The Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., will present a Zoom lecture titled "60 Years of James Bond". Here is the official press release:
Join
film historian Max Alvarez for a multimedia presentation—unredacted and
for your eyes only!—where the mission is to crack the code behind the
high-tech glamour and globetrotting excitement of the 007 film cycle. Alvarez
shares selections from popular Bond adventures as well as archival and
behind-the-scenes production material, including visual breakdowns of legendary
007 stunts and astonishing production design achievements. The occasion calls
for a toast with a very British, Bond-inspired martini (recipe below).
James Bond's Vesper Martini with Recipe
Cocktail
historian Philip Greene, author of The Manhattan: The Story of the First
Modern Cocktail, recreates the drink that Bond instructs a bartender to
make in Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale. The cocktail is named for the
fictional double agent Vesper Lynd, and though Bond originally called for
Gordon’s Gin, Greene favors Tanqueray, since “Gordon’s nowadays is not what it
used to be and Tanqueray is about what Gordon’s was in 1953.” Libations change.
Bond and his Martini are eternal.
Recipe 2
1/4 oz Tanqueray
3/4 oz Absolut Vodka
1/3 oz Lillet Blanc
Shake
well with ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with lemon peel.
In an article for the website Slashfilm.com, writer Devin Meenan briefly outlines the strange interaction between Alfred Hitchcock and MGM that ultimately- and unexpectedly- led to the creation of his 1959 masterpiece "North By Northwest"- and why, despite the film's success, Hitchcock would never work for MGM again.
Morbius, “The Living Vampire,”
was introduced in Marvel Comics’ “The Amazing Spider-Man” No. 101, October
1971, as Spider-Man’s latest adversary.In any poll of Spider-Man
villains, he’s likely to place below Doctor Octopus and the Green Goblin, but
well above the Chameleon, the Molten Man, and the Ringmaster.Under a succession of writers
and artists, the character later switched out from bad guy to anti-hero, and
anchored several decades’ worth of comics on his own.Although never a sales-leader
like Spider-Man, he was popular enough that studios began to talk about his
movie potential as far back as 1998.The concept went through several caretakers, finally emerging as
“Morbius,” a 2022 production from Columbia Pictures, Marvel Entertainment, and
Sony Pictures.The film
is now available on Blu-ray, 4K Ultra High Definition, and DVD from Sony
Pictures Home Entertainment.
The story
centers on Dr. Michael Morbius (Jared Leto), a medical researcher and Nobel
Prize recipient for his revolutionary invention of “artificial blood.” His
foster father and mentor, Dr. Emil Nicholas (Jared Harris), is pleased by Morbius’
success, but the scientist himself is less than gratified.The discovery fell short of
what he actually wanted to devise, a cure for his lifelong, progressively
debilitating blood disease.Bankrolled
by his wealthy friend Milo (Matt Smith) who suffers from the same affliction,
he moves his laboratory offshore to begin a trial that “isn’t exactly legal,”
since it involves creating a serum from the blood of smuggled vampire bats.As Bela Lugosi might have
warned, beware of anything having to do with vampire bat blood.
As in the
1971 comic-book origin story, the serum reverses Morbius’ illness but turns him
into a super-strong, super-fast vampire with a demonic mug, scary fangs, the
ability to fly, and an uncontrollable thirst for human blood.His supply of artificial blood
provides temporary relief, enabling him to change back to revitalized human
form, but the reprieve lasts only a few hours, and he’s still driven by
compulsion for the real deal.Learning
that Mobius found a cure for their disease, Milo steals the serum.Even after turning into a
vampire too, he doesn’t care.Revitalized
into a preening dandy (much like Matt Smith’s previous role as Jack the pimp in
2021’s “Last Night in Soho”), he begins to trawl singles bars for victims.When New York City experiences
a wave of vampire murders, two police detectives, Stroud (Tyrese Gibson) and
Rodriguez (Al Madrigal), close in on Morbius as their prime suspect, unaware he
isn’t the only monster in town.
Originally
planned for a 2020 release but delayed by the Covid lockdown,“Morbius” met with
disappointing box-office—$39 million in tickets on its April 1, 2022, opening
weekend compared with $261 million for the December 17, 2021, opening of
“Spider-Man: No Way Home.”The
receipts dropped even more precipitously over the second weekend, to $10.2
million, after negative reviews and tepid word-of-mouth.The movie’s CGI effects are
well executed and, in fact, occasionally even better than some in the
Spider-Man pictures, but fans of super-hero action were probably disappointed.Morbius doesn’t begin to fly
and punch through steel until well into the 104-minute running time, following
a long, glum backstory about Morbius’ and Milo’s miserable childhood as the
sickly victims of bullies.
Fans of
today’s intense horror films will feel short-changed too, since the
Marvel-friendly, PG-13 rating precludes any extreme vampire mayhem.The scary scenes follow a
predictable pattern, as do all the subsidiary elements that might have been
lifted from any “Fast and Furious” or “G.I. Joe” picture.Mercenaries fire off thousands
of rounds in a noisy firefight, the cops chasing the hero are dutiful but
clueless, and despite an M.D. degree, Morbius’ girlfriend (Adria Arjona) stands
out mostly as eye candy in a skimpy T-shirt at a lab console.In the second half, when the
liberated vampire Milo tells the anguished vampire Morbius to give in to his
urges and “stop denying who you are,” the allegory is as subtle as one of
Morbius’ vampire bites—and for those who go to escapist fantasy movies for a
short respite from today’s barrage of divisive social issues on CNN and
Twitter, just as unnecessary.
The Sony
Pictures Home Entertainment Blu-ray offers an excellent transfer of the movie
at the correct 2.39:1 aspect.The
disc is loaded with special features for movie enthusiasts, including outtakes
and bloopers, and short production documentaries.Such add-ons often seem
excessive for B-level material like “Morbius,” but they’re esteemed by fans,
and who’s to say if today’s B-movie won’t be tomorrow’s rediscovered
masterpiece?A feature
called “Nocturnal Easter Eggs” points out linkages with the larger Marvel
Cinematic Universe that all but the most trivia-savvy viewers would miss
otherwise.The set also contains the film in DVD and digital download formats.
If Morbius
returns as seems likely from two inter-credit scenes at the end, you can bet on
two things.He’ll join up
with other characters from the MCU and he’ll develop a sense of humor, the
trajectory established by all the other Marvel films.
Joe Dante's "Trailers from Hell" enlists filmmaker Adam Rifkin to pay tribute to the 1966 Universal family comedy favorite "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" starring Don Knotts in his first starring role in a feature film after leaving his iconic role as Deputy Barney Fife in "The Andy Griffith Show". Knotts enlisted plenty of talent from that show to bring "Chicken" to the screen. Andy Griffith helped write so much of the screenplay that he was entitled to a screenwriter credit, but he selflessly refused to do so. The film stands the test of time with Knotts in top form as the nervous wreck reporter who has to spend a night in a supposedly haunted house, a scenario inspired by a particularly memorable episode of "The Andy Griffith Show".
There's no question that Stanley Kubrick's 1968 production of "2001: A Space Odyssey" is a landmark in film history. However, in the final act of the film it becomes esoteric to the point that viewers and film scholars have debated its meaning ever since it premiered. Writing on the web site CBR.com, writer Ben Hardwick has unearthed an interview with Kubrick that he gave in Japan in which we he explains exactly what the meaning of the finale is. However, his explanation may require an explanation. To read the article, click here.
The setting is early 20th Century India-- the
location, an ancient burial site. Workmen dig up a grave and discover what
appears to be a corpse of a man, sitting huddled over in the dirt with his head
tucked down between his knees, his arms wrapped around his shins. The workmen
lift the body out of the grave carefully, slowly, delicately and place it in a
palanquin and carry it to the entrance of a cave. They carry the body down a
long flight of steps, past an endless row of statues of ancient Indian gods.
They arrive in the bowels of a temple and climb up to the top of a huge altar
hundreds of feet high and begin the process of unlocking his limbs from their
knotted positions, pull nose plugs from his nostrils, and ear plugs from his
ears. They open his mouth and slowly pull his tongue loose. They pour water into
his mouth and it begins to foam. Slowly the corpse’s eyes open. Thus does Yogi
Ramagani (Bernhard Goetzke) return from the Land of the Dead.
He looks up and sees Prince Ayan III, Maharaja of Bengal
(Conrad Veidt), standing over him and says: “You have brought me back from the
dead.I am bound to obey you. What is
your command?” The maharaja replies: “You are omniscient, Rami. You already
know what you must do.” With that the Yogi proceeds to walk slowly, ever so
slowly, along the edge of the high altar on which they stand and takes a step
into empty space. Instead of falling, the Yogi simply fades from view. And
thus, with this 12-minute sequence, in which everything moves as if in a
slow-motion dream, begins “The Indian Tomb,” one of the strangest, most
engrossing, if not mesmerizing, films, you will have ever seen.
Based on a novel by German novelist Thea von Harbou, who
co-wrote the screenplay with the legendary Fritz Lang, “The Indian Tomb,” was
directed by Joe May, who directed “Homecoming” (1928), and “Asphalt” (1930) during
the heyday of German cinema but who is little known today. May, like Lang and
Harbou, emigrated to America to escape the Nazis, but, unlike Lang, failed to strike
pay dirt in American films—some sources say, because of his dictatorial style
of direction and his refusal to speak English. Perhaps his best known American
film was “The Invisible Man Returns.” But in 1921, May was big in Germany and was able to raise
a budget of 20 million Deutschemarks for “The Indian Tomb,” the most money ever
spent on a movie in Germany up until that time. And every mark is right up there
on the screen. The sets May built for the film are gigantic. The maharaja’s
palace is a huge structure, with towers reaching high into the sky. The set
includes an amphitheater for the prince’s pet tigers to play in. There’s a cave
below the palace housing a torture chamber, where the maharaja’s enemies lie
chained up in painful-looking positions. There’s another cave for lepers, and a
high mountain location with an Indiana Jones-style rope bridge that gets some
spectacular use by the picture’s end. Over the one hundred years that have
passed, the sets have crumbled into ruins, but pieces of it can still be found
in the German countryside.
The plot of “The Indian Tomb” is as outsized, bizarre and
spectacular as the setting. The film was originally presented as two separate
features: “The Mission of the Yogi” and “The Tiger of Eschnapur.” The mission the
maharaja sends Yogi Rami on takes him to Great Britain, where he suddenly
appears out of thin air in the study of Herbert Rowland (Olaf Fonss), an
architect who dreams of one day designing something as grand as the Taj Mahal.
By sheer coincidence, the yogi has come to offer Rowland a huge sum of money to
come to India and build a tomb that will honor the beauty of the maharaja’s
lady love, Princess Savitri (Elena Morena). Rowland jumps at the chance even
though it means his planned wedding to Irene Amundsen (Mia May) will have to be
postponed. The only condition the yogi puts on his offer is that he must leave
for India within the hour and can tell no one where he’s going. Rowland agrees,
but secretly leaves Irene a note explaining everything. The yogi’s not fooled,
however. While he and Rowland take off on a steamship for the Orient, Ramigani’s
ghost-like hand appears in Rowland’s study and grabs the note. But Irene,
fearing for her fiancee’s safety, is not a woman to be trifled with. She still manages
to find out where he’s gone and takes the next steamship east.
Bernhard Goetske, an actor totally unknown today, gives
an amazing performance as Yogi Ramigani. His stone-faced expression and blazing
eyes, somehow lit up by cinematographer Werner Brandes to look like they’re on
fire, make you believe he could in fact walk through walls and impose his will
on others hundreds of miles away. Mia May, who was Joe May’s real life wife, is
also convincing as the determined bride-to-be who overcomes numerous obstacles
to find her man.
Conrad Veidt (perhaps best known as Col. Strasser in
“Casablanca”) gives a powerful performance as Prince Ayan, a man with a
magnetic presence who is both passionate and obsessed by the woman he loved.
The pieces of the plot finally come together when Rowland discovers that Princess
Savitri isn’t dead and that the prince wants him to build the mausoleum not to
entomb a dead princess, but to bury her alive for betraying their love. She had
an affair with Mac Alan (Paul Richter) an English military man, whose hobby is hunting
tigers.
It’s a complex tale that takes four hours to come to a
resolution. One of the reasons for the film’s length is the glacial pace with
which May directed it. Everything is done with meticulous attention to detail,
with the actors moving at half speed. The camera is stationary most of the
time. The soundtrack, recorded in 2019 by Irena and Vojtek Have,l consists of
exotic droning instruments, gongs and percussion. Some reviewers dislike the
slow pace of the film and complain about the monotony of the soundtrack. But I
found it a refreshing contrast to the lightning-fast speed of most films today
with the emphasis on action coming at you at the rate of 100 different shots a
minute. If you accept the film for what it is, and have your favorite
refreshment handy, you can almost have a nice out of body experience with “The Indian
Tomb.”
