One of a number of sci fi films turned out by New World re-using the sets, music and effects of Battle Beyond the Stars. It lacks the touch of John Sayles and the cast of that film, to put it politely, but it isn't bad. I think you'd love it if you're a ten year old kid because the bulk of the plot concerns said kid falling in with some space pirates. The baddies are aliens. There's also a corporation - there's an older woman who's always talking about making the board happy.
Though, to be honest, I was unsure why the raiders were the goodies and the aliens were the baddies and why the kid was so special. I bet they had High Wind in Jamaica in mind but at least the characters were clear in that.
Vince Edwards adds a bit of gravitas as the main pirate - I laughed when the filmmakers had him perform an operation early on. Patsy Pease, Kimberly Brady from Days of Our Lives, is the female member of the gang. Thom Christopher has probably the best role (and make up) as an alien.
It's a kid's film but having said that the death toll is really high. Most of the gang are wiped out protecting this kid - who isn't super annoying but isn't mega charismatic either. Maybe if we'd seen what the kid brought to each of them... humanity, hope of a better future, etc.
Anyway, it's no turkey - Roger Corman's name is on it as producer.
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Saturday, April 29, 2017
Script review - "The Maltese Falcon" by John Huston (1941)
It's a wordy film - the script is even more so, with heaps of big print and very specific descriptions. Huston once said he just filmed the book and you'd believe it from this.
A lot of characters talking about things, and events taking place off screen. Even major things like Gutman dying.
The characters are vivid - pathological liar Brigid, Sam Spade the arsehole, effeminate Cairo, joyous Gutman, poor Effie, luckless Wilbur.
It's good - but I've always had problems with this film and they are there in the script. Too hard to follow. I feel it's overrated. Some great stuff though.
A lot of characters talking about things, and events taking place off screen. Even major things like Gutman dying.
The characters are vivid - pathological liar Brigid, Sam Spade the arsehole, effeminate Cairo, joyous Gutman, poor Effie, luckless Wilbur.
It's good - but I've always had problems with this film and they are there in the script. Too hard to follow. I feel it's overrated. Some great stuff though.
Script review - "Thief" by Michael Mann (warning: spoilers)
Mann's first feature as director is a character story more than a page-turning narrative - Frank is a professional thief who reluctantly goes to work for the mob and lives to regret it.
This version starts with Frank having a wife and a kid - the wife cheats on him so Frank pinches the kid and then goes and starts up a new relationship with Jessie. I think it was a good move to get rid of the wife and kid... it means there's more stakes on Jessie and their adopted kid.
There's some fantastic dialogue, it all feels real. The female characters aren't that much. It's interesting to see ideas and themes that would pop up in Heat - such as the importance of not caring, and leaving everything behind. Frank has come wonderful monologues - so do other people, like his former cellmate, and Leo the mafia dude.
In the script version the film ends with Jessie having tracked Frank down. I didn't buy it. The film's ending works better.
This version starts with Frank having a wife and a kid - the wife cheats on him so Frank pinches the kid and then goes and starts up a new relationship with Jessie. I think it was a good move to get rid of the wife and kid... it means there's more stakes on Jessie and their adopted kid.
There's some fantastic dialogue, it all feels real. The female characters aren't that much. It's interesting to see ideas and themes that would pop up in Heat - such as the importance of not caring, and leaving everything behind. Frank has come wonderful monologues - so do other people, like his former cellmate, and Leo the mafia dude.
In the script version the film ends with Jessie having tracked Frank down. I didn't buy it. The film's ending works better.
Movie review - "Moving Violation" (1976) **1/2 (warning: spoilers)
A Roger Corman production striking for the lack of well known names on the credit list - apart from himself of course (he executive produced) and his wife (producer). It was directed by some guy called Charles Dubin and stars some people called Stephen McHattie and Kay Lenz.
It's quite a lively story though, well handled by Dubin and McHattie and Lenz are a likeable couple. (I googled them - Lenz in particular had better credits than I realised, eg Breezy.) They get into the action quite quickly - McHattie and Lenz are in a car being chased from around 20 minutes in and the action doesn't let up until the end.
Things take a bleak turn - Eddie Albert is a lawyer they hire, and he almost gets them off... but then he's gunned down, Lenz goes catatonic and McHattie goes on a shooting rampage out of revenge. I can't recall a Corman film where the cops were so corrupt. I mean, the film really paints them as black hats.
Not a bad film at all.
It's quite a lively story though, well handled by Dubin and McHattie and Lenz are a likeable couple. (I googled them - Lenz in particular had better credits than I realised, eg Breezy.) They get into the action quite quickly - McHattie and Lenz are in a car being chased from around 20 minutes in and the action doesn't let up until the end.
Things take a bleak turn - Eddie Albert is a lawyer they hire, and he almost gets them off... but then he's gunned down, Lenz goes catatonic and McHattie goes on a shooting rampage out of revenge. I can't recall a Corman film where the cops were so corrupt. I mean, the film really paints them as black hats.
Not a bad film at all.
Moving Violations (1985) **1/2
Silly comedy from some of the makers of Police Academy and Bachelor Party - taking that formula to the world of traffic school. It's not an awesome concept for a comedy but it's not bad - at least a little different. There doesn't seem to be much on line love for this movie but I have a fondness for it from watching it as a kid.
Re-viewing it, with as much objectivity as I can bring, it seems that there's a lot of dud gags, but some effective ones too, and a genuine sense of family amongst the misfits at school.
It also has a strong cast: John Murray, Bill's brother is an amiable lead; Jennifer Tilly is fun as his ditsy love interest; Brian Backer (80s fave) is a nerd in love with a girl (who turns out to be 15); James Keach is an excellent villain as is Sally Kellerman; Robert Conrad is effective as an authority figure; Ned Eisenberg is fun as a gore-hungry driver; Clara Peller and Nedra Voltz are funny as a little old lady; Wendy Jo Sperber is magnificent as always, and has the film's funniest set piece, getting a "tune up" from Fred Willard.
Ben Mittleman plays some random guy with curly hair who isn't funny and you wonder why he's in the movie. Catchy theme song, fun final chase.
Re-viewing it, with as much objectivity as I can bring, it seems that there's a lot of dud gags, but some effective ones too, and a genuine sense of family amongst the misfits at school.
It also has a strong cast: John Murray, Bill's brother is an amiable lead; Jennifer Tilly is fun as his ditsy love interest; Brian Backer (80s fave) is a nerd in love with a girl (who turns out to be 15); James Keach is an excellent villain as is Sally Kellerman; Robert Conrad is effective as an authority figure; Ned Eisenberg is fun as a gore-hungry driver; Clara Peller and Nedra Voltz are funny as a little old lady; Wendy Jo Sperber is magnificent as always, and has the film's funniest set piece, getting a "tune up" from Fred Willard.
Ben Mittleman plays some random guy with curly hair who isn't funny and you wonder why he's in the movie. Catchy theme song, fun final chase.
Thursday, April 27, 2017
Movie review - "Thunder and Lightning" (1977) **
Roger Corman doing stuff by the numbers - in the 70s films about car drivers were big in the South, so here is David Carradine as a moonshine driver in the South, coming up against the mob.
The tone is light and comedic, with broad performances from Charles Napier, Sterling Holloway and the like. Lots of good ole boys and swamps and yee-hawing and I wasn't quite sure of what the story was except it involved chasing people. Corey Allen the director does a decent job.
It wasn't made for New World but was part of a four picture deal Corman had with Fox and (as a result?) lacks some of urgency and excitement found in the best of the New World actioners. Things pick up in the last third when it becomes a chase. But I wasn't wild about it. I wish Carradine and Kate Jackson had fallen in love on screen as opposed to being an established couple; I also felt both were miscast as Southerners.
The tone is light and comedic, with broad performances from Charles Napier, Sterling Holloway and the like. Lots of good ole boys and swamps and yee-hawing and I wasn't quite sure of what the story was except it involved chasing people. Corey Allen the director does a decent job.
It wasn't made for New World but was part of a four picture deal Corman had with Fox and (as a result?) lacks some of urgency and excitement found in the best of the New World actioners. Things pick up in the last third when it becomes a chase. But I wasn't wild about it. I wish Carradine and Kate Jackson had fallen in love on screen as opposed to being an established couple; I also felt both were miscast as Southerners.
Movie review - "Where Have You Gone, Lou DiMaggio?" (2017) ***
Sweet documentary about a former stand up comic, a name in the late 80s, who gave performing away and misses it a lot, and now wants to comeback. He's not a tragic washed up character - he seems to have had a decent career, just didn't become a star, but managed to make a living as a producer and writer... and misses the charge of performing.
DiMaggio had a vaguely familiar face and there's plenty of clips of him from his heyday. He chats to some of his contemporaries - Larry David, Howie Mandel, Kevin Meaney (who died not long after the interview was filmed), Richard Belzer, Colin Quinn, Ray Romano, and others.
There's something universal about going back to your first love, the hopelessness of trying to recapture the past, the importance of being true to yourself, the dangers of self sabotage. The camaraderie with old friends comes across very well. The "summing up" at the end probably wasn't necessary - it was dramatised with his success. An unexpected delight.
