Good Little Known Movies

Part 7

        So you still don’t quite feel like it’s safe to go into the theatre? . I feel your pain. So- another batch of really good movies you’ve probably never heard of.

        I will admit to being absolutely smitten with Charles Dickens. The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017) is a fictionalized account of how he came to write A Christmas Carol. Almost everyone is at least familiar with the basic outline of the story. Each set-piece in the film shows how it could have happened that he wrote this scene. Little-known Dan Stevens is Dickens. Miserly, miserable Ebenezer Scrooge is brilliantly portrayed by the unmatchable Christopher Plummer.

        Wild Tales (2015) is a Spanish film that more than lives up to its title. The movie is a series of vignettes about crazy coincidences. They do not seem  to be related, and some are better than others. The best shows a group of passengers on an airliner who gradually discover they have all done bad things to one man- who turns out to be the pilot of the plane! All the others are almost as good. What fun!

        Victoria And Abdul (2017) is about the unlikely, but true, story of how the Queen became fast friends with an Indian servant. Surrounded by sycophants and ungrateful children (9 of them, waiting for her to die), the Queen is really lonely. Enter a handsome Indian sent to England to present the monarch with a commemorative coin. Soon they are fast friends and he is teaching her Urdu and Hindi as well as cultural matters. Her court is outraged. Too bad...she’s still the Queen! This movie is worth watching for Judi Dench’s performance alone, but it’s an interesting story of an interlude no one would have predicted. 

        Learning To Drive (2015) features two of my all-time favorite actors: Patricia Clarkson (The Station Agent) and Ben Kingsley (Ghandi). She is a high-strung New York City book editor. When her husband leaves her for another woman, she realizes she must learn to drive if she wants to visit her daughter in Vermont. She hires Mr. Kingsley who plays the role of an American Sikh. The culture clash is both humorous and touching, as each gradually learns about and warms to the other. These two actors could carry anything and they make this small, pleasant movie very enjoyable. 

        The great Hayao Miyazaki, the genius of Japanese anime films, says that The Wind Rises (2013)  was his last movie. We hope not, but we can enjoy this beautiful animated film. As always with his work, you could take any scene and frame it. It is the story of a young man who dreams of flying, but eyesight problems prevent it. So he becomes an aeronautical engineer and designs wonderful planes. 

        All these except Learning To Drive are fine for all ages. All are available on DVD. And many are available without charge at your local library. 

                                                             MERCHANT-IVORY

An actor in one of their films was not alone in thinking that Merchant-Ivory was one person. Actually, this extraordinary pair was director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant. I say was because Mr. Merchant died in 2005. They formed one of the most successful partnerships in the history of the movies, which lasted more than 40 years. Though they had their share of misfires (including, unfortunately their last one, The White Countess (2005), they also produced a handful of classics that will be viewed as long as there are movies. And their imprint always meant unsparing quality and class. 

Remains of the Day (1993) Is simply extraordinary. It features Anthony Hopkins’ finest performance as a self-sacrificing butler, and the luminous Emma Thompson as the smart, capable head housekeeper. They both work in a baronial English home owned by James Fox, who in a larger story is dabbling with Nazisim. Christopher Reeve (last film before his accident), Tim Piggott-Smith, and Hugh Grant add to a distinguished cast. The scene in which Mr. Hopkins and Ms. Thompson come that close to a romantic attachment will absolutely break your heart. Unforgettable.

A Room With A View (1986) is a beautiful film, beautifully done, that won Oscars for art direction, costume design and screenplay adaptation (Ruth Prawer Jhabvala). Helena Bonham Carter is a proper English young lady touring Italy to complete her education. She is, of course, chaperoned and you couldn’t improve on Maggie Smith in that role. She encounters attractive young men, including Daniel Day- Lewis. The film is a most successful adaptation of an E.M. Forster novel, and has lots of insights into British mores and manners. It is also very funny and just a joy to look at.

Howard’s End (1992) garnered Oscars for screenplay (again Ms. Jhabvala), art decoration, and for Emma Thompson’s wonderful performance as a young and feisty English girl with no particular fortune or prospects in early 20th century England. Anthony Hopkins is a worldly, urbane and somewhat sinister older man who casually seduces the wide-eyed Ms. Thompson. Vanessa Redgrave and Helena Bonham-Carter add to a splendid cast.  

