RONALD REAGAN
They called him the Teflon president, and the Great Communicator. He was both, and our elected leader for eight years. He came to fame as an actor. Was Ronald Reagan any good? Actually, this yellow-dog Democrat has to admit, he was pretty good.
Reagan was a contract player at Warner Brothers, meaning he had to appear in any film the studio mandated. For over 25 years, he carried Warner’s water in over 50 mostly forgettable movies.
Reagan was George Gipp to Pat O’Brien’s Knute Rockne in Knute Rockne, All-American (1940). It’s a mediocre football movie, even if you’re a Notre Dame fan, but Reagan is just fine. Reagan’s death-bed admonition to “win one for the Gipper” is the best thing in the film, and provided him with one of his nick-names.
Probably Reagan’s best part is in Kings Row (1941), the story of people in a small Midwestern town, with Ann Sheridan and Robert Cummings. Reagan is excellent as a good-hearted rogue who loses his legs. Reagan used his memorable line, “Where’s the rest of me?”, as the title of an autobiography. His coping with paraplegia is a high point in his career.
Throughout his political career, Reagan took a lot of bad-natured kidding for Bedtime for Bonzo (1951). He is a college professor who raises a chimp as a child for
an experiment. Neither he nor the chimp is very good, but the script is worse.
In The Winning Team (1952) Reagan effectively plays the great Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander. While Alexander’s acute alcoholism is glossed over in the best Hollywood fashion (it’s somehow not his fault), his appearance in the 1926 World Series is very well done. I like the way Reagan plays this crucial part of the movie- not too schmaltzy, and with an air of mental toughness that is probably close to the truth.
Reagan is certainly cast against type in the so-so remake of the Hemingway story The Killers (1964), in which he is absolutely chilling as a vicious Mafia boss. This was Reagan’s last film, and in it he showed he could be convincing as a villain. By the way, the 1946 version of this film, with Burt Lancaster, is far superior. The only reason to catch the remake is to see the Gipper as a really bad guy.
All of the films in this article are available on DVD and for streaming. All except The Killers are fine for kids 10 and up.
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Sunday, January 24, 2016
ALAN RICKMAN
His very distinctive face was perfect for the part of Severus Snape, the apparent villain with a secret heroic heart in all the Harry Potter movies. Alan Rickman left us prematurely at 69. He had an interesting film career beyond the Potter epics.
In the original Die Hard (1988) Rickman is the arch-villain Hans Gruber. He is head of an evil group of criminals who pull off a daring heist. This film launched Bruce Willis’ career as an action star.
You can’t get much more evil than Alan Rickman’s character (Elliott Marston) in Quigley Down Under (1990). Tom Selleck plays Quigley, a noted sharpshooter who is hired by Marston for his long-range shooting ability. He thinks he is to kill dingoes. Turns out he is supposed to kill Aborigines. He refuses and is beaten and taken to the middle of the outback to die. He is rescued by- guess who- Aborigines! And from there it gets even more interesting.
Alan Rickman is the lead character in the very strange Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990). He plays Jamie, a dead cellist. His bereft girlfriend (Juliet Stevenson) is visited by Jamie’s ghost. At least we think so. At first she is enchanted, but when he starts turning up the heat to 90 and moving furniture, not so much. There is a surprise ending you won’t find here.
In the also strange mocumentary Bob Roberts (1992) Tim Robbins plays a right-wing folksinger running for the Senate. His campaign is a laundry list of sleazy tactics, and his campaign manager, Lukas Hart III, is portrayed by Alan Rickman. You just may recognize some of the people and some of the tricks they pull. The film is now almost too close to the truth to be a satire...
Michael Collins (1996) is loosely based on a character from the Irish rebellion of 1916. The title character is played by Liam Neeson. Alan Rickman plays Eamon De Valera, who is on the opposite side of the revolt from Collins, but who later became Irish Prime Minister. Rickman’s character definitely does not play nice...
