Michael Elliott
Senior HTF Member
06/06/08
Night of the Creeps (1986) :star::star:1/2 Fred Dekker
This film was one of my favorites growing up but its been at least 15-years since I last watched it so I was really excited when I noticed the film was playing On Demand. The film tells the story of alien slugs, which attack a small town and soon turn people into zombies. A Detective (Tom Atkins) and a dork (Jason Lively) must try and battle the creatures before the entire town is turned into the living dead. The director's best film remains The Monster Squad but this throwback to the sci-fi films of the 1950's is still very good if you're a fan of the genre and offers up a lot of good monsters as well as some very good performances. What really stands out about this film are all the homages to previous horror directors as well as various films including a couple tips of the hat to Plan 9 From Outer Space. Atkins brings his typical "B" movie charm to the film but it's Lively and Steve Marshall who really steal the film. Roger Corman vet Dick Miller also shows up for a nice cameo. The special effects are very "B" budget but they're exactly what the film calls for.
Slanted Screen, The (2006) :star::star::star::star: Jeff Adachi
Extremely well-made documentary that takes a look at how Asians were shown in movies and TV. The film goes all the way back to the silent films of Sessue Hayakawa up to current films like Romeo Must Die. We gets clips from various white actors including Christopher Lee, Lon Chaney, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, Mickey Rooney and Bela Lugosi playing Asian characters and how these stereotypes caused studios not to hire Asian actors. We also get a rather heated debate on if Bruce Lee was good or bad for the Asian community. The film runs just under an hour and while I think the movie could have been improved with a longer running time, the director does a great job at tackling a lot of subjects within the running time. Mako, Jason Scott Lee, James Shigeta, Dustin Nguyen are among the actors interviewed and all of them tell some very strong stories of what it was like seeing whites playing Asian characters. A Hollywood insider said Asians keep getting bad roles simply because whites and blacks don't want to see them on the screen with bigger roles. This was true in the silent days and continue today so hearing someone actually say it is rather refreshing.
White Mane (1953) :star::star::star:1/2 Albert Lamorisse
Classic French film about a young boy (Alain Emery) who becomes fixated with an untamable white stallion. Even though the adults can't tame the horse, the young boy will stop at nothing to get the horse to notice him and eventually the boy breaks the horse. This is from the same director who made The Red Balloon and I must admit that I enjoyed this one a little bit more. Outside of one sequence, which I'll talk about later, this film is pretty flawless and at times downright beautiful. The cinematography is top-notch and really makes some great atmosphere especially the scenes in the pond. The pond sequence happens near the beginning of the film and it shows the boy putting a noose around the horse, trying to capture it, but then the horse takes off running and drags the boy through the water as well as the land. I'm not exactly sure how this was filmed but it was quite beautiful. Another great sequence happens at the end when the boy is finally able to get on the horse and a wild chase follows. The only rather disturbing scene is when the horse gets into a fight with another horse and this goes on for a good amount of time and it gets quite violent. The two horses are violently kicking one another and biting each other and these bites lead to some blood flowing and this scene is rather hard to watch.
Jimmy Fund: At Home With Joan Crawford (1953) :star::star::star: No Director Credited
This short film was made to help raise money for the Jimmy Fund, which was a hospital in Boston that took care of children with cancer. The film shows Joan Crawford walking out of her daughter's bedroom and heading for the camera where she talks about the children with the disease and then asks people to donate money. Several of these shorts were made back in the 1950s and if you're a fan of Crawford then you'll want to check this out. This isn't the most cheerful short ever made but it did serve its purpose. It's rather sad to think that 55-years after this was released that we're no closer to any cure.
06/07/08
Ocean's Eleven (1960) :star::star::star: Lewis Milestone
Classic film about a playboy (Frank Sinatra) who gathers up ten of his Army buddies to pull a heist in Las Vegas. The plan is to rob five different casinos within the matter of minutes on New Year's Eve. I've been wanting to catch this film for quite sometime and it actually turned out to be just as I expected. I really can't call this a good movie because the story is so incredibly stupid that it's very hard to take anything in it serious but I think that's probably the key to having a good time watching it. The whole plan to rob the casinos is so incredibly dumb that if you did decide to take the film serious then you wouldn't enjoy a thing about it but if you're willing to turn your brain off then you might end up being entertained. There's no suspense to speak of and there's not too much comedy so what does the film have going for it? The cool cast, which is constantly trying to act cool in front of the camera. Not only do we get Sinatra but we've also got Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford, Cesar Romero, Richard Conte, Henry Silva, Angie Dickinson, Ilka Chase, Buddy Lester and cameo spots by Shirley MacLaine, Red Skelton and George Raft. The wonderful cast really makes this film worth watching and that's really the only thing the movie has going for it. I wouldn't say the direction was overly good but that is mainly due to the screenplay that really doesn't allow anything great to happen. The first hour is a long introduction to all the characters but we really don't learn too much. When the heist finally takes place it's very well handled and fun and I only wish more time could have been spent on it. In the end, this is a nostalgic film that works its magic due to the cast having fun. If you don't take it too serious then you should enjoy it too.