DiMaggio had a vaguely familiar face and there's plenty of clips of him from his heyday. He chats to some of his contemporaries - Larry David, Howie Mandel, Kevin Meaney (who died not long after the interview was filmed), Richard Belzer, Colin Quinn, Ray Romano, and others.
There's something universal about going back to your first love, the hopelessness of trying to recapture the past, the importance of being true to yourself, the dangers of self sabotage. The camaraderie with old friends comes across very well. The "summing up" at the end probably wasn't necessary - it was dramatised with his success. An unexpected delight.
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Play review - "The Long Sunset" by R.C Sheriff (warning: spoilers)
Sheriff's look at a Roman family as the Roman's were leaving Britain. That's a solid idea - it's been done a few other times but that doesn't make it less powerful. Most of the characters are sensible middle class types - the sort often found in Sheriff works. Disappointing, there's no one on the verge of a nervous breakdown like in Journey's End. However the character of Arthur - a shrewd bandit later - is interesting.
The guts of the story concerns the attempt by the paterfamilias to persuade Arthur to help lead the fight against the marauding hordes. The Roman family have Caledonian servants who aren't exactly complex - loyal to the most part, they turn into marauding dogs in battle, and are ordered to kill the paterfamilias at the end (they don't do it out of loyalty). The romance between Gawain and the eldest daughter feels perfunctory.
There are some very effective moments: the realisation from the family that Rome has collapsed; discussing the battle and describing the Saxons as being starving; the final scene where Julian and his wife go hide out in the woods, the bandits approaching, with a plan to live, but unsure if they will survive. I liked the use of religions and the drama was effective. Not a major league work and a bit inclined to totalitarianism - it's all about getting a good leader - but effective.
The guts of the story concerns the attempt by the paterfamilias to persuade Arthur to help lead the fight against the marauding hordes. The Roman family have Caledonian servants who aren't exactly complex - loyal to the most part, they turn into marauding dogs in battle, and are ordered to kill the paterfamilias at the end (they don't do it out of loyalty). The romance between Gawain and the eldest daughter feels perfunctory.
There are some very effective moments: the realisation from the family that Rome has collapsed; discussing the battle and describing the Saxons as being starving; the final scene where Julian and his wife go hide out in the woods, the bandits approaching, with a plan to live, but unsure if they will survive. I liked the use of religions and the drama was effective. Not a major league work and a bit inclined to totalitarianism - it's all about getting a good leader - but effective.
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Book review - "The Tragic Secret Life of Jayne Mansfield" by Raymond Strait (1976)
Mansfield was only ever really in two films of note but has managed to carve out her own niche in Hollywood - due to a combination of things: those two films were for auterist darling Frank Tashlin, her big boobs, her massive IQ, her famous daughter, her interesting death.
Strait did press for Mansfield for a number of years so had inside knowledge. I had this image of her as a super smart girl who could play the fiddle and was better than what Hollywood had to offer. This confirms that but also shows her to be a bit of, well, fool - she was hooked on booze, and sex, and men, and fame, and constantly made bad decisions. Her ambition and work ethic got her to a decent position in Hollywood but she blew it with bad choices, particularly with management, projects and men.
She loved boozing, and sex, and being famous. She wasn't a particularly good mother, or actor. She worked hard enough to keep her profile going - when the film roles dried up (relatively quickly) she kept things going with live appearances.
If you're interested in Mansfield's private life this really is a warts and all - there are a lot of warts. Mansfield doesn't come across as a terribly likeable person. There are some interesting bits, like the fact she shaved her pubic hair (it's that much of an inside job!) but mostly it's harrowing, with a lot of squabbling and failure. Her death almost comes as a relief.
I would have liked to have read more about the films but that wasn't the focus of the book. (There is a lot on Promises, Promises and Single Room Unfurnished.) It wasn't a fun read.
Strait did press for Mansfield for a number of years so had inside knowledge. I had this image of her as a super smart girl who could play the fiddle and was better than what Hollywood had to offer. This confirms that but also shows her to be a bit of, well, fool - she was hooked on booze, and sex, and men, and fame, and constantly made bad decisions. Her ambition and work ethic got her to a decent position in Hollywood but she blew it with bad choices, particularly with management, projects and men.
She loved boozing, and sex, and being famous. She wasn't a particularly good mother, or actor. She worked hard enough to keep her profile going - when the film roles dried up (relatively quickly) she kept things going with live appearances.
If you're interested in Mansfield's private life this really is a warts and all - there are a lot of warts. Mansfield doesn't come across as a terribly likeable person. There are some interesting bits, like the fact she shaved her pubic hair (it's that much of an inside job!) but mostly it's harrowing, with a lot of squabbling and failure. Her death almost comes as a relief.
I would have liked to have read more about the films but that wasn't the focus of the book. (There is a lot on Promises, Promises and Single Room Unfurnished.) It wasn't a fun read.
Corman's screenwriters - some random thoughts
Corman is renowned for the stars and directors he gave an early break to - Bogdanovich, Demme, Howard, etc. But he was also a fine judge of screenwriting talent. Consider this roll call
1) R Wright Campbell - an actor with a strong career as writer, including an Oscar nominated Man of a Thousand Faces. Did a lot of good work for Corman including Machine Gun Kelly.
2) Charles Griffith - doyen of off beat screenwriters, his work for Corman was actually the peak of his career as opposed to Act One, but it included some stunning brilliance. Best known for his comedies but his dramas such as It Conquered the World were also good.
3) Richard Matheson - a highly regarded writer when brought in to adapt the Poes, he did some very good work for Corman.
4) Robert Towne - Corman gave him some early jobs, and used him often. A superb writer from the get-go.
5) Charles Beaumont - died young, did a lot of work for Twilight Zone, wrote some good Cormans, notably The Intruder
6) John Sayles - genius screenwriter, discovery of Frances Doel, whose work enlivened New World's output in the late 70s so much.
That's damn, damn impressive.
1) R Wright Campbell - an actor with a strong career as writer, including an Oscar nominated Man of a Thousand Faces. Did a lot of good work for Corman including Machine Gun Kelly.
2) Charles Griffith - doyen of off beat screenwriters, his work for Corman was actually the peak of his career as opposed to Act One, but it included some stunning brilliance. Best known for his comedies but his dramas such as It Conquered the World were also good.
3) Richard Matheson - a highly regarded writer when brought in to adapt the Poes, he did some very good work for Corman.
4) Robert Towne - Corman gave him some early jobs, and used him often. A superb writer from the get-go.
5) Charles Beaumont - died young, did a lot of work for Twilight Zone, wrote some good Cormans, notably The Intruder
6) John Sayles - genius screenwriter, discovery of Frances Doel, whose work enlivened New World's output in the late 70s so much.
That's damn, damn impressive.
Monday, April 24, 2017
Script review - "Obsession" by Brian De Palma and Paul Schrader (1976)(warning: spoilers)
Entertaining melodrama in the Hitchcock mode - in particular Vertigo (a film de Palma later revisited with Body Double). The New Orleans setting gives it extra novelty; it's about a property developer, Michael, whose wife and young daughter are kidnapped. An attempt to stiff the kidnappers out of money results in their deaths... and Michael remains obsessed by the case. Later he finds a woman who is the split image of his wife.
There's a fantastic twist here (spoilers) - the woman is his daughter. In the script father and daughter actually sleep together. The film feels as though it should end with Michael's death - I also feel the supporting characters apart from Lasalles could've been used more. There's this other woman in the story who looks as though she's going to do something but doesn't.
Like a lot of De Palma scripts I've read the structure is very sound and I enjoyed it a lot.
There's a fantastic twist here (spoilers) - the woman is his daughter. In the script father and daughter actually sleep together. The film feels as though it should end with Michael's death - I also feel the supporting characters apart from Lasalles could've been used more. There's this other woman in the story who looks as though she's going to do something but doesn't.
Like a lot of De Palma scripts I've read the structure is very sound and I enjoyed it a lot.
Script review - "Dressed to Kill" by Brian De Palma (warning: spoilers)
De Palma rips off the structure of Psycho - we introduce the protagonist, a frustrated woman unhappy with her life, who starts off on a story that we think the film is going to be about, then she's shockingly killed by a woman, and the film becomes about investigating the murder, and it turns out the killer is actually a man dressed as a woman.
Has to be said though the rip off works very well - it was one of De Palma's most popular movies and a big hit at the box office. It was also controversial at the time because of all the sex and violence - even now, reading it in script form, it remains shocking. The murder of Kate is described particularly graphically with the killer cutting up between her legs while she's still alive.
De Palma has a real genius at creating suspense by distracting the reader's (viewer's) eye - we are caught up with Kate's dilemma (finds out casual sex guy gave her an STI, has to go back to get ring) when she's stabbed to death; we worry about Liz being chased by the killer... then some hoods... then the killer again. Liz is saved twice but both times are set up - Peter, Kate's son (a likeable hero... he and Liz are a good team) and the undercover policewoman (a neat twist).
