Because the character development of Mark LeMarque is told in flashbacks I found this a very disjointed and insipid telling of what must have been a very exciting story, it all seemed rather flat for a drama set in the mountains. After mark loses his way in the storm the passing of the days is recounted by the incidents that happened within them and they seemed to pass very quickly when in reality, they must have seemed like forever to Mark LeMarque. I also thought the actress playing his mother was far too young for the role being only eleven years older in real life, although she acted the part of a distraught mother well she looked more like a girlfriend or sister. The tension did not build as the story unfolded and not enough was made of his final climb to the top of that mountain when it must have required a supreme effort from Mark. Then there was the use of that last drop of battery power that led to his discovery, fate, luck whatever you call it should have had us sitting on the edge of our seats but I was left with the feeling, ' Well that's alright then.' No, for me it was not one of the director's best efforts.
Reviews
10 Reviews
Noah
(2014)
Well worth missing
12 August 2014
Just about every culture in the World has a Flood Legend but the most well known must be the Biblical account in the book of Genesis. Even people with little or no religious education have heard of Noah and his building of the Arc, the animals going in two by two and the great flood that destroyed mankind. With material like this to work from Noah should have been an epic along the lines of The Ten Commandments or Ben Hur, what we got was The Poseidon Adventure meets Transformers. Personally I think the filmmakers should have stuck to the Biblical account and, because the story and its characters is already so rich, they could have crammed it full of special effects and made it a movie to remember, instead of one so easy to forget.
The Cabin in the Clearing
(1954–1959)
A shame this series is lost
8 October 2013
I remember watching this series avidly as a schoolboy and I was saddened to learn no copy of it remains. Although filmed entirely in the studio the story line about a group of settlers defending their home in 18th century Canada was so good that the wobbly trees and fake log cabin were easily ignored after all we had much less sophisticated tastes compared to the youngsters of today. We loved the musket flashes and the smoke and the tomahawks and bows and arrows, all brilliant stuff for us boys. Filmed and broadcast in black and white to our twelve inch, 405 line televisions the visual quality was not good but we could forgive all that back in the fifties. TV for the masses had yet to arrive in the UK and my Mum often gave "tea" to friends who had no television of their own and who came to our house to watch. Great stuff and a shame no copy survives.
Great for kids even modern day ones.
31 March 2013
I first saw this film as a nine year old living in London back in 1955. This was at a matinée performance and the cinema was filled to the rafters with kids and we loved it. This was the era of the baby boomers and we youngsters had no shortage of friends to play with. After the film about thirty of us went to our local park and re-enacted scenes from it even forming two sides, Mexicans and Americans, for the attack on the Alamo, an old air raid shelter. But my most prominent memory is of the Davy Crockett hat my Dad made me. This was the 'must have' of 1955 for us kids and so many were made it led to a very sharp decline in the cat population. My dad also made me a very credible musket that I kept for years. Happy memories of a great movie and a great time to be young.
Annapolis
(2006)
Not the way to train officers
12 July 2010
The idea that you can make better Naval officers by humiliating and bullying recruits is ludicrous. But this is just what this film set out to make us believe and it is no wonder it did not have official support. Taking a young man from a lowly background and having him make it at the Naval Academy against the odds was a good storyline but the filmmakers spoil it by concentrating too much on bullying and the result of a boxing match. I am sure the US Navy would much prefer an officer who can navigate a ship than one who can throw a punch. In my opinion the plot should have concentrated more on the actual obstacles in this young recruit's path and his efforts to overcome them. Everything in the storyline is negative and made Annapolis seem like a Hell on Earth for anyone dumb enough to enter its walls. If the US Naval Academy was really like that I would have told them where to shove it on day one and so would every other recruit.
Brick Bradford
(1947)
Great fun if you're under 10 years old.
18 April 2010
I remember Brick Bradford when the series was shown at Saturday morning pictures at the Regal cinema in Purley, Surrey, England back in 1952. My friends and I thought it was exciting stuff and would shout and whistle the whole way through especially when the plot got too silly. Every episode ended with a cliff hanger and we would have to wait a week to find out what happened or how our hero has managed to avoid death. In one particular episode a lit fuse is thrown into an open barrel of gunpowder, there is a massive explosion that must have killed everyone including our hero and then the credits rolled. You can imagine our frustration when we had to wait a whole week to find out how Brick has managed to survive. The following Saturday the episode opened with Brick plucking the flame from the barrel and thus avoiding the explosion we had clearly seen the Saturday before. Well we roared with indignation yelling out " Fiddle ! fiddle" and " Rubbish! rubbish ! " and whistling and stamping our feet. It was all great fun and we loved it.
The Rat Catchers
(1966–1967)
Brilliant opening sequence and theme music, a real shame so much was lost.
15 August 2009
I remember being a regular watcher of this series while working in Wolverhampton back in 1966 aged 20. The most memorable part of The Ratcatchers for me was the opening sequence and the theme music that I have tried many times over the years to get a copy of but without success. The story lines were fast paced and intelligent and all the violence was justified something sadly lacking with many modern television series. This being the UK prior to 1968 it was shown in black and white but this did not make it any the less a good television series and in my opinion, on a par with Adam Adamant Lives. It was very sad to hear that only two and a bit episodes are know to survive from the twenty five made. It would be really good news to have the missing episodes turn up in some forgotten archive.
A great story for kids of all ages and all the better for being true.
1 February 2008
This is a great story well told and all the better for being true. I took a girlfriend to see it way back in 1962 and I remember she spent the last ten minutes of the film sobbing her heart out. I sat and watched it again on the television only last week along with my two grandsons, who have been brought up on a diet of movies dedicated to mindless violence and ever more extreme special effects, and they thoroughly enjoyed it too. They even shed the odd tear towards the end although they would never admit it. There was one slight error - the cost of a dog licence in the United Kingdom was 7/6 ( seven and sixpence or 37.5 new pence after we went decimal in 1971 ) and not seven shillings as in the film. Disney have always excelled in the making of feel good movies, movies that show the best in people and I for one wish they made more of them today.
Skywatch
(1960)
Well worth watching.
4 August 2006
Before seeing this film I had only ever seen Benny Hill as the comic, seeing him in a straight role was a real eye opener because, in this film, he proved was a good straight actor as well. Combining Tommy Steele with Benny Hill was also a brainwave because they worked so well together as you can see from their performance of the title song " Light up the Sky. " The cast is full of good old British stalwarts such Ian Carmichael, still acting today and Dick Emery who was a brilliant comic in his own right. If you add back up from the likes of Victor Maddern, Sydney Tafler, Johnny Briggs and Sheila Hancock you have the makings of a truly excellent British movie. Sadly it is never shown on British TV and I have, so far, been unable to find a copy on VHS or DVD. If you do manage to find a copy of this film or you are lucky enough to see it on TV I can thoroughly recommend it.
Seven Days to Noon
(1950)
Good entertainment with a plot still current today
18 July 2006
In this day and age when atomic weapons are everybody's bow and arrows the plot of this film has never been more up to date. The setting of the film in London with the devastation left by the bombing in World War II made a great back drop for the story. I can remember when London really looked like that. Both the plot and the characterisation are believable and the acting more than adequate. But star status must go to the people of London who back in 1950 still had the camaraderie and spirit forged by six years of war. This was a time when people still looked out for each other and this come over well as the story unfolds. With our video making mobile telephones and instant access to news this film may seem tame and dated but don't let the black and white format fool you this is a good story, well told and well worth seeing. Oh, and by the way, we really did talk like that back in 1950.
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