Hidden Values: The Movies of the Fifties (2001) :star::star:1/2
Fifty-minute documentary taking a look at various "rebel" films from the 1950s, which changed the culture as well as changed how films were made. Lee Grant, John Carpenter, Roger Corman, Paul Mazursky and critic Molly Haskell are interviewed about a small group of films that include Anatomy of a Murder, The Thing from Another World, The Wild One and Rebel Without a Cause. If you've never seen any of these films then I'm guessing you'll enjoy this film more since you're probably getting introduced to some great films. If you have seen these films then you're not really going to hear anything you haven't heard in countless other documentaries. We get to hear how great brando is and how Dean changed any entire generation. There are a couple good stories told when the directors get to talk about their first memories of going to the movies but outside of that this film doesn't offer too much.
Saint Takes Over, The (1940) :star::star:1/2 Jack Hively
Fifth film in RKO's series has George Sanders once again returning as The Saint. This time out his buddy is accused of a crime he didn't commit and disgraced so The Saint comes back to America to clear his name. While all of this is going on, we have a female going around seeking vengeance for the death of her brother but that's not all because mobsters are tied into a robbery. I must admit upfront that I haven't been overly impressed with any of the films from the series that Sanders has appeared in. I think the original film in the series was good but the three sequels were all fair at best. I'd call this one of the best of the Sanders films but it really starts off quite boring as the film spends way too much time trying to set up its story instead of delivering the goods. The second half of the film really picks up and leads to a nice ending and I really wish the first half had moved as well as the second. The highlight of the film is a scene where The Saint and a couple other men are trying to scare a confession out of a man but of course things don't go as planned. Sanders also delivers the best performance I've seen from him in the series and it's backed by a good music score.
Rodney Carrington: Live at the Majestic (2007) :star::star::star:
I had never heard of this comedian but this concert film was on television so my girlfriend and I decided to watch it. Carrington comes off like your typical redneck with the cowboy hat and tight pants but this guy certainly isn't from the same school as Jeff Foxworthy or Larry the Cable Guy. The concert runs just over 70-minutes and contains non-stop profanity as Carrington gets into various dirty jokes involving sex with his wife, drunk sex with fat women and just about anything else that involves sex. These jokes are usually mildly entertaining and funny but we've heard this type of stuff before and often times they've been told a lot better. What really stands out here is at the end of the show when Carrington picks up an acoustic guitar and sings various songs, which are all about sex, his dick and women's breasts. There's one song where Carrington sings that women, if they love their country, should expose their breasts and sure enough various women in the crowd start to lift their shirts up. The material here isn't groundbreaking but it does make for a fun evening.
06/08/08
Call Her Savage (1932) :star::star:1/2 John Francis Dillon
"It" girl Clara Bow made her comeback with this at times raunchy Pre-Code that features the actress turning up the sex level. In the film she plays a wild child who goes through various up and downs throughout her life. This starts with stealing a husband (Monroe Owsley) from his wife (Thelma Todd), which turns into a disaster but these two will pop up again later in her life. As with Bow's characters life, this film is up and down from start to finish. At times the film comes off very sexy, at times it's funny, at times it's heartbreaking but there are other moments where the film comes off as pure camp. Since this is a Pre-Code we get all sorts of scenes where Bow is showing off her sexuality, which includes scenes showing off her legs and one memorable scene with her nipples showing through her clothes. Before we get to all the sexual stuff we have a prologue that tells us Bow's character is cursed by God due to her grandfather's bad doings behind the back of his wife. These religious elements come off very campy and really put the movie at a slow start. The reason to see this film is due to Bow's terrific performance. She was always great at being the wild child and her funny side has always been good and that continues to be the case here. What really works is her dramatic turns, which includes one heartbreaking scene that I won't ruin here. Bow's comeback would only last one more film, which is a shame because it's clear she hand more punch than a lot of the actresses of this era, which went onto have long careers.
Anna May Wong: Frosted Yellow Willows (2008) :star::star::star: Elaine Mae Woo
Nice documentary taking a look at the life and career of Chinese actress Anna May Wong. The film tells the story of Wong growing up in Chinatown and dreaming of becoming a major actress in Hollywood. Wong eventually got to Hollywood but the ideas of people at the time kept her out of leading roles but she did get supporting roles in film such as Old San Francisco, Mr. Wu and Shanghai Express. During the silent days she got the nickname of "The Yellow Wonder" and this helped her gets roles throughout her career, although she was often overlooked for major roles that would go to white actresses done up to look Chinese. This documentary does a very good job at telling her story but the direction is a tad bit lacking and that really keeps this film being a great documentary like The Slanted Screen, which I currently viewed. No interviews are done until the closing credits when Leonard Maltin and a few others show up and I think this was a mistake. It would have been nice to hear some comments on how Wong lost so many roles to white women and the heat she took from Chinese people for playing the roles of servants.
