The last film Astaire and Rogers made for RKO doesn't have much of a rep - it lost money, killed the series, has an unhappy ending, is based on a true story... but I actually really liked it. It's sweet, down to earth with Ginger and Fred being really nice playing real people, and some very cute scenes as Fred and Irene meet and fall in love. The dancing is of a very good quality and the movie has real emotional impact because we know Vernon will die at war (in a training accident but still....)
It's odd to see Walter Brennan play a manservant, Edna May Oliver is a mannish agent, there's not much comic relief but the leads handle the bulk of the smiley stuff themselves.
It's very straighlaced. There are no comic misunderstandings or mad cap arguments. It's not a typical Astaire Rogers film but it's sweet and has a much nicer heart than Carefree.
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Book review - "Young Orson" by Patrick McGilligan (2015)
Another biography on Orson Welles? One that focuses on his life before Citizen Kane, just like Simon Callow's? I mainly gave this a go because it was written by Patrick McGilligan whose books are always worth reading and it was worth it. It's a fantastic book - most of the books I've read on Welles have been great.
It plays to McGilligan's strengths - he's done sturdy work on Welles' family tree, as per usual. He also spends a lot of time de-bunking myths about Welles, proving a counter balance (just as he did in his books on Hitchcock and Clint Eastwood): his supposedly distant parents, the role of John Houseman, the paternity of Michael Lindsay Hogg, his supposed womanising (there seems to have been a lot of it but much was seemingly emotional), his supposed nothing marriage to Virginia Welles, the enigma of his elder brother, the mystery of Dadda Bernstein, the personal touches in Kane.
The book got a little less special as it went on, mainly because the ground it covered was more familiar. McGilligan isn't as good on theatre as Simon Callow but is more thorough when it comes to facts. It was always worth reading though. The epilogue on Welles' last day was really moving.
I felt McGilligan was a bit harsh on Houseman at times - so he blew his own trumpet, that's not a massive crime, and I think having to deal with the legend of Welles would be hard.
It plays to McGilligan's strengths - he's done sturdy work on Welles' family tree, as per usual. He also spends a lot of time de-bunking myths about Welles, proving a counter balance (just as he did in his books on Hitchcock and Clint Eastwood): his supposedly distant parents, the role of John Houseman, the paternity of Michael Lindsay Hogg, his supposed womanising (there seems to have been a lot of it but much was seemingly emotional), his supposed nothing marriage to Virginia Welles, the enigma of his elder brother, the mystery of Dadda Bernstein, the personal touches in Kane.
The book got a little less special as it went on, mainly because the ground it covered was more familiar. McGilligan isn't as good on theatre as Simon Callow but is more thorough when it comes to facts. It was always worth reading though. The epilogue on Welles' last day was really moving.
I felt McGilligan was a bit harsh on Houseman at times - so he blew his own trumpet, that's not a massive crime, and I think having to deal with the legend of Welles would be hard.
Monday, March 28, 2016
Top Ten Old Aussie Australian Films
For no real reason my list of top Australian films pre the late 60s revival
1) The Sentimental Bloke (1919)
2) For the Term of His Natural Life (1927)
3) The Kid Stakes (1927)
4) Dad and Dave Come to Town (1938)
5) Forty Thousand Horsemen (1940)
6) The Overlanders (1946)
7) Sons of Matthew (1949)
8) Jedda (1955)
9) The Sundowners (1960)
10) They're a Weird Mob (1966)
1) The Sentimental Bloke (1919)
2) For the Term of His Natural Life (1927)
3) The Kid Stakes (1927)
4) Dad and Dave Come to Town (1938)
5) Forty Thousand Horsemen (1940)
6) The Overlanders (1946)
7) Sons of Matthew (1949)
8) Jedda (1955)
9) The Sundowners (1960)
10) They're a Weird Mob (1966)
Movie review - "Eye of the Devil" (1966) ***
It's disconcerting to see Sharon Tate in a film about a bloodthirsty pagan cult as someone working for that cult. I didn't know much about this film and it probably should be better known especially as the much adored Wicker Man seems to have ripped off it's premise - an old rural area run by an aristocrat pays homage to pagan Gods and when the crops start to fail the locals want blood. Mind you, this story seems to have ripped off a few stories itself - notably Rebecca, which ripped off Jane Eyre (gothic castle, woman not sure what mysterious man of the manor is up to, a secret, someone trying to drive lady of the house mad), plus a bit of The Innocents thrown in (creepy kids).
The movie is set in France and is about French people but feels more English with the aristocrats being played by David Niven, Deborah Kerr, and Flora Robson, with locals including Tate, David Hemmings and Edward Mulhare. But you know what? I went with it.
It's a fantastic cast - Niven and Kerr play their parts with complete conviction (Vincent Price normally got these sort of roles, its interesting to mentally compare them), Pleasance is scary as always, and Hemmings and Tate are genuinely unsettling. This might be Tate's most effective performance - she isn't required to do a lot of acting, just look beautiful and mysterious and she really pulls it off; she has a haunting quality about her. Hemmings is also ideal as her creepy bow wielding brother.
I felt it could have done with a few more shock scenes - as in bad stuff to actually happen. Pleasance felt wasted and I kept expecting Mulhare to do something. Also I do feel the story would've worked better with a younger female lead - Kerr seems too sensible.
The movie is set in France and is about French people but feels more English with the aristocrats being played by David Niven, Deborah Kerr, and Flora Robson, with locals including Tate, David Hemmings and Edward Mulhare. But you know what? I went with it.
It's a fantastic cast - Niven and Kerr play their parts with complete conviction (Vincent Price normally got these sort of roles, its interesting to mentally compare them), Pleasance is scary as always, and Hemmings and Tate are genuinely unsettling. This might be Tate's most effective performance - she isn't required to do a lot of acting, just look beautiful and mysterious and she really pulls it off; she has a haunting quality about her. Hemmings is also ideal as her creepy bow wielding brother.
I felt it could have done with a few more shock scenes - as in bad stuff to actually happen. Pleasance felt wasted and I kept expecting Mulhare to do something. Also I do feel the story would've worked better with a younger female lead - Kerr seems too sensible.
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Movie review - "The Black Cat" (1934) ***1/2 (re-viewing)
Two of the greatest horror movie stars were Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi; they teamed on several occasions, of which this was the first and perhaps the best... It's definitely the one where they really go mano a mano.
Its an intense, way out film with a weak link to Edgar Alan Poe but a lot of imagination and boldness. Lugosi is relatively subdued but it's still a fantastic role - a dashing, tormented psychiatrist, haunted by having been in a prison for 15 years, determined for revenge. Karloff is unique, with his close cropped haircut, black robes and sleeping next to Lugoi's daughter.
David Manners is bland in what is really a thankless role, the "ordinary guy", but he's solidly bland if that makes sense. Jacqueline Wells - who later became Errol Flynn co-star Julie Bishop - gets to have more fun as Manners' bride who gets a little horny after Lugosi injects her with something, giving Manners a big kiss.
Lots of things I noticed on reviewing - Karloff caressing the wooden sculpture of a naked woman, the choppy nature of the story, the fact the middle seems padded despite the fact its only 65 minutes, the awkwardness of the comical police interlude. But it's got great sets, a wonderful kinky feel and a slap up climax.
Its an intense, way out film with a weak link to Edgar Alan Poe but a lot of imagination and boldness. Lugosi is relatively subdued but it's still a fantastic role - a dashing, tormented psychiatrist, haunted by having been in a prison for 15 years, determined for revenge. Karloff is unique, with his close cropped haircut, black robes and sleeping next to Lugoi's daughter.
David Manners is bland in what is really a thankless role, the "ordinary guy", but he's solidly bland if that makes sense. Jacqueline Wells - who later became Errol Flynn co-star Julie Bishop - gets to have more fun as Manners' bride who gets a little horny after Lugosi injects her with something, giving Manners a big kiss.
Lots of things I noticed on reviewing - Karloff caressing the wooden sculpture of a naked woman, the choppy nature of the story, the fact the middle seems padded despite the fact its only 65 minutes, the awkwardness of the comical police interlude. But it's got great sets, a wonderful kinky feel and a slap up climax.
Book review - "The Black Cat" by Gregory William Mank (2015)
Mank has carved out a strong reputation as a writer on the Golden Years of Classic Hollywood horror, with tomes on Karloff and Lugosi, Dwight Frye and others. This is short but comprehensive look at the making of the 1934 Universal classic which brought Karloff and Lugosi together for the first time, covering the film's inception, scripting, casting, filming, post production, censorship troubles, Alisteir Crowley influence, etc.
Most of all it looks at the tortured/feverish/however you want to describe it genius of Edgar Ulmer, who was the real auteur of this film, rewarding Universal with their biggest hit of 1934... only to be blackballed in the industry, in part because he defied Carl Laemle but also because he ran off with the wife of one of Laemle's nephews.
After the book on The Invisible Man I was a little disappointed we didn't get the shooting script and the kindle edition I read of this was all chopped up. But it's a bright, entertaining book that made me want to go straight out and watch the film again.
Most of all it looks at the tortured/feverish/however you want to describe it genius of Edgar Ulmer, who was the real auteur of this film, rewarding Universal with their biggest hit of 1934... only to be blackballed in the industry, in part because he defied Carl Laemle but also because he ran off with the wife of one of Laemle's nephews.
After the book on The Invisible Man I was a little disappointed we didn't get the shooting script and the kindle edition I read of this was all chopped up. But it's a bright, entertaining book that made me want to go straight out and watch the film again.
Movie review - "Carefree" (1938) **
The first Astaire-Rogers film to lose money. To give the filmmakers credit they tried to move on some the frothy misunderstandings and mix ups with characterised their earlier works to tackle something more serious - to wit, psychiatry.
Ralph Bellamy - better known as "poor old Ralph Bellamy" - is in love with Ginger Rogers but he won't marry him so he sends her to see shrink Fred Astaire to cure her. It's a bit yuck that Bellamy does this and that Astaire falls for Rogers (watching a shrink fall for a patient was never going to be a great frothy musical comedy idea).
It only goes for 80 minutes but feels longer. There are only four musical numbers which are extremely well done. But the main thing about this is the story. It's horrible that Astaire brainwashes Rogers into not being in love with him, then the climax involves her getting punched in the face, and the last shot has her going down the aisle with a black eye. It's awful.
Ralph Bellamy - better known as "poor old Ralph Bellamy" - is in love with Ginger Rogers but he won't marry him so he sends her to see shrink Fred Astaire to cure her. It's a bit yuck that Bellamy does this and that Astaire falls for Rogers (watching a shrink fall for a patient was never going to be a great frothy musical comedy idea).
It only goes for 80 minutes but feels longer. There are only four musical numbers which are extremely well done. But the main thing about this is the story. It's horrible that Astaire brainwashes Rogers into not being in love with him, then the climax involves her getting punched in the face, and the last shot has her going down the aisle with a black eye. It's awful.
Movie review - "Rogues' Regiment" (1948) ***
Writer-producer Robert Buckner was a former journo and liked a bit of "ripped from the headlines" cinema (eg Sword in the Desert). This is based on the pursuit of Martin Bormann and the large numbers of Germans who enlisted in the French Foreign Legion following the end of World War Two. There is considerable novelty in a film set in the very early days of the Vietnam War, with scenes of the legion clashing with the Viet Minh. It's surprisingly sympathetic to the latter - leader Philip Anh whinges to communist Vincent Price that they are being exploited by the reds as well as the French.
But that's only a small component of this film - it's basically Dick Powell chasing former Nazi Stephen McNally, helped by French agent/singer Marta Toren and hindered by man of mystery Vincent Price.
I wasn't wild about the cast. I'm happy for Dick Powell that he reimagined himself as a tough guy star but never really liked him in those roles - I would've preferred say Alan Ladd. Marta Toren feels like a send up of an exotic European actress. And that final scene of the two of them on the farm in Omaha was ridiculous.