Alan Rickman actually gets to play a good guy in Jane Austen’s Sense And Sensibility (1999). He is Colonel Brandon, suitor of the Dashwood family’s younger daughter, Marianne (Kate Winslet). She originally rejects him because of his age, but later in the story she gradually changes her mind as his good qualities appear. Emma Thompson wrote the screenplay and portrays the elder sister, Elinor. She is Sense to Marianne’s sensibility.
Johnny Depp is Sweeney Todd (2007) the murderous barber of Fleet Street. Alan Rickman is the notorious Judge Turpin, whose questionable sentencing of Todd pushed him into his career as a throat-cutting barber. At first, Swenney misses a chance to dispose of Turpin. He then proceeds to butcher a large part of London’s male population, who are then ground up into meat pies by Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter). Todd gets another chance at his nemesis and doesn’t miss this time. Folks, this is a musical!
Alan Rickman as Ronald Reagan seems something of a stretch, yet that is his role in The Butler (2013). Forest Whittaker plays the title character, who serves many presidents as head of the White House domestic staff. The Reagan character is both celebrated and criticized as the plot develops.
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD and for streaming. All are for mature audiences.
His very distinctive face was perfect for the part of Severus Snape, the apparent villain with a secret heroic heart in all the Harry Potter movies. Alan Rickman left us prematurely at 69. He had an interesting film career beyond the Potter epics.
In the original Die Hard (1988) Rickman is the arch-villain Hans Gruber. He is head of an evil group of criminals who pull off a daring heist. This film launched Bruce Willis’ career as an action star.
You can’t get much more evil than Alan Rickman’s character (Elliott Marston) in Quigley Down Under (1990). Tom Selleck plays Quigley, a noted sharpshooter who is hired by Marston for his long-range shooting ability. He thinks he is to kill dingoes. Turns out he is supposed to kill Aborigines. He refuses and is beaten and taken to the middle of the outback to die. He is rescued by- guess who- Aborigines! And from there it gets even more interesting.
Alan Rickman is the lead character in the very strange Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990). He plays Jamie, a dead cellist. His bereft girlfriend (Juliet Stevenson) is visited by Jamie’s ghost. At least we think so. At first she is enchanted, but when he starts turning up the heat to 90 and moving furniture, not so much. There is a surprise ending you won’t find here.
In the also strange mocumentary Bob Roberts (1992) Tim Robbins plays a right-wing folksinger running for the Senate. His campaign is a laundry list of sleazy tactics, and his campaign manager, Lukas Hart III, is portrayed by Alan Rickman. You just may recognize some of the people and some of the tricks they pull. The film is now almost too close to the truth to be a satire...
Michael Collins (1996) is loosely based on a character from the Irish rebellion of 1916. The title character is played by Liam Neeson. Alan Rickman plays Eamon De Valera, who is on the opposite side of the revolt from Collins, but who later became Irish Prime Minister. Rickman’s character definitely does not play nice...
Alan Rickman actually gets to play a good guy in Jane Austen’s Sense And Sensibility (1999). He is Colonel Brandon, suitor of the Dashwood family’s younger daughter, Marianne (Kate Winslet). She originally rejects him because of his age, but later in the story she gradually changes her mind as his good qualities appear. Emma Thompson wrote the screenplay and portrays the elder sister, Elinor. She is Sense to Marianne’s sensibility.
Johnny Depp is Sweeney Todd (2007) the murderous barber of Fleet Street. Alan Rickman is the notorious Judge Turpin, whose questionable sentencing of Todd pushed him into his career as a throat-cutting barber. At first, Swenney misses a chance to dispose of Turpin. He then proceeds to butcher a large part of London’s male population, who are then ground up into meat pies by Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter). Todd gets another chance at his nemesis and doesn’t miss this time. Folks, this is a musical!
