PETER USTINOV

     Peter Ustinov, who left us in 2004 at age 82, was a true renaissance man.  He acted, wrote and directed.  He worked tirelessly for UNICEF for over 30 years.  He made over 90 films, and the best of them are very good indeed.

     Mr. Ustinov first appeared on the radar of American film buffs in the Roman Empire epic Quo Vadis (1951). Despite the presence of Deborah Kerr and Robert Taylor, Mr. Ustinov frankly steals the movie as the mad emperor Nero, a character he defined for all time with this portrayal. 

     The Sundowners (1960) is one of those quiet little films that just hangs around because people keep liking it. Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr are Australian sheep ranchers and Peter Ustinov is their sidekick-foreman-best friend.  It is very much like an American western in its portrayal of pioneers trying to survive in a raw, hostile country. 

     Spartacus (1960) features Kirk Douglas (as leader of a slave revolt), Jean Simmons, Sir Lawrence Olivier, Tony Curtis and Charles Laughton.  But it was Peter Ustinov who won an Oscar for his supporting role as Batiatus, owner of a notorious school for gladiators.  Its history may be a little questionable, but there is no denying the spectacular sets, costumes and battle scenes of Spartacus. Oh, and there's the much featured scene where all the revolting slaves tell the Roman soldiers, "I am Spartacus."

     In the long roll-call of heist movies, few can approach the bright and wonderful Topkapi (1964) about a disparate and desperate band of small-time thugs determined to rob the big museum.  Once again Peter Ustinov is in august company: Melina Mercouri, Maximillian Schell, Robert Morley, Akim Tamiroff. And once again it is Mr. Ustinov copping the Oscar as the sleazy hood with all the answers. It is hard to imagine anyone else in this role, which pulls this movie up above dozens of other caper flicks.

     Perhaps the crowning glory of Peter Ustinov's cinematic career is the much underrated Billy Budd (1962).  A personal project Mr. Ustinov had dreamed of putting together for years, it is based on Herman Melville's novella and is a cautionary tale that pushes the limits of the morality vs. legality debate.  Mr. Ustinov wrote it, directed it, produced it and plays the key role of the captain. He must decide whether to follow the law to the letter, or do what seems right in his heart.  Terrence Stamp (in his first role) is incandescent as the innocent Billy, and Robert Ryan is superb as the villainous master-at-arms.

     All of the films in this article are available on DVD and for streaming.  All are for 10 and up.

JOAN ALLEN

     What do Mira Sorvino, Juliette Binoche and Julia Roberts have in common (other than being fine actresses)? All three snatched an Oscar from the more deserving hands of the wonderful Joan Allen.  Well, Joan Allen's day will come. You heard it here first.

     As The Contender (2000) Ms. Allen hit it out of the park as a vice-presidential candidate who refuses to even discuss what she may have done as a slightly wild college kid.  This film is a cautionary tale for our time, and Joan Allen makes it go.  It asks some ultimate questions and the answers are not easy ones.

     Ms. Allen splendidly played the long-suffering Pat Nixon in Oliver Stone's Nixon (1995). The film is a fascinating hatchet job that makes no pretense of fair play and is all the more interesting because of that.  Ms. Allen practically steals the movie from Sir Anthony Hopkins, not an easy task.  So what did Pat Nixon really think about all that carrying on? Joan Allen shows a probable answer in a stunning performance.

       Joan Allen was the only good thing in the dreadful remake of The Crucible (1996). I can't really argue against Juliette Binoche winning for The English Patient in'96. But in 1995 she lost to Mira Sorvino for Mighty Aphrodite and in 2000 she lost to Julia Roberts for Erin Brokovich. Ms. Allen was robbed!

      There is no one better at playing slightly square, well-meaning Moms than Joan Allen.  Check her out in Pleasantville (1998), or The Ice Storm (1997), or the wonderful Searching For Bobby Fisher (1993), or the underrated In Country (1989).

     Another somewhat slighted film is Ethan Frome (1992), based on Edith Wharton's outstanding novel and very true to it. Joan Allen has a nifty change-of-pace as Liam Neeson's whiny invalid wife.  She makes you hate her for her neediness and her ability to cloud the sunniest day.

     A nice early effort by Joan Allen, as the somewhat overly protective Mom of Kathleen Turner, is Peggy Sue Got Married (1986). Nicholas Cage pushes a little too hard as the teenage boyfriend and philandering husband, but Ms. Turner and Ms. Allen are just fine and the film is loads of fun. 

     All of the films in this article are available on DVD and for streaming.  All are okay for 12 and up.

OMAR SHARIF

    Omar Sharif left us recently at age 83.  At his peak he was one of the best-looking men on the planet. Barbra Streisand's lines in Funny Girl say it best: "To tell the truth; it hurt my pride. The groom was prettier than the bride." 

