Great Unmade British films - a random selection

* Alex Korda - I Claudius (started filmin), War and Peace (with Orson Welles!)

* Hammer - I am Legend (yes, more but that's the main one)

*Kubrick - Napoleon, The Aryan Papers

* Hitchcock - No Bail for the Judge, Greenmantle 

* Alistair Maclean - HMS Ulysses

*Mistress of the Seas

*Mary Queen of Scots from Alexander Mackendrick 

*Tom Paine by Richard Attenborough

*The Knight by Ridley Scott

*Barnado Boys, Feathers of Death and The Long Loud Silence from Bryan Forbes at EMI

*Nat Cohen - the Nat King Cole Story yes, remake of Kind Hearts and Coronets with Dick Emery no

 *Lawrence of Arabia from Terence Rattigan

*the Lewis Collins Falklands film 

Matthew Modine Top Ten

 Classy Top Ten (features)

1) Married to the Mob (1988)

2) Full Metal Jacket (1987)

3) Birdy (1986)

4) Streamers (1984)

5) Short Cuts (1993)

6) And the Band Played On (1993)

7) Any Given Sunday (1999)

8) Memphis Belle (1990)

9)  Mrs Soffel (1984)

10) Baby It's You (1983)

Craptacular top five

1)  Private School (1983)

2) Vision Quest (1985)

3) Wind (1992)

4) Cutthroat Island (1995)

5) Gross Anatomy (1989) 

Book review - "Kubrick: An Odyssey" by Robert P. Kolker and Nathan Abrams (2024)

 Fantastic book. Big subject but superbly done, great research (access to archives) very thorough and fair. Deep dives on unmade films such as Napoleon and AI. Discusses Kubrick's interest in sex, often ignored by critics. Covers his arseholeness and eccentricities. The book is really fair.

Full of interesting stuff - his battles to make things, a daughter turning into anti-Semitic neo con, his dreams of moving to Australia, James Brolin was considered for The Shining.

Splendid.  

Movie review - "The Shining" (1980) ****

 Jack Nicholson starts at nine and keeps going higher. Shelley Duvall magnificient. Ditto Danny Lloyd. I get why Steven king is upset, the film skips the essential human tragedy of Jack Torrence, but offers other pleasures. Wonderful atmosphere.

Book review - "Mr Strangelove: A Biography of Peter Sellers" by Ed Sikov (2002)

 Very good book. Emphathetic. Not a hagiography. Has the occasional smart arse aside.  Tries to give all sides. He punched his wife and was a terrible dad and had major mental health issues. Could also be wonderful. He made so many good movies. Managed to keep amazingly relevant - I mean, compare with everyone else around him. He was always at some sort of cutting edge - the Goons, Boultings, Kubrick, peak Edwards, Paul Mazursky, Hal Ashby. Survived a very long cold streak thanks to Clouseau. Fascinating life and career and Sikov does it justice.

Book review - "Space Odyssey: The Making of a Masterpiece" by Michael Benson

 Exhaustive, detailed, surely definitive. Kubrick comes out of this very well but the movie shows him at his best - all the attention to detail paid off. The critics come out of it badly most missed the point.

I like the human touches - Keir Dullea's contributions, William Sylvester stuffing his lines take after take, Arthur C Clarke having to pay off the debts of his dodgy married boyfriend caused by a Sri Lankan James Bond spoof. I like the tribute to the fighting qualities of Robert O'Brien at MGM too. 

Keir Dullea top ten

 

1) 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - he's actually perfect for this part

2) 2010: The Year We Made Contact (1984) - entirely decent sequel, no not as good but it tries, a lovely to see Dullea back

3) David and Lisa (1962) - the film that really launched his career, a little bit 'Simple Jack' but a sleeper hit

4) Mail Order Bride ((1964) - cute Burt Kennedy/Buddy Ebsen Western with Dullea as the romantic lead

5) The Thin Red Line (1964) - before the 1999 version of this novel there was this one... it's interesting, not as good as Malick, but worth a watch

6) Bunny Lake is Missing (1965) - Dullea was horrendously bullied by Otto Preminger, and received an almightly sledge from Noel Coward ("Keir Dullea, gone tomorrow") but the film is interesting

7) Madame X (1966) - one of many Ross Hunter remakes, this has Lana Turner camp it up and Dullea has her son - no way near a good movie but it is prime camp

8 ) The Fox (1967) - racy adaptation of the Lawrence novel with Dullea breaking up a tryst between Anne Heywood and Sandy Duncan

9) De Sade (1969) - Dullea's big chance after 2001, it had an excellent subject, writer and director but something went wrong (I think director Cy Endifeld went ill and seemed to have a nervous breakdown or something )

10) Black Christmas (1974) - fun early slasher. Dullea is a great creep.

