What classics did you watch this week? (1/23-1/29)
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TrevorAclea — 9 years ago(January 29, 2017 08:56 PM)
There's a tendency to label every black and white thriller from the 40s and 50s as a film noir, but in the case of 1946's
Criminal Court
a potentially nourish premise is given a more conventional courtroom thriller approach, and while its hero may find himself caught between a rock and a hard place, it's never given the sense of a nightmarish descent to the point of no return that's only accelerated by bad judgement and character flaws that is the very dark heart and soul of noir. Tom Conway's showy lawyer running for District Attorney certainly shows bad judgement when crooked nightclub owner Robert Armstrong ends up dead in a struggle over a gun and he leaves the scene of the crime apparently unnoticed, but as soon as girlfriend Martha O'Driscoll is in the frame for the crime he's so noble that he immediately fesses up to the crime only to find no-one believes it's anything but another of his courtroom stunts and the local crooks see the perfect win-win scenario to knobble his career. Curiously the film never makes much of the fact that the love of his life is facing the chair and what little tension there is revolves around whether Conway will find out that the only witness to the incident is his own secretary, who was feeding Armstrong information on her boss. But if it's short on sweaty palms and stylish visuals, it's still an entertaining enough B-movie, the kind of thing the studios churned out to fill out double-bills and sometimes give up and coming directors, in this case Robert Wise, a chance to show what they could do. He certainly did much better, and often, but he does well enough here to keep things moving smoothly along, Conway's charm carrying the film even if it never really gives him much of a chance to stretch himself.
Aside: just what is the aforementioned secretary doing on the poster picking her nose or about to insert a foreign object (possibly a banana) into it?
https://www.movieposter.com/posters/archive/main/208/MPW-104042
Gene Wilder's final film as a director and one of his last as an actor, 1986's loving homage to 40s old dark house comedies,
Haunted Honeymoon
, is one of those films that gets a lot right it recreates the look and old-school practical effects of the old Bob Hope-Paulette Goddard comedies and has a more than decent supporting cast (Peter Vaughn, Jonathan Pryce, Bryan Pringle in what was obviously meant to be a Marty Feldman role), many of whom look like they'd have fit right in that era (Jim Carter looks strikingly like Lugosi in a few shots) but is much less successful at actually providing the laughs. Despite the terrible reviews and box-office failure it's not awful, just very flat. Part of the problem is that, nostalgia aside, many of the films it's pastiching weren't that funny to begin with, but a bigger one is that Wilder doesn't manage to bring a new spin to the old tropes the film ticks off, making it at times feel like a Monogram script that was given an MGM budget. (Larry Blamire's low budget Dark and Stormy Night managed to get a lot more comic mileage out of similar material with a fraction of the budget in 2009.)
At times it feels like some of the situations are too well-worn to find much to do with that's new or still works: the opening golden age of radio performance is more a recreation than a send up despite the potential for straight-faced absurdity that Woody Allen tapped into with Radio Days the following year. Wilder doesn't give in to his worst excesses as an actor, but he's outshone by a tremendously appealing Gilda Radner, who's terrific here despite not really being given anything to work with (neither is Dom DeLuise, dragging it up as Wilder's aunt): you'd never guess for a moment that she was ill throughout the shoot. A couple of scenes sort of work a little, but the best you can really say about it is that it's harmless and well-intentioned and that co-writer Terence Marsh's production design is excellent.
