Michael Madsen

                                                                       Part 2

No more Mr. Nice Guy. He made a good living doing exactly that. From the severed ear by Mr. Blonde to burying The Bride alive in Kill Bill 2 he continued to menace the other characters (and often the audience). And yet in real life he was a gentle guy, well liked by his fellow players. He was even a published poet!

In both of the Kill Bill films (2003, 2004, 2006) Madsen is Budd, also known as Sidewinder. The Bride (Uma Thurman) is a former member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. She is nearly killed by Bill (David Carradine) and spends most of these movies hacking her way toward revenge against  Bill. Bodies everywhere, body parts as well. This is Quentin Tarrantino’s masterpiece and there’s nothing else quite like it. The 2006 version is actually a merger of the first two. Fans keep hoping for a Volume 3. Quentin says it is not happening. The Sidewinder becomes one of the numberless dead in the second film. 

Mulholland Falls (1996) is about a group of Los Angeles cops who grow tired of known criminals slithering out of punishment and decide to do something. That something is throwing people off the cliff on Mulholland Drive. Michael Madsen is one of the group, playing Eddie Hall. The group operates with the passive protection of the police chief (Bruce Dern). A series of murders and assorted crimes complete the movie until the equivocal finish.

Donnie Brasco (1997) is portrayed by the unlikely Johnny Depp as Joseph Pistone, an undercover FBI agent assigned to infiltrate the Mafia. Which he does, endearing himself to the fading enforcer Lefty Ruggerio (Al Pacino). Michael Madsen is Sonny Black, titular head of one group of mob members. His enemies, a rival Mob gang, makes the mistake of burning down Sonny’s night club. His revenge is unsubtle and complete. Meanwhile, Donnie’s undercover work results in over 200 indictments and he retires to an undisclosed location. 

The Hateful Eight (2015) is another Quentin Tarantino project and like most of his films it is a good story with nobody much to pull for. The title group is a mishmash of outlaws and crooked lawmen forced together by a blizzard into a clothing store. Madsen is Joe Gage, one of the cowboys in the group, by no means the worst. Samuel L.Jackson, Kurt Russell and Jennifer Jason Leigh are also present. Someone poisons the coffee and most of the group is killed. There is a hanging, an arm cut off and various other acts of blood and gore. Well, this is a Tarantino. 

Michael Madsen can also be seen to advantage in Wyatt Earp (1994) as Wyatt’s brother Virgil, and in the very weird Sin City (2005). One of his last roles of note was as Sheriff Hackett in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019). Madsen worked all the time. He logged nine films, none very good, in 2004, the year before his death. 

All of the films in this article are for adults only. 

                                                                     Michael Madsen

In the latter part of his career, he was almost always the meanest guy in the film. And he was so good at it he sort of got type cast as such. Premiere critic Roger Ebert said “He’s like a really mean Robert DeNiro. He has the kind of menacing screen presence only a few actors achieve.” Michael Madsen left us way too early at 67, leaving behind over 300 appearances in movies and TV shows. Until his turn as the psychotic Mr. Blonde, he was usually just a good middle of the road character actor. If you think these descriptions of the mature Madsen are a little strong, I direct you to his signature role.

Reservoir Dogs (1992). There are lots of bad guys in Quentin Tarantino’s rhinestone in the rough. Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi and Quentin himself are all on board for the mayhem. But Michael Madsen as Mr. Blonde tops them all. The gang sets out to rob a jewelry store but things go sideways and the police show up. They go their separate ways, winding up at an empty warehouse. They have kidnaped a policeman as a hostage, and they leave him alone with Mr.Blonde. Who promptly tortures the poor guy and cuts his ear off. Bad enough for you? I thought so. This bloodbath of a saga was Quentin’s first feature and sets the tone for his later work. It is not for the squeamish.

Madsen often said that while he made a good living as a totally bad, menacing guy, he sometimes wished for a gentler role. And he actually got one and did a good job with it in Free Willy (1993). 12-year-old Jason is an abandoned kid living on the street when he breaks into the aquarium and bonds with a feisty orca named Willy. Jason is taken in by the kind Greenwood family- Annie (Jayne Atkinson) and Glen ( yep, Michael Madsen). When Jason learns the aquarium’s owner plans to kill Willy for the insurance on him, Jason hatches a crazy plan to return Willy to the open sea. The Greenwoods help him and with Glen’s truck and a hydraulic lift give Jason hope. Finally, Willy must overcome a breakwater to get away and he manages this with Jason’s encouragement by jumping over it. This little film spawned two sequels, a TV series and several video games. None of them are, of course, up to the original. 

In Thelma and Louise (1991) Madsen is a regular guy as the boyfriend of Louise (Susan Sarandon). He tries to help the girls but they are beyond help as they shot a guy outside of a bar. And, of course, wound up driving their getaway car into the Grand Canyon. 

Madsen’s no hero in The Natural (1984) appearing as journeyman baseball player Bump Bailey, completely willing to collude with gamblers and throw a game. Roy Hobbes (Robert Redford) of course refuses and plays on despite death threats. 

In War Games (1983), Diner (1983) and Racing With The Moon (1984) Madsen has meaty, but minor, parts. 

All of the movies in this article except Free Willy are for adults only. Next time, another look at his bad guy roles, of which there are many.

                                               Oliver- More? Maybe Not

    One of my very favorite movies is Oliver (1968). This is the musical version of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist, the story of a poor orphan sold into slavery, then rescued by a bunch of juvenile thieves and their boss. He has many adventures as a part of the gang and winds up finding a good home and his true family. The music is sensational and the photography the best. And it won the Oscar for Best Movie. 

On recently watching it yet again it occurred to me that this wonderful film seemed to be almost the end of the road for most of the cast. Very strange!

Oliver is portrayed by the angelic Mark Lester, a wonderful little actor just right as the waif of the title. And yet, although he had plenty of acting jobs, none seemed close to fulfilling the promise of Oliver. Of course, he grew up and that did him no favors. You would have thought that he would have become a big star after playing Oliver. Just wasn’t in the cards. 

The rapscallion Artful Dodger is played to perfection by Jack Wild. He was the leader of the gang of miscreants and a fitting mentor to Oliver. It seemed like a part he was born to play, and he was so good in it that big things should have happened to his career. He died at 54 but his major accomplishment after Oliver was as Jimmy in the children’s TV series HR Puffnstuff. 

The gang of child pickpockets are given a place to live and a job by the villainous Fagin, played to the hilt by Ron Moody. He was only 54 when Oliver was filmed, and he had lots of good jobs both before and after that one. But he never seemed to quite get over the hump and realize the promise of his role in Oliver. 

Shani Wallis shines as Nancy, singing barmaid and sometimes attempted savior of the criminal boys. She has really lousy taste in men though, pairing off with the criminal Bill Sykes. She was a real jewel in the rough in this part and came to a bad end because of her relationship with Sykes. She explains her loyalty to the treacherous Sykes in her solo He Needs Me. And she sings and dances up a storm in the wonderful pub scene. She seemed destined for great things, but alas it just didn’t happen. She had plenty of jobs on up into the 2000s but never seemed to hit it big. 

Harry Secombe had a great part as Mr. Bumble, famously informing all that “if that isn’t true, I’ll eat me head”. Well, he was then and remained a good character actor, never really aspiring to more. 

