A bright low-budget British comedy thriller, with a dash of The Maltese Falcon as a bunch of types try to track down a valuable brass monkey. The cast is a real grab bag - an awkward Canadian, Carroll Levis, who plays himself (very stiffly); the pretty Carole Landis, shortly before she killed herself in real life; Herbert Lom as a (surprise!) villainous foreigner; Terry Thomas playing himself, as he was then i.e. a stage entertainer (he sings a song); Avril Angers as herself.
It's surprisingly fast paced and light and I enjoyed it. Levis is poor but Landis is spirited and Angers (who I'd never heard of) is a lot of fun. I found it genuinely surprising that Landis was a main baddy - until I remembered they really ripped off Mary Astor in The Maltese Falcon.
Structure wise the film does make a big mistake in that the last third the plot comes to the halt and they do Levis' radio show, with people coming on doing various numbers (an accordionist, etc). This ruins momentum, and is annoying. But it's bright and unpretentious.
Saturday, April 30, 2016
Movie review - "Cardboard Cavalier" (1949) **
Sid Field was a popular British stage comedian who never made it as a movie star despite a few expensive attempts, this being one. As a vehicle for the comic it's poorly constructed, with a lack of comic set pieces, or strong support cast, or laughs. It takes too long to introduce Field and is far too serious for much of the running time.
The basic idea isn't bad isn't bad - Field is a barrow boy used as a spy for Charles II during the time of Oliver Cromwell. Bob Hope made a bunch of these historical comedies, but they were done by people who knew what they were doing - plenty of colour, gags and songs. This one feels amateurish.
The main problem is it isn't funny. I know that's a matter of personal taste, but evidently the British public of 1949 agreed with me for they did not turn up in expected numbers. It badly lacks comic sequences. And when they attempt it - eg banter between Field and a royalist lord, Jerry Desmonde - it doesn't really work.
Part of this is due to the weakness of the support cast. Lockwood tries, in a blonde wig, but she's not a natural comedienne; for all her efforts she looks like someone out of her league - and the film is geared too much towards her. Jerry Desmonde, as a royalist officer, was Field's regular on stage collaborator but he's not much good in the film.
It does pick up towards the end when the dramatic lines become simpler - Field and his gang try to break into a castle, resulting in them dressing up (Field in drag). There's pace and movement but it never hits home.
The basic idea isn't bad isn't bad - Field is a barrow boy used as a spy for Charles II during the time of Oliver Cromwell. Bob Hope made a bunch of these historical comedies, but they were done by people who knew what they were doing - plenty of colour, gags and songs. This one feels amateurish.
The main problem is it isn't funny. I know that's a matter of personal taste, but evidently the British public of 1949 agreed with me for they did not turn up in expected numbers. It badly lacks comic sequences. And when they attempt it - eg banter between Field and a royalist lord, Jerry Desmonde - it doesn't really work.
Part of this is due to the weakness of the support cast. Lockwood tries, in a blonde wig, but she's not a natural comedienne; for all her efforts she looks like someone out of her league - and the film is geared too much towards her. Jerry Desmonde, as a royalist officer, was Field's regular on stage collaborator but he's not much good in the film.
It does pick up towards the end when the dramatic lines become simpler - Field and his gang try to break into a castle, resulting in them dressing up (Field in drag). There's pace and movement but it never hits home.
Friday, April 29, 2016
Movie review - "Revenge of the Zombies" (1943) **
Follow up to King of the Zombies also has Mantan Moreland as a servant to two men investigating a mad scientist dabbling in zombies. He's played by John Carradine, giving this star power - and it's actually a good cast, with also Veda Ann Borg popping up as Carradine's zombie wife, Gale Storm as a love interest, and 30s Western star Bob Steele as a double agent.
This film is actually full of great ideas but none of them are developed which is frustrating - hero Mauritz Hugo is Borg's sister but they never have much of a relationship; Carradine seems to be working for the Nazis but doesn't seem to be planning anything; Robert Lowery is a hero who doesn't do much; Moreland is given a romance but hardly any screen time to develop it; Moreland has a fleeting encounter with zombies but that's given hardly any screen time too (Moreland fans will get more out of King of the Zombies); the zombies rise up but there's no build up or satisfaction.
