FilmFanatic.org

Synopsis:
A singer (Stuart Whitman) and his wife (May Britt) find themselves terrorized by a hitman (Peter Falk) working for an infamous New York City crime syndicate.

Genres:

• Depression Era
• Gangsters
• Hitmen
• Historical Drama
• Peter Falk Films
• Sylvia Miles Films

Review:
Based on the real-life crime syndicate dubbed “Murder, Inc.” by the press, this historical “expose” is primarily notable as a breakthrough film for Peter Falk, who completely steals the show as notorious hitman-turned-stool-pigeon Abe Reles.

Whenever Falk is in the picture (which is most of the first half of the movie), the story hums along, as we watch in trepidation to see what will happen next to his unwitting victims — the perennially frightened Stuart Whitman and his foolishly outspoken wife (Britt).

Unfortunately, the second half of the movie — in which police diligently work to topple the syndicate, and crime boss “Lepke” Buchalter (David J. Stewart) makes a fatal mistake — moves slowly, ultimately feeling more didactic than thrilling. Yet the film remains worth a look at least once, simply for its fine performances throughout (especially by Falk).

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Peter Falk as Abe Reles
  
• Fine supporting performances
  

Must See?
No, but it’s definitely worth a look simply for Falk’s standout, Oscar-nominated performance.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review
• All Movie Guide Review
• DVD Beaver Review
• DVD Savant Review

Synopsis:
The son (Jackie Cooper) of a doctor (Willard Robertson) helps his new friend Sooky (Robert Coogan) earn enough money to release his pet dog from the pound.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Childhood
• Comics and Comic Strips
• Friendship
• Pets

Review:
Based on the enormously popular comic strip by Percy Crosby, this amiable, surprisingly wistful tale of cross-class friendship feels at times like an extended episode of T.V.’s “The Little Rascals” — complete with self-possessed youngsters “putting on a show” to earn money — but ultimately provides more of an emotional punch. Jackie Cooper is excellent as the mischievous, devious, but kind-hearted Skippy, showing clear evidence of his child star talents. Robert Coogan is less of a natural actor (he’s clearly reading his lines and aware of the camera) but nonetheless manages to radiate just the right energy as drawling Sooky, the kid from the “wrong side of the tracks”. In Skippy and Sooky’s world, life most certainly isn’t “fair”, and kids must work hard to overcome the countless obstacles placed in their way by adults — such as when Sooky’s beloved dog Penny is cruelly hauled away by a mean-spirited dog-catcher, and the boys are told they have just three days to earn enough money to prevent her from being killed. The film’s denouement (given away by nearly every review — be forewarned) is surprisingly disturbing, adding unexpected pathos to the story as a whole.

Note: Norman Taurog won an Oscar as Best Director of the year, Cooper was nominated as Best Actor of the year, and the screenplay (by Joseph Mankiewicz and Sam Mintz) was nominated as best Adaptation.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Jackie Cooper as Skippy
  

Must See?
Yes, as an Oscar-winning tale of childhood friendship.

Categories

• Oscar Winner or Nominee

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review

Synopsis:
A mad doctor (George Zucco) turns his student (David Bruce) into a zombie, forcing him to excavate hearts from fresh corpses to fuel his own temporary antidote.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Horror
• Mad Doctors and Scientists
• Zombies

Review:
This above-average B-level Universal horror flick is sure to appeal to fans of the genre. At just over an hour in length, the storyline moves quickly while offering plenty of melodrama: a mad doctor (Zucco) — eager to learn whether his preliminary success using a toxic chemical to turn monkeys into zombie-like creatures:

… will work on humans — experiments on his own naive assistant (Bruce):

hoping to win Bruce’s girlfriend (Evelyn Ankers as a concert singer) for himself:

— only to find Ankers has fallen for her accompanist (turgid Turhan Bey), who must also be gotten rid of.