Oliver Reed, perfectly cast as the glowering Bill Sykes, had loads of work his entire career but never really rose above the Sykes role. Sykes not only forces poor Oliver and his juvenile friends to help him rob people, he also is the neer-do-well and violent boyfriend of Nancy. She meets a sad fate because of her attraction to Sykes.

Well, Carol Reed, who directed this great film, won the directing Oscar for Oliver and helmed lots more good movies. Oh, and my subtitle?  “More” is the word that got Oliver in trouble in the orphanage when he had the temerity to ask for more food.

                                                                 Dylan and others

I finally got to see A Complete Unknown (2024), the biopic about folk-rock legend Bob Dylan. I liked it, especially the first hour. It is a warts and all look at the meteoric rise of the Nobel Prize winner. Timothee Chalamet is good as Dylan, he looks very much like him and he has the voice down pretty well. Dylan’s decision to ditch folk and wade into rock and roll is convincing and well covered.  Edward Norton is good as the gentle Pete Seeger. Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez and Elle Fanning as Sylvie Russo are also good. So, in a nicely crowded film category, I would put this somewhere in the middle.

For my money, the film that is perhaps the high watermark of this field is Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980). Sissy Spacek (who does her own singing) is simply marvelous as Tammy Wynette, and Tommy Lee Jones does a good job as her husband and manager. Her meteoric rise from coal-mine poverty to queen of the country stars is told accurately and well.

Walk The Line (2005) is one of the best.  Joaquin Phoenix (Johnny Cash) and Reese Witherspoon (June Carter Cash) did their own singing, and are really good at it. Ten minutes in the actors become the singers they’re playing.  That June saved Johnny from sinking into oblivion from drugs and alcohol is well known, and the movie gets it right. The story is a good one and the music is great.

Sweet Dreams (1985), with Jessica Lange as Patsy Cline, is a step slower but still quite good. The dependable Ed Harris is just fine as her ne’er-do-well husband, and little-known Ann Wedgeworth is superb as her mom. That’s Patsy singing and Jessica lip-synching in this one. 

David Carradine can sing up a storm (he starred in the Broadway hit Will Rogers Follies) and does so as legendary Woody Guthrie in Bound For Glory (1976). Woody’s music is very close to the heart and soul of America..He travels the land singing and fighting for the underdog. “This Land Is Your Land” will always be remembered and sung with pride. This movie is gloriously photographed by Haskel Wexler

. The quintessential country singer is, of course, Elvis. Though I guess you can’t really put him in the country (or any) category box. Anyway, to date, nobody has made the defining biopic but it’s not too late. This Is Elvis (1981) isn’t even close; it is more exploitational than entertaining OR true. There are over 30 films either starring or about Elvis, none of which seems to me to get him just right. 

I’m throwing in a film about a country singer who never was because Robert Duvall’s performance in Tender Mercies (1983) is about as good as it gets. It’s not about a real life, but it oughta be!

All of the movies in this column are fine for 12 and up. 

                                                                      Harris Yulin

    Who? Who the heck is Harris Yulin? Well, that was my reaction when I read that he had died recently. But if you do what I did- Google him- you will have a mild shock of recognition because we have seen him in dozens of movies and TV shows. And he has a very rich acting resume’. Mr. Movie enjoys paying tribute to the “foot soldiers” of Hollywood. Character actors who show up, do their job, and move on to the next thing.

To say that End Of The Road (1970) is not for all tastes is putting it rather mildly. Harris Yulin portrays Joe Morgan, a really nutty guy who encourages his wife to have sex with a stranger who was just released from a funny farm. And that place is run by Dr D (James Earl Jones) who turns out to be a failed abortionist. My advice on this one is- give it a miss! 

Yulin’s role in the gritty Night Moves (1975) is Marty Heller, having an affair with the wife of the main charcter, played by Gene Hackman.

Scarface (1983) stars Al Pacino as drug lord Tony Montana. Harris Yulin is Mel Bernstein, a corrupt Miami police detective who tries to extort Tony. This turns out to be a really bad idea. Both Pacino and Yulin are quite good as total undesirables. 

In Clear And Present Danger (1984) Harris Yulin, as National Security Advisor James Cutter, jumps the line by about 40 years by receiving a presidential pardon before he has done anything. Well, what he does is organize his own group of nasties to deal with cartels and profit from the connection. Enter Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) who you know is going to save the day- eventually. 

Training Day (2001) garnered Denzel Washington an Oscar for his portrayal of very crooked cop Alonzo Harris. He is supposed to be training rookie Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke) and I guess you could say that he does. Well, he trains him in the ways of the mean LA streets, smoking dope and letting snitches go. He also earns lots more money than his salary from drug dealers- either hitting them up for a cut or just stealing their stash. Harris Yulin is Doug Rosselli, one of the few straight cops in this thing. The Academy apparently was so stunned to see Denzel playing a bad guy so well they decided to give him a statue.

Harris Yulin can be seen- briefly- as Al Cross in The Place Beyond The Pines (2012) and he also shows up as Leon Friedman in the boxing biopic The Hurricane (1999). There are many more movies containing brief appearances of Yulin. Also tons of TV shows. While he may not be a household name to you and me, he sure was to casting directors, who frequently said “plug in Harris Yulin there” and they would. And they would get their money’s worth every time.

All of the movies in this article are for adults. 

                                                     Marcel Ophuls, Director

Marcel Ophuls was a true citizen of he world. He was born in Germany, the son of famed director Max Ophuls. He actually lived in America during his formative years and made several of his films here. He also had a dual citizenship with France, and he lived there most of his mature years. He made lots of films in France. He died recently at the good old age of 97.

    He is for the most part known to American audiences for The Sorrow and the Pity (1969). A master at documentaries, this is his best. He was nominated for an Oscar but somehow lost to The Helstrom Chronicles. Yeah, he was robbed! Ophuls’ scathing story of French collaboration with the Nazis during World War II unleashed a firestorm of fury in France and Germany. The French had been saying that the Vichy government and its apologists resisted the Germans. Ophuls ripped the cover off of that, revealing how some French cozied up to their invaders. 

In November Days (1971) Ophuls covers the reunification of Germany, mostly by interviews with former East Germans. I guess most of us Yanks thought everyone in Germany cheered for the country being together again. But actually, not everyone. 

In A Sense Of Loss (1972) Ophuls turns his sights on the troubles in Northern Ireland. Catholics and Protestants unleash hatred and terror on each other. You won’t find a more even-handed treatment of this subject. Ophuls lets you make up your own mind. Most of the people interviewed in this stellar documentary are dead now, but the smoldering conflict is still just under the surface. 

The Memory of Justice (1975) is quite a handful, with a running time of over four hours. The subject is wartime atrocities and nobody gets off scot free. There’s lots about Nuremberg but also about Viet Nam. The question of individual versus collective responsibility is aired. It also raises the question about who gets to point fingers without looking in the mirror. Some of the footage is hard to take; no one under 12 should be anywhere close to this film. If you do decide to watch it, it can be neatly cut into two hour segments without losing momentum. 

Nominated again for Hotel Terminus (1988), this time Ophuls scored the Oscar for best Documentary Feature. And he certainly deserved it. This is the story of Klaus Barbie, a Nazi bigwig who escaped to Colombia, where he lived until he was captured and sent to stand trial as a war criminal in France. The film is incredibly even-handed, containing wide ranging interviews with various people. Some insist Barbie was a torturer and all-in villain. Many others insist he only followed orders and did his best to diminish German atrocities. Anyway, he is usually referred to as The Butcher of Lyon. The film ends at the conclusion of his trial. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. He died in 1991.

