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Reviews
Godzilla (2014)
"King of the Monsters" returns for another shot at the big screen.
When you consider that this Japanese Kaiju creation, which, translated into English, literally means "strange beast or creature" was Japan's response to the destruction and devastation in the aftermath of the atomic bomb leveling Hiroshima and Nagasaki, any remake (or, reboot, to those of you are hip to the current terminology presently in use) seems irrelevant in 2014 and on. SPOILER ALERT: Yes, Warner Brothers is planning on a follow up sequel. Still, director Gareth Edwards and screenwriters Max Borenstein (screenplay) and Dave Callaham (story) have done their best to retain the spirit of those films back when "Godzilla" was King of the Monsters rampaging and stomping through an already downtrodden Tokyo. How and why "Godzilla" (back in the day when ol' radioactive breath was brought to life through suitmation, スーツメーション) would eventually become a celebrated champion capable of committing giganticide of any and all post-atomic mutations threatening Japan is a process which most creatures (the Wolf Man, Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, et.al.), emerging from mere legend must undergo before passing into popular folklore. So, I suppose for this reason more than any other, the fact that talk of a sequel currently in the works is a good thing, because, "it's good to be the king"!
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970)
With Babs it's Forever and a Day!
I don't believe it would be much of a spoiler alert to say that the title of the film refers to Streisand's character Daisy Gamble's extraordinary gifts for clairvoyance, ESP, past life regression as well as an uncanny ability to make her rooftop plant life grow that goes quite beyond having a mere green thumb. And she discovers these deeply- suppressed talents with the aid of Dr. Marc Chabot (Montand) who inadvertently dredges them to the surface in an effort to get her to kick an everyday commonplace nicotine habit to empress her stuffy staid fiancée whose strictly squaresville. Coming after Streisand's Oscar winning role as Fanny Brice in "Funny Girl" (a shared win with Katherine Hepburn for a "Lion in Winter" that same year of 1968) and the miserable drubbing she received from the critics for her unique interpretation of Dolly Levi in "Hello Dolly" (1969), it was hoped by all that her performance in "On a Clear Day..." would solidify her prominence as a reigning star in Hollywood. Such was not the case. Nevertheless, Streisand's dominant bubbly, effervescent personality always managed to emerge transcending her many characterizations to radiate despite the various roles she elected to appear in establishing her considerable mainstay to this very day. Nor was this Vincente Minnelli's best directorial effort who was responsible for such cinematic musical milestones in everything from "Meet Me in St. Louis"(1944) to the Oscar-winning Best Picture for 1958 "Gigi" as well as keeping his hand in as an unqualified expert dramatist with film adaptations such as "Tea and Sympathy" (1956). Still, there's still quite a bit of magic evident in this film to have made this journeyman effort on his part a bright enough light among so many musicals which lit up Broadway to justify the estimated $10,000,000 Paramount Pictures sent on "A Clear Day..." well worth anyone's while.
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
Take Care to Extend Hospitality to Other-worldly Visitors.
What could I possibly add that hasn't already been written about this expertly crafted sci-fi classic that 158 film critics (presumably of considerable scholarship coming from the position of being a respected authority either nationally or internationally on the subject of film critique) to say nothing of the 375 user reviews because let's face it, everyone thinks he or she is critic, myself, as limited and meager an offing mine might be, included. Let's recap a few interesting tidbits of trivia most of us know about the film. Oscar winning director Robert Wise ("West Side Story", "The Sound of Music") and Oscar winning screenwriter Edmund H. North (Co-writer: "Patton") claim that the allegorical Christ-reference in alluding to Klaatu's alias while on earth of a certain "Mr. Carpenter" was purely coincidental and unintentional as astonishing as that confession by both men might be 63 years after the film's premiere. Still audiences simply can't resist drawing parallels. Klaatu is other-worldly. Christ demonstrated time and again to his many followers His other-worldliness (transmuting water molecules into wine, defying gravity by walking on water, resuscitating life in one who was pronounced dead by means of an electro-chemical discharge, etc.). Christ delivered a sermon on the mount. Klaatu delivered a message of warning from his interstellar spacecraft, not exactly a mount but close enough. Christ was crucified. Klaatu was shot (twice in fairly close succession during the course of the film). Christ rose again from the dead after lying in a tomb for three days. Klaatu was revived with the personal assist of his traveling companion and intergalactic constable on patrol Gort. Christ then ascended into heaven and after Klaatu had conveyed his warning completing his mission on earth, does likewise. The parallels are not only irresistible, they're unavoidable. And, perhaps for this reason, more than any other any film critic or critic cum movie-lover (first), may have for commenting on this film, this is what resonates most with us who have loved and cherished this film over these many years. Because now, in the new millennium, more so than ever, we need a Christ/Klaatu to come around just to remind us to shape up and fly right...or else!
