Something of an "it movie" when it came out - great reviews, solid box office, clearly a high point in the career of director John Ruane who seems to have vanished. It's a black comedy, veers greatly in tone. I remember seeing it at the cinema, enjoying not knowing where it was going, loving John Clarke, being captivated by Zoe Carides (the Oz film industry equivalent of a manic pixie dream girl but wonderful all the same), not really finding it that awesome. That hasn't changed.
I recognise its quality and can see why people love it, it's just not for me. Good on Neil for coming back - he plays a guy who should have it together (he has looks and charm) but so many weaknesses (alcohol, passivity).
Sunday, May 31, 2020
Saturday, May 30, 2020
Movie review - "Eliza Fraser" (1976) ** (re-watching)
Endearing in its way that it just wants to entertain. It's not very good but its heart is in the right place. It didn't need to cost as much money as it did - traipsing around the dunes and what not really could've been done anywhere.
The English cast definitely weren't worth it - I mean, yes, Trevor Howard is a great actor but he looks unwell and they could've gotten Frank Thring. John Castle is fine, but was he a name. And Susannah York is poor. Eliza needed to be a lively vixen - I don't think Wendy Hughes, the original choice, would have been perfect, though she would've been better than York; I think someone with lower class sparkle, like Jackie Weaver, would've been better. Or - don't laugh - Abigail. The way the story is constructed Eliza doesn't have to do much acting.
Part of the problem is also Williamson's screenplay which I think in its heart is more a theatre piece. It keeps changing focus on who the lead it - John Castle gets this intro, then he vanishes while the Fraser's go on the boat, then John Waters is given all this time and he vanishes, and Eliza/York doesn't do much except commune with the aboriginals. Then there's this duelling stuff between Castle and George Mallaby, and then the fight comes between Castle and Noel Ferrier, and Eliza is so passive. I wasn't sure how different Castle and Waters were meant to be - I mean Castle was a rogue, but wasn't Waters a convict, and there was Noel Ferrier...
Ugh.
They should have combined Castle and Waters' characters. Or made them more different. Given Fraser/York somewhere to go -started her as prim and moved her to raucous or something.
But it looks good and it's fun to see people like Bruce Spence and Dennis Miller turn up.
The English cast definitely weren't worth it - I mean, yes, Trevor Howard is a great actor but he looks unwell and they could've gotten Frank Thring. John Castle is fine, but was he a name. And Susannah York is poor. Eliza needed to be a lively vixen - I don't think Wendy Hughes, the original choice, would have been perfect, though she would've been better than York; I think someone with lower class sparkle, like Jackie Weaver, would've been better. Or - don't laugh - Abigail. The way the story is constructed Eliza doesn't have to do much acting.
Part of the problem is also Williamson's screenplay which I think in its heart is more a theatre piece. It keeps changing focus on who the lead it - John Castle gets this intro, then he vanishes while the Fraser's go on the boat, then John Waters is given all this time and he vanishes, and Eliza/York doesn't do much except commune with the aboriginals. Then there's this duelling stuff between Castle and George Mallaby, and then the fight comes between Castle and Noel Ferrier, and Eliza is so passive. I wasn't sure how different Castle and Waters were meant to be - I mean Castle was a rogue, but wasn't Waters a convict, and there was Noel Ferrier...
Ugh.
They should have combined Castle and Waters' characters. Or made them more different. Given Fraser/York somewhere to go -started her as prim and moved her to raucous or something.
But it looks good and it's fun to see people like Bruce Spence and Dennis Miller turn up.
Movie review - "Fever" (1989) ***
Tight little thriller from Craig Lahiff, who would go on to specialise in that genre. The dusty small town South Australian town atmosphere helps, as does the star power of Bill Hunter and Gary Sweet. Mary Regan is solid in her role, and Jim Holt shines as a dodgy cop.
There's plenty of twists and turns. It's not always top rank - it would have been better creating more of a relationship between Sweet and Bill Hunter for instance. I think they knocked out Bill Hunter too soon - it would've been a better movie had Regan and Sweet known about the money earlier because then they never would've been sure if they were into each other or the money.
Still at least it's into narrative. Lahiff tries to keep the pace moving. Sweet was very handsome back in the day and Hunter always adds gravitas.
There's plenty of twists and turns. It's not always top rank - it would have been better creating more of a relationship between Sweet and Bill Hunter for instance. I think they knocked out Bill Hunter too soon - it would've been a better movie had Regan and Sweet known about the money earlier because then they never would've been sure if they were into each other or the money.
Still at least it's into narrative. Lahiff tries to keep the pace moving. Sweet was very handsome back in the day and Hunter always adds gravitas.
Thursday, May 28, 2020
Movie review - "The Killing of Angel Street" (1981) **
The making of this film was extremely difficult, with anxious politicians and businessmen making vague threats, difficulties almost getting Julie Christie to play the lead (they couldn't come up with the cash in the end), sacking Bill Hunter for John Hargreaves.
Maybe this led to all the excitement being drained out of it. Or maybe the filmmakers weren't up to it.
Some effective moments - like the solitary house along the streets. It's a throwback to the time of green bans, militant unions, unionists who were communists, developers were more violently criminal, pubs reeked of smoke, the Sydney inner city hadn't gentrified.
Elizabeth Alexander does well in the lead and there's some fine acting from Hargreaves, Alexander Archdale, Reg Evans and so on... plus the novelty of seeing Tony Martin in an early role.
But it's flat. For a film based on a true story there's an awful lot of cliches -villains popping up out of the back seat of cars, heroes going to the media to Tell All, people singing protest chants in the pub (on the march I can understand but in a pub?), evil businessmen literally chuckling evilly in a boardroom and playing golf, groovy tenants, the heroine dangled off a building ledge.
There's not a lot of nuance - the communist unionist is heroic and martyred - a bit ruthless and indifferent to Alexander's suffering but even then he's doing it In a Good Cause. The brother and his wife look as though they're going to add complexity but, no, the wife is all for the struggle and the brother just misses out on a job opportunity.
The drama is underwhelming - at the end we don't see Alexander go for it. She keeps changing her mind about what she's going to do... then talks... but we don't see what she's going to say. It's implied she's going to tell the truth but we just hear the intro, she could be then about to lie... The green ban kicks in, but there's no fall out. It's ambiguous and while the filmmakers might argue this was intentional I get the feeling it was more incompetence because at the end you feel... what? Corruption goes on? But a unionist has been killed. I mean, that's going to cause some noise isn't it? If she made these allegations... surely there'd be some fall out. If not... then there would be fall out too.
It's frustrating. I think they got so exhausted by the production process they didn't bring their A game.
Maybe this led to all the excitement being drained out of it. Or maybe the filmmakers weren't up to it.
Some effective moments - like the solitary house along the streets. It's a throwback to the time of green bans, militant unions, unionists who were communists, developers were more violently criminal, pubs reeked of smoke, the Sydney inner city hadn't gentrified.
Elizabeth Alexander does well in the lead and there's some fine acting from Hargreaves, Alexander Archdale, Reg Evans and so on... plus the novelty of seeing Tony Martin in an early role.
But it's flat. For a film based on a true story there's an awful lot of cliches -villains popping up out of the back seat of cars, heroes going to the media to Tell All, people singing protest chants in the pub (on the march I can understand but in a pub?), evil businessmen literally chuckling evilly in a boardroom and playing golf, groovy tenants, the heroine dangled off a building ledge.
There's not a lot of nuance - the communist unionist is heroic and martyred - a bit ruthless and indifferent to Alexander's suffering but even then he's doing it In a Good Cause. The brother and his wife look as though they're going to add complexity but, no, the wife is all for the struggle and the brother just misses out on a job opportunity.
The drama is underwhelming - at the end we don't see Alexander go for it. She keeps changing her mind about what she's going to do... then talks... but we don't see what she's going to say. It's implied she's going to tell the truth but we just hear the intro, she could be then about to lie... The green ban kicks in, but there's no fall out. It's ambiguous and while the filmmakers might argue this was intentional I get the feeling it was more incompetence because at the end you feel... what? Corruption goes on? But a unionist has been killed. I mean, that's going to cause some noise isn't it? If she made these allegations... surely there'd be some fall out. If not... then there would be fall out too.
It's frustrating. I think they got so exhausted by the production process they didn't bring their A game.
Movie review - "Kitty and the Bagman" (1981) **
A confused movie. For a time it seems that Tony Buckley and Don Crombie are trying to remake Caddie with Liddy Clark as a classy gal who is betrayed by a low life bloke (here David Bradshaw) starts to slum it in bars, hanging with a low rent barmaid (here Collette Mann), and falls or for a spiv (some guy in a moustache). She winds up in a rivalry with Val Lehman and this just should have been Tilly Devine vs Kate Leigh. That would've been fun - no need to change names when the characters are dead.
But the film goes on detours - there's too much Bagman, not enough Val Lehman. They take time out for this train robbery.
It looks great. The actors are fine - Libby Clark never became a star but she's got spirit and life. It's not her fault the movie doesn't work. It's the fault of the filmmakers who veer away from the exciting conflict.
This is classic 10BA in many ways. Filmmakers with solid track records. Plenty of cast. Decent premise - it must have sounded terrific in the brochure. Muddled execution. They should have called in Joan Long to write the script - or some other competent woman. It's a film about a woman it needed more women in the key creative team.
This isn't one of those movies where you go "this should never have been made". This had an excellent reason to be made. It was just poorly made.
But the film goes on detours - there's too much Bagman, not enough Val Lehman. They take time out for this train robbery.
It looks great. The actors are fine - Libby Clark never became a star but she's got spirit and life. It's not her fault the movie doesn't work. It's the fault of the filmmakers who veer away from the exciting conflict.
This is classic 10BA in many ways. Filmmakers with solid track records. Plenty of cast. Decent premise - it must have sounded terrific in the brochure. Muddled execution. They should have called in Joan Long to write the script - or some other competent woman. It's a film about a woman it needed more women in the key creative team.
This isn't one of those movies where you go "this should never have been made". This had an excellent reason to be made. It was just poorly made.
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
Book review - "A Life in Movies: Stories from 50 years in Hollywood" by Irwin Winkler (2019)
Highly entertaining career look by Winkler, who has an astonishing record as producer and a decent one as director. He started his career in the mail room, became a manager with Bob Chartoff, and segued his way into producing after impressing Bob O'Brien at MGM which was cool.
He did all sorts of films - including Double Trouble an Elvis movie which was meant to be a vehicle for Julie Christie - but got lucky with Point Blank and They Shoot Horses Don't They. Lots of misfires, but plenty of good movies too then striking the mother lode with Rocky. Winkler has continued to try to make good films, even after breaking with Chartoff, even after working as a director. His record as director isn't as strong - I was surprised he'd made so many movies. He must be good company.
Plenty of fun stories - the ego of Peter Bogdanovich, the chaos of Horses, the drama of Rocky. Recommended.
He did all sorts of films - including Double Trouble an Elvis movie which was meant to be a vehicle for Julie Christie - but got lucky with Point Blank and They Shoot Horses Don't They. Lots of misfires, but plenty of good movies too then striking the mother lode with Rocky. Winkler has continued to try to make good films, even after breaking with Chartoff, even after working as a director. His record as director isn't as strong - I was surprised he'd made so many movies. He must be good company.
Plenty of fun stories - the ego of Peter Bogdanovich, the chaos of Horses, the drama of Rocky. Recommended.
Movie review - "Don's Party" (1976) ***1/2
I saw this as a teenager and it was too young to see it. Being older I get it more though it is very much a piece of its time and place.
It's been beautifully cast in the most part. John Hargreaves is perfect as Don. Ray Barrett is older than him as Mal which is a little jarring but he's superb. So too are Graham Kennedy (what a dramatic debut!), Pat Bishop (making wonders with her role, in what is the best female part because she's got that terrific scene with Don/Hargreaves), Candy Raymond (a knock out but also very good), Veronica Lang, Graeme Blundell, Kit Taylor (again doing great work with a not particularly deeply written part). Claire Binney seems a little out of depth in what is not a great role; Jeannie Drynan has probably the worst part, sulky Kath - she does what she can, but her final outbreak isn't that terrific. Harold Hopkins isn't quite right as Cooley - probably better than Paul Hogan would have been (though props to the boldness of that casting). Jack Thompson really should have played that part.
Some of this is tremendous. The camaraderie, the silliness. Beresford keeps it moving fast, locates the action around the house but sparks it up with sex, nudity, pace, different rooms, a swimming pool, some scenes outside to start off with, a cameo from John Gorton and Beresford himself.
Some scenes are awful such as the women sitting talking about how the men are in bed. The bit where they throw Binney in the pool feels awkwardly non-consensual. There's a bit too much male nudity though that is true of the time.
Candy Raymond is amazing - she should have done more. Had at least a Wendy Hughes level career. Too sexy, maybe? The name? Kennedy is so touching. The gropy/sexist nature of the male characters is softened by casting actors who didn't give off a very sexual vibe (Kennedy, Hargreaves, Blundell, Barrett).
It's been beautifully cast in the most part. John Hargreaves is perfect as Don. Ray Barrett is older than him as Mal which is a little jarring but he's superb. So too are Graham Kennedy (what a dramatic debut!), Pat Bishop (making wonders with her role, in what is the best female part because she's got that terrific scene with Don/Hargreaves), Candy Raymond (a knock out but also very good), Veronica Lang, Graeme Blundell, Kit Taylor (again doing great work with a not particularly deeply written part). Claire Binney seems a little out of depth in what is not a great role; Jeannie Drynan has probably the worst part, sulky Kath - she does what she can, but her final outbreak isn't that terrific. Harold Hopkins isn't quite right as Cooley - probably better than Paul Hogan would have been (though props to the boldness of that casting). Jack Thompson really should have played that part.
Some of this is tremendous. The camaraderie, the silliness. Beresford keeps it moving fast, locates the action around the house but sparks it up with sex, nudity, pace, different rooms, a swimming pool, some scenes outside to start off with, a cameo from John Gorton and Beresford himself.
Some scenes are awful such as the women sitting talking about how the men are in bed. The bit where they throw Binney in the pool feels awkwardly non-consensual. There's a bit too much male nudity though that is true of the time.
Candy Raymond is amazing - she should have done more. Had at least a Wendy Hughes level career. Too sexy, maybe? The name? Kennedy is so touching. The gropy/sexist nature of the male characters is softened by casting actors who didn't give off a very sexual vibe (Kennedy, Hargreaves, Blundell, Barrett).
Movie review - "Sunday Too Far Away" (1975) ****
Ken Hannam whined about his two and a half hour cut being reduced to 90 minutes but it was the right idea... the film is a series of incidents rather than a powerful narrative, and this way the aimlessness isn't crushing. And how dare him to say his editor should have fought harder. I hate that sort of attitude from directors - expecting people to be suicide bombers on their behalf.
He's directed well it's got to be said but the real star is John Dingwall's script which superbly captures shearing in 1955. Props also to the costumes and the acting - Jack Thompson is stunningly good but everyone is excellent - Reg Lye, John Ewart, Robert Bruning, Sean Scully, Max Cullen, the guy who plays the cook, the undertaker.
Classic bits - Cullen conning the shearers, the final brawl, Thompson breaking down on the death of Lye, putting Lye in the car, the union meeting getting rid of the cocky, the cocky reading a letter from his wife who has presumably taken off, getting rid of the cook, abusing Scully for writing to his wife.
Occasionally you can see the seems like the abrupt cut when Thompson is crying to Lisa Peers - that relationship feels as though it needs another beat or two as does the one with the little kid, But it's a very good film. Thompson was never better.
He's directed well it's got to be said but the real star is John Dingwall's script which superbly captures shearing in 1955. Props also to the costumes and the acting - Jack Thompson is stunningly good but everyone is excellent - Reg Lye, John Ewart, Robert Bruning, Sean Scully, Max Cullen, the guy who plays the cook, the undertaker.
Classic bits - Cullen conning the shearers, the final brawl, Thompson breaking down on the death of Lye, putting Lye in the car, the union meeting getting rid of the cocky, the cocky reading a letter from his wife who has presumably taken off, getting rid of the cook, abusing Scully for writing to his wife.
Occasionally you can see the seems like the abrupt cut when Thompson is crying to Lisa Peers - that relationship feels as though it needs another beat or two as does the one with the little kid, But it's a very good film. Thompson was never better.
