Driller Killer, The (1979)
“What’s happening to you?”
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Response to Peary’s Review: Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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Barefoot Contessa, The (1954)
“Life every now and then behaves as if it has seen too many bad movies.”
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Gardner — who struggles to maintain a semblance of a Spanish accent — is a woman who easily resists the lure of money and fame, as presented in the opening sequence by a caddish first-time producer (Warren Stevens) who wrongly assumes Gardner will accept his offer to become Hollywood’s next great discovery:
Instead, Gardner is drawn to the honest friendship of Bogart (whose voiceover perspective opens the film), a jaded but happily married director who is willing to mentor Gardner and help her learn to act.
Edmond O’Brien won an Oscar for his brief work as an enthusiastic promoter:
but his role is minimal, despite taking on voiceover duties for awhile in the middle of the flashback-filled screenplay. Finally, Gardner’s widowed husband (Brazi) tells his perspective as the first man Gardner falls for and is willing to marry, not knowing he holds dark secrets that will doom her to unhappiness yet again. During this portion of the episodic film, Valentina Cortese — so effective in Jules Dassin’s Thieves Highway (1949) — plays a thankless, underwritten role as Brazi’s concerned sister.
Since we know from the get-go how this tragic tale ends, there’s ultimately little to do but enjoy Jack Cardiff’s predictably beautiful cinematography. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
Must See? (Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die) Links: |
Summer Place, A (1959)
“Are you bad, Johnny? Have you been bad with girls?”
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and Ford is deliciously diabolical.”
Indeed, there is so much overwrought melodrama and laughable dialogue in this soaper it’s hard to know where to begin in a critique. For instance, abusive Ford subjects Dee to a full physical examination after she’s been shipwrecked for a night with Donahue, despite Dee crying out in agony:
Eventually, of course, Donahue and Dee’s love for one another transcends their parents’ fruitless attempts to keep them apart and they land in the Ultimate Trouble. Meanwhile, Kennedy’s alcoholism continues to worsen:
while McGuire and Egan live out their newly validated romance in a Frank Lloyd Wright house by the shore.
How will everything work out for the young lovers? You’ll have to watch to see — but be forewarned that Max Steiner’s recognizable score will remain stuck in your head indefinitely. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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Compulsion (1959)
“Do you really think these boys don’t know the difference between right and wrong?”
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Review: Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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Time to Love and a Time to Die, A (1958)
“Remember, my boy: it’s easier to die than to live!”
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A Time to Love and a Time to Die (the title is succinct and direct) is essentially a wartime romance:
… taking place within Germany’s deadly final days during World War II, when soldiers felt defeated by the inevitability of their country’s loss, and unsure what moves to make next — other than simply continuing to follow instructions and seek joy where they could find it. Upon arriving in his hometown, Gavin accepts an invitation from a former classmate (Thayer David) — now a high-level Nazi — to refresh himself in David’s palatial home:
Despite his discomfort, he realizes that maintaining appearances and not rocking the boat too much will ultimately help him in his quest to locate both his own missing parents, and Pulver’s father — who’s been sent to a concentration camp. Meanwhile, he uses connections and a spiffy suit from a high-class lieutenant (Keenan Wynn):
… to gain entrance to a secret nightclub, where he’s able to offer Pulver a glorious night on the town:
— at least until the club is directly bombed and they must flee for their lives.
Other than Gavin and Pulver taking a chance on love and happiness in the midst of chaos and uncertainty:
… the storyline centers on Gavin’s gradually shifting sense of moral responsibility; to his credit, Sirk doesn’t overplay this theme, instead allowing it to unfold somewhat naturally (with a surprise ending). While this isn’t must-see viewing for all film fanatics, Sirk fans will surely want to check it out. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The (1948)
“The way I see it, gold can be as much of a blessing as a curse.”
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Response to Peary’s Review: In Alternate Oscars, Peary names this the Best Movie of the Year (over Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet), and elaborates on what makes it such a fine picture. He writes that in order to “achieve authenticity, as well as a dirty, gritty, dangerous feel to his picture, Huston insisted on shooting on location in Mexico” — making it “the first narrative American movie filmed entirely out of the States” — and “hired Mexican character actors and amateurs,” wisely chancing on “including long bits of dialogue that were delivered in Spanish and had no subtitles.” However, Peary argues that “Huston’s major contribution to the film was making Gold Hat” (a bandito played by Alfonso Bedoya) “a continuing character”: he’s a “vile, smiling, almost comical” bandit who “could have been conceived by Luis Bunuel” and “is one of the screen’s great punk-bully villains”, with his “great moment” coming when “he tries to pass himself and his men off as federales, and Dobbs (Bogart) asks to see their badges:
Peary notes that while “at first glance The Treasure of the Sierra Madre seems to be an action-adventure film geared for young boys, with its treasure hunt in unknown territory, gunplay, fisticuffs (the scene in which Dobbs and Curtin fight with their boss… in a bar is a classic), tension and squabbling among partners, brutal villains, [and] no women”, it’s “also a complex character study about what the discovery of gold can do to individuals.” Peary further points out how “most of the tension in the picture is caused by intrusion: the lure of gold intruding on [the] minds of and relationships among the three men, and different characters intruding on space ‘belonging’ to others.” Suffice it to say there’s much rich material here to be explored, and Huston does a marvelous job presenting a story with numerous surprises — both brutal and heartwarming — but one that never pulls any punches. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
Must See? Categories
(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die) Links: |
Ruby Gentry (1952)
“No woman like her: one minute fighting, scratching, the next minute she’s as sweet and soft as any woman alive.”
