TV review – “The Tudors – Season 1” (2007) ****

Where would English historical dramatists be without Henry VIII? He gave them such good material - and that's not counting the support characters around at the time, or his kids. This one takes in the early years of the King's reign, when he was young and spunky as well as spoilt - so you can understand Jonathan Rhys-Myers in the lead role. He does pretty good too - you believe him being in love with himself and his opinions, yet also attractive and dangerous. He's not as good as Sam Neil, who is excellent - smart, corrupt, sympathetic, ruthless, haunted. You really feel for him but know he's a prick at the same time. (Actually everyone is human in this version).

Since this is HBO there's plenty of swearing, tits, bums and violence - but it fits the take on it. For instance, it's great to see Thomas More (Jeremy Northam) watching the burning of a heretic, and Henry and his men banging away. The cast is uneven, but some are very good and there's lots of attractive people; Natalie Dormer's is a bit one-note as Ann Boleyn, for instance (surely the most successful prick tease in history) but she's got a great body, on frequent display, which helps. 

There's been lots of condensing and some alteration of history (especially about Henry's sister played by Gabrielle Anwar) but a lot of the weirdest stuff is true. The plot that didn't work so much for me was that weird bisexual songwriter character and his pursuit of the sisters - was it revenge or something? The series goes up to the death of Cardinal Wolsey so you know there's lots more good story to come.

Script review – “Alligator” (1980) by John Sayles

Funny, clever monster script from Sayles, reminiscent of Piranha, although this wasn't done for New World: like that earlier script it was rewritten by Sayles, has a great monster who's been genetically engineered due to the baddies (in this case a genetic company who test on animals), there's some bright satire (of corporations, hunters), the heroic duo is an older washed up guy (in this case a cop who has a reputation for losing partners) and a spunky young girl. It's logical, bright and fun - I say "fun" even though Sayles has the alligator munching on a young kid. (Come to think of it, in Piranha he wasn't afraid to kill off likeable characters either). It's a shame he got rid of the big hunter so quickly - and a bit convenient the big party where the alligator goes berko at the end belongs to the evil corporation. But a solid, strong script.

Movie review – M&L#5 - “Sailor Beware” (1952) ***1/2

Hal Wallis took no risks introducing Martin and Lewis to the cinema-going public – he introduced them in support roles in an adaptation of a popular radio show, then ushered them into service comedies and/or remakes of popular hits. This one is both – set in the Navy, a redo of a story previously done as The Fleet’s In (a nerd has a bet to kiss a popular singer).
I use the word “story” lightly – they kind of shove it in occasionally during comic set pieces. Indeed the big conflict (i.e. Corinne Calvet falls for Dean Martin then finds out about the bet) doesn't start up until ten minutes towards the end. But it's compensated by this being among the brightest and best of the duo's films.

The film is very reminiscent of Abbott and Costello movies – their regular writer, John Grant, worked on the script for this and you can tell. Some sequences are pure Abbott and Costello, such as the build up to the boxing game (“I fought with Gene Tierney” “Don’t you mean Gene Tunney?” “You fight who you like I’ll fight who I like”). Like Buck Privates, it was made during war time but there’s no mention of Korea – it makes the navy seem like summer camp, with some strict rules but plenty of time off to go to nightclubs, boxing matches and hang out in Hawaiian beaches.

But the comedy is very funny, Martin and Lewis are in strong form, the tunes are pleasant, it has lots of energy, and there are some great routines (eg Jerry hanging off a periscope). Another appealing thing about this film is the support cast: the love interests are played by Marion Marshall (who later married Stanley Donen and Robert Wagner), and Corinne Calvet (as herself, but only in a small role – too small considering she’s the stakes of the story); Robert Strauss, the big dopey guy from Stalag 17, plays a big dopey guy here; James Dean appears as an assistant in the final boxing scene; Betty Hutton (who starred in The Fleet's In) has a hilarious cameo.

Radio review – Suspense – “Overture in Two Keys” (1947) **

Joan Bennett stars as a woman married to a conductor who's gone deaf - she finds herself falling for the composer's protege. When the conductor dies in an accident she marries the protege. Will it be a shock for you to learn that murder is involved? Probably not. The deaf conductor is a neat angle but apart from that this feels standard Suspense.

Radio review – Lux – “Island in the Sky” (1955) ***

Tough, almost Hawksian tale about a plane that’s crashed in the Arctic. It kept reminding me of those radio plays about Arctic explorers trapped in the ice, like Hell on Ice – lots of wind, and stiff upper lips (albeit American-style), and professionalism, and flashbacks. The narration could almost be a spoof of tough guy movies with all the listing of the characters names. Having said that, the story adapts really well to radio (Arctic stories always go, with all that wind). Dick Powell delivers a fine unshowy performance in the role John Wayne played on screen.

Documentary review – “Lee Marvin: A Personal Portrait by John Boorman” (1998) ***

Enjoyable personal documentary from Boorman who made two films with Marvin in the 60s (apparently he wanted him for Deliverance as well) and has written about him several times. This repeats some of those anecdotes – forming a bond on Point Blank; Marvin pretending to be drunk to give the director some more time; his creativity on Hell in the Pacific. There’s also long chats with Jim Jarmusch, a big Marvin fan who does look like him but doesn’t sound as much like him as Boorman says he does; Pamela Marvin; William Hurt (who loved working with him on Gorky Park); and an old army buddy (who talks of Marvin's experience on Saipan). It’s not as extensive as you want it to be because of the running time, but the method of concentrating only on a few people works well, I felt. Mostly positive but not entirely – he could get mean, especially when enraptured by a role, and could be a handful. Marvin talks interestingly in archival footage about his passions and acting; there’s footage of him filming on the Great Barrier Reef (he went with William Hurt).

Book review – “The Films of Roger Corman” by Alan Frank

I have a lot of affection for Frank because I loved his book on science fiction films, which I read and re-read in the 80s – come to think of it, that was the first place I heard about Roger Corman. This book follows a similar format of the sci-fi one: a list of films (in chronological order though not alphabetical), brief credits, a short synopsis and opinion from Frank, lots of quotes from other reviewers, plenty of pictures. 

Problem is there’s little here that’s new if you’ve read even one other decent book on Corman, especially Ed Naha’s. I think the one new tidbit I learned was Sally Kellerman of all people had some input to the script of Little Shop of Horrors.

Radio review – BP – “Voice of the Turtle” (1952) **

A massively popular hit on Broadway – it remains one of the longest-running non-musicals of all time… to which you kind of scratch your head and go “why?” I guess it came along at just the right time, a tale of a soldier on leave falling in love, with the right amount of risque-ness for the war (sexual barriers coming down, etc); the players must have had charm too. Because off this production it’s simply a very very light romance (not even a romantic comedy really) without many great jokes and very little story. It’s basically about Sally, an actress who agrees to “take care” of a boyfriend of her flashier friend, also an actress. They spend the next few days of his leave falling in love, and I think they have sex together. Elliot Nugent, who played the role on Broadway, is the guy and Martha Scott (who was on Broadway for a year after Margaret Sullivan) is Sally. Sally has a married lover and her friend is promiscuous – maybe audiences were titillated by that. And it is sweet. But the lack of story and craft hurts it nowadays.