It is so much fun to watch Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward as a middle-aged married couple in Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (1990) that you can forgive the fact that there really isn’t a lot to this movie, based loosely on two novels by Evan Connell. Their lives are jostled (but never jolted) by changes in society and their growing children. 

All of the movies in this column area available on video and DVD. While there is nothing objectionable in any of them, the content is strictly grown-up fare.

                                                            ERNEST BORGNINE

He had a face that would frighten hardened criminals. Ernest Borgnine died at the good old age of 95 and worked literally up until his death. He made more than 100 movies and more than 200 TV shows. Some of you may remember him as the title figure in the long-running TV comedy, McHale’s Navy (1962-66), which still shows up on some of the more exotic cable channels. 

Because of his looks, he was almost always cast as a bad guy. He first attracted notice as the villainous Fatso, in the splendid Oscar-winning From Here To Eternity (1953). He slays heroic Frank Sinatra in a knife fight, instantly earning the hatred of millions of women (and some men). This great film still features one of the hottest loves scenes ever as Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr roll in the surf (not naked!). It also features the saintly Donna Reed as a prostitute. 

Mr. Borgnine is Bart Lonergan, one of many really bad guys, in the little-known classic western, Johnny Guitar (1954). It’s saloon owner Joan Crawford versus self-righteous moralizer Mercedes McCambridge. Nicholas Ray’s direction gets the most out of Phillip Yordan’s quirky screenplay. 

        Bad Day At Black Rock (1955) is another classic western. Spencer Tracy shows up in a one-horse town that has a terrible secret. Ernest Borgnine is one of the many townspeople determined to thwart his efforts and keep the lid on. 

      The Wild Bunch (1969) had enough bad guys for three or four movies. Ernest Borgnine, as Dutch Engstrom,  is one of them.  Based loosely on The Seven Samurai, it is about a bunch of bad guys hired to run a bunch of badder guys out of town. It is  most famous for Sam Peckinpah’s direction of the violent action. It is the first movie to show people getting shot in slow motion, complete with flying dust and blood. However, it is really good and fairly mild by today’s standards. 

The very best Ernest Borgnine part came in 1955 when he played the title character in Marty. Marty is just an ordinary working Joe, trying to get along, trying to have a life. When he describes himself on the phone to Betsy Blair as he asks for a date, it is one of the truly great moments in filmdom. Mr. Borgnine deserved, and won, an Oscar. This is an underplayed, and very great, movie. 

Mr. Borgnine also shines as one of the guys on an impossible mission in The Dirty Dozen (1967), a film that spawned numerous copy-cats. He is also very good in The Badlanders (1958) and in Jubal (1956).  

All of the movies in this column are available on DVD. All are for mature audiences. 

                                                         WILLIAM HURT

                                                     Part 2

        The late William Hurt just had too many good films to fit into one article. So here are five more movies he made before his death at 71.

        Hurt continued his run of good parts in good movies when he appeared as Tom Grunick in Broadcast News (1987). Grunick is handsome and witty but not terribly bright. He is hired to perk up the ratings of a TV network. His boss is Jane Craig (Holly Hunter) and she is less than thrilled that Tom is replacing the much more seasoned and capable Aaron Altman (Albert Brooks). This film is a tongue-in-cheek look at TV news. It was nominated for seven Oscars, and didn’t win a one. Hurt was nominated but lost to Michael Douglas for Wall Street. 

        The Accidental Tourist (1988) is faithfully taken from one of Anne Tyler’s whimsical novels. William Hurt is spot on as Macon Leary, who writes travel guides to help tourists avoid problems. Macon is married to Sarah (Kathleen Turner) but becomes attached to Muriel (Geena Davis) and juggles his relationships with the two back and forth from the USA to Paris. 

        Now I’m not going to try to convince you that William Hurt is in the same league as Olivier. But his Rochester is really not bad in one of the latest incarnations of Jane Eyre (1996). Hurt could stretch pretty well and this part requires it. Anna Pacquin is Jane in this one. I admit I’m in love with the 2011 version with Mia Wasikowska as Jane. Her speech with Rochester just breaks my heart every time.  But all of the versions I’ve seen were good. 

        William Hurt portrays Angus Tuck, the patriarch of a blessed (cursed?) family. They have drunk from a secret spring and cannot die or be hurt. Sounds great, right? Well, it’s not. And Angus spends most of the movie trying to convince others to keep the spring a secret and that living forever is not all it’s cracked up to be. Tuck Everlasting (2002) is taken from Natalie Babbitt’s fine book. This unusual film also features Sissy Spacek, Amy Irving, and Ben Kingsley as the mystical Man In The Yellow Suit.