Michael (1924) :star::star::star: Carl Theodor Dreyer
German silent about an aging master painter (Benjamin Christensen) who takes a male model and wannabe painter (Walter Slezak) under his wings but soon their relationship begins to crumble when both men meet the Princess Zamikoff (Nora Gregor). This here was one of the director's lesser seen films but over the past decade or so it has become quite popular for being an early example of a homosexual relationship. Some could debate that the film isn't about homosexuality and I somewhat agree with his stance but I also see why some might think there was more to the two men's relationship. Either way, over the years I really haven't been too much of a fan of Dreyer's and I found this film much like the rest of his work. The biggest problem I had with this film as well as others from the director is that I never really get caught up in the stories. The stories always take second billing to the wonderful visual style and cinematograhy, which some might love but I'd also like to have a better story mixed in. Even with that said the movie is still worth watching due to the cinematography by Rudolph Mate and Karl Freund. Freund handled all the interior shots and these are the most impressive of the film. The sets are very beautiful and the film follows that German Expressionist mood perfectly. Christensen, director of the masterpiece Haxan, delivers a very strong performance and this is easy to spot towards the end of the film. I won't ruin the ending but Christensen's performance perfectly nails every moment. Slezak is also very good but I didn't care too much for Gregor.
Opening Day (1938) :star: Roy Rowland
The Mayor of Sneeversport is out of town so the city treasurer (Robert Benchley) is asked to throw out the first pitch at the opening day baseball game. When he's handed the ball, instead of throwing it, he goes on a long speech, which starts to drag everyone crazy. I love catching these rare shorts on Turner Classic Movies and even the most bland one usually has at least a few things going for it but there's no doubt that this one here is the worst I've seen. I've enjoyed most of the Benchley shorts I've seen but while watching the film I felt like those people in the stands. The humor just didn't work on me as I found it boring, slow and just dull. Benchley always had a dry humor in his films but this really kills this film because it's simply not funny.
Sneak Easily (1932) :star:1/2 Gus Meins
Hal Roach short has a scientist on trial for creating a pill that he fed to his wife, which eventually blew up and killed her. The prosecuting attorney (Thelma Todd) keeps having trouble with her case due to a dumb juror (Zasu Pitts) who accidentally swallows the evidence and soon will blow up herself. This short runs seventeen-minutes and sadly it doesn't get funny until the last minute when everyone goes back to the home of the scientist so that he can try to create another formula to take away the explosion, which is now in Pitts stomach. The comedy in the film is pretty dry and it never really works. Pitts has a chance to do some physical humor but none of this works either because we've seen it countless times before and we've certainly seen it better done. We get the typical stuff of her messing with the judge and another scene with her bothering the other jurors. Todd keeps the film moving with her good charm.
06/09/08
Obscene Mirror (1973) :star::star::star: Jess Franco
This is a pretty well, if highly praised, film from the Spanish director, which is (apparently) available in three different versions. The version getting all the love and praise is the Spanish version while the French and Italian versions are re-edited with hardcore scenes and an alternate cast added to the mix. The version I watched was the Italian one, which is hard to review due to the hardcore scenes, which were added. The basic plot, I believe, is the same from each version and centers on a woman (Emma Cohen) who suffers a breakdown after the suicide of her sister (played by Lina Romay in this version). Soon after the suicide the sister begins to see her dead sister inside a mirror, which causes her to go out, bring men home and kill them. Again, it's really hard to judge this film due to the added scenes and the fact that the Spanish version is apparently totally different but there was enough here to I loved to recommend people seeing this but at the same time you should certainly try and get the original version (which I will be looking for). The film reminded me a lot of Franco's Venus in Furs, which is among the director's best films. There's a deeply haunting, sad and tragic nature and atmosphere, which runs throughout this film and it wasn't hard to get caught up into the mental state of the main character. Franco's direction is very sharp throughout but most of the credit has to go towards Cohen who is simply terrific in the film. She doesn't have to resort to nudity or cheap thrills to get her performance across. I guess the best way to explain it is that she comes across like a spirit and just floats from one scene to the next, slowing breaking down in front of our eyes. Sadly the disc I watched also didn't feature any subtitles so I couldn't follow any of the dialogue, which there was plenty of and I'm sure if I could follow the story more I would have loved it even more. The hardcore scenes, which again, were added, are pretty ugly and add absolutely nothing to the movie. These scenes really killed everything that was going on so I found myself hitting the FF button through them. I'm hoping to track down the director's cut soon since most fans think this Italian version is a complete mess. If it is a mess and I enjoyed it this much then I can't wait to see what the Spanish one offers.
