Paramount had a hit putting Alan Ladd into a colour Western in Whispering Smith so they did it again for Branded. This could have been a minor classic because it's got a solid story and Ladd is very well cast - he's a gunfighter who is persuaded to impersonate the child of rancher Charles Bickford, abducted when he was four.
All the appropriate subplots are there - Charles Bickford wants an heir, Ladd has a partner keen to kill Bickford so they can cash in, Mona Freeman is the son's hot sister who Ladd falls in love with, Selena Royle is mom, there's the people from Ladd's past who are out to get him, he tracks down the missing son who turns out to be raised by a Mexican bandit...
But the film never gets the juice out of them. The script badly needed scenes of Ladd bonding with Bickford, Royle and Freeman, becoming a better person through knowing them; his character needed to improve somehow.
Even worse, the family disappears in the second half of the film which is about bringing back the son. Bickford and/or Freeman needed to go on the trip to get the son, and someone needed to go after Ladd. There's no real villain once Robert Keith is out of the picture since Joseph Calleila is basically benign.
Bickford is terrific, Royle a wet blanket, Robert Keith an engaging rogue, Peter Hansen terrible as the genuine missing son (blonde hair, Mexican accent), Joseph Calleila a decent bandit. Rudy Mate's handling isn't terribly vigorous. There is however some impressive colour photography and location work in Arizona.
Monday, February 29, 2016
Saturday, February 27, 2016
Movie review - "Chicago Deadline" (1949) **
This was based on a novel written in 1933 but it didn't get made until over a decade later, changed into a vehicle for Alan Ladd with an eye, no doubt, on the box office receipts of Laura, which it resembles. It's a fascinating comparison because while Laura works this doesn't.
Dana Andrews in Laura was a cop so it was his job to investigate the crime. There were only a handful of suspects who we got to know well - Judith Anderson, Vincent Price, and particularly Clifton Webb - meaning we got to dig in to their characters. Andrews found himself falling in love with Laura, who then appeared half way through... so the story then had massive stakes.
Here Alan Ladd is a reporter so he really doesn't have to investigate. There's a whole bunch of people he talks to (54!), none of whom we get to know well - brother Arthur Kennedy, blonde June Havoc, gangster Sheppherd Strudwick, rich dude Barry Kroeger, her first husband... they kept coming and coming and coming and I got confused.
Donna Reed is too girl next door to be that interesting as the dead girl. (You know who would've been good? Veronica Lake.) And she remains dead, so there's no romance or point, no acceleration or twist. I found it hard to follow then I got bored for all the other people who were knocked off.
Dana Andrews in Laura was a cop so it was his job to investigate the crime. There were only a handful of suspects who we got to know well - Judith Anderson, Vincent Price, and particularly Clifton Webb - meaning we got to dig in to their characters. Andrews found himself falling in love with Laura, who then appeared half way through... so the story then had massive stakes.
Here Alan Ladd is a reporter so he really doesn't have to investigate. There's a whole bunch of people he talks to (54!), none of whom we get to know well - brother Arthur Kennedy, blonde June Havoc, gangster Sheppherd Strudwick, rich dude Barry Kroeger, her first husband... they kept coming and coming and coming and I got confused.
Donna Reed is too girl next door to be that interesting as the dead girl. (You know who would've been good? Veronica Lake.) And she remains dead, so there's no romance or point, no acceleration or twist. I found it hard to follow then I got bored for all the other people who were knocked off.
Movie review - "Fletch" (1985) ****
Maybe it's due to nostalgia because I liked this as a kid but I feel it's held up extremely well - Chevy Chase was never more perfectly cast than as the wisecracking detective, Andrew Bergman's script is terrific and Michael Ritchie handles the difficult task of combining action and comedy. It is very funny but also scary - we genuinely worry about Fletch at times getting into scrapes (he's constantly almost busted by doctors, mechanics, caretakers, cops, etc) and how he gets out of trouble is genuinely scary.
The support cast is to die for - Geena Davis as his loving co-worker, Dana Wheeler Nicholson is the love interest, Jon Doe Baker is terrifying as a bad cop, Tim Matheson engaging as a mysterious businessman, Emmett Walsh as a doctor, etc. Great funky music score, very strong mystery story to underline the gags.
The support cast is to die for - Geena Davis as his loving co-worker, Dana Wheeler Nicholson is the love interest, Jon Doe Baker is terrifying as a bad cop, Tim Matheson engaging as a mysterious businessman, Emmett Walsh as a doctor, etc. Great funky music score, very strong mystery story to underline the gags.
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Script review - "Rush" by Peter Morgan
Not sure what draft of this I read but it contains a lot less voice over than in the final film. It does lack a little something - I think Morgan never really develops the lead two characters beyond "flashy playboy" and "determined Austrian". No other characters get much of a look in - the girlfriends are just girlfriends, although I did enjoy the Richard Burton cameo. There is some interesting stuff about the importance of having an enemy. And reading it while listening to the Hans Zimmer score was pleasant enough.
Monday, February 22, 2016
Movie review - "Bird of Paradise" (1951) **
Broken Arrow was a big hit so 20th Century Fox got Delmer Daves to try his hand at another tale of doomed inter-racial love, with Debra Pagent and Jeff Chandler returning as beautiful native girl and noble savage respectively. Instead of James Stewart as the white guy who falls in love with the native there's Louis Jourdan, who is handsome but also French so the culture clash isn't as obvious - not to my English speaking ears, anyway.
