Tuesday, May 01, 2018

Michael Anderson

Michael Anderson isn't a name particularly well known even among film buffs (hint: he's a director) but it wasn't too hard to compile a top ten... And 98 is a very good age
1) Around the World in 80 Days (1956) - traffic cop more than director and more Mike Todd's film than his but this is a fun movie
2) The Dam Busters (1955) - the name of the dog is jarring but a very sensible very British very good war film
3) Chase a Crooked Shadow (1958) - enjoyable thriller with Richard Todd
4) Operation Crossbow (1965) - one of my favourite guys-on-a-mission-to-blow-something-up film, full of great moments (the fate of Sophia Loren and Tom Courtney, the climax)
5) Logan's Run (1976) - very flawed, very groovy, and very fun
6) The Yangtse Incident (1957) - an attempt to recapture the success of the Dam Busters, only set in post war China with Richard Todd battling the commies - engrossing and interesting
7) Orca (1977) - Richard Harris goes all Captain Ahab on a killer whale... to be fair I haven't seen this for years and it might be terrible but still... come on... Harris vs a killer whale!
8) The Martian Chronicles (1980) - spooky sci fi on Mars from the Bradbury book... I remember this being good as a kid... have no idea if it holds up
9) All the Fine Young Cannibals (1961) - the film that inspired the name of the band, it has Robert Wagner, Natalie Wood and George Hamilton pretending to be horrny southerners and whimps out on its miscegenation storyline. A mess but an interesting mess.
10) The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968) - utterly bizarre film based on Morris West's best seller set in the near future about a humble man who becomes pope... there's groovy 60s dancing, a dull subplot involving David Janssen's marriage, troublesome Chinese, a sense of punches being pulled and a superb cast... even if the book sold well it's completely weird this was given the blockbuster treatment by MGM

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The '58 movie is actually "Chase a Crooked Shadow," not "Giant Shadow." The screenplay seems to be based on "Stranger in the House," a radio script that aired a couple of times on an American series called "The Whistler":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sogQ_WdfRks

Bob Aldrich said...

thanks for the pick up!! :)