Jewell co-authored the excellent RKO Story years ago but thankfully came back with this entertaining history, which goes from the beginning of the studio until the end of the George Schaefer regime in the 1940s - admittedly frustrating, since I was hoping to go through until the end (which only would have been another decade) but presumably volume two is on its way.
RKO was always an odd kind of studio - one of the eight majors, with big backing (RCA, Joseph Kennedy), impressive resources... but it always seemed in a permanent state of crisis, and its eventual death mustn't have been that surprising in the late 1950s. Many reasons for this are raised here, chief of which seems to be management instability - the people in charge kept changing; they had David O. Selznick for a time and could have kept him (and then gotten him back) but foolishly didn't; ditto Pando Berman. (Later they had Charles Koerner who died.)
George Schaefer has a high reputation because he backed Citizen Kane but here comes across as a bit of a stubborn idiot who didn't suit his job and cost the studio millions. They also displayed a bewildering inability to produce stars, letting talents like Joan Fontaine, Lucille Ball and Joel McCrea through their fingers, and being unable to hold onto Astaire and Rogers or Kate Hepburn, and even Orson Welles (who surely could have been used as an actor more).
Still whenever RKO looked weak they manged to pull a rabbit out of the hat: King Kong, Astaire-Rogers, Little Women, Ginger Rogers vehicles, Garson Kanin, Val Lewton, Gunga Din, The Saint. Jewel covers most of this, with particular looks at Astaire-Rogers, Hepburn, Gunga Din, Kong, Welles' films and some other key movies such as Bachelor Mother.
Well written, superbly researched, although it did take me a while to wrap my head around all the non famous crucial executives who appear in it because there are so many. Studios really do work better when they are benign dictatorships and RKO's problem is that it wasn't - or had crap dictators.
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Book review - "The Man Who Seduced Hollywood: The Lives and Loves of Greg Bautzer" (2013) by James Goldstone
Greg Bautzer is one of those people forever popping up in books about classic era Hollywood, either having affairs with movie stars, hanging out with big wigs or being involved in high level industry machinations. He deserved a book and James Goldstone did him proud. There's plenty of sex and saliciousness but Goldstone is a lawyer and a diligent skilled writer, so the legal/business side of Bautzer's career is well covered.
Bautzer was one of those improbably successful people who are the ultimate cool kid in high school: good looking, smart, loyal, great dancer, an expert womaniser (his technique: listen, pay attention, send them red roses and take them on a trip beforehand... plus be handsome and all that), a brilliant lawyer especially in the courtroom, a skilled negotiator, and brave (sticking up Bugsy Siegel). All of his exes spoke of him with fondness, his friends adored him - he was Howard Hughes' lawyer during the crazy years, worked for Kirk Kekorian, helped in the establishment of modern Los Angeles, represented Ingrid Bergman during her divorce and custody cases (rare defeats for the lawyer but not really his fault), was crucial in getting Robert Evans appointed to run Paramount and James T Aubrey to run MGM...
It's almost a relief in a way to come across his flaws: an alcoholic who got violent after a few too many, war service that was fairly bludgy (never got in harm's way). Still, he held on to his health reasonably enough and died of a heart attack without losing his position in Hollywood or his faculties.
Bautzer was conscious of his sex appeal and used the starlets he dated to raise his profile and help get him work (he would leak to Hedda and Louella constantly and his stud reputation impressed nerds like Kekorian). But he certainly seemed to take pleasure in his conquests, which makes for a very impressive reading: Lana Turner (took her virginity), Joan Crawford (rough, violent sex), Dorothy Lamour, Jeanne Crain (didn't know she was such a saucy minx), Ginger Rogers, Dana Wynter (who he married), Jane Wyman (?), Paulette Goddard, many others. He packed an awful lot in, especially with all those nagging clients. Terrific book.
Bautzer was one of those improbably successful people who are the ultimate cool kid in high school: good looking, smart, loyal, great dancer, an expert womaniser (his technique: listen, pay attention, send them red roses and take them on a trip beforehand... plus be handsome and all that), a brilliant lawyer especially in the courtroom, a skilled negotiator, and brave (sticking up Bugsy Siegel). All of his exes spoke of him with fondness, his friends adored him - he was Howard Hughes' lawyer during the crazy years, worked for Kirk Kekorian, helped in the establishment of modern Los Angeles, represented Ingrid Bergman during her divorce and custody cases (rare defeats for the lawyer but not really his fault), was crucial in getting Robert Evans appointed to run Paramount and James T Aubrey to run MGM...
