Book review – “Finchy: My Life with Peter Finch” by Yolande Finch

Three biographies of Finch appeared around the same time; this one had the advantage of a close personal connection, being written by Finch’s second wife. Yolande was a South African actor who met Finch in Durban when he was on his way

Very personal – Yolande doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to her husband’s drinking, possessiveness, or sexual kinks (he tried to get her into a threesome – we hear about one time she was kind of willing to go along with it with two hookers but he couldn’t get it up). She also gets stuck into his supposed feeling for black people, claiming it was racist at core. Bad natured but an invaluable additional insight into the man.

Radio review – Suspense – “Dime a Dance” (1944) **1/2

Enjoyable stuff with Lucille Ball as “Ginger” investigating a serial killing spree. Suspense made a few stories with plucky heroines investigating crime during the war – the influence of Rosie the Riveter, no doubt.

TV review – “The Adventures of Long John Silver” (1955) **1/2

"Dragon Slayer" – Establishes the concept of the series with narration: Australian-accented Jim Hawkins lives in the pirate port of Porto Bello, where his guardian is Long John Silver. There’s lots of outrageous pirate acting and brawls. Ron Whelan stars as Redbeard who cons Silver into abducting Purity.

"Eviction" – A better episode (Martin Rackin did the script) with a pompous fat Lord of influence (Kevin Brennan) being a major pain in Porto Bello. He causes Purity’s tavern to be shut down, meaning Purity has to live on Silver’s ship (so they’re having sex, huh?). There’s a neat twist with the lord being an impostor and a Spanish spy – although this does let Silver and the governor off the hook.

"Execution Dock" – Long John Silver is ill despite insisting he’s got plenty of good years left, and its poignant to watch as Newtown died not long after filming wound up on the series. Silver has hallucinations enabling William Constable to show off his stuff. But it gets wearying after a while – there’s no real story.

"The Pink Pearl" – Silver is visited by a handsome lunk who practically announces “I’m a young male romantic lead” (John Bonney). He asks the pirate to help him find his brother. They visit an island where the natives are played by a combination of browned-up white actors and Maoris. It turns out they’re being exploited by Spaniards – because you know the English would never do that. However the young Brit agrees to stay with his native lover (Jeannette Craig)– isn’t that miscegenation in mid 50s television? Bit racy.

“Devil’s Stew” – Long John gambles away his money. A flat effort.

"Miss Purity’s Birthday” – one for Miss Purity – it has some low comedy and a funny scene where Jim attends a party at the Governor’s house.

"Ship o the Dead" – strong concept – Hawkins discovers a ship with its crew murdered but no one believes him. This one has a feel for Stevenson, an undercurrent of violence lacking in the series. There's a real threat. It is admittedly a little bit unconvincing how Hawkins saves the day.
“Sword of Vengeance” – this feels like the gang stumble into another person’s story: Owen Weingott is found floating in a boat on his own; he asks Silver’s help in attacking the evil Spaniard who stole his woman. There is actually a fair bit of swordplay in this one, all involving Weingott - Silver and company mostly just look on at the action.

“Dead Reckoning” – Jim Hawkins’ guardian calls him back to England, resulting in a lot of syrup from Long John and Jim at the thought of being parted. So Jim goes to school in Bermuda where he’s flat mates with a bratty kid. Jim refuses to inform; lots of scenes of Aussie kids acting in Aussie. Dreadful performance from the bratty kid.

“Pieces of Eight” – in order to pay taxes, Silver gets involved by a dodgy Greek on an expedition to find gold in Panama – Hawkins comes along which is downright irresponsible. There is a lot of trudging around the Australian bush, substituting for Panama. Not very good.

“The Tale of the Tooth” – a funny episode centering around a bad tooth of Silver’s. There’s another decent character in the tight-fisted Scottish dentist (Lou Vernon) who gets kidnapped by Spaniards. Good fun.

“Turnabout” – a more pirate-y story: Silver and his crew are captured by the French and Silver has to con his way out of it. An engaging story flatly handled. David Nettheim plays a Frenchman.

TV series – “24” – Season 2 ****1/2

24 avoids the sophomore slump with consistently clever plotting and good writing. Oddly, it takes a while to get going – after the hijackings and explosions of season one you’d think they would be able to come up with a decent way to introduce the atomic bomb threat, but it’s relatively low key here. But once it gets into its stride it is very entertaining – even if it is an endorsement of torture. (“We haven’t got any time!” I wonder if in military history there has ever been a race against time in which torture has been useful.) Also it’s maddening that they don’t evacuate LA.

