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Reviews
The Incident (1967)
Timely screenplay; superb camera work, acting
By 1967 most films were in color, but Director Larry Peerce wisely elected to shoot THE INCIDENT in B&W to give it greater authenticity against the dingy/sleazy/trashy backdrop of New York streets and train stations.
A cross section of Americans appears in a train, ranging from a racist black man bent on revenge against whites, his decent girl friend who sees the pointlessness of rage, a gay man, a couple with a daughter, an older couple (Thelma Ritter in great slapping form!) to two US Army soldiers reluctant to get involved in stopping two marauding criminal youngsters who have just robbed and killed an elderly family man.
The burgeoning crime wave in NY, the country's largest city, by the late 1950s already worried the US authorities and only seemed to spiral further out of control, and THE INCIDENT turns out to be a brutally honest film about that problem, and attendant ones such as civil rights, the Vietnam war one hears nothing about but sees men in uniform clearly unfit for battle, and myriad other issues. That the film hardly bleeped at the box office and few people I know born in the 1950s or earlier knew at all about its existence, reflects its uneasy reception with censors and public alike.
The excellent screenplay by Nick Baher deserves every plaudit for its superb and sharp dialogue, despite the occasional needlessly repeated line. Extremely effective cinematography by Gerald Hirschfeld, thanks to the expert use of B&W, clever angles inside the train.
Finally, the acting. Tony Musante steals the show with his in your face demon-like rage, racism and unrepentant malevolence. Baby-faced Martin Sheen begins startlingly enough, but then his part fizzles down. Brock Peters, as the racist black man who suffers abuse and is the first to be suspected and frisked by police when they arrive in the box car, ultimately reflects the outrageous treatment meted out to black persons by society at large and law enforcement in particular, and the black person's inability to break out of it back in 1967. As the character played by Ruby Dee correctly forecasts, things were changing and could not be achieved overnight, but they were happening - Brock Peters wants it immediately, but can only suffer indignity in tears.
The two US Army soldiers provide a most interesting angle: they represent the government but neither wants to get involved, and in fact one of them never does. Out of sheer decency, it falls to Beau Bridges, the Oklahoma-born soldier with the broken arm, to take on knife-wielding Tony Musante, and restore order and a measure of self-respect to the passengers on the train.
Despite aging performers like Thelma Ritter, Gary Merrill, Mike Kellin, THE INCIDENT feels very modern, a far advanced movie for 1967 intelligently examining racism, civil rights, crime, gays, social cowardice and other issues. Absolute must-see. 9/10.
In Broad Daylight (1971)
Blind man makes unfaithful wife pay
John Marley must have played his role in IN BROAD DAYLIGHT just before his most famous role of all as Jack Woltz in THE GODFATHER. As is well known, criminals always think themselves cleverer than the policemen investigating them, and that is exactly the case here: Richard Boone, portraying fairly convincingly an actor and movie director who has gone blind, catches his wife having intimacy with his best friend and decides to ice her and make the adulterous pal the culprit.
Needless to say, a blind man is bound to make more mistakes than a normal person, even one of poor eyesight, and in this instance he makes the mistake of taking his therapist's umbrella.
Suzanne Pleshette plays that therapist - a small and largely meaningless part, rather sad to watch. She helps with advice and a guide dog, but ends up compromising her client twice by speaking too much and coming back searching for her brolly.
That is where Marley proves the superior intelligence of the copper, immediately pouncing on the fact that Pleshette had lost her umbrella and linking it to the Greek fella who went into Boone's wife's hotel with the umbrella that only the porter saw. (Puzzled as to the reason for linking a missing brolly to a fellow no one could identify? So am I!)
Of course, blind Boone makes the classical mistake of returning to the scene of the crime... and catching the wrong taxi.
Passable TV entertainment that does not tax your brain cells.
Split Second (1953)
Dick Powell directs furious atomic bomb-timed plot
I had seen Dick Powell in MURDER, MY SWEET, CORNERED and YOU NEVER CAN TELL... always as the leading actor, not the director, and what a joyous surprise I have had!
As any Hollywood Golden Age movie lover knows, Dick Powell deserves the label of one of the most multi-hatted, accomplished artists ever to grace the screen - not only did he serve as message boy at the start, he reached stardom as a singer - tenor, no less! - then comedian, and finally film noir specialist both as leading actor and director.
He does not appear as actor at all in SPLIT SECOND, but he certainly makes splendid use of his cast. Stephen McNally, in a fairly rare lead, made some memorable villains and emerged as one of the finest character actors of the 1950s with WINCHESTER '73, CRISS CROSS, NO WAY OUT under his belt.
A serious, no frills actor, McNally carried menace in his eyes. In SPLIT SECOND, he certainly means business from the superb opening sequence in which we see him run from the clinker in a parched desert. Soon we will learn that that desert is the place for atomic bomb experiments and explosions.
