Crowe has written four classics in his career - Fast Times, this, Jerry Maguire and Almost Famous. This is a lovely simple story - it's just boy meets girl, but all the characters and scenes are fresh. Lloyd Dobler is unique - army brat, kick boxer (put in to make him seem less whimpy?), romantic, best friend with girls, impulsive, passionate. Diane is fantastic - beautiful, a nerd, adores being loved,loyal. The dad is good too - self righteous, loving, good for his old people patients, a crook.
Full of quirky touches, like the lawyers dealing, the relationship between Lloyd's mate Corey and her emotionally abusive ex Joe (I like the songs she sings about him), the school teacher who asks out Diane, the moment Diane realises how much she's missed out at school, the old person's home songs. Lloyd does get a bit "stalk-y" in one or two moments.
A lovely movie.
Friday, October 27, 2017
Movie review - "Dear Murderer" (1947) *** (warning: spoilers)
Enjoyable, unpretentious British thriller, based on a play - one of those plays about upper middle class couples where the man discovers his wife is cheating and plots to get revenge. There were a bunch of these in the 40s and 50s - Obsession, Dial M for Murder, etc. This is a good one.
Eric Portman is ideally cast as the husband, and Greta Gynt (a bit of a British B movie fave) is his wife. It's got some good twists... Portman gets revenge on Denis Price (a lot more effective in small parts like this one than leads) who has been cuckolding him with Gynt, by killing Price and making it look like suicide. Then Portman finds out Gynt dumped Price and has a new bloke, Maxwell Reed... so could get busted for murder... so he tries to pin it on Reed. Only Gynt really loves Reed and Portman really loves Gynt so both are vulnerable.
Reed and Hazel Court have decent looks - neither is called on to do too much. Jack Warner is ideal as the investigating detective.
It's briskly handled and benefits from not trying to make Portman or Gynt likeable. Solid three act entertainment.
Eric Portman is ideally cast as the husband, and Greta Gynt (a bit of a British B movie fave) is his wife. It's got some good twists... Portman gets revenge on Denis Price (a lot more effective in small parts like this one than leads) who has been cuckolding him with Gynt, by killing Price and making it look like suicide. Then Portman finds out Gynt dumped Price and has a new bloke, Maxwell Reed... so could get busted for murder... so he tries to pin it on Reed. Only Gynt really loves Reed and Portman really loves Gynt so both are vulnerable.
Reed and Hazel Court have decent looks - neither is called on to do too much. Jack Warner is ideal as the investigating detective.
It's briskly handled and benefits from not trying to make Portman or Gynt likeable. Solid three act entertainment.
Sunday, October 22, 2017
Meeting Tommy Kirk
I met Tommy Kirk today at a Hollywood autograph show. He's no spring chicken, but was still lively and seemed happy to be there. It was $30 to buy one of his photos/posters for him to sign and you could be photographed with him. It was all Disney stuff - Old Yeller, Hardy Boys, Swiss Family Robinson, Merlin Jones - no AIP or his other stuff.
He kindly chatted to me and another fan for a decent period of time. Some random things:
* The film he was proudest of was Swiss Family Robinson.
* He was ashamed of some of his later movies, and wish he hadn't made them. Said he did them for the money and that he made too many films with people who didn't know what they were doing.
* He didn't like It's a Bikini World calling it "shit".
* He had fondness for Pajama Party and Ghost in the Invisible Bikini. He enjoyed working with the talent on those films such as Basil Rathbone. He also didn't mind Village of the Giants.
* He had no interested in writing his life story. I pressed him about this several times but he really didn't want to do it.
* He quoted Wordsworth and Churchill.
* He had no enthusiasm to go back to acting - said he lost the spark. He enjoyed meeting fans, said he had a nice life, was comfortable, had friends, had all his marbles. Was enthusiastic about a new vitamin program he was on.
* When I told him I was from Australia he asked several questions about it. He admired Russell Crowe and the films Priscilla and Crocodile Dundee and wondered if people still had slang terms for grey white sharks. I told him about the outback and crocodile attacks.
* He really liked Jean Hagen although was shocked as a kid to hear her say "move your butt". Had great admiration for Dorothy McGuire. Liked John Mills. Admired Fred MacMurray and was defensive of him when I asked if MacMurray was tight.
* He said his acting school was all the live TV he did especially Matinee Theatre. He enjoyed doing Turn of the Screw with Sarah Churchill.
* He thought the Merlin Jones films were OK but admitted he got sick of wearing a "thing on his head with wires sticking out."
* He wasn't a fan of Savage Sam, thought it wasn't a good film and was insulting to Indians.
*He couldn't remember much about Moon Pilot.
*He spoke very highly of Bill Walsh, calling him a great writer.
He kindly chatted to me and another fan for a decent period of time. Some random things:
* The film he was proudest of was Swiss Family Robinson.