Keifer Sutherland is effective as Jack Bauer, his voice being a particularly powerful instrument. Elisa Cuthbert once again acts as if she’s strolled off the set of Party of Five, which is entertaining in its own way. It’s also great fun to see Johnny Drama aka Kevin Dillon pop up.
The series stretches the “real time” factor a fair bit and sometimes the writers can’t think of really good ways to get out of the corners they paint themselves into, but sometimes they do and who cares when they’re such good corners.

Movie review – Marple#3 – “Murder Most Foul” (1963) **1/2

A Hercule Poirot mystery adapted for Miss Marple – our hero is on the jury and refuses to believe a person is guilty, so goes undercover yet again. This time she visits an acting troupe, headed by Ron Moody who is the pompous love rival for Stringer Davis; the support cast includes Dennis Price, Bud Tingwell and Francesca Annis. The theatre setting offers the opportunity for easy gags, which are taken.

Movie review – Shayne #5 – “Just off Broadway” (1943) **1/2

Shayne is a juror who tries solving the case in which he is involved. The tone is very light (Shayne goes undercover as a Swedish janitor, and once again pretends to be a girl’s fiancee) so it’s a surprise that he slaps a dame – that doesn’t feel like Lloyd Nolan’s Mike. Phil Silvers, as a publicist, gives some class to the support cast and Marjorie Weaver is fun as a girl reporter, another old friend of Shayne’s. There is a midget, too, an old friend of Shayne's - it was that sort of series. Good fun, apart from the scene where he hits the girl.

Movie review – “Infamous” (2006) **1/2

The poor bastard of the year award would have to go to Douglas McGrath and the makers of this movie, which was pipped at the post by “the other Capote film”, Capote. Not only did it deal with the famous writer, it too concentrated on the one specific incident of his career – the writing of In Cold Blood. This one has a cult for being better but it isn’t really – it has extra glimpses of New York high life, but does that really matter since we don’t get to see much of it? (If it had been a film about the Black and White Ball, that might have been different.) The other Capote also feels more authentic – this one has clunky scenes like Capote turning up to the police station where there’s a press conference and making sweeping statements; and it’s not particularly well directed either (eg all those Woody Allen-type long shots and talking to camera). Toby Young’s Capote is fine; Sandra Bullock is excellent as Harper Lee but the actor who plays Paley is dreadful and actor-ish.

Movie review - Shayne #3 - "Dressed to Kill" (1941) **1/2

Interrupted matrimony was a big feature of the light-hearted Bulldog Drummond films of the 30s, so it's perhaps not surprising the similarly light Michael Shayne films borrowed that device. Shayne is about to marry Mary Beth Hughes when he gets drawn into a murder mystery involving some various actors. Its fast and good natured; the support cast includes Henry Daniell and William Demarest, indicating that the budgets were reasonably healthy (or else the producer was thrifty).

Radio review – TGA#10 – “Emperor Jones, Where the Cross is Made” (1945) ***

Double bill of two works by Eugene O’Neill sponsored by the good folks at US Steel, presumably on a culture kick. Well, be grateful we have Canada Lee’s Emperor Jones on record – co-starring with Boris Karloff no less, who is effective as the snivelling Pommy who deals with Jones. Lee is very good – but the piece doesn’t adapt that well to radio, because there isn’t a lot of plot (the start of the play is the end of Jones’ story and most of the action consists of him freaking out). To pad out the running time they adapted another O’Neill work, a one act play called “Where the Cross is Made”, which felt at times like an old school horror film with a crippled sailor bitter against his mad father and a subplot about buried treasure (it was a very early O’Neill work but is still entertaining – it’s a shame it never was turned into a horror film); Karloff was in this too, along with Everett Sloane.

Movie review – Shayne #5 - “The Man Who Wouldn’t Die” (1942) **1/2

Michael Shayne shoe-horned into another film for which he wasn’t originally considered. This feels different to others in the series – a bit more spooky and horror film like. Shayne is called into investigate some weird stuff at an old house by an old female friend (Marjorie Lawrence, who was in the first Shayne film but who here plays a different character, although it’s a similar sort of role, i.e. little rich girl). To enable him to investigate, they pretend to be married which enables some fun Shayne comedy – one of the big attractions of the series. This one is notable for its number of spooky scenes: wind-swept house at night, digging up corpses, silhouettes of killers with glowing eyes. The support cast includes Henry Wilcoxon, Jeff Corey (later acting coach) and Dorothy Malone (one of her first films, though buggered if I could spot her – she’s probably one of the girls running past when Mike goes to see the magician whose backs are to the screen).

