Reviews

The attempt of MGM to replicate GWTW resulted in a forty pound robin of a film. While the scenery is beautiful the characters are dull as dish water. In GWTW all the players are memorable while in this mess not one interesting, likable, or even hateable character exists. Poor Montgomery Clift, no wonder he was drinking heavily throughout the filming. Compare his role as Johnny to Gable's Rhett Butler. An example of total miscasting. Clift's acting skills were becoming increasingly wooden as his career progressed. Even the lovely Liz could not redeem this worthless extravaganza. It is bad, pretentious, poorly written, overbaked and excruciatingly long.

This film would have been OK if it had been played for laughs but someone wanted to make a "serious" movie and it ended up a pretentious piece of crap. What were they thinking? When I saw the cast I was excited, three delicious babes and Maverick himself. Poor Jim Garner, his emotions ran the gamut from A to B. In fairness to him, however, Laurence Olivier could not have done much with this part. The plot was confusing and the film so disjointed that it was impossible to follow. Did the movie have a message? The scene where Garner finds the razor and blood all over the sink must be symbolic of a person who has seen this movie. As Tallulah Bankhead once remarked about a play,"There is less to this than meets the eye."

If one can't laugh at this film one has a serious problem with his sense of humor. The dialogue is unintentionally funny. Does any one on the planet talk like Mrs. Venable? The symbolism in Sebastian's garconerie is ridiculously heavy handed and obvious. Monty Clifts performance is so woefully bad that it defies description. Somehow Clift's acting had drifted into the nerdy, wimpy school and almost all of his later roles portrayed him as a simpering idiot, Noah in The Young Lions and the victim in Judgment at Nuremberg. What happened to the virile Matt of Red River? The redeeming feature of the movie is the scene of Liz in her diaphanous bathing suit. Wow! Prefrontal lobotomy was used in the 40's as a means of dealing with uncontrollable mental patients. There were no effective psychotropic drugs available and psychosurgery was the alternative treatment. JFK's sister had the procedure but it was unsuccessful and she spent the rest of her life in an institution.

Anatomy of a Murder is among the best courtroom drama films. James Stewart excels as the country lawyer defending the accused. George Scott, in one of his early roles ,is scintillating as the big city prosecutor sent to teach the country bumpkins how to conduct a murder trial. The bleakness of upper peninsular Michigan is faithfully captured by the black and white filming. Eve Arden and Authur O'Connell provide excellent supporting roles. One of my favorite character actors, Murray Hamilton, plays a key part (Al Pacquette) to perfection. Murray had a role in Jaws as the smarmy mayor, and in The Graduate as the cuckolded Mr. Robinson; both jobs he managed with great aplomb. This film was shocking and controversial when it came out and still packs a dramatic punch.

This enormously popular and immensely profitable film proves one thing, if you are going to steal, steal from the best. The plot, rejected lover becomes psychotic stalker, is taken from Clint Eastwood's Play Misty for Me and ending number two is straight out of Les Diaboliques. People ate the film up, it was the topic of conversation at work and parties. It also spawned many wannabe imitations in the industry. The director knew what buttons to push and he did so with gusto. The beautiful, faithful, unsuspecting wife, the too cute daughter and the raging, homicidal harpy are exploited shamelessly. Nevertheless the film is gripping and memorable. Worth a look.

Boy meets girl. Boy bonks girl. Boy drops girl. Girl is really PO'D and sharpens her knives. Watch out, boy. The age old story of a woman scorned is stylishly portrayed in this film by Clint. The movie is scary, atmospheric and shows Clint as a director of much promise. The natural beauty of Carmel is set against the dark menace of an unbalanced stalker, played with intensity by Jessica Walter. Eastwood is OK as the stalkee. Of course the premise of the film is repeated in Fatal Attraction fifteen years later. Both movies are eminently watchable and it is interesting to compare the directorial styles in the two films.

I love biblical epics and this is one of them, over two and one half hours long. Stewart Granger plays Lot, the Hebrew leader, who somehow is a salt miner and brings the tribe into Sodom where he is unable to persuade those naughty urbanites to behave according to Jehovah's commandments. The result, of course, is a spectacular Hollywood finale where S&G are destroyed by a meteor shower and Lot's wife is turned into a condiment. Lot and his two beautiful daughters escape. For those expecting Biblical authenticity, good luck. Actually after Lot's escape he, while drunk, is seduced by the girls and produces two incestuous bastards, Moab and Benjamin. This might be an idea for the sequel.

Despite miscasting of Mitchum and Sinatra as rather superannuated medical students the film taken from the Morton novel and slightly changed is fun to watch. Mitchum played his usual strong silent type character. No one ever accused him of overacting or even acting. What made the movie enjoyable were the strong performances of the rest of the cast Crawford, Bickford, deHavilland, sporting a ridiculous hairdo, and the very sexy Gloria Grahame. There is a very heavy handed but funny scene where a stallion is loosed to have his way with a mare in season before Mitchum and Gloria consummate their affair. Surpringly this scene was expunged from a recent TCM showing. All in all worth watching.

Noel Coward, Moss Hart, George Kauffman Neil Simon, Tom Stoppard, all brilliant drawing room comedy geniuses. Who wrote Meet the Fockers? Get it? How droll. It sounds like a group of 15 year old adolescents got into Dad's liquor cabinet and decided to write a screenplay. Half-witted, puerile, sophomoric "jokes" and dialogue abound. I didn't expect Wildean wit from the script but this exceeded all of my fears. Dear God, has Dustin Hoffman's career sunk to this? Maybe instead of a Save the Whale Foundation we can organize a relief fund for poor Dustin. Surely he will expunge any reference of this dreck from his resume.