Led by ideas (or rather a single idea) rather than action,
Journey to the Far Side of the Sun
is closer to the hard sci-fi Gerry and Sylvia Anderson would explore in the first season of Space: 1999 than their popular SuperMarionation shows like Thunderbirds, but at heart it owes more to The Outer Limits with the kind of story Leslie Stevens could have done much more eerily in 52 minutes. Where The Twilight Zone was often led by the twist in its tales, The Outer Limits generally went further to think through the consequences, emotional as well as practical, of what it would be like for a person to live through and try to make sense of that twist, and while that does take up the film's second half, it suffers from having much weaker character writing. As a result it's hard to care about what astronaut Roy Thinnes is going through when he finds himself disorientated after crashlanding on Earth three weeks into a six week mission while insisting that he actually have made it to a newly discovered planet behind the Sun that's Earth's -
sol- — 9 years ago(January 30, 2017 02:22 AM)
Good to know that the Blu-ray of
Journey to the Far Side of the Sun
is worth it. I have the Universal UK DVD in my collection (the film was long unavailable in any form down here) but the exorbitant price has always put me off upgrading. If memory serves correct, the main DVD/Blu-ray retail outlet over here wants $35 for it. Oh, and I agree that the choice to rename the film
Dopplegänger
is unfortunate. I was well aware of the alternative title when sitting down to watch the film, which made it a tad easy for me to predict what was going on.
Most people think I'm mad. At least I know I'm mad. -
TrevorAclea — 9 years ago(January 30, 2017 09:46 PM)
I managed to find it for a bit less through a combo of a 10% off sale, a store discount for a previous botched order and a freakishly favourable exchange rate the day I ordered, but I must admit I was on the fence about getting it because of the price for a long time. But fair dos to Madman, they clearly put the effort into the disc, which is more than Universal did with their Blu-ray releases.
"Security - release the badgers." -
angmc43 — 9 years ago(January 30, 2017 04:32 AM)
I remember my family splitting up to see HAUNTED HONEYMOON and THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE that summer of 1986. I was supposed to see HH with my dad and brothers, but the trailer convinced me it was going to be too scary, so I went with my mom and sisters to see the more 'kid friendly' DETECTIVE, where I was laid witness to intense, potentially nightmare-fuel scenes whenever Ratigan and Fidget showed their bad sides.
Due to having a major CLUEfanboyism at the time, HH was an attraction (the big hallway, the lights going out, etc.). As TrevorAclea attests, Wilder makes nods to old house films (the cinematic floating will from THE CAT AND THE CANARY; Dom deLuise's 'Laughter and Sin' monologue from THE OLD DARK HOUSE). I tried to view it on its 30th anniversary last summer, but couldn't find the VHS. -
Spikeopath — 9 years ago(January 30, 2017 12:52 AM)
The Lost Moment (1947)
Dead among the living and living among the dead.
The Lost Moment is directed by Martin Gabel and adapted by Leonardo Bercovici from the Henry James novel, The Aspern Papers. It stars Robert Cummings, Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead and Eduardo Ciannelli. Music is by Daniele Amfitheatrof and cinematography by Hal Mohr.
Lewis Venable (Cummings) is a publisher who travels to Venice in search love letters written by poet Jeffrey Ashton. Insinuating himself into the home of the poets lover and recipient of the letters, Juliana Bordereau (Moorehead), Venable finds himself transfixed by the strangeness of the place and its inhabitants, one of which is Juliana's off kilter niece, Tina (Hayward).
A splendid slice of Gothicana done up in film noir fancy dress, The Lost Moment is hauntingly romantic and ethereal in its weirdness. It's very talky, so the impatient should be advised, but the visuals and the frequent influx of dreamy like sequences hold the attention right to the denouement. The narrative is devilish by intent, with shifting identities, sexual tensions, intrigue and hidden secrets the orders of the day. Cummings is a little awkward and his scenes with Hayward (very good in a tricky role) lacks an urgent spark, while old hands Moorehead (as a centenarian with an outstanding makeup job) and Ciannelli leave favourable marks in the smaller roles. Mohr's (The Phantom of the Opera) photography is gorgeous and bathes the pic in atmosphere, and Amfitheatrof's musical compositions are powerful in their subtleties. As for Gabel? With this being his only foray into directing, it stands as a shame he didn't venture further into the directing sphere. 7/10
The Sign of the Ram (1948)
The Tremerrion Tribulations.
