Set in Russia 1670 with Errol Flynn as a widowed Russian Czar Alexis who goes looking for a wife. He has all the well-born virgins in the land to choose from and settles on Patrice Wymore. He romances Wymore as an ordinary noble and fall in love – so when he tries to marry her as ahe Czar she doesn’t want to because she doesn’t know who he really is. That’s not a bad story, the sort of thing Norman Krasna used to write all the time. The most interesting scene is where Wymore’s ward, Latvia, insists Flynn marry her the proper way or else his enemies will have her killed – maybe seeing one of the enemies and having some real stakes would have made it better (what's here is kind of a light drama).
There is lots of fun here for Flynn fans – Errol playing a czar, Errol demanding vodka, the Flynns playing love scenes opposite each other. Errol isn’t that well cast – watching this you get the sense of what some of his work for Northampton Rep must have been like. He seems to be having fun but the piece never quite gets its tone right – its not funny enough to be a comedy, or serious enough for a drama. Maybe had it been able to run longer than 30 minutes these problems would have been conquered.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
TV series – “Mad Men” ***** (Season one and two)
Excellent series with a terrific idea – Madison Avenue ad exes in 1960. It takes a world we’re semi-familiar with due to movies and TV (Rock Huson in Lover Come Back, Darrin in Bewitched), then runs is through the filters of history (beatniks, Nixon’s campaign for the presidency) and the female gaze. The flashy roles are the guys – smoking, womanizing, brooding – but the girls are there too: the pretty but bland housewife, the nubile young secretary, the buxom sexually experienced secretary, the Greenwich Village artist.
Superbly cast. Two starts at least are launched: Joe Hamm as the handsome, enigmatic Don Draper, and Christina Hendricks as the curvey Helen Gurley Brown type. Jennifer Jones, a pretty blonde who is a little bit interesting, has found perhaps the most perfect role she will ever play. And there are also excellent performances from Elizabeth Moss (formely Zoe in the West Wing – how lucky can one actor who specialises in mousy types be?), the bloke who plays the creepy corporate climber. Actually everyone is good, right down to the smallest roles.
Some great lines – “this isn’t China there’s no money in virginity” and pretty much 70% of everything John Slattery says (I just plucked that figure out of the air but I hope it gives you a rough idea).
Season 2 isn’t as much fun to start off with mainly because the 60s start to be really felt –but still excellently made.
Superbly cast. Two starts at least are launched: Joe Hamm as the handsome, enigmatic Don Draper, and Christina Hendricks as the curvey Helen Gurley Brown type. Jennifer Jones, a pretty blonde who is a little bit interesting, has found perhaps the most perfect role she will ever play. And there are also excellent performances from Elizabeth Moss (formely Zoe in the West Wing – how lucky can one actor who specialises in mousy types be?), the bloke who plays the creepy corporate climber. Actually everyone is good, right down to the smallest roles.
Some great lines – “this isn’t China there’s no money in virginity” and pretty much 70% of everything John Slattery says (I just plucked that figure out of the air but I hope it gives you a rough idea).
Season 2 isn’t as much fun to start off with mainly because the 60s start to be really felt –but still excellently made.
Movie review – Beach Party #4 - “Pajama Party” (1964) ***1/2
Tommy Kirk’s homosexuality saw him fired from Disney but he was still offered work over at AIP, for whom he made this film – after which he was busted for drugs and they gave him the flick.
Here he steps into Frankie Avalon’s shoes as leading man in what became the fourth in the Beach Party series. Apparently this wasn’t originally envisioned as part of the series but was changed – so most of the action takes place as a mansion next to the beach rather than the beach, the hero of the plot is a martian rather than a teenager, Annette starts the film dating Jody McCrea rather than Frankie (actually this is a little stressful to watch) and winds up wth Tommy, there’s no John Ashley and Don Weis directs instead of William Asher; but they do have Donna Loren, Candy Johnson, Harvey Lembeck as Eric Von Zipper, plus a bunch of veteran stars, Don Rickles and Frankie Avalon in cameos, and plenty of groovy songs and dances.
I read an article about this film once that pointed out it was the only Beach Party movie that was done as a proper musical – the songs and routines are better integrated, there is a big well-choreographed dance number on the beach and at the pajama party (as well as the standard wiggling) and a really fun number performed by Dorothy Lamour in a dress shop (where the dancers include a young Terri Garr in a yellow dress – and if I’m not mistaken Toni Basil in a bikini).
Don Weis moves the camera more than William Asher and the songs are consistently strong. Also Funicello is actually allowed to sing and dance in a big production number – normally in Beach Party movies she was stuck singing ballads.
