Angie Dickinson Top Ten

 An under-rated actress.

1) China Gate (1957) - gets a terrific opportunity as a Eurasian hooked, super sympathetic.

2) Dressed to Kill (1980) - a splendid role, beautifully acted, gives it tragic dimension.

3) Big Bad Mama (1974) - glorious fun.

4) Rome Adventure (1962) -  steals the movie.

5) Point Blank (1967) - very sympathetic, seems like a gangster girl. I prefer this to The Killers.

6) Pretty Babies All in a Row (1970) - wild movie, she fits in.

7) Sam Whiskey (1969) - fun Burt Reynolds film and she teams well withhin.

8) The Chase (1966) - hectic, sprawling, entertaining.

9) Rio Bravo (1959) - too young for the Duke but fun. 

10) Captain Newman MD (1964) - sure why not. 

Movie review - "The Sweet Ride" (1968) **

 Interesting. Odd. 20th Century Fox's attempt to jump on the beach craze came out late, was serious, had a middle aged star (Tony Franciosa) and adult plots but had some young talent, notably Jacqueline Bisset (inexperienced but gorgeous), Michael Sarrazin (pretty but blank with nothing to play), Bob Denver. Franciosa ensures someone can act. It's super serious despite the presence of Denver and being produced by Joe Pasternak. There's a bike gang but it's serious.

Tom Mankiewicz wrote the script which is full of zingers, not many funny.  It's not a comedy it's a drama with zingers. I think they were going for a big screen Peyton Place with some beach tropes.

Harvey Hart tilts the camera and a few other things. I wasn't sure if Sarrazin assaulted Bisset, who I think was into masochistic sex or something. There's these random characters like Bisset's producer (she's an actress) and Denver's girfriend Michele Carey and a biker guy and a cop. 

Movie is confusing. It's called a programmer but what's its genre?  

Movie review - "The Tarnished Angels" (1957) *** (warning: spoilers)

 Has a big rep and it's a well made film. I wasn't as wild about it. Story isn't strong - Rock Hudson tries as a boozing journo impressed by some fliers after World War One. He has strong chemistry with Dorothy Malone (who's very good) the wife of flier Robert Stack. They have a kid. Stack dies, kid bawls which is traumatic.

Beautifully shot. Interesting. Just a little underwhelming. Malone gives best performance. Stack is stiff. Hudson tries but isn't up to his role. 

Movie review - "The Blackboard Jungle" (1955) ****

 Dore Schary had mixed results at MGM but this is one of his better efforts - social realism done with flair. Works emotionally because the whole thing is about bullying - the kids bully each other and the teachers. Glenn Ford isn't much of a teacher, violent, and sulky. Anne Francis assumes a female teacher who was almost raped was asking for ti, and gets jealous of Ford and the teacher.

Ford is well cast with his constipated Einsenhower Era tension.  Sidney Poitier is electric. Vic Morrow very good. The kids are great. Anne Francis whines. I enjoyed the weaker teachers.

Movie review - "Bug" (2006) ***

 William Friedkin returns to his roots with a play adaptation - a piece by Tracy Letts about a woman (Ashley Judd) going a little mad, being smacked around by Harry Connick Jnr and forming a bond wth a war veteran (Michael Shannon).

There's a hot sex scene involving Judd's body double and she and Shannon go. The handling can't be faulted or the acting but the whole way through you just feel this would play better on stage.

Movie review - "Rules of Engagement" (2000) **

 The film starts strongly with two excellent battle sequences - one in Vietnam, then an embassy siege/massacre. William Friedkin directs with real flare. Then Samuel L Jackson is put on trial for war crimes and Tommy Lee Jones called in to defend him. 

The movie is set up to be an interesting account of what a war crime is. We saw what happened. The troops were shot at but Jackson went berserk. They fired into the crowd. There were other options.

But then slimy diplomat Bruce Greenwood orders tape suppressed that shows Arabs shooting at them and all complexity is thrown out the window. The fact that Jackson could have responded in different ways (shoot snipers, shoot over heads, etc) is barely explored.

This movie is just dumb. I think Friedkin was dumb down deep. I sense the original script you never saw the massacre which would've been interesting because you never knew what happened. But here we see it at the top of the film. So there's no suspense. No revelation.

I'm not sure Friedkin understood drama. 

Movie review - "Ensign Pulver" (1964) **

 Joshua Logan sooked a lot about the film version of Mister Roberts but got a chance to make his own version, this sequel without Roberts who died in the original. He assembled some promising names but stuffed up with Robert Walker Jnr in the lead, a gawky Jim Hutton type who isn't up to Jack Lemmon. Burl Ives seems too fat and old and not scary for a captain.

The story is dumb. Burl Ives bullies, Walker wants to be a doctor (boring), Tommy Sands' child dies so he goes a little mad, there's an interlude on an island with Millie Perkins as a nurse, Ives and Walker are on a raft. The story misses Mister Roberts but it's also not good. I did like Ives realising he's not fit for command, that's a bit different.

It's interesting to see people like Jack Nicholson, Larry Hagman and James Coco as sailors.  Walter Matthau is strong as the doctor. Pretty photography.

But the film was just annoying. Walker too.