During the grueling exam period, I found myself writing bits of a review on this movie I watched a while ago. As the stress grew, so did my review, hence resulting in my longest movie review ever. So, here goes!



A little background

Now, let me just give u a little background of this movie. Newsies actually is Disney's first live-action musical after, I dunno, 10 or 20 years? Whatever it is, the live-action musical genre by the 1990s was extinct, until Disney, in a weird move, decided to revive the genre with a movie about the newsies strike in 1899. Unfortuately, but probably not surprisingly, Newsies was a dud at the box office, and at the time, this was one of the lowest grossing live action movies in Walt Disney studio history. Hence, this also became the very last live-action musical produced by Disney till this day. However, the reason why u are hearing about this today is because surprisingly (and I truly mean it this time), Newsies has since become a cult classic, with fans of the movie demanding a re-release of Newsies in DVD in a special edition and all. As what Amazon.com says, "The film was not well received when first released, but hindsight reveals its charm (and allowed the young target audience to catch up with the picture on video)". So this is why, my friends, u are hearing about this movie from me today.

*** WARNING: major spoilers ahead ***

Now, what is this Newsies about?

"Newises" is the term that the newspaper boys in 19th century New York called themselves, who would pedal newspapers that were released by the newpaper moguls at that time, including those by Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst ("The World" and "The Journal" respectively, if I’m not wrong) on the streets. The story revolves around a group of newsies who worked for Pulitzer, living independent lives free from adult control (most were either runaways or orphans). They were getting by fine until one day, Pulitzer decided to increase the price of his paper. As they decided that they did not want the consumers to bear the increment, they made the newsies bear the cost by having to pay extra for their newspapers. Cos u see, newsies had to buy the newspapers to sell them at a slightly higher price so that they could keep the profits and that was basically how they made a living as newsboys.. However, this price increase by Pulitzer was too much for them, who barely could earn enough to survive. And what's more, they had to absorb the costs of whatever they couldn't sell. As it would be, this decision enraged the boys. Therefore, with one of the charismatic older boys Jack Kelly and fellow newsie and 'advisor', David, the newsies organized a strike against Pulitzer, the first of its kind in American history (a strike organized only by kids and no help from adults!).

Of course, there’s more to the story. The focus of the movie is on Jack Kelly, aka Cowboy, who was basically the one who led the kids in the strike. Played by Christian Bale, Jack is introduced as a charismatic 'older brother' to the kids and who yearned to one day be able to go to Santa Fe and lead a whole new life over there. Then enters David Jacobs (played by David Moscow) and his cute little brother, Les (played by Luke Edwards. And if his picture at IMDB is to be trusted, my my has this boy grown into a hunk *drool*), who became newsies to sustain the family income as their father had been fired by the factory he worked for cos he had suffered an injury and was deemed useless to his employers. Essentially, they represent the characters that made up the working class in New York of the time – poor kids, family unable to care for them, and having to fend for themselves by themselves. In fact, Jack is revealed to be a runaway from the refuge, a jail for kids, after being caught stealing food and later for running away from jail. Anyhow, the 2 became friends and partners in organizing the strike against Pulitzer and the other big shots who thrived on child labour. So together with the other newsies, Jack, David and others faced challenge after challenge, and Jack was even bribed by Pulitzer to stop the strike by offering money and promise of a one-way trip to Santa Fe where he could fulfil his dreams. Will Jack betray the newsies and accept the bribe? Will they succeed eventually?

Well, being a Disney movie, trust me, the ending packs no surprises ;).

The acting

Most of the cast of Newsies were newcomers, except for the adult actors including Bill Pullman and teenager Christian Bale. Nevertheless, the newsies brought in very good performances, very natural and frankly, you could easily picture one of them pedalling newspapers on the streets of 19th century New York. Christian Bale was good as Jack, as usual, very charismatic and very convincing as the outlaw and the streetwise leader who looks towards the freeness of the wild-west in place of a family he never had (I think this is the only movie of his I’ve seen where he actually has that genuinely happy smile on his face for most of his screen time!). He pulled off quite a good New York accent as well, though the way he spoke did remind me of Fronzie from Happy Days. David Moscow’s David is, in comparison, a rather blend character but works well as the brain behind the strike. However, if I were to choose a favourite, I’d probably go for Max Casella, who plays one of the supporting roles as Racetrack Higgins and is totally natural as the ‘smart-ass’, loyal, and witty newsie. Gabriel Damon as Spot Conlon, the small-sized but feisty leader of the Brooklyn newsies, deserves a special mention as well. And I just can’t help but say this – he looks like Leonardo DiCaprio! Wonder what they are doing now?

