Reviews

A smart, fascinating look at one of Hollywood's most enduring mavericks, HOLLYWOOD'S WILD ANGEL covers Roger Corman's career with plenty of clips, trailers and interviews. Glossing over much of his directorial work with American International and concentrating instead on his, then more contemporary, work at New World Pictures, the documentary showcases some of the up-and-coming young talent that Corman helped mentor. Ron Howard, Jonathan Demme, Jonathan Kaplan, Joe Dante, Allan Arkush and Martin Scocese, among many others, are interviewed in depth on their relationship with Corman and his legacy. One is truly amazed at the number of talented artists given their first break by Corman. While he may have exploited their hunger to make movies, Corman was still the only way in for many of these talented Hollywood outsiders. My only quibble with the film would be it's abbreviated running time. At under an hour, it's a satisfying snack, but one hopes that if a DVD is ever issued, more footage and interviews could be added to tell the complete, updated story of Corman's career. HOLLYWOOD'S WILD ANGEL is a neat time-capsule of an era that no longer exists, a drive-in age of ambitious filmmakers, low-budgets matched with high creativity, all overseen by the 'godfather of cult cinema', Roger Corman.

While it is true that SPEAK EASILY doesn't hold a candle to the genius of Keaton's best films, neither is it worthless as some have suggested. Outside pressures (namely MGM and his deteriorating family life) held Keaton back from performing at the inspired level he might have. SPEAK EASILY's main weakness lies in MGM forcing an uninspired pairing of Keaton with a vaudeville comic like Durante. The tension between Buster's physical comedy (which is never allowed to ignite as it once had) and Durante's verbal punning is something that never really works. Keaton's characters in all of the MGM talkies seem, for lack of a better word, dense. The inherent cleverness that Buster showed in his silent work was totally abandoned. Never again would Buster show the bravado, daring and quickness he was famous for. Instead, he would be shoe-horned by MGM into a series of roles as loser, victim and sap. For all those inherent problems, SPEAK EASILY still contains at least two slapstick sequences that prove Keaton could be just as funny in his talkies as he was in his silent work. The 'drunken seduction' with Thelma Todd's gold-digger is very funny. Miss Todd proves herself not only a fine comedienne, but shows excellent chemistry with Keaton. Also, Buster's utter, and totally inadvertent, destruction of the Broadway play during it's opening night performance is hysterical and features some fine stunt gags. Those looking for the sublime genius of THE GENERAL or SHERLOCK JR. will invariably be disappointed. That 'Buster' was long gone by this point in his career. SPEAK EASILY should be viewed as an enjoyable programmer that kept Buster working, if not at his peak, still as a capable gag man and entertainer. Admiring fans with an open mind will find much to enjoy here

THE REAL GLORY is a terrific follow-up to the adventure classic LIVES OF A BENGAL LANCER (1936) which saw the previous pairing of star Gary Cooper with director Henry Hathaway. THE REAL GLORY is a 'Boy's Own' style adventure romp through the jungles of the Phillipines following the Spanish-American War. Cooper leads a small band of American soldiers and medical personnel as they train a police force to fight back against vicious Moro pirates who terrorize and prey upon the local villagers. Cooper and co-star David Niven are the perfect Hollywood mix of heroism, gallantry and self-sacrifice. Director Hathaway fills THE REAL GLORY to the brim with rousing action sequences, desperate derring-do and the kind of buckle-swashing that heavily influenced modern classics like Spielberg's RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. An absolutely top-notch film in every department. This is escapist entertainment as only Golden Age Hollywood could produce. If you like 'GUNGA DIN/RAIDERS' style filmmaking then this is a must-see. A perfect Saturday night popcorn film.

THE PATRIOT is a flag-waver to be sure, but that's not such a bad thing these days when a lot of Americans have forgotten their own history. The film has compressed historical figures such as Francis Marion and Elijah Clark (both American partisans) and particular battles (most notably the Battle of Cowpens and The Battle of Guilford Courthouse) for dramatic license. The War for Independence was a bloody affair and the film does a magnificent job in recreating the era and dramatizing its incidents. Those who sneer at the anti-British portrayal have either never learned their history or choose to ignore it for their own agendas (take that Canadians and Brits!). The character of the British Dragoon Col. Taviston was based on the true and infamous Col. Banastre Tarleton, whose massacre of unarmed American P.O.W.'s and wounded at Waxhaws, South Carolina earned him a reputation as a ruthless butcher. Similar sorts of incidents occurred throughout the war, with Loyalists and Patriots alike enacting horrendous savagery upon each other. But that is the nature of a war fought between neighbors. Seen from the amoral perspective of today's apathetic, feel-good political correctness, I'm sure its hard for many Americans to understand how the passion for liberty and freedom, imperfect as it may have been, could fire men's souls to put their families, fortunes and lives on the line for what they believed. Watch THE PATRIOT and learn something. I say, bravo Mel!

CHERRY FALLS is an amusing, but ultimately disappointing film that promises far more than it actually delivers. Considering that Geoffrey Wright also directed the excellent and chilling ROMPER STOMPER with Russell Crowe, I was expecting a lot more from this than a by-the-numbers slasher film. The plot is a mildly clever reversal of the standard "Sex Equals Death" storyline so common to 80's and 90's hack 'em ups. This time the faceless killer is stalking virgins, so naturally everyone does their best to get it on before the killer gets to them. Having read an earlier draft of the script (always a mistake!), the film let me down by not taking the sex and violence as far as it could have. If you're going to make yet another 'teens in peril' flick like CHERRY FALLS, have the guts to push the boundaries and drive a nail in the coffin of political correctness. Otherwise, leave well enough alone.

Fifty Million Frenchmen is a zany madcap farce with the boys on the loose in France. This Pre-Code comedy has some daring moments (Olsen & Johnson wickedly rummaging through lady's lingerie) and a real vaudeville feel to the humor. Olsen & Johnson are one of the most underrated and little known comedy teams of the 1930's and 1940's and this is a darn shame. Personally, I think their best work, in films like HELLZAPOPPIN' and CRAZY HOUSE, are far funnier than better known comedy duos like Abbott & Costello. Look for Bela Lugosi in a small cameo as a sinister swami who falls afoul of the boy's slapstick antics.