Lady L (1965)
S is for Sophia, L is for Lady.
Shortly after winning her 1961 Oscar for her harrowing portrayal of a woman struggling to protect her daughter from the ravages of war-torn occupied Italy during the Second World War (some closest to Loren insist the film is semi-autobiographical) in "Two Women", Loren ably demonstrated to the critics of the world that she could not only handsomely dress a set but could be a force to reckon with as a serious actress. That being said, she was off to the races, figuratively speaking, selecting her next projects, again, "ably" assisted by her producer husband Carlo Ponti ("Doctor Zhivago"). It's not too surprising that she would choose a film in a lighter more comedic vein, for, just as every comic longs to play Shakespeare, every serious actor enjoys slipping on a banana peel every now and then. The ever versatile Peter Ustinov (two time Oscar winner, "Spartacus", "Topkapi") wrote and directed, adapting Romain Gary's novel to the screen with characteristic flare and panache, and, has a minor stint in the film as a befuddled crowned head of some remote principality or other, the target of a would-be assassin's bullet that of her anarchist husband Paul Newman (also, an Oscar winner, "The Color of Money"), and, wooed and romanced by her all too understanding entitled affluent husband (yep, you guessed it, yet another Oscar winner, "Separate Tables") David Niven. Personally, I'm a sucker for sumptuous elegant films and "Lady L" is mounted on fairly lavish scale, albeit, those exteriors and interiors which were obviously filmed on locations elsewhere, as well as, period costumes which are both stunning and ravishing to gawk at especially as worn by the curvaceous Loren.
Spartacus (1960)
Spartacus: Always best on the big screen.
Recently, a local neighborhood theater (I'm not at liberty to name the theater chain for reasons of copyright violation, you understand) showcased a major theatrical road show trifecta: I was able to thrill at the sight of seeing such epic greats of a Hollywood long since passed as "The 10 Commandments" (1956), "Ben-Hur" (1959), and, of course "Spartacus" (1960). I'm given to understand that Kirk Douglas along with others being considered for the title role of "Ben-Hur" such as Paul Newman, Rock Hudson, and several unknown hopefuls, were tested for the role, including Douglas, before Charlton Heston landed the coveted role but as consolation, Douglas was offered the role of the Ben-Hur's erstwhile friend, and, later foe, Messala. To counteract his disappointment, Douglas, through the auspices of his own production company Bryna Productions and securing the rights to Howard Fast's bestseller, produced and crafted "Spartacus". Displeased with director Delbert Mann's efforts, Douglas discharged him and hired the new kid on the block, Stanley Kubrick (who, was constantly at odds with Douglas, and, it is alleged, disowned the film). The only concession Hollywood was forced to make was Douglas' choice of screenwriter to adapt Fast's novel, the grey and black listed Dalton Trumbo. In point of fact, with all the obstacles presenting a troubled shoot, i.e., choice of acting styles, arguments on the set, etc., it's something of a minor miracle that Douglas was able to pull it off at all. But the net results are truly outstanding. And while I personally own "Spartacus" in Blu-ray, seeing it up on the big screen once more was like visiting an old friend.
Land of the Pharaohs (1955)
Queen of the Nile...almost(?)