Zucco is quietly effective as the calculating doctor, while Bruce — whose zombie make-up is creepy without overpowering:

— eventually wins our sympathy as the unwitting Jekyll-and-Hyde who loses both his humanity and his girl.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Fine performances by George Zucco and David Bruce as “partners in crime”
  
• Atmospheric cinematography
  

Must See?
No, but it’s worth watching, and fans of Universal horror flicks should definitely seek it out.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review
• SciFilm Review
• DVD Savant Review (scroll down to fourth review)
• TCM Article

Synopsis:
An aspiring dancer (Carmelita Geraghty) befriends a kind chorus girl (Patsy Brand) who falls for the duplicitous friend (Miles Mander) of Geraghty’s upstanding fiance (John Stuart); meanwhile, the socially climbing Geraghty leaves Stuart behind for a chance to marry a prince (Karl Falkenberg).

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Aspiring Stars
• Hitchcock Films
• Marital Problems
• Silent Films

Review:
Hitchcock’s first feature film as a director — made after years of working as a title designer, set designer, writer, and assistant director — is a rather standard romantic melodrama distinguished only by the occasional evidence it provides of Hitch’s incipient creative genius. The storyline (based on a novel by Oliver Sandys) is frustratingly disparate: at first we believe we’re watching a movie about an ingenue (Geraghty) struggling to gain a foothold in the entertainment business, only to quickly realize that Geraghty is savvier and more calculating than she appears, at which point Brand inexplicably becomes the film’s primary protagonist, as we follow her romantic travails, and watch her eventual betrayal by a man she senses (well, her dog senses!) may not be as forthright as he appears. With exotic infidelity, madness, and murder thrown in for good measure, the result is basically a jam-packed 60-minute potboiler. With that said, as noted above, Pleasure Garden is primarily of interest for the glimpses it affords of Hitchcock’s early directorial sensibility at work; see the CineMonkey review for a detailed analysis of themes and motifs which foreshadow many of Hitchcock’s later films.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Incipient evidence of Hitchcock’s creative genius
  

Must See?
No; this one will really only be of interest to Hitchcock fans.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• All Movie Guide Review (spoiler alert)
• Cinemonkey Review

Synopsis:
During the Middle Ages, a cooper’s son (Michael Palin) sets forth into the city, where a monstrous Jabberwocky terrorizes the citizens, and the king (Max Wall) has offered the hand of his daughter (Deborah Fallender) in marriage to anyone who slays the beast.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Fantasy
• Historical Drama

Review:
Terry Gilliam’s first post-Python directorial feature is a creatively conceived but ultimately enigmatic and muddled disappointment. Ostensibly based upon Lewis Carroll’s infamous nonsense poem “Jabberwocky”, the titular creature of fantasy — with “jaws that bite” and “claws that catch” — only makes a few cameo appearances throughout the film: s/he’s in partial view during the gruesome opening sequence and a later brief attack scene, and then shows up in disappointing full form during the climactic denouement:

The rest of the movie is an almost unbearably muck-filled journey into what Gilliam clearly posits as the *real* Middle Ages, when Britain’s citizens lived a miserable life of dung and filth:

Only those “lucky” enough to see the world through rose-colored glasses, like Michael Palin’s clueless young cooper:

who is desperately in love with the spoiled, sullen, obese daughter (Annette Badland) of a fishmonger (Warren Mitchell):

are able to make their way through the perils of daily life with enough nervy stupidity to survive, simply through dumb luck. Meanwhile, there’s precious little humor to be had throughout the movie, leaving one to wonder what the point of it all really is. Perhaps most frustrating is that Palin’s protagonist is an utterly hapless and accidental “hero”, never really demonstrating growth in either intelligence or bravery; his final fate is thus both undeserved and under-appreciated.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Impressively atmospheric cinematography and sets
  
  

Must See?
No; feel free to skip this one unless you’re a diehard Terry Gilliam fan.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review
• Spinning Image Review
• Combustible Celluloid Review
• Moria Review
• Time Out Capsule Review

Synopsis:
A British archaeology professor (Terry-Thomas) fights off amorous females while dealing with the sudden presence of a seventeen-year-old “juvenile delinquent” (Tuesday Weld) who is actually the daughter of his fiancee (Celeste Holm).