Alexis Smith plays the female lead, a deceitful wife who changes men like underwear. In the 1950s, with the Hays Production Code still in force, this role could only go to a woman of Smith's courage and beauty, and she delivers so convincingly that I, as a male, felt insulted.
Richard Egan also does splendidly with a minimal part as the medical doctor in the process of divorcing Smith. Not only is he a responsible enough hubby to come to his wife's aid, he meets his Hippocratic oath under atomic bomb threat which gives the film its time/urgency edge, and ultimate justice. Egan also delivers the film's final and prophetic words: "Let's take a look at the world of tomorrow!" as the atomic mushroom hangs over the skyline.
Superior cinematography by Musuraca, great screenplay with simple, objective dialogue by Irving Wallace and William Bowers. 8/10.
Red Dog (2011)
Fun Aussie flick with cute canine
The really good thing about RED DOG is that director Kriv Stenders manages to bring in many Aussie characters such as you would find in Dampier and other places along the desert-like Australian northwest, and, at the same time, he shows its incredible landscape beauty. Another massive plus is the musical score, including Suzi Quattro's "Stumbling in" of the late 1970s.
The not so good aspect - in my view, of course - is that characters are hardly developed, sometimes seeming like a series of short adverts. That said, you sense that the aussies really enjoy their world, work hard to keep it, and care about fellow human beings in a place where nature gives you few breaks.
Though no masterpiece, RED DOG posts catchy sequences - such as the fight between Red Dog and Red Cat, Red Dog hitch-hiking all over the northwest, the Hachiko-like statue in his honor and lovely Rachael Taylor.
Kill Me Three Times (2014)
Pegg plays impeccable murder pro in luminous Aussie noir comedy
Well, nothing quite prepared me for KILL ME THREE TIMES. I always like to learn about the director, but not even IMDB tells when or where he was born - though I suppose it safe to guess Australia in the 1960s or 1970s.
The script by James McFarland presents nothing really new and even seems to borrow structurally from Quentin Tarantino, with several characters interacting at different times in the plot. What makes it special is that all characters look and behave normally, apart from planning theft and murder, and the details of their criminal modus operandi keep rocking the unsuspecting viewer.
Let me also confess that one of the hardest things for me to watch in a film, let alone in real life, is money being gambled away, misspent, or stupidly lost - something to do with my youth in poverty. So I did not like the part where the bag with the bucks was dangerously changing hands and could so easily end up burned, damaged or ill-used. On the other hand, I liked the perfection of Pegg's execution of his duties - and targets - while others also iced people in far clumsier ways.
Bryan Brown, as a bent copper, and Sullivan Stapleton as the deceived hubby of scheming Teresa Palmer, are a hoot - though, of course, the cool, calculating, businesslike Pegg steals the show.
Yes, it is a movie of twisted morals, but well acted and with truly gorgeous and luminous Aussie locations - the odd dead kangaroo notwithstanding.
I enjoyed KILL ME and no doubt will rewatch. 7/10.
Bad Lieutenant (1992)
Drug addict degenerate cop Keitel undetected by the force
Director Abel Ferrara likes to stir and get the fan to spray it far and wide, so up he comes with this shocker about a bent, womanizing, drug-sniffing and -injecting, gambling copper - Harvey Keitel, dick showing in intimate scenes and completely stoned in others - and I watched in disbelief as that dirty copper broke every law and police rule without his partners and especially his superiors apparently having an inkling.
That made me feel like a clever voyeur, who knew more than the dumb authorities. That was about the sole feel good sensation I had about this film, after the repulsion of watching a nun get raped and Keitel wanking in front of two young girls without a drivers' license.
I certainly took no moral lesson from this flick. Keitel's cop from hell deservedly gets shot to death and I hope this cheapie flick served as cautionary tale to anyone in law enforcement thinking of doing 1/100 of what Keitel does.
The Texas Rangers (1951)
Well filmed 1950s Western
Truth to tell, the only thing I had seen directed by Phil Karlson before catching THE TEXAS RANGERS on TV was a 1970s flick entitled WALKING TALL, which was neither good nor bad but somehow stayed in my memory.
As other viewers have pointed out, the great thing about THE TEXAS RANGERS is that famous names bunch together so you almost feel you are watching history unfold. In this case, you have baddies like Sam Bass,John 'Wes' Hardin, the Sundance Kid, Butch Cassidy, and more all planning and riding hard to carry out train robbery that would set the government back quite a lotta dough.
Good old John Carver (played by George Montgomery) plays the fake bandit with sheriff and Pinkerton detectives in the background, assisted by pretty Gale Storm (sounds tempestuous!) and they somehow sink that gang of evil doers. Carver gets shot up in his left arm but is still nimble and strong enough to go around the train and take care of Rudabaugh and other heavies.
Pleasant Western with solid cinematography and competent stunt work, bringing back memories of the 1950s to anyone who lived in those days when the Western began to undergo re- and de-construction, paving the way for spaghetti. 7/10.