I wasn't wild about the Carrie like trick ending. De Palma has an interesting writing style - lots of short sentences and paragraphs. He uses a lot of inaccessible big print, which is normally a no-no but I guess as he's the director it matters less.
It's a politically problematic film, with it's violence against women and transphobic nature... but it is well done. The structure is solid.
Has to be said though the rip off works very well - it was one of De Palma's most popular movies and a big hit at the box office. It was also controversial at the time because of all the sex and violence - even now, reading it in script form, it remains shocking. The murder of Kate is described particularly graphically with the killer cutting up between her legs while she's still alive.
De Palma has a real genius at creating suspense by distracting the reader's (viewer's) eye - we are caught up with Kate's dilemma (finds out casual sex guy gave her an STI, has to go back to get ring) when she's stabbed to death; we worry about Liz being chased by the killer... then some hoods... then the killer again. Liz is saved twice but both times are set up - Peter, Kate's son (a likeable hero... he and Liz are a good team) and the undercover policewoman (a neat twist).
I wasn't wild about the Carrie like trick ending. De Palma has an interesting writing style - lots of short sentences and paragraphs. He uses a lot of inaccessible big print, which is normally a no-no but I guess as he's the director it matters less.
It's a politically problematic film, with it's violence against women and transphobic nature... but it is well done. The structure is solid.
Script review - "Body Double" by Brian De Palma and Robert Avrech (warning: spoilers)
Having enjoyed a big hit ripping off Hitchcock and adding dollops of sex and violence with Dressed to Kill, Brian De Palma returns to the well with this. It combines Rear Window and Vertigo with modern gore and sex, partially set in the world of porn films.
Jake Scully is a struggling actor who makes a new best friend who lets him house sit for a while. He watches the woman across the way masturbate; he follows her and they almost have sex; then he sees her get murdered. He spots similar masturbation techniques in a porno and tracks down the woman who does it and gets to know her - Holly. She's Kim Novak in Vertigo. She's in on the scam, only she's bad (in this draft anyway - I gather in the final film she was made into a goodie). I liked the twist where they let us think it was a Jake dream, then reveal it actually wasn't.
Its a well structured film - the story ticks along. I enjoy De Palma's writing style, which is a lot of short sentences as paragraphs.
There is a lot of sex and violence - the woman masturbating, the peeping tom, the housewife keen to have sex with her stalker, murder with a drill. I thought it was clever that Jake wound up appearing in a porn with Holly - the film actually "goes there" like that. I didn't quite buy that Gloria would kiss Jake after discovering him stalking her (this feels like a wet dream fantasy) and Sam's plan isn't that clever (it's to get an alibi, right? but won't it be easy to discover that he wasn't in that play once the police do cursory investigation? isn't it risky that Jake identifies him?)
Men are treacherous and women are sleazy sluts - it's weird that Avrech became so conservative (or maybe he already was). De Palma is a problematic filmmaker - he just loved women being killed - but he was very talented.
Jake Scully is a struggling actor who makes a new best friend who lets him house sit for a while. He watches the woman across the way masturbate; he follows her and they almost have sex; then he sees her get murdered. He spots similar masturbation techniques in a porno and tracks down the woman who does it and gets to know her - Holly. She's Kim Novak in Vertigo. She's in on the scam, only she's bad (in this draft anyway - I gather in the final film she was made into a goodie). I liked the twist where they let us think it was a Jake dream, then reveal it actually wasn't.
Its a well structured film - the story ticks along. I enjoy De Palma's writing style, which is a lot of short sentences as paragraphs.
There is a lot of sex and violence - the woman masturbating, the peeping tom, the housewife keen to have sex with her stalker, murder with a drill. I thought it was clever that Jake wound up appearing in a porn with Holly - the film actually "goes there" like that. I didn't quite buy that Gloria would kiss Jake after discovering him stalking her (this feels like a wet dream fantasy) and Sam's plan isn't that clever (it's to get an alibi, right? but won't it be easy to discover that he wasn't in that play once the police do cursory investigation? isn't it risky that Jake identifies him?)
Men are treacherous and women are sleazy sluts - it's weird that Avrech became so conservative (or maybe he already was). De Palma is a problematic filmmaker - he just loved women being killed - but he was very talented.
Sunday, April 23, 2017
Movie review - "Hickey and Boggs" (1972) **1/2 (warning: spoilers)
I wanted to like this more than I did. Some of it's fantastic - great actors, memorable scenes. It has a unique mood. I would loved to read Walter Hill's original draft. Robert Culp tries some interesting things.
But it's a mess. I know it was the 70s, but still... I found it hard to follow. Scenes just sort of start and stop, and action overlaps, and the drama doesn't build. It felt Robert Altman-y at times. Sometimes this works - such as when Bill Cosby is scolded by the mum of his dead wife. Other times its just alienating. I was confused about a lot of stuff - the point of Culp's ex, whether Culp was gay, why they were hired in the first place, why they stayed on the case (I think I was told it just didn't register). It's frustrating we never find out about what happened to the mob boss (Cosby didn't want revenge on him?).
There's a lot of repetition. Culp and Cosby are always lighting a cigarette and/or putting one out and/or drinking. There are several scenes of them explaining themselves to exasperated cops, and of Cosby's ex being exasperated with them, and of them drinking, and of them shooting and missing (they are terrible shots... while it's more realistic I never realised how frustrating this is to see in on film). There's several action set pieces at a sporting location.
Our heroes actually aren't bad detectives when it comes to finding stuff out (mostly in stuff that happens off screen which is reported on screen). But they are bad shots, make a lot of mistakes, are always playing catch up to others (in fairness the audience is only ahead of them because we see it... wouldn't have been a problem if everything was from our point of view).
It's got to be said though that Culp and Cosby are superb. Cosby completely has the chops to play a tough, hard bitten PI. Culp is also strong. The support cast is divine - Vincent Gardenia pops up as a cop as does James Woods and Ed Lautner; there's a trio of very scary hitman villains and another trio of mob bosses (including Michael Moriarty).
Everything feels grimy and smoggy with glary LA sun. It's actually quite an accurate visual representation of the city - houses on clifftops, that literally might fall off; dingy strip clubs and bars, smog-filled highways.
And there are some dynamic moments - the shock of the death of Cosby's wife, the death of the courier and his wife (him telling her and presumably explaining what's going on), the action sequence where the "torpedoes" first run into Hickey and Boggs.
It is an interesting movie. It's got a growing cult, in part one suspects because it is (a) neglected an original release (b) violent (c) misogynist.
But it's a mess. I know it was the 70s, but still... I found it hard to follow. Scenes just sort of start and stop, and action overlaps, and the drama doesn't build. It felt Robert Altman-y at times. Sometimes this works - such as when Bill Cosby is scolded by the mum of his dead wife. Other times its just alienating. I was confused about a lot of stuff - the point of Culp's ex, whether Culp was gay, why they were hired in the first place, why they stayed on the case (I think I was told it just didn't register). It's frustrating we never find out about what happened to the mob boss (Cosby didn't want revenge on him?).
There's a lot of repetition. Culp and Cosby are always lighting a cigarette and/or putting one out and/or drinking. There are several scenes of them explaining themselves to exasperated cops, and of Cosby's ex being exasperated with them, and of them drinking, and of them shooting and missing (they are terrible shots... while it's more realistic I never realised how frustrating this is to see in on film). There's several action set pieces at a sporting location.
Our heroes actually aren't bad detectives when it comes to finding stuff out (mostly in stuff that happens off screen which is reported on screen). But they are bad shots, make a lot of mistakes, are always playing catch up to others (in fairness the audience is only ahead of them because we see it... wouldn't have been a problem if everything was from our point of view).
It's got to be said though that Culp and Cosby are superb. Cosby completely has the chops to play a tough, hard bitten PI. Culp is also strong. The support cast is divine - Vincent Gardenia pops up as a cop as does James Woods and Ed Lautner; there's a trio of very scary hitman villains and another trio of mob bosses (including Michael Moriarty).
Everything feels grimy and smoggy with glary LA sun. It's actually quite an accurate visual representation of the city - houses on clifftops, that literally might fall off; dingy strip clubs and bars, smog-filled highways.
And there are some dynamic moments - the shock of the death of Cosby's wife, the death of the courier and his wife (him telling her and presumably explaining what's going on), the action sequence where the "torpedoes" first run into Hickey and Boggs.
It is an interesting movie. It's got a growing cult, in part one suspects because it is (a) neglected an original release (b) violent (c) misogynist.
Script review - "Double Indemnity" by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler
I think I resented this movie when I first saw it because all these critics insisted it was a masterpiece, but it actually really is very good. It divides into four sequences: set up, the murder, fall out of murder, and the pressure coming in.
It's clear Neff isn't so attracted by Phyllis - though he does find her attractive - but by the desire to pull off the caper, and outsmart his boss, Keyes. The Neff-Keyes relationship is the heart of it. It's not too shocking that Phyllis is dodgy - she suggests killing her husband early on, and doesn't really do that much bad stuff to Neff (she insists they still make the insurance claim, she sees the Italian guy on the side... so what? Neff sees Louisa). But Neff genuinely betrays Keyes, who believes in him - offering him a job, but also defending him to his bosses. And the last scene is between Neff and Keyes.