A couple of other things make this less effective than Broken Arrow. There's not the underlying conflict between cultures - no colonialism, despite Jourdan's Frenchness; Chandler is educated in the USA and is mates with Jourdan from school there. Jourdan goes native on the island pretty much straight away, walking around in a sarong most of the time, reducing culture clash. Most of the conflict comes not from a logical source, i.e. people squabbling over land, but due to a witch doctor going "tsk tsk" at him being on the island.
There is some pleasing scenery - location work - and it's shot in colour. I enjoyed the scenes of the natives and Jourdan surfing - this must be one of the first surf movies. It's fun to see characters called "Kalua" and "Kahuna". And there's a very effective bit where Jourdan comes across an English beachcomber, Everett Sloane, who lives in paradise with a family but who hates it.
But it's a silly movie. There's not much of a story, just Jourdan falling for Paget and dealing with native superstition and frolicking in the water. The deaths in Broken Arrow were a tragedy; here Paget is an idiot for walking into a volcano, and their society is idiotic for letting it happen. And after a while I didn't care about the people or anything they did.
A couple of other things make this less effective than Broken Arrow. There's not the underlying conflict between cultures - no colonialism, despite Jourdan's Frenchness; Chandler is educated in the USA and is mates with Jourdan from school there. Jourdan goes native on the island pretty much straight away, walking around in a sarong most of the time, reducing culture clash. Most of the conflict comes not from a logical source, i.e. people squabbling over land, but due to a witch doctor going "tsk tsk" at him being on the island.
There is some pleasing scenery - location work - and it's shot in colour. I enjoyed the scenes of the natives and Jourdan surfing - this must be one of the first surf movies. It's fun to see characters called "Kalua" and "Kahuna". And there's a very effective bit where Jourdan comes across an English beachcomber, Everett Sloane, who lives in paradise with a family but who hates it.
But it's a silly movie. There's not much of a story, just Jourdan falling for Paget and dealing with native superstition and frolicking in the water. The deaths in Broken Arrow were a tragedy; here Paget is an idiot for walking into a volcano, and their society is idiotic for letting it happen. And after a while I didn't care about the people or anything they did.
Book review - "Orson Welles' Last Movie: The Making of the Other Side of the Wind" by Josh Karp
It's remarkable - I think I've enjoyed every single book I've read about Orson Welles: Simon Callow's, Peter Bogdanovich's, Barbara Leaming's, Joseph McBride's, Henry Jaglom's... even the now lamented Charles Higham's and Pauline Kael's. Three reasons - he attracts good writers, he was an amazing figure, and his life lends itself to narrative.
Welles' cinematic life is full of "if only"s... if only he'd been around the supervise the editing of The Magnificent Ambersons/Touch of Evil; if only he'd had a big hit; if only Chimes at Midnight had been given a decent release; if only a star had agreed to do The Big Brass Ring, etc. Now can be added "if only he'd finished The Other Side of the Wind.
We still don't know how good a film Wind is - fragments are easily available, there's copies out there, we are constantly promised to see a copy, but even in 2016 the film is hard to see - which actually makes this book a bit frustrating because there's no happy ending, not even a bittersweet one. But it remains a touching yarn.
The project stars off well enough, with Welles enjoying an early 70s renaissance of sorts... he found financing hard to get but he had support of Peter Bogdanovich and the admiration of new Hollywood, and had a lucrative career on talk shows and doing ads. He used his spare money to finance his own film, had the admiration and love of cameraman Gary Graver, and rallied a great collection of cast and crew - John Huston agreed to play the lead, Bogdanovich had a key role. Working with Welles was clearly an exhilarating experience, the man was a genius. I'm not sure Wind had the greatest plot of all time, being cobbled from Welles' old life and earlier movies, but it would've been directed like a dream.
Even though Welles kind of finished the film in 1971 it seems he couldn't stop - which led him fatally to constantly seek more money, resulting in an investment from the Shah of Iran's brother in law which ultimately led to the film being held up forever. Not that it was the poor dude's fault entirely - Welles' own personality played a large part, and did squabbling among his heirs and collaborators after he died. The project seemed dogged by bad luck - Welles falling out with former collaborators, being paranoid about executives, a seeming inability to finish the film. At first this is entertainingly exasperating but as the years go on and Welles' health problems pile up it gets more and more frustrating and sad.
Karp has written a moving, entertaining, insightful book, which can't help being a tragedy (a small scale cinematic tragedy but one nonetheless... especially for poor old Graver who dedicated his life to Welle). He's done heroic work in particular trudging through financial details of the film. A cracking read.
Welles' cinematic life is full of "if only"s... if only he'd been around the supervise the editing of The Magnificent Ambersons/Touch of Evil; if only he'd had a big hit; if only Chimes at Midnight had been given a decent release; if only a star had agreed to do The Big Brass Ring, etc. Now can be added "if only he'd finished The Other Side of the Wind.
We still don't know how good a film Wind is - fragments are easily available, there's copies out there, we are constantly promised to see a copy, but even in 2016 the film is hard to see - which actually makes this book a bit frustrating because there's no happy ending, not even a bittersweet one. But it remains a touching yarn.