Kino Lorber has done a remarkable job of putting the 2K
transfer of both parts of “The Indian Tomb” on a single disc. The picture is
sharp and clear. The soundtrack is in Dolby stereo. Also included on the disc
is “Turbans Over Waltersdorf,” (2022—45 minutes) a visual essay written by
David Cairns and Fiona Watson that reveals much about the historical
significance of the film. “The Indian Tomb” is highly recommended.
(Note: If searching for the film on IMDB, look under "Mysteries of India", an alternative title for the movie.)
"His decades-long career, which spanned the silent
era, Hollywood’s golden age and the New Hollywood renaissance of the 1960s and
’70s, was emblematic of a creative spirit that persisted despite changing fashions,
industry upheavals and discriminatory practices. He revolutionized the way
films communicated visually, developing new techniques that could convey
feelings without the need for words or even performers — like the
expressionistic use of wide-angle and fish-eye lenses in John Frankenheimer’s
body-swapping science-fiction drama, Seconds (1966); or one of the earliest
aerial shots in the final moments of Joshua Logan’s Technicolor romantic comedy
Picnic (1955)."
Like his father
director Ralph Thomas (Doctor in the
House films) and his nephew Gerald Thomas (Carry on . . . film series), Jeremy Thomas always wanted to be a
part of the British film industry. Unlike his relatives, twenty-year old Jeremy
didn't want to make the typical British films. The young filmmaker saw himself
as a "disruptor" and "sounding board" for new "unconventional
ideas." His social connections in the early1970s with Philippe Mora, Mike
Molloy and the artists' community of The Pheasantry at King's Road initiated his
interest in Australian culture. In 1975, screenwriter Michael Austin contacted
Thomas with a script proposal based on a short story entitled The Shout by Robert Graves. Thomas'
interest in the story was aroused by Graves' ability to incorporate Australian
aboriginal beliefs about the death-stone and the soul-stone into a
psychological horror thriller set in a coastal English village. These native
beliefs were rooted in the possibility of human souls awaiting reincarnation in
the bough of a tree or the cleft of a stone.These story elements were unique in 1927 and became topical 50 years
later as part of the Antipodean Fantasy Film genre then developing in Australia,
spearheaded by director Peter Weir's films "Picnic at Hanging Rock"(1975) and "The
Last Wave" (1977).
Graves' story concerned a
psychiatric patient- Crossley- telling a story to a visitor. The story is told
in flashback. In a little village a happily married couple Rachael and Anthony
live in quiet harmony. Secretly, Anthony is having an affair with a local woman
of the village. One day a stranger (the storyteller) appears at the couple's
doorstep and announces that he had just returned from eighteen years in the
Australian Outback where he lived among the Aborigines and studied their magic.
The stranger tells the couple that he has learned the secret of "The Shout"
(which has the power to kill) and possessed the power to steal the love of a
woman by taking possession of some nondescript object belonging to her. The
stranger moves in with the couple and makes the wife his sex slave- he steals
her personhood using a soul-stone. The husband realized that he must find a way
to combat the stranger seemingly implacable power- but how?This psychological jigsaw puzzle comes to a
climax during a thunderstorm at a cricket match in which the truth of
Crossley's possession of the power of the shout is revealed.
Thomas believed a
foreigner with "new eyes" on the subject /location could bring
something extraordinary to this unusual story. Thomas recognized in the vast
array of hyper-active symbolic eccentricities in the film work of polish
director Jerzy Skolimowski (Deep End)
the ideal craftsman to fashion this highly unusual horror story. How the Polish
director transformed Graves' short story into a classic thriller bares
remarkable comparison to what Alfred Hitchcock did when he
"reimagined" Daphne du Maurier's short story into the apocalyptic
allegory film entitled The Birds.
Both directors used creative techniques of sight and sound to fashion their
unique visions of a world of impending danger and destruction. The special
photography work of Ub Twerks, the matte pictorial designs of Albert Whitlock
and the digital imagery of the craftsmen at Cinesite Studios bring to mind
Hitchcock 's vision of the massive bird attacks. Skolimowski used jump-cuts,
visual symbols, non-sequel editing and actual visual symbolism to introduce the
Outback magic into the placid fabric of the English village. Both Hitchcock and
Skolimowski had a deep preoccupation with the use of sound to enhance their
stories. Guided by the musical mastermind Bernard Hermann, Hitchcock used the
sounds created by the Mixtur-Trautonium of Oskar Sala with the assistance of
composer Remi Gassmann. Skolimowski used the spooky chord of a section of the
music piece known as "Undertow" written by Tony Banks, which was
originally intended to be the introductory piece of the Genesis album "And
Then There Were Three." Mike Rutherford and Banks used this music to heighten
the pictorial images recorded by Molloy under Skolimowski's direction to create
an atmosphere of existential dread relating to a haunted topography - an
uncanny feeling caused by viewing something familiar (lovely English
countryside) unnaturally distorted. Skolimowskli utilized the then relatively
new Dolby Sound System to create the unique sound of the Shout. He explained it
" had to be applied at just the right moment so that we would hear
something special. The shock of the sound is not a question of loudness or richness
- it is sudden and it is complex. . ." The brilliance of Skolimowski's
method was highlighted by the way he choreographed how the stranger performed
the Shout and the slow motion photography of the impact of the scream on Anthony.
Producer Thomas was
very fortunate to have been able to assemble such a remarkable cast of actors
to tell the story. If the three leads - Alan Bates as Crossley, Susannah York
as Rachael and John Hurt as Anthony- had not been rightly cast, the story
wouldn't have worked. The Shout won
the Grand Prix de Jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1978. The whole idea of a
person having the ability to control his destiny - life and death - is
appealing especially in this age of pandemics and government mandates of
behaviour. At a time when most human beings feel helpless to determine their
own future, the idea of such a power or ability seems very attractive. If
nothing else The Shout will make one
question their own mode of existence. If you are looking for something
rewarding, unusual and different to view, your search is over.
Click here to order Blu-ray from Amazon UK (PAL format)
(John P. Harty's latest book is "The Cinematic Challenge: Filming Colonial America, Vol. 3- The International Era, 1976-2020."
The
year 1976 was a phenomenal time for films that went into production. George
Lucas’s space opera, Star Wars, began
principal photography in March; Steven Spielberg, fresh off the success of Jaws, was given carte blanche to bring Close
Encounters of the Third Kind to the screen and began shooting in May; and
Dario Argento, who became emboldened by the financial success of his latest and
arguably best film to date, Profundo
Rosso (known in the U.S. as Deep Red),
embarked upon Suspiria, a murder
mystery involving a dance academy hiding in plain sight while doubling as a
home to a coven of witches, which began filming in July. Suspiria is
just one of a handful of films directed by Signor Argento over a fifty-plus
year career, and it’s also being showcased in full-blown 4K Digital Cinema
Projection as part of the sinisterly titled Beware of Dario Argento: A
20-Film Retrospective at the Walter Reade Theater in New York City now through
June 29th. You can see the full calendar at this link here. The one omission from the roster of
titles is his 2009 thriller Giallo, starring Adrien Brody, which was
stopped from being released due to the actor’s failure to be paid for his role
until he successfully sued the producers.
Beginning
on Friday, June 17th, the first film shown in the retrospective was
his debut outing, the phenomenal The Bird With the Crystal Plumage from
1970, lensed by straordinario cineasta Vittorio Storaro, on a double
bill with his equally fine thriller Tenebre/Tenebrae from 1982. Bird
is amazing in that it was the first film that he ever directed…ever.
There were no interminable student films made prior to it. Somehow, following
his years as a newspaper film critic and having contributed to the 1968 western
Once Upon a Time in the West, he made a visually dazzling cinematic yarn
loosely inspired by Fredric Brown’s 1949 novel The Screaming Mimi (itself
made into the 1958 film of the same title by Gerd Oswald starring Anita Ekberg),
though there are also some similarities to the creepy 1949 “Birdsong for a
Murderer” episode of the Inner Sanctum radio drama that starred the late
great Boris Karloff.
The
standout in this series is clearly Suspiria, with its amazingly bright
color palette and virtuoso camerawork. Also of note, at least for die-hard
Argento completists, is his sole non-thriller/horror outing, the 1973 Italian
comedy set during the Italian Revolution of 1848 called The Five Days (Le
Cinque Giornate) shot by cinematographer Luigi Kuveiller who would go on to lens Deep
Red (Profondo Rosso) (1975). While available on Youtube in Italian,
this is an extremely rare presentation of the film with English subtitles –
restored in 4K to boot. It’s also quite funny; not on the level of the Pink
Panther films, but enough to elicit audible chuckles. The seldom-seen Inferno
(1980), his beautiful follow-up to Suspiria, will also be shown, the sole
title to be showcased in 35mm.
The
Italian Maestro appeared in-person at several of the screenings over the
weekend, most notably on Sunday in a Q & A session emceed by Argento expert
Maitland McDonagh, the author of the excellent book Broken Mirrors/Broken
Minds: The Dark Dreams of Dario Argento, originally published in 1991. Following
the sold-out screening of his 1985 film Phenomena, a phantasmagorical fairytale/murder
mystery that was presented to an audience of mostly younger fans who, judging
by their applause and reactions to the film, were new to it. The plot of Phenomena
has long been the subject of ridicule and derision by critics and fans alike
since its initial release. The inevitable complaints about the film range from
the bad dubbing and stiff performances. If the film’s title does not sound
familiar, that could be attributed to the fact that Phenomena was severely cut by 34 minutes and retitled Creepers when it opened in the States on
Friday, August 30, 1985. Fortunately, the 116-minute cut of the film was shown.
Signor Argento responded through an
interpreter to Ms. Donagh’s questions about the film.
Photo: Todd Garbarini. All rights reserved.
Maitland McDonagh:I've always thought that Phenomena was extraordinary
because it's a story that is sort of both a cross between the operatic and the
fairy tale. Dario, what were the origins of Phenomena?
Dario Argento: I was on vacation with my mother on a small
island, and we were listening to Radio Monte Carlo. There was a person telling
a story about how in Germany they had discovered that by examining insects,
they could discover when a person had died. I was very struck by
this and when I returned to Rome, I went to see an entomologist and asked
him how this was possible. He told me, for example, that if somebody fired a
gun off in a room full of insects, that the insects would die. He also
explained that for a whole series of reasons, that it would be possible to
identify a person’s exact date of death using insects, which is described in-depth
in the film.
MM: The insects are one of the most remarkable parts of this film.
Working with them must have been a great challenge. How did you work with your
crew and your on-set insect experts to get the insects to almost be their own
characters in their own right?
DA: For this movie, I needed thousands of flies. I rented a small
theater and completely sealed it off. I put some fly larvae in there and every
week I would throw some raw meat in the room. Eventually, after several
weeks, they turned into a mass of flies that just went after the actor the way
that we had intended and that’s how we shot the end of the film. The insects in
the scenes with Donald Pleasence, who plays the entomologist, were all
manipulated by insect handlers on the set and through editing.
MM: One of the things that really struck me after having viewed this
film after many years, was that it tells the story of two abandoned females.
First, there is Jennifer Corvino played by Jennifer Connelly, whose mother
leaves the family on a Christmas morning, and her father is currently away
shooting a movie in the Philippines, unable to be reached by telephone. The
other female is Inga, the chimpanzee, who loses her friend, played wonderfully
by Donald Pleasence.
DA:Tanga, the chimpanzee who plays Inga in the film, suffered greatly from the loss of
her friend (the Donald
Pleasence character) halfway through shooting. She escaped from the
set. We were working and shooting right near a large forest, and she went into
that forest for almost three days. As
you can well imagine, she became very hungry and so the forest rangers put out
some food and they were able to lure her back out. Tanga was a
remarkable creature; I would tell her what to do and she would simply do it. I
recall that in the film there is a scene where she must break up the wooden
slats on the shutters in order to get into her friend’s house. I showed her how
to do it, and she did it exactly how I showed her. Jennifer Corvino is also a very sad character.
Even though a lot of her classmates must think that she’s so lucky to have this
famous father for an actor, she’s very much alone and off by herself. Because
of this, she becomes prey to a very evil person. This is the story that I
wanted to tell, the loneliness of a young girl. This was a girl that was my
daughter’s age at the time. Jennifer Connelly was thirteen when she played this
role, and she did it with a tremendous amount of elegance.
MM: I also
love the way that you use the Swiss locations in the film, especially the trees
and the wind. They really work well in conveying the mindset of the characters
and the larger forces of nature that are at work.
DA: I have
the character of the professor talk about the foehn, the wind in the Swiss Alps,
with the link into the insects. At the very start of the film, where we see the
trees and the wind, there is this little house set against this vast landscape.
It looks like something right out of a fairy tale, sort of like a gingerbread
house. This young Danish tourist who is accidentally abandoned by her tourist
bus, is all alone in the midst of this panorama of forests, mountains and trees.