Limelight (1952)
Chaplin's genius lights personal, philosophical opus
I first watched LIMELIGHT in the 1980s, when VHS took the market and I bought the entire Chaplin collection of full films. At the time, I found LIMELIGHT rather self-serving, a homage to Chaplin himself.
I had watched THE GOLD RUSH at the age of 6, THE KID about two years later, and I had been impressed by Chaplin's antics. In fact, I liked those so much that I rewatched them during a Chaplin festival in my teens. By that point, though, THE CIRCUS and CITY LIGHTS had moved up to compete with THE GOLD RUSH... and MODERN TIMES was now my favorite Chaplin.
Then came the VHS revolution and the chance to watch LIMELIGHT. I had first heard about it when I listened to the Frank Chacksfield Orchestra play the Terry theme (Terry being Claire Bloom in the film). I often whistled that tune and was disappointed that the film only played it in the beginning and its notes came up briefly twice, at the most thrice more. Which paved the way for my overall disillusionment.
Now, I know more about Chaplin and his life, I have seen pretty much his entire output, and the film has gained new stature for me. For instance, when I watched it in the 1980s I knew very little about what had caused Chaplin to leave the USA - not so much his refusal to testify before Senator McCarthy and HUAC, but the continued spotlight on his affairs with younger women, including allegations of rape.
Significantly, Claire Bloom plays Terry, the young ballerina that Calvero (Chaplin) rescues from street misery and ill health. His relationship with this young woman reflects the thorny side of being in the public eye, of the rather puritan morals (for instance, the Hays Production Code) governing US mentality in general, and Hollywood in particular, and of society's readiness to guttersnipe with figures like Hedda Hopper and her likes at the head.
Chaplin would answer those intrusions in his personal life even very effectively by marrying Oona O'Neill, and having a long, happy, and children-filled marriage with her, but in the film Calvero is the image of the decent, respectful older man, who knows that it would be very selfish to accept Terry's love.
To me, that is the main point Chaplin wished to convey as he prepared to leave the USA, his reputation in tatters by allegations of communist leanings and misconduct with young women. Of course, that is personal, even self-centered, but a man of Chaplin's visibility must have felt the need to clear his name, and he certainly does it in style, with a touching personal performance, humor, and extracting superb contributions from the beautiful Bloom, and from a very competent support cast, including Buster Keaton in a memorable clown routine sequence at the end.
It is definitely Chaplin's finest talkie, and, as ever, he acted, directed, and wrote the musical score. Can anyone honestly give 1 or 2 out of 10 to such a magnificent multi-hatted effort? I think not, and I pity those who do because they miss one of the points of great art: the self-portrait.
Given that if IMDB existed in the 1980s, I would probably give it 7, I have docked one star to kind of balance my perceptions then and now. However, today my view is that LIMELIGHT is a work of genius and humane philosophy, a bona fide masterpiece that warrants many viewings - one will definitely not suffice. 9/10.
Desperate Voyage (1980)
Plummer, Potts, Parker deserved better than this cheapie!
It worries me when I have never heard of the director, and that is certainly the case in regard to Michael O'Herlihy, whom I know not from the traditional bar of soap. After watching DESPERATE VOYAGE, I would be desperate, with nothing else to watch, if ever I watched any of his stuff again.
DESPERATE VOYAGE is the ultimate example of shoestring TV production, filmed haphazardly with low quality film, and obviously no retakes. I suppose the poor VHS copy did not help, either.
Canadian-born Christopher Plummer, a best supporting actor Oscar winner, deserved better than to play a Cajun from down south USA, mixing French with heavily accented English as he engages in piracy at sea.
The plot is preposterous. A couple (Cliff Potts and Christine Belford) take another couple (lovely Lara Parker and weak Nicholas Pryor) on their boat but Parker feels unwell, keeps retching and - bad idea! - because they are 12 hours away from land, Potts puts out a call for assistance, so the couple can be taken to land. Why they could not just take their pals and plonk them on land beats me, especially after learning later that they have 12 hours' worth of fuel in the tank.
So they place themselves at the mercy of merciless, gun-toting and wallet-robbing Cajun pirate Plummer and his nephew, the rather dumb-looking Louis, played by the inevitably evil Jonathan Banks, who would rise to his career peak as the main villain in BEVERLEY HILLS COP a few years later.
Given that all the action unfolds at sea, there is not much you can do to make things even a little bit unpredictable. One saving grace
is Parker - pure eye candy at the age of 42 - but in the end her fate goes unknown.
Potts plays the resourceful boat owner with a cheating wife who wants to be forgiven - that is the sole unpredictable twist about the film, but it matters zero in the context of the plot.
Cinematography by John Flinn III rates more desperate than the voyage, clearly all shot on stable studio ground with sea visuals as background - ain't foolin' me, O'Herlihy & Flinn III! ... 4/10.