        Hurt appears as Richie Cusak in A History Of Violence (2005). He is the hoodlum brother of Tom Stall (Vigo Mortensen), hiding in plain sight from his violent history as Joey Cusak. Joey/Tom is trying to put the past behind him but his brother won’t let him and tries to have him taken out by his hirelings. William Hurt was nominated for Oscar in this movie. He lost this time to George Clooney for Syriana. And guess what? Hurt shows up in Syriana also. He was everywhere!

        William Hurt can also be seen to good effect in the film of Anna Quindlen’s  One True Thing (1998). 

All of the movies in this article are available on DVD.  All are for adults. And BTW the dead guy you never see in The Big Chill is Kevin Costner.

                                                            WILLIAM HURT 

William Hurt was working on three movies and a TV series at the time of his unexpected death at 71. His bland good looks and splendid voice got him lots of work. He had an incredible run of good films in the 80's and lots of winners after that.

Though not technically his first big role, Body Heat (1981) certainly got him noticed and plenty of parts. Hurt plays Ned Racine, a young attorney in way over his head with the sultry seductress Matty Walker (Kathleen Turner).  Hopelessly besotted with Matty, Ned suggests they murder her wealthy husband Edmund (Richard Crenna). Plot complications include a Matty lookalike. Most, but not all, of the birds come home to roost. Forty-plus years ago this film was extremely steamy and banned in lots of places. Which, of course, increased business. 

Of all the movies based on college friends getting together some years later, one stands out: The Big Chill (1983) is still beloved by many. The complicated plot revealing almost everyone’s secret hang-ups keeps the interest up. This movie was a springboard not only for William Hurt, but also for Tom Berrenger, Glenn Close, Mary Kay Place, Kevin Kline, Jeff Goldblum, Meg Tilly, and JoBeth Williams. You never see the face of the dead friend whose suicide led to this get together- can you guess him? 

In Gorky Park (1983) Hurt gets to stretch his acting chops as he plays a Russian military investigator (Arkady Renko). He does a credible job with the accent. The plot is labyrinthine and begins when three dead bodies are found near the Gorky Park skating rink. Their faces and fingertips have been removed. The KGB wants no part of the investigation and dumps it in Renko’s lap. Lee Marvin and Brian Dennehy are on hand as reliably bad guys. The fairly unknown Joanna Pacula is good as the gradual love interest. 

William Hurt won his first, and only, Oscar as Luis Molina in the claustrophobic but excellent Kiss Of The Spider Woman (1985). Luis is in a Brazilian prison. His crime is being a gay man. His cellmate is  political prisoner Valentin (Raul Julia). They gradually reach an accommodation after a very sketchy start. Luis regales Valentin and us with made-up movie plots and his life as a department store window dresser. The Spider Woman is a dream-like persona who appears periodically. This film later became a hit Broadway musical that won the Tony.

Children Of A Lesser God (1986) takes place at a school for the deaf where James Leeds (William Hurt) takes a teaching job. The film is perhaps best remembered for the Oscar-winning performance of Marlee Matlin (who is actually deaf). Their acquaintance inevitably leads to romance. Hurt was also nominated for an Oscar, but this time he lost to Michael Caine for Hannah And Her Sisters. 

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

Mr. Movie is just getting started on William Hurt movies. More next time!

                                                   HANDICAPPING THE OSCARS

Everyone was betting on the Western, or the Comedy, or something else. But if you looked into history, you would bet on long-shot CODA and it’s star, Tony Kotsur. The story of deaf parents and a hearing child was sure to win both Best Movie and Best Supporting Actor. America, Hollywood, and especially the Motion Picture Academy, are absolutely head-over-heels in love with movies about people overcoming severe disabilities. At least 10 Oscars have been awarded to the actors who undertake these difficult roles. At Academy Award time, always bet on the gimper.

Another recent winner was Brit Eddie Redmayne, who won the gold for his incredible performance as world-famous physicist Stephen Hawking in The Theory Of Everything (2014).  Hawking had late-stage ALS and could only communicate through a computer program. He was confined to a wheelchair for many years. 

In Rain Man (1988), Dustin Hoffman is spectacularly good as an idiot-savant who has few social skills and the common sense of a tree, but who can instantly compute square roots in his head. Tom Cruise is equally good as his cynical brother, and their mutual voyage of discovery make this film a must-see.