However McNally and Price are very good, I love Hollywood backlot recreations of the third world, in this case Saigon and the area around it. The story moves at a decent pulpy pace and the novelty of a modern day foreign legion tale gets this over the line.
But that's only a small component of this film - it's basically Dick Powell chasing former Nazi Stephen McNally, helped by French agent/singer Marta Toren and hindered by man of mystery Vincent Price.
I wasn't wild about the cast. I'm happy for Dick Powell that he reimagined himself as a tough guy star but never really liked him in those roles - I would've preferred say Alan Ladd. Marta Toren feels like a send up of an exotic European actress. And that final scene of the two of them on the farm in Omaha was ridiculous.
However McNally and Price are very good, I love Hollywood backlot recreations of the third world, in this case Saigon and the area around it. The story moves at a decent pulpy pace and the novelty of a modern day foreign legion tale gets this over the line.
Movie review - "Ten Tall Men" (1951) **1/2 (re-viewing)
Burt Lancaster in the foreign legion - it starts out with hi jinks and escapades, complete with legionnaires in drag and Burt pretending to be an Arab, and Burt kissing trampy singers, then gets more serious with Burt leaving a mission of convicts, at which point a whole new movie starts - new love interest, new baddies, less jokes.
There are ten convicts and that's too many for them to have individual personalities (yes there was the Dirty Dozen but we got to know a few of those really well). There's meant to be a Gunga Din vibe with Lancaster and his two mates, Kieron Moore and Gilbert Roland, but it was too hard to tell even them apart and Jody Lawrence is a dull female lead, although she has a feisty character (a princess about to be married).
It feels like a bit of a hodge podge and tonally it's all over the place. Plenty of colour and movement.
There are ten convicts and that's too many for them to have individual personalities (yes there was the Dirty Dozen but we got to know a few of those really well). There's meant to be a Gunga Din vibe with Lancaster and his two mates, Kieron Moore and Gilbert Roland, but it was too hard to tell even them apart and Jody Lawrence is a dull female lead, although she has a feisty character (a princess about to be married).
It feels like a bit of a hodge podge and tonally it's all over the place. Plenty of colour and movement.
Friday, March 25, 2016
Movie review - "Taken" (2008) ***
An unexpected box office monster, in part because it is so effective on a primordial level - a lonely single middle aged man who only lives for his teenage daughter listens as that daughter is kidnapped and sets about getting her back. The set up is familiar to a 1986 film, Targets, where Gene Hackman was revealed to be a kick arse killed. Hackman had to rescue his wife and was helped by son Matt Dillon. Here Neeson has to act mostly on his own, although he does have the benefit of some old associates he can draw upon.
There's a lot in this movie that people will find offensive - basically the notion of daughters as property, all the dick measuring, the constant fear of foreigners (Paris, Albanians, Arabs), the fact the daughter gets to live because she's a virgin but not the slutty best friend. On a craft level it's frustrating the movie doesn't really develop - it's like a video game with Liam Neeson moving from one level to the next. There's not even the one villain - new ones keep coming along (the good looking Peter, the guy Liam speaks to on the phone, a smarmy American, a dodgy Arab). I kept expecting to see a character like Jeffrey Hunter in The Searchers to flesh out Liam's character and provide more complexity but it never happened. Indeed, the story was disappointingly linear, the only real twist being the betrayal from Liam's old mate - I kept expecting say some relationship between Liam and that girl he rescued, or to use the step father character more (all he does is lend Liam a plane when really he could've got a normal flight), or the wife more.
Still, it is extremely stylish with some excellent action sequences and Liam proves to be an ideal hero - battered, smart, soulful, haunted.
There's a lot in this movie that people will find offensive - basically the notion of daughters as property, all the dick measuring, the constant fear of foreigners (Paris, Albanians, Arabs), the fact the daughter gets to live because she's a virgin but not the slutty best friend. On a craft level it's frustrating the movie doesn't really develop - it's like a video game with Liam Neeson moving from one level to the next. There's not even the one villain - new ones keep coming along (the good looking Peter, the guy Liam speaks to on the phone, a smarmy American, a dodgy Arab). I kept expecting to see a character like Jeffrey Hunter in The Searchers to flesh out Liam's character and provide more complexity but it never happened. Indeed, the story was disappointingly linear, the only real twist being the betrayal from Liam's old mate - I kept expecting say some relationship between Liam and that girl he rescued, or to use the step father character more (all he does is lend Liam a plane when really he could've got a normal flight), or the wife more.
Still, it is extremely stylish with some excellent action sequences and Liam proves to be an ideal hero - battered, smart, soulful, haunted.
Movie review - "Magnet of Doom" (1963) **1/2
The French once again with a love story between two men: Jean-Paul Belmondo is a recently retired boxer who is hired by dodgy businessman Charles Vanet (presumably Jean Gabin turned it down) to drive him across America. There's a bag of cash in the back of the car which makes you think it's going to be a straight up thriller but it turns into more of a character piece, with the men trying to size each other up - I was reminded at times of pieces like The Servant.
It never really feels like they're in America - I think most of it was shot in France. There's some lovely photography, Belmondo is great and I liked Vanet, who I wasn't super familiar with.
It never really feels like they're in America - I think most of it was shot in France. There's some lovely photography, Belmondo is great and I liked Vanet, who I wasn't super familiar with.
Movie review - "Spectre" (2015) *** (warning: spoilers)
Some random thoughts on this film:
* If you're going to break the habit of an entire series and not have the audience know everything that James Bond knows, to have him keep secrets from us, then make sure the secrets are decent ones and not stuff that actually ones that, if we'd known them up front, would have made watching the action more enjoyable (not to mention made more sense) and have more emotional resonance. For instance, why not tell us why Bond was in Mexico City before his mission? Watching it his actions felt incredibly irresponsible and dangerous. (I know you could say that about Bond all the time, but it felt particularly so here, especially as it was him, and no one else, who was responsibly for a building collapsing and the helicopter crashing into crowd.) And why not reveal Bond had a foster brother instead of stringing it out? It would've meant his meeting with Blofeld/Chris Waltz would've actually met something.
* If you're going to have Bond fall in love with his leading lady, then introduce her earlier than one hour into the film and please have her played by someone age appropriate. Lea Seydoux is a beautiful and capable and does a decent job, and yes her love scene in Blue is the Warmest Color was very hot, but she's young enough to be his child. They introduce a great Bond girl in Monica Belluci, age appropriate, mysterious, sexy and all that, the sort of person you'd believe he might retire with, but then they discount the character and repeat the whole "come with me if you want to live" thing with Seydoux.
*It's too long - I think in part because so much of the action was cuttable and/or repetitive: as mentioned, there were two "come with me if you want to live" moments, the whole Belluci sequence could've been removed, Moneypenny and Bond have an exchange which consists of "come over to my house" then she's over and his house. There are a lot of scenes which felt as though they could've been cut and/or trimmed.
*The story feels familiar too - another big bad secretive organisation, another person with an ages old resentment against Bond, another threat to the double O regime, another traitor within MI6, another top secret meeting that Bond crashes.
*Judi Dench's appearance from beyond the grave only serves to make us realise how badly she's missed and how Ralph Fiennes' replacement isn't nearly as good. And how bland Moneypenny is. Q is great though.
*James Bond movies shouldn't try to make a real life political point. Us small l liberals have an unwritten rule enjoying these films - we ignore the fact they glorify a paid assassin who never questions the jobs he's given provided we are given non stop escapist action and villains who deserve to be killed. We don't want shades of grey in a Bond film. We definitely don't want lectures on how lots of survelliance is bad. Bad compared to what? A top secret assassination program?
*I really wish they'd actually plotted this as a series instead of awkwardly trying to retcon Spectre's powers. It felt shoved in.
*Is it so hard to have a decent theme song?
*I hated the way Bond let Blofeld live at the end. I felt it was false to character and also inadvertently offered as propaganda for on the spot executions, just like The Dark Knight did when Batman didn't kill the Joker and humanity suffered for it.
Okay now lets have a walk on the sunny side: photography and production design is stunning, there are some typically excellent action machines, some awesome moments such as Blofeld revealing he knows Bond is watching, Bond has his sense of humour back. I liked a lot of it I just wish it had been better and hope that Craig decides to come back for another one to go out on a higher note.
* If you're going to break the habit of an entire series and not have the audience know everything that James Bond knows, to have him keep secrets from us, then make sure the secrets are decent ones and not stuff that actually ones that, if we'd known them up front, would have made watching the action more enjoyable (not to mention made more sense) and have more emotional resonance. For instance, why not tell us why Bond was in Mexico City before his mission? Watching it his actions felt incredibly irresponsible and dangerous. (I know you could say that about Bond all the time, but it felt particularly so here, especially as it was him, and no one else, who was responsibly for a building collapsing and the helicopter crashing into crowd.) And why not reveal Bond had a foster brother instead of stringing it out? It would've meant his meeting with Blofeld/Chris Waltz would've actually met something.
* If you're going to have Bond fall in love with his leading lady, then introduce her earlier than one hour into the film and please have her played by someone age appropriate. Lea Seydoux is a beautiful and capable and does a decent job, and yes her love scene in Blue is the Warmest Color was very hot, but she's young enough to be his child. They introduce a great Bond girl in Monica Belluci, age appropriate, mysterious, sexy and all that, the sort of person you'd believe he might retire with, but then they discount the character and repeat the whole "come with me if you want to live" thing with Seydoux.
*It's too long - I think in part because so much of the action was cuttable and/or repetitive: as mentioned, there were two "come with me if you want to live" moments, the whole Belluci sequence could've been removed, Moneypenny and Bond have an exchange which consists of "come over to my house" then she's over and his house. There are a lot of scenes which felt as though they could've been cut and/or trimmed.
*The story feels familiar too - another big bad secretive organisation, another person with an ages old resentment against Bond, another threat to the double O regime, another traitor within MI6, another top secret meeting that Bond crashes.
*Judi Dench's appearance from beyond the grave only serves to make us realise how badly she's missed and how Ralph Fiennes' replacement isn't nearly as good. And how bland Moneypenny is. Q is great though.
*James Bond movies shouldn't try to make a real life political point. Us small l liberals have an unwritten rule enjoying these films - we ignore the fact they glorify a paid assassin who never questions the jobs he's given provided we are given non stop escapist action and villains who deserve to be killed. We don't want shades of grey in a Bond film. We definitely don't want lectures on how lots of survelliance is bad. Bad compared to what? A top secret assassination program?
*I really wish they'd actually plotted this as a series instead of awkwardly trying to retcon Spectre's powers. It felt shoved in.
*Is it so hard to have a decent theme song?
*I hated the way Bond let Blofeld live at the end. I felt it was false to character and also inadvertently offered as propaganda for on the spot executions, just like The Dark Knight did when Batman didn't kill the Joker and humanity suffered for it.
Okay now lets have a walk on the sunny side: photography and production design is stunning, there are some typically excellent action machines, some awesome moments such as Blofeld revealing he knows Bond is watching, Bond has his sense of humour back. I liked a lot of it I just wish it had been better and hope that Craig decides to come back for another one to go out on a higher note.
