Fascinating for students of cinema history, religious allegory and set design... as a piece of drama it is less effective, with histrionic acting, a needlessly confusing plot, an overlong running time and general air of dopeyness. I did enjoy the finale when the workers rose up and went nuts but this is no commie treatsie - at the end the workers and management are encouraged to get along for the good of all.
Brigitte Helm is unsurprisingly bland as the good girl, kind of like the St Peter of Metropolis, tending the sick and leading people in prayer. She's lusted after - sorry, loved - by the bosses son, who goes undercover to find out more. Just thinking about it the plot of this is reminiscent of Quo Vadis? with the poor as Christians and the rich as Roman nobility - only this one does throw in a mad scientist who builds a robot for the boss, while secretly planning to double cross said boss. The robot is a slutty version of Helm and a lot more fun to watch.
There's a lot of intense acting, gnashing of brows, kidnappings, attempted rapes, Weimar Republic style decadence at a nightclub, athletics with pasty faced rich kids, masses and masses of poor (mostly kids), floods, rich men in tuxes drooling after trashy women, skanty outfits, rants about the Tower of Babel. Always something going on just not always involving.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Movie review - Bond#5 - "You Only Live Twice" (1967) ****
Its hard not to think of Austin Powers when watching this Bond film, and indeed this has a touch of the sillies about it - it pushes the stakes to the greatest degree yet, bringing the world to the brink of nuclear war, although the story really just follows the basic structure of Dr No: a mysterious force is messing with the US and Russian space program, playing them off against each other; Bond goes to poke around in an exotic part of the world, has some local help (including from a girl in the bikini), gets captured by the baddie who explains his plan before killing him, then Bond manages to escape and blow everything up. There's even stolen artworks lying around the baddie's lair as per Dr No and a finale where Bond and his girl make out in a boat when his friends interrupt.
This was the first Bond film to really discard the original book, although elements were kept. On one hand I'm sympathetic - Bond's official mission in the book is not much (trying to get the Japanese secret service to do some diplomatic stuff, then seeking to kill a person who is encouraging Japanese youth to kill themselves... big deal).
However there was a lot of terrific novel material which I'm surprised took the makers of the series so long to use: I know they couldn't have the whole Bond-recovering-from-his-wife's-death stuff (nervous breakdown, heavy drinking, etc) because we hadn't seen On Her Majesty's Secret Service yet, but why not seed this through Diamonds Are Forever? Also there was the mystery castle of death surrounded by killer plants, Blofeld as a samurai, the name Dr Shatterhand, having Dikko Henderson as an Aussie, giving Bond amnesia at the end and getting him to wind up living with Kissy Suzuki who wants to keep him for herself...
I can understand they were nervous of some of this - and the big volcano base is a pretty impressive substitute for the castle. Still, it could have really reinvigorated the formula. (NB And I'm surprised the later films haven't used the amnesiac device more... maybe they're worried about Bourne film comparisons.)
Back to the movie - it's a lot of fun, with plenty of action and spectacle. Production values are first rate, from the location shooting in Japan and Hong Kong (including a sumo match), to some typically superb sets: M shifts his office to a submarine in this one (M and Moneypenny get to wear whites), Tanaka has an underground train, Blofeld has the biggest villain's lair to date.
The character of Tiger Tanaka is one of the great Bond allies - a real kindred spirit to Bond, with his own private train, and country estate full of hot women to wash him and ninja training school. However I felt Tetsuro Tamba was okay in the part rather than exceptional; it's a real shame since he shares a lot of the hero duties with Bond.
Akiko Wakabayashi's Aki is an engaging Bond heroine - pretty, brave, smart, and sexy. Her death at the hands of an assassin two thirds of the way in is a real shock - the most emotionally charged scene easily - and it takes a while for the movie to recover; she and Bond have such a good relationship (she saves his life several times, is a good bedmate, and massages him too) that it feels cheap and wrong even for Bond that he's pleased to marry a hot babe five minutes later, and whingeing about not being able to sleep with said hot babe. It felt like Aki deserved a bit more respect, particularly since she died of poison meant for Bond.
Mie Hama's Kissy Suzuki initially struggles to make an impact in the wake of Aki. I think they may as well have kept Aki alive - you'd lose the shock of the death, but since Bond isn't really emotionally motivated by it there's not that much point. Or at least the could have killed her off earlier - two thirds of the way in is very late to knock off a love interest. However, as the film goes on Hama/Suzuki gradually makes an impression - its an interesting character to play, a small time village girl who is also a spy, Kissy Suzuki is a first-rate name, and Hama is very pretty, looking impressive in a bikini; she also gets points going to the volcano base with Bond in said bikini, swimming back to warn Tiger and avoiding helicopter gunfire (she's a lot more spunky and useful than, say, Domino in Thunderball) then coming back with Tiger's ninja army... still wearing a bikini!! It is a shame they didn't keep Kissy keeping an amnesiac Bond as her lover as per the book.
Donald Pleasance's Blofeld is rarely considered among the top Bond villains - too anti climatic after all that build up, too small, and I have to say I agree. He's not that great, certainly not as good as Telly Savalas' Blofeld, but he's okay; in his defence, he's not helped by a script that requires Blofeld to not kill Bond for a ridiculously long time, and also to spell out some exposition about blowing up his ship with Bond right there. Still, he does have a cool piranha lake.
The henchmen are disappointingly second rate. Karin Dor's femme fetale is undercooked - she feels like a poor man's (woman's) Luciana Paluzzi, with her flaming red hair and habit of bedding Bond then trying to kill him... but she doesn't really do much (Paluzzi was a top assassin whereas Dor just seems to be a secretary), lacks presence, and tries to kill Bond in a really convoluted way (taking him up in the air in a plane then jumping out in a parachute leaving him there trapped... this whole scene probably could have been jettisoned.) Teru Shimada's Osato (what I consider the Guy Doleman-Count Lippe role) is vanilla - by the time Blofeld shoots him I'd forgotten he was in the movie - and Ronald Rich's Hans is a laughable imitation of Red Grant - he barely does a thing throughout the running time, and at the end when Bond fights him it's almost like an afterthought. (Both he and Dor do get points for being eaten by piranhas.)
The movie feels a bit sloppy in its construction of action sequences - the assassination of Henderson (why even have him in the movie?), that random fight on the docks, the silly sequence where Dor tries to kill Bond on a plane, Aki saves Bond twice by driving up in a car, Bond fakes his death then his nationality.
But on the positive side some of those sequences are superb: the helicopter fight, the assassination of Aki, and especially the climactic battle with the ninjas. And there are some very hot Japanese women,
that volcano set, one of the best credit sequences and music scores in the series, and Nancy Sinatra's theme song has always been a favourite. Oh and I like the way the Americans are depicted as being so unreasonable and desperate to start World War Three despite the reasonable protestations of the British - I wonder if this slight anti-Americanism was Roald Dahl's influence.
