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Category: Original Reviews

Responses to Peary’s “must see” movie reviews, as well as my own “must see” movie reviews up to and after 1986 (when Peary’s book was published).

Blue Sunshine (1977)

Blue Sunshine (1977)

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“How do you stop a madman without killing him?”

Synopsis:
After being falsely accused of murder, a man (Zalman King) on the lam seeks help from his girlfriend (Deborah Winters) and a doctor-friend (Robert Walden) in trying to discover why certain people around him — all associated with aspiring-politician Edward Flemming (Mark Goddard) — are suddenly becoming bald and psychotic.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Amateur Sleuths
  • Falsely Accused
  • Horror Films

Review:
Writer-director Jeff Lieberman’s follow-up to Squirm (1976) was this equally low-budget horror flick capitalizing on post-counterculture paranoia. At the crux of the story’s mystery is whether a strand of LSD known as “Blue Sunshine” — dealt years earlier by Goddard — might be having a long-delayed impact. While it’s easy to understand how such a scenario might resonate with now-straight young Baby Boomers, and King comes across as appropriately earnest:

… the actual chaos we see unfolding is, frankly, laughably low-budget.

Sure, there’s a bit of tension in terms of wondering who might be afflicted (or not), but — do we care? Well, apparently many do, since this film became a cult favorite (and is listed as such in the back of Peary’s book); however, it’s not worth seeking out unless you happen to be a fan of the director. Watch for Alice Ghostley in a bit role as a helpful neighbor.

Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:

  • A quirky sense of horror-humor

Must See?
No; you can skip this one unless you’re curious and/or it sounds like your cup of tea. Listed as a Cult Movie in the back of Peary’s book.

Links:

Street Fighter, The (1974)

Street Fighter, The (1974)

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“Listen, my son — trust no one!”

Synopsis:
A mercenary martial artist (Shin’ichi “Sonny” Chiba) violently kills or harms nearly everyone who enters into his path of destruction.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Japanese Films
  • Kidnapping
  • Martial Arts

Review:
Perhaps best known by modern film fanatics as the swordsmith Hattori Hanzō in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Volume 1 (2003), Shin’ichi “Sonny” Chiba had his breakthrough role in this ultra-violent martial arts film — the first to receive an X for this designation — produced by Japan’s Toei Studios and released by New Line Cinema in the United States. It’s challenging and perhaps pointless to follow the storyline, which involves Yakuza gangsters, the kidnapping of a business magnate’s daughter, and numerous highly unrealistic sudden deaths by karate blows. (The stats below are from Grindhouse Review’s laudatory video overview.)

This film is primarily worth a cursory look simply to see Chiba (considered the “anti-hero” Bruce Lee) hamming it up on screen.

Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:

  • Shin’ichi Chiba as Terry

Must See?
No; this one is only must-see for martial arts fans.

Links:

Lord Jim (1965)

Lord Jim (1965)

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“No white man hides himself in the wilderness without a reason.”

Synopsis:
After a young merchant seaman (Peter O’Toole) abandons his ship during a storm, he tries to rectify his shame by drifting around the South Seas, soon befriending the owner (Paul Lukas) of a cargo ship and agreeing to help a local town leader in an uprising against a warlord known as The General (Eli Wallach). Eventually he falls in love with a native girl (Daliah Lavi) and attempts to live a happy life with her — but the arrival of a ruthless pirate (James Mason) forces him to make difficult choices.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Akim Tamaroff Films
  • At Sea
  • Eli Wallach Films
  • Historical Drama
  • James Mason Films
  • Paul Lukas Films
  • Peter O’Toole Films
  • Richard Brooks Films

Review:
Richard Brooks wrote and directed this adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s 1900 novel of the same name, based on a real-life incident involving Muslim Indonesians on a seabound pilgrimage to Mecca. It received some negative reviews upon release, and unfortunately, I can see why. Though Freddie Young’s cinematography is as beautiful as always:

… and O’Toole is effectively earnest as a young man wracked with guilt for his decision during a time of crisis:

… the rest of the plot simply plays like a standard tale of a White man attempting to lose himself in foreign lands with a beautiful native girl (while getting inextricably caught up in local politics). The eventual appearance of James Mason’s “Gentleman Brown” is a welcome plot turn, but the storyline as a whole fails to compel.

Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:

  • Paul Lukas as Stein
  • James Mason as Gentleman Brown
  • Freddie Young’s cinematography

Must See?
No, though fans of the stars and/or Richard Brooks will likely be curious to check it out.

Links:

Spy Who Came In From the Cold, The (1965)

Spy Who Came In From the Cold, The (1965)

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“We have to live without sympathy, don’t we?”