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
Movie review - "Caddie" (1976) **** (re-watching)
A truly superb woman's picture and I say that with nothing but admiration and respect. Those things are damn hard to do. This is as artfully crafted as any Norman Shearer vehicle - the plucky heroine, whose life is thrown into turmoil when her husband leaves her for her friend, and has to make do as a barmaid.
The film makes Caddie seem more middle class than she was (she had a rough background) in part because Helen Morse plays her - but that's better drama. Morse is excellent - I wonder how Wendy Hughes would have done, she was classy too, but there's something more regal about Morse.
It has tremendous obstacles - lecherous customers and pervy boss, the legal system stacked against them. I was surprised the film didn't use the characters of the husband and his mother more, even if just one appearance.
Beautiful sets and locations. Gorgeous. A lost Sydney. This must have packed a wallop for people who grew up in the time.
Superb evocation of the depression - the dole, the rabbitohs, the segregated bars, the class differences, the backyard abortions. I missed Jackie Weaver and Jack Thompson in the second half but the acting was consistently excellent across the line.
The film makes Caddie seem more middle class than she was (she had a rough background) in part because Helen Morse plays her - but that's better drama. Morse is excellent - I wonder how Wendy Hughes would have done, she was classy too, but there's something more regal about Morse.
It has tremendous obstacles - lecherous customers and pervy boss, the legal system stacked against them. I was surprised the film didn't use the characters of the husband and his mother more, even if just one appearance.
Beautiful sets and locations. Gorgeous. A lost Sydney. This must have packed a wallop for people who grew up in the time.
Superb evocation of the depression - the dole, the rabbitohs, the segregated bars, the class differences, the backyard abortions. I missed Jackie Weaver and Jack Thompson in the second half but the acting was consistently excellent across the line.
Movie review - "The Money Movers" (1979) ****1/2 (re-watching)
Oh maybe the rating is too high but this movie gets better every time I see it. What it represented now seems so quaint - the concept of money you count, and powerful militant unions, and craggy actors dominating a film, very un-PC comments from the characters.
The film is meant to be homophobic but actually offers two very three dimensional gay characters - Charles TIngwell's mother-loving brilliant crime boss, and Frank Gallacher's security honcho who has a crush on Terence Donovan (it's great that Beresford gives the act of shooting to him).
Donovan has the time of his life in the role of his life - he's a complete bad ass (I always felt Rod Taylor should have played this part for Rod's career and the film's financial fate, but Donovan's work can't be faulted). So too Ed Devereaux - it's so exciting at the end to see the dad from Skippy kick so much arse, he's so wonderful in the part, and I'm glad Beresford didn't kill him (which happened in the book).
Tony Bonner was a weak point for me at first but watching it again his weakness works and it is in the script - he doesn't like guns, he's a lover not a fighter (Beresford doesn't even give him one baddy to shoot while Devereaux takes out like four or something).
Every character gets a chance to shine - Donovan, who loathes his wife Jeanie Drynan and misses his racing days; Tingwell and his efficient secretary and mother; Tingwell's henchman who gleefully takes off a toe of Donovan (a scene that retains the power to shock); Candy Raymond, the investigator who talks like a bogan (Lucky Grills pervs on her in a matter of fact way; she does have to do a topless scene but her romance with Bonner is quite sweet); Bonner not liking guns which saves his life; Bryan Brown and his 18 year old lover; Gallacher in love with Donovan; Lucky Grills complaining about being overlooked; coughing unionist Ray Marshall, with his Asian bride/lover; Frank Wilson as the exasperated but decent boss.
This is an action masterpiece. Maybe I wouldn't like it as much in the cinema but it just flies by.
The film is meant to be homophobic but actually offers two very three dimensional gay characters - Charles TIngwell's mother-loving brilliant crime boss, and Frank Gallacher's security honcho who has a crush on Terence Donovan (it's great that Beresford gives the act of shooting to him).
Donovan has the time of his life in the role of his life - he's a complete bad ass (I always felt Rod Taylor should have played this part for Rod's career and the film's financial fate, but Donovan's work can't be faulted). So too Ed Devereaux - it's so exciting at the end to see the dad from Skippy kick so much arse, he's so wonderful in the part, and I'm glad Beresford didn't kill him (which happened in the book).
Tony Bonner was a weak point for me at first but watching it again his weakness works and it is in the script - he doesn't like guns, he's a lover not a fighter (Beresford doesn't even give him one baddy to shoot while Devereaux takes out like four or something).
Every character gets a chance to shine - Donovan, who loathes his wife Jeanie Drynan and misses his racing days; Tingwell and his efficient secretary and mother; Tingwell's henchman who gleefully takes off a toe of Donovan (a scene that retains the power to shock); Candy Raymond, the investigator who talks like a bogan (Lucky Grills pervs on her in a matter of fact way; she does have to do a topless scene but her romance with Bonner is quite sweet); Bonner not liking guns which saves his life; Bryan Brown and his 18 year old lover; Gallacher in love with Donovan; Lucky Grills complaining about being overlooked; coughing unionist Ray Marshall, with his Asian bride/lover; Frank Wilson as the exasperated but decent boss.
This is an action masterpiece. Maybe I wouldn't like it as much in the cinema but it just flies by.
Monday, May 25, 2020
Movie review - "Dawn!" (1979) **
Joy Cavill is a pioneer of women in the Australian film industry and she may as well have directed this, but it isn't very good.
I get the film was restricted in what it could show about Fraser's life, but really this sort of movie needs to emphasise relationships to work and it doesn't have it. Fraser's dad Ron Haddrick scowls while Dawn runs up and down stairs. She occasionally fights with her mother but the mother's death in a car crash is dealt with very quickly - far too quickly. Tom Richards as the coach doesn't do much. The one successful "arc" is her relationship with John Dietrich as her first husband because it has a beginning, middle and end - I wish they'd applied that to Dawn's relationship with her mother and coach and to the woman she has a fling with.
It's a failure of dramatisation. There's a good film in here struggling to get out. You get glimpses of it - Dawn struggling to fight authority, her hard drinking ways, but it's not enough. The film tries to pack in a lot - it covers from 1955 to 1970. The Tokyo Olympics are over by the one hour five minute mark. There's forty more minutes to go. Her marriage breaks up, she has a fling with a guy which results in abortion, has a (discretely told) lesbian fling. It just kind of ends... I mean she picks up her daughter from school and is determined to be a good mum, which is nice, and could have worked if they'd built to that, but then the credits play over a long scene of her talking to mates and... it's weird.
Browyn Mackay-Payne tries. She looks terrific - tall, gangly. She has a slouchy, insolent attitude that is occasionally effective. She's great in the pool. She seems to enjoy flirting with Ivar Kants. But the role is too much to ask her - she's got to age 15 years, to lose a mother, grow as a woman and person, buck authority, become a mother, fall in love, have a marriage break up. That is a hell of a lot for anyone - Judy Davis would've struggled. I can't think what actor around at the time could've pulled it off but surely there was one.
Despite the lesbian character being based on Cavil, that character is depicted as being a bit predatory... suggesting Fraser use the couch and having a perv at Fraser's naked back when she sleeps topless. The age difference doesn't help. It may be true to life but I got a predatory vibe.
Could this have worked? I would've focused it just on 1964 - death of mum, third gold, flag stealing - but get that they didn't want to go there. If they wanted 1955-70 I would have made it about Dawn realising she has to rely on herself... others can't save her... her mum, the men, or women... I would've made the officials more villainous and shown more sexism and stuffy natures. Had some fictional tin pot official who is her nemesis, and some vile sexist pig who is her swimming nemesis.
This isn't terrible. It is a misfire but it is fascinating.
I get the film was restricted in what it could show about Fraser's life, but really this sort of movie needs to emphasise relationships to work and it doesn't have it. Fraser's dad Ron Haddrick scowls while Dawn runs up and down stairs. She occasionally fights with her mother but the mother's death in a car crash is dealt with very quickly - far too quickly. Tom Richards as the coach doesn't do much. The one successful "arc" is her relationship with John Dietrich as her first husband because it has a beginning, middle and end - I wish they'd applied that to Dawn's relationship with her mother and coach and to the woman she has a fling with.
It's a failure of dramatisation. There's a good film in here struggling to get out. You get glimpses of it - Dawn struggling to fight authority, her hard drinking ways, but it's not enough. The film tries to pack in a lot - it covers from 1955 to 1970. The Tokyo Olympics are over by the one hour five minute mark. There's forty more minutes to go. Her marriage breaks up, she has a fling with a guy which results in abortion, has a (discretely told) lesbian fling. It just kind of ends... I mean she picks up her daughter from school and is determined to be a good mum, which is nice, and could have worked if they'd built to that, but then the credits play over a long scene of her talking to mates and... it's weird.
Browyn Mackay-Payne tries. She looks terrific - tall, gangly. She has a slouchy, insolent attitude that is occasionally effective. She's great in the pool. She seems to enjoy flirting with Ivar Kants. But the role is too much to ask her - she's got to age 15 years, to lose a mother, grow as a woman and person, buck authority, become a mother, fall in love, have a marriage break up. That is a hell of a lot for anyone - Judy Davis would've struggled. I can't think what actor around at the time could've pulled it off but surely there was one.
Despite the lesbian character being based on Cavil, that character is depicted as being a bit predatory... suggesting Fraser use the couch and having a perv at Fraser's naked back when she sleeps topless. The age difference doesn't help. It may be true to life but I got a predatory vibe.
Could this have worked? I would've focused it just on 1964 - death of mum, third gold, flag stealing - but get that they didn't want to go there. If they wanted 1955-70 I would have made it about Dawn realising she has to rely on herself... others can't save her... her mum, the men, or women... I would've made the officials more villainous and shown more sexism and stuffy natures. Had some fictional tin pot official who is her nemesis, and some vile sexist pig who is her swimming nemesis.
This isn't terrible. It is a misfire but it is fascinating.
Movie review - "Summerfield" (1977) *** (re-watching) (warning: spoilers)
A flop at the time but it holds up - stunning locations, creepy atmosphere, perfect music. I know Ken Hannam was a pain on the set but I feel it's well directed. It's certainly beautifully shot.
Nick Tate's fashions are distracting - wacky cap, tight shorts. I think the film made a mistake with the shaggy dog twist of the teacher coming back... I get it's meant to be "oh, irony" but the film would've been better
I also think that it would've been better as a woman in peril movie - Nick Tate is very good (it's a well acted film) it just would've been scarier with someone less physically strong... the girl could have fallen for John Waters. All you would have lost is the Geraldine Turner sex scenes.
The cast is strong. Elizabeth Alexander is captivating as the girl. John Waters menacingly enigmatic, playing his guitar. Charles Tingwell, very dishevelled, is the enigmatic doctor - he should've had a secret. I liked creepy Max Cullen.
Another draft could have made this a minor classic. As it is, this is entertaining. And the finale with Waters killing his partner, their kid and himself has unbearable resonance today.
Nick Tate's fashions are distracting - wacky cap, tight shorts. I think the film made a mistake with the shaggy dog twist of the teacher coming back... I get it's meant to be "oh, irony" but the film would've been better
I also think that it would've been better as a woman in peril movie - Nick Tate is very good (it's a well acted film) it just would've been scarier with someone less physically strong... the girl could have fallen for John Waters. All you would have lost is the Geraldine Turner sex scenes.
The cast is strong. Elizabeth Alexander is captivating as the girl. John Waters menacingly enigmatic, playing his guitar. Charles Tingwell, very dishevelled, is the enigmatic doctor - he should've had a secret. I liked creepy Max Cullen.
Another draft could have made this a minor classic. As it is, this is entertaining. And the finale with Waters killing his partner, their kid and himself has unbearable resonance today.
Sunday, May 24, 2020
TV script - "Burst of Summer" by Oriel Gray (1961)
Contemporary critics bagged the script for this. I think the critics were just incompetent and afraid of a show about black Australians. The script isn't amazing but it's solid - it builds to a great climax, the blinding of black Eddie by a racist white. It does admittedly exist uneasily alongside other subplots - black Don could work in the city as a lawyer but doesn't, to help his people; Peggy, is a former diner worker now a film star, a concept that isn't really needed (she could have simply had a higher education) but is at least different.
But the depiction of small town life is all too believable with its class divisions, racism, tension over jobs and real estate, bored small town men and women, focus around a diner.
The characters have meet on them probably because this was based on a longer play - the journo Clive who is in love with Peggy but who honestly also seems more interested in Don, Peggy who dreams of a better tomorrow (and is allowed to go off with the white guy), Merv the racist, Sally the bored grazier.
It's a shock to hear words like "boong" and what not - and the blinding of Eddie packs real punch.
But the depiction of small town life is all too believable with its class divisions, racism, tension over jobs and real estate, bored small town men and women, focus around a diner.
The characters have meet on them probably because this was based on a longer play - the journo Clive who is in love with Peggy but who honestly also seems more interested in Don, Peggy who dreams of a better tomorrow (and is allowed to go off with the white guy), Merv the racist, Sally the bored grazier.
It's a shock to hear words like "boong" and what not - and the blinding of Eddie packs real punch.
Book review - "Independent Ed" by Ed Burns (2015)
Ed Burns is one of those guys you think you're going to hate - blessed with model good looks, married to a super model, happily married to a super model, came out of the blocks with The Brothers McMullen - but actually you don't.
He clearly loves film, works very very hard and has admirable tenacity. He's never quite recaptured the love he received for his first movie but he plugs away, adjusting his budgets low if need be.
I haven't seen all his movies but have caught some - I do wonder at times if maybe he shouldn't write all his movies, or at least maybe he could adapt a book or a play or a true story more. I remember reading a book of his first three screenplays and he seemed to run out of things to say by the third one.
But he has a great ethic. This book ends with him making a TV series with Spielberg, Public Morals - but it ends when the show was being made, not after it was cancelled.
He clearly loves film, works very very hard and has admirable tenacity. He's never quite recaptured the love he received for his first movie but he plugs away, adjusting his budgets low if need be.
I haven't seen all his movies but have caught some - I do wonder at times if maybe he shouldn't write all his movies, or at least maybe he could adapt a book or a play or a true story more. I remember reading a book of his first three screenplays and he seemed to run out of things to say by the third one.
But he has a great ethic. This book ends with him making a TV series with Spielberg, Public Morals - but it ends when the show was being made, not after it was cancelled.
Script review - "Light Me a Lucifer" (1962) by John O'Grady
Not as funny as its premise - Satan being sent to Sydney. Frank Thring played Satan and you know he would've been wonderful. O'Grady can't really think of what to do with Satan when he gets there. He meets a family (man, woman, daughter) and their neighbour... and they all feel fairly interchangeable. The most fun comes from satan's wife who tries to seduce all the men.
The people on land feel too similar they should have been differentiated and the role of Satan is mixed up with his helper, Stoker. They should have had Satan and his wife romance people more - if that was too sexy, then made Satan and his wife siblings so they were single.
Some funny lines and moments but doesn't have a story up to its concept, which is great.
The people on land feel too similar they should have been differentiated and the role of Satan is mixed up with his helper, Stoker. They should have had Satan and his wife romance people more - if that was too sexy, then made Satan and his wife siblings so they were single.
Some funny lines and moments but doesn't have a story up to its concept, which is great.
Movie review - "Dangerous Lies" (2020) **
Unpretentious thriller which is a sort of cross between Angel Street and A History of Violence, quite well directed by it suffers from a lack of chemistry between the lead couple. Some decent scares and strong support cast, including Elliot Gould in a small role.
Book review - "Jedda" by Jane Mills
Passionate. Lovely descriptions of landscape. Not as hot on story or background information. Academic-y but written well with a lot of enthusiasm. Overly keen to call things racist.
Play review - "Charitable Intent" by David Williamson (2001)
In some ways the weakest of the Jack Manning trilogy because everything is the fault of one person, the bully Bryony... it was less pat in the others. But the work remains effective because its about female bullying, which is a powerful subject matter (I wish Williamson had made it an all female play, he could have easily, Brian didn't need to be male and nor did Jack).
Also the fact it is about the charity industry allows for some very funny satire.
Play review - "Norm and Ahmed" by Alex Buzo (1968)
A solid short play dragged out beyond its natural length - Buzo has a marvellous facility with words and dialogue but isn't so great on story. It's a chat between an ocker Aussie and a Pakistani student, kind of an unofficial sequel to The One Day of the Year. You could interpret Norm as being a closet gay. Wonderful language just very long.
