Sylvia Miles
Sylvia Miles died recently at 94. She had quite a career in TV and movies. She was the consummate character actress. Casting directors loved to plug her into their celluloid spaces. She logged well over 100 TV and movie appearances. She is one of those actors you maybe can’t place but when you see her picture you say, “oh, yeah.” She famously dumped a plate of food on the head of critic John Simon after a particularly nasty review of her acting in a play!
She played Cass, a woman inviting Jon Voight upstairs for sex in Midnight Cowboy (1969). She was on the screen a memorable six minutes, but nonetheless was nominated for an Oscar. But she lost to Goldie Hawn for Cactus Flower. Midnight Cowboy is a terrific film which won the Best Movie Oscar. Dustin Hoffman as the wretched Ratso is really good, as is Mr. Voight as Joe Buck. At the time, it became the first x-rated film to win the award. The X rating was changed to NC17 later. Midnight Cowboy is fairly tame nowadays, and is now rated R.
Farewell, My Lovely (1975) is a delicious film noir with the unbeatable Robert Mitchum as Raymond Chandler’s Phillip Marlowe. It has the requisite seamy interiors and a complicated plot that begins at the end and has Mitchum explain what happened. It works! Sylvia Miles garnered another Oscar nomination, this time for an 8-minute scene as an alcoholic former dancer. She expertly stumbles through the scene but she has a clue that Marlowe needs to solve the case. She lost to Lee Grant for Shampoo.
92 In The Shade (1975) is a somewhat convoluted film starring Peter Fonda and Burgess Meredith. Fonda plays Tom Skelton, a young man trying to start a fishing guide business in Florida. This is not well received by the existing boat captains and things quickly get really nasty. Sylvia Miles has a frankly bit part as Bella. Don’t blink or you’ll miss her.
Evil Under The Sun (1982) is a British whodunnit with Peter Ustinov as the redoubtable Belgian sleuth, Hercule Poirot. This is one of those Agatha Christie stories with a double handful of suspects which Poirot must sift through to find the killer. Sylvia Miles and James Mason appear as Odell and Myra Gardener, New York theatrical producers. They are among the suspects. That’s all I’ll tell.
There are two Wall Street movies, the original in 1987, and Wall Street:Money Never Sleeps (1992). The first one is pretty good, with Kirk Douglas (“greed is good”) as a sleazy trader and Charlie Sheen as his too apt pupil. These are not nice people! The second one is a pale knock-off not worth your time. Sylvia Miles plays the same shady realtor, Dolores, in both films.
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. All are for grown-ups.
Sunday, June 30, 2019
Sunday, June 23, 2019
SEE YOU IN THE FUNNY PAPERS
Hollywood has made quite a success with movies taken from comic books. Batman, Superman, Iron Man, X-Men. But with movies made from the newspaper comic strips- not so much. Still, there are a few bright spots in a limited category.
The top of the line, for me, is Annie (1982), the movie from the Broadway musical about Little Orphan Annie. Aileen Quinn is the comely orphan, Albert Finney megarich Daddy Warbucks, and Sandy as Sandy. Carol Burnett just about steals the film as Miss Hannigan, the put-upon matron of the orphanage. The songs are quite wonderful.
A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969) is faithful to the beloved comic strip. There are several equally good made-for-TV films about the erstwhile hero, one for Christmas, one for Easter, one for Valentines, etc. There something about the round-headed kid that we all identify with. I love the gimmick that when an adult talks, all you hear is “wack wack wack wack” which is what most kids hear.
Dick Tracy (1990) is Warren Beatty’s baby. He stars as the square-jawed detective and he directed the movie. The Fisher-Price technicolor sets and costumes are eye-popping. Lots of Beatty’s good friends show up: Al Pacino, Madonna, Eliot Gould, Mandy Patinkin, and Charles Durning to name a few. Not much of a plot, but quite a visual treat.
Younger readers won’t even remember the L’il Abner strip, as creator Al Capp has been dead for many years. But the 1959 film is a pretty fair rendering of the denizens of Dogpatch. Peter Palmer (who?) is the title character, with various little-known actors as Daisy Mae, Marryin’ Sam, Mammy and Pappy Yokum, etc.
