Track the Films You Watch (2007) (1 Viewer)

[george kaplan]

The Da Vinci Code

Not quite sure why this gets such negative reviews. It's basically a really good, well-done, action-adventure thriller. I can understand why certain religious groups would be upset with it, but they mostly hate Hollywood already, and it's hard to understand all the negativity amongst the critics. I'm not saying this is the greatest, but it certainly isn't bad.

Juliet of the Spirits

Part of this, the idea of surrealistic visions being indistinguishable from reality is actually a neat idea. Putting it into a boring melodrama about a deteriorating marriage, is a waste.

The Wrong Box

Unfunny comedy. Wrong indeed.

Home Alone

I still enjoy this original version each Christmas.

Home Alone 2

A step down, but my son still loves it.

 

[Mario Gauci]

12/17/07: THE APPALOOSA (Sidney J. Furie, 1966) :star::star:1/2

Yet another film from Brando’s lean years; now, I only have THE UGLY AMERICAN (1963; also included in Universal’s “The Marlon Brando Franchise Collection”) to watch from this period – but, all in all, it’s an underrated phase for the celebrated method actor. Incidentally, it was nice to see such long-term Universal regulars as composer Frank Skinner (SON OF FRANKENSTEIN [1939]), editor Ted Kent (BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN [1935]) and make-up man Bud Westmore (ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN [1948]) still involved in high profile productions such as this one after all those years. Anyway, Brando made only three Westerns in his career – the others being the self-directed ONE EYED JACKS (1961) and Arthur Penn’s THE MISSOURI BREAKS (1976) – but they’re among the more intriguing, if pretentious, from their respective eras; having said that, the film under review is easily the least rewarding of the three.

The simple plot finds aspiring rancher Brando falling foul of small-time Mexican tyrant John Saxon over the former’s appaloosa stallion (later on, Saxon’s girl, Anjanette Comer – who does what she can with a basically underwritten role – becomes the object of contention between the two); beaten up by Saxon’s men and his prize horse stolen, Brando follows in pursuit – ignoring the advise of friend Rafael Campos and a goat herder (Frank Silvera), he encounters on the way. Reaching the town where Saxon lives with his band of cut-throats, Brando tries to pass himself off as a local (by affecting a silly Mexican accent whose inspiration seems to have been Speedy Gonzales!); it doesn’t take long for Saxon to discover his ruse and, when he does, challenges the star to a game of arm-wrestling (with a sting in its tail)! Brando loses and is beaten up again, after which Comer – fed up with her own way of life – takes him to Silvera’s place to recover; catching up with the latter, Saxon’s men kill him because he won’t reveal the rancher’s whereabouts but they’re eliminated soon after by Brando himself. Finally, a showdown between the two parties takes place in the mountains.

Thematically, THE APPALOOSA - which celebrated film critic Pauline Kael had dismissed as “a dog of a movie about a horse” and whose title was, understandably changed to SOUTHWEST TO SONORA for its British theatrical release – doesn’t really cover any new ground despite Brando and director Furie’s attempts to respectively infuse meaning into every gesture and shot. The latter was known for his flashy camera stylistics, and he really goes overboard here (placing characters in the extreme foreground when the main action is occurring in the remaining part of the frame – including the very last shot – or choosing bizarre angles – such as a tilted shot during the arm-wrestling bout from the POV of a scorpion!); with this in mind, I had become even more interested in checking this one out after learning how Italian B-movie exponent Enzo G. Castellari drew on it for his impressive latter-day Spaghetti Western KEOMA (1976) on the Audio Commentary of that film’s R1 Anchor Bay DVD. All of this – plus Saxon’s enjoyably hammy, Golden Globe-nominated performance (with an exaggerated Mexican accent to match) – keeps one watching, even when the pace flags or the plot turns dreary.

Brando is said to have agreed to do this principally because he needed the cash to pay in alimony for his two ex-wives and that he quickly lost interest in the project (to the consternation of his producer and director); consequently, his contribution is atypically understated – thus allowing co-star Saxon to walk away with the film! Nevertheless, the confrontation scenes between their two characters constitute definite highlights (and the climax is nicely handled – kudos, in fact, to Russell Metty’s cinematography throughout); otherwise, Silvera and popular Mexican actor/director Emilio Fernandez (perhaps still best-known for playing General Mapache in Sam Peckinpah’s THE WILD BUNCH [1969] and here appearing as Saxon’s right-hand man) are notable among the supporting cast.


12/21/07: THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT (Herbert Ross, 1970) :star::star::star:

This is another film I had missed out on a number of times on Cable TV in the past. It’s considered something of a censorship milestone with the treatment of taboo subjects such as prostitution, homosexuality and pornography – not to mention the proliferation of bad language throughout (unfortunately, the DVD is said to contain the slightly edited PG-rated version, which cuts some brief nudity involving female lead Barbra Streisand and her use of the f-word in one scene)!

With this in mind, one has to consider the development which the comedy genre underwent during this time: from the mildly risqué sophisticated antics of the Doris Day/Rock Hudson films of the early 1960s to the cynical anxiety-ridden variety that started emanating towards the tail-end of the decade – with which the likes of Jack Lemmon, George Segal (the male lead of this film) and, in particular, Woody Allen (since he was his own writer and mostly directed himself as well) are forever associated.

THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT is also notable for giving the current female singing sensation – Barbra Streisand – her first non-musical role; in fact, it led to other wacky comedy vehicles: foremost among them WHAT’S UP, DOC? (1972; Peter Bogdanovich’s updating of the Howard Hawks classic BRINGING UP BABY [1938]) and FOR PETE’S SAKE (1974; whose trailer, included on the Columbia R2 DVD of the film under review, makes it seem like a good deal of fun). Thanks largely to his role in the film, Segal went on to do his fair share of sex comedies up till the early 1980s – with the most successful among them being A TOUCH OF CLASS (1973), which I should be acquiring shortly.

Anyway, to get to the main item: the film can be seen as a modern variation on the perennial “Pygmalion” theme – with Segal as intellectual but, at the same time, neurotic and Streisand the uncouth yet liberated woman. There’s no plot to speak of – instead, we follow the two stars on a logical pattern of location-hopping around New York throughout which their relationship blossoms: from his apartment when she’s evicted because of his snitching (which leads to both of them being given the gate by the landlord), to them shacking up at the flat of Segal’s pal (who drives them out because of their constant bickering), then going their separate ways till they meet again (after he has learned about her movie experience – a hilarious scene – and a ‘colleague’ of hers has gone to see him at his workplace) and go out together (where they’re harassed by a band of thrill-seekers), after which they find themselves at the house of Segal’s fiancée (a scene with an unexpectedly ironic punchline), to finally deciding to be completely honest with one another (beginning with their real names).

In this respect, the film emerges to be overly talky (betraying its stage origins) but there is a reasonable amount of invention and wit in the undeniable comedy highlights: Segal dressing up as Death to scare the hiccupping Streisand; Segal using an aquarium as a TV set – with him delivering an impromptu news flash – to humor the insomniac Streisand (her addiction to TV is illustrated by a surprising reference to the Lionel Atwill/Lon Chaney Jr. horror pic MAN MADE MONSTER [1941]); the couple’s argument over “the sun spat morning” line in the opening paragraph of a book by aspiring novelist Segal; Streisand’s account of the sordid activities her clients invariably came up with (prompting Segal to describe her as “a sexual Disneyland”), etc. The film’s soundtrack is highlighted by several songs from jazz/rock band Blood, Sweat & Tears.


12/22/07: THE SILENT FLUTE (Richard Moore, 1978) :star::star:1/2

I’d been intrigued by this one for some time due its being based on a story concocted by Bruce Lee and James Coburn; when it emerged as a “Special Edition” via the Blue Underground label, I had considered purchasing the DVD but somehow never got around to it. Eventually, CIRCLE OF IRON (as it’s better-known) was even expanded into a fully-loaded 2-Disc Set…but, then, I happened upon the original disc at a local rental outlet and finally decided to check it out.

As it happened, I was somewhat let down by the film: I’m all for exotic action/adventure stuff – a genre which got something of a revival during this era – but, despite the various trimmings (martial arts, mystical overtones, plus a number of rather superfluous cameo appearances by the likes of Roddy MacDowall, Eli Wallach and Christopher Lee), THE SILENT FLUTE came across as invincibly low-brow! Besides, while David Carradine is ostensibly the star (and even gets to play four different parts for no discernible reason!), the hero proper of the narrative was played a beefy protégé of his – Jeff Cooper – whose wooden performance here really drowned the film for me!!

The plot – the winner of a martial arts tournament is assigned the task of seeking the whereabouts of a famous wizard (played by horror legend Lee) who is in possession of an all-powerful book – sounds intriguing on paper but, to be honest, the way this plays out on screen it’s not terribly compelling; worse still, the denouement is a real cop-out! That said, the numerous action sequences and Carradine’s characterization of a blind shepherd (himself a martial arts champion) who guides Cooper on his danger-fraught journey make the film palatable for the most part.

Despite the obvious low-budget at his disposal, too, one-time-only director Moore (his more typical credit is as a cinematographer) lends the film reasonable visual style – accentuated by the expansive Israeli locations (which constitutes the film’s main asset along with Australian composer Bruce Smeaton’s beautiful score). As a matter of fact, Moore admits in the disc’s Audio Commentary that the main reason that seemed to have gotten him the assignment in the first place was because his background as a cameraman assured (in the eyes of the producers, at least) outstanding visuals!

