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Reviews
The Thief (1952)
Silent movie in 1952? Certainly takes courage!
Let me begin by admitting my ignorance about Director Russell Rouse. All I had seen from him prior to THE THIEF was the excellent NEW YORK CONFIDENTIAL and THE FASTEST GUN ALIVE (both released in 1955, with Rouse mainly responsible for the screenplay).
THE THIEF becomes immediately noteworthy for being a silent movie. As an added interesting curiosity, 1952 also saw the release of SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, a comic musical about the change to sound in Hollywood movies in the late 1920s.
THE THIEF is anything but a comedy, though. It focuses on an increasingly worrisome issue to the Western world in general, and the USA in particular: USSR espionage. It became such a deep concern that Senator McCarthy even launched his (in)famous witch hunt to root out all Hollywood actors, directors, and movie-related personnel with alleged communist proclivities under the implacable lead of the House Un-American Activities Committee, HUAC, forcing even directors like Elia Kazan, Robert Rossen and others to identify commies in their midst or leave for Europe, as happened to Jules Dassin and Joseph Losey, and putting all suspects out of movie business for over a decade.
So, THE THIEF was very topical in its day and the fact that not a word is spoken throughout - you only hear traffic and music - only adds veracity to the secrecy of the action of persons either committing national security crimes or hunting such criminals.
I have never rated Ray Milland one of my favorite actors, but in THE THIEF he runs the gamut of facial expressions, from willing spy, to fugitive, to nearly falling for the charms of the prostitute well played by the incredibly leggy and sexy Rita Gam, to finally an American citizen with a conscience. I had liked his performances in LOST WEEKEND and THE BIG CLOCK, but I see THE THIEF as his finest hour.
The reliable character actor Martin Gabel does a fine job as the spymaster controlling the message and order traffic.
Gorgeous B&W photography, great NY location shots, the wonderful tour of the Empire State Building as part of the final chase, and impeccable cinematography by the great Sam Leavitt all hoist THE THIEF to masterpiece status.
Added credit to Russell Rouse's brilliant direction: he also wrote this unspoken script, cleverly making minimal use of written or typed messages but letting the viewer decipher developments for himself.
The minuses: the intrusive and sometimes unnecessarily loud music by Herschel Gilbert, and an oddly poorly done car knockdown of a spy. Otehrwise, the action emerges as convincing and gripping thanks to top notch editing by Chester Schaeffer.
Real must-see espionage film, one of the best of its kind, and certainly the best ever as a silent film. 9/10.
Quiet Please: Murder (1942)
Good B noir with superb devilishly persuasive Sanders
John Larkin being a director I had never heard of, I checked up his details on IMDB and learned that he did more TV than cinema work. In fact, to kick off with he fittingly titled this opus QUIET PLEASE: MURDER - as pretty much the entire action takes place inside municipal library premises.
To add to the claustrophobia, this is 1942, WWII rages on, and alllights have to be switched off so that the building does not turn into a target - which I find rather odd, as I do not believe that any US mainland city has ever become the target for any aircraft bombing raids.
The action opens with Jim Fleg (superbly portrayed by the mellifluously persuasive George Sanders) icing the guard of a unique first edition of Shakespeare's Hamlet (people still read plays in those days!) and then forging copies of it to sell to not so up to speed collectors.
The scheme, implemented with the aid of sultry Gail Patrick as slippery, serpentine Myra Blandy, who reportedly has Nazi connections and keeps declaring her fake love to Sanders and Richard Denning (apt choice for the role of copper Hal McByrne) works well until Martin Cleaver, a more knowledgeable collector, happens on the scene to snap up one of the forged Hamlets.
The script boasts some highly literate dialogue - particularly in the sequences involving Sanders - and some sharp one-liners from Denning.
Sadly the blurred copy that I watched hurt the quality of the cinematography... but not the film's dark, closed atmospheric ambiance.
Well worth a watch! 7/10.
Slow West (2015)
Well directed, shot, acted; uneven but gripping script
I know zero about Director John Mclean, which hopefully I will be forgiven for, in light of the fact that SLOW WEST was his debut, and he does not appear to have done any other directing since.
The film's strengths are: 1. The excellent cinematography by Robbie Ryan - I have no idea whether he is any distant relation of Robert Ryan, the actor, but he is certainly gifted behind the camera, with superior shooting of landscapes, action, and everything besides in great color.