As tribute to the all-conquering mighty Pharaoh Khufu, Jack Hawkins, Princess Nellifer, Joan Collins, offers herself in place of spoils to fill the pharaoh's treasure vaults given that she's just a poor ruler from an even poorer country. In no time at all, she becomes the fave of the pharaoh using her seductive wiles and allure in an ambitious scheme to usurp the throne, letting nothing and no-one, including the current queen, her son and pharaoh himself stand in her way. Long regarded by many in Hollywood as the poor man's Liz Taylor, Collins' makes the most of her own flawless beauty, and, talent as a legitimate actress in a once-in-a lifetime role as Nellifer. She even manages to overshadow and upstage Hawkins in their scenes together. Other points of interest include our being afforded an insider's POV of how the pyramids might have been constructed from drawing board stage and labyrinthine interior to stone apex. Filmed on location, director Howard Hawks enlisted some 9,787 extras actually recruiting from the ranks of the modern Egyptian Armed Forces. Novelist William Faulkner co-wrote (but didn't necessarily improve upon) the screenplay. Spoiler alert: In the classic tradition of Greek tragedy, Collins' receives her just reward in what has to be the ultimate cinematic revenge.
The Exorcist (1973)
The Devil's in the details.
The story goes that future Hollywood scribe Blatty while a student attending the Jesuit University at Georgetown back in 1949, came across a curious item in the Washington Post involving a 14 year old Mt. Rainier youth plagued by demons, not the psychological or drug-addled kind but the bona fide supernatural variety, undergoing the ancient ritual of exorcism (the casting out of said demons). Flash-forward after years of paying his dues in Hollywood, Blatty would later base certain aspects of the incident mostly entailing the ritual and cant involved as the basis for his runaway bestseller "The Exorcist". Oscar winning filmmaker Friedkin ("The French Connection") realized it as the perfect follow up as he was on a winning streak, and, the rest, as they say, is cinema history. It was certainly a blockbuster when it premiered in 1973 and has earned its reputation as the scariest movie ever made over the years. Those unseen forces and invisible agencies for both good and evil notwithstanding, it's also quality filmmaking. The effects by Marcel Vercoutere are more mechanical in nature rather than those effects involving traveling mattes, matte art, etc. but are no less compelling in its depiction of bilious graphic horror (a later reissue was retouched using a few digital effects) and the demonic makeup by Dick Smith goes beyond grotesque, it's downright sickening. Not to mention, language so strong it would make David Mamet shrivel up in a corner and die. But it was those powerful four letter invectives along with other aspects of the script that won Blatty his coveted Oscar for Best Screenplay.
A Majority of One (1961)
Kampai Mr. Asano, L'chaim Mrs. Jacoby.
Soy sauce and matzos would've been the primary ingredients in a recipe for disaster when East and West don't just meet, they experience a culture clash. Japanese widower Koichi Asano (Guinness) and Brooklyn widower Bertha Jacoby (Russell) engage in a shipboard romance once their eyes meet. Bertha's reluctance at first (having lost her husband to natural causes and a son to the Pacific theater during WWII) to Asano's subtle overtures, eventually succumbs to his warm charms. But Bertha's daughter Alice and son-in-law Jerome, a newly appointed delegate to the American embassy in Tokyo to discuss the trade agreement with Asano's textile firm, is met with considerable consternation and disapproval given Jerome's delicate position, and, even more troubling, that Asano is Japanese and Bertha is Jewish. Even less convincing than Guinness (who's played everyone from Fagin to Obi-wan Kenobi) as an Asian is Russell as a yenta. But the elements "tolerance, kindness and forgiveness" of the storyline are so compelling and the film's denouement so bittersweet and heartrending that you'll soon overlook these two fine actors struggling to master their Japanese and Yiddish accents. Based on a play by Leonard Spigelgass which ran for a record 556 performances on Broadway, Spigelgass adapted his play for the screen as well. Reviewer's note: Insomuch as the role of Asano was originally portrayed by Japanese American actor Tsuruko Kobayashi, a better choice for the film (as good as Guinness was) might've been Japanese silent screen star Sessue Hayakawa, having made a triumphant comeback in his Oscar nominated role as Col. Saito in David Lean's "The Bridge on the River Kwai".
Vampyr (1932)
Like walking in a trance through the valley of the shadow of death.