Radio review – Lux - “Panic in the Streets” (1951) **

Exciting sounding concept – a dead body fished out of the water is revealed to be infected with plague - but it’s dull – too many boring “hey it’s conflict” squabbling between Richard Widmark and Paul Douglas, too much boring domestic whingeing with Widmark’s family, not enough gangster stuff. The original at least had some New Orleans location filming which this doesn’t. I also get irritated by heroes determined to suppress information to the public.

Movie review – Shayne#4 – “Blue, White and Perfect” (1942) **1/2 (warning: spoilers)

Mary Beth Hughes returns as Shayne’s girlfriend, although she has a different name – these B picture series were always a bit shonky when it came to continuity. Fed up with Shayne, she’s determined to marry someone else. Eventually Shayne talks her around, then pretends he’s given up detective work by going to work at a plane factory. In fact he’s investigating sabotage by going undercover – WW2 hits the Shayne series. In the course of his adventures, Shayne impersonates a riveter, a southern gentleman, several different businessman… all the while avoiding his fiancée.

This wasn’t based on an original Shayne novel, but a story by Borden Chase – which may explain why 30 minutes in Shayne winds up going undercover on a cruise ship and we introduce a whole new bunch of characters, including an old female friend of Shayne’s (one of the refreshing things about B film detectives was they always seemed to have bantering relationships with women who they treated as equals – provided said females didn’t want to marry them), and George Reeves as a gigolo with a moustache.

Two decent twists – Reeves is an undercover agent, and the revelation of the baddie. Shayne visits Hawaii prior to Pearl Harbour and at the end of the film takes off for Manila. He evidently got out of there in time for his next adventure!

Movie review – “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981) *****

Glorious fun romp still holds up pretty well. Some of it is a bit creaky – all the jabbering natives smack slightly of racism, Spielberg tends to underline the jokes – but it’s still smart, imaginative and full of genuine thrills. The art direction is magnificent – there’s something magical about period action films, particularly ones set in the 30s; the special effects remain pretty good too.

Some plot holes which annoyed at the time still annoy (eg Indy getting on the submarine – what if it sinks?) but Lawrence Kasdan’s screenplay remains one of the best things he’s ever done and stands as a magnificent rebuke to all the idiotic action tentpoles running around over the last 30 years.

Harrison Ford’s perennially stressed Indiana Jones contributes immeasurably to making his adventures believable (Tom Selleck would have made it more tongue in cheek and cartoonish). Indiana was more of a hard-arse than I remembered – he raids tombs without thinking about it much, and dismisses Karen Allen’s complaints that he took advantage of her when she was a teenager with “you knew what you were doing”.

Movie review – “Valkerie” (2008) ***

Solid war film based on a terrific true story. It’s painful to watch at times because they came so close. The accents are distracting. Cruise is believable in a way as a Nazi, but not a tormented German. The supporting cast is strong.

Movie review – “My Best Friend’s Wedding” (1998) ***

Example of a great “save” ending – you’ve got a romantic comedy about Julia Roberts determined to wreck Dermot Mulroney’s wedding to Cameron Diaz. In a standard rom com Diaz would be a bitch and Mulroney would come to his senses but Diaz is sweet and lovely (although a dangerous driver – something which is meant to be charming – would it be funny once she puts someone in the paraplegic ward? – but I digress). Which makes things dramatically fresher but how do we get a happy ending? By making Julia grow and sending her off into the sunset with her gay best friend, Rupert Everett – the perhaps the best exponent of what very quickly became a rom com cliché in the 90s. Everett is the best thing about the film – he infuses the action with tremendous energy during his appearance mid way through and it’s a shame they couldn’t have figured out a way to keep him around during the second half.

Movie review - “Avatar” (2009) ***

The price tag was huge but its up there on screen – a stunning looking film, especially in 3D, and it has an intriguing set up and plenty of action. It also has this sort of irritating separatist liberalism that you find from millionaire film directors (indeed, its similar in its simplistic attitudes to Strange Days, which resembles this in a lot of other ways – to wit, it deals with the redemption of a fallen warrior through the use of a new-fangled technology).

The alien society, which is meant to be great because it’s so in touch with the environment, is a monarchy where the rulers are warriors, women don’t have a say in who their husbands are, and the warriors tame birds by raping them.

Also the baddy human corporation is just plain evil without given any decent motivation (it wouldn’t have to be too hard, just something like Bill Hunter’s villain in Strictly Ballroom being motivated by a desire to be able to teach “official” ballroom dancing steps – something like the company is losing money). On another level, it lacks the pure narrative structure of something like Aliens (land on planet-try to get off planet) or Terminator (escape Terminator) and is choppy.

Okay, enough griping. On the sunny side it looks terrific, there are some decent performances (I especially liked Sigourney Weaver and Zoe Saladana – Stephen Lang would have been good if he’d been given a character with a bit more complexity), Sam Worthington is fine as the hero (although his American accent slips at times, he may as well done the whole thing as an Aussie), there is lots of action.