This was the first Bond film to really discard the original book, although elements were kept. On one hand I'm sympathetic - Bond's official mission in the book is not much (trying to get the Japanese secret service to do some diplomatic stuff, then seeking to kill a person who is encouraging Japanese youth to kill themselves... big deal).
However there was a lot of terrific novel material which I'm surprised took the makers of the series so long to use: I know they couldn't have the whole Bond-recovering-from-his-wife's-death stuff (nervous breakdown, heavy drinking, etc) because we hadn't seen On Her Majesty's Secret Service yet, but why not seed this through Diamonds Are Forever? Also there was the mystery castle of death surrounded by killer plants, Blofeld as a samurai, the name Dr Shatterhand, having Dikko Henderson as an Aussie, giving Bond amnesia at the end and getting him to wind up living with Kissy Suzuki who wants to keep him for herself...
I can understand they were nervous of some of this - and the big volcano base is a pretty impressive substitute for the castle. Still, it could have really reinvigorated the formula. (NB And I'm surprised the later films haven't used the amnesiac device more... maybe they're worried about Bourne film comparisons.)
Back to the movie - it's a lot of fun, with plenty of action and spectacle. Production values are first rate, from the location shooting in Japan and Hong Kong (including a sumo match), to some typically superb sets: M shifts his office to a submarine in this one (M and Moneypenny get to wear whites), Tanaka has an underground train, Blofeld has the biggest villain's lair to date.
The character of Tiger Tanaka is one of the great Bond allies - a real kindred spirit to Bond, with his own private train, and country estate full of hot women to wash him and ninja training school. However I felt Tetsuro Tamba was okay in the part rather than exceptional; it's a real shame since he shares a lot of the hero duties with Bond.
Akiko Wakabayashi's Aki is an engaging Bond heroine - pretty, brave, smart, and sexy. Her death at the hands of an assassin two thirds of the way in is a real shock - the most emotionally charged scene easily - and it takes a while for the movie to recover; she and Bond have such a good relationship (she saves his life several times, is a good bedmate, and massages him too) that it feels cheap and wrong even for Bond that he's pleased to marry a hot babe five minutes later, and whingeing about not being able to sleep with said hot babe. It felt like Aki deserved a bit more respect, particularly since she died of poison meant for Bond.
Mie Hama's Kissy Suzuki initially struggles to make an impact in the wake of Aki. I think they may as well have kept Aki alive - you'd lose the shock of the death, but since Bond isn't really emotionally motivated by it there's not that much point. Or at least the could have killed her off earlier - two thirds of the way in is very late to knock off a love interest. However, as the film goes on Hama/Suzuki gradually makes an impression - its an interesting character to play, a small time village girl who is also a spy, Kissy Suzuki is a first-rate name, and Hama is very pretty, looking impressive in a bikini; she also gets points going to the volcano base with Bond in said bikini, swimming back to warn Tiger and avoiding helicopter gunfire (she's a lot more spunky and useful than, say, Domino in Thunderball) then coming back with Tiger's ninja army... still wearing a bikini!! It is a shame they didn't keep Kissy keeping an amnesiac Bond as her lover as per the book.
Donald Pleasance's Blofeld is rarely considered among the top Bond villains - too anti climatic after all that build up, too small, and I have to say I agree. He's not that great, certainly not as good as Telly Savalas' Blofeld, but he's okay; in his defence, he's not helped by a script that requires Blofeld to not kill Bond for a ridiculously long time, and also to spell out some exposition about blowing up his ship with Bond right there. Still, he does have a cool piranha lake.
The henchmen are disappointingly second rate. Karin Dor's femme fetale is undercooked - she feels like a poor man's (woman's) Luciana Paluzzi, with her flaming red hair and habit of bedding Bond then trying to kill him... but she doesn't really do much (Paluzzi was a top assassin whereas Dor just seems to be a secretary), lacks presence, and tries to kill Bond in a really convoluted way (taking him up in the air in a plane then jumping out in a parachute leaving him there trapped... this whole scene probably could have been jettisoned.) Teru Shimada's Osato (what I consider the Guy Doleman-Count Lippe role) is vanilla - by the time Blofeld shoots him I'd forgotten he was in the movie - and Ronald Rich's Hans is a laughable imitation of Red Grant - he barely does a thing throughout the running time, and at the end when Bond fights him it's almost like an afterthought. (Both he and Dor do get points for being eaten by piranhas.)
The movie feels a bit sloppy in its construction of action sequences - the assassination of Henderson (why even have him in the movie?), that random fight on the docks, the silly sequence where Dor tries to kill Bond on a plane, Aki saves Bond twice by driving up in a car, Bond fakes his death then his nationality.
But on the positive side some of those sequences are superb: the helicopter fight, the assassination of Aki, and especially the climactic battle with the ninjas. And there are some very hot Japanese women,
that volcano set, one of the best credit sequences and music scores in the series, and Nancy Sinatra's theme song has always been a favourite. Oh and I like the way the Americans are depicted as being so unreasonable and desperate to start World War Three despite the reasonable protestations of the British - I wonder if this slight anti-Americanism was Roald Dahl's influence.
TV review - "Mad Men - Season 6" (2013) ***
This series benefits from Don Draper turning back into a prick and they've realised they can't really go anywhere that interesting with Megan. Betty is back, slimmer but no happier, the daughter threatens to turn interesting, Roger keeps putting out the one liners, there is a great new addition to the cast in an all smiling mystery man. Its 1968 by now - time to wrap it up soon.
Movie review - Bond#4 - "Thunderball" (1965) ****
My memory of this movie wasn't strong - I remembered too many underwater sequences, an overlong running time and a feeling that it was undeservedly popular off the back of Goldfinger's excellence - but it actually holds up very well. This is due in part to a very strong story - well, a very strong baddie plot anyway (regular Bond writer Richard Maibaum once said the key to Bond screenplays was figuring out the villain's caper).
SPECTRE are a highly impressive organisation here, with tentacles across the world, even if they don't have the best employee relations policy (Blofeld again kills several of his key unsuccessful employees, Largo knocks off a few as well too). They've put a lot of time and effort into their plan - getting a man to have surgery to impersonate an air force officer so they can steal a nuclear bomb and holding it for ransom. Indeed the only way Bond gets involved is via luck - he's recovering at a health resort where one of the baddies is having an operation. (I wonder if anyone's done fan fiction of Bond's adventures in Canada where he was supposed to go - I note how polite the head of the Canadian branch was about Bond not going there.)
The series was getting more extreme by now - well, it always was full on (Dr No was about knocking down rockets), but the stakes were getting bigger, the budgets more elaborate, the gags more frequent, Sean Connery's toupee less convincing.
This was also the first movie which felt like elements were being reheated - the precredit title sequence, British colony tropical island setting (Bahamas instead of Jamaica), an initial fake out where we're led to believe Felix Leiter might be a baddy, an ally who is killed, a black helper on the island (a surprisingly small role though).