The project stars off well enough, with Welles enjoying an early 70s renaissance of sorts... he found financing hard to get but he had support of Peter Bogdanovich and the admiration of new Hollywood, and had a lucrative career on talk shows and doing ads. He used his spare money to finance his own film, had the admiration and love of cameraman Gary Graver, and rallied a great collection of cast and crew - John Huston agreed to play the lead, Bogdanovich had a key role. Working with Welles was clearly an exhilarating experience, the man was a genius. I'm not sure Wind had the greatest plot of all time, being cobbled from Welles' old life and earlier movies, but it would've been directed like a dream.
Even though Welles kind of finished the film in 1971 it seems he couldn't stop - which led him fatally to constantly seek more money, resulting in an investment from the Shah of Iran's brother in law which ultimately led to the film being held up forever. Not that it was the poor dude's fault entirely - Welles' own personality played a large part, and did squabbling among his heirs and collaborators after he died. The project seemed dogged by bad luck - Welles falling out with former collaborators, being paranoid about executives, a seeming inability to finish the film. At first this is entertainingly exasperating but as the years go on and Welles' health problems pile up it gets more and more frustrating and sad.
Karp has written a moving, entertaining, insightful book, which can't help being a tragedy (a small scale cinematic tragedy but one nonetheless... especially for poor old Graver who dedicated his life to Welle). He's done heroic work in particular trudging through financial details of the film. A cracking read.
Movie review - "Pagan Love Song" (1950) **1/2
It's got pretty palm trees and scenery (Hawaii pretending to be Tahiti), Esther Williams in brown face as a half native girl, one of her best co-stars in cheerful Howard Keel (not really well remembered today, but a likeable cheery guy). But it's silly and dim.
The "plot" involves teacher Keel coming to Tahiti where he's bought a plantation. It's actually a run down shack, but he hires Williams as a maid, not knowing she's well off... she's not that well off though, certainly not enough to get a story going. There's some "conflict" from her not liking him scolding a fellow Tahitians, plus some "cute" kids and a comedy pig.
To be fair there is a nice south sea atmosphere - the location filming helps - and some pleasing tunes. But it sort of dribbles along. It's also kind of depressing Williams' character doesn't get to go to the US at the end; I know that she falls in love and Tahiti is nice, but surely they could've visited?
The "plot" involves teacher Keel coming to Tahiti where he's bought a plantation. It's actually a run down shack, but he hires Williams as a maid, not knowing she's well off... she's not that well off though, certainly not enough to get a story going. There's some "conflict" from her not liking him scolding a fellow Tahitians, plus some "cute" kids and a comedy pig.
To be fair there is a nice south sea atmosphere - the location filming helps - and some pleasing tunes. But it sort of dribbles along. It's also kind of depressing Williams' character doesn't get to go to the US at the end; I know that she falls in love and Tahiti is nice, but surely they could've visited?
Movie review - "The Private Lives of Adam and Eve" (1960) *1/2
An odd movie which I wanted to find more fun than it was - I found it hard going.
It's a kind of a spoof of sweaty William Inge 50s stage melodramas, with the Bible thrown in (or, to be more accurate, John Steinbeck's The Wayward Bus). There's a bunch of characters in a small town: casino owner Mickey Rooney, his trampy wife Fay Spain, bus driver Cecil Kellaway (who doesn't seem very healthy), teen runaway Tuesday Weld, mechanic Martin Milner, sleazy salesman Mel Torme, juvenile delinquent Paul Anka, divorcee Mamie Van Doren.
They get caught in a storm and Milner and Van Doren imagine they're Adam and Eve. The longer this went on the worse I found it - it's full of banged-over-the-head satire, pious platitudes, poor acting, and crappy handling.
The sheer novelty of it does keep you watching - Van Doren has fun as Eve, Milner is bland as Adam, Rooney has the time of his life as the devil. Tuesday Weld isn't in the film much - at the start and the end.
Movie review - "Murder on the Orient Express" (1974) *** (warning: spoilers)
The success of this film kicked off a spate of all star Agatha Christie adaptations - with the quality of the stars declining as things went along. This has a couple of genuine big names, albeit ones whose great days were behind (or in front) of them - Sean Connery, Ingrid Bergman, Vanessa Redgrave, Albert Finney, Tony Perkins (who appeared in many all star films around this time), Lauren Bacall, John Gielgud - plus well known types such as Wendy Hiller, Rachel Roberts, Michael York, Richard Widmark, Martin Balsam, and a couple of not really well known people, like Dennis Quilley and Colin Blakeney.
This is one of the most famous Christie works, for two reasons - the title (and thus setting) and the twist, in that all of them dunnit. A lot of the stars are extremely good value - especially Connery, Bisset, Redgrave, Bacall, Perkins and Gielgud. Ingrid Bergman's performance got on my nerves, indicating all over the place. But the biggest flaw for me was Albert Finney - I thought he was terrible, all tics and hammy mannerisms. Not a patch on Peter Ustinov in later movies in the series.
I'm not a big fan of that soft focus period photography used in the movie (or maybe I saw a crappy print). But some of the cameos are effective and there's genuinely spooky moments such as the opening montage of the kidnapping, and the final recreation of the crime - not enough Christie adaptations made you chill but this one, in these sequences at least, do.
This is one of the most famous Christie works, for two reasons - the title (and thus setting) and the twist, in that all of them dunnit. A lot of the stars are extremely good value - especially Connery, Bisset, Redgrave, Bacall, Perkins and Gielgud. Ingrid Bergman's performance got on my nerves, indicating all over the place. But the biggest flaw for me was Albert Finney - I thought he was terrible, all tics and hammy mannerisms. Not a patch on Peter Ustinov in later movies in the series.