Movie review – “Mr Arkadin” (1955) **

An attempt by Welles to create a popular film, this combined his two biggest successes to date: Citizen Kane and The Third Man. It shows off his talent but isn’t very good. The story doesn’t get going til 34 minutes in, the unlikeable (worse: uncompelling) hero, Robert Arden makes you long for Joseph Cotten or even William Aalland (though Arden isn’t helped by his character – Holly Rollins was a genuine innocent trying to help a friend; Michael in Lady from Shanghai does his dopey acts for love; Arden plays an obnoxious prat like a corrupt cop in a detective film). Paolo Mori lacks the enigmatic beauty required for her role; Patricia Medina isn’t really up to the part of Arden’s girlfriend (she and Arden whiff of 50s Universal pictures).

It’s not an interesting story – Arkiadin’s secret is a bit dull – and a lot of it doesn’t make sense: why does Arkadin go to all this trouble? It’s a shame Welles couldn’t have played the lead, although he was also well suited to play Arkadin. Or so you’d think – but he has a silly beard and accent and gives a terrible performance.

But there are some good things – I enjoyed the camera angles and some of the supporting cast (esp Gert Frobe, Michael Redgrave, Peter Van Eyck), memorable “bits” (eg flea circus, he drug addict on the boat, the old Mexican general and his wife). This would be Welles’ least enjoyable film, but like everything he made it’s worth watching.

Movie review – “The Mummy” (1959) **1/2

Following their success with Curse of Frankenstein, Hammer set about doing versions of other famous monster tales – Dracula, Phantom of the Opera, Hound of the Baskervilles, and the Mummy (I’m surprised they never had a crack at the Invisible Man.) A contract with Universal enabled them to raid films in the mummy series: this borrows not just from the Karloff Mummy but also The Mummy’s Hand and the Mummy’s Ghost (and of course the stage version of Dracula, which inspired so much of the Karloff Mummy). This was made by the Hammer A team - Terence Fisher, Jimmy Sangster, Cushing, Lee – but it’s not one of their classics.

There’s an opening sequence in a faraway land where someone goes mad – cut back to England where said mad person is in a loony bin (Peter Cushing’s father – it’s weird seeing Cushing play someone’s son). Cushing isn’t quite right in the lead but Christopher Lee is effective as the mummy (not that much praise, I know, but he looks believable in flashback); the art design is typically excellent and there are some good (if too frequent) action sequences but the story gets a little dull at times.

The majority of the plot concentrates on the mummy getting revenge for being dug up but them throws in a Cushing’s-wife-looks-just-like-Lee’s-lost-love subplot towards the end; too little too late. Still, Hamer went on to make a number of other mummy films, including The Curse of the Mummy, The Mummy’s Shroud, and the Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb (the latter being a cursed production during the making of which director Seth Holt and Peter Cushing’s wife died).

Movie review – “Cockfighter” (1974) **

Roger Corman likes to give this film as an example as a New World film that didn’t take off at the box office. It’s a disingenuous answer in a way because this has become a cult film: the director was Monte Hellman, who worked with Corman on and off throughout his career.

The milieu alone ensures this is always maintains some level of interest; Warren Oates plays a cockfighter who has taken a vow of silence until he’s made it to the top. It starts with his bird losing a fight against Harry Dean Stanton. Then we flashback to him losing another fight against Harry Dean Stanton, then in sports movie tradition he sets about on the road to the top. He gets money to buy a new rooster, gets a trainer (Richard Schull), starts playing smaller gigs, ignores the love of a good woman, builds up to the big game.

Interesting cast: there’s also Troy Donahue (looking dishevelled and pudgy), Millie Perkins, Ed Begley Jnr and Steve Railsback. It was shot by Nelstor Almendros and edited by Lewis Teague and has an evocative atmosphere. But the film was problems – the muteness of the hero becomes irritating (although they use narration; it limits the character’s ability to interact with others, which hurts for a lead). The narrative lacks urgency – it becomes boring. And the big problem, which Corman didn’t realise until the film came out - who cares about cockfighters? Or Oates’ character?

Movie review – “I Mobster” (1958) **

Roger Corman’s career stepped up another level with Machine Gun Kelly, the success of which prompted him to make this second gangster story. It isn’t as good, as even Corman admitted. It lacks the true story origin of Kelly, and also the emotional resonance of the Kelly’s marriage. Instead it’s a rise-and-fall of a ficticious gangster, played by Steve Cochran, he of the reputation for being well hung and the interesting real life death. Problem is, it isn’t a particularly interesting rise and fall.