Still, like I said, there's lots of good stuff going on. Adolfo Celi is a terrific antagonist - imposing with his eye patch, very hands on (he gets in there and leads the diving teams) and a pool full of sharks. Luciana Paluzzi is a spectacular villainess, all flowing red hair and sexiness, who'll sleep with Bond but not be converted to goodness by him (she gives Connery his two best moments - when she asks him to give her something to wear while in the bath, and when he says he didn't enjoy sleeping with her). I also enjoyed some of the second tier henchmen, like Guy Doleman's slimy Count Lippe and Phillip Locke's pure Vargas.
On the side of the goodies, Rik Van Nutter is another un-memorable Felix Leiter, but Claudine Auger is incredibly good looking and voluptuous as Domino (she is a more passive Bond heroine, rather like the one in From Russia with Love, not doing much non-sex-wise until killing a baddie at the end, but as in that one she's counterbalanced by a strong female villain. She and Bond have their first kiss/sex underwater which does seem a little strange.) I liked Martine Beswick too as the doomed Paula, Bond's assistant who kills herself with a cyanide pill while being tortured. There's Q, M and Moneypenny and a bunch of other agents at the beginning who are all given different jurisdictions (Bond is meant to go to Canada but manages to go to Nassau instead.)
The final underwater battle goes on too long, Bond's tight shorts are inadvertently amusing, its full of colour and movement.
SPECTRE are a highly impressive organisation here, with tentacles across the world, even if they don't have the best employee relations policy (Blofeld again kills several of his key unsuccessful employees, Largo knocks off a few as well too). They've put a lot of time and effort into their plan - getting a man to have surgery to impersonate an air force officer so they can steal a nuclear bomb and holding it for ransom. Indeed the only way Bond gets involved is via luck - he's recovering at a health resort where one of the baddies is having an operation. (I wonder if anyone's done fan fiction of Bond's adventures in Canada where he was supposed to go - I note how polite the head of the Canadian branch was about Bond not going there.)
The series was getting more extreme by now - well, it always was full on (Dr No was about knocking down rockets), but the stakes were getting bigger, the budgets more elaborate, the gags more frequent, Sean Connery's toupee less convincing.
This was also the first movie which felt like elements were being reheated - the precredit title sequence, British colony tropical island setting (Bahamas instead of Jamaica), an initial fake out where we're led to believe Felix Leiter might be a baddy, an ally who is killed, a black helper on the island (a surprisingly small role though).
Still, like I said, there's lots of good stuff going on. Adolfo Celi is a terrific antagonist - imposing with his eye patch, very hands on (he gets in there and leads the diving teams) and a pool full of sharks. Luciana Paluzzi is a spectacular villainess, all flowing red hair and sexiness, who'll sleep with Bond but not be converted to goodness by him (she gives Connery his two best moments - when she asks him to give her something to wear while in the bath, and when he says he didn't enjoy sleeping with her). I also enjoyed some of the second tier henchmen, like Guy Doleman's slimy Count Lippe and Phillip Locke's pure Vargas.
On the side of the goodies, Rik Van Nutter is another un-memorable Felix Leiter, but Claudine Auger is incredibly good looking and voluptuous as Domino (she is a more passive Bond heroine, rather like the one in From Russia with Love, not doing much non-sex-wise until killing a baddie at the end, but as in that one she's counterbalanced by a strong female villain. She and Bond have their first kiss/sex underwater which does seem a little strange.) I liked Martine Beswick too as the doomed Paula, Bond's assistant who kills herself with a cyanide pill while being tortured. There's Q, M and Moneypenny and a bunch of other agents at the beginning who are all given different jurisdictions (Bond is meant to go to Canada but manages to go to Nassau instead.)
The final underwater battle goes on too long, Bond's tight shorts are inadvertently amusing, its full of colour and movement.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Movie review - Bond#3 - "Goldfinger" (1964) *****
The basic elements of Bond were all there from Dr No (Maurice Binder credits, theme music, super villains, sidekicks, so on) and From Russia with Love added more (pre credit sequence, henchmen, Q) but this was the one that really set them in stone. Indeed, in future Bonds it seemed Goldfinger was the one that the filmmakers would refer back to - a pre credit sequence with Bond doing something, a villain with dreams of global world domination, martini shaken not stirred; indeed the structure of the movie would often be copied in later Bonds.
It has one of the best gadgets (Aston Martin with ejector seat), best henchmen (Odd job, with his killer hat and karate chop), best girl who is killed (Shirley Eaton - very winning and sexy), best villain plan (contaminate the world's gold supply at Fort Knox), best Bond girl name (Pussy Galore) and some incredible visual images: naked Eaton painted all gold, Bond strapped to a table with a laser aimed at his crotch, Pussy Galore in black leather and her flying troupe, Odd Job lopping the head off a statue, the gold at Fort Knox.
It's also got one of the most complex and imposing villains in Gert Frobe's Goldfinger - at first he's introduced as a buffoon, sunburned in a silly hat, cheating at cards... but then he has Shirley Eaton killed. He's an idiot again at golf but then he gets Odd Job to take out a statue. And he's got that great plan.
I'm never a fan of American Bond girls and Honor Blackman's accent would grate but she's actually a lot of fun (Blackman was British of course playing American). She's helped by a great introduction - out of focus as Bond regains consciousness, hearing her name and going "I must be dreaming". And she's also the smartest and most spirited Bond heroine to date - a pilot, very smart, adapt at judo, no naive pussycat.
Cec Linder is a particularly unmemorable Felix Leiter even by the low standards of that role; Tania Mallett is bland as Jill Masterton. The American gangsters aren't that great - I kept wishing there was more of an international rogues' gallery (is there really any point to have them in the movie other than to show Goldfinger as a badass which is already established? There's around ten minutes of them dedicated to him giving all this exposition to the gangsters who are just killed).
The script is full of clever "bits" - Bond seeing his reflection in the eyes of a girl he's kissing, Bond escaping from a gaol cell by outwitting his gaoler, death via gold paint, how he kills Odd Job. The final action sequence with Goldfinger on the plane and Pussy Galore conveniently there always felt tacked on. Still, a deserved classic. Wonderful theme song.
It has one of the best gadgets (Aston Martin with ejector seat), best henchmen (Odd job, with his killer hat and karate chop), best girl who is killed (Shirley Eaton - very winning and sexy), best villain plan (contaminate the world's gold supply at Fort Knox), best Bond girl name (Pussy Galore) and some incredible visual images: naked Eaton painted all gold, Bond strapped to a table with a laser aimed at his crotch, Pussy Galore in black leather and her flying troupe, Odd Job lopping the head off a statue, the gold at Fort Knox.
It's also got one of the most complex and imposing villains in Gert Frobe's Goldfinger - at first he's introduced as a buffoon, sunburned in a silly hat, cheating at cards... but then he has Shirley Eaton killed. He's an idiot again at golf but then he gets Odd Job to take out a statue. And he's got that great plan.
I'm never a fan of American Bond girls and Honor Blackman's accent would grate but she's actually a lot of fun (Blackman was British of course playing American). She's helped by a great introduction - out of focus as Bond regains consciousness, hearing her name and going "I must be dreaming". And she's also the smartest and most spirited Bond heroine to date - a pilot, very smart, adapt at judo, no naive pussycat.