Over The Hedge (2006) is a faithful rendering of the cute comic strip about woodland creatures learning to live with suburban humans and to love all things Twinky. Dennis the Menace (1993) just doesn’t make it on the screen. The strip is still around, and Dennis is still five years old after a half-century. Walter Matthau soldiers on as the acerbic Mr. Wilson, but Mason Gamble is simply annoying as a way-too-old Dennis. The 1969 version with Jay North as Dennis is no better.
There are two Garfield movies (2004 and 2006) and both are really bad. The wise-cracking cat is merely a mean-spirited pest in these movies.
I’ve saved the worst for last. Popeye (1980) is simply dreadful. Robin Williams as the spinach-loving sailor and Shelly Duvall as his true love Olive Oyl are completely wasted in this dreary slog.
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. All are fine for all ages.
Hollywood has made quite a success with movies taken from comic books. Batman, Superman, Iron Man, X-Men. But with movies made from the newspaper comic strips- not so much. Still, there are a few bright spots in a limited category.
The top of the line, for me, is Annie (1982), the movie from the Broadway musical about Little Orphan Annie. Aileen Quinn is the comely orphan, Albert Finney megarich Daddy Warbucks, and Sandy as Sandy. Carol Burnett just about steals the film as Miss Hannigan, the put-upon matron of the orphanage. The songs are quite wonderful.
A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969) is faithful to the beloved comic strip. There are several equally good made-for-TV films about the erstwhile hero, one for Christmas, one for Easter, one for Valentines, etc. There something about the round-headed kid that we all identify with. I love the gimmick that when an adult talks, all you hear is “wack wack wack wack” which is what most kids hear.
Dick Tracy (1990) is Warren Beatty’s baby. He stars as the square-jawed detective and he directed the movie. The Fisher-Price technicolor sets and costumes are eye-popping. Lots of Beatty’s good friends show up: Al Pacino, Madonna, Eliot Gould, Mandy Patinkin, and Charles Durning to name a few. Not much of a plot, but quite a visual treat.
Younger readers won’t even remember the L’il Abner strip, as creator Al Capp has been dead for many years. But the 1959 film is a pretty fair rendering of the denizens of Dogpatch. Peter Palmer (who?) is the title character, with various little-known actors as Daisy Mae, Marryin’ Sam, Mammy and Pappy Yokum, etc.
Over The Hedge (2006) is a faithful rendering of the cute comic strip about woodland creatures learning to live with suburban humans and to love all things Twinky. Dennis the Menace (1993) just doesn’t make it on the screen. The strip is still around, and Dennis is still five years old after a half-century. Walter Matthau soldiers on as the acerbic Mr. Wilson, but Mason Gamble is simply annoying as a way-too-old Dennis. The 1969 version with Jay North as Dennis is no better.
There are two Garfield movies (2004 and 2006) and both are really bad. The wise-cracking cat is merely a mean-spirited pest in these movies.
I’ve saved the worst for last. Popeye (1980) is simply dreadful. Robin Williams as the spinach-loving sailor and Shelly Duvall as his true love Olive Oyl are completely wasted in this dreary slog.
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. All are fine for all ages.
Sunday, June 9, 2019
2018 SLEEPERS
Part 5
A Simple Favor turns out to be anything but. Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) becomes best friends with Emily Nelson (Blake Lively). The women have sons attending the same elementary school. Emily asks Stephanie to care for her son while she attends to some personal business. Two days later, there is no sign of Emily and she isn’t answering texts or phone calls. Eventually Stephanie involves the police, and from there things get really complicated. This film has more twists and turns than Chubby Checker. But it is fun.
Journey’s End was produced to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. And it does so wonderfully well. Concentrating on British soldiers in the trenches, it chronicles both the boredom and the terror that accompanied them on a daily basis. Okay, it is not a cheerful film but it helps you understand what it was like to be a soldier in this terrible war.
Lean On Pete is the unlikely story of a boy and a horse. Charlie Plummer plays 15-year-old Charlie, living hand to mouth with his single father in Oregon. He goes to work for crusty horse owner Del (Steve Buscemi) and befriends the boss’ rider Bonnie (Chloe Sevigny). They enter races in the lowest rung of horse racing, with most of their mounts ending up in the glue factory. Charlie falls for Lean On Pete, a damaged horse scheduled for slaughter. He runs away with the horse, encountering many people and adventures, in a quixotic search for a caring aunt. Charlie Plummer is so real it’s almost scary. Warning: This is not Black Beauty or Seabiscuit. It is tough going, but worth it.