Movie review - "Machine Gun Kelly" (1958) *** (re-watching)
A breakthrough movie for Roger Corman in a way as he got some of his best reviews today. It was a leap for Charles Bronson, who when you look back played leads quite quickly.
Bronson is very good but then he tended to be when he had something to play. Kelly is insecure, anxious, secretly cowardy, gun-happy. Wife Susan Cabot is ambitious, frustrated, smarter than him - it's very MacBeth.
The excellence of this lies in its support cast - Connie Gilchrist as the tough brothel madam, disappointed Cabot married badly, kind to the kidnapped kid; Barbara Mouris as a brave nurse; Richard Devon as a lecherous gangster; that terrifyng mobster messenger. The stakes seem bigger because a kid is kidnapped and a lot of violence happens in front of her.
The police are very smart. Bob Campbell wrote a good script with lots of stuff for actors to get their teeth into.
Bronson is very good but then he tended to be when he had something to play. Kelly is insecure, anxious, secretly cowardy, gun-happy. Wife Susan Cabot is ambitious, frustrated, smarter than him - it's very MacBeth.
The excellence of this lies in its support cast - Connie Gilchrist as the tough brothel madam, disappointed Cabot married badly, kind to the kidnapped kid; Barbara Mouris as a brave nurse; Richard Devon as a lecherous gangster; that terrifyng mobster messenger. The stakes seem bigger because a kid is kidnapped and a lot of violence happens in front of her.
The police are very smart. Bob Campbell wrote a good script with lots of stuff for actors to get their teeth into.
Saturday, May 23, 2020
Play review - "Emerald City" by David Williamson (1987)
An utterly brilliant play one of the best examinations, if not the best, of the Australian film/TV industries and the notion of Australian culture. I've read it a bunch of times and never fail to be impressed - it's fast, funny, everyone earns their keep.
The least effective part is Mike's girlfriend Helen - Williamson surrogate thinks about shagging her but doesn't... I wonder why he doesn't, and they don't use her more as a temptation-in-the-city figure?
Everything else is brilliant. It's got two of William's best female roles, the producer and the wife.
Marvelous. Still has the best defence of Australian culture that I've ever read.
The least effective part is Mike's girlfriend Helen - Williamson surrogate thinks about shagging her but doesn't... I wonder why he doesn't, and they don't use her more as a temptation-in-the-city figure?
Everything else is brilliant. It's got two of William's best female roles, the producer and the wife.
Marvelous. Still has the best defence of Australian culture that I've ever read.
Play review - "A Conversation" by David Williamson (2001)
A stunningly good play, one of Williamson's greatest - easily the best of the Jack Manning trilogy. This is greatly due to the fact it's about the rape and murder of a young woman - the deed has been done, it's devastated the participants forever.
William goes for it here - why did he stop going for it? Too emotionally exhausting? It's so powerful, the father and the mother of the dead girl, the sister, brother, uncle and mother of the killer, the psychiatrist who recommended the killer be set free.
The jarring bit is the sister of the killer - I get where she's coming from, she makes valid dramatic points, it's just she comes on too strong for me and clangs at times. She holds her own, mind.
It's moving, skillfully written and powerful.
Play review - "The Club" by David Williamson (1977)
A masterpiece - Williamson isn't hampered by the presence of women, has a world that he probably only knew second hand but had studied all his life, and characters full of men he would have known. The blustering sex pest president, sitting on his dignity, whining, insecure; the tyrannical, thuggish old school coach, wife beater, ruthless politician; the sharp administrator (the character I related to), with a keen eye for the main chance, a survivor's instinct, a feel for the future, no love of tradition; the coach, missing the game, trying not to be out foxed, hanging on; the champion player, with a disastrous love life, and strike happy; the could-be champion, snobby, insecure, smart-arse.
Williamson's skill is at his peak here - the way he keeps the comings and going on stage, the skill of the player telling the ex coach the joke, the ebbs and flows, the reveal of information. It's a wonderful, wonderful, play - I'd class it among Williamson's three masterpieces, the others being A Conversation and Emerald City.
Williamson's skill is at his peak here - the way he keeps the comings and going on stage, the skill of the player telling the ex coach the joke, the ebbs and flows, the reveal of information. It's a wonderful, wonderful, play - I'd class it among Williamson's three masterpieces, the others being A Conversation and Emerald City.
Friday, May 22, 2020
Movie review - "The Undead" (1957) ***1/2 (re-viewing)
An excellent script given a high school play production values. A few years later Corman would knock this stuff out of the park with his Poe movies but the sets and costumes feel like toy town.
The acting is fairly solid - Pamela Duncan, Richard Devon - and its fun to see Mel Welles as a weird grave digger and Dick Miller in medieval garb but the X factor belongs to Allison Hayes, who is perfect as a witch.
The script is so smart - it has someone living in a past life, has a real witch and the devil, strong interpersonal relationships, and doesn't whimp out at the end.
The acting is fairly solid - Pamela Duncan, Richard Devon - and its fun to see Mel Welles as a weird grave digger and Dick Miller in medieval garb but the X factor belongs to Allison Hayes, who is perfect as a witch.
The script is so smart - it has someone living in a past life, has a real witch and the devil, strong interpersonal relationships, and doesn't whimp out at the end.
Movie review - "Smithy" (1946) ***1/2 (re-watching)
Ken G Hall isn't known as a personal filmmaker but watching this it struck me how personal this movie must have been for him - the story of a man who achieves a lot of success and acclaim but can't establish a workable business, who is constantly scrounging for money, going around with a cap in hand although hating it because he knows that's what he has to do in an expensive industry.
Could the boomer critics who so disdained Hall's work in the 80s not see it? Did they have to have their auterist meanings shoved down their throat like Chauvel did? I don't want to bad Chauvel, I just wanted Hall treated with more respect.
This is of course heavily influenced by Hollywood biopics but it's done very well. Some of it is charming such as Smithy's meet cute with Muriel Steinbeck. Ron Randell is a very solid Smithy and you can see why Hollywood snapped him up - though he seemed to lose his edge over there.
It does assume knowledge on the part of the viewer over certain events which aren't as well known now as they would have been at the time such as the pilots who died looking for Smithy.
A remarkably adult and down beat movie in many ways. There are Hollywood ish moment like Smithy's meet cute and his wife, the character of the helpful American Joy feels inserted to have a woman in the first half, technically very polished.
Makes me weep that Hall could not do another feature after this - talk about a man at the top of his game.
Book review - "The Concubine" by Morris West (1958) (warning: spoilers)
Also known as McCreary Moves In - this feels like it was written as a Robert Mitchum vehicle, with its enigmatic, hard drinking Irish oil drilling hero in the third world, who talks about his Irish ness every chapter at least.
He's not terribly honorable - he goes to work for a man then sets about seducing his mistress (it's meant to be love but it feels like possession), then when he gets revege he decides to torch an entire island (did I read that right? Not just the baddies but the island on which live the whole population?)
It's a shame the story is a bit smelly because West's prose is very sure and I loved an adventure tale set in Indonesia. McCreary has some devoted native sidekicks off course.
He's not terribly honorable - he goes to work for a man then sets about seducing his mistress (it's meant to be love but it feels like possession), then when he gets revege he decides to torch an entire island (did I read that right? Not just the baddies but the island on which live the whole population?)
It's a shame the story is a bit smelly because West's prose is very sure and I loved an adventure tale set in Indonesia. McCreary has some devoted native sidekicks off course.
Movie review - "Thunder Over Hawaii" aka Naked Paradise (1957) ** (re-watching)
This was made by some of my favourite people - Arkoff and Nicholson, Corman, Griffith - and has some pleasing views of Hawaii but isn't a very good movie.
The plot is a version of Key Largo with gangsters involved in a robbery and Richard Denning being hired to boat them away but falling in love with a drunken moll (Beverly Garland).
The shots on top of the boats look fine, it was filmed on location. I loved seeing Sam Arkoff awkwardly spit out his one line of dialogue.
But there's too much talk - endless scenes between Denning and Garland (at least it seems endless.) There's lot of floral shirts - as in, a lot. It doesn't help I'm not that big a fan of Denning. Garland looks really attractive in the last scene with her hair slicked back with water.
Dick Miller has a small role.
The plot is a version of Key Largo with gangsters involved in a robbery and Richard Denning being hired to boat them away but falling in love with a drunken moll (Beverly Garland).
The shots on top of the boats look fine, it was filmed on location. I loved seeing Sam Arkoff awkwardly spit out his one line of dialogue.
But there's too much talk - endless scenes between Denning and Garland (at least it seems endless.) There's lot of floral shirts - as in, a lot. It doesn't help I'm not that big a fan of Denning. Garland looks really attractive in the last scene with her hair slicked back with water.
Dick Miller has a small role.
Movie review - "Gunslinger" (1956) **1/2 (re-watching)
Fun Western with a strong Charles Griffith script that could have done with another few days filming at least to be top shelf. It has one of Beverly Garland's best roles as the gal who inherits sheriff-ship from her husband. The opening is dynamic: her husband is killed then she kills one of his assassins, then at his funeral she plugs another one.
The conflict is strong - Alison Hayes as the saloon owner pays John Ireland to shoot Garland but he falls for her instead. That's a great situation and its helped by Ireland's big dick swagger and nice chemistry with Garland. The film supposedly rips off Three Hours to Kill but surely the inspiration was Johnny Guitar?
There's campy moments like the dancers in the saloon doing some numbers and then bashing up Garland. Jonathan Haze is excellent as a saloon guy who loves Hayes. Another movie where I kept wishing Corman had made later in his career when he was a better director and had mroe time.
The conflict is strong - Alison Hayes as the saloon owner pays John Ireland to shoot Garland but he falls for her instead. That's a great situation and its helped by Ireland's big dick swagger and nice chemistry with Garland. The film supposedly rips off Three Hours to Kill but surely the inspiration was Johnny Guitar?
There's campy moments like the dancers in the saloon doing some numbers and then bashing up Garland. Jonathan Haze is excellent as a saloon guy who loves Hayes. Another movie where I kept wishing Corman had made later in his career when he was a better director and had mroe time.
Play review - "Don's Party" by David Williamson (1971)
Much mocked and you get get why with its hard-drinking sex pest baby boomers, but it's full of energy and life and a real feeling for a time, place and people, particularly men. Don, the school teacher dreaming of the great Australian novel, a big fish in a little pond, full of thwarted dreams and incompetent adultery; Mal, the management consultant, grasping for money and sex and dreaming of politics; Cooley the sexual predatory, full of wit, vague artistic pretentious, driven by bitterness of his youth.
Those are the big three - the others are more defined by one trait, and I guess Williamson doesn't really have time, and at least the characters are very individual: Simon, the awkward Liberal; his wife Jody, another Liberal who discovers the joy of swinging; Kath, who is bitter and... actuallym just bitter; Jenny, probably the best female role, lonely, forever pregnant, burying her sadness in purchases; Susan, the groovy bisexual; Kerry, the sexy artist into free love (I think Williamson encountered a few of these women when at an impressionable age and it changed him forever); Evan the dentist who is... jealous and... that's it.
The background of the play is moving, the author is unflinching about his class and kind. I appreciate it now more than I did at uni.
Those are the big three - the others are more defined by one trait, and I guess Williamson doesn't really have time, and at least the characters are very individual: Simon, the awkward Liberal; his wife Jody, another Liberal who discovers the joy of swinging; Kath, who is bitter and... actuallym just bitter; Jenny, probably the best female role, lonely, forever pregnant, burying her sadness in purchases; Susan, the groovy bisexual; Kerry, the sexy artist into free love (I think Williamson encountered a few of these women when at an impressionable age and it changed him forever); Evan the dentist who is... jealous and... that's it.
The background of the play is moving, the author is unflinching about his class and kind. I appreciate it now more than I did at uni.
Play review - "Face to Face" by David Williamson (2000)
Williamson rejuvenated his playwriting with his trilogy of conferencing plays - the published edition starts off with a fascinating essay about dispute resolution, highlighting Williamson's interest in psychology.
This is a pure theatre play too - a long continuous scene of a conferencing session. There is a solid story - explaining why a work mate went berserk and attacked his boss - and large cast, but everyone gets their chance in the sun (I still wonder if maybe the best friend character could have been combined with the mother or another character). As usual the women are weaker - the rich wife who is cheated on, the mistress who just wants a nice guy - but the pacing is fast, the handling very sure.
It maybe is a little "wish fulfilment" at the end but the liberal humanism is warming.
This is a pure theatre play too - a long continuous scene of a conferencing session. There is a solid story - explaining why a work mate went berserk and attacked his boss - and large cast, but everyone gets their chance in the sun (I still wonder if maybe the best friend character could have been combined with the mother or another character). As usual the women are weaker - the rich wife who is cheated on, the mistress who just wants a nice guy - but the pacing is fast, the handling very sure.
It maybe is a little "wish fulfilment" at the end but the liberal humanism is warming.
Play review - "Happiness" by David Williamson (2013)
One of the better later Williamsons - it has a very strong idea absolutely suited to its author: a university professor is determined to find the meaning of happiness and proposes various methods to do it. The main plot is executed by his daughter who tries to make amends/deal with her mother and the various men in her life.
Again, Williamson flounders outside his generation and sex... the daughter is a science reporter at News Limited and the men in her life are archetypes. Her mother is a cold shrew - a variation of types we've seen in her play before - and when the husband/professor was constantly described as an amiable nice guy I did have some enjoyable wondering of how much this was based on David and Kirsten.
Actually when I poke at this it starts to wobble -Williamson over relies on infidelity as a plot device (in this one the wife wants to shag some alpha) - but the themes are really interesting and there's some provoking ideas about happiness and marriage and family and love. I wish Williamson had centered the play around the professor and his brothers/male friends, and been about their attempts to find happiness - I feel he would have done a better job.
But good on him for trying to expand his view and the play does give you something to ponder. Jeez, the kids in his world all take their parents infidelity in stride.
Again, Williamson flounders outside his generation and sex... the daughter is a science reporter at News Limited and the men in her life are archetypes. Her mother is a cold shrew - a variation of types we've seen in her play before - and when the husband/professor was constantly described as an amiable nice guy I did have some enjoyable wondering of how much this was based on David and Kirsten.
Actually when I poke at this it starts to wobble -Williamson over relies on infidelity as a plot device (in this one the wife wants to shag some alpha) - but the themes are really interesting and there's some provoking ideas about happiness and marriage and family and love. I wish Williamson had centered the play around the professor and his brothers/male friends, and been about their attempts to find happiness - I feel he would have done a better job.
But good on him for trying to expand his view and the play does give you something to ponder. Jeez, the kids in his world all take their parents infidelity in stride.
Play review - "Cruise Control" by David Williamson (2014) (warning: spoilers)
Williamson once wrote a famous article complaining about the cashed up bogans he ran into on a cruise and when I heard he was doing a play about cruise ships I thought "terrific" - I figured he was going to do something based on that experience. Two snobby elistist types who live in a Fairfax/ABC bubble go on a cruise and have to rub shoulders with Howard's battlers. It had great potential and Williamson had enough self awareness and insight to do it justice.
This is not that play.
This is more Noel Coward.
Three wealthy couples are on the QE2 crossing the Atlantic. A bra boy and his private school wife, a book editor and her novelist husband, a Jewish gum doctor and his socialite wife. Two of the women basically do nothing, living off the men. There's a lot of drink swilling and talk, sometimes action, of adultery and shoved-in new pop culture references, notably 50 Shades of Grey.
The characters are not particularly fresh especially the novelist who is pure villainy - snobby, hateful, a wife beater, lecherous, sex obsessed. There's not a huge amount of laughs or satire. There is a kind, patient, grateful Philippines steward who is almost a caricature in the way Williamson writes him (he practically has "noble savage" tattooed on his head - a lot of Williamson ethnics fall into this category).
It's mostly light so the ending which results in the novelist's presumed death is surprising but doesn't work - it's also surprisingly ambivalent for Williamson (it hints the bra boy murdered him, but also possibly the kind Filipino steward may have done it with the wife.)
I wonder why Williamson let this one go through? Did he want to write a role for his son? He was begged for a new play?
It feels as though it needed a few more drafts - to build towards a darker conclusion (which would be fine) the first part needed more work, I felt.