All of the movies in this article are for adults. 

                                                                 Joe Don Baker

He was either blest or cursed to always be remembered for one signature role. Joe Don Baker was actually a good character actor who had good parts  in several good movies. But when his name was called, directors, producers, casting directors and audiences called up one name: Buford Pusser.

Walking Tall (1973) seemed tailor made for the burly, gruff Baker. Based on a real person, sheriff Buford Pusser of Tennessee, he became a hero for all those tired of whiny liberals and apologists for bad people. I’m betting the MAGA crowd would love him. At his wife’s behest, Pusser retires from professional wrestling and returns home to Tennessee to work in his father’s logging busness. When he catches the house cheating at craps, he is beaten and cut by local thugs. Seeing the rampant corruption in the county, he decides to run for sheriff. He wins and starts cleaning up the county sometimes within the law, sometimes not. But with his honesty and his eye on the prize he keeps going. 

Charley Varrick (1973) is a low level crook who lucks up when he robs a small bank, thinking it’s a piddling amount and escapes with three-quarters of a million dollars. Ah, but this money belongs to the mob and they want it back. They send a thug named Molly (Joe Don Baker) who has no boundaries. He roughs up several people, kills others, and even upends a poor man in a wheel chair. But the elusive Varrick sets up and gets rid of Molly and hatches a plan to keep the money. 

The Outfit (1973) is a criminal gang that kills the brother of Earl Macklin (Robert Duvall). Seeking revenge he joins up with his old friend, diner owner Cody (Joe Don Baker), The two escape various ambushes set by the Outfit and continue to come out on top, also enriching themselves by stealing some of the Outfit’s nefarious money. In a final gunfight Cody is wounded but escapes in an ambulance, aided by Macklin who disguises himself as a doctor.

The Natural (1984) is baseball fairy tale of a movie with Robert Redford as the legendary Roy Hobbs and Glenn Close as The Woman In White. Joe Don Baker has a good part, appearing  early in the movie as “The Whammer”, a character obviously based on Babe Ruth. Hobbs bets the crowd that he can strike out The Whammer in three pitches and proceeds to do exactly that. Then Hobbs is seriously injured and out of baseball for years. But he returns in middle age and hits the titanic home run that wins the game and the season for his team. 

Joe Don Baker can also be seen to good advantage (though almost always as either a criminal or a crooked lawman) in several other films. He is a somewhat bent Chief of Police in Fletch (1985), is one of the bad guys in the remake of Cape Fear (1991). 

All of the films in this article are available somewhere. All are for grown-ups. 

                                                Robert Benton screenplays

                                                            Part 3

This will wind up the series on the late, great Robert Benton. This column features the screenplays he wrote for movies he did not direct. You will find that almost all are good. Okay, all but one.

I’m leading off with a film that has become a classic. Bonnie And Clyde (1967) is used in film classes. The laid back outlaw couple seem like just folks until they start killing people along with robbing banks. The public considered them in the Robin Hood class for quite a while. Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway are spot on as the happy couple. This is about the first film to show what a shooting is really like as the Marshalls open up on the gang and there’s enough blood and gore for several movies. It’s done in slow motion and you probably haven’t forgotten it. 

There Was a Crooked Man (1970). In fact there are many in this, the only Western directed by Joseph Mankiewicz. Kirk Douglas is Paris Pittman, about as bad a guy as you’ll find in the old or new west. He robs people then kills his gang members so he won’t have to share the loot. Henry Fonda is Sheriff Lopeman, who spends most of the movie trying to catch Pittman. Pittman hides his take in a nest of rattlesnakes in the desert. Great idea, huh? Well, he gets bitten pulling the money out and when Lopeman finds him he’s already dead. Lopeman loads up Pittman and the money and heads back to town. But there’s another twist and you won’t find it here!

What’s Up Doc? (1972) lets Benton use his comedy chops for a nice change. Ryan O’Neal plays Music Professor Howard Bannister, Madeline Kahn is his tightly wound lady friend Eunice Burns and Barbra Streisand is the quirky Judy Maxwell. There are all kinds of hijinks involving four identical bags on the same floor of the same hotel. Of course they are picked up by the wrong people and chases ensue. Judy’s father Judge Maxwell attempts to sort this out without much luck. When Howard apologizes to Judy for his earlier actions, she says “Love means you never have to say you’re sorry” and he responds “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard”.

Superman (1978) is the first of many films about the guy from Krypton. Christopher Reeve is in this one and the next three and most think of him when they think of Superman. This film even has Marlon Brando has the caped wonder’s father. Adopted by poor Kansas farmers, he becomes a reporter as Clark Kent, concealing his super abilities. He woos Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) who is rather slow to catch on to his dual identities. Remember that this film is way before computer special effects.

The Ice Harvest (2005) is maybe a film noir and maybe a dark comedy and maybe can’t seem to decide what it is. John Cusak stars as Charlie Angst, sometimes low grade criminal, and Billy Bob Thornton (always a hoot!) as thuggish Vic Cavanagh. The story is too complicated to summarize here; it is not Mr. Benton’s moment of glory.

All of the films in this article are available somewhere. All are for grown-ups except Superman, which is pretty much okay for all ages. I am well aware that Robert Benton had collaborators on most of these screenplays. They took up too much space. 

                                                           Robert Benton, director

                                                                 Part 2

    One column was not enough to cover the very good movies directed by Robert Benton. So, here are five more winners from his resume’.

Billy Bathgate (1991) successfully taken from E.L. Doctorow’s novel, seems to have the moral that crime pays- sometimes. The title character is played by Loren Dean. Perhaps you won’t remember him either. Anyway, he is a poor teenager with no prospects who casts his lot with the mob, headed by Dutch Schulz (Dustin Hoffman). Nicole Kidman is on board as Drew Preston, who follows the trends that develop in the various mobs, always landing on her feet. Though he witnesses a couple of murders committed by Schulz, Billy sticks around doing the odd job that needs doing. Schulz was a real person. Billy was not. 

Nobody’s Fool (1994) is successfully taken from Richard Russo’s novel and stars Paul Newman as the unforgettable Sully, a sometimes construction worker and full time character. This film is about him and really has little plot, nor does it need one. Sully’s adventures are low key, and they include stealing his part time boss Carl’s snow blower. This becomes a running joke, and Sully sues him early and often for unpaid wages and anything else he can think of. Bruce Willis is on board as contractor Carl. Sully’s pal Hub is part of a cast characters that hang out at the Iron Horse Saloon, play cards and drink. Benton also wrote the very clever screenplay which was nominated for Oscar but lost to the several writers of Forest Gump.

Twilight (1998) has a super cast: Paul Newman, Susan Sarandon, Gene Hackman, Reese Witherspoon, James Garner and Liev Schreiber. Benton also wrote this screenplay. Newman is retired detective Harry Ross. He accepts what seems to be a simple job. He is to deliver a package for his host Jack Ames (Hackman). This works out to be a thoroughly bad idea. Twists and turns then begin. 

The Human Stain (2003) is based on Phillip Roth’s novel of the same name. As it unfolds we are shown how most of the main characters have a human stain in various degrees of gravity. Anthony Hopkins is Coleman Silk, chased from his tenured college teaching job for making an unfortunate remark. He asks Nathan Zukerman (Gary Sinise) to help him write a book defending his past. Silk’s affair with Faunia Farley (Nicole Kidman) is becomes threatening because of her ex-husband Leseter (Ed Harris). Silk’s final secret is revealed at the film’s end. Nope, not telling!