THE SILENT FLUTE is, ultimately, a hodgepodge of disparate ideas (with its most bizarre element being Wallach’s masochistic “Man In Oil” and his diatribe on the virtues of a life without one’s own genitalia!) which don’t really jell and, consequently, it works only in fits and starts…


12/23/07: HERCULES (Luigi Cozzi, 1983) :star::star:

Italian cinema had featured musclemen heroes as early as 1912’s QUO VADIS (Ursus) and 1914’s CABIRIA (Maciste) before making them truly their own and, by turns, seemingly invincible or buffoonish caricatures during the heyday of the peplum cycle around 1954-65. This, then, is yet a later variation clearly sparked by the recent spate of Hollywoodian mythological epics like CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981) and CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1981) but giving the old formula a new twist by sprinkling it with a dash of special effects wizardry a’ the STAR WARS saga! This shouldn’t come as all that surprising when one realizes that its director is best-known for the infamous STAR WARS (1977) rip-off, STARCRASH (1979) – although, to be fair to him, he is also responsible for one of the unsung gems in the giallo canon, THE KILLER MUST KILL AGAIN (1975) and, at least, one other highly intriguing (and very rare) movie, TUNNEL UNDER THE WORLD (1969) which was also his directorial debut. Ironically, however, Cozzi only took over the assignment (from original director Bruno Mattei) when the producers were dissatisfied with the box office performance of the latter's previous film for them, THE SEVEN MAGNIFICENT GLADIATORS (1983)!

Anyway, although I clearly recall watching this version of HERCULES (and its sequel; see below) on Italian TV at Christmas time in the late 1980s, the details of it all were so hazy in my mind that I virtually remembered nothing of the narrative other than that Hercules gets to do battle with several mechanical monsters and that there was a lot of footage of stars and planets and the like. Indeed, the film starts with a lengthy, potentially heretical prologue about the start of creation which, apparently, had everything to do with Zeus and the rest of the Greek gods colonizing the moon eons before the Russians did (by way of ultracheesy visual and sound effects) and nothing at all to do with…but this is not the right place to start debating the existence of God or otherwise – lest this review gets confused with another anti-THE GOLDEN COMPASS (2007) argument!

TV’s THE INCREDIBLE HULK and former Mr. Universe Lou Ferrigno certainly looks the part of the mightiest man alive but, unfortunately, can’t act a lick and rarely changes his facial expression throughout the generous 100 minutes of screen time! He is abetted by a lovely Cassiopea (Ingrid Anderson – whose first and only film this was before going briefly into TV and then quitting for good!) and sultry villainess Sybil Danning and the supporting cast features a decent roster of both veteran and nascent Euro-Cult figures like ex-peplum beefcake Brad Harris, William Berger (as Hercules’ No. 1 nemesis, King Minos), Claudio Cassinelli (as Zeus, Hercules’ creator here – out of pure light, no less! – rather than his natural father), former Helen Of Troy Rossana Podesta` (her penultimate film, playing the rebellious deity Hera), Gianni Garko and Eva Robbins (as Berger’s enigmatic scientific acolyte, with an unbelievably campy costume to match).

Once one accepts the film’s bizarre notion of setting the old Greek legends in outer space, this gets to be a veritable “so bad it’s fun” show which possibly has few peers: an elaborately staged (relatively speaking), bloodthristy coup d’etat early on comes to naught when the tyrant is never seen again in the rest of the movie!; Zeus’s giant hand emerges from within a waterfall to catch Baby Hercules in his tiny boat inside which, however, are two snake-like creatures whom the infant soon squeezes the life right out of!; Hercules is adopted (in full-on Clark Kent fashion) by a family of simple folk and he is soon farming the fields single-handed via unwieldy contraptions but, when his putative father gets mauled by a grizzly bear, our Herculean hero gets so pissed off that he hurls the beast straight out into orbit and instant immortality as one of the stars in the constellation (I kid thee not)!; next up are a trio of mechanical assailants which, however, expire even before one gets to have a real good look at them (which is just as well, I guess as, otherwise, one starts to wonder why the weapon Hercules uses to dispatch one of the monsters looks suspiciously like a modern-day giant anchor)!; then Hercules tries his hand at a jousting tournament wherein he holds a dozen contestants simultaneously with their backs to the wall by means of a giant log which, once it serves its purpose in gaining him the championship title, also gets hurled into outer space!; later, Hercules sets his eyes on the veiled Cassiopeia and, to prove his worthiness, he cleans up the dilapidated stables (housing a thousand stallions we’re told) with the aid of a nearby flowing river! I don’t have time to go into all the other labyrinthine trials Hercules goes through before meeting up with King Minos for a hilarious confrontation with lightsabre-like swords but, in case you were wondering who was responsible for dividing Earth into the various continents, enquire no further! Oh, and he does get to ride a horseless chariot, too – by roping a rock and throwing it as far as…well, ‘tis Hercules we’re talking about after all!

This Italian-made would-be epic – which also features a suitably rousing Pino Donaggio score – was a Cannon Group production (namely Israeli film-makers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus) and followed hot on the heels of the similar THE SEVEN MAGNIFICENT GLADIATORS (my memories of which are even more lost within my subconscious) which reunites Ferrigno, Danning and Harris from HERCULES; the latter must not have done too badly at the box office because other films of its ilk came in its wake: not just the sequel but also SWORD OF THE VALIANT (1984), THE BARBARIANS (1987), MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (1987) and the troubled SINBAD OF THE SEVEN SEAS (1989; also with Ferrigno).


12/23/07: THE ADVENTURES OF HERCULES (Luigi Cozzi, 1985) :star::star:

From the fertile imagination which brought you the irresistible HERCULES (1983), comes its even more preposterous (read goofier) sequel: right off the bat, we get another unwieldy “beginning of time” prologue which even contrives to completely contradict these same events as set up in the first film!; a condensed montage of highlights from same is soon followed by a SUPERMAN-like scrolling credits sequence. Narrative-wise, here we have four rebellious gods who steal Zeus’ seven all-important (but poorly animated) thunderbolts – a crime which, for one thing, sets the moon careening on a collision course with Planet Earth! Faster than you can say “nepotism”, Zeus (once again played as a white-haired bearded man by the relatively young Claudio Cassinelli) sends his champion – who has now rightfully taken his place among the elite thanks to, one presumes, the almighty tasks performed in the first film – to find his blooming thunderbolts and avert the calamities in store.

No sooner has Hercules (Lou Ferrigno – as if you didn’t know) touched the earthly surface that he comes in contact with two attractive damsels (Milly Carlucci and Sonia Viviani) in need of his getting them out of distress!; the former (who would go on to become an Italian TV personality) seemingly has the ability to talk with the Little People(!) – which look uncannily like the tiny sisters from GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA (1964)!! Just so they can swindle as much unutilzed footage from the first film as is humanly possible, the divine quartet of villains resurrect good ol’ King Minos (William Berger again) from his skeletal slumber and pit him once more against his eternal enemy. Typically, Hercules is made to encounter a number of potentially deadly foes including a Gorgon – an awfully underproduced sequence which ought to have led to a surefire plagiarism suit had the film-makers behind the much superior CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981) bothered to watch this flick (complete with the same “reflection in a shield” come-uppance and preceded by the muscleman letting the audience in on his tactics before executing them as if to show us how clever he is)!! And just to make it crystal clear that he wears his influences on his sleeve, Cozzi has Hercules and Minos turn into a cosmic version of “King Kong vs. Godzilla” for one of their battles and later still, King Kong gets to grips with a large snake, an encounter lifted straight out of the classic 1933 original. I swear it: this is the whole truth and nothing but the truth!

As had been the case with the first film, the cast is full of old reliables like the afore-mentioned Berger, Cassinelli and Venantino Venantini (as a sorcerer with a truly bad hair day) and up-and-coming starlets – not just Carlucci but also Maria Rosaria Omaggio (as a younger Hera!), Serena Grandi, Pamela Prati and, once again, Eva Robbins (whose costume here easily outcamps her appearance in the first film); for what it’s worth, Pino Donaggio’s score for this one is recycled from musical cues featured in his soundtrack for the previous film. If you have stuck with this review so far, you must have realized by now that this is one of those movies that is so unbelievably bad that a reviewer is forced to choose which course to take: either dismiss it in one unflattering sentence or spend an undeserving amount of time dissecting its flaws. I’m sure I’ve left out some of its ineptitudes but I wouldn’t forgive myself if I failed to mention the single greatest laugh-out loud instance in the whole movie which almost made me fall off my chair (yes, it even surpassed the afore-mentioned animated titanic duel for me), namely the décor of the rebellious gods’ lair which is in the shape of a giant marble…kettle!!

At this stage, one might well wonder why I gave this film (and its predecessor) a :star::star: rating instead of a (not entirely unjustified) BOMB; in the past, I’ve had various protracted online discussions on whether one’s star rating of any particular film should reflect the overall artistic quality or its sheer entertainment value… but these are two instances where I deemed it necessary to be consciously influenced by the latter in settling on my final rating. I don’t know: maybe it’s because I’m in a “sword-and-sandal” state-of-mind at the moment (with some 10 more respectable examples scheduled for the coming days!) but, after all, uncharacteristically for me, I decided to add these two films to my DVD collection simply based on the fun I had with them in this recent revisit – and that alone must count for something, no?

 

[Michael Elliott]

12/23/07

Love is a Racket (1932) :star::star: Dir. William A. Wellman

Boring melodrama about a gossip writer (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) who falls in love with a struggling actress (Frances Dee) but she might be two timing him with a gangster (Lyle Talbot). William A. Wellman must have fallen asleep in the director's chair because there's not an ounce of energy in this film. Even by 1932 standards the film seems dated and rather routine. There's really not a single thing going for it as we sit there waiting for something to happen yet it never does. Fairbanks is very bland and boring in his role. At the end he gets a big speech about love, which comes off very silly. Frances Dee is good in her role but she doesn't have too much to do. Lee Tracy and Ann Dvorak co-star.