I don't think it needed so many short scenes either - I sense that a more engaged Williamson could have done it in longer scenes but he's lost some of his art in that department.
This is one of the bad later ones.
Thursday, May 21, 2020
Play review - "The Removalists" by David Williamson (1971)
Reading this so many years later it's remarkable how much power it retains and how different it is from Williamson's later work. The upper class housewife Kate is very much later Williamson, with her adultery and secret lust (its implied) for her ocker brother in law. Everyone else is working class though.
The build is slower... the first act is Simmons asserting his authority over Ross, and then of the women who come in to complain about domestic violence. Simmons uses this to grope the women and try to seduce the wife. The second act it explodes into violence as they try to collect furniture. Reading this now is still powerful - the issues it raises on domestic violence still relevant fifty years later. Seeing it in 1971 must have been incredible.
The female characters aren't that great - Fiona the dimwit who loves sex and is bossed around by people, Kate the fridgid seeming hornbag. But the by play between Ross, Simmons and the abusive husband is superb and I enjoyed the comic-ish removalist interludes. A very strong piece of work.
The build is slower... the first act is Simmons asserting his authority over Ross, and then of the women who come in to complain about domestic violence. Simmons uses this to grope the women and try to seduce the wife. The second act it explodes into violence as they try to collect furniture. Reading this now is still powerful - the issues it raises on domestic violence still relevant fifty years later. Seeing it in 1971 must have been incredible.
The female characters aren't that great - Fiona the dimwit who loves sex and is bossed around by people, Kate the fridgid seeming hornbag. But the by play between Ross, Simmons and the abusive husband is superb and I enjoyed the comic-ish removalist interludes. A very strong piece of work.
Play review - "Jack of Hearts" by David Williamson (2016)
This has a fantastic central idea, one that I related to a lot - a man throws in a high paid job as a lawyer to follow his artistic dream. I wish Williamson had done it about someone of his generation who tried it - or, if he'd made it about a younger person, get it in the 70s - as Bob Ellis pointed out, he's only really comfortable with his own generation. The characters here feel like the stock Williamson types with thirty years slashed off - money hungry personal trainer, money hungry wife, money hungry mistress, money hungry real estate agent. The women all wait for the men. The best character is the vain, older reporter - I think in part because Williamson can just relate to him more.
As in Dream House there's comments how the male lead is good in bed. There are some funny lines, the stand up comedy is quite funny and that is hard to do, it does move along, and Williamson has a knack as a story teller... there's tension in that you don't know who Jack is going to end up with, and his relationship with Kelli is quite sweet. It has a humanism at its heart and an enjoyable core message - don't wait to have a baby, babies don't care about money.
Structurally I feel this would have been better off if the whole thing had been set at the resort and been about a fifty something who threw away his career to become a comic. He would have known the characters and the "world" better. His sense of the younger generation is not strong. It is hard to be connected to the younger world up at Sunshine Beach.
As in Dream House there's comments how the male lead is good in bed. There are some funny lines, the stand up comedy is quite funny and that is hard to do, it does move along, and Williamson has a knack as a story teller... there's tension in that you don't know who Jack is going to end up with, and his relationship with Kelli is quite sweet. It has a humanism at its heart and an enjoyable core message - don't wait to have a baby, babies don't care about money.
Structurally I feel this would have been better off if the whole thing had been set at the resort and been about a fifty something who threw away his career to become a comic. He would have known the characters and the "world" better. His sense of the younger generation is not strong. It is hard to be connected to the younger world up at Sunshine Beach.
Play review - "Rupert" by David Williamson (2013)
Williamson, thank goodness, tries something different - a look at the life of Mr Murdoch, done in a cabaret style. It skips by - it's a greatest hits account of Murdoch's life and Williamson isn't didactic - Rupert comes out of it well, a greedy, idealistic buccaneer.
Fun cameos from people like Frank Packer. It skims the surface rather than really examines its subject. The research feels like having read a few books and it might have had more impact had it dealt with Murdoch's relationships a bit closer.
But it is great to see Williamson push himself for a change.
Play review - "Dream Home" by David Williamson (2015)
Reading about this, I thought it was a satire of the Sydney property market, which should have been deal for Williamson. But it's not really about that. It's more Barefoot in the Park, with a young ish couple having bought a flat. There's some financial pressure - he's a composer, she's pregnant and works in advertising - but most of the action concerns wacky neighbours: the violently aggressive security guy (who threatens the main male with physical violence over a car space which surely would have led to police charges and doesn't feel real), his model partner, a horny flight attendant and her pervy husband, a horny woman... All the women are hot for the male lead whose handsome ness and big cock are often mentioned for some reason.
I did laugh at the sexually dysfunction couple - he wants to watch her having sex, and a comment about her looking to give a man a blow job turns out to be very accurate. This made me laugh
But really there's no good reason for this play to exist. There's no drama, not really - the male lead stands up for himself a bit more, but with all the girls wanting to root him so what. He can't find work for a bit but then finds work. His wife finds more work.
It doesn't feel like a first draft - work's been done on it. There's just no point. A satire on real estate would have a point but this really should be called My Weird Neighbours.
I did laugh at the sexually dysfunction couple - he wants to watch her having sex, and a comment about her looking to give a man a blow job turns out to be very accurate. This made me laugh
But really there's no good reason for this play to exist. There's no drama, not really - the male lead stands up for himself a bit more, but with all the girls wanting to root him so what. He can't find work for a bit but then finds work. His wife finds more work.
It doesn't feel like a first draft - work's been done on it. There's just no point. A satire on real estate would have a point but this really should be called My Weird Neighbours.
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Movie review - "Beast from Haunted Cave" (1959) ** (re-watching)
Oh, frustrating. This could have been great. It's fine - but it could have been awesome.
The locations are splendid - Deadwood South Dakota. Scenes on the ski slopes. A fantastic creepy cave. In the cave people are captured and turned into cocoons like in Aliens. Everything in the cave is fun. Yes the monster is a little silly but who cares.
The film should have been about the monster. But really it's Key Largo time - with Frank Wolff, an excellent actor, looking silly in a moustache playing a gangster with a drunken moll, Sheila Noonan... who gets redemption falling for handsome ski instructor Michael Forrest.
There's far too much hanging around the ski lodge emoting. They introduce Forest's sister (who cooks for her brother all the time) but she disappears. Promising subplots like henchman Richard Sinatra going mad feel underdeveloped.
Oh I so wish they'd made this more of a monster film. The cave is great. The drama isn't so hot. Chuck Griffith wrote it, and there is some of his intelligence on display.
The locations are splendid - Deadwood South Dakota. Scenes on the ski slopes. A fantastic creepy cave. In the cave people are captured and turned into cocoons like in Aliens. Everything in the cave is fun. Yes the monster is a little silly but who cares.
The film should have been about the monster. But really it's Key Largo time - with Frank Wolff, an excellent actor, looking silly in a moustache playing a gangster with a drunken moll, Sheila Noonan... who gets redemption falling for handsome ski instructor Michael Forrest.
There's far too much hanging around the ski lodge emoting. They introduce Forest's sister (who cooks for her brother all the time) but she disappears. Promising subplots like henchman Richard Sinatra going mad feel underdeveloped.
Oh I so wish they'd made this more of a monster film. The cave is great. The drama isn't so hot. Chuck Griffith wrote it, and there is some of his intelligence on display.
Movie review - "Swamp Women" (1955) ** (rewatching)
A terrific idea, some excellent actors and location filming in Louisiana. It doesn't quite work in part because the copy I watched was crappy.
A female cop goes undercover at a girls prison in order to find out where some diamonds are. Fantastic set up. The undercover cop isn't very good but the others include Beverly Garland and Marie Windsor. Touch Connors is the hunk they abduct.
There complications that ensue are decent enough on the pace - conflict over Connors, conflict within the girls, the cop falls for Connors - but its not a really top class script. I wish Charles Griffith had taken a pass at this.
There is action and movement and the swampy setting is novel. But it feels produced more than directed - Corman has all the elements but can't make it come alive the way he would in a few years.
A female cop goes undercover at a girls prison in order to find out where some diamonds are. Fantastic set up. The undercover cop isn't very good but the others include Beverly Garland and Marie Windsor. Touch Connors is the hunk they abduct.
There complications that ensue are decent enough on the pace - conflict over Connors, conflict within the girls, the cop falls for Connors - but its not a really top class script. I wish Charles Griffith had taken a pass at this.
There is action and movement and the swampy setting is novel. But it feels produced more than directed - Corman has all the elements but can't make it come alive the way he would in a few years.
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
Movie review - "It Conquered the World" (1956) **1/2 (re-viewing)
Some things struck me
- remarkable script. Maybe that's overhype. Very good script. Fast. Clever. Dramatically powerful. Peter Graves has to kill his wife. Beverly Garland sees her husband becomes an Uncle Tom and is radicalised.
- Love Garland blasting away with a shot gun. Corman 50s movies weren't perfect roles for women but they were a lot better than most Hollywood fare.
- Badly directed. Has to be said. Flat composition. Corman lacked a Dan Haller at this stage with art design. Dull home sets. He doesn't get the drama out of the script.
- Bad monster. That's part of its charm though.
- Strong cast.
- Confusing blocking at times. That was a feature of many 50s Corman efforts - he tried to pack in a lot of action but didn't have the time or inclination to orientate the viewer.
- Powerful story with most of the cast ending up dead. Very violent. Graves kills a lot of people.
- Good fun.
- remarkable script. Maybe that's overhype. Very good script. Fast. Clever. Dramatically powerful. Peter Graves has to kill his wife. Beverly Garland sees her husband becomes an Uncle Tom and is radicalised.
- Love Garland blasting away with a shot gun. Corman 50s movies weren't perfect roles for women but they were a lot better than most Hollywood fare.
- Badly directed. Has to be said. Flat composition. Corman lacked a Dan Haller at this stage with art design. Dull home sets. He doesn't get the drama out of the script.
- Bad monster. That's part of its charm though.
- Strong cast.
- Confusing blocking at times. That was a feature of many 50s Corman efforts - he tried to pack in a lot of action but didn't have the time or inclination to orientate the viewer.
- Powerful story with most of the cast ending up dead. Very violent. Graves kills a lot of people.
- Good fun.
Movie review - "Blackfellas" (1994) **1/2
The sort of movie which isn't going to get a bad review but no one is going to see it either because it's depressing. Australian audiences do like movies with aboriginals in them - The Sapphires, Crocodile Dundee, Australia - but not if they sense they're going to come out depressed, which is the vibe that this one gives off.
The story is not far from a 1930s Warner Bros movie with the good ex-crim trying to go straight, finding a nice girl, and having to deal with a charismatic best friend who can't give up crime. The quality of acting polish does vary among the cast, but everyone feels at home and has excellent energy. It's still remarkable to see a mostly black cast.
John Moore should have had a bigger mainstream career with his looks though I wonder if the movie might not have done better with Ernie Dingo in this past. David Ngoombujar has charisma to burn though his journey feels predicatable.
The movie is an awkward combination of slice of life realism and melodrama - they would have been better off going all out the latter route. No slight on James Ricketson I just think an aboriginal director would get the nuances more of everyday living. I did feel like I was doing homework watching this but it did have energy and movement and was made with its heart in the right place.
The story is not far from a 1930s Warner Bros movie with the good ex-crim trying to go straight, finding a nice girl, and having to deal with a charismatic best friend who can't give up crime. The quality of acting polish does vary among the cast, but everyone feels at home and has excellent energy. It's still remarkable to see a mostly black cast.
John Moore should have had a bigger mainstream career with his looks though I wonder if the movie might not have done better with Ernie Dingo in this past. David Ngoombujar has charisma to burn though his journey feels predicatable.
The movie is an awkward combination of slice of life realism and melodrama - they would have been better off going all out the latter route. No slight on James Ricketson I just think an aboriginal director would get the nuances more of everyday living. I did feel like I was doing homework watching this but it did have energy and movement and was made with its heart in the right place.
Movie review - "Roadgames" (1981) ***1/2
Extremely well acted, written and directed. Loses some tension in the last third. Spooky. Nullabor is brilliant. Gorgeous looking movie. Didn't need the boat stunt - money would have been better spent elsewhere. Stacy Keach is wonderful. So too is Jamie Lee Curtis - it wouldn't have hurt for them to go "hey you're an American here too". Strong support cast including Grant Page. Eerie scenes like poking around a truck and the flash of lightning at night. A very good film.
Movie review - "The Saga of the Viking Women" (1958) **1/2 (warning: spoilers) (re-watching)
Really good fun. Corman films took on extra life with female protagonists - this has the bright idea of some viking women going looking for the men who went missing.
They wreck the concept by having Jonathan Haze come along -no slight on him, it's just the film would've been more fun without him.
Corman didn't think the script was great but I feel it's solid - decent conflict with Susan Cabot jealous over Abby Dalton's boyfriend. Gary Conway is in it and Richard Devon and his camp son are entertaining villains. I wish this movie had more money and time - it didn't need the sea creature, the women dealing with the men who've kidnapped their men would be enough.
Strong performances from Abby Dalton and Susan Cabot. They look great in their outfits and it's always moving and there's plenty of action. It's silly but fun.
They wreck the concept by having Jonathan Haze come along -no slight on him, it's just the film would've been more fun without him.
Corman didn't think the script was great but I feel it's solid - decent conflict with Susan Cabot jealous over Abby Dalton's boyfriend. Gary Conway is in it and Richard Devon and his camp son are entertaining villains. I wish this movie had more money and time - it didn't need the sea creature, the women dealing with the men who've kidnapped their men would be enough.
Strong performances from Abby Dalton and Susan Cabot. They look great in their outfits and it's always moving and there's plenty of action. It's silly but fun.
Movie review - "Ski Troop Attack" (1960) ** (re-watching)
This film was apparently freezing to make and it looks freezing but the location adds a lot - the action sequences are decent and it only clocks in at 60 minutes. Troops on skis has novelty and because it was a patrol film it is inherently low budget. I got confused by what was happening at times it felt as though the film lacked coverage.
I wouldn't have minded more character stuff - an interlude with a German girl only lasts a few minutes but they could've gotten more out of it. The one conflict is between the more cautious officer and the bloodthirsty sergean. They needed a third character complicating things.
It's not one of Chuck Griffith's best scripts - there's no outlandishness. It is functional. And it's fun to see Corman as a German - I swear he's at the beginning among the Americans too.
I wouldn't have minded more character stuff - an interlude with a German girl only lasts a few minutes but they could've gotten more out of it. The one conflict is between the more cautious officer and the bloodthirsty sergean. They needed a third character complicating things.
It's not one of Chuck Griffith's best scripts - there's no outlandishness. It is functional. And it's fun to see Corman as a German - I swear he's at the beginning among the Americans too.
Monday, May 18, 2020
Movie review - "Ghost of the China Sea" (1958) **
Charles B. Griffith's success with Roger Corman did not go unnoticed by Columbia, who, being home of Sam Katzman, appreciated a decent cheapie. They hired Griffith to write, produce and direct two films - he stuffed up the first, and was booted as director on this one, the second, for Fred Sears, a Katzman regular who died soon afterwards.
Sears' direction isn't much - I guess he got the job done. The film is not typically Griffith fare - it's about a rag tag group escaping the Japanese in 1941 Luzon. There's getting in jeeps and running through forests and being captured and escape and getting on a boat. The main plot is going on the boat but that doesn't happen for 22 minutes.
I'm not sure how much Griffith contributed because he shares writing credits with David Brian the star. He's a heavy set white haired guy who I vaguely recognised - he plays a gruff type who has a romance with a girl too young and too hot for him. It's annoying. There's too many old people in this movie including an old bald priest. There is Jonathan Haze is a decent sized role - he's good. I used to laugh when I read Haze wondering why he couldn't have been Nicholson but watching him here I thought "yeah I can see why he thought that".
There's no humour, no wildness. It's too much a star vehicle for Brian. They keep hopping off and on the boat.
I did like the scenes shot on the boat - it moves along. Nice photography. Not terribly involving. Bland. Corman direction would have given it more pace, a younger cast.
Sears' direction isn't much - I guess he got the job done. The film is not typically Griffith fare - it's about a rag tag group escaping the Japanese in 1941 Luzon. There's getting in jeeps and running through forests and being captured and escape and getting on a boat. The main plot is going on the boat but that doesn't happen for 22 minutes.