2. Very good acting by Kodi Smit-McPhee, as the gullible baby-faced youngster looking for Rose, whom he loves though she is somewhat older, and he does not hesitate to cross continents and oceans to find her. Which he does, though not in ideal circumstances. Michael Fassbender proves to be another major asset with a rather restrained performance as a criminal with a price on his head, who happens to come across Smit-McPhee and decides to take the latter under his wing.
The script is not in the same class as directing, cinematography or acting. It is rather uneven, but at least it keeps producing violence out of seemingly quiet situations, which certainly keeps you on your toes.
Worth watching - once. 7/10.
Der Fuchs von Paris (1957)
To betray unwittingly, to love - that is the question
I happened accidentally upon DER FUCHS VON PARIS, spoken in German and with subtitles. The plot emerges clearly from the outset, turning around the nobility of a few senior Deutsche Wehrmacht officers in the occupied French capital who can see the madness of the plans coming from Berlin as the inevitability of an Allied invasion looms ever larger.
Martin Held delivers a commanding performance as General Quade (his surname sounds more British than Teutonic, which should have raised some red flags in the highly suspicious Gestapo right up to the top ranks, Adolf included - but apparently did not. Bad mistake, Adolf!)
Quade does not want to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of German soldiers on the Wehrmacht's defense lines along the vast French cast, so he decides to pass the actual plans from Berlin to the enemy.
And the messenger is none other than his nephew, the young Hardy Kruger, a Wehrmacht captain fresh from an icy time in Russia and looking forward to some fun in the City of Light, where he promtply saves a child from drowning in the River Seine. And how convenient that proves to Marianne Koch, playing a young French Resistance woman - although she does not use a single French word throughout.
Apart from some well taken shots of Paris from the gargoyles of Notre Dame, Montmartre and other Parisian landmarks, this film does not feel much like taking place in France. The whole drama is about the error of following the Berlin plan and how noble Quade sends his nephew to his death - with the undeserved reputation of traitor to boot - and ultimately takes his own life, when he sees that his nephew cannot be spared.
On the plus side, in doing so Quade managed to leave this world giving the impression that his nephew's betrayal had very nobly prompted his suicide.
Clearly, DER FUCHS is an antiwar film that depicts the irony of a most unfortunate sequence of events that blight the love beginning to blossom between a pure French girl and a pure German boy, she of the French Resistance, he of the Wehrmacht.
Can anyone think of purer souls?
The script, conveniently designed to convince the spectator of the well-meaning nature of most Germans under Adolf's jackboot, has some fine moments and dialogue.
Excellent cinematography by Georg Bruckbauer, the film's best asset in my view. 7/10.
The Lone Gun (1954)
Young Malone about to turn star, otherwise unremarkable
Ray Nazzaro directs THE LONE GUN. Not too memorably, though I can sympathize with the fact that his budget cannot have allowed him room for more inventiveness and better production values.
The really interesting and eye-catching detail here is the appearance of a very young Dorothy Malone who would soon rise to stardom with the film WRITTEN IN THE WIND. Here, however, she plays a minor part, though the absence of female competition signals from the outset that she will ride off into the sunset with George Montgomery in the end.
There is an evil brotherly trio headed by the nefarious looking Neville Brand, and that trio is running the town ragged with its crimes, especially cattle rustling and, of course, some homicide for credible measure.
A couple of noteworthy details: 1. A fight on horseback among rocks, in which neither Montgomery nor the dastardly bros seem to care if they get into the line of fire; 2. Homeier as a kind of humorous Doc Holliday to sheriff Montgomery.
Forgettable cinematography and turgid dialogue. 6/10.
The Brotherhood (1968)
Not sweet but shorter than most Mafia flicks
I do not rate Martin Ritt one of the great American directors, but I cannot deny that he is responsible for some great films, including HUD, NORMA RAE and THE LONG HOT SUMMER.
THE BROTHERHOOD is nothing like any of those films. Set in Sicily, it stars a then 52 years old Kirk Douglas, who lived to nearly double that age and still looked quite lithe and young, playing Frank Ginetta, a Mafia man about to become godfather who is given a most unenviable task, that of icing his brother Axel's father in law for blabbing, thereby ensuring the deaths of 41 Mafia members.
I feel that the film's first half carries too much unnecessary talk, despite helping to situate relations - especially the love between Frank and his wife Ida, well played by Irene Pappas.
The film carries an obvious but highly moral lesson: if you are involved in crime you end up a criminal and sooner or later there is a price to pay. Usually your life. In this case, Frank's father passed his knowledge to his son who now wants to bring his brother into the fold - all stays in the family, but nothing is wholesome.