Kirk and Funicello have charming chemistry together, except in the scene where they ding a duet (if Kirk isn’t dubbed, he seems to be – and he does it poorly). And the story of their romance isn’t much – Beach Party movies were never that good at actually depicting couples fall in love (Frankie and Annette would break up and get back together) and the Annette-Kirk romance feels as though it needs another scene or beat or something – for instance, Annette’s got no real reason to be mad at Kirk for flirting with Bobbi Shaw… they’re not going out, and hello Annette is meant to be going out with Jody McCrea.
The film seems unable to make up its mind whether to concentrate on the martians-invading-earth story or the conmen-trying-to-rip-off-Elsa-Lanchester story. Eric Von Zipper and his cronies get involved too – they look hilarious in red pajamas at the end.
This is one of the sexiest movies in the series, with plenty of attractive women in bikinis and pajamas. Candy Johnson is in it but the role of woman-who-can-knock-men-over-with-a-shimmy is taken here by Susan Hart (who gets to dance in the end credits, another former place of Johnson’s – was she already seeing Jim Nicholson at this point?) She’s gorgeous but the real stunner is Bobbi Shaw, as a man-eating well-endowed Swede - if she’s not jumping out of the bathtub she’s in a bikini or rubbing Buster Keaton’s face in his breasts (this was one of Keaton’s last roles and even if AIP movies weren’t of the level of his silent classics, they were bright ad cheerful and gave him a pay cheque… and the chance to get up close and personal with Bobbi Shaw).
A really fun, bright movie.
Movie review – Mummy#4 - “The Mummy’s Ghost” (1944) **1/2
For those who came in late, audiences are brought up to date about the mummy history and the havoc it’s wrecked on various expeditions by a withered old George Zucco and then a university professor, Professor Norman. Both characters were in the previous film, giving the series a sort of continuity, though the roles of both men are small.
In this one Zucco sends off another minion – John Carradine – with the mission of bringing the mummy back to Egypt to guard the tomb of the dead princesss. He cooks up some leaves, which is apparently enough to get the mummy rising from the swamp… whereupon he promptly kills the professor (thereby continuing another tradition i.e. if you survive one mummy film, chances are you’ll be killed off in the next one).
The professor’s at a college where one of the students conveniently turns out to be a reincarnation of the princess. (This dodgy coincidence would be repeated in Hammer's 1959 Mummy.) Carradine ends up falling for her- which sets off the mummy – which is the most interesting thing about the movie, but that all takes place in one scene. The rest of it is just the mummy killing people and the reincarnated princess feeling weird.
Carradine always looked like a fire and brimstone preacher, so he’s well suited to play what essentially is an Ancient Egyptian version of the species, all lean fanaticism. His performance is the best thing apart from the movie, apart from the Universal black and white photography and the mummy mumbo-jumbo; Lon Chaney is the mummy but again it’s hard for him to show much character (though the mummy has more in this one, getting angry at Carradine… but as previously stated too little is made of this).
The male lead is a particularly wet college student complete with sweaters and one of those triangle flags on his wall, played by a 4F leading man; at least it’s a neat twist that he loses the girl in the end (no kidding – she winds up submerged in a swamp).
In this one Zucco sends off another minion – John Carradine – with the mission of bringing the mummy back to Egypt to guard the tomb of the dead princesss. He cooks up some leaves, which is apparently enough to get the mummy rising from the swamp… whereupon he promptly kills the professor (thereby continuing another tradition i.e. if you survive one mummy film, chances are you’ll be killed off in the next one).
The professor’s at a college where one of the students conveniently turns out to be a reincarnation of the princess. (This dodgy coincidence would be repeated in Hammer's 1959 Mummy.) Carradine ends up falling for her- which sets off the mummy – which is the most interesting thing about the movie, but that all takes place in one scene. The rest of it is just the mummy killing people and the reincarnated princess feeling weird.
Carradine always looked like a fire and brimstone preacher, so he’s well suited to play what essentially is an Ancient Egyptian version of the species, all lean fanaticism. His performance is the best thing apart from the movie, apart from the Universal black and white photography and the mummy mumbo-jumbo; Lon Chaney is the mummy but again it’s hard for him to show much character (though the mummy has more in this one, getting angry at Carradine… but as previously stated too little is made of this).
The male lead is a particularly wet college student complete with sweaters and one of those triangle flags on his wall, played by a 4F leading man; at least it’s a neat twist that he loses the girl in the end (no kidding – she winds up submerged in a swamp).