The Great Dictator (1940)
Memorable sequences do not minimize overlength
Charlie Chaplin, one of the great movie makers of the 20th Century, had the foresight to portray Hitler early in WWII (1940) so accurately that the latter put a price on Chaplin's head. Most remarkable how hardly a year after WWII had begun, with the Holocaust still at a naissant stage, Chaplin already had a very clear idea of the horrors the Third Reich was visiting on the semitic population.
Great sequences involving Hynkel (thinly disguised Hitler both phonetically and visually) include his play with a globe until it bursts in his face, his speech in a bogus language to an applauding crowd reminiscent of Riefenstahl's documentary crowds, and, needless to say, the magnificent sequence between Hynkel and Napaloni (Mussolini), each constantly trying to upstage the other.
Marred by excessive dialogue, Chaplin's portrayal of the civilian Jewish barber is far less effective and attention-grabbing than that of Hynkel. Chaplin's rather moralistic speech at the end is far less effective than Hynkel's grunting, raving tirades, and imperial gestures.
THE GREAT DICTATOR suffers from overlength and somewhat repetitive comic routines, and Chaplin does not appear to be at ease with sound pics. To me, it marks the beginning of a chute for Chaplin in terms of quality, even though he would still churn out a masterpiece, LIMELIGHT (1952), and good efforts like M. VERDOUX and KING IN NEW YORK.
All told, it still makes for necessary viewing for anyone really interested in cinema. 7/10.
Return to Sender (2015)
Who is the biggest psycho: the rapist or the raped?
Let me start by admitting that Lebanese-born director Fouad Mikati is a complete unknown to me, and this is the first sample I have come across of his still young career. At first sight, I was impressed by Russell Carpenter's unassuming but effective cinematography, which Mikati never allows to distract from the swing of the plot.
He also deserves plaudits for the quality performance that he extracts from Rosamund Pike, who is almost never out of the screen, but who carries her revenge plans with unsettling grace, as she loses her surgical touch and grip as her hands shake more and more, and slowly gives up on her plans for a career in surgical nursing, accepting instead the humdrum nature of attending to the public and discharging menial tasks.
Mikati also gets what he can from a bloated, hoarse-voiced Nick Nolte, who I found almost unrecognizable and unable to deliver his lines in an immediately clear and graspable manner to the viewer. Still, he is the most level-headed and best-intentioned of the characters in the film.
Shiloh Fernandez is the young fellow who seems innocent but turns into a rapist once alone with beautiful Pike in the latter's house. I do not recall any detectives coming by to get details from the victim but somehow the offender is detained and she somehow manages to find out where he is doing time.
Seemingly forgiving of the past, Pike disconcertingly maintains that relation and convinces her rapist that he is welcome to contact her again once out of jail. Oddly enough, by the end both Pike and Fernandez do not look a day older than when the rape occurred, though I suspect that that type of offense carries at least a 10-year jail term in the USA.
So, graceful as ever, Pike proceeds to ensnare the culprit with a repair job and some spiked drinks before doing the surgical bit.
Her conversation with her dad, Nolte, left me wondering who is the bigger psycho: Pike or the rapist? 6/10.
Garde à vue (1981)
Well acted, directed anti-police violence claustrophobia
Why would a man - a notary public, to boot, so a man knowledgeable about law - confess to murdering two children if he did not do it? Perhaps it has to do with some roughing up from police inspector Lino Ventura's sidekick Guy Marchand during his boss' absence.
GARDE À VUE, a legal position whereby if you are suspected of the commission of a crime you are remanded in police custody without being officially under arrest, and can be interrogated, has to do with the techniques used by police to get a suspect to confess. In this case, Ventura lies to notary public Michel Serrault's wife, Romy Schneider in her penultimate film, saying that her hubby does not want to see her. In doing so, he hopes to milk some info out of the wife that will further paint Serrault into a corner. The latter begins rather haughtily but in the end comes across as rather dumb for failing to take what he knows the law can afford him: the possibility of legal counsel and refusal to comment or answer.
Ultimately, the truth is that just as police can resort to mendacity for results, so can a man under pressure lie if he feels that control is slipping from his grasp (though I would never admit to a crime I did not commit, so I have considerable difficulty accepting that anyone of sound mind would do so).
Ultimately, all that official deceit carries unexpectedly high costs. For Schneider, who in real life had recently lost her son in a most unfortunate accident, this must have been a very tough role to play, but she does it convincingly.
Different take on the law in a different culture, certainly nothing to do with 12 ANGRY MEN, or even attempting to come anywhere near its quality in all departments, it emphasizes claustrophobia, and how police authority can distort innocence into guilt, and transform law into crime. GARDE À VUE remains well worth watching. 8/10.
Non-Stop (2014)
Good action sequences marred by poor motivations
The title NONSTOP alerts the viewer that on this flight you need to put your brain on automatic pilot.