Feast Of Love (2007) features four interlocking stories about love. Morgan Freeman is in charge as Harry Stevenson, a college professor who narrates the different stories about how love can affect your life. The cast includes Greg Kinnear, Rhada Mitchell, Billy Burke and Selma Blair. No big surprises, just a nice time at the movies. This was Robert Benton’s last directing effort before his death in 2005.  

All of the movies in this article are available somewhere, probably for a price. All are for adults. Next time, some of Robert Benton’s screen plays they he did not direct. 

                                                    Robert Benton, director

Having resurrected the careers of two rather obscure directors, it’s time now to turn to one who is about as main stream as it gets. Robert Benton, who left us at the good old age of 92,  was a great director and a great screenwriter. He was nominated for Oscar in both categories and won once in each.

Bad Company (1972) is the story of some renegade young men who evaded the army during the Civil War and instead headed west and got up to no good at all. Drew (Barry Brown) and Jake (Jeff Bridges) turn on each other frequently as they rob and pillage their way across the American west. Not much honor among thieves here and really nobody to root for, but a good off the beaten path western. Director Benton also wrote the screenplay. Two later films with the same name are pretty bad.

The Late Show (1977) won director Benton another Oscar nomination for the screenplay. The main interest in this film is the surprising acting job by Art Carney, Jackie Gleason’s old sidekick, and Lilly Tomlin, excellent comedian. Carney plays Ira, a retired private eye employed to retrieve a kidnaped cat. Really. Tomlin is a very shaky romantic interest and the plot is incredibly complicated. But fun.

Robert Benton’s crowning achievement is the wonderful Kramer v. Kramer (1979) the bittersweet story of a parental divorce and the fallout produced. Benton won the Oscar for direction and for the screenplay. Dustin Hoffman won Oscar as the father and husband and Meryl Streep won as the wife and mother. And the Best Movie Oscar went to the picture. Hoffman is totally lost as a single parent, but you can’t help pulling for him. And Streep is, as always, just excellent as the leaving parent. Never seen it? Do yourself a favor.

Still Of The Night (1982) stars Roy Scheider as psychiatrist Sam Rice, whose patient George Bynum was murdered. The police lean on him for information about Bynum but he refuses to cooperate. Meryl Streep is one of Bynum’s lady friends who forms a strong bond with Rice as they try to unravel the mystery of Bynum’s murder. Benton again worked with the legendary Streep and equally renowned Jessica Tandy, who plays Rice’s mother and a fellow psychiatrist. And Benton wrote the screenplay.

Places In The Heart (1984) closes with nary a dry eye in the house! Sally Field is recently widowed Edna Spalding. She must somehow get the cotton crop planted and harvested to fend off the hovering bank. Her help must come from blind boarder Mr Will, played by John Malkovich and Moze, a recovering thief played by Danny Glover. Add in an approaching tornado and troubles with the KKK and the mix is set. Field won Oscar for her performance, and Benton won for his screenplay. He was also nominated for direction, but this time lost to Milos Forman for Amadeus.

All of the movies in this article are available somewhere, and Mr. Movie recommends them all. All are for grown-ups. Next time, more Robert Benton winners.

                                                              James Foley, Director

Director James Foley died recently in California. If that name has you scratching your head, no wonder. He was never famous, but he did know what he was doing. His major achievement as a director came from helming seven (!) Madonna videos. At the bottom of his directorial hit list would be two of the dreadful Shades Of Grey movies. May they rest in peace.

    Foley’s first major job as director came in 1984 with Reckless. With Aidan Quinn as teen-age rebel Johnny and Daryl Hannah as upper crust cheerleader Tracey, they are thrown together in high school and in this movie. Well, sparks do not fly. The thing ends with Tracey leaving town with Johnny on his motorcycle. As they ride into the sunset, we shed not a tear. Nor a cheer.

At Close Range (1986) has Foley directing two of Hollywood’s strangest actors, Christopher Walken and Sean Penn. However, these two are consummate pros and do a creditable job in this story that is based fairly closely to the Pennsylvania Bruce Johnson gang. The names are changed to protect from lawsuits, but it is obvious that Walken is the crime father and Penn is the wannabe son. Well, these are not nice people, even to each other, and the film winds down with the son preparing to testify against his father. 

After Dark, My Sweet (1990) could never escape that sappy title, but it is a very good modern crime noir film. Roger Ebert just loved it. Audiences did not; it made less than $3 million from a budget of over $6 million. Foley adapted it from a Jim Thompson novel, gave it a modern polish and turned loose Jason Patric (remember him? Me neither), Bruce Dern and Rachel Ward. In keeping with the noir atmosphere, the shady, damaged characters hatch a plot to kidnap the child of a wealthy man. No, we don’t pull for them have any success. 

James Foley’s crowning achievement as a director is the fine film Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) . With a screenplay by David Mamet, based on his Pulitzer Prize winning play, it has become a great American classic. An office full of desperate real estate salesmen who will do whatever it takes to make a deal is the setting. With Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino, Alec Baldwin, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin and Kevin Spacey on board, it takes a real pro to keep this thing together. And he does. The film was not a commercial success, but was highly praised and is on lot of lists of great movies. 

Confidence (2003) involves several con men conning each other and legitimate targets. Just when you think you have it figured out, you don’t. So yeah, I liked it though it didn’t do much business. 

James Foley directed a dozen episodes of House Of Cards, a hit tv series (2013-18) with Kevn Spacey as a crooked South Carolina politician. 

All of the movies in this article are available somewhere. All are for adults only.

                                                                      Ted Kotcheff

When the highlight of a career as a director is Weekend At Bernie’s (1989), you might think it would be difficult to base a column on this recently deceased guy. And you would be right. But perhaps Mr. Movie is up to it? Let’s find out.

    The film mentioned above is about two young guys who work for an insurance company in New York. They are invited to the Hamptons home of their boss, Bernie, for a fun party week-end. On arriving they find that he is dead. But they’re having such a good time they decide to pretend Bernie is still alive. And they continue to hold him up and convince others he’s okay. Well, that’s the premise. It’s a one-joke movie with a few laughs. It actually made money and spawned two sequels. Ted Kotcheff not only directed but has an acting role to boot. 

And speaking of sequels, Ted Kotcheff directed the very first Rambo movie, First Blood (1982). Sylvester Stallone is a tough Viet Nam vet that everyone for some reason wants to capture or kill. He evades them and kills a whole bunch en route to a somewhat successful conclusion. This action-packed blood fest made lots of money and spawned four (!) sequels, all with Stallone mowing them down.

North Dallas Forty (1979) with Nick Nolte and Mac Davis as aging pro football player paint such a shoddy picture of the NFL that’s it’s no wonder the league refused to help with the filming. Players are hooked on pain killers and forced to play when they should not be, and the drug and alcohol fueled lifestyle is endemic. Coaches, trainers and owners turn a blind eye to all the shenanigans as long as the players suit up and perform. Based on a novel by NFL receiver Peter Gent, this is not a glorification of a gritty, selfish business. This is, perhaps, as close to the truth as a movie ever got to the NFL. Kotcheff’s direction is quite good.