Keyes has the best dialogue too - flowery, but rich and imaginative. The story is well structured, with good suspense moments (eg Keyes visiting Neff when Phyllis is there, the drunk man appearing at the train carriage). I will say though that it was a very convoluted murder plan - killing someone in a car (in a way to make it look like an accident too... was it choking? A head injury? Wouldn't those things show up?)
It's clear Neff isn't so attracted by Phyllis - though he does find her attractive - but by the desire to pull off the caper, and outsmart his boss, Keyes. The Neff-Keyes relationship is the heart of it. It's not too shocking that Phyllis is dodgy - she suggests killing her husband early on, and doesn't really do that much bad stuff to Neff (she insists they still make the insurance claim, she sees the Italian guy on the side... so what? Neff sees Louisa). But Neff genuinely betrays Keyes, who believes in him - offering him a job, but also defending him to his bosses. And the last scene is between Neff and Keyes.
Keyes has the best dialogue too - flowery, but rich and imaginative. The story is well structured, with good suspense moments (eg Keyes visiting Neff when Phyllis is there, the drunk man appearing at the train carriage). I will say though that it was a very convoluted murder plan - killing someone in a car (in a way to make it look like an accident too... was it choking? A head injury? Wouldn't those things show up?)
Script review - "Casablanca" by the Epsteins and Howard Koch
Such a brilliant screenplay. I'll leave it to the serious historians as to who contributed what, except to say I feel the original play provided more than has been acknowledged many times, and it all comes together brilliantly.
The dialogue jumps off the page, the characters are so beautifully sketched: not just nihilistic Rick and joyfully corrupt Renault, and brave (yet silly) Laszlo and wet Ilsa (let's be honest, she can't even think for herself)... but the smaller ones, like drunk and trashy Yvonne, poor Annina, joyous Sascha, the pickpocket. Buffs never give that much love to Carl, Sascha and Sam but they provide a lot of warmth to the movie - their concern for each other and Rick, etc enables Rick to be hard boiled and tough but still likeable because he looks out for them.
The letters of transit is a brilliant Macguffin (in the draft I read signed by Weygand, not de Gaulle... Weygand makes more sense), the action is logically followed through: death of the couriers, Strasser arriving, Ugarte, Rick having the letters, Laszlo arriving with Ilsa, setting up Laszlo wanting the letters and getting involved in local politics, the clash between Renault and Strasser.
I love it how clever Renault is - taking bribes, enjoying hanging out with Rick, knowing Rick's got the letters, knowing it was Ugarte responsible... even at the end Renault almost outsmarts Rick by calling Major Strasser, then at the end doing the final wonderful double cross of the Axis. His love story with Rick is a lot more effective than the one with Rick and Ilsa because Ilsa really is a bit of a ninny, just going with the flow. She can't even shoot Rick.
It's very adult but the writers get around the censorship superbly. Look at the scene where Annina checks with Rick whether Renault will keep his word about getting a visa - it's all implied (she'll have to sleep with him to get it, she doesn't want to tell her husband), and so beautifully done. There's also the "Le Marseilles" scene - which actually doesn't read that well but of course played superbly.
It's just so, so good.
The dialogue jumps off the page, the characters are so beautifully sketched: not just nihilistic Rick and joyfully corrupt Renault, and brave (yet silly) Laszlo and wet Ilsa (let's be honest, she can't even think for herself)... but the smaller ones, like drunk and trashy Yvonne, poor Annina, joyous Sascha, the pickpocket. Buffs never give that much love to Carl, Sascha and Sam but they provide a lot of warmth to the movie - their concern for each other and Rick, etc enables Rick to be hard boiled and tough but still likeable because he looks out for them.
The letters of transit is a brilliant Macguffin (in the draft I read signed by Weygand, not de Gaulle... Weygand makes more sense), the action is logically followed through: death of the couriers, Strasser arriving, Ugarte, Rick having the letters, Laszlo arriving with Ilsa, setting up Laszlo wanting the letters and getting involved in local politics, the clash between Renault and Strasser.
I love it how clever Renault is - taking bribes, enjoying hanging out with Rick, knowing Rick's got the letters, knowing it was Ugarte responsible... even at the end Renault almost outsmarts Rick by calling Major Strasser, then at the end doing the final wonderful double cross of the Axis. His love story with Rick is a lot more effective than the one with Rick and Ilsa because Ilsa really is a bit of a ninny, just going with the flow. She can't even shoot Rick.
It's very adult but the writers get around the censorship superbly. Look at the scene where Annina checks with Rick whether Renault will keep his word about getting a visa - it's all implied (she'll have to sleep with him to get it, she doesn't want to tell her husband), and so beautifully done. There's also the "Le Marseilles" scene - which actually doesn't read that well but of course played superbly.
It's just so, so good.
Movie review - "Avalanche" (1978) **1/2
You can't blame AIP and Roger Corman for being a little annoyed at the cycle of disaster movies - for years they'd been the ones doing exploitation, then along come the studios having a go at schlocky product, with studio production values. And because it was the studios, with extra financial resources, they couldn't compete.
Accordingly, both AIP and Corman waited a while before dipping their toes in disaster water, and neither did that well out of it - AIP with Meteor, Corman's New World with this. This doesn't have a great reputation but I kind of liked it.
It helps in that the cast includes Rock Hudson, Mia Farrow and Robert Forster - all three are strong actors, elevating the material. The support cast is decent too - and for all the New World cheapness, it does have impressive production values: the alpine setting, scenes of skiing and skating and chairlifts, and the avalanche stuff is done with quick fire editing.
They get around the budget restrictions by having lots of one and two handers - a man and boy stuck up a chair lift, Rock Hudson's mum and an associate trapped. Apparently the film was meant to have a bigger budget and it was cut... I felt it would have worked better had they gone in knowing it was going to be low budget and scripted accordingly. The script doesn't feel quite up to it - its written to be on a large canvas (the opening of a resort), but can't deliver on the promise. And it's a shame John Sayles couldn't have had a go - I feel he would've liked it, with the novelty of the alpine setting, and an ecology message. There were a lot of frustrating loose ends - I wish Hudson had more of a comeuppance and Farrow had more to do, the plot about bribery seemed to be forgotten.
Having said that, there is some decent drama with Hudson trying to woo back his ex Farrow, who is attracted to Forster. There's a pants man skier, chasing after everyone; a suicidal skater (knocked off by snow has she goes to kill herself - this was very effective); a moving sequence of a kid and adult stuck up a chair lift. The acting as mentioned is good, and the pace is lively. Mia Farrow, very pretty, has enjoyable chemistry with Forster - both seem to genuinely like each other.
No classic but not as bad as it's reputation.
Accordingly, both AIP and Corman waited a while before dipping their toes in disaster water, and neither did that well out of it - AIP with Meteor, Corman's New World with this. This doesn't have a great reputation but I kind of liked it.
It helps in that the cast includes Rock Hudson, Mia Farrow and Robert Forster - all three are strong actors, elevating the material. The support cast is decent too - and for all the New World cheapness, it does have impressive production values: the alpine setting, scenes of skiing and skating and chairlifts, and the avalanche stuff is done with quick fire editing.
They get around the budget restrictions by having lots of one and two handers - a man and boy stuck up a chair lift, Rock Hudson's mum and an associate trapped. Apparently the film was meant to have a bigger budget and it was cut... I felt it would have worked better had they gone in knowing it was going to be low budget and scripted accordingly. The script doesn't feel quite up to it - its written to be on a large canvas (the opening of a resort), but can't deliver on the promise. And it's a shame John Sayles couldn't have had a go - I feel he would've liked it, with the novelty of the alpine setting, and an ecology message. There were a lot of frustrating loose ends - I wish Hudson had more of a comeuppance and Farrow had more to do, the plot about bribery seemed to be forgotten.
Having said that, there is some decent drama with Hudson trying to woo back his ex Farrow, who is attracted to Forster. There's a pants man skier, chasing after everyone; a suicidal skater (knocked off by snow has she goes to kill herself - this was very effective); a moving sequence of a kid and adult stuck up a chair lift. The acting as mentioned is good, and the pace is lively. Mia Farrow, very pretty, has enjoyable chemistry with Forster - both seem to genuinely like each other.
No classic but not as bad as it's reputation.
Friday, April 21, 2017
Script review - "The Magnificent Ambersons" by Orson Welles (1941)
Honestly, why did RKO ever think this was going to be successful? I get that Booth Tarkington's novel had been a best seller - but wasn't that years ago? And didn't they have a look at the synopsis- rich turn of the century family loses money, bratty kid gets his comeuppance. Has that story ever been popular?
I know I'm talking like a studio suit here, but it's hard to read the script that focuses around bratty George Amberson. Citizen Kane was a brat too but at least he did stuff - he could charm women and co workers, he fought against powerful interests, he did cool thinks like start wars and newspapers and run for office.
