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 - "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. 

Book review - "Roddy McDowall" by Samuel Bernstein

 Bernstein does another very good biography of an underrated queer actor Roddy McDowall, on top of the one he did for Caesar Romero. The two actors had many things in common - foreigners who flourised in Hollywood, seem like genuinely nice people, hugely long careers, Batman villains. McDowall had more long term romances and possibly better luck with movies - every decade he managed to appear in a classic. How Green Was My Valley, Compulsion, Camelot, Cleopatra, Planet of the Apes, The Poseidon Adventure. It's incredible. 

Worthy book for a person who deserved it. 

Movie review - "House of Strangers" (1949) **

 Full of potential - a story about a dodgy Italian American banker and his four sons, a riff on King Lear and Joseph and His Brethren ... based on a script by Phil Yordan who often adapted classics. (Though the script was rewritten by Joseph L. Mankiewicz).

But it's boring. There's yelling and Italian accent acting and the movie badly lacks star power. Edward G Robinson has charisma as dad but isn't in the movie enough - ditto Susan Hayward who is sexy. There's too much Richard Conte and his brothers, who all feel undercast (Luther Adler, Efrem Zimbalist Jnr, Paul Valentine) and not different enough. 

It needed stars like Victor Mature or at least really different characters.  It needed more sex and violence - they needed to be gangsters.

I didn't care about any characters. Especially not Richard Conte's. Not dramatised - Hayward should be in a love triangle with two brothers or something.

Nicely shot. The piece has tremendous potential. But it's weirdly undramatic. 

Rex Harrison top ten

 1. My Fair Lady (1964)

2. Cleopatra (1963)

3. Anna and the King of Siam (1946)

4. The Ghost and Mrs Muir (1947)

5.  Blithe Spirit (1945)

6. Night Train to Munich (1940)

7. Dr Doolittle (1967)

8. Midnight Lace (1960)

9. Major Barbara (1941)

10. The Rake's Progress (1945) 

Book review - "The Cleopatra Papers", by Jack Brodsky and Nathan Weiss

 Hugely fun. Bitchy. Two PR people bitching about the movie and Fox. Actually they speak up well about the big stars and Mankiewicz. Mock Spyrous. This book really illustrates how Fox were suffering flop after flop - this was really damanging. There was no cushion for Cleopatra. 

Movie review - "Cleopatra" (1963) *** (re-watching)

 Thoughts 

- It’s a good movie. Not a great one. But much to admire. Sets. Costumes. Dialogue. Acting. Stars. Key support.

- Main problem - the film has a repetitive structure. Roman leader goes to Egypt. Falls for Cleopatra despite being married. Romans hate him. Dies.

- Second half takes forever. So many repetitve beats. 

- Film needed a story editor. Someone to keep an eye on the scenes. Mankiewicz writes great dialogue.  But not good on story. So many scenes are repeated - Harrison enters Rome, then Taylor enters Rome... just do the one, her. Burton is always going to Rome and then to Egypt and back. We didn't need to see all the Battle of Actium. And once that's over the tension is over - theu've lost the war.

- Still a lot of fun. 

Book review - "My Life with Cleopatra" by Joe Hyams and Walter Wanger

 This book has traditionally been dismissed but it's terrific - self serving but so what? It's in diary form so there is tremendous urgency and fascination as Wanger gets a movie greenlit by being high concept - Liz Taylor as Cleopatra - without ever being really sure of the story (you can spin it in all directions).

The producer gushes about Liz and Burton and Mankiewicz, is more exasperated on Spyrous Skouros.

Looking back it's kind of scary how many mistakes were bad luck and understandable - makes sense they'd hold out for Liz, and to film in England where they had a deal with Rank, and to cast Peter Finch and Stephen Boyd, and even to use Robert Mamoulian, and to try to rewrite the script, and not their fault she got sick, but that meant she won an Oscar which made her invaluable. And a lot of things they did were to make the movie better, like hire Mankiewicz. Other things more avoidable - the movie is basically people talking they could have cut a lot of spectacle (yet they had to add some).

Some things I didn't know like Taylor recommended Peter Finch, and they went after Laurence Olivier first for Caesar. 

Fun to read little asides like Wagner commenting that he hadn't dealt well with being cheated on. 