Radio review – BP – “Night Must Fall” (1952) ***1/2

John Chapman points out in the introduction to this that New York theatre audiences weren’t traditionally big fans of suspense plays but they did take to the occasional English import, such as this, Payment Deferred, Angel Street or Dial M for Murder. This is an effective chiller about a horrible old lady who torments her staff and niece but is charmed by a young man who’s banged her maid – so much so she hires him to become an assistant. The staff soon become convinced that the guy is a killer (with the head of his last victim in a box), although that doesn’t stop the niece from falling for her. The scenes involving the servants are annoying (cheerful cockneys) but the killer man, Danny, is a great character and the finale is very strong, where the guy goes to kill the little old lady. Alfred Drake, best known for musicals on stage, is effective as the killer.

Radio review – TGA#130 – “The Damask Cheek” (1952) **

Really, really boring comedy set in 1910 New York with Rosalind Russell was a woman back from England who gets involved in the love-life of a man she’s known since she was a child (Kevin McCarthy). He has a thing for fast women and is engaged to an actress; Russell loves him even though she’s his sort-of cousin, I think, which is yuck. The actress doesn’t particularly love McCarthy and Russell has money to buy her off so it’s all resolved very easily. Why did they write this? Why put it on? Why did anyone go to watch?

Radio review – Lux – “In Which We Serve” (1943) **

Noel Coward’s highly regarded war film hasn’t aged that well, in my opinion at least lots of stiff upper lips and cheerful cockneys. In that respect it’s like Cavalcade, concentrating on an upstairs and downstairs couple – also like that it has the advantage of dealing with sadness, death and defeat and the sinking of a famous boat, and ends with a famous speech. Ronald Colman plays the Coward part – it seems to mean less with him doing it than Coward, even though he’s well cast. Edna Best, who co-starred with Coward in The Constant Nymph on stage, also features.

Movie review – “Cujo” (1983) ***

Steven King has since admitted he wrote the novel of Cujo while completed wacked on cocaine, and as a result can’t remember anything about it – even though he likes the result. It’s a very simple, basic story – a dog becomes rabid and terrorises and mother and her child in her car. 

They do it as a slow burn, using lots of character stuff in the first half – mum (Dee Wallace, fresh off ET) is having an affair (with Chris Stone, Wallace’s real-life husband), so hubby, who’s having job troubles, gets jacked off. Well acted, particularly by Wallace as a flawed super-mom and Danny Pintauro as her kid, who is very good at acting terrified. The dog stuff is full on action at the end – mostly Stone and Pintauro stuck in a car. No awesomely great twists or anything – it’s not Duel – but it’s got strong atmosphere and believability. Probably director Lewis Teague’s best film.

The DVD has an interesting commentary by Teague, where he talks about getting the film (King wanted him after seeing Alligator although another director came in before Teague got it); the fact it rained a lot despite wanting to be set during a heatwave; most of the money came from a company in Salt Lake City and a lot of Mormons worked on it; the studio who released the film requested that it be trimmed to get to the dog attack stuff quicker but test screenings resulted in proving this was less effective. Teague sounds like a likeable, down-to-earth chap – he kind of vanished as a features director after the 90s.

Script review – “Alien 3” (1991) by David Giler and Walter Hill

Everyone likes the first two Alien movies – opinion is split on the next two. My own take: it’s definitely the third best, but has some good things, notably the ending. The prison setting is at least different, although I don’t think the movie ever recovers from killing off Newt and Hicks in the first couple of minutes; it gets things off to a really down-beat start. Also, I cared about the crew in Alien and the marines in Aliens but not this bunch – they were just regular folk doing their job (apart from the traitors) but these guys are prisoners; no one is likeable except the doctor and the head religious nut. It struck me as phoney when the prisoners rallied around Ripley at the end (far more believable when people are trying to save their own necks; or a still-alive Hicks would have been useful here). Also too many of them seemed to talk in English accents – Hill and Giler are better at tough American talk. It does have a terrific ending with Ripley pulling the martyr act, and is written in tough, taut Hill style.

Script review – “Texas Rangers” (1991) by John Milius

I haven’t seen the film that was made ten years later, but apparently it was extensively re-written from Milius’ draft. It’s about the re-establishment of the Texas Rangers after the civil war, in particular the raids into Mexico by the glamorous, dying former Confederate officer McNelly – a colourful time in history which has led to surprisingly few movies before now. The other two lead characters are a dumb country hick and a sophisticated city boy who become friends.

I couldn’t help feeling Milius would have had more fun with this had he written it during his great days of the 70s when he was capable of sending up these military figures as well as admiring them. From the 80s onwards he seemed to take himself and his characters more seriously – maybe he knew too many of these people in real life. The story is simple - the Rangers form and go after some cattle thieves. There are some great scenes like when rich kid Lincoln cheats at cards and is busted and McNelly give a speech about the importance of sticking by your mates, and some great old school Western dialogue. But it seems to lack a little pep and pizazz.

Radio review – TGA#54 – “The Old Maid” (1946) ***

Surely David Williamson had seen this before he wrote Birthrights – a woman watches another raise her illegitimate child. The film version famously starred Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins; this radio version features the two leads from the stage production, Australia’s Judith Anderson and Helen Menken. One has an illegitimate child, gives it up, sees it raised by her cousin, who then goes on to marry a rich man and adopt her daughter. The daughter turns into something of a brat; real mum tries to interfere and gets struck down. The daughter doesn’t find out who her real mother is at the end, but she does promise to be nicer to her. Enjoyable old school melodrama, full of suffering and sacrifice.

Radio review – TGA#68 - “The First Year” (1947) **

Very lame, light comedy about newlyweds during their first year of marriage. Gene Tierney is the bride, who just wants to marry someone to get out of town and go travelling, which hardly makes her sympathetic. David Wayne falls for her. Then bulk of the “plot” consists of Wayne inviting some people over for dinner and wanting to impress them to make a big real estate sale. It goes badly, Tierney leaves, finds out Wayne’s rich, goes back to him. I think this is supposed to make us happy. There’s a comic black maid, a wise old doctor, and it’s set in 1920. Tierney gives a pretty good performance – it’s not her fault she plays a silly slag.

TV review - "Law and Order" – Season 11 (2000-2001) ****

A new season, a new cast change – poor old Steve Hill was given the boot (his character goes to do some holocaust investigation) and is replaced by Dianne Wiest, who is meant to be an interim replacement – she’s introduced by Guiliani!! Wiest is a strong addition to the team; her liberalism offers good opportunities for conflict for the more right-wing Jack McCoy.

Some really interesting episodes: a killer flees to Israel and tries to fight extradition, sports rage, a story hyper-critical of reality TV (a pet hate of series creator Dick Wolf), trying to secure the death penalty for a teen who really doesn’t seem to deserve it (Wiest allows Jack McCoy’s blood lust despite her own worries), a successful prosecutor is accused of murder, a Puerto Rican celebration day turns to murder, a mobster who is protected to an unhealthy degree by law order officials (inspired by the same thug who inspired The Department). Also they keep up the Jesse L Martin-is-an-excellent-interrogator stuff; in one great scene he keeps asking the interviewee “think why you are here,” “do you think we would have you in if we didn’t know X”.