Harvey (1950) :star::star::star:1/2 Henry Koster
One of the all-time great feel-good films, the movie stars James Stewart as a kind, easy go lucky guy who just happens to have an invisible friend, Harvey, who is a six-foot, three and a half inch rabbit. After embarrassing his sister (Josephine Hull) one time too many, she goes to put Stewart away but the doctors have a hard time getting him (and Harvey). This is a very strange and surreal film that slowly works itself on you and by the end you can't help to feel as if you've just stepped out of the shower. If there was ever a film out there that you could watch and feel better afterwards than this one is it. I'm really not sure what magic this film has going for it but it leaks out during every single scene. I honestly believe that had any other actor in the world played the main role then the film would have been a complete disaster. Stewart gives another terrific performance and his brilliance of an actor is all over the place here. I think the most important thing he brings to the role is the fact that he can make the viewer overlook that we can't see Harvey and Stewart really pushes his charm and sweetness to the point where we just go along with him and accept it as a fact that a big rabbit is standing next to him. Oscar winner Hull is hilarious from start to finish as is the supporting cast, which includes Cecil Kellaway, Charles Drake and Peggy Dow. The movie has one hilarious scene after another but I think the best moment is the scene where Hull tries to have Stewart committed but things go terribly wrong.
Daughter of the Dragon (1931) :star::star: Lloyd Corrigan
Third film in Paramount's series, this film follows The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu and The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu. This time out, the evil Fu Manchu (Warner Oland) goes to kill another enemy but ends up getting killed himself. Before he dies however, he gives his evil reign to his daughter, Princess Ling Moy (Ana May Wong). Soon the daughter is carrying out her father's evil deeds but a police detective (Sessue Hayakawa) is closing in on her. This is the first film from the series that I've seen and I've been told this is the weakest entry and I wouldn't be too shocked by that. One thing going for the film is that it goes by incredibly fast but sadly the direction is very flat, which makes the film rather lifeless throughout. There's no energy, no drama and certainly no suspense, which are things needed to make these type of films work. Oland only appears very briefly and the future Charlie Chan doesn't come off too well here. Oland comes off very bored as does Hayakawa. Most people only know Hayakawa from The Bridge on the River Kwai and they don't know he was a pretty big silent film star. He was certainly on the bottom of his career having to take a supporting role in this B film and you can tell he doesn't seem too thrilled in playing the part. Anna May Wong comes off very good in one of her only starring roles. Things pick up in the final ten minutes when we get some torture sequences.
Old San Francisco (1927) :star::star:1/2 Alan Crosland
Fifth Vitaphone production from Warner is silent all the way through with the exception of some sound effects used in small places. The film tells the story of a Spanish family who moved to what would become San Francisco to set up their ranch but in 1906 an evil Chinese landowner (Warner Oland) tries to steal it away. The Spanish daughter (Dolores Costello) must try and save her land even though the odds are against here and all the fighting leads up to the famous earthquake. This is a decent movie at best, which works on some levels but is rather disappointing in others. This type of revenge story isn't anything new and had been going on as early as the Griffith shorts at Biograph. Storywise nothing new is really done here but a few nice things happen with the new setting of Chinatown. Today the racial stereotypes of the Chinese folks would be considered racist but what we see here was accepted in 1927. Costello is pretty good in the lead role as she brings some energy to her character that helps the film. Oland is also very good as the Chinese man who pretends to be white in order to try and steal the land. Charles Emmett Mack and Anna May Wong have supporting roles and are pretty good as well. I'm not 100% certain but the final earthquake sequence appears to have scenes borrowed from the Lon Chaney film The Shock, which was also set in San Francisco and featured the legendary earthquake. With that in mind, the final earthquake sequence really isn't that impressive but there are some newly filmed scenes mixed in of building burning and these effects look pretty good. The Vitaphone sound effects are all rather small and include a few gunshots early on, bells ringing and a few screams during the earthquake.
Dragon Painter, The (1919) :star::star::star:1/2 William Worthington
At times haunting, at times romantic, this once thought lost silent film turned out to be one of the crowning gems of its era. The film tells the story of Tatsu (Sessue Hayakawa), a madman who has become known as The Dragon Painter. Tatsu believes that a thousand years earlier his one and only love had her spirit taken away by a dragon so all he paints in dragons hoping that one day she will return to him. A master painter (Edward Peil, Sr.) living in Tokyo soon learns of Tatsu's great paintings and brings him in telling Tatsu that he knows where the spirit of his love is. The painter offers up his daughter (Toyo Fujita) in return that Tatsu make great paintings but after Tatsu gets his love back he doesn't feel the need to paint anymore. This film was thought lost for decades until a print turned up in 1977 and thankfully one did because this is a rare case where a lost film turns out to be well worth being found. The movie runs just over 50-minutes and it contains some very strong scenes as well as some great performances. The film was done by Hayakawa's own studio so needless to say the budget isn't the biggest but this works well for the film as it creates a tight and unique atmosphere and really captures the culture of Japan. The set design is also very well done and the new music score serves the film very well. For those of you who only know Hayakawa from his role in The Bridge on the River Kwai then you should certainly seek this film out. The Japanese born actor gives a very strong performance here and his scenes as the madman are right on the mark as are the scenes with him stricken with grief. Peil and Fujita also deliver fine performances. It's also nice seeing a film from this period that show a foreign man doing something other than being a gangster or villain.