In many ways, THE BROTHERHOOD is a forerunner to THE GODFATHER, which would come out three years later and would become one of the greatest films in cinema history.
Thus, it is definitely worth watching. 7/10.
Nobody (2021)
Mindless, purposely comical violence = no garbage missed!
I know squat about this director Ilya Naishuller who apparently studied in London and dropped out of cinema school in NY but seems deeply interested in violence - and not particularly necessary violence at that, but rather mindless, as if human life were rife.
So in he pulls reliable TV actor Bob Odenkirk, who has been involved in some high profile TV series like THE BEAR, and ãs factory worker Hutch Mansell he looks as meek as a biblical lamb, complete with heavy schedule in family-owned firm, family and lovable daughter but so soft as to not get any sex going with his stunningly beautiful wife, Connie Nielsen, whose recurrent and only words to him are: "You missed the garbage."
Well, as we all know, quiet waters run deep and lamb wool inevitable hides a wolf, so when a hispanic couple hits the Mansell house and robs Hutch of his watch and especially his daughter's elastic band, he starts remembering the days when he used to be some agent of destruction, presumably for some government agency (never identified in the film).
And that is when violence gets exponential and international, with the evil Russian Yulian and a band of not some merry sideklicks led by a black Russian of Ethiopian extraction, all after his blood because he unknowingly rendered Yulian's young brother a vegetable.
If this is not fruity enough, Chris Lloyd, memorable for his role as the near mad scientist in the BACK TO THE FUTURE franchise, steals the show as Hutch's old father and former cop who is more than able to look after his health. He and Hutch's lovely daughter are the film's saving graces for entirely different reasons
AND - again, if this is not fruity and BS enough... you guessed it, NOBODY 2 is in the works. Don't expect me to sit through another 90' of mindless violence, though. Had enough. 6/10.
The Gunfight at Dodge City (1959)
Bat into the hell of Dodge City
Joel McCrea, one of my favorite actors ever, especially in Westerns, delivers yet another naturalistic, honest, completely unpretentious and honorable performance in THE GUNFIGHT AT DODGE CITY, playing the famous Bat Masterson, born in Quebec, Canada in 1853 and deceased in NY in 1921, in between doing plenty of different jobs, from sheriff and marshall involved in noteworthy shootouts - mainly in Dodge City - to professional hunter, gambler, journalist, US Army scout, among other occupations.
As Bat not out of, but into the hell of Dodge City,
McCrea receives able assistance from John McIntire as the town doctor - very unlike Doc Holiday's relation with Wyatt Earp, no rasping cough for starters - and he dispatches in style duplicitous villain Rudabaugh, portrayed against type by Richard Anderson, better known for roles in TV productions.
Two females interested in McCrea: the extremely beautiful Julie Adams, and the not so conventionally pretty but kindhearted and loving Nancy Gates. Bat has his hands full but makes the right choice!
I do not know much about Director Joseph Newman. I liked his A THUNDER OF DRUMS more than THE GUNFIGHT but enjoyed it despite the poor copy and unremarkable cinematography by Carl Guthrie.
The screenplay by Daniel Ullman rates somewhat patchy. 7/10.
Emily the Criminal (2022)
Fine directorial debut, superior Plaza performance
Mr John Patton Ford posts a very good directorial debut with EMILY THE CRIMINAL: above average cinematography with entirely believable stunts and levels of violence, his own screenplay that boasts very in your face and to the point dialogue and, highest encomiums of all, the acting by Aubrey Plaza as the titular Emily, a girl aware of violence and able to adapt to circumstances quickly.
A proper and very credible survivor.
Plaza receives able support from Theo Rossi as Youcef, and from a succession of minor characters who are all out to do her harm in one way or another... while she manages to keep a step ahead of the pack, including drug dealers, killers, and generally the worst mankind has to offer.
Emily reminds me of the character portrayed by Anne Parillaud in LA FEMME NIKITA (France 1990). Physically similar, both opportunistic and lethal, but perhaps there are even more points of contact with Marie Gillain in her portrayal of Caty in NI POUR NI CONTRE (BIEN AU CONTRAIRE) France 2003.
Very enjoyable film, sound directorial debut despite the minus of imitating someone else's work. 7/10.
War Paint (1953)
Tragedy-laden Western feels longer than 89'
Lesley Selander was a prolific B movie director. That is all I know about him. I do not know that I have watched any of his other flicks, but on the strength of WAR PAINT I would say that I am not losing much.