Notable guest stars include Megan Fellows (Anne of Green Gables), the bald guy off Sex in the City, Keir Dullea - not really a powerhouse line up. But there's a terrific performance from the guest in an episode about a mass killer who is a quiet, softly-spoken passive aggressive type. And Carey Lowell returns again as Jamie, in the excellent school-shooting-spree episode (story by Dick Wolf himself – one of those all-our-leads-have-a-different-point-of-view) – although starting to look a little old to be honest, she really wipes the floor with Angie Harmon (whose conservative yelping in this episode I was sympathetic with but she still got on my nerves). This was Harmon’s last series – apparently she was frustrated she missed out on feature film roles. Didn’t that work out well for her. Still, she was really pretty.

Movie review – “Flash Gordon” (1980) ****

I’ve always loved this movie ever since I saw it as a kid and even allowing for viewing it through nostalgic-coloured glasses, I really think it holds up. It’s bold, comic book colours and expressionistic production design have aged very well. The script is tight and fairly races along, full of vivid characters, played by a very strong cast. Innocent eyed Sam Jones and Melody Anderson didn’t have the greatest careers but they are terrific as Flash and Dale, two innocents abroad in outer space – you totally understand why they fall in love pretty much during the first conversation, although both aren’t immune to the charms of other people. There was never a better mad scientist than Topol, a more imposing emperor than Max von Sydow, a sexier princess than Ornella Muti (you totally buy she’d defy her father for a bit of crumpet), a more dashing second heroic lead than Timothy Dalton, a more engaging general and leader than Brian Blessed (in the archetypal Brian Blessed role).

There’s so many bits about this movie I love: the opening comic book credits; the acid rain at the beginning; “Monson” running away from Zarkov; Queen’s beautiful score; the football game sequence; that buzzer thing that zaps people in Ming’s kingdom; the relationship between Muti and Von Sydow (both highly sexed and ruthless); Timothy Dalton kissing Muti and calling her a lying bitch with admiration; the scene on the tree planet where people put their hands into an old log; the way Flash seems to make friends with everyone straight away including that guy in the swamp prison; the duel between Dalton and Jones; Dalton becoming a passionate admirer of Jones in about five seconds ("where you go, I will follow..." - talk about bromance); the bit where Flash flies through the clouds and the hawk men are waiting; Dalton running around corridors shooting henchmen with a gun (when I was a kid I would have given anything to run around corridors shooting henchmen with a gun); Flash proposing to Dale; Dale dressed as a concubine; all the propaganda about how wonderful humans are; the memorable deaths of the baddies. Great, imaginative fun. I can't believe it wasn't a bigger hit at the time - maybe it was too campy.

NB Mike Hodges got the directing gig because he was friends with Nic Roeg, who was originally going to direct - and Dino de Laurentiis wanted to talk to Hodges to do the sequel. I think Roeg would have made a marvellous film - but it's still one of Hodges' best.

Radio review – TGA#59 – “A Doll’s House” (1947) ***1/2

Dorothy McGuire rose to fame playing a child bride in Claudia, so she’s perfect Hollywood casting for Nora. Ditto Basil Rathbone as her doting elder husband Torvald. This was a solid adaptation, like all these Theatre Guild of the Airs, really. It’s trimmed to about 50 minutes (they pad out the running time with a song at the end) but all the meat is there, as Nora frets about money and status, and Torvald treats her like an idiot. Adultery and the middle classes, with a solid story (Nora is blackmailed); the best thing about it is the end when Nora tells her husband to go jump. Rathbone's acting style is a little too 30s-Hollywood-cinema-or-20s-West-End; it's effective just old fashioned. McGuire is solid rather than sensational. I really wish the male lead had a different name to Torvald; it just sounds so silly.

Radio review – Suspense – “The Philomel Cottage” (1946) **1/2

Lili Palmer does a good “scared wife” in this tale of a woman who begins to worry about her husband’s past – he was born in Sydney, which is an interesting angle for Aussies, and grew up in Canada. The crux of the story (from a short story by Agatha Christie) is that she's worried hubby is a murderer, but she turns the tables. Orson Welles did a version of this for Suspense in 1943 but doesn't act in this one.

Radio review – TGA#33 – “Green Pastures” (1946) **1/2

Adaptation of the famous play, which was turned into a film – a black version of the Old Testament, including the Garden of Eden, Cain and Abel, and Noah's Ark. It won the Pulitzer Prize, probably for audacity more than anything else. It's certainly interesting, albeit episodic (there's lots of singing); I don't feel qualified to discuss the racial politics, other than to point out it at least gave black actors some work. The cast includes Juano Hernandez.

Radio review – Suspense – “The House in Cypress Canyon” (1946) ****

Robert Taylor is famous for being a pretty boy movie star, i.e. one who rose to fame on his looks – but he also had an excellent speaking voice (something I admit I’d never appreciated before), well demonstrated here. 

It’s a genuinely creepy tale somewhat along the lines of The Amityville Horror about a couple who move into a house where there's creepy stuff going on, including blood seeping out from under a closet and a wife who may be a werewolf. Howard Duff is among the support cast. The script is here.

Radio review – TGA#22 – “The Second Man” (1946) **

Lame rom-com with Alfred Lunt as a lazy, middle-aged writer who is adored by a woman young enough to be his daughter and also a rich woman (presumably meant to be played by Lynne Fontanne but here played by Jesse Royce Landis), he wants to marry for money. The young girl is desired by a poor chemist who seems like a nice bloke but she still pants after Lunt – who allows his voice to modulate in that way which really annoys me. Much ado about nothing – I mean the girl says she’s pregnant to Lunt, which spills over into stalker territory. This was a hit in it's day, with people enjoying the racy allusions and dialogue, but it's day was in 1927 and it lacks the craft and originality to have aged well.

Radio review – TGA#65 – “Hamlet” (1951) ****

We don’t have a film version of Gielgud’s Hamlet for posterity but we do have this superb radio version – adapted by Gielgud himself. He’s wonderful, believably neurotic and insane, and so good with the words – has anyone ever spoken the verse better? He's given superb support from Pamela Brown as mother; Dorothy McGuire lends some Hollywood glamour as Ophelia. It goes for an hour and 20 minutes and it's all wonderful.

Radio review – Lux – “The Razor’s Edge” (1948) ****

Enjoyable version of the novel, with Ida Lupino in excellent form in Gene Tierney’s old role as the selfish-but-for-sympathetic-reasons Isabelle. Mark Stevens, a somewhat undistinguished second-tier name during the late 40s, doesn’t make much of the part of Larry – it is a really difficult part to play, someone who’s genuinely good, but Tyrone Power managed to pull it off (he was so well cast, a good looking, nice guy who was going through something of a crisis after the war); Stevens doesn’t quite get there. I don’t know who replaced Anne Baxter and Clifton Webb in this version but they do very good jobs (sometimes the weakness of these Lux adaptations was not having decent support cast but it’s not the case here).