Night of the Creeps (1986) :star::star:1/2 Fred Dekker
This film was one of my favorites growing up but its been at least 15-years since I last watched it so I was really excited when I noticed the film was playing On Demand. The film tells the story of alien slugs, which attack a small town and soon turn people into zombies. A Detective (Tom Atkins) and a dork (Jason Lively) must try and battle the creatures before the entire town is turned into the living dead. The director's best film remains The Monster Squad but this throwback to the sci-fi films of the 1950's is still very good if you're a fan of the genre and offers up a lot of good monsters as well as some very good performances. What really stands out about this film are all the homages to previous horror directors as well as various films including a couple tips of the hat to Plan 9 From Outer Space. Atkins brings his typical "B" movie charm to the film but it's Lively and Steve Marshall who really steal the film. Roger Corman vet Dick Miller also shows up for a nice cameo. The special effects are very "B" budget but they're exactly what the film calls for.
Slanted Screen, The (2006) :star::star::star::star: Jeff Adachi
Extremely well-made documentary that takes a look at how Asians were shown in movies and TV. The film goes all the way back to the silent films of Sessue Hayakawa up to current films like Romeo Must Die. We gets clips from various white actors including Christopher Lee, Lon Chaney, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, Mickey Rooney and Bela Lugosi playing Asian characters and how these stereotypes caused studios not to hire Asian actors. We also get a rather heated debate on if Bruce Lee was good or bad for the Asian community. The film runs just under an hour and while I think the movie could have been improved with a longer running time, the director does a great job at tackling a lot of subjects within the running time. Mako, Jason Scott Lee, James Shigeta, Dustin Nguyen are among the actors interviewed and all of them tell some very strong stories of what it was like seeing whites playing Asian characters. A Hollywood insider said Asians keep getting bad roles simply because whites and blacks don't want to see them on the screen with bigger roles. This was true in the silent days and continue today so hearing someone actually say it is rather refreshing.
White Mane (1953) :star::star::star:1/2 Albert Lamorisse
Classic French film about a young boy (Alain Emery) who becomes fixated with an untamable white stallion. Even though the adults can't tame the horse, the young boy will stop at nothing to get the horse to notice him and eventually the boy breaks the horse. This is from the same director who made The Red Balloon and I must admit that I enjoyed this one a little bit more. Outside of one sequence, which I'll talk about later, this film is pretty flawless and at times downright beautiful. The cinematography is top-notch and really makes some great atmosphere especially the scenes in the pond. The pond sequence happens near the beginning of the film and it shows the boy putting a noose around the horse, trying to capture it, but then the horse takes off running and drags the boy through the water as well as the land. I'm not exactly sure how this was filmed but it was quite beautiful. Another great sequence happens at the end when the boy is finally able to get on the horse and a wild chase follows. The only rather disturbing scene is when the horse gets into a fight with another horse and this goes on for a good amount of time and it gets quite violent. The two horses are violently kicking one another and biting each other and these bites lead to some blood flowing and this scene is rather hard to watch.
Jimmy Fund: At Home With Joan Crawford (1953) :star::star::star: No Director Credited
This short film was made to help raise money for the Jimmy Fund, which was a hospital in Boston that took care of children with cancer. The film shows Joan Crawford walking out of her daughter's bedroom and heading for the camera where she talks about the children with the disease and then asks people to donate money. Several of these shorts were made back in the 1950s and if you're a fan of Crawford then you'll want to check this out. This isn't the most cheerful short ever made but it did serve its purpose. It's rather sad to think that 55-years after this was released that we're no closer to any cure.
06/07/08
Ocean's Eleven (1960) :star::star::star: Lewis Milestone
Classic film about a playboy (Frank Sinatra) who gathers up ten of his Army buddies to pull a heist in Las Vegas. The plan is to rob five different casinos within the matter of minutes on New Year's Eve. I've been wanting to catch this film for quite sometime and it actually turned out to be just as I expected. I really can't call this a good movie because the story is so incredibly stupid that it's very hard to take anything in it serious but I think that's probably the key to having a good time watching it. The whole plan to rob the casinos is so incredibly dumb that if you did decide to take the film serious then you wouldn't enjoy a thing about it but if you're willing to turn your brain off then you might end up being entertained. There's no suspense to speak of and there's not too much comedy so what does the film have going for it? The cool cast, which is constantly trying to act cool in front of the camera. Not only do we get Sinatra but we've also got Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford, Cesar Romero, Richard Conte, Henry Silva, Angie Dickinson, Ilka Chase, Buddy Lester and cameo spots by Shirley MacLaine, Red Skelton and George Raft. The wonderful cast really makes this film worth watching and that's really the only thing the movie has going for it. I wouldn't say the direction was overly good but that is mainly due to the screenplay that really doesn't allow anything great to happen. The first hour is a long introduction to all the characters but we really don't learn too much. When the heist finally takes place it's very well handled and fun and I only wish more time could have been spent on it. In the end, this is a nostalgic film that works its magic due to the cast having fun. If you don't take it too serious then you should enjoy it too.
