Count this one among the most-requested DVDs to come from the Warner Archive. Young Cassidy is based on Irish poet Sean O'Casey's multi-volume autobiography. (O'Casey often used the pseudonym "John "O'Casey" in in these works that chronicle his life in Ireland.) The film was started by director John Ford but when the elderly director fell ill, Jack Cardiff took over. The production bears plenty of hallmarks of a Ford production, but under Cardiff's direction the it has an appropriately harder edge and less sentimentality than it probably would have had if Ford had completed the film. Rod Taylor gives another fine performance as the titular character, a charismatic, roughshod young man who resents being born into poverty under the heel of the British government with scant opportunity for upward mobility. Although Cassidy can drink and brawl with the best of them, he is an intellectual at heart. The movie traces his uphill battle to pursue a career as a playwright while digging ditches to feed his poverty-stricken family. He ultimately completes his first play and finds two influential mentors: W.B. Yeats (a wonderful performance by Michael Redgrave) and Lady Gregory (an equally marvelous Edith Evans), both of whom back him against all odds and get his controversial works produced on the stage. The story follows Cassidy as he dallies with a number of women of easy virtue (including a brief but memorable Julie Christie as a sexually liberated girl who beds him with nary a notion of a guilty conscience.) Ultimately, he falls for Nora (Maggie Smith), a rather dowdy intellectual who both inspires Cassidy's creative instincts even as she fears the inevitable fame he gains.
The film proceeds in the kind of leisurely manner that is almost unheard of today, thus allowing rich characterizations to be presented to the viewer. Cardiff displays a deft ability to wring sentiment from the story without becoming too maudlin. Ted Scaife provides the excellent cinematography (the film was shot on location in Ireland and interiors were filmed at MGM Studios in the UK). Sean O'Riada's musical score is suitably atmospheric and the screenplay by John Whiting (and approved by Sean O'Casey) provides plenty of pathos as well as humor. The performances are uniformly excellent, but it is the underrated Rod Taylor who dominates every scene. This native Australian could master any accent, though ironically he rarely played an Aussie.
Young Cassidy is an intelligent, thoroughly engrossing dramatic experience on every level.
The Warner Archive DVD also includes the original trailer.
The remarkable art house movie Rapture has been released on Blu-ray by Twilight Time as a limited edition (3,000 units). The movie should have been a sensation with critics back in 1965 due to the outstanding performances and surprisingly frank examination of sexual passion. For reasons we'll never know, the movie was instead greeted with polite but underwhelming praise and even the more enlightened critics of the day, who delighted in championing offbeat films like this, ended up largely ignoring the Fox production. Stunningly filmed in B&W, Rapture is a very intense, often disturbing character study that was directed by John Guillermin, who seems an unlikely choice for the film given that he went on to earn major success directing epic action movies like The Towering Inferno, The Bridge at Remagen and the 1976 King Kong remake. Perhaps it was the commercial failure of this movie that turned Guillermin toward more mainstream projects, but he obviously had a penchant for making serious dramas that was never quite realized.
Rapture is set in Brittany on the coast of France where Agnes, a 15 year-old girl lives with her stern, humorless father Frederick (Melvyn Douglas). He's a widower who never quite got over the fact that the wife he loved so dearly never had the same passion for him. He clearly resents having to raise Agnes on his own and constantly sends less than subtle signals to her that she suffers from a mental illness. Indeed, when we first see Agnes, she is still playing with dolls and living a lonely life as a tom boy. The only other adult presence in her life is the live-in housekeeper Karen (Gunnel Lindblom), a vivacious young woman who acts as big sister to Agnes, even though her nocturnal sexual encounters with her boyfriend in her room results in passionate sounds that cause the younger girl considerable frustrations. Agnes is also haunted by the fact that the house she lives in is close to a mental asylum and she lives in fear that her father will have her committed there. The humdrum lifestyle of these three people is upended when a wounded escaped convict, Joseph (Dean Stockwell), shows up at their house. For their own selfish reasons, they decide to hide him from the police and nurse him back to health. Frederick believes the young man's assertions that he has been framed and values his intellect. Frederick is a left wing liberal former judge who still fights quixotic battles for social justice and he sees in Joseph a sympathetic audience for his writings and editorials. Karen sees Joseph as a sexual plaything and Agnes deludes herself into believing that he is a scarecrow that has come to life to be her emotional salvation and lover. The sexual friction between the two females ultimately leads to dramatic and highly disturbing scenarios.
