ORSON WELLES

At the ripe old age of 25, he was the hottest of hot-shot directors. He did things with movies that no one else had ever done. He was so far ahead of the curve the Hollywood moguls didn’t understand what they had. They cut his films to pieces and hung him out to dry. But Orson Welles never gave up, and left a legacy of films that still resonate. This article deals only with his directorial efforts. He made dozens more movies as an actor. 

His first such effort is widely regarded as the best movie ever made. Citizen Kane (1941) is on everybody’s top ten list, and at the head of most. This thinly disguised story of William Randolph Hearst featured Welles in the title role, Joseph Cotten and Agnes Morehead  for back-up, and dozens of new ideas that are now found everywhere. What you see is the film Welles made; he had complete control of this one. 

The very next year Welles directed The Magnificent Ambersons with Tim Holt (yes, the old cowboy star), Anne Baxter, Mr. Cotten and Ms. Morehead. A faithful adaptation of the Booth Tarkington story of a well-off family sliding into ruin, it is one of the best uses of black and white film ever shot. But the studio recut and reshot it without Welles’ permission. It’s still pretty good, but Welles was never given the opportunity to recut it the way he wanted. 

It took Mr. Welles three years to finish Othello (1952). It was shot entirely in Italy so he could retain control, and money considerations kept interrupting the filming. But it was worth it.  Welles is at the top of his game as the husband destroyed by jealousy, and as the director of one of the best Shakespeare adaptations ever put on film. 

When great films noir are discussed, Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil (1958) is always mentioned. The story is darker than dark, and Welles’ portrayal of the sinister sheriff is almost the definition of corruption. He is truly chilling; a perfect foil for Charlton Heston’s honest cop (his best performance).  The version edited by Welles himself is available. 

The Lady From Shanghai (1948) is okay, and its’ hall-of-mirrors finale is justifiably famous. It is not up to Mr. Welles’ best work. Mr. Welles made The Trial (1962) all over Europe; it is a competent adaptation of Kafka’s masterpiece. But Anthony Perkins seems miscast and the story is somewhat confusing. 

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

                                                                     HOTELS 

So how many movies are set in hotels? Oh, about 200. But never fear, Mr. Movie is here for you. If you’re yearning for a hotel movie (and, really, who isn’t?), you won’t go wrong with any of these. 

Let’s begin with the grandfather of all hotel movies, Grand Hotel (1932). I know, I know, it’s more than eighty years old. But it really holds up pretty well and it has a dynamite cast. Both Lionel and John Barrymore, Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford for starters! This film was once made in 1919 and has been shot at least five times since. But this one is the one and it won the Best Picture Oscar. Among many delights there are jewel thieves and a spirited game of romantic musical chairs. 

If you enjoy being scared witless, there is the terrifying The Shining (1990) with Jack Nicholson as a maniac killer gradually maddened by a sinister presence in the posh but empty hotel he has been hired to look after. Taken from a Stephen King story, the plot is a bit of a reach but it is still watched a lot. Remember the famous line as he breaks through a door? “Here’s Johnny.” Yikes!

Next chronologically is the quirky, fun Hotel New Hampshire (1984). Rob Lowe and Jodie Foster head a cast of wacky characters in a very good screenplay by Tony Richardson from John Irving’s novel. A family owns a hotel and weathers the storms of life to keep it going. The hotel is located, of course, in Austria. The bizarre characters and frenetic pace are ok if you just stick with it. 

Don Cheadle plays Paul Ruseabagina, a hotelier caught up in the middle of tribal warfare in Hotel Rwanda (2004). He is a Hulu but his wife Tatiana is a Tutsi. This doesn’t sit well with either side. Through a hair raising time of civil war, Paul desperately tries to save the refugees from both sides. This film is not for the faint of heart. It was nominated for four Oscars, but was shut out. 

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011) is about the most fun you can have at the movies. The hotel manager is Dev Patel, (who turns up everywhere almost as much as Samuel L. Jackson!). The elderly hotel residents are a delightful group of eccentric Brits led by Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson and Maggie Smith. They have all moved to this hotel in India on the basis of a very suspicious flyer. Hijinks ensue! There is a sequel which is not bad.