I'm not a big fan of that soft focus period photography used in the movie (or maybe I saw a crappy print). But some of the cameos are effective and there's genuinely spooky moments such as the opening montage of the kidnapping, and the final recreation of the crime - not enough Christie adaptations made you chill but this one, in these sequences at least, do.
Saturday, February 20, 2016
Movie review - "Boom Town" (1940) *** (warning: spoilers)
A big success at the time and it remained popular for a while afterwards, in part because it was such a great star vehicle: Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy as feuding oil wildcatters, who pal around and team up when they're not fighting, make and lose fortunes and both love the same gal (Claudette Colbert).
It's very easy to make and lose money in oil according to this film - Tracy and Gable make a fortune quickly, then Gable loses it via a flick of a coin, then Gable has nothing but bounces back, then Tracy loses his in a South American revolution but bounces back via Oklahoma, then they lose theirs again via financial machinations, then they get it back again.
Hedy Lamarr pops up in the third act as a vamp-but-not-really who temps Gable away from Colbert. Lamarr is good looking, but not much of an actress - watching her I kept having to remind myself "she invented blue tooth".
Colbert is bland, but then I'm not a fan - she reminds me too much of my grandma. Don't get me wrong, I love my grandma, but I don't think shes that vivacious opposite Clark Gable - far too marmish. I didn't like the character either for running off with Gable on night one even though she knew Tracy was in love with her.
Or was he? Tracy is meant to be in love with Colbert, getting upset when Gable roots around on her, but it's just as easy to read he's in love with Gable and gets upset when he goes to women.
There's some more camp value at the end when Gable goes to Colbert "I ought to lick you" and she goes "you can lick me if you like".
MGM's support cast stock company wasn't as strong as Warner Bros but there is Chill Wills, Lionel Atwill and Frank Morgan. The story is decent enough although at two hours is goes in too long - in particular once Gable and Colbert get back together for the second time at the end the film feels as though it should end but there's ten more minutes of this anti-trust hearing.
Saturday, February 13, 2016
Movie review - "Beyond Glory" (1948) ** (re-viewing)
An odd sort of movie - part tribute to West Point, part courtroom drama, part analysis of PTSD. Three writers are credited, including the impressive Jonathan Latimer, and I wonder if each writer took a completely different approach to the material. But this lack of focus on a specific story hurts the film. It goes all over the place - we meet Ladd at West Point, then there are these charges against him, then we flash back, then we flashback again.
There are all these plots - Ladd romancing Donna Reed, the widow of his former officer; Ladd's initial dislike of the army then becoming an officer; Ladd dealing with life after the army; Ladd being accused of hazing by a rich man's son; Ladd thinking he was a coward.
So you take what you get: John Farrow's brisk direction, the novelty of Alan Ladd as a student at West Point, some documentary like touches of life at West Point, a particularly strong support cast including George Colouris (a worthy baddy, a ruthless lawyer), Donna Reed (noble widow), Henry Travers, Tom Neal and Audie Murphy (who actually would've been ideal in Ladd's role had they ever decided to remake this).
But really this isn't a very good movie. It's too unfocused, Ladd doesn't seem that interested, and the climax is based on a contrivance (i.e. that Ladd would think he was a coward).
There are all these plots - Ladd romancing Donna Reed, the widow of his former officer; Ladd's initial dislike of the army then becoming an officer; Ladd dealing with life after the army; Ladd being accused of hazing by a rich man's son; Ladd thinking he was a coward.
So you take what you get: John Farrow's brisk direction, the novelty of Alan Ladd as a student at West Point, some documentary like touches of life at West Point, a particularly strong support cast including George Colouris (a worthy baddy, a ruthless lawyer), Donna Reed (noble widow), Henry Travers, Tom Neal and Audie Murphy (who actually would've been ideal in Ladd's role had they ever decided to remake this).
But really this isn't a very good movie. It's too unfocused, Ladd doesn't seem that interested, and the climax is based on a contrivance (i.e. that Ladd would think he was a coward).
Movie review - "Chasing Amy" (1997) *****
Ah, the 90s - facial hair, casual clothes, docs, smoking, so much smoking, posters, so many posters, dingy bars, CD stores, comic books, sexual identity. But I love this movie, always have, and feel it holds up well, though I recognise for some it's controversial.
It has a trio of very fine lead performers - Ben Affleck is a solid center, the least showy role, but he does heavy lifting and really brings it in the crucial scenes (the declaration of love, the climax confrontation); Jason Lee is stunningly good as the obnoxious, funny friend (he has the best lines but he delivers them all wonderfully); Joey Lauren Adams is genuinely different and captivating as the girl.
Strong support too from Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith, reprising their roles; Dwight Ewell as their friend; Ethan Suplee as a hard core comic fan; and Scott Mosier as a contemptuous fan.
Kevin Smith really did bring it together with this one - along with his trademark dialogue and characters, it's the concept and story which really work - the action progresses logically and always has a decent progression. I remember watching this the first time going "don't stuff up don't stuff up" and it never happened: they met, he starts falling for her, discovers she's gay, they become friends, he falls in love, declares himself, she goes with him, he discovers she's actually bi, he freaks out, he proposes a threesome, it all goes pairshaped. It's an extremely well written and structured screenplay which has also been very well directed. I also love the look of the movie - the comic cons, the video of the fish tank in the background at the end, the fight intercut with a hockey game.