John Richardson and Christopher Roach wrote this incredibly hackneyed screenplay whereby plane flight-allergic air marshall Bill Marks - contrastingly convincingly played by Liam Neeson - goes on an NY-London flight as air marshall. Whoe there! He has been fired from the force, how could he get into the aircraft with a pistol? Or has he been fired? Flight captain Linus Roache and eye candy stewardess Michelle Dockery seem to recognize and accept him readily enough. One curiosity that had my antennae up: from the start Marks has had shady characters approach him with questions and dope. It the start of NONSTOP BS.
The fact is that the entire system, including TV and computer networks at airports and in the aircraft, is against him and publicly blackballs his good name as if he could not sue them.
Another incoherent detail: Julianne Moore, a great thespian, is given a rather marginal role as the woman Marks trusts implicitly after she witnesses his fear of flying and patiently pats his paws.
Marks admits, however, that he has taken drugs and that he needs money. Alas, he is not the sole dirty copper on this flight: there is another whose first action is to offer a barbiturate to poor Marks, who has recently had his daughter "taken" (remember TAKEN 1, 2, 3, 4, 5?) by leucemia and, seemingly in answer to his prayers - even if he says nothing religious or remotely God-fearing in the entire flick - suddenly he gets a cool $150 million in his bank account.
The Roach who wrote the script is partnered by Linus Roache as the too trusting and affable flight captain who ends up poisoned: with so many roaches you have to expect rubbish, and that is what the waywardly motivated characters bring to the movie... in spades. It amounts to insult to any median intelligence - which is a pity coz the fight sequences are well choreographed and shot.
Besides the CGI, the single best thing about this flick is the immensely beautiful Michelle Dockery. Neeson performs credibly enough, but it was the elegant Dockery of the exquisite facial features and delightful legs that I wanted to see again and again, complete with her lovely British accent.
De sang et d'encre (2008)
Good acting, pretty faces, predictable tale with WWII roots
I do not know anything about Director Charlotte Brändström's work but from DE SANG ET D'ENCRE one can tell that she pays attention to detail. Cinematography by Pascal Gennesseaux is top drawer, restrained acting by the exceptionally good looking couple of Florence Pernell, as publishing house owner, and Stéphane Freiss as police captain Marc Simon, deserves praise, and the script by Lorraine Lévy is the only element that disagrees with the quality evident in the rest of this opus: it suffers from excessive predictability, and the gimmick of lumping in Jewish concentration camp survivors more than 60 years after the end of WWII just seems too pat, too used, too contrived.
Anyway, it warrants a watch but certainly nothing too involved or that anyone would remember a week later. 6/10.
La via della droga (1977)
Undercover Testi, Interpol Hemmings wreck drug racket
There are some preposterous situations and developments in LA VIA DELLA DROGA aka THE HEROIN BUSTERS but it still reeled me in and had me interested to the end.
Director Enzo Castellari is no household name, not even in his native country, Italy. To be frank, I had never heard of him. That said, the production looks far from shabby thanks to effective cinematography by Giovanni Bergamini and the convincing if unusual leading duo of Fabio Testi - undercover cop looking tall, fit and muscular despite wearing cowboy boots in his almost nonstop running - and Hemmings, the somewhat podgy Interpol inspector still able to climb walls. They exchange some cryptic, even funny lines, none more so than when Testi teaches Hemmings on how to use the pronoun "whom" instead of "who."
The film posts some well made car, bike and running chases - though I found the final one, aboard two light planes, downright risible. The top villain with his fake wig rather struck me as a clearly unintended comedian, especially when piloting the aircraft.
Despite those flaws, I found HEROIN BUSTERS and its level of violence credibly engrossing. 7/10.
L'uomo della strada fa giustizia (1975)
Vigilantism endorsed in a violent 1970s Italy
Italy, the land of fine art and classy footwear, has also long been known for having the Mafia, Cosanostra, Ndranguetta, Camorra, drug cartels, corrupt police, serious youth crime, and all manner of violence.
In L'uomo della strada fa giustizia (literally translating as The Man in the Street Implements Justice) you get a feeling that by 1975, the year this film came out, Italian society openly rebelled against the crime situation. More than anything else, this Umberto Lenzi effort reflects social unhappiness over the crime rate in the country, and how any innocent person could become victim.
As in DEATH WISH, which came out in 1974, a family member is placed on the sacrificial altar for maximum manipulation. Here, it is Henry Silva's beautiful and sweet 8-year-old daughter who gets shot dead. A purportedly blind man asks for her help to cross the street, uses her to get into the bank and finally shoots her dead to eliminate the witness... but she crucially lives long enough to talk about a scorpion, which turns out to be a piece of jewelry on the villain's wrist.
Henry Silva never struck me as a good actor and here he just uses the same facial expressions - no range, no emotional depth - and quite frankly I kept missing Luciana Paluzzi's delicate facial features. Not that her role amounted to much, basically she just told hubby Silva to not embark on revenge but to take himself in hand and avoid violence.
