Movie review - "There was a Crooked Man..." (1970) **

 Joseph Mankiewicz's comedy heist Western with some old stars (Kirk Douglas, Henry Fonda) and new writers (Robert Benton, David Newman). He's not a director particularly associaated with Westerns - the movie was originally written for Don Siegel which makes more sense.

I glimpsed this as a child and always remember Michael Blodgett having sex with the girl on the pool table (female parts not amazing in this). 

It's not much of a movie. Douglas wears glasses which is novel but he's mostly smug. There's a lot of prison tropes - riots, some gays, people hot for Blodgett, cross and double cross.

The characters aren't that compelling. There are introduced in interesting ways but then gets bogged down. Henry Fonda is dogged. Him turning crook at end feels unmotiavted. Douglas is one note.

I think maybe if had been a woman's prison, maybe it would've had more life.  

The cast is special - there's Burgess Meredith, Warren Oates, Lee Grant, etc.

But I didn't like it. The music is awful - those stings. Why did Westerns use these? 

Movie review - "Cape Forlorn" (1931) **

 Frank Harvey play adapted into a film with Harvey in the lead. He's an old soak whose wife is havin it off with one man, then another (skinny Ian Hunter). EA Dupont directed. He throws in some funky visuals every now and then - tracking shots, dissolves - but the acting is stagy.

Movie review - "Sleuth" (1972) ***1/2

 Entertaining version of the famous play. The surprises are harder to pull off on film but they do well enough. It has splendid leads both willing to go full ham, with the young bull and old bull. Mankewicz is an ideal director with his love of literature. The set is amazing.

A little long and would be better on stage. 

Movie review - "Showgirl's Luck" (1931) **

 Not good. Erratic acting. Dodgy scripting. Fascinating. Musical about putting on a musical only there's hardly any songs. They were too ambitious.

Play review - "After the Fall" (1964) by Arthur Miller

 A recording of the 1964 New York production from Elia Kazan, who directed a character based on him played by Ralph Meeker. It's got Jason Robards and Barbara Loden and Faye Dunaway. Fascinating.

Kazan only liked the Marilyn Monroe stuff. He was right. It's the strongest. The informing friend could have worked - needed to connect him with the Marilyn part, made it a love triangle. The first wife - dull, cheated on - is dull. Ditto the third wife - concentration camp and all. it's wife two, Marilyn, that makes this worth watching.

The making of this play would be a great movie/play. 

Book review - "The Andromeda Strain" by Michael Crichton

 Admire it. Never been huge fan. Great opening - the town wiped out - and ending - ticking clock. In between it's a medical drama, trying to figure out what caused the illness. Tremendous sense of realism though. You can see why it was a sensation.

Movie review - "The Big Heat" (1953) ****

 Everything clicked for Fritz Lang - Glenn Ford in a great performance, a strong story, very good script from Sydney Boehm. Simple story - Ford investigates murder of cop - has punch from the all to believable depiction of corruption in society particularly the higher up cos who are always encouraging people to give up.

Ford's wife is sappy and the kid an annoying boomer but the wife's death has real kic and the minor parts are superb - the slimy bar owner, the mob boss, the sad hooker. Most of all there is Lee Marvin and Gloria Grahame - who I was surprised to see don't really appear much til the last act. 

But the relationship between Grahame and Ford is powerful and I loved how Ford's army veteran mates helped.