Hidden Values: The Movies of the Fifties (2001) :star::star:1/2
Fifty-minute documentary taking a look at various "rebel" films from the 1950s, which changed the culture as well as changed how films were made. Lee Grant, John Carpenter, Roger Corman, Paul Mazursky and critic Molly Haskell are interviewed about a small group of films that include Anatomy of a Murder, The Thing from Another World, The Wild One and Rebel Without a Cause. If you've never seen any of these films then I'm guessing you'll enjoy this film more since you're probably getting introduced to some great films. If you have seen these films then you're not really going to hear anything you haven't heard in countless other documentaries. We get to hear how great brando is and how Dean changed any entire generation. There are a couple good stories told when the directors get to talk about their first memories of going to the movies but outside of that this film doesn't offer too much.
Saint Takes Over, The (1940) :star::star:1/2 Jack Hively
Fifth film in RKO's series has George Sanders once again returning as The Saint. This time out his buddy is accused of a crime he didn't commit and disgraced so The Saint comes back to America to clear his name. While all of this is going on, we have a female going around seeking vengeance for the death of her brother but that's not all because mobsters are tied into a robbery. I must admit upfront that I haven't been overly impressed with any of the films from the series that Sanders has appeared in. I think the original film in the series was good but the three sequels were all fair at best. I'd call this one of the best of the Sanders films but it really starts off quite boring as the film spends way too much time trying to set up its story instead of delivering the goods. The second half of the film really picks up and leads to a nice ending and I really wish the first half had moved as well as the second. The highlight of the film is a scene where The Saint and a couple other men are trying to scare a confession out of a man but of course things don't go as planned. Sanders also delivers the best performance I've seen from him in the series and it's backed by a good music score.
Rodney Carrington: Live at the Majestic (2007) :star::star::star:
I had never heard of this comedian but this concert film was on television so my girlfriend and I decided to watch it. Carrington comes off like your typical redneck with the cowboy hat and tight pants but this guy certainly isn't from the same school as Jeff Foxworthy or Larry the Cable Guy. The concert runs just over 70-minutes and contains non-stop profanity as Carrington gets into various dirty jokes involving sex with his wife, drunk sex with fat women and just about anything else that involves sex. These jokes are usually mildly entertaining and funny but we've heard this type of stuff before and often times they've been told a lot better. What really stands out here is at the end of the show when Carrington picks up an acoustic guitar and sings various songs, which are all about sex, his dick and women's breasts. There's one song where Carrington sings that women, if they love their country, should expose their breasts and sure enough various women in the crowd start to lift their shirts up. The material here isn't groundbreaking but it does make for a fun evening.
06/08/08
Call Her Savage (1932) :star::star:1/2 John Francis Dillon
"It" girl Clara Bow made her comeback with this at times raunchy Pre-Code that features the actress turning up the sex level. In the film she plays a wild child who goes through various up and downs throughout her life. This starts with stealing a husband (Monroe Owsley) from his wife (Thelma Todd), which turns into a disaster but these two will pop up again later in her life. As with Bow's characters life, this film is up and down from start to finish. At times the film comes off very sexy, at times it's funny, at times it's heartbreaking but there are other moments where the film comes off as pure camp. Since this is a Pre-Code we get all sorts of scenes where Bow is showing off her sexuality, which includes scenes showing off her legs and one memorable scene with her nipples showing through her clothes. Before we get to all the sexual stuff we have a prologue that tells us Bow's character is cursed by God due to her grandfather's bad doings behind the back of his wife. These religious elements come off very campy and really put the movie at a slow start. The reason to see this film is due to Bow's terrific performance. She was always great at being the wild child and her funny side has always been good and that continues to be the case here. What really works is her dramatic turns, which includes one heartbreaking scene that I won't ruin here. Bow's comeback would only last one more film, which is a shame because it's clear she hand more punch than a lot of the actresses of this era, which went onto have long careers.
Anna May Wong: Frosted Yellow Willows (2008) :star::star::star: Elaine Mae Woo
Nice documentary taking a look at the life and career of Chinese actress Anna May Wong. The film tells the story of Wong growing up in Chinatown and dreaming of becoming a major actress in Hollywood. Wong eventually got to Hollywood but the ideas of people at the time kept her out of leading roles but she did get supporting roles in film such as Old San Francisco, Mr. Wu and Shanghai Express. During the silent days she got the nickname of "The Yellow Wonder" and this helped her gets roles throughout her career, although she was often overlooked for major roles that would go to white actresses done up to look Chinese. This documentary does a very good job at telling her story but the direction is a tad bit lacking and that really keeps this film being a great documentary like The Slanted Screen, which I currently viewed. No interviews are done until the closing credits when Leonard Maltin and a few others show up and I think this was a mistake. It would have been nice to hear some comments on how Wong lost so many roles to white women and the heat she took from Chinese people for playing the roles of servants.