Radio review – TGA#39 – “Call it a Day” (1946) **

Dodie Smith is best known today for her book 101 Dalmatians, but before then she was highly successful with many other sorts of stories, including this comedy. It’s hard to see why it was so popular, to be honest – the plot is extremely thin. It’s about one day in the life of a family – the father is an accountant who is flirted with by an actor, the mother is flirted with by a man who mistakes her for someone else, the daughter has fallen in love with an artist who she is posing for even though he’s older. The leads are played by Alfred Lunt and Lynne Fontanne who I didn’t find as irritating here – Lunt seems to have better control over their voice. They do a lot of business in their talks together – overlapping dialogue, hesitation to make it seem natural – I know what they were getting at but it doesn’t quite work.

Radio review – TGA#150 – “1984” (1953) ****

This adaptation gets off to an awkward start with two ministry officials sounding a bit too much like aliens in a science fiction film when they talk about Winston Smith – but then it kicks in and it’s a fine version of Orwell’s masterpiece. The ideas are still as relevant now as ever – “peace is war”, reducing vocabulary to stop thought, using war to keep people happy, the power of propaganda, the importance of suffering to keep power, Room 101 which contains the worst thing in the world. Richard Widmark plays Smith, very well – he and some of the cast are obviously American, it’s a shame they couldn’t have changed the story to be set in America instead of Britain (it would have been an easy change to make, and given the story extra resonance). But it was still terrific.

Movie Review – “Change of Habit” (1969) **1/2

Elvis' last dramatic feature film is one of his most interesting. (Come to think of it, he made a whole bunch of interesting films towards the end of his career - none of them quite worked out, though, encouraging his retirement from acting.) It's not really about him, but rather three nuns who decide to go out into the real world and see what's happening.

Elvis plays a guitar-playing doctor who runs a free clinic in the ghetto. He has a meet cute with the nuns, thinking they’ve come in for an abortion – which he refuses to perform.When they reveal they’re nurses, he accuses them of being Park Avenue debutantes, even though one is black; he then says nurses can’t make it there, two of the last nurses were raped “one of them against their will”. Hilarious. And there's a really really weird scene where he gets a girl to talk again by cuddling her and rocking her saying "I love you" but telling her to get mad - this was downright uncomfortable watching. (Is it a real technique?)

But this dodgy stuff apart, this is actually a half-decent movie. It fits firmly into the “three girls” sub-genre that Roger Corman’s New World Pictures would like so much. As in those films, each girl has there own plot, there’s a black one who gets involved in black causes, lots of comedy and a rape sequence. No nudity, though.

The toughness of life on the streets isn’t shied away from: heroin, deafness, teen pregnancy, violence, mafia, black power, police relation (Ed Asner is a cop), racism. Also the local priest is shown to be horrible and mean to the nuns – this feels all too realistic, as does the fact the women are tempted by life on the outside. On the lighter side, there is decent comedy from the fish out of water concept: nuns being treated well in uniform but bad out of it, nuns learning how to flirt to get their way – plus a Sister Act-like stuff about trying to make the church more accessible to people eg nuns encouraging the priest to have mass in Spanish for the Spanish-speaking locals.

Elvis is in terrific shape, and good form, even if he doesn't sing a lot (a few songs - but why not more gospel numbers?) His character is a bit lecherous – he seems to leave his hands on the boobs of a 17 year old who has a crush on him, he hits on Mary Tyler-More by approaching her from behind in the kitchen and feeling her up (he backs off when she says she’s interested in someone else, i.e. God – but how about maybe just a kiss first, Elvis). More is actually the real star of the film – she’s pretty and vivacious, and is one of Elvis’ best co-stars. Barbara McNair and especially Jane Eliot give excellent support as the other nuns. Surprisingly open ending where we’re not sure whether Moore is going to leave the church for Elvis or stay. Not an entire success but I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would.

Radio review – TGA#65 - “What Every Woman Knows” (1947) **1/2

There’s a hard edge to this romantic comedy, from J M Barrie of Peter Pan fame. Helen Hayes, who played the role on stage, film and opposite Orson Welles on radio, is a non-pretty Scottish lady whose father marries her off to an aspiring student in exchange for financial support. She’s actually all for the idea – he goes on to be elected to Parliament and fall in love with a titled lady, even though his wife is responsible for his success, writing most of his speeches. He still wants to leave her for the lady – but then the lady dumps him because he’s boring and he goes back to his wife. And that’s the happy ending! Still, at least it’s honest. Not a bad story, even today – women having to be powers behind the throne, mean it still works. Could have done with a few more jokes.

Radio review – TGA#35 – “Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary” (1946) **

What was a subplot in The Man Who Came to Dinner is here padded out to a full length play by St John Ervine (it was written before Dinner), not with great results. Gertrude Lawrence plays an actress apparently modelled on Mrs Patrick Campbell but also with a little of Lawrence in her too, who winds up in a small town and hits on the author of a new play (as in Dinner, he’s called Jeff), to the consternation of the playwright’s pseudo-girlfriend – so she gets her uncle to hit on Lawrence. The fun that follows is mild – Lawrence is a man-eater who is engaged a lot and is temperamental. Lawrence’s performance is alright, but the magic she apparently had on stage does not carry.

Script review – “Clear and Present Danger” (1991 draft) by John Milius

Interesting to compare with the later film, and much more faithful to the novel: it’s got a longer introduction, discovering the murders on the boat, including the fake hanging sequence from the book; the part of Jack Ryan is greatly reduced (he isn’t in the ambush – actually he’s not really needed for the story to work, Clark could have done it all); Dan Murray doesn't die; the ending is different – actually it’s all different. The best bit is when the Americans go on their mission and start shooting people then it goes haywire. I also really liked the ending where Cortez kills Cutter in Washington out of revenge or what Ryan's done, but is then killed himself by some drug addicted kids who mug him. Other than that it’s not too involving – I liked the film, and believe they were right to make the changes they did, especially departing from the novel.

Movie review – Elvis#29 - “Charro!” (1969) **

The only film in which Elvis didn’t sing on screen – although he only sung a little bit in Flaming Star, which, like this, is a Western. He plays a former outlaw who clashes with his old gang, and ends up capturing the psychotic brother of the gang's leader, causing Rio Bravo-style problems: the brother steals a cannon and threatens to blow up the town.

That's not a bad premise for a Western, and they throw in a sexy dame (Ina Balin) and a sheriff who is an old friend of Elvis - plus the star is in good form, surly and bearded, obviously interested in what's going on for a change. But the handling is incredibly slack from director Charles Warren - it feels, looks and smells like an episode of a TV show, done on a similar budget. Plus the guy who plays the crazy brother is allowed to overact and mug disastrously. You wished they'd taken this premise and given it to someone who actually cared, or was talented. Elvis seriously is the best thing about it.

