreciated. Perhaps because fans wanted to see Tracy & Hepburn in more lighthearted comedic fare back then such as their Adam's Rib or Pat and Mike films. I dunno.

It was reported that Forrest was based upon aviator Charles Lindburgh due to his early pro-Nazi stance prior to WWII.

A Face In the Crowd & The Great Man are also terrific films with the theme being about a beloved public persona in the media who were not outstanding human beings in spite of their reputations.

AFITC was supposedly based upon Arthur Godfrey while TGM was based upon Walter Winchell.

Both of those men had enormous success in their careers and huge adulation by the public. Both took big falls when their true natures became known. They never could attain the phenomenal popularity they once possessed.

Absolute power...