With a decent cast for a B picture - including Robert Stack, Charles McGraw, Peter Graves, Keith Larsen, Walter Reed and beautiful Joan Taylor as a sqwaw - the acting rates sufficiently high to hold your attention.
The script provides the downside: unrelenting in its penchant for tragedy, we see Larsen as the subversive son of the Indian chief kill soldiers, then his sister Taylor does it, and finally the Cavalary troops kill each other. In between, a soldier who has just become a father drinks poisoned H20 and croaks without seeing his son - the single most tragic and heart-wrenching event in the film.
Stack has a fiancée but by the end of the movie he appears to be more inclined toward going off into the sunset with the Indian chief's daughter, peace looking set to stay.
The length is 89 minutes, pretty standard for B pictures... but it feels a lot longer and heavier, what with all the deaths. 6/10.
The Egg and I (1947)
Unpretentious zany rural comedy
Now, I ain't that knowledgeable about Director Chester Erskine but a glance at his body of work tells me that he directed the whole of seven movies, no more. I have seen TAKE ONE FALSE STEP, and liked it - but not as much as THE EGG AND I.
For starters, the endearing personalities conveyed by Betty (Claudette Colbert, in one of her best roles) and Bob (Fred MacMurray, who delivers charmingly enough despite the character's obsessive yet idealistic work drive) - the only aspect that I did not appreciate was that MacMurray was absent from the screen for at least two quite long stretches... and was missed. The second stretch, where he just sends letters instead of looking for his wife just did not ring true with me, but all's well that ends well and in the big scheme of THE EGG, I can live with it.
Wonderful support performances from Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride as the slovenly, thoroughly shabby Ma and Pa Kettle, roles they would successfully reprise in MA AND PA KETTLE, also shot in 1947.
Wonderful B&W cinematography by Milton Krasner, pleasant non-intrusive score by Frank Skinner, and plenty of sharp dialogue in the script by Chester Erskine and Fred Finklehoffe.
THE EGG AND I runs for 107 minutes, which initially daunted me as too long, but once I got started I watched it to the end and only wished it would carry on.
Truly wonderful flick. 9/10.
The Glory Guys (1965)
Good battle sequences, beautiful Berger, otherwise forgettable
I must admit that I know very little about Director Arnold Laven, who reportedly stepped in to replace the famous Sam Peckinpah. In fact, the latter even wrote THE GLORY GUYS screenplay (not one of his finer achievements).
Reliable actor Tom Tryon does his best with a role that sees him appear and disappear from the action without relatable logic. Harve Presnell, who competes with Tryon for the attention of exquisitely sensual Senta Berger, was much younger and not as good an actor in 1965 than in FARGO (1996) where he shone as the tight-fisted father in law who refuses to loan the sum that William H Macy so needs in order to get his business shenanigans up and running.
Apart from some very good battle sequences toward the end, there is not much that I find worth remembering... and even those sequences arise from a very basic millitary error that sees the US Cavalry pinned down in a valley with Indians descending from mountain and hilltops to attack.
Famous cameraman James Wong Howe is the film's greatest saving grace - lovely cinematography, superb battle choreography, credible stunts. 6/10.
Thrilling (1965)
Imaginative three-episode anthology
Why an Italian film spoken in Italian gets the English title of THRILLING beats me. That said, the title is not dishonest: all three episodes carry a share of thrills.
The first, IL VITTIMISTA (THE VICTIM), stars Nino Manfredi as an Italian man who suspects that his German wife (spectacularly sexy Alexandra Stewart) is trying to poison him. In a surreal episode in which the stripes of a zebra crossing actually rise from the road as he keeps getting in the line of oncoming traffic, Manfredi starts off by getting the kiss of life from a male lifesaver at a beach. Meanwhile, curvaceous Stewart walks about, apparently unconcerned as she hears cries that someone is drowning. All this happens to the strains of the song DOWNTOWN, made famous by English crooner Petula Clark but sung in Italian as CIAO CIAO (apparently composed by the great Ennio Morricone, though it does not sound at all like his type of music).
Manfredi delivers terrifically as the husband who suspects everything Stewart does, hates the dolls her father sends her, and pulls every trick to avoid eating the food she makes - only to binge at restaurants on his own.
This episode's beginning announces the ending, which makes sense only in terms of the surreality surrounding the plot. 7/10.
The second and shortest episode, entitled SADIK, refers to a comic book hero that totally enthralls the wife of businessman Walter Chiari, who sees his business going down the tubes and is hoping for a phone call from Switzerland to get some much needed financial relief that will hold his firm afloat... while his wife reads comic book after comic book, always with Sadik as the hero.