Leave No Trace is the story of an Iraq veteran suffering from PTSD who is living in a national forest with his teen-age daughter. Will (Ben Foster) and Tom (Thomasin McKenzie) live way off the grid. They only encounter other people when they go to town for supplies. When a jogger discovers them and turns them in, their home in the woods is over. They try various scenarios to make it in society. She does well; he does not. He wants to return to the woods. She tells him “What’s wrong with you isn’t wrong with me.”
Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother 40 whacks. And when she saw what she had done, she gave her father 41. Most of us have heard that whimsical murder rhyme. Lizzie tells the story the way it may have happened. Parts of it are true, parts fictional. In any event it makes a dandy movie. Chole Sevigny plays Lizzie and Kristin Stewart plays Bridget, the Irish maid who disrupts the household in many ways. She and Lizzie become an item, and when Lizzie’s father discovers this, tragedy beckons.
All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are for adults.
Part 5
A Simple Favor turns out to be anything but. Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) becomes best friends with Emily Nelson (Blake Lively). The women have sons attending the same elementary school. Emily asks Stephanie to care for her son while she attends to some personal business. Two days later, there is no sign of Emily and she isn’t answering texts or phone calls. Eventually Stephanie involves the police, and from there things get really complicated. This film has more twists and turns than Chubby Checker. But it is fun.
Journey’s End was produced to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. And it does so wonderfully well. Concentrating on British soldiers in the trenches, it chronicles both the boredom and the terror that accompanied them on a daily basis. Okay, it is not a cheerful film but it helps you understand what it was like to be a soldier in this terrible war.
Lean On Pete is the unlikely story of a boy and a horse. Charlie Plummer plays 15-year-old Charlie, living hand to mouth with his single father in Oregon. He goes to work for crusty horse owner Del (Steve Buscemi) and befriends the boss’ rider Bonnie (Chloe Sevigny). They enter races in the lowest rung of horse racing, with most of their mounts ending up in the glue factory. Charlie falls for Lean On Pete, a damaged horse scheduled for slaughter. He runs away with the horse, encountering many people and adventures, in a quixotic search for a caring aunt. Charlie Plummer is so real it’s almost scary. Warning: This is not Black Beauty or Seabiscuit. It is tough going, but worth it.
Leave No Trace is the story of an Iraq veteran suffering from PTSD who is living in a national forest with his teen-age daughter. Will (Ben Foster) and Tom (Thomasin McKenzie) live way off the grid. They only encounter other people when they go to town for supplies. When a jogger discovers them and turns them in, their home in the woods is over. They try various scenarios to make it in society. She does well; he does not. He wants to return to the woods. She tells him “What’s wrong with you isn’t wrong with me.”
Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother 40 whacks. And when she saw what she had done, she gave her father 41. Most of us have heard that whimsical murder rhyme. Lizzie tells the story the way it may have happened. Parts of it are true, parts fictional. In any event it makes a dandy movie. Chole Sevigny plays Lizzie and Kristin Stewart plays Bridget, the Irish maid who disrupts the household in many ways. She and Lizzie become an item, and when Lizzie’s father discovers this, tragedy beckons.
All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are for adults.
Sunday, June 2, 2019
SCHOOLTEACHERS
While we don’t pay them very well and we tend to make their professional lives pretty miserable, we Americans still have a love affair with the idea of schoolteachers. Hollywood has noticed this and turned out at least 50 films about teachers.
Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995) pulls us in almost against our will and we cheerfully wallow in this sentimental story about the impact a teacher can have on a school and the students that pass through it. Mr. Holland is a struggling musician when he accepts a teaching job to make ends meet and 30 years later is still at it. Richard Dreyfuss is Mr. Holland, the band director and music teacher who has no idea of the effect he has had on others until he retires. That his family has suffered for his dedication only adds to the mix.
Robin Williams is reined in and quite good for at least the first three-fourths of Dead Poets Society (1989). This interesting film demonstrates how the passion of a committed schoolteacher can bring a subject to life and enrich those fortunate enough to come under his sway. The melodramatic ending is not for all tastes, but on the whole this is a fine film.