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
My top 10 random RKO films
In honour of Richard Jewell's book on RKO I thought I'd do a top ten of my favourite random RKO movies- not the classics, thank you very much, just films I was interested in from The RKO Story and late night TV:
1) His Kind of Woman (1951) - bizarre Farrow/Mitchum/Russell noir which starts out noir and becomes slapstick comedy
2) Seven Keys to Baldpate (three versions) - RKO just kept remaking this
3) Action in Arabia (1943) - exotic WW2 on the backlot stuff with George Sanders as an action hero
4) Five Came Back (1939) - perhaps John Farrow's best ever "B"
5) At Sword's Point (1951) - really fun swashbuckler
6) Riff Raff (1947) - fun late night TV fare with Pat O'Brien pretending to be Bogart or Alan Ladd
7) Bedlam (1946) - perhaps the least well known of the Val Lewtons but I love it
8) Seven Days Leave (1943) - random fact: Victor Mature in a musical was box office gold in the 40s
9) The Falcon series - not as well remembered as the Saint but as fun
10) Dangerous Mission (1954) - pine trees, cable cars and action
1) His Kind of Woman (1951) - bizarre Farrow/Mitchum/Russell noir which starts out noir and becomes slapstick comedy
2) Seven Keys to Baldpate (three versions) - RKO just kept remaking this
3) Action in Arabia (1943) - exotic WW2 on the backlot stuff with George Sanders as an action hero
4) Five Came Back (1939) - perhaps John Farrow's best ever "B"
5) At Sword's Point (1951) - really fun swashbuckler
6) Riff Raff (1947) - fun late night TV fare with Pat O'Brien pretending to be Bogart or Alan Ladd
7) Bedlam (1946) - perhaps the least well known of the Val Lewtons but I love it
8) Seven Days Leave (1943) - random fact: Victor Mature in a musical was box office gold in the 40s
9) The Falcon series - not as well remembered as the Saint but as fun
10) Dangerous Mission (1954) - pine trees, cable cars and action
Movie review - "Beast with Five Fingers" (1946) ***
A rare horror film from Warner Bros but it was directed by Robert Florey, who had some experience in the genre, and written by Curt Siodmark, who had a lot. Andrea King is terrible and Robert Alda dull but the real stars are Peter Lorre, who is superb as the twitchy servant, and the severed hand.
Some of this is very good - the hand attacks especially. There is too much non horror, it takes a while to get going, J Carroll Naish's comic detective got on my nerves, but it is fun.
Some of this is very good - the hand attacks especially. There is too much non horror, it takes a while to get going, J Carroll Naish's comic detective got on my nerves, but it is fun.
Movie review - "Dark Passage" (1947) ***1/2 (warning: spoilers)
Bogart and Bacall made four films together of which three are commonly regarded as classics - this is the third one, about which opinion is more divided, but it's still pretty good (cf Saigon, the odd one out for Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake).
It has a memorable gimmick - the first hour of the film is from Bogart's character's POV as he escapes from prison and sets about trying to prove his innocence and get plastic surgery. He then turns into Bogart.
The movie does have flaws - at two hours it feels long; there are sequences which are frustrating even if logical (eg Bogart's character being unable to speak after the surgery). The mystery gets forgotten. I wish they'd come up with a better reason for Lauren Bacall to get involved in the story other than "someone did this to my dad".
Agnes Moorehead is superb as a psycho woman - "if I can't have you no one can". I like how Clifton Young's character came back and loved the ending with Bogie and Bacall having to meet up in Peru because no one will believe Bogart about what really happened.
It has a memorable gimmick - the first hour of the film is from Bogart's character's POV as he escapes from prison and sets about trying to prove his innocence and get plastic surgery. He then turns into Bogart.
The movie does have flaws - at two hours it feels long; there are sequences which are frustrating even if logical (eg Bogart's character being unable to speak after the surgery). The mystery gets forgotten. I wish they'd come up with a better reason for Lauren Bacall to get involved in the story other than "someone did this to my dad".
Agnes Moorehead is superb as a psycho woman - "if I can't have you no one can". I like how Clifton Young's character came back and loved the ending with Bogie and Bacall having to meet up in Peru because no one will believe Bogart about what really happened.
Movie review - "The Undead" (1957) ***1/2 (re-viewing)
One of the most ambitious - if not the most ambitious - of Roger Corman's early movies, helped by a great script and story from Charles Griffith. It's a clever, imaginative story, well executed, which doesn't cop out - Pamela Duncan plays a hooker, the lead character dies, characters get their heads chopped off.
The budget was too limited. The characters look silly in their medieval outfits - like they're at a theme part. Duncan and the lead guy aren't good. Allison Hayes is perfect. I wish Corman had remade this in the 60s with Vincent Price and Daniel Haller.
The budget was too limited. The characters look silly in their medieval outfits - like they're at a theme part. Duncan and the lead guy aren't good. Allison Hayes is perfect. I wish Corman had remade this in the 60s with Vincent Price and Daniel Haller.
Book review - "Slow Fade to Black: The Decline of RKO Pictures" by Richard Jewell (2016)
Superb follow up to Jewell's earlier book on RKO, A Titan is Born, which went up until the end of the regime of George Schaefer. This one starts off with his replacement, Charles Koerner, probably best remembered today as the man who butchered The Magnificent Ambersons and refused to release It's All True - which is true - but he also succeeded in completely turning the studio around and making it profitable, ushering in it's greatest period. Koerner's regime was short - he died of leukemia in 1946 - but he deserves to be remembered for his non-Welles achievements, which were considerable (and not devoid of artistic aspiration).
Once Koerner died, RKO fell into a bit of a limbo until Dore Schary became head of production. He's a controversial figure, Schary - clearly talented, made some great pictures, but also a headline grabbing liberal (he had nothing to do with commissioning Crossfire for instance but took a lot of the credit), who stood up for commie creatives but only to a degree and still helped enforce the blacklist, who made many films that lost money but who wouldn't take a pay cut. His record at the studio actually isn't very good but he had a great "out" for two reasons: he clashed with Howard Hughes, and Hughes wouldn't let him do a film (Battleground) that became a big hit over at MGM.
Howard Hughes was really the final act for RKO - there were other regimes but he's the one who wrecked it. Indecisive, arrogant, egotistical, impossible to work with, he ground the studio into the ground. It could have survived, there were plenty of good people around, solid facilities and distribution, but Hughes mortally wounded it. I've got to say, I have fondness for some of his moves - His Kind of Woman especially - and part of me loves how he ran a studio into the ground, but it must have been awful for those who worked there at the time.
This is an excellent book - brilliantly researched, well written, accessible. It's full of lessons that are relevant today - the importance of experience and executive stability, the recognition that everyone will make mistakes but the key is not to make too many of them while still taking risks. When this and Titan are published in the one volume it will be the definitive account.
Once Koerner died, RKO fell into a bit of a limbo until Dore Schary became head of production. He's a controversial figure, Schary - clearly talented, made some great pictures, but also a headline grabbing liberal (he had nothing to do with commissioning Crossfire for instance but took a lot of the credit), who stood up for commie creatives but only to a degree and still helped enforce the blacklist, who made many films that lost money but who wouldn't take a pay cut. His record at the studio actually isn't very good but he had a great "out" for two reasons: he clashed with Howard Hughes, and Hughes wouldn't let him do a film (Battleground) that became a big hit over at MGM.
Howard Hughes was really the final act for RKO - there were other regimes but he's the one who wrecked it. Indecisive, arrogant, egotistical, impossible to work with, he ground the studio into the ground. It could have survived, there were plenty of good people around, solid facilities and distribution, but Hughes mortally wounded it. I've got to say, I have fondness for some of his moves - His Kind of Woman especially - and part of me loves how he ran a studio into the ground, but it must have been awful for those who worked there at the time.
This is an excellent book - brilliantly researched, well written, accessible. It's full of lessons that are relevant today - the importance of experience and executive stability, the recognition that everyone will make mistakes but the key is not to make too many of them while still taking risks. When this and Titan are published in the one volume it will be the definitive account.
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Movie review - "War Gods of the Deep" (1965) ** (re viewing) aka City Under the Sea
I watched this again for fun, really - and have to admit that even though it's silly and not up to the Corman Poe films, it has a certain magic about it. I think the fact that so much of it is set at night time, and underground/underwater. Dan Haller's production design is always worth watching, and Vincent Price is always good in this sort of role.
Susan Hart wasn't the best actress in the world but she's beautiful and has spirit - I actually liked her more than Tab Hunter. As for David Tomlinson and the comic duck, well... The script has clearly been rewritten and lacks logic but I went with it. There's too much of characters being under water at the end.
Susan Hart wasn't the best actress in the world but she's beautiful and has spirit - I actually liked her more than Tab Hunter. As for David Tomlinson and the comic duck, well... The script has clearly been rewritten and lacks logic but I went with it. There's too much of characters being under water at the end.
Movie review - "The Devil Doll" (1936) **
At first I wondered why this wasn't better known among horror aficionados - it's got a great title, was directed by Tod Browning, co-scripted by Eric Von Stroheim, and gets off to a strong start with Lionel Barrymore and a fellow old codger escaping from Devil's Island. (I've got a soft spot for Devil's Island escape sequences). The old guy dies but not before telling Barrymore that he's a mad scientist who can shrink things a la the doctor in Bride of Frankenstein, and he has a crazy wife who has a similar hairstyle to Elsa Lanchester in Bride of Frankenstein, so when Barrymore says he wants to wreck some Count of Monte Cristo style revenge you think "ok he's going to use the shrinking things machine and kick some arse" which isn't a bad idea for a horror film, if a little more Bela Lugosi/Monogram than Lionel Barrymore/MGM.
But anyways that does happen a bit, but Barrymore actually spends most of the rest of the film in drag as a little old lady. It's played straight believe it or not, and is just plain silly.
Maureen O'Sullivan is always likeable as Barrymore's estranged daughter; Frank Lawton is wet as her fiancee. I wish the actors playing the people Barrymore gets revenge on had been stronger. Rafaele Ottiano - who I don't recall ever having seen in anything before - is fun as the crazy widow of the mad scientist.
But anyways that does happen a bit, but Barrymore actually spends most of the rest of the film in drag as a little old lady. It's played straight believe it or not, and is just plain silly.
Maureen O'Sullivan is always likeable as Barrymore's estranged daughter; Frank Lawton is wet as her fiancee. I wish the actors playing the people Barrymore gets revenge on had been stronger. Rafaele Ottiano - who I don't recall ever having seen in anything before - is fun as the crazy widow of the mad scientist.
Monday, March 21, 2016
TV review - "Magical Mystery Tour" (1967) **1/2
The Beatles copped a lot of criticism for this TV movie and it is pretty dire, incredibly self indulgent and unfunny. But because it's the Beatles it remains fascinating to watch - and the music is incredible. It's about a bus trip by a group of character actors and the Beatles and they have a series of weird encounters.
Really the best way to see the film is a series of video clips with some loose narrative around it. It's a mess made by some very talented people.
Really the best way to see the film is a series of video clips with some loose narrative around it. It's a mess made by some very talented people.
Newsreel review - "Can Braund Cure Cancer?" (1948) **1/2
Ken G Hall doesn't mention this film in his memoirs, perhaps trying to brush it under the carpet - it's a newsreel on the claims of a quack, John Braund, to have cured 317 people of cancer. There are some live testimonials and Hall's treatment, while not quite an ad, is extremely sympathetic. The talking heads are fascinating, a glimpse of an Australia gone now - but the actual execution wouldn't be out of place on a TV current affairs show today.
Movie review - Matt Helm#4 - "The Wrecking Crew" (1969) *1/2
The fourth and last (to date) Matt Helm film is tired, creaking along at a slow pace, unsure of where to pitch its jokes. Say what you will about the first one or two movies, they knew what they were - over the top Bond spoofs which played up Dean Martin's image as a drunken, lecherous crooner. This one they seem reluctant to go there, but don't know where else to aim either.
It has the benefit of Nigel Green as the villain plus some stunning girls - Sharon Tate as a klutzy assistant, Elke Sommer as the femme fetale, Nancy Kwan as another femme fetale.
But it's slow and dull and Tate, for all her beauty doesn't have the spark of Stevens or Ann Margret. By the time it stumbled to an end I was falling asleep and when the end credits promised Helm's return in The Ravagers (never made) I was depressed.
It has the benefit of Nigel Green as the villain plus some stunning girls - Sharon Tate as a klutzy assistant, Elke Sommer as the femme fetale, Nancy Kwan as another femme fetale.
But it's slow and dull and Tate, for all her beauty doesn't have the spark of Stevens or Ann Margret. By the time it stumbled to an end I was falling asleep and when the end credits promised Helm's return in The Ravagers (never made) I was depressed.
