“If you could read my mind like I can read yours, you’d know I meant every word of it!”
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Genres: Review: A bit of historical trivia: In her attempt to “woo” Benny (Costello), Jacqueline deWit (playing evil Abbott’s secret wife) takes him to the Venice Amusement Pier, which was shut down just months after this film was released. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“Go ahead and back up.”
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Review: Meant to capitalize on the success of Crosby and Hope’s “Road” pictures, …Sarong takes Bud and Lou on an adventure to an uncharted sound-stage island, where natives are dressed in outrageously fruity costumes, and Lou — naturally — is both pursued by a beautiful local (Nan Wynn) and mistaken for some kind of hero. Only the final half of the movie takes place on the island, however; before this, Bud and Lou are given plenty of opportunities to engage in their usual shenanigans as they’re pursued by The Law (represented by the always delightful William Demarest) and find themselves on board a ridiculously tiny ship, where they quickly run out of food (leading to two of the film’s most infamous sequences — both involving Abbott treating his partner with more than even his usual level of disdain.) Pardon My Sarong isn’t Abbott and Costello’s best outing, but it’s full of enough enjoyable routines — and holds enough historical interest, given its enormous popularity — that I’m recommending it as optional “must-see” viewing for film fanatics. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“It’s gonna be a pleasure to take you boys for a ride.”
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“If you should hear noises, ignore them — they’re nothing, nothing at all!”
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“It’s a picture about a picture about Hellzapoppin.”
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Unfortunately, the narrative itself — a silly musical about a love triangle, with a subplot involving man-crazy Martha Raye chasing Mischa Auer’s penniless baron — is tiresome at best, as is the final extended “sabotaged ballet” sequence. However, it’s what Olsen and Johnson do around their narrative that really entertains, as they construct an ongoing meta-commentary about the making of their own film, and break the “fourth wall” of cinema again and again — these moments are consistently inspired (see stills below for just a few examples). In addition, film fanatics are sure to be delighted by numerous cinematic in-jokes, including a nod to Citizen Kane, a brief Busby Berkeley homage, and a priceless “cameo” by Elisha Cook, Jr. These moments alone make Hellzapoppin’ must-see viewing at least once. Note: Watch for a hint of MST3K inspiration (was it?) as Olsen and Johnson sit with their backs to the camera, commenting as they watch themselves on-screen. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“Why am I here? Am I a nursery maid or a housemaid?”
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Response to Peary’s Review: The majority of scenes in this hour-long film — “adapted from Sembene’s 1961 short story about a real-life tragedy” — seem scripted merely to show us how unjust Diop’s situation is, which we understand and sympathize with right away; from there, not much happens, and we’re not given nearly enough insight into the motivations or backgrounds of either Diouana (Diop) or her bigoted employers to care about them as three-dimensional characters. While we can sense and appreciate Sembene’s deeper thematic concerns — Peary notes that his “films are intended to show the problems of his people… [who] are susceptible to falling into the same trap as [Diouana]” — he fails to effectively bring them to the surface, instead relying far too heavily on Diouana’s rather repetitive voiceover. With that said, it’s fitting that this film — which is undeniably groundbreaking on several levels — won the Prix Jean Vigo, an award usually given to a young director, for his or her independent spirit. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“Bad luck can either make a man or destroy him.”
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“Could that really be just one person?”
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— is now widely acknowledged as the forerunner of such iconic slasher films as John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978). Indeed, though it may seem filled with cliches of the genre (i.e., the killer calling from within the house, point-of-view camera work from the killer’s perspective):
.. it was seminal in bringing such tropes to the screen. Certain subplots and performances fall completely flat — I could do without Marian Waldman’s irritating portrayal as the girls’ imbibing house mother, for instance:
— but there are more than enough thrills and surprises here to scare the pants off most viewers (including me). As Peary notes, the “twist ending is a bit frustrating”, but Clark does a nice job keeping us on our toes as to the identity of the “insane murderer”. Be forewarned that the killer’s phone calls (remastered after filming to add even more obscenity) really are disturbing. Note: In the years since Peary’s book was published, this film has become a true cult classic for horror fans, even meriting a fan website at one point. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“I couldn’t feel this way towards a man who was bad.”
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“This experimental work aims at creating a truly international absolute language of cinema based on its total separation from the language of theater and literature.”
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Review: Without any meta-narrative or voiceover, Vertov shows us strategically “representative” snippets of urban Soviet life, from morning to night, inside and out. We see couples getting married and divorced, factory employees hard at work, teeming crowds on streets, trains coming and going, athletes showing off their prowess — even an actual birth in graphic detail (though it comes and goes too quickly for us to feel anything other than basic recognition). Naturally, all these events didn’t actually take place in just one day, or even in one city — in truth, it took Vertov and his team over four years to gather the extensive footage across Moscow, Kiev, and Odessa. Meanwhile, Vertov frequently cuts away either to the editing room (where the footage is being manipulated), or to a movie theater, where viewers are watching the scenes unfold — thus reminding us continuously about the highly constructed nature of his narrative. It all makes for an invaluable, multifaceted snapshot of an era and a society, while simultaneously providing an audaciously radical commentary on the very nature of cinematic representation. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die) Links: |