In The Prime of Miss Jean Brody (1969) the teacher has more of an impact on the lifestyles of the students than on their learning. This complex and somewhat bittersweet film shows that this is not always a good thing. The girls are Miss Brody’s life and her not-always-gentle guidance molds the characters and outlooks of a
generation of young women. Maggie Smith is superb as Miss Brody, and she won an Oscar for what is perhaps her finest performance.
The fact-based Stand and Deliver (1987) features a virtuoso performance by Edward James Olmos as a no-nonsense teacher in a ghetto school. By sheer force of will he guides the reluctant students to conquer an Advanced Placement Calculus Test. This is an excellent film about the power of scholarship and the ability to communicate it.
Good-Bye, Mr. Chips (1939) is such a well-known film about teachers that Mr. Chips has entered the language. This version with Robert Donat in his Oscar-winning title role is much superior to the 1969 version or any others. Greer Garson and Paul Henreid contribute nicely to this gentle, timeless story. Mr. Chips has taught and inspired boys his entire adult life. His leave-taking is a blow to them all.
All of the films in this column are available on DVD. All are suitable for 10 and up.
While we don’t pay them very well and we tend to make their professional lives pretty miserable, we Americans still have a love affair with the idea of schoolteachers. Hollywood has noticed this and turned out at least 50 films about teachers.
Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995) pulls us in almost against our will and we cheerfully wallow in this sentimental story about the impact a teacher can have on a school and the students that pass through it. Mr. Holland is a struggling musician when he accepts a teaching job to make ends meet and 30 years later is still at it. Richard Dreyfuss is Mr. Holland, the band director and music teacher who has no idea of the effect he has had on others until he retires. That his family has suffered for his dedication only adds to the mix.
Robin Williams is reined in and quite good for at least the first three-fourths of Dead Poets Society (1989). This interesting film demonstrates how the passion of a committed schoolteacher can bring a subject to life and enrich those fortunate enough to come under his sway. The melodramatic ending is not for all tastes, but on the whole this is a fine film.
In The Prime of Miss Jean Brody (1969) the teacher has more of an impact on the lifestyles of the students than on their learning. This complex and somewhat bittersweet film shows that this is not always a good thing. The girls are Miss Brody’s life and her not-always-gentle guidance molds the characters and outlooks of a
generation of young women. Maggie Smith is superb as Miss Brody, and she won an Oscar for what is perhaps her finest performance.
The fact-based Stand and Deliver (1987) features a virtuoso performance by Edward James Olmos as a no-nonsense teacher in a ghetto school. By sheer force of will he guides the reluctant students to conquer an Advanced Placement Calculus Test. This is an excellent film about the power of scholarship and the ability to communicate it.
Good-Bye, Mr. Chips (1939) is such a well-known film about teachers that Mr. Chips has entered the language. This version with Robert Donat in his Oscar-winning title role is much superior to the 1969 version or any others. Greer Garson and Paul Henreid contribute nicely to this gentle, timeless story. Mr. Chips has taught and inspired boys his entire adult life. His leave-taking is a blow to them all.
All of the films in this column are available on DVD. All are suitable for 10 and up.
Sunday, May 26, 2019
2018 Sleepers
Part 4
Here’s another generous helping of 2018 movies that didn’t get much attention, but which I think were pretty good.
What They Had is an excellent portrayal of the family situation so many face. The family’s matriarch is fading into dementia. The kids want her to be in a caring facility. The father is dead set against it, insisting he can take care of her. Such stubborn insistence has been faced by many children. But she is the love of his life and he just can’t let go. Blythe Danner, Hillary Swank, Michael Shannon and Robert Forster comprise a crackerjack cast.
In the early years of talkies, no one was bigger than Laurel and Hardy. Audiences loved the pair, and the signature line, “This is a fine mess you’ve got us into,” was known throughout the world. Stan and Ollie is a very good bio pic about the last years of their partnership. Having been ousted by the Hollywood studios, they attempt a music hall tour of Britain with mixed results. Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly are spot on as the comedic pair. Several of their famous gags are shown to good effect.