I made it to ten films! Honorable mention to the Aussie TV movie Because He's My Friend (1978) where Dullea stars.

Movie review - "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968) ****1/2

 Much of it wonderful. Sorry, but I don't like the ending. Love the acting - that tight wound up style. Visually incredible. Great violence - abrupt, silent, quick. Stunning looking. A wonderful haunted house story.

Movie review - "Barry Lyndon" (1975) ***1/2 (warning spoilers)

 Every frame is breathtakingly shot. The film goes for over three hours. It has its own rhythm. Kubrick's dirty perve tendencies are on display all the way through. -within the first ten minutes Ryan O'Neal is shoving his hands into the cleavage of a woman. There's various shots of women lounging topless throughout.

This is an odd duck. Long. Beautiful. Restrained. Kind of cold. But also not. I mean Barry cries at the death of his mentor, his son. The death of the kid is very moving. The final duel is suspenseful. The film kicked into gear in the second half for me. I can see why it wasn't a hit. I can also see why people love it. The movie's a little like an anaconda.

A lot of his issues are his own fault. People have written that the movie is about chance but it's Barry who decides to fight the opening duel, to desert, to steal the papers, to change sides against the Prussians, to pursue a rich woman, to cheat on that woman, to treat her son badly... I mean, Barry really is a dill. A little kindness and courtesy he wouldn't get in strife. Then, as the narrator points out, if he didn't have the moxie to go for those things he wouldn't have the dimness to lose them.

Ryan O'Neal's performance is good. He's muted, as required. He was better with someone to bounce off and doesn't have it here. But he was the character - charming, hot tempered, libidinous, making enemies, bad marriage, loyal..

Movie review - "2010: The Year We Make Contact" (1984) ***

 Such a thankless assignment but they had a go, and a sequel was logical, and Arthur C. Clarke had written one, so... This does not disgrace itself. It looks terrific, lovely sets. Roy Scheider brings warmth lacking in the original. It's a shame genuine Russian actors couldn't have played the Russians.

Madolyn Smith is eye catching in a small part as Scheider's wife. I always loved the scene where the scared Russian woman hops in to hug Schneider while going around the planet, and John Lithgow's heavy breathing travelling. Bob Balaban is excellent has the computer guy even though it's a pity he couldn't have been Indian like in the book.

Hyams might have leaned into the spookiness of the ship more - it could've been really creepy. Maybe it's less so now I know what happened.

It's smart. Looks gorgeous. Lovely to be reunited with Keir Dullea and HAL.

Script review - "Spartacus" by Dalton Trumbo

First rate script from Trumbo. Sometimes it's a little difficult to read because stylistically scripts are different - but the structure is very solid, the characters well etched. There is good simple good vs evil with the slaves rebelling and some more complex, interesting stuff about machinations in Rome with Cassius determined to exploit it and the crafty Senator wanting to block him and Julius Caesar a lot more complex and interesting on the page than he was as depicted by John Gavin on screen.

Sexually frank, with the Senator and his hookers, bisexual Cassius and the gay Antonious who seems to be in love with Spartacus, and Spartacus and his lady.Many powerful scenes like the slave revolt and the death of Spartacus. Very good screenplay.

Thoughts on Ralph Meeker

Ralph Meeker isn't a very well known name to buffs today unless you're a fan of Kiss Me Deadly. At one stage though he had a real buzz around him - he replaced Brando on stage in Streetcar Named Desire, and had a key role in Mr Roberts on Broadway as well as the lead role in Picnic (with Paul Newman supporting him).

Why did never become a star?

He was a burly tough guy in a decade when that was a plus. Other Brand replacements, Jack Palance and Anthony Quinn, became famous. Meeker's Picnic co star Paul Newman became famous.

Why not Meeker?

Well, they did try - MGM hired him to a contract in the early 50s. His starring vehicles did not perform well (unlike say Palance who got lucky with Sudden Fear and Shane right off the bat).

Maybe he was difficult, but I've got no proof of that.

I also think maybe he lacked a certain... affability. He seemed mean. He never had say Brando's or Newman's on screen gentleness. Maybe he could've and I haven't seen it. Maybe it was just role selection. Too many guest shots on TV not enough solid directors.

But it is a puzzle. He has his fans - Quentin Tarantino liked that Aldo Ray/Meeker/Brian Keith type. But Meeker's career never seemed to hit even Aldo Ray heights.