     He became a world-class bridge player and developed a second lucrative career as a syndicated bridge columnist. His film career is an almost perfect bell curve: real bad movies to start, real good movies in the middle, real bad movies at the end. 

     Omar Sharif burst onto the world's consciousness in the towering Lawrence Of Arabia (1962). He was nominated for an Oscar for his role as Sherif Ari, Arab friend and colleague of the mercurial T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole). The film is about the Arab war against the Turks, but more particularly the life and times of the title character.  It is very long, but worth the effort. I used to advise seeing only in a theater, but with today's big screen TVs I think the spectacular scenery and set pieces are quite good.

     The part that endeared him to moviegoers was the title role in Dr. Zhivago (1965). This sprawling story of a privileged Russian on the run during the revolution makes a heckuva movie. The ice scene at the abandoned manor is breathtaking, as is Tom Courtenay as the relentless Strelnikov. Julie Christie as an unforgettable Lara heads a fine supporting cast including Sir Alec Guiness, Rod Steiger and Geraldine Chaplin.  This is one of those films the critics didn't much like and the audience loved.  It is still in the all-time top ten of box office receipts!

     In Funny Girl (1968) Barbra Streisand is the legendary Fanny Brice and Omar Sharif is her wooer and later her husband, Nick Arnstein. This film put Ms. Streisand on the map and deservedly so. The music is quite good and she is spectacular.  Mr. Sharif is good as her love interest.  His singing will not make you forget Frank Sinatra (who was considered for this part).  The ill-conceived sequel, Funny Lady (1969) has the same cast with so-so music and screenplay.

     Mayerling (1968) has Omar Sharif and Catherine Deneuve as the world's cutest couple, excellent sets and costumes and a famous story with a cloudy ending.  I would call it mediocre.

     Before Steven Soderbergh's two-part biopic Che in 2008 there was the even worse 1969 version with Omar Sharif in the title role and Jack Palance (!) as Fidel Castro. Folks, this is just plain awful!

     Omar Sharif can also be viewed as a German officer trying to solve the grisly murder of a prostitute during World War II in The Night Of The Generals (1967) and as Father Francisco in the confusing and not very good Behold A Pale Horse (1964). And, as the immortal Bugs Bunny put it, "That's all folks!" Mr. Sharif had another 40 years of movie roles, none of them very good.

     All of the movies in this article are available on DVD and for streaming. All are for mature audiences. 

BEAUTIFUL BLACK AND WHITE

     Several years ago a new dirty word snuck into the language. It may have even made it into some of the lesser dictionaries. It is COLORIZATION. It means taking movies originally shot in black and white and coloring them. Yeccch! Well- as far as I can tell that process is as dead as film darkrooms. I sure hope so.

     For some reason, many people seem to have something against black and white movies. I think this is a mistake. Good directors and cinematographers know how to use the shadows and nuances of black and white to great advantage. Some of the greatest movies ever made are in black and white. 

     Orson Welles perhaps understood how to use the subtle shadings of black and white as well as anyone. His landmark film Citizen Kane (1941) is exhibit A. But an even better use of the medium, though a lesser film, is The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) which is shot almost entirely in the gloomy old Amberson mansion. (Bonus trivia: this movie features, of all people, cowboy star Tim Holt!)

     In Raging Bull (1980) the brutality and violence of the ring (and the kitchen!) are more exquisitely captured in black and white than any color imaginable. The sleazy, smoky nightclubs that become Jake LaMotta's environment seem much more oppressive and atmospheric in black and white.

     Casablanca (1942) has dark filmic echoes of the war and the end of a culture, and is one of the most romantic films ever made. I cannot imagine it in color and hope Ted Turner and his lackeys can't either.

      My favorite example of black and white cinematography is How Green Was My Valley (1941), about life in a Welsh mining village and a boy who wants out. Use your freeze button on any frame in this movie and you could hang it on your wall.

     Some other splendid examples of black and white: Shindler's List (1993), The Hustler (1961), High Noon (1952), On The Waterfront (1954), The Maltese Falcon (1941) and Brief Encounter (1945).

     One of the best recent examples of great black and white cinematography is George Clooney's Good Night And Good Luck (2005) a splendid film with David Strathairn perfect as newsman Edward R. Murrow (a Tar Heel!) taking down fascist Senator Joseph McCarthy. Even more recent is the superb Nebraska (2013) featuring Bruce Dern's career best performance.

      Okay so I'm a purist. But- if you happen to be one of the "no black and white" people, I ask only that you give any of the films in this article a look. Then ask yourself if it would have been as good in color.

     All of the movies herein are available on DVD and for streaming. None are really suitable for children under 12, mostly because they wouldn't like them.