Fun With Dick and Jane (1977) stars George Segal and Jane Fonda as a California couple who appear to have everything until Dick gets fired. Every attempt at recovering their lifestyle legally falls flat. So they decide to pursue a life of crime, carefully robbing only those who can afford it. Like the phone company. They break into their boss’s safe and get $200,000 in cash he kept as a slush fund to bribe politicians as needed. He decides to let them keep it when it appears as though the police will confiscate it and it will be gone. So the moral here is: Crime pays if you’re cute enough. And this Kotcheff outing spawned a sequel that isn’t any better in 2005.

The Human Voice (1966) is the filming of a one-act Jean Cocteau play. It starts Ingrid Bergman who shines as a jilted middle-aged woman in a series of phone conversations with her ex-lover. It’s only 50 minutes long but has quite an impact. This was not an easy film to direct, and Ted Kotcheff here shows that he can pull off a winner out of not much. Bergman is of course worth the price of admission, as always. This film does not seem to be readily available as far as I can find out. 

The other films in this article are available somewhere. All are for adults. 

                                                               Val Kilmer

                                                                 Part 2

    The late (RIP at 65) Val Kilmer had an outstanding movie history.. He was always busy There are over 200 appearances in his short career. Mr. Movie has tried to dig out the very best. 

Kilmer gets the title role in The Saint (1997). This character has been portrayed in numerous movies and TV shows. You could argue that Val is the one of the best. Well, at least it’s different. In most Saint outings he is a good guy, a hero. Not here. This guy is a professional thief who uses various disguises and the names of saints to do his dirty work. But- stay tuned- perhaps his last caper results in a big payday for some charities!

Could film noir work as a tongue-in-cheek comedy. Actually, yes. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) is exactly that with Val Kilmer as private eye Perry Van Slike and Robert Downey, Jr. As a neophyte actor being taught the ropes of crime fighting by Perry. The two observe a car going into a lake and from there things get complicated. 

In Felon (2008) Stephen Duff plays Wade Porter, who winds up in prison after killing a burglar. He doesn’t do well in prison and is transferred to a high security, and very badly run, prison. He is paired with John Smith (Val Kilmer), a hard-bitten lifer. But the two decide to expose the nefarious prison and this goes downhill for Smith, but not so for Porter. 

Cinema Twain (2017) is to me Val Kilmer’s best performance. He begins as this middle-aged rather handsome actor. Before your very eyes he transforms himself into American legend Mark Twain. The monologue is updated with really very little quotation from Twain himself, buy with a good bit of biographical information about the author. Val not only knocks this out of the park, he wrote the thing and is the star. The results are  really quite extraordinary.  

Let’s make a sequel to Top Gun (1986)! Call it Top Gun Maverick (2022). Can we get Tom Cruise back as ace fighter pilot Maverick? Of course. Oh, and can we get Val Kilmer back to play Iceman Kazansky, Maverick’s friendly rival. Certainly. The word is that Cruise and Kilmer’s pressure got this thing made.  Iceman is now a Fleet Admiral, and as such arranges to get Maverick assigned to his unit. Iceman dies before the movies is half over, and this is actually Kilmer’s last film. The aerial part is very exciting. 

Val plays the man himself in Batman Forever (1995) but this is very lesser Batman and not really worth your time. 

    All of the films in this article, except Cinema Twain, are available for rent or purchase. There seems to be a problem with rights for the Twain movie. All are for adults

                                                                    Val Kilmer 

    Val Kilmer, handsome and talented, died at 65 from pneumonia complications. He joins a list that is far too long of actors who died too young.  He had battled throat cancer for years, a malady which altered his voice and finally made it difficult for him to even speak. He had quite a good, if brief, movie career.

Kilmer’s first appearance of note came in a role he seemed born to play. In Top Gun (1986) he portrayed the laid-back fighter pilot Ice. He made a good counterpoint to Tom Cruise’s character, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell. The two are rivals for the Top Gun trophy that goes to the best pilot. Later they help each other in real battles. The aerial dog fights are outstanding. And yep, you can see these guys in these same roles 36 years later. More on that later. 

As far away as you could get is Willow (1988), a fairy tale with dwarves, wizards, enchanted babies and lots of magic spells. Val Kilmer had a good time playing Madmartigan, a magician able to disguise himself as needed and help the heroes prevail.

    But Kilmer’s big break, and the part for which he is famous, is as Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors (1991).This rock biopic made lots of money and is maybe within shouting distance about the band’s rise to stardom. Val Kilmer does his own singing, and is so very good at it that other band members said they could not tell whether it was Kilmer or Morrison singing. What is perhaps true is the film’s portrayal of Morrison as a drug user, who sees himself as a messianic leader of the rock and roll culture. As the band members tire of Morrison’s antics, including his arrest and conviction for indecent exposure,  the band breaks up and Morrison hightails it for Paris with his wife. She finds him dead in a bathtub. He was 27.

Tombstone (1993) is one of many movies about the gunfight at the Okay Corral beween the Earp brothers and the notorious Cowboys gang, containing Johnny Ringo and the Clantons. Val Kilmer is on the side of the angels here, as Doc Holliday,  an old friend of the Earps. Though very sick with tuberculosis, which eventually kills him, he helps the Earps clear out Tombstone of the bad guys. 

It takes some guts to appear in a film with Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino, but Val Kilmer pulls it off with panache in Heat (1995). He is Chris, one of the gang of thieves  headed by Neil McCauley (DeNiro). Pacino is Lieutenant Vincent Hannah, tasked with the thankless job of tracking down and arresting the McCauley gang. There’s lots of shooting and double crosses galore and a very complicated screenplay.

All of the movies in this article are available for rent or purchase somewhere. All are for adults. 

                                                       Gene Hackman

                                             Part 5 (enough already!)

Well, it had to end sometime. This is the last article about the late great Gene Hackman’s movies. I could have squeezed a couple more, but enough is enough!

John Grisham’s legal thrillers are always best sellers and also good film material. Gene has been picked to star in three of these. The first one, The Firm (1993) is one of the best. Tom Cruise is Mitch McDeere, a top Harvard Law School grad who signs up with the small, powerful Memphis law firm Bendini, Lambert & Locke. Gene Hackman is senior partner Avery Tolar, who mentors Mitch and tries to keep him inside the rails. Mitch discovers the firm’s major work is laundering mob money, and that it has been involved in nefarious doings including murder. He rebels. They come after him.

The Chamber (1996) is lesser Grisham and a lesser film. But Gene Hackman carries the water as a convicted Klan member whose grandson tries to redeem him. 

In The Runaway Jury (2003) Gene is a highly paid jury consultant who is actually a jury fixer. When one of his juries turns up a couple who are for sale to the highest bidder, the fun begins. 

Gene Hackman is the title figure in The Royal Tennenbaums (2001), playing the father of three extremely gifted children whose exploits as young adults are splendid. But when Dad leaves the family, things go from good to awful fairly quickly. Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Luke Wilson portray the children. Their struggles and disappointments pepper the story. When Royal decides to return and reunite everyone just like old times, it’s not just like old times. This quirky film is an acquired taste, but there’s no doubt about Hackman’s portrayal. 

Crimson Tide (1994) a suspenser based on Tom Clancy’s novel, stars Gene Hackman as Captain Frank Ramsey, and Denzel Washington as Lt. Commander Ron Hunter. A Soviet submarine has broken away from the Kremlin leadership and is headed for the U.S. Ramsey wants Hunter’s sub, the Alabama, to act aggressively toward the perceived enemy. Hunter counsels patience, fearful of starting World War III. As the subs draw closer toward each other, the tension mounts. The ending is a good one you won’t find here. 