While the three adult leads all give very fine performances, the real star of the show is young Patricia Gozzi, who gives a remarkably nuanced performance as the rag tag young girl who wants so desperately to be loved. Joseph plays the women against each other and beds both. He seems to develop a genuine affection for Agnes and tries to convince her that her alleged mental problems are easily curable- if she will just get away from her dominating father, who continues to degrade and belittle her. The ill-fated love affair between convict and teen is handled with remarkable candor for 1965, complete with bedroom scenes that leave little doubt that Joseph is engaging in sex with an underage girl. The fact that Fox backed this film speaks well for the studio, because Rapture is the kind of film that major studios rarely went near.
Twilight Time's Blu-ray doesn't boast any extras which is a bit frustrating because, if ever a film called out for a commentary track by film scholars, this is it. The movie's outstanding B&W cinematography looks great and Georges Delerue's marvelous score is a joy to listen to. Julie Kirgo's excellent liner notes explain that Patricia Gozzi sacrificed a promising film career by going into self-imposed retirement at an early age. A pity because her work in this film was Oscar-worthy and she could have had a brilliant career. Rapture is a remarkable film on many levels. Put it on your "must see" list.
James Stewart in a movie about modern witchcraft in New York City??? That unlikely premise is obviously couched in the form of a comedy in Bell, Book and Candle, a 1958 gem that hits all the right notes and boasts a remarkable cast of Hollywood heavyweights, all seen at their very best. Kim Novak is Gillian, a sensuous young, single woman who runs an esoteric shop in Gotham that sells African artifacts. She also has a bit of a secret: she is a witch. Not the kind who tries to steal ruby slippers from young girls, but a kinder, gentler witch whose worst acts involve some juvenile pranks. Bored with her love life, she decides to use her powers to seduce the first desirable man who comes into her field of vision. It turns out that the "victim" is Shep Henderson, a single, successful book publisher who happens to reside in her apartment building. Gillian works her magic and Shep is instantly smitten, though it strains the imagination to believe that any straight man would need a hex on him to become enamored with Kim Novak. Gillian discovers, much to her delight, that Shep is engaged to Merle Kittridge (Janice Rule), an old rival from their college days. Thus, the opportunity to break up their relationship seems especially delicious. The ploy works and Shep and Gillian become a couple- but, as you might imagine, witchcraft intervenes in unexpected ways that causes them to reevaluate their true feelings for each other.
This is a very witty film, directed by Richard Quine, who demonstrates a deft ability to carry off a light comedic touch. The movie reunited Stewart and Novak after they starred in Hitchcock's classic Vertigo and, although the two movies couldn't be more different, they do share an interesting relation to the supernatural. Jack Lemmon, then on the cusp of major stardom as a leading man, is very amusing as Novak's warlock brother who is frustrated that his powers never seem to be able to benefit him in any substantial ways. (He has to earn a living as a bongo player in a nightclub that caters to fellow witches and warlocks.) The great Elsa Lanchester is especially terrific as Novak's ditzy aunt (also a witch). Another wonderful comedic actress, Hermione Gingold, is wonderful in a brief role as a witch who tries to break the spell Gillian has cast on Shep. Even Howard McNear (better known as Floyd, the barber from The Andy Griffith Show) turns up as Shep's business partner. If there is a true scene-stealer, however, it's Ernie Kovacs as an alcoholic, disheveled author of a book about modern witchcraft who professes to be able to recognize witches in a way the average person could never hope to. Naturally, he never suspects the people he is dealing with are mostly witches. Kovacs, playing low-key, dominates every scene he is in- no small task, considering his talented co-stars. Stewart is at his peak here and Novak's legendary icy persona is used to wonderful effect, giving her an other-worldly quality.
The movie has one drawback: although it is set in New York City, there are precious few location scenes. The rest of the film is quite obviously shot on sound stages that could represent anywhere and don't resemble the Big Apple in any way. There is one terrific scene, however, that finds Stewart flinging his hat from atop the Flatiron Building- and cinematographer James Wong Howe captures it's fall to the ground without any cuts in the shot. It's quite an achievement and one wishes Howe's talents weren't restricted largely to studio sets on this film. The movie also boasts a fine score by George Duning that adds immeasurably to the mood and fun.