Sunday, March 20, 2016
Book review - "Katzman, Nicholson and Corman: Shaping Hollywood's Future" by Mark Thomas McGee (2015)
McGee has written some lively books on AIP and Roger Corman - the AIP one especially is a classic. I wonder why he didn't dedicate a book to Katzman alone who surely deserved his own biography - but maybe he was worried about Katzman sustaining a whole book so he threw in Corman and Nicholson as well.
There was really not much need for another book on Corman, although I did really love reading about McGee's own encounters with the legendary producer/director, the films he made for him, and his dealings with Beverly Gray.
It was cool of McGee to give Nicholson some time in the sun - the executive was really the creative one out of Nicholson and Arkoff at AIP, something reflected in many memoirs but Arkoff outlived Nicholson by over 20 years which meant he tended to rewrite history. McGee was affectionate towards Arkoff in his AIP book but really gets stuck into him here, a little unfairly at times I think, but he knows the studio better than I do.
The Katzman section is highly entertaining - I enjoy McGee's style of writing which perhaps best could be described as "shaggy dog", full of anecdotes and personal touches.
I wished all three sections were longer, but then I wish that of all McGee's books.
There was really not much need for another book on Corman, although I did really love reading about McGee's own encounters with the legendary producer/director, the films he made for him, and his dealings with Beverly Gray.
It was cool of McGee to give Nicholson some time in the sun - the executive was really the creative one out of Nicholson and Arkoff at AIP, something reflected in many memoirs but Arkoff outlived Nicholson by over 20 years which meant he tended to rewrite history. McGee was affectionate towards Arkoff in his AIP book but really gets stuck into him here, a little unfairly at times I think, but he knows the studio better than I do.
The Katzman section is highly entertaining - I enjoy McGee's style of writing which perhaps best could be described as "shaggy dog", full of anecdotes and personal touches.
I wished all three sections were longer, but then I wish that of all McGee's books.
Movie review - Matt Helm#3 - "The Ambushers" (1967) *
The Matt Helm series really goes for the lecherous approach in this one with double entendre after double entredre - it really could have been called Carry On Mat Helm. It has a decent enough set up - pilot Janice Rule crashes in the jungle with her memory lost and she and Dean Martin/Matt pose as husband and wife to find out what's going on.
But it's hard going. Janice Rule doesn't have the pizzazz that Ann Margret and Stella Stevens bought to the first two movies in the series. It also lacks a decent villain - Albert Salmi is dull.
The pacing is slow. I did like Matt Helm on a bike chasing the UFO which was on a train at the end. Santa Berger is fun as a femme fetale. There's a villain with dyed face and topi hat reminiscent of Will Ferrell in the first and second Austin Powers.
But it's hard going. Janice Rule doesn't have the pizzazz that Ann Margret and Stella Stevens bought to the first two movies in the series. It also lacks a decent villain - Albert Salmi is dull.
The pacing is slow. I did like Matt Helm on a bike chasing the UFO which was on a train at the end. Santa Berger is fun as a femme fetale. There's a villain with dyed face and topi hat reminiscent of Will Ferrell in the first and second Austin Powers.
Book review - "The Road to Ruin: How Tony Abbott and Peta Credlin Destroyed Their Own Government" (2016)
Gossipy, bitchy, and highly readable - a friend said this was like modern day Seutonius and she was completely right, it's an invaluable look at the corridor of power. It's a hatchet job from Savva who was clearly offended by the behaviour of Abbott and Credlin on several levels - trying to get her fired from The Australian for her columns, not attributing one liners she originated in her columns, shoddy treatment of staffers (of which Savva used to be one), betraying the conservative cause.
There's a lot of rumour and innuendo but also plenty of fact and assertions and most of this is all too easy to believe - Abbott's confidence in opposing everything but lack of confidence in actually governing; Tories clinging to national security; the Liberals being as faction riddled as the ALP; Credlin determined to hold on to power, and thus squeezing out the wife; micro managing; hot tempers (probably caused by lack of sleep and pressure as anything).
Savva is no leftie - she calls Shorten the worst Labor leader since Arthur Calwell (so Mark Latham was great was he?), constantly refers to the disaster of the Rudd-Gillard years, says Abbott's core constituency loathe the ABC (do they?), scolds Abbott for not taking the hint of a Rupert Murdoch tweet. Maybe this is why the book is so vicious. Great fun.
There's a lot of rumour and innuendo but also plenty of fact and assertions and most of this is all too easy to believe - Abbott's confidence in opposing everything but lack of confidence in actually governing; Tories clinging to national security; the Liberals being as faction riddled as the ALP; Credlin determined to hold on to power, and thus squeezing out the wife; micro managing; hot tempers (probably caused by lack of sleep and pressure as anything).
Savva is no leftie - she calls Shorten the worst Labor leader since Arthur Calwell (so Mark Latham was great was he?), constantly refers to the disaster of the Rudd-Gillard years, says Abbott's core constituency loathe the ABC (do they?), scolds Abbott for not taking the hint of a Rupert Murdoch tweet. Maybe this is why the book is so vicious. Great fun.
Book review - "I Cannot Yet I Must: The True Story of the Best Bad Monster Movie of All Time, Robot Monster" by Anders Runesta (2016)
Ed Wood has a reputation as the worst director of all time with Plan Nine from Outer Space as his masterpiece but I've always found Robot Monster a lot more fun. The film has many admirers too but its auteur, Phil Tucker, is far less colourful than Wood. He was still an interesting dude and Anders Runesta has devoted an entire book to the making of the movie... and the life and times of Tucker, plus the adventures of collaborators like Wyatt Ordong.
It's an astonishingly detailed book - Robot Monster fans couldn't ask for more, as it not just details the making of the film (throwing in a complete copy of the script), it provides a biography of Tucker (orphan, war veteran, diabetic, someone who appears to have pretended to attempted suicide several times for publicity), looks at several of his other films in depth, analyses the career of some of his key collaborators such as Wyatt Ordung.
Sometimes the detail overwhelm the story, and even Runesta can't solve all the mysteries of Tucker's life - there is a lot of guessing. But it's a book written with such dilligence and passion that it's impossible to dislike.
It's an astonishingly detailed book - Robot Monster fans couldn't ask for more, as it not just details the making of the film (throwing in a complete copy of the script), it provides a biography of Tucker (orphan, war veteran, diabetic, someone who appears to have pretended to attempted suicide several times for publicity), looks at several of his other films in depth, analyses the career of some of his key collaborators such as Wyatt Ordung.
Sometimes the detail overwhelm the story, and even Runesta can't solve all the mysteries of Tucker's life - there is a lot of guessing. But it's a book written with such dilligence and passion that it's impossible to dislike.
Saturday, March 19, 2016
Movie review - "Dance Hall Racket" (1954) *
A film from Phil Tucker who made Robot Monster - this isn't nearly as much fun, despite the novelty of a script written by Lenny Bruce, who also appears along with his partner Honey. It lacks any of that famed Bruce humour/energy.
There's not real story - it's a connection of scenes about various people at a dance hall. You can get away with that if the scenes are interesting and the acting/treatment is good which isn't the case here. It's hard to follow who is who or know what is going on. Most of the scenes are two or three handers of people just shot statically against a wall. Exploitation means a few girls prance around in underwear but this is tame too. Dull rather than fun.
There's not real story - it's a connection of scenes about various people at a dance hall. You can get away with that if the scenes are interesting and the acting/treatment is good which isn't the case here. It's hard to follow who is who or know what is going on. Most of the scenes are two or three handers of people just shot statically against a wall. Exploitation means a few girls prance around in underwear but this is tame too. Dull rather than fun.
Movie review - Matt Helm#2 - "Murderer's Row" (1966) **
The second Matt Helm movie is marginally better than the second, mostly because it has a more confident air and stronger support cast: Karl Malden is fun as the head villain and Ann Margret an ideal "girl in a spy flick" - bright, tough, sexy, confident. Both of them are better than the material.
Dino staggers his way through the film, humming his old tunes, wearing garish clothes, having a fine old time. Really movies like this are beyond criticism - you wish they had a bit more tension and didn't look so cheap.
There are some funny bits like a gun which shoots the person who fires it - though even this is overused - and attractive females like Camilla Sparv and Beverley Adams. I feel James Gregory wastes the role of Helms' boss- this could have been something special.
Dino staggers his way through the film, humming his old tunes, wearing garish clothes, having a fine old time. Really movies like this are beyond criticism - you wish they had a bit more tension and didn't look so cheap.
There are some funny bits like a gun which shoots the person who fires it - though even this is overused - and attractive females like Camilla Sparv and Beverley Adams. I feel James Gregory wastes the role of Helms' boss- this could have been something special.
Movie review - "Appointment with Danger" (1951) **1/2 (re-viewing)
A not-bad Alan Ladd thriller which could've been much better. He plays a postal inspector investigating the murder of a colleague - that's a little different, a postal inspector as hero, though really there's probably not much you can do with the mail, and soon becomes the regular guy going undercover story (NB I feel this movie was influenced by the success of Tony Mann's undercover movies at Eagle Lion).
What makes this really different is the fact a key witness is a nun, played by Phyllis Calvert. The movie should have been about her relationship with Ladd, a la Heaven Knows Mr Allison, but she disappears for the middle segment - I think the filmmakers struggled with the undercover story vs the nun story i.e. getting a nun in an undercover tale (Random thought - I wonder if this was two different scripts mashed together?).
Ladd is ideally cast and there are some great moments - a memorable opening, Jack Webb's performance as a hired goon, Webb killing Harry Morgan, Ladd knocking out Webb on the squash court, some obnoxious baby boomer kids yelling at gangsters, Paul Stewart as the baddie. Lewis Allen's direction has vigour for the most part. This is another Ladd gangster film where he uses his sexuality to distract a blonde moll.
What makes this really different is the fact a key witness is a nun, played by Phyllis Calvert. The movie should have been about her relationship with Ladd, a la Heaven Knows Mr Allison, but she disappears for the middle segment - I think the filmmakers struggled with the undercover story vs the nun story i.e. getting a nun in an undercover tale (Random thought - I wonder if this was two different scripts mashed together?).
Ladd is ideally cast and there are some great moments - a memorable opening, Jack Webb's performance as a hired goon, Webb killing Harry Morgan, Ladd knocking out Webb on the squash court, some obnoxious baby boomer kids yelling at gangsters, Paul Stewart as the baddie. Lewis Allen's direction has vigour for the most part. This is another Ladd gangster film where he uses his sexuality to distract a blonde moll.
Friday, March 18, 2016
Movie review - Matt Helm #1 - "The Silencers" (1966) **
A major inspiration for the Austin Powers movies, a series of James Bond spoofs starring Dean Martin as photographer/secret agent Matt Helm. I kept wanting to like this more than I did because it was so sixties, with all those show girls and garish colours and Dean Martin. There is something automatically endearing about a Bond spoof that figured "right - what the people want are girls, gadgets and gags so lets just give them heaps of that."
But it isn't very good. It ambles along without much excitement or eroticism and looks cheap with some unspectacular sets and action sequences. The running time feels padded with musical and dance numbers, many of which consist of Martin imagining himself singing.
Stella Stevens is good fun as a klutzy girl who may or may not be a double agent. There are attractive femmes including Cyd Charisse and Daliah Lavi plus decent male support cast including Victor Buono (main baddy) and Robert Webber. I liked the gun that shot the person who fired it. But it's a bit dumb.
But it isn't very good. It ambles along without much excitement or eroticism and looks cheap with some unspectacular sets and action sequences. The running time feels padded with musical and dance numbers, many of which consist of Martin imagining himself singing.
Stella Stevens is good fun as a klutzy girl who may or may not be a double agent. There are attractive femmes including Cyd Charisse and Daliah Lavi plus decent male support cast including Victor Buono (main baddy) and Robert Webber. I liked the gun that shot the person who fired it. But it's a bit dumb.
Sunday, March 13, 2016
Movie review - "March or Die" (1977) **
No one much remembers the director Dick Richards, but he had a bit of a vogue in the 1970s with a successful adaptation of Farewell My Lovely. He parlayed that success into a big budget French Foreign Legion film, which performed disappointingly at the box office.