I'm not sure how much Griffith contributed because he shares writing credits with David Brian the star. He's a heavy set white haired guy who I vaguely recognised - he plays a gruff type who has a romance with a girl too young and too hot for him. It's annoying. There's too many old people in this movie including an old bald priest. There is Jonathan Haze is a decent sized role - he's good. I used to laugh when I read Haze wondering why he couldn't have been Nicholson but watching him here I thought "yeah I can see why he thought that".
There's no humour, no wildness. It's too much a star vehicle for Brian. They keep hopping off and on the boat.
I did like the scenes shot on the boat - it moves along. Nice photography. Not terribly involving. Bland. Corman direction would have given it more pace, a younger cast.
Sunday, May 17, 2020
Movie review - "Dingo" (1992) **1/2
A sweet movie about a country boy whose life was turned around by seeing Miles David land on the tarmac when he was a kid, causing him to dream of being a top jazz trumpter.
That's the sort of film you could imagine, say, George Wallace being in - a little battler makes good. But they cast Colin Friels, who is very handsome, with his movie star hair. They also give him a wife and kids - the wife's a bit of a nag but is pretty and smart (Helen Buday)... why give him a wife? Rocky didn't have a wife, he didn't have a girlfriend, he was a complete down and out. Not only does he have a wife, they have stylish sex involving toe kissing on white sheets. Rocky doesn't do that! Also they give him kids. Why? The kids have no personalities by the way.
Friels feels "city" - like he's a city boy playing at been a country boy. His acting is fine by the way - it's a well acted movie - he's just miscast.
There's a boring subplot about their childhood friend coming back to town (he lives in a yacht) and he wants Buday back. What's the point of that plot? To have some suspense at the end when we think Buday might have left?
The movie has no feeling for small town Australia. There's yobbo locals who play a cruel joke on Friels... I guess that feels real. But also in these small towns people would be proud of their eccentric trumpet playing handyman.
This film needed to star someone like Paul Chubb or Max Gillies or even Colin Friels but playing a down and out. .They needed to watch Rocky more and have more of a feel for country life. This feels like a movie made by city people. I mean, he just gets on a plane and flies to France. How about giving him an obstacle? Getting him to have to raise money or something?
The film gets points for the novelty of its concept, the music and Miles Davis. It's extremely pretty and the finale where Friels plays with Miles Davis is incredibly satisfying.
There is a great crowdpleasing classic inside this movie struggling to get out but I think it had the wrong director (rolf de Heer) and wrong star.
Movie review - "Dark Age" (1987) **1/2 (re-watching)
My opinions on this haven't changed. It's beautifully shot, a decent script, mediocre direction (I don't want to be mean knowing Arch Nicholson got ALS but it's not very well directed - you only have to compare it with something like Roadgames to know the handling isn't first class).
John Jarrat is fine and Nikki Coghill is magical. I kind of wish she'd played the lead - her character kind of hangs around too much. It would have been better with Coghill been a caring softy with Jarrat as a more swashbuckling type maybe.
The crocodile is bad. Too many close ups. Better to have it lurking under water. Killing the little kid still has a major shock. Poor continuity. Strong support from Burnham Burnham and Gulpilil. Ray Meagher and Max Phipps are a lot of fun too.
John Jarrat is fine and Nikki Coghill is magical. I kind of wish she'd played the lead - her character kind of hangs around too much. It would have been better with Coghill been a caring softy with Jarrat as a more swashbuckling type maybe.
The crocodile is bad. Too many close ups. Better to have it lurking under water. Killing the little kid still has a major shock. Poor continuity. Strong support from Burnham Burnham and Gulpilil. Ray Meagher and Max Phipps are a lot of fun too.
Movie review - "The Glenrowan Affair" (1951) *1/2
The only film I've seen from the notorious Rupert Kathner. The story of the making of this is more interesting than what winds up on screen, with it starting in 1947 as a film by Harry Southwell and going through a lot of start stop shenanigans. Some scenes with voice over which is a low budget giveaway.
Amateurish acting. But it is a 1951 Australian film which gives it some novelty. Kathner himself plays Aaron Sherritt.
It's not very good - alright, it's terrible - but the fact it's a Kelly story gives it some momentum. And it is really hard to make a movie. It has action, it only wants to entertain. It's weird the NFSA issued this on DVD>
Amateurish acting. But it is a 1951 Australian film which gives it some novelty. Kathner himself plays Aaron Sherritt.
It's not very good - alright, it's terrible - but the fact it's a Kelly story gives it some momentum. And it is really hard to make a movie. It has action, it only wants to entertain. It's weird the NFSA issued this on DVD>
Saturday, May 16, 2020
Movie review - "My Brilliant Career" (1979) ****
Sometimes it just clicks - Miles Franklin, Gillian Armstrong, Margaret Fink, Don McAlpine, Eleanor Witcombe, Luciana Arrighi (the designer). And the cast - Wendy Hughes, Patricia Kennedy, Robert Grubb and Peter Witcombe offering solid support but Judy Davis and Sam Neill are the X factor.
It's period so would be expensive but only has a few locations so wasn't uber uber expensive.
It's full of so many smart decisions which other filmmakers should follow - yes, it's about a person's "arc" but her arc is dramatised in the form of a romance, it has a romance, it has comic relief from Robert Grubb and nice costumes, it moves, it doesn't go for too long.
Davis is stunningly good. Neil excellent too. Strong ending, very well done. Simply better that a woman directed - it gets the nuances, the guy has balls. What a shame Fink, Armstrong and Witcombe didn't collaborate again.
It's period so would be expensive but only has a few locations so wasn't uber uber expensive.
It's full of so many smart decisions which other filmmakers should follow - yes, it's about a person's "arc" but her arc is dramatised in the form of a romance, it has a romance, it has comic relief from Robert Grubb and nice costumes, it moves, it doesn't go for too long.
Davis is stunningly good. Neil excellent too. Strong ending, very well done. Simply better that a woman directed - it gets the nuances, the guy has balls. What a shame Fink, Armstrong and Witcombe didn't collaborate again.
Friday, May 15, 2020
Movie review - "The Terror" (1963) **1/2 (re-watching)
Look, it's a mess. I love this, love the story behind it's making, what film fan doesn't, but it's all over the place. It varies in tone and logic.
But it's got Dan Haller sets, Sandra Knight is beautiful and evocative, the atmosphere is creepy, Jack Nicholson is in a French officer's uniform, Jonathan Haze is creepy, Dick Miller is fun as the butler, Karloff is supericonic. The flood stuff works.
A movie of its own genre.
But it's got Dan Haller sets, Sandra Knight is beautiful and evocative, the atmosphere is creepy, Jack Nicholson is in a French officer's uniform, Jonathan Haze is creepy, Dick Miller is fun as the butler, Karloff is supericonic. The flood stuff works.
A movie of its own genre.
Movie review - Corman#1 - "Five Guns West" (1955) ** (re-watching - warning: spoilers)
Corman's third film as producer but first as director and his first in colour. It shows his ambition - the colour, the two well known names (John Lund, Dorothy Malone) in the lead - help mask the low budget, as does a terrific central idea which is inherently low budget... five convicts are recruited to help the Confederates rob some gold.
It's kind of hard to go for the Confederates - are we meant to feel good Lund gets the gold in the end?
I've never liked Lund and he seems bored here - his reign as a leading man didn't last long, and no wonder. The rest of the cast is very good - I'm surprised Dorothy Malone made this at a time when she was making Battle Cry and Young at Heart but maybe it was the only thing going, and she brings it; Touch Connors is excellent as are Jonathan Haze and Bob Campbell who wrote the script. Actually all the acting is solid outside Lund, and even he's competent, just dull.
It's stagnant - a lot of hanging around. The opening narration promises a cross section of characters but it doesn't happen - Campbell's writing wasn't up to his ideas. Too much is stock - Malone is feisty, her uncle is a drunk, Lund is solid, some of the crew are rape-y.
It's a fantastic set up you wish they'd done more with it. But they don't.
Still, a very promising beginning - even if Corman (and AIP) quickly turfed the Western for sci fi.
It's kind of hard to go for the Confederates - are we meant to feel good Lund gets the gold in the end?
I've never liked Lund and he seems bored here - his reign as a leading man didn't last long, and no wonder. The rest of the cast is very good - I'm surprised Dorothy Malone made this at a time when she was making Battle Cry and Young at Heart but maybe it was the only thing going, and she brings it; Touch Connors is excellent as are Jonathan Haze and Bob Campbell who wrote the script. Actually all the acting is solid outside Lund, and even he's competent, just dull.
It's stagnant - a lot of hanging around. The opening narration promises a cross section of characters but it doesn't happen - Campbell's writing wasn't up to his ideas. Too much is stock - Malone is feisty, her uncle is a drunk, Lund is solid, some of the crew are rape-y.
It's a fantastic set up you wish they'd done more with it. But they don't.
Still, a very promising beginning - even if Corman (and AIP) quickly turfed the Western for sci fi.
Movie review - "The Lego Movie Part 2" (2019) ****
A delight. I haven't seen any others in the series but this was warm, funny, clever, packed with gags. The script is so smart, working on different levels - watching it a second time you note all the set ups. It's so clever, and funny and fast. There's cute songs. I'm surprised it didn't do well at the box office it's a really good movie.
Thursday, May 14, 2020
TV review - "The True Believers" (1988) ****
The video tape looks awful, the female characters mostly just whine and do the ironing, the script mostly seems to be cut and pasted speeches. But it's bold, it's grown up, it doesn't speak down to it's audience.
The structure and story feel like Bob Ellis (I'm sure Stephen Ramsay brought a lot to the table, I'm just not as familiar with his work). It's a solid story - from the death of John Curtin to the 1955 split. A party that reaches great heights but is torn apart by communism, Catholicism, hatred, loyalty and the ego of Doc Evatt.
Lots of yelling and carrying on. Graham Rouse is a good actor but doesn't feel like Fadden. I thought Ed Devereaux and Simon Chilvers were particularly excellent. Menzies twirls the moustache a bit too often - the piece is more successful when he's more three dimensional. There is a lot of shouty acting. Some lines feel pure Ellis, but most of the dialogue feels culled from historical books.
It's fast paced - well edited. Dramatic. Raises so many issues - what is the role of the church in politics? How does one fight a foe like communism? How much loyalty do you show an incompetent leader?
The structure and story feel like Bob Ellis (I'm sure Stephen Ramsay brought a lot to the table, I'm just not as familiar with his work). It's a solid story - from the death of John Curtin to the 1955 split. A party that reaches great heights but is torn apart by communism, Catholicism, hatred, loyalty and the ego of Doc Evatt.
Lots of yelling and carrying on. Graham Rouse is a good actor but doesn't feel like Fadden. I thought Ed Devereaux and Simon Chilvers were particularly excellent. Menzies twirls the moustache a bit too often - the piece is more successful when he's more three dimensional. There is a lot of shouty acting. Some lines feel pure Ellis, but most of the dialogue feels culled from historical books.
It's fast paced - well edited. Dramatic. Raises so many issues - what is the role of the church in politics? How does one fight a foe like communism? How much loyalty do you show an incompetent leader?
Movie review - "Mad Dog Morgan" (1976) ***
Bushranger stories never regained their pre 1912 popularity - those early films were made at a time not long after bushrangers were being captured and killed. But later works have their fans including this cult effort.
Morgan was a home grown Aussie but Philippe Mora imports Dennis Hopper and it was a marvelous stroke of luck. Hopper has X factor that someone like Martin Sheen (also considered) would have lacked.
Stunningly strong male cast - Jack Thompson, Michael Pate, Frank Thring, John Hargreaves (a little odd as a fop), Gulpilil. Female roles less strong.
Striking images. Beautifully shot. Could have been more violent to be honest. Not very suspenseful. A bit of a grab bag but consistently entertaining.
Film stacks deck very much in Morgan's favour - settlers killing Chinese, being brutal, Morgan being raped, etc - but Morgan is still a nutcase.
Morgan was a home grown Aussie but Philippe Mora imports Dennis Hopper and it was a marvelous stroke of luck. Hopper has X factor that someone like Martin Sheen (also considered) would have lacked.
Stunningly strong male cast - Jack Thompson, Michael Pate, Frank Thring, John Hargreaves (a little odd as a fop), Gulpilil. Female roles less strong.
Striking images. Beautifully shot. Could have been more violent to be honest. Not very suspenseful. A bit of a grab bag but consistently entertaining.
Film stacks deck very much in Morgan's favour - settlers killing Chinese, being brutal, Morgan being raped, etc - but Morgan is still a nutcase.
Tuesday, May 12, 2020
Movie review - "The Fringe Dwellers" (1986) ***
A film made with a lot of heart and the best intentions, it has plenty of wonderful things about it. I wish I liked it more. The good things: it's a side of aboriginal Australians even now we don't see much of, the uneasy co-existing of white and black, the family dynamics, the desire to move out of a camp into something more. No one goes out of their way to be bad, except that white blonde racist girl, but I can vouch that joke she says is 100% authentic.
The film's heart seems in the 1960s - I know "this sort of thing still goes on" - it's just the film feels like the 1960s and wish they'd just set it then, surely it didn't have to cost that much money.
On a pure craft level, I think the script is wonky - this sort of slice of life movie is hard to put off, and Beresford's skill as writer never matched his ability as director. It could have done with more narrative, romance and/or funny jokes. Maybe that would have broken the spell, I don't know - but it doesn't have much of a narrative engine.
It actually doesn't really get into Trilby's head that much - for instance the "is it my baby" scene with Ernie Dingo is filmed in long shot. I think Beresford could have milked the drama more. But maybe that's just me.
The actors are excellent - Ernie Dingo has star power but so do Justine Saunders, Bob Maza, etc. The bit players are superb.
The film's heart seems in the 1960s - I know "this sort of thing still goes on" - it's just the film feels like the 1960s and wish they'd just set it then, surely it didn't have to cost that much money.
On a pure craft level, I think the script is wonky - this sort of slice of life movie is hard to put off, and Beresford's skill as writer never matched his ability as director. It could have done with more narrative, romance and/or funny jokes. Maybe that would have broken the spell, I don't know - but it doesn't have much of a narrative engine.
It actually doesn't really get into Trilby's head that much - for instance the "is it my baby" scene with Ernie Dingo is filmed in long shot. I think Beresford could have milked the drama more. But maybe that's just me.
The actors are excellent - Ernie Dingo has star power but so do Justine Saunders, Bob Maza, etc. The bit players are superb.
Book review - "Bid Time Return" by Richard Matheson (1975)
The basis for the film Somewhere in Time. Intense, romantic, lots of gobbledy-good about time travel inspired by B Priestley which is a lot of fun (Priestley is quoted). The actress character is very one dimensional but I guess that suits the story. The writer hero is about the same. It was wonderful mood and atmosphere and you can sense why people love it. I think the film should have kept the terminal illness aspect.
Monday, May 11, 2020
Movie review - "Back of Beyond" (1954) ****
I held off watching this a long time for some reason - maybe it felt too much like a "homework" movie. But it's beautiful - very much worth watching. Clearly constructed for the cameras but obviously based in reality. It tells the story of a postman on a mail run.
Stunning images of the dunes, the abandoned homestead, the sun coming up and going down, the social life along the track.
I so wish they would've made this into a dramatic feature. Surely Rod Taylor had this in mind when making Last Bus to Banjo Creek.
Stunning images of the dunes, the abandoned homestead, the sun coming up and going down, the social life along the track.
I so wish they would've made this into a dramatic feature. Surely Rod Taylor had this in mind when making Last Bus to Banjo Creek.
Movie review - "Kangaroo" (1952) ** (re-viewing)
My take on this - Lewis Milestone didn't like the story, he wanted to change the story, he wasn't allowed to, but as a result he stuffed the story. And auterist critics gave him a pass, as auterist critics tend to do when it comes to famous directors, because they could blame "the studio".
The plot is entirely solid - there's nothing wrong with a story about someone pretending to be someone's long lost son, and falling in love with the man's daughter being being unable to do anything about it.
This movie stuffs that central situation. The man with the son (Finlay Currie) isn't rich, he owns a drought riddled property, so there's no money at stake - why would Lawford want Currie's farm? (I think Milestone got excited about the visual possibilities of drought and put it in, not thinking or caring about how that impacted the story, because he didn't care about the story.)