So many memorable scenes: the opening credits (love that song); the comic con fight; Hooper X's talk about race and comic books; Alyssa singing (she's not a very good singer but I love the moment); Banky and Alyssa swapping sex stories; Holden and Alyssa fighting at the ice hockey game; Holden's declaration of love; Banky's various rants; the final confrontation; the touching, heart breaking epilogue. It's heartfelt, raw and wonderful.
It has a trio of very fine lead performers - Ben Affleck is a solid center, the least showy role, but he does heavy lifting and really brings it in the crucial scenes (the declaration of love, the climax confrontation); Jason Lee is stunningly good as the obnoxious, funny friend (he has the best lines but he delivers them all wonderfully); Joey Lauren Adams is genuinely different and captivating as the girl.
Strong support too from Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith, reprising their roles; Dwight Ewell as their friend; Ethan Suplee as a hard core comic fan; and Scott Mosier as a contemptuous fan.
Kevin Smith really did bring it together with this one - along with his trademark dialogue and characters, it's the concept and story which really work - the action progresses logically and always has a decent progression. I remember watching this the first time going "don't stuff up don't stuff up" and it never happened: they met, he starts falling for her, discovers she's gay, they become friends, he falls in love, declares himself, she goes with him, he discovers she's actually bi, he freaks out, he proposes a threesome, it all goes pairshaped. It's an extremely well written and structured screenplay which has also been very well directed. I also love the look of the movie - the comic cons, the video of the fish tank in the background at the end, the fight intercut with a hockey game.
So many memorable scenes: the opening credits (love that song); the comic con fight; Hooper X's talk about race and comic books; Alyssa singing (she's not a very good singer but I love the moment); Banky and Alyssa swapping sex stories; Holden and Alyssa fighting at the ice hockey game; Holden's declaration of love; Banky's various rants; the final confrontation; the touching, heart breaking epilogue. It's heartfelt, raw and wonderful.
Friday, February 12, 2016
Movie review - "Rod Taylor: Pulling No Punches" (2016) ****
A decent bio of a much-neglected Australian actor which has the considerable benefit of some excellent photographs, lively editing and good talking heads, including Rod himself (interviews filmed shortly before his death), manager Murray Niedorf, Jack Thompson, Maggie Smith, Stephan Elliot and Bryan Brown. It is lively and there are some entertaining accounts of the making of such films as Young Cassidy, The Birds, The Time Machine, Welcome to Woop Woop.
Some confusing decisions have been made - it's not linear, which I kind of went with, but omits many key films in Rod's career: 36 Hours, Zabriskie Point, The Picture Show Man. The 70s are almost entirely glossed over - the 80s are completely glossed over. It is energetic and important and draws some attention to Taylor, who should be better known.
Some confusing decisions have been made - it's not linear, which I kind of went with, but omits many key films in Rod's career: 36 Hours, Zabriskie Point, The Picture Show Man. The 70s are almost entirely glossed over - the 80s are completely glossed over. It is energetic and important and draws some attention to Taylor, who should be better known.
Movie review - "The Intern" (2015) ***
A surprise - I had nil expectations going in, but this was a sweet, big hearted comedy with expect turns from Robert de Niro and Anne Hathaway in the leads. Its got the tone of a romantic comedy but it isn't one, not really - it's more a "friend-com", which some nice messages: value old people, but value young people too.
De Niro is the retired widower who joins an internship program at a emerging company run by high achieving Anne Hathaway. He finds purpose, she gets a mentor, both learn a lot from each other. Hathaway is never patronised, she doesn't have to sell out to get what she wants.
Anders Holm is a little wet as Hathaway's husband but he is well cast. Adam Devine and his mates make a likable collection of nerdy guys, and it's good to see Rene Russo, although I did feel gypped out of a Russo-de Niro love scene. I also wanted to meet Hathaway's mother, and the politics of people being expected to work for free is entirely glossed over. But it's warm and generous and says some important things.
De Niro is the retired widower who joins an internship program at a emerging company run by high achieving Anne Hathaway. He finds purpose, she gets a mentor, both learn a lot from each other. Hathaway is never patronised, she doesn't have to sell out to get what she wants.
Anders Holm is a little wet as Hathaway's husband but he is well cast. Adam Devine and his mates make a likable collection of nerdy guys, and it's good to see Rene Russo, although I did feel gypped out of a Russo-de Niro love scene. I also wanted to meet Hathaway's mother, and the politics of people being expected to work for free is entirely glossed over. But it's warm and generous and says some important things.
Movie review - "Hard Target" (1993) **1/2
John Wood's first Hollywood film is a bit of a disappointment despite the ever reliable source material of The Most Dangerous Game. Jean Claude Van Damme has a particularly unflattering mullet in the lead role, a veteran who has fallen on hard times and helps Yancy Butler track down her dad. Dad's dead, which gives her quest a hollow feel.
There are recogniseable Woo tropes - slow motion, doves flying, two men facing off against each other with pistols - but his style doesn't seem to quite suit the material. I struggled to put my finger on why this film didn't work for me - maybe the development of the story was too silly, maybe it lacked a third act (the film is basically, figure out there's hunting going on, and being hunted), maybe Woo was hampered, or maybe he wasn't hampered but didn't do a good job.