The best bits are Bob Steele as a double/triple agent and the fact Carradine's wife is a zombie but turns on him. There is some decent atmosphere. This actually could have been awesome with a bit more care.
This film is actually full of great ideas but none of them are developed which is frustrating - hero Mauritz Hugo is Borg's sister but they never have much of a relationship; Carradine seems to be working for the Nazis but doesn't seem to be planning anything; Robert Lowery is a hero who doesn't do much; Moreland is given a romance but hardly any screen time to develop it; Moreland has a fleeting encounter with zombies but that's given hardly any screen time too (Moreland fans will get more out of King of the Zombies); the zombies rise up but there's no build up or satisfaction.
The best bits are Bob Steele as a double/triple agent and the fact Carradine's wife is a zombie but turns on him. There is some decent atmosphere. This actually could have been awesome with a bit more care.
Thursday, April 28, 2016
Movie review - "Tottie True" (1948) **1/2
Jean Kent livened up Gainsborough melodramas of the 1940s with some sparky support portrayals as slutty girls. In the late 1940s she was given a few starring roles but none of them particularly struck home, including this.
This was a big vehicle for her - an expensive (for Britain) period musical in colour with Kent front and center, playing the title role: a working class girl who becomes a music hall star and marries a lord (James Donald).
And to be fair Kent gives an accomplished, professional performance. She had a music hall background and can sing and dance and act. But she's not a star. She's just an ordinary nice girl who does her best but you don't care.
The story doesn't help her that much. Trottie wants to be a singer, she is a singer, she falls in love with a guy who flies balloons but they can't get it together, so she marries a Lord (James Donald) who is a nice guy, she lives in the aristocracy, their marriage has a bit of a strain with both worried the other is cheating but they work it out.
No real conflict or baddies or development. I guess it was interesting to hear the characters talk about adultery and for Trottie to think her desires were as important as men. Bill Owen - Trottie's co star who loves her - really should have been the rival, not Andrew Crawford, who is awful as the balloon guy.
But there are still pleasures to be had - the art design, photography, colour, songs, period re-creation. Kent is likeable enough and James Donald very good. Christopher Lee and Roger Moore have blink and you'll miss them appearances. The Brits don't have a great reputation for movie musicals but they could do a pretty decent job.
This was a big vehicle for her - an expensive (for Britain) period musical in colour with Kent front and center, playing the title role: a working class girl who becomes a music hall star and marries a lord (James Donald).
And to be fair Kent gives an accomplished, professional performance. She had a music hall background and can sing and dance and act. But she's not a star. She's just an ordinary nice girl who does her best but you don't care.
The story doesn't help her that much. Trottie wants to be a singer, she is a singer, she falls in love with a guy who flies balloons but they can't get it together, so she marries a Lord (James Donald) who is a nice guy, she lives in the aristocracy, their marriage has a bit of a strain with both worried the other is cheating but they work it out.
No real conflict or baddies or development. I guess it was interesting to hear the characters talk about adultery and for Trottie to think her desires were as important as men. Bill Owen - Trottie's co star who loves her - really should have been the rival, not Andrew Crawford, who is awful as the balloon guy.
But there are still pleasures to be had - the art design, photography, colour, songs, period re-creation. Kent is likeable enough and James Donald very good. Christopher Lee and Roger Moore have blink and you'll miss them appearances. The Brits don't have a great reputation for movie musicals but they could do a pretty decent job.
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Movie review - "This Time is for Keeps" (1947) **1/2
A thin plot even by Esther Williams' standards - she's an acquacade star who falls in love with a war hero whose father sings opera but the son wants to sing more modern songs... and also there's some girl he was engaged to before the war who he doesn't tell Esther about. And that's about it. Seriously. It practically floats off the page.