I’m going to throw in a couple of more recent films, both of which are extremely offbeat. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) and  Bad Times at the El Royale (2018) I would describe as acquired tastes. 

All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are for adults. 

                                                              MR. PRESIDENT

There were two good movies about presidents in 2008: W and Frost/Nixon. My favorite actor-president is actually Martin Sheen in the late great West Wing. Shoot, I think I even voted for him a couple of times. There are lots of good portrayals of the Commander-In-Chief. 

The disgraced and enigmatic Richard Nixon is the subject of several movies. Frank Langella is fairly amazing in Frost/Nixon, but at least as good is Sir Anthony Hopkins in Oliver Stone’s Nixon (1995). This film bears little resemblance to the truth (typical of Mr. Stone’s style), and I know Mr. Hopkins looks nothing like  Nixon. And yet, his portrayal seems so close to the real character of the man. Also, note Joan Allen’s amazing acting job as Pat Nixon. 

W  is Oliver Stone’s fictious account of George W. Bush’s presidency. It is, unsurprisingly, a hatchet job. But it's also a good film. And I must add here Vice (2018) which is really about Dick Cheney but features Sam Rockwell’s hilarious take on W. “So, we gonna do this or what?”

With not a whole lot to go on, Paul Giamatti fulfills our expectations of our second president as John Adams (2008), an HBO movie. And even better is virtual unknown David Morse as George Washington. If that’s not what Washington was like, well, it should be. 

Primary Colors (1998) is by Anonymous and just might possibly be about Bill Clinton, and he might just be about perfectly portrayed by John Travolta. Whatever your politics, this portrayal of the ultimate pol is a delight! Add in Emma Thompson, Kathy Bates, Billy Bob Thornton and Diane Ladd and we have a winner. 

Franklin D. Roosevelt is certainly an iconic figure in our history, and has attracted lots of Hollywood portrayals. Edward Hermann is quite good in Eleanor and Franklin (1976) but my vote would go to Ralph Bellamy in Sunrise at Campobello (1960).

Never heard of Alexander Knox? Well, although he was in more than 70 movies, you’re not alone. But check out Wilson (1944) and you’ll see as good a portrayal of Woodrow Wilson as there is. 

Our great president Lincoln (2012) portrayed by a Brit? Yep, and Daniel Day- Lewis makes this one go. The time is 1865 near the end of the Civil War and mainly concerns Lincoln’s push to get the 13th Amendment ratified. Sally Field is along as a ditzy Mary Todd Lincoln. There was a boatload of Oscar nominations but only Day-Lewis won. 

Last but far from least, there is James Whitmore’s amazing depiction of Harry Truman in Give ‘Em Hell, Harry! (1975). An absolute joy, and Harry’s reputation just grows year by year. 

Writers. producers, directors and actors have to be licking their chops to get at the presidency of the late, unlamented Donald Trump. Stay tuned!

All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. All are suitable for 12 and up, factoring in the boredom quotient.

                                                    THE GOOD DIE YOUNG

Each of them seemed to have everything to live for; each of them was dead before 40. What great performances we will never see!

Marilyn Monroe became the sex symbol of a nation. She had her pick of movie roles, and of men. To us, she had everything. And yet, she was dead at 36 from a self-administered drug overdose. You may be surprised to learn that she managed to appear in around 30 movies in her short life. In most of them she plays herself. But in The Misfits (1961) she joins Clark Gable and Montgomery Clift in a modern western with a good part for her. The Seven Year Itch (1955) is mainly known for her famous “blown skirt” scene. She is billed as “The Girl.” In  Bus Stop (1956) a cowboy falls hard for her and tries to drag her into matrimony. And in Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot (1959) she is Sugar, blissfully unaware of her sexuality. 

Heath Ledger absolutely blew the screen away as Ennis in the classic Brokeback Mountain (2005 ). And he won an Oscar. Just when the Batman franchise seemed dead in the water. Ledger burned the screen as The Joker in The Dark Knight.(2008). It is easily the best of the Batman flicks, and Ledger won another Oscar for his portrayal.  He left us, unbelievably, at 28. 

