Janet Leigh Top Ten

 1) Psycho (1960) - famous scene but also a genuinely nuanced performance as a frustrated woman who makes a bad decision - Vera Miles doesn't have what Leigh had

2) Touch of Evil (1958) - passive (kidnapped) but she has an inner steel

3) Living It Up (1954) - really fun Martin and Lewis movie and Leigh matches well with Dean 

4) Scaramouche (1952) - honestly her character is a ninny and not in Eleanor Parker's league I just love this flm 

5) Little Women (1949) - the most nothing role in the story but she's ideal - she fitted in well at MGM

6) The Manchurian Candidate (1962) a sex positive woman chasing after Frank, from Leigh's hot streak of classic movies

7) The Fog (1980) - she's fine rather than great I just love the movie

8) The Vikings (1958) - lovely and warm in a movie that needs it

9) Houdini (1953) - perhaps the best film she made with Tony Curtis, very winning

10) Harper (1966) - one of many stars.

Movie review - "The Sons of Katie Elder" (1965) *** (rewatching)

 So much great stuff I wish it was better - John Wayne being manly, Dean Martin as his brother (great team), the concept, the locations, the colour, Dennis Hopper as a coward (fantastic work), George Kennedy as a gun man. Henry Hathaway. But too much much is underwhelming - Earl Holliman (in the film to die basically but I wish he'd had more to play), Michael Anderson (less good than original choice Tommy Kirk), bland Martha Hyer.

Lots of fun still - just could have been a classic, that's all. 

Movie review - "Texas Across the River" (1966) **

 Brat Pack Western with only two of them - Dean Martin and Joey Bishop - with Alain Delon playing a role that might have been intended for Frank Sinatra... a rival of Martin's in love and guns... but to be fair the role has been clearly adjusted for him playing a Spaniard. He's quite animated and fun, Martin is fun. The film is a little lazy and the comic Indian stuff is bad (Bishop plays an Indian). 

It's got 60s Universal crapness and could have done with more star power - for instance the similar Four For Texas also had Ursula Andress, Anita Ekberg and Charles Bronson, this has Peter Graves, Rosemary Forsyth and Tina Aumont... just not the same. It has its pleasures and Martin and Delon fans especially will get something out of it.

Sidebar: Delon was a Western fan, an admirer of Sam Peckinpah and tried to make two films with him. I wonder if this prompted the French stuff in Major Dundee?

Dean Martin Top Ten

1. Kiss Me Stupid

2. Cannonball Run

3. Young Lions

4. Sons of Katie Elder

5. Rio Bravo

6. Airport

7. Four for Texas

8. Artists and Models

9. You're Never Too Young

10. Hollywood or Bust

Movie review - "Pepe" (1960) **

Cantiflas was a huge star in Mexico who had a choice support part in Around the World in 80 Days so George Sidney and Columbia gave him his own vehicle and they filled it full of stars.

Cantiflas is in Mexico with his beloved horse. The horse is sold to filmmaker Dan Dailey while Edward G. Robinson and Greer Garson as themselves look on. Ernie Kovacs is an immigration official. William Demarest is a studio guard. Zsa Zsa Gabor enters the studio. So does Bing Crosby who sings 'South of the Border' with the star.

He befriends Shirley Jones. Jay North as Dennis the Menace attacks him. There's Charles Coburn getting struck in the head with a slingshot pulled by Billie Burke. Jack Lemmon appears in his Some Like It Hot drag outfit. Cantiflas goes to a nightclug and sees Bobby Darin sing and Michael Callan dance - its' a good number, Callan, some other guy and Shirley Jones, ending with the two guys having a West Side Story-style knife fight.

Then there's this agonisingly dull subplot begins about Jones wanting to be a movie star but also being bitter and not wanting Dailey to shag her, and Dailey being a drunk over the hill producer trying to get up a film involving Pepe's horse or something. It's all simple yet confusing which is an achievement.

Cantiflas follows Dailey to Las Vegas, where he meets the Rat Pack (Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford and Richard Conte in one scene, then Sammy Davis Jnr, then Sinatra). The whole movie set in Vegas would've been a better idea. Cesar Romero is at a slot machine looking like he's trying to pick up. He banters with Jimmy Durante.

There's a way out number where Dailey hallucinates a dance number with a tiny Cantiflas and Debbie Reynolds clambering around giant pencils and a telephone and another prop to the music 'Tequila'. Then the film starts and Dailey, Jones and Cantiflas go see Maurice Chevalier in concert. There's a comic bit where Cantiflas visits Janet Leigh at home she thinks she's someone else, husband Tony Curtis becomes involved.