It's almost a relief in a way to come across his flaws: an alcoholic who got violent after a few too many, war service that was fairly bludgy (never got in harm's way). Still, he held on to his health reasonably enough and died of a heart attack without losing his position in Hollywood or his faculties.
Bautzer was conscious of his sex appeal and used the starlets he dated to raise his profile and help get him work (he would leak to Hedda and Louella constantly and his stud reputation impressed nerds like Kekorian). But he certainly seemed to take pleasure in his conquests, which makes for a very impressive reading: Lana Turner (took her virginity), Joan Crawford (rough, violent sex), Dorothy Lamour, Jeanne Crain (didn't know she was such a saucy minx), Ginger Rogers, Dana Wynter (who he married), Jane Wyman (?), Paulette Goddard, many others. He packed an awful lot in, especially with all those nagging clients. Terrific book.
Movie review - "High Anxiety" (1977) **1/2
Based on memory I always thought this film couldn't have made a stage musical but on re-viewing it actually could because so much of it consists of block comedy sketches/scenes a la Your Show of Shows. There are some visual gags eg the orchestra bus passing by, spoofs from Psycho and The Birds but it's not hard to see it musicalised.
Mel Brooks is very winning in the lead, Madeline Khan is terrific as always as the blonde, ditto Cloris Leachman and Harvey Korman. The guy who plays the old shrink isn't that great, or is the chauffeur. It's not a particularly stylish looking movie - like 70s Hitchcock there is too much brown and crappy 70s furniture and I longed for the lushness of 50s and 60s Hitch. But the central mystery isn't bad (although a final twist would've been good) and the film's willingness to entertain and get a laugh is very endearing.
Mel Brooks is very winning in the lead, Madeline Khan is terrific as always as the blonde, ditto Cloris Leachman and Harvey Korman. The guy who plays the old shrink isn't that great, or is the chauffeur. It's not a particularly stylish looking movie - like 70s Hitchcock there is too much brown and crappy 70s furniture and I longed for the lushness of 50s and 60s Hitch. But the central mystery isn't bad (although a final twist would've been good) and the film's willingness to entertain and get a laugh is very endearing.
Movie review - "Silver Linings Playbook" (2012) ***
Sweet rom com with Bradley Cooper and especially Jennifer Lawrence in good form as the two lunatics who find each other. I wish the movie hadn't gone for almost two hours, and it hadn't taken almost 30 minutes to meet Lawrence, and that the climax had been a little less Hollywood, and that Chris Tucker had something more to do... but David O. Russell is always good on families and its handled with freshness.
Friday, June 14, 2013
Movie review - "The Place Beyond the Pines" (2012) ** (warning: spoilers)
I went with this for the first two thirds. It's clearly directed by a man with talent and was full of interesting fresh touches - Ryan Gosling's introduction riding motorbikes (an old fashioned star entrance done very well), the atmosphere of the small town (diners, sideshows, churches), hooking up with Ben Mendelsohn (another excellent performance), several bank robberies. The details weren't super original but the handling made it worth it, including the acting.
The second third was less good - I wasn't wild about the introduction of corrupt cops (would they really invite Bradley Cooper along on a shake down?) but it had strong atmosphere. The last third started off well with some interesting casting, but then the tide ran out and it got sillier and sillier with unconvincing gun pointing scenes and drives out to graves, and it felt as though it dragged on and on (the lack of star power around this bit didn't hurt either).
The script is not a traditional film structure (three sections, three different protagonists) but won't surprise too many who read novels. They probably should have made it just out of the first third - I know that would have defeated what they wanted to do, but it would have made for a more entertaining movie.
The second third was less good - I wasn't wild about the introduction of corrupt cops (would they really invite Bradley Cooper along on a shake down?) but it had strong atmosphere. The last third started off well with some interesting casting, but then the tide ran out and it got sillier and sillier with unconvincing gun pointing scenes and drives out to graves, and it felt as though it dragged on and on (the lack of star power around this bit didn't hurt either).