Get Shorty (1995) is very loosely based on Elmore Leonard’s crimedy and is lots of fun. John Travolta portrays Chili Palmer, a Miami gangster sent to Hollywood to collect a bad debt from Harry Zimm (Gene Hackman), a producer who specializes in dreadful horror movies. Enchanted by the sparkly people and surroundings, Chilli discovers that Hollywood isn’t very different from the mob. Hackman is just right as the smarmy Zimm.

This is good-bye to Gene Hackman. All these movies are available somewhere. All are for adults. 

                                                                Gene Hackman

                                                                 Part 4

Yep, there are still lots of good films from the late great Gene Hackman. So here goes- hang on!

Gene is Secretary of Defense David Brice in the edge-of-your-seat thriller No Way Out (1987). Impressed by his ability, he hires Tom Farrell (Kevin Costner) as his in-house operative. Farrell begins an affair with Susan Atwell (Sean Young) unaware that she is Brice’s mistress. When he discovers her wandering, Brice kills her. He attempts to pin the murder on Farrell and there’s all sorts of chicanery leading to a very surprising ending.

Hackman stars as Lt. Col. Gene Hambleton in Bat 21 (1988), another suspenseful thriller. He is an electronics weapons expert with critical knowledge. He is shot down over Vietnam but radios his position as he parachutes down. The North Vietnamese know exactly who he is and want badly to capture him. The rest of the film is about his eluding capture and attempting to escape with the help of Captain Birddog Clark (Danny Glover). Their adventures make for really good movie action. 

Mississippi Burning (1988) is the highly fictionalized story of the murder of three civil activists (Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner) in 1964. FBI agents Rupert Anderson (Gene Hackman) and Alan Ward (Willem Dafoe) are sent to find the missing civil rights workers and charge those responsible. They receive only hindrance from the locals, under the thumb of the Klan and the local sheriff. But they eventually find the bodies in an earthen dam after a tip, and charge some of the responsible men with civil rights violations. Hackman was nominated for Oscar but lost to Dustin Hoffman for Rain Man. The film itself and its director were also nominated but lost to Rain Man.

Postcards From The Edge (1990) is mostly about a young actress, Suzanne Vale portrayed by Meryl Streep and her movie star mother, Doris Mann (Shirley Maclaine). Both are trying to kick debilitating drug and alcohol addictions and are somehow supposed to help each other. Gene Hackman has a nice turn as film director Lowell Kolchek, who tries to rehabilitate Suzanne with work in his movie. Carrie Fisher wrote the screenplay, based on her book. Mike Nichols directed. 

Unforgiven (1992) won Oscar as Best Movie and was nominated for seven other statues, losing them all. Director and lead actor Clint Eastwood was one of the casualties as was Gene Hackman. Eastwood plays Will Munny, reformed outlaw and owner of a failing farm in Kansas. He is talked into trying for the reward offered for the capture of some bandits in Big Whiskey, Wyoming. The sheriff there is the notorious Little Bill Daggett (Gene Hackman), whose skills as a lawman tends toward beating up or killing suspects. 

All of the movies in this article are available somewhere. All are for adults.

                                                       Gene Hackman

                                                            Part 3

    Coming now to the middle part of Gene Hackman’s storied career. Plenty of good ones in this chapter. 

A Bridge Too Far (1977) is, at nearly three hours, really long. One critic said it should have been title “A Film Too Long”. Anyway, it’s based on the true story of the Allies offensive, Operation Market Garden,  in World War II. Allied forces are dropped far into the occupied Netherlands. Their mission is to capture the Arnheim Bridge, the only route for the Germans to get out of Holland. Things go badly from the start and the attack totally fails Gene Hackman portrays the Polish General Sosabowski whose attempt to bail out the surrounded Allies is too late. 

Gene Hackman received lots of boos and hisses for his performance as Lex Luthor, sworn enemy of Superman (1978). This is the one with Christopher Reeve, and probably the best. Luthor plans to drop a missile on the San Andreas fault, blowing the West apart and making his desert property beach front. Really! Anyway his plans are thwarted by Superman, who reverses time by spinning the world the other way and stopping the missiles. Superman II (1980) is even crazier, and more fun. Hackman again is Lex Luthor and this time is out to destroy Superman and America. Superman uses his special powers (!) to stop the bad guys and correct the memories of those who know his secret, Great stuff!  Gene is back in Number 4 but it is a barking dog!

Reds (1981) won a boatload of awards as the almost true story of the Russian Revolution and its aftermath. Warren Beatty directs and plays journalist John Reed, at first a big fan of the Bolsheviks and later not so much. Gene Hackman has a couple of scenes as Pete Van Wherry, Reed’s editor and not much in favor of the Russkis. But he puts up with Reed for a while and nails his two scenes. 

It’s hard to tell the bad guys without a program in Under Fire (1983) as journalists from the West attempt to cover the civil war in Nicaragua. Gene Hackman is on board as Alex Grazier, a famous war correspondent. He gets perhaps too close to the action but, hey, it’s a job. Ed Harris, Nick Nolte and Joanna Cassidy are on hand as his fellow journalists, trying their best to make the best of a cluster&%#@.

You want a great basketball movie, or how about one where the little guy triumphs against impossible odds? Okay, we’ve got Hoosiers (1986). In Indiana, when the high school basketball playoffs start, there are no size divisions- just teams. Gene Hackman is the coach of little Hickory, which most of the time can’t scrimmage because it doesn’t have enough players. But Coach Norman knows what he’s doing and after some flack from the town people, the team begins to rise though the playoffs, against schools 10 times their size. Dennis Hopper is on board as the alcoholic pal of Norman, who really knows basketball. With the score tied in the finals, Norman devises a play with superstar Jimmy as a decoy. But Jimmy just says “I’ll maker it”. And he does!

All of the movies in this article are available somewhere. All are for grown-ups. 

                                                           Gene Hackman

                                                                   Part 2

    More Gene Hackman winners! I’m proceeding chronologically - the only way to keep it straight. 

The Poseidon Adventure (1972) may not be a cinematic classic, but it was fun and it made a lot of money. Disaster movies were big back then and this is one of the best. A tsunami hits a cruse ship broadside and it capsizes, turning upside down. The only possible escape is now to somehow get up to the hull and out. Gene Hackman is Rev. Frank Scott, who leads a group on a perilous trip to get out. Some make it, some don’t. Scott is heroic and finds a way for what’s left of his group to escape. 

Scarecrow (1973) is the most unlikely of buddy movies, pairing Gene Hackman (Max) with Al Pacino (Lion). Both are broke and nearly derelict but dream of traveling to Pittsburgh and owning a car wash. Their misadventure finally result in Lion committed to a mental hospital. Max promises to come back and help him. The interplay between these two giants of the movies is worth the price of admission.

    The Conversation (1974) was nominated for Best Picture but lost to Godfather II. Ths film provides Hackman with a signature acing opportunity and he nails it. He plays Harry Caul, a surveillance expert who tries to separate his work from morality. When he overhears a possible murder plot, he tries to intervene. His employer turns the tables on Harry, who hears his own voice on a surreptitious recording. He literally trashes his apartment looking for the listening device.