There’s this awful thing that is about to happen. The girl who plays her is my
first daughter, Fiore Argento. I really studied for this film very thoroughly.
I put a lot of time and effort into it. I did my best to create this, as you so
put it, operatic fairytale. I did it with great love, and I especially
appreciate the wonderful performance by Jennifer Connelly and what she had to
offer. She was thirteen years-old when we shot the film. This was her first big
movie, and I was just dazzled by her beauty, her intelligence, and her grace.
Photo: Todd Garbarini. All rights reserved.
Dark
Glasses
The
evening was rounded out with the premiere of his new film Dark Glasses (Occhiali
Neri), his first film in ten years, and while it fails to crack the Top Ten
Best Argento Flicks list, it’s still worth seeing in a theater. It was shot in mid-2021
in Italian and has English subtitles. Written over twenty years ago and
consigned to a drawer in 2002 after the financier went bankrupt and ended up in
prison, Dark Glasses was resurrected by his daughter, actress Asia
Argento, who stumbled across the script, read it, and urged him to make it. Described
as a “tender thriller”, this is highly misleading as there is a fair amount of
brutal violence and explicit gore, far more than anything seen in Profondo
Rosso, Suspiria, Tenebrae, Phenomena, or even Opera
– arguably the last truly great film he has made – the films often cited as his
most violent and most censored. If I had to compare Dark Glasses to
anything in his filmography of the past 35 years following Opera, it
would be Sleepless (Non Ho Sonno) (2001).
Diana
(Ilenia Pastorelli) is a matter-of-fact prostitute who finds herself blinded in
an accident caused by a maniac out to kill women in her line of work. Her
misfortune puts her in contact with a young orphaned Asian boy named Chin
(Andrea Zhang) as well as a woman named Rita from the Association for the Blind
and Visually Impaired (Asia Argento, in a refreshingly realistic and subdued
performance, with her own voice to boot!) who works with people to help them
get on with their lives. There is also a seeing-eye dog who comes to the rescue
to help our protagonists out of danger. While some of the plot points feel a
little silly and predictable, the film possesses an extremely atmospheric score
by Arnaud Rebotini. Missing from the film are the very directorial flourishes
that fans have come to love and expect from the Maestro’s golden era, his
genius method of cinematically propelling a story forward with astonishing set
pieces: there are no cameras booring into brains or over buildings, or
excessive jump-cuts, etc. The film boasts a decent performance from Ilenia
Pastorelli and young Andrea Zhang whose characterization of Chin is ultimately
sympathetic as the Mandarin youth the audience roots for. One of the director’s
shortest films at just 90 minutes give or take, the lack of visual splendor may
be a result of the director’s getting on in years – he is currently 81 – and
unwillingness to perform time-consuming set-ups. Or it may be having to make a
film on a smaller budget.
Once
wonders what fate has befallen the director’s as-yet-unfilmed project, The
Sandman, first announce in the fall of 2014. As of this writing, there is
still no word on it, however in the meantime, Dark Glasses fits the bill
as a bright spot in the director’s later filmography.
You can see this gem of a film from 1969, courtesy of Universal, complete and without ads. The film is a sweet-natured comedy based on William Faulkner's novel and features a fine comedic performance by Steve McQueen and an Oscar-nominated turn by Rupert Crosse, with a score by John Williams.
(If you want to view the film in a larger screen format, click here).
In this 1972 appearance on "The Dick Cavett Show", Michael Caine defends his latest film, "X, Y and Zee" (UK title: "Zee and Company") against some negative reviews. He also discusses his star-making 1964 film "Zulu" and describes the factors that prevented the film from being successful in its American release.
Over the course of his five-decade
career as a producer and director, James Burrows has been nominated for fifteen
Directors Guild of
America awards and for an Emmy Award every year between 1980 and 2005,
excluding 1997. Burrows has won ten Emmy Awards and four Directors
Guild of America Awards. If one lasts this long in any industry,
with as many accolades, you can bet the person has many memorable stories to
tell. James Burrows has a number of stories to tell, and with co-author Eddy Friedfeld's
(Caesar's Hour) assistance, they are delivered with the same deftness many of
Burrow's over one thousand directed television episodes enjoyed.
James Burrows was born December
30, 1940 in Los Angeles, California to Ruth (Levinson) and Abe Burrows. He has
one sister, Laurie Burrows Grad. The family moved to New York City when the
children were still young. James' father Abe went on to become a well known
humorist, writer, director of radio and stage winning both a Pulitzer Prize and
a Tony for Best Direction of a Musical for "How to Succeed in Business Without
Really Trying." He occasionally took his son Jimmy to work with him,
depending upon whatever he may have been working on. Burrows recalled that back
then he never considered show business as a career. He eventually attended New
York City's High School of Music & Art, graduated from Oberlin College and
eventually attained a graduate degree from The Yale School of Drama.
After briefly working as a dialogue coach on
"O.K. Crackerby!", a television show created by his dad, he
became assistant stage manager for "Holly Golightly," a stage version
of Truman Capote's "Breakfast at Tiffany's." Though the show was a
bomb, closing during previews, it set the stage for a move that would change
Burrows’ career and television situation comedy. Mary Tyler Moore was cast as
Holly Golightly and she and Burrows became great friends. So great in fact,
that when Burrows was tiring of stage managing and directing touring plays, he
wrote Moore and her husband Grant Tinker seeking employment at their production
company MTM Productions. He got a job.
"People like characters they can
identify with," writes Burrows, "Audiences internalize sitcom
characters more than any other type of character because they have gone through
many of the same experiences or emotions that the character has.They have dinner, they fight with each other,
they fall in love, often at the same time. Most people don't investigate
crimes, go to court, or operate on patients like the characters in dramas with
cops, lawyers, and doctors, but everyone eats with their family and friends,
sitting and talking."
This is Writing 101. Plain and simple. Get
your audience to identify with a character, to sympathize with them, celebrate
with them and you'll win the audience over. Think of the characters from many
of Burrows' shows; Sam and Diane from "Cheers," the gang of
"Friends," "Will and Grace," "Frazier," just to
name a few. As of this book's publishing Brooks has directed more that
seventy-five pilots that have gone to series. He has been called the Sitcom
Sorcerer, the Concorde of TV pilots, the Willie Mays of Directing (my personal
favorite), and the Obi-Wan Kenobi of Sitcoms. Have you ever thought of becoming
a television director? Well, here's your first textbook.
“Directed by James Burrows” succeeds on
multiple levels. It not only stands on its own as a memoir filled with colorful
tales and reminisces but also as an instructional manual for multi-camera
direction, how to get the most out of your actors (hint: allowing their input
is crucial), and creating a team-first attitude among your cast. Oh, and also
how to deal with network executives: "Garry Marshall once referred to
television-network executives as 'people who aren't funny who are telling people
who are funny what to do. And it's always going to be that way, because the men
that are funny don't want to put on a suit and tie and sit at the networks.'
"
Burrows focuses on "The Center"
when he discusses casting: "Most sitcoms have a center- a character the
audience is going to like, trust, respect and enjoy despite any flaws or
neuroses. - In the beginning, [centers] must be appealing and compelling.
Networks want characters to be appealing all the time. But that's ultimately
bad for storytelling, because there's no journey. There's no redemption if
there's no sin. There has to be some dimension. The challenge is in figuring
out how to grow and nurture characters carefully so that the audience will
continue to accept them."
“Directed by James Burrows” is also filled
with wonderful anecdotes such as this one from the "little- known fact
files," in this case Taxi: "The same way Louie took bribes from
cabbies for a good cab, Danny Devito developed a little cottage industry taking
bribes from the company (including Burrows) to announce names of family and
friends when he was dispatching cabs. He had a good side hustle going." Burrows also slips in "in jokes" to
his real-life friends: "John Lithgow was the original choice for Frazier
Crane on "Cheers," (I mention this for no other reason than to piss
off Kelsey Grammer, whom I love.")
From top to bottom, a double-take to the
left, a one-time avoidance of the banana peel that leads to a stumble over a
raisin, “Directed by James Burrows” is a thoroughly enjoyable and quick read. Burrows
and Friedfeld are on-point eighty-eight percent of the time. Read the book. Where
else could you find a Willie Mays of directing that bats .880?
Jean-Louis Trintignant, one of France's greatest film stars, has died at age 91. The legendary star had been a major presence in international cinema since the 1950s and his distinguished career extended to recent years, with Trintigant appearing in highly acclaimed films. Among his greatest films: "And God Created Woman", "Z" and "The Conformist". For more, click here.
Sam Peckinpah was never a darling of the critics but occasionally there were some astute reviewers who saw beyond his tendency to present violence in his films and recognized his talents as an innovative director and screenwriter. "The Getaway", starring Steve McQueen and Ali McGraw, was one of Peckinpah's best-reviewed films and a major boxoffice hit in 1972. In days past, some film trade magazines didn't accord their reviewers the dignity of getting a byline. Thus, we don't know who wrote this enthusiastic review for "The Getaway" in Film Bulletin's December, 1972 issue- but it is spot on in terms of extolling the film's virtues.
UPDATE! Director Joe Dante has sent the following clarifying who wrote this review:
"My colleague Jack Ano.
Jack got most of the prestige assignments, but I was happy reviewing stuff like Werewolves on Wheels."
Attempts to combine stage productions with cinematic presentations isn't a new idea. In 1964, Richard Burton collaborated with director John Gielgud on a Broadway production of "Hamlet". The play was taped through an experimental process called Electronovision and was shown in select movie theaters across the United States. The experiment proved to be financially successful and allowed people who were not in proximity to Broadway to enjoy the theatrical experience. Today, of course, it is quite common for concerts, ballets and even sporting events to be shown on theater screens but it is not a frequent occurrence for stage plays to be presented in such a fashion. Ukrainian-born director Igor Golyak hopes to change that through his innovative stage presentation of "The Orchard", a drama loosely adapted from the premise of Anton Chekhov's classic Russian play "The Cherry Orchard". In essence, Golyak has initiated a process through which audiences can choose to see a traditional presentation of the play in a theater (in this case, the off-Broadway venue The Baryshnikov Arts Center, founded by legendary dancer and actor Mikhail Baryshnikov, who is a member of the cast.) As an alternative viewing experience, audiences can see the presentation concurrently through streaming, which affords the viewer certain hi tech abilities not available to those attending the live performance. It's a bit complex, so we'll go to the official press release to describe the concept:
"The virtual experience online invites audiences on a journey
through a beautifully rendered, three- dimensional virtual
property that has been abandoned and is in foreclosure.
There, audiences can explore and discover magical
rooms where
they uncover echoes of a past life, now lost, including Chekhov's letters,
memories, and ultimately
the play, live,
in progress at the
Baryshnikov Arts Center. The in-person
and online versions will run concurrently -live
-for
each performance.
Partway through the
performances, the two versions intersect and the worlds
come together."
I was invited to choose which type of performance I preferred for purposes of reviewing the production. I chose the old school, live theater option largely because one does not get an opportunity very often to see Mikhail Baryshnikov on stage in any capacity. Baryshnikov is not the star of the show- it's very much an ensemble piece- but there is little doubt that his presence provides prestige and marquee value.
Igor Gloyak's version of the Chekhov masterpiece is so offbeat that it would be more appropriate to call it a production that has been inspired by the original work rather than an adaptation. The basic premise is the same: a once affluent family has fallen on hard times and may have to sell their beloved cherry orchard in order to remain financially solvent. All other aspects of the production are unique and original, something that becomes apparent at the first glimpse of stage design. A giant robotic arm dominates the set. It's purpose is never explained, though at different points it is utilized for various means including being referred to on one occasion as an antique bookcase. It's an impressive piece of machinery that reminded me of cross between an H.R. Giger creation and the world's largest dental drill. In any event, it's huge, imposing and unsettling, which I presume was the intention. There is also a rather amazing robotic dog, a family pet, that scampers about the stage throughout the show.
At times I found the story incomprehensible but I think it might well have been intended to be. Golyak describes the show thusly, “This is a story about the delicate relationships at the
center of a family facing the end of the world as they know
it. We are living through an unimaginable time of change and destruction
with the war in
Ukraine and with the pandemic. As humans, we are perpetually losing our cherry
orchards, losing our worlds. This
play is about us today." The characters are Russian but the era is undefined, although they are attired in costumes that suggest the pre-Soviet period in which the original play was written. At times the drama seems to take place in an other-worldly setting in a dystopian landscape. The impressive set is bathed in blue light and makes for a mesmerizing sight. Characters come and go without full explanation of their relevance to the story. The press materials state that Baryshnikov plays two characters, and one of them is Chekhov. What was not made clear is that his interpretation of the famed playwright only takes place in the streaming version of the play, something I was not aware of until after the performance. I was left wondering why Chekhov never appeared in the production I witnessed, nor was he even mentioned. In addition to Baryshnikov, who is impressive playing against type as Firs, the family's loyal servant who is now a feeble old man, the talented cast is comprised of Jessica Hecht, Juliet Brett, Darya Denisova, Elise Kibler, John McGinty, Nael Nacer, Mark Nelson and Ilia Volok. One hesitates to single out an individual for praise, but in the final stages of the show, Nael Nacer delivers an impassioned and tragic monologue in a particularly brilliant manner. Perhaps not coincidentally, it's also one of the few scenes that relate to the basic plot concerning the family's financial dilemma and the auction of their property. As for Baryshnikov, he also gets a particular moment to shine in the climax of the play as his disillusioned character comes to the heartbreaking realization that his lifetime of devotion to and affection for the family has not been reciprocated. It's a poignant and moving moment.