The script is not a traditional film structure (three sections, three different protagonists) but won't surprise too many who read novels. They probably should have made it just out of the first third - I know that would have defeated what they wanted to do, but it would have made for a more entertaining movie.
Movie review - "Captain January" (1936) ***
Cheery Shirley Temple vehicle which has the advantage in that her father figure here - Guy Kibee - doesn't seem like a pedophile, which is a big improvement on John Boles. It also has a charming wish fulfilment world - what little kid at some stage hasn't wanted to live in a lighthouse full of people who adore you? There's not just Kibee, there's also various sailors and other sea salt types, Slim Summerville and Bubby Ebsen... it's kind of like Full House by the sea.
Sara Haden is a great villain, a nasty person wanting to remove Shirley from her happy home, there's some good seaside atmosphere, Ebsen is a refreshingly original romantic lead (by looking so gangly - he's still preferable to some bland male model type), Shirley's dancing has really improved and she does some entertaining routines with Ebsen and others, she sobs convincingly. After The Littlest Rebel I was shaken over Shirley Temple films but I enjoyed this more than I thought I would.
Sara Haden is a great villain, a nasty person wanting to remove Shirley from her happy home, there's some good seaside atmosphere, Ebsen is a refreshingly original romantic lead (by looking so gangly - he's still preferable to some bland male model type), Shirley's dancing has really improved and she does some entertaining routines with Ebsen and others, she sobs convincingly. After The Littlest Rebel I was shaken over Shirley Temple films but I enjoyed this more than I thought I would.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Movie review - "The Littlest Rebel" (1935) *1/2
Hideously racist Shirley Temple film set in the South during the Civil War, far more offensive than The Little Colonel. In that film little Shirley was just the granddaughter of a former slave owner, who made friends with blacks; here she is the daughter of a slave owning couple, living in happy bliss, with smiling dancing slaves and quaint tea parties. Bill Robinson dances for the children's entertainment and he and his fellow slaves get tea for the little overdressed kids.
This happy scene is interrupted by news of the civil war. Dad goes off leaving Shirley, mum and the slaves scared and alone - some nasty Yankee soldiers come along, and ransack the house, forcing Shirley to put on boot polish and pretend to be a slave. There's also a sleeve where Willie Best, as a dimwitted servant, wonders what it means to be free as he has no idea and Shirley nods in agreement.
Many scenes in this are very reminiscent of Gone with the Wind - a gentlemanly Southern house party interrupted by news of Ford Sumter, faithful slaves who stay at home, the raid by nasty Yankees, mum dying of an illness, a flee through enemy territory on a horse and buggy. Maybe Margaret Mitchell saw it when finishing off her novel.
Further detracting from the fun is stiff John Boles (male leads in Shirley Temple films always came back for a second helping eg James Dunn) and the sight of Willie Best having to make a fool of himself, although Bill Robinson manages to maintain some dignity. He does several dances with Shirley, some of which are quite good, especially the one at the end. Indeed, to give this movie its due, it picks up at the end, with Boles and Shirley trying to escape through enemy lines, Robinson and Shirley busking, and Abe Lincoln coming to the rescue. Too little too late but at least it's something.
This happy scene is interrupted by news of the civil war. Dad goes off leaving Shirley, mum and the slaves scared and alone - some nasty Yankee soldiers come along, and ransack the house, forcing Shirley to put on boot polish and pretend to be a slave. There's also a sleeve where Willie Best, as a dimwitted servant, wonders what it means to be free as he has no idea and Shirley nods in agreement.
Many scenes in this are very reminiscent of Gone with the Wind - a gentlemanly Southern house party interrupted by news of Ford Sumter, faithful slaves who stay at home, the raid by nasty Yankees, mum dying of an illness, a flee through enemy territory on a horse and buggy. Maybe Margaret Mitchell saw it when finishing off her novel.