There are positives - it's got a decent budget and plenty of action; Lance Henriksen is always reliable as the head villain; Arnold Vosloo offers some early 90s nostalgia as that old time villain standby, the nasty South African; Yancy Butler is an engaging female lead; Wilfrid Brimley annoyed me a lot less than I thought he would as a French accented crusty old timer; Kasi Lemmons impresses as a detective as does Willie Carpenter, touching as a homeless man.
There are recogniseable Woo tropes - slow motion, doves flying, two men facing off against each other with pistols - but his style doesn't seem to quite suit the material. I struggled to put my finger on why this film didn't work for me - maybe the development of the story was too silly, maybe it lacked a third act (the film is basically, figure out there's hunting going on, and being hunted), maybe Woo was hampered, or maybe he wasn't hampered but didn't do a good job.
There are positives - it's got a decent budget and plenty of action; Lance Henriksen is always reliable as the head villain; Arnold Vosloo offers some early 90s nostalgia as that old time villain standby, the nasty South African; Yancy Butler is an engaging female lead; Wilfrid Brimley annoyed me a lot less than I thought he would as a French accented crusty old timer; Kasi Lemmons impresses as a detective as does Willie Carpenter, touching as a homeless man.
Monday, February 08, 2016
Movie review - "Salty O'Rourke" (1945) ** (warning: spoilers)
For this movie to work it helps to know that it was originally envisioned as a vehicle for Mickey Rooney and that Stanley Clements was an upcoming name at the time due to Going My Way. Because although it's technically an Alan Ladd film, Clements is the hero as much as anyone.
The set up is complicated - Ladd owes $20k to Bruce Cabot, which means he needs to buys a horse, which means he needs a jockey, Clements, which means Clements needs to pretend he's 17, which means he has to go to school, which means his teacher is Gail Russell who expels him on day one for being fresh, which means Ladd has to romance Russell.
This is the sort of movie that should be fun but isn't, despite the presence of William Demarest as Ladd's sidekick. Clements look like a prematurely aging old man and he got on my nerves; Ladd never gets to be a colourful Damon Runyon gangster; Gail Russell's doe eyed beauty is touching but she really falls for Ladd which makes his disdainful attitude kind of mean. It's also really nasty that Clements gets shot dead. That's full on - I found a similar problem in the other Ladd "comedy", Lucky Jordan which got very serious at the end.
The set up is complicated - Ladd owes $20k to Bruce Cabot, which means he needs to buys a horse, which means he needs a jockey, Clements, which means Clements needs to pretend he's 17, which means he has to go to school, which means his teacher is Gail Russell who expels him on day one for being fresh, which means Ladd has to romance Russell.
This is the sort of movie that should be fun but isn't, despite the presence of William Demarest as Ladd's sidekick. Clements look like a prematurely aging old man and he got on my nerves; Ladd never gets to be a colourful Damon Runyon gangster; Gail Russell's doe eyed beauty is touching but she really falls for Ladd which makes his disdainful attitude kind of mean. It's also really nasty that Clements gets shot dead. That's full on - I found a similar problem in the other Ladd "comedy", Lucky Jordan which got very serious at the end.
Movie review - "Whispering Smith" (1949) *** (re-viewing)
Alan Ladd later became known for his Westerns - particularly Shane - but was a star for seven years before making one. This was his first, at least his first since becoming a star, and Paramount seemed determine to ensure it was a hit - they gave him colour, a big budget, strong support cast, and a franchise property: railroad detective Whispering Smith.
I'm used to railroad detectives being the villains of films eg Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Jesse James so it's kind of different to see a heroic one. The part fits Alan Ladd like a glove - tough, taciturn, silent, pining for the One Who Got Away (bland Brenda Marshall), investigating a spate of robberies. Little wonder he was subsequently cast the saddle so often.
There is a strong central dramatic situation here: Ladd is best friends with Robert Preston but loves Preston's wife Marshall; and Preston turns to crime. There is also a superb support cast: William Demarest, Donald Crisp (as a chilling villain), and that old reliable, an albino assassin.
Truth be told though Paramount probably wasted money building a small town and shooting this in colour - there's not much spectacle apart from a train robbery. At it's heart this is a low budget Western, more of a character/suspense piece. I'm glad it looks good and all it's just not an epic.
I'm used to railroad detectives being the villains of films eg Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Jesse James so it's kind of different to see a heroic one. The part fits Alan Ladd like a glove - tough, taciturn, silent, pining for the One Who Got Away (bland Brenda Marshall), investigating a spate of robberies. Little wonder he was subsequently cast the saddle so often.
There is a strong central dramatic situation here: Ladd is best friends with Robert Preston but loves Preston's wife Marshall; and Preston turns to crime. There is also a superb support cast: William Demarest, Donald Crisp (as a chilling villain), and that old reliable, an albino assassin.
Truth be told though Paramount probably wasted money building a small town and shooting this in colour - there's not much spectacle apart from a train robbery. At it's heart this is a low budget Western, more of a character/suspense piece. I'm glad it looks good and all it's just not an epic.
Movie review - "Beau Geste" (1939) *** (warning: spoilers)
The best known version of the most famous French Foreign Legion tale of them all. The scriptwriters have culled the best of Wren's tale - the opening image of the fort guarded by corpses, the mystery of the missing jewel, the brothers having a naval battle, the brotherly love, the complex sadistic sergeant (mean, greedy, but smart and not without sympathy), the final attack, the brothers' funeral.