The Blu-ray looks fine overall, but some graininess can be detected on occasion. Twilight Time has included a featurette previously released in a Novak boxed DVD set from Sony in which she engages in an audio interview about her recollections of making the movie and the delights of working with Stewart, who she clearly adored. Novak says Stewart, then age 50, felt he had already passed his sell date as a viable romantic leading man and henceforth downplayed this aspect of his persona. That seems ludicrous today when leading men get the girl even into their seventies, but it apparently was a motivating factor as to why Stewart left the swooning to his co-stars in most of his later movies. The Blu-ray also includes a featurette with Novak discussing her work with Fredric March on an unrelated film about a May/December romance, Middle of the Night. An original trailer and isolated music score are included in this edition, as is Julie Kirgo's excellent liner notes. The Blu-ray is limited to only 3,000 units, so pick this one up ASAP.
Ever hear of Bob Wilkins? Neither had I until I received a review copy of The Complete Bob Wilkins Creature Features from November Fire Recordings. If you grew up in Sacramento, California or the Bay Area in the 1960s and 1970s, Wilkins will be a familiar name. Many major American cities had popular local personalities who hosted retro-themed cult movie broadcasts. In some markets, it was Zacherly, the Cool Ghoul hosting horror flicks. In the New York City area, it was Officer Joe Bolton, a fictitious police officer who introduced Three Stooges shorts. Wilkins was a nondescript employee with no broadcasting experience who worked at nickel-and-dime local stations in the era in which such networks relied on old re-runs of classic TV series and cheap movies that were often in the public domain, copyright-wise. Wilkins was a baby-faced, blonde haired young man who wore thick black glasses, making him look like the winner of the local Harry Palmer look-a-like contest. His bosses asked him to host introductions to late night broadcasts of horror movies. With his low-key personality, the dapper Wilkins made an unlikely choice for the task. However, he soon won over a loyal audience of young viewers who loved his off-beat habit of mocking many of the movies he introduced. At first advertisers were appalled, but as ratings grew, Wilkins found his job secure: he would work on multiple stations doing the same shtick between 1966 and 1981, when he went into self-imposed retirement. His trademark eccentricity was often being photographed in bizarre situations, such as sleeping in a coffin or engaging in strange interviews with even stranger horror movie fans. Eventually, his fame grew and he became sought-out by well known actors and directors who wanted to publicize their latest projects. Other celebs participated just for the pure fun of it, including Jack Benny and Gov. Ronald Reagan.
The DVD includes highlights of Wilkins' intros to horror films from over his long career. There are also out of studio segments in which he visits movie theaters, graveyards and other suitable locales for his man-on-the-street interviews. The footage is cleverly presented in chronological order with a running timeline of every movie shown on his program and the dates of the telecasts. There is also an abundance of horror movie trailers, TV spots and movie poster art. Wilkins had enough influence to arrange to show George Romero's Night of the Living Dead 27 months after its initial release. It is believed to have been the first telecast of the movie on American TV. Wilkins in also seen in interviews shot shortly after his retirement (he was succeeded as host by his protege, horror movie expert and film critic John Stanley.) He makes an affable and engaging personality and is rarely seen without his trademark Churchill cigar which he routinely puffed throughout his show intros. (Wilkins passed away in 2009).
The DVD is very well-produced, given its limited production values- and is entertaining throughout. Highlights are interviews with iconic actors: a brief bit with Boris Karloff, believed to be his last filmed segment, a serious interview with Christopher Lee in which he discusses why he would never portray Dracula again, John Carradine reflecting on his long career and a wonderful segment in which John Landis, John Belushi and Donald Sutherland promote National Lampoon's Animal House. (Sutherland reveals that his son Kiefer is named after Warren Kiefer, director of Donald's first movie Castle of the Living Dead.) I also enjoyed the interview with William Marshall, who played Blacula in the hit blaxploitation films. There are also vintage TV ads ranging from a Toyota spot using an animated Wilkins look-a-like to some amusing spots promoting the Edsel as the next great American car. All in all, an irresistible tribute to a man I had never heard of, but want to see more of.