Carl Theodor Dreyer's Vampyr is a seminal work of considerable importance in cinema history heavily influencing other films made during that same period. It is classified a horror film and yet it somehow stands apart from that genre requiring a distinction all its own. Loosely based on Sheridan Le Fanu's "Carmilla" (a horrific tale of vampirism), it is a place where the world of the living and the shadowy land of the dead cross over into a netherworld where the shadows of the living, and, presumably, the dead, come to life of their own accord. The anemic deliberately bloodless look of the film by cinematographer Rudolph Mate (who would become a director in his own right) literally infuses the film with a dreamlike atmosphere. The vampire herself, an elderly woman, the very personification of death, commands this shadow realm and threatens the extinction of its principle protagonist who envisions his own premature burial at the hands of all those under the vampire's spell for no one can be trusted. Without doubt, one of the truly exceptional examples of the cinematic art on the order of Jean Cocteau's "Orpheus".
The Song of Bernadette (1943)
Vessel of God St. Bernadette
"For those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe in God, no explanation will suffice." Thus, 20th Century Fox made clear it's stance on the incident involving a poor ignorant peasant girl from the western Pyrenees who one early spring witnessed a vision of a "beautiful lady". Fox decidedly erred in favor of Bernadette's 'marion apparition'. But it wasn't because the mammoth studio had gone all pious suddenly. It's that the demographs showed that a vast number of potential audiences across the country had for the longest time gone untapped. The Catholics. What's more, the time seemed right to bring out the religious angle in a time of war. We looked to God for peacetime but raking in hefty profits at the boxoffice for such a sacred cause wasn't a bad idea either. Fox found their inspirational story from a most unlikely source who's own true-life story would have made a compelling screenplay. Franz Werfel , an orthodox Jew, had taken flight from the Nazis. He needed desperately to be reunited with his wife in America by seeking out those who would help along the way. Stopping to rest in his escape in Lourdes which bordered occupied France and neutral Spain, he found the people very sympathetic, hiding him from the Germans until he was given safe passage to the US. It is in Lourdes that he learned of Bernadette Souibirous and made a promise to God that if ever he should leave Europe alive, he would tell Bernadette's extraordinary story. It must've been a case of 'from Werfel's lips to God's ears' because that's just exactly what happened. In preparing the galleys for his book on Bernadette's account, the suits at Fox got wind of it and bought the rights to the film even before the publisher had the book on the stands which would become an enormous best seller in 1943. This was Jennifer Jones first leading role in a major film and few of us, I believe, could deny that her sensitive portrayal was nothing short of a miracle. A convincing harrowing portrayal of a pious ingenue without ever once being mawkish. Now that's walking a tight rope between instinct and skill. The rest of the cast is uniformly fine especially Anne Revere as Louise Soubirous (whose brilliant career would run afoul of the House Commitee for Un-American Activities, labeled a communist sympathizer). As for the real-life Bernadette, she was canonized in 1933, the same year it was decided to remove her remains to Never. Something even more startling however is that when her remains were disinterred some seventy-five years after her burial, she was found virtually in tact an incorruptible. Needless to say, the Church had all the justification it needed in declaring her a saint. And to this very day many who 'believe in God' make pilgrimages to the little grotto where the vision took place and the spring which brought about so many miraculous cures. There is in all this an interesting bit of irony though. The uncredited role of the 'beautiful lady' went to Fox contract player Linda Darnell who would have a brief but successful career playing 'bad girls'.
Broadway Bill (1934)
Welcoming back the Sport of Kings.
