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Reviews
The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)
Superb Production, Tedious Story
After the surprising success of Cecil B. DeMille's Samson & Delilah in 1948, Hollywood followed that money trail with a series of big-budget historical spectacles often based on Biblical stories or ancient texts. The costumes, the sets, the exotic locales struck a chord with audiences and these were a reliable source of income for the struggling studios for a little over 15 years. (If that seems hard to believe, consider the long years of Hollywood's investment in the superhero genre of our own time.) Some of those movies have aged rather well and are watchable today -- Ben-Hur or Spartacus for example -- others not so much. It was inevitable that the public's interest would wane and the losses of tens of millions of dollars by two highly anticipated spectacles would firmly close the money spigot on that sort of movie for many years. One of these disasters was George Stevens' The Greatest Story Ever Told in 1965, the other was Samuel Bronston's The Fall of the Roman Empire released the year before.
Few productions before or since could boast such staggeringly awesome set dressings as this. Bronstons Roman Forum set, only one of many constructed for the film, has to be seen to be believed. Alas the story that rattled around on those sets was almost embarrassingly bad, and this was reflected in the efforts of the pricipal actors involved. Alec Guiness as the emperor Marcus Aurelius brought the same professionalism to the job that he would bring to the role of Obi-wan Kenobi years later but he is disposed of fairly early on and the viewer is left with beautiful Sophia Loren's forced sincerity, stalwart Steven Boyd's wooden maculinity and Christopher Plummer's pungent, overripe performance as the mad emperor Commodus. The story purports to highlight the corruption that led to the empire's collapse but again and again it pulls away from what should have been serious, enlightening scenes highlighting this failure of Roman virtue to focus on ridiculous drama: a pointless chariot race, a poorly framed and directed battle (a waste of thousands of extras), Plummer swanning around in these expensive sets, mouthing purple prose to no dramatic end. Even Dimitri Tiomkin's score is all wrong; it seems to belong to a different movie altogether and was dubbed into the movie with a puzzling reverb that only hightens its clumsiness.
This movie lost a fortune at the box office. The public had had enough of this type of movie and, in a sense, it was the fault of bloated 3-hour extravaganzas like this.
The Dream Catcher (1999)
A Dream of the American Road
There really is no equal, in the cinema of other countries, to the American Road movie. It isn't only that the USA is vast in size but ample in it's freedom. You wouldn't get far hitchhiking across any other similarly large nation. There is something breathtaking in the very idea of it. In this case we have a pair of mismatched misfits each seeking something that may or may not exist, something they need to make their lives bearable. They have no money so they have to get by on their wits. They grow to depend on each other and on the kindness or gullability of their countrymen. The prospects and possibilities are endless as the landscape. There is hope and pain. This is a beautifully crafted movie and the acting is flawless. It is a haunting movie that will stay with you long after the closing credits.
It All Came True (1940)
Utterly Charming
Ann Sheridan seems to be one of those stars whose wattage has grown dim with the passing years. That's too bad because she was a fine actor who could do drama ("Kings Row", "Nora Prentiss") as well as comedy ("George Washington Slept Here", "The Man Who Came To Dinner"). In this instance, a frothy little bonne bouche from 1940, she lights up the screen as the wise cracking daughter of the owner of a boardinghouse for retired vaudevillians. When foreclosure threatens she blackmails gangster Humphrey Bogart into financing its transformation into a Gay 90s-themed resturant. She sings the hit song "Angel In Disguise", the eatery is a hit, Bogart waxes nostalgic before he's hauled away and everybody lives happily ever after (with the exception of Bogart who most likely got the electric chair). The story is only about an inch deep, admittedly, but makes for superior entertainment thanks to Sheridan's jaunty style and the ever-reliable stable of Warner Bros character actors, among them dithering Zasu Pitts, fizzing Una O'Connor and that pompous blowhard Grant Mitchell. Coming in at a snappy 97 minutes this movie is purely escapist fare that will pick you up if you're feeling down.
The Green Knight (2021)
Not Sure What the Point Was
I'm not unfamiliar with the Arthurian saga but this movie left me confused. Why would Arthur give Gawaine his precious Excalibur and how on Earth could Gawaine lose it? What was the lesson of the whole Green Knight exercise? How did Gawaine become king at all, where was Mordred? It's as if David Lowery (writer, director, editor, producer) had some message he wanted to convey and chose to wrap it in this ancient tale, but why? And Dev Patel is a fine actor, but not my first choice to play a man who hailed from the Orkney Islands. On the whole, I was disappointed.
Come True (2020)
Style Over Substance
The last 60 seconds of this movie blew my mind -- and totally negated everything that came before. Gotta admit it looked great though. Maybe a little more consideration should have been given to the story. But it looked great.
Greyhound (2020)
Heart attack-inducing action
Take it from an old guy who grew up on big, bloated, over-acted, elephantine WW2 flicks, this lean number is one of the best. This 90 minute movie packs more of a wallop than any of those turgid epics cranked out by Hollywood throughout the 60s and 70s. Props to Tom Hanks who knows how to deliver a solid story without a lot of -- extraneous stuff, shall we say.
First Men in the Moon (1964)
What if WE were the alien invaders?