Further detracting from the fun is stiff John Boles (male leads in Shirley Temple films always came back for a second helping eg James Dunn) and the sight of Willie Best having to make a fool of himself, although Bill Robinson manages to maintain some dignity. He does several dances with Shirley, some of which are quite good, especially the one at the end. Indeed, to give this movie its due, it picks up at the end, with Boles and Shirley trying to escape through enemy lines, Robinson and Shirley busking, and Abe Lincoln coming to the rescue. Too little too late but at least it's something.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Movie review - "The Sure Thing" (1985) ***
The standard of most 80s teen sex comedies was so dire it wasn't hard to stick above the pack. This one did - it's not a very original idea (mismatched couple travel across country) but is full of interesting touches and done with a great deal of charm, helped by some lovely performances from John Cusack and Daphne Zuniga.
Cusack's abilities are well known - they weren't at the time but this helped him stand out pretty quickly. I'd forgotten how terrific Zuniga was - pretty, believably smart but still likeable, game for adventure. Neither character is that memorable - it's not a patch on say Say Anything even though the archetypes are similar (I never got a fix on what Cusack's character was really about) - but they work well and there's this lovely sweetness to it all. Tim Robbins pops up and in one scene Cusack wears an Aussie rugby league jersey.
Cusack's abilities are well known - they weren't at the time but this helped him stand out pretty quickly. I'd forgotten how terrific Zuniga was - pretty, believably smart but still likeable, game for adventure. Neither character is that memorable - it's not a patch on say Say Anything even though the archetypes are similar (I never got a fix on what Cusack's character was really about) - but they work well and there's this lovely sweetness to it all. Tim Robbins pops up and in one scene Cusack wears an Aussie rugby league jersey.
Movie review - "Forty Guns" (1957) ***1/2
Not one of Sam Fuller's more famous movies but I really liked it - full of interesting touches a visuals. Barbra Stanwyck was born to act in a Fuller film - all blazing guns, toughness and sex. And she's not punished for it in the end, either!
Fuller really flexes his directorial muscles here, with great tracking shots, POVs of guns, thundering action sequences (Joseph Biroc was DOP); there are songs, suicide, torment and comedy; it's also very sexy, with a female gunsmith who gets seduced with guns. I did get the actors who played the brothers confused. But great, full on fun.
Fuller really flexes his directorial muscles here, with great tracking shots, POVs of guns, thundering action sequences (Joseph Biroc was DOP); there are songs, suicide, torment and comedy; it's also very sexy, with a female gunsmith who gets seduced with guns. I did get the actors who played the brothers confused. But great, full on fun.
TV review - "John Adams" (2008) ****
Very expensive mini series swept all honours before it and helped revitalise the reputation of America's second president, who is so overshadowed by the first and third. There are surprisingly few dramatic looks at the American Revolution - the Yanks seem too scared to look at it, most of them come from Britain (this had a British director and a heavily British cast). This goes for it: the politicking and backbiting, religious hatred, slavery, xenophobia, genuine patriotism, bloodlust, aggressive foreign policy, Boston Massacres, science, dropkick sons and sex.
I will admit Paul Giamatti did get on my nerves after a while - all that dour grumpiness - and Laura Linney wasn't exactly a barrel of laughs as Abigail. But Stephen Dillane was terrific as Jefferson and there was great work from people like Tom Wilkinson (Franklin), Rufus Sewell (Hamilton), Sarah Polley (daughter) and others. Stunning production value, endlessly interesting, fairly obviously made by Poms (the digs at the French, pausing for moments of sadness when English soldiers die), and really moving in some places (eg death of Linney). If only we could make something like this in Australia!
I will admit Paul Giamatti did get on my nerves after a while - all that dour grumpiness - and Laura Linney wasn't exactly a barrel of laughs as Abigail. But Stephen Dillane was terrific as Jefferson and there was great work from people like Tom Wilkinson (Franklin), Rufus Sewell (Hamilton), Sarah Polley (daughter) and others. Stunning production value, endlessly interesting, fairly obviously made by Poms (the digs at the French, pausing for moments of sadness when English soldiers die), and really moving in some places (eg death of Linney). If only we could make something like this in Australia!