Young Frankenstein (1974) is Mel Brooks at his zaniest and that’s good. Gene Wilder is Frederick Frankenstein, grandson of the famous monster creator. He inherits the family Transylvania castle and proceeds to copy his grandfather’s experiments. Peter Boyle almost steals the thing as the new monster. But he’s in August company: Cloris Leachmen, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman and Terri Garr are just a few of the participants. Gene Hackman has a good time as the blind man who is a companion to the innocent little girl. Can Hackman creditably act as a blind man? Of course. 

In Night Moves (1975) Gene Hackman portrays Harry Moseby, a retired pro football player who is now a private investigator. He is hired by Arlene Iverson (Janet Ward) to find her missing daughter. Arlene lives off her daughter’s trust fund but can only use it when her daughter lives with her. From there it gets very complicated and involves a sunken seaplane, a Mexican artifact and a washed up actor. 

Bite The Bullet (1975) stars Gene Hackman as Sam Ckayton a crusty participant in a 700-mile cross country horse race. Candace Bergman is on hand as Miss Jones, the pretty and unlikely female entry. A Mexican with a tooth ache supplies the movie’s title. The horse race is fun and based on a true event. 

All of the movies in this article are for adults though mature kids would like Young Frankenstein. All are available somewhere for rental or purchase. 

 

                                                               Gene Hackman

Gene Hackman died mysteriously in his New Mexico home. He was 95. His young wife lay dead in another room for two weeks before Hackman passed. He apparently had dementia so badly he didn’t realize she was gone. I knew writing about his movie career would be a challenge- because there’s an overload of riches. I have a list of over 30 movies that were good enough to include. Alas, some serious culling is in order.

I’ll start with his first Oscar nomination, as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde (1967). Warren Beatty is Clyde Barrow, Faye Dunaway is Bonnie Parker, and Gene Hackman is Clyde’s older brother, Buck. They form a criminal gang, robbing places and escalating to banks. Then Clyde murders a bank manager and the hunt for the now-famous gang is on. Buck wasn’t much of a moral influence for his younger brother, throwing in with the gang and including his wife Blanche. The realistic shoot-out that ends the movie was not prettied up and shocked many. BTW, Gene lost to George Kennedy for Cool Hand Luke.

In Downhill Racer (1969) Robert Redford is David Chappellet, the hot dogging show-off ski racer whose antics drive his coach, Eugene Claire (Gene Hackman) nuts. David will not listen to Claire and refuses to be a team player. The trouble is, he’s really good and skiing isn’t exactly a team sport. So the egotistical David wins the Olympic Gold Medal and leaves the nay-sayers in the dust (snow?)

Gene Hackman snagged another Oscar nomination as Gene Garrison in I Never Sang For My Father (1970). This time he lost to John Mills for Ryan’s Daughter. Gene has long running troubles with his father (Melvyn Douglas) but as the father’s health declines, they seem to be coming together. No happy ending here as Gene decides to follow his fiancé to California and leave his Dad on his own. It’s a difficult part but Hackman nails it.

The father of all car chase movies is still thrilling. Gene Hackman played narcotics cop Popeye Doyle in The French Connection (1971). Popeye pursues drug runner Pierre Nicoli and keeps going when the thug jumps a train and comandeers the whole thing. He also kills the conductor. Popeye keeps coming and catches up with Nicoli and kills him. He also kills a Federal colleague by mistake. Alan Charnier (Fernando Rey), the French master criminal in charge of all the drug dealing, manages to escape. The rest or his gang in America is caught and imprisoned. Popeye is distraught that Charnier got away. The third time was the charm for Gene Hackman. This time he won the Oscar for his portrayal of Doyle. 

Never inclined to leave well enough alone, Hollywood made French Connection 2 (1975). Popeye is somehow sent to France to get Charnier. He does poorly as a foreign cop and winds up being captured and shot up with heroin by Charnier’s men. He recovers from the forced addiction and stays after Charnier. And this time he gets him.

All of the movies in this article are available somewhere. All are for adults. Think I’m through with Hackman? Shoot, I’m just getting started!

 

                                                           Tony Roberts column

    Woody Allen was the consummate bumbler, a neurotic nerd stumbling his way through his movies. Tony Roberts was his polar opposite- handsome, suave, self-assured. Woody’s friend who exemplified the old saw that opposites attract. Woody’s films provided Roberts with great parts, but he had quite a good movie CV otherwise.

I’ll start with Tony’s films outside of the Woody Allen sphere. Star Spangled Girl (1971) is a Neil Simon story which was first a play. It has three main characters: Andy Hobart (Tony Roberts) editor and publisher of a struggling radical newspaper, Norman Cornell (Todd Susman) Andy’s friend and roommate and Amy Cooper (Sandy Duncan), a world-class swimmer training for the Olympics. Norman falls for her, she falls for Andy, and there are lots of Neil Simon laughs. 

Al Pacino is Serpico (1973) a straight New York City cop who just can’t abide the corruption swimming around him.  Unable to get any help from elsewhere, he enlists his friend Blair (Tony Roberts) who is a reporter with connections. They get the story run in the NY Times and a real investigation follows. Set up by his crooked colleagues, Serpico gets shot in the face and nearly dies. But the Times story won’t go away and neither will he, so he gets his chance to testify before a grand jury. This is a true story.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) is a nail-biter so good they made it again in 2009. Tony Roberts has a minor part as Deputy Mayor Warren LaSalle. Four robbers board the subway at different stops and commandeer the train. They demand a ransom or they will kill a passenger every minute. The city agrees to pay but the ransom is caught in a wreck. With minutes to spare, the ransom arrives. The crooks set the “dead man’s switch” which keeps the train running without a conductor. The crooks depart and the train barrels on. That’s all I’m telling.

Tony Roberts’ inauguration into the Woody Allen arena began with Play It Again, Sam (1972). Woody is the usually awkward nerd Allan. Roberts is Dick Christie, Allan’s best friend. Diane Keaton, another regular in the Woody stable, is Dick’s wife and Allan has a crush on her. The movie is jazzed up by the ghost of Humphrey Bogart, as this film has many echoes from Casablanca. 

In Annie Hall (1977) Diane Keaton is the title character  and Woody is Alvy, neurotic as always and trying to make a go of it with Annie. Roberts is Rob, who is Alvy’s always faithful best friend and who has a TV show. The movie is mostly about Alvy and Annie’s up and down relationship. Her clothing became more famous than the movie!

In Stardust Memories (1980) Tony Roberts is , well, Tony. He is once again Woody Allen’s best friend. Allen is Sandy Bates, a successful film maker. A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy (1982) is definitely lesser Woody. Roberts appears as Dr. Maxwell, one of many sex besotted cast members. In Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) Roberts as a very minor part as Norman (he wasn’t even credited). 

Roberts’ final foray into Woody land is in Radio Days,  the nostalgic look back at 40's radio shows, many of which are played out in snippets of plot. Tony Roberts’ voice is his main entree here as he portrays the “Silver Dollar Emcee”. 

All of the movies in this article are available somewhere. All are for grown-ups.

                                                  ROSEMARY HARRIS

A faithful reader asked me recently: “Have you ever considered doing a column on Rosemary Harris”. He met her at an event in Winston-Salem. My answer: “Well, I have now”.

    She was born in England and began her storied career there, both on the stage and on film. But 97-year-old Rosemary Harris has been a Tar Heel for a while. She lives in Winston-Salem. She married NC author John Ehle in 1967 and they were together until his death in 2018.  Their daughter Jennifer is also an actress. She and her Mom acted together several times. Rosemary was nominated for a Tony seven times and won three. She had one Oscar nomination - in 1994 for Tom And Viv, but she lost to Diane Wiest for Bullets Over Broadway. Digging out her best movies from over 70 is not easy, but Mr. Movie is up for it. 