Frisco Jenny (1932) :star::star: Dir. William A. Wellman

Overblown drama from Warner has Ruth Chatterton playing 'Frisco' Jenny, a woman growing up in a brothel with her father. She's pregnant by a man but her father refuses to let her marry and just as he says no the 1906 San Francisco earthquake strikes, killing the father. Jenny is left poor so she gives her son to a rich family and she slowly starts to rebuild her life through illegal activities. Years later, Jenny commits a murder to prevent her now grown son (Donald Cook) from finding out that she's his real mother. Just to add more melodrama, the son is the D.A. who is going to prosecute her. Even with all that said, this film is just overbearing with all the drama and sadness it tries throwing at the viewer. Director WIlliam A. Wellman really doesn't bring too much to these emotional scenes even though he manages to get a good performance from Chatterton. The best moment in the film is the earthquake, which looks terrific. Some actual footage from the 1906 event is used but the special effects are just as impressive.

Small Town Girl (1936) :star::star::star: Dir. William A. Wellman

Charming Cinderella type story about a poor farm girl (Janet Gaynor) who goes out with a rich playboy (Robert Taylor) and after getting drunk the two are married. When they sober up they realize the mistake they've made but agree to stay married for six months so that the scandal won't ruin his career. Director Wellman handles the rather sappy story very well and the two stars really shine, which is the main reason this film works. Gaynor is very charming here and quite believable as the poor girl who gets caught up in something she didn't expect. Taylor is equally impressive and is able to be charming yet a jerk at the same time. The strong supporting cast includes Lewis Stone, Binnie Barnes, Andy Devine and James Stewart. The film runs a tad bit too long and is quite predictable but there's no denying the charm between the cast.

Nothing Sacred (1937) :star::star::star: Dir. William A. Wellman

Classic screwball comedy has a disgraced reporter (Fredric March) trying to clear his name with a true story of a woman (Carole Lombard) dying of radiation poisoning. What the reporter doesn't know is that the woman is faking the illness for a trip to New York. Overall I enjoyed this film but i wouldn't call it one of the greatest comedies ever made. I found the story to be rather mean and I think this took away some of the laughs for me but there's no denying the charm between the two stars. The fight towards the end of the film is certainly a classic moment as is a lot of the dialogue, which is fast and sharp. The supporting cast also adds a lot to the film with Charles Winninger as the doctor going along with the fraud and Walter Connolly as March's editor. The Technicolor didn't really get to have an effect as the print quality was pretty poor from start to finish with the colors giving Lombard the look of a gray faced zombie.

Next Voice You Hear..., The (1950) :star::star:1/2 Dir. William A. Wellman

Interesting film about people across the world and how their lives change after they hear the voice of God on the radio. The film takes a look at the Joe Smith family with James Whitmore, Nancy Davis and Gary Gray. This is a rather offbeat film for director Wellman but he pulls it off pretty well and makes this a rather memorable religious film, although the screenplay isn't juicy enough to pull it off as a masterpiece. The performances are all very good with Whitmore stealing the film as the hard working dad who begins to rethink things after hearing the voice. I think one of the problems with the screenplay is that it centers on this one family a tad bit too much. There are scenes where large groups of people are debating about the voice and these moments are the best of the film and I wish there had been more. The film plays a lot like what we'd eventually see in a 'Twilight Zone' episode because the voice, a mysterious one, never comes out and says it's God but that's up to the viewer to debate just like the people in the film. I called the film a religious one but thankfully it never goes over the top with propaganda or tries to beat the viewer over the head with a message.

Hatchet Man, The (1932) :star::star::star: Dir. William A. Wellman

Entertaining crime picture has Edward G. Robinson playing the title character, a hit man for a tong gang in Chinatown who must murder his best friend. Before the murder the man gives his daughter to Robinson so that he can marry her when she gets older. Years pass and Robinson and the girl (Loretta Young) are about to be married when another tong war breaks out. Director Wellman knows how to handle this material and does so very well and the film moves very fast and is over before you can blink. The fact that whites are playing all the Asian roles might bother some but nothing ever gets too offensive. Robinson gives a very good, quiet performance even though he's never believable as an Asian. He speaks with his normal voice so there's really never an attempt to come off Asian. Young is also very good in her role, although she isn't given a whole lot to do. I'm not sure if this is wrong or not but in her Asian make up she comes off as one of the most attractive Asian women I've seen. The supporting cast are all fine in their roles with J. Carrol Naish having a bit part. The story is pretty light weight but it remains entertaining through its 74-minutes.

Mr. Winkle Goes to War (1944) :star::star:1/2 Dir. Alfred E. Green

Edward G. Robinson plays Mr. Winkle, an elderly, out of shape man who gets drafted for the war and shocks everyone when he passes everyone's expectations. I really wasn't sure what to expect from this war comedy but it turned out to be a fairly delightful little film. The story is as thin as a sheet of paper but its heart is in the right place and Robinson is great as usual. It was a lot of fun seeing Robinson playing a weak soul and watching him turn into the hero was very believable due to the actor. The supporting cast includes good work from Bob Stanton, Robert Armstrong and Richard Lane. Robert Mitchum has a very small part and I only noticed him during one scene. The war time scenes are rather cheap but look pretty good and the ending is predictable but nice.

12/24/07

Sex is Comedy (2002) :star::star::star: Dir. Catherine Breillat

French film from the controversial Catherine Breillat is more a companion piece to her masterpiece Fat Girl than a film on its own. In this film, a director (Anne Parillaud) is having trouble filming a sex scene because her actor (Gregoire Colin) and actress (Roxane Mesquida) can't stand one another. That's pretty much the entire story but the film is so much more than that because it really gives us a behind the scenes look at what goes on during filming such a scene. As with the director's next film Anatomy of Hell, this one here didn't get very good reviews but I was totally captivated by it. I'm not sure what it is but Breillat can make just about anything seem real and interesting. It's clear that this sex scene being shot is her personal experience from the filming of Fat Girl. The sex scene here is the same one from that film and the actress here is also the same one used in that film. The performances by the three leads are all very good but the movie belongs to Parillaud as the director being tortured by her actors. Parillaud really nails the role as the frustrated director willing to do anything to get the scene in the can. I think the film works best if you've seen Fat Girl because you can watch the filming here and know what eventually came from it. It's rather interesting watching this film and seeing what all went into making Fat Girl and more clearly, what it took to pull off the sex scene in question, which is one of the most haunting yet beautiful ones that I've seen. This film certainly isn't about sex and there's no comedy to be found but it is about a director trying to get both out of her actors.

Men in White (1934) :star::star:1/2 Dir. Richard Boleslawski

MGM melodrama takes a look at the personal and professional crisis of Dr. George Ferguson (Clark Gable). He's under pressure from his boss to work as hard as he can to become a better doctor but this doesn't sit well with his girlfriend (Myrna Loy) who wants more time with him. The screenplay here is pretty thin so the movie comes off rather bland even for 1934 standards. We've seen this type of drama countless times before and this movie really doesn't offer anything new. The performances are clearly the best thing with Gable giving a very intense performance. Loy is good in her role but it's your typical bitchy girlfriend part. Jean Hersholt, Otto Kruger, Wallace Ford and Griffith regular Henry B. Walthall co-star.

12/25/07

Three Godfathers (1936) :star::star::star: Richard Boleslawski

Extremely warm Western has three ruthless outlaws (Chester Morris, Lewis Stone, Walter Brennan) robbing a bank at Christmas time and then heading off into the desert. While on their getaway they come across a dying mother and her young child so the men take the child to try and get it to some place safe. After a bit of bad luck the three find themselves nearing death themselves and to get the baby home it might cost them their lives. I'm sure most people are familiar with the John Ford vehicle with John Wayne but this version is so much better for numerous reasons. The biggest reason is that this version is a lot darker and more grittier than the Ford film, which always seemed a tad bit too cute to me. This film has a lot of dark moments and depends on religion a lot more as well. There's also some nice humor scattered through this film including a great bit with a Santa Clause. Both Morris and Brennan are very good in their roles with Morris giving a very good turn as a really mean guy. Stone steals the film as the older man who tries to talk the other two into having some good in their hearts. Sidney Toler has a small supporting role.

Thirteen Women (1932) :star::star: Dir. George Archainbaud

Pretty weak thriller has Myrna Loy playing a psychotic half-American, half-Chinese woman who uses hypnosis to kill thirteen of her former classmates who wouldn't let her join their sorority due to her race. There are some interesting elements here but in the end this film comes off very weak, rushed and just not all that interesting. The biggest problem is that the film was cut by several minutes and then reshot after a poor test screening. Only eleven women are featured in the film because two of them were cut so that Irene Dunne could have extra scenes added. These added scenes are the weakest in the film as they involve the attempted murder of her young child. Dunne is pretty stiff in her role but Loy comes off very good as the vamp but sadly she isn't in the film enough. Her final speech about being hated because of her race is very well done. Peg Entwistle plays one of the girls and is today best remembered for climbing up the Hollywood sign and killing herself by jumping off. That event took place two days after this film was released. Ricardo Cortez plays the lead detective and seems to be sleepwalking.

Racers, The (1955) :star:1/2 Dir. Henry Hathaway

Extremely poor racing film about a hot shot driver (Kirk Douglas) who tries to woo a woman (Bella Darvi) while pissing everyone off. Think Champion and take away everything great and you end up with this movie, which is pretty bad from start to finish. I'm really not sure what the point of this thing was but I can say it's the worst Douglas picture that I've seen to date. A lot of the film has various racing scenes, which were boring but they were the best thing about the movie. There's some nice crashes and stunt work but all the dramatic stuff sandwiched between is just deadly dull, lifeless and pointless. Douglas really sleepwalks through his role and it's probably the worst I've ever seen him. I'm not sure what was up with Darvi but she is one of the worst actresses I've seen in a major picture. Her sexy routine was just dreadful. The supporting cast includes Cesar Romero and Lee J. Cobb but neither are given much to do. The film was shown with a 2.55:1 ratio but I had to see it in 2.35:1, which makes for some nice shots but there's no meat with those shots.

Amalfi Way (1955) :star::star:1/2 Dir. Richard Wright

MGM short takes a look at various things in Italy's Amalfi Coast. As with the Traveltalk shorts, I'm sure this was an entertaining documentary at the time it was released but today it just seems dated. There's some nice scenic stuff but that's about it.