There's a little bit of romance between Lawford and Maureen O'Hara but not nearly enough... and no torment. Because what happens is Currie goes to O'Hara "oh he's your brother you can't be with him" then IN THE SAME SCENE Lawford goes "oh no I'm not your brother". So you've got no urst. Lawford should have turned up said "I'm your son" and then played out all that stuff... with him falling for O'Hara and not being able to make a move.
Other really solid potential story lines are thrown away - Chips Rafferty is meant to be in love with O'Hara (is that right?) but we never see him go after Lawford. (And why not a more handsome rival? Why not cast Charles Tingwell in that role?) Charles Tingwell pops up as this shady character and you think he's going to do something... but he doesn't. Why not have him as a villain in cahoots with Boone?
Richard Boone is fabulous but I think they made a mistake having him and Lawford meet instead of them being established as friends. The film seems continually uncertain how bad to make Lawford - he tries to rob Boone but fails, he's not part of the robbery.
Milestone seems only interested in sequences - a dust strewn water tower, a cattle drive, a corrborree, a battle with whips.
There's no dramatic build. No heart.
I get he didn't like the script and I haven't read the original script but it feels like he made it worse.
The plot is entirely solid - there's nothing wrong with a story about someone pretending to be someone's long lost son, and falling in love with the man's daughter being being unable to do anything about it.
This movie stuffs that central situation. The man with the son (Finlay Currie) isn't rich, he owns a drought riddled property, so there's no money at stake - why would Lawford want Currie's farm? (I think Milestone got excited about the visual possibilities of drought and put it in, not thinking or caring about how that impacted the story, because he didn't care about the story.)
There's a little bit of romance between Lawford and Maureen O'Hara but not nearly enough... and no torment. Because what happens is Currie goes to O'Hara "oh he's your brother you can't be with him" then IN THE SAME SCENE Lawford goes "oh no I'm not your brother". So you've got no urst. Lawford should have turned up said "I'm your son" and then played out all that stuff... with him falling for O'Hara and not being able to make a move.
Other really solid potential story lines are thrown away - Chips Rafferty is meant to be in love with O'Hara (is that right?) but we never see him go after Lawford. (And why not a more handsome rival? Why not cast Charles Tingwell in that role?) Charles Tingwell pops up as this shady character and you think he's going to do something... but he doesn't. Why not have him as a villain in cahoots with Boone?
Richard Boone is fabulous but I think they made a mistake having him and Lawford meet instead of them being established as friends. The film seems continually uncertain how bad to make Lawford - he tries to rob Boone but fails, he's not part of the robbery.
Milestone seems only interested in sequences - a dust strewn water tower, a cattle drive, a corrborree, a battle with whips.
There's no dramatic build. No heart.
I get he didn't like the script and I haven't read the original script but it feels like he made it worse.
Movie review - "Jedda" (1955) ****
I've seen this a bunch of times but gave it another watch - and was struck by how good it is. The one really bung note is the brownface on the guy who plays Jedda's fiance. The rest is tremendous - the script is strong, and sensible, full of melodramatic power. Maybe silly when Jedda is playing the piano hearing the "call of the wild" (a book surely influential on the Chauvels even if indirectly) but its lean, effective, without an ounce of fat.
Robert Tudawali is a tremendous star - he is electric on screen. The film has unexpected resonance in the metoo era because it's all about ownership of Jedda - she is intrigued by Tudawali but basically he abducts her.
The landscapes and photography are stunning. It's a gorgeous movie. A powerful movie. They just should have had a white man play Jedda's fiance.
Robert Tudawali is a tremendous star - he is electric on screen. The film has unexpected resonance in the metoo era because it's all about ownership of Jedda - she is intrigued by Tudawali but basically he abducts her.
The landscapes and photography are stunning. It's a gorgeous movie. A powerful movie. They just should have had a white man play Jedda's fiance.
Saturday, May 09, 2020
Movie review - "Lifeforce" (1985) **
I would've liked this more if I'd seen it as a kid - the nudity and nuttiness would have made more of an impact. Watching it years on it's another redo of Alien with a spaceship picking up some dodgy aliens... only the bulk of this is set in England in the present day. How did it cost $25 million? There's a bunch of effects at the start and the end but most of it looks drab.
Steve Railsback acts away with hammy integrity, there's too much Peter Firth and Frank Finlay. Firth becomes the hero in the second half and Raisback drops out and it's annoying. The constantly naked Mathilda May is fun It's also a hoot to see Patrick Stewart.
It has no pace and precious few scares. It's not exciting or scary or even that sexy. This should be great junky fun but I found it annoying.
Steve Railsback acts away with hammy integrity, there's too much Peter Firth and Frank Finlay. Firth becomes the hero in the second half and Raisback drops out and it's annoying. The constantly naked Mathilda May is fun It's also a hoot to see Patrick Stewart.
It has no pace and precious few scares. It's not exciting or scary or even that sexy. This should be great junky fun but I found it annoying.
Movie review - "Journey Among Women" (1977) **
The story of the making of this film is fascinating and actually more interesting than what is on screen - though it is an interesting movie. It has a fantastic premise which could have been used for exploitation as well as art house - I'm surprised no one has remade this. Or done a play/film about the making of it.
The pubic went, apparently because of nudity and some lesbianism, but maybe the public also liked a female driven story with sex and violence. It misses dramatic moments wholesale - all the elements are there, the characters, the sources of conflict (an aristocrat woman and her fiancee, conflicts within the women, a rivalry with nearby men) but it's not shaped. Scenes which should have real wallop such as the death of one young girl and the revenge of the women feel rushed over. I think Tom Cowan was better at mood and atmosphere than drama.
Some moments are very effective such as the British officer seeing his finacee running covered in mud naked in the bush. I admit I may feel that way about that scene because it involves a man.
A bold, fascinating movie that for me doesn't quite come off but is arresting.
The pubic went, apparently because of nudity and some lesbianism, but maybe the public also liked a female driven story with sex and violence. It misses dramatic moments wholesale - all the elements are there, the characters, the sources of conflict (an aristocrat woman and her fiancee, conflicts within the women, a rivalry with nearby men) but it's not shaped. Scenes which should have real wallop such as the death of one young girl and the revenge of the women feel rushed over. I think Tom Cowan was better at mood and atmosphere than drama.
Some moments are very effective such as the British officer seeing his finacee running covered in mud naked in the bush. I admit I may feel that way about that scene because it involves a man.
A bold, fascinating movie that for me doesn't quite come off but is arresting.
Friday, May 08, 2020
Movie review - "Kangaroo" (1987) **
Why did they make a film of this? I'm guessing the filmmakers went "well, DH Lawrence did this novel set in Australia... I guess we better make it..." But it feels like an adaptation of a famous text, rather than something made with passion. There seems to be no theme or emotional core.
I feel two major mistakes - Colin Friels and Judy Davis are excellent actors but this would have been better with imported actors - it would have felt fish out of water. Friels and Davis bring accents. (I stress both are fine, Davis is lovely, but it just would've been better with foreigners).
Tim Burstall once criticised Australian films for passive protagonists but Friels just hangs around watching at the end when there's a riot. He doesn't do much. There's hints at couple swapping but John Walter and Judy Davis go to bed; Julie Nihill is up for it but Friels doesn't go through with it. Friels goes for a nude swim and we get some brief full frontal and he does it on the beach with a fully clothed Judy Davis. Friels has a little bit of a crush on John Walton and Hugh Keays Bryne but not seriously, not like Alan Bates and Oliver Reed did in Women in Love.
There's a riot at the end and an assassination but it seems devoid of life. Maybe it would've played better in the trashier 70s with more sex and violence.
I feel two major mistakes - Colin Friels and Judy Davis are excellent actors but this would have been better with imported actors - it would have felt fish out of water. Friels and Davis bring accents. (I stress both are fine, Davis is lovely, but it just would've been better with foreigners).
Tim Burstall once criticised Australian films for passive protagonists but Friels just hangs around watching at the end when there's a riot. He doesn't do much. There's hints at couple swapping but John Walter and Judy Davis go to bed; Julie Nihill is up for it but Friels doesn't go through with it. Friels goes for a nude swim and we get some brief full frontal and he does it on the beach with a fully clothed Judy Davis. Friels has a little bit of a crush on John Walton and Hugh Keays Bryne but not seriously, not like Alan Bates and Oliver Reed did in Women in Love.
There's a riot at the end and an assassination but it seems devoid of life. Maybe it would've played better in the trashier 70s with more sex and violence.
Thursday, May 07, 2020
Movie review - "An Indecent Obsession" (1985) *1/2 (warning: spoilers)
I haven't read Colleen McCullough's source novel - maybe there was more to it than what we see here, but if there wasn't the source should have been changed.
The "world" is good - a hospital camp on an island just after the end of World War Two. Wendy Hughes is ideal as the nursing sister in charge of a group of odd balls, played by some excellent actors like Gary Sweet, Richard Moir, Mark Little and Bruno Lawrence.
The photography is excellent and it helps that it's been shot on location. Some of the island shots are beautiful. There's not enough of them though - too much of this feels like a play and it may as well have been shot in the studio. You don't really feel on an island - the characters could be cut off going troppo, etc. It lacks atmosphere.
It also lacks decent secrets and a spine. The whole thing should have been a murder investigation or something. Like we start with the death of Richard Moir and flash back.
The secrets feel weak - Richard Moir is a rapacious bisexual but that is telegraphed; Gary Sweet is kind of gay but not really - he kills John Sherrin (in flashback) who made a move on him and another soldier "loved" him and gets it up for Wendy Hughes. Sweet should have been gay, Hughes could have driven the investigation, or something.
There's a little but of nudity and violence but the story is muddled and it doesn't have the courage of its melodramatic convictions. There's no sense of threat - Hughes' life is never in danger. Its no tragedy she doesn't get with Sweet because he's probably gay.
It looks gorgeous. Hughes gives a fine performance as does Hunter and Sweet and Lawrence. Moir goes over the top but where else can he go. I liked Caroline Gilmer too.
Ah, what a misfire.
The "world" is good - a hospital camp on an island just after the end of World War Two. Wendy Hughes is ideal as the nursing sister in charge of a group of odd balls, played by some excellent actors like Gary Sweet, Richard Moir, Mark Little and Bruno Lawrence.
The photography is excellent and it helps that it's been shot on location. Some of the island shots are beautiful. There's not enough of them though - too much of this feels like a play and it may as well have been shot in the studio. You don't really feel on an island - the characters could be cut off going troppo, etc. It lacks atmosphere.
It also lacks decent secrets and a spine. The whole thing should have been a murder investigation or something. Like we start with the death of Richard Moir and flash back.
The secrets feel weak - Richard Moir is a rapacious bisexual but that is telegraphed; Gary Sweet is kind of gay but not really - he kills John Sherrin (in flashback) who made a move on him and another soldier "loved" him and gets it up for Wendy Hughes. Sweet should have been gay, Hughes could have driven the investigation, or something.
There's a little but of nudity and violence but the story is muddled and it doesn't have the courage of its melodramatic convictions. There's no sense of threat - Hughes' life is never in danger. Its no tragedy she doesn't get with Sweet because he's probably gay.
It looks gorgeous. Hughes gives a fine performance as does Hunter and Sweet and Lawrence. Moir goes over the top but where else can he go. I liked Caroline Gilmer too.
Ah, what a misfire.
Tuesday, May 05, 2020
Movie review - "Summer of the Seventeenth Doll" (1959) ** (warning: spoilers)
The sh*tness of this version really gets to me. Why did it have to be so bad? I mean, I guess they tried. But it's bad.
The play was very effective. Simple. Didn't have to cost a lot. Nothing wrong with setting it in Sydney. I get they wanted things like the Harbour and Luna Park.
But they stuffed the structure. They don't set up Bubba and the boys, there's a weird middle section where Roo has a fight with the wrestler and Dowd is all forgiving. And the ending is shocking - Roo makes up with Barney and then Roo and Olive seem to reconcile. The piece loses all its power.
The acting is bad. Burt Lancaster and Rita Hayworth would've been great... if they didn't want to do it then surely it could have been reworked for Peter Finch who did The Shiralee with Leslie Norman. He was a good enough actor to act older.
Ernest Borgnine and John Mills can act but they just feel wrong - they never seem like mates. Anne Baxter and Angela Lansbury are also fine actors but they struggle with their accents. They seem so uncomfortable. Vincent Ball and Janette Craig aren't very good as the young ones - they're fine, but I wished at least Rod Taylor (who had done a movie for HHL) had the role.
"The Americans" copped the blame for this but I think it was more the British.
The play was very effective. Simple. Didn't have to cost a lot. Nothing wrong with setting it in Sydney. I get they wanted things like the Harbour and Luna Park.
But they stuffed the structure. They don't set up Bubba and the boys, there's a weird middle section where Roo has a fight with the wrestler and Dowd is all forgiving. And the ending is shocking - Roo makes up with Barney and then Roo and Olive seem to reconcile. The piece loses all its power.
The acting is bad. Burt Lancaster and Rita Hayworth would've been great... if they didn't want to do it then surely it could have been reworked for Peter Finch who did The Shiralee with Leslie Norman. He was a good enough actor to act older.
Ernest Borgnine and John Mills can act but they just feel wrong - they never seem like mates. Anne Baxter and Angela Lansbury are also fine actors but they struggle with their accents. They seem so uncomfortable. Vincent Ball and Janette Craig aren't very good as the young ones - they're fine, but I wished at least Rod Taylor (who had done a movie for HHL) had the role.
"The Americans" copped the blame for this but I think it was more the British.
Monday, May 04, 2020
Script review - "Close to the Roof" by Rex Rienits (1960)
A 1960 TV play Rienits, a copy of which is in the National Archives of Australia. It's a strong basic set up - two crims hide out after a robbery in the attic of an old Greek. There's some awful on the nose expository dialogue to start things off with the two kids of the old Greek but it picks up - all the characters are distinct, I like how it touches on the immigrant wishing he was at home, and it builds until the final shoot out. You actually didn't need to cut away to pool halls. Dramatically very sound.
Book review - "Gallows on the Sand" by Morris West (1955) (warning: spoilers)
West's first novel published under his own name I believe - apparently written in six days or something. Well the prose is very assured - he was clearly doing some prose writing. This shows Wests's background in radio work - the plotting is tight, but there's a lot of dialogue.
Its also over reliant on tropes from movies - the widower hero, the villainous gangster who wants the treasure "just 'cause", the sexy white girl on the island who hooks up, not one but two loyal non Anglo friends including one who gives up his life for the group.
There is some interesting research on how to look for treasure in 1950s Queensland and decent descriptions of diving but the story wasn't that great. I think the girl should have been more involved other than as "the girl" and there needed to be another villain, like someone the main baddy hired.
Still I did enjoy reading it.
Its also over reliant on tropes from movies - the widower hero, the villainous gangster who wants the treasure "just 'cause", the sexy white girl on the island who hooks up, not one but two loyal non Anglo friends including one who gives up his life for the group.
There is some interesting research on how to look for treasure in 1950s Queensland and decent descriptions of diving but the story wasn't that great. I think the girl should have been more involved other than as "the girl" and there needed to be another villain, like someone the main baddy hired.
Still I did enjoy reading it.
Movie review - "The Big Sleep" (1978) **1/2
Michael Winner was always going to cop it coming up against Howard Hawks and Raymond Chandler - he did have Robert Mitchum in his corner, plus a more faithful rendering of the novel, but did not help his case by setting it in England yet keeping so many Americans. They just could have made them English. One expat American!
Winner was very good at pace, at getting films done under budget, and shoving his films full of good actors. His respect for Chandler helps keep this surprisingly watchable - the pace of it spanked along. I never quite got used to Mitchum in England - Mitchum felt too old anyway for someone who is meant to be irresistible to Candy Clark and Sarah Miles.
Both did kind of look kinky. Winner throws in gay kissing which was in the book, and some nudity and porn which was in the book too.
Joan Collins is great fun in her role as is Edward Fox. I loved Oliver Reed and Richard Boone. John Mills is a bit of a nothing as the cop. Sara Miles was... I guess weird. Candy Clark tries in a difficult role. It was sad to see James Stewart. Joan Collins could have played Miles' role and she would've been terrific- but Miles does bring an eccentricity to the part.