Cec Linder is a particularly unmemorable Felix Leiter even by the low standards of that role; Tania Mallett is bland as Jill Masterton. The American gangsters aren't that great - I kept wishing there was more of an international rogues' gallery (is there really any point to have them in the movie other than to show Goldfinger as a badass which is already established? There's around ten minutes of them dedicated to him giving all this exposition to the gangsters who are just killed).
The script is full of clever "bits" - Bond seeing his reflection in the eyes of a girl he's kissing, Bond escaping from a gaol cell by outwitting his gaoler, death via gold paint, how he kills Odd Job. The final action sequence with Goldfinger on the plane and Pussy Galore conveniently there always felt tacked on. Still, a deserved classic. Wonderful theme song.
Monday, September 16, 2013
Movie review - Bond#2 - "From Russia with Love" (1963) ****1/2 (warning: spoilers)
A rare sequel that not only matched the original, it improved on it, building in confidence and creating a marvellously entertaining spy film. It remains one of sexiest Bonds of them all - indeed, the plot is actually built around Bond's attractiveness to women. And it's a clever plot too - SPECTRE plan to get the Russians and British fighting each other in a way that will enable them to get their hands on a decoding machine; Russian Daniela Bianchi will be duped into thinking she's acting for mother Russia, and pretend to be a woman obsessed with Bond. (Actually, typing it out, the plot is rather silly, but its all clearly laid out and I completely bought it).
Even though Bianchi thinks she's doing it for her country, she certainly throws her body and soul into her work - her first meeting with Bond takes place with her in a bed wearing nothing but lace around her neck and she has sex with him! She and Bond go for it in the sack pretty constantly, whether its hotel beds, trains or condolas - they even star in a sex tape (I could never pick the moment where she really switches sides). Adding to the atmosphere of sensuality are two gypsy woman who fight each other to the death in sexy outfits (then afterwards its implied Bond bangs both), Pedro Armendariz's woman happy Istanbul station chief, Robert Shaw getting massaged by a woman in a bra at SPECTRE training and Lotte Lenya's lecherous looks at Bianchi.
Connery is in brilliant form in this one - I read somewhere it took him three movies to really get it, but he was excellent in the first and is completely at home here, grinning, punching and being the ultimate male fantasy figure a la John Hamm in Mad Men.
However he is backed by a spectacular supporting cast - I'm struggling to think of a better one in a Bond film. On the allied side we get to meet Desmond Llewellyn as Q bringing in the first of what would be many many gadgets (an exploding briefcase... in Dr No he just got a gun), Bernard Lee's M getting some fun background (Bond referring to a time with the two of them and some girls in Tokyo), Eunice Grayson repeating her role from Dr No, Lois Maxwell having fun, and most of all Pedro Armendariz as Kerim Bey - perhaps the best "Bond friend" in the whole series. Armendariz/Bey is warm, smart, funny, clever - with a mistress, high handed attitude to women, massive family, a sense of honour which demands he kill a foreign agent who tried to kill him even though he's injured. Its easy to see why he and Bond take to each other and his death comes as a massive shock.
There's also an astonishing array of villains: Robert Shaw's Red Grant - ruthless, cunning, brilliant enough to take out Kerim Bey, a great shot, physical... yet also touchingly human in his obvious resentment/jealousy of Bond (which brings him down - making him monologue and brag when he should just kill 007); Lotte Lenya's vicious Rosa Klebb, angry and terrifying - when she goes at Bond with her pointy shoe at the end you're almost as scared for him as when he fights Grant; Blofeld making his first appearance with a cat and fish tank; Vladek Sheybal's clever Kronsteen (this character does feel under-used); Walter Gotell's henchman.
Other highlights include some (as usual) impressive sets - an underground cavern, a gypsy settlement; a new instrumental theme '007' that would be re-used throughout the series; stunning views of Istanbul which is a great exotic setting for a Bond film; the Orient Express. There's some decent action - the fight on the train, the attack on the gypsies - but the film is better known as a work of suspense, because we see much of the action from SPECTRE's point of view and thus know more than Bond.
Lowlights - these are only minor quibbles but I wasn't a massive fan of the final shootouts after Grant's death involving SPECTRE agents in black outfits in helicopters and boats (I believed them having agents everywhere; I struggled to accept mini armies of them operating in Yugoslavia). Occasionally it all felt a bit patchy and made up as it went along. But a terrific Bond film.
Even though Bianchi thinks she's doing it for her country, she certainly throws her body and soul into her work - her first meeting with Bond takes place with her in a bed wearing nothing but lace around her neck and she has sex with him! She and Bond go for it in the sack pretty constantly, whether its hotel beds, trains or condolas - they even star in a sex tape (I could never pick the moment where she really switches sides). Adding to the atmosphere of sensuality are two gypsy woman who fight each other to the death in sexy outfits (then afterwards its implied Bond bangs both), Pedro Armendariz's woman happy Istanbul station chief, Robert Shaw getting massaged by a woman in a bra at SPECTRE training and Lotte Lenya's lecherous looks at Bianchi.
Connery is in brilliant form in this one - I read somewhere it took him three movies to really get it, but he was excellent in the first and is completely at home here, grinning, punching and being the ultimate male fantasy figure a la John Hamm in Mad Men.
However he is backed by a spectacular supporting cast - I'm struggling to think of a better one in a Bond film. On the allied side we get to meet Desmond Llewellyn as Q bringing in the first of what would be many many gadgets (an exploding briefcase... in Dr No he just got a gun), Bernard Lee's M getting some fun background (Bond referring to a time with the two of them and some girls in Tokyo), Eunice Grayson repeating her role from Dr No, Lois Maxwell having fun, and most of all Pedro Armendariz as Kerim Bey - perhaps the best "Bond friend" in the whole series. Armendariz/Bey is warm, smart, funny, clever - with a mistress, high handed attitude to women, massive family, a sense of honour which demands he kill a foreign agent who tried to kill him even though he's injured. Its easy to see why he and Bond take to each other and his death comes as a massive shock.
There's also an astonishing array of villains: Robert Shaw's Red Grant - ruthless, cunning, brilliant enough to take out Kerim Bey, a great shot, physical... yet also touchingly human in his obvious resentment/jealousy of Bond (which brings him down - making him monologue and brag when he should just kill 007); Lotte Lenya's vicious Rosa Klebb, angry and terrifying - when she goes at Bond with her pointy shoe at the end you're almost as scared for him as when he fights Grant; Blofeld making his first appearance with a cat and fish tank; Vladek Sheybal's clever Kronsteen (this character does feel under-used); Walter Gotell's henchman.
Other highlights include some (as usual) impressive sets - an underground cavern, a gypsy settlement; a new instrumental theme '007' that would be re-used throughout the series; stunning views of Istanbul which is a great exotic setting for a Bond film; the Orient Express. There's some decent action - the fight on the train, the attack on the gypsies - but the film is better known as a work of suspense, because we see much of the action from SPECTRE's point of view and thus know more than Bond.