With the buzz out on "Seabiscuit " being an Oscar shoe-in for best picture of 2003 and the Sport of Kings once again grabbing the spotlight and the invaluable boost the film is giving the sport of horse-racing, most of us may have forgotten what makes this particular formula the odds on favorite at the boxoffice. That a horse, blinded in one eye and too small to compete with other thoroughbreds, is not enough to sustain any film on the subject alone but rather the grit and determination of those who believe enough, have faith enough, to turn a 'dark horse' into a champion. For if you take on consensus that the horse, with the possible exception of man's best friend-(and there have been enough films on that subject as well), is one of the noblest creatures God ever placed on this green earth than the formula worked equally as well for the 'Pi' in "National Velvet" (1945) and a dozen more films on that order such as "Saratoga" (1937), e.g., to name only a few. "Broadway Bill" is a classic of this tried oft-tested formula with a decidedly down beat ending. It was meant to be for after all it is a tear-jerker. But "Bill" like "Seabiscuit" have much in common. Both horses are regarded as past their prime and ready for stud. Both films have a people who believe enough in the 'underdog' (Bill or Seabiscuit in this case) to commit one final act of atonement on the animals behalf, "one for the Gipper" so to speak. Where the two films diverge is in the finale. Bill gives his all on the racetrack to prove his mettle where his heart bursts literally a winner in a dead heat to the finish. We're touched by Bill's determination in justifying his trainer's faith in him that it's almost impossible not to grab a handy box of Kleenex to daub away all those unbridled tears. "Broadway Bill" was actually made a total of three times, the formula was that successful. Once with Bing Crosby in the Warner Baxter role and, naturally, it is der Bingle after all, with a few musical numbers added. 'Bill" has been inducted into the classics. "Seabiscuit" as yet to stand the test of time but somehow I've an instinct that it will, for, you see, both films and their striking similarities have become a wake-up call to Hollywood. In an age of CGI generated Neo's and the dark demented young minds who try to emulate his violently aggressive behavior, "Broadway Bill' and this new film on the life and times of "Seabiscuit" is like a day at the races where you can be sure both will emerge a champion because, as you may have already guessed, it's the kind of movie they just don't make anymore.
On Golden Pond (1981)
Kiss Me Kate, Then Say Good-bye. Katherine Hepburn 1907-2003
She had a regal bearing distinguishable from her peers. In fact, the only other American actress capable of posing as a royal was Bette Davis as Queen
Elizabeth I. Kate, on the other hand, had the convincing presence to pull off two famous monarchs. Mary, Queen of Scotts and Eleanor of the Aquitaine in "Lion in Winter" opposite Peter O'Toole's Henry II. Yet, for all her staunch New England upbringing, she also possessed an earthy vulnerability which she conveyed in
equal measure. Whether as Tracy Lord, of the rich socialite set, in "Philadelphia Story" or opposite Spencer Tracy (the real love her life) in their last film
together. A role which brought her the second of four oscars (<a record which stands as seemingly impossible to beat and I believe it>) in Stanley Kramer's breakthrough albeit dated and heavy-handed film of inter-racial marital
relationships and the strain such a union would subject both families to in
"Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?" As Tracy's firebrand of a wife in the liberated sixties, she was most definitely in her element crusading equal rights for the sexes and all races. You can't help applauding her in the scene where she reads her bigoted secretary the riot act in a calm, dignified, graceful manner,
instructing her to write herself off as officially unemployed with a blank check thus sending her on her merry bigoted way. But Tracy seemed to bring out her
best as an actress and as a person who seemed fated for tragedy earlier in life. As she had always brought out the best in Tracy who's later life seemed
punctuated with nothing but tragedy. In their comedies together from "Woman
of the Year" and "Adam's Rib" to "Pat and Mike" and the "Desk Set", the
chemistry between them was like no paring in film history. Their rapid fire
delivery in those scenes where they're found sparing with each other had us
both laughing and crying at the same time. The battle of the sexes has never
been so much fun. Apart from Tracy, she appeared opposite every leading man
working in Hollywood at that time. No foolin' folks! And her last as Ether Thayer opposite Henry Fonda, made me realize growing old should never be met with
resignation but rather with dignity. For she lived that way in her personal life and it was truely a blessed life. But I fear we shall not see her like again which can only give us pause to reflect on her brilliant career and just how much she will be missed. A life and a career to be envied. So kiss me Kate, then say goodbye,... for now.
Katherine Hepburn May 12 1907-July 29 2003.
Quo Vadis (1951)
Ave Quo Vadis!
In the theatrical trailers to MGM's "Quo Vadis?", the narrator makes the glorious pronouncement that this mammoth production was 12 years in the making.