Michael (1924) :star::star::star: Carl Theodor Dreyer
German silent about an aging master painter (Benjamin Christensen) who takes a male model and wannabe painter (Walter Slezak) under his wings but soon their relationship begins to crumble when both men meet the Princess Zamikoff (Nora Gregor). This here was one of the director's lesser seen films but over the past decade or so it has become quite popular for being an early example of a homosexual relationship. Some could debate that the film isn't about homosexuality and I somewhat agree with his stance but I also see why some might think there was more to the two men's relationship. Either way, over the years I really haven't been too much of a fan of Dreyer's and I found this film much like the rest of his work. The biggest problem I had with this film as well as others from the director is that I never really get caught up in the stories. The stories always take second billing to the wonderful visual style and cinematograhy, which some might love but I'd also like to have a better story mixed in. Even with that said the movie is still worth watching due to the cinematography by Rudolph Mate and Karl Freund. Freund handled all the interior shots and these are the most impressive of the film. The sets are very beautiful and the film follows that German Expressionist mood perfectly. Christensen, director of the masterpiece Haxan, delivers a very strong performance and this is easy to spot towards the end of the film. I won't ruin the ending but Christensen's performance perfectly nails every moment. Slezak is also very good but I didn't care too much for Gregor.
Opening Day (1938) :star: Roy Rowland
The Mayor of Sneeversport is out of town so the city treasurer (Robert Benchley) is asked to throw out the first pitch at the opening day baseball game. When he's handed the ball, instead of throwing it, he goes on a long speech, which starts to drag everyone crazy. I love catching these rare shorts on Turner Classic Movies and even the most bland one usually has at least a few things going for it but there's no doubt that this one here is the worst I've seen. I've enjoyed most of the Benchley shorts I've seen but while watching the film I felt like those people in the stands. The humor just didn't work on me as I found it boring, slow and just dull. Benchley always had a dry humor in his films but this really kills this film because it's simply not funny.
Sneak Easily (1932) :star:1/2 Gus Meins
Hal Roach short has a scientist on trial for creating a pill that he fed to his wife, which eventually blew up and killed her. The prosecuting attorney (Thelma Todd) keeps having trouble with her case due to a dumb juror (Zasu Pitts) who accidentally swallows the evidence and soon will blow up herself. This short runs seventeen-minutes and sadly it doesn't get funny until the last minute when everyone goes back to the home of the scientist so that he can try to create another formula to take away the explosion, which is now in Pitts stomach. The comedy in the film is pretty dry and it never really works. Pitts has a chance to do some physical humor but none of this works either because we've seen it countless times before and we've certainly seen it better done. We get the typical stuff of her messing with the judge and another scene with her bothering the other jurors. Todd keeps the film moving with her good charm.
06/09/08
Obscene Mirror (1973) :star::star::star: Jess Franco
This is a pretty well, if highly praised, film from the Spanish director, which is (apparently) available in three different versions. The version getting all the love and praise is the Spanish version while the French and Italian versions are re-edited with hardcore scenes and an alternate cast added to the mix. The version I watched was the Italian one, which is hard to review due to the hardcore scenes, which were added. The basic plot, I believe, is the same from each version and centers on a woman (Emma Cohen) who suffers a breakdown after the suicide of her sister (played by Lina Romay in this version). Soon after the suicide the sister begins to see her dead sister inside a mirror, which causes her to go out, bring men home and kill them. Again, it's really hard to judge this film due to the added scenes and the fact that the Spanish version is apparently totally different but there was enough here to I loved to recommend people seeing this but at the same time you should certainly try and get the original version (which I will be looking for). The film reminded me a lot of Franco's Venus in Furs, which is among the director's best films. There's a deeply haunting, sad and tragic nature and atmosphere, which runs throughout this film and it wasn't hard to get caught up into the mental state of the main character. Franco's direction is very sharp throughout but most of the credit has to go towards Cohen who is simply terrific in the film. She doesn't have to resort to nudity or cheap thrills to get her performance across. I guess the best way to explain it is that she comes across like a spirit and just floats from one scene to the next, slowing breaking down in front of our eyes. Sadly the disc I watched also didn't feature any subtitles so I couldn't follow any of the dialogue, which there was plenty of and I'm sure if I could follow the story more I would have loved it even more. The hardcore scenes, which again, were added, are pretty ugly and add absolutely nothing to the movie. These scenes really killed everything that was going on so I found myself hitting the FF button through them. I'm hoping to track down the director's cut soon since most fans think this Italian version is a complete mess. If it is a mess and I enjoyed it this much then I can't wait to see what the Spanish one offers.