Lowlights - these are only minor quibbles but I wasn't a massive fan of the final shootouts after Grant's death involving SPECTRE agents in black outfits in helicopters and boats (I believed them having agents everywhere; I struggled to accept mini armies of them operating in Yugoslavia). Occasionally it all felt a bit patchy and made up as it went along. But a terrific Bond film.
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Book review - "My Lunches with Orson Welles" (2013) by Peter Biskind, Henry Jaglom
I can't believe at this stage of the game there's new stuff to learn about Welles but this book blew me away - a series of taped lunch encounters between Welles and his friend, director Henry Jaglom towards the end of the former's life. Welles knew Jaglom was taping him but preferred not to see the device so he could talk freely, and freely he does - spouting off theories, showing a homophobic and slightly racist time, bragging, being insecure, worrying about money (his lucrative ad work was drying up), trying to raise money for The Dreamers and King Lear.
As editor Biskind says in his introduction you really feel like you're there - conversations are interrupted by waiters (they took place at Ma Maison restaurant), visiting famous people (Jack Lemmon, Mrs Vincente Minnelli, Richard Burton, Zsa Zsa Gabor) and Welles' dog; we even hear him pitch - badly - a project to HBO - he throws a tantrum right then and there.
I thought I knew a lot about Welles but I was surprised - he's very bitchy and vicious about John Houseman, continually makes swipes at Larry Olivier, respects Pauline Kael as a writer despite the job she did on him, hates Charles Higham, discuses the books on his life, calls Katherine Hepburn a slut, says Spencer Tracy was mean, says old people all look like Jews or Irish, prefers the company of right wingers to lefties even though he was left, brags about his sex life (including Lena Horne), doesn't rate James Stewart as an actor, prefers Hitchcock's British films, was really hurt by the failure of F for Fake (in a dream world he says he would've made film essays rather than narrative dramatic stories), has a man crush on Gary Cooper, thinks Joe Cotten was a character actor rather than a movie star, claims credit for discovering Van Johnson, doesn't rate Thalberg, talks about Peter Bogdanovich's rampaging ego and mistake in writing Killing of the Unicori, admires Richard Pryor - and many more.
It's sad because he was so worried and frustrated towards the end of his life - low on funds, struggling to get ad work the way he used to, tormented by tax problems; you also get frustrated at his ability to be nicer to producers and for not taking the opportunity to make Cradle will Rock, Big Brass Ring and King Lear - it sounds here he might have had he just done it for less money, or been willing to accept Robert de Niro in the lead of Big Brass Ring. But such is the appeal of Welles - "if only..."
Oh and Jaglom sounds like a really nice guy in these talks and it made me keen to actually see some of his films.
As editor Biskind says in his introduction you really feel like you're there - conversations are interrupted by waiters (they took place at Ma Maison restaurant), visiting famous people (Jack Lemmon, Mrs Vincente Minnelli, Richard Burton, Zsa Zsa Gabor) and Welles' dog; we even hear him pitch - badly - a project to HBO - he throws a tantrum right then and there.
I thought I knew a lot about Welles but I was surprised - he's very bitchy and vicious about John Houseman, continually makes swipes at Larry Olivier, respects Pauline Kael as a writer despite the job she did on him, hates Charles Higham, discuses the books on his life, calls Katherine Hepburn a slut, says Spencer Tracy was mean, says old people all look like Jews or Irish, prefers the company of right wingers to lefties even though he was left, brags about his sex life (including Lena Horne), doesn't rate James Stewart as an actor, prefers Hitchcock's British films, was really hurt by the failure of F for Fake (in a dream world he says he would've made film essays rather than narrative dramatic stories), has a man crush on Gary Cooper, thinks Joe Cotten was a character actor rather than a movie star, claims credit for discovering Van Johnson, doesn't rate Thalberg, talks about Peter Bogdanovich's rampaging ego and mistake in writing Killing of the Unicori, admires Richard Pryor - and many more.
It's sad because he was so worried and frustrated towards the end of his life - low on funds, struggling to get ad work the way he used to, tormented by tax problems; you also get frustrated at his ability to be nicer to producers and for not taking the opportunity to make Cradle will Rock, Big Brass Ring and King Lear - it sounds here he might have had he just done it for less money, or been willing to accept Robert de Niro in the lead of Big Brass Ring. But such is the appeal of Welles - "if only..."
Oh and Jaglom sounds like a really nice guy in these talks and it made me keen to actually see some of his films.
Friday, September 13, 2013
Movie review - "The Amityville Horror" (1979) *
Sometimes you just get lucky - AIP wound up its existence with one of its biggest hits, a spectacularly stupid haunted house movie full of inconsistencies and an incredible lack of logic. But it was based on a true story - or so the book said - which gave this cache at a time when that was important. Also Lalo Schifrin added a spooky theme, the house was well cast (I'm not kidding - it's an effective house with great spooky windows and leave strewn lawns), it had some decent actors, and one of the kids have an imaginary friend.
But it's just dumb. Rod Steiger runs in and out of the action like a lunatic - he visits the house, takes off, rails against God/Satan, clashes with some priests, goes blind... and doesn't have anything to do with Margot Kidder/James Brolin. James Brolin goes mad, only he doesn't really; Kidder seduces him with one leg warmer and shows some side boob; the kids are hard to tell apart; the leads have some crazy psychic friend who discovers the gates to hell underneath the house.
There is a lack of any decent suspense or scary bits, it's not well written or directed and it goes on for too long. But it was a big hit and has spawned a mini industry so there you go.
But it's just dumb. Rod Steiger runs in and out of the action like a lunatic - he visits the house, takes off, rails against God/Satan, clashes with some priests, goes blind... and doesn't have anything to do with Margot Kidder/James Brolin. James Brolin goes mad, only he doesn't really; Kidder seduces him with one leg warmer and shows some side boob; the kids are hard to tell apart; the leads have some crazy psychic friend who discovers the gates to hell underneath the house.
There is a lack of any decent suspense or scary bits, it's not well written or directed and it goes on for too long. But it was a big hit and has spawned a mini industry so there you go.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Book review - "The Making of The Birds" by Tony Lee Moral
Tony Lee Moral wrote a very impressive book on the making of Marnie and has followed it up with a look at Hitchcock's earlier, more commercially successful Tippi Hedren opus. It's equally thorough and entertaining although less gripping - that's not the fault of the author, more the subject matter: Marnie had two big dramatic aces in the hole, the film's highly mixed reception (which shook the director's confidence and led him into an artistic spiral), and the end of his relationship with Hedren. The Birds doesn't really have anything to match it except the treatment of Hedren, which probably wasn't as bad as has been spread around.
What we have is very thorough: Daphne du Maurier's story, the journey from short story to screenplay (Evan Hunters book on it, Hitchcock and Me, is also worth a read), the true life inspirations, discovering Hedren, casting other roles, and most of all the considerable technological achievements/difficulties of the film.