Alan Rickman as Ronald Reagan seems something of a stretch, yet that is his role in The Butler (2013). Forest Whittaker plays the title character, who serves many presidents as head of the White House domestic staff. The Reagan character is both celebrated and criticized as the plot develops.
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD and for streaming. All are for mature audiences.
Sunday, January 17, 2016
ANGELS
The subject of angels obviously fascinates us. An internet search engine churns out seventeen million hits. Billy Graham wrote a book about them. Hollywood has used angels in many fine films.
Perhaps the most famous angel in movies is the wonderful Clarence, played with self-effacing grace by Henry Travers, in It’s A Wonderful Life (1946). This charming angel shows Jimmy Stewart what life in his town would have been without him, and redeems Stewart and the entire movie.
Emma Thompson is the impressive angel in Angels In America (2003), an HBO mini-series with Al Pacino as the late unlamented Roy Cohn, and Meryl Streep as several characters, including Ethel Rosenberg. Most of the actors in this Pulitzer Prize-winning drama play multiple roles. It is six hours long and worth every minute.
Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) and various and sundry other baseball angels wander out of the cornfield in the wonderful Field of Dreams (1989). Kevin Costner built it (the baseball field) and they indeed came. James Earl Jones and Amy Madigan add to a fine cast in a wonderful Hollywood fantasy.
In Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit Rex Harrison uses wacky medium Margaret Rutherford to bring back the spirit of his late wife, which doesn’t turn out to be a great idea, but is certainly one filled with fun and laughter. This angel doesn’t think much of her successor, and lets everyone know it in a myriad of interesting ways.
Wim Wenders’ offbeat Wings of Desire (1988) features a couple of melancholy angels hanging around Berlin and apparently seen only by American Peter Falk. One of
the angels (Bernard Ganz) decides he’s tired of comforting mortals and wants to return to earth as a normal person. It’s not to all tastes, but is certainly entertaining.
Cary Grant is the angel sent to help David Niven and Loretta Young raise the money for a new church in The Bishop’s Wife (1947), a charming movie that brings back the kids from It’s A Wonderful Life (Karolyn Grimes and Bobby Anderson) as an added bonus.
Angels in the Outfield has actually been made twice, and both are pretty good. I prefer the 1951 version with Paul Douglas, Janet Leigh and Keenan Wynn. The 1994 version has Danny Glover, Tony Danza and Brenda Fricker. The story involves angels answering the prayers of a child to assist a last-place baseball team.
Heaven Can Wait (1978) is about an angel making a terrible mistake. When LA Rams quarterback Joe Pendleton (Warren Beatty) is seriously injured, a rookie angel (Buck Henry) prematurely snaps him up and carts him to heaven. Joe complains bitterly and sure enough, it turns out he had many years of life on earth left. Well, his body has been cremated so another body must be found. It is. Then it gets complicated but is loads of fun.
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD and for streaming. Angels In America and Wings of Desire are for grown-ups; the rest are suitable for all ages.
The subject of angels obviously fascinates us. An internet search engine churns out seventeen million hits. Billy Graham wrote a book about them. Hollywood has used angels in many fine films.
Perhaps the most famous angel in movies is the wonderful Clarence, played with self-effacing grace by Henry Travers, in It’s A Wonderful Life (1946). This charming angel shows Jimmy Stewart what life in his town would have been without him, and redeems Stewart and the entire movie.
Emma Thompson is the impressive angel in Angels In America (2003), an HBO mini-series with Al Pacino as the late unlamented Roy Cohn, and Meryl Streep as several characters, including Ethel Rosenberg. Most of the actors in this Pulitzer Prize-winning drama play multiple roles. It is six hours long and worth every minute.
Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) and various and sundry other baseball angels wander out of the cornfield in the wonderful Field of Dreams (1989). Kevin Costner built it (the baseball field) and they indeed came. James Earl Jones and Amy Madigan add to a fine cast in a wonderful Hollywood fantasy.
In Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit Rex Harrison uses wacky medium Margaret Rutherford to bring back the spirit of his late wife, which doesn’t turn out to be a great idea, but is certainly one filled with fun and laughter. This angel doesn’t think much of her successor, and lets everyone know it in a myriad of interesting ways.
Wim Wenders’ offbeat Wings of Desire (1988) features a couple of melancholy angels hanging around Berlin and apparently seen only by American Peter Falk. One of
the angels (Bernard Ganz) decides he’s tired of comforting mortals and wants to return to earth as a normal person. It’s not to all tastes, but is certainly entertaining.
Cary Grant is the angel sent to help David Niven and Loretta Young raise the money for a new church in The Bishop’s Wife (1947), a charming movie that brings back the kids from It’s A Wonderful Life (Karolyn Grimes and Bobby Anderson) as an added bonus.
Angels in the Outfield has actually been made twice, and both are pretty good. I prefer the 1951 version with Paul Douglas, Janet Leigh and Keenan Wynn. The 1994 version has Danny Glover, Tony Danza and Brenda Fricker. The story involves angels answering the prayers of a child to assist a last-place baseball team.
Heaven Can Wait (1978) is about an angel making a terrible mistake. When LA Rams quarterback Joe Pendleton (Warren Beatty) is seriously injured, a rookie angel (Buck Henry) prematurely snaps him up and carts him to heaven. Joe complains bitterly and sure enough, it turns out he had many years of life on earth left. Well, his body has been cremated so another body must be found. It is. Then it gets complicated but is loads of fun.
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD and for streaming. Angels In America and Wings of Desire are for grown-ups; the rest are suitable for all ages.
Sunday, January 10, 2016
FRANK SINATRA
Part 2
As promised, here is the second article on the movies of the late Frank Sinatra, whose film resume’ contained over 60 entries. This is the rest of the best.
As the title character in Pal Joey (1957) Frank showcases his fabulous voice on several Rogers & Hart standards. Voices are dubbed in by real singers for Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak. Sinatra plays a second rate singer romancing both ladies. When asked about Rita Hayworth’s name appearing above his on the marquee, Frank quipped, “Ladies first.” The convoluted plot involves a club named Chez Joey and back and forth times with the women. Just enjoy the music!
Some Came Running (1958) features Frank Sinatra as a writer fallen on hard times, and whose life choices involve gambling and womanizing. He is torn between the stately Gwen (Martha Hyer) and the somewhat trashy Ginny (Shirley Maclaine in her breakthrough role). He befriends Bama (Dean Martin) a questionable character with debatable habits. With Gwen’s help his writing is published again, but she rebuffs him and he returns to, and marries, Ginny. For this era, the movie’s ending is a surprise.
One of Frank Sinatra’s many claims to fame was as the leader of the Rat Pack. This disparate group of friends included him, Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Peter Lawford. They are all on board for the original Ocean’s Eleven (1960). As the head of the group, Frank devises a daring plan to rob five different casinos at the same time, and each member has an important part to make it work. The plan goes off with military precision (and is lots of fun!), but the ending is a real jolt. This film, and two sequels, were remade with George Clooney, and they’re not bad.
Frank Sinatra is Major Bennett Marco in the nail-biting Manchurian Candidate (1962). He is tasked with deprogramming a returned Korean War POW, Raymond Shaw (Lawrence Harvey). The joke about this at the time was that in playing a virtual automaton, Harvey was type-cast. Shaw’s communist captors have brainwashed him and he is apparently hard wired to murder a presidential candidate. The candidate appears at Madison Square Garden for a rally where the murder is to take place. So what happens? Watch and see.
Frank Sinatra is the title character in Von Ryan’s Express (1965), as American Captain Joseph Ryan. His fellow POWs add the Von because they suspect him of collaborating with the enemy. But he heads up a daring escape that involves highjacking a German train and rerouting it toward neutral Switzerland. There’s a lot of trickery and a lot of shooting, but Von Ryan proves his mettle and the plan seems destined to work.