Movie review - "Die Hard" (1988) ****1/2
This holds up incredibly well. Not completely: it's glamourisation of smoking, the subplot about the fat cop who rediscovers his ability to kill and the wife who learns to reclaim her married name.... but it is wonderful. Well staged action, Bruce Willis was so much more likeable in many ways with hair (and he's perfect in the role), a terrific plot from the bad guys who have a chance of pulling off the heist all the way until the end (one of the best ever baddy plots up there with Goldfinger), Alan Rickman's stunningly good bad guy (despite unprofessional henchmen), Bonnie Bedelia's likeable wife (why didn't they use a daughter/wife under threat again in films three onwards... as in all the way though not in bits), some terrific complicating "non-helpers" in the form of the FBI, media and the police (all too believable). A genuine classic.
Movie review - "Running from the Guns" (1987) **
The Man from Snowy River showed the world we could make Westerns as good as the Yanks; ditto Anzacs with war stories and Crocodile Dundee with fish out of water comedy, so you can't blame the Burrowes Film Group for having a crack at the buddy action film.
And you know something? There's no reason why we couldn't - it's just this isn't very good. For starters the plot is both thin and needlessly complicated. Jon Blake and Mark Hembrow are usually very likeable, and could have been here but don't really have characters to play - it didn't require anything of depth, just "larrikin" but they're not even that: Blake's dad had a sort of shady past but nothing much is made of it; they know Painters and Dockers and for some reason can handle guns (I can't remember an Aussie film which had so many guns).
Blake flirts with Nikki Coghill who again is very pretty, likeable and much too good for the film she's in - but there is no romance: its even more chaste than The Man from Snowy River which is saying something. There are some decent support actors such as Bill Kerr and Terence Donovan, a plot full of holes (people are constantly being kidnapped or popping up out of nowhere), unimpressive action sequences, broad caricatures instead of characterisation, lazy populism. It's just kind of stupid. I really wish the Burrowes Group had only made films based on strong source material - they could have lasted a lot longer.
And you know something? There's no reason why we couldn't - it's just this isn't very good. For starters the plot is both thin and needlessly complicated. Jon Blake and Mark Hembrow are usually very likeable, and could have been here but don't really have characters to play - it didn't require anything of depth, just "larrikin" but they're not even that: Blake's dad had a sort of shady past but nothing much is made of it; they know Painters and Dockers and for some reason can handle guns (I can't remember an Aussie film which had so many guns).
Blake flirts with Nikki Coghill who again is very pretty, likeable and much too good for the film she's in - but there is no romance: its even more chaste than The Man from Snowy River which is saying something. There are some decent support actors such as Bill Kerr and Terence Donovan, a plot full of holes (people are constantly being kidnapped or popping up out of nowhere), unimpressive action sequences, broad caricatures instead of characterisation, lazy populism. It's just kind of stupid. I really wish the Burrowes Group had only made films based on strong source material - they could have lasted a lot longer.
Movie review - "Whatever Works" (2009) **1/2
This gets off to a great start, with Larry David ranting entertainingly at the audience with his hatred of life - it's not fresh material but David is a great Woody Allen surrogate, far more virile than Woody today and thus imposing. David carries the early stages of this film on his shoulders and while the comic Bergman rants about misery and death have been seen before, I was going with it.
Then Evan Rachel Wood's character turns up as a barely legal runaway who walks around his apartment in underwear and you get the sinking feeling "oh no this is going to be another May-December romance" and sure enough... she can't resist aging foreskin and throws herself at him, and he eventually caves. And what do you know the love of a woman young enough to be his granddaughter (I did the sums) rejuvenates David.
Once upon a time Woody Allen was capable of analysing generation gap romance with some insight and sharpness - Manhattan, Hannah and her Sisters and Husbands and Wives for instance. Then after he hooked up with Soo-Yi he seemed to become hooked on co-starring opposite love interests played by women at least half his age (Julia Roberts, Elisabeth Shue, Helen Hunt, Tea Leoni, Judy Davis), never critically or with any sort of fresh take. His fortunes as a filmmaker seem to have improved in recent years by (a) leaving New York and (b) having couples star opposite each other who are roughly the same age. This one breaks both rules.