This book would be best enjoyed by hard core Hitchcock fans, Tippi Hedren fans, and those interested in 60s filmmaking technologies. It pretty much is the last word, benefiting from extensive analysis of how the movie was made, interviews with people like Evan Hunter and Rod Taylor. It's not completely comprehensive - no real discussion of The Birds 2 or Kaw.
What we have is very thorough: Daphne du Maurier's story, the journey from short story to screenplay (Evan Hunters book on it, Hitchcock and Me, is also worth a read), the true life inspirations, discovering Hedren, casting other roles, and most of all the considerable technological achievements/difficulties of the film.
This book would be best enjoyed by hard core Hitchcock fans, Tippi Hedren fans, and those interested in 60s filmmaking technologies. It pretty much is the last word, benefiting from extensive analysis of how the movie was made, interviews with people like Evan Hunter and Rod Taylor. It's not completely comprehensive - no real discussion of The Birds 2 or Kaw.
Monday, September 09, 2013
Movie review - "Up Jumped a Swagman" (1965) *1/2
I wanted to like this film so much - I have a soft spot for 60s British rock musicals eg Cliff Richard vehicles, and this one stars Frank Ifield, early 60s pop idol. Very few Aussie pop stars managed to get their own movies - Olivia Newton John of course, but that was about it. There was no vehicle for JOK, Col Joye, the Bee Gees, Sherbert or Air Supply... but some enterprising producer thought Ifield had the right stuff. Little did he know that Ifield's popularity had actually peaked - something which this film did nothing to help reverse.
Frank plays an Aussie who arrives in London determined to become a famous singer. He rocks up to a music agent where there seems to be some sort of satire going on - something about big business, I wasn't sure. He moons after a beautiful model (a young Suzy Kendall), is pined after by the pretty daughter of a pub owner, and gets involved in various surrealistic adventures and bank robbers; there's even machine gun antics towards the end.
Its a wacky way out film that makes no sense, not in a particularly good way - the success of The Beatles Richard Lester movies seems to have inspired the filmmakers to throw away logic. Its also heavily influenced by the Cliff Richard musicals of the early 60s but Ifield lacks Richard's charm - he's handsome enough but is too stiff, badly lacks experience and doesn't really have anyone to bounce off (there is the standard British musical support cast of English character actors but he needed experienced actors to play good friends and the love interest). I felt he could have been protected more, not the least by having a strong story. Even hey-kids-let-put-on-a-show would have been preferable - as it is there's a massive subplot involving a robbery which Ifield really doesn't have anything to do with.
As if aware of the star's deficiencies, the filmmakers keep singing Ifield singing pretty much constantly - its wall to wall Ifield songs, including 'I Remember You' plus (as a bonus for Aussies), renditions of 'Waltzing Matilda' and 'Botany Bay'. So if you're into Ifield this is a move for you.
Frank plays an Aussie who arrives in London determined to become a famous singer. He rocks up to a music agent where there seems to be some sort of satire going on - something about big business, I wasn't sure. He moons after a beautiful model (a young Suzy Kendall), is pined after by the pretty daughter of a pub owner, and gets involved in various surrealistic adventures and bank robbers; there's even machine gun antics towards the end.
Its a wacky way out film that makes no sense, not in a particularly good way - the success of The Beatles Richard Lester movies seems to have inspired the filmmakers to throw away logic. Its also heavily influenced by the Cliff Richard musicals of the early 60s but Ifield lacks Richard's charm - he's handsome enough but is too stiff, badly lacks experience and doesn't really have anyone to bounce off (there is the standard British musical support cast of English character actors but he needed experienced actors to play good friends and the love interest). I felt he could have been protected more, not the least by having a strong story. Even hey-kids-let-put-on-a-show would have been preferable - as it is there's a massive subplot involving a robbery which Ifield really doesn't have anything to do with.
As if aware of the star's deficiencies, the filmmakers keep singing Ifield singing pretty much constantly - its wall to wall Ifield songs, including 'I Remember You' plus (as a bonus for Aussies), renditions of 'Waltzing Matilda' and 'Botany Bay'. So if you're into Ifield this is a move for you.
Saturday, September 07, 2013
Movie review - "Gone with the Wind" (1939) *****
Just saw this again on the big screen at the Astor - introduced by none other than Bill Collins - and was struck how well it has aged. Some things didn't surprise me - the sumptuous technicolor, Vivien Leigh's dynamic performance as Scarlett O'Hara, the productions values and epic sweep of the story, Max Steiner's top rate score, the strength of the spine (at it's core the story is about Scarlett's pursuit of Ashley).
But other things did surprise me. The mark of a classic is a film that gives you new things with every fresh viewing and that's certainly the case with Gone with the Wind. For instance Clarke Gable's performance - every film fan knows how well cast he was as Rhett Butler and he does the early smiling, swashbuckling buccaneer stuff with expected aplomb, laughing delightedly at Scarlett's antics and warning the hot headed Southerners they shouldn't go into war; however I was surprised to see how well he handed the later Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? section, where Rhett and Scarlett find themselves in a domestic nightmare: the loathing, drinking, self hatred combined with love, two people essentially smacking themselves around emotionally. In many ways Rhett is a romance novel ideal - impossibly handsome, rich, funny, good at love making, charming, devoted to his daughter, intent at Scarlett, etc - but he does have some light and shade: his jealousy towards Ashley Wilkes, his platonic love/admiration for Melanie. And Gable gets it all. There are some really tricky scenes where he has to go all over the shop - hating and loving his wife, tormented by the loss of his child, etc - but he pulls them off. Gable would have deserved an Oscar for his role - Robert Donat did too, but Gable was a better actor than he got credit for.
I also had an increased appreciation for Olivia de Havilland's work. Its a thankless role in many ways - she's nice, genuinely good, kind of like a Christian where Scarlett is part of her faith - and de Havilland succeeds in not only making it believable, but likeable. During some scenes - particularly in the carriage with Belle and with a drunken Rhett - it's lovely subtle work.
Leslie Howard is the least effective out of the four but its the least effective part: virile yet wet, if that makes sense. Howard is believably handsome enough to attract Leigh's attention for so long, but also weak enough understand why he can't leave de Havilland.
I was surprised how many relatively decent roles there were for black actors. Please note the use of the word "relative" - the movie does have the values of its time, and Butterfly McQueen's Missy is a caricature, but compared to other Hollywood movies set in the South, this is positively liberal. Missy has some genuinely funny moments and in the film's defence there are plenty of other white ninnies in the cast (Scarlett slaps her sister as well as Missy). Hattie McDaniel is superb and very charismatic as the no-nonsense Mammie; there's also loyal and tough Sam who saves Scarlett from being raped/murdered and the nice house servant. There are scenes of houseboys fanning sleeping Southern bells and slaves toiling in the fields - yes its whitewashed in many ways, and the movie seems to mock the naive emancipated slaves during the reconstruction scenes, but its not as bad as say Prisoner of Shark Island.