 

[Tarkin The Ewok]

12/21: It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) :star::star::star::star::star: out of :star::star::star::star::star:

I revisited the Capra/Stewart classic, and it was just as meaningful and moving as the first time.

12/21: Spartacus (1960) :star::star: out of :star::star::star::star::star:

The first hour in the gladiator training center was riveting, and Olivier was a pleasure to watch throughout the movie. The rest of it was dull, meandering, and generally uninvolving. It suffered greatly in comparison to other epics of its time. One particularly glaring example of the problems I had with it was the buildup to the battle between the Romans and Spartacus’ forces. It consisted solely of static shots of the armies facing each other until one group finally made its move. There was no movement, no focal point, no emotion, and no reason to feel suspense or anything else for the fighters.

12/22: National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007) :star::star::star::star: out of :star::star::star::star::star:

I have not yet seen the first movie, but I think the sequel is a barrel of fun. The world of this film is quite implausible, but it’s all in the service of spirited adventure, humor, and likable characters. It’s great to see a cameo by country star Randy Travis performing for the President’s party.

12/23: Casino Royale (2006) :star::star::star: out of :star::star::star::star::star:

This film works much better on the big screen with an enthusiastic crowd than it does at home. I love Daniel Craig in the role, and the prologue and first two action sequences are top-notch. Where the film starts to fall apart is in the casino sequence. Campbell and the writers try to make the game exciting and intersperse some suspense and character moments with the cards, but it’s still pretty tedious and unbelievable. The climax in Venice with the sinking building is both absurd and poorly executed. The supporting cast is another weakness. M, Mathis, and Leiter are delightful, but Le Chiffre and Vesper lack charisma and chemistry with Bond. Vesper in particular is a problem because I never believe that Bond would want to resign to be with her like I did with Tracy in OHMSS. None of the other players besides Mr. White even make an impression. Craig made a good first impression, but he deserves a better script and cast for Bond 22.

 

[PatW]

The Bells of St. Mary's (1945) :star: :star: :star: :star:

Another annual watch at Christmas. Ingrid Bergman shines here and its probably one of my favourite Bergman movies or at least close to the top.

Five Children and It (2004) :star::star::star:

Worthwhile watch at least once. Based on a children's fantasy book, 4 children find a creature in the sand on the beach who has the ability to grant wishes.

 

[Mario Gauci]

12/22/07: HOFFMAN (Alvin Rakoff, 1970) :star::star:1/2

This is at once one of Peter Sellers’ least-known and more interesting vehicles; the film is virtually a two-hander – with Sinead Cusack (daughter of actor Cyril and later Mrs. Jeremy Irons) as the young girl blackmailed by a middle-aged colleague (Sellers) into becoming his lover, because he knows of her boyfriend’s involvement in a robbery.

While the film is considered a comedy, it doesn’t sound like it from that synopsis; it’s really a character-driven piece on a serious theme – mid-life crisis – which has been treated several times over the years, though rarely in such perceptively intimate detail (for which it was deemed tasteless at the time). The humorous element (if one can call it that) springs from the fact that Sellers’ character – who had been fantasizing about Cusack for months – doesn’t have the courage to do anything with her once they’re together! Incidentally, Hoffman’s innately cruel nature was so similar to the real Peter Sellers that one might be inclined to think that his dialogue was improvised – but this wasn’t the case!

With this in mind, the film can be seen as talky (though Ernest Gebler’s script, adapted from his own novel, does contain a smattering of good lines), low-key and claustrophobic (the narrative strays only occasionally from Sellers’ flat, and the two almost never interact with other people) – not to mention repetitive and overstretched at 113 minutes! One particular sequence included an ambitious shot lasting for some 18 minutes, which certainly belied the rumors that Sellers had suffered brain damage during that infamous incident from the early 1960s in which he suffered no less than seven heart attacks in one day. The film’s happy-ending-of-sorts, then, is highly improbable – but I guess it works well enough in this context (given that Cusack’s boyfriend is depicted as a one-dimensional character and, therefore, no match for the intellectual Sellers).

Gerry Turpin’s cinematography of the bleak London settings is one of the film’s main assets, while the tone of romantic melancholy – inherent in Ron Grainer’s score and his Don Black-penned theme song, “If There Ever Is A Next Time” (sung by Matt Monro) – infuses the whole film and even serves as exposition for the main narrative during its deliberately vague early stages. By the way, director Rakoff had already handled the same material as a TV production starring Donald Pleasance; at his own admission, the film version was too slow – because the pace seemed to be dictated by the lead actor – and professed to having misgivings also about the choice of music. As for Sellers himself, he was so disappointed with the final result that the star offered to buy back the negative from the producer and shoot it again from scratch (the film, in fact, was such a resounding flop that it wasn’t shown in New York until 1982)!


12/23/07: SNOW WHITE AND THE THREE STOOGES(Walter Lang, 1961) :star::star:1/2

Lavish if overlong version of the popular fairy-tale (most famously incarnated on screen via the 1937 Walt Disney animated milestone) which incorporates a skating star (whose numbers go on forever), the comic trio’s brand of violent slapstick (replacing the Seven Dwarfs – though they feel constrained by the material, much like the Laurel & Hardy of THE BOHEMIAN GIRL [1936] and SWISS MISS [1938]) and saccharine songs; the familiar plot is further enlivened by an amiable ventriloquist act and numerous swashbuckling routines. It’s colorful and pleasant – certainly more enjoyable than I had anticipated, and wholly undeserving of Leonard Maltin’s unflattering BOMB rating – emerging, all in all, to be perfect unassuming entertainment for the festive season.

Guy Rolfe and Patricia Medina convey appropriate comic-book villainy in their respective roles (each receive their just desserts in memorable fashion – but while his is particularly gruesome, hers is done in a rather clever way); burly Buddy Baer is their evil henchman who subsequently has a change of heart. Incidentally, this was the first of five belated feature films starring The Three Stooges – the others being the equally improbable THE THREE STOOGES MEET HERCULES (1962), THE THREE STOOGES IN ORBIT (1962), THE THREE STOOGES GO AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAZE (1963) and THE OUTLAWS IS COMING (1965).

Frank Tashlin is said to have contributed to the film under review but, at any rate, the producers involved did have their hearts in the right place by employing director Lang (whose last effort this proved be) – having been responsible for the splendid Shirley Temple fantasy vehicle THE BLUE BIRD (1940) – and screenwriter Noel Langley – who had co-scripted the classic MGM version of THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939). By the way, this viewing of SNOW WHITE AND THE THREE STOOGES came in anticipation of my acquiring a 2-Disc collection of the comic trio’s vintage shorts…


12/23/07: JACK AND THE BEANSTALK (Jean Yarbrough, 1952) :star::star:1/2

I had watched this previously (at secondary school, of all places!) and recall not liking it all that much. However, I was more amenable to it this time around – perhaps because it came hot on the heels of a similar film pitting a comedy act in a fairy-tale setting, i.e. the self-explanatory SNOW WHITE AND THE THREE STOOGES (1961); here, of course, it’s Abbott & Costello we’re talking about.

The film utilizes the sepia-into-color transition popularized by THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939) between its modern-day bookends and the period-set main narrative; less welcome are the entirely resistible love interest and musical numbers, seemingly compulsory ingredients of this type of family-oriented fare but which now date them most of all! As usually happens, too, most of the characters who appear in the fairy-tale also turn up in ‘real life’ – including, in this case, the Giant (played by Buddy Bear from the afore-mentioned SNOW WHITE AND THE THREE STOOGES) who also fills in for a burly cop whom the pint-sized Lou Costello aggravates!

The stars are amiable as always and manage to adapt their standard characterizations to the requirements of the familiar formula. Incidentally, this proved to be the boys’ fourth of five films with director Yarborough – and one of only two A&C vehicles to be made in color (the other being the similarly adventurous ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET CAPTAIN KIDD [1952]). Atypically for them, this was not a Universal production – but rather an independent one distributed through Warner Bros., which explains its public domain status!

Finally, I really ought to spring for those four “Abbott & Costello” DVD collections from Universal one of these days – plus I still have a handful of filmed fairy tales/children’s classics to go through during this Christmas period…


12/24/07: SCROOGE (Henry Edwards, 1935) [Edited Version] :star::star:1/2

To begin with, in the coming days I should be checking out all the major film adaptations of the venerable Charles Dickens festive classic “A Christmas Carol” – seven in all (1935, 1938, 1951, 1970, 1983 [animated short], 1984 [TV] and 1992 [puppets]).

This is the first of three I watched in quick succession, being also one of only two I hadn’t viewed previously. Unfortunately, it came via the trimmed 60-minute version (included as a supplement on VCI’s 2-Disc Set of the definitive 1951 adaptation) – though, ironically, I came upon a copy of the complete 78-minute print the very next day! Curiously enough, while this particular narrative has been adapted to the screen countless times, its plot has rarely been updated or altered; in this respect, most versions could well be deemed superfluous…except that the intrinsic moral lesson is so timely that film-makers constantly feel the need to remake it (this line of thought was understandable back in the old days when DVD, or even TV, wasn’t available – but now I find the concept unfathomable and even punishing, since no one can hope to surpass the aforementioned classic with Alastair Sim)!

Anyway, the 1935 film itself emerges to be an unsurprisingly faithful rendition of the Dickensian tale; actually, the lead actor – Sir Seymour Hicks – had already appeared in a 1913 Silent version! Still, unsurprising is the key word here: granted, the plot is so well-structured and engaging that one can’t help watching (especially during this time of year)…but it’s also so inextricably familiar that one tends to become impatient during expository passages, fully anticipating the next dramatic highlight or famous line. Ironically, even if this version is shorn of some 20 minutes, there’s still a bit of padding – particularly the bludgeoning message inherent in the scene where the scraps of a royal banquet are flung out on the street to be picked up by beggars.