Some bright moments: Cochran ducks out of his welcome home party to shoot someone; Cochrane and a mate visit a nightclub where Lili St Cyr does a strip tease; a decent final shoot out. But there aren’t any interesting characters; Cochran was effective as a dashing second lead in things like White Heat but doesn’t have enough of a personality to make an unoriginal role interesting, and the female lead is particularly bland. Yvette Vickers has a small role; it’s a shame it wasn’t bigger.

Radio review – Lux – “Undercurrent” (1947) ***

MGM weren’t known for their thrillers but they could step up when required (just like they could with Westerns, and gangster films) and this is a very enjoyable entry in that sub-genre, woman-marries-man-who-she-realises-may-be-dodgy (eg Gaslight, Rebecca, Suspicion). Katherine Hepburn is perhaps too sensible and strong where a weaker actor would have been more effective.

Radio review – CP#48 – “Broome Stages” (1939) ***

Orson Welles had a fondness for old actors so its no surprise to see him adapt a saga about an acting dynasty along the line of the Barrymores or the Redgraves. This gives him an excuse to recite some Shakespeare in character and play multiple roles. His co star is yet again Helen Hayes. It's quite entertaining; taken from a book by Clemence Dane

Movie review – “Superbad” (2008) ****

I held off from seeing this for a bit but really enjoyed it. Wonderfully cast, as most films from the Judd Apatow stable are, with a great simple plot: two best mates try to rid themselves of their virginity by buying alcohol to get certain women drunk – adventures ensue. Sometimes things get broad but it always comes back to truth. The three leads are brilliant and Seth Rogen and the other guy are hilarious as cops. Didn’t quite believe Jonah Hill could score that girl at the end - but that's very Judd Apatow, too.

Movie review – “The Big Clock” (1948) ****

Not quite as good as I remembered it – it takes a while to get going, and the central concept isn’t quite believable today (a crime magazine editor who solves crimes before the police do and has a massive staff of reporters to do investigating – did such people exist which such jobs?) – but there is a lot going for it.

There are some excellent performances from Charles Laughton, George Macready, and Elsa Lanchester; top notch direction from John Farrow; beautiful photography; crisp dialogue. Ray Milland is ok as the hero and Maureen O’Sullivan bland as the nagging “why are you never home” wife – was this autobiographical casting from Farrow? Laughton has a memorable death.

And of course the central concept is business - someone asked to investigate a murder by the person who committed it, the murdered hoping the investigator will get evidence to pin it on a man hanging out with the dead girl... who happens to be the investigator.

Movie review – “Shanghai Express” (1932) ****

Classic train movie with Marlene Dietrich perfectly cast as courtesan Shanghai Lilly. Clive Brook, who looks like a bank manager from Norwich, is less believably cast as the love of Lilly’s life, a British doctor on his way to perform an operation, but the support cast is spot on: Anna May Wong, Warner Oland, Eugene Palette, etc.

Anyway, the real romance is between Dietrich and Josef von Sternberg and his DOP (Lee Garmes); I’ve never been a massive Dietrich fan, but she’s absolutely stunning here, so lovingly shot. 

The fact this was made pre-Code means it can be a bit more grown up – Dietrich is allowed to go off into the sunset with Brook instead of being punished (Anna May Wong isn’t, but she is Chinese – it’s not that grown up); a dodgy French officer isn’t punished. Very sexy and colourful; much imitated over the years.

Book review – “The Remarkable Michael Reeves” by John B Murray

Some film directors have long distinguished careers and never get a bio; Michael Reeves made only three features and gets two. It helps that he died young of course, only 25, and that he worked in the horror field, with its devoted fans. I would have thought that Brian Halligan’s excellent work was enough to satisfy them but Murray’s piece is well worth looking at too; Halligan’s was more of a critical study, this fleshes out the personality of Reeves considerably more. There’s lots more information about his family and girlfriend and the sort of things he did; lots of oral history from his friends, particularly Ian Ogilvy, Nicky Henson, Diana Ogilvy, Paul Ferris. Sometimes it feels like it needed an edit (eg including letters from people who didn't want to be interviewed, repetition) but it's a work of passion and insight and really helps explain Reeves.

Movie review – “Catalina Capers” (1967) **

Dopey beach party film was one of the last in the genre, but at least is cheery and unpretentious. The plot smacks a little of Disney TV – it involves two friends on holiday in Catalina who get caught up in the theft of some museum artifacts – so it’s entirely appropriate that Tommy Kirk plays one of the leads. Kirk is quite animated here, playing a Midwesterner who’s never seen the sea before. Catalina isn’t that pretty – it seems to be a good place to take your boat, really – but there are lots of dances and some decent musical numbers (including one from Little Richard!). 