The way David O Selznick dealt with tricky censorship material is marvellous: the Ku Klux Klan equivalent comes across as what it was meant to without spelling it out; ditto the profession of Belle Watling. I was also struck how inexpensively many of the scenes were, particularly in the second half - such as that two hander of Rhett and Scarlett walking along talking to unseen old ladies.
There is considerable richness in the supporting characters: the nice doctor, his wife who excitedly wants to know what the inside of a brothel looks like, Scarlett's dull but brave second husband, Ashley Wilkes' vicious bitchy sister, Scarlett's noble mother, her father who goes ga-ga (he's the one character where its a relief he almost died).
Okay now for some flaws: there's an awful lot of characters talking to themselves to make a point, some over-florid dialogue, occasionally the actors would mumble and some shots seemed out of focus, that marital rape was a bit close to the wind, the race issue is a massively loaded on, the second half feels long going at times. But it was hard to find spots to cut (maybe the London sequence but even that was needed to allow Scarlett time to fall pregnant).
But its aged so well. In part because the central character is selfish - selfishness ages well, just look at Richard III - and also because people's motives are understandable: loving someone who doesn't love them, avoiding hunger, being bound by honour, knowing a cause is stupid but feeling bad for not fighting for it, hating your partner, wanting to gossip.
Scarlett is a little minx, interested in her own affairs above all... but she's still more sensible than pretty much every other female character in the movie (except Mammy and her mother) and most of the male characters as well. She knows war is a stupid idea - and she's right.
The south is idealised in a way - but its clear that the war was pointless, caused by romantic idiots, and caused great suffering; the pain and anguish of war is quite full on here: soldiers in agony, limbs go missing, people go nuts, starvation results, there are looters and rapists on both sides. Rhett does fight for the south but not after mocking it. Ashley is a kind, courteous and decent - and held up as a weak idiot. People make fun of Melanie for being naive. No one character is presented as being all knowing and perfect, so its a film that can be enjoyed by many.
It's a flawed contentious masterpiece - but it is a masterpiece.
Friday, September 06, 2013
Book review - "The Two Frank Thrings" (2012) by Peter Fitzpatrick
It's kind of inviting chuckles to describe someone as a giant of the Australian film industry, particularly in the 1930s, but there's no doubt F.W. Thring was one of its leading lights, up there with Ken G. Hall and Stuart F. Doyle. In particular it was Thring's rivalry with Doyle which led to the creation of many stupendous cinemas (the best Australia's ever had, really - some still exist today), and the creation of rival film studios; he helped turn Hoyts into an entertainment giant, set up radio stations, created his own production company, produced a raft of films (shorts and documentaries as well as features) and stage shows. It was a rich legacy and Thring deserved a biography. But would it sell? After all not many people remember or even watch his stuff today? So why not add the son - far more famous and (to be honest) entertaining? This is the first dual father and son biography I've read but it really works and this was a terrific book.
F.W. Thring had an amazing life and career: country town upbringing (from Wentworth), stints as a bootmaker and conjurer before finding his niche running cinemas in Tasmania; an early marriage with a woman that resulted in a kid but he soon shunted both off wife and daughter to South Australia while he made his name in Melbourne; running a waxworks in Melbourne that led to marriage to the boss' chubby daughter (his first wife conveniently died) and a career as an exhibitor, at which he was very successful, including being managing director of Hoyts, enabling to buy a mansion in Toorak; then setting up Efftee Studios.
Efftee's output is a mixed bag - Thring obviously had a lot of skills, including organisation, salesmanship, and an eye for a good property (eg he made vehicles for Pat Hanna and George Wallace, he produced Collitts Inn for the stage), but he really wasn't a good director. It's a shame he couldn't have stayed producer and helped secure better exhibition for his films and gotten others to direct - but maybe then it wouldn't have been less fun and Thring wouldn't have gotten involved in movie making in the first place.
His personality remains a little sketchy - a chubby man over fond of a drink, who had an eye for the main chance and who loved show biz; who perhaps also liked Donald Warne (Fitzpatrick hints at an affair). His most touching relationship is that with his daughter; he died before he got to know his son well. It's interesting to wonder what would have happened had Thring managed to live at least another couple of years - I like to think he'd make a couple of decent features. My own one-that-got-away: a big screen adaptation of Collitts Inn.
Thring Jnr was a different kettle of fish - flamboyant, outrageous, a genuine character. He didn't have his father's drive to make money but he certainly had ambition, appearing on radio and using his family's money (Thring Snr left a decent amount behind when he died) to fund a theatre company. Its hard to gauge how good an actor Thring Jnr was because so many of his film appearances are essentially cameos but Fitzpatrick's book makes a claim that he could, when presses, turn in some brilliant work on stage.
In a sense it didn't matter because Thring Jnr had such a vibrant big personality that he seemed to get work soon and easily - even if he was around today it's easy to imagine him being cast as villains in the latest blockbuster. He made several trips to London, drawing attention in a performance of Salome, acting opposite Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier, going a long run in a stage version of Doctor in the House, getting cast as a series of villains in Hollywood blockbusters (all good movies too: The Vikings, Ben Hur, King of Kings, El Cid). Then, when surely a decade at least of well paying work around the world was his for the taking, he elected to come home. Why is a bit of a mystery - but it seems he was simply homesick and enjoyed being a big fish in a small pond.
The Australian film industry of the 60s through to 80s never really used Thring in anything other than cameos but he enjoyed better parts on stage, including a long successful association with the MTC. He was a genuine institution in Melbourne, even becoming the King of Moomba and having a one person show. He never found happiness in his personal life - gay from the get-go, he never seems to have a sustained romantic relationship... apart from one with a good female friend who he made the mistake of marrying (it ended badly: he encouraged her to have an affair, she had one with Peter Finch, Thring Jnr lost his nut). However he could be an inspiring teacher and devoted mentor. A many of many contradictions who had a genuine talent - perhaps not exploited as well as it could have been (he dulled his edge with too much drinking), far too mean to his mother, but who nonetheless left his mark.
I loved reading this book. Wasn't as wild about the internal monologue bits, but I can understand why they were there. Some excellent scholarship, tremendous interviews, very well written.
F.W. Thring had an amazing life and career: country town upbringing (from Wentworth), stints as a bootmaker and conjurer before finding his niche running cinemas in Tasmania; an early marriage with a woman that resulted in a kid but he soon shunted both off wife and daughter to South Australia while he made his name in Melbourne; running a waxworks in Melbourne that led to marriage to the boss' chubby daughter (his first wife conveniently died) and a career as an exhibitor, at which he was very successful, including being managing director of Hoyts, enabling to buy a mansion in Toorak; then setting up Efftee Studios.
Efftee's output is a mixed bag - Thring obviously had a lot of skills, including organisation, salesmanship, and an eye for a good property (eg he made vehicles for Pat Hanna and George Wallace, he produced Collitts Inn for the stage), but he really wasn't a good director. It's a shame he couldn't have stayed producer and helped secure better exhibition for his films and gotten others to direct - but maybe then it wouldn't have been less fun and Thring wouldn't have gotten involved in movie making in the first place.