Then Cantiflas is in love with Jones but she falls for Dailey. She's almost twenty years younger than Dailey and looks it.  There's a weird scene where Robinson declares Dailey's love for Jones while Dailey looks on. So we don't get a confrontation between the three.

There's a lot, as in a lot, of jokes about Cantiflas calling the horse his "son". A lot of scenes of Cantiflas being lucky - he wins at the casino, Novak pays for his engagement ring.

The film is fascinating for its oddness - an all star vaudeville act style film built around a Mexican star. Why not put some effort into the story?

An odd duck. Has a fascination.

Movie review - "Kiss Me Stupid" (1964) ***1/2

The turning point in Billy Wilder's career. Up til then he was on a hot streak - after this he could barely put a foot right. Would it have made a difference had Peter Sellers stayed on? Or if Jack Lemmon had stepped in?

Dean Martin is marvellous playing a version of himself. The film is wonderfully structured. It's very clever. Gorgeously shot. Naughty. I mean Ray Walston has sex with Kim Novak and Felicia Farr has very, very willing sex with Dean Martin... that's adult. Very French. Too much for Americans though. obviously.

It doesn't quite work. I wanted to like Kim Novak and she tries but she felt wrong. Right look, silly deep voice - imagine Marilyn Monroe or Shirley Maclaine in that part. Walston acts his butt off, is full of energy - still, I would've preferred to see Sellers or Lemmon (who wanted to do it if Wilder could delay)... they are stars, Walston isn't, and I would've bought them more easily scoring Felicia Farr, who is gorgeous and fun. I watch it and think "you've got no right to be jealous mate she's that much more hotter than you, you should be grateful for what you've got." Still, I think Novak is more of a debit.

Movie view - "Cannonball Run II" (1984) **

 For ten years Burt Reynolds, it seemed, couldn't put a foot wrong, at least not when he got behind the wheel of a car, then with this and Stroker Ace it seemed he couldn't put a foot right. Like City Heat I think this made money but it's a film few people seem to like. Maybe the public tired of it, maybe Burt just got a little bit too old... being a big kid is a little less charming.

This skews older than the previous film - instead of Farrah Fawcett there's Shirley Maclaine, it has a strong Rat Pack presence with a plot about paying back loan sharks and a cameo from Frank and other old timey stars like Sid Caesar, Doug McClure, Tim Conway, Don Knotts, plus Telly Savalas as a baddy.On the new talent there's Tony Danza and a comic chimp and Shawn Weathley as a girl Martin is rooting. Oh and Menudo's song.

Susan Anton and Catherine Bach (both gorgeous) replace Tara Buckman and Adrienne Barbeau and Danza replaces Terry Bradshaw as Mel Tills' sidekick, Robert Kiel is Jackie Chan's new sidekick.

The first movie felt like all ages, this one feels old. Also it doesn't have the same heart and feeling of camraderie as the first one - in that, Burt's romance with Farrah was sweet (well, apart from the abduction), but here he just makes out with Shirley Maclaine in the backseat like two old ageing movie stars (instead of having Maclaine and Marilu Henner I think they just should've had Henner). In the first, it was lovely how Dom DeLuise talked about how he was lonely til he found a friend in Burt, and how Burt explained to Farrah the joys of cannonballing - scenes like that are missing. There's not even that much car action.

It is fun to see Frank Sinatra, and while Dean Martin looks old and weathered Sammy Davis Jnr is full of life and Jackie Chan gets more fight senes.

Movie review - "The Cannonball Run" (1981) ***1/2 (re-watching)

 The story had already been told via Gumball Rally and Cannonball but this is the one to watch with all its stars, and engaging sense of fun. Burt Reynolds is, as ever, a confident center for this gang, there's a superb support cast including Dom de Luise, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jnr (making one wish they'd made more films together), Roger Moore, Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Farr, Burt Convy, Jackie Chan. I loved this as a kid and it has a feeling of infectious good humour that is very winning.

It hasn't all aged well - Jackie Chan playing a Japanese, all the boob gags, Farrah gets abducted for laughs. And it's not fun to know that a stuntwoman was rendered a quadriplegic as a result of making this.