The supporting cast play in a very broad, over the top style – you can see the influence of the AIP films in the casting, eg “here’s the Buster Keaton role, here’s the Keenan Wynn role”. Michael Blodgett is in it (he did the choreography) and Ted V Mikels was the DOP.

TV review – “Law and Order Season 3” (1992-93) ****

The series keeps its standard high. There are constant inventive twists – rape by a doctor, murderous sweatshops, a conspiracy assassination, the prosecutors realise they put away an innocent man whose lawyer doesn’t care. Paul Sorvino gets a better exit than George Dzunda (in the terrific high death toll Columbian episode) and his replacement Jerry Orbach is much better – better even than Dzunda, although without the lightness. Orbach has this great annoyed scowl – it’s like he doesn’t believe anyone he talks to.

Guest stars include Claire Danes (amazingly good), the black guy out of Terminator 2, Ira out of Mad About You (one in a long line of slimy defence lawyers), Elaine Strich (was it just a happy coincidence that this Broadway star was there for Broadway star Jerrry Orbach’s first ep as lead? And there are Broadway jokes), Lindsay Crouse, Eric Bognosian (making a return), and Juliana Marguelies. I also love the semi-regulars: the sexy psychologist, the flirty ballistics expert who loves her work, all the wisecracking judges.

Book review – “Farley Granger: Include Me Out” by Farley Granger

David Shipman once brilliantly summed up Granger’s career along the lines of “he was a nice looking kid with a neat line in wealthy weaklings and underprivileged heroes; another Clark Gable he wasn’t”.

Granger had one of those dream starts to a movie career – acting in a school play he was spotted by a talent scout, who signed him to Sam Goldwyn; he was loaned out to play male juvenile parts in prestige productions from Lewis Milestone (The North Star, The Purple Heart); his career was interrupted by war service, but it was pretty cruisy war service on Hawaii, then he went back to Goldwyn who loaned him out to Nick Ray to make They Live By Night, which took aged to be released but was seen widely around Hollywood, including by Alfred Hitchcock who cast Granger in Rope. Duly impressed, Goldwyn then tried to launch Granger as a major star in a series of flops (The Real McCoy, Enchanted); Hitchcock gave his career a spark with Strangers On a Train, but then it was more flops (The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing). Visconti used him for another classic, Senso, then some more flops saw him flee to live TV and a fairly average stage career. He’s still around, doing bits and pieces – TV, dinner theatre, soapies, etc.

Granger was also bisexual, which presumably prompted the publication of this book. He lost his virginity to a woman then a man the one night in Hawaii, then went back and forth between the sexes for a few years before settling down with a man. Among his relationships: Arthur Laurents, Lenny Bernstein, Ava Gardner, Shelley Winters, Jerome Robbins and Jean Marais; he knocked back Noel Coward, which seems just rude.

You don't think of Granger being a bad actor - indeed, he's been good in everything I've seen him in. But he really was a character actor rather than a star - he projected weakness rather than strength; he's best as someone to whom things happen as opposed to someone who makes things happen. Granger never seemed to recognise this about himself; indeed, he doesn't really have an idea about how he fit in the Hollywood scheme of things (he seems to imply that the drop in his film career was not due to his flops but rather due to (a) being blacklisted for turning down the lead role in The Egyptian, and (b) wanting to do theatre and TV work in New York).

He's also a bit of a whinger - whingeing about how Goldwyn misused him (to be fair, most of Goldwyn's films post-Best Years of Our Lives were pretty crappy, but Granger wouldn't have had any sort of career without him), about how restrictive star contracts were, about how his old Hollywood directors didn't offer him roles in the 60s. 

 

He spends too much time talking about his not very interesting adventures in the TV and theatre trade during the 50s to 70s, and about his travels in Europe. In contrast, he mentions his work in a Trinity film in one sentence - surely this was worth one anecdote? - and is surprisingly brief about his work in the Hitchcock's. It's like he's gone "I'm going to put things in proper perspective and not just concentrate on the well known stuff" - but the stuff that isn't well known isn't very interesting. (The exception was his piece about his panic attacks working on a soapie.) 

 

It was an interesting read, especially as you don't get careers like Granger any more - I just wish it had been more thoroughly edited.

Movie review – “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman” (1957) **1/2

Enormously fun science fiction film with two iconic performances – the stunning Allison Hayes as the poor old fifty foot woman, and Yvette Vickers as the archetypal Woman of Easy Virtue. She’s running around with Hayes’ hubby; Hayes then runs into an alien pod and grows fifty feet tall and develops a huge paper mache hand which remains the film’s best know special effect (the poster is also famous). It’s totally possible to do a feminist interpretation of this movie, with its wronged heroine getting revenge on her no-good man. Many memorable moments.