George Sanders Top Ten

 1) Action in Arabia (1944) - George Sanders as a conventional hero

2) Rebecca (1940) - almost steals the film as Rebecca's "cousin"

3) The Black Swan (1942) - in a red beard as a pirate!

4) Samson and Delilah (1949) - excellent villain toasting the temple as it falls on him

5) Ivanhoe (1952) - another excellent baddy role, complex, in love with Rebecca 

6) The Saint Strikes Back (1939) - enormous fun

7) Call Me Madam (1953) - he sings, and well

8) Psychomania (1971) - sad bc it was his last film but what nutty gloriousness to go out on

9) Son of Monte Cristo (1940) - terrific villain and death

10) All About Eve (1950) - oh I guess so...

Marilyn Monroe Top Ten

 Not many films but anyway

1) Some Like It Hot (1959) - easy choice, so perfect... imagine Mitzi Gaynr in this. No thanks.

2) Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) - again, easy choice - shame she was never reteamed with Russell.

3) How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) - glorious fun. Steals movie. 

4) Bus Stop (1956) - I recall Don Murray being creepy and Marilyn being great.

5) All About Eve (1951) - one scene but a great one.

6) The Misfits (1961) - flawed, but marvelous

7) Niagara (1953) - she's probably miscast but it's a good movie.

8) There's No Business Like Show Business (1954) - hokey story but those song and dance numbers!

9) The Seven Year Itch (1955) - icon.

10) Don't Bother to Knock (1952) - haven't seen this in ages just throwing it in there.

Movie review - "The Honey Pot" (1967) **

 Sounds like a dream combination - Joe Mankiewicz, Rex Harrison and Ben Jonson - but it doesn't come off. Harrison is ideal for Mankiewicz's dialogue but the talk is of poor quality and Cliff Robertson, an actor I like, feels terribly miscast and all wrong.

The women aren't up to it - Susan Hayward, Edie Adams and Capucine have all been good in other stuff but aren't here. (I think Mankiewicz was throwing back to Letter to Three Wives by having a trio.) The exception is Maggie Smith who is very good.

It isn't much of a story. Confusing set up. There's a murder mystery but you don't care who dunnit.

This was really disappointing.

Movie review - "Suddenly Last Summer" (1959) ***1/2

 Ripe campy melodrama which I enjoyed a lot.  There's actually not a lot of story when you think about it - Elizabeth Taylor saw a Bad Thing Happen and is affected by it - and that is spun out for a decent running time. But it works because the three leads are all film stars having a high old time. Kate Hepburn and Liz acted their arses off, chewing the scenery, Monty Clift does dogged decency well (the accident adds to his character).

I think Gore Vidal did a very good script of Tennessee Williams' play... long scenes, literate, funny. Mankiewicz lets the action breathe.

Movie review - "The Barefoot Contessa" (1954) ***

 Fascinating, flawed piece. Mankiewicz's attempt to do a cinematic All About Eve or his own version of The Bad and the Beautiful - it actually feels most like the latter, which was a version of Citizen Kane. This starts at a funeral of a movie star (Ava Gardner) and tells the story of her life, ish.

There's some memorable dialogue and acting and it was enjoyable, despite Mankiewicz's dodgy sexual politics - I know he used to root actresses with mental health issues eg Judy Garland.

It feels as though it needed an edit - the part played by Humphrey Bogart (who looks like he's dying) surely should have been combined with Edmund O'Brien and that character should surely be in love with Gardner and impregnate her.

There's not a lot of depth to Gardner's character, is there? She wants to fall in love before having sex. Marries an impotent man. Is there anything more?

Her character doesn't deserve to die. She is lonely. And gets shot because she has an affair. That feels so unfair. All the men live.

Key support roles feel undercast - Warren Stevens as Howard Hughes type, Marius Gordin as a Aly Khan type. (These roles feel as though they should be merged too). It takes some fun swipes at admittedly easy targets - film people, the idle rich, aristocrats.

Movie review - "Mank" (2021) **

 I didn't like it. Cinematography and art dept are brilliant. They deserved their awards. I did like how its an expensive film that focuses on Upton Sinclair's attempts to be governor. Orson Welles fans got upset but the film isn't about him, really, it's about Mank.