I just realized on completing this article that every one of the featured films except the first one has a surprise ending. No extra charge...
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD and for streaming. All are fine for mature 10-year-olds and up.
Part 2
As promised, here is the second article on the movies of the late Frank Sinatra, whose film resume’ contained over 60 entries. This is the rest of the best.
As the title character in Pal Joey (1957) Frank showcases his fabulous voice on several Rogers & Hart standards. Voices are dubbed in by real singers for Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak. Sinatra plays a second rate singer romancing both ladies. When asked about Rita Hayworth’s name appearing above his on the marquee, Frank quipped, “Ladies first.” The convoluted plot involves a club named Chez Joey and back and forth times with the women. Just enjoy the music!
Some Came Running (1958) features Frank Sinatra as a writer fallen on hard times, and whose life choices involve gambling and womanizing. He is torn between the stately Gwen (Martha Hyer) and the somewhat trashy Ginny (Shirley Maclaine in her breakthrough role). He befriends Bama (Dean Martin) a questionable character with debatable habits. With Gwen’s help his writing is published again, but she rebuffs him and he returns to, and marries, Ginny. For this era, the movie’s ending is a surprise.
One of Frank Sinatra’s many claims to fame was as the leader of the Rat Pack. This disparate group of friends included him, Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Peter Lawford. They are all on board for the original Ocean’s Eleven (1960). As the head of the group, Frank devises a daring plan to rob five different casinos at the same time, and each member has an important part to make it work. The plan goes off with military precision (and is lots of fun!), but the ending is a real jolt. This film, and two sequels, were remade with George Clooney, and they’re not bad.
Frank Sinatra is Major Bennett Marco in the nail-biting Manchurian Candidate (1962). He is tasked with deprogramming a returned Korean War POW, Raymond Shaw (Lawrence Harvey). The joke about this at the time was that in playing a virtual automaton, Harvey was type-cast. Shaw’s communist captors have brainwashed him and he is apparently hard wired to murder a presidential candidate. The candidate appears at Madison Square Garden for a rally where the murder is to take place. So what happens? Watch and see.
Frank Sinatra is the title character in Von Ryan’s Express (1965), as American Captain Joseph Ryan. His fellow POWs add the Von because they suspect him of collaborating with the enemy. But he heads up a daring escape that involves highjacking a German train and rerouting it toward neutral Switzerland. There’s a lot of trickery and a lot of shooting, but Von Ryan proves his mettle and the plan seems destined to work.
I just realized on completing this article that every one of the featured films except the first one has a surprise ending. No extra charge...
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD and for streaming. All are fine for mature 10-year-olds and up.
Sunday, January 3, 2016
FRANK SINATRA
He was this skinny kid with the big Adam’s apple and the big voice. He and Bing and Rudy Vallee were crooners. But it was Frank Sinatra that made the girls swoon, and his golden voice stayed with him until he died. December 12 marked the 100th anniversary of Ol’ Blue Eyes’ birth. The only problem with writing an article about his movie career is trying to pick the best from a very good film resume. I was frankly astonished to note that he had been in over 60 movies. I tried to limit it to one article- can’t be done. So there will be two and this is the first one.
On The Town (1949) is a joyous musical comedy making limited use of Frank’s singing. It is a romp about three sailors on a one-day pass in New York City and the story and the dancing are first-rate. The cast includes three of the best dancers ever: Gene Kelly, Vera-Ellen and Ann Miller. This one is just plain fun.
If there were doubts about Sinatra’s acting ability, they were forever shut down by his performance in the iconic From Here To Eternity (1953). He plays Angelo Maggio, a charming victim of the heinous Judson (Ernest Borgnine). This film won eight Oscars, including Best Movie and a statue for Frank as Best Supporting Actor. It also features Deborah Kerr and Donna Reed as ladies of questionable moral standing. Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift and Jack Warden also have big parts in this big movie, set in Hawaii just before the Pearl Harbor attack.