Chiari is convincing as the hubby unable to communicate with his comic-addicted wife, who simply ignores phone calls from the Swiss bank. Director Gian Luigi Polidoro cleverly keeps the fanciful narrative under tight time rein and with a comic-like ending. 8/10.
L'AUTOSTRADA DEL SOLE (SUNNY MOTORWAY) , directed by Carlo Lizzani, is the third and, in my opinion, best episode in this anthology.
Alberto Sordi plays a speedster on the motorway who thinks nothing of overtaking others on the blind side, and signalling that they are cuckolds. However, when a driver with a Milan number plate does the same to him, he gets peeved and hunts him down to a family-run hotel where two stupendously beautiful murder-plotting sisters, Sylva Koscina and Nicoletta Machiavelli - fittingly named, hey? - systematically ice visitors in a manner that would do Norman Bates proud.
Considering that PSYCHO came out in late 1959 and this is a 1965 film, it may well be a spoof on the famous Hitchcock horror flick.
To Lizzani's directorial credit, Sordi's over the top emotional performance takes none of the sting away from the thrill of a man who finds out that he is the new guest targeted for assassination. The scenes where he removes the rotor of the Milan driver's vehicle, and then has to return it during a family card game are memorable, as are the highly aggressive quarrels in that same family that seemingly only unites to commit murder.
Very good B&W cinematography. 9/10.
The Case Against Mrs. Ames (1936)
Tricky prosecutor Brent pits wits vs lovely widow Carroll
THE TOUCH OF VENUS (1948) was the sole other film directed by William A Seiter that I had watched to date - and I really liked it, especially the incredibly gorgeous Aca Gardner. This morning, I watched THE CASE AGAINST MRS AMES, done 12 years earlier.
They are two very different films, but both have pleasing touches of humor bordering occasionally on screwball.
Madeleine Carroll is to THE CASE what Ava was to TOUCH, a stunning female who leaves no male indifferent. Carroll plays a widow, mother of a six year old boy, and she stands accused of murdering her husband who, the viewer finds in due course, was not exactly an altar boy in life. Things get to a head when Carroll's very wealthy mother in law decides to keep the child.
In a court case full of adjournments, delays, deceit, and other malarkey, Carroll's defense lawyer (Alan Mowbray) thinks she is guilty, but somehow she is acquitted. That is when the mother in law - who has been poisoning the little boy's mind blaming Carroll for her son's death - retains Mowbray's services, and Carroll decides to do her own defense.
Not too successfully, and that is when Carroll asks prosecutor Brent to investigate the murder case so her good name is cleared.
I watched a poor copy on Youtube off a VHS tape, so I cannot usefully comment on the quality of the mostly interior photography but the script contains sharp and articulate dialogue, even if cause and effect are not always clear.
Thankfully only 85 minutes long and definitely worth watching. 8/10.
Forsaken (2015)
Better than usual 21st Century Western
Let me start by admitting that I know zero about Director John Cassar, never saw anything done by him - but I like FORSAKEN. Cassar extracts very good performances from the Sutherlands - Kiefer has the more substantial role and he certainly delivers as a repentant gunman who is trying to start a new life with his father, after mother and brother William passed away.
Things are far from easy between Reverend Sam Clayton (Don Sutherland) and his son John. The former believes in God, the latter does not... but over the course of the film each gets to understand more about the worldview of the other, and John does try to reconcile with God, even though he tells his father at one point that he does not believe in God. Those are not the only problems that John encounters on his return home: villain McCurdy (Cox) wants to take over the whole county by buying off local residents.
Given that Clayton Sr owns land that he does not wish to part with, it stands to reason that major clashes are in the offing.
Demi Moore appears in a needless role as the woman John loved before he left for the Secession War, and became an expert at killing men.
Interesting exchanges between John and hired gun Turner (Wincott), who feels bound by his contract and knows his reputation hinges on it.
Granted, FORSAKEN is no masterpiece - but in my view it is one of the best Westerns made since the start of the 21st Century.
Excellent cinematography. Engaging script despite the odd cliché. 7/10.
The Broken Land (1962)
Low budget, young Jack, old Darrin, OK photography
Director John Bushelman rings no bells for me but I see that he directed the 1978 TV mini series THE DARK SECRET OF HARVEST HOME, which was a better than tolerable horror effort.