But... it's not great. So much didn't feel real. Ben Hecht and others pitching a film to studio execs. Everyone standing around watching Mank do his speech. The marriage between Mank and his wife. The character of Marion Davies. The relationship between the brothers.  None of it felt real. This was a hard slog.

Movie review - "Cleopatra" (1963) *** (re-watching)

 The first half of this is terrific. Smart, witty, well acted. Elizabeth Taylor is fun in the title role and Rex Harrison isn't a soldier but the intellectual brilliance of Caesar is evident. Motives are clear, everyone is smart. Excellent support work from Martin Landau, Roddy McDowall and Richard O'Sullivan. The spectacle is sparing but awesome eg Cleopatra's arrival in Rome.

The second half is less strong. The acting is still good - Burton steps up, though he looks silly with a sword - but the script wobbly. The spectacle feels more forced - did we really need to see so much of the Battle of Actium? The motivations less clear. Cleopatra wants... power but also Anthony. Anthony wants Cleopatra and power. But both are such whiny brats, it's hard to tell. Act one Cleopatra is smart as a whip. Act two Cleopatra is dumb, making silly decisions like declaring war on Rome and running away during the Battle of Actium. I think the passion of the two of them is meant to lead them to these bad decisions but it just seems silly. 

They have McDowall/Octavius lying in bed everytime there's a battle,  I think to contrast with the macho-ness of Burton's Antony, but Antony looks like a fool especially drinking in strategy meetings.

After the Battle of Actium the film should wrap up but there's scene after scene: Burton being abandoned by his troops, charging the enemy, monologuing, Burton and Taylor saying goodbye to all these people who never got much screen time so it feels like a waste of time.

Still it is a smart epic. Looks gorgeous.

Book review - "The Brothers Mankiewicz" by Sydney Stern (2019)

There have been biographies of Joe and Herman but they came out when key people were alive so it's an ideal time to revisit both. Joe inevitably overshadows his brother because he lived longer, did more, and was a director, so more of his work was clearly his, whereas Herman was often rewritten or rewrote... but it was Herman who paved the way, whether establishing himself in journalism, or in Berlin, or Hollywood, while Joe followed.

People seemed to adore Herman with his quick wit and genuine talent - he also got a lot of gigs because people felt sorry for his long suffering wife Sarah (who he seems to have been faithful to). A witty columnist, writer and guest he seemed to struggle to write anything of substance on his own - no truly memorable play or novel for instance. He thrived in the collaborative environment of Hollywood and was promoted to writer-producer, having a long run at Paramount. Actually he kept employed for a long time, turning out Citizen Kane of course (which earned him an Oscar) as well as fun pictures like The Spanish Main.

Joe also thrived in Hollywood, working as a producer at MGM. He must have been very charming - all the top stars wanted to work with him. He was more manipulative and destructive than possibly even he realised - he was constantly having affairs with insecure, self destructive women, and while sending them to psychoanalysis and treating them as smart, and leaving them loving him, in the long run they didn't turn out well: Joan Crawford, Judy Garland, his second wife Rose Strander, Gene Tierney, Linda Darnell.

The book is well written and excellent researched, accessing some private letters and what not. He clearly has tremendous admiration for his subjects but doesn't worship them - Herman's drinking and Joe's gaslighting get appropriate criticism.

It helps that so many of the films the brothers worked on were interesting - for Herman there's Citizen Kane of course but he caused entertaining trouble at Paramount. Some of Joe's films had memorably chaotic productions - The Barefoot Contessa, The Quiet American and of course Cleopatra. Worth a read. 

Movie review - "If I Had a Million" (1932) ***

These films work better I feel if you recognise all the stars - some I did, others not so much, but it did come out in 1932. Because there's something like eight chapters it's hard to dig in to any of them - but they were generally entertaining and full of variety.

There's quite a few with older protagonists, befitting a time when Marie Dressler and Wallace Beery were big draws - Charles Ruggles smashes up china, Charles Laughton blows a raspberry, May Robson leads a mutiny in an old folks home. Alice Skipworth and WC Fields amble about. George Raft is quite funny as a con man who can't cash his check; Gary Cooper, for all he irritates me, does radiate charisma as a soldier on leave with Jack Oakie and another mate. Gene Raymond is touching as a man on death row - I liked the seriousness of this. Because it's pre Code they are allowed to do one about a hooker who gets to go to bed alone.