One of the most famous sports confrontations in history is portrayed quite well in Borg vs. McEnroe. Sverrir Gudnason portrays his fellow Swede Bjorn Borg while Shia LaBeouf plays the famous American brat, John McEnroe. Most even casual tennis fans recall McEnroe’s signature comment to any questionable call: “Seriously?” These two could not be more different. Borg is the silent introvert, McEnroe the Type A opposite. The film leads up to their famous confrontation at the 1980 Wimbledon singles championship. It’s worth watching for the tennis alone, and the accompanying stories are also quite good.
Alpha is a convincing depiction of how wolves became domesticated friends, and eventually evolved into dogs. The story takes place in paleolithic Europe some 20,000 years ago. A young warrior, Keda, falls over a cliff and is presumed dead by his tribe. He encounters and helps a wounded wolf and together they try to make their way back to Keda’s tribe. The depiction of prehistoric animals and scenery is spectacular.
American Animals is the true story of how some college students attempted to steal several valuable books from Transylvania University’s rare book collection. The movie shifts back and forth between the actual thieves and the actors playing the thieves in the movie. The actors are all unknowns which adds to the authenticity of the story. The ending is not one you’d expect and you won’t find it here!
All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are for grown-ups.
Part 4
Here’s another generous helping of 2018 movies that didn’t get much attention, but which I think were pretty good.
What They Had is an excellent portrayal of the family situation so many face. The family’s matriarch is fading into dementia. The kids want her to be in a caring facility. The father is dead set against it, insisting he can take care of her. Such stubborn insistence has been faced by many children. But she is the love of his life and he just can’t let go. Blythe Danner, Hillary Swank, Michael Shannon and Robert Forster comprise a crackerjack cast.
In the early years of talkies, no one was bigger than Laurel and Hardy. Audiences loved the pair, and the signature line, “This is a fine mess you’ve got us into,” was known throughout the world. Stan and Ollie is a very good bio pic about the last years of their partnership. Having been ousted by the Hollywood studios, they attempt a music hall tour of Britain with mixed results. Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly are spot on as the comedic pair. Several of their famous gags are shown to good effect.
One of the most famous sports confrontations in history is portrayed quite well in Borg vs. McEnroe. Sverrir Gudnason portrays his fellow Swede Bjorn Borg while Shia LaBeouf plays the famous American brat, John McEnroe. Most even casual tennis fans recall McEnroe’s signature comment to any questionable call: “Seriously?” These two could not be more different. Borg is the silent introvert, McEnroe the Type A opposite. The film leads up to their famous confrontation at the 1980 Wimbledon singles championship. It’s worth watching for the tennis alone, and the accompanying stories are also quite good.
Alpha is a convincing depiction of how wolves became domesticated friends, and eventually evolved into dogs. The story takes place in paleolithic Europe some 20,000 years ago. A young warrior, Keda, falls over a cliff and is presumed dead by his tribe. He encounters and helps a wounded wolf and together they try to make their way back to Keda’s tribe. The depiction of prehistoric animals and scenery is spectacular.
American Animals is the true story of how some college students attempted to steal several valuable books from Transylvania University’s rare book collection. The movie shifts back and forth between the actual thieves and the actors playing the thieves in the movie. The actors are all unknowns which adds to the authenticity of the story. The ending is not one you’d expect and you won’t find it here!
All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are for grown-ups.
Sunday, May 19, 2019
DORIS DAY
A perky, bubbly blonde who was the perfect Girl Next Door to millions, Doris Day lived to the good old age of 97. She had a splendid singing voice, and her hits like Que Sera Sera are still heard frequently. Her sterling film career was just about equally divided between romantic comedies and darker dramas.
Many of the romantic comedies paired her with the handsome Rock Hudson. She was nominated for an Oscar for her role as Jan Morrow in Pillow Talk (1959). Day plays an interior designer who shares a party line with lothario Hudson. She complains about his phone use, he decides to meet her without revealing his identity and of course romance blossoms. Until mutual friend Tony Randall spills the beans. The movie received six Oscar nominations, and won for Best Original Screen Play. Day was nominated for Best Actress but lost to Simone Signoret for Room At The Top.
Day, Hudson and Randall teamed up in two more romantic comedies: Lover Come Back (1961) and Send Me No Flowers (1964). These are pleasant entertainment but not especially memorable.
Day’s first appearance of note was opposite Kirk Douglas in the biopic Young Man With A Horn (1950), based loosely on the life of musician Bix Beiderbecke.