Nightmare Castle, released on DVD by Severin Films, is an Italian horror film from 1965 that has achieved a following largely on the basis of its star, original scream queen Barbara Steele. The story is a period piece set in the late 1800s with Steele playing a dual role. As the film opens, we find her as the unfaithful wife of an aristocratic doctor (Paul Muller) who has a penchant for dabbling in bizarre medical experiments. (A note of caution to readers: if you are contemplating having an illicit affair, it's best to reconsider if your spouse is quasi-mad scientist.) When the husband catches on to having been made a cuckold, he tortures his wife and her lover to death - only to find the mansion they inhabited has been inherited by his sister-in-law (also played by Steele). In short order, he woos and marries his wife's sister, who conveniently happens to have been recently released by a mental asylum after suffering from delusions. This sets up an antique version of Gaslight with Muller and Helga Line, who plays his mistress, trying to drive Steele insane so they can inherit the mansion.
Scorpion has released the rather obscure 1969 surfing documentary Follow Me on DVD. Clearly inspired by the similarly-themed, but highly acclaimed 1966 film The Endless Summer, this is a rather slap-dash effort that was the brainchild of director/producer Gene McCabe, whose professional credits largely began and ended with this project. The film traces the exploits of three young American surfers (Mary Lou McGinnis, Claude Codgen and Bob Purvey) as they travel the globe, ostensibly on a meager budget in order to find the most challenging waves and surfing locations. I say "ostensibly" because the average back packer doesn't travel with a film crew, which makes the frequent references to their having to scrimp ring a bit hollow. It's like those contestants on Survivor who we are supposed to believe are in danger of starving to death, even with a crew of dozens filming their every move. Nevertheless, taken in the context of its era and the fact that most people were not world travelers in 1969, Follow Me does provide all-too-brief tours of exotic locations ranging including Hong Kong, Japan, Ceylon, India, Morocco and Hawaii. However, the film's short running time (a scant 79 minutes) precludes the viewer from getting anything other than a very superficial look at the locales and cultures. Similarly, the three leads are just window dressing whose individual personalities never come through.
Released in 1954 at the height of Marlon Brando's popularity, Desiree has the dubious distinction of being one of his least-remembered films, possibly because it was eclipsed by Kazan's On the Waterfront, released the same year. Desiree was a prestigious Fox production based on a romance novel that apparently had been so much the rage during this time that it was marketed as rivaling Gone With the Wind. The film version purports to explore the romantic relationship between Napoleon Bonaparte (Brando) and Desiree Clary (Jean Simmons), a young French girl of humble background who is employed in a shop owned by her family. When we first meet young Napoleon, he is on skids, his career and life threatened by the madness and paranoia that engulfed France in the aftermath of the Revolution. Still, he perseveres and survives the threats. He enters a playful romance with Desiree and even proposes to her. However, as his fame and power escalates, his opportunistic side shows through when he simultaneously proposes to Josephine (Merle Oberon), a high society type who Napoleon feels can help advance his ambitions. Although the film is somewhat frank for its day (there are thinly veiled references to sex and the lack of virgins in Paris), the scorned Desiree keeps her own virginity intact and marries one of France's top generals, Bernadotte (Michael Rennie). In this absurdly abridged version of tumultuous French history, Napoleon seems to become emperor and dictator virtually overnight. He and Desiree still clearly love one another but she remains loyal to her less-flashy, but more sincere husband. Crude attempts by Napoleon to seduce her inevitably fail (which waters down the steamy romance considerably), but he retains a respect for her even when she and Bernadotte become opposed to his quest for world conquest. In the film's climactic sequence, Napoleon's world has been reduced to the city of Paris where he intends to lead a quixotic, bloody battle against his encroaching enemies. Desiree makes a dramatic visit to him and, after a few choice words and admonishments, convinces the former emperor to go quietly into exile on St. Helena. Such absurdities might make you suspect that the film is one of those "so bad it's good" productions. In fact, Desiree is too good to be considered a guilty pleasure, but too unimpressive to merit status as a "must see" movie.
