Hold That Ghost (1941)
“It’s gonna be a pleasure to take you boys for a ride.”
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Ghost Catchers (1944)
“If you should hear noises, ignore them — they’re nothing, nothing at all!”
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Hellzapoppin’ (1941)
“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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Stray Dog (1949)
“Bad luck can either make a man or destroy him.”
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Spellbound (1945)
“I couldn’t feel this way towards a man who was bad.”
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Man With a Movie Camera, The (1929)
“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: |
Roman Holiday (1953)
“She’s fair game, Joe. It’s always open season on princesses.”
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Review: Such quibbles must ultimately be left aside, however, given that Hepburn is so luminous and appealing it’s difficult to turn our eyes away from her. (No wonder a generation of young woman wanted to BE her!) From the moment we first see her Princess Ann waiting to greet an endless line of well-wishers, trying to get more comfortable by discretely slipping a foot out of its high-heeled slipper, she can’t help winning our hearts — therefore, we’re genuinely thrilled for her as she explores the streets of Rome, experiencing such simple pleasures as getting a short haircut, eating an ice cream cone on the Spanish Steps, and being “offered” a bouquet of flowers by a vendor. While Hepburn’s the undeniable star here, Peck is nicely cast as the journalist who can’t help falling for his “subject”, and Eddie Albert is excellent as his photographer buddy. Meanwhile, the streets and sites of Rome are a spectacle unto themselves, making this film a bit of a “Roman holiday” for viewers as well. Note: As pointed out by DVD Savant, the story is surprisingly free of any kind of an overt social “message”, given that it was scripted by blacklisted Dalton Trumbo (whose ghostwriter, Ian McClellan Hunter, won an Oscar on his behalf). Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die) Links: |
F for Fake (1973)
“Don’t be spooked by the experts.”
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Welles uses the fortuitous revelation of Irving’s fraudulent book about Howard Hughes (nicely told, btw, in the 2006 film The Hoax, starring Richard Gere as Irving) as an excuse to blast the notion of artistic “truth” completely out of the water. It’s no surprise Welles was fascinated by this material: a notorious trickster himself, he staged the most infamous hoax in American history back in 1938 by broadcasting H.G. Wells’ “War of the Worlds” over the radio as though a Martian invasion was really occurring (an event he alludes to in the film). Welles bookends his movie with a cinematic lust paean to his lover and final companion in life, Oja Kodar — first by showing clips from what may or may not be an authentic “Candid Camera”-like attempt to document men’s ogling reactions to Kodar as she sashays down the street in a form-fitting dress:
… and later by telling a just-so story about an encounter between Kodar’s grandfather (presumably an infamous Hungarian art forger in his own right) and a teed off Pablo Picasso. By the end of Welles’ trickily edited film, he has successfully convinced us that there may very well be no such thing as “truth” when it comes to storytelling — and that we should be duly forewarned. Knowing ex post facto that the footage Welles used of de Hory and Irving wasn’t his own (he “borrowed” it from the French filmmaker Francois Reichenbach) simply adds one more delicious dimension to this mind-bending cinematic essay. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die) Links: |
Born to Kill (1947)
“You’re strength… excitement… and depravity.”
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Review: While in some ways gruff-guy Tierney (best known for playing the title role in 1945’s Dillinger) is perfectly cast, he’s ultimately not a nuanced enough actor to bring Wild’s inner life to the surface; we never get a sense of him as anything other than a menacing hulk — and, given his lack of charisma, it’s difficult to see why so many women would fall head over heels for him. (He’s handsome and strong — definitely “not a turnip”, as one character puts it — but not THAT handsome!) Trevor, however, does wonders with her challenging role, managing to make Helen sympathetic even as she stupidly gives up a life of luxury and contentment (with dull but moneyed Phillip Terry) for the questionable [sexual] thrills afforded her by Tierney. While there’s much critical discussion of Trevor’s dramatic eyebrow-raising throughout the film, I find her performance refreshingly sincere. The cast of supporting performers are mostly fine as well, with reliable B-actor Elisha Cook, Jr. playing nicely against type (sort of) as a care-taking “George” to Tierney’s “Lennie” (he has a bit more spunk here than in his usual roles), and the inimitable Esther Howard — whose grotesquely fascinating face is as creaky and crooked as a jalopy — equally effective as the catalyst who brings Walter Slezak’s sleazy PI to San Francisco. Less impressive is Audrey Long as Trevor’s conveniently naive and gold-hearted foster sister, who is simply too beautiful to be credible as a wealthy heiress so easily won over by an uncultured lout like Tierney. Other elements of the plot strain credulity as well, simply through lack of sufficient explanation — i.e., what is Tierney’s relationship, past and present, with Cook, Jr.? How did Trevor get to be Long’s “foster sister”, and why is Long so loyal to her? Ultimately, however, one watches a picture like this simply to see how the corrupt protagonists will meet their ends — and the ride until then (implausibilities aside) is mostly satisfying, thanks to Trevor’s memorable performance, some crackling dialogue, and Robert De Grasse’s noir-ish cinematography. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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Scandal Sheet (1952)
“Too bad the guy used an axe on her head; spoiled some pretty pictures for me.”
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Review: Unfortunately, despite his best efforts, John Derek is too much of a pretty boy for his role and is never entirely convincing as the eager-beaver rookie journalist who places Crawford on such a pedestal (though his opening scene with Harry Morgan as his sidekick photographer is a zinger). Meanwhile, Derek’s rocky interactions with Donna Reed (trying hard in a weakly written role as his moralistic female colleague) seem to be included in the screenplay merely to provide a requisite love interest subplot. In addition, while its central premise is inherently exciting, the script is predicated on a series of implausible coincidences, and many scenes simply don’t ring true (c.f. a disturbingly paternalistic sequence near the end of the film involving a bar full of stereotypical “winos”). However, the movie possesses enough noir-ish atmosphere (courtesy of Burnett Guffey‘s stark cinematography), enjoyably hardboiled dialogue, and genuine suspense that film fanatics will surely be curious to check it out at least once. Note: Fuller was apparently so unimpressed by Scandal Sheet that he vowed to helm all his own flicks in the future — and did. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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