Hicks himself emerges as probably the least sympathetic Scrooge (but, at the same time, being the right age for the role – unlike most other performers of the emblematic miser figure); in hindsight, this may be due to the fact that I’m only familiar with his work through this one performance (incidentally, he co-scripted the film himself) – though, to be fair to him, I hadn’t watched most of the other versions in quite some time. Similarly, the supporting cast doesn’t have the many established faces one finds in subsequent versions – which, again, serves to distance one somewhat from the narrative’s desired effect; that said, the Ghost Of Christmas Present is played by Oscar Asche – co-author of CHU-CHIN-CHOW, a stage musical whose 1934 screen adaptation (via VCI’s surprisingly generous 3-Disc Set) preceded this very same viewing!

Artistically, therefore, the 1935 SCROOGE is workmanlike if nothing more: the silhouetted Ghost Of Christmas Future is rather effective – but, then, Jacob Marley’s ghost is heard but not seen!; it’s unfortunate, too, that the outdoor night-time scenes on this particular print were excessively dark.


12/25/07: SCROOGE (Brian Desmond-Hurst, 1951) :star::star::star::star:

I had first watched this (actually, I began doubting whether it was only my second viewing of the film – since, irrespective of the clearly recognizable plotline, I could distinctly recall several instances of dialogue as delivered by these particular actors!) via a computer-colorized version on Cable TV. The VCI 2-Disc Set includes this alongside the restored (though with sporadically overly processed audio) original black-and-white print, plus a baffling – and completely unwarranted – widescreen edition (cropping the intended 1.33:1 aspect ratio to 1.78:1!).

The film itself is universally acknowledged to be the finest adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”; not only does it stand as a perfect illustration of the difference between a competent treatment of a famous source and a superbly-realized one, but also as one of the most successful recreations of Dickensian times. Indeed, SCROOGE is impeccable in virtually every department – even if the credits per se are relatively modest: for the record, director Desmond-Hurst was responsible for the WWII-set MALTA STORY (1953) featuring Alec Guinness and Jack Hawkins, while editor Clive Donner would subsequently direct the 1984 TV version – under the original title of A CHRISTMAS CAROL – starring George C. Scott! The literate script is by Noel Langley yet again (see my comments on SNOW WHITE AND THE THREE STOOGES [1961]), the handling often inspired (such as the transitions between reality and the flashback/fantasy sequences) and, making the most of the various popular characters, is a truly excellent cast.

Heading the latter, of course, is Alastair Sim’s perfectly nuanced and unforgettable portrayal of repentant miser Ebenezer Scrooge; supporting him, then, are the likes of Mervyn Johns as Bob Cratchit, Jack Warner, Michael Hordern as Jacob Marley, Kathleen Harrison as a nervous yet sharp-tongued charwoman, Hermione Baddeley as Mrs. Cratchit, George Cole as the young Scrooge, Ernest Thesiger as an elderly unflappable undertaker, Miles Malleson, Peter Bull and Patrick Macnee as Young Marley. Besides, the overly familiar narrative strikes just the right chord of drama and emotion (Scrooge’s gradual softening of character is entirely plausible here because his back-story is dealt with in sufficient detail throughout the ghostly visitations) – not to mention thrills (Hordern’s wailing Marley is quite scary, as is the sudden shrouded appearance of the Ghost Of Christmas Future). By the way, I’ve never really understood the need behind having to watch the same festive films year in year out (as some movie buffs are prone to doing) but, if ever I get the inclination for this myself at Christmas, the 1951 version of SCROOGE – as well as the Bing Crosby-Fred Astaire musical HOLIDAY INN (1942; see below) – would surely be prime contenders…


P.S. As has too often been the case these past few months, I didn’t have time to go through the extras on the “Collector’s Edition” (apart, that is, from the earlier 1935 version which preceded it). By now, I have amassed a considerable backlog of bonus material (especially Audio Commentaries) – which, with a new year looming, requires me to do some serious thinking about how to tackle it. Perhaps I should devote week-ends to such ‘extraneous’ stuff: consequently, this should allow me enough time to tidy up any film reviews which may have been left over from the preceding week – without the pressure of having to write fresh ones for titles added to my official track-list in the interim, as I find myself often having to do at present…


12/25/07: MICKEY’S CHRISTMAS CAROL (Burny Mattinson, 1983) :star::star::star:1/2

The return of Walt Disney’s most famous cartoon character, Mickey Mouse, to the silver screen after a prolonged 30-year absence was via this wonderful, Oscar-nominated animated short subject – a Disneyfication of Charles Dickens’ Christmas perennial which, surprisingly enough for being made during a period of low ebb for the studio, succeeds far better than it ought to. Ebeneezer Scrooge is played by Scrooge McDuck (voiced by veteran actor Alan Young) while Mickey Mouse portrays his overworked underpaid employee Bob Cratchit; also making a welcome appearance (and adding to the fun) is Donald Duck as Scrooge’s happy-go-lucky nephew, Goofy as the clumsy (what else?) ghost of Jacob Marley, Jiminy Cricket as the Ghost of Christmas Past and Willie the Giant (of the BEANSTALK fame) as the Ghost of Christmas Present. At 26 minutes, the narrative is necessarily overly condensed but the familiar characters (ironically enough) come so vividly to life here that one is, just like Dickens’ own Oliver Twist, left asking for more!


P.S. Initially, it wasn’t my intention to watch this Disney short over the Christmas period – in fact, I practically forgot that I actually owned it on DVD as part of the “Walt Disney Treasures” 2-Disc Set of MICKEY MOUSE IN LIVING COLOR VOLUME 2! However, Michael Elliott’s recent enthusiastic comments made me spring for it sooner rather than later…


12/25/07: HOLIDAY INN (Mark Sandrich, 1942) :star::star::star:1/2

As I’ve said often enough, I’ve somewhat outgrown the Musical genre over the years and, consequently, I do not go back to it as often as I ought to perhaps. Seeing how this is my third viewing of the classic first screen teaming of Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, therefore, it follows that HOLIDAY INN is something rather special and, indeed, I believe it is. Although the film is nowadays best-known perhaps for introducing the world’s best-selling single record – Irving Berlin’s evergreen Oscar-winning “White Christmas” – it is also an amiably heartwarming slice of impeccable entertainment as only Hollywood during its Golden Age was able to provide.

The storyline is simple enough: a trio of entertainers “quarrel” over the girl in the middle and while one (Fred Astaire) proposes to her, the other (Bing Crosby) quits showbiz to settle down in a remote farming community. But, as often happens in such marriages, the union is short-lived and Astaire soon heads towards Connecticut to try out Bing’s happy “busy doing nothing” lifestyle. Meanwhile, the latter has hooked up with an ambitious girl but Astaire immediately sets his eyes on her as a potential dancing partner for himself…

Although HOLIDAY INN’s association with “White Christmas” gives one the impression that the events taking place in it are set exclusively around Christmas-time, the title of the film itself is much more appropriate as the inn Crosby sets up is one that specifically opens on the 15 public holidays which crop up in the American calendar throughout the year – which are illustrated for us on the screen as they occur, including an amusingly animated one with a confused turkey on Thanksgiving Day! The musical numbers prepared by Crosby and Astaire for their patrons are delightfully elaborate ones with Crosby singing in blackface (on Abraham Lincoln’s birthday) and Astaire donning a wig (on George Washington’s birthday). Astaire also has a tour-de-force solo number with lots of firecrackers for his partners – one he frantically cooks up on the spot to impress Hollywood talent agents after the girl that was supposed to accompany him fails to appear (thanks to one of Crosby’s recurring ruses to put an end to their partnership). Apart from that Oscar-winning song, Irving Berlin’s wonderful score also includes “Easter Parade” (which was brought to the screen six years later by Astaire himself and Judy Garland), “I’ll Capture Your Heart Singing” (a dueling duet between Crosby and Astaire) and “You’re Easy To Dance With” (sung by Astaire as he dances with his new partner, Marjorie Reynolds).

The cast is a very strong ingredient in contributing towards the film’s overall success: Bing Crosby is at his best (in a lightly, comedic vein) as the laid-back proprietor of Holiday Inn; Fred Astaire is perfectly cast as his self-absorbed romantic rival and has a great drunken dance sequence around the film’s mid-point; the relatively unknown Marjorie Reynolds is a very likable leading lady (she worked steadily in films for years without ever attaining stardom and, apart from this one, her most high-profile role was in Fritz Lang’s MINISTRY OF FEAR [1944]; Walter Abel was one of Hollywood’s most consummate character actors and he is his usual flustered self here as Astaire’s conniving agent; Irving Bacon has a small but winning role of a yokel Crosby hires to detain Reynolds (by any means necessary – which ultimately sees him driving his car straight into a river!) from performing at Holiday Inn when Hollywood comes knocking, etc. Director Mark Sandrich (who helmed some of the best entries in the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers cycle in the 1930s) displays an admirably light touch throughout which ensures that the film breezes through its alternately comic and musical phases without a bump.

Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire would later be reteamed for the less successful BLUE SKIES (1946) – which I haven’t seen yet but wouldn’t mind doing so eventually – and HOLIDAY INN itself would be revamped (less effectively) the following decade as WHITE CHRISTMAS (1954), a Vistavision color vehicle for Crosby again, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen.

 

[george kaplan]

The Polar Express

I actually liked this better this year than previously.

Late Spring

My thoughts are posted in the S&S thread.

Stranger on the Third Floor

Peter Lorre is by far the best thing in this proto-noir. The rest of the acting ranges from passable to horrid, and the voice-over may be at the same time both the first ever in a noir, and the worst ever in a noir. I can understand why some think this is the first noir (it has a lot of the trappings), but there's no femme fatale, and the voice-over is actually a point against it.

 

[PatW]

Holiday Affair (1949) :star: :star: :star: 1/2

A seldom played Christmas movie about a young widow and her son and the two men who want to marry her.