And you know something it needn't have mattered had Allen done something interesting with an age gap romance - I'm sure twenty years with a much younger partner has provided him with some material, but we don't really get any of that here apart from the fact she is good with his panic attacks, carries viagra, and has different tastes. David's fling with Rachel Wood is just a good positive thing - she does wind up leaving him for a younger man but she's turned his life around, encouraged him to reconnect with the world... it's like Ingmar Bergman's sex comedies without the bite or the Barbara Hershey-Max Von Sydow subplot in Hannah with a feel good ending. Hate the world? Bang a 21 year old runaway - you'll feel better. Am I oversimplifying? I don't think so.
I know this is just my prejudice but it's how I feel and it's a shame because it's lazy, David is good, Patricia Clarkson is fun.
Then Evan Rachel Wood's character turns up as a barely legal runaway who walks around his apartment in underwear and you get the sinking feeling "oh no this is going to be another May-December romance" and sure enough... she can't resist aging foreskin and throws herself at him, and he eventually caves. And what do you know the love of a woman young enough to be his granddaughter (I did the sums) rejuvenates David.
Once upon a time Woody Allen was capable of analysing generation gap romance with some insight and sharpness - Manhattan, Hannah and her Sisters and Husbands and Wives for instance. Then after he hooked up with Soo-Yi he seemed to become hooked on co-starring opposite love interests played by women at least half his age (Julia Roberts, Elisabeth Shue, Helen Hunt, Tea Leoni, Judy Davis), never critically or with any sort of fresh take. His fortunes as a filmmaker seem to have improved in recent years by (a) leaving New York and (b) having couples star opposite each other who are roughly the same age. This one breaks both rules.
And you know something it needn't have mattered had Allen done something interesting with an age gap romance - I'm sure twenty years with a much younger partner has provided him with some material, but we don't really get any of that here apart from the fact she is good with his panic attacks, carries viagra, and has different tastes. David's fling with Rachel Wood is just a good positive thing - she does wind up leaving him for a younger man but she's turned his life around, encouraged him to reconnect with the world... it's like Ingmar Bergman's sex comedies without the bite or the Barbara Hershey-Max Von Sydow subplot in Hannah with a feel good ending. Hate the world? Bang a 21 year old runaway - you'll feel better. Am I oversimplifying? I don't think so.
I know this is just my prejudice but it's how I feel and it's a shame because it's lazy, David is good, Patricia Clarkson is fun.
Movie review - "The Crimson Kimono" (1959) **1/2
Props to Sam Fuller for not whimping out - a white girl chasing after an Asian lead is rare enough in 2013 but in 1959 it must have seemed like a movie from Mars. It gives this piece some novelty which to be honest is lacking in the actual story - cops investigating the death of a stripper.
James Shigeta shows charisma and talent as the lead, a former Nisei who lives with his fellow detective Glenn Corbett - I mean they share an apartment an everything and have a heavy bromance. This is interrupted when they meet sketch artist Victoria Shaw (an Aussie model who moved to Hollywood in the mid 50s); she starts flirting with Corbett but falls for Shigeta. Corbett is actually okay with it but Shigeta battles with his own racism - which starts off interesting, but after a while tends to rob the piece of drama because it robs Corbett of a genuine dramatic function (i.e. he's not the antagonist - it's Shigeta's sense of worth). And also the murder plot seems to be overlooked.
Still, some memorable moments and like all Fuller films full of interesting touches.
James Shigeta shows charisma and talent as the lead, a former Nisei who lives with his fellow detective Glenn Corbett - I mean they share an apartment an everything and have a heavy bromance. This is interrupted when they meet sketch artist Victoria Shaw (an Aussie model who moved to Hollywood in the mid 50s); she starts flirting with Corbett but falls for Shigeta. Corbett is actually okay with it but Shigeta battles with his own racism - which starts off interesting, but after a while tends to rob the piece of drama because it robs Corbett of a genuine dramatic function (i.e. he's not the antagonist - it's Shigeta's sense of worth). And also the murder plot seems to be overlooked.
Still, some memorable moments and like all Fuller films full of interesting touches.