His personality remains a little sketchy - a chubby man over fond of a drink, who had an eye for the main chance and who loved show biz; who perhaps also liked Donald Warne (Fitzpatrick hints at an affair). His most touching relationship is that with his daughter; he died before he got to know his son well. It's interesting to wonder what would have happened had Thring managed to live at least another couple of years - I like to think he'd make a couple of decent features. My own one-that-got-away: a big screen adaptation of Collitts Inn.
Thring Jnr was a different kettle of fish - flamboyant, outrageous, a genuine character. He didn't have his father's drive to make money but he certainly had ambition, appearing on radio and using his family's money (Thring Snr left a decent amount behind when he died) to fund a theatre company. Its hard to gauge how good an actor Thring Jnr was because so many of his film appearances are essentially cameos but Fitzpatrick's book makes a claim that he could, when presses, turn in some brilliant work on stage.
In a sense it didn't matter because Thring Jnr had such a vibrant big personality that he seemed to get work soon and easily - even if he was around today it's easy to imagine him being cast as villains in the latest blockbuster. He made several trips to London, drawing attention in a performance of Salome, acting opposite Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier, going a long run in a stage version of Doctor in the House, getting cast as a series of villains in Hollywood blockbusters (all good movies too: The Vikings, Ben Hur, King of Kings, El Cid). Then, when surely a decade at least of well paying work around the world was his for the taking, he elected to come home. Why is a bit of a mystery - but it seems he was simply homesick and enjoyed being a big fish in a small pond.
The Australian film industry of the 60s through to 80s never really used Thring in anything other than cameos but he enjoyed better parts on stage, including a long successful association with the MTC. He was a genuine institution in Melbourne, even becoming the King of Moomba and having a one person show. He never found happiness in his personal life - gay from the get-go, he never seems to have a sustained romantic relationship... apart from one with a good female friend who he made the mistake of marrying (it ended badly: he encouraged her to have an affair, she had one with Peter Finch, Thring Jnr lost his nut). However he could be an inspiring teacher and devoted mentor. A many of many contradictions who had a genuine talent - perhaps not exploited as well as it could have been (he dulled his edge with too much drinking), far too mean to his mother, but who nonetheless left his mark.
I loved reading this book. Wasn't as wild about the internal monologue bits, but I can understand why they were there. Some excellent scholarship, tremendous interviews, very well written.
Movie reviews - "Autumn Leaves" (1956) **1/2 (warning: spoilers)
Bob Aldrich was best known for his tough guy action films but he also made a number of melodramas with women in the lead. This was the first and is a vehicle for camp favourite Joan Crawford who is a lonely typist who falls for a younger man - Cliff Robertson, in an impressive early turn (he impressed from the beginning, did Robertson, but never became a star). She finds him attractive - Robertson walks around without his shirt a lot - but worries about their age difference. Robertson insists they make a go of it and they get married; they are happy for a time but it soon becomes apparent Robertson lies a lot about his past, is mentally unstable and has a former wife (Vera Miles).
Crawford gets to go through a lot of hand-wringing and eye popping acting as she wonders about her husband - who in one scene slaps her around and smashes her hand. But she forgives him. It's not his fault - it's because Vera Miles had an affair with Lorne Greene, Robertson's father (which is a nice twist). She goes to see one of the 50s movie psychiatrists with grey wavy hair who smokes and says her husband has problems and has ideas how to fix him. She's reluctant to do so because he mightn't love her anymore. But after Robertson sobs away one night Crawford gives in and Robertson goes off to a sanitarium where after some electro shock therapy he's cured. She worries that he won't love her any more and will be keen on a hot nurse but nope, he wants her.
Yep, that's right - this is a film about a middle aged woman who falls for a younger man who is a schizophrenic liar that smacks her around and cries like a baby.... but he's actually a goodie. Maybe that's my 2014 sensitivities talking, but I do feel it would have been a better movie had Robertson wound up a complete psycho who tried to kill Crawford - it would have been more exciting. As it is the film does feel as though the Lorne Greene-Vera Miles subplot is left hanging and unresolved.
Crawford is in fine middle aged form, Robertson a good foil, Greene and Miles ideal creepy quasi villains, Robert Aldrich's handling is brisk. It's a bit yuck and very very dodgy but that is part of its appeal.
Crawford gets to go through a lot of hand-wringing and eye popping acting as she wonders about her husband - who in one scene slaps her around and smashes her hand. But she forgives him. It's not his fault - it's because Vera Miles had an affair with Lorne Greene, Robertson's father (which is a nice twist). She goes to see one of the 50s movie psychiatrists with grey wavy hair who smokes and says her husband has problems and has ideas how to fix him. She's reluctant to do so because he mightn't love her anymore. But after Robertson sobs away one night Crawford gives in and Robertson goes off to a sanitarium where after some electro shock therapy he's cured. She worries that he won't love her any more and will be keen on a hot nurse but nope, he wants her.
Yep, that's right - this is a film about a middle aged woman who falls for a younger man who is a schizophrenic liar that smacks her around and cries like a baby.... but he's actually a goodie. Maybe that's my 2014 sensitivities talking, but I do feel it would have been a better movie had Robertson wound up a complete psycho who tried to kill Crawford - it would have been more exciting. As it is the film does feel as though the Lorne Greene-Vera Miles subplot is left hanging and unresolved.
Crawford is in fine middle aged form, Robertson a good foil, Greene and Miles ideal creepy quasi villains, Robert Aldrich's handling is brisk. It's a bit yuck and very very dodgy but that is part of its appeal.
Movie review - "The Silence" (1963) ***
Two sisters and the young son of one of them wind up in an small town on the brink of war. The elder sister is ill, masturbates; the younger sister walks around topless a lot, goes to a cinema and sees two strangers have raunchy sex (they really go for it, with straddling laps and boobs and everything), then picks up a waiter and has sex with him.
These things helped make this movie a considerable box office success on the art house circuit - more so than, say, the troupe of midgets who are also in the movie or the little kid who acts as a kind of go-between. I could recognise the quality of the acting, particular Ingrid Thulin, who played the eldest sister, and the scenes - and I got the two women were meant to be different sides of the same person, or something.And it's beautifully shot.
But for me it really lacked story - and that got to me. Also the character of the younger sister was not that engaging, no matter how sexy she was. This film wasn't that emotionally involving.
These things helped make this movie a considerable box office success on the art house circuit - more so than, say, the troupe of midgets who are also in the movie or the little kid who acts as a kind of go-between. I could recognise the quality of the acting, particular Ingrid Thulin, who played the eldest sister, and the scenes - and I got the two women were meant to be different sides of the same person, or something.And it's beautifully shot.
But for me it really lacked story - and that got to me. Also the character of the younger sister was not that engaging, no matter how sexy she was. This film wasn't that emotionally involving.
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