Radio review – Lux – “Rebecca” (1951) ***1/2

Vivien Leigh auditioned to play the female lead in the famous 1940 adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's novel, but Joan Fontaine was preferred instead. A good idea, too - Leigh was a fine actor, but too "strong" for that role; she would however have been a perfect Rebecca: bitchy, beautiful, unfaithful, witty, enchanting.

Losing the part must have annoyed her, so ten years later she played it for radio opposite her then-husband - he's excellent (he adapts his performance as the brooding, tormented Maxim for radio brilliantly), but she's not. She tries her best but she's just miscast - you don't believe she'd get swept up by Maxim, and be tormented by the memory of his ex-wife.

For all that this is an entertaining production, fascinating to listen to because of it's stars. It follows the film's changes by not having Maxim murder Rebecca - he just punches her out, then she falls over. So much better!

George Sanders and Judith Anderson are missed in their parts. At the end, Leigh and Olivier talk about their plans to take a tramp steamer back to England.

Movie review – “Agora” (2010) ***

Christians have rarely been depicted less sympathetically than in this tale of Hypatia, the female philosopher who lived in Alexandria in the 4th century AD during the dying days of the Roman Empire, who's become popular with novelists and playwrights during recent years, with her beauty, intelligence and martyrdom due to female independence. The story is terrific, full of conflict and drama - it's basically about the clash between the pagans and the Christians, with the latter especially coming across as a bunch of fanatics (though not without a good side).

This did feel it had something missing at it's core emotionally. Although Rachel Weisz is good as Hypatia - beautiful, believably intelligent - her refusal to commit to anything else other than her studies means she comes across a little cold. I'm not talking romance I mean she's not attached to any causes, either. She spends most of the film looking at circles in sand and thinking of theories, while all this religious drama is going on.

It looks sensational, and there is some terrific historical recreation which I'm prepared to take the filmmakers word for being accurate - it feels accurate. This was a Spanish film and the actors look Spanish (or are), even though they speak English - this feels more realistic than most movies set in Ancient Rome, which normally use English actors. Love things like the riots and theatre scenes.

Radio review – Lux – “Craig’s Wife” (1941) ***

Rosalind Russell is excellent in the title role, as the domineering housewife who likes to keep her home neat, and her husband whipped. And who better to play a whimpy husband than Herbert Marshall, who specialised in cuckolds during the 1930s? The murder subplot always felt a bit awkward and over the top - Marshall is suspected of being involved in the death of a neighbour, which freaks out Russell. More effective is Russell bullying Marshall's aunt, lecturing her niece about the importance of responsibility, hectoring Marshall. It's sexist as anything - Harriet Craig (Russell) is depicted as a heartless bitch, a false woman for not wanting love, she's abandoned by her husband, niece and sister (who dies). But she's a strong character - it'd be interesting to remake this. Cecil B de Mille in the introduction calls the play "a very honest portrait".

Movie review – “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” (2010) **

I wanted to like this movie more than I did. A sequel to Wall Street was a great idea – Gordon Gekko out of prison after years, making a comeback; the world of finance was as hot a topic as ever; the basic set up is full of intrigue: Gekko has a daughter whose stockbroker fiancée falls under the web of Gekko. But the film makes too many wrong decisions and is too much like a movie – no one acts like real people. And it doesn’t even succeed on a wish-fulfilment level, because no one seems to have a really awesome time.

 

For starters, there’s Shai le Bouf’s character. He’s meant to be a “good” stock broker – environmentally conscious, pretty much clean-living (he gets drunk once but no coke or hookers), loves his girl, smart, promotes fusion technology (the film goes on and on about this), he only dabbles with Gekko to get revenge for his mentor. Yeah, right. Thing is, his mentor was a billionaire stockbroker – he should have been able to take care of himself. And the way he was “brought down” by Josh Brolin wasn’t that tricky, just standard ruthless business tactics. And no one made him kill himself. Gekko’s character at least has the old ruthlessness, but he’s soft too – I didn’t buy the ending (it is poignant to hear him talk about a son who had a drug overdose).

 

The cameo with Bud Fox just felt wrong, wrong, wrong – having him turn up with two beautiful blondes, having made millions from turning Blue Star airlines into a jet brokerage business then retired… that doesn’t sound like the Bud Fox from the first film. Or a particularly interesting character. It just sounds like Charlie Sheen’s idea of heaven.

 

And the Carey Mulligan role is nothing – I mean, nothing. I think Oliver Stone has listened to criticism of his female characters so there are no whores or sluts, and there are women doing jobs, but instead he’s given Mulligan this cipher to play – she’s a nice girl who loves her guy and is resentful to her father and runs a website. That’s nothing, certainly not a third lead. Why not have her as a ruthless business type, or a psycho or at least complex? Was Oliver Stone trying to make amends with his own daughter here? The finale, where an article on a website brings down a finance tycoon, smacks of Hollywood – that never happens.

 

There are some good bits, like Gekko being ignored when he comes back, and Susan Sarandon’s greedy real estate agent who’s a drain on le Bouf. This feels real. But there’s too little of it, and the film goes for two hours.

Radio review – Lux – “The Iron Mistress” (1954) **

Virginia Mayo repeats her film performance but unfortunately John Lund steps in for Alan Ladd; Lund tries but he’s just not in Ladd’s league as a star or radio actor. The ficitionalisation of Jim Bowie’s lie is more annoying here because there’s no compensatory star, period detail or action we can see (the terrific knife fight isn’t that well done). So you just get irritated they changed his life – when a narrator could have fleshed out so much.

Radio review – TGA#51 - “Burlesque” by George Manker Watters and Arthur Hopkins (1946) **

Listening to this I kept thinking, "this would probably be good to watch on stage, with all these burlesque routines, gags and songs, etc around a standard plot" – but this radio adaptation just has the plot, which isn’t that interesting. Bert Lahr and June Havoc (Gypsy Rose Lee’s sister) play a husband and wife who play the burlesque circuit – he’s very talented but a boozer, skirt-chaser with no ambition, but she still loves him. I guess it’s okay, the performers can’t be faulted, but for me it lacked much depth and atmosphere – but like I say, it must have been fun to watch: Lahr appeared on this show to promote his appearance in a revival on Broadway which went for two years (it was originally produced in the late 1920s).

Script review – “Conan the Barbarian” by John Milius (and Oliver Stone) (draft from 1980)

Milius bounced back from the poor box office performance of Big Wednesday with this entertaining epic. His ability to write in different styles (provided those styles were masculine adventure tales) is well demonstrated here with hims easily and skilfully switching into “sword and sandal” mode. This is a lot of fun, with plenty of action, flowery prose and enjoyably over-the-top-yet-just-right dialogue; it's a pity he never made any more films along this line.

It deals with some recognisable Milius themes: a hero who becomes a legend, his lover is from a different race and she dies, there are colourful characters along the quest, weapons are awesome, bravery and honour is cool. There is also a king who complains about this new cult, and how the younger generation are all on drugs and in his day people wanted to be heroes.