It is a long movie and not that engaging, despite Gene Hackman's fine work as a driven alcoholic officer, Terence Hill not bad as a rogue-ish soldier, and a support cast that includes Catherine Deneuve and Max Von Sydow. It's a bit PC - there are a lot of comments about how unfair French colonialism is - it looks stunning, with dunes and uniforms, but lacks excitement.
It is a long movie and not that engaging, despite Gene Hackman's fine work as a driven alcoholic officer, Terence Hill not bad as a rogue-ish soldier, and a support cast that includes Catherine Deneuve and Max Von Sydow. It's a bit PC - there are a lot of comments about how unfair French colonialism is - it looks stunning, with dunes and uniforms, but lacks excitement.
Book review - "Vespasian 3: False God of Rome" by Robert Fabbri
Caligula is always good value for a historical novelist and his antics enliven this Vespasian adventure. The first involves the early Christians and Fabbri bring a fresh (at least to me) slant - then there is Caligula in Rome. Some decent action and good characterisations.
Book review - "Vespasian 4: Rome's Fallen Eagle" by Robert Fabbri
Claudius is on the throne so Vespasian goes on a mission to retrieve some Eagles lost in the Teutonberg Forest, and takes part in the invasion of Britain. The book really divides into two parts - Germany and Britain, and focuses on action/battle sequences. The stuff in Britain is particularly interesting as there are a lot of set piece battles between armies, which we haven't had in the series before now. It does lack interesting characters - Narcissus is on hand and Claudius makes a cameo, but references to Messalina's antics at Rome did make me wish Fabbri had cut back there every now and then.
TV review - "Underbelly: Razor" (2011) **
After an underwhelming series 3, which suffered from lack of story, this should have been a massive return to form. There's nothing but great material - Kate Leigh, Tilly Devine, Nellie Cameron, dodgy coppers - plus everyone is dead so they didn't have to worry about lawsuits.
But it doesn't work. There's no central powering narrative like Carl Williams' rise and fall - they try to focus it on the rivalry between Kate and Tilly but that hits the same note over and over ("they argued", "they argued") and doesn't build to anything... the two point guns at each other at the end and don't go through with it. There's a lot of repetition eg Jeremy Lindsay Taylor gets beaten up again and again and again; people keep getting shot and surviving; Kate Leigh yelling at people, and a lot of needless confusion, eg an inability how Norman Bruhn's plan worked. Lot of it comes across as just silly (singers performing old versions of 1980s songs), the foreign country accents seem fake and there's a disappointing oversimplification of history and lack of character development, which you can understand when the real people are alive and can't be defamed but here they are all dead.
Some of it is good - Danielle Cormack's Tilly; Jack Campbell's Big Jim Devine; John Bachelor; Khan Chittendon. There are some very effective moments, such as the rape episode and the cocaine dealing dentists. But too many of the cast are simply not up to their roles - Graeme Blundell fails to convey the power of Jack Lang; Chelsie Preston Crayford is terrible; and Anna McGahan can't quite pull off the enigmatic depths of Nellie Cameron. I don't know what happened, but this was terribly disappointing.
But it doesn't work. There's no central powering narrative like Carl Williams' rise and fall - they try to focus it on the rivalry between Kate and Tilly but that hits the same note over and over ("they argued", "they argued") and doesn't build to anything... the two point guns at each other at the end and don't go through with it. There's a lot of repetition eg Jeremy Lindsay Taylor gets beaten up again and again and again; people keep getting shot and surviving; Kate Leigh yelling at people, and a lot of needless confusion, eg an inability how Norman Bruhn's plan worked. Lot of it comes across as just silly (singers performing old versions of 1980s songs), the foreign country accents seem fake and there's a disappointing oversimplification of history and lack of character development, which you can understand when the real people are alive and can't be defamed but here they are all dead.
Some of it is good - Danielle Cormack's Tilly; Jack Campbell's Big Jim Devine; John Bachelor; Khan Chittendon. There are some very effective moments, such as the rape episode and the cocaine dealing dentists. But too many of the cast are simply not up to their roles - Graeme Blundell fails to convey the power of Jack Lang; Chelsie Preston Crayford is terrible; and Anna McGahan can't quite pull off the enigmatic depths of Nellie Cameron. I don't know what happened, but this was terribly disappointing.
Movie reviews - "Under Two Flags" (1936) **1/2
Ouida's novel apparently wasn't set in the foreign legion but everyone regards it as such. This has a good solid plot - a mysterious aristocratic British officer (Ronald Colman) fights in the desert for the French, has a fling with a trashy local girl (Claudette Colbert) and falls for lady Rosalind Russell. Victor McLaglen is a sergeant in love with Colbert, and the leader of the rebellious Arabs went to Oxford with Colman.
Watching this its interesting to argue with yourself who is more miscast, Colbert or Russell. Colman and McLaglen are a lot more comfortable in their parts. Colman's character is a bit of a prick - he romances and sleeps with Colbert, who is firey and brave and leads the attack that rescues Colman, but ultimately Colman goes off with bland aristocratic Russell. The movie could've used a decent other subplot - instead its just Arabs having the nerve to rebel against the French, who are in pleasant cahoots with the British as an imperial power. Or maybe it needed more action and suspense.
Watching this its interesting to argue with yourself who is more miscast, Colbert or Russell. Colman and McLaglen are a lot more comfortable in their parts. Colman's character is a bit of a prick - he romances and sleeps with Colbert, who is firey and brave and leads the attack that rescues Colman, but ultimately Colman goes off with bland aristocratic Russell. The movie could've used a decent other subplot - instead its just Arabs having the nerve to rebel against the French, who are in pleasant cahoots with the British as an imperial power. Or maybe it needed more action and suspense.
Movie review - "American Sniper" (2014) ****
Clint Eastwood's work as director remains consistently energetic and surprising, although his movies are still over long. His choice of material was spot on for his skills - a sympathetic look at a sniper, that doesn't shy away from the psychological damage done by warfare. The action sequences are often suspenseful and exciting, particularly the first few. I do admit the law of diminishing returns set in after a while - it felt like one tour of Iraq too many (there are four sequences and I wish there'd been three); two friends are killed when only one was really needed; the final battle in particular fely vaguely anti-climactic.
Occasionally this is too Hollywood - phone call to the wife saying "I want to go home now" at the end (the Iraqis don't have that choice); the climax involving the "big game" with the Arab sniper; Sienna Miller's part is straight out of the sort of roles June Allyson played in the 1950s with a sexed up slant (most of the dialogue is "why are you never home" and "you're locking me out", "don't push me away"); if someone has too much dialogue and they're not Bradley Cooper you know they're going to be killed; Arab women just appear to wail and/or be assassins.
But I enjoyed it a lot - fantastic look, Cooper is excellent, Miller does sterling work despite her part, a supporting cast of mostly unfamiliar (to me) faces bring it home, the story is fascinating with that achingly poignant ending (I like the way they treated it), the scenes with fellow veterans are very moving, the action sequences grip. I'm aware this is a controversial movie but it was a very fine one.
Occasionally this is too Hollywood - phone call to the wife saying "I want to go home now" at the end (the Iraqis don't have that choice); the climax involving the "big game" with the Arab sniper; Sienna Miller's part is straight out of the sort of roles June Allyson played in the 1950s with a sexed up slant (most of the dialogue is "why are you never home" and "you're locking me out", "don't push me away"); if someone has too much dialogue and they're not Bradley Cooper you know they're going to be killed; Arab women just appear to wail and/or be assassins.
But I enjoyed it a lot - fantastic look, Cooper is excellent, Miller does sterling work despite her part, a supporting cast of mostly unfamiliar (to me) faces bring it home, the story is fascinating with that achingly poignant ending (I like the way they treated it), the scenes with fellow veterans are very moving, the action sequences grip. I'm aware this is a controversial movie but it was a very fine one.
Monday, March 07, 2016
Movie review - "Nate and Hayes" (1983) **
An unsuccessful attempt by the Kiwis to storm the world market, based on a script co written by John Hughes of all people, but it has it's charms. It's a throw back to those Burt Lancaster South Sea swashbucklers of the 1950s such as His Majesty O'Keefe, with Tommy Lee Jones as a kind of pirate, based on a real dude who was apparently much nastier than his screen depiction here.
The plot has Jones in rivalry with Max Phipps, also playing a real life character, only here really evil. Goody two shoes Michael O'Keefe arrives in the islands with fiance Jenny Seagrove; Seagrove gets kidnapped by Phipps and O'Keefe and Jones go off to rescue her. It's actually the same plot as was used years later in Pirates of the Caribbean... mind you it is the same plot as Star Wars (i.e. good guy and anti hero try to rescue girl).
Lots of other scenes and moments in this are reminiscent of other movies: the opening sequence recalls Raiders of the Lost Ark, the German villains recalls The African Queen, the ending reminded me of Cat Ballou. Tommy Lee Jones does pretty well in the lead, Phipps chews the scenery as required, and Seagrove is an ideal pirate movie heroine.
O'Keefe is dull, and the movie never quite "clicks" and gets the charm it's looking for. But there is pretty scenery and decent production value.
The plot has Jones in rivalry with Max Phipps, also playing a real life character, only here really evil. Goody two shoes Michael O'Keefe arrives in the islands with fiance Jenny Seagrove; Seagrove gets kidnapped by Phipps and O'Keefe and Jones go off to rescue her. It's actually the same plot as was used years later in Pirates of the Caribbean... mind you it is the same plot as Star Wars (i.e. good guy and anti hero try to rescue girl).
Lots of other scenes and moments in this are reminiscent of other movies: the opening sequence recalls Raiders of the Lost Ark, the German villains recalls The African Queen, the ending reminded me of Cat Ballou. Tommy Lee Jones does pretty well in the lead, Phipps chews the scenery as required, and Seagrove is an ideal pirate movie heroine.
O'Keefe is dull, and the movie never quite "clicks" and gets the charm it's looking for. But there is pretty scenery and decent production value.
Saturday, March 05, 2016
Movie review - "Man of Steel" (2013) ****
I enjoyed this so much more than I thought I would, helped by an excellent script via David Goyer who assumes we know the Superman story and so plays around with structure, shoving us right into it. Henry Cavill isn't a particularly interesting Superman/Clark Kent but he's okay and there is superb support from Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Amy Adams and Michael Shannon.
Shannon's Zod is a worthy antagonist and has some great knock-down brawls with Cavill. It looks terrific and there's a booming Hans Zimmer score which is perfect.
Shannon's Zod is a worthy antagonist and has some great knock-down brawls with Cavill. It looks terrific and there's a booming Hans Zimmer score which is perfect.
Friday, March 04, 2016
Australian Film Stars
It's my contention that one of the big problems of the Australian film industry is too many people don't understand what constitutes a film star. The term "star" gets flung about with great abandon and winds up over-used and distorted. Entire books have been written on the concept of movie stardom but I think Ken G Hall had it best when he referred to movie stars being people who were actually worth something at the box office, i.e. actors who helped draw a significant number of people into theatres by virtue of their presence alone.
The Australian film industry is so small that the most successful movie stars are ones who have made their names in other mediums - usually theatre, radio, and/or TV. They develop popularity there, transfer to film, and their public follows them. It is possible to be a film-only star, it is just extremely difficult. I thought I'd run through a list of some actors who I consider to have been genuine stars - plus a few others who sometimes described as such, but aren't, really.
Silent Era
Definite box office draws:
* Nellie Stewart - she's little remembered today but in her day was an internationally famous stage actor and singer. Her most popular role was the title part in Sweet Nell of Old Drury and repeating it on screen helped turn that film into a monster hit.
*Snowy Baker - one of the most renowned sportsman of his era, Baker represented his country in swimming, boxing, rugby, diving, etc etc before trying his hand at the movies. He stuck to action/adventure tales (five in all) most of which appear to have been greeted with public enthusiasm. Baker has a clear claim on the title of Australia's first action movie star.