This is a nice little Christmas movie. Robert Mitchum surprised me. I never thought he had the sensitivity for such a part and he gives a great performance. Wendell Corey was great as well if in a somewhat thankless role. I had never heard of this movie so I was glad to catch it on TCM.

 

[Mario Gauci]

Mike,


Once again I see that you’ve been watching some good stuff including two of Randolph Scott’s best Westerns – WESTERN UNION (1941) and THE TALL T (1957) – and two bona-fide Hollywood classics – NOTHING SACRED (1937) and ON THE TOWN (1949); I seem to be keener on the last two than you were, but that’s O.K. Incidentally, I wouldn’t mind watching that earlier version of THREE GODFATHERS (1936) myself someday…

It’s quite surprising that, being the Woody Allen fan you are, you have only caught up with TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN (1969) just now; I need to stock up on some of his vintage movies myself as, lately, I’ve only been getting his all-star 1960s stuff! Furthermore, even though I’ve been a big fan of Kirk Douglas since childhood – thanks mostly to my constant Italian TV viewings of THE VIKINGS (1958) – I still haven’t managed to catch THE RACERS (1955) even though it was shown a couple of times in my neck of the woods over the years; I know that it’s a film that’s hardly ever mentioned but my own personal lack of interest in motor vehicles has had something to do with that, too – hell, so far it’s kept me away even from Monte Hellman’s TWO-LANE BLACKTOP (1971), too!

Reading your posts always makes me miss TCM so much and this latest William A. Wellman marathon is no exception: like his contemporary Lewis Milestone and the much later Samuel Fuller, Wellman was a peerless chronicler of men in war and he is still perhaps best-known today for having directed the first-ever Best Picture Academy Award-winning film, WINGS (1927) – which, incidentally, has a WWI setting. Indeed, he followed this with the best-known film version of BEAU GESTE (1939; the Foreign Legion), STORY OF G.I. JOE (1945; one of the best and most vividly realized of the WWII films), BATTLEGROUND (1949; another good WWII film, for which he received his second Best Director Oscar nod), DARBY’S RANGERS (1958; also set in WWII) and his final film, the WWI-era LAFAYETTE ESCADRILLE (1958). I haven’t seen the last two myself and, by all accounts, they are minor works but it shows that Wellman was clearly still affected by his own personal WWI experiences where he served as an aviator.

Still, apart from having a very colorful personality, he was a talented, versatile and highly undervalued director with several other great movies to his name – THE PUBLIC ENEMY (1931), the original A STAR IS BORN (1937), the afore-mentioned NOTHING SACRED, THE OX-BOW INCIDENT (1943), YELLOW SKY (1948) and TRACK OF THE CAT (1954; which I’ve acquired via Paramount’s SE DVD last week). It’s highly unlikely that many of these early Wellman pictures Michael’s been watching will make it to DVD but, thankfully, THE CALL OF THE WILD (1935), ROXIE HART (1942; one of Stanley Kubrick’s favorite films!), BUFFALO BILL (1944), STORY OF G.I. JOE and YELLOW SKY are already available. Besides, NIGHT NURSE (1931) is forthcoming and, hopefully, so eventually will WINGS, BEGGARS OF LIFE (1928), THE STAR WITNESS (1931), THE HATCHET MAN (1932), HEROES FOR SALE (1933), WILD BOYS OF THE ROAD (1933), THE NEXT VOICE YOU HEAR… (1950; I’ve always been particularly intrigued by this pseudo-religious parable), ACROSS THE WIDE MISSOURI (1951; despite its being heavily re-edited against Wellman’s wishes) and WESTWARD THE WOMEN (1951). Actually, come to think of it, I do have two unwatched Wellman pictures in my ever-increasing pile: the James Stewart comedy MAGIC TOWN (1947) and the John Wayne/Lauren Bacall Asian adventure BLOOD ALLEY (1955)…

Finally, I have just acquired GONE BABY GONE (2007) and I AM LEGEND (2007) myself but most probably I won'tl have enough time to get to them before this year is out…

 

[Robert Crawford]

Some interesting comments about a couple of films I've been interesting in my whole life.

As it pertains to the "3 Godfathers", there are about five or so versions of this film concept. The 1948 version will always be my favorite because it was the version I grew up watching every Christmas Eve since the 1960s. So the film has some sentimental value to me as a person that the other versions can never attain for me. Furthermore, when color television first became the norm back in the mid-to-late 1960s, seeing this Technicolor film on a color television was really something to behold. I can't really convey that feeling to many of you that always had the ability to see color films in that format. Anyhow, getting back to the other versions which were fine films in their own right. The 1936 version is very good as you've stated in your short review, but you might want to checkout another version that was directed by William Wyler about six years earlier. That film version is "Hell's Heroes" which does play on TCM at times. IMO, this version is underrated and you can easily see that a young director like William Wyler would go onto bigger and better things as he evolves into one of the best directors of all-time. He made this film when he started out as a director at Universal and his forte was westerns during much of that time which was odd considering his German roots. Anyhow, the film itself stars a much younger Charles Bickford than we're used to seeing in films. He plays the Wayne/Morris part in this version and is more convincing with his roughness than Morris in my opinion.

There are some silent versions too that we will probably never see because I believe they're lost for good. One of those versions was directed by John Ford when he called himself Jack Ford. The film was "Marked Men" and starred Harry Carey Sr. which is ironic considering that Ford later paid tribute to him shortly after Carey's death in the beginning of the 1948 version and then had his son play one of the bandits in that version. Also, there is another silent version that was film a few years before "Marked Men" called "The Three Godfathers" which also starred Harry Carey Sr. back when he was making films for Universal. I've read about the two silents in some film books, but I never seen them and unfortunately, probably never will....

As far as the film "The Racers", I think it's a much better film than we will ever know because the version that shows up on FMC is a cut version of the film. There is about 25 minutes trimmed from that original film and such a cut could adversely affect any film. It's only my opinion based on nothing, but I suspect the longer version probably is a better film with more of the Kirk Douglas character flushed out as well as some other plot points. His female star in this film was a starlet that was discovered and groomed by Darryl Zanuck, it was rumored that she was his mistress too. Zanuck's reputation for editing down films is well known. Most of the time, he was successful at it, but I suspect that wasn't the case for this particular film. A film with this type of cast and director should have been better and probably was in it's original version of it.






Crawdaddy

 

[george kaplan]

My Favorite Year

Satirical look at Errol Flynn, Sid Caesar and early television lacks only laughs to make it a success.

 

[PatW]

Across the Wide Missouri (1951) :star: :star: :star:

Adequate enough Western about mountain men who trap beaver and their clash with a band of Blackfeet. This story really isn't about too much. It focuses on one trapper played by Clark Gable and his Indian wife and also his feud with Ironshirt the leader of the renegade Indian band. I wish we had seen more of the exploits of these mountain men trapping beaver instead of the weak story we did get. Still though, watchable enough.

 

[Michael Elliott]

I held off watching this film for a couple months because I was confused about the running time. One of my books lists 87-minutes while another one has it at 117-minutes. The Tivo menu showed it listed as 112-minutes but each time Fox has shown it it has been the shorter version. After seeing the film it's obvious something is missing but I'm not sure if I'd go back and watch the longer version. I think this was the first time that I was really disappointed with a performance by Douglas.

 

[Michael Elliott]

Mario,

Re: Take the Money and Run

I'm not sure why it took me so long to get to this one. I knew it had a good reputation but for some reason I let it get away for years. I'm going to guess it's because I prefer Woody's SLEEPER to MANHATTAN period the most.

Re: Wellman

I've got three more of the films TCM showed to watch including A STAR IS BORN, which is another classic I never got around to. I didn't get to record any of the films on last night because I'm at my girlfriends house and brought my Tivo with me and for some reason TCM isn't coming on up here. I've been mostly impressed with the films but I hope some of them come to DVD really quick. THE HATCHET MAN would fit well in a number of Warner sets so hopefully this one will show up at some point. Of course, it would fit in just fine with that Loretta Young box I'm hoping for.

I didn't care too much for BEGGARS OF LIFE but I do have a copy of WINGS sitting here, which I'm going to try and watch next year. For my money his best film is THE OX BOW INCIDENT and I'm still rather baffled as to why this film hasn't gotten more attention since being released on DVD. I heard the film was hard to see earlier but with the DVD out there it looks like more people would have talked about it. THE CALL OF THE WILD is another film I gave four-stars because I thought the action was great and Gable and Young were terrific together. NIGHT NURSE is probably my favorite Pre-Code and I can't wait to watch it again when Warner's box comes out.

As for TCM, words can't tell what a blessing it is. As many have said, there's just no way every studio can release every film they make so it's good to see these lesser known films at least showing up on television. Even as great as Warner is when it comes to classics on DVD, there's just no way in hell all of this stuff can get released. I really don't mind it as long as TCM stays around. I've cut down on my buying over the past couple years due in large part to TCM and everything they show. I spent most of the year watching various "B" and "C" movies but I'm going to try putting this on hold next year and catching up with bigger films that I've missed so far.

Studios can't release everything out there and we can't watch everything out there so I'm trying to come up with a way to evenly mix everything up. I'm not having any luck yet but I welcome suggestions. I've got countless DVDs sitting around, I'm trying to go to the theater more and of course there's TCM. I thought about just keeping up with TCM but each week dedicate it to some actor/director and catch up with what I've missed.

 

[george kaplan]

Bundle of Joy

Musical remake of Bachelor Mother with some of the most insipid music ever put on celluloid. And trying to watch Eddie Fisher act is more painful than listening to him sing. This film is the poster child for unnecessary and unfortunate remakes.