Douglas plays cornetist Rick Martin who works his way up to the big bands and a doomed marriage to a bad girl (Lauren Bacall). Day is the band’s soloist and stands by Rick when his drinking lands him in a rehab facility. A happy ending, typical for the time, is tacked on, one not even close to the true story.
Doris Day’s only appearance in an Alfred Hitchcock movie is as Jo McKenna
in The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956). Jimmy Stewart plays her husband, Dr. Ben McKenna. They are vacationing with their young son in Morocco when everything breaks loose. The plot is too complicated to summarize here, but I will say that this film contains a famous scene where a murder is supposed to take place at a concert. The gunshot is to be covered by a cymbals crash. The tension builds.
She gets a chance to use that marvelous voice in The Pajama Game (1957), a musical comedy spawned by a Broadway play. It is about a pajama factory in Iowa. Day plays Babe, one of the workers and a union leader. The story is a little dated, but there are really good songs like Hernando’s Hideaway and Hey There.
A complete change of pace for Doris Day is in the thriller Midnight Lace (1960). She plays Kit Preston, terrified of a stalker who threatens her constantly and from several directions. It also features Rex Harrison and John Gavin, and has a surprise ending I don’t think you’ll see coming.
I’ve really only hit the high spots of Doris Day’s film career. You might want to check out Calamity Jane (1953) or April In Paris (1952). Oh, and Day had a very successful TV show for five years (1968-73).
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. They are fine for all audiences.
A perky, bubbly blonde who was the perfect Girl Next Door to millions, Doris Day lived to the good old age of 97. She had a splendid singing voice, and her hits like Que Sera Sera are still heard frequently. Her sterling film career was just about equally divided between romantic comedies and darker dramas.
Many of the romantic comedies paired her with the handsome Rock Hudson. She was nominated for an Oscar for her role as Jan Morrow in Pillow Talk (1959). Day plays an interior designer who shares a party line with lothario Hudson. She complains about his phone use, he decides to meet her without revealing his identity and of course romance blossoms. Until mutual friend Tony Randall spills the beans. The movie received six Oscar nominations, and won for Best Original Screen Play. Day was nominated for Best Actress but lost to Simone Signoret for Room At The Top.
Day, Hudson and Randall teamed up in two more romantic comedies: Lover Come Back (1961) and Send Me No Flowers (1964). These are pleasant entertainment but not especially memorable.
Day’s first appearance of note was opposite Kirk Douglas in the biopic Young Man With A Horn (1950), based loosely on the life of musician Bix Beiderbecke.
Douglas plays cornetist Rick Martin who works his way up to the big bands and a doomed marriage to a bad girl (Lauren Bacall). Day is the band’s soloist and stands by Rick when his drinking lands him in a rehab facility. A happy ending, typical for the time, is tacked on, one not even close to the true story.
Doris Day’s only appearance in an Alfred Hitchcock movie is as Jo McKenna
in The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956). Jimmy Stewart plays her husband, Dr. Ben McKenna. They are vacationing with their young son in Morocco when everything breaks loose. The plot is too complicated to summarize here, but I will say that this film contains a famous scene where a murder is supposed to take place at a concert. The gunshot is to be covered by a cymbals crash. The tension builds.
She gets a chance to use that marvelous voice in The Pajama Game (1957), a musical comedy spawned by a Broadway play. It is about a pajama factory in Iowa. Day plays Babe, one of the workers and a union leader. The story is a little dated, but there are really good songs like Hernando’s Hideaway and Hey There.
A complete change of pace for Doris Day is in the thriller Midnight Lace (1960). She plays Kit Preston, terrified of a stalker who threatens her constantly and from several directions. It also features Rex Harrison and John Gavin, and has a surprise ending I don’t think you’ll see coming.
I’ve really only hit the high spots of Doris Day’s film career. You might want to check out Calamity Jane (1953) or April In Paris (1952). Oh, and Day had a very successful TV show for five years (1968-73).
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. They are fine for all audiences.
Sunday, May 12, 2019
FILM NOIR
So what is “film noir” anyway? Well, it’s French for “dark film”. Think L.A. Confidential (1997) or Chinatown (1974), two excellent fairly recent examples of film noir: World-weary heros, underworld types, very bad girls with hearts of lead, lots of smoky atmosphere. To paraphrase Justice Stewart on pornography, you’ll know a film noir when you see one (and when you do see one you’ll have a good time!)