Regrettably, the low budget puts paid to any hopes one might have of a hidden gem, particularly after one learns that a very young Jack Nicholson is in the jail of nasty Marshall Jim Cogan (Kent Taylor), who runs the place with whip and Colt .45, and does not hesitate to press false charges, even against the mentally retarded town idiot, amateurishly played by Gary Sneed.
Double chin Diana Darrin seems more than a tad old for the part of love interest to Robert Sampson, but at least she has some information about Marshall Cogan that she imparts to the populace at the decisive moment.
Nicholson and his mordant smile inevitably catch your eye as the sole spirited performance. Clearly, budget limitations did not permit contracting better players and script writing team, but at least the cinematography stands as better than usual for a B (C?) Western, all shot on rocky and dusty Arizona location.
Worth a watch, though probably not a rewatch. 5/10.
Souls at Sea (1937)
Fine filmmaking, acting; uneven tragicomic script
Although not in the same lofty class as William Wyler, Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder or Fred Zinnemann, Henry Hathaway remains one of my favorite Hollywood directors. I particularly like CALL NORTHSIDE 777, RAWHIDE and NIAGARA, but will quickly add that I found SOULS AT SEA a gem.
For starters, Gary Cooper and Frances Dee were at the height of their physical beauty, in addition to punching in terrific performances - Cooper always with a comic touch, Dee delightful in every nuance of her lovely eyes.
They are ably seconded by George Raft, Cooper's chum and a rather uneducated but senior shiphand who picks up some cultural pointers from Cooper and ends with sensitive, even sentimental moments.
Terrific enmical exchanges between Cooper and Henry Wilcoxon as Dee's devious brother. The two have issues over slavery, which the former actively sabotages and the latter sees as a major income opportunity.
Glorious B&W cinematography from Merrit Gerstad and Charles Lang, with terrific sequences at sea, notably as the little girl inadvertently starts a fire and the bad ship William Brown goes down.
The screenplay by Grover Jones and Dale Van Every includes some highly comic scenes, such as when Cooper, Dee and Wilcoxon all have hiccups at the same time, some very touching ones between Raft and love interest Olympe Bradna, and some very tragic decisions that Cooper has to make as the ship sinks.
Despite narrative ups and downs, the production values are very high, and the film remains engrossing throughout. 7/10.
Rawhide (1951)
Great cast, solid character buildup in unflinchingly violent Western
I have no idea whether this film RAWHIDE (1951) functioned as a source of inspiration for the similarly named TV series (1959-1966) featuring Eric Fleming and Clint Eastwood.
Certainly, it is a very good, credible Western with a plot that may have also inspired THE DESPERATE HOURS (1955) starring Humphrey Bogart, Fredric March, in which a group of criminals invades the home of a peaceable family.
Tyrone Power, Susan Hayward, and the latter's baby niece are not a family yet, but they come under the evil grip of a gang led by trigger-happy Hugh Marlowe, with Jack Elam in his creepiest, meanest role ever as an unrepentant female stalker.
Edgar Buchanan, one of the best supporting actors ever to grace the screen, delivers as the stage station chief who wants to do his job well to the end.
Each character in this plot acts in a logical manner, making it all believable. Of course there are weaknesses: I found it hard to believe that a sharp prison escapee like Zimmerman (Marlowe) would not identify the sounds of a metallic object being used to create a hole in the wall of the room where Power, Hayward and baby are confined. I also doubt the wisdom of Power emptying his Colt into the wood logs protecting Elam. He had to know that he would need bullets to save himself, Hayward and baby.
Power does not come across as more than a man trying to make the best of a life-threatening situation - not particularly good at his job but aware of the importance of his presence for the attackers to get at the money-carrying stagecoach.
Superior cinematography from Milton Krasner. Must-see Western 8/10.
Corruption (1968)
Excellent Cushing shines in mediocre cast, film
I do not know very much about Director Robert Harford-Davis, his only other directorial effort that I saw was the comedy THE SANDWICH MAN (1966), a flick in many aspects so different from CORRUPTION (1968) that I could not discern any particular film-making style that might have influenced the latter.
What Harford-Davis has here is a trump up his sleeve: Peter Cushing delivers a superb performance as a doctor who falls in love with a female model whose face he inadvertently disfigures after bringing down a lighting unit in the course of an argument with her photographer.
His love for pretty, svelte Sue Lloyd is so blinding that he kills another woman for a skin graft that will restore her beauty, all the while reminding himself of the Hippocratic oath he made at the start of his medical career. Cushing convincingly conveys his dilemma: to love or to lose this woman who knows she has empire over his emotions and therefore his mind.