But everyone is having a good time and that comes across. It has a genuine family feel - all the cannonballers living their silly lifestyles, teaming up for a convenient brawl at the end. Dom de Luise is touching as well as funny (he invented this split personality to cope), Burt is relaxed, Farrah is pretty (not as good as Sally Field), Sammy and Dean are hilarious, so is Roger Moore, there are fun cameos by Peter Fonda (as a biker), Bianca Jagger and Valerie Perinne, I like it how (spoilers) the women win, the love theme between Burt and Farrah is sweet, mel Tillis and Terry Bradshaw do a fun double act (they were given their own pilot as a result), Rick Aviles and Alfie Wise do anothe double act, Jack Elam is hilarious as a doctor, Burt Convy is hilarious parachuting out of a plane on his bike and doing a wheelie.

Book review - "Dean and Me A Love Story" by Jerry Lewis and Jerry Kaplan (2007)

 I enjoyed it. I also wondered how much it was true. Lewis sticks to a consistent line - Dean was an adored elder brother figure, very talented, Jerry worshipped him, no one appreciated Dean, Jerry admits to some faults but it came from love.

Entertaining. I took it with a grain of salt. Maybe that's unfair.

Movie review - "The Young Lions" (1957) ***

 A fairly typical 50s Hollywood blockbuster... sex, significance, stars, best seller origins, the war. The three stars are great - Monty Clift in full nervy post accident anxiousness, looking like he's going to have a breakdown; Brando, lingering over his German accent; Dean Martin, getting by on simply being really well cast.

It's very long. Far too long. But interesting because of the leads.

Most of the film consists of two handers - Brando and Max Schell, Martin and Barbara Rush (best performance of hers I've seen, very polished), Martin and Clift, Clift and Hope Lange. A lot of the story consists of Clift being beaten up by his fellow soldiers in a masochistic way. The anti Semitism of the time is effectively conveyed - with a look at the camps, and the anti Semitism in the American army.

Dean Martin is far better cast than Tony Randall would have been, incidentally.

Movie review - "What a Way to Go" (1964) **

This has a cute idea a little bit like Kind Hearts and Coronets  - Shirley MacLaine is a woman who dislikes money, keeps marrying poor men who then become rich and die, leaving her richer and richer.

The film took no chances at the box office, roping in Robert Mitchum, Paul Newman, Dick Van Dyke, Dean Martin and Gene Kelly to play husbands, with Robert Cummings thrown in for good measure.

How well you enjoy this depends on how much you like the stars. I'm not a massive MacLaine fan - Mitchum seemed irritating (sometimes I like him, sometimes he feels genuinely lazy and this was such a time), Dean Martin was... fine, Van Dyke was... fine, Newman was trying to be Funny (in a beard as a French artist). Cummings was fun as a nutty shrink who falls for MacLaine.

For me the best was Gene Kelly, in part because he does a few song and dance numbers - including one with MacLaine who does it terrifically. It made me wish this was a musical - at times it feels as though it was meant to be and had songs cut out or something. Because in those scenes you see the actors really trying as opposed to being a smart arse. That may be unfair but the rest of the movie felt like stars being smart arses - drenched in costumes and production value, pulling faces. But like I say if you adore those actors you might feel differently.

It was directed by J. Lee Thompson who actually made a few comedies in his career, people just didn't remember them. I'm actually surprised this wasn't turned into a stage musical or remade because of the concept.

Book review - "This Terrible Business Has Been Good to Me" by Norman Jewison (2005)

A tale of one man's journey from success to success - Jewison was born into a relatively poor family but it was in Canada; he joined the navy and went to university and decided to go into showbiz. He moved to England and broke in there, then worked in the early days of Canadian TV then in New York. Handling Judy Garland for a TV special (he managed to sweet talk Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin into supporting her) got him a reputation as someone who could deal with stars - he received an offer from Tony Curtis to do Forty Pounds of Trouble which led to a contract with Universal: two comedies with Doris Day, one with Dick Van Dyke (his first flop), then changing gears with The Cincinnati Kid and hitting a golden streak: The Russians Are Coming, In the Heat of the Night, The Thomas Crown Affair, stumbling with Gaily Gaily but then doing Fiddler on the Roof, Jesus Christ Superstar, Rollerball and so on.

It was truly one of the great careers - plenty of critical acclaim and box office hits, lots of power. His personal life seems to have been tranquil - met a girl, married, had kids, kids turned up fine.  Had a little bit of tall poppy syndrome from Canada but not a lot; a few flops but not that many; no production disasters. He dealt with some temperamental stars and seemed to be able to cope with all of them, even Garland and Steve McQueen.