See him in "The Man from Kangaroo" here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8ht1lwY2Nk
Maybes:
* Lotte Lyell - she was often described as Australia's first film star and certainly played the lead role in a number of popular movies: The Fatal Wedding, Margaret Catchpole, The Sentimental Bloke, etc. Her contribution to Australian cinema was immense, as an actor, director, writer, editor and producer. However I would hesitate to classify her as an out-an-out star - she lacked a defined screen persona, she was too versatile, too under publicised. She didn't have a great stage reputation, her name was given respectful but not prominent billing in advertisements; even her death was not overly publicised, which you assume it would be for someone so young. I don't get the impression from reading about this time that Lotte Lyell was a genuine box office draw. Maybe if she'd specialised in more of the one kind of role or genre, eg the squatter's daughter - but she didn't. I feel Lyell was more a respected leading lady and filmmaker. Still a giant our industry.
* Arthur Tauchert - a vaudevillian who became nationally famous after being cast in the role of a lifetime, The Sentimental Bloke. This led to Tauchert playing the lead in a number of other movies which put him in similar parts, kind of Australia's Wallace Beery. One contemporary account described him as the biggest box office star in Australia in the 1920s. I think he has more claim to being a genuine draw than Lyell, if only because he tended to play the same kind of role - a lovable knockabout - so audiences knew what they were getting with him. A modern day equivalent would be Michael Caton.
You can see Lyell and Taucher in The Sentimental Bloke here - https://archive.org/details/Sentimental_bloke
Not Reallys:
*Alfred Rolfe and Lily Dampier - a married couple who played opposite each other on stage many times, usually in support of Alfred Dampier, Lily's father. They recreated their stage roles in several movies, including Captain Midnight and Captain Starlight, and thus received prominent billing - especially Lily - but I would not count them as stars.
Sound Era Until the Revival
Definite box office draws:
*George Wallace - one of the most popular theatre performers of his day, Wallace brought his audience with him to the cinemas for several movies in the thirties. The first ones, by FW Thring, weren't very good but still made money; the later ones from Ken G Hall, were better and also lucrative. Eventually Wallace grew old, and his later appearances in Rats of Tobruk and Wherever She Goes are sad rather than funny, but in his heyday he was the biggest thing in Australian films.
See a copy of His Royal Highness here - https://archive.org/details/HisRoyalHighness
*Bert Bailey -his films were even more popular than Wallace's, though his range was more narrow - people were only interested in Bailey if he played Dad Rudd. The result were four highly popular films which cashed in on the years Bailey spent playing Rudd on stage around the country. Bailey did have a stab at a non-Dad Rudd role in South West Pacific but it was still pretty Rudd-esque. He was a genuine box office draw, in the way no other actor who played the role (and there's been a few) have been.
See On Our Selection here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1SjeWCuyDk
*Cecil Kellaway - Kellaway was a popular theatre star who appeared in three Australian films, two of which were specifically constructed as a vehicle for him: It Isn't Done and Mr Chedworth Steps Out. He was a little battler type, less broad than Wallace, quieter than Bailey, more dramatic. A minor star with a less strongly defined public persona it was still there (dim, decent, a father) and he appears to have been a box office draw.
A clip from It Isn't Done is here - https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/it-isnt-done/clip1/
*Pat Hanna - like Wallace, Bailey and Kellaway, Hanna spent years and years plugging away at his act on stage, which meant there was a ready made audience for his first features. Hanna's three movies were not massive successes but his popularity saw them perform well enough and he clearly constituted a genuine draw at the box office.
A clip from Diggers is at https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/diggers/clip1/
Maybes:
*Chips Rafferty - a gangly type who seemed destined for a career as comic relief support until thrust into the lead of The Overlanders, and he was put under contract to Ealing Studios. Any lasting box office pull this and Bush Christmas gave Rafferty was undermined by subsequent miscasting in Eureka Stockade and failure of Bitter Springs. Still, Rafferty had enough of a name to raise money to make his own movies in the 1950s which exploited his persona - The Phantom Stockman, King of the Coral Sea, Walk into Paradise - and were reasonably successful. He then stopped doing that and the films failed - in particular he should've played the lead in Dust in the Sun. Rafferty was unlikely to ever be a convincing romantic lead and he was hampered by opportunities at the time but you get the sense he could've been a bigger star if handled better - he would've been great as a comic lead, and an action hero. Still he was definitely the closest thing we had to a home-grown movie star in the fifties.
A clip of him and Grant Taylor is here - https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/forty-thousand-horsemen/clip1/
*Roy Rene - his one film is regarded as a failure, Strike Me Lucky, but Rene's tremendous stage popularity initially brought in sizeable audiences. It was a shame Ken G Hall never had another go at making a Rene vehicle because I think he, of all filmmakers, could have eventually cracked it, and Rene's later success on radio proved his appeal had "legs". Admittedly this doesn't change the fact that Strike Me Lucky is hard to sit through.
A clip from Strike Me Lucky is here - https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/strike-me-lucky/clip3/
Not reallys:
*Shirley Ann Richards - she got a lot of publicity as a star, including being put under long term contract, but she wasn't. She almost always played the ingenue, rarely driving the plot and mostly being called upon the flirt with the leading man. Her best part, in Dad and Dave Come to Town, was a support role. She was delightful, charming, pretty and talented but she never got the chance to carry a movie. (NB This applied in Hollywood as well.) The One That Got Away for me was 100,000 Cobbers - a terrific short and it's a shame it wasn't expanded into a feature with Richards pairing marvelously with Grant Taylor.
100,000 Cobbers is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oalKwbuQDKI
*Grant Taylor - a dazzling star debut in Forty Thousand Horseman meant Taylor really should have inherited Snowy Baker's mantle as local action star. And war time meant his persona - the cocky, brave digger - should have been showcased in a number of films. But feature production almost ceased altogether and Taylor only starred in a few other movies. He still had charisma in 100,000 Cobbers and Rats of Tobruk but he aged rapidly (he was fond of a drink) and his time as a cinematic leading man was really over by the 1940s. Taylor was really the forerunner of the tough Aussie star that would later be picked up by Rod Taylor, Mel, Bryan, etc and it's a real shame he didn't get to make as many star vehicles as say George Wallace because I think they would've done well.
*Peter Finch - an unusual case. During his Australian years I got the impression everyone respected Finch's talent as an actor, which saw him play numerous lead roles in radio, film and stage... but that he was never that popular with the public. He was a "prestige star", say like Cate Blanchett would be later. However when he began starring in British films in the 1950s, there was a period where he seemed to have genuine pull at the box office, making some popularity lists - in particular starring in some Australian themed works: A Town Like Alice, The Shiralee, Robbery Under Arms. So while he wasn't a genuine film star in Australia, he was playing Australian roles in Britain.
Peter Finch in Dad and Dave Come to Town is here - https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/dad-and-dave-come-to-town/clip1/
The early years of the revival (1970s-1990s)
Definite stars:
*Jack Thompson - In the late 1970s Ken H Hall declared that Thompson was the one actor whose name actually meant something at the box office in Australian cinema, and there was something to it, his hits including Petersen, and Sunday Too Far Away. These were star vehicles, as was the less popular Scobie Malone, pushing an image of Thompson - tough, ocker, sexy - that had been developed on TV in Spyforce, very much in the vein of Grant Taylor. Thompson did not follow this up though, and quickly went into character/support parts, though often in quality works - Caddie, The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith, Breaker Morant, The Man from Snowy River. The one film to be built around his persona, The Journalist, was a disaster. Was the Australian film industry of the 1970s capable of supporting "Jack Thompson, star"? Could a real impresario like, say , Ken G Hall made it work? Was Thompson even interested? His career and persona remains an under-studied topic in Australian cinema.
See him in The Journalist here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGw9iF7qf7o
*Mel Gibson - Gibson had "star" written all over him from the early days, on stage as well as the screen, and enjoyed one of the few guaranteed home grown franchises in Mad Max. He has one of the best Aussie CVs of all time: three classics (the first two Mad Max movies, Gallipoli), some damn fine movies (The Year of Living Dangerously, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome), an entirely decent weepie (Tim) and some cult faves (Summer City, Attack Force Z). Rare in that he is a film-only star too (although he appeared a lot on stage).
He's in Summer City here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvdoQKiXDnc
*Paul Hogan - an incredibly popular comedian, whose appeal saw big audiences for not just the Crocodile Dundee flicks but also later, less well remembered films, such as Lightning Jack, Strange Bedfellows and Charlie and Boots. He's lost a lot of lustre but in the right role I think Hogan could still draw them in.
A trailer for Lightning Jack is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWkFm6FKLEY
*Yahoo Serious - unlike the other comics on this list, Serious came out of nowhere with Young Einstein but it was so successful (in part because of a massive marketing push) that for a time he was a genuine box office draw via Reckless Kelly and Mr Accident (the audiences weren't as large as for his first film but they did come). Not prolific enough to maintain his following.
The Reckless Kelly trailer is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIZ5xAXo-Y0
Maybes
*Russell Crowe - Russell Crowe had "next Mel Gibson" stamped on his forehead since The Crossing and he eventually came good but it's useful to be reminded how many of his Aussie movies made little noise - The Crossing, Love in Limbo, Hammers over the Anvil, Heaven's Burning. He kept getting cast because everyone knew he was going to be a star, then he was one... just in Hollywood, not here. The Water Diviner however has shown there is a lot of appeal left among local audiences for Rusty in the right sort of role. He's made too many odd sort of movies for me to classify him as a definite local star though.
The trailer for The Crossing is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBfxerP68Ss
*Tom Burlinson - star of the two biggest hits in 80s Australian cinema, The Man from Snowy River and Phar Lap, showed that Aussie audiences adored Burlinson with a horse. When he strayed from this however - Windrider, The Time Guardian - they stayed away in droves and Man from Snowy River II seemed to kill off his career as an Australian leading man. To Burlinson's credit, he's revived his career as a singer. But still, one can't help thinking he might have had a few more hits in him if he'd been more carefully managed - he had a boyish earnestness and likeability that surely could've been better exploited. Moral of story - who cares if you're typecast if the projects are good?
The Time Guardian trailer is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fN0InnC2POo
*Sigrid Thornton - there's few more iconic images of 80s Australian cinema than Siggie being feisty in period costume: Man from Snowy River, All the Rivers Run. Even at her peak however she was wasted in girlfriend roles - Street Hero, The Lighthorsemen - her career is a great argument that Australian cinema had even less idea what to do with female stars than male ones. It was different on TV where Siggie at least got some of the roles she deserved, especially in Sea Change. She's still around and remains a draw on stage and the small screen
All the Rivers Run trailer is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsstHWyC49s
*Graeme Blundell - Blundell's casting helped turn Alvin Purple into a box office phenomenon, turning into a temporary sex comedy star eg Pacific Banana, all those Alvin sequels. A very fine actor, he's remained in demand, but I don't think anyone wants to see him in a sex comedy any more.
Melvin the Son of Alvin's trailer is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qu5G0gGhqw
Not reallys
*Bryan Brown - in the 80s it was common to call Bryan Brown a film star but was he, really? People seemed to like him best in showy support roles - Breaker Morant, Two Hands, Dirty Deeds, Australia - rather than as the lead. On TV he was a definite draw as proved by the popularity of A Town Like Alice and The Shiralee but feature films starring Brown tended to tank - The Empty Beach, Sweet Talker, Dear Claudia, Dead Heart. An icon, absolutely, a good actor, yes, a charismatic leading man, certainly, loved in supporting roles (eg Two Hands) yes, but a real film star...?
A clip from The Empty Beach - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFcXHTurWNw
*Judy Davis - there was a period there in the 80s when Davis was a "prestige" star, someone who would ensure your film would get looked at: Winter of our Dreams, Kangaroo, Hide Tide. She's never been hugely popular, though always respected - I wish she'd work more.
