Movie review - "Prisoner of Shark Island" (1936) ***

On the Pritzker Military Library podcast I listened to a historian who wrote a book on the Lincoln assassination who got very heated on the topic of Dr Mudd - apparently Mudd's family have run a very effective campaign to clear the name of their most notorious ancestor which annoyed this historian, who thinks not only was Mudd rightly arrested, he should have been hung. You won't get that impression from this film which is firmly in the Mudd-was-innocent camp. All he does here is help fix up a man's broken leg on a rainy night - unaware that the man was John Wilkes Booth, who has just shot Lincoln.

There is no mention of Mudd having met Booth several times prior or other evidence he was in on the conspiracy to kidnap Lincoln or the fact he hated Lincoln instead of admiring him. But the filmmakers had their take on the story, which they wanted to follow through (writer Nunally Johnson was a Southerner), and they did. Fair enough, I guess - they had a vision, everyone in the movie was pretty much dead when they made it, and that is their right.

Less defendable are some other scenes: such as one where a white trouble maker goes on Mudd's farm to tell his former slaves they are as good as white men, and the former slaves chase the troublemaker off with joyous, savage screams; Mudd's loyal black, who adores him so much when he gets sent off to a Florida prison, enlists in the army to look after him (can you arrange that, can you?); Mudd's "cute" crotchety pro-secession father in law, threatening to re-fight the war; the soldiers in the prison who get the most upset are all black; the union soldiers are unkept, scruffy and mean; Northern politicians are manipulative and corrupt (except for martyred Abe). It's racist pro-Southern propaganda, like a lot of Hollywood movies of the 1930s, and it got on my nerves.

Okay, trying to be more objective: it's beautifully shot, at least it acknowledges that there were such things as black soldiers, the story is strong (it has a great three act structure), there are excellent support performances from John Carradine (Lincoln worshipping sadistic guard) and Harry Carey (matter-of-fact warden), the pace is fast. I just don't think it's a classic and feel it's got too much of a free ride from critics defending Ford.

Movie review - "Jeanne Eagles" (1957) ***

It's a matter of taste of course but while Kim Novak could be effective in some roles, and she has her moments here, she's mostly pretty dreadful, indicating all over the place and never being remotely convincing as a great actress, which Eagles was meant to be. She does have a sort of charisma, a lovely figure which is shown off during early dancing scenes, and does okay with some of the breakdowns - but has laughably bad drunk scenes, emotes are too much and is generally out of her league.

I didn't know much about Eagles career apart from the fact she died young and was in Rain on stage. I gather a lot of this is fictionalised, including Jeff Chandler's character - he's a carny operator who was Eagles' first love.

Chandler is more animated than we usually find him, sparked off by a different sort of role. He and Novak are well matched physically, though neither is up to the acting talent of Agnes Moorehead. It's quite and adult, serious tale (there's heroin, per-marital cohabitation and rape), well directed by George Sidney, and despite Novak's limitations I enjoyed it.

Book review - "Allan and the Holy Flower" (1915) by H Rider Haggard

You get the feeling Haggard wrote this for money because it's basically rehashed ingredients from earlier Allan Quatermain adventures: an expedition to the interior with two other white men (one an aristocrat the other an eccentric) plus a really tough native with an exotic past; one of the other white men is looking for a long lost relative; visiting a mysterious civilisation; white queens (well, priestesses); brave natives giving up their lives for the whites; villainous rulers, secret caverns, treasure (in this case a flower).

For all that I still enjoyed it - the action moves along at a fair clip, there are some exciting bits and sequences (such as Hans revealing he had the gun). It's minor Haggard and he's a bit lazy but it has pace.

Movie review - "Midnight" (1939) ***1/2

One of those movies that are highly regarded, and you can certainly see the care that's gone into it, but I felt it was over-rated. Maybe I'm just resistant to the charms of Claudette Colbert - oh she's okay, capable and sort of charming and all that, she's just not my cup of tea. Neither particularly is Don Ameche. She's a chorus girl on the make in Paris and he's an impoverished taxi driver. Her mercenary nature and his impoverished aristocratic background bear the unmistakeable mark of Billy Wilder, who co-wrote the script.

This has a nice ensemble feel - Colbert is the leads, but there's also John Barrymore on hand as an ally, plus Mary Astor and Frances Lederer. Lederer has quite a big role - I didn't recognise him from anywhere before. He falls in love with Colbert, which annoys Astor who is his lover despite being married to Barrymore. I kind of felt sorry for Lederer - I mean, he seems to really like her and he seems like a nice guy. The romance between Colbert and Ameche also seemed a little undercooked, although I loved the scene where she convinces the others she's insane.

It's a silly story with a light touch and playing - if you're into that whole Lubitsch school you'll probably love it. I enjoyed the movie just not wild about it.

Script review – “Baby It’s You” by John Sayles

John Sayles does a 60s teen movie but being Sayles it's not a typical teen movie - a coming of age story about a Jewish girl and her Italian-American admirer. He's a bit of a loser, loud and dumb, not cool and criminal, but he's into her and he kidnaps her one night (in a rom com way) - so although they've got no hope as a couple (she's too sensible) and she doesn't love him - and her own college life isn't a great success, with dud boyfriends and bad acting classes - she can't stop thinking about him because no one else cared about her as much. Two great character studies, sensitively depicted. It's the sort of movie where you can understand why it wasn't a hit (too sad, too honest) but you can also see why some people really love it.

Play review - "Pork Stiletto" by Allsop and Henderson July 2012

Witty, funny and very sick - performed by the two playwrights and two others. It is episodic and maybe could have done with more of a story, or a few of the scenes dropped, but it's bright and fun. Maybe "fun" isn't the right word but it's enjoyably perverted as we run through a list of different philias.

Movie review - "Man in the Shadow" (1957) ** (warning: spoilers)

The movie Orson Welles appeared in for Universal just prior to making Touch of Evil, so it's something of a footnote in movie history. Just a footnote, despite being directed by Jack Arnold who has some pretty nifty credits, and produced by Albert Zugsmith, who was then at his peak. Maybe it's because it starred Jeff Chandler who has never been a critic's darling.

Having said that, this had a surprisingly large amount of similarities with Evil beyond Orson, Zugsmith and Universal - it's a thriller shot in black and white, a neo-noir feel, small town setting in the present day, an honest cop investigating a murder, racial conflict, a leering villain, corruption oozing from every pore. Chandler isn't bad, all craggy integrity.

The main problem is the story is a bit one note - he figures out pretty quickly that Orson Welles is behind the murder, and the rest of the film is just him resisting pressure to call off the investigation. It lacks a subplot - I expected him to romance Welles' daughter but no, Chandler is happily married (to a woman in a nothing part).

Orson has presence, and it's fun to see him in a neo Western saying things like "get off my ranch", although he is a little hammy. The best scene is where Chandler is dragged behind a car through the streets of the town.