The story is dark and often depressing, but is alleviated by many bon mots that provide some doses of much-appreciated humor. The dreamlike quality of the production will undoubtedly divide audiences. Those seeking a traditional theatrical experience will doubtlessly indulge in a good deal of chin-stroking and cranium scratching as they try to discern the meaning of it all. A couple sitting next to me described the show as "the height of pretentiousness". However, at the conclusion, the cast was greeted with a rousing standing ovation.
Golyak has bathed his script in complex ambiguities. The resistance to not spell things out for the audience to easily understand can be an asset. It took me numerous viewings before I was able to decipher the meaning behind the much-debated final frames of Michelangelo Antonioni's 1966 film "Blow-up" and I'm still trying to discern what the climactic episode of Patrick McGoohan's "The Prisoner" is all about. However, the abundance of ambiguities in "The Orchard" might alienate as many viewers as are enticed by it all. Those with a basic knowledge of "The Cherry Orchard" may find relevant parallels to the characters and plot of "The Orchard". However, those who lack that knowledge will likely find themselves lost in the confusing happenings on stage. It should not be a prerequisite to have knowledge of an earlier work in order to comprehend a new adaptation of said work. I believe that Golyak intended the production to be debated by audience members long after they have left the theater. That was certainly my experience. My wife accompanied me to the show and although we had seen and heard the exact same things, we had drawn vastly different conclusions. "Rashomon", indeed. If this was Golyak's intention, there is no doubt he succeeded. "The Orchard" is not for everyone but it is a unique theatrical experience.
"The Orchard" runs through July 3. For information and tickets, click here.
Bob Hope's status as having enjoyed the longest reign as America's most beloved comedy icon remains unchallenged . When he passed away in 2003 at age 100, Hope had mastered seemingly all entertainment mediums. By the 1930s he was already a popular star on stage and in feature films. He could sing, dance and joke often simultaneously. British by birth, Hope and his family emigrated to America when he was five years old and he would ultimately become one of the USA's most patriotic public figures. His long-term contract with NBC stretched from radio days to being the face of the network's television broadcasts. It was TV that made made Hope the ultimate media icon. His NBC TV specials were the stuff of ratings gold, especially those that found him entertaining American troops in far off locations during the Christmas season. Hope continued this tradition, which started in WWII, through the early 1990s. His genius was that he never veered from his core act: quick one-liners that were designed to amuse but never offend. Although a life-long conservative and Republican, Hope knew how to thread the needle when it came to politics. He hobnobbed with presidents of both parties and the jokes he cracked about them gently poked fun at their eccentricities without offending either them or their supporters. Hope's political barbs were made in an era in which such humor would bring people together instead of polarize them. Hope's humor became dated but he never lost his popularity with older fans who continued to tune in to his TV specials and delighted at his frequent appearances on chat shows. Not everyone was a fan, however. Marlon Brando once criticized Hope's hunger for the spotlight by saying he would turn up at the opening of a supermarket if there was a camera there. Still, Hope's ubiquitous presence extended into the realm of movies, though cinema was decidedly a secondary career for him. In the 1940s and 1950s he was a top box-office attraction, with his "Road" movies co-starring Bing Crosby particularly popular. By the 1960s changing social values threatened Hope's brand of squeaky clean comedies but he still had enough juice at the boxoffice to top-line movies throughout the entire decade.
"Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number", released in 1966, is the epitome of a Hope comedy. He plays Tom Meade, a California real estate agent who has sunk a considerable amount of money into buying a house in a remote area of the mountains by a beautiful lake. He was certain he could turn a quick profit but it transpires that the house is located in an area that is a bit too remote and his investment has turned into a money-bleeding white elephant. At the same time, the story follows the exploits of Didi (Elke Sommer), an international screen sex siren who is known for including provocative bathing sequences in her racy films. Didi is shooting her latest movie when she has a fierce argument with her director/lover Pepe Pepponi (Cesare Danova) and storms off the set to go into hiding, thus initiating an intense manhunt that dominates the headlines. Through the type of quirk that can only happen in movies, Tom makes a business phone call and accidentally gets connected with Didi, who tells him she is hiding in a nearby hotel but lacks any food or sustenance. Tom realizes he possesses bombshell information and promises to visit her with food. He sneaks out late at night so his wife Martha (Marjorie Lord) doesn't suspect anything...but unbeknownst to him, his nosy and sarcastic live-in housekeeper Lily (Phyllis Diller) catches on. When Tom arrives at Didi's hotel room, she practically seduces him but Tom has something other than sex on his mind. He offers Didi the opportunity to stay at his dormant house at the lake until the manhunt dies down. He's motivated partly by compassion and partly by the opportunity to exploit the property as the house that Didi once hid in. Things naturally go awry when Martha insists on spending a romantic weekend at the house with Tom, away from their two pre-teen but precocious son and daughter. This sets in motion one of those traditional bedroom farce situations. Tom arrives separately in advance of Martha and discovers Didi is practically comatose after taking a sleeping pill. In the ensuing mayhem, he must drag her from room to room and hide her before Martha discovers her presence. This madcap sequence is the highlight of the film and it is deftly directed by old pro George Marshall. However, the film's final act crosses the line into over-the-top outright slapstick with Diller riding wild on a motorcycle and Hope being pursued in a car chase by FBI agents who think he murdered Didi.
The joy of any Bob Hope movie is that he never played the traditional hero. He specialized in portraying characters who weren't immoral but who were willing to gnaw around the edges of ethical behavior (i.e a coward who pretends he's a hero, a virginal buffoon who pretends he's a great lover, etc.) In this production, Hope continues that tradition and gets off some good one-liners. He's got the perfect foil in Phyllis Diller and their chemistry worked so well they made two more films together in short order, "Eight on the Lam" and "The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell" before Hope retired from the silver screen with his 1972 dud "Cancel My Reservation". "Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number!" plays out like an extended TV sitcom from the era and was shot on a relatively modest budget. There are a few timid attempts to make the script a bit contemporary by including a some overt references to sex but it's still tame family-friendly viewing. It should be said that Elke Sommer, who was always somewhat underwhelming in terms of dramatic acting skills, had a true knack for playing light comedy and she's delightful in this movie in a physically demanding role that requires her to be tossed around while unconscious as though she is a rag doll. One of the more amusing aspects of the film is unintentional: Marjorie Lord's hairstyle, which is as high as a beehive and equally distracting. One keeps awaiting Hope to make some quips about it but they never come.
Olive Films has released the movie as a Blu-ray with an excellent transfer but no bonus extras. As retro comedies go, this is typical of a Bob Hope comedy from the era. It offers no surprises but somehow today the sheer predictability and innocence of his movies make for pleasing viewing- and this is no exception.
I know I'm not only getting old, but I'm there already. That's apparent in the fact that I remember seeing the 1981 comedy "All Night Long" at an advanced critic's screening in New York. Back in those prehistoric days before the internet, you had to read trade industry publications to get the background story or buzz on forthcoming films. Sure, the general public was always aware that expensive epics were experiencing production problems, but everyday movie fans were generally unaware of the scuttlebutt on mid-range fare. Within industry circles, however, the word-of-mouth was negative about the film despite the fact that it starred Gene Hackman and Barbra Streisand, both then very much at the peak of their acting careers. The film had gone through some almost surrealistic production problems that involved high profile people and had come in massively over the original budget estimate. I recalled thinking the movie was kind of fun but had the staying power of cotton candy in that nothing about resonated even a few days after seeing it. For old time's sake, I decided to revisit it through Kino Lorber's Blu-ray release. My observations will follow, but first some preliminary facts. The movie was optioned by Fox originally but for reasons unknown (premonitions?), it was dropped. It was then shepherded to executives at Universal by Sue Mengers, the "Super Agent" talent representative who was as famous as the names on her legendary clients. Among them was Gene Hackman, who had taken a leave of absence from acting due due to making so many films back-to-back. Tired of playing in action films, Hackman was eager to star in this quirky romantic comedy that had been scripted by W.D. Richter, who had written the brilliant 1978 version of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" as well as the Frank Langella version of "Dracula" and the popular crime drama "Brubaker" with Robert Redford. The film was to be a modestly-budgeted affair costing about $3 million. Up-and-coming actress Lisa Eichorn was cast as the female lead opposite Hackman. The director was Jean-Claude Tramont, a Belgian filmmaker who had reed-thin credits in the industry. This was to be Tramont's first Hollywood film and it was very much championed by Sue Mengers, who "coincidentally" happened to be his wife.
So far, so good. However, shortly after filming began, for reasons no one could ever interpret, Hackman began acting in a frosty manner opposite Eichorn, who by all accounts, was giving a fine performance. Because of Hackman's aversion to starring opposite her, their love scenes were less-than-convincing. Since Hackman was the big name, Eichorn was summarily fired, though she was paid her salary of $250,000 in full. Then Mengers stepped forward with what seemed like an outlandish idea: have Barbra Streisand assume Eichorn's role. The idea of Streisand taking over for another actress in a film that was already in production seemed surrealistic, but Streisand agreed- in return for a $4 million paycheck, which said to be the highest salary ever paid to an actor. (In return, she didn't object to Hackman getting top billing, which presumably he had been contractually guaranteed.) As the change-over was taking place, other members of the cast and crew were also replaced, including the director photography. The original composer was the esteemed Georges Delerue, but his score was deemed to be unsatisfactory and Richard Hazard and Ira Newborn were brought on board as the composers of record. (Bizarrely, Delerue is listed in the final credits as "conductor"with his name misspelled as "George", a final indignity.) By the time filming resumed, the budget had blown up to $14 million, a staggering sum for a low-key comedy and a figure that approached half the production cost of "Apocalypse Now".
So what's it all about? Hackman plays George Dupler, a middle-aged L.A. executive who is counting on a big promotion. When he is bypassed, he breaks down and throws a chair through the window. Because of his seniority, management won't fire him but instead demotes him and assigns him to a new job they are sure will result in his resignation. George is to manage an all-night pharmacy/convenient store that is staffed by misfits and patronized by wacky eccentrics. These scenes should be the funniest in the film, but director Tramont overplays his hand and presents over-the-top characters that would generally be found in sitcom episodes. None of the labored sight gags work at all and they seem out of place given the fact that Tramont had indicated his goal was to make a European-style sophisticated romantic comedy. The film improves considerably when it cuts to the main plot points, which involve George learning that his 18 year-old son Freddie (Dennis Quaid) is having a secret affair with cougar Cheryl Gibbons (Barbra Streisand), who is a distant relative. She's married to Bob (Kevin Dobson), a brusque fireman who is the fourth cousin of George's wife Helen (Diane Ladd). Still with me? A chance encounter with Cheryl leads George to have an affair with her. When Helen finds out, fireworks ensue and George spontaneously packs a few things and storms out of the house to find a new abode. He sets up a new home in a cavernous loft that adjoins a class for aspiring painters. He and Cheryl resume their affair, while she simultaneously carries on with Freddie. (A "Yuck! Factor" enters the scenario when George asks Cheryl if he is better in bed than his son.) Screenwriter Richter seems to have been inspired by the plight of Benjamin in "The Graduate", in that Cheryl is not only bedding her lover but his parent as well.
The biggest flaw in the script is that none of the principals are remotely sympathetic. Cheryl is an intentional home-breaker, Freddie puts his lust before any other priority and George is willing to break up his marriage spontaneously with no apparent regrets. Not much to admire there. Richter seems to have realized this and introduces a late plot device designed to excuse George's affair, but it comes across as a last minute contrivance that came to Richter in the middle of the night. Despite all of that, "All Night Long" worked better for me this time than when I originally saw it. The film is flaky in concept and execution but Hackman is always in fine form and it's great to see Streisand in a secondary role that she can play in a subdued manner. (There's a funny bit in which the ditzy Cheryl attempts to sing and can't hit a note, an irony for a Streisand character.) The supporting cast is very good, too, with Kevin Dobson terrific as the hot-tempered cuckolded husband who ignites when he discovers his wife is bedding both George and his son and William Daniels, very amusing as the staid family lawyer who isn't as staid as he seems.