Basically, it’s a boy’s movie, meaning that the few girls (2 in the main cast, to be exact – Medda and Sarah, Jack’s love interest) and the adults didn’t have much to do, really. Bill Pullman plays the journalist Denton who gives the boys a hand by writing articles about the strike to help promote it and giving them treats at the café. An adequate performance, thou I won’t elaborate much cos I haven’t seen many of his movies so I dunno how he does here in comparison. However, I don’t particularly fancy Robert Duvall's acting in here as Pulitzer, which is puzzling cos I loved his Hub in Secondhand Lions. Then again, it may just be script cos as I said, the adult cast don’t really have much to work with. Veteran actress Ann-Margret plays Medda, owner of the vaudeville stage where the newsies loved to hang out at, and a sort of “auntie” to the boys. Interesting character, pity she didn’t have much screen time.

Anyway, the others (and I’m referring mainly to the other newsies) were good as well, not thespians definitely but competent. In fact, I guess this group of boys must have had a ball of a time playing their characters cos com’on, it must be every adolescent boy’s (and I’m sure some girls, as well) dream to be free from adult control, engage in street fights, organize strikes against opposing adults and, well, sing and dance on the streets every now and then.

The singing

Yes, being a musical, of course all the cast members get to break into song and dance every once in a while. I must admit, the songs were very very catchy, so much so that they have been stuck in my head since the first time I watched the movie! I loved the songs, and I do believe they play a huge part in making a cult classic out of this movie. The songs are written by Alan Menken, after his success from writing the songs from Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. Definitely a wonderful song writer who is competent with both catchy tunes (Carrying the Banner; King of New York) and sentimental ones. The lyrics for all the songs were great too, like this part from the slow number Santa Fe:

When I dream on my own
I'm alone but I ain't lonely
For a dreamer night's the only time of day
When the city's finally sleepin'
All my thoughts begin to stray
And I'm on the train that's bound for Santa Fe

Check them out here. Includes audio samples as well.

All the songs were performed by the actors themselves, who received 10 weeks of training in singing and dancing prior to the actual filming.

Santa Fe is the only solo number in the movie and hence gets a special mention, sung by Christian Bale himself, who proves to be an adequate singer as well. He’s no professional, definitely, and it does show when he hits the high notes where he sounded a little nasal. However, overall, he sounded quite good and brought out the emotions of the song very well – the loneliness, the envy, the yearning for a brand new life over in Santa Fe. Only complaint is him transporting the New York accent into the song, which to me spoilt the lyrics a little cos I’m sure they’d sound even better without the accent. But of course, the New York accent was essential for coherence in the entire show, since everyone spoke in the accent.

David Moscow, on the other hand, is the better singer to me which shows in his solo part in the song Seize the Day. More controlled and smooth and it does sound like he had some extra training of sorts. Bill Pullman shows off a little of his singing prowess in King of New York, unfortunately his voice is weak compared to the boys.

All in all, don’t expect to hear professional singing like the kind in Disney cartoons like Aladdin or Beauty and the Beast. However, the good thing about making the actors themselves sing is that it becomes more realistic. And it certainly helps that they are able to hold a tune quite well too. Apart from Santa Fe, many of the tracks are choral pieces and are suitably lively and full of energy. The lyrics go with the entire scenes very well too, probably one of the best things about Disney’s musicals. My favourite is Carrying the Banner, a song about the carefree lives of the newsboys, and Seize the Day, the kind you can easily sing at camps or end-of-year school celebrations and everyone will love.

The dancing

Take it from me – for someone who has spent half a year trying to learn fusion jazz to no avail, these guys were awesome. True they had 10 weeks of training in singing and dancing but still, given that time I don’t think I’ll ever be as good as them. They really pranced around like professional dancers on screen. Watch my face turn green with envy! The camera angles and pacing for these segments were well executed too, which shows veteran choreographer Kenny Ortega’s expertise in this area (he was behind the dancing in Dirty Dancing, and I’m talking about the original Dirty Dancing).