Synopsis:
During the Cold War, a British spy (Richard Burton) dating a librarian’s aide (Claire Bloom) is ordered by his superior (Cyril Cusack) to pretend to be willing to defect — but will their elaborate ruse lead to the arrest of evil Comrade Mundt (Peter van Eyck)?

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Claire Bloom Films
  • Cold War
  • Martin Ritt Films
  • Mistaken and Hidden Identities
  • Niall MacGinnis Films
  • Richard Burton Films
  • Spies

Review:
Martin Ritt’s adaptation of John Le Carre’s best-selling novel is both reasonably faithful to its source material, and an atmospherically shot spy noir in its own right. The necessarily complex storyline starts with the shooting of one of Burton’s compatriots as he’s crossing the Berlin Wall:

… and quickly shows us Burton’s descent into alcoholism, despair:

… and eventually violence, though he finds some respite and solace from a preternaturally kind librarian’s aide who stands by his side through thick and thin.

When Burton “defects”, he becomes friendly with a reasonably sympathetic interrogator (Oskar Werner), and cross-political allegiances become ever more entangled.

Who, exactly, is working for who (and why)? While it’s clear that Mundt (a Nazi) is a “baddie”:

… of course, it’s not quite that simple. To its credit, the film retains all the suspense of the book while both simplifying key plot points and visually opening up certain scenes. Oswald Morris’s atmospheric cinematography is top-rate, and the performances are fine across the board. This remains worth a look as a powerful realist antidote to escapist Bond fare of the time.

Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:

  • Richard Burton as Alec Leamas
  • Oskar Werner as Fiedler
  • Oswald Morris’s cinematography

Must See?
Yes, as a powerful spy thriller.

Categories

  • Good Show

Links:

King Rat (1965)

King Rat (1965)

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“I judge a man by the company he keeps.”

Synopsis:
Near the end of World War II, a savvy American (George Segal) in a Japanese POW camp rules the roost with his ability to secure much-needed supplies, and convinces a Malay-speaking Brit (James Fox) to collaborate with him on key deals, much to the dismay of rule-following Lieutenant Gray (Tom Courtenay).

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Bryan Forbes Films
  • Cat and Mouse
  • Denholm Elliott
  • George Segal Films
  • James Fox Films
  • John Mills Films
  • Prisoners of War
  • Survival
  • Tom Courtenay Films
  • World War II

Review:
Bryan Forbes scripted and directed this adaptation of James Clavell’s 1962 novel, based in part on his own experiences in a POW camp. Perhaps more so than any other such film, King Rat is unrelenting in its graphic depiction of the heat, starvation, despair, craziness, lethargy, boredom, and overall sense of hopelessness pervasive in these camps:

… with Segal’s preternaturally cheerful “Corporal King” a notable exception. His hustle is so successful that he’s living a relatively easy life, able to procure fresh shirts, food, and cigarettes while his compatriots wither away in misery and/or grovel at his feet. His nemesis is Courtenay’s Lieutenant Gray, with the two caught in a cat-and-mouse tussle between pragmatism and protocol.

Front and center in the screenplay, however, is the emergent friendship between Segal and Fox, who refuses to accept bribes or “gifts” from Segal and thus quickly earns his respect.

In addition to admirably capturing the overall oppressive atmosphere of the camp, the film includes numerous memorable sequences — such as Segal slyly convincing the starving men that it’s okay to eat a beloved pet:

… Segal using Fox’s translating support to trade a watch for money:

… and Segal arranging for a medic to help Fox with a seemingly incurable medical tragedy.


Burnett Guffey’s cinematography is effectively atmospheric throughout, and the supporting performances are all top-notch. This one remains well worth a look.

Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:

  • George Segal as Corporal King
  • James Fox as Pete Marlowe
  • Tom Courtenay as Lieutenant Gray
  • Strong performances by the supporting cast

  • Burnett Guffey’s cinematography
  • Fine sets and overall production design
  • John Barry’s score

Must See?
Yes, as a powerful WWII-era drama.

Categories

  • Good Show

Links:

Fifth Horseman is Fear, The (1965)

Fifth Horseman is Fear, The (1965)

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“A man is as he thinks; you can’t change that.”

Synopsis:
In Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, a Jewish doctor (Miroslav Machacek) is pressured into providing care for a wounded resistance fighter, and soon finds himself searching for morphine across the city while under intense scrutiny.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Doctors and Nurses
  • Eastern European Films
  • Jews
  • Resistance Fighters

Review:
Czech director Zbynek Brynych helmed this vaguely allegorical tale of defiance during oppression — nominally about a Jewish doctor daring to treat a wounded Resistance fighter during wartime occupation:

… but perhaps really (also) about resisting repression and surveillance in a Soviet-occupied country. Meanwhile, Eddie Muller has argued on behalf of this film as a noir, given that it takes place during “one dark night of the soul” and tells the tale of difficult choices made by an individual who is tempted by fate and other forces.