Anyway, still, made some great movies - anyone would be happy to have Kiss Me Deadly and Paths of Glory on their resume.

John Gavin RIP

John Gavin RIP. Most film buffs, even casual, would've seen a movie he was in, because his credits included several classics (Psycho, Spartacus, Imitation of Life) and some movies that were always on TV (Thoroughly Modern Millie, Tammy Tell Me True) Most film buffs, even casual, probably forgot he was in those movies, because he was always so bland and tended to blend into the furniture (Hitchcock called him "the wooden Indian).

I have an affection for him because I once wrote a short play about he and George Lazenby set during the time Gavin was going to play James Bond in Diamonds Are Forever (I say this to explain why I weirdly know so much about him...).

He was a Ken Doll more than an actor but he made a lot of movies, had a really interesting life (President of SAG, Ambassador to Mexico, a successful businessman, married to Constance Towers), and I love the fact he went completely bald.

So in honour of this backup Rock Hudson, a John Gavin top ten:

1) A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958) - a forgotten film despite being directed by Douglas Sirk and from the novel by Erich Maria Remarque... no one seems to like it, then or now, and is never gets mentioned today, even by Sirk fans... it's like it barely existed... Gavin had the lead.. yes, it was sympathetic to the Germans but so was The Young Lions, but that had Brando and Clift and A Time to Love had Gavin... he was cast because he looked a bit like Rock Hudson and Universal figured Lew Ayres didn't have much experience when he was in All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)... this didn't turn out as well

2) Imitation of Life (1959) - much loved melodrama which is surprisingly complex - Gavin is adequate as the romantic stakes, but out-acted by everyone

3)Spartacus (1960) - Gavin plays Julius Caesar - he mainly hangs around the film and has a sauna with Charles Laughton which presumably made Laughton's day... I am surprised Gavin didn't make more Ancient World spectacles, he had the right sort of "marble" look

4)Psycho (1960) - Hitchcock famously cast Gavin saying "I guess he'll do" (he was cheap) - he's actually not too bad and the film of course is amazing (he plays Janet Leigh's lover who tackles Tony Perkins at the end... still can't picture him, right?)

5) Midnight Lace (1960) - enjoyable woman-in-peril film with Doris Day haunted by a creepy voice (the script is co written by Aussie Ivan Goff)... Gavin battles gamely against his attempt at a British accent and his abilities when he has to demonstrate PTSD - his hair is fantastic, though

6) Breath of Scandal (1961) - Gavin, I'm not kidding, is better than both Maurice Chevalier and Sophia Loren in this film, mostly because they are so disastrously miscast... the film is awful

7) Tammy Tell Me True (1962) - much of Gavin's career was as a prop for leading ladies - here is was Sandra Dee, with whom he made several films, and had no chemistry - it's a sweet, dim movie though

8) Pedro Paramo (1967) - disclosure: I've never seen this film though apparently the novel on which it is based is famous - it's a Mexican film, in Spanish (Gavin was fluent) - and good on him for doing it, I genuinely hope it's good

9) Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967) - Gavin livens up a little in a fun, if overlong musical

10) Pussycat Pussycat I Love You (1970) - a sequel to What's Up Pussycat without Woody Allen, Peter O'Toole or pretty much anyone connected to the first film and most people forgot existed. It does have Gavin and he's the best thing about it. (Very small praise). Ian MacShane plays the lead.

A special John Gavin "what if" for history... what if Sean Connery had not changed his mind about Diamonds Are Forever, and Gavin played the role...

oh and musical fans might get a kick out of the fact he was in the original production of "Seesaw" directed by Michael Bennett...

Script review - "Napoleon" by Stanley Kubrick

Perhaps Stanley Kubrick's most famous "unmade" film, on which he toiled for a number of years but ultimately abandoned due to cost  - though he got his period film kick out of his system with Barry Lyndon. The script of it I've read would have made an interesting movie at the least - it doesn't leap off the page as amazing, with far too much narration explaining what's going on, and over long dialogue speeches. It also seems to take on too much - it's a greatest hits of Napleon's life, going from military academy as a child through to the French revolution, growing power, becoming Emperor, invading Russia, Waterloo, etc.

It does work as drama - Napoleon was an interesting guy - there are some great visuals you can imagine Kubrick directing the hell out of. (It would cost a fortune.) Like a lot of Kubrick films he's into boobs and sex - plenty of Josephine making love, and Napoleon and even Marie-Louise. I'm not sure it's worth doing in the hands of another director - not without that visual brilliance.

Emotionally the guts of the movie concerns Napoleon and Josephine, Napoleon and Joseph, and Napoleon and the Tsar of Russia. They all talk an awful lot but do interesting things. It would have been better than Barry Lyndon.