Others – directing, script, editing, choreography

Despite the glowing praises I had in the previous paragraphs, Newsies does fall short on many aspects. For one, the storyline was ill-conceived, which showed particularly by the time of the 2nd half of the movie after Jack was caught by the police and Pulitzer tried to bribe him. It all happened too quickly and too abrupt from then on – he accepted the bribe, disappointed his mates, later saved David’s sister from some thugs, decided that he hated himself for betraying the newsies, looked up Denton for help and reorganized the strike,. No questions asked, no doubts from the people he almost betrayed and everything went back to normal just like nothing had happened. Also, the most “duh?” moments occurred in the last few scenes, with extremely weird editing and the unnecessary and awkward appearance of Theodore Roosevelt imparting some ‘wisdom’ to Jack.

Newsies is Kenny Ortega’s first attempt at directing and it shows. True to his roots as a dance choreographer, the choreography of the dance sequences was excellent and the camera and editing brought out the songs very well. Unfortunately, other scenes were not as well edited and directed, which marred the flow of the story particularly towards the end.

Verdict?

Don’t expect too much from this movie in terms of storyline and direction, which falls short even for a Disney live-action movie. However, the acting and singing and dancing is enough to compensate for these flaws. Just a pity as it could have turned out much better without those problems. Anyhow, it’s still a Disney picture so u can expect a lot of wholesome themes of friendship, loyalty, piety and those “we-have-the-will-to-fight-for-our-rights” kinda message (though u get to see kids smoking in here *gasp*) Nevertheless, it’s the kind that makes a dull afternoon fun and enjoyable for people of all ages. Despite all these faults, Newises shines with an irrepressible charm that seals its status as a cult-classic. Who would I recommend it to? Everyone, in fact, particularly families, kids, guys and girls with raging hormones, and I have to admit, those who wanna hear and watch Christian Bale sing and dance too.

Ok, sounds interesting. But what’s the TRUE story?

As usual, never count on movies or TV to learn your history, particularly if it’s a Disney movie. Here’s a pretty good but brief coverage on what exactly happened up to and during the strike.

http://www.peachtree-online.com/printer/newsboys.htm

http://homepage.mac.com/jmar/newsies/history.html

Perhaps u have some questions, like…

You said the kids successfully staged a strike without adult help. Wasn’t Denton considered adult help?

Not really. Not because he isn’t an adult, but because strictly speaking, the only thing Denton did was cover the strike once and he was later transferred by his newspaper away for that. Also, he had no part to play in the organization or the actual running of the strike – he just followed wherever they went and recorded what they did.

Did the real newsies succeed in their strike?

To a certain extent. The original motivation for the strike was for lowering of the price of the newspapers for the newsies to its original 50 cents so that they could make ends meet. In real life, that did not happen. However, the newsies did taste victory in another way – Pulitzer and Hearst agreed to buy back the newspapers which they couldn’t sell, meaning that the newsboys could ensure that they didn’t make a loss, which, according to the historians interviewed on the making-of special of the movie, was actually more important than bringing down the price. The newsboys strike was also a wake-up call for these newspaper moguls, who before had failed to realise how these newsboys were actually indispensable to their business. Therefore, after the strike, welfare for the boys (and some girls too) was improved greatly also, where Pulitzer spared no expense and hosted weekend events in vaudeville houses, the period equivalent of "Kids' night at the movies".

According to the historians in the making-of, these kids were apparently very smart, which led to the success of the strike. For example, they knew that they needed public support to pull off their stint, so they started by gaining the sympathy and support of the public, before turning their targets onto Pulitzer and Hearst. Hence, by the time they got to the big shots, the public support was so great that they had no choice but to compromise. Moral of the story? Never underestimate kid power.

There were a few more strikes after this 1899 strike, however, none of them succeeded. Historians attribute this mainly to the fact that they were not as organized and united as in the original one. By that time, the environment was changing as well. For one, by the mid 20th century, newsboys were generally being phased out as more people moved into the suburbs and people wanted the newspapers delivered to their doorstep. A lowering circulation rate also meant the demise of afternoon and evening papers, most of which were sold by newsies. Slowly, the selling of newspapers became limited and centralized, and newsies were not indispensible anymore.

Are the characters real?

Jack Kelly is fictitious. The real leader of the strike (or rather, the one all the newsboys looked towards for leadership) is a newsboy known as Kid Blink, named as such for the patch on his eye. This character shows up in Newsies the movie too, but as a mere supporting character. However, it is generally believed that Jack was based on Blink, and it was indeed an ongoing rumour of whether he was actually bribed by Pulitzer to end the strike, especially after he was seen in a new suit and supposedly a wad of money in his pocket, very much like in the movie. In fact, according to IMDB, most of the newsies depicted in the film are based on real people from the strike such as Spot Conlon and Racetrack Higgins (they are being mentioned in newspapers articles of that time, which u can read here). David is most probably based on Morris Cohen, the other leader of the strike.