While visually rich, the storyline is fairly straightforward, as described in Wikipedia’s overview:

Set in Prague during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, the film follows Dr. Braun, a Jewish doctor forbidden to practice medicine. He instead works for German officials, cataloging confiscated Jewish property.


All Braun wants to do is survive, but his pragmatic mentality is challenged when an injured resistance fighter stumbles into his apartment building. A quest for morphine leads Dr. Braun through his tortured city, where fear eats away at the social structure.

Superficially, the city might appear to be normal, but hallucinations, awkward outbursts, and nervous, self-conscious behavior make it clear that society is falling apart.

It’s all very atmospherically filmed, and well worth a look as an incisive glimpse at a particular time and place (or perhaps two) in history.

Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:

  • Fine direction and cinematography

Must See?
Yes, for its historical relevance within international cinema. Listed as a film with Historical Relevance and a Personal Recommendation in the back of Peary’s book.

Categories

  • Foreign Gem

Links:

Woman in the Dunes (1964)

Woman in the Dunes (1964)

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“That sand just ruins everything, doesn’t it?”

Synopsis:
When an amateur etymologist (Eiji Okada) searching for rare bugs on the beach misses his train home, he stays overnight in the shack of a widow (Kyoko Kishida) eager for companionship, and soon realizes he’s trapped down in the dunes with her.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Japanese Films
  • Living Nightmare
  • Psychological Horror
  • Widows and Widowers

Review:
This collaboration by director Hiroshi Teshigahara, writer Kobo Abe (basing the screenplay on his novel), and composer Toru Takemitsu remains a one-of-a-kind masterpiece from mid-20th century Japanese cinema. We are quickly immersed in the living nightmare of protagonist Okada’s dilemma — stuck at the bottom of a sand dune with no way to scramble up and out; thus, the man who came in search of bugs to probe and examine:

… is soon trapped under the gaze of those (the villagers) who watch and taunt him for their own amusement.

Okada — likely best known to film fanatics from co-starring in Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959) — is entirely believable as a man convinced he can find a way out of his dilemma, only to eventually be beaten down by forces beyond his control.

Kishida is equally effective as a young widow who seems slightly delusional (and is most certainly manipulative), but is simply responding to her own dire circumstances.

The pair form an unexpectedly sweet bond of captivity, supporting one another through work, companionship, and sensual connection.


In some ways, the less said about this movie the better, given that it unfolds in an eerily suspenseful way — and we’re not sure until the very end what will happen to the protagonists. It’s possible to enjoy this film either on its surface (albeit surreal) narrative level, or by probing into its thematic layers: Is the omnipresent gritty sand a stand-in for nuclear fallout dust? Are we all trapped in a menial existence filled with hard labor under the scrutiny of others? Regardless of how you choose to approach the story, the visceral impact of living with these individuals in their gritty, nightmarish existence is unlike what I’ve experienced with any other movie.

Note: This film made Teshigahara the first Japanese director to be nominated for an Oscar for directing.

Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:

  • Eiji Okada as the Entomologist
  • Kyoko Kishida as the Woman
  • Hiroshi Segawa’s cinematography
  • Fine use of location shooting
  • Many memorable moments and sequences
  • Toru Takemitsu’s haunting soundscape

Must See?
Yes, as a truly unique and absorbing foreign film. Listed as a film with Historical Relevance and a Personal Recommendation in the back of Peary’s book.

Categories

  • Foreign Gem

(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die)

Links:

Ipcress File, The (1965)

Ipcress File, The (1965)

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“I want you to do a job for me.”

Synopsis:
A British army sergeant (Michael Caine) is enlisted to support a major (Nigel Green) in learning what happened to a scientist who has been kidnapped off a train.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Kidnapping
  • Michael Caine Films
  • Mind Control and Hypnosis
  • Spies

Review:
Sydney J. Furie directed this adaptation of Len Deighton’s 1962 spy thriller, featuring an unnamed protagonist who was given the cinematic name “Harry Palmer” simply to call him something. Although I haven’t read Deighton’s novel, the synopsis on Wikipedia sounds duly meaty and complex — which would explain why this film feels the same way, narratively speaking. Perhaps appropriately, we’re never quite sure what’s going on, who is on which side, or what will happen next — which feels right for a spy thriller, though Furie’s infamous choice to frame nearly every shot in either a semi-obscured, askew, or severely foregrounded fashion is, to be honest, super-distracting.

I found myself losing track of the storyline due to being preoccupied by