He reveals himself to be the director who dealt with a sobbing star who had inadvertently killed her dog via giving her a lamb chop - a tale told by William Goldman in his memoirs (not told particularly well here - Jewison is a solid rather than top level writer) - the star was Doris Day. (So was Doris Day having an affair at the time? Goldman said the star was.)

He had/has solid liberal, humanistic beliefs which saw him make film like In the Heat of the Night and try to make Malcolm X before being booted off the latter to make way for Spike Lee.

Obviously a decent man, hardworking and talented, with great instincts for casting and story.

I was hoping for a little more gossip. Sylvester Stallone was a bit of an egomaniac on FIST and rewrote Joe Eszterhas. McQueen could be a baby but lobbied hard for the role in The Thomas Crown Affair. The screenwriter of Thomas Crown sounds like a character. But an enjoyable book.

Script review - "Rio Bravo" by Leigh Brackett and Jules Furthman

The central set up is great, I recognise the strength of its opening sequence, there's memorable characters - John T Chance, Dude, Stumpy, Colorado, Feathers - but it's not a great script. It's a series of scenes some of which are memorable (eg tracking down the killer with muddy boots, the Feather-John banter) others of which are repetitive (eg Dude being captured twice).

There's no build of tension - or suspense - I mean Chance sleeps in the hotel, and is always wondering off for a chat. It didn't make sense why the baddies would shoot Wheeler (the head baddy is supposed to be smart), the baddies aren't very memorable, Colorado doesn't get an end to his story.

I mean there's good stuff, and some great dialogue, and everyone is very tough and Hawksian and talking about being independent and professional. But I can't see why others love it so.

Dorothy Malone RIP - And a Top Ten

1) The Big Sleep (1946) - Malone is only in this for two scenes but does them with Humphrey Bogart and is sensational (aspiring actresses could do worse than to study these scenes of how to make a big impact in a short space of time).

2)The Fast and the Furious (1955) - not the Vin Diesel classic but a 1955 car chase flick which was the first feature Roger Corman ever produced - Malone is v likekable (Malone also appeared in Corman's directorial debut, Five Guns West).

3) Battle Cry (1955) - a melodrama about WW2 based on a best seller which New Zealand audiences will especially find interesting (part of the film is set there) - Malone has a surprisingly sexually frank fling with a young soldier played by Tab Hunter.

4) Sincerely Yours (1955) - Liberace's attempt at big screen stardom with Malone as his love interest (in the space of three years Malone steamed up the screen opposite Liberace, Tab Hunter and Rock Hudson...) - a fairly terrible movie but fascinating to see Liberace act in a melodrama (he took the blame for this film's failure but the script was as much at fault).

5) Artists and Models (1955) - for me the best Martin and Lewis film a really terrific fun comedy with Malone well matched with Martin and Shirley MacLaine perfect for Lewis.

6) Written on the Wind (1956) - Malone won the Oscar for this but I rewatched it recently and felt her performance did not hold up that well - check out her stroking the oil rig at the end (the same team then made The Tarnished Angels)

7) Too Much Too Soon (1958) - Malone mostly played "the girl" in films but her Oscar saw her get a real chance here, as Diana Barrymore, in what I feel is a pretty decent film - stolen by Errol Flynn as John Barrymore.

8) The Last Voyage (1960) - Malone's role isn't much (something you could say about a lot of her career) but they actually sunk a real ship for this film which is cool.

9) Fate is the Hunter (1964) - a Rod Taylor film where Malone has a one scene unbilled cameo - for years I thought it was a mirage but then later on confirmed it that yes it was her - this is a pretty good movie.

10) Beach Party (1963) - most film fans remember Frankie and Annette and forget or don't realise Robert Cummings and Dorothy Malone had quite big parts in this film, the first in the series.
Oh and she's in Basic Instinct (1992) too

My Jerry Lewis Top Ten

1) Boeing Boeing (1965) - a not typical Jerry Lewis film but very funny
2) The Nutty Professor (1963) - excellent comedy, maybe Lewis' best
3) Who's Minding the Store? (1963) - Jerry runs riot in a store, with ensuing funny results
4) You're Never Too Young (1954) - top notch remake of The Major and the Minor with Lewis and Martin in strong form
5) Rock-a-Bye Baby (1958) - Lewis scores in another remake, this time of The Miracle of Morgan's Creek - strong comedy
6) Sailor Beware (1954)
7) Living It Up (1954)
8) Artists and Models (1956)
9) Pardners (1956)
10) Hollywood or Bust (1956)

Movie review - Matt Helm#4 - "The Wrecking Crew" (1969) *1/2

The fourth and last (to date) Matt Helm film is tired, creaking along at a slow pace, unsure of where to pitch its jokes. Say what you will about the first one or two movies, they knew what they were - over the top Bond spoofs which played up Dean Martin's image as a drunken, lecherous crooner. This one they seem reluctant to go there, but don't know where else to aim either.