 

[Michael Elliott]

12/26/07

Take the Money and Run (1969) :star::star::star: Dir. Woody Allen

Hilarious spoof of crime films tells the story of Virgil Starkwell (Allen), a man raised in the tough streets who eventually turns to a life of crime. After being released from prison he meets a lovely young girl (Janet Margolin) and the two fall in love but the life of crime keeps calling. There are some really wonderful jokes here and the screenplay perfectly captures those old crime pictures so even at this early state it's easy to tell Allen was someone special. Like most of Allen's early films, this movie has about ten jokes a minute so some work better than others but for the most part all of the jokes here hit a home run. The early joke of Allen experimenting with a new drug is terrific and hilarious when the side effect turns him into a Rabbi. Margolin is very good in her role of Allen's wife but this is Woody's movie from start to finish. This is a very funny spoof at the genre, which perfectly captures the mood and feel of those old films.

Case of the Black Cat, The (1936) :star::star::star: Dir. William C. McGann

Fifth film in Warner's Parry Mason series now features Ricardo Cortez in the role of the attorney. This time out an old man calls Mason to his house so that he can change his will since he's worried someone in his family is about to kill him. A few days later the old man dies in a fire but after the autopsy it turns out he was dead hours before the fire. This is a pretty solid little crime picture from start to finish and I was surprised to see it didn't suffer any from not having Warren William in the lead. Cortez actually delivers a very strong performance as the attorney and manages to come off looking and sounding like a real detective and someone with a brain in their head. The supporting cast doesn't feature any huge stars but they all fill their roles nicely. One interesting note is that the cat from the title plays a big part in the film but it's a black and white cat. One has to wonder why Warner didn't use a black cat.

Waterloo Bridge (1940) :star::star::star:1/2 Dir. Mervyn LeRoy

Very impressive remake of James Whale's 1931 film tells the story of war torn lovers. Robert Taylor plays the British officer and Vivian Leigh plays the dancer who fall in love after meeting on Waterloo Bridge but before they can marry he's called off to the war. During the war money is hard to come by and after she hear that he's been killed in action, she begins working as a prostitute only to have him walk back into her life. I watched the original version of this film earlier in the year and really loved the raw and tragic elements of the story and while this version is watered down there's still enough here to make this one of the greatest love stories from Hollywood's golden age. Leigh is downright terrific in her role as she perfectly sales her innocence in the early scenes and then shows off her anguish at the end. She perfectly captures this sad and lonely spirit and her work with Taylor makes for a great combo. This is the best I've ever seen Taylor who nails all his scenes, especially the opening and closing sequences where he says all we need to know with just his eyes. Lucile Watson, Virginia Field and Maria Ouspenskaya add great support. I think a lot of the love stories from this period have dated over the years but this one contains all the power and emotion of the original story.

Hairspray (1988) :star::star::star: Dir. John Waters

An overweight teen (Ricky Lake) must battle a skinny teen to win a local TV dance show as well as teach people that integration is a good thing. I've been wanting to see this film for quite some time now and while I found the film to be entertaining I think Waters scored better with Cry-Baby when it comes to his throwbacks to the 60s. There's a lot of great stuff here including Waters ability to make the film feel like the 1960s and the performances are all very good. I'm not a fan of Lake but she steals the show as the teen with a heart to do whatever she wants. Sonny Bono is also good in his role as is Divine as Lake's mother. All the stuff dealing with integration is handled very well, although I think it takes away from Lake's story so I think it should have been cut back some or it should have played a part in the film from the very start.

On the Town (1949) :star::star::star:1/2 Dir. Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly

Musical about three sailors (Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Jules Munshin) who gets a 24-hour leave and head to see NYC. I'm going to try and catch up with more musicals and it seemed this would be another winner and it was. The only complaint I have is that it starts off a tad bit slow but quickly goes to high gear as the guy's start searching for Kelly's girl (Vera-Ellen). The musical numbers, which I'm guessing were directed by Kelly, are terrific to look at and the colors are also wonderful on the eyes. The songs are also very good with the title track and "New York New York" being the real standouts. I thought all three of the male leads were terrific with Kelly and Sinatra there usual greatness. Munshin holds his own with them very well.

Girl Happy (1965) :star::star: Dir. Boris Sagal

Mildy entertaining Elvis vehicle has a club owner hiring him and his band to go down to Florida and make sure his daughter stays out of trouble. Having watched many of these Elvis films this year I really can't say this one is any better or worse than any other film since they all pretty much follow the same formula and in the end I guess these movies were pretty much just music videos to eventually sell albums. This film actually starts off pretty well with a great title track and some fun comedy but things get very tiresome once the 'mission' to keep the daughter out of trouble starts. If you've seen at least one movie in your life then you'll know where the plot is taking you throughout this film. Elvis is actually decent in his role but leading lady Shelley Fabares is pretty bland, which got me wondering why MGM didn't try to get Elvis better leading ladies. I think this is the first time I've actually said this but I enjoyed the majority of the songs in the film with the title track being the best but the others were nice as well.

12/27/07

Eastern Promises (2007) :star::star::star::star: Dir. David Cronenberg

A young woman is rushed to the hospital where she dies after giving birth to a daughter. One of the doctors on the scene, played by Naomi Watts, wants to know who the girl was so she steals her diary, which is in Russian but the doctor learns that the dead girl had ties to the Russian mafia. Soon the doctor is going to the head man (Armin Mueller-Stahl) and gets caught up in a deadly cat and mouse game, which also includes the mafia's driver (Viggo Mortensen). I'd be the biggest liar in the world if I said I was a fan of Cronenberg because he's always frustrated me as a director. In all of his pictures you could see a guy with talent but quite often I was left disappointed by the final product but I slowly started getting interested in him after the terrific A History of Violence but with this film here the director might have delivered his greatest work to date. This is an incredibly violent, dark and downright mean little film that doesn't have a shed of laughter or bright moments, which is something different for the gangster genre. Quite often gang pictures always have something that makes you like the bad guys you are watching but that's not the case here because Cronenberg paints them exactly as they are and that's evil killing machines. The Mueller-Stahl character speaks gently but with a lot of force and Mortensen is just downright chilling each time he is on the screen. The performances are terrific with Mortensen leading the way with an award worthy performance, which is probably the best I've seen from him. He has to speak both English and Russian for the part and usually it's easy to tell when someone is speaking outside their normal language but that's not the case here because every bit of dialogue delivered appears so incredibly real that Mortensen easily slides into his role. Watts also proves herself to be a worthy talent with a strong performance as does Vincent Cassel and Sinead Cusack. The film has some incredibly ugly violence, which suits the film very well and the overall atmosphere makes you feel like you need a shower after the movie goes off. There's one fight scene towards the end of the movie, which is among the greatest ever filmed.

Hairspray (2007) :star::star::star: Dir. Adam Shankman

Remake of John Waters' 1988 cult favorite has Nikki Blonsky playing the overweight teenager who has dreams of being on a local TV dance show. I'm really not sure if a remake that followed the original so closely was actually needed but if it had to be done then this film does justice to the original by adding some great talent and some wonderful music. I think the film runs a good ten or fifteen minutes too long so it should have been trimmed but other than that there's a lot of great stuff here to enjoy. The songs are mostly excellent and all of them perfectly capture the music that would really have been playing in 1962. Blonsky steals the show with her highly energetic performance, which is delightful to watch from start to finish. Her singing voice is also very good and she brings a lot of charm to her songs. The supporting cast is great and you know you're in for a good time when you have Christopher Walken married to a John Travolta in drag. Both actors do a very good job and even Travolta who gets to spoof his Pulp Fiction dance in one scene. Michelle Pfeiffer is excellent as the racist at the cable station and Amanda Bynes is very good as her daughter. Even Queen Latifah is very good in her role as Motormouth Maybelle. The cameo's from the films original members were also a lot of especially Waters' scene, which is a highlight.

Diamonds (1999) :star::star::star: Dir. John Mallory Asher

Thin but touching drama about an ex-fighter (Kirk Douglas) who was worthless to his son (Dan Aykroyd) but after the fighter's stroke they are brought together again. Along with his grandson (Corhin Allred), the three head to Nevada to collect some diamonds owed the old man after throwing a fight fifty years earlier. This road picture really doesn't contain anything we haven't seen countless times before but this film is very special in the fact that it was made a few years after Douglas suffered his stroke in real life. I was expecting a rather bland performance made memorable by the bravery of the actor trying to act again but I was really floored because Douglas still contains all that energy and fight that we saw from him throughout his career. Clips from his film Champion are shown here to show Douglas as the young fighter and it's rather amazing that his performance here perfectly captures that mood and spirit of that young man. He's given a couple very big emotional scenes and he pulls them off remarkably well and that intense energy is still there after all these years. Both Aykroyd and Allred also deliver fine performances as does Jenny McCarthy as a prostitute. Lauren Bacall has a small role as a whorehouse owner but her scenes with Douglas is priceless. I'm really shocked to see some major critics rip this film to shreds because it's a damn good little film that seems to have a small little following behind it. It's certainly worth watching for Douglas fans. Towards the end of the film there's a twenty-minute sequence in the whorehouse, which got me worried where the film was trying to go but it perfectly captures everything we've been led up to.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) :star::star::star: Dir. Tim Burton

Horror-musical about the one and only Sweeney Todd (Johnny Depp) who slashes throats as a barber and sends the flesh downstairs to Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter) so that she can make her meat pies. All of this so that Sweeney can seek vengeance against the man (Alan Rickman) who stole his wife and child. I've yet to see a review who mentioned the 1936 Tod Slaughter film but I'll do so right now. There's no question this is a better version but in the end I've never hated a film that I loved so much. There's so much brilliance in this film that it's a shame I didn't enjoy it more but the first thirty-minutes were somewhat brutal for me. I really wasn't enjoying any of the songs nor was I enjoying any of the build up of the characters. I thought the songs were rather weak and the film took way too long to get to the build up, which finally happens when Sacha Baron Cohen's character hits the screen. This is when the story of the vengeance starts to unfold and this is when Burton and the cast really starts to shine. I'm not sure what it was but this is when the film took off for me and Depp really started to shine in what has to be one of his greatest performances. Yes, he's not much of a singer but I think he actually did great during the songs that deal with anger. When Depp let his voice go in anguish screams I thought the songs were very powerful. Carter can't sing that well either but I think the songwriters and Burton did a nice job of hiding this by giving her songs some nice comic touching, which the actress nailed perfectly. The ending of the film is highly dramatic is quite beautiful as is most of the visuals in the film. I hate CGI but thought Burton used it very well here in this fantasy world. I was also shocked at how bloody and violent this film was with all the throat slashings. Burton lets the blood flow very deep so I'm shocked so many people were going to see the film. Perhaps a second viewing will let me enjoy the start of the film more but there's still plenty of stuff here to love but I couldn't help wish that I had loved all of it.