Movie review - "Away All Boats" (1956) **1/2
Presumably the success of To Hell and Back prompted Universal to fork out a bit more cash in this tale of the Navy in World War Two. We have the studio's favourite cross dresser, Jeff Chandler and second favourite gay, George Nader, pulling out the Brylcream and flexing their pecs as two officers on board a ship. There is some conflict with Nader moving down a rank to join the navy, and Chandler being a martinet, and a snide officer causing troubles... There's also Lex Barker, and some craggy faces like Charles McIntire, Richard Boone and Charles McGraw as well as Julie Adams whose flash back doesn't happen until about an hour in.
It's an episodic plot - flashbacks to romance, training montages, war games, various attacks at places like Saipan; there's some terrific battle sequences, especially at the end - I loved Chandler screaming at an incoming kamikaze plane; and lots of Universal technicolour and acting. Worth watching especially if you're interested in the American navy in World War Two but not quite successful as human drama.
It's an episodic plot - flashbacks to romance, training montages, war games, various attacks at places like Saipan; there's some terrific battle sequences, especially at the end - I loved Chandler screaming at an incoming kamikaze plane; and lots of Universal technicolour and acting. Worth watching especially if you're interested in the American navy in World War Two but not quite successful as human drama.
Saturday, June 08, 2013
Movie review - "Curly Top" (1935) **
By now Daryl Zanuck knew for sure he had lightning in a bottle with Shirley Temple, hence this ruthless sentimental star vehicle which seems to owe more than a little to Little Orphan Annie. Little Shirley is an orphan living at an institution run by some mean old people and constantly getting in trouble, despite the fact her sister (Rochelle Hudson, quite good and very pretty) is working in the kitchen.
Eventually a kindly millionaire John Boles comes in and takes one look at Shirley and Hudson and whisks them off to his mansion. So where's the conflict? Well, Boles doesn't tell everyone he's that rich to start off with, or something, or doesn't tell Hudson that he loves her so she goes for another guy, but it's all resolved really easily and painlessly. Which means we have far too much time to notice how dodgy Boles is and how he seemingly can't wait to get his hands on our Shirley. I know that's a product of my warped 2013 mind but you watch it and tell me what you think.
Shirley is cute, smuggling a horse into the orphanage is fun, Hudson is pretty, Shirley sings "Animal Crackers in My Soup", there's good support from people like Jane Darwell and Arthur Treacher, nd Boles is creepy. He sings too - there's a lot of singing and this is the first real musical Shirley made (others had the occasional number).
Eventually a kindly millionaire John Boles comes in and takes one look at Shirley and Hudson and whisks them off to his mansion. So where's the conflict? Well, Boles doesn't tell everyone he's that rich to start off with, or something, or doesn't tell Hudson that he loves her so she goes for another guy, but it's all resolved really easily and painlessly. Which means we have far too much time to notice how dodgy Boles is and how he seemingly can't wait to get his hands on our Shirley. I know that's a product of my warped 2013 mind but you watch it and tell me what you think.
Shirley is cute, smuggling a horse into the orphanage is fun, Hudson is pretty, Shirley sings "Animal Crackers in My Soup", there's good support from people like Jane Darwell and Arthur Treacher, nd Boles is creepy. He sings too - there's a lot of singing and this is the first real musical Shirley made (others had the occasional number).
Friday, June 07, 2013
Movie review - "Wanted and Desired" (2008) ****
Roman Polanski's life offers material for several movies - this one focuses on his statutory rape trial, particularly the "judicial" process that resulted. Some great talking heads, such as the prosecutor, defence attorney, judge's clerk, investigating cops, and the victim himself. No Polanski, though there's several of his friends, and old footage (including stuff with him and an achingly beautiful Sharon Tate).
It is sympathetic to Polanski though several of the people involved loathe him for what he did. This is the sort of movie that is liable to start a discussion/argument afterwards as to morality - maybe not a good first date film.
It is sympathetic to Polanski though several of the people involved loathe him for what he did. This is the sort of movie that is liable to start a discussion/argument afterwards as to morality - maybe not a good first date film.
Thursday, June 06, 2013
Movie review - "Texas" (1941) ***
William Holden and Glenn Ford are oh so young in this quite elaborate post Civil War Western. There's plenty of action and solid production values (it looks like an expensive movie) and it's always moving, even if it feels episodic - Ford and Holden are two ex Confederate soldiers who become friends and then split up, eventually winding up on opposite sides of the law. Of the two Holden probably comes off better although he has the better role, going bad. Claire Trevor I guess is alright as the love interest but Edgar Buchanan is memorable as a dentist who moonlights as a rustler. This probably would have been a better movie had it been made ten-twenty years later when the leads had more gravitas but it's fun.