When the film was released, it garnered a few enthusiastic reviews including from the usually grumpy Pauline Kael, but the general consensus was negative. Screenwriter William Goldman, a longtime critic of Hollywood studios (he famous said of the town, "Nobody knows anything") held up "All Night Long" as a prime example of a simple project that began bloated by ineptness, nepotism and egos. The film bombed at the boxoffice and Goldman estimated that when marketing costs were factored in, it would have lost $20 million- and that was in 1981 dollars. Streisand was said to be livid over the marketing campaign poster which implied this would be a zany, madcap comedy, when in fact, it is much more subdued. After the film's failure, Streisand dropped Sue Mengers as her agent. As for Jean-Claude Tramont, his career came to a screeching halt, never to recover before his death in 1996.
The Kino Lorber Blu-ray would seem to call out for a commentary track, but there is none. However, there is an excellent 20-minute recent video interview with W.D. Richter, who candidly describes the experience as an unhappy memory and details some of the factors that led to disaster. He does speak well of Streisand and said there was no evidence of the diva-like demands she is known for. She didn't even insist on any script revisions. Richter also said that Tramont seemed nervous and uncertain in dealing with Streisand and Hackman. He ponders why the film hasn't caught on as a legendary flop, as it certainly would today in the age of social media. My guess is that everyone was still talking about "Heaven's Gate".
The Blu-ray also contains the trailer and a gallery of other KL titles with Hackman starring and two radio spots, one of which is absurd and refers to the film as the "Barbra Streisand picture" without even mentioning Hackman. Recommended, if only for Richter's wonderful interview.
Ah, the early 1970s. If you were a monster
movie fan, this was a fun time to be around. After all, creature features,
which became popular with kids of the late 1950s and continued throughout the
60s, were still all the rage. Classic monster movies like Universal’s Son of Frankenstein (1939) starring
horror icons Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, The
Wolf Man (1941) starring the immortal Lon Chaney, Jr. and Hammer Films’ amazing
and highly enjoyable Christopher Lee Dracula
series were constantly playing on television. The late, great Forrest
Ackerman’s Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine
was required reading for all 70s monster-kids, and Aurora plastics put out a
wonderful line of glow-in-the-dark monster model kits which happily kept fans
busy for hours. The local drive-ins and hard top theaters also rode the
creature feature wave as, every week it seemed, movie houses were filled with
outstanding, atmospheric delights starring horror kings Vincent Price, Peter
Cushing and Sir Lee. Monster enthusiasts couldn’t get enough.
Meanwhile, legendary film studio American
International Pictures, who for almost two decades had specialized in producing
fun, low-budget, youth-oriented films such as 1957’s I Was a Teenage Werewolf as well as the Beach Party, Edgar Allan Poeand Biker film cycles of the 1960s,
decided to create a new creature feature. Most likely due to both the huge
popularity of monster films and the Hammer vampire movies of the time, AIP
created their own Dracula-like villain; a modern-day bloodsucker named Count
Yorga. Benefitting from a solid script, above average direction and an amazing
performance by star Robert Quarry (Dr.
Phibes Rises Again) as Yorga, Count
Yorga, Vampire (1970) did very well at the box office. It’s no surprise
that AIP almost immediately started work on a sequel titled, appropriately
enough, The Return of Count Yorga.
After crumbling to dust in Count Yorga, Vampire, the evil Count is resurrected
when the world famous and supposedly supernatural Santa Ana Winds blow across
an old cemetery. In no time, Yorga, his faithful servant, Brudah, and his horde
of vampire brides put the bite on oblivious locals and cast a spell over little
Billy, younger brother of the beautiful Cynthia who Yorga has developed deep
feelings for. The undead fiend then kills Cynthia’s parents, turns her sister,
Ellen, into a vampire bride and brings an unconscious Cynthia to his home where
he plans to romance the lovely, young woman. Cynthia awakens and is told by
Yorga that her parents were in an accident and that he will be caring for her
until they are well. Meanwhile, Cynthia’s maid, Jennifer, who discovered the dead
bodies, informs the police, but when they arrive, they find that the corpses
have mysteriously disappeared. Cynthia’s fiancé, David, suspects that Yorga may
be behind the grisly goings-on and, with the help of Lieutenant Madden, Sargent
O’Connor and a frightened Reverend, he sneaks into Yorga’s lair in an attempt
to rescue his beloved and stop the wicked Count for good.
Originally titled Yorga Returns, but changed to The
Return of Count Yorga at the time of its release, the very entertaining
sequel contains much of the fun, eerie atmosphere of the first movie and also
uses most of the same cast and crew. The film was solidly directed by Bob
Kelljan (Scream, Blacula, Scream) who
helmed the original, and the engaging and creepy story was written by Kelljan
and newcomer (to the Yorga series)
Yvonne Wilder (Seems Like Old Times)
who also shines in the role of mute maid, Jennifer. Kelljan keeps the film
moving while, all along, building tension and dread; most notably in a terrific
scene where Yorga sends his vampire brides to attack Cynthia’s family in their
home one windy night. The talented director also keeps the film current (for
1971) by having the brides resemble zombies from the 1968 classic Night of the Living Dead as well as
giving their terrifying home invasion sequence a definite Charles Manson feel.
Michael Macready (Terror House), who produced and starred in Count Yorga, Vampire, once again takes on producing chores and
makes a cameo appearance as well. His dad, actor George Macready (Gilda), who narrated the first film, also
appears in a brief, but humorous scene. Talented composer Bill Marx (son of
Harpo) returns and contributes another atmospheric and extremely eerie score
while the likeable Roger Perry (Harrigan
and Son), who played the heroic lead in the first Yorga film, returns in a similar role as Cynthia’s concerned
fiancé, David. Edward Walsh (Another 48
Hrs.) is also back as Brudah and he’s just as intimidating as he was the
first time around. Last, but certainly not least, the late, great Robert Quarry
returns to the role for which he will be forever remembered: Count Yorga. Quarry
once again plays the bloodthirsty Count as suave, sophisticated, cultured and
magnetic. For the first time ever, the lonely Yorga falls in love and Quarry
really makes you believe that he is completely taken with Cynthia. In other
scenes, you can sense his pain at feeling this new and powerful emotion. Of
course Yorga is also an evil, undead fiend and Quarry doesn’t disappoint in
that department either as his vampire can be convincingly cold and extremely
ruthless. Also, for a movie that’s over 40 years-old, you wouldn’t expect the
scares to still work. However, the frightening image of a crazed, bloodthirsty Quarry/Yorga
running out of the darkness in slow motion, fangs bared and arms outstretched
while chasing a terrified victim, is still the stuff of nightmares.
We have plenty of newcomers to the series and
they’re all wonderful. The lovely, talented and Emmy-winning Mariette Hartley (Marnie) is perfect as the goodhearted
Cynthia. Both Rudy De Luca (High Anxiety)
and, in an early appearance, Craig T. Nelson (Poltergeist) are believable, likeable and a bit humorous as the
skeptical cops. Philip Frame (The Little
Ark) is extremely creepy as young Tommy; Tom Toner (Splash) is a bit funny as the Reverend; Karen Houston/Ericson (Night of the Demons) does well as Ellen,
Cynthia’s sister (especially in the scene where she vamps out), and David
Lampson (Silence) is solid as Ellen’s
faithful boyfriend, Jason. Helen Baron (Private
Benjamin) and the highly recognizable Walter Brooke (The Graduate) are seen early on as Cynthia’s parents, Corrine
Conley (Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer)
skulks around as an old witch, and beloved character actor Michael Pataki (Grave of the Vampire) shows up briefly
as a concerned boyfriend whose girl (Jesse Wells from Wizards) has been attacked by Yorga. B-movie aficionados of the 60s
and 70s will be interested to know that the multi-talented Gary Kent, who
appeared in many fun drive-in films such as Schoolgirls
in Chains and Dracula vs.
Frankenstein, was stunt coordinator on this film, and musician Marilynn
Lovell, who provided music for Kelljan’s Scream,
Blacula, Scream, Michael Macready’s Terror
House and Quarry’s Deathmaster,
sings the haunting tune “Think It Over.”
As already stated, the film is scary,
atmospheric, well-directed and well-acted, but as much praise as it gets, I
believe that it is still quite underrated. American International Pictures was
all set to have Count Yorga rise from the grave once more, but, for whatever
reason, a third film was, unfortunately, never made.
(Shout Factory’s Blu-ray special edition of
the film is out of print but the movie is available for streaming rental or
purchase on Amazon).
Kim Novak is a screen legend...but one of the least flamboyant. Over the decades, Novak has kept a low profile and rarely makes public appearances or gives interviews. So, kudos to Eddie Muller of Turner Classic Movies for convincing Ms. Novak to participate in this rare audio interview.
James
Bond is almost surely the franchise that we here
at Cinema Retro have been the most closely associated with, with many of
our contributors having written Bond books, not forgetting our editors-in-chief
and Bond experts Lee Pfeiffer and Dave Worrall’s many tomes including the The
Essential James Bond. There are so many other books about the James Bond
films out there as well that one might be forgiven for thinking that there
can’t possibly be anything left to say about them, but Llewella Chapman’s new
book Fashioning James Bond is proof that there is life in the old spy
yet.
This is the first
book to study the costuming of the Bond franchise, from Dr No (1962)
right through to Spectre (2015), drawing on material from many different
archives, looking at, amongst other things, scripts, correspondence, call
sheets and publicity materials, as well as new interviews with the families of
tailors and shirtmakers who made clothing for Bond, and of course the films
themselves. Clothing was always so important to Ian Fleming, who would
regularly take time out from the action to describe what characters were
wearing in perfect detail, and this was translated over to the films
themselves.
Chapman goes through
each film and analyses the iconic outfits in detail. The measurements of the
stars are supplied (have you always wanted to know Sean Connery’s collar size?
17”), the budget allowances for costuming and how much each outfit cost, and
call sheets provide details as to which costumes were needed at which
locations. Specific costumes such as Dr No’s famous Nehru suit are discussed at
length – it’s historical significance, what kind of shirt would need to be worn
underneath it, and the significance of its Asian stylings as a signifier of the
‘cultural politics of Bond villainy.’
George Lazenby’s sole
effort as Bond is also discussed, with plenty of information about the
different costumes he needed: twenty, more changes than any other Bond actor in
one single film. When Roger Moore came on the scene, his keen interest in
fashion (he had a credit on The Persuaders! for designing his own
costumes) was a big influence on the look that his James Bond would establish
in Live and Let Die (1973) and develop over the next decade. Timothy
Dalton also had some input when he arrived on the scene, preferring that Bond
wore more casual clothing such as a leather jacket, to be more in keeping with
the times.
When Pierce Brosnan
was chosen as Bond and the news got out that he would wear Italian suits there
was an outcry in the press, something which Chapman details. The Independent
claimed that ‘Fleming would be doing somersaults in his grave’! Daniel Craig
also wore Italian suits, before moving on to suits designed by Tom Ford, which
was deemed to suit his grittier, more edgy Bond.
Of course, it’s not
just the various Bonds whose clothing is put under the microscope by Chapman. The
costumes worn by the various ‘Bond Girls’ are also examined in great detail,
from Ursula Andress’ iconic bikini (totally improvised on set using her own bra
and a utility belt from a passing sailor), to Jill St. John’s fabulously
seventies outfits (and wigs), always being sure that the collars and cuffs
match. Again we get details of measurements and designs, and designers, and it
is fascinating to see just how much work goes into this aspect of the
filmmaking process, one which is often easily overlooked in favour of the more
bombastic elements of your average Bond film.
This review has only
really scratched the surface of Fashioning James Bond. There is such a
wealth of insight and information in here that it will keep any Bond fan happy
and will ensure that the next time you watch any of the films your eyes will
linger just that bit longer on the designs and the stitching.
In the summer of 1975,
a much-anticipated film adapted from a bestselling novel called Jaws,
directed by a little-known newcomer named Steven Spielberg, was unleashed on
the public- and visiting the beach would never be the same again.
The stories about the
making of Jaws have been told many, many times: the shark didn’t work, they
ran over budget and schedule because just a few seconds of usable footage was
shot each day, the studio wanted to fire its young director, etc. The myths and
legends around Jaws have become almost as popular as the film itself,
with dozens of books and documentaries, as well as the three sequels, serving
to keep Jaws firmly lodged in the public consciousness.
So what else can
there possibly be to say about this legendary film? Well as this book’s
subtitle suggests, new perspectives have been found and reveal new ways of
thinking about Jaws and its place in popular culture and film history. The
contributors to the book take several different approaches, questioning myths
(was Jaws really the first summer blockbuster? Cinema Retro’s own
Sheldon Hall tackles that one), analysing themes and looking at its legacy, or
‘cultural footprint’.