But actually I didn't mind it that much. Better than something more plotty which was dodgy, dumb and/or offensive. And Joe Pasternak makes sure there's always something going on in that grab bag variety show act way of his... there's Jimmy Durante doing some numbers and rather touchingly being in love with Esther. The male lead is some bloke called Johnnie Johnston who I'd never heard of but isn't a bad actor (I'd seen worse - he's better than the block of wood Dick Simmons who plays his rival) and can sing; he's a radio star and was married to Kathryn Grayson but didn't end up making a lot of movies - I wonder why. Maybe temperament?
Esther swims around a bit and her swimming cronies hang out by the piano in swimsuits. There's a few cute kids, bright colours, that fat opera singer Lauritz Melchior singing a few numbers (MGM loved their opera) and some acting, band leader Xavier Cugat doing a few numbers and some acting, Dame May Whitty as Esther's bossy grandma, plus location filming on Mackinak Island, which I'd never heard of but looks lovely. It just wants to entertain and if you're in the mood for this sort of thing it will.
But actually I didn't mind it that much. Better than something more plotty which was dodgy, dumb and/or offensive. And Joe Pasternak makes sure there's always something going on in that grab bag variety show act way of his... there's Jimmy Durante doing some numbers and rather touchingly being in love with Esther. The male lead is some bloke called Johnnie Johnston who I'd never heard of but isn't a bad actor (I'd seen worse - he's better than the block of wood Dick Simmons who plays his rival) and can sing; he's a radio star and was married to Kathryn Grayson but didn't end up making a lot of movies - I wonder why. Maybe temperament?
Esther swims around a bit and her swimming cronies hang out by the piano in swimsuits. There's a few cute kids, bright colours, that fat opera singer Lauritz Melchior singing a few numbers (MGM loved their opera) and some acting, band leader Xavier Cugat doing a few numbers and some acting, Dame May Whitty as Esther's bossy grandma, plus location filming on Mackinak Island, which I'd never heard of but looks lovely. It just wants to entertain and if you're in the mood for this sort of thing it will.
Monday, April 25, 2016
Movie review - "Ghosts on the Loose" (1943) **
Bela Lugosi and the East Side Kids were well liked enough as a team in Spooks Run Wild for Sam Katzman and Jack Dietz at Monogram to reunite them in another comedy-horror. Well, comedy-thriller is probably more accurate, as this one has the Kids bust a Nazi spy ring.
The plot revolves around the wedding of one of the kids' sister - she's played by Ava Gardner! And she was stunningly beautiful even then. Unfortunately both Bela and Ava are hardly in it; most of the action consists of the East Side Kids poking around an old house, wondering if it's haunted, and the Nazis trying to scare them away.
There's not really enough story here for a feature - it's about 20 minutes worth. We do get the East Side Kids singing in a choir (for the wedding), some funny stuff as they help prepare the wedding - this whole film probably should have revolved around the wedding. Its a bit piss weak that all the Nazis are up to his printing propaganda leaflets - they should be making bombs and/or kidnapping or something.
Very light but amiable. Tom Weaver got stuck into this film in his book Poverty Row Horrors but I didn't mind it. Too light to be offensive.
The plot revolves around the wedding of one of the kids' sister - she's played by Ava Gardner! And she was stunningly beautiful even then. Unfortunately both Bela and Ava are hardly in it; most of the action consists of the East Side Kids poking around an old house, wondering if it's haunted, and the Nazis trying to scare them away.
There's not really enough story here for a feature - it's about 20 minutes worth. We do get the East Side Kids singing in a choir (for the wedding), some funny stuff as they help prepare the wedding - this whole film probably should have revolved around the wedding. Its a bit piss weak that all the Nazis are up to his printing propaganda leaflets - they should be making bombs and/or kidnapping or something.
Very light but amiable. Tom Weaver got stuck into this film in his book Poverty Row Horrors but I didn't mind it. Too light to be offensive.
