Monday, September 27, 2004 11:48 AM CDT
Gregg Toland Day: Charleston honors native-son cinematographer
By DAVE FOPAY, Staff Writer
CHARLESTON -- The patriotic and romanticized visions of World War II didn't keep Gregg Toland from wanting to show another side of the conflict.
Whether it was a movie about the beginning of the war or one about what happened when the war ended, the Oscar-winning cinematographer and Charleston native worked to tell movie audiences things that, maybe, weren't quite so comfortable for them to hear.
That was the basic message of two presenters Saturday in one of several talks about Toland over the two days that made up a symposium of his work. Saturday's sessions took place at the Coles County Historical Society's Dudley House and were briefer than, though similar, to presentations Friday at Eastern Illinois University's Booth Library.
It was part of the Gregg Toland Day festival organized for the 100th anniversary of the birth of the man who filmed such classics as "Citizen Kane" and "The Grapes of Wrath."
Nancy Workman of the English department of Lewis University in the Chicago area talked about "The Best Years of Our Lives," which told the tale of three soldiers' return to their hometown after the war ended. One was a double-amputee, another had been a newlywed when he left for war and came back to an unfaithful wife and the third became an alcoholic.
"The film was thought to be fairly realistic," Workman said. "It didn't romanticize what happened to the veterans."
Film legend Samuel Goldwyn produced the movie, but Toland gave it his signature, she explained, as "he used the camera symbolically" with such features as frequently showing the shadow a military uniform jacket cast while hanging on a door.
"Their military lives always cast shadows on them," she said.
Workman also called the title of the movie "ironic" as it was a possible reference to the veterans' fond memories of being "tested" by the war.
Also Saturday, Kane Click of the EIU communications studies department, talked about "December Seventh," the only movie Toland directed, though the account of the attack on Pearl Harbor ended up "suppressed and severely censored" and without Toland getting credit.
Another film legend, John Ford, headed the military film-producing unit under which Toland made the film. It used a character called Mr. Conscience who questioned Uncle Sam about whether the U.S. should have been prepared for the Japanese attack.
"He asked the audience to draw its own conclusion on whether American was unprepared," Click said.
Toland wanted to use the film as a bridge from cinematography to directing, but after the film was changed he was discouraged and turned against being the "decision person" for his movies, Click added.
Joy Pratte of the Coles County Arts Council said the presentations on Toland's work were probably the best-received part of the festival.
"The talks were great and people were very responsive to them," she said. "All in all, it was a very positive situation and event."
Pratte admitted that she was a little disappointed in the turnout for some of parts of the event, including the showing of "Citizen Kane" and another Toland film, "Wuthering Heights," though more people showed up for the later showings of the movies.
Contact Dave Fopay at dfopay@jg-tc.com or 348-5733.
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