Movie review – “Tarzan Goes to India” (1962) ***
A new Tarzan – Jock Mahoney – and a new location – India. Tarzan is visiting to help out an old mate, an Indian ruler on whose land they are building a dam; this means a bunch of elephants are at risk of being killed and it’s up to Tarzan to save the day. The baddie is an engineer who also built a dam in Africa that killed elephants.
Mahoney was a former stuntman with extensive acting experience; he’s in good shape and is an excellent fighter, but he was over 40 when he took the role. In it’s way this is interesting, to have an elder Tarzan (though little is made of this).
It takes a while to get used to Tarzan running around India in his loincloth, but the Indian locations are one of the most attractive features of this film. There’s a lot of elephant action – the early Weismuller films were very elephant-heavy, but then the animal became less prevalent in Tarzan movies, usually reduced to just a rampaging cameo at the end. So it’s nice to see a bit of time devoted to elephants.
The story is a little wonky. First of all, it doesn’t feel quite right that Tarzan is mucking about in someone else’s patch, even when invited. Secondly, the whole saving-elephants-from-a-flooding-plain angle seems a bit too contrived; it’s a potentially interesting topic – the benefits of the dam vs the destruction caused by it – but they have to twist things in order to make the plot more exciting, eg by bringing in nasty engineers, and having crappy reasons why the elephants can’t be rescued. Also Tarzan is more effective when working on the outskirts of civilisation. Finally, it’s a mistake to knock off the best villain with thirty minutes still to do.
But sheer spectacle of it all, the terrific elephants, plus Mahoney’s impressive debut puts this over the line.
Mahoney was a former stuntman with extensive acting experience; he’s in good shape and is an excellent fighter, but he was over 40 when he took the role. In it’s way this is interesting, to have an elder Tarzan (though little is made of this).
It takes a while to get used to Tarzan running around India in his loincloth, but the Indian locations are one of the most attractive features of this film. There’s a lot of elephant action – the early Weismuller films were very elephant-heavy, but then the animal became less prevalent in Tarzan movies, usually reduced to just a rampaging cameo at the end. So it’s nice to see a bit of time devoted to elephants.
The story is a little wonky. First of all, it doesn’t feel quite right that Tarzan is mucking about in someone else’s patch, even when invited. Secondly, the whole saving-elephants-from-a-flooding-plain angle seems a bit too contrived; it’s a potentially interesting topic – the benefits of the dam vs the destruction caused by it – but they have to twist things in order to make the plot more exciting, eg by bringing in nasty engineers, and having crappy reasons why the elephants can’t be rescued. Also Tarzan is more effective when working on the outskirts of civilisation. Finally, it’s a mistake to knock off the best villain with thirty minutes still to do.
But sheer spectacle of it all, the terrific elephants, plus Mahoney’s impressive debut puts this over the line.
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Movie review – “Black Friday” (1940) **1/2
The fifth teaming of Karloff and Lugosi might have been more remembered had Lugosi played a larger role, as was originally intended – but Boris Karloff didn’t think he could handle his role (a kindly professor who swaps brains with a dead criminal), so he pinched Lugosi’s (the professor’s doctor friend, who performs the operation).
Instead of Lugosi getting Karloff’s old role, it was given to character player Stanley Ridges – who, to be honest, steps up to the plate with an excellent performance. Indeed, it’s hard to imagine Bela or Boris doing better. I do think Bela would have been better in Boris’ role – Bela was a superior mad scientist, with that glint in his eye (for instance the scene where Boris browbeats gangster Ridges isn’t quite believable). And I think Boris could have pulled off Ridges’ part. Anyway, coulda-shoulda-woulda... Boris and Bela had plenty of juicy roles in their life and why shouldn’t Ridges have a moment in the sun?
And there is some fun to be had to see Bela absurdly miscast as a gangster – I think he could have played a gangster, but how about tweaking the role a little in order to account for his Hungarian-ness? He has a good death scene, cooked alive, and Karloff is smooth as ever (though why no scenes between the two stars?)
It’s enjoyable and director Arthur Lubin keeps things bustling along. We probably could have done without the spiralling newspapers and notebooks, they tend to be a bit silly. Writers have said this is a gangster drama rather than a horror film – while there is a lot of gangster stuff, it still involves a mad doctor and a brain transplant.
Instead of Lugosi getting Karloff’s old role, it was given to character player Stanley Ridges – who, to be honest, steps up to the plate with an excellent performance. Indeed, it’s hard to imagine Bela or Boris doing better. I do think Bela would have been better in Boris’ role – Bela was a superior mad scientist, with that glint in his eye (for instance the scene where Boris browbeats gangster Ridges isn’t quite believable). And I think Boris could have pulled off Ridges’ part. Anyway, coulda-shoulda-woulda... Boris and Bela had plenty of juicy roles in their life and why shouldn’t Ridges have a moment in the sun?