Let’s start at the place you are most likely to have encountered her. Although there are seemingly unlimited Spider-Man movies, Rosemary Harris is in the three Sam Raimi-directed versions which were the most popular. These appeared in 2002, 2004 and 2007.   In all three she portrays May Parker, wife and widow of Peter’s Uncle Ben. When Ben dies, May is left to raise Peter as best she can. Since he becomes an ace crime-fighter, she seems to have done a very good job of it. At one point in the trilogy, she admits she was something of a rebel as a young person. Her advice to Peter:” With great power comes great responsibility." Okay, not really original but unarguable anyway. 

The one Oscar nomination Rosemary scored sort ot underlines her acting ability. That’s because Tom and Viv (1994) just isn’t very good. Willem Dafore portrays the young T.S. Eliot and Miranda Richardson  plays his first wife,.Vivien.  They married in 1915 and although they separated in 1933 they never divorced. Most of the film is taken up with the early life of the famous poet.   Rosemary plays Viv’s mother, Rose, and does a good enough job to be nominated for Oscar. 

Rosemary Harris’ first film appearance of note was in 1963 as Yelena in Uncle Vanya. Critic Harold Hobson called this filmed version of the stage play “probably the Best Vanya we will ever see”. No argument here. This version was directed and acted by Sir Lawrence Olivier. Sir Michael Redgrave, Joan Plowright and Sybil Thorndike also appear in key roles. 

The Ploughman’s Lunch (1983) is one of those grim British multi-character films without anyone to root for. Rosemary Harris has the part of Ann Barrington, mother of Susan and poacher of her boyfriend James. James is a reporter who drifts from event to event without really connecting with anything, including Susan. But he and Susan and their friend Jeremy go off together and Susan chooses, badly, to be with Jeremy. Rosemary is convincing as the seductive high-end woman who gets dumped along with the story. 

Rosemeary Harris can also be seen to good advantage in Sunshine (1999) and as a minor player in Crossing Delancey (1988) and Being Julia (2004). 

All of the movies in this article are available somewhere. All except the Spider-Man trilogy are for adults. 

                        BASEBALL HAS BEEN VERY, VERY GOOD TO MOVIES

    Pitchers and catchers report! This clarion call from out of the depths of winter brings joy to the nation’s baseball fans. Last season the Dodgers won the World Series in a replay of memorable Series when I was a kid. Hated the Yankees. Loved Dem Bums. All in all, a memorable season with some new faces and some old familiar ones. 

There has never  been a movie that captures the speed and grace of baseball. Football, basketball and track all photograph better. Even soccer.  But Hollywood (and I) love baseball and there are lots of films that have a good feel for baseball's spirit.

These are my favorite baseball movies:

1. Field of Dreams  (1989). I absolutely love this wonderful film. It's the best thing Kevin Costner has ever done. James Earl Jones is splendid as the kidnaped writer and Ray Liotta's debut as Shoeless Joe is top notch. The magic of baseball and something of what it has meant to Americans is here, as well as the ridicule true believers in any magic must endure. When the players materialize out of the cornfield I always get goose bumps.

2. The Natural (1984). Larger than life and meant to be, this is the fable of the Great American Hero. Robert Redford has it down pat. OK, guys, maybe he is a little too pretty, but live with it. Glenn Close is the hero's dream of The Lady. The argument that Roy Hobbs' home runs are impossible is completely beside the point. 

3. Bull Durham (1988). The movie that made Durham Bulls memorabilia famous. As good as it gets in portraying the gritty, quirky world of minor league baseball. Susan Sarandon is just right (isn't she always?) as the ultimate fan, Kevin Costner is fine as Crash Davis, and a pleasantly awkward Tim Robbins is good as The Kid. Funny, touching, and lots of fun.

4. Pride of the Yankees (1942). Gary Cooper is more like Lou Gehrig than Gehrig was. The complete team player with the terminal disease that was named for him won't leave a dry eye in the house when the credits roll. “The luckiest man on the face of the earth”. Okay, he’s dying- but he got to play for the Yankees!

5. Bang the Drum Slowly (1973). Another doomed player; here a none-too-bright but engaging Robert DeNiro. He gets the puzzlement of "why me?" across really well.  The camaraderie of the players, and even their occasional meanness, seem right on the money. 

Close runners-up: Major League (1989) [inept but hilarious Cleveland wins pennant], The Stratton Story (1949) [one-armed Major League pitcher], and A League of Their Own (1992 ) girls playing professional baseball]. The last one gave us this memorable phrase from manager Tom Hanks: “There’s no crying in baseball”.

And a special Honorable Mention to Ken Burns' TV series Baseball, a nine-hour love story done as well as it could be.

All of the films in this column are available somewhere. Only Bull Durham is not suitable for all ages.

                                                                         Bridge Movies

                                                                        Part 2

     I couldn’t get all the good bridge movies into one column. So herewith another handful of movies about bridges. Are there any more? Probably, but these are all I could actually write about.     

    One of the best bridge movies connected to warfare is not about World War II. The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954) is set in the Korean war. A rare screen appearance by Princess (okay, later on) Grace Kelly helps a lot. William Holden, Mickey Rooney and Frederick March are also on board. American pilots are asked to undertake a perilous mission to knock out the bridges at Toko-Ri. They are stiffly defended by the communist forces as they connect North Korea and China. Their initial attack is a success but then they try a second target and disaster follows. 

Ice Bridge: The Impossible Journey (2018) is about an entirely different kind of bridge. In this made for TV documentary two archeologists set about to prove that Ice Age people crossed the frozen Atlantic from Europe to North America in a time before the Vikings or Columbus. Their discovery of an artifact on the Maryland Eastern Shore buttesses their somewhat novel claim. You can watch this and decide for yourself- I was sold!

The Bridges of Madison County (2015) provide the backdrop of a romantic encounter between Robert Kincaid (Clint Eastwood)  and Francesca Johnson (Meryl Streep) He is a photographer on assignment to photograph the covered bridges in Madison County, Iowa. His chance encounter with Francesca provide the sparks in a romantic film that was exremely popular. It also became a Broadway Musical. She is an Iowa housewife just okay in a marriage become almost platonic. Their brief affair almost bursts into flame and they nearly run away together, but she cannot abandon her teen-age children and faithful husband. Her kids discover her romantic story after her death. 

The Cassandra Crossing (1976) is a real nail biter with really big stars. Sophia Loren and Ava Gardner are the eye candy. Richard Harris, Martin Sheen and Burt Lancaster provide the testosterone level. Fearing the passengers on a train are infected with a deadly virus and should be quarantined, their train is changed to a perilous route that must cross the old and doubtful bridge to Poland. There are many conflicts among the scientists and soldiers and the ending is edge of your seat stuff. 

An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge (1962) is a French film of an American Civil War story. A southern Confederacy sympathizer and saboteur is captured by the Union forces and sentenced to be hanged from Owl Creek bridge. As he prepares himself for death, he has visions of his home, his wife and his children. When he is pushed off the bridge, the rope breaks, he falls into the river and swims to safety. I will not reveal the ending here. It astounded me!

All of the movies in this article are available for streaming somewhere. All are for grown-ups.