That's not too far off. The studio which was then the 'Tiffany's' of dream factories had begun plans to film "Quo Vadis" around the same time Alexander Korda was wrapping up a troubled production of his own, "I,Claudius" (1943-45) with Charles Laughton in the lead. But money had run out due to the war effort and his great masterwork was to become Korda's folly as it was never finished. MGM had a similar problem as surplus material and manpower were badly needed to win the war. So "Quo Vadis" was shelved for a time. Seems ancient Rome was to take a back seat to the Allies' effort to defeat those dark powers across both oceans-Atlantic and Pacific. When production schedules resumed, the principle parts were already in the casting phase and the whole daunting assignment of directing was given to John Huston. But this time a smaller-scale war was being waged in the head office. Management was about to change hands as decreed by Leow's in New York. One of the great moguls of a soon forgotten heyday, the man who forged MGM into a major player giving his name to it in the process, Louis B. Mayer, was about to be ousted. And in his place a young hot shot from RKO, Dore Shary, was given run of the studio and control of production assignments. The two men had never seen eye to eye before this but now "Quo Vadis" would act as the catalyst and Mayer's Waterloo. This left the actors waiting in the wings with nothing to do and without a green light to begin shooting. A young untried British actor Peter Ustinov who had been initially approached to play Nero did a few screen tests for the studio but had to return over seas. Huston lost interest and elected instead to lobby for his own project at the studio, "The Red Badge of Courage". But word reached the front office that DeMille had begun shooting "Samson and Delilah" at Paramount. MGM wanted to be the first in theaters with their remake with director Mervyn Leroy now at the helm. But the figures were staggering in the extreme. If "Quo Vadis" failed to recoup the studio's investment, it would spell 'the end'-a situation the studio would have to face many times over in the future. It was decided that the best way to keep production and labour costs down would be to film in Rome itself. Besides, they reasoned, it would lend authenticity as well. Cinecitta studios built by Mussolini was selected having been occupied by the Germans until Italy's liberation by Allied forces but was fully operational by the time production was scheduled to get underway. This meant those intial actors cast for parts in the film either dropped out due to other commitments in film, or, from sheer boredom. Except, Ustinov. What was particularly fortuitous for Ustinov was that Rome would be a lot nearer to his home in England than sunny Los Angeles. MGM wired a telegram to Ustinov informing him that he was once again being considered for the part but that it was felt he was fast becoming too old to play the mad emperor. Ustinov cabled a letter back to the front office that if the studio waited too much longer, he would indeed be TOO OLD. Nero, he stated, died in his early thirties! The studio historians delved a bit deeper and much too their chagrin admitted Ustinov was correct. This time round they wired a cable gram which was far simpler and to the point-"You've got the part!" And the rest, as they say, is history. Though the studio didn't finish "Quo Vadis" in time to beat out DeMille's "Samson", it was mounted on a lavish scale that had never been experienced before. An opulent splendour that's almost sinful to watch. S.N. Behrman, Sonya Levien and John Lee Mahin (with a little input from Maxwell Anderson) retain the essence of H. Sienkiewics sprawling novel (or is it tome?) shedding the Victorian posturing and preachiness along that Appian Way. Very often critics are quick to point out just how leaden films of this genre are without once considering their original source-the novels
themselves. After all that had happened, it's a miracle, whether heavensent or otherwise, that "Quo Vadis" got made at all. Reception upon the film's release was generous for the most part with a few spoil sports writing a lukewarm review here and there. And, largely, most of the situations and characters did exist in history. Gaius Ofonius Tigellinus (Ralph Truman), bully, swindler and a gambler was a close confidant appointed Prefect of the Praetorian Guard. As was Acte (Rosalie Crutchley), who remained faithful to Nero right up to the end of his reign (though it is doubtful she assisted in his suicide, she did bury him). Though none of the writings of Tacitus (for one) mention Gaius Petronius (Leo Genn) in Nero's court, as a character, he, nevertheless, makes a marvelous foil as Nero's 'arbiter of eloquence'. That leaves Ustinov as Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, aka, Nero. Criticized at the time for chewing up all that magnificent scenery like so much 'shredded wheat' with his over the top histrionics, it seems inconceivable now that anyone else was best suited for the role other than Ustinov. All eyes are on him in every scene he's in, inveterate scene-stealer that he is. Ustinov was nominated for an oscar as was Genn.
Neither won although 10 years later Ustinov would pick up his first of two oscars playing yet another corpulent Roman, Bataitus, in "Spartacus"(1960)
There are a great many camp and kitschy lines in the film but my personal favorite is the scene in which the mob is storming the palace as Rome burns.