Movie review - "Woman's World" (1954) **

This is what happens when you try to re-do A Letter to Three Wives or All About Eve without Joseph L Mankiewicz. This has a good, solid set up - the position of general manager of a big car corporation is up for grabs, and company head Clifton Webb (wasted), invites three leading managers from around the country to check out them and their wives.

You expect a show of ruthless climbing and great one liners - and having a large bunch of characters doesn't matter in the right hands, as shown by say Dinner at Eight. But this doesn't work.

The main reason is it's so soft. The first couple out of the blocks are June Allyson and Cornel Wilde - just decent folks from the midwest. She's a bit clutzy and worries about her kids - this was during Allyson's "perfect wife" period. She occasionally embarrasses them with a bit of klutzy-ness but he doesn't really want the job.

More promising are Lauren Bacall and Fred MacMurray. He wants the job but he's a workaholic and she doesn't want him to have the job. She gives him a job-or-me ultimatum and they're both nice basically so you know he's not going to get it.

Then there's Van Heflin and Arlene Dahl. They both want it - she really wants it - she tries to seduce Webb which is promising. But it was all a trap by Webb so get Heflin to dump Dahl and then give Heflin the job. Which is typical misogynistic Fox stuff.

Everyone's so nice. You want (or at least I want) everyone to be stabbing each other in the back. Even Dahl isn't much of a villain. I get they wanted some nice people but they needed at least three unsympathetic characters. There's not enough jokes for it to work as a comedy - maybe if it had songs...?

Elliot Reid, that wet drip from Gentleman Prefer Blondes, turns up as Webb's nephew and you hope he's going to be a lecherous idiot but he does nothing. Webb kind of plays a Santa Claus.

It's a shame because it's fun to see these stars - even if some are a little B list - in a CinemaScope corporate setting.

Book review - "Pictures Will Talk : the Life and Films of Joseph L. Mankiewicz" by Kenneth Geist (1978)

An extremely good look at the career of Mankiewicz, one of the best known writer-producer-directors from Hollywood's golden age. He had a remarkable career - he made it to the top relatively quickly and stayed there until the end. He managed to retire with his money, his respect and his marbles, which is pretty good.

Mankiewicz came from smart stock - dad was educated, so was mother. He got into films via his brother Herman, who was a journalist who became a screenwriter and was famous for co writing Citizen Kane and not living up to his potential. He drank and Joe didn't. Joe was also a better politician -he could charm, particularly actresses, many of whom he had affairs with. He found a good home at MGM and earned his reputation with Manhattan Melodrama.

I was surprised how many flops were on his resume but he always bounced back. He hit a sort of producing peak with Woman of the Year and The Philadelphia Story but Louis B Mayer wouldn't let him direct so he went to 20th Century Fox, where he thrived under Daryl Zanuck. He's best known for A Letter to Three Wives and All About Eve but made many other solid films, such as Five Fingers and The Ghost and Mrs Muir. Even misfires like People Will Talk are interesting.

Mankiewicz left Fox, whereupon a lot of Zanuck apologists say he never made another decent film. I think that's not true. He's work was always interesting, even when flawed - Guys and Dolls, Suddenly Last Summer, The Quiet American.  Of course the biggest "flawed achievement" was Cleopatra which almost killed Mankiewicz but has some great stuff in it - it's definitely one of the better epics, especially in the first half.

He hung on, managed to make a bunch of other films including Sleuth - this book features some fascinating observations of the making of the film, including Mankiewicz's directing technique.

There's lots of fantastic quotes, particularly from Mankiewicz who was very much alive when the book was written. Surprisingly little about his son Tom's career. The author admires its subject but not to the point of ignorance.

There are some annoying little errors - David and Bathsheba was actually a big hit - and some items where I questioned the writers taste (All the Presidents Men a bad screenplay?). Mankiewicz's power over women - they all fell in love with him apparently - seems a little more suspect to read about in the MeToo era, and also I note all the girls who loved him were neurotic actresses.

Still this is easily the best book on Mankiewicz out there.