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Celeste Holm Films
• Comedy
• Frank Tashlin Films
• Mistaken or Hidden Identities
• Professors
• Tuesday Weld Films

Review:
Although it’s beloved by fans and has received reasonably positive reviews from critics (All Movie Guide notes that it was “written and directed… with [director Frank Tashlin’s] usual grace and elegance”), it’s truly difficult to understand the appeal of this dated and tiresome ’60s comedy, starring gap-toothed British comedian Terry-Thomas:

… heartthrob Richard Beymer (a year after his leading role in West Side Story):

… and 18-year-old Tuesday Weld:

Tashlin does indeed keep the film moving quickly, and shows evidence of his skill at directing broad slapstick, but the storyline itself falls completely flat: Terry-Thomas’s “irresistible” appeal to women of all ages never once rings true (not even as a gag), and Weld’s rash decision to pawn herself off as a juvenile delinquent (rather than revealing that Terry-Thomas’s absentee fiancee is her mother) feels equally forced. If you enjoy this type of mindless, colorful piffle, certainly feel free to seek it out; otherwise, film fanatics should feel no obligation at all to watch it.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Creative cinematography and sets
  
• Francesca Bellini as Gladys Schmidlapp — just one of Terry-Thomas’s seemingly countless pursuers
  

Must See?
No; definitely feel free to skip this one.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review
• All Movie Guide Review (SPOILER ALERT)

Synopsis:
A Texas ranger (Tom Mix) searches for his sister (Beatrice Burnham) and niece (Seessel Anne Johnson), who have been kidnapped by a ruthless lawyer (Warner Oland).

Genres:

• Kidnapping
• Search
• Silent Films
• Westerns

Review:
According to Wikipedia, Riders of the Purple Sage (published in 1912) is not only Zane Grey‘s “best-known novel”, but it “was one of the earliest works of Western fiction, and played a significant role in popularizing that genre.” As such, this silent movie — the second cinematic version of Grey’s novel — is an especially fitting choice for film fanatics wanting to see early Western star Tom Mix in action. The story itself, running under an hour, is standard melodrama, and not really worth elaborating upon; what one should pay attention to is Tom Mix (regal in his all-black cowboy’s outfit) coming to save the day:

… and the beautiful location footage surrounding him (shot in Lone Pines, California).

Watch for Warner Oland in a pre-Charlie Chan role, and Anne Shirley in a small role as Burnham’s teenage daughter.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Beautiful location footage
  

Must See?
Yes, simply to see a representative Tom Mix western. Listed as a film with historical significance in the back of Peary’s book.

Categories

• Historically Relevant

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review (scroll down to second review)
• All Movie Guide Review

Synopsis:
A spoiled Southerner (Robert Wagner) serving under a sadistic commander (Broderick Crawford) experiences a fundamental attitude shift.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Broderick Crawford Films
• Character Arc
• Flashback Films
• Richard Fleischer Films
• Robert Wagner Films
• Ruthless Leaders
• Soldiers
• Terry Moore Films
• World War Two

Review:
Starring matinee-idol Robert Wagner, this unassuming WWII-era film (based on a novel by Francis Gwaltney) offers yet another perspective on the brutal ravages of war. Unfortunately, the ostensible focus of the film — arrogant Sergeant-turned-Private Gifford (Wagner) learns to love and respect his fellow soldiers, regardless of their station in life:

— comes across as somewhat heavy-handed, given that the brief flashbacks to his life as a callous plantation owner (married to Terry Moore) aren’t lengthy enough to give us a really good sense of who Gifford once was (or why).

Much more effective is director Richard Fleischer’s ability to show us how the random brutality of wartime violence — starting with the death of his beloved father-in-law (Robert Keith):

— has a deeply powerful effect on Wagner’s psyche; the type of PTSD he experiences wasn’t explored nearly enough in other wartime films of the era.