Full of striking visual images: Conan biting the neck of the vulture while tied to the tree, the snake that turns into an arrow, the transition of time on the wheel of pain, the witch who changes shapes. The story is simple and effective - but it is a bit repetitive: four times Conan charges the enemy fortress (to steal some jewels, then to kill Doom, then to rescue the princess, then to kill Doom again), and there’s a lot of decapitations.

Script review – “Farewell to the King” (1986) by John Milius

Few filmmakers have tackled the subject of Borneo during World War Two – amazingly, I don’t think any Australian movie or TV show has, which is kind of embarrassing since we were the ones who led the invasion (it was an arguably pointless campaign but still even that would have made decent drama). It took John Milius, with his taste for less-explored detours in history, to bring it to the screen. 

 

Unfortunately it’s one of his lesser works. The story isn’t strong, the characters aren’t interesting, and it lacks the humour and verve of his best writing. It's all too serious, which Milius tended not to be in the 70s. Maybe he was intimidated by the fact that so many war veterans were still alive when he made the movie - "oh, gotta be truthful". (Though this didn't stop him being irreverent in Apocalypse Now.)

 

The best bit is the first act, which tells how the US sergeant, Learoyd, went from deserter to king of the jungle. But even this is weakened by being told in flashback. Second act involves the Botanist (he's not given a name, a mistake I think - a British officer parachuted into the jungle) persuading Learoyd to fight (done quite easily), going back to base to get a treaty signed, then coming back and watching the Allies easily knock off some starving Japanese. 

 

To give the thing a little pep, Milius throws in a third act about a unit of Japanese troops who are still well equipped and fed – they’ve turned cannibals, and their leader killed Learoyd’s mates back in the day. This does liven up the story, because it puts our leads under genuine threat. 

 

Then there’s an epilogue where it’s revealed Learoyd and some people who joined him held out – now this was interesting. And around this point the story started to take on some sort of epic form. But it came too late.

 

I think maybe they should have told the first act as is, not in flashback; or gotten the Botanist and Learoyd to do more things together so their relationship has more kick. Or something, I don't know - but it doesn't work that well.

 

It doesn't help that Learoyd isn’t a particularly unique character though, certainly not like Kurtz or even Jeremiah Johnson. The Botanist is just this British dude who gets some jungle in his nostril and likes Learoyd. (Milius isn’t comfortable writing British). More noteworthy is Ferguson, the Botanist’s superior, who urges the Botanist to remain British. The women characters are dusky maidens, breasts swinging in the breeze, all up for some white cock – apart from a nurse at the end who falls for the Botanist, even though he’s clearly in love with Learoyd.

 

There’s plenty of Aussies in the script. The Botanist’s sidekick is an Aussie, as are several of the special services men who parachute it. And the soldiers who beat and kick Learoyd at the end are Australian – so it’s not like a valentine to us. Interesting to read, but not one of Milius' best.

Radio review – "Mercury Summer Theatre" (1946)

Orson Welles rounded off his US radio career with this greatest hits compilation (with a few new ones thrown in) he did in the summer of 1946, partly to promote his Broadway production of Around the World in 80 Days. It was an interesting way for him to go full circle - Welles never got the chance to go full circle with his film career, so it's nice to have him do it here. I think he achieved all he wanted to achieve in radio by this time - superhero, master dramatist, media sensation, Shakespeare, sitcom star, politician. What other mountains did he have to climb?

Episodes

1) “Around the World in 80 Days” *** - rich stew, fascinating. Dreadful songs. Passporteaut is turned into American, it's hard to recognise Welles' voice as Detective Fix (he’s very good incidentally). The basic story keeps things pumping along. I would have liked to have seen the stage show, even if you get the impression it would have been too much and given you a headache.

2) "Count of Monte Cristo" - I didn't get to listen to this.

3) “The Hitchhiker” - *** - Welles reprises a popular Lucille Fletcher Suspense story he did; still pretty good.

4) “Jane Eyre” – *** - Decent condensation of one of his most famous roles.

5) “Passenger to Bali” – **1/2 - not bad version of this tale - was it worth revising? Maybe it was popular.

6) “Search for Henri L” – *** - adapted from story by Lucille Fletcher, done previously on Suspense - good story, a bit more energy than others.

7) “Life with Adam” - **1/2 – Welles decided to pull a revival of Treasure Island for this, a Canadian radio play he heard from Fletcher Markle, about a Welles-like genius who romances a woman. The part of Welles is played by Markle (apparently – it could be Welles himself, so effective is the copying), although Welles pops in continually from time to time to remind people he’s in on the joke (see! I am self-deprecating!) Story seems to lack a subplot – the Welles character up to something else or an antagonist, something more like The Man Who Came to Dinner (which Welles refers to in his introduction.)

8) “Moat Farm Murder” ***1/2 – excellent confession of a killer, well played by Welles despite having to essay a rural English accent. This is spooky and well directed; Welles really trying to make an effort with a new piece of material.

9) “Golden Honeymoon” ** - Two items strung together – a boring adaptation of a Ring Lardner story about two old people on a honeymoon together (cue Orson Welles aw-shucks-acting, along with Mercedes McCambridge) – more Welles Americana, and dull. The second one is an extract from Romeo and Juliet – Romeo’s death bed speech. Interesting to hear him perform the role but he sounds far too old and bombastic for it.

10) “Hell on Ice” *** - still good but not as good when it was longer

11) “Abendego” **Not as effective as in Hello Americans.

12) “Two Stories” **/**** - Welles does “I Thanks a Fool” and is as miscast as ever – but then redeems himself with a wonderful version of Poe’s “The Tell Tale Heart” complete with great thumping heart sounds. (This would make a great short film.) Welles didn’t make enough horror movies.

13) “Moby Dick” *** – Welles calls this the best novel in history, and he’d return to it throughout his career (doing a famous stage production in the 50s). Thirty minutes wasn’t long enough for this story, there’s no room for subplots, just Ahab to rant away. Welles hams it up as Ahab, if truth be told – but I still enjoyed listening to it a lot.

14) “The Apple Tree” *** sweet John Galsworthy tale about a college student who falls for a hot 17 year old farm girl while on holiday but ends up dumping her. This was later filmed as Summer Story – how did they get a feature out of it, Welles can’t even make the full half hour (he pads out the running time with another story)?

15) "Scenes from King Lear" **** - a chance to hear Welles take on a play he was very attached to, and came close to filming towards the end of this life. Some excellent acting, including Welles and Agnes Moorehead.

Script review – “Apocalypse Now” (1975) by John Milius and Francis Ford Coppola

Basically the same structure and story as Milius' 1969 draft, given a very good rewrite – trimmed dialogue, strengthening character work, re-named characters, a new ending. It still includes scenes in French plantation (only here Willard outsmarts the French at the end instead of getting ripped off by them) and meeting the playboy girls on the way; there's an opening from the mid 70s with Willard as a bodyguard for some rich dude.

The ending has changed – this one they arrive, Williard meets Moonby, an Aussie deserter, and Colby, a former US officer (apparently Scott Glenn played him in the film but was cut out), bonds with Kurtz, there’s an attack by the NVA which wipes out most of Kurtz's men, then he dies on a boat, like Kurtz in the novel, even saying "the horror". Willard goes a bit loony, shooting at evacuating helicopters, but recovers to visit Kurtz’s wife. More Milius than Coppola on the page, I think - but it required the poetry of Coppola the director to capture what was on the page.