This story had the potential of a good film. The difficult choice of love versus money and the angst and regret of making the wrong one. However the movie was ruined by the horrible miscasting of Robert Redford as the villain who offers $1,000,000 to sleep with Demi Moore. Like Redford has to pay for it. Redford's boyish good looks and All American charm just don't cut it as an unlikeable, threatening, boor. Redford's acting skillls are insufficient to make his character menacing. I can see it now, $1,000,000 to sleep with Robert Redford. OK says the lady but you will have to give me some time to raise the money. Jack Nicholson would have been perfect as the sleazeball.

I always thought Jack Hawkins was a wonderful actor and after seeing LOTP I am even more convinced. He took a ridiculous role and made it worth watching. Of course the historical accuracy of the film was completely absurd. If you want an authentic version of construction of the pyramids watch the History Channel. Who cares. Howard Hawks knows what moviegoers like and gives it to them. Violence, intrigue, greed and, oh yes, sex are in abundance and can best be appreciated in the wide screen version . Joan Collins in an early role is prancing around in flimsy attire and her considerable curves are greatly displayed. A real hottie. This role adumbrated many of her subsequent appearances.

Watching David&Bathsheba is a much better way of getting your bible lesson that going to Sunday school. Despite a script that at times is unintentionally funny the film is highly entertaining. The studio system had its faults but it spared no expense when a lavish production was called for. Peck portrays King David as a lusty but tormented poet who commits what is tantamount to murder to bed a sexy Bathsheba, Susan Hayward. Raymond Massey as the prophet Nathan delivers his usual saturnine and ferocious performance. Look for the silent screen star Francis X. Bushman as King Saul and a young Gwen Verdon as a dancer. Hooray for the Old Testament and Hollywood.

One of the best screwball comedies of the thirties. The story of a rich dysfunctional family who hire a "bum", Godfrey, as the butler. William Powell has to be a genius at portraying the charming and witty type. He was sophistication personified. Carole Lombard was a gifted comedienne and sparkles in her role as the ditsy rich girl. Gail Patrick (Cornelia) was the first bitch goddess in Hollywood. She later made a fortune as the Executive Producer of the long running Perry Mason television series. This movie poked fun at the vacuous life style of the pampered, privileged class and had to bring a smile to the rest of the depression plagued nation.

As a big fan of CS Forester, having read many of the Hornblower stories, I was anxious to see this film. I was not disappointed. The able direction of Raoul Walsh kept the action moving at a rapid pace. Greg Peck was in his element as the laconic, heroic captain of a British man o'war. El Supremo was a worthy and hateful adversary. Virginia Mayo provides the love interest and looks her loveliest. One mid east potentate described her as "tangible evidence for the existence of God." A young Christopher Lee has a small role as a Spanish sea captain. If you like period piece adventure stories this rollicking and well made movie is a must see.

As biblical epics go this one is not at the top of the list.Even King Vidor's directing skills could not elevate the film. Corny script and rather indifferent performances drag it down. Looking for authenticity in a Hollywood bible story is like looking for veracity from a politician. But nevertheless S&S is a fun movie to watch. The sets are lavish and the costumes are extravagant. After replacing Ty Power Yul Brenner does his best as the wise king smitten by Sheba. Who wouldn't be if she looked like Lollobrigida. She was at the peak of her loveliness if not her dramatic skills. If one wants a closer look at Gina's assets try to get hold of the uncensored European version.

This adult drawing room comedy is a bit of fluff. Light and inconsequential but funny. Deborah Kerr is excellent in her role as the bored and under appreciated wife of an English aristocrat, Cary Grant. They are struggling to keep the family estate intact by charging for guided tours. Can one really be bored with Cary Grant? Mitchum is the rich, virile American tourist who sweeps her off her feet. Jean Simmons plays the beautiful but rather ditsy friend of Kerr. Kerr tells her, "You can't play Scrabble, not with adults". The mink coat scene is worth watching as is the fishing scene. America versus England with a happy ending.

Perhaps the best adaptation of an Agatha Christie story ever. Billy Wilder extracts excellent performances from the cast, which includes Tyrone Power, in his last role, Elsa Lanchester and Charles Laughton, who were married in real life. Laughton as Sir Wilfrid is perfectly cast as the foxy British barrister. I have been to the Old Bailey and Wilder has captured the atmosphere of the British court scene flawlessly. Marlene Dietrich is outstanding as the faithful spouse of a conniving blackguard. Could she act? Twists and turns of the plot are artfully interspersed with comic relief. If you are a fan of courtroom dramas this has to be on your must see list.

I am a huge fan of Hollywood biblical epics. They never fail to bring a smile to my face. This is one of the best of that genre. Ridiculous, preposterous, absurd and highly entertaining. Victor Mature was the perfect Samson, big, strong, brave, and incredibly dumb. When Victor wanted to join an exclusive club in Hollywood he was told by a friend that the club did not admit actors. Mature replied, "I'm no actor and I have fifty films to prove it". The cast is rounded out by a young and fetching Angela Lansbury, an unctuous villain , George Sanders, and a rather motheaten lion. Hedy Lamarr, Delilah, is at her most seductive. She can shave my head anytime she wants to.