Winner was very good at pace, at getting films done under budget, and shoving his films full of good actors. His respect for Chandler helps keep this surprisingly watchable - the pace of it spanked along. I never quite got used to Mitchum in England - Mitchum felt too old anyway for someone who is meant to be irresistible to Candy Clark and Sarah Miles.
Both did kind of look kinky. Winner throws in gay kissing which was in the book, and some nudity and porn which was in the book too.
Joan Collins is great fun in her role as is Edward Fox. I loved Oliver Reed and Richard Boone. John Mills is a bit of a nothing as the cop. Sara Miles was... I guess weird. Candy Clark tries in a difficult role. It was sad to see James Stewart. Joan Collins could have played Miles' role and she would've been terrific- but Miles does bring an eccentricity to the part.
Movie review - "The Conversation" (1974) *** (warning spoilers)
Much to admire - I wonder if it's been over praised. Gene Hackman is excellent as the surveillance man who gets in over his head. It has a sweaty aura of paranoia but isn't as good as something like The Parallax View.
The story has one decent twist - they're not victims they're protagonists. It has a superb support cast including John Cazale, Teri Garr, Allen Garfield, Harrison Ford (very spooky), Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest, Cindy Williams. Excellent music and photography and of course sound.
Maybe too long?
The story has one decent twist - they're not victims they're protagonists. It has a superb support cast including John Cazale, Teri Garr, Allen Garfield, Harrison Ford (very spooky), Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest, Cindy Williams. Excellent music and photography and of course sound.
Maybe too long?
TV series - "Whiplash" (1960-61) final four episodes
"Love Story in Gold" - fun episode with an outlandish premise...Graves is lured to a valley where he's forced to marry a woman who is the daughter of a convict. Neva Carr Glynn is great value as the materfamilias. Written by James Clavell! Margaret Newhill is the girl. The heart goes out of this when Glynn dies... you expect a big show down with the psycho but it never happens.
"The Secret of the Screaming Hills" - Graves gets a treasure map from a dying man. Some weird arse scenes digging in the desert with "ooh-ee-ooh" soounds. Felt slightly undercooked. Maybe I'm just getting over it. Third last ep. Reg Livermore is in this. Ken Goodlet. A few others. Too many others. These eps were better with only two or three guesties.
"Act of Courage" - Guy Doleman is back in another baddie role, a sundowner putting the moves on windowed mother Margo Lee, who has a kid Hondo style, Brett Hard. It's very Western style with Graves going to give evidence in a trial, "the Stewart brothers" wanting to stop him, the widowed marm. Ric Hutton is in it. Written by Hollywood writer, female Gerry Day. The female influence is felt in putting Lee's character front and centre and also Doleman's enigmatic anti hero. The American influence comes in it being such an American story. The central situation could have had more tension.
"The Adelaide Arabs" - Graves gets robbed by some masked men. Strong cast including Chips Rafferty, Walter Pym. Nice to have horses. It was a little underwhelming though there's some decent action at the end and I always like Rafferty.
"The Secret of the Screaming Hills" - Graves gets a treasure map from a dying man. Some weird arse scenes digging in the desert with "ooh-ee-ooh" soounds. Felt slightly undercooked. Maybe I'm just getting over it. Third last ep. Reg Livermore is in this. Ken Goodlet. A few others. Too many others. These eps were better with only two or three guesties.
"Act of Courage" - Guy Doleman is back in another baddie role, a sundowner putting the moves on windowed mother Margo Lee, who has a kid Hondo style, Brett Hard. It's very Western style with Graves going to give evidence in a trial, "the Stewart brothers" wanting to stop him, the widowed marm. Ric Hutton is in it. Written by Hollywood writer, female Gerry Day. The female influence is felt in putting Lee's character front and centre and also Doleman's enigmatic anti hero. The American influence comes in it being such an American story. The central situation could have had more tension.
"The Adelaide Arabs" - Graves gets robbed by some masked men. Strong cast including Chips Rafferty, Walter Pym. Nice to have horses. It was a little underwhelming though there's some decent action at the end and I always like Rafferty.
TV series "Whiplash" (1960-61) six more episodes ***
"Storm River" - Graves winds up at a deserted homestead where a hot woman (Anette Andre) dreams of escaping to the city to be a designer but is kidnapped basically by oppressive Grant Taylor and Taylor's dimwit son. Solid acting - Andre is gorgeous and went on to have a decent career in London. I like how Taylor was a frustrated writer. There's scenes in the swamps with canoes which is different. Graves reveals he went to Harvard!
"Flood Tide" - Graves gets holed up over night in a spooky mansion with a woman (Shirley Broadway). A man turns up, Barry Linehan... and he, or her, or both, might be insane. This was a terrific ep. Different but creepy. Less characters = more time for characterisations.
"Dilemma in Wool" - Graves and his bland offsider transport a Spanish couple. I liked the Spanish connection - Nigel Lovell is another one - but there's too much accent acting. It's a dull episode - I didn''t care, there's little action. I did like the reference to the merino industry.
"Dark Runs the Sea" - Annette Andre is back as a woman who gets kidnapped by a bushranger... only it seems there may be more to it. Guy Doleman is also back as the bushranger as is heavy set Joe McCormick as Andre's uncle. I like the cockatoo on the guys's head. Andre is flirty and a bit of a femme fetale - there was a misogynist strand through alot of these shows, as was typical of the time - but she isn't all bad. She's fun - I wish Graves had been more in to her. There's an excellent fist fight at the end between Graves and Doleman on location at a waterfall.
"Magic Wire" - the one about the laying of the telegraph, a popular trope in Westerns. Robert Tudawali offers star power - it is a little disconcerting to see him continually popping up as different characters. Decent ep with whites mistreating blacks and then blaming them - all too believable.
"The Haunted Valley" - Bettina Welch is back in a different role. Ron Whelan from old Cinesound movies pops up. This is a more creepy noir-ish episode with Welch as a sort of femme fetale. Not bad.
"Flood Tide" - Graves gets holed up over night in a spooky mansion with a woman (Shirley Broadway). A man turns up, Barry Linehan... and he, or her, or both, might be insane. This was a terrific ep. Different but creepy. Less characters = more time for characterisations.
"Dilemma in Wool" - Graves and his bland offsider transport a Spanish couple. I liked the Spanish connection - Nigel Lovell is another one - but there's too much accent acting. It's a dull episode - I didn''t care, there's little action. I did like the reference to the merino industry.
"Dark Runs the Sea" - Annette Andre is back as a woman who gets kidnapped by a bushranger... only it seems there may be more to it. Guy Doleman is also back as the bushranger as is heavy set Joe McCormick as Andre's uncle. I like the cockatoo on the guys's head. Andre is flirty and a bit of a femme fetale - there was a misogynist strand through alot of these shows, as was typical of the time - but she isn't all bad. She's fun - I wish Graves had been more in to her. There's an excellent fist fight at the end between Graves and Doleman on location at a waterfall.
"Magic Wire" - the one about the laying of the telegraph, a popular trope in Westerns. Robert Tudawali offers star power - it is a little disconcerting to see him continually popping up as different characters. Decent ep with whites mistreating blacks and then blaming them - all too believable.
"The Haunted Valley" - Bettina Welch is back in a different role. Ron Whelan from old Cinesound movies pops up. This is a more creepy noir-ish episode with Welch as a sort of femme fetale. Not bad.
Sunday, May 03, 2020
TV series - "Whiplash" (1960-61) another six episodes ***
"Fire Rock" - one of Graves' assistants disappears in aboriginal grounds. His sexy wife Delia Williams asks Graves for help. This is a fun episode. Robert Tudawali has a decent sized part as an aboriginal helping track them - he's cut off from his tribe so has an arc. Wiliams overacts a little as Messalina in the outback but is a lot of fun and has an over the top death dying in boiling mud. Spooky aboriginal exoticism.
"The Hunters" - an adaptation of Morris West's novel The Naked Country. It's ideal because that novel was short and simple... the pursuit of a rancher (Philip Ross) by an aboriginal with Graves stepping in as the policeman. Bettina Welch is the frustrated wife who goes along to help trap him down. This features the two leading aboriginal actors of the era- Henry Murdoch and Robert Tudawali. Impressive sets of the cave at the end.
"Stage Freight" - highly enjoyable Stagecoach esque drama with Graves escorting a group of people and he's worried that a man and a woman who are murderers may be among the passengers. The group include an actress, an undertaker smuggling sly grog, a couple breaking up. Good tension; Margot Lee is tremendous fun as an actress. Written by Australian Ralph Peterson.
"Portrait in Gunpowder" - Graves escorts a French painter, Therese Talbert, across country. She has a lovely romance with Graves, because both feel like equals. To make it better they wind up hostages by Stuart Wagstaff's gentlemen bushranger. This was fun. I loved how Wagstaff had to deal with his bogan bushranger helpers.
"Ribbons and Wheels" - Aussie writer Ralph Peterson came up with a strong idea: a former driver of Graves (Tom Farley) has gone to work for a shady rival coach line run by Grant Taylor. They use "passing off" to compete. It ends with a race. Fine fun - I wish Taylor's part had been bigger.
"The Wreckers" - I was wondering when Guy Doleman would turn up and here he is, as a bushranger who takes over the coach for nefarious means. Graves enlists Robert Tudawali. Despite him this feels very American but there's plenty of action and decent acting.
"The Hunters" - an adaptation of Morris West's novel The Naked Country. It's ideal because that novel was short and simple... the pursuit of a rancher (Philip Ross) by an aboriginal with Graves stepping in as the policeman. Bettina Welch is the frustrated wife who goes along to help trap him down. This features the two leading aboriginal actors of the era- Henry Murdoch and Robert Tudawali. Impressive sets of the cave at the end.
"Stage Freight" - highly enjoyable Stagecoach esque drama with Graves escorting a group of people and he's worried that a man and a woman who are murderers may be among the passengers. The group include an actress, an undertaker smuggling sly grog, a couple breaking up. Good tension; Margot Lee is tremendous fun as an actress. Written by Australian Ralph Peterson.
"Portrait in Gunpowder" - Graves escorts a French painter, Therese Talbert, across country. She has a lovely romance with Graves, because both feel like equals. To make it better they wind up hostages by Stuart Wagstaff's gentlemen bushranger. This was fun. I loved how Wagstaff had to deal with his bogan bushranger helpers.
"Ribbons and Wheels" - Aussie writer Ralph Peterson came up with a strong idea: a former driver of Graves (Tom Farley) has gone to work for a shady rival coach line run by Grant Taylor. They use "passing off" to compete. It ends with a race. Fine fun - I wish Taylor's part had been bigger.
"The Wreckers" - I was wondering when Guy Doleman would turn up and here he is, as a bushranger who takes over the coach for nefarious means. Graves enlists Robert Tudawali. Despite him this feels very American but there's plenty of action and decent acting.
TV series - "Whiplash" (1960-61) six more episodes ***
"Sarong" - decent drama just geographically weird. Graves gets involved escorting women across country - they are a multi cultural bunch including an Indian and a Malay. Graves gets shot and left for dead... they wind up at a compound run by a despot who uses them for pearl diving. The pearl diving aspect is weird but in terms of action and twists this is good - Gene Rodenberry wrote it. Great to see multi cultural women even if they are "me want help you" types. Ending implies Graves is going to root them all. The villain is Joe McCormick who was the baddy in "Escape from Bathurst". A climax involves sharks.
"Stage for Two" - Graves has a bromance with an outlaw (Leonard Teale) being chased by other outlaws and the police. It allows for a decent relationship to emerge between Teale and Graves - Teale is a strong actor, which that superb voice, and he has a three dimensional part. Large death toll as usual!
"The Bone That Whispered" - there were a number of aboriginal themed episodes of this show. Graves goes looking for a white man who is the father of a little girl whose mother has died. The man is living with the aborigines, covered in boot polish - the third time I've seen that on this show (one was actually playing an aboriginal). Nigel Lovell is the man.
"Day of the Hunter" - real old style Western tale with Chips Rafferty as a poor but plucky squatter being picked on by vicious land owner Max Osbiston. Just thinking about it, this show would be better if Rafferty had played Graves' sidekick. Rachel Lloyd is the girl. No romance with Graves though. Rafferty's role is quite small. The third act involves Graves and his mates going through an ancient aboriginal land which involves Graves showing off his skill with a boomerang. Henry Murdoch is in this.
"The Canoomba Incident" - Graves and his partner set up shop at a town where all the men have gone to a gold rush. That's an excellent idea. Lew Luton is back as a bushranger - a different character. They don't do enough with the woman angle though there is a female bushranger. No romance for Graves but some for his offsider (with Janette Craig). They fall in love in one scene. Really that should have been enough for an episode - a sister who bushranged... the all female town idea was worthy of its own episode and is thrown away.
"The Rushing Sands" - a veteran coach driver wants to kill the person responsible for killing his son. There's talk of "the best gunman" and scenes in jail cells... it feels particularly American. Good acting from people like Gordon Glenwright and Nevil Thurgood. The strenght of this is the acting.
"Stage for Two" - Graves has a bromance with an outlaw (Leonard Teale) being chased by other outlaws and the police. It allows for a decent relationship to emerge between Teale and Graves - Teale is a strong actor, which that superb voice, and he has a three dimensional part. Large death toll as usual!
"The Bone That Whispered" - there were a number of aboriginal themed episodes of this show. Graves goes looking for a white man who is the father of a little girl whose mother has died. The man is living with the aborigines, covered in boot polish - the third time I've seen that on this show (one was actually playing an aboriginal). Nigel Lovell is the man.
"Day of the Hunter" - real old style Western tale with Chips Rafferty as a poor but plucky squatter being picked on by vicious land owner Max Osbiston. Just thinking about it, this show would be better if Rafferty had played Graves' sidekick. Rachel Lloyd is the girl. No romance with Graves though. Rafferty's role is quite small. The third act involves Graves and his mates going through an ancient aboriginal land which involves Graves showing off his skill with a boomerang. Henry Murdoch is in this.
"The Canoomba Incident" - Graves and his partner set up shop at a town where all the men have gone to a gold rush. That's an excellent idea. Lew Luton is back as a bushranger - a different character. They don't do enough with the woman angle though there is a female bushranger. No romance for Graves but some for his offsider (with Janette Craig). They fall in love in one scene. Really that should have been enough for an episode - a sister who bushranged... the all female town idea was worthy of its own episode and is thrown away.
"The Rushing Sands" - a veteran coach driver wants to kill the person responsible for killing his son. There's talk of "the best gunman" and scenes in jail cells... it feels particularly American. Good acting from people like Gordon Glenwright and Nevil Thurgood. The strenght of this is the acting.
Saturday, May 02, 2020
Book review - "Kundu" by Morris West (1956)
I really enjoyed this novel - I get that it was problematic but it's extremely well written, it seems strongly researched, and it's outrageous dramatic fun. You can sense West wrote a lot of trashy radio serials and liked the movies.
It's about the shenanigans in the New Guinea Highlands when that country was an Australian trusteeship. An ex-Nazi doctor has plans to recruit the local natives and become a leader (the Claude Rains role), his horny wife is a sex bomb who all the whites fall in love with but who is quite sympathetic being a victim of the Nazis (the Ava Gardner part), a drunken Englishman across gossip (the Thomas Mitchell part), a toff-nosed English coffee merchant (the George Sanders/Vincent Price part), the anthropologist (the skinny-character-actor part), the fresh faced Aussie officer (the Charles Tingwell as he was then part), the wise old priest (the Barry Fitzgerald part), the native girl hot for the German and the evil sorcerer (either played by actors in black face or inexperienced locals).... and then a heroic Australian officer who only pops up in the last third (the Robert Stack part). This random Aussie coming along to save the day only appearing at the end, and having Ava Gardner love him all along, felt weird... this felt like West made him up on the spot.
The film probably could have increased its death toll, and the attitudes are of the 1950s, but I loved its prose, and action.
It's about the shenanigans in the New Guinea Highlands when that country was an Australian trusteeship. An ex-Nazi doctor has plans to recruit the local natives and become a leader (the Claude Rains role), his horny wife is a sex bomb who all the whites fall in love with but who is quite sympathetic being a victim of the Nazis (the Ava Gardner part), a drunken Englishman across gossip (the Thomas Mitchell part), a toff-nosed English coffee merchant (the George Sanders/Vincent Price part), the anthropologist (the skinny-character-actor part), the fresh faced Aussie officer (the Charles Tingwell as he was then part), the wise old priest (the Barry Fitzgerald part), the native girl hot for the German and the evil sorcerer (either played by actors in black face or inexperienced locals).... and then a heroic Australian officer who only pops up in the last third (the Robert Stack part). This random Aussie coming along to save the day only appearing at the end, and having Ava Gardner love him all along, felt weird... this felt like West made him up on the spot.