Broderick Crawford is appropriately unhinged as a Kurtz-like commander slowly going off the deep end (with a weirdly homoerotic attachment to his two buff young henchmen, who often roam around shirtless):

My favorite performance in the film, however, is given by Buddy Ebsen as Wagner’s lower-class “buddy”, who quietly befriends him and helps him see the good in himself.

Much less fortunate is the casting of Harvey Lembeck as — what else? — an obnoxious wiseacre; fortunately, his role is relatively small.

Note Hugo Friedhofer’s Oscar-nominated score, which draws heavily — and to nice effect — upon the “dies irae” motif.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• A powerful portrait of the effects of wartime death on soldiers
  
• Atmospheric cinematography
  

Must See?
No, but it’s worth a look, and WWII film fans will certainly want to check it out. Listed as a Sleeper and a Personal Recommendation in the back of Peary’s book.

Links:

• IMDb entry

Synopsis:
A young gay man (David Schachter) in New York City volunteers as a hospice “buddy” for a man (Geoff Edholm) dying of AIDS.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Death and Dying
• Homosexuality

Review:
Gay filmmaker Arthur J. Bressan died of an AIDS-related illness in 1987, two years after this quietly incendiary indie film was released. Bressan, eager to alert Americans to the increasingly dire spread of AIDS across the gay community and beyond, apparently wrote the film in a week and filmed it in two — but, despite its obvious low-budget and (at times) overly didactic script, it remains a surprisingly sincere and heartfelt two-character drama. In essence, it shows us Schachter’s growing political consciousness about homosexuality and AIDS, along with Edholm’s gradual acceptance of his impending death; perhaps predictably, hints of a (mostly one-sided) infatuation between the two emerges as well. But Bressan’s primarily goal with his film was to infuriate audiences about the American government’s apathy over the AIDS crisis — as Edholm’s character notes, there wasn’t even a single AIDS clinic in New York City at the time. To that end, Bressan’s decision to begin and end the movie by scrolling the names of people dying each day from AIDS in America:

… is a particularly potent cinematic device, one that packs a punch almost as powerful as the rest of the film.

Note: Bressan’s Abuse (1983) — about a filmmaker initiating an affair with an abused gay teen — is also listed in Peary’s book, and is another noteworthy (albeit highly controversial) film to seek out.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• A touching portrait of friendship and caring in the face of death
  

Must See?
Yes, as the first American feature film about the AIDS pandemic. Listed as a film with Historical Importance in the back of Peary’s book.

Categories

• Historically Relevant

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review
• All Movie Guide Review
• Time Out Capsule Review

Synopsis:
An Indian rodeo-star (Richard Barthelmess) returns for a visit to his native Sioux reservation, where he discovers that a corrupt federal agent (Dudley Digges) and his henchmen are taking advantage of his people.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Ann Dvorak Films
• Corruption
• Native Americans

Review:
As one of the first Hollywood films to take the plight of reservation-bound Native Americans seriously, this heavy-handed but sincere drama is a welcome antidote to early 20th century shoot-’em-up westerns. It’s refreshing, if depressing, to see how Indians were patronized, lied to, raped, and taken advantage of in every way possible; indeed, an incredibly strong case is made in Massacre for legal intervention, which is ultimately the direction the narrative — based on the real-life actions of John Collier, one-time commissioner for the Bureau of Indian Affairs — takes. The rest of the fictional storyline, unfortunately, is less than convincing, with Richard Barthelmess’s anglicized Chief Joe Thunderhorse single-handedly riding into town and exposing corruption and vice:

…. while conveniently falling for a local girl (Ann Dvorak in skin-darkening make-up):

… and forgetting all about the blonde socialite (Claire Dodd) waiting for him back in Chicago.

But the power of the movie’s social-justice message is compelling enough to make it worthy one-time viewing for historically-minded film fanatics.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• A refreshingly sincere attempt to portray the struggles of reservation-bound Native Americans
  
  

Must See?
Yes, for its historical value. Listed as a Sleeper and a Personal Recommendation in the back of Peary’s book.

Categories

• Historically Relevant

Links:

• IMDb entry
• All Movie Guide Review
• NY Times Original Review