Radio review – Suspense – “Death Went Along for the Ride” (1944) **1/2

Another good Suspense performance from Gene Kelly – I always get surprised to hear musical stars in non-musical performances on radio but when you think about it, why not? He’s got a strong speaking voice and acquits himself well. The plot of this one is reminiscent of Lucille Fletcher’s The Hitchhiker although without the supernatural element – Gene drives across country and becomes convinced someone is following him.

Movie review – “Sheba Baby” (1975) **

There was a period in Hollywood when blaxploitation films were the surest best at the box office; in the pre-Jaws era studios were particularly anxious about declining audiences so they cranked them out by the hundreds and soon a backlash set in. This Pam Grier vehicle came towards the end of the cycle; she plays a private eye ex-cop who returns to her old home town of Louisville to help her dad, an honest businessman being hassled by gangsters.

This is a lot more demure and tame than Coffee or Foxy Brown – there's no nudity (we only see side flashes of Grier’s boobs), it's a loss less violent and a lot less fun, without any delirious excess (Grier blows away a few whiteys and has a brief cat fight but doesn’t shoot anyone’s nuts off or take a gun out of her afro or anything like that). The handling isn’t very inspired – it seems like an episode of Starsky and Hutch. Austin Stoker, the black cop in Assault from Precinct 13, plays her love interest.

Movie review – “Revenge of the Cheerleaders” (1975) **

The skeleton in David Hasselhoff’s cinematic closet – actually he’s got nothing much to be ashamed of playing a jock boyfriend of one of the hero cheerleaders. This is set at a high school where the jocks and cheerleaders behave like Roman nobles during Caligula’s time – they drink, party, take their clothes off, have orgies, never attend class. A new principal comes in to introduce some law and order but it turns out dodgy property developers have their own plans for the school.

The film is a quasi-dance musical – the characters keep breaking out into dance numbers; although some of the cast aren’t very good at dancing (the sweet Rainbeaux Smith seems to struggle), some are (I get the feeling the male actors all came from dancing) and it gives the film a lot of energy. There’s lots of sex and nudity (even some topless dance numbers), and it is very high spirited – similar in tone to the later Rock n Roll High School. The fact one of the cheerleaders gets pregnant in the end adds this odd note of realism to all the debaucherous anarchy.

Movie review – “War of the Satellites” (1958) **

Roger Corman quickie best known for being knocked off in record time to cash in on the Sputnik launch. It’s got several of his late 50s sci-fi hallmarks – a credit sequence with an animated picture, some familiar names (Susan Cabot, Dick Miller, Richard Devon – the slab of wood from The Undead); a scene where teenagers making out in a car come across a fallen thing from space; dodgy sets.

The plot has aliens telling humans to stop exploring in outer space; the UN goes “f*ck you” and goes ahead with exploring anyway. Devon is taken over by the aliens into a zombie, which suits his acting. Most of the story consists of Devon going around being naughty on the space ship – it’s kind of like a forerunner to Supernova. There’s some laughably sparse sets, particularly within the spaceship, and lots of nifty black outfits.

 The story actually isn’t too bad – Corman used the concept of a scientist being possessed before in It Conquered the World. Cabot suits the story - she's very pretty with these striking sunken eyes -but Miller doesn’t quite work as a hero (just like he didn’t in Sorority Girl). It races along and has plenty of energy.

Radio review - Lux – Five Graves to Cairo (1943) ***1/2

One of Billy Wilder’s lesser known films perhaps because the lead was the unexciting Franchot Tone, who actually is pretty good. And it’s a pretty good story too (a remake of Hotel Imperial) with Tone as a British soldier cut off from his troops who finds himself forced to go undercover in a hotel occupied by the Germans. Anne Baxter is a spirited romantic lead but the best performance goes to Eric Von Stroheim as Rommel – his sardonic humour is unmistakeably Wilder (now I’ve said that I’ll probably read some article which demonstrates that Charles Brackett wrote it). Solid twists and turns – undercover stories almost always work. I especially like the way Tone made Baxter feel guilty by making up a wife and child.

Radio review – Suspense - “One Way Ride to Nowhere” (1944) **1/2

Feels like a pilot for a series: Alan Ladd as a private eye who investigates a death on a roller coaster. For all that, pretty good mystery – a lot better than Ladd’s Box 13 series.