The film probably could have increased its death toll, and the attitudes are of the 1950s, but I loved its prose, and action.
Book review - "The Naked Country" by Morris West (1958)
I really enjoyed this. It's a pot boiler to be sure but it's very well written. The description of action in particular. Also, it has a strong sense of place and there's always something going on - West's radio training in particular. It is a novel of its time - the aboriginals are savages - but at least they have dimension.
It's the sort of book I can imagine Tony Abbott enjoying - a bit pervy in a Catholic way (the breasts of the natives, a horny neglected housewife), macho man getting redemption by being speared, the dogged policeman who wants to have sex with the wife but also does his duty, men being manly, communing with the natives but also bossing over them, sacrificing your love to do the right thing.
It plunges into the action straight away with the rancher Dillon being speared. The makers of the film said the female character wasn't much but to me her journey is clear - she's neglected, lonely, and this experience flings her to the policeman but then out of it she grows up and takes over the running of the station. That's how they should have made the movie - more of her story, with her growing up and falling in love with the territory.
I've got to say I enjoyed it a lot - the pace was quick, the action intense. You can see why it played well in Europe with its sexy tormented whites and exotic native fauna and why so many people were interested in turning it into a film. A film would have to make a clearer version over whether the rancher and the policeman were good or bad though... and should have given the action to the wife.
It's the sort of book I can imagine Tony Abbott enjoying - a bit pervy in a Catholic way (the breasts of the natives, a horny neglected housewife), macho man getting redemption by being speared, the dogged policeman who wants to have sex with the wife but also does his duty, men being manly, communing with the natives but also bossing over them, sacrificing your love to do the right thing.
It plunges into the action straight away with the rancher Dillon being speared. The makers of the film said the female character wasn't much but to me her journey is clear - she's neglected, lonely, and this experience flings her to the policeman but then out of it she grows up and takes over the running of the station. That's how they should have made the movie - more of her story, with her growing up and falling in love with the territory.
I've got to say I enjoyed it a lot - the pace was quick, the action intense. You can see why it played well in Europe with its sexy tormented whites and exotic native fauna and why so many people were interested in turning it into a film. A film would have to make a clearer version over whether the rancher and the policeman were good or bad though... and should have given the action to the wife.
Movie review - "Won Ton Ton the Dog That Saved Hollywood" (1976) *
Michael Winner wasn't known for being the king of comedy, though he did make The Jokers. Winner blamed Bruce Dern for a lot of the film's failure - he's not Mr Laughs either. He's definitely not up to Madeleine Kahn who is lots of fun - also spot on is Teri Garr who I wish had a bigger part.
On one hand I enjoyed the old person cameos but it did make the film feel old. Cameos are fun but everyone was elderly. It made the whole movie smell old time-y.
Winner keeps everything at a fast pace but there's an air of desperation about it. The movie has no heart. The Jokers had heart because it was about brothers and a world that Winner knew about. He's removed from 1920s Los Angeles. There's no warmth.
The film should have focused on the dog and its relationship with Kahn, but everything feels surface. Kahn is fun but looking at it, she's too broad. She plays it like a support part. Teri Garr would have been better in her role with Kahn in support. Or have Kahn play Dern's role. There were some female directors. But that was probably too much for the filmmakers. Maybe Michael Crawford would have worked in Dern's role.
I laughed at some bits like the dog trying to hang himself. But this felt too much like a movie where they went for laughs without thinking of the point - and the laughs aren't of sufficient quality. They're not Mel Brooks.
There's a good movie to be made in the story of Rin Tin Tin. But the satire is too broad. The filmmakers get bored with the dog and keep changing focus - Rob Liebman takes over the movie at one stage playing a Valentino type. Mad cap in the worst way.
Still, I've seen it now, at least.
On one hand I enjoyed the old person cameos but it did make the film feel old. Cameos are fun but everyone was elderly. It made the whole movie smell old time-y.
Winner keeps everything at a fast pace but there's an air of desperation about it. The movie has no heart. The Jokers had heart because it was about brothers and a world that Winner knew about. He's removed from 1920s Los Angeles. There's no warmth.
The film should have focused on the dog and its relationship with Kahn, but everything feels surface. Kahn is fun but looking at it, she's too broad. She plays it like a support part. Teri Garr would have been better in her role with Kahn in support. Or have Kahn play Dern's role. There were some female directors. But that was probably too much for the filmmakers. Maybe Michael Crawford would have worked in Dern's role.
I laughed at some bits like the dog trying to hang himself. But this felt too much like a movie where they went for laughs without thinking of the point - and the laughs aren't of sufficient quality. They're not Mel Brooks.
There's a good movie to be made in the story of Rin Tin Tin. But the satire is too broad. The filmmakers get bored with the dog and keep changing focus - Rob Liebman takes over the movie at one stage playing a Valentino type. Mad cap in the worst way.
Still, I've seen it now, at least.
TV Series - "Whiplash (1960-61) Another six episodes ***
"The Legacy" - Peter Graves goes and visits a creepy old man Moray Powell. Betty Lucas is fun as a former maid who inherits a property that Graves wants to buy... only it really belongs to an aboriginal, the former owner's old adopted son... played by Reg Livermore in brown face. Well, brown body really. This is unfortunately. They hint at romance between Graves and Lucas but he's really keen to get rid of her and get Livermore running the place, running horses for Graves. Livermore plays an amiable child boy. But still it does have a plot about whites trying to con aboriginals out of land. Graves shoots Powell dead - I think Graves killed at least one person an episode.
"Barbed Wire" the always reliable Grant Taylor is a Western style baron who torments a plucky small landholder. A strong episode. Eric Reiman is a henchman of Taylors who engages in a whip duel with Graves - like in Rangle River and Kangaroo - and even better Robert Tudawali is a tracked for Taylor. Tudawali's presence is electric. The final resolution isn't entirely interesting and the story feels American but it's entertaining.
"The Twisted Road". Ben Gabriel is being transported to Brisbane (!) on a charge of murder, doctor Tom Farley is coming along to prove his innocence. They big up Rachel Lloyd. I liked this one - Farley is a beloved doctor who actually hates his patients leading to murder. Farley is an excellent actor.
"Dutchman's Reef". Queenie Ashton hires Graves to find her son, Leonard Teale , who has run off to live with aboriginals. Teale is covered in brown make up. This is silly but works on its own terms. Robert Tudawali is in this briefly.
"Divide and Conquer" Graves helps Harry Dearth look for a pass through a mountain range and comes across some vicious bushrangers led by Owen Weingott; Colin Croft was just joined the gang. Noted aboriginal actor Henry Murdoch pops up in this as a black tracker. This is a good episode - I think the makers were helped by the fact it was an American ish story but it does feel as though it works in Australia. Excellent work from Weingott and Croft, the latter as a more literate crook.
"The Remittance Man" - great fun with Stewart Wagstaff perfect as a gentleman bushranger. The character of Graves' sidekick, the younger kid, is undeveloped in this series. I mean the actor is fine... but more could have been done with it. He would have been better off as a comic relief style character or a woman... or a more wild, hot blooded character. Instead he plays it in the same dead pan style as Graves. I enjoyed Graves' relationship with Wagstaff.
"Barbed Wire" the always reliable Grant Taylor is a Western style baron who torments a plucky small landholder. A strong episode. Eric Reiman is a henchman of Taylors who engages in a whip duel with Graves - like in Rangle River and Kangaroo - and even better Robert Tudawali is a tracked for Taylor. Tudawali's presence is electric. The final resolution isn't entirely interesting and the story feels American but it's entertaining.
"The Twisted Road". Ben Gabriel is being transported to Brisbane (!) on a charge of murder, doctor Tom Farley is coming along to prove his innocence. They big up Rachel Lloyd. I liked this one - Farley is a beloved doctor who actually hates his patients leading to murder. Farley is an excellent actor.
"Dutchman's Reef". Queenie Ashton hires Graves to find her son, Leonard Teale , who has run off to live with aboriginals. Teale is covered in brown make up. This is silly but works on its own terms. Robert Tudawali is in this briefly.
"Divide and Conquer" Graves helps Harry Dearth look for a pass through a mountain range and comes across some vicious bushrangers led by Owen Weingott; Colin Croft was just joined the gang. Noted aboriginal actor Henry Murdoch pops up in this as a black tracker. This is a good episode - I think the makers were helped by the fact it was an American ish story but it does feel as though it works in Australia. Excellent work from Weingott and Croft, the latter as a more literate crook.
"The Remittance Man" - great fun with Stewart Wagstaff perfect as a gentleman bushranger. The character of Graves' sidekick, the younger kid, is undeveloped in this series. I mean the actor is fine... but more could have been done with it. He would have been better off as a comic relief style character or a woman... or a more wild, hot blooded character. Instead he plays it in the same dead pan style as Graves. I enjoyed Graves' relationship with Wagstaff.
Friday, May 01, 2020
TV review - "Whiplash" (1960-61) - six episodes ***
The meat pie Western financed by Americans set in Australia with Peter Graves running a stagecoach. Not a bad idea and not a bad series. Fascinating for Australians.
"Solid Gold Brigade" - the first episode filmed, apparently. Written by Don Ingalls. For a meat pie Western there's a lot of scenes on the coast. Graves is body surfing on the way to Fury Creek when he's shot and left for dead by villain John Gray who impersonates him. Gray kills a lot of people - like about five or something. Decent ep. Lots of scenes by the beach. Aussie miners try to lynch Graves.
"The Actress" - the opening bit plays tribute to Oz actors like Judith anderson, Merle Oberon, Errol Flynn and Peter Finch. There's strolling playes. Graves has a girlfriend played by Cherie Butlin. Written by Gene Rodenberry. Jennifer Jayne is an actress Lew Luton a bushranger. I liked the parallels between bushranging and acting that are drawn - they could have more fun with the strolling players. There's another attempted lynching here. I did like how the girl realised she wanted to be an actor and didn't go off with the guy.
"Episode in Bathurst" - three brothers take over Bathurst and run riot. The brothers are Texan and this feels very American with outlaws running riot and it being unconvincingly explained that the constabulary is away. There's a shoot out between Graves and Richard Meikle with Graves wins via the help of a nearby boomerang hanging on a wall! There's a final shoot out in the main street of town... where Graves uses a whip to smack the gun out of his hands which feels awfully risky for a strategy. Joe McCormick is a decent baddy. It's cool to hear Aussie accents.
"The Other Side of the Swan" - Graves is asked to look for the brother of the governor of Victoria who is wanted for murder. Nigel Lovell is in this. And Reg Lye and Margo Lee.
"Convict Town" - an intriguing set up... Alex Cann runs a small township of ex convicts. His son Dan wants a new life and leaves the town... Dan became a regular on the show. Not a terribly dynamic actor but not bad. It's a decent ep, very American in feel but at least it pays attention to Australia's convict past.
"Rider on the Hill" - this is such a violent show... in the first few minutes bushrangers cause Peter Graves' coach to crash and he shoots dead two bushrangers. Graves is then sent a death stick from the "abos". There's an aboriginal actor in the cast. Delia Williams was the girl. Gordon Glenwright is one of the guys. This is actually a well plotted decent story - there's plenty going on. It's treatment of aboriginality is a little ripe, to put it politely, but at least it is there.
"Solid Gold Brigade" - the first episode filmed, apparently. Written by Don Ingalls. For a meat pie Western there's a lot of scenes on the coast. Graves is body surfing on the way to Fury Creek when he's shot and left for dead by villain John Gray who impersonates him. Gray kills a lot of people - like about five or something. Decent ep. Lots of scenes by the beach. Aussie miners try to lynch Graves.
"The Actress" - the opening bit plays tribute to Oz actors like Judith anderson, Merle Oberon, Errol Flynn and Peter Finch. There's strolling playes. Graves has a girlfriend played by Cherie Butlin. Written by Gene Rodenberry. Jennifer Jayne is an actress Lew Luton a bushranger. I liked the parallels between bushranging and acting that are drawn - they could have more fun with the strolling players. There's another attempted lynching here. I did like how the girl realised she wanted to be an actor and didn't go off with the guy.
"Episode in Bathurst" - three brothers take over Bathurst and run riot. The brothers are Texan and this feels very American with outlaws running riot and it being unconvincingly explained that the constabulary is away. There's a shoot out between Graves and Richard Meikle with Graves wins via the help of a nearby boomerang hanging on a wall! There's a final shoot out in the main street of town... where Graves uses a whip to smack the gun out of his hands which feels awfully risky for a strategy. Joe McCormick is a decent baddy. It's cool to hear Aussie accents.
"The Other Side of the Swan" - Graves is asked to look for the brother of the governor of Victoria who is wanted for murder. Nigel Lovell is in this. And Reg Lye and Margo Lee.
"Convict Town" - an intriguing set up... Alex Cann runs a small township of ex convicts. His son Dan wants a new life and leaves the town... Dan became a regular on the show. Not a terribly dynamic actor but not bad. It's a decent ep, very American in feel but at least it pays attention to Australia's convict past.
"Rider on the Hill" - this is such a violent show... in the first few minutes bushrangers cause Peter Graves' coach to crash and he shoots dead two bushrangers. Graves is then sent a death stick from the "abos". There's an aboriginal actor in the cast. Delia Williams was the girl. Gordon Glenwright is one of the guys. This is actually a well plotted decent story - there's plenty going on. It's treatment of aboriginality is a little ripe, to put it politely, but at least it is there.
Movie review - "Lovers and Luggers" (1937) *** (re-viewing)
The central concept for this film is so silly - chase after a pearl so a woman will have sex with you. I mean that's just dumb. Sorry. But once this gets going it's fine albeit with the racial attitudes of the time. There's lovely camraderie on the island, Lloyd Hughes, a decent hero (though not really a believable composer) making friends. James Ragland looking emanciated, Shirley Ann Richards walking around in mens clothing, Alec Kellaway being nearly unrecognisable. Enjoyable atmosphere, I think Ken Hall was more impressed by the back projection than audiences today are lieble to be.
Movie review - "Appointment with Death" (1988) ***
There's not a lot of kind words for this late period Peter Ustinov Poirot... in part because I guess Michael Winner directed it but also because it was Cannon Films and the cast lacks real star power. There's nothing wrong with Carrie Fisher, Laren Bacall, Hayley Mills, Jenny Seagrove, David Soul... but really every part needed to be played by someone at that level, there's too many unknown.
It's got to be said though the acting is pretty good - it's fun to see Ustinov doing his thing, and Gielgud, and Piper Laurie being a bitch, and Bacall being a bitch, skinny Carrie Fisher. I enjoyed the Israeli locations and period touches like the discussion of Palestine and Mrs Simpson. It moves fast and Christie narratives kick in during the second half as they tend to do. Like most Winner movies it's very fast. It does lack star power but this was unfairly picked on.
It's got to be said though the acting is pretty good - it's fun to see Ustinov doing his thing, and Gielgud, and Piper Laurie being a bitch, and Bacall being a bitch, skinny Carrie Fisher. I enjoyed the Israeli locations and period touches like the discussion of Palestine and Mrs Simpson. It moves fast and Christie narratives kick in during the second half as they tend to do. Like most Winner movies it's very fast. It does lack star power but this was unfairly picked on.
Movie review - "The Stone Killer" (1973) **
It doesn't get much more seventies and pointless than this action cop story with Charles Bronson as a cop reassigned to another city where he gets involved in a Mafia war. That's actually a decent enough topic for a film - the Bronson cop stuff feels awkwardly layered on top of it.
They would have been better off making Bronson one of the stone killers hired i.e. random assassins used to take on the mafia like Stuart Margolin - or had him be a former one. That would be interesting.
There's scenes like a woman at a hippy retreat hitting on Brosnan because she's never balled a cop which feel more like scenes from a Clint Eastwood movie.
The main interest of this is the support cast which includes actors like Norman Fell, John Ritter, Martin Balsam - though I could have done without Balsam's fugged-about-it Italian accent.
At the end there's a bunch of deliriously over the top shoot outs which are super silly but entertaining in their ridiculousness and that's what the movie should have been instead of the cop stuff.
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