Nero gathers together those few loyal courtiers left in his throne room.
Nero: Seneca. What do you advise? Seneca: The mob is a wild animal and with an animal you can not reason! Nero: (Royally frustrated) I'm surrounded by ENNUCHS!
Goodbye, Columbus (1969)
'Bye Bye Columbus and American Pie'
One of the simple pleasures of viewing Woody Allen's films is you don't have to be kosher necessarily to relate to Allen's stock character of the down-trodden goy fraught with a plethora of neurosis-everything from sexual dysfunction to the nagging doubt predicated by existential angst over our natural inclination towards God and the infinite. What cheap shots Allen did throw at religion were strictly for laughs both as parody and commentary. In other words, Catholicism and Judaism suffered slings and arrows in the same measure. At the time of
the film's release, "Goodbye, Columbus" was criticized for being "too jewish". It's simple tale of nice jewish boy meets spoiled jewish princess meets crass wealthy jewish family (who somehow along the way forgot their humble
beginnings) is met with tribulation and turmoil mostly from shrewish jewish
mother inevitably leading to a parting of the ways for nice jewish boy arrived during a period in Hollywood when the youth of America were being heard at
peace marches, flag burnings, love-ins, gay and feminist movements, sexual
liberation and draft dodging. From 1967-72, audiences were being treated to
films of relevant social commentary beginning with "The Graduate" and just
about ending with the release of "Harold and Maude". It's all good as it was all about consciousness-raising. Among them, "Goodbye, Columbus" is a bit of a
peon but a film that still remains a stinging comment on class-conscious
America in it's whole up-the-rich-screw-the-poor-warts-and-all approach to
story telling. Richard Benjamin is fine as Neil, a man smitten by Ali McGraw (her debut) as Brenda but taken aback by her family and her unremitting
dependence on them. The final scene involving Brenda's willingness to commit an unconscionable act of sex sans condom and it's consequences prompting
Neil's apathy to face the world wiser but at least no worse for the wear remind us of just how emotionally disconnected most Americans were in the late
sixties. We were battered and bruised having come through an unpopular war .
Add to that the violent demonstrations we were witnessing at home leaving a
nation numb if not weary. Perhaps the most evocative scene which says the
most about our culture is the wedding reception for Brenda's lunkhead brother in which friends and relatives descend upon the banquet table like a plague of locusts devouring everything in sight. It sets just the right tone for the film: 'I'm so hungry, I'd eat my own kind. And only then with certain reservation.'
North by Northwest (1959)
Hitchcock at his entertaining best.
Sandwiched in between Hitchcock's daylit noir 'Vertigo' (1958) and his macabre comedy 'Psycho' (1960) is 'North By Northwest' (1959). His reverting to type as a director of espionage films, a genre that was begun by Fritz Lang's Dr Mabuse series of films, Hitchcock fine tuned the espionage thriller until he made it uniquely his own. What better actor to play the lead than Hollywood's most
romantic leading man, Cary Grant, whom Hitchcock had cast in three other films, 'Suspicion' (1941-opposite Joan Fontaine), 'Notorious' (1946-opposite Ingrid
Bergman) and 'To Catch A Theif' (1954-opposite Grace Kelly). To play a man in a grey flannel suit enmeshed in a web of deceit and a game of musical identities, Grant is suave and amusing with remarkable survival skills-survivors on reality TV-eat your heart out! But Hitch's pinache is very much in evidence applying a lighter touch here than in any of his previous films (including Mr and Mrs Smith, a comedy-1941). The pace is so brisk you wonder where the time has flown. And speaking of flown. The cropduster sequence is required text book material at
most film schools across the country. But there are so many other set pieces in this film one tends to lose count. Grant's vertiginous night drive ("You didn't borrow Laura's Mercedes") in a drunken stupor. The high over head shot of
Grant leaving the murder scene as he dashes for a cab in front of the UN
building. His romantic encounter in the dining car aboard the Twentieth Century Limited with Eva Marie Saint (the classic Hitchcock blonde). That magnificent Frank Lloyd Wright hideaway complete with landing field belonging to equally
suave villain James Mason. And that wild descent down the granite faces of
Mount Rushmore-the literal cliff-hanger! Hitch's 'Saboture' (1942) may have
provided the master builder with a blueprint for this film but 'North By
Northwest' confirmed Hitchcock's status as film auteur par excellance and the true 'master of suspense'.