Daniel Day-Lewis catapulted to stardom as Irish author Christy Brown, severely afflicted with cerebral palsy, in My Left Foot (1989). Brenda Fricker and Ray McAnally are just right as his unsentimental and bewildered parents. This superb film with excellent performances gently teaches us not to be so concerned with people’s appearances, but to look within (them and us!).

In the enigmatic and deliberately weird The Piano (1993) Holly Hunter’s affliction is constant but entirely self-inflicted. She is mute by choice. She is sent to an arranged marriage in a strange New Zealand locale. Her ability to convey emotion with just her face and body language is absolutely amazing. Sam Neill as her husband, Anna Pacquin as her daughter, and the always dependable Harvey Keitel as her Maori lover help make this film something altogether different and fascinating.

      Cliff Robertson had a good career as a conventionally handsome and unspectacular journeyman actor, but his moment in the sun came in Charly (1968). He is severely mentally retarded. An experimental drug instantly lifts him to mental brilliance, but gradually wears off. His ability to convey the nuances the part requires is convincing and frankly surprising. And he copped the Best Actor Oscar. This film is better than the similar Awakenings (1990), 

Tom Hanks made the dim-witted but ebullient Forest Gump (1994) a national icon. Forest is a good old boy whose elevator stops well short of the penthouse, but he is solid as a rock and the things he can do far outweigh his deficiencies. By turns serious and funny,  this remarkable film won every award in sight and deserved them all. Sally Field as his long-suffering mother and Gary Sinise as his damaged friend add to the enjoyment. 

I’ll also mention Jamie Foxx, who won for the blind Ray Charles in Ray (2004), and Colin Firth, overcoming a debilitating speech impediment in The King’s Speech (2010).

My limited research failed to find a Best Actor nominee with a handicap who lost the award. All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are suitable for 12-year-olds and up.

                                                               Sally Kellerman 

Sally Kellerman made a good living playing a ditzy blonde. She was always just a little off the edge, not crazy, but not really normal either. Although she worked steadily up to her recent death at 84, her big hits all came in the 70's.

Sally exploded onto the silver screen as Margaret “Hot Lips” O’Houlihan in the epic M*A*S*H (1970). Margaret annoyingly insists on everyone following every Army rule exactly, while carrying on an affair with creepy married colleague Frank. Their rendevous in the shower is hilariously exposed by Hawkeye (Donald Sutherland) and Trapper John (Elliot Gould). This screen version is much darker than the hit TV series it spawned, but is still really funny. 

She followed that in the same year as Louise the very strange Brewster McCloud. Bud Cort is Brewster. He lives in a fallout shelter in the Astrodome, building a pair of wings with which he hopes to fly. Louise is ever helpful as his “fairy godmother”. Brewster is actually suspected of committing several murders. After that it gets a little weird.

Last of the Red Hot Lovers (1972) is one of Neil Simon’s wacky comedies. Alan Arkin plays Barney Cashman, a red-hot lover wannabe. Sally is Elaine Navazio, certainly red-hot enough, but failing to seduce the introverted Barney. Other attempts at infidelity also fall short and Barney never makes it to even lukewarm status, but the laughs keep coming. 

Lost Horizon (1973) is the absolutely dreadful remake of the famous 1937 version.With a cast including Peter Finch, Liv Ullman, George Kennedy, Charles Boyer and John Gielgud what could go wrong? This awful movie.  This one is a musical. Oh my! Well, Ms. Kellerman plays Sally Hughes, a kinky photographer and confirmed drug addict. She is “cured” by the High Lama, leader of Shangri-La. Which is the enchanted village the cast stumbles onto in the Himalayas. Does Kellerman do her own singing?  Well, yes, but does anyone care?

Sally Kellerman’s last big hit is as Sybil in the hilarious The Big Bus (1976), an unashamedly pale forerunner of the classic Airplane (1980). So- if you liked Airplane, and who doesn’t, you will also like The Big Bus. The parallels are obvious. Coyote Bus Lines develops Cyclops, which runs on nuclear fuel, and can make the trip from New York to Denver non-stop. When the intended driver is badly injured, the company hires Dan Torrance (Joseph Bologna) to pilot the vehicle. Dan was disgraced when he wrecked a bus on Mount Diablo and survived by eating the passengers. This bus is equipped with everything, including a piano bar. A wealthy oligarch for some reason wants to sabotage the trip. Hijinks ensue!

All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. Ages 12 and up can handle them.