* He was ashamed of some of his later movies, and wish he hadn't made them. Said he did them for the money and that he made too many films with people who didn't know what they were doing.
* He didn't like It's a Bikini World calling it "shit".
* He had fondness for Pajama Party and Ghost in the Invisible Bikini. He enjoyed working with the talent on those films such as Basil Rathbone. He also didn't mind Village of the Giants.
* He had no interested in writing his life story. I pressed him about this several times but he really didn't want to do it.
* He quoted Wordsworth and Churchill.
* He had no enthusiasm to go back to acting - said he lost the spark. He enjoyed meeting fans, said he had a nice life, was comfortable, had friends, had all his marbles. Was enthusiastic about a new vitamin program he was on.
* When I told him I was from Australia he asked several questions about it. He admired Russell Crowe and the films Priscilla and Crocodile Dundee and wondered if people still had slang terms for grey white sharks. I told him about the outback and crocodile attacks.
* He really liked Jean Hagen although was shocked as a kid to hear her say "move your butt". Had great admiration for Dorothy McGuire. Liked John Mills. Admired Fred MacMurray and was defensive of him when I asked if MacMurray was tight.
* He said his acting school was all the live TV he did especially Matinee Theatre. He enjoyed doing Turn of the Screw with Sarah Churchill.
* He thought the Merlin Jones films were OK but admitted he got sick of wearing a "thing on his head with wires sticking out."
* He wasn't a fan of Savage Sam, thought it wasn't a good film and was insulting to Indians.
*He couldn't remember much about Moon Pilot.
*He spoke very highly of Bill Walsh, calling him a great writer.
Friday, October 20, 2017
Movie review - "The Thief Who Came to Dinner" (1973) ** (warning: spoilers)
I get what they were trying to do here - a throwback to those old 1930s movies about gentleman thieves, such as Raffles, the Lone Wolf, the Saint. The casting was ideal in 1973 - Ryan O'Neal as the thief, Jacqueline Bisset as his girl, Warren Oates as the investigator.
There are some good things about it. Bisset is beautiful and stylish, everything you'd want in this sort of movie; O'Neal very pretty too and ideally cast as the 1973 version of Cary Grant; Oates is strong and tenacious; and there's a decent support cast including Jill Clayburgh (lively and disastrously under-used), Ned Beatty and Austin Pendleton (very funny as a chess expert brought in to battle O'Neal's chess moves via the media).
Walter Hill wrote the script and I enjoyed some of what I assume to be his contributions (I could be wrong): the early banter between O'Neal and Bisset; the scene where Bisset and O'Neal are on a date and she challenges him to rob a house; some of the O'Neal-Oates exchanges; some reversals such as O'Neal trying to get away and being run into by a little old lady who apologises and insists on reporting it. This last bit reminded me of the scene in The Getaway where a money exchange is interrupted by a random thief... and now I think of it, the script is reminiscent of The Driver in some ways - the little old lady interruption results in a night time car chase; and the plot has a dogged crook after a super thief, and the super thief seems to know everything the dogged crook is doing.
But I feel the film doesn't work for the following reasons:
* It's not a very attractive film visually. I get why they set it in Houston - all that new oil money, it provides some novelty - but Houston isn't a pretty town, at least not in this film. There's a lot of roads, and car lots and skyscrapers. The clothes aren't that great, the houses not too spectacular. It needed to be shot in say Miami or the south of France or New York. Or at least have better costumes and design.
*O'Neal's character really is a bit of a prick. I don't mind thief heroes who steal off people who deserve to be robbed - evil corporations, banks, Russians, Nazis, mafia, etc. I guess the people he robs in Houston are rich and can afford it - but are they that bad? It couldn't have hurt to show them being fat rich Texans, or greedy thieves themselves. I know that'a s cliche but at least that's more effective emotionally than watching him just steal. This mattered especially towards the end when O'Neal is knocking out/fighting all these security guards - they're just poor blokes on minimum wage trying to do a job, and this spoilt idiot is rendering them unconscious. I felt for Oates, who was honest, worked hard and just wanted to catch the thief.
*The plot involves O'Neal being introduced to Texan high society, but we never see much of that - the "coming to dinner" of the title. Why not have a few scenes and characters that really illustrate it. It's kind of there but it's all a bit half hearted.
*After a strong start the film gets repetitive and monotonous. Bisset has this sexy, glamorous introduction - looking fantastic and bantering with O'Neal. Then after they hook up she just becomes his girlfriend, useful mainly for the purposes of exposition. I kept waiting for her to do something - betray him, be revealed to be a thief, die, get arrested, something. I guess she helps him escape at the end but that's it. Such a waste.