George Amberson doesn't do anything except whinge. There's talk of attending college, he complains, he woos Lucy Morgan but not very charmingly, he's attached to his mother, he's mean to Aunt Fanny, he slags off on Eugene Morgan, he doesn't even seem that close to his father. At the end he goes to work, the last few pages - but even then he won't devote himself to a legal career, when one is offered... he goes to make quick cash doing dangerous jobs, and gets injured doing one.
That might be Okay if George were the antagonist but he's the center of attention and being around him is a drag. And frustrating. And we're forced to spend a lot of time with him. We never really see what Lucy sees in him or what his mother sees in him for that matter.
Maybe this would have worked if it had focused on Eugene - a young man about town who liked a drink, who lost the woman he loved to another man then who comes back rich due to his invention. Welles clearly has affection for him. He's a nice guy. He does stuff. He loves his daughter and Isabel, and invents things and makes money.
The basic story isn't bad if told from Eugene's point of view - person comes back to home town, makes a go of it, falls for lost love and faces opposition from her son... But it's from George, so we get George sulking, George liking Lucy being wooing her in an abusive way, not liking Eugene, being protective of his mum, being a brat, seeing his family lose his money, try to get a job.
There's some great stuff to be fair. Fanny is compelling - so much so she pulls focus. Isabel the mum is a drip as is the dad. I struggled to see the point of Jack as well - he was given this long monologue at the end. There is a lot of imagination and passion.
It is fascinating in Orson Welles' oeuvre because of its themes - it's obsession with nostalgia ad the 1890s and love of old things. It's also creatively interesting - the draft I read was a lot like a radio play with extensive use of narration. The ending, with George being injured, then being reunited with Eugene and Lucy, was handled ALL off screen.
RKO shouldn't have cut up Welles work... but based on this script it's hard to see there would ever be an audience for it.
I know I'm talking like a studio suit here, but it's hard to read the script that focuses around bratty George Amberson. Citizen Kane was a brat too but at least he did stuff - he could charm women and co workers, he fought against powerful interests, he did cool thinks like start wars and newspapers and run for office.
George Amberson doesn't do anything except whinge. There's talk of attending college, he complains, he woos Lucy Morgan but not very charmingly, he's attached to his mother, he's mean to Aunt Fanny, he slags off on Eugene Morgan, he doesn't even seem that close to his father. At the end he goes to work, the last few pages - but even then he won't devote himself to a legal career, when one is offered... he goes to make quick cash doing dangerous jobs, and gets injured doing one.
That might be Okay if George were the antagonist but he's the center of attention and being around him is a drag. And frustrating. And we're forced to spend a lot of time with him. We never really see what Lucy sees in him or what his mother sees in him for that matter.
Maybe this would have worked if it had focused on Eugene - a young man about town who liked a drink, who lost the woman he loved to another man then who comes back rich due to his invention. Welles clearly has affection for him. He's a nice guy. He does stuff. He loves his daughter and Isabel, and invents things and makes money.
The basic story isn't bad if told from Eugene's point of view - person comes back to home town, makes a go of it, falls for lost love and faces opposition from her son... But it's from George, so we get George sulking, George liking Lucy being wooing her in an abusive way, not liking Eugene, being protective of his mum, being a brat, seeing his family lose his money, try to get a job.
There's some great stuff to be fair. Fanny is compelling - so much so she pulls focus. Isabel the mum is a drip as is the dad. I struggled to see the point of Jack as well - he was given this long monologue at the end. There is a lot of imagination and passion.
It is fascinating in Orson Welles' oeuvre because of its themes - it's obsession with nostalgia ad the 1890s and love of old things. It's also creatively interesting - the draft I read was a lot like a radio play with extensive use of narration. The ending, with George being injured, then being reunited with Eugene and Lucy, was handled ALL off screen.
RKO shouldn't have cut up Welles work... but based on this script it's hard to see there would ever be an audience for it.
Thursday, April 20, 2017
Script review - "The African Queen" by John Huston, James Agee and John Collier (1951)
The movie is beloved because of it's stars but the basic story is so strong I get the feeling it would have worked with a bunch of other people in the role - Greer Garson, say, or Errol Flynn.
It's a very good script. The concept is so simple and strong its surprising it took so long for this to get made... a mismatched couple travel downstream together in a boat to blow up a German cruiser. The structure is highly effective: introduce Rose, introduce Charlie, awkward dinner and news of war, the Germans attack, Charlie returns and takes Rose, she gets the idea of what to do, he goes along with it but then gets drunk (paying off the essential conflict between the two characters sooner rather than later), she pours out his gin and gives him the silent treatment until he relents, they go down rapids and pass by a German fort, have sex, get stuck in the mud.
It's all logical and well thought out. There are two deux ex machinas towards the end - they get out of mud by a convenient rain (after Rose prays) and the boat at the end being sunk by the wreck of the Queen. But it's a marvellous ending with the two of them getting married. Great fun and one of the best star vehicles of all time.
(I should add though the film features a lot of non-very-casual racism of the period. The non white African inhabitants are completely depersonalised, referred to as "blacks", "natives" and that's about it.)
It's a very good script. The concept is so simple and strong its surprising it took so long for this to get made... a mismatched couple travel downstream together in a boat to blow up a German cruiser. The structure is highly effective: introduce Rose, introduce Charlie, awkward dinner and news of war, the Germans attack, Charlie returns and takes Rose, she gets the idea of what to do, he goes along with it but then gets drunk (paying off the essential conflict between the two characters sooner rather than later), she pours out his gin and gives him the silent treatment until he relents, they go down rapids and pass by a German fort, have sex, get stuck in the mud.
It's all logical and well thought out. There are two deux ex machinas towards the end - they get out of mud by a convenient rain (after Rose prays) and the boat at the end being sunk by the wreck of the Queen. But it's a marvellous ending with the two of them getting married. Great fun and one of the best star vehicles of all time.
(I should add though the film features a lot of non-very-casual racism of the period. The non white African inhabitants are completely depersonalised, referred to as "blacks", "natives" and that's about it.)
Random thoughts on Ron Randell
Heard of him? He was an Australian actor who leapt to national fame when cast in the title role of the biopic Smithy (1946), about Charles Kingsford Smith. The film was financed by Columbia Pictures who signed Randell to a long term contract and whisked him off to Hollywood.
He started well, given the role of Bulldog Drummond in two quickies (low budget, to be sure, but that's how Ray Milland got started) and support roles in some A productions like It Had to be You and The Loves of Carmen. But then they lost enthusiasm. Randell's career never really recovered - as a star prospect, that is. As an actor he had an entirely decent career, and he worked for the rest of his life.
It's a CV not exactly littered with gems but there was solid work - including stage appearances in Bent and The World of Suzie Wong, lots of compere gigs, impressing in King of Kings, turning up in films like Kiss Me Kate and I am Camera, as well as a lot of B pictures.
He was handsome, confident and could act. How come he didn't become a bigger name? If not Errol Flynn proportions then why not say Rod Taylor?
A couple of reasons, I think (this is all wisdom in hindsight of course)... he lacked a certain spark on screen. He wasn't terribly memorable - there were plenty of handsome men floating around, then as now. Despite extensive radio experience, he didn't have an imposing speaking voice, an under-rated quality when it comes to actors. It's possible he was distracted by his private life - he was married and divorced a number of times. He may have been a whinger - he publicly complained about the Bulldog Drummond films, which feels ungrateful. Maybe he just didn't get the breaks - a good role in a hit, in particular.
Ken Hall always seemed to feel a bit awkward he picked Randell to play Smithy over Peter Finch. But it's easy to see why - Randell had the looks; and in A Son is Born he steals the film from Finch in a dynamic performance. Finch didn't grow into his looks for another decade. You can't help but wonder if Ron Randell was a star that got away...
Script review - "The Fog" by John Carpenter and Debra Hill
I did like the movie with its stunning locations and music but it was Carpenter lite... something apparent from reading this script. A fog envelopes a small town, getting revenge for a wrong that happened a long time ago... Since the town isn't that prosperous and we don't know the people or feel for the town you don't really care. I think dramatically it was a mistake to cut off the DJ from her son at the end... it's exciting when she asks on radio for someone to rescue him but after it it's like she's off in her own movie and he's off in his. I wish the characters had more involvement in the history of the town - there's a religious dude and old townsfolk, but too many key players are blow ins without stakes (the hitchhiker etc).
It is spooky and entertaining - Carpenter was a dab hand at screen plays. Just not top rank.
It is spooky and entertaining - Carpenter was a dab hand at screen plays. Just not top rank.
Script review - "Psycho" by Josef Stefano (1959)
This script never gets the credit it deserves. Most of the acclaim to this masterpiece deservedly goes to Hitchcock, with leftover claps to people like the set designer, Tony Perkins, Saul Bass, Bernard Herrmann, Janet Leigh etc. (not even die hard fans are too enthusiastic about John Gavin and Vera Miles).