Harvey (1950) :star::star::star:1/2 Henry Koster
One of the all-time great feel-good films, the movie stars James Stewart as a kind, easy go lucky guy who just happens to have an invisible friend, Harvey, who is a six-foot, three and a half inch rabbit. After embarrassing his sister (Josephine Hull) one time too many, she goes to put Stewart away but the doctors have a hard time getting him (and Harvey). This is a very strange and surreal film that slowly works itself on you and by the end you can't help to feel as if you've just stepped out of the shower. If there was ever a film out there that you could watch and feel better afterwards than this one is it. I'm really not sure what magic this film has going for it but it leaks out during every single scene. I honestly believe that had any other actor in the world played the main role then the film would have been a complete disaster. Stewart gives another terrific performance and his brilliance of an actor is all over the place here. I think the most important thing he brings to the role is the fact that he can make the viewer overlook that we can't see Harvey and Stewart really pushes his charm and sweetness to the point where we just go along with him and accept it as a fact that a big rabbit is standing next to him. Oscar winner Hull is hilarious from start to finish as is the supporting cast, which includes Cecil Kellaway, Charles Drake and Peggy Dow. The movie has one hilarious scene after another but I think the best moment is the scene where Hull tries to have Stewart committed but things go terribly wrong.
Daughter of the Dragon (1931) :star::star: Lloyd Corrigan
Third film in Paramount's series, this film follows The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu and The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu. This time out, the evil Fu Manchu (Warner Oland) goes to kill another enemy but ends up getting killed himself. Before he dies however, he gives his evil reign to his daughter, Princess Ling Moy (Ana May Wong). Soon the daughter is carrying out her father's evil deeds but a police detective (Sessue Hayakawa) is closing in on her. This is the first film from the series that I've seen and I've been told this is the weakest entry and I wouldn't be too shocked by that. One thing going for the film is that it goes by incredibly fast but sadly the direction is very flat, which makes the film rather lifeless throughout. There's no energy, no drama and certainly no suspense, which are things needed to make these type of films work. Oland only appears very briefly and the future Charlie Chan doesn't come off too well here. Oland comes off very bored as does Hayakawa. Most people only know Hayakawa from The Bridge on the River Kwai and they don't know he was a pretty big silent film star. He was certainly on the bottom of his career having to take a supporting role in this B film and you can tell he doesn't seem too thrilled in playing the part. Anna May Wong comes off very good in one of her only starring roles. Things pick up in the final ten minutes when we get some torture sequences.
Old San Francisco (1927) :star::star:1/2 Alan Crosland
Fifth Vitaphone production from Warner is silent all the way through with the exception of some sound effects used in small places. The film tells the story of a Spanish family who moved to what would become San Francisco to set up their ranch but in 1906 an evil Chinese landowner (Warner Oland) tries to steal it away. The Spanish daughter (Dolores Costello) must try and save her land even though the odds are against here and all the fighting leads up to the famous earthquake. This is a decent movie at best, which works on some levels but is rather disappointing in others. This type of revenge story isn't anything new and had been going on as early as the Griffith shorts at Biograph. Storywise nothing new is really done here but a few nice things happen with the new setting of Chinatown. Today the racial stereotypes of the Chinese folks would be considered racist but what we see here was accepted in 1927. Costello is pretty good in the lead role as she brings some energy to her character that helps the film. Oland is also very good as the Chinese man who pretends to be white in order to try and steal the land. Charles Emmett Mack and Anna May Wong have supporting roles and are pretty good as well. I'm not 100% certain but the final earthquake sequence appears to have scenes borrowed from the Lon Chaney film The Shock, which was also set in San Francisco and featured the legendary earthquake. With that in mind, the final earthquake sequence really isn't that impressive but there are some newly filmed scenes mixed in of building burning and these effects look pretty good. The Vitaphone sound effects are all rather small and include a few gunshots early on, bells ringing and a few screams during the earthquake.
Dragon Painter, The (1919) :star::star::star:1/2 William Worthington
At times haunting, at times romantic, this once thought lost silent film turned out to be one of the crowning gems of its era. The film tells the story of Tatsu (Sessue Hayakawa), a madman who has become known as The Dragon Painter. Tatsu believes that a thousand years earlier his one and only love had her spirit taken away by a dragon so all he paints in dragons hoping that one day she will return to him. A master painter (Edward Peil, Sr.) living in Tokyo soon learns of Tatsu's great paintings and brings him in telling Tatsu that he knows where the spirit of his love is. The painter offers up his daughter (Toyo Fujita) in return that Tatsu make great paintings but after Tatsu gets his love back he doesn't feel the need to paint anymore. This film was thought lost for decades until a print turned up in 1977 and thankfully one did because this is a rare case where a lost film turns out to be well worth being found. The movie runs just over 50-minutes and it contains some very strong scenes as well as some great performances. The film was done by Hayakawa's own studio so needless to say the budget isn't the biggest but this works well for the film as it creates a tight and unique atmosphere and really captures the culture of Japan. The set design is also very well done and the new music score serves the film very well. For those of you who only know Hayakawa from his role in The Bridge on the River Kwai then you should certainly seek this film out. The Japanese born actor gives a very strong performance here and his scenes as the madman are right on the mark as are the scenes with him stricken with grief. Peil and Fujita also deliver fine performances. It's also nice seeing a film from this period that show a foreign man doing something other than being a gangster or villain.
