Movie review – “A Canterbury Tale” (1944) **1/2

The success of Powell and Pressburger’s films at the box office saw them becoming increasing bold artistically – this is a genuine one of a kind movie, about three young people (two soldiers and a girl) who meet in a town in Kent where a local odd ball is running around putting glue in girl’s hair. The big debit of this for me was the performance of Joe Sweet as the American – he was awful, and his voice grated. Every time he appeared on screen or talked, I winced.

Eric Portman’s magistrate is really weird – he runs around putting glue in girls hair so men won’t be tempted to ask them out on dates and thus attend his lectures on the countryside. And the film seems to support him – he isn’t punished.

Sheila Sims was much better – another in the long Powell-Pressburger line of sensible British heroines. And Dennis Price was fine. There was much to enjoy – the Scooby Doo mystery (who is the glue bandit), small town atmosphere, the sense of camaraderie amongst young people, the scene of Eric Portman and Sims on the hill, people walking in the dark, war women talking, the finale at a cathedral, the whole dreamy "feel" of it. It's just that frigging American who wrecks it.

Radio review – Lux – “Mr Belvedere Goes to College” (1949) **

Clifton Webb is good as always as Belvedere but they struggled putting him in a fresh fish out of water situation – Belvedere fits in too well at college. They try by making him a freshman and have to go through different rituals and rule but it just doesn’t have the satisfaction of watching him get one up on snobby townsfolk and bratty kids. The romantic subplot involves a girl student who is actually a widowed mother – Colleen Gray plays the girl and Robert Stack is the guy.

Movie review – “Peyton Place” (1957) *** (warning: spoilers)

John Michael Hayes deserved some sort of special award for his skillful adaptation of Grace Metalious’ best seller – her perfectly converted a trashy book into a piece of trashy, but enjoyable and censorship friendly 1957 Hollywood cinema. Bloody hard to do. 

 

The small town atmosphere is a bit more warm and it’s been toned down a lot but there’s still plenty of skeletons and tough stuff – Serena is raped and does kill someone, Alison is illegitimate, Serena is persecuted when she shouldn't be, the gossips are vicious. They cut the bit where Michael Rossi rapes Constance and she enjoys it and lots of other suff. There’s also more happy endings – Russ Tamblyn’s character is allowed to genuinely heal (hey he smokes he must be grown up), Betty (Terry Moore) genuinely reunites with dead Rodney’s father as opposed to being determined to milk him (although you could still read that into it); Serena's boyfriend stands by her; the town rallies around Serena at the end (a lovely moment).

 

In one respect it's harsher than the book - the doctor (Lloyd Nolan) here refuses to perform an abortion (in the book he does it); not only that, he forces Serena to tell who the father is by shaking her. What a bastard! Then later on he blabs about her on the stand. Also Michael Rossi (Lee Phillips) takes the job as principal away from a spinster lady who would probably have done a good job mainly because he's a man who demands a raise and gives a nifty speech.

 

Lana Turner is dreadful in that Lana Turner way - all gnashing foreheads and torment, only without any glamorous outfits to help her. Diane Varsi is bland too as her daughter. Lee Philips is strong as Rossi - his acting career never kicked on though, as he turned more to directing. Hope Lange is very good as Serena, the one wholly admirable character in the film (apart from burying bodies when she should have come clean). Barry Coe is this random thing of muscle, Terry Moore is a bit too old, Lloyd Nolan and Leon Ames very good. 

 

Best performance though goes to Russ Tamblyn who gives off this sort of twisted, sick vibe, full of tormented pain and suffering - you know that character has been through a lot.

Movie review – “F for Fake” (1975) ****

Orson Welles had long been interested in the topic of fakery being an enthusiastic magician as well as international man of mystery so he was an ideal candidate to direct this doco. Or did he turn it into a look at being fake? Whatever the origins, this is one of Orson’s best films, full of energy and brilliance. You occasionally get exhausted but then he pulls another rabbit out of the hat - it's such a "young" movie, with its jump cuts, out-there jokes and cutaways, jaunty tone. MTV before MTV.