But it really is superlative work from Stefano - I've no doubt that Hitchcock rode shotgun on this, but Stefano does a great job, introducing a vivid character in Marion Crane, and her desperate love for Sam Loomis. The embezzlement sequence is fantastic, full of tension and excitement even on the page with some clever lines eg the secretary assuming the businessman didn't look at her because she had a wedding ring. The exchanges with Norman are a bit 50s psychology at times but he's such a wonderful character it doesn't matter.
Then the action switches to Norman - Act Two centers around the investigator Arbogast, Act Three focuses on Sam and Marion's sister. There's some odd repetition in Sam telling the whole story to the sheriff.
William Goldman always calls the scene at the end where the shrink explains everything a snooze scene - but personally I like it, it's nice to have things explained, and the movie does recover for a creepy look at Norman.
But it really is superlative work from Stefano - I've no doubt that Hitchcock rode shotgun on this, but Stefano does a great job, introducing a vivid character in Marion Crane, and her desperate love for Sam Loomis. The embezzlement sequence is fantastic, full of tension and excitement even on the page with some clever lines eg the secretary assuming the businessman didn't look at her because she had a wedding ring. The exchanges with Norman are a bit 50s psychology at times but he's such a wonderful character it doesn't matter.
Then the action switches to Norman - Act Two centers around the investigator Arbogast, Act Three focuses on Sam and Marion's sister. There's some odd repetition in Sam telling the whole story to the sheriff.
William Goldman always calls the scene at the end where the shrink explains everything a snooze scene - but personally I like it, it's nice to have things explained, and the movie does recover for a creepy look at Norman.
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
Movie review - "Invisible Invaders" (1959) **
Campy fun from producer Robert Kent which I admit I only saw because John Carpenter put it on his list of guilty pleasures.
It gets off to a great start with scientist John Carradine blowing himself up in the lab doing an experiment. There's lots of similiar silliness to be had, with Robert Hutton being a drippy scientist, aliens taking over the bodies of pilots and what-not who kill sports announcers so they can take over the mic and tell everyone the aliens are coming, a newspaper headline mocking the invasion scare with a blank picture of the invaders (this was a clever bit of business). John Agar is military man.
This isn't inept enough to be a classic, like Plan 9 from Outer Space - which kind of has the same story. Maybe if John Carradine's role had been bigger... he's hardly in the film. There's too much competence and intelligence for it to be a great bad movie - it's more done in by its limited budget.
It gets off to a great start with scientist John Carradine blowing himself up in the lab doing an experiment. There's lots of similiar silliness to be had, with Robert Hutton being a drippy scientist, aliens taking over the bodies of pilots and what-not who kill sports announcers so they can take over the mic and tell everyone the aliens are coming, a newspaper headline mocking the invasion scare with a blank picture of the invaders (this was a clever bit of business). John Agar is military man.
This isn't inept enough to be a classic, like Plan 9 from Outer Space - which kind of has the same story. Maybe if John Carradine's role had been bigger... he's hardly in the film. There's too much competence and intelligence for it to be a great bad movie - it's more done in by its limited budget.
Monday, April 17, 2017
Book review - "Jan Michael Vincent: Edge of Greatness" by Donald Grove
I have strong memories of Vincent from the early 80s appearing in The Winds of War and Airwolf. I can't say he was a favourite of mine - he always looked so dour, slightly constipated. But he had a fascinating career and life and this book was a grand read... I pretty much finished it in one session.
For someone who never really wanted to be an actor, Vincent had a great run at it. He was a bit of a drifter, his main ambition seems to have been to surf as much as possible. But he was good looking - he had an androgynous quality that suited the late 60s, and if he couldn't act that well he was skilled at memorising dialogue. He made a fist of acting quite quickly, doing lots of TV and carving out a niche as the "sensitive young man" in support of a crusty elder type, such as The Undefeated. He was also in Adventure Island as part of the Banana Splits.
The 70s were Vincent's heyday - he was in a superior TV movie, Tribes; he supported Robert Mitchum in Going Home and Charles Bronson in The Mechanic; his physique was used to good effect in Disney's World's Greatest Athlete; and he found a champion in Peter Guber of Columbia Pictures who wanted to turn him into a star - Buster and Billie, White Line Fever, ˆBite the Bullet, Baby Blue Marine. It didn't happen - Vincent was too passive, I feel, too ethereal... He was also in some films that were box office disappointments - Vigilante Force, Big Wednesday. But he remained in demand a long time. In particular Winds of War reignited interest, and Airwolf was quite popular.
But he had demons - alcohol and drugs. For a time he could work, drifting into the straight to video market, but eventually he became just too unprofessional, turning into a wreck. He eventually lost a leg. However, he's still alive at time of writing.
I was sometimes reminded of Barbara Payton while reading this - another person who got by a long time on looks and natural gifts but who didn't really respect the craft of acting and eventually succumbed to addictions.
Grove's done a really excellent job - it's well researched, talking to his old classmates and neighbours, including better known people like Jonathan Kaplan and Robert Englund. His analysis of Vincent's talents seems spot on and very insightful. He gets very exasperated with his subject - and no wonder because Vincent really was given so much on a platter and threw it away.
For someone who never really wanted to be an actor, Vincent had a great run at it. He was a bit of a drifter, his main ambition seems to have been to surf as much as possible. But he was good looking - he had an androgynous quality that suited the late 60s, and if he couldn't act that well he was skilled at memorising dialogue. He made a fist of acting quite quickly, doing lots of TV and carving out a niche as the "sensitive young man" in support of a crusty elder type, such as The Undefeated. He was also in Adventure Island as part of the Banana Splits.
The 70s were Vincent's heyday - he was in a superior TV movie, Tribes; he supported Robert Mitchum in Going Home and Charles Bronson in The Mechanic; his physique was used to good effect in Disney's World's Greatest Athlete; and he found a champion in Peter Guber of Columbia Pictures who wanted to turn him into a star - Buster and Billie, White Line Fever, ˆBite the Bullet, Baby Blue Marine. It didn't happen - Vincent was too passive, I feel, too ethereal... He was also in some films that were box office disappointments - Vigilante Force, Big Wednesday. But he remained in demand a long time. In particular Winds of War reignited interest, and Airwolf was quite popular.
But he had demons - alcohol and drugs. For a time he could work, drifting into the straight to video market, but eventually he became just too unprofessional, turning into a wreck. He eventually lost a leg. However, he's still alive at time of writing.
I was sometimes reminded of Barbara Payton while reading this - another person who got by a long time on looks and natural gifts but who didn't really respect the craft of acting and eventually succumbed to addictions.
Grove's done a really excellent job - it's well researched, talking to his old classmates and neighbours, including better known people like Jonathan Kaplan and Robert Englund. His analysis of Vincent's talents seems spot on and very insightful. He gets very exasperated with his subject - and no wonder because Vincent really was given so much on a platter and threw it away.
Script review - "The Thing from Another World" by Charles Lederer (1951)
I have fond memories of the Howard Hawks (alright... Christian Nyby) film... but was surprised to find I didn't enjoy the script. Densely written in the fashion of the time - lots of description and big print and dialogue.
The story holds - it's very powerful, with a group of scientists and army men trapped in an Arctic base with a creature running loose. The romance between the main guy Hendry and the one girl isn't too great - at one stage he punches her in the stomach. (And he stuffs a lot of things up, blowing up the saucer.) The scientist is less of a loon than I remembered from the film - he has an arguable point of view. The journalist character got on my nerves - was he needed for the drama? Although I did like how they made him brave - a war veteran like his mates. I had trouble telling the other characters apart.
There's some bright dialogue, and everyone in the movie is smart. It's a solid "siege" picture.
The story holds - it's very powerful, with a group of scientists and army men trapped in an Arctic base with a creature running loose. The romance between the main guy Hendry and the one girl isn't too great - at one stage he punches her in the stomach. (And he stuffs a lot of things up, blowing up the saucer.) The scientist is less of a loon than I remembered from the film - he has an arguable point of view. The journalist character got on my nerves - was he needed for the drama? Although I did like how they made him brave - a war veteran like his mates. I had trouble telling the other characters apart.
There's some bright dialogue, and everyone in the movie is smart. It's a solid "siege" picture.
Movie review - "Tab Hunter Confidential" (2015) ***1/2
This sounds mercenary but the fact Tab Hunter is gay makes a documentary about his life a lot more interesting than one about Troy Donahue (just like - this sounds harsh but its true - the death of Natalie Wood makes the Robert Wagner story more interesting).
He was so clean cut, pearly white teeth beefcake of the 50s - marketed to girls, who would scream and sigh when he appeared - the irony of his sexuality offers irresistible entertainment. It's all very well to go in hindsight "oh of course he was gay" but he was no more camp than Troy or Jeff Hunter or John Saxon or any of the other brylcream boys.
Those who've read Hunter's memoirs won't find anything that new but this has pictures - Hunter didn't grow up with his dad, was close to his mum and brother (who died), was blessed with good looks which led to an acting career. He found fame very quickly, was one of the last contract stars (Warner Bros) - I'm not sure Hunter was as big a star at the box office as this film implies but he was a name, and also a genuine recording star. He found the going harder in the 60s but held on to his career, evening turning producer - Lust in the Dust, etc -
The main "talking head" is Hunter himself. Others include Connie Stevens, Debbie Reynolds (who had no idea, naturally), Rex Reed (looking grotesque), John Waters (easily the best value - funny, succinct, smart). Clint Eastwood pops up randomly at the end, along with Robert Wagner - it's like they didn't have much to say but they couldn't be excluded.