Sadly, Silva does not listen to lovely Paluzzi but police prove very lenient and promptly urge him to claim that he acted in self-defense. The film's best lines come from Silva's interaction with a transexual, with some cad popping up and saying: "One of these days I'll give you something nice, say, a golden dildo."
Of course, L'uomo della strada fa giustizia cannot match the production values let alone the budget of vigilantism-related films coming out in the USA at the time like DEATH WISH, THE FRENCH CONNECTION, or STRAW DOGS. 6/10.
Un meurtre est un meurtre (1972)
Mediocre whodunnit thriller despite strong acting
Belgian-born Etienne Perier is not a name that stands out among French cinema directors, and in UN MEURTRE EST UN MEURTRE (MURDER IS MURDER) he passes up on a good opportunity to do better, especially in view of the cast made available to him.
Male lead Jean-Claude Brialy sadly has an accident with wealthy wife Stephane Audran who becomes wheel chair-ridden, and resentful of his ongoing affair with stunning clothes shop attendant Catherine Spaak. To cut a long story short, despite her paralysis, Audran is still able to drive her car but apparently forgets to use the hand brake and it slides down a slope and kills her as she goes down the middle of the road (none too careful, is she?)
The real baffler to me is why Director Perier decided to show that sequence as the intro to the film, and he repeats it some 30 minutes later.
That is when blackmailer Robert Hossein and police inspector Michel Serrault appear on screen, both delivering credible performances. For the record, both Brialy and Serrault would come out of the closet a few years later, and apparently had the hots for each other during this film. Spaak and Audran must have felt underused...
The script by Dominique Fabre makes very economic use of logic. Why Audran should have a sister who wants to wear a wig like her and go around in a wheelchair like her is baffling to put it mildly. That, in addition, she should pick up a revolver and fire six shots into the night after police inspectors approach her place is only made more incredible by the fact that Hossein had just shown her how to use the gun because she had never fired a shot in her life!
Toward the end, I did not know - and did not care - whether Audran was Marie or Anne any more. She was misused in the double role but at least Perier gave her the chance to show off her delicious legs as she ditches the wheelchair and shows Brialy and Spaak that she can walk.
The ending, with Brialy and Spaak laughing as they shove the empty wheelchair down a street, and it poses a threat to potential oncoming drivers, is one of the stupidest I have ever seen.
Effective cinematography by Marcel Grignon. 6/10.
The Man Who Laughs (1928)
Plus: direction, photography, ending; sublime Veidt. Minus: overlong
As other viewers have indicated, THE MAN WHO LAUGHS was directed by Paul Leni, born in Stuttgart, Germany, and a major follower of the expressionistic movement, by 1928 much in vogue in that European country. Add to that the fact that Fellow German Conrad Veidt had played the central role in Robert Wiene's THE CABINET OF DR CALIGARI (1920) and you grasp why THE MAN WHO LAUGHS turned out to be so much of a German expressionistic opus, quite in contrast with the general output in Hollywood at the time.
The downside to this masterpiece off a minor Victor Hugo tale is that it runs for far too long: 90 minutes would have sufficed and then some. But Gilbert Warrenton's wonderful cinematography keeps the viewer interested, and Veidt's ability to convey searing sadness while carrying the laughing grin that former English king James II had ordered carved into his face as a child has to go down as one of the most memorable performances of all time, to the extent that it reportedly inspired the creation of Batman's nemesis, the Joker.
Mary Philbin also deserves praise for her role as the pure blind girl who "sees" clown Veidt for the wonderful soul that he is. The happy ending is very unusual for films of the time and certainly adds a greater dimension to the film. 8/10.
Shadowman (1988)
Claustrophobia: SHADOWMAN is thy name - Is dit ´n rat?
The only thing I know about Director Piotr Andrejew is that he was born in Poland. On the strength of SHADOWMAN which, from a swift glance at his filmography, gets the highest rating of his entire output, I doubt I will bother to watch any of his other efforts.
For a start, his recreation of a WWII scenario in the Netherlands looks fake: trafficker Jeroen Krabbé drives a vehicle of the mid to late 1950s, clearly not yet in existence in WWII. The police vehicle that snarls in at the end to capture the "rat" in Mevrou Wisse's attic looks like a Renault pickup truck from the 1950s, too.
The way Andrejew wastes Tom Hulce's acting talent verges on criminal. Hulce, who - in my opinion - posted the definitive portrayal of Amadeus Wolfgang Mozart in AMADEUS (US 1985) by 1988, when SHADOWMAN came out, was delivering his swansong in the cinema (perhaps he fared better in the theater - I hope so).
In SHADOWMAN, Hulce has his face covered by dirty clothes and he looks filthy for about a third of his presence on screen. How that could prove attractive to a stunning beauty like Monique (played by buxom bomb Manouk van der Meulen), to the point that they engage in wild sex in a rat- and rat poison-filled attic leaves me speechless and raring to go hungry in any attic just to handle a pair of knockers like Manouk's!