Script review – “Big Wednesday” by John Milius and Denny Aarberg

Most writers end up glamorising their childhood sooner or later – here is Milius’ take on being a surfer in California in the early 60s. He gives it epic treatment – not in terms of massive cast or battles, but use of devices like a narrator, discussions of history of surfing and surfers, great waves that were like battles, passing of the years, birth of children, deaths of friends, mentors, disillusionment, a climactic final battle to achieve greatness, the passing of the flame to the next generation.

It’s silly – at least to a non-surfer – but it’s genuine, from the heart and I really found myself getting swept away with it. (When I wasn’t wondering, how they were going to shoot all this evocative big print about surfing). There are also a few sex scenes, quite evocatively described – not common for Milius

The script falls into four parts, complete with chapter headings: 1963, the last summer; 1965, when the Vietnam draft came calling (a funny sequence involving avoiding the draft); 1968, when one of their number comes back from Vietnam; 1974, the arrival of the Big Wednesday.

The three heroes weren’t exactly admirable. Even sensible Jake, who goes off to war, comes back and sooks because his girlfriend marries someone else after (shock horror) not hearing from him for three years – she wants him back too but he still goes and sooks off to work in the forests. Stuff him. The wild one, here called Lance Johnson (I believe they changed it) is shown at the opening to be a drunk not worthy of his tremendous talent. And crazy Mitch deals drugs to kids. Maybe that’s the point – they stuffed their lives, but they managed to pull this off riding Big Wednesday.

Plenty of strong moments: a trip to Tijuana that turns nightmarish; the evocative character of Bear; having a funeral for an old friend; the monologues; watching a surfing movie; the final surf. Just reading it you can understand why this (a) flopped (b) has a massive cult.

Script review – “The Wind and the Lion” by John Milius

Milius liked to pick more off-the-beaten-track period of history for his scripts: Apocalypse Now was about Vietnam at a time when hardly any films were set in that war; Jeremiah Johnson was set very early for a Western, Judge Roy Bean was quite late. This one is set during the Theodore Roosevelt era, when American began flexing its muscles internationally – I’m surprised more pieces haven’t been set during that time. It’s based on the real-life Perdicaris Incident, where an American citizen was kidnapped by a Berber brigand. Milius converts the abductee into a beautiful widow (throwing in her two kids) – but cleverly has President Roosevelt misinformed that it’s a man who has been taken (as he surely wouldn’t have been so gung-ho with a female life at stake).

This is a combination of The Sheik, High Wind in Jamaica (the two kids kind of enjoy being kidnapped), Lawrence of Arabia and Gunga Din. The script has lots of big print, well written as always, this time in a more romantic style as befits the genre. There was perhaps too much big print – it’s all in one big lumpy paragraph which makes it hard to read. It’s slightly novelistic, has thought bubbles for characters which is normally a no-no, but I guess doesn’t matter so much here.

But it’s a lot of fun. For some reason it’s never quite offensive - I didn’t find it offensive, anyway. It’s all these colourful characters acting outrageously – the brigand kidnaps this woman and her kids and kills a bunch of guys, but remains sympathetic; the Americans just storm a palace and start shooting people to encourage the Moroccans to negotiate, then at the end they join in an attempt to save the life of the brigand for adventure’s sake – and they’re the heroes, but it doesn’t seem to matter. Maybe this is because Milius sets up the spirit of the thing well – he’s also realistic, people do things for glory, politics and cash as much as honour.

Like other early Milius scripts it’s not strong on story – you’d think that wouldn’t be the case considering the set up, but it’s true. Basically the girl is kidnapped and she hangs around playing chess. Most of the running time consists of a collection of incidents after the girl is kidnapped: Teddy Roosevelt running around, the soldiers planning to attack, diplomats chatting. (For instance, the whole bit where the girl escapes and is recaptured could have been cut). But when you think about it, a lot of his other early scripts was like that too – colourful people in colourful situations. And it’s always entertaining.

There’s a slightly silly finale where the woman teams up with some American soldiers and Berbers to rescue the brigand, whose been captured by some Moroccan enemies and German soldiers – the German soldier element feels under-developed for people who are villains. This bit didn’t totally work for me.

The role of the brigand is terrific- funny, honourable, ruthless, sexy, brave, religious, etc, etc. He’s got many wonderful lines and scenes. So, too, does Theodore Roosevelt – story-wise you didn’t need them all, I guess, but they’re all gold. There are some choice support male parts too such as the bloodthirsty American officer.

The part of Eden, the woman, is less good – she’s just spunky and beautiful (she goes for an obligatory nude swim midnight at the oasis). There’s an appearance by Charles Foster Kane, newspaper baron – (Milius was even going to get Welles to play it) but the studio apparently nixed it. A grand romp, and fun to read once you get used to those large paragraphs.

Script review – “Dillinger” by John Milius

John Milius earned enough of a reputation with his excellent scripts for The Life and Time of Judge Roy Bean and Jeremiah Johnson - not to mention his rewrite on Dirty Harry - that AIP let him make his directorial debut with this script. It’s another tale of a legendary man of history who lived on the outskirts of the law (Apocalypse Now was about the same thing too come to think of it.)

Milius once said in an interview that when he was a teenager he was capable of writing in different styles: Hemingway, Conrad, etc. This is written in a different style to his Westerns, which were heavily influenced by the time, in dialogue and in big print. This is much more Warner Bros of the 30s. It’s a very solid, exciting screenplay, with plenty of action, pace and rich characters, plus marvellous tangy dialogue – it's not as good as his earlier stuff, but still worth reading.

There are two main characters in Dillinger – Dillinger and Melvin Purvis, both of whom are excellent at their jobs, like the finer things in life, and are very conscious of themselves and their place in history. Dillinger’s main romantic relationship is with Billie Frechette. On their first meeting she accidentally insults him, he kidnaps her, she slaps him a few times, he slaps her back, they have hot sex and decide to hook up. To be honest, this sort of stuff is hard to take (Milius wasn’t exactly a great female writer – there’s lots of descriptions of Billie’s hot body, although this may have been an requirement for AIP). Much is made of Frechette being part Indian - like Judge Roy Bean and Jeremiah Johnson, the hero has a doomed relationship with a non-Anglo.

Like most Milius scripts at this stage in his career, the male supporting roles are evocatively drawn: the cocky member of his gang who Dillinger shoots, a decent dumb member (Homer), elegant Pretty Boy Floyd and vile Baby Face Nelson. The female roles are less memorable.

Radio review – TGA#14 – “Street Scene” (1949) ***

Terrific cast on display here: Richard Conte (then a rising star, as a lawyer who remembers growing up in the tenements), Diana Lynn (as the girl he loved who got an offer to be a mistress), Shirley Booth (Lynn’s adulterous mother), Karl Malden (sleazy neighbour), Thelma Ritter (gossip). I enjoyed this more than I thought – it’s a pretty good melodrama (although most of the big stuff happens at the end, the rest is more slice-of-life and character build up). The impact is not what it was eighty years ago because it’s been much imitated but the themes and dilemmas remain universal.