Here she does a scene with Baz Luhrmann in Winter of Our Dreams - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TTPaHXWSRk
*Wendy Hughes - Bob Ellis once claimed he needed to cast Hughes in Warm Nights on a Slow Moving Train to get it financed, such was her reputation in the 1980s. She was incredibly beautiful and talented and did appear in some hits (Careful He Might Hear You, My First Wife, Return to Eden, Lonely Hearts) and there was that late 80s period when it seemed she might brake through interntionally (she had the lead in a Hollywood film Happy New Year) but this ended with a rash of flops: Warm Night, Echoes of Paradise, Boundaries of the Heart, Luigis Ladies. Still, she remained in demand as an actor until her depressingly early death.
Here's a trailer from Touch and Go - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXxLXSRfkXA
Later Years (1990s - present)
*Nick Giannopolous - perhaps the biggest stage star in 90s Australia, his immensely popular Wog shows saw an impressive box office for the highly mediocre Wog Boy. As is far too common in Australian cinema, he waited too long to make a sequel, but nonetheless figures for Wog Boy 2 weren't bad. Giannppolous' appeal in non-Wog roles is doubtful, though The Wannabes actually had a terrific idea, it was just terribly executed. If I ran an Aussie film studio, one of the first this I would do is see if Giannopolous would make a third Wog Boy movie - but only if he toured the country with a stage show immediately before release and kept the budget down.
A clip of him is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xql6L85GEk
*Mick Molloy - the break out star of The Late Show, he grew even bigger when he and Tony Martin became radio giants, then he became a film star via the cleverly crafted Crackerjack. Having established himself as a genuine box office draw, Molloy fumbled with his next two films, Bad Eggs and Boy Town, though both had good things and could (and should) have been awesome. Bad Eggs badly needed to have put Molloy opposite Tony Martin instead of the talented but little-known-outside-Melbourne-comedy-circles Bob Franklin; Boy Town didn't live up to it's concept. Molloy remains kind of well known but is probably no longer a box office draw; a shame since he had genuine broad appeal and with careful handling he could've starred in five-to-six big local comedy hits.
A Boytown clip is here - http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2008/boytown-i-cry/
*Jimeoin - a very likeable actor with a national profile, he brought them in with The Craic but struck out with The Extra even though it had a fantastic central idea. Jimeoin still tours heavily, keeping him in the public eye and I actually think people would still turn up to see him in the right vehicle.
The Craic trailer is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYG9YXSPqds
*Paul Fenech - perennially unfashionable but he has a devoted following who have ensured decent box office figures, although they dropped off a little for Fat Pizza vs Housos. Fenech keeps his budgets down and his audience in mind, using live shows to supplement his filmed ones. He remains a decent draw at the local box office.
Fat Pizza vs Housos trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udTm5CejuCo
*Cate Blanchett - is Cate Blanchett a film star? She's too beloved, wins too many Oscars, is too famous, too beautiful, and has been in too many hits to not be a star. On a local level though, she seems to be the queen of expensive, critically acclaimed box office disappointments - Oscar and Lucinda, Charlotte Grey, Paradise Road, Little Fish, The Turning - which may explain why she doesn't make too many Australian films. I do think however her name does guarantee at least a certain amount of audience which would qualify her as a local star... she just doesn't justify her budgets.
The Turning trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U1r401xxSQ
Maybes:
*Hugh Jackman - it's hard to judge Hugh Jackman as a local film star because he makes so few Australian films. His first ones, Erskinville Kings and Paperback Hero were not massive hits and since then he's belonged to Hollywood, with the exception of Australia. I think if Hugh did make something close to home audiences would turn up in droves, such is his popularity, but because he doesn't, I classify him as a "maybe".
The Erskinville Kings trailer is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECwdc-7Z5IY
*Shane Jacobsen - became nationally famous with Kenny and has managed to sustain his appeal since then with some great choices: Charlie and Boots, Oddball. I don't know if the words "Shane Jacobsen starring in" would automatically mean a certain amount of punters turning up on that opening weekend, but if he keeps choosing well it may do.
Oddball trailer is here - http://www.shanejacobson.com.au/projects/film/oddball.html
*Nicole Kidman - in the right role, they'll come, as The Railway Man and Australia proved, but there is a limit, as shown in Strangerland. I know, you could say that about any star but Nickers has never been a massive draw in local films - even her classics (BMX Bandits, Dead Calm) weren't that big. But she's a superb actor who is normally associated with quality.
The Strangerland trailer is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3Kj1VmbJiw
*Michael Caton - he's not often thought of as a star, but he's nationally known/loved and people do tend to come to his movies: The Castle, Strange Bedfellows, Last Cab to Darwin.
The Last Cab to Darwin trailer is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hypCdpjTMDI
*Toni Collette - obviously an outstanding character actress, her limits as a box office attraction were proven by Diana and Me and Lilian's Story. Because she's so good and gets some great parts, she'll stick around a long time, and a lot of her movies do some business - eg Mental, Japanese Story.
*Eric Bana - if there's anyone who should come back here and make a good Aussie film it's Eric, who probably has some residual popularity here. For a while he was genuinely popular off the back of Chopper with Romulus My Father doing ok and Love the Beast performing well. Personally I think he's wasted doing American films though presumably his accountant disagrees. Hopefully The Dry will lead to more roles here.
Chopper's trailer is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKgvs9uqPJo
My conclusions from the above? Australian filmmakers are probably better off getting the rights to some awesome material rather than a star - say a best selling book like Red Dog, or popular play like Last Cab to Darwin. The exception is comedy, where the popularity of a Paul Hogan or a Nick Giannopolous will help your returns. Of course I could be wrong about all of the above - like so much in the film industry, it's just an educated guess...
The Australian film industry is so small that the most successful movie stars are ones who have made their names in other mediums - usually theatre, radio, and/or TV. They develop popularity there, transfer to film, and their public follows them. It is possible to be a film-only star, it is just extremely difficult. I thought I'd run through a list of some actors who I consider to have been genuine stars - plus a few others who sometimes described as such, but aren't, really.
Silent Era
Definite box office draws:
* Nellie Stewart - she's little remembered today but in her day was an internationally famous stage actor and singer. Her most popular role was the title part in Sweet Nell of Old Drury and repeating it on screen helped turn that film into a monster hit.
*Snowy Baker - one of the most renowned sportsman of his era, Baker represented his country in swimming, boxing, rugby, diving, etc etc before trying his hand at the movies. He stuck to action/adventure tales (five in all) most of which appear to have been greeted with public enthusiasm. Baker has a clear claim on the title of Australia's first action movie star.
See him in "The Man from Kangaroo" here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8ht1lwY2Nk
Maybes:
* Lotte Lyell - she was often described as Australia's first film star and certainly played the lead role in a number of popular movies: The Fatal Wedding, Margaret Catchpole, The Sentimental Bloke, etc. Her contribution to Australian cinema was immense, as an actor, director, writer, editor and producer. However I would hesitate to classify her as an out-an-out star - she lacked a defined screen persona, she was too versatile, too under publicised. She didn't have a great stage reputation, her name was given respectful but not prominent billing in advertisements; even her death was not overly publicised, which you assume it would be for someone so young. I don't get the impression from reading about this time that Lotte Lyell was a genuine box office draw. Maybe if she'd specialised in more of the one kind of role or genre, eg the squatter's daughter - but she didn't. I feel Lyell was more a respected leading lady and filmmaker. Still a giant our industry.
* Arthur Tauchert - a vaudevillian who became nationally famous after being cast in the role of a lifetime, The Sentimental Bloke. This led to Tauchert playing the lead in a number of other movies which put him in similar parts, kind of Australia's Wallace Beery. One contemporary account described him as the biggest box office star in Australia in the 1920s. I think he has more claim to being a genuine draw than Lyell, if only because he tended to play the same kind of role - a lovable knockabout - so audiences knew what they were getting with him. A modern day equivalent would be Michael Caton.
You can see Lyell and Taucher in The Sentimental Bloke here - https://archive.org/details/Sentimental_bloke
Not Reallys:
*Alfred Rolfe and Lily Dampier - a married couple who played opposite each other on stage many times, usually in support of Alfred Dampier, Lily's father. They recreated their stage roles in several movies, including Captain Midnight and Captain Starlight, and thus received prominent billing - especially Lily - but I would not count them as stars.
Sound Era Until the Revival
Definite box office draws:
*George Wallace - one of the most popular theatre performers of his day, Wallace brought his audience with him to the cinemas for several movies in the thirties. The first ones, by FW Thring, weren't very good but still made money; the later ones from Ken G Hall, were better and also lucrative. Eventually Wallace grew old, and his later appearances in Rats of Tobruk and Wherever She Goes are sad rather than funny, but in his heyday he was the biggest thing in Australian films.
See a copy of His Royal Highness here - https://archive.org/details/HisRoyalHighness
*Bert Bailey -his films were even more popular than Wallace's, though his range was more narrow - people were only interested in Bailey if he played Dad Rudd. The result were four highly popular films which cashed in on the years Bailey spent playing Rudd on stage around the country. Bailey did have a stab at a non-Dad Rudd role in South West Pacific but it was still pretty Rudd-esque. He was a genuine box office draw, in the way no other actor who played the role (and there's been a few) have been.
See On Our Selection here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1SjeWCuyDk
*Cecil Kellaway - Kellaway was a popular theatre star who appeared in three Australian films, two of which were specifically constructed as a vehicle for him: It Isn't Done and Mr Chedworth Steps Out. He was a little battler type, less broad than Wallace, quieter than Bailey, more dramatic. A minor star with a less strongly defined public persona it was still there (dim, decent, a father) and he appears to have been a box office draw.
A clip from It Isn't Done is here - https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/it-isnt-done/clip1/
*Pat Hanna - like Wallace, Bailey and Kellaway, Hanna spent years and years plugging away at his act on stage, which meant there was a ready made audience for his first features. Hanna's three movies were not massive successes but his popularity saw them perform well enough and he clearly constituted a genuine draw at the box office.
A clip from Diggers is at https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/diggers/clip1/
Maybes:
*Chips Rafferty - a gangly type who seemed destined for a career as comic relief support until thrust into the lead of The Overlanders, and he was put under contract to Ealing Studios. Any lasting box office pull this and Bush Christmas gave Rafferty was undermined by subsequent miscasting in Eureka Stockade and failure of Bitter Springs. Still, Rafferty had enough of a name to raise money to make his own movies in the 1950s which exploited his persona - The Phantom Stockman, King of the Coral Sea, Walk into Paradise - and were reasonably successful. He then stopped doing that and the films failed - in particular he should've played the lead in Dust in the Sun. Rafferty was unlikely to ever be a convincing romantic lead and he was hampered by opportunities at the time but you get the sense he could've been a bigger star if handled better - he would've been great as a comic lead, and an action hero. Still he was definitely the closest thing we had to a home-grown movie star in the fifties.
A clip of him and Grant Taylor is here - https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/forty-thousand-horsemen/clip1/
*Roy Rene - his one film is regarded as a failure, Strike Me Lucky, but Rene's tremendous stage popularity initially brought in sizeable audiences. It was a shame Ken G Hall never had another go at making a Rene vehicle because I think he, of all filmmakers, could have eventually cracked it, and Rene's later success on radio proved his appeal had "legs". Admittedly this doesn't change the fact that Strike Me Lucky is hard to sit through.
A clip from Strike Me Lucky is here - https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/strike-me-lucky/clip3/
Not reallys:
*Shirley Ann Richards - she got a lot of publicity as a star, including being put under long term contract, but she wasn't. She almost always played the ingenue, rarely driving the plot and mostly being called upon the flirt with the leading man. Her best part, in Dad and Dave Come to Town, was a support role. She was delightful, charming, pretty and talented but she never got the chance to carry a movie. (NB This applied in Hollywood as well.) The One That Got Away for me was 100,000 Cobbers - a terrific short and it's a shame it wasn't expanded into a feature with Richards pairing marvelously with Grant Taylor.