A typically opulent Charles Schneer/Ray Harryhausen production, FIRST MEN IN THE MOON tells the story of an unlikely trio of intrepid Victorians who travel to the moon and find a subterranean civilization of insect-creatures. These creatures which they call Selenites (perhaps because they dwell among great selenite crystals?) are cautiously curious about these invaders, quickly learning English and making inquiries about Earth and it's dwellers. Alas, it's not only the bipeds who have arrived but a cold virus as well. Too bad. That's about it, plotwise but movies by this team are more about spectacle than story. In this respect the film doesn't disappoint. It's all here -- vast contrasts of scale (tiny people, big sets and monsters) weird lighting (purples and greens, "LunaColor!" as the poster proclaimed), imaginative creatures (colossal carnivorous caterpillar complete with deadly mandibles, upright arthropods) and a superior music score by Laurie Johnson. Some reviewers carped about Lionel Jefferies' acting, finding it too over-the-top. But I liked his lively portrayal of a scatterbrained scientist (except when he was screaming "Gibbs!" at the top of his lungs). Of course the movie and it's special effects are 65 years old and it shows. There is even one clumsy scene when the wires and pulley that hold up an "anti-gravity" chair are plainly visible. But all fantasy films require a suspension of belief, maybe this one more than others, but for the willing viewer FIRST MEN IN THE MOON yields some very nice dividends.
The Big Steal (1949)
First-rate crime drama
There weren't many femmes as fatale as Jane Greer. What was it Charles McGraw said about Marie Windsor in THE NARROW MARGIN? "Like the blue plate special at a cheap restaurant: strictly poison under the gravy." In this case Greer is a shade less deadly but look at those eyes -- like a couple of obsidian flakes on an angel food cake. You wouldn't want to cross her. There's a lot of crossing going on in this movie, double and otherwise, and enough plot twists to sustain a Netflix limited series. It's a tribute to old Hollywood that so much action could be crammed into a story told in barely over an hour and told coherently and entertainingly. Director Don Siegel was a pro who learned his craft laboring in the Warner Brothers studio and who would be one of the architects of Clint Eastwood's career, directing the young star in five hit flicks. THE BIG STEAL isn't a film noir but a solid chase movie filmed largely on location in Mexico which adds greatly to it's realism. A little extra flavor is added by former silent movie idol Ramon Novarro as the police inspector and by John Qualen -- that mousy, meek little guy in the background of, like, 500 movies -- as a villain. Nice!
Starman (1984)
One of the great Road Pictures
Sci-fi takes a back seat to this wonderful romance of the road. Gorgeous to look at, funny at times: "I watched you carefully. Red light stop, green light go, yellow light go very fast." The juxtaposition of military shoot-to-kill mentality versus the scientific but-we- have-so-much-ro-learn mentality actually plays out as a background to the growing love between the two protagonists. The chemistry between Bridges and Allen is palpable. The supporting cast is flawless. Somehow, the fat, friendly waitress, the redneck hunter, the immigrants in the pickup truck, the frat boys who help them escape, even the house trailer speeding down the freeway, even the train heading westward, all of it is thoroughly American. This is less a movie about alien invasion than a sentimental romance about Lost Love. But what a romance!
Barry Lyndon (1975)
A Dream of Sorrow
The meticulous award-winning recreation of 18th century Europe, the eye-watering beauty of this film, the opulence, the spectacle of it all is just the framing of a sad human story. The character of Redmond Barry is that of an innocent, but not helpless young man who will do whatever it takes to achieve a gentlemanly status -- and loses it all through his own ungentlemanly behavior. It's not easy to deal with Ryan O'Neal in this role. He does his best, and his commitment to it is obvious but, well, he's still Ryan O'Neal. But he is supported by a flawless cast, I can't begin to enumerate them. I particularly liked Murray Melvin as the parson who is so offended by, and jealous of, the studly young suitor of his patroness. This is a story that is paced in a stately manner, not "slow" or "static". It's thoughtful, it's meant to be looked at, it's a tragedy without a trace of irony. Once séen it is unforgettable.
Niagara (1953)
A Solid Thriller
Before I watched this movie I read the snotty condescending reviews from 1953, when it was released. I can't decide if Monroe is a good actor or not. She dominates every scene she's in. Very much a movie of its time and as good a thriller as anything else 1953 had to offer (except for Hitchcock of course). The Technicolor is vivid, the on-location cinematography is way better than the usual studio stuff, the supporting cast is fine, that payoff is good -- and Monroe, well -- gotta admit, worth the price of admission.
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)
The Most Imaginative Movie In Years
A highly stylized movie, one of the best, most imaginative "comic book" movies ever made. And a total flop when it was released. Too bad, as it is about the most perfect example of the genre ever made. The foggy, sepia-toned look suits the 1930s style of the set-up as does the snappy dialogue btwn stars Paltrow & Paltrow and the comic sidekick Giovanni Ribisi. As the adventures mount the film gets more saturated with color, a subtle device that never overpowers the story. The story! Pure 30s sci-fi, from the cool robots to the secret base of the evil scientist. The film demands a total suspension of belief and logic -- like a comic book -- but loox SO GOOD. It's not an example of style over substance because there is no substance. Get it? The style is everything. It's so much fun!
The Blue Max (1966)
Damn Good War Movie
Sure, this 1966 film looks its age -- dig Ursula Andras in her various outfits and hairdos -- the backscreen technique is annoying -- and George Peppard is the most wooden palooka to strut across the screen since Robert Taylor. But the spectacle, the vast crowds of extras, the gigantic battle set pieces, and above all the breathtaking aerial photography ( using huge Cinemascope cameras ) are first-rate. The story is a dark one, the Peppard character is a driven sociopath whose skill at battle and plebian background makes him a pawn in the political game played by a deliciously sinister James Mason. Director John Guillermo and DP Douglas Slocombe do a fine job, keeping the camera moving, filming dramatic angles and making use of the zoom so popular at the time. The sets, the production design are terrific. And all of this is under-girded by a wonderful Jerry Goldsmith score. In short, if you're in the mood for a really excellent mid-20th century War Movie, 2 1/2 hours long with an Intermission complete, then you can't go wrong with "The Blue Max".