What follows is in turns an emotionally combustible, over the top, gory saga ending on a hysterical note that suggests the corruption and decay of the good doctor's once healthy mind.
The inevitably uneven script by Donald and Derek Ford proved as annoying to me as noisy score, and the cinematography quickly forgettable. 6/10.
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)
Most enjoyable Hammer version of Conan Doyle's tale
Having recently watched the 1939 film entitled THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, generally regarded as the finest version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's tale, with Basil Radford and Nigel Bruce as Sherlock Homes and Dr Watson, I approached the Hammer version with far from the loftiest expectations.
Truth to tell, the 1939 version still wins in my book... but not by a great margin. Terence Fisher, who often directed Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee in his Hammer ventures, gets to direct both here, and he extracts more than adequate performances from them. Andre Morell as Dr Watson and Francis Dewolff as Dr Mortimer also deserve plaudits for their short but eye-catching contributions.
Very good cinematography by Jack Asher, sharp editing by Alfred Cox. Peter Bryan's script takes a few liberties with the original but dialogue remains gripping throughout. 8/10.
My Darling Clementine (1946)
Superlative Brennan, Fonda in superior John Ford Western
John Ford was in great form in 1946. Recently arrived from doing active military duty in WWII as head of a US Army documentary film unit, he and Henry Fonda would do three films in quick succession: MY DARLING CLEMENTINE, THE FUGITIVE and FORT APACHE.
That John Ford was not minimally interested in staying faithful to history or geography becomes apparent the moment you see Monument Valley from what is purported to be Tombstone. This geographical deviation opens your mind to an imaginary tale of the Old West with characters we know from history.
Fonda's calm but firm Wyatt Earp is one of his career-best performances. The same could be said of Walter Brennan, as the treacherous, unfeeling, and viciously violent Ike, pater familias of the Clanton gang - if ever he deserved a supporting actor Oscar nomination, and to win it, RIO BRAVO and MY DARLING CLEMENTINE were it.
In what I regard as one of the cinema's finest sequences ever, Fonda goes to a bar to get the "great" Shakespearean actor, Granville Thorndyke, who is being forced to recite the famous Hamlet soliloquy "To be or not to be" for the benefit of the less than appreciative Clanton boys while Father Clanton is having a good time with bar flies.
As Earp leaves with Thorndyke, the Clanton bros try to stop him but Fonda plonks one over the head and shoots another in the hand. Old man Clanton promptly comes into the barroom to find out what is happening and his eyes speak murder. He deceitfully apologizes to Fonda over his sons' drunken behavior but the moment Earp turns his back, old Clanton pulls his whip and savagely beats up all his grown up sons, unequivocally stating: "Once you pull a gun, kill a man!"
Victor Mature also delivers as a menacing Doc Holliday intent on icing Earp but quickly learns the importance of numbers when Earp's bros rock up in the saloon. The lovely Cathy Downs radiates beauty in the role of Clementine. Linda Darnell, playing the part of Doc Holliday's lover Chihuahua, did not impress me, possibly because her Hispanic accent sounded fake.
The muggy, somber atmosphere when the Clantons appear on screen is one of the memorable aspects of the absolutely fantastic cinematography and editing, by Joe McDonald and Dorothy Spencer, respectively. Superior script by Samuel Engel and Winston Miller, too, with very sharp dialogue - none better than Brennan's deceitful one-liners.
I must have watched MY DARLING CLEMENTINE some five times by now, and with each viewing I find more details to enjoy than before. Regardless of its misrepresentation of historical facts, it nly stands as one of the greatest Westerns ever. 9/10.
The Lonely Man (1957)
Good B&W Western: Palance in blinding form, Mom-missing Perkins
Henry Levin did not direct many Westerns but he does well with this one, extracting credible performances from the main names, including Jack Palance, who keeps straining his eyes until we learn near the end that he is going blind; Anthony Perkins, fresh from his supporting Oscar nomination in FRIENDLY PERSUASION; Neville Brand as master villain, very good at planning the killing of unaccompanied targets; Lee Van Cleef as cold killer happy to do it well; and a truly superior performance from Robert Middleton, who simply steals the show.
Excellent B&W cinematography from Lionel Lindon. Gripping dialogue in script by Harry Essex and Bob Smith, though the ending could have been a little bit more light-hearted... like, for instance, an operation to Palance's cataracts...
Anyway, well worth a watch. 7/10.
Johnny Allegro (1949)
Why Raft if you can save the day with boat and foxy Foch?!