It has the benefit of Nigel Green as the villain plus some stunning girls - Sharon Tate as a klutzy assistant, Elke Sommer as the femme fetale, Nancy Kwan as another femme fetale.

But it's slow and dull and Tate, for all her beauty doesn't have the  spark of Stevens or Ann Margret. By the time it stumbled to an end I was falling asleep and when the end credits promised Helm's return in The Ravagers (never made) I was depressed.

Movie review - Matt Helm#3 - "The Ambushers" (1967) *

The Matt Helm series really goes for the lecherous approach in this one with double entendre after double entredre - it really could have been called Carry On Matt Helm. It has a decent enough set up - pilot Janice Rule crashes in the jungle with her memory lost and she and Dean Martin/Matt pose as husband and wife to find out what's going on.

But it's hard going. Janice Rule doesn't have the pizzazz that Ann Margret and Stella Stevens bought to the first two movies in the series. It also lacks a decent villain - Albert Salmi is dull.

The pacing is slow. I did like Matt Helm on a bike chasing the UFO which was on a train at the end. Santa Berger is fun as a femme fetale. There's a villain with dyed face and topi hat reminiscent of Will Ferrell in the first and second Austin Powers.

Movie review - Matt Helm#2 - "Murderer's Row" (1966) **

The second Matt Helm movie is marginally better than the second, mostly because it has a more confident air and stronger support cast: Karl Malden is fun as the head villain and Ann Margret an ideal "girl in a spy flick" - bright, tough, sexy, confident. Both of them are better than the material.

Dino staggers his way through the film, humming his old tunes, wearing garish clothes, having a fine old time. Really movies like this are beyond criticism - you wish they had a bit more tension and didn't look so cheap.

There are some funny bits like a gun which shoots the person who fires it - though even this is overused - and attractive females like Camilla Sparv and Beverley Adams. I feel James Gregory wastes the role of Helms' boss- this could have been something special.

Movie review - Matt Helm #1 - "The Silencers" (1966) **

A major inspiration for the Austin Powers movies, a series of James Bond spoofs starring Dean Martin as photographer/secret agent Matt Helm. I kept wanting to like this more than I did because it was so sixties, with all those show girls and garish colours and Dean Martin. There is something automatically endearing about a Bond spoof that figured "right - what the people want are girls, gadgets and gags so lets just give them heaps of that."

But it isn't very good. It ambles along without much excitement or eroticism and looks cheap with some unspectacular sets and action sequences. The running time feels padded with musical and dance numbers, many of which consist of Martin imagining himself singing.

Stella Stevens is good fun as a klutzy girl who may or may not be a double agent. There are attractive femmes including Cyd Charisse and Daliah Lavi plus decent male support cast including Victor Buono (main baddy) and Robert Webber. I liked the gun that shot the person who fired it. But it's a bit dumb.

Movie review - "The Sons of Katie Elder" (1965) *** (re-watching)

It's got a fantastic set up for a Western: Katie Elder is dead and her four sons arrive for the funeral, and try to make it up to her high standards by trying to avenge the death of... their father. Okay maybe the set up isn't so great... they should be trying to avenge the death of Katie Elder shouldn't they instead of some random dad?

But it gives John Wayne a great role as her gunslinging eldest son, and a nice support part for Dean Martin as a gambling son. The charisma of these two overshadows the others: Earl Holliman, in admittedly the dullest part as the dull son, and Michael Anderson Jnr as the kid they want to send to college. Tommy Kirk was meant to play Anderson's role until he got busted for drugs and it's a shame - he would have been a lot better.

The movie is never quite as good as you think it's going to be. It's got that great 60s colour, a memorable introduction from Wayne (standing among some boulders), a decent amount of action, Martin is given a scene to have some schtick, and Dennis Hopper livens up the support cast as a coward.

But the villains are too weak - you never think for one moment George Kennedy is going to be a threat, and I can't remember who the other baddies are. It's confused by having the brothers reunite for their mother's funeral but avenge their father, and you never get the sense the four are brothers - they have no chemistry - and Holliman and Anderson are weak. Also the love story is under-developed.

It's a movie you watch a go "you know they should remake this and do it right." They didn't with Four Brothers.