Plenty of great vision, not just from the films but TV appearances (his fan base was much mocked in his time), singing clips, vision of him ice skating, photos. The most dramatically interesting stuff is Hunter's relationship with his mother and also his romance with the highly competitive Tony Perkins. This documentary has received some harsh reviews but I enjoyed it.
He was so clean cut, pearly white teeth beefcake of the 50s - marketed to girls, who would scream and sigh when he appeared - the irony of his sexuality offers irresistible entertainment. It's all very well to go in hindsight "oh of course he was gay" but he was no more camp than Troy or Jeff Hunter or John Saxon or any of the other brylcream boys.
Those who've read Hunter's memoirs won't find anything that new but this has pictures - Hunter didn't grow up with his dad, was close to his mum and brother (who died), was blessed with good looks which led to an acting career. He found fame very quickly, was one of the last contract stars (Warner Bros) - I'm not sure Hunter was as big a star at the box office as this film implies but he was a name, and also a genuine recording star. He found the going harder in the 60s but held on to his career, evening turning producer - Lust in the Dust, etc -
The main "talking head" is Hunter himself. Others include Connie Stevens, Debbie Reynolds (who had no idea, naturally), Rex Reed (looking grotesque), John Waters (easily the best value - funny, succinct, smart). Clint Eastwood pops up randomly at the end, along with Robert Wagner - it's like they didn't have much to say but they couldn't be excluded.
Plenty of great vision, not just from the films but TV appearances (his fan base was much mocked in his time), singing clips, vision of him ice skating, photos. The most dramatically interesting stuff is Hunter's relationship with his mother and also his romance with the highly competitive Tony Perkins. This documentary has received some harsh reviews but I enjoyed it.
Sunday, April 16, 2017
Movie review - "Harlequin" (1980) **1/2
Notorious in its day because it was made with funds from the Australian taxpayer and the film tried to pretend it wasn't set in Australia - there are references to the US political system rather than the Australian one, plenty of mid Atlantic accents and foreign actors, people drive on the other side of the road, accents are dubbed into Americans.
I personally feel the film could have hit all the story points it wanted, still had imported stars, and be set in Australia. I found the dubbed American accents really annoying - from the bit players mainly... Especially when you have cast like David Hemmings and Paula Duncan capable of mid-Pacific accents. But never mind...
Years on the film comes across as a very flawed piece. There's an imaginative central concept (a modern day updating of the Rasputin story), some interesting characters, beautiful photography, good actors. I would've loved to have read Everett de Roche's original script, with the lead as a priest, and set in Australia, with Harlequin having a strong sexual drive. (I'm surprised there wasn't more sex in the film... isn't that an exploitative element?)
Robert Powell is perfect in the title role. I enjoyed Paula Duncan. David Hemmings was more "iffy"... though it didn't help that his character was so sketchy. Broderick Crawford does his Broderick Crawford thing... again I just wish he's character didn't feel so "cut about".
Alyson Best pops up to provide some brief nudity, in a role that again feels cut about. TV icon Bevan Lee pops up in a support role. Alan Cassell's American accent (dubbed) is annoying.
Still, it's probably one of the best movies Tony Ginnane ever made.
I personally feel the film could have hit all the story points it wanted, still had imported stars, and be set in Australia. I found the dubbed American accents really annoying - from the bit players mainly... Especially when you have cast like David Hemmings and Paula Duncan capable of mid-Pacific accents. But never mind...
Years on the film comes across as a very flawed piece. There's an imaginative central concept (a modern day updating of the Rasputin story), some interesting characters, beautiful photography, good actors. I would've loved to have read Everett de Roche's original script, with the lead as a priest, and set in Australia, with Harlequin having a strong sexual drive. (I'm surprised there wasn't more sex in the film... isn't that an exploitative element?)
Robert Powell is perfect in the title role. I enjoyed Paula Duncan. David Hemmings was more "iffy"... though it didn't help that his character was so sketchy. Broderick Crawford does his Broderick Crawford thing... again I just wish he's character didn't feel so "cut about".
Alyson Best pops up to provide some brief nudity, in a role that again feels cut about. TV icon Bevan Lee pops up in a support role. Alan Cassell's American accent (dubbed) is annoying.
Still, it's probably one of the best movies Tony Ginnane ever made.
Script review - "Silverado" (1985) by Lawrence Kasdan
Kasdan's first box office disappointment after Body Heat and The Big Chill, although it was reasonably popular and very liked on video. There are so many, many great things about it, I wished I liked it more - the four heroes are fantastic (each could support their own movie), there are plenty of good situations and some decent support characters (Stella the saloon owner, the card sharp Slick).
But it's bitsy. It doesn't feel like there's an overall story - conflict comes and goes. Emmett (Scott Glenn) is getting revenge on the man who sent him to prison, Mal (Danny Glover, do wish his character had a better name) wants the man who killed his paw, Paden (Kevin Kline, character has a great name) clashes against a former fellow outlaw, English sheriff Langston appears and seems promising then disappears, it lacks a clear villain. It's like three separate movies existing uneasily alongside each other. (The stuff involving the brothers is cohesive).
So much great stuff though.
But it's bitsy. It doesn't feel like there's an overall story - conflict comes and goes. Emmett (Scott Glenn) is getting revenge on the man who sent him to prison, Mal (Danny Glover, do wish his character had a better name) wants the man who killed his paw, Paden (Kevin Kline, character has a great name) clashes against a former fellow outlaw, English sheriff Langston appears and seems promising then disappears, it lacks a clear villain. It's like three separate movies existing uneasily alongside each other. (The stuff involving the brothers is cohesive).
So much great stuff though.
Saturday, April 15, 2017
Movie review - "The Giant Claw" (1957) **
A notoriously crap 50s movie due to the poor quality of its special effects. It actually starts off okay for the first 25 minutes - a typical 50s sci fi work with its narration; tough Jeff Morrow (who I kept thinking was Darren McGavin) as a pilot who isn't believed by authorities that he saw a UFO; a rising sense of menace as the UFO causes trouble; Morris Ankrum as an officer.
But then when we see the Creature it's a giant Turkey and sinks the film. The actual structure of the piece is solid - its made with a decent amount of professionalism, I always enjoy seeing Mara Corday in things. It's just so silly.
But then when we see the Creature it's a giant Turkey and sinks the film. The actual structure of the piece is solid - its made with a decent amount of professionalism, I always enjoy seeing Mara Corday in things. It's just so silly.
Movie review - "Hacksaw Ridge" (2016) ***1/2
Mel Gibson very much in his comfort zone - blood, guts and God. It's an amazing true story of Desmond Doss, a conscientious objector who still wanted to serve on the front line and wound up winning the Medal of Honor.
Andrew Garfield is ideal casting as Doss - reminds me of a young Anthony Perkins, a cracker, full of idealism with a touch of fanaticism, but likeable. The film makes the smart decision of letting us spend time with Doss and his fellow soldiers - the action is delayed until the last half.
Teresa Palmer has perfect 1940s looks. Rachel Griffiths and Hugo Weaver are surprisingly poor as Doss' parents and I have to admit I never got used to Vince Vaughan as the sergeant - nothing wrong with his performance it was just weird. Fine work from Sam Worthington and Luke Bracey (playing a bit of a bastard - he's more comfortably cast in such roles), and the familiar faces who pop up as soldiers such as Ryan Corr.
Occasionally the script fell into World War Two movie cliches - such as a GI introducing Doss to characters ("this guy, he's Smitty, he XYZ") and every now and then it felt weird - would the ridge be SO isolated down bottom? But the power of the story and the good moments carry you through and I was very moved.
Andrew Garfield is ideal casting as Doss - reminds me of a young Anthony Perkins, a cracker, full of idealism with a touch of fanaticism, but likeable. The film makes the smart decision of letting us spend time with Doss and his fellow soldiers - the action is delayed until the last half.
Teresa Palmer has perfect 1940s looks. Rachel Griffiths and Hugo Weaver are surprisingly poor as Doss' parents and I have to admit I never got used to Vince Vaughan as the sergeant - nothing wrong with his performance it was just weird. Fine work from Sam Worthington and Luke Bracey (playing a bit of a bastard - he's more comfortably cast in such roles), and the familiar faces who pop up as soldiers such as Ryan Corr.
Occasionally the script fell into World War Two movie cliches - such as a GI introducing Doss to characters ("this guy, he's Smitty, he XYZ") and every now and then it felt weird - would the ridge be SO isolated down bottom? But the power of the story and the good moments carry you through and I was very moved.
Script review - "Patton" (1969) by Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund North
I'd love to know who contributed what out of Coppola and North - much of this is fresh and invigorating, such as Patton addressing the troops in the opening monologue with the US flag in the background. Some of it is more conventional and clunky - such as the German soldier giving backstory about Patton and talking to him even though they're not in the same room, "you won't survive the war".