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Book review - "Orson Welles: One Man Band" by Simon Callow (2016)
The third of Callow's books on Welles - I think he intended to go all the way until his death but old Orson was so prolific and all over the shop that he only makes it until Chimes at Midnight.
There is heaps until then, though - the making of Black Magic and The Third Man, the torturous shoot of Othello, the stage production of Othello with Peter Finch, the triumph of his Las Vegas magic show and Moby Dick Rehearsed, the disappointment of King Lear, Harry Lime on radio, the various cameos, Mr Akardian, Touch of Evil, the TV shows, directing Laurence Oliver in Rhinoceros, The Trial.
There were some astonishing achievements in there, especially for someone who never equalled Citizen Kane - Othello, Touch of Evil and especially Chimes at Midnight are all striking films, Moby Dick Rehearsed a terrific play, The Fountain of Youth a remarkable piece of TV. Welles would be consistently dogged by bad luck but also good luck would periodically drop out of the sky eg Charlton Heston pushing for him on Touch of Evil, money just magically appearing for The Trial. He appeared in many terrible films as an actor but just enough good ones to keep him in demand (The Third Man, Compulsion).
Welles could never get it together - Hollywood seemed to welcome him back with A Touch of Evil but post production was so traumatic it seemed to turn the studios off him (he disappeared during the editing yet again); artistic triumphs like Moby Dick Rehearsed were not commercial successes; when given complete artistic freedom and support he resulted in The Trial; he'd make fantastic TV but not given the chance to follow it up; commercial successes like Rhinoceros were hurt by the fact Laurence Olivier effectively banned him from rehearsals; Chimes at Midnight was a masterpiece with no distribution. Again and again one keeps thinking "if only"... "if only" he'd been able to make a second film for Zugsmith at Universal, if only he'd been able to schmooze executives as well as cast and crew, if only a major studio had distributed Chimes. But still, so much of the work survives to thrill us.
After reading Patrick McGilligan's biography on Welles' early years, Callow's nuts and bolts biography work (dates, places etc) suffers in comparison. But he is a wonderful writer and is particularly superb and insightful on Welles' acting, and his theatre work. A fantastic read.
There is heaps until then, though - the making of Black Magic and The Third Man, the torturous shoot of Othello, the stage production of Othello with Peter Finch, the triumph of his Las Vegas magic show and Moby Dick Rehearsed, the disappointment of King Lear, Harry Lime on radio, the various cameos, Mr Akardian, Touch of Evil, the TV shows, directing Laurence Oliver in Rhinoceros, The Trial.
There were some astonishing achievements in there, especially for someone who never equalled Citizen Kane - Othello, Touch of Evil and especially Chimes at Midnight are all striking films, Moby Dick Rehearsed a terrific play, The Fountain of Youth a remarkable piece of TV. Welles would be consistently dogged by bad luck but also good luck would periodically drop out of the sky eg Charlton Heston pushing for him on Touch of Evil, money just magically appearing for The Trial. He appeared in many terrible films as an actor but just enough good ones to keep him in demand (The Third Man, Compulsion).
Welles could never get it together - Hollywood seemed to welcome him back with A Touch of Evil but post production was so traumatic it seemed to turn the studios off him (he disappeared during the editing yet again); artistic triumphs like Moby Dick Rehearsed were not commercial successes; when given complete artistic freedom and support he resulted in The Trial; he'd make fantastic TV but not given the chance to follow it up; commercial successes like Rhinoceros were hurt by the fact Laurence Olivier effectively banned him from rehearsals; Chimes at Midnight was a masterpiece with no distribution. Again and again one keeps thinking "if only"... "if only" he'd been able to make a second film for Zugsmith at Universal, if only he'd been able to schmooze executives as well as cast and crew, if only a major studio had distributed Chimes. But still, so much of the work survives to thrill us.
After reading Patrick McGilligan's biography on Welles' early years, Callow's nuts and bolts biography work (dates, places etc) suffers in comparison. But he is a wonderful writer and is particularly superb and insightful on Welles' acting, and his theatre work. A fantastic read.
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