* Also wasted is Jill Clayburgh who plays O'Neal's ex. She turns up, Oates interrogates her, you think "oh she'll complicate things". But no. I think she's just in there to flesh out some background and underline that O'Neal is irresistible (she makes a move on him). Bisset gets a little jealous but that's it. She's not a rival, a threat, someone to drive the action... you could have cut her out of the whole film.
* I was confused by the ending. Oates busts O'Neal picking up a chess set - that should be evidence enough to convict O'Neal. Right? Then Oates lets O'Neal go because...? I wasn't sure.
It's not a very good movie.
There are some good things about it. Bisset is beautiful and stylish, everything you'd want in this sort of movie; O'Neal very pretty too and ideally cast as the 1973 version of Cary Grant; Oates is strong and tenacious; and there's a decent support cast including Jill Clayburgh (lively and disastrously under-used), Ned Beatty and Austin Pendleton (very funny as a chess expert brought in to battle O'Neal's chess moves via the media).
Walter Hill wrote the script and I enjoyed some of what I assume to be his contributions (I could be wrong): the early banter between O'Neal and Bisset; the scene where Bisset and O'Neal are on a date and she challenges him to rob a house; some of the O'Neal-Oates exchanges; some reversals such as O'Neal trying to get away and being run into by a little old lady who apologises and insists on reporting it. This last bit reminded me of the scene in The Getaway where a money exchange is interrupted by a random thief... and now I think of it, the script is reminiscent of The Driver in some ways - the little old lady interruption results in a night time car chase; and the plot has a dogged crook after a super thief, and the super thief seems to know everything the dogged crook is doing.
But I feel the film doesn't work for the following reasons:
* It's not a very attractive film visually. I get why they set it in Houston - all that new oil money, it provides some novelty - but Houston isn't a pretty town, at least not in this film. There's a lot of roads, and car lots and skyscrapers. The clothes aren't that great, the houses not too spectacular. It needed to be shot in say Miami or the south of France or New York. Or at least have better costumes and design.
*O'Neal's character really is a bit of a prick. I don't mind thief heroes who steal off people who deserve to be robbed - evil corporations, banks, Russians, Nazis, mafia, etc. I guess the people he robs in Houston are rich and can afford it - but are they that bad? It couldn't have hurt to show them being fat rich Texans, or greedy thieves themselves. I know that'a s cliche but at least that's more effective emotionally than watching him just steal. This mattered especially towards the end when O'Neal is knocking out/fighting all these security guards - they're just poor blokes on minimum wage trying to do a job, and this spoilt idiot is rendering them unconscious. I felt for Oates, who was honest, worked hard and just wanted to catch the thief.
*The plot involves O'Neal being introduced to Texan high society, but we never see much of that - the "coming to dinner" of the title. Why not have a few scenes and characters that really illustrate it. It's kind of there but it's all a bit half hearted.
*After a strong start the film gets repetitive and monotonous. Bisset has this sexy, glamorous introduction - looking fantastic and bantering with O'Neal. Then after they hook up she just becomes his girlfriend, useful mainly for the purposes of exposition. I kept waiting for her to do something - betray him, be revealed to be a thief, die, get arrested, something. I guess she helps him escape at the end but that's it. Such a waste.
* Also wasted is Jill Clayburgh who plays O'Neal's ex. She turns up, Oates interrogates her, you think "oh she'll complicate things". But no. I think she's just in there to flesh out some background and underline that O'Neal is irresistible (she makes a move on him). Bisset gets a little jealous but that's it. She's not a rival, a threat, someone to drive the action... you could have cut her out of the whole film.
* I was confused by the ending. Oates busts O'Neal picking up a chess set - that should be evidence enough to convict O'Neal. Right? Then Oates lets O'Neal go because...? I wasn't sure.
It's not a very good movie.
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
Movie review - "Limehouse Blues" (1934) ** (warning: spoilers)
George Raft is running a nightclub, doing dance numbers, involved in crime, has a slinky moll but pines over a classy dame, fighting police and rivals.
The difference here is Raft plays a half-Chinese and he works in the Limehouse District in London. This doesn't feel terribly English, or Chinese, to put it politely, but it does give the film some novelty.
The running time is 65 minutes. I don't mind a short film but this felt too short with far too many undercooked moments. I wanted to see more of Anna May Wong, who plays Raft's jealous lover - they do a dance together. I felt Raft's character needed a criminal rival. The police after him are hardly in it and probably could have been more of a presence. Also the romance between Jean Parker (who Raft loves) and dull Kent Smith is far too rushed; they fall in love in five seconds.
Apart from being, well, white, Raft's role suits his character - he's ruthless, romantic, can dance, and goes down because of the love of a good woman (he gets shot at the end trying to save Smith from a trap he initiated). I had more sympathy for him and Wong than Parker and especially Smith. Parker at least had an interesting criminal background; Smith is just boring.