Radio review – SDP - “Rogues Regiment” (1951) **1/2

Fascinatingly set in French Indo China after WW2 but despite a brief bit of chat between anti-colonial and pro-colonial characters it's really just the back drop to a chasing a Nazi story. Dick Powell is an American agent who goes undercover to find said Nazi; there's a sultry dame and a bit of bang-bang. It's interesting to hear Robert Florey the director chat at the end.

Movie review – “The Sister in Law” (1974) *

By Crown International standards this is made by A list talent – it stars John Savage (who also did the music) and was written and directed by Joseph Ruben. Savage plays a young man who comes home from hitchhiking to find his sister in law determined to seduce him and wreck his family. (Interesting parallels with Ruben’s later The Stepfather). His brother is involved in the mob. There’s a pretty decent cat fight in a pool and an unfortunate scene where Savage molests a girl while she’s asleep and she resists but it drags on for far too long and isn't sexy or exciting enough. The sole interest towards the end comes from trying to guess whether Savage or his brother is going to be killed by the mob.

Movie review – “Midway” (1976) ***

Solid, no-nonsense account of battle. Unfortunately done in that crappy Universal style that looks like a mini series – and a 70s mini series at that. But the quality of the cast helps a lot – Henry Fonda, Chuck Heston, Glenn Ford, Robert Wagner, etc. The Japanese are not demonised – they are shown to be professional soldiers who simply make a few errors. Luck, which ran against the Americans in the Philippines, was with them at Midway. The intercutting of real war footage with the studio stuff does jar at times but because it’s the real deal it has this extra resonance. The subplot about Heston’s son marrying a Japanese girl is quite effective.

Movie review – “9” (2009) **

Impressive animation, an evocative post-apocalyptic mood and some spectacular action sequences, but I’ve got to say I didn’t really enjoy this. (I only saw it at the movies because I thought it was the musical.) Despite an impressive cast there was little interesting characterisation, minimal humour and an uninvolving story. It’s like this top short was taken and expanded and given the Hollywood treatment – but not enough or too much, it kind of falls between the Pixar and indie stools. Why should we care about this whimpy Elijah Wood stitch puppet or whatever it is? He does cause the death of a bunch of his friends purely through curiosity.

Radio review – Lux - “Salty O’Rourke” (1945) *

An Alan Ladd vehicle that isn’t really – the main character is actually the jockey. Ladd was short enough to play the jockey but I guess Paramount couldn’t see him as anything other than the hunk hero. William Demarest lends support and Marjorie Reynolds substitutes for Gail Russell, but whatever slight charms this had in the film version don't transfer to radio.

Radio review – BP#33 – “Mr Roberts” (1952) ***

Arthur Kennedy isn’t Henry Fonda but this is a decent adaptation of the famous play. Full of warm touches and insight that continually leap cliche – it feels completely real - a clear influence on Operation Petticoat. You can see why this was so popular, it rings very true, with its depiction of military life: boredom, petty tyranny of the captain, seeking excitement and breaking the rules, etc.

Radio review – CP#40 - “Vanessa” (1939) **

Wafty romance with Helen Hayes in the lead opposite Orson Welles. (Hayes was the most common co-star of Welles in Campbell Playhouse, you get sick of her.) It touches on insanity – a woman enters a loveless marriage with a bloke who goes bonkers – but the tone isn’t gothic, more… wet. Falls into the “sap” sub-genre of Campbell Playhouse, like The Apple Tree.

Movie review – “The Darjeeling Limited” (2007) ***

“Irritating yet moving” would be the best way to sum up my feelings towards this Wes Anderson opus. It’s the sort of movie that if you get into you’ll love – I couldn’t quite into it but appreciated the quality of the actors and they different take it had on things. Even Americans in indie-ish films still come across as boorish wankers when overseas. The acting is good across the block - Natalie Portman takes her kit off; such is the lure of indie cred.

Radio – Lux - “Destroyer” (1943) **

Ra-ra tribute to the navy with Edward G Robinson reprising his film role as one of those movie mechanics so obsessed with the ship he’s built he signs on to serve on her. Dennis O’Keefe plays the romantic male lead who loves Robinson’s daughter; the biggest surprise is that Robinson doesn’t die at the end.

Radio – Suspense - “The Black Curtain” (1943) ***

Cary Grant (who overacts a bit) stars in an episode of Suspense strong enough for a feature – it deals with that old standby, an amnesiac who may be a murderer. The fact a key witness is deaf mute may have worked better on screen but I liked the revelation of the killer.

Radio – Suspense – “The Defense Rests” (1944) **1/2

Decent story with Alan Ladd playing a role seemingly custom-made for him - a bitter ex-con who gets out of gaol. He goes to work for his defence lawyer - only to find out the DA who put him away is working with said lawyer. You could have fleshed this out into a full length feature with another subplot; Ladd gives a good performance.