Gary Cooper is awkwardly cast as an Englishman - they should have just made the brothers American. Robert Preston is touching as the devoted Digby and Ray Milland is well cast as John. All three men seem to genuinely like each other even though Beau is never that brave and the characters never that individual. Susan Hayward adds prettiness and there are some colourful legion types such as Sam Jaffe, but the film is stolen - as inevitably happens in every version of this tale - by Brian Donlevy as the sergeant.
Some pretty vistas of the desert, faceless Arabs. Best scene is Preston giving Cooper a viking funeral. His death always seems tacked on.
Gary Cooper is awkwardly cast as an Englishman - they should have just made the brothers American. Robert Preston is touching as the devoted Digby and Ray Milland is well cast as John. All three men seem to genuinely like each other even though Beau is never that brave and the characters never that individual. Susan Hayward adds prettiness and there are some colourful legion types such as Sam Jaffe, but the film is stolen - as inevitably happens in every version of this tale - by Brian Donlevy as the sergeant.
Some pretty vistas of the desert, faceless Arabs. Best scene is Preston giving Cooper a viking funeral. His death always seems tacked on.
Movie review - "Lucky Jordan" (1942) ** (re-viewing)
Many contemporary reviews of this referred to it as a "melodrama" which is interesting, because to me at any way it was clearly meant to be a comedy in the Damon Runyon style - a gangster tries to do everything he can to avoid the draft, but turns patriot when Nazi agents get involved. And the thing is, a lot of it is comic, even though Alan Ladd wasn't known at the time - and would never be known - for this comedy.
It really should have been a comedy, for all the tropes are there - a shonky lawyer who tries to help him, the treacherous 2IC, a decent USO girl, a boozy old lady who agrees to be his mother in exchange for money. But the filmmakers don't commit, and pull their punches - so a lot of this is straight mystery. I feel it needed more broad characters eg turn Jordan's moll into someone really trashy, have him play off some urchin to be his "kid" - go for the laughs.
But I get the feeling they didn't trust Ladd and made sure there was plenty of suspense and action. As a result the movie kind of falls between stools - too silly to be a thriller, not funny enough to be a comedy. Ladd's not bad - he plays it straight as he should, but he needed a stronger support cast.
Also some things that happen are quite black eg he hires a person to be his body double and the poor kid is shot dead!
Mabel Paige is alright - this sort of role is a gift, and she does okay rather than shines, though I did like the affection between her and Ladd after she's beaten up by Nazi agents. Helen Walker is pretty and efficient as the female lead - but once I heard Paulette Goddard was meant to play it, I couldn't stop wishing that she was in the role.
It really should have been a comedy, for all the tropes are there - a shonky lawyer who tries to help him, the treacherous 2IC, a decent USO girl, a boozy old lady who agrees to be his mother in exchange for money. But the filmmakers don't commit, and pull their punches - so a lot of this is straight mystery. I feel it needed more broad characters eg turn Jordan's moll into someone really trashy, have him play off some urchin to be his "kid" - go for the laughs.
But I get the feeling they didn't trust Ladd and made sure there was plenty of suspense and action. As a result the movie kind of falls between stools - too silly to be a thriller, not funny enough to be a comedy. Ladd's not bad - he plays it straight as he should, but he needed a stronger support cast.
Also some things that happen are quite black eg he hires a person to be his body double and the poor kid is shot dead!
Mabel Paige is alright - this sort of role is a gift, and she does okay rather than shines, though I did like the affection between her and Ladd after she's beaten up by Nazi agents. Helen Walker is pretty and efficient as the female lead - but once I heard Paulette Goddard was meant to play it, I couldn't stop wishing that she was in the role.
Friday, February 05, 2016
Book review - "Patricians and Emperors: The Last Rulers of the Western Roman Empire" by Ian Hughes (2015)
Hughes was written some excellent books on Stilicho, Bellarius, Aetius, Valens and Valentinian. He now turns his attention to the fall of the Western Empire - so doesn't focus on just the one person but on some key figures - Majorian, Ricimer, Marcellinus, Gundobad, Orestes, Odoacer. As a result it doesn't have a strong central focus because the collapse of the Western Empire was so messy and complicated that it was hard to tell when it actually ended (the Goths didn't change that much, the Eastern Empire kept going).
No matter how bad things was, it could have been reversed for a long time if the East had been able and/or willing to help out - but they didn't and chaos ensued. Hughes argues that things were basically doomed even when Majorian took over. I don't think so, he was a successful leader who could have at least consolidated if not for Ricimer. Hughes paints a more sympathetic depiction of Ricimer, arguing he wasn't as manipulative and evil as he's been depicted- but intentional or not, look at the scoreboard, the executions and coups added up and they rarely improved things. Towards the end of the book things get very confusing as I'm sure this was at the time. But it's a very good book.
No matter how bad things was, it could have been reversed for a long time if the East had been able and/or willing to help out - but they didn't and chaos ensued. Hughes argues that things were basically doomed even when Majorian took over. I don't think so, he was a successful leader who could have at least consolidated if not for Ricimer. Hughes paints a more sympathetic depiction of Ricimer, arguing he wasn't as manipulative and evil as he's been depicted- but intentional or not, look at the scoreboard, the executions and coups added up and they rarely improved things. Towards the end of the book things get very confusing as I'm sure this was at the time. But it's a very good book.