Book review - "Girl Next Door: The Life and Career of Jeanne Crain" by Rupert Alistair

Crain is one of those movie stars whose reputation has not aged well, to put it mildly. She was a big star in her day and appeared in some genuine classics: State Fair, Leave Her to Heaven, Pinky and A Letter to Three Wives. She was nominated for an Oscar. She worked with Joe Mankiewicz, Elia Kazan and Otto Preminger.

But when the tide turned her career went downhill very fast and she never got it back - she went to work on stage and TV and as a character actress, but there was no late career appearance to make people appreciate her.

Crain was very pretty and not very good as an actor. I get the impression even Alistair felt this after analysing her career but was too polite to say so (I may be completely wrong).

But she had a look that was perfect for the time - the war and post-war era. This period is better remembered for its sultry film noir stars like Ava Gardner, or feisty heroines like Kate Hepburn, or exotic actors like Dorothy Lamour, or musical legends like Judy Garland, and they were definitely around, but so too "good girls" like Crain, June Allyson and Janet Leigh. Wholesome types who GIs could dream about on the front, who reassured people in a world gone mad that there were still nice, clean decent people out there.

Crain's dad shot through at an early age, and she wound up in California and started entering and winning beauty contests. She was spotted by a talent scout and her rise was fairly rapid. Orson Welles, of all people, seriously considered her for the role of Lucy in The Magnificent Ambersons, of all things before going with Anne Baxter. She was signed to 20th Century Fox who gave her a small part in The Gang's All Here then she was given the lead in Home in Indiana and - bang - she was away.

In hindsight Fox was ideal for her because Zanuck liked making Americana (eg Kentucky, State Fair) - you can imagine Crain would've played Will Rogers' daughter a lot had Rogers still been alive. State Fair remake was a huge hit as was Leave Her to Heaven (even though you might be likely to forget she was in it) and Margie. She made some unsatisfactory films with Otto Preminger and wound up in Letter to Three Wives because Zanuck insisted. Zanuck also refused to let her play the role of Clementine in My Darling Clementine because she was too big a star (a shame, I think she should have done it, but not doing it didn't hurt her career).

Pinky was a massive hit and she was in another Mankiewicz film People Will Talk but then in the early 50s her career hit a snag - Dangerous Crossing, Vicki, City of Bad Men - and she left Fox. She never regained her career momentum, being relegated to "the girl" parts like in Fastest Gun Alive and Guns of the Timberland. She did some TV (including a version of The Great Gatsby with Rod Taylor) and theatre and cabaret, as well as the obligatory films in Italy.

What happened? Admittedly Crain lost out on some roles because she was pregnant a lot - seven kids! She had four then she and her husband separated, then they got back together and had three more! She often lost roles to Anne Baxter, and missed some parts which would've suited her like the Jean Simmons part in The Robe. She wasn't suited for musicals, not really being a singer or dancer. I also think she was hurt by the emergence of Susan Hayward, who became Fox's go-to star for dramas.

I think the big thing is she wasn't very good. No actor could ask for more than a part in something like Pinky, Letter to Three Wives or People Will Talk. Crain always gave a similar performance - nice, polite, pert. When she was young and fresh she brought those qualities as well; over time they faded and she didn't have anything else.

Maybe that's unfair - she seems to have been a professional and worked hard. I'm sure she was a decent actor. She's not terrible in her films. But she never had the fire or spark of the great stars. (Admittedly I haven't seen every Crain performance.) Both Mankiewicz and Kazan disparaged her ability in their memoirs.

She could have been distracted by her love life. This book is good on Crain's career but fascinating on her marriage - she married Paul Brickman, a businessman so handsome he was briefly under contract to Warner Bros as a back up to Errol Flynn. They were together a long time, until her death, but it was not an easy marriage. They almost got divorced - she claimed he drank and hit her several times. He had affairs; he claimed she did too with friends (which seems true - doesn't excuse the hitting). They got back together. Despite seven kids they constantly went to parties and worked all over the place.

I don't think they were particularly focused parents - maybe that's not true but two of their children predeceased her, one a son who drank himself to death, the other son (a musician who would jam with the founder of Jane's Addiction!) who died of a heroin overdose. Crain and her husband did separate towards the end and lived in separate residences for the last part of their lives, but they never divorced. It's like something out of Mad Men - all those nannies looking after kids while the parents go to parties, drink and have affairs over cocktails.

It's an interesting book - probably more interesting than Crain on screen.