The Sign of the Ram is directed by John Sturges and adapted to screenplay from Margaret Ferguson's novel. It stars Susan Peters, Alexandev Knox, Phyllis Thaxter, Peggy Ann Garner, Ron Randell, Dame May Witty and Allene Roberts. Music is by Hans J. Salter and cinematography by Burnett Guffey.
Wheelchair bound Leah St. Aubyn (Peters) manipulates everybody around her
"It's the sign of the ram. People born under this sign are endowed with a strong will power and obstinacy of purpose"
The setting is a cliff top mansion, a lighthouse is nearby, its purpose is to steer ships out of the fog and away from harms way. This is the fictitious Cornish place known as Tremerrion, and our play unfolds in the mansion known as Bastions. It's film that has proved to be a bit illusive to pin down, for whatever reasons, and that is a shame because there are plenty things for fans of such devilish dramas to be excited about. The backstory of its leading lady is itself tragic, for Susan Peters would be paralysed from the waist down after a freak hunting accident, this would see her appear in her last film, she gave up on life, tortured by pain and the loss of her ability to walk, she would stave to death and pass away four years later. Thankfully, and it's not sympathetic praise here, she's excellent, leaving a fitting farewell to the movie world.
"Haven't you sensed it? The undertone, like a warning drumbeat"
Stripped down it's the story of a woman who manipulates everyone close to her, cunningly so, her reasons deliberately shaded in grey, and the question constantly gnaws away as to just how come her family and confidants can't see it? Sooner or later something is going to give, and it's the waiting that gives the pic an edginess that's most appealing. This woman has no shame, we are told by her loyal spouse that she's not bitter about her accident, but she so is, but wears it well. She's not only spell bindingly pretty, but she's pretty spell bindingly devious too. The fog rolls in, the waves crash against the coast to marry up with the psychological discord being set loose in Bastions. Salter's music swirls and bites, while genius cinematographer Guffey turns in some class frames (one scene involving criss cross shadows is film noir nirvana).
"They will stop at nothing to accomplice their purpose - and sometimes meet a violent death"
Pulsing with jealousies, betrayals, suspicions and a whole host of devious machinations, this be a crafty old devil, a pic deconstructing the human condition with malicious glee. 7/10
The Lone Gun (1954)
Cruze Missile and the Three of Spades.
The Lone Gun is directed by Ray Nazarro and written by Don Martin, Richard Schayer and L. L. Freeman. It stars George Montgomery, Dorothy Malone, Neville Brand, Frank Faylen, Skip Homeier, Robert Wilke, Douglas Kennedy and Fay Roope. Music is by Irving Getz and cinematography by Lester White (color by Color Corporation of America).
"The history of any frontier region . . . such as the great expanses of the new State of Texas . . . offered many examples of the strange way in which a few men of great evil could dominate whole communities of well meaning, but passive citizens
And examples, too, of men who rode out alone for law and order, with -
Spikeopath — 9 years ago(January 30, 2017 07:41 AM)
Actually that should read "first we take Manhattan, then we take outer space"
I have seen them all now! This one was fun, I mean I aint watching them to be scared, stalk and slash movies stopped scaring me when I was still at school! I wanted to complete the cycle by catching up with the ones I haven't seen or reviewed yet. I can now safely say that
Jason X (2001)
is my favourite of the whole series
Though
Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
is an absolute riot.
Next up, the
Halloween
sequels I've not seen yet.
The
SpikeopathHospital Number
217 -
Sammy_Malone — 9 years ago(January 30, 2017 03:34 AM)
Seven Waves Away
(1957) - 7/10
Two O'Clock Courage
(1945) - 8/10
The Kiss Before the Mirror
(1933) - 7/10
Week-End in Havana
(1941) - 6/10
Jason Bourne
(2016) - 5/10
Deathtrap
(1982) 7/10
The Formula
(1980) 6/10
Seeds of Yesterday
(2015) - 4/10
Divine Madness
(1980) - 7/10
The Lobster
(2015) - 6/10
Something to Live For
(1952) - 7/10
Fifth Avenue Girl
(1939) - 8/10