What exactly is the New York accent?

It’s quite different from the New York accent we perceive today, which has since become the one of the most recognizable of American accents. What u hear in here is what they call the “classic New York dialect” - think Fonzie from Happy Days or Nanny Fran from The Nanny and u get a pretty good idea of how this one sounds like. Basically, the NY accent at that time was pretty much like the Cockney accent of Britain, considered uncouth and mostly spoken by poor immigrants and the lowly educated. Which is partly why I guess u dun hear David in a NY accent cos his family, although poor, was still able to afford an education for him before his father’s accident. My guess is that it derived from a mixture of English and a host of other European dialects like Irish. For example, some quotes from the movie (taken off IMDB):

Jack Kelly: You only took 20 papes; why?
David Jacobs: It's a bad headline.
Jack Kelly: Well, dat's da foist thing ya gotta learn - headlines don't sell papes. Newsies sell papes. (Well, that’s the first thing you gotta learn – headlines don’t sell newspapers. Newsies sell newspapers)

Racetrack: Deah me, what is dat unpleasant aroma? I fear da sewer may have backed up durin' da night. (Dear me, what is that unpleasant aroma? I fear the sewer may have backed up during the night)

However, check out the original 1899 articles on the strike for the real examples. For those linguistically-inclined, check out Wikipedia about the New York accent.

Interesting trivia 1

Amazon.com commented that Disney’s decision in making a movie about child labour was a strange one “given the Mouse House's own historical labour relations problems”. In fact, I think it’s still ongoing. Maybe someone could tell me more about that? But if that’s true, then it’s really ironic that they would choose such a theme.

Interesting trivia 2

During the filming of this movie, some of the cast members decided to make their own short film using a 1/2 VHS camcorder with the music being provided by a tape deck, held up next to the camera. The result was a hilarious and incredibly corny film called Blood Drips Heavily on Newsies Square, with lots of low brow humour (what can u expect from a bunch of teenaged boys writing/directing/producing this thing?) about a small-time actor who was rejected by director Ortega from being part of the cast of a new Disney movie called the Newsies. He then turns into a serial killer, believing that if he can't have a role in the movie no one can, killing off one newsie after another, with cameos by all the cast and crew. IMDB.com actually has a page for it.

Someone actually posted the transcript online which is how I got to see how low-brow the humour got. I could imagine how slapstick it was. Haha. Anyway, can’t remember where I found that from now.

Interesting trivia 3

I watched this at around the same time I watched the special features of Batman Begins and interestingly, though these making-of specials were more than 10 years apart, both the dance and martial arts trainers from the 2 movies had the same thing to say about Christian Bale – he has an incredible photographic memory for these things. You could teach him the movements and he’d learn them within 20 minutes, then weeks later he would still remember single every movement that was being taught. Watch my face turn to an even darker shade of green this time.

Favourite quote (again taken off IMDB)

Jack Kelly: Extry, extry, read all about it! Ellis Island in flames!
David Jacobs: Hey, where's that story?
Jack Kelly: Page nine. Thousands Flee in Panic!
David Jacobs: "Trash Fire Next To Immigration Building Terrifies Seagulls"?
Jack Kelly: Terrified Flight from Inferno!

Jack then proceeds to teach Les to act as if he’s sick to gain the pity of his customers.

David Jacobs: My father taught us not to lie.
Jack Kelly: Well, mine told me not to starve; so we both have an education.... Besides, it ain't lyin'. It's just improvin' the truth a little.

Interesting newsies slang

Soak ‘em! – beat them up
Cheese it – cool it (used in chaotic situations)
Bulls – police
Scabber – refers generally to the bad guys
Pape – newspaper

More information, if u are interested

IMDB.com – a movie buff’s bible. Contains the usual information, including casts, crew, trivia, memorable quotes, comments and other stuff.

The Musical Newsies – a fansite with more information than IMDB, especially regarding the production. Also has cast photos and info, soundtrack lyrics, audio samples, some screencaps, and a link to a detailed history of the newsies strike.

Christian Bale – an unofficial appreciation – obviously a Christian Bale fansite but I’m recommending this cos it has one of the clearest collection of Newsies screencaps. But of course, all focused on the man himself. Go to PICTURES -> SCREENCAPS -> Newsies.