Verna Fields rightly
won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing, and one chapter here focuses
specifically on the editing, highlighting technical innovations and analysing
why some of those classic scenes work so well. A similar level of in-depth
analysis is applied to John Williams’ iconic score. It may well be one of the
most well-known scores in cinema history, but musicologist Emilio Audissino
brings his understanding of music theory here to explain exactly why the music
works so well.
Another chapter sees
a consideration of the influence of Steven Spielberg’s Jewishness on Jaws,
whilst Linda Ruth Williams looks at the way children are often used as bait in
his films. Matthew Leggatt focuses specifically on that Indianapolis
speech from Quint, exploring the atomic legacy as evidenced in Jaws. Is
it a coincidence that the shark is killed with a massive explosion?
The ongoing influence
and legacy of Jaws is delved into in the fascinating final section of
the book, which, as well as exploring the sequels, also looks at the many
documentaries about the making of the film, the ‘Sharksploitation’ edit of Jaws
(a strictly unofficial fan-edit which incorporates footage from Jaws and
its sequels as well as from deleted scenes and shark documentaries, and also
replaces the score with contemporary rock songs), and even a discussion of The
Discovery Channel’s annual Shark Week.
This is a terrific
collection of essays that genuinely brings new insight, and with a foreword
provided by Jaws’ screenwriter and supporting actor Carl Gottlieb
himself, The Jaws Book is highly recommended for any fan of Jaws,
or for anyone with even a passing interest in this crucial moment in film
history.
In our latest printed edition of Cinema
Retro, I featured the original soundtrack Vinyl release of John Carpenter’s
classic Escape from New York in Blue Vinyl. Speaking to my Vinyl contact at
Silva Screen this morning I have since learnt that the Blue edition is
virtually close to sold out. It seems that this iconic score is still very much
in demand. However, it’s not all bad news, as Silva Screen has also released a
superb transparent RED version (Catalogue Number: SILLP1493R) of the vinyl.
Silva Screen’s press release states: “Originally
released on the 31st of July 2015, the vinyl edition of John Carpenter’s
classic 1981 thriller mirrored the expanded CD release from 2000, with over 20
minutes of previously unreleased music plus music from scenes deleted from the
final print and original dialogue highlights.The masters for that CD were re-mixed from the original multi-track
session tapes by long-time Carpenter associate Alan Howarth. This is the first
time the expanded edition has appeared on vinyl in its complete form, including
original dialogue highlights.”
If the demand for the Blue edition is
anything to go by, I’m sure this red version will not be around for too long
either, so I wouldn’t think to long about it…
Paramount has released a 20-movie DVD collection dedicated to the films of Jerry Lewis. Titles include the Martin and Lewis classics and many of Jerry's solo films. Best of all, the set is packed with hours of bonus materials, including commentary tracks with Lewis on some of the key titles. Here is the official description:
"20 hilarious Jerry Lewis classics for the first time ever in
one DVD collection, including The Nutty Professor, Cinderella, The Bellboy,
Scared Stiff, The Disorderly Orderly, The Family Jewels, Artists and Models,
The Ladies Man, Sailor Beware, Pardners, The Errand Boy, The Patsy, Living it
Up, The Stooge, The Caddy, The Delicate Delinquent, You're Never Too Young,
Hollywood or Bust, Jumping Jacks, and That's My Boy.
·The largest collection of Jerry Lewis films ever
assembled by Paramount.
·Contains hours of assorted special features on
select titles, including deleted scenes, trailers, and commentary tracks."
Duke Wayne was a king of the boxoffice but home video releases of his films are not among the select VHS titles that command huge amounts on the auction circuit. In fact, most VHS releases are still largely valueless- but there are those notable exceptions.
BY LEE PFEIFFER
Collectors of vintage, toys, records and comic books have a common refrain: "I had that and my mother threw it out!". You couldn't really blame mom for valuing an uncluttered closet over what appeared to be a bunch of useless junk. Of course, history has proven mom was wrong with all sorts of vintage collectibles now bringing eye-popping prices on the auction circuit. But VHS tapes???? Who'd a thunk it. In fact, some of them have been selling for tens of thousands of dollars, as reported by Cortney Moore in the New York Post. Even those who have been attuned to the value of collectibles might be shocked by this. VHS tapes were once the answer to movie fans' prayers. At last, we were freed from having to watch censored and butchered TV network broadcasts of our favorite films. The phenomenon took off in the early 1980s and serious collectors would lay out about $75 to buy their favorite film. Most people were content to rent titles from the mom-and-pop businesses that pioneered the rental market before being squashed by big-name video store chains. Soon came the next advancement: laser discs. They were pricey and appealed primarily to hardcore movie lovers, who relished the fact that you could see a superior picture in its original aspect ratio. Alas, laser discs were short-lived and begat DVDs which begat Blu-rays and now streaming. So, many movie lovers understandably dumped their worthless VHS libraries by donating them to thrift stores and just tossing them away. Guess what? There's now a booming market for certain VHS tapes in top-grade condition. We're not talking about old Pauly Shore comedies, but titles such as "Star Wars" and "Jaws". Millions were sold but millions ended up being destroyed over the years. A recent top grade VHS of "Star Wars" recently sold for more than $57,000. An original "Jaws" VHS sold for more than $10,000 and certain distinctive Disney titles also sell for thousands. As with pricey baseball cards and comic books, rare VHS editions can now be professionally graded for the auction market. To be clear, most VHS titles are worthless...but before you throw out any, you might want to check their value. This time you can't blame mom.
Almost
30 years ago, Jurassic Park thundered into theaters, forever changing
the cinematic landscape. Steven Spielberg’s iconic film was based on Michael
Crichton’s best-selling novel that brilliantly channeled people’s endless fascination
with dinosaurs. It was beyond a box
office hit, grossing close to a billion dollars during its 1993 release. It
also revolutionized visual effects, leaving old-school stop motion dinosaurs in
its dust.
Jurassic
World: Dominion
ain’t your father’s Jurassic Park…This 6th and “final” instalment in the JP franchiseis
a huge, loud, expansive spectacle that brings together the original cast (including
dinosaurs) and the franchise’s 2nd generation stars for one last
scaly hurrah.
The
film opens with a cable news clip that tells us that dinosaurs have escaped
from the ruins of Isla Nublar and are now everywhere. Once that has been
established, director Colin Trevorrow puts the cinematic pedal down and doesn’t
let up for two hours and twenty-seven minutes. The somewhat muddied plot involves Biosyn, the
shady corporate heir to John Hammond’s InGen, run by Lewis Dodgson (Campbell
Scott), a Jeff Bezos type who is using dino DNA to “benefit mankind”. Uh huh. (If
Dodgson’s name sounds familiar, it’s because he was the original bagman who
handed Dennis Nedry the infamous can of shaving cream/bio-sample tubes in the
original film.)
Luckily,
Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) is onto Biosyn, corralling her reluctant former
colleague Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) to visit their remote headquarters where
the third member of the original Jurassic team, Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum)
is a visiting scholar in residence.The
Biosyn retreat is also a world sanctuary for… dinosaurs.The OTHER parallel-running plot involves the
genetically-engineered child (the wonderful Isabella Sermon) of an original
Jurassic Park scientist who is in hiding with Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and
Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard). Her unique genetic makeup makes her a
very valuable commodity and a target for kidnappers. The two Jurassic Park
worlds - old and new - collide when she is
kidnapped and Owen and Claire follow her trail from the Pacific Northwest
to the alleyways of Malta and, the futuristic Biosyn complex itself.There are breathtaking man v. dinosaur chases
that rival any James Bond or Jason Bourne pursuit. Jurassic World Dominion
also drifts into Indiana Jones territory with a knock-down, drag-out fight in a
seedy dinosaur smuggler’s market, complete with a dino fighting pit, of course!
Trevorrow,
who ably helmed the previous two Jurassic Park movies, really hits his
stride with this film – from a dino roundup on horseback in a vast prairie to
stunning mountain photography in the Italian Alps and dino-mayhem in the dense
forests of the Pacific Northwest.The
film brings back old favorites like the T-Rex and the raptor “Blue”, and
introduces new ones like the Quetzalcoatlus, a huge, feathered dinosaur and the
Dreadnoughtus, which resembles a Brontosaurus on steroids – 27 dinosaur species
in all. According to the production materials, each creature was grounded in
reality under the strict supervision of a leading paleontologist. The film’s visual effects are rivalled only by
its audio effects – every crash is bone-jarring and the various dino roars are
teeth-rattling.
While
Pratt and Howard are great performers and have developed a wonderful onscreen
chemistry, it’s the return of the original cast members – Neill, Dern and
Goldblum that really got the preview audience clapping.Even original JP scientist Henry Wu (BD Wong)
is on hand to try to rectify his mistakes. They all step back into their roles as
easily as you’d pull on a favorite shirt; and Goldblum’s Ian Malcolm patois is
as wry and quirky as it was in 1993.Time has been kind to them all.
For
this epic conclusion to the cinematic Jurassic era, Universal has pulled out
all the stops and is seeing their cash cowasaurus off with a bang.
At one point in the 1983 zany comedy "The Survivors", Robin Williams says to co-star Walter Matthau: "I was overreacting." It would have been more accurate if he had said "I was overacting" because Williams, who was certainly a comedic genius, also had the ability to go over-the-top in his quest to get a laugh or, conversely, to ring sentiment from playing dramatic scenes in a mawkish manner. To paraphrase Longfellow's famous poem, "When he was good, he was very, very good, but when he was bad, he was horrid." In "The Survivors", Williams doesn't quite reach the level of being horrid and there's plenty of blame to go around for this misfire, but he certainly contributes to its quick demise thanks to his failure to get a definable grip on his character. The premise of the film must have seemed promising when it was first developed as a vehicle to reunite Peter Falk and Alan Arkin, who had found great success co-starring in "The In-Laws". For whatever reason, the reunion never materialized and Joseph Bologna was signed to co-star with Williams under the direction of Michael Ritchie. Ritchie had an interesting background, having directed an eclectic assortment of films. They ranged from his acclaimed drama "Downhill Racer", the sports comedies "Semi-Tough" and "The Bad News Bears", the political satire "The Candidate", the social satire "Smile" and the bizarre but hypnotic crime thriller "Prime Cut"- all good movies, indeed. But shortly after production started, Bologna walked off the film, citing the oft-used excuse of "creative differences", presumably with Ritchie. Walter Matthau was called in to replace him, having worked successfully with Ritchie on "The Bad News Bears". The script was by Michael Leeson, who had written most of the scripts for the landmark sitcom "The Cosby Show". So far, so good.
"The Survivors" opens in New York City during the grungy period of the early 1980s. Robin Williams plays Donald Quinelle, an affable but bumbling executive who thinks his career is set, only to report to work and experience being fired by his boss's talking parrot. He is put through the grueling process of applying for unemployment insurance, which is made to look like a old breadline from the Soviet era. Meanwhile, we're introduced to Walter Matthau as Sonny Paluso, a long-time franchisee of a gas station. He is equally unceremoniously dismissed when the oil company decides to revoke his franchise, leaving him high and dry and without unemployment insurance, due to a legal technicality. Prior to this, we had seen the wholesale destruction of his gas station when Donald,who was fueling up in a careless manner, accidentally ignites the place with a tossed cigarette. The two men later find themselves coincidentally dining at the same restaurant when it is held up by a masked man who demands that the captive patrons disrobe and hand over their money. Donald resists and bumbles his way into subduing the bandit, getting wounded in the process and becoming a fleeting hero in the media. The bandit is Jack Locke (Jerry Reed), a cool-as-a-cucumber one-time hit man who has been affected by the economic downturn, thus he's been reduced to being a small-time robber. He manages to get out of police custody and he has both men in his sites as revenge for turning him in. He breaks into Sonny's house, where the divorced dad lives with his precocious, porn-loving 16 year-old daughter Candice (Kristen Vigard) and prepares to kill Sonny. An unexpected drop-by visit by Donald results in a series of bizarre comedic set pieces. Cutting to the chase (literally), Donald inexplicably becomes an expert in self-defense and amasses an arsenal of assault weapons. He has fallen under the spell of a far right cult leader, Wes Huntley (James Wainwright), who runs a paramilitary camp in rural Vermont. Donald leaves his fiancee and heads for the hills to join the cult. Sonny learns that Jack Locke knows his whereabouts and he and Candice race to the camp to warn Donald. The whole mad, mad, mad, mad fiasco disintegrates further when Reed shows up and attempts to murder Donald and Sonny, but ends up allying himself with them when they are marked for death by Wes. If you think all of this is convoluted to read, wait until you see it unwind on screen.