TV review- "Community - Season 6" (2015) ****
Community managed to return for another season thanks to the generous folks at Yahoo. I'm not a super die hard fan but from what I can tell it was a relatively seamless transition - turning into the same old show. The biggest shake up is the cast - now Yvette Nicole Brown has gone (I noticed her part in season 5 seemed less so I wonder if anything is going on). Less of a loss is Jonathan Banks, who never quite fitted in - he was okay - and John Oliver.
It means things seem kind of lonely, but Dan Harmon is still on board and the quality remains high. I wasn't that wild about Paget Brewster or Keith David as additions - both serious, strong actors, not exactly comic powerhouses. As the series goes on it gets more meta and more brilliant - philosophy, the meaning of life etc. It was a wonderful series, although the original gang is missed, but some of this is incredibly well done and I'll miss the show.
It means things seem kind of lonely, but Dan Harmon is still on board and the quality remains high. I wasn't that wild about Paget Brewster or Keith David as additions - both serious, strong actors, not exactly comic powerhouses. As the series goes on it gets more meta and more brilliant - philosophy, the meaning of life etc. It was a wonderful series, although the original gang is missed, but some of this is incredibly well done and I'll miss the show.
Movie review - "Wild Harvest" (1947) ***1/2 (re-viewing) ***1/2 (re-viewing)
You'd think a movie about wheat harvesters could only be so interesting and contemporary reviews didn't think much of this, but I found it a lot of fun. It's more an old Warner Bros style movie, about a bunch of guys who like to work hard and play hard, brawl, muck around, betray their friends, fall in love with the same woman - you could see it with Bogie, Cagney, Raft etc. Paramount rustled up a decent equivalent sort of cast - Alan Ladd, Robert Preston, Lloyd Nolan, with Dorothy Lamour as the gal.
In its way it is a kind of a western - with harvesting wheat instead of a cattle drive, a wheat fire instead of a cattle stampede, brawls at the saloon, skimming instead of rustling, tough heroes. But the wheat setting gives it freshness.
Ladd is animated and comfortable as he would often be in "guys world" atmosphere. There is an uncomfortable strand of misogyny throughout the film - Lamour is a no good tramp who seduces Preston because she wants Ladd but it's ok because Ladd and Preston go off into the sunset together.
Maybe ***1/2 is too much but its fun and they don't make 'em like this anymore.
In its way it is a kind of a western - with harvesting wheat instead of a cattle drive, a wheat fire instead of a cattle stampede, brawls at the saloon, skimming instead of rustling, tough heroes. But the wheat setting gives it freshness.
Ladd is animated and comfortable as he would often be in "guys world" atmosphere. There is an uncomfortable strand of misogyny throughout the film - Lamour is a no good tramp who seduces Preston because she wants Ladd but it's ok because Ladd and Preston go off into the sunset together.
Maybe ***1/2 is too much but its fun and they don't make 'em like this anymore.
Monday, February 01, 2016
Movie review - "O.S.S." (1946) *** (re-viewing) (warning: spoilers)
Paramount had Richard Maibaum bang this out quite quickly in order to beat two other OSS movies being made in Hollywood at the time and it got their first. It's not a bad film - not outstanding, episodic, but historically interesting. Alan Ladd isn't quite entirely well cast in the lead - stars make great spies when the bulk of their work consists of action and romancing but in this more (presumably) realistic depiction Ladd is required to blend in to the crowd and he's not exactly believable as someone who could pass himself off in France as a local.
However he's got charisma and something of a character arc - he's reluctant to work with Geraldine Fitzgerald (who is more believable as a spy), comes to fall in love with her, learns the importance of sacrifice and women as spies (he is a bit of a dill to not think this in the first place but Ladd often played misogynists), and helps win the war.
There are some WW2 gadgets which is interesting considering Maibaum would later write so many James Bond movies. There are also a number of effective moments - Ladd cracking the shits when Patrick Knowles asks him to stay on and insists Knowles order him; discovering a Gestapo agent wants to be a traitor (was Tarantino inspired by this for Inglorious Basterds?); the death of Fitzgerald; the death of another agent. Actually come to think of it the death toll here of the Allies is quite high - it adds a level of gravitas and seriousness.
The plot itself is episodic - training, initial mission, the stuff on the train, meeting the Gestapo agent, a final mission. Once I knew that I didn't mind as much on re-viewing.
However he's got charisma and something of a character arc - he's reluctant to work with Geraldine Fitzgerald (who is more believable as a spy), comes to fall in love with her, learns the importance of sacrifice and women as spies (he is a bit of a dill to not think this in the first place but Ladd often played misogynists), and helps win the war.
There are some WW2 gadgets which is interesting considering Maibaum would later write so many James Bond movies. There are also a number of effective moments - Ladd cracking the shits when Patrick Knowles asks him to stay on and insists Knowles order him; discovering a Gestapo agent wants to be a traitor (was Tarantino inspired by this for Inglorious Basterds?); the death of Fitzgerald; the death of another agent. Actually come to think of it the death toll here of the Allies is quite high - it adds a level of gravitas and seriousness.
The plot itself is episodic - training, initial mission, the stuff on the train, meeting the Gestapo agent, a final mission. Once I knew that I didn't mind as much on re-viewing.
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