There are so many wonderful lines in 'North By Northwest' it is hard to chose. But if I had to pick only one, it would be the scene in the auction gallery where Grant finding Eva Marie Saint together with James Mason and his henchman (21 year old Martin Landau), surprises all three by showing up unexpectedly with
the line: "Now there's a picture only Charles Adams could draw."
Ben-Hur (1959)
A Sweep at the Oscars: Wyler's Ben Hur
You have to give this film's detractors credit for trying. But there are just some films that are inviolate. They can NOT be tarnished no matter how much the self-made critic protests. It seems a futile effort in any case given the age of some of the truely great films. In the book, 'Movies in America' 1929-1969, (currently out of print as the names of the authors escapes me.) the authors' remarks reflected the changing esthetics of the time referring to MGM's color remake as an "above average quasi-Biblical spectacle with a fine piece de resistance"-the chariot race. Over lauded with accolades for every season: Winner of 11 Academy Awards (losing best adapted screenplay to 'Room at the Top'.) Best picture winner: The NY Film Critics Circle Award. Best picture winner: The British Film Academy. Best picture winner: Golden Globe Award. Sam Zimbalist received the Producers Guild Award and Wyler the Directors Guild Award. Among the great and powerful men of letters, film critic for the NY Times, Bosley Crowther-champion of religion in modern cinema-rendered a glowing review. Whereas Dwight MacDonald-reviewer for Cosmopolitan- panned it vociferously likening the whole viewing experience to watching 'a lumbering freight train as it passes' However, it's a fair assessment of this film's endurance when one considers the ratings poll and how it ranks a point or two above Ridley Scott's 'Gladiator' as a film still very much in high demand in sales and rentals. So is it great? Well, I believe that's subject to individual tastes. Is it a masterpiece? That could be safely said of any film that does well both critically and commercially. Is it a keeper? That's a definite **** out of five stars. Yes. I'd say so.
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Farewell Atticus. You will be missed. Gregory Peck 1916-2003
It seems sad when you think that all that is best in a man, personal integrity, nobility, generosity, tolerance, self-sacrifice for family and friends, a willingness to put one's entire reputation on the line for others, was never more eloquently expressed than in the pages of a book in the character of Atticus Finch in Harper Lees' To Kill A Mockingbird'. Sadder still because there was only one actor born to play him on the screen, who, like Atticus, embodied all those qualities in every characterization he brought to the screen. And that actor has gone. Whether he was a young priest struggling with ignorance and poverty in post war China in 'Keys to the Kingdom' (44). Become loving father to both his son and an orphaned fawn in the Florida wilds in 'The Yearling' (46) or an idealistic journalist out to single-handedly fight religious intolerance in 'Gentlemen's Agreement' (47). A tough as nails upper echelon flight commander expecting no less than perfection from his men in '12 O'Clock High' (49). Or at home with light comedy 'Roman Holiday' (53) and 'Designing Women' (56). Gregory Peck was spot on everytime. And it has been said of him that he was one of those rare talents incapable of giving a bad performance. He may have been the wrong choice for the part as his Captain Ahab was in John Huston's 'Moby Dick' (56). But even when he went over the top, it was always at the right pitch as in 'The Boys From Brazil' (72) or 'The Omen' (74). But it was his honest portrayal as Atticus Finch which will long be remembered. The everyman who became the voice of the American conscience at a time when the civil rights issue was weighing heavily on our minds. Sad because there will never be another character so uniquely American and so perfectly heroic in literature. Nor another actor capable of epitomizing Atticus with such tenacious force that is only found in the human spirit when the highest ideals we cherish are to be compromised. But, perhaps, that's not a reason to mourn. For each time we read Harper Lee's book we think of Gregory Peck, and, each time we view Peck's Oscar winning performance we think how accurately he came to Lee's indomitable Atticus. A fact recognized by the American Film Institute's tribute to the 100 all time greatest screen heroes with Atticus/Peck # 1 on the list. After all, how many of us will ever be able to say, 'now that's the way I wish to be remembered'.