John Belushi was dead at 33 from a drug overdose. The dark-suited, dark-hatted, sunglasses-wearing Blues Brothers (1980) are still immediately recognized everywhere. Mr. Belushi and Dan Ackroyd created a cult classic. Otherwise- well, I guess Animal House (1978) was either the high or low point of stupid college comedies. 

River Phoenix was only 23 when he died of an overdose in 1993. And yet, what a legacy of good films he left. Stand By Me (1986) is a classic growing-up film from a Stephen King story. Running On Empty (1988) sympathetically  shows the family fallout from the renegade 60s. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) is the worthy last entry in that franchise (so far). And My Own Private Idaho (1991), though loathed by many, is a candid look at a youthful gay lifestyle.

Although it has been more than  50 years since James Dean died in an auto crash at 25, he is still a virtual icon of the silver screen. He made only three movies, and all are very good indeed. Rebel Without A Cause (1955) with Sal Mineo and Natalie Wood (who also died before her time), still strikes a chord with young people. East Of Eden (1955) brings to the screen the John Steinbeck classic about a conflicted California family. And Giant (1956) is from an Edna Ferber story of newly rich oil barons. 

Jean Harlow, one of the earliest and best blonde sex symbols, died at 26 in 1937. Hitched to the studio system, she had already been in over 40 movies! Some are quite good: Public Enemy (1931) with James Cagney is especially worth noting. 

Carol Lombard, another studio contract player, was only 34 when she died in 1942, but had already been in an astonishing 75 movies! To Be Or Not To Be (1942); Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941); My Man Godfrey (1936); Twentieth Century (1934); We’re Not Dressing (1934) are all very good. 

All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. There are too many to try to rate for the kiddies.

                          SOMETHING DIFFERENT IN CHRISTMAS MOVIES

Nothing against Miracle on 34th Street or It’s A Wonderful Life, mind you, but you might want something a little different for your Christmas viewing this year. 

Auntie Mame (1958) features Rosalind Russell as the madcap maiden aunt, and reluctant guardian,  of author Patrick Dennis. When everyone gets depressed, Mame decides it’s time for Christmas, and so they have it. The calendar is irrelevant.  Much better than the so-so musical version with Lucille Ball.

Christmas is the catalyst for a strange voluntary truce between Allied and Axis soldiers in the compelling, and underrated, A Midnight Clear (1992).  Ethan Hawke and Gary Sinise head a good ensemble cast. This fine film quietly makes the point that we have more in common than we have to fight about. 

Another highly recommended sleeper is The Railway Children (1952). It begins with the worst Christmas ever when the father of three children is unjustly sent to prison. Their lives were already hard on a marginal small farm near the railroad tracks, and now it seems all will be lost. But they begin a doubtful campaign to free their father and are most grateful for the small pleasures life brings them. This joyous, almost unknown, film teaches that children can accomplish great things.

The wonderful Kramer v. Kramer may seem an unlikely choice unless you happen to remember that Ted Kramer loses his job a few days before Christmas and has to put on a happy face for the young son he is raising alone. We tend to remember the bitter child custody trial that gives the film its title, but most of the movie is about learning to be a real parent and what a joy everything can be. Dustin Hoffman as the father and Meryl Streep as the mother both won Oscars, as did the movie for best film.

When you reach the saturation point from Christmas schmaltz and commercialism, it’s time for Tim Burton’s amazing The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). Filmed in an exacting stop-action technique, the look of the film is unique. The story involves Jack Skeffington, the bizarre Pumpkin King of Halloweentown, deciding to confiscate Christmas as the better choice of holidays. The kidnapping of Santa Claus is just one of the outrages committed by Jack and his cronies. Nightmare is not for all tastes. Teenagers generally love it; adult reviews are mixed.

All of the movies in this column are available on DVD. Railway Children and Auntie Mame fine for 8 and up; the rest for 12 and over.

                                                                    CHESS

        Here’s a sport with no cheerleaders, color commentators or roaring crowds. Yes, chess! There are a few good movies about chess and most are included in this article. So, you think they will be boring? Be pleasantly surprised!