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Review: Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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Champion (1949)
“What you don’t know would fill a book — but you’ve got guts!”
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… Ruth Roman as a young woman who falls for Douglas’s charms before he makes a name for himself:
… Paul Stewart as a self-proclaimed “boxing addict” who agrees to help Douglas out.
… and Lola Albright as a sculptress who’s shocked to find that Douglas’s ambitions really do trump all else.
Note: To see Roman, Stewart, and Kennedy co-starring the same year in very different roles, be sure to check out The Window (1949). Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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Passage to India, A (1984)
“India forces one to come face to face with oneself.”
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Response to Peary’s Review: I’m ultimately more taken with this adaptation than Peary seems to be. Of course the issue of “what happened in the caves” is of paramount importance — and was famously never revealed by Forster himself — but is meant to be shrouded in mystery, as it is here. (I disagree with Peary’s suggestion that the film indicates Aziz “did attempt something” and “might have been guilty.”) What is clear, however, is that Adela’s ambivalence over whether or not to marry Havers — combined with the sensory overwhelm of being in a hot new country with so many sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and customs to become used to — combine to put her into a decidedly hallucinatory and unwell state. As DVD Savant writes in his review, “In one of the best-edited scenes, Lean communicates Adela’s sexual fear in a confrontation with erotic sculptures and a horde of very non-cute monkeys. She’s never even in the same frame with a monkey, yet Lean makes us feel their threat. Monkeys show up at several key moments in the movie, and seem to represent the savagery and sexual chaos that the British fear in the Indian culture.”
To that end, Lean does a powerful job representing the very-real tensions between colonial Britons and fed up Indians, who are rightfully ready for change and increasingly intolerant of Britain’s patronizing attitudes and actions. Dr. Aziz (Banerjee) personifies this tension, with his attitude shifting over the course of the film as he gradually realizes that his own well-being — and that of his nation — will depend on extrication from his desire to “present well” to the British. Fox’s role (though minor) is equally pivotal in the movement towards respectful equality between Indians and the British. While Peary writes that “it’s hard to tell if Lean is trying to impress us with the glorious scenery or the cinematography itself”, this comment doesn’t make much sense — he does impress us, but I’m not sure how or why this is problematic. India’s landscape is indeed gorgeous and awe-inspiring, and Ernest Day’s cinematography is stellar.
Meanwhile, the performances across the board — particularly by Davis, Ashcroft, and Banerjee:
— are outstanding, with just one exception: Lean’s selection of Alec Guinness to play a minor role as a Hindu-Brahmin professor feels decidedly antiquated and inappropriate. (They apparently didn’t get along well on set.)
However, Guinness is on screen for such little time that it doesn’t much impact the overall movie. This remains a powerful, finely crafted epic by a master director, and is well worth a one-time visit. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
Must See? Categories
(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die) Links: |
They Live By Night (1948)
“I like opening my eyes and seeing you.”
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Ray effectively portrays a hard-edged world in which the future happiness of a young criminal (Granger insists he was innocent when sent to jail as a teenager) is dependent on his collaboration with career-long crooks, who have no interest in giving up their life of crime, and ineluctably draw Granger back in time and again. O’Donnell, meanwhile, has been stuck living with criminals her entire life:
… and is naively desperate for a viable chance at romance and a “normal” life. Of course, everything about their courtship and marriage is tinged by the inevitable fatality of living life on the lam, so we mostly watch their travails with a sense of sadness and doom. The film is atmospherically shot throughout, presenting a shadowy world of criminality and deception, but also moments of tentative intimacy. O’Donnell’s loyalty to Granger exists in parallel with that of Helen Craig’s Mattie, who will stop at nothing to secure the funds needed to free her own man, and plays a pivotal role in the film’s resolution.
Other supporting performances are strongly drawn as well — most notably Howard Da Silva as malicious yet insecure one-eyed Chickamaw:
… Ian Wolfe as a man used to marrying couples under all kinds of hurried circumstances:
… and Byron Foulger as an innkeeper eager to tutor his young son (Teddy Infuhr) in the ways of his craft.
Many have pointed out that this film bears similarities to Fritz Lang’s You Only Live Once (1937), and it is also often cited as the forerunner to Bonnie and Clyde (1967) — but Ray brings his own unique sensibility to the genre of “criminal couples on the run”; this one remains worth a look. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
Must See? Categories
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