Ted Tetzlaff is probably better remembered as a high quality cinematographer than as a high quality director but, in truth, he does a good job of JOHNNY ALLEGRO and to that end he is not shy to serve a finale reminiscent of THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME, the 1932 film featuring Joel McCrea and Leslie Banks as the evil Count Zaroff.
Getting two Georges into the thick of the action was a master stroke. Although Joel McCrea would never make the top shelf in terms of acting, he was a far better actor than the rather limited George Raft. In contrast, George Macready certainly matches the evil inherent in Leslie Banks' portrayal of Count Zaroff.
Somehow, though, the two Georges make credible foes, even if Raft is replaced by a much larger double/stuntman in a fight against watchful Roy, played by the almost lineless, quietly menacing William Phillips.
Last but not least, the still deliciously beautiful Nina Foch at age 41 declaring her love for lucky Raft, who is trying to come straight after doing time as a hoodlum, and so keeps running to a boat belonging to Vallin (Macready) with a ship to shore phone that allows him to keep police detective Will Geer informed about what Vallin is cooking up on his lush but deadly island
I enjoyed JOHNNY ALLEGRO, not least because at 81 minutes long it still allowed me time to do other stuff. Good cinematography by Joseph Biroc and editing by Jerome Thoms, plus a gripping script by Karen Dewolf and Guy Endore, the shameless borrowing of THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME finale notwithstanding. 7/10.
The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday (1976)
Great cast wasted on empty screwball
I do not know enough about Director Don Taylor but I can assure you that after watching THE GREAT SCOUT & CATHOUSE THURSDAY I hope I do not have to suffer the torture of watching another mindless piece like this.
Taylor completely misuses an ageing Lee Marvin apparently trying to revive the role of Kid Shelleen in CAT BALLOU - without the booze; a statuesque and lively young Kay Lenz as Thursday, who for no discernible reason seems to be in love with old and frail looking Marvin, by then clearly affected by all the heavy drinking; Sylvia Miles having lesbian designs on Lenz seven years after servicing strapping John Voight in MIDNIGHT COWBOY; and Robert Culp in tow looking for $60,000 which Marvin does not care for - he wants Lenz, unfit though he seems for the part of making her happy. Throw in a few great looking jallopies competing with horses for space on the road in the late 19th century. Oh progress - why do you spoil everything?
It used to be just gunslingers, innocent souls getting in the crossfire and hookers livening things up but this bad old West has snakes in glass jars, Strothers Martin ready to pull the rug, Ollie Reed running around making faces and bulbous bulging eyes in the best tradition of no known Indian tribe...
Does it make any sense to you? Me neither.
Cinematography is sloppy, script nonsensical throughout, supposedly looking to recapture Marvin's glory day in screwball Western CAT BALLOU (1965) with expletives modernizing it to match 1976 lingo.
Single worst sin: a completely miscast Reed as an Indian with a Harvard background who just runs around with women's scalps in his inside pockets (wow, a novelty - I had never noticed those in Indian clothing before!)
Hysterical throughout. Everyone gets to shout, holler, yell, at various points in the flick... but definitely NOT hysterically funny!
Overlong, too. Despite superior cast, fair warning: best avoided. 5/10.
Escape from Fort Bravo (1953)
Far from Sturges' best; good Surtees photography, acting
I am a fan of Director John Sturges, very fond of THE GREAT ESCAPE, THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, GUNFIGHT AT THE OK CORRAL in particular... regrettably, ESCAPE FROM FORT BRAVO does not rate anywhere near the above mentioned films in terms of quality.
I find the script by Frank Fenton rather uneven and less than realistic. Eleanor Parker was definitely at the height of her physical beauty in this film, and apparently MGM did all it could to have her play this part, but her impeccable clothing, hairstyle, lovely complexion all contrast with the reality of Mescaleros on the warpath, and Fort Bravo under siege from Indians and with its security undermined by rebellious Confederation prisoners.
I think Sturges could have done something to improve the script, which really does not live up to the quality of a cast including William Holden (fresh from winning the Oscar for Best Actor in STALAG 17), Parker, John Forsythe, and William Demarest.
Contrary to other viewers, the final shootout - with Mescaleros finally doing more than just riding around stopping Cavalry bullets - rather disappointed me. I found it hard to believe that a seasoned US Army captain like Roper (Holden) would lead his men into a gorge, thereby giving the high ground to the far more numerous and better supplied Mescaleros. It is a basic military mistake that any US academy would warn against.
And then I had to thoroughly suspend my disbelief in the face of the Deus ex Machina ending. 6/10.