A major problem with the production is that Matthau is playing in a semi-realistic comedy whereas director Ritchie allows Williams to dabble in theatre of the absurd. One minute, he's in Robin Williams lovable loser mode, the next minute he's like a raving psychopath. Rarely have I seen him so consistently unfunny. Matthau steals the film by simply playing a typical Walter Matthau character: grumpy with his trademark hangdog facial expressions. Jerry Reed tries his best to invigorate the hit man character, but it's wildly inconsistent and unbelievable. Once the action shifts to Vermont, the pace is deadly and the jokes become weaker and more repetitive. It's as though Ritchie was just trying to run out the clock in order to meet the minimal running time. The film also suffers from some very sloppy aspects that are inexcusable. In the beginning of the film, a preoccupied Donald stops at Sonny's station to gas up- but he fails to insert the hose into the gas tank, thus allowing fuel to flow everywhere and later ignite when he tosses a cigarette nearby. The scene is absurd, but for all the wrong reasons. Even if Donald doesn't see the ocean of fuel gathering on the ground around him, why would he not smell the pungent odor? Later, when Donald becomes suddenly obsessed with owning weapons, he drops by a local gun fair where enthusiasts are passing around military-grade hardware that is being sold openly and seemingly with no questions asked. However, at the time, New York City had (and continues to have) some of the strongest gun control laws in the United States. I have never heard of such events taking place there, though they are common in other parts of the country. It rings hollow and makes it seem like screenwriter Michael Leeson had never been in Gotham in his life. Additionally, when Donald decides to move to Vermont, he gets there via a taxi cab. The scenario calls out for a joke, but, alas, none comes. Let's set the record straight: in an unemployed person decided to travel to Vermont via a local taxi in 1983, they would still be paying off the fare today.
When "The Survivors" opened, it met with deadly reviews and was considered a boxoffice failure. New York Times critic Vincent Canby bemoaned the film thusly, "Most astonishing is that a director of Mr. Ritchie's taste and talent could have allowed a project of such utter foolishness to get to the point that it was actually filmed." Indeed.
("The Survivors" is currently streaming on Amazon Prime. Click here to order the DVD from Amazon)
Reviewers have been kind to "Top Gun: Maverick", citing that the film works well on every level. Much of the credit for the movie's success is the seeming agelessness of Tom Cruise, coupled with great visuals and an interesting and affecting script. But there is probably a sociological factor at play, as well. Derek Robertson, writing for Politico, believes that everyone needs to feel good about something lately and "Top Gun: Maverick" provides the cinematic salve for our wounds. Indeed, there's been plenty to be depressed about or argue about in the last few years, regardless of where you live: the worst pandemic in a century, soaring inflation, the invasion of Ukraine, shortages of essential goods, mass shootings, the insurrection, Brexit and Partygate and increasing numbers of crazy conspiracy theories pertaining to everything from Covid to elections to UFOs. Tom Cruise has had his own troubles over the years, most of them self-imposed. But he has learned his lesson. Like the movie stars of old days, he doesn't wear out his welcome with media appearances and largely keeps his personal life and political beliefs to himself, thus avoiding alienating moviegoers. He's always been a major star but he's also been somewhat taken for granted and underrated as an actor. Now when he's pushing 60, he's at the peak of his career, which also helps inspire those of us of a certain age.
Joachim
Trier’s The Worst Person in the World, a film from Norway, was nominated
for the Best International Feature at the 2022 Oscar ceremony. It also received
an Original Screenplay nomination. It lost the International Feature award to
Japan’s Drive My Car, and the Screenplay award to Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast.
For
this reviewer’s money, Worst Person deserved the Oscar over the (albeit
excellent) Drive My Car. It’s such an original, lively take on the
concept of “romantic comedy” (with shades of darkness) that it was a joy to
view.
Worst
Person is
the third in director Trier’s so-called “Oslo Trilogy,” which includes Reprise
(2006) and Oslo, August 31st (2011). All three films were written by
Trier and Eskil Vogt. Filmed in and around Oslo during the pandemic, the
picture is a marvelous depiction of how the quality of a production was maintained
during Covid-19, and a behind-the-scenes supplement included on the disk
emphasizes this achievement.
Julie
(Renate Reinsve) is a 29-year-old single woman who at first thinks she wants to
be in medical school, but she changes her mind and veers toward psychology. But
then she takes a left turn and pursues photography. It soon becomes clear, even
after Julie turns 30, that she isn’t sure what she wants in life. She dabbles
in writing, works in a bookstore, and becomes involved with a handful of men.
Two of these romantic relationship are central to her world—the first, to
underground comics writer/artist Aksel (Anders Danielsen Lie), and then to coffee
shop baristo Eivind (Herbert Nordrum). Aksel is a bit older and is keen on
solid commitment and having a family—something to which Julie is adamantly
opposed. Eivind, who is more her age, is in tune with her free spirit ways.
Julie’s parents are divorced, and she gets along well with her mother (who
obviously has concerns about Julie’s lack of direction in her life), but not so
well with her father (who has remarried a younger woman with a daughter). By
the end of the tale, Julie finally settles on what appears to be a path that
hopefully will make her happy—but of course this is ambiguous, like life
itself.
Renate
Reinsve is absolutely radiant in the role of Julie, and she lights up the
screen in every shot. She is totally believable as a character that is so
deeply nuanced and real that we feel as if we know her. The two leading men are
also excellent, especially Anders Danielsen Lie, who must undergo a physical
change in the flow of the story.
Trier’s
direction is superb. He manages a tightrope act of comedy and drama that
recalls some of the best of Woody Allen, Eric Rohmer, and Francois Truffaut,
but there are also hints of old Hollywood screwball comedy in the mix. And then
there is the influence of intimate Scandinavian angst, as in Ingmar Bergman. The
celebrated dream/fantasy sequence, in which Julie “stops time” one morning,
runs across town to meet her new lover, spends an entire twenty-four hours with
him, and then returns to the flat is simply exhilarating. Extras on the streets
of Oslo are “frozen” in movement, along with cars and bicycles, and the only animated
humans in the scenes are Julie and Eivind. Shooting the sequence proved to be a
challenge because of Covid, as illustrated in the previously-mentioned
supplement. The filmmakers had to halt production and resume it during a
completely different season of the year.
The
Criterion Collection’s new Blu-ray is a 2K digital master with a 5.1 surround
DTS-HD Master Audio. Kasper Tuxen’s gorgeous cinematography is showcased in
this exceptional presentation. Supplements include a nearly hour-long “making
of” documentary containing interviews with Trier, Vogt, Reinsve, Lie, Nordrum,
Tuxen, and sound designer Gisle Tveito. The supplement about the pandemic
difficulties and time-freezing sequence is fascinating and is a canny lesson
for budding filmmakers. Finally, there are some deleted scenes that are also
worthwhile. One involves Julie and Aksel texting each other after their
breakup; the time lapse photography is very effective and would have been a
nice addition to the final cut.
The
Worst Person in the World is funny, sad, and provocative. It is a celebration of
what it means to be a Millennial, albeit a European one, in today’s mixed
messages society. For fans of romantic comedies with bite, international
sensibilities in film, and solid storytelling and acting.
At first glance, "Voyeur", a 2017 original Netflix documentary, would seem to be as salacious as its title might imply- but it unexpectedly transforms into a fascinating and highly engrossing character study of two men from disparate backgrounds who are brought together by a common interest in sexual practices. In 1980, the famed journalist Gay Talese was contacted by a Colorado man, Gerald Foos, who suggested that he might have a tale worthy of Talese's talents. Foos informed the bestselling author that he was the owner of a nondescript motel, the kind of place people stop at for a night while passing through town. As with many other U.S. motels, a prurient inducement was advertised: the rooms had pornographic movies you could access on the TV, a big deal back in the pre-internet era. Foos told Talese that sex was very much on his mind and was an incentive to buying the motel. He claimed he was a voyeur, but not the average Peeping Tom who might glance in a neighbor's window in hopes of seeing a woman is some stage of undress. Foos was a professional snoop. He had meticulously transformed the crawlspace above one of the motel rooms into an eavesdropping vantage point worthy of an episode of "Mission: Impossible". The vents allowed him to see directly down to the bed but he could not be seen even if a customer were to stare straight up. Foos was an everyday, unassuming guy and was unlike another motel owner with creepy habits - Norman Bates of "Psycho"- in that he was not lonely or desperate for sex. In fact, Foos was married and his wife Anita indulged him the way a wife might for a husband's mainstream hobby. She would even tip-toe to the crawlspace to provide Gerald with refreshments and food if he was putting in some long hours staring down at his oblivious customers. The goal, of course, was to watch couples engage in sexual activities. He was more often than not rewarded for his patience.
This story appealed to Gay Talese, who was no shrinking violet when it came to sex. In fact, for a decade he had been researching his book "Thy Neighbor's Wife", a non-fiction examination of American sexual practices in the post-WWII era. There was plenty to research, as anyone who came of age in the late 1960s-1970s could attest. Before AIDS brought down the curtain on promiscuous activity, sex was everywhere, and largely guilt-free. Talese chronicled all this in his book, which was first published in 1981 and updated in 2009. As part of his research, he actually operated a massage parlor. lived in a nudist colony and engaged in sexual activities, despite the fact that his marriage was already hanging by a thread. When the book was published, it reached bestseller status and Talese revisited the Gerald Foos situation. He traveled to the motel and Foos escorted him to the crawlspace where the two men spied on people engaging in sex. Talese thought the tale was fantastic and over the years and he Foos formed a friendship of sorts. Foos, who has narcissistic tendencies, relished the fact that a New York City dandy with a famous name would be interested in his story. Talese saw the potential for another bestseller. He found Foos to be a guilt-free, jolly guy who was proud of his "accomplishment" and wanted to brag about it, with the prestige of having Talese tell his story. Their relationship continued even after Foos and his wife sold the motel.
Talese, who is an old school journalist who relies on shoe leather, personal interviews and an abundance of yellow paper writing pads, kept meticulous notes of his conversations with Gerald Foos. They formed the basis of the documentary "Voyeur", directed by Myles Kane and Josh Koury, which premiered on Netflix in 2017 but which I only recently discovered. I wasn't the only one in the dark about the documentary. In 2016, Steven Spielberg planned to make a feature film with director Sam Mendes about the Talese/Foos relationship, only to learn of the documentary, which caused him to drop the project. The documentarians spent a good many months (perhaps years) filming candid conversations with Talese and Foos, sometimes together, but mostly as individuals. Talese believed Foos was being honest with him but was haunted by the fact that Foos was his only source for these remarkable tales. It's the first rule of journalism that a writer trusts a single source at their own peril. When Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post unearthed information that indicated the highest levels of the Nixon administration were involved in the Watergate scandal, their editor, Ben Bradlee, refused to print the story unless the reporters could find additional sources. They ultimately did, as recounted in "All the President's Men", but it was a painful, time-consuming process. Nevertheless, they emerged as honored journalists and brought down a corrupt presidency. In the documentary, Talese ponders aloud if he is being too trusting of Foos, but decides that since he had personally witnessed the crawlspace, the rest of his tales must be true. That theory is put to the test when Foos reveals he had inadvertently witnessed a drug dealer murder his girlfriend in the room in 1977 but never reported it. Foos said he thought the woman was only injured. The body was found by the maid the next morning. However, when Talese tries to validate the story, there was no record of it in newspaper archives. However, there was a murder in a nearby motel around that time. Was Foos expropriating that incident to sensationalize his own story?
The documentary examines journalistic methods and accountability. They are especially relevant today when elected officials with much to hide have convinced large sections of the population that real news is fake news and vice-versa. In fact, the film documents the extent to which seasoned journalists go to in order to insure accuracy. Their reputations are on the line, as Talese finds out after publication of his book about Foos, "The Voyeur's Motel", when a Washington Post reporter notifies him that he has unearthed provable inaccuracies in the tale. We watch Talese go into an emotional tailspin, first denouncing his own book, then attempting damage control. He blames Foos and himself for the scandal. Talese gets testy even with the filmmakers, insulting them on camera at one point and drawing them into the narrative. There is a morbid fascination in watching him melt down on camera. Was he sloppy in his research? Was he snookered by a man he trusted? Was he guilty of ignoring the famous cautionary line from John Ford's "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance": "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend"?
Foos, meanwhile, tries his own damage control and is more concerned
about losing his friendship with a world famous author than a string of
loose facts he had been feeding him. Foos also gripes that, in a newspaper interview to promote the book, Talese disclosed that Foos had a priceless collection of baseball memorabilia on display in his basement. Foos is outraged because he now fears he will be targeted by crooks, overlooking the fact that he had already willingly given Talese a tour of through the collectibles on film for use in the documentary.
The film will not placate the general population, which is already understandably a bit paranoid about where we are and what we do in the modern era. At one time, tiny cameras and recording devices were employed by the likes of Napoleon Solo. But today, any schmuck can by miniature eavesdropping equipment. No one knows if the room the or house they are renting isn't making their activities the object of someone's obsession.