The film does have that obsession with race and fear of miscegenation very common of the time. Liable to upset some viewers; best appreciated as a museum piece or for Raft/Anna May Wong completists.
The difference here is Raft plays a half-Chinese and he works in the Limehouse District in London. This doesn't feel terribly English, or Chinese, to put it politely, but it does give the film some novelty.
The running time is 65 minutes. I don't mind a short film but this felt too short with far too many undercooked moments. I wanted to see more of Anna May Wong, who plays Raft's jealous lover - they do a dance together. I felt Raft's character needed a criminal rival. The police after him are hardly in it and probably could have been more of a presence. Also the romance between Jean Parker (who Raft loves) and dull Kent Smith is far too rushed; they fall in love in five seconds.
Apart from being, well, white, Raft's role suits his character - he's ruthless, romantic, can dance, and goes down because of the love of a good woman (he gets shot at the end trying to save Smith from a trap he initiated). I had more sympathy for him and Wong than Parker and especially Smith. Parker at least had an interesting criminal background; Smith is just boring.
The film does have that obsession with race and fear of miscegenation very common of the time. Liable to upset some viewers; best appreciated as a museum piece or for Raft/Anna May Wong completists.
Movie review - "War of the Wildcats" (1943) **1/2 (aka "In Old Oklahoma")
Part of John Wayne's appeal was that men liked him but many of the films he made were romances, where he often battled wills against a feisty dame.
Here the dame is Martha Scott who has a decent character to play - she's a teacher run out of town for writing a romance novel who wants to see the world. That's a fantastic set up. The film doesn't really develop it in an interesting way - or maybe I was biased because I wasn't a fan of Scott, who seemed to yell a lot. She also got shunted out of the action in the second half. However it is a better role than would be found in many John Wayne periods - two of the writers were women.
Albert Dekker isn't really good looking enough for his role since he has to be a romantic rival with Wayne for Scott. However he's a strong actor at least and is a formidable opponent. Although, why have the final fist fight off screen?
The support cast includes Gabby Hayes and Dale Evans (who would be Roy Rogers' partner). There's also Sidney Blackmer, playing President Teddy Roosevelt - who rode with Wayne in the Rough Riders (a good idea for a film).
On that Roosevelt note, this isn't a Western per se - it's set in 1906, during the oil boom. There are horses and Indians (getting kicked off their land for oil) and shoot outs but also oil.
Plenty of production value and pace. They didn't quite get the script and the cast right for me.
Here the dame is Martha Scott who has a decent character to play - she's a teacher run out of town for writing a romance novel who wants to see the world. That's a fantastic set up. The film doesn't really develop it in an interesting way - or maybe I was biased because I wasn't a fan of Scott, who seemed to yell a lot. She also got shunted out of the action in the second half. However it is a better role than would be found in many John Wayne periods - two of the writers were women.
Albert Dekker isn't really good looking enough for his role since he has to be a romantic rival with Wayne for Scott. However he's a strong actor at least and is a formidable opponent. Although, why have the final fist fight off screen?
The support cast includes Gabby Hayes and Dale Evans (who would be Roy Rogers' partner). There's also Sidney Blackmer, playing President Teddy Roosevelt - who rode with Wayne in the Rough Riders (a good idea for a film).
On that Roosevelt note, this isn't a Western per se - it's set in 1906, during the oil boom. There are horses and Indians (getting kicked off their land for oil) and shoot outs but also oil.
Plenty of production value and pace. They didn't quite get the script and the cast right for me.
Sunday, October 15, 2017
Movie review - "Flame of the Barbary Coast" (1945) **1/2
John Wayne and Ann Dvorak aren't one of the legendary teams of cinema- Wayne and Marlene Dietrich are, and that's who I assume Republic wanted for this movie. Wayne's a cowboy who winds up in Old San Francisco and falls for singer Dvorak; he gets ripped off by gambler Joseph Schildkraut then goes off, learns to gamble, and comes back to get revenge.
So it's part-cowboy movie part-20th Century Fox nostalgia musical - more of the latter really with Wayne using poker games instead of gunfights.
This really lacks colour and needed a few more songs and a proper musical star like Betty Grable or June Haver. Or maybe I'm just not used to Dvorak - she's got an enjoyable insolent quality and is refreshingly independent.
It's cheerful and lively - Joseph Kane does a decent job as director and Schildkraut is an effective villain. Borden Chase wrote the script.
So it's part-cowboy movie part-20th Century Fox nostalgia musical - more of the latter really with Wayne using poker games instead of gunfights.
This really lacks colour and needed a few more songs and a proper musical star like Betty Grable or June Haver. Or maybe I'm just not used to Dvorak - she's got an enjoyable insolent quality and is refreshingly independent.
It's cheerful and lively - Joseph Kane does a decent job as director and Schildkraut is an effective villain. Borden Chase wrote the script.
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