Movie review - "Colour Me Kubrick" (2005) **

The central concept of this film is clever enough - based on the true story of the man who impersonated Stanley Kubrick - but after a while it gets repetitive: John Malkovich being Kubrick again and again. It really needed something to impact Kubrick, have him as a character or for the impersonations to build in someway or something. Without that it should have remained a short.

Movie review - "Spartacus" (1960) ****

Occasionally this film is weighed down by the this-is-an-epic-so-we-must-all-stand-around-and-act-like-we're-in-an-epic-movie, but it remains one of the most passionate of the epics. For starters, Spartacus is going to die and his rebellion fail, so how do you make it interesting? The script comes up with two solutions: one basic but highly effective (Jean Simmons showing Spartacus his son on the cross - you always know a character is a goner when he says "I don't mind if I die provided X" just like Swayze did in Point Break), the other totally brilliant one of the cleverest and most inspirational bits of business I think in the movies (the "I'm Spartacus" scene).

Much of this is very moving: the fate of Charles Laughton, Jean Simmons at the cross, Tony Curtis dying, the looks on the faces of other slaves as the revolt has ended, the Woody Strode scene where he decides he ain't gonna take it anymore.

The film is famous for its homoerotic element (chiefly the Laurence Olivier-Curtis oysters and snails moment, but also the Curtis character is coded as gay [bath boy, actor, in love with Spartacus] and of course it involves Spartacus), but is pretty much an everyone-can-have-sex free-for-all: Olivier wants Curtis and Simmons, Simmons is given to Kirk Douglas as a sex slave, Simmons has a nude swim and hops under the toga with Douglas, Laughton has heaps of mistresses, Romans attend all-male baths (with John Gavin handsome but not very convincing as Julius Caesar).

Kirk Douglas was ideally cast but occasionally seems uninterested by what is going on on-screen (to be fair he was also a producer and it must have been stressful; he's also playing a character who is basically Mr Perfect). There are some stand out supporting performances: Laurence Olivier as the flinty, conflicted Crassus, Charles Laughton as an old time Senator and Peter Ustinov as an unscrupulous gladiator dealer. John Ireland (who plays Crixus) does look as though he's wandered in from the set of a Western. The best spectacle comes at the beginning, with the slaves on the rocks, and the gladiator uprising.

Book review - "The Nicole Kidman Story" by James L Dickerson

A slapdash cut and paste bio for the most part, filled with slackness (the author doesn't comment on films like Wills and Burke and the Bit Part because he couldn't get the VHS - you're a biographer, sunshine), only a few interviews, some irritating seeming typos (was Ron Howard in a slump after Parenthood and Backdraft?) and sweeping comments about its lead.

It is worth reading for one section - or rather, there is one section worth reading: an interview with the model who got to hump Nickers for the fantasy sequence in Eyes Wide Shut. This interview goes on for about four pages and it is riveting - he was picked for the film without knowing what it was about and spent six days naked with Nickers while Stanley Kubrick overlooked the whole thing, directing them into various positions; Nickers was generally game but even she called a halt every now and then (she even more a protective thing over her vagina so the bloke could go down on her). This section is weird, kinky and slightly erotic - it would make a great short film. I know Kubrick was a genius but he was also a dirty perve. The rest of the book is crap.

Movie review - "Killer's Kiss" (1955) ***

Stanley Kubrick's second feature clocks in at 67 minutes, has about 40 minutes worth of story and poor lead actors but his talent is all over it. Every frame is fresh, every scene uniquely handled. It's obvious Kubrick was a photographer - the way the shots are composed seem like they are straight out of Life magazine. Fresh touches especially the ballerina sequence; the atmosphere is brilliant, that 1950s New York feel of streets at night and rooftops, arcades and cheap restaurants; all the fights are interesting. Kubrick finances this with money borrowed from an uncle and it did well enough to get him The Killing.

Movie review - "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" (2002) ***1/2

Sellers was a fascinating guy and Geoffrey Rush delivers a bravaura performance. Rush doesn't look like him, but is probably the only actor in the world who could have done such a fine job. Sellers is correctly portrayed as a fair nutcase, a very talented nutcase.
The little additions like Sellars talking to the camera is OK - the swooping camerawork at the beginning is annoying but this calms down. Mariam Margoyles plays Sellars' mum - listen to the wonderful elocution of her and rush in their scenes together.
John Lithgow and Stanley Tucci are fine as Blake Edwards and Stanley Kubrick respectively. Charlize Therzon is pretty and shows a bit of skin as Britt Ekland.