Even more surprising, Manouk is contraband man Jeroen Krabbé's wife or lover but the moment she hears about the Jewish refugee in hiding she wants to see him in Mevrou Wisse's attic - not just see him, actually she has carnal designs.
As for the mevrou, she is busy opening Krabbé's zipper while poisoning potatoes to serve the "rat" in the attic who, before long, she suspects does not have a tail and sounds too noisy to rate rodent, but sounds human instead. To compound matters, she gets the worst news in a telegram: her son Hans died in combat (I readly admit that that piece of news caught me completely off guard, and I still do not grasp its point in the plot!)
The mevrou calls police to investigate the rumblings in the attic but, after hearing the orgastic goings on there, she probably wants a piece of the action from Hulce too!... Having already taken Krabbé from Manouk, she gets all crabby, rebels and resists when police burst in to collect the Jew in the attic... who is now in (unexplained) possession of a knife plus some wood, and black paint, all of which he chisels away at until he gets a fake black wooden pistol going. I sensed a mistake, but what do I know and what does anyone care anyhow?
No winners in this movie. Jeroen Krabbé probably steals the show with his unrepetant and even spontaneous opportunism and lack of concern for anything other than making money. The way he places an order for copper and then rejects it shows that he could not give a flying flip for anybody other than Number One. As noted, dishy Manouk has memorable melons and Mevrou Wisse ain't nuttin' to throw away, certainly ready and willing, and with a lovely black Labrador by the name of Vargas that whimpers when he hears noises in the attic but wisely wolfs down a steak when Mevrou Wisse isn't watching!
Smart dog, steaks were rare those days so he ate it while the going was good, coz the Germans already had Mevrou Wisse in the cross hairs for a trip to a camp for giving shelter to a Jew.
Substandard cinematography by Wit Dabal, confusing and unbelievable script by Andrejew. 4/10.
Home from the Hill (1960)
Excellent direction, acting, camerawork; dubious 2d half script
Director Vincente Minnelli made many excellent films: FATHER OF THE BRIDE, LUST FOR LIFE, MEET ME IN ST LOUIS are just three examples of the versatility of the man as director, weaving magic seamlessly whether it be in drama, comedy or musicals.
HOME FROM THE HILL delivers in-family drama with well drawn characters. Robert Mitchum offers one of his finest portrayals as the pater familias who has a roving eye and in the process ignores his growing son (George Hamilton), whom he loves more than he knows; George Peppard also acts above his average as Mitchum's son from a previous marriage, now more a servant about the property. Rafe has the personality Mitchum wishes Hamilton had; Eleanor Parker provides touching moments as Hamilton's mother and the wife Mitchum cheats on and ignores, but who he does not want to exchange for any other female as wife; and Hamilton, like the other George, gives a fine show, well above what I thought him capable of. Reliable and yet unusual as ever, Everett Sloane makes a short but remarkable contribution to the across the board high quality acting.
Fantastic cinematography by Milton Krasner, fitting score by Bronislau Kaper. The script by Harriet Frank and Irving Ravetch opens powerfully but loses oomph in the second half. The honest but bleak ending does not help.
All told, well worth watching on account of superior direction, acting, and photography. 8/10.
Sea of Sand (1958)
Taut script, photography, editing; quality acting, direction
Director Guy Green began as cameraman and quality camera work is a trademark he retains in SEA OF SAND aka DESERT PATROL - no mean feat when the entire film is shot in the desert. Wilkie Cooper's cinematography deserves high praise.
Plaudits, too, to Robert Westerby for the credible, taut script, with sharp dialogue - particularly between Michael Craig and John Gregson as two captains with different leadership ideas. I found rather astute the decision to give the best known actor in the cast at the time - Richard Attenborough - a rather middling, unassuming role as a military vehicle driver partial to brandy, which turns out to be providential during a German pinch.
Acting rates top notch across the board, even smaller parts by Ray McAnally - the surname does him no justice, he does not act anally at all!; Barry Foster - possibly best remembered for his "tie serial killer" in Hitchcock's FRENZY; Tanganyka-born Andrew Faulds as the reliable supplies man; and Vincent Ball as the attentive Sergeant Nesbitt, all deliver flawlessly.
The famous British upper lip abounds and John Gregson, who I remember best for his comic role in GENEVIEVE, plays the understated, cultured officer who can actually speak German and so saves his crew from a hail of German lead.
SEA OF SAND is a fitting title: sand everywhere, vehicles get bogged down in it, wind blows tracks, the enemy appears in the middle of sand storms.
Thoughtful homage to LRDG in WWII. 8/10.