The idea for this article came to me while watching the superb Netflix serial The Queen’s Gambit (2020). Previously almost unknown Anya Taylor-Joy stars in this compelling drama that is more about growing up as a tough, smart girl than it is about chess. Orphaned Beth winds up at a down-at-the-heels girls school. At the age of 9 she discovers the custodian playing chess in the basement. She wants to learn the game and he teaches her. She is a natural. Shunned by most of the other girls and all of the male players,, she gets better and better and eventually plays for the world championship. There’s not a boring minute in this miniseries. 

Speaking of tough, smart girls there is another one starring in a good chess movie. Queen Of Katwe (2016) features Madina Nalwanga as 10-year-old Phiona, who with her friends learns the game of chess at the local missionary school in Uganda. She and her friends advance to the world olympiad of chess where she hopes to become proficient enough to earn money for playing. Their first effort falls short. Although Fiona is the best player on her team, the competition is just too tough. But she perseveres and is finally able to earn enough money to buy a home for her family. And yes, this is based on a true story.

Pawn Sacrifice (2014) is the true story of American chess master Bobby Fischer. He makes John Macenroe seem placid. Fischer becomes more and more paranoid as he advances in the chess world. This culminates in a match against Russian champion Boris Spassky in Finland. Tobey Maguire (yes, Spiderman!) is outstanding as the brilliant, troubled Fischer. 

Another film on the same subject is Bobby Fischer Against the World (2011), a documentary about the great player’s life. Fischer was a self-taught chess genius from New York who rose to the top of world class players in the 70's. At the time of his ascendance, the Russians had virtually owned world chess ranking. It was unheard of for an American to even be in their class. Hence the titanic match between Fischer and Russian champion Boris Spassky. The match held the world captive for days. There is rare footage of the match in this documentary. 

The Coldest Game (2019) and Critical Thinking (2020)  use chess as a background to the film’s story.

I have saved the best for last. Searching For Bobby Fischer (1993) is one of my all-time favorite movies. Max Pomeranc (8 years old at the time) is perfect as the super-talented boy, who really just wants to be an ordinary kid. Joe Mantegna and Joan Allen are really good as his bewildered parents, trying to navigate between his talent and his childhood. And Lawrence Fishburne has an excellent turn as a park speed player. If you don’t like this film don’t even tell me!

All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are fine for mature kids and up. 

                                                             SEAN CONNERY

                                                             Part 3

Here is the third and final article about Sean Connery movies (not including the Bonds). 

Harrison Ford is of course the main guy in the four Indiana Jones movies. But in the third entry Sean Connery appears as Indy’s father, a professor. The prof has gone missing on a journey to find the holy grail. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) has lots of Nazis and action and is as good as the other films. Connery is just fine as Indy’s somewhat absent minded Dad. 

The Russia House (1990) features a fine script by Tom Stoppard from the book by the inimitable John Le Carre. Sean Connery is Barley Scott-Blair, head of a British publishing firm. On a business trip to Moscow he stumbles upon a document supposedly leaked by one of Russia’s top scientists which says the Soviet nuclear program is in disarray and the West should stop the arms race. MI6 and the CIA get involved and Barley heads back to Russia to confront the leaker.

Rising Sun (1993) from a crackerjack book by Michael Crichton, stars Sean Connery as police officer John Connor, dispatched to a murder scene at the LA office of a Japanese company. The death of a call girl is recorded on a video disc which turns out to have been digitally altered. When it is corrected, it changes things completely.

        The Rock (1996) is about a raid into Alcatraz to rescue captured tourists and prevent rogue Marines from firing rockets into San Francisco. Sean Connery plays John Mason. He is pardoned from another prison to help with the raid. He is the only person to ever escape Alcatraz (and live to tell about it) and knows all of the ins and outs of the storied prison. Lots of action and hijinks follow.

        In The Avengers (1998) Sean Connery portrays a mad scientist out to control the earth's weather. He runs up against the iconic Emma Peel and John Steed, the same characters from the popular British TV series.

        And finally there is Finding Forrester (2000). Sean Connery plays the title character, William Forrester, author of a Pulitzer Prize winning novel. Forrester has become a recluse, rarely leaving his apartment. He befriends Jamal, a local kid with a talent for writing. After a ragged start, Forrester agrees to help Jamal with his writing, and, incidentally, his life. This is one of Connery's finest roles and he makes the most of it.

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