Germany Year Zero (1948) :star::star:1/2 Dir. Roberto Rossellini

Edmund (Edmund Moeschke), a 12-year-old boy, tries to survive in post-WW2 Berlin even though he has no money, no food and not much of a future. I really wanted to like this film more than I did but I've got to compare it to Triumph of the Will. The reason I say that is this film, like that controversial one, is a marvel to look at but the story just didn't hit home with me. I think the adventures of this young boy was strong enough to carry the film but I honestly couldn't care about any of the adult characters. For some reason they just never hit with me so I was left bored by most of them. Moeschke is excellent as the young boy but he isn't given too much to work with. The visual style of the film is great and rough, which really makes the film all the more realistic. The film came off looking a lot like a documentary, which is the greatest aspect of the film. One other minor problem I had is that several of the adult actors were speaking so fast that I couldn't follow some of the subtitles.

Case of the Stuttering Bishop, The (1937) :star::star:1/2 Dir. William Clemens

Sixth and final film in Warner's Perry Mason series features a new guy in the lead role but the film turns out to be a rather entertaining entry. This time out, Perry Mason (Donald Woods) is visited by a bishop who asks him to investigate a manslaughter that happened twenty-two years earlier but the guilty party is still free. Perry starts to investigate, which leads him to a billionaire who eventually winds up dead and it seems the same person is behind the two cases. This is a pretty strong film that manages to be quite entertaining, although it would have benefited by a stronger supporting cast. Woods is actually very good in the role of Mason and brings his own charm and brains to the role. Ann Dvorak is entertaining as his secretary but the rest of the cast is so-so at best. The case is actually very well written and manages to be quite complicated, which ruins the ending when we get the typical easy way out and that's the guilty person getting away with it until they break down and admit everything.

 

[PatW]

LOTR: Return of the King (2003) :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

There is not too much to say here because I find it perfect in every way, even the multiple endings which didn't bother me. If there's a downside it's the length which is even worse since I'm watching the extended dvd but at least I could pause it when needing a break. Seeing this in the theatre, I probably would prefer the shorter version only because I hate interrupting a movie to go to the restroom.

Theodora Goes Wild (1936) :star: :star: :star:

Entertaining enough comedy with Irene Dunne as a novelist whose scandalous identity is kept secret from the small town she grew up and lives in until her identity is revealed. Amusing enough but I've liked other Irene Dunne movies better than this one.

 

[PatW]

I've wanted to watch this one for quite some time since I admired History of Violence so much. I'm glad it's finally out on dvd.

 

[Michael Elliott]

I'm not sure if you're a Cronenberg fan or not but I'd love to hear more opinions on this film. I asked if you were a fan because I can't call myself one, although I really enjoyed A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE. I still think THE DEAD ZONE is his best film but it seems most die-hard Cronenberg fans hate that movie with a passion.

 

[Mario Gauci]

12/26/07: BUSH CHRISTMAS (Ralph Smart, 1947) :star::star:1/2

This pleasant kiddie flick has the benefit of being located in the relatively unusual Australian outback despite its Christmas period setting; as everyone knows, Australian Christmases are hot summery ones rather than marked by the cold weather which is so intrinsic to the Christmas spirit for the rest of the world. Although I’ve become familiar with a handful of Australian movies in fairly recent years, this is undoubtedly the oldest one I’ve watched so far – although, technically, this is a British-Australian co-production. For the record, the film was quite popular on its home turf and was, in fact, remade much later in 1983 with a young Nicole Kidman featured in the cast!

Anyway, writer-director Ralph Smart had a hand in concocting several earlier, notable British comedies – ALF’S BUTTON AFLOAT (1938), CONVICT 99 (1938), etc. – and later went into TV where he dealt with such heroic figures as William Tell and Robin Hood; indeed, BUSH CHRISTMAS adequately displays his light touch and sense of adventure which makes for a decent, low-key entertainment which passes the time amiably enough. The unassuming plot has to do with a group of young children (including a bungling, bespectacled Briton and a half-Aborigine tracker) falling foul of three horse thieves (one of whom is played by popular Australian actor Chips Rafferty).


12/27/07: BLACKIE THE PIRATE (Lorenzo Gicca Palli, 1971) :star::star:

Living on an island situated so close to the Italian peninsula, it is small wonder that celebrities emanating from those parts would be a household word in Malta as well and, during my childhood days, no Italian film stars were as popular as Mario Girotti and Carlo Pedersoli…er…Terence Hill and Bud Spencer. These two actors – who could roughly be described as the “Laurel & Hardy” of Italian genre movies – have made 17 pictures together between 1968 and 1994 and the film under review is one of their earliest and least-known. They had just hit the big time with the Spaghetti Western spoof THEY CALL ME TRINITY (1970) and it was natural that, after three successive Westerns, producers wanted to try out something else so, here, they decided to not only change genre (to the swashbuckler) but also to have them as rivals instead of partners. Ironically, the new recipe failed to nourish the hungry masses and a sequel to TRINITY was hastily cooked up…

Apart from the incongruity of seeing the two stars swapping their by-now familiar cowboy garb for the pirate’s feathered-hat and sword, the film itself comes off as a plodding and uninvolving adventure without even the benefit of their usual, protracted cazzotti (fistfights) sequences – save a few tired rehashes of people flying on top of cabinets with a single punch to the jaw! Terence Hill has the title role but is more morose than his usual self here and Bud Spencer is an opposing pirate leader who, true to the seaman’s code, goes down with his ship in the end. Also in the cast are a trio of good-looking dames – Silvia Monti (as the vengeful wife of the Viceroy whom Hill abducts and even gets to bed), Monica Randall (as her companion who eventually joins the pirates’ cause) and Jess Franco regular Diana Lorys (who is criminally wasted as a sympathetic innkeeper); the film’s screenwriter George Martin(!) as Hill’s aristocratic partner; Pasquale Basile as the annoying dumb brute typical of such fare; Luciano Pigozzi (hamming it up as another antagonistic pirate leader); and the customary Hollywood has-been generally roped in for such productions for their dubious marquee value: in this case, Edmund Purdom (as the Viceroy). Unfortunately, contrary to all convention, instead of relishing the role of an eye-rolling villain, Purdom underplays the part almost to the point of absentia!

In spite of the film’s title, it doesn’t seem to have been inspired by the Emilio Salgari (creator of popular heroic figure Sandokan) novel “The Black Pirate” – which, apart from two earlier European film versions, would again be brought to the screen (far more effectively) a mere five years after this one (with TV’s Sandokan himself, Kabir Bedi, in the lead).


12/28/07: SAFARI EXPRESS (Duccio Tessari, 1976) :star::star:1/2

More by accident than design, my Christmas film viewings this year have been punctuated by a nostalgic flavor which has taken me back to my childhood days, either through films which I haven’t watched since – the Fairy Tale Popeye cartoons, Abbott & Costello’s JACK AND THE BEANSTALK (1952), the two Lou Ferrigno HERCULES movies, etc. – or ones which I recall being released theatrically at the time but which I hadn’t managed to catch up with until now (examples of which I should be getting to over this coming weekend).

It follows, therefore, that the film under review is another one pertaining to the former group: actually, this is the second of two similar movies with the same trio of leads (albeit two of whom are playing different characters) and the same African setting – the first was entitled AFRICA EXPRESS and had been released the previous year. Giuliano Gemma reprises the role of John Baxter, ex-WWII fighter pilot turned African tourist guide extraordinaire, Ursula Andress is a nurse whose traumatic experience when her missionary camp was attacked by a horde of bloodthirsty natives made her lose her memory and Jack Palance is a shady Dutch engineer with an eye on the uranium supplies recently discovered in the vicinity of that camp. Gemma is flanked by Biba, his amiable chimp companion whose fits of jealousy (sparked by Gemma, understandably, straying in his affections for it when he meets the sultry Andress), drunken antics and “erotic dreams” (one of which opens the film itself) are often the source of amusement for the viewer.

Although I had also watched its predecessor on Italian TV, it’s been so long ago that I can't hope to make any sensible comparisons with this one: still, despite finding the film enjoyable enough today, I guess I was more tolerant of such mindless fare then because it seemed that, even at 93 minutes, the pace dragged slightly in spots; besides, Palance's come-uppance is pretty lame. For the record, there are also a colorful assortment of supporting characters: Enzo Bottesini as Gemma’s greedy, ill-fated partner who, at one point, is involved in a rousing fistfight with Gemma which sees them hitting dining tourists with umbrellas!; Giuseppe Maffiolo, also reprising his role of the missionary suffering carnal temptations because of Andress; Peter Martell - who, Gemma reveals in the DVD supplements, was the first choice for the role of Trinity before having to bail out in favor of Terence Hill because of a broken leg {see my comments above on BLACKIE THE PIRATE [1971]} - as a real twit of a British sergeant; an uncredited actor playing the leader of the natives who, of course, is a good friend of Gemma’s and who, in his futile attempts to have a male heir, fathered eleven daughters and might well strangle his wife and the witch doctor if the former doesn’t deliver next time, etc. The ubiquitous De Angelis brothers, Guido & Maurizio, typically provide a nicely percussive score – although I wouldn’t say this was one of their most memorable works.