Accident (1967)
Introspective: not much spoken, well acted and directed
Talented Joseph Losey was riding the crest of his wave in 1967, having made the famous THE SERVANT and KING AND COUNTRY (both also with Bogarde) and about to serve the bigger-budgeted but just as claustrophobic THE GO-BETWEEN in 1971, ACCIDENT sees two university professors (Bogarde and Baker) interact with minimal language, like mirror reflections of each other as they seemingly stumble upon life and its lack of sense - all of which is typical of a Harold Pinter script.
Unfortunate Michael York, in his first eye-catching stirrings, is promptly killed off in a vehicle accident and the events leading up to it are reviewed. It does not sound particularly interesting, but high quality direction and acting from the leads, and Bogarde's wife (tremendous show from Vivien Merchant) keep me hooked.
Born in the United States but forced to move to the UK because of Senator McCarthy's persecution of communists in Hollywood under the aegis of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), Joseph Losey insightfully shows life in England, its class distinctions, and the looseness of such supposedly firm commitments as marriage, job, and friendship.
If you are looking for action, this is not your film but, unlike other viewers, I found nothing boring about it. Although mundane concerns and words float through the film, I found myself reflecting on my own voyeurism as I watched others trying to make something of the meaning of life. 8/10.
Lone Survivor (2013)
Completely unbelievable
Quite frankly, I doubt that any of what happens in LONE SURVIVOR had any connection with reality. For starters, although it has been done in all conflicts since the beginning of time to send teams to enemy territory to eliminate enemy leaders, it seems plain impossible for a highly professional, calculating army like that of the United States to send just four men to a place in Afghanistan where the opposition's numerical advantage is in excess of 100 to 1. It would amount to a suicide mission and I very much doubt that the US would ever endorse any such.
Then, those four come across three shepherds, two youngsters and one old geyser, and they unwisely set them free, after considering all three possible solutions. The best one would be to ice the three but kindly Wahlberg is afraid of CNN and other negative international repercussions.
Then, the four face some 500 talibans who just never stop coming up, and there is killing aplenty, the fab four get all shot up, fall several times down flicks, get all cut up, but somehow survive broken bones and all (if you believe that, you'll believe anything!)
And in the end, one Apache chopper downed by a Taliban Stinger, kindly Wahlberg gets his just rewards as he is saved, though he must have finished with stitches in every inch of his sorry body.
Nearly two hours of this mind-numbing violence and outright falsehood is just not for me. 2/10.
A Prize of Arms (1962)
Superb British heist flick with in form Baker, Schmid, Magee
I really liked this well constructed, fast moving, credible heist film. It is no accident that not yet famous, future film director Nicholas Roeg scripted the excellent screenplay.
I had never heard of Director Cliff Owen, and even IMDB does not carry that much information on him, but on the strength of A PRIZE OF ARMS, I hope to watch more of Owen's work. He extracts a phenomenal performance from Stanley Baker as the quick-thinking heist planner; and very good ones from Austrian-born actor Helmut Schmid, from the hot-tempered, nervous Tom Bell, and John Philips, as the beffudled camp commander who keeps his nerve in spite of the large sum taken from his unit's coffers.
In fairness to the great thespian that Baker was, I had the misfortune to first see him in GUNS OF NAVARONE, in which he played a rather minor, even dislikable part, causing me to underrate him for many years. I have upped that rating exponentially after watching A PRIZE OF ARMS, HELL DRIVERS, BLIND DATE, ROBBERY, ACCIDENT, among others.
Excellent cinematography by Gerald Gibbs and editing by John Jympson.
Sole regret: no ladies. Otherwise, a definite must-se for anyone interested in the military and in a credible heist. 9/10.
Me and My Gal (1932)
Well directed zany fun with Tracy, Bennett in superb form
I have always like films directed by Raoul Walsh, famously unlucky to lose his right eye after a rabbit jumped through his car's windshield. He has a no-nonsense approach combinbed with dry humor, and his camera work consistently reflects high competence and professionalism.
ME AND MY GAL stands as an excellent example of the 1930s screwball comedy at its best. It has the advantage of a talented cast in top form, notably the wonderful Spencer Tracy (my all-time favorite American actor) and the lovable Joan Bennett, then all of 22 years old, and her sister played by the similarly stunning Marion Burns. George Walsh (Raoul's younger brother) convincingly plays the villain Duke Castenega, who has won Burns' heart, even though she is now married to another man, which poses interesting problems. Still, although affected by the bad egg hiding in the attic, the Tracy-Bennett relation overcomes all those obstacles with good grace - their conversation on the sofa, each of them speaking different from their actual thoughts - is memorable and absolutely remarkable for a 1932 film, especially in light of the fact that talkies had only started four years earlier.
The sole jarring note comes from over the top slapstick acting by some unknown actor portraying a drunk hobo who nearly gets drowned and throws a fish around. Tracy and Bennett are flawlessly comic enough that the drunk hobo's part becomes annoyingly long and embarrassingly repetitive. The good news is that he suddenly disappears and thankfully never returns.
ME AND MY GAL is 79 minutes long and definitely worth watching. 8/10.