Radio review – Lux – “Blood and Sand” (1941) **

Tyrone Power had one of his biggest hits remaking the Rudolph Valentino classic – even though he’s very American he’s still got enough dash and charisma to pull off the part of a Spanish bullfighter. The story must have been stock, even then – Power is an ambitious bullfighter, who marries a Good Girl but gets attracted and distracted by a rich temptress, learns his lesson in time to die. The film version had costumes, colour photography, bullfighting, and a cast including Laird Cregar, Linda Darnell and Rita Hayworth – none of which we have here. We do have Power plus his future wife Annabella playing his love interest and it works on a hokey melodramatic level.

Documentary review – “Cleopatra: the Film That Changed Hollywood" (2001) ****1/2

Sensational documentary about the making of the epic film – the story is such you know it’s going to be interesting, but this has the benefit of some amazing footage. I especially loved seeing the stuff from the cancelled Richard Mamoulian version, with Joan Collins, Stephen Boyd, Keith Baxter and Peter Finch (who I think would have been a sensational Caesar - he had the intelligence of Rex Harrison but was a more believable soldier); also TV footage from the time of Cleopatra spoofs (one with Don Adams), ads, spinoffs (an ice skater doing a Cleopatra routine!) and premieres.

The quality of talking heads is high – the sons and widow of Joe Mankiewicz, daughter of Walter Wanger (who admits to trying on Cleopatra make up as a little girl), Roddy McDowell (who missed out on an Oscar nom because the studio entered him in the wrong category – Best Actor instead of Best Support; poor Roddy, he would have been a shoo-in for a nom, although I don’t quite agree with Maureen O’Hara calling it “a great tragedy), Martin Landau, Hume Cronyn, Keith Baxter (Octavius in the Mamoulian version).

Many of the support cast complain their roles were trimmed (some were cut altogether);I disagree with the argument that Mankiewicz’s six hour cut was a masterpiece; I’ve read the script and am sure there was other good stuff, but it’s long as a three hour version as it is - six would have been torturous. I'm on Daryl Zanuck's side with that one. Still, a remarkable achievement for Mankiewicz that it turned out as well as it did.

Movie review – “Cleopatra” (1963) **1/2

Notorious epic which isn't as bad as you think, but not as good as it could have been - but much better than at one stage it looked it was going to be. It gets off to a terrific start, with Caesar visting Ptolomey (Richard O’Sullivan from Man About the House, excellent here as the little tyrannical brat), being presented with Pompey’s head, meeting Cleopatra.

 

Indeed, the first quarter of the film races along because the goals are clear – Cleopatra wants Caesar’s help, he becomes bewitched, he’s stuck in Egypt. The second quarter, which revolves around Caesar going to war, is less good, though still entertaining.

 

The second half slows down because the character’s goals are less compelling – Cleopatra wants world domination, but Anthony just sort of goes with the flow, like a pussy-whipped weakling. As it goes on it gets slower and slower – the Battle of Actium takes far too long, as does the fall out from the Battle: endless scenes of Antony sulking, and spatting with Cleopatra. When they need to wrap it up it’s dragged out, so when they leading duo kill themselves you’re relieved. 

 

Joseph Mankiewicz's handling isn’t overly dynamic but there are some striking visuals: Cleopatra’s entrance into Rome (ending with her wink), the remnants of the Battle of Philippi, the beautiful ships, Roddy McDowall killing Hume Cronyn with a spear, the shock of seeing Caesarion’s corpse, Richard Burton charging his enemies single-handed (even though this whole sequence probably should have been cut). A lot of the budget is up there on screen - the spectacle is terrific.

 

Elizabeth Taylor is beautiful but to be honest looks a little heavy for her poor servant to carry her around in a carpet. Her performance is a bit amateur-hour, too – she sounds like a spoilt child, which I guess Cleopatra was, but surely she had a better speaking voice than Taylor. In fact, Joan Collins seems more effective in her screen tests (which I saw in the making-of doco, discussed in another entry.) However, they exploit her greatest asset, her beauty, very well: she is very sexy, frequently appearing wearing not much (low cut dresses, nude on the massage table and bath, etc). Very racy, even for the early 60s.

Richard Burton is alright as the weakling Anthony – his terrific voice shows up Taylor’s. Rex Harrison is the best of the lead three as Caesar – not really believable as a soldier, but obviously smart as a whip, and also just the sort of guy who would be infatuated by Cleopatra.

 

The support cast is outstanding: Roddy McDowall’s Octavian has rarely been bettered (cold, chilling, ruthless – but a much better leader than Anthony; the film’s a little unfair showing him to be sick around battle time – I guess they needed to show Anthony was better at him than something); Martin Landau and Andrew Keir are excellent soldier types; Hume Cronyn and Michael Hordern play officials, Egyptian and Roman respectively; Pamela Brown is there too - as pointed out by David Shipman, she would have made a terrific Cleopatra. 

 

But at the end of the day, it's all about story.

Script review – “Jeremiah Johnson” by John Milius

Another excellent script from Milius, which must have knocked the socks off those who read it at the time. It’s still impressive. It’s similar to The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean in many ways: based on a true story, about an individualist in the old West; loving, evocative big print (almost like a novel at times); particular dialogue; episodic structure; a non-Anglo wife who dies; colourful characters; a hero who becomes a legend in his own time.

There is perhaps more of an overall story than Judge Roy Bean – namely, the murder of Johnson’s wife which sends him off on a rampage, Dirty Harry style (another script on which Milius worked). This tends to go on a bit; there’s a subplot about Johnson’s adopted son, who was kidnapped by the Crow Indians who killed his wife, and becomes a Crow warrior. You expect a confrontation but none really comes – the son is killed in a final battle where the Mountain Men rescue Johnson, who’s been kidnapped. Johnson returns his son to the Crow and they have a funeral – Johnson’s rampage has caused the death of hundreds, but he feels bad about it.

It’s an individual, exciting work, which doesn’t perhaps have the best structure (in all honesty I can understand why they put on another writer, Edward Anhalt), but has genuine uniqueness. Like Judge Roy Bean and Apocalypse Now it's full of memorable characters and scenes: the guy left with his head shaven buried up to his neck, the crazy woman who’s family has been killed by Indian.

Radio review – TGA#18 - “Three Men on a Horse” (1946) **

Lame farce about a greeting card writer (inspired by Mr Deeds Goes to Town?) who also happens to be a great one for picking race horse winners, provided he actually doesn’t bet himself. So some professional gamblers get involved. Er, that’s about it. The leads are played by middle aged character actors with wacky accents including Sam Levene and Shirley Booth. This was a bit hit in its day and was often revived – why? It’s not particularly funny, the idea isn’t that great, neither is the structure or dialogue (I kept expecting it to get life or death with some gangster, but it never did). Maybe people liked seeing character actors play colourful Runyon-esque types.