Patton is a fascinating character though and the film does him justice - his conceit, love of war, intelligence, skill, ineptness at diplomacy. It's a reasonably sympathetic account and the role of a lifetime to whoever got to play it.
Bradley is the biggest support role. It should be Montgomery, who is referred to a lot. There should be more Eisenhower too - he doesn't appear at all. Presumably this was due to legal problems.
So it's a flawed piece dramatically but with an amazing central character.
Patton is a fascinating character though and the film does him justice - his conceit, love of war, intelligence, skill, ineptness at diplomacy. It's a reasonably sympathetic account and the role of a lifetime to whoever got to play it.
Bradley is the biggest support role. It should be Montgomery, who is referred to a lot. There should be more Eisenhower too - he doesn't appear at all. Presumably this was due to legal problems.
So it's a flawed piece dramatically but with an amazing central character.
Thursday, April 13, 2017
Script review - "Lion" by Luke Davies
I'll put my hand up and admit I didn't think the idea of the film was that amazing - absolutely, a decent story... but was there enough for a feature? You've got the getting lost sequence, the Google Earth sequence, then.... what?
But I was wrong. The opening sequence is a punch to the solar plexus - every small kid/mum/family's worst nightmare, getting lost on a train. The adventures being lost are pretty good too (how much of this was made up?). Things slow down when the story moves to Tasmania - inevitably in part because the stakes are lower but also because the characters, based on real people, are not that interesting. The girlfriend remains pretty much "the girlfriend" (although there is charming dialogue), and dad is "dad" - mum does get one really great scene, which is presumably how Nicole Kidman agreed to sign on. The last "act" for lack of a better word - tracking down via Google Earth - doesn't take very long. But things are fleshed out by mum and unexpectedly the story of the main guy's adopted brother. This is what really elevated this work for me. A very moving, well written piece.
But I was wrong. The opening sequence is a punch to the solar plexus - every small kid/mum/family's worst nightmare, getting lost on a train. The adventures being lost are pretty good too (how much of this was made up?). Things slow down when the story moves to Tasmania - inevitably in part because the stakes are lower but also because the characters, based on real people, are not that interesting. The girlfriend remains pretty much "the girlfriend" (although there is charming dialogue), and dad is "dad" - mum does get one really great scene, which is presumably how Nicole Kidman agreed to sign on. The last "act" for lack of a better word - tracking down via Google Earth - doesn't take very long. But things are fleshed out by mum and unexpectedly the story of the main guy's adopted brother. This is what really elevated this work for me. A very moving, well written piece.
Script review - "The Lost Weekend" by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett
How to make an entertaining film about an alcoholic - it's a challenge that's been taken up a few times, rarely actually met. This Wilder-Brackett script succeeds, though - it's tough and unflinching but also imaginative - the opening shot of a bottle hanging outside an apartment, the clever bits of business that stop hero Don from having a drink (his coat with a bottle gets mixed up with others in a cloakroom, Yom Kippur means pawnshops are shut).
The main support parts are a bit bland - Wick, the long suffering brother (what's his deal?) and Helen, the good, dutiful long-suffering girlfriend with a line in patter (they used the exact same character pretty much in Sunset Boulevard). Others have more intrigue - Nat, the disapproving bartender who nonetheless is always pouring Don a drink; Gloria the fellow boozer with a crush on Don; the nurse at the psych ward.
The dialogue is a bit flowery but that suits the characters - aspiring novelist Don, researcher Helen, New Yorkers. Extremely good script. Like most Brackett-Wilders, it's divided into sequences.
The main support parts are a bit bland - Wick, the long suffering brother (what's his deal?) and Helen, the good, dutiful long-suffering girlfriend with a line in patter (they used the exact same character pretty much in Sunset Boulevard). Others have more intrigue - Nat, the disapproving bartender who nonetheless is always pouring Don a drink; Gloria the fellow boozer with a crush on Don; the nurse at the psych ward.
The dialogue is a bit flowery but that suits the characters - aspiring novelist Don, researcher Helen, New Yorkers. Extremely good script. Like most Brackett-Wilders, it's divided into sequences.
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
TV review - "Tomorrow When the War Began" (2016) *
I was excited hearing about this because TV seems such a natural forum within which to adapt the novels - you can get right into the characters and the situations and extract all the juice. But this was terribly disappointing.
Episode one gets things off to a poor start. There's countless tracking shots (cranes, steadicams) and montages and no scenes of the characters actually interacting, no dramatisation. Was this how it was originally scripted or was it re-cut? The acting is poor from the young kids. Those playing the invaders put on accents like in they're some Monogram war film of the 1940s. I've read the books and I found it hard to tell who was who.
It improves as it goes along, but not by much.
Episode one gets things off to a poor start. There's countless tracking shots (cranes, steadicams) and montages and no scenes of the characters actually interacting, no dramatisation. Was this how it was originally scripted or was it re-cut? The acting is poor from the young kids. Those playing the invaders put on accents like in they're some Monogram war film of the 1940s. I've read the books and I found it hard to tell who was who.
It improves as it goes along, but not by much.
Monday, April 10, 2017
Movie review - "Arrival" (2016) **** (warning: spoilers)
A wonderful, moving, thoughtful piece of science fiction, marvellously handled and anchored with a strong Amy Adams lead performance. I knew hardly anything about the movie going in which turned out to be a great think - I kept expecting Chris Pratt to turn up in it, I got it mixed up with that film he was in with Jennifer Lawrence.
Sometimes films with aliens who turn out to be benign lack a kick at the end... because they're Not that Bad. But in this case there's an emotional kick because of Adams' daughter. I had a sob at the end. I did see it on a plane...
Sometimes films with aliens who turn out to be benign lack a kick at the end... because they're Not that Bad. But in this case there's an emotional kick because of Adams' daughter. I had a sob at the end. I did see it on a plane...
Movie review - "Edge of Seventeen" (2016) ***1/2
Entertaining coming of age tale which suffers compared to previous entries in this genre produced by James L Brooks - notably Say Anything and Bottle Rocket - in that by now much of this territory is covered by TV. However there is some strong writing and playing and the hero is different - different to me, anyway - an awkward, smart, snappy thing, well played by Hailee Steinfeld, Haley Lu Richardson (a new talent who gives the impression she's been around forever), Blake Jenner, Woody Harrelson, Hayden Szeto, etc.
Saturday, April 01, 2017
Book review - "Mel Blanc: The Man of a Thousand Voices" by Ben Ohmart
Blanc is perhaps the most famous voice over artist of all time, providing the chords (is that the expression) to such classic Warner Bros characters as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Foghorn Leghorn, etc. He deserved a biography. The thing is, for all the quality of the writing and research, it's not a terribly interesting life.
Blanc came from humble beginnings, worked hard, wanted to be an actor, went into vaudeville then radio, found his way to Warner Bros. Warners did not pay him particularly well but they gave him a credit, not super common at the time, and Blanc parlayed that into industry and film buff fame. He was also a regular on other radio shows, notably The Jack Benny Show - he and Benny would be great mates.
There were lots in this I didn't know - the Benny connection, the sheer volume of work Blanc turned out, the fact he was given his own show (it didn't take), his success as a recording artist, his move into the sphere of advertisements (at which Blanc became very successful - he specialised in comedy), his wealth. He was in a nasty car accident in 1961 but he recovered. Cigarettes killed him, but very late in life.
It was a life extremely well lived. To be honest, a little dull. Also reading a book on Blanc is frustrating because you keep wanting to hear the voice - a radio or film documentary would suit it better.
Blanc came from humble beginnings, worked hard, wanted to be an actor, went into vaudeville then radio, found his way to Warner Bros. Warners did not pay him particularly well but they gave him a credit, not super common at the time, and Blanc parlayed that into industry and film buff fame. He was also a regular on other radio shows, notably The Jack Benny Show - he and Benny would be great mates.
There were lots in this I didn't know - the Benny connection, the sheer volume of work Blanc turned out, the fact he was given his own show (it didn't take), his success as a recording artist, his move into the sphere of advertisements (at which Blanc became very successful - he specialised in comedy), his wealth. He was in a nasty car accident in 1961 but he recovered. Cigarettes killed him, but very late in life.
It was a life extremely well lived. To be honest, a little dull. Also reading a book on Blanc is frustrating because you keep wanting to hear the voice - a radio or film documentary would suit it better.
TV review - "Stranger Things" (2017) ****
Very enjoyable pastiche of 80s cinema - the work of people like Steven King, John Carpenter, Steven Spielberg. I also think of the movie DARYL. Several heroes - the boys who go looking for their friend, the washed up sheriff, the mysterious girl, mum of the boy, a teenage girl and the brother of the missing boy. Some excellent baddies - Matthew Modine with a shock of white hair and his underlings.
Genuine spooky moments and a lot of intelligence. Great to see Winona Ryder back in a hit.
Genuine spooky moments and a lot of intelligence. Great to see Winona Ryder back in a hit.
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