And there is some fun to be had to see Bela absurdly miscast as a gangster – I think he could have played a gangster, but how about tweaking the role a little in order to account for his Hungarian-ness? He has a good death scene, cooked alive, and Karloff is smooth as ever (though why no scenes between the two stars?)
It’s enjoyable and director Arthur Lubin keeps things bustling along. We probably could have done without the spiralling newspapers and notebooks, they tend to be a bit silly. Writers have said this is a gangster drama rather than a horror film – while there is a lot of gangster stuff, it still involves a mad doctor and a brain transplant.
George Hamilton
Vanity Fair published this extract from George Hamilton's memoirs. It's great to see Hamilton still up and about - he's been one of Hollywood's great survivors, has Hamilton. John Milius quoted him once as saying, "you all think I'm a second-rate actor when in fact I'm a first-rate conman".
Hamilton became famous in the early 60s as a ridiculously good looking tanned teen idol - he had those sort of pretty boy looks that really irritate men. His career got off to a terrific start with a meaty role in a solid, popular film, Home from the Hill (the movie that also helped launch George Peppard's career). This earned him a contract at MGM, for whom he played the romantic lead in Where the Boys Are. Such are the ways of popular culture, Where the Boys Are would be the better-remembered film today.
Hamilton became one of the bright lights of MGM during its Vogel-Siegel years. He turned in some good performances in strong movies - but unfortunately the public didn't really go for them: Light in the Piazza, Act One, Two Weeks in Another Town, Angel Heart. My Cheatin' Heart, in which Hamilton played Hank Williams, was another such film, perhaps the best he ever made.
His last big hit was The Victors (also with Peppard), although he popped up supporting Bardot and Moreau in Viva Maria and kept in the public eye by dating LBJ's daughter. His career as a movie star tapered off in the late 60s with some unsuccessful films for MGM such as Jack of Diamonds and The Power; he went into TV, tried producing (a film about Evil Kenevil written by Milius), hosting TV shows and went into real estate.
He made a comeback with a terrific performance in a popular film, Love At First Bite. A follow up, Zorro the Gay Blade didn't do as well but Hamilton has kept busy. He has been wonderful in small parts in Godfather 3, Doc Hollywood and Hollywood Ending, as well as his business interests and habits of dating high profile women.
Hamilton's current status is as a sort of camp/cool icon but you don't last as long as he did without hard work and some ability. It's a shame some of his early 60s performances aren't better known or at least appreciated - but everything has it's time and I think that day will come. Here's hoping Hamilton gets the chance to enjoy it before he dies.
There are some interviews with Hamilton are here and here.
Hamilton became famous in the early 60s as a ridiculously good looking tanned teen idol - he had those sort of pretty boy looks that really irritate men. His career got off to a terrific start with a meaty role in a solid, popular film, Home from the Hill (the movie that also helped launch George Peppard's career). This earned him a contract at MGM, for whom he played the romantic lead in Where the Boys Are. Such are the ways of popular culture, Where the Boys Are would be the better-remembered film today.
Hamilton became one of the bright lights of MGM during its Vogel-Siegel years. He turned in some good performances in strong movies - but unfortunately the public didn't really go for them: Light in the Piazza, Act One, Two Weeks in Another Town, Angel Heart. My Cheatin' Heart, in which Hamilton played Hank Williams, was another such film, perhaps the best he ever made.
His last big hit was The Victors (also with Peppard), although he popped up supporting Bardot and Moreau in Viva Maria and kept in the public eye by dating LBJ's daughter. His career as a movie star tapered off in the late 60s with some unsuccessful films for MGM such as Jack of Diamonds and The Power; he went into TV, tried producing (a film about Evil Kenevil written by Milius), hosting TV shows and went into real estate.
He made a comeback with a terrific performance in a popular film, Love At First Bite. A follow up, Zorro the Gay Blade didn't do as well but Hamilton has kept busy. He has been wonderful in small parts in Godfather 3, Doc Hollywood and Hollywood Ending, as well as his business interests and habits of dating high profile women.
Hamilton's current status is as a sort of camp/cool icon but you don't last as long as he did without hard work and some ability. It's a shame some of his early 60s performances aren't better known or at least appreciated - but everything has it's time and I think that day will come. Here's hoping Hamilton gets the chance to enjoy it before he dies.
There are some interviews with Hamilton are here and here.
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