Hollywood keeps trying out variations on the film noir formula, often with good success. But the classic film noir movies were made from 1937-1950. The most famous, and one of the best, is The Maltese Falcon (1941). With Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade, a private eye who’s been around the block too many times, Mary Astor as his glamorous employer, and Sidney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre as very bad guys, this is a superb cast. The ambivalent ending is just right, the stuff that dreams are made of.
This Gun For Hire (1942) features Alan Ladd as a small time thug bent on revenge, and made him a star. Veronica Lake is the quintessential film noir bad girl and Robert Preston (The Music Man himself) shows what he can do as the bad guy. The story keeps your interest, but it’s the characters that really shine.
Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall are an unbeatable combination and practically set the screen on fire in The Big Sleep (1946). From a Raymond Chandler story with a screenplay by no less than William Faulkner (among others) the dialogue is just marvelous. The plot is so convoluted no one can figure out who did what to whom, but then it’s so much fun that nobody cares.
Robert Mitchum was probably the definitive film noir leading man. Those hooded eyes and that whiskey voice are put to great use in Out Of The Past (1947). Mitchum finds he cannot escape his thuggish history and becomes involved with mobster Kirk Douglas and bad girls Rhonda Fleming and Jane Greer in very criminal matters.
In Force of Evil (1948) the much underrated John Garfield is superb as a criminal lawyer for the mob, whose morals have gone over the hill. Marie Windsor (My Friend Irma!) is the girl. Beautifully photographed in black and white; not to be missed.
Perhaps the last entry from the classic age of films noir is Touch Of Evil (1948).
It was directed by and starred Orson Welles, who absolutely exudes evil as a corrupt cop. Charlton Heston (with a moustache!) and Janet Leigh add to the cast of a film that is as dark as they get.
Other good examples of film noir: Criss Cross (1949), Crossfire (1947), In A Lonely Place (1950), and They Live By Night (1949). All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. All are for those 12 and up.
So what is “film noir” anyway? Well, it’s French for “dark film”. Think L.A. Confidential (1997) or Chinatown (1974), two excellent fairly recent examples of film noir: World-weary heros, underworld types, very bad girls with hearts of lead, lots of smoky atmosphere. To paraphrase Justice Stewart on pornography, you’ll know a film noir when you see one (and when you do see one you’ll have a good time!)
Hollywood keeps trying out variations on the film noir formula, often with good success. But the classic film noir movies were made from 1937-1950. The most famous, and one of the best, is The Maltese Falcon (1941). With Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade, a private eye who’s been around the block too many times, Mary Astor as his glamorous employer, and Sidney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre as very bad guys, this is a superb cast. The ambivalent ending is just right, the stuff that dreams are made of.
This Gun For Hire (1942) features Alan Ladd as a small time thug bent on revenge, and made him a star. Veronica Lake is the quintessential film noir bad girl and Robert Preston (The Music Man himself) shows what he can do as the bad guy. The story keeps your interest, but it’s the characters that really shine.
Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall are an unbeatable combination and practically set the screen on fire in The Big Sleep (1946). From a Raymond Chandler story with a screenplay by no less than William Faulkner (among others) the dialogue is just marvelous. The plot is so convoluted no one can figure out who did what to whom, but then it’s so much fun that nobody cares.
Robert Mitchum was probably the definitive film noir leading man. Those hooded eyes and that whiskey voice are put to great use in Out Of The Past (1947). Mitchum finds he cannot escape his thuggish history and becomes involved with mobster Kirk Douglas and bad girls Rhonda Fleming and Jane Greer in very criminal matters.
In Force of Evil (1948) the much underrated John Garfield is superb as a criminal lawyer for the mob, whose morals have gone over the hill. Marie Windsor (My Friend Irma!) is the girl. Beautifully photographed in black and white; not to be missed.
Perhaps the last entry from the classic age of films noir is Touch Of Evil (1948).
It was directed by and starred Orson Welles, who absolutely exudes evil as a corrupt cop. Charlton Heston (with a moustache!) and Janet Leigh add to the cast of a film that is as dark as they get.
Other good examples of film noir: Criss Cross (1949), Crossfire (1947), In A Lonely Place (1950), and They Live By Night (1949). All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. All are for those 12 and up.
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