And the story has enough meat on it to hold - unlike many Welles films. The story of two forgers is very reminiscent of the Harry Lime tales he would tell on radio - exotic locations (Majorca), shady characters (Elmyr de Hor and Clifford Irving are great talent, the aging gay artist with his "assistant" living off the kindness of strangers with thwarted ambition; and the charismatic writer with a monkey on his shoulder - Warner Bros in the 40s never had better character actors), money and glamour, a sexy girl (Oja Kodar, very fetching - an often nude), and Orson looking dashing and mysteriously despite his weight. The last third isn't as strong mainly because de Hor and Clifford Irving are in it less, but there's still beautiful stuff.

NB William Alland and Peter Bogdanovich get "special thanks" in the credits.

Movie review – “One of Our Aircraft is Missing” (1942) **1/2

Just as Powell and Pressburger followed up Spy in Black with Contraband, so this was an unofficial sequel to The 49th Parallel. Perhaps responding to criticism of making a war film with German protagonists, this has the same situation only it’s a British air crew who’ve cashed in occupied Holland.

It’s a lot less fun movie – the co-operative, professional British soldiers are less interesting than the Germans, who were always yelling, squabbling, and pushing Nazi doctrine on the locals. Ditto the locals in The 49th Parallel were more colourful and engaging that the Dutch here, who are loyal, diligent, etc. – and dull. The only bright spark is Robert Helpmann as a traitor, although Googie Withers and Pamela Brown have beautiful, evocative presences. The main debit are the characterisations of the British soldiers - it's hard to tell them apart except the old guy (a knight who flies on a bomber). They're all bland.

Some of it’s brilliant, though – the stunning opening credit sequence with an empty plane flying through the air, Googie Withers’ inspirational speech about resistance in the dark. And I did like the fact that the British find the missing one of their number playing soccer with some locals.

Movie review – “The 49th Parallel” (1941) ****

Just as the British film industry treated Australia with more respect, feeling and accuracy than Hollywood, so was the case with Canada. We see Eskimos, French Canadian trappers with flannos, Scotch trappers, sophisticated city folk, soldiers, Mounties, farmers, writers. Between them the manage to trap a small group of Nazis – but only just.

As if in response to the brave, sympathetic Germans in The Spy in Black, the submariners here are vicious Nazis, constantly hi Hitler-ing and talking about world domination, with Eric Portman’s leader being cold and humourless, and shooting a mother Eskimo with a baby. But they’re still the protagonists, bravely fighting their way home, surrounded by enemies, sticking to their convictions (well, mostly - there’s one nice German, a baker tempted to stay). I loved it how the Germans were always foisting their doctrine on the others eg Portman tries to get Olivier on to Mein Kampf. So basically they're still sympathetic.

The structure of the film consists of four main encounters: with some trappers (Laurence Olivier, Finlay Currie), a religious community (Anton Walbrook), a writer (Lesley Howard), and an AWOL soldier. The best of these are the first two, both containing some brilliant propaganda and effective death scenes: Walbrook and Olivier sticking up for Canada, the deaths of Olivier and Neil McGinnis (the good German). The sequence with Leslie Howard ended a bit silly-ly with him storming towards a German getting shot at – being brave isn’t the same as being stupid. But it's beautifully shot, with great location footage, and a superlative cast.

Movie review – “Contraband” (1940) ***

Conrad Veidt and Valerie Hobson were popular enough in The Spy in Black to be reunited by Michael Powell in another espionage war thriller. This is set during the early days of World War Two with Vedit playing an out and out hero – a Dutch sea captain who gets involved with British agent Hobson. They get picked up by some Nazi agents during a black out.

This is full of lovely touches – stock footage, the camera moves about, a shoot out at the end among busts of Neville Chamberlain (who Veidt calls "tough" - so his press wasn't all bad), Danish restaurant workers coming to the rescue. It’s light fun – Veidt and Hobson make a sexy team (although Vedit should have had a more personal stake in the story somehow eg Hitchcock would have had him accused of a crime and having to prove his innocence, instead of just going along to collect his leave passes). Hobson is knowing, sensible and sexy - something many Powell heroines would be down the track.