There is a particular challenge for actors who choose to play certain historical figures. Napoleon, like Adolf Hitler, has been satirized so consistently that a false step can turn a performance into an unintentionally amusing misfire. One of the most impressive elements of this movie is Brando's remarkably subdued portrayal of the French emperor. It's very much a supporting role compared to that of Jean Simmons, but unsurprisingly, Brando dominates every scene he is in. We never get to know the inner Bonaparte because the story views him only from the perspective of Desiree. However, the Brando cynicism and wit come through consistently. The temperamental actor got the role by default. He broke his contract to star in The Egyptian for Fox and, presumably to avoid being sued, accepted the part in Desiree to fulfill his obligation to the studio. The real star of the movie is Simmons, but her performance is undermined by script and direction that makes the character of Desiree act as though she is a contemporary young woman of the 20th century. She pouts, she giggles, she pines away for her estranged would-be lover. When Desiree discovers that Napoleon is, in fact, engaged to Josephine, her reaction is that of Annette Funicello discovering that Frankie Avalon has been canoodling with some surfer chick in a B beach movie of the 1960s. There are more impressive performances from always reliable Michael Rennie and Merle Oberon, as the strangely sympathetic Josephine, who becomes tossed on the dust heap of history because she cannot bear Napoleon a male heir. Alan Napier makes an amusing appearance as a fey choreographer of a royal wedding who is being driven to the point of insanity by Napoleon's vain, insufferable sisters.
Fox's insistence that director Henry Koster utilize the new CinemaScope process was a mistake. Although it affords Koster the opportunity to present some grand ball room sequences in impressive widescreen format, this is, overall, a claustrophobic tale with virtually no exteriors. (There is some fleeting second unit footage shot in France, but it all too apparent that the nearest the principals got to Parisian locations was lunch at a French restaurant in Beverly Hills.) The film has grandeur but no sweep and boasts some of the phoniest looking sets and matte paintings ever seen in a major studio film of the era. Alex North's sweeping romantic score is a saving grace, but the real pleasure of the film is the periodic appearances of Brando in an offbeat performance. Brando was said to loathe the film and his performance, but he presents Napoleon in a quirky, amusing way as a man of acerbic, cynical wit. For all its faults, Desiree is never dull or uninteresting.
Twilight Time has released a stunning Blu-ray edition (3,000 units) of the film that is beautiful to behold, phony sets and all. The extras include the original theatrical trailer and an informative collector's booklet with liner notes by Julie Kirgo, that are, as usual, highly readable. For example, I always thought the movie was a boxoffice bomb, but Kirgo provides evidence that it was actually considered a major financial success, easily eclipsing grosses for On the Waterfront. Brando fans will certainly want to add this flawed, but worthy curiosity to their movie libraries.
Remember when spy movies used to stress intricate plot lines and intriguing characters, as opposed to over-the-top action sequences? If you pine for the days of thrillers like The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and The Quiller Memorandum, then the Warner Archives' release of the 1985 movie Code Name: Emerald should fit the bill. Never heard of the film? Neither had I until a review copy arrived from the studio. There's an inherent prejudice that most of us have regarding movies that we haven't heard of - namely, if it's obscure, then it must be bad. Emerald proves, however, that some truly fine films are merely the victim of bad marketing or audience indifference. I'm not sure if this movie ever received a theatrical release, but it's certainly a worthwhile venture.
Ed Harris (who resembles the young Robert Duvall, not only physically, but in terms of mannerisms, as well) plays a triple agent - an American working for British Intelligence who poses as a valued collaborator for the Germans, even though he's really with the Allies. Got that? (Then please explain it to me!). Harris is sent on a perilous mission to occupied Paris when a key American soldier (Eric Stoltz) is captured. Stoltz is an "Overlord", one of the few men who know the time, date and landing locations for the forthcoming D-Day invasion. If the Germans can break him, the entire invasion would be jeopardized. The Germans plant Harris as a cellmate of Stoltz in the hopes of getting the vital information. Of course, Harris reveals his identity to Stoltz and the two contrive to convince the Germans that the false information they are discussing is genuine. What makes the screenplay by Ronald Bass (based on his novel The Emerald Illusion) so compelling are the twists, turns and unexpected developments. Unlike many films, the Germans are not presented as gullible dupes. Instead, they become suspicious of Harris, thus setting in motion some genuinely suspenseful sequences.
Harris is very effective in a low-key, convincing performance, but the
scene-stealers are among the sterling cast of supporting actors: Horst
Bucholz, Helmut Berger and Max Von Sydow, all excellent. There is also
imaginative use of French locations and a lush score by John Addison.
This appears to be the only feature film directed by Jonathan Sanger,
who went on to be an Oscar-winning producer. Too bad, as he has a real
flair for bringing a suspense story to the screen. Code Name: Emerald may
not be a classic, but it deserved a far better fate, as it's much more
impressive than many of today's overblown, over-budgeted thrillers.