Movie review - "The Far Country" (1952) ***
I love Northerns - tales of the Alaskan gold rush; they always look terrific with mountains and snow in the background, and saloons, boots and muddy streets.
This is one of those James Stewart-Anthony Mann stories with Stewart as a tough guy who heads to Alaska and runs afoul of a corrupt smiling Judge (John McIntire). Borden Chase's script is full of life and incident, although it does kind of feel made up as it goes along - characters keep coming and going, stories stop and start (there's the judge, the women, crossing the mountains, the fate of a small town).
There's a surprisingly strong female presence - Stewart is panted after by shady saloon owner Ruth Roman and spitfire French Canadian Corinne Calvet (neither really up to their parts) plus some blousy women who live in an Alaskan town; McIntire's performance could have been bigger but there are some choice supporting actors including ever reliable Walter Brennan and Jack Elam. Brennan has a great death scene - there's some expert Mann action here.
It's not a classic (the "psychological study" basically consists of Stewart deciding to put his gun on) but it's highly enjoyable.
Movie review - "Our Little Girl" (1935) **
One of the least well known Shirley Temple titles despite Joel McCrea's presence in the cast as her father. I think that is because of the tone of this film, which is surprisingly depressing - it tells the story of a marriage break up. Okay yes they get together at the end (you can't count that as a spoiler, it's a Hollywood code - as if it was going to be pro divorce) but that comes in a rush... most of the time it's squabbles and loneliness and new partners. McCrea is a doctor whose devotion to his job sees him ignore his wife and little child Shirley; this new guy comes sniffing around who, although dressed like a pimp, is surprisingly sympathetic - as is the girl who pants for McCrea.
Shirley's character is all over the shop - one minute she hates the divorce, the next she seems fine with it, others she appears to forget who she is. She goes for a topless swim in this one, which is a jolt to see on screen. Not a lot of comedy or music and it looks surprisingly cheap - budgets for Shirley movies would in time grow quite large.
Shirley's character is all over the shop - one minute she hates the divorce, the next she seems fine with it, others she appears to forget who she is. She goes for a topless swim in this one, which is a jolt to see on screen. Not a lot of comedy or music and it looks surprisingly cheap - budgets for Shirley movies would in time grow quite large.
Wednesday, June 05, 2013
Movie review - "The Little Colonel" (1935) **
A fascinating historical document: little Shirley Temple is the daughter of a Southern belle and a Yankee; her maternal grandfather is played by Lionel Barrymore looking like Colonel Sanders who is a racist bigot, moaning about the Old South and bullying his houseboy (its after the Civil War but Barrymore's fires still burn).
The story sort of goes all over the shop - the daughter elopes, jump forward a few years, Shirley charms soldiers at a fort, mum and Shirley move near Lionel, dad gets involved in the Gold Rush, Shirley charms everyone including Lionel, some gangsters turn up at the end to provide the film with quite a violent climax. Bland adult leads, Shirley is charming, Barrymore hams it up, and Bill Robinson and Hattie McDaniel have decent sized roles even if they are slaves, whoops I mean servants. There's a fun scene where Shirley and her black friends (she's allowed to have black friends) copy a river baptism.
This pours on the cuteness but for me the racial undertones made it too unpleasant. Bill Robinson does a good dance.
The story sort of goes all over the shop - the daughter elopes, jump forward a few years, Shirley charms soldiers at a fort, mum and Shirley move near Lionel, dad gets involved in the Gold Rush, Shirley charms everyone including Lionel, some gangsters turn up at the end to provide the film with quite a violent climax. Bland adult leads, Shirley is charming, Barrymore hams it up, and Bill Robinson and Hattie McDaniel have decent sized roles even if they are slaves, whoops I mean servants. There's a fun scene where Shirley and her black friends (she's allowed to have black friends) copy a river baptism.
This pours on the cuteness but for me the racial undertones made it too unpleasant. Bill Robinson does a good dance.
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