"Voyeur" is a remarkable achievement, not only as a film, but as a sociological study of sexual perversion and journalistic practices, two subjects that are not often paired. The directors also edited the film and have done a very impressive job, given the countless hours of footage they must have had to sort through. There is also a good, appropriate score by Joel Goodman that captures the mood of the film perfectly. There is a bit of schmaltz in the film, with the directors resorting to recreations of sexual activities to represent what Foos is observing. They are tastefully done and not graphic but one could argue that Ken Burns makes documentaries about subjects pertaining to the eras before the advent of films and never uses recreations. Nevertheless, "Voyeur" is a highly engrossing achievement. Recommended.
(For the Guardian's article about the credibility scandal relating to Talese's book, "The Voyeur's Motel", click here.)
Real-life crime and corruption seemed to grow
in the United States during the late 1960s and victims felt that, in certain
cases, the law couldn’t always protect them. Thus, by the early 70s, American
cinemas saw the rise of the vigilante/revenge film. Amazingly entertaining and
hard-hitting classics such as Tom Laughlin’s Billy Jack (1971) Don Siegel’s Dirty
Harry (1971), Phil Karlson’s Walking
Tall (1973)and Jack Hill’s Coffy (1973) blazed across movie
screens. These films featured lone, individualistic heroes who, after seeing
the innocent people of their communities (and sometimes their loved ones)
either robbed, beaten, raped or killed, and the law either powerless to help or
itself part of the problem, decide that enough is enough and proceed to take
the imperfect law into their own hands. As entertaining as these movies were,
they were also an outcry against the real-life crime and corruption that was
polluting the streets at the time; not to mention the imperfect legal system.
Also, by viewing the tough, but well-meaning heroes of these fantasy films ridding
their communities of this dangerous and undesired element, audiences
experienced a real catharsis.
Although many more vigilante/revenge movies
would hit theater screens throughout the rest of the decade, the genre reached
its height with the release of Michael Winner’s masterful, if controversial, Death Wish (1974) which starred the
legendary Charles Bronson as a passive architect/family man who, after his wife
and daughter are raped by muggers (which also causes his wife’s death), and the
authorities are powerless to help, decides to hunt criminals by night on the
dangerous urban streets of New York. Death
Wish proved to be highly influential and, in the 1980s, the genre showed no
signs of slowing down as urban-based vigilante/revenge films such as 1980’s
underrated The Exterminator, 1982’s Fighting Back and 1983’s Vigilante exploded into theaters along
with, among many others, three entertaining, but inferior Death Wish sequels. Smack dab in the middle of these two decades, a
modest, solid little urban vigilante/revenge film called Defiance was released.
Directed by John Flynn (Rolling Thunder), Defiance,
which was written by Thomas Michael Donnelly (Quicksilver), produced by Jerry Bruckheimer (Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun) and released by American International
Pictures, concerns a merchant seaman named Tommy (Jan-Michael Vincent, The Mechanic, Big Wednesday, Airwolf)
who, while waiting for his next ship to sail, takes up residence on New York’s
Lower East Side. While there, he romances pretty, young Marsha (Raging Bull’s Theresa Saldana) and
befriends a boy (Fernando Lopez from Frankie
and Johnny) and an old grocery shop owner named Abe (Academy Award winner
(for Harry and Tonto) Art Carney). He
also discovers that a violent street gang called the Souls is terrorizing the
neighborhood and the entire police force’s hands are tied. After a series of
brutal muggings, beatings and murders, Tommy decides to put a stop to the
violence by taking on the gang himself. But does Tommy alone have what it takes
to put an end to the madness?
Although a very well-done addition to the
urban vigilante genre, Defiance differs
somewhat from films like Death Wish and The Exterminator in that the main hero
doesn’t kill any of the villains. He just fights back and, hopefully, brings
them to justice. Director Flynn delivers a well-balanced combo of drama and
suspense-thriller while giving the film a gritty, realistic feel which is
helped along by the stark cinematography of the talented Ric Waite (48 Hrs.).
Jan-Michael Vincent is extremely convincing as
Tommy. He plays the well-written character as quiet, but tough and also isn’t
afraid to show that, at times, Tommy is scared. He also shows traits such as
humor and heart which further humanizes the character. Overall, it’s an understated
and very believable performance. The
extremely likeable Theresa Saldana brings a nice touch of humor to her role and
the late, great Art Carney is wholly convincing as an aging, kind, but fed up
grocery store owner. We also have a terrific performance by Fernando Lopez as
the kid; not to mention Rudy Ramos (The
Enforcer) exuding icy evil as gang leader Angel Cruz who utters the
immortal line, “Now, we’re gonna make the new dude slow bleed.”
The entertaining and engaging film is loaded
with even more top-notch acting talent; mostly made up of familiar East Coast/Italian-American
faces such as Academy Award nominee Danny Aiello (Do the Right Thing), former AWA Tag Team champion wrestler turned
actor Lenny “Luca Brasi” Montana (The
Godfather), legendary film and television actor Joseph Campanella (The St. Valentine's Day Massacre), The Sopranos’ Tony “Paulie Walnuts”
Sirico and the highly recognizable Frank Pesce (Vigilante). What a freakin’ cast! My only question is where the
hell was Joe Spinell? The movie also features well-known faces like Ernie F.
Orsatti (The Car), Chino “Fats”
Williams (Weird Science) and Santos
Morales (Scarface) as well asvery brief appearances by Fred Lincoln
(The Last House on the Left) and Tony
DiBenedetto (The Exterminator), and
quite a few others whose faces are more familiar than their names.
Defiance has been released on
a region one Blu-ray by Kino Lorber and is presented in its original 1.85:1
aspect ratio. As is usually the case with KL, the beautiful HD transfer boasts
sharp, crystal clear and colorful images as well as perfect sound. The disc
also contains the original theatrical trailer along with the trailer for the
1976, Jan-Michael Vincent actioner Vigilante
Force which is also available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber. If you’re looking
for a solid entry from the vigilante film heyday, the extremely underrated Defiance won’t disappoint.
Give Dad
the Gift of Adventure in Stunning 4K Ultra HD on June 14, 2022
The epic search
for the perfect Father’s Day gift ends on June 14, 2022 when Raiders of the
Lost Ark arrives in a Limited-Edition 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray SteelBook from
Lucasfilm Ltd. and Paramount Home Entertainment.
Relive all the
edge-of-your-seat excitement in director Steven Spielberg’s cinematic classic
starring Harrison Ford as legendary hero Indiana Jones. Also starring
Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies, Denholm Elliott, and Alfred
Molina, Raiders of the Lost Ark continues to delight audiences of all
ages with its thrilling, globe-trotting adventure.
Available
individually on 4K Ultra HD for the first time, the Raiders of the Lost Ark
SteelBook is the first of four planned limited-edition releases of each Indiana
Jones movie. Fans of the franchise can look forward to collecting Indiana
Jones and the Temple of Doom on July 12, Indiana Jones and the Last
Crusade on August 16, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal
Skull on September 20. With exclusive packaging celebrating the iconic
original theatrical artwork, these collectible releases are sure to be a hit
with fans. The films are presented in 4K Ultra HD with Dolby Vision® and
HDR-10 for ultra-vivid picture quality and state-of-the-art Dolby Atmos®
audio*. Each SteelBook also includes access to a digital copy of
the corresponding movie, as well as a mini-poster reproduction.
Synopsis
Get
ready for edge-of-your-seat thrills in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Indy
(Harrison Ford) and his feisty ex-flame Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) dodge
booby-traps, fight Nazis and stare down snakes in their incredible worldwide
quest for the mystical Ark of the Covenant. Experience one exciting cliffhanger
after another when you discover adventure with the one and only Indiana
Jones.
Aldo
Ray, Cliff Robertson and Raymond Massey are soldiers at odds with one another
in “The Naked and the Dead,” available on Blu-ray via the Warner Archive
Collection. It’s 1943 and America is island hopping in the Pacific during WWII.
The film was directed by Raoul Walsh and based on the best selling novel
written by Norman Mailer, who was inspired by his personal experiences in the
Pacific front during the war. “The Naked and the Dead” is a sibling of sorts to
“Battle Cry,” another film directed by Walsh and based on a best selling novel
by Leon Uris. Both movies share a similar melodrama and the use of extended
transgressions that take us out of the battle front via flashbacks. Both movies
also share several of the same actors in lead and supporting rolls. It’s hard
not to draw comparisons, but “The Naked and the Dead” is the weaker of the two
movies in terms of story and performances and it feels like there’s less at
stake.
Aldo
Ray is the nastiest of the bunch as Sergeant Sam Croft, the seasoned platoon
sergeant and borderline sociopath who cuts out gold teeth from dead Japanese
soldiers and carries them in a pouch around his neck. In a flashback we meet
his wife Mildred, played by Barbara Nichols, who is caught cheating by Croft.
Later in the movie, one of Croft’s men finds a wounded bird which Croft crushes
to death in his fist. Ray is perfect for this part and while it’s hard to like
Croft, it’s hard not to enjoy Ray’s performance in this movie. He’s the kind of
platoon sergeant that would inspire anyone to want to transfer out.
Raymond
Massey is Brigadier General Cummings, a man of ambition which may exceed his
capabilities. In many ways he’s not much different than Sergeant Croft. Both
men are overtly depicted, or at the very least it’s insinuated, as being
incapable of pleasing their wives. General Cummings feels soldiers are expendable
pawns and if this isn’t clear, he discusses this during a game of chess with his
military aide. Cummings is okay with the officers having a few luxuries denied
the enlisted men.
Cliff
Robertson is Lieutenant Robert Hearn, the personal aide for General Cummings.
Hearn comes from a respected and wealthy family and he’s lead the life of a
playboy until departing for war. We see him dreaming about a dozen beautiful
women catering to his every need, but is he longing for the good old days or a
wasted bachelor life? The battle of wills between Hearn and Cummings devolves
into pettiness by Cummings resulting in Hearn requesting a transfer. Hearn is reassigned
to take command of Croft’s platoon and they are ordered to take a hill
controlled by the Japanese ahead of an airstrike being pushed by General
Cummings.
Assigning
Lieutenant Hearn to command the platoon doesn’t sit well with Sergeant Croft,who
sends Lieutenant Hearn through the mountain pass knowing the Japanese are there
waiting for them. In what appears to be several days journey through the jungle,
across a river and then climbing through a mountain pass, several of the men
are killed by various means including a venomous snake, falling from a mountain
cliff and enemy fire. When it comes time for the survivors to call in the enemy
position and meet up with the Navy transport, they seemingly arrive on the
beach in minutes. It’s a small quibble, but the movie is trying to be a“Bridge on the River Kwai” -type epic rather than
keeping to small scale melodrama. The movie exteriors are believable and were
filmed on location in the Republic of Panama with extensive use of studio
interiors and matte paintings.
The
film opens at the Jungle Bar in Honolulu where we meet the principal characters
including stripper Willa Mae (Lily St. Cyr), the love interest of L.Q. Jones as
Woody Wilson, one of several familiar faces in the film. Filling out the
platoon is William Campbell as Brown, Richard Jaeckel as Gallagher, Joey Bishop
as Roth and Robert Gist as Red. They offer much of the brief comic relief in
the otherwise grim movie.
Raoul
Walsh’s career was winding down by the time he directed “The Naked and the
Dead.” Known for his crime dramas and military themed movies, Walsh created the
tough guy personas associated with James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart and Errol
Flynn in a wide variety of hit movies throughout the 1930s, 40s and 50s.
The
screenplay is by Denis and Terry Sanders. Denis is a two-time Academy Award
winning documentarian and is perhaps best known for directing the 1970 documentary
“Elvis: That’s the Way it Is” and the 1971 concert movie “Soul to Soul.” Denis also
directed the 1962 war drama “War Hunt,” the 1964 drama “Shock Treatment” and
the 1973 cult favorite “Invasion of the Bee Girls.” He also worked as a
director and writer on several 1950s and 1960s TV series. He would occasionally
work with his brother Terry, another two-time Academy Award winner, a writer
and also director, mostly for television. He’s probably best known for his military
themed documentaries such as 1989s “Return with Honor”, 2008 film “Fighting for
Life” and most recently the 2021 documentary “9th Circuit Cowboy.”
“The
Naked and the Dead” was a co-production by RKO and Warner Bros. released in
August 1958. The movie is presented in widescreen WarnerScope, features a score
by the great Bernard Herrmann and clocks in at two hours and 11 minutes. If the
movie suffers, it’s because it needs more time to flesh out the characters,
especially those played by Cliff Robertson and Raymond Massey, as their parts
feel underdeveloped. When we finally get to the climactic action piece, the
movie tends to bog down. The Blu-ray looks and sounds terrific with the
theatrical trailer as the only supplement on the disc. The movie is a guilty
pleasure of mine and, while far from perfect, makes a great weekend double bill
with “Battle Cry.” The movie is recommended for fans of gritty military films.
