For some reason this film is called a flop when it did very nicely particularly internationally - maybe MGM were expecting Ben Hur Mark Two which it wasn't but it made a strong profit.
Handsomely made. Smart. Hunter does well in a difficult role. The support cast steal the show but they always do in Jesus movies.
Some theatre owners looked at the money coined by To Hell and Back and hopped on the bandwagon with another true life WW2 story. It has the edge in that it's about a man raised by a Japanese family so it tackles the treatment of Japanese. Jeffrey Hunter plays that role. David Janssen is a sergeant.
The film takes it's time, over two hours. This makes for an effective first act where Hunter grows up we get to know the family. Act two is terrible - Hunter and his mates on leave, dancing with some women. This is slightly bizarre. Act three is the Battle of Saipan - epic and well done. Karlson has a gift for violent scenes it's full of memorable moments.
Remarkable movie. Written by Polly Platt from a William Inge novel. Directed by Marvin Chomsky, and it has a 70s telemovie feel. Stars Anne Heywood and produced by Raymond Stross the husband and wife team.
Heywood tries her best as usual, and isn't quite up to it, as usual. She goes for it though - naked, raped, consensual, coervice, forced oral sex... all on a black man whose body is festishesed.
There's a PhD in this movie. It doesn't quite work. Needs better handling. But certainly lots of chew on.
Strong early Van Damme vehicle with the star in excellent sensitive-head-kicker form as the foreign legionnaire who avenges his brother's death - and gets the brother's widow and kid in the bargain.
I didn't realise the main subplot was a riff on Walter Hill's Hard Times and that's great. Works well. Harrison Page is the James Coburn part as the hustling mananger.
Ticks the boxes well. Solid fights. Good character drama. Constrasting characters. Van Damme gets to be tough, sensitive, naked, adoring, loving, sexy. Well constructed vehicle.
Not bad mystery from Sidney Hayers and Anglo Amalgamated with Maureen Swanson out of prison and drawn into a series of weird episodes. Malpas is a creepy figure with a mask. Geoffrey Keen is Swanson's long lost father. Ronald Howard is a weedy detective not hot enough for Swanson. Sandra Dorne pretends to be Swanson.
I wish there had been more Malpas type weird stuf but this is tight and fun.
Spooky, clever, atmospheric, nicely handled, great shock moments, strong lore. Very strong work from Naomi Watts. All the cast is effective though.
Scary little girls - so many famous killers are kids, people respond to it I think. Film school aesthetic.
This has a tremendous high concept - five women accused of colluding with a German officer (Steve Forrest) have their heads shaved by partisans and are kicked out of town and have adventures.
There's a classy cast - Silvia Mangano, Jeanne Moreau, Vera Miles, Barbara Bel Geddes and Carla Gravina - as well as Van Heflin and Harry Guardino as partisans. So it's a Europudding. Weird accents.
Starts off interesting but then becomes about the men. The women don't get enough time. There's a big battle.
Martin Ritt slagged off this film.
The basic idea is still strong.