Frank Sinatra’s singing is stage front in Damon Runyon’s Guys And Dolls (1955). He plays small-time hood Nathan Detroit, whose main talent seems to be arranging illegal crap games. This film also stars Marlon Brando as Skye Masterson, Jean Simmons as his unsuspecting target, and Vivian Blaine as Nathan’s long-suffering girl friend. Could Brando sing and dance? Well, check it out for yourself...
1955 also was the year of The Man With The Golden Arm which features Frank as a heroin addict, Frankie Machine. At that time little was said, or known, about drug addiction and this film was a real eye-opener. The scenes where Frankie has to go cold turkey are still intense and troubling. Frankie’s struggles to get off the stuff and make something of himself echo the problems of too many junkies.
The Sinatra playbook is back on the lighter side with High Society (1956). The principles are Bing Crosby and the legendary princess, Grace Kelly. These two are divorced socialites. Frank Sinatra plays a reporter for a sleazy magazine, and Celeste Holm is his photographer. The plot is a little dopey but the people and costumes are beautiful. And who can resist the wonderful song True Love?
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD and for streaming. The musicals are fine for all audiences; the others are for adults only. Watch this space for the second installment of Frank Sinatra movies.
He was this skinny kid with the big Adam’s apple and the big voice. He and Bing and Rudy Vallee were crooners. But it was Frank Sinatra that made the girls swoon, and his golden voice stayed with him until he died. December 12 marked the 100th anniversary of Ol’ Blue Eyes’ birth. The only problem with writing an article about his movie career is trying to pick the best from a very good film resume. I was frankly astonished to note that he had been in over 60 movies. I tried to limit it to one article- can’t be done. So there will be two and this is the first one.
On The Town (1949) is a joyous musical comedy making limited use of Frank’s singing. It is a romp about three sailors on a one-day pass in New York City and the story and the dancing are first-rate. The cast includes three of the best dancers ever: Gene Kelly, Vera-Ellen and Ann Miller. This one is just plain fun.
If there were doubts about Sinatra’s acting ability, they were forever shut down by his performance in the iconic From Here To Eternity (1953). He plays Angelo Maggio, a charming victim of the heinous Judson (Ernest Borgnine). This film won eight Oscars, including Best Movie and a statue for Frank as Best Supporting Actor. It also features Deborah Kerr and Donna Reed as ladies of questionable moral standing. Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift and Jack Warden also have big parts in this big movie, set in Hawaii just before the Pearl Harbor attack.
Frank Sinatra’s singing is stage front in Damon Runyon’s Guys And Dolls (1955). He plays small-time hood Nathan Detroit, whose main talent seems to be arranging illegal crap games. This film also stars Marlon Brando as Skye Masterson, Jean Simmons as his unsuspecting target, and Vivian Blaine as Nathan’s long-suffering girl friend. Could Brando sing and dance? Well, check it out for yourself...
1955 also was the year of The Man With The Golden Arm which features Frank as a heroin addict, Frankie Machine. At that time little was said, or known, about drug addiction and this film was a real eye-opener. The scenes where Frankie has to go cold turkey are still intense and troubling. Frankie’s struggles to get off the stuff and make something of himself echo the problems of too many junkies.
The Sinatra playbook is back on the lighter side with High Society (1956). The principles are Bing Crosby and the legendary princess, Grace Kelly. These two are divorced socialites. Frank Sinatra plays a reporter for a sleazy magazine, and Celeste Holm is his photographer. The plot is a little dopey but the people and costumes are beautiful. And who can resist the wonderful song True Love?
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD and for streaming. The musicals are fine for all audiences; the others are for adults only. Watch this space for the second installment of Frank Sinatra movies.
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