Movie review – “Suzy” (1936) **

Ridiculous Jean Harlow movie – a typical MGM mixture of melodrama and gags, with some war stuff thrown in. Our hero plays an American showgirl in London prior to World War One determined to marry a rich husband, as many Harlow heroines do; she falls in love with an Irish inventor (Franchot Tone in an unconvincing brogue), who gets shot by a spy on their wedding day. Then she falls for a French flyer (Cary Grant, with fortunately no accent), wins over his father (Lewis Stone) (Harlow films often had in-laws disapproving of her), is cuckolded by him, discovers Tone is still alive (and is best friends with Grant), busts a spy ring, helps win the war.

 It gets sillier and sillier and not even the considerable star power of the lead trio can save the day. Some of the Grant-Harlow scenes have charm; the Tone-Harlow stuff might have worked if not for his ridiculous accent. It's of historical interest; Harlow talks about the importance of the people of France not thinking Grant was a clown - shades of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and The Dark Knight. Dorothy Parker worked on the script and apparently some of the aerial footage was from Hell's Angels, which launched Harlow's career.

Radio review – BP#1 – “Winterset” (1952) **

A once-renowned play which isn’t well done these days but made an impression on debut in 1935 and was the first work for the Best Plays radio show. It’s from Maxwell Anderson, who drew attention by writing in verse (i.e. poetic, non realist style). Burgess Meredith plays a man determined to prove his father’s innocence – there are gangsters, corrupt judges, sisters of gangsters, stoolies. Maureen Stapleton plays the girl Meredith fell in love with. I found it a little hard to follow purely on ear. A play more interesting than enjoyable. Meredith and Stapleton both have excellent voices.

Movie review – “Daybreakers” (2009) **1/2

A disappointment at the local box office and after seeing it I’m not surprised. It’s not a bad movie, not by a long shot, but it doesn’t quite work. I was watching it trying to figure out why. It looks amazing, being beautifully shot with wonderful production design, the basic idea is clever, there’s some funny satire, an excellent cast – but it just doesn’t come alive (if one pardons the pun). Good vampire films have a tremendous emotional pull but it’s lacking here, even though it deals with the survival of the human race. This is a personal opinion of course, others might love it, but it’s how I felt.

Maybe the main problem was Ethan Hawke’s lead character – who really cares about an uncle Tom vampire scientist who is sympathetic to humans? I found Isobel Lucas’ character far more interesting – a human who refused to turn despite entreaties from her father (Sam Neill), even if it meant her death. But there’s too little of her. Claudia Karvan’s character might have been interesting too if she’d been given something to play but she isn’t – her relationship with Hawke is fatally under-developed. Come to think of it, the existence of Willem Defoe’s former vampire character negates a lot of the reason for Hawke’s character to exist. It’s as though the film should have been about Isabel Lucas, falling for Willem Defoe, with Ethan Hawke as a macguffin. Also, vampirism is cured awfully easily here. Wouldn’t someone have figured out this method by now?

Hawke's performance is dull, as his acting tends to be; the Aussies are better (especially Michael Dorman as a vampire soldier), and Defoe is good. It looks wonderful.

Movie review – “Bad Teacher” (2011) **

All the ingredients for a knock out film – terrific idea, wonderful cast – but they stuff the execution. The macguffin of having Cameron Diaz want to raise up enough for fake boobs sounds funny, but doesn’t really hold up – will they definitely work to get her a rich man? What if she doesn’t get them, what will happen? 

 

The action is dragged out too long, not enough time is given to her relationship with Jason Segel, or to show how she could be a good influence on students (this is no School of Rock), there seems to be a scene missing in her seduction with Justin Timberlake (one minute they are talking the next they are dry humping), the villain is actually just a good teacher, there’s this weird scene set in the men’s room (it’s a badly directed movie – the pacing is all off). 

 

Diaz is excellent, Segel very good, Lucy Punch (nemesis) impresses, but Justin Timberlake is allowed to go over the top and caricature himself. A real shame.

Movie review – “Reckless” (1935) **

MGM gave Jean Harlow her greatest vehicles but they could often be guilty of bad taste as well – years after Harlow’s husband killed herself causing a scandal she was cast in a film playing a star (of stage) whose husband kills himself causing a scandal. It’s actually more based on the Libby Holman saga – she married a tobacco heir who died via gunshot; it was thought to be murder then ruled a suicide. Here Franchot Tone plays the rich kid – charming but unhappy and a boozer – with William Powell as an old PR pal who loves Harlow. 

 

That’s a serious sounding story and it’s done dramatically – but spiced up with wisecracks and comic support characters, an odd mixture of screwball and drama, same as done for The Girl from Missouri. It's a shame thing it was treated seriously at all - satire would have been more enjoyable. But no, Tone blows his brains out, Harlow has his baby, the crowd boo her comeback but she talks them around (an utterly unconvincing sequence). Harlow mimes some songs and does a few dances - poorly. She and Powell work well together - but does Powell have to perform the majority of his scenes as if he's drunk? Tone offers excellent support.

Script review – “Deconstructing Harry” by Woody Allen

A real curio from Allen: at times it feels like he cobbled it together from left over bits out of other scripts, or sketches he never used – it’s mostly a collection of a lot of incidents (I recognised one gag, getting an elevator down to Hell, from an original Annie Hall script). It’s also more bawdy and vulgar than his usual work: harsh swear words, sex scenes. The lead character is darker than Woody’s normal type – while he has the usual concerns about work, sex, aging, and health, doesn’t like marijuana, and sleeps with hookers, he’s also a pill popping alcoholic (something Woody didn’t normally play). It’s totally a role that Woody didn’t have to do himself (indeed I remember it being a little odd seeing him talk about what a boozer he was on screen because he normally played characters who weren’t) and a shame that Elliot Gould never got a go to play it.

Some of it feels like left over Hannah and Her Sisters (man cheats on his wife with his wife’s sister, man has affair with adoring student who leaves him for another old man because he’s too cold, person writes material based on family which causes stress). But it's often hilarious (eg actor who is out of focus), the pieces are thematically unified, the central characterisation is strong... it formed the basis of what would be Allen's last decent film in a long time.

It's also fascinating to imagine how autobiographical this is at this particular point in his life: the self-loathing, a pushy wife who he cheated on and sent crazy, obsession with sex, falling for a much younger woman, an out of control life.

Movie review – “Just Go With It” (2011) ****

A real charmer – sweet, well made, and full of heart – as good Adam Sandler films can be, come to think of it. Like the best of them, there are some attractive locations and women, a real sense of family with a strong ensemble cast, excessive comedy turns which jar but nonetheless are funny. 

 

It helps the basic story is strong, coming from Cactus Flower. This was a hit on Broadway because the predominantly middle aged audience liked to see a story where a middle aged man realised he was happier with someone his own age than some young piece of tail. It’s a great commercial idea, and just as the play cast glamorous Lauren Bacall as the elder girl, here it’s Jennifer Aniston.

 

Aniston and Sandler have wonderful chemistry, and his new love interest is played by the stunning Brooklyn Decker – who comes across as a lovely person. Dan Patrick plays the Rob Schneider role of a broad best friend, there are some young kids who are funny, lots of good jokes and appeal. Maybe four stars is too high but it's been a long time since I enjoyed a romantic comedy this much.