100,000 Cobbers is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oalKwbuQDKI
*Grant Taylor - a dazzling star debut in Forty Thousand Horseman meant Taylor really should have inherited Snowy Baker's mantle as local action star. And war time meant his persona - the cocky, brave digger - should have been showcased in a number of films. But feature production almost ceased altogether and Taylor only starred in a few other movies. He still had charisma in 100,000 Cobbers and Rats of Tobruk but he aged rapidly (he was fond of a drink) and his time as a cinematic leading man was really over by the 1940s. Taylor was really the forerunner of the tough Aussie star that would later be picked up by Rod Taylor, Mel, Bryan, etc and it's a real shame he didn't get to make as many star vehicles as say George Wallace because I think they would've done well.
*Peter Finch - an unusual case. During his Australian years I got the impression everyone respected Finch's talent as an actor, which saw him play numerous lead roles in radio, film and stage... but that he was never that popular with the public. He was a "prestige star", say like Cate Blanchett would be later. However when he began starring in British films in the 1950s, there was a period where he seemed to have genuine pull at the box office, making some popularity lists - in particular starring in some Australian themed works: A Town Like Alice, The Shiralee, Robbery Under Arms. So while he wasn't a genuine film star in Australia, he was playing Australian roles in Britain.
Peter Finch in Dad and Dave Come to Town is here - https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/dad-and-dave-come-to-town/clip1/
The early years of the revival (1970s-1990s)
Definite stars:
*Jack Thompson - In the late 1970s Ken H Hall declared that Thompson was the one actor whose name actually meant something at the box office in Australian cinema, and there was something to it, his hits including Petersen, and Sunday Too Far Away. These were star vehicles, as was the less popular Scobie Malone, pushing an image of Thompson - tough, ocker, sexy - that had been developed on TV in Spyforce, very much in the vein of Grant Taylor. Thompson did not follow this up though, and quickly went into character/support parts, though often in quality works - Caddie, The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith, Breaker Morant, The Man from Snowy River. The one film to be built around his persona, The Journalist, was a disaster. Was the Australian film industry of the 1970s capable of supporting "Jack Thompson, star"? Could a real impresario like, say , Ken G Hall made it work? Was Thompson even interested? His career and persona remains an under-studied topic in Australian cinema.
See him in The Journalist here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGw9iF7qf7o
*Mel Gibson - Gibson had "star" written all over him from the early days, on stage as well as the screen, and enjoyed one of the few guaranteed home grown franchises in Mad Max. He has one of the best Aussie CVs of all time: three classics (the first two Mad Max movies, Gallipoli), some damn fine movies (The Year of Living Dangerously, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome), an entirely decent weepie (Tim) and some cult faves (Summer City, Attack Force Z). Rare in that he is a film-only star too (although he appeared a lot on stage).
He's in Summer City here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvdoQKiXDnc
*Paul Hogan - an incredibly popular comedian, whose appeal saw big audiences for not just the Crocodile Dundee flicks but also later, less well remembered films, such as Lightning Jack, Strange Bedfellows and Charlie and Boots. He's lost a lot of lustre but in the right role I think Hogan could still draw them in.
A trailer for Lightning Jack is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWkFm6FKLEY
*Yahoo Serious - unlike the other comics on this list, Serious came out of nowhere with Young Einstein but it was so successful (in part because of a massive marketing push) that for a time he was a genuine box office draw via Reckless Kelly and Mr Accident (the audiences weren't as large as for his first film but they did come). Not prolific enough to maintain his following.
The Reckless Kelly trailer is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIZ5xAXo-Y0
Maybes
*Russell Crowe - Russell Crowe had "next Mel Gibson" stamped on his forehead since The Crossing and he eventually came good but it's useful to be reminded how many of his Aussie movies made little noise - The Crossing, Love in Limbo, Hammers over the Anvil, Heaven's Burning. He kept getting cast because everyone knew he was going to be a star, then he was one... just in Hollywood, not here. The Water Diviner however has shown there is a lot of appeal left among local audiences for Rusty in the right sort of role. He's made too many odd sort of movies for me to classify him as a definite local star though.
The trailer for The Crossing is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBfxerP68Ss
*Tom Burlinson - star of the two biggest hits in 80s Australian cinema, The Man from Snowy River and Phar Lap, showed that Aussie audiences adored Burlinson with a horse. When he strayed from this however - Windrider, The Time Guardian - they stayed away in droves and Man from Snowy River II seemed to kill off his career as an Australian leading man. To Burlinson's credit, he's revived his career as a singer. But still, one can't help thinking he might have had a few more hits in him if he'd been more carefully managed - he had a boyish earnestness and likeability that surely could've been better exploited. Moral of story - who cares if you're typecast if the projects are good?
The Time Guardian trailer is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fN0InnC2POo
*Sigrid Thornton - there's few more iconic images of 80s Australian cinema than Siggie being feisty in period costume: Man from Snowy River, All the Rivers Run. Even at her peak however she was wasted in girlfriend roles - Street Hero, The Lighthorsemen - her career is a great argument that Australian cinema had even less idea what to do with female stars than male ones. It was different on TV where Siggie at least got some of the roles she deserved, especially in Sea Change. She's still around and remains a draw on stage and the small screen
All the Rivers Run trailer is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsstHWyC49s
*Graeme Blundell - Blundell's casting helped turn Alvin Purple into a box office phenomenon, turning into a temporary sex comedy star eg Pacific Banana, all those Alvin sequels. A very fine actor, he's remained in demand, but I don't think anyone wants to see him in a sex comedy any more.
Melvin the Son of Alvin's trailer is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qu5G0gGhqw
Not reallys
*Bryan Brown - in the 80s it was common to call Bryan Brown a film star but was he, really? People seemed to like him best in showy support roles - Breaker Morant, Two Hands, Dirty Deeds, Australia - rather than as the lead. On TV he was a definite draw as proved by the popularity of A Town Like Alice and The Shiralee but feature films starring Brown tended to tank - The Empty Beach, Sweet Talker, Dear Claudia, Dead Heart. An icon, absolutely, a good actor, yes, a charismatic leading man, certainly, loved in supporting roles (eg Two Hands) yes, but a real film star...?
A clip from The Empty Beach - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFcXHTurWNw
*Judy Davis - there was a period there in the 80s when Davis was a "prestige" star, someone who would ensure your film would get looked at: Winter of our Dreams, Kangaroo, Hide Tide. She's never been hugely popular, though always respected - I wish she'd work more.
Here she does a scene with Baz Luhrmann in Winter of Our Dreams - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TTPaHXWSRk
*Wendy Hughes - Bob Ellis once claimed he needed to cast Hughes in Warm Nights on a Slow Moving Train to get it financed, such was her reputation in the 1980s. She was incredibly beautiful and talented and did appear in some hits (Careful He Might Hear You, My First Wife, Return to Eden, Lonely Hearts) and there was that late 80s period when it seemed she might brake through interntionally (she had the lead in a Hollywood film Happy New Year) but this ended with a rash of flops: Warm Night, Echoes of Paradise, Boundaries of the Heart, Luigis Ladies. Still, she remained in demand as an actor until her depressingly early death.
Here's a trailer from Touch and Go - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXxLXSRfkXA
Later Years (1990s - present)
*Nick Giannopolous - perhaps the biggest stage star in 90s Australia, his immensely popular Wog shows saw an impressive box office for the highly mediocre Wog Boy. As is far too common in Australian cinema, he waited too long to make a sequel, but nonetheless figures for Wog Boy 2 weren't bad. Giannppolous' appeal in non-Wog roles is doubtful, though The Wannabes actually had a terrific idea, it was just terribly executed. If I ran an Aussie film studio, one of the first this I would do is see if Giannopolous would make a third Wog Boy movie - but only if he toured the country with a stage show immediately before release and kept the budget down.
A clip of him is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xql6L85GEk
*Mick Molloy - the break out star of The Late Show, he grew even bigger when he and Tony Martin became radio giants, then he became a film star via the cleverly crafted Crackerjack. Having established himself as a genuine box office draw, Molloy fumbled with his next two films, Bad Eggs and Boy Town, though both had good things and could (and should) have been awesome. Bad Eggs badly needed to have put Molloy opposite Tony Martin instead of the talented but little-known-outside-Melbourne-comedy-circles Bob Franklin; Boy Town didn't live up to it's concept. Molloy remains kind of well known but is probably no longer a box office draw; a shame since he had genuine broad appeal and with careful handling he could've starred in five-to-six big local comedy hits.
A Boytown clip is here - http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2008/boytown-i-cry/
*Jimeoin - a very likeable actor with a national profile, he brought them in with The Craic but struck out with The Extra even though it had a fantastic central idea. Jimeoin still tours heavily, keeping him in the public eye and I actually think people would still turn up to see him in the right vehicle.
The Craic trailer is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYG9YXSPqds
*Paul Fenech - perennially unfashionable but he has a devoted following who have ensured decent box office figures, although they dropped off a little for Fat Pizza vs Housos. Fenech keeps his budgets down and his audience in mind, using live shows to supplement his filmed ones. He remains a decent draw at the local box office.
Fat Pizza vs Housos trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udTm5CejuCo
*Cate Blanchett - is Cate Blanchett a film star? She's too beloved, wins too many Oscars, is too famous, too beautiful, and has been in too many hits to not be a star. On a local level though, she seems to be the queen of expensive, critically acclaimed box office disappointments - Oscar and Lucinda, Charlotte Grey, Paradise Road, Little Fish, The Turning - which may explain why she doesn't make too many Australian films. I do think however her name does guarantee at least a certain amount of audience which would qualify her as a local star... she just doesn't justify her budgets.
The Turning trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U1r401xxSQ
Maybes:
*Hugh Jackman - it's hard to judge Hugh Jackman as a local film star because he makes so few Australian films. His first ones, Erskinville Kings and Paperback Hero were not massive hits and since then he's belonged to Hollywood, with the exception of Australia. I think if Hugh did make something close to home audiences would turn up in droves, such is his popularity, but because he doesn't, I classify him as a "maybe".
The Erskinville Kings trailer is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECwdc-7Z5IY
*Shane Jacobsen - became nationally famous with Kenny and has managed to sustain his appeal since then with some great choices: Charlie and Boots, Oddball. I don't know if the words "Shane Jacobsen starring in" would automatically mean a certain amount of punters turning up on that opening weekend, but if he keeps choosing well it may do.
Oddball trailer is here - http://www.shanejacobson.com.au/projects/film/oddball.html
*Nicole Kidman - in the right role, they'll come, as The Railway Man and Australia proved, but there is a limit, as shown in Strangerland. I know, you could say that about any star but Nickers has never been a massive draw in local films - even her classics (BMX Bandits, Dead Calm) weren't that big. But she's a superb actor who is normally associated with quality.
The Strangerland trailer is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3Kj1VmbJiw
*Michael Caton - he's not often thought of as a star, but he's nationally known/loved and people do tend to come to his movies: The Castle, Strange Bedfellows, Last Cab to Darwin.
The Last Cab to Darwin trailer is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hypCdpjTMDI
*Toni Collette - obviously an outstanding character actress, her limits as a box office attraction were proven by Diana and Me and Lilian's Story. Because she's so good and gets some great parts, she'll stick around a long time, and a lot of her movies do some business - eg Mental, Japanese Story.
*Eric Bana - if there's anyone who should come back here and make a good Aussie film it's Eric, who probably has some residual popularity here. For a while he was genuinely popular off the back of Chopper with Romulus My Father doing ok and Love the Beast performing well. Personally I think he's wasted doing American films though presumably his accountant disagrees. Hopefully The Dry will lead to more roles here.
Chopper's trailer is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKgvs9uqPJo
My conclusions from the above? Australian filmmakers are probably better off getting the rights to some awesome material rather than a star - say a best selling book like Red Dog, or popular play like Last Cab to Darwin. The exception is comedy, where the popularity of a Paul Hogan or a Nick Giannopolous will help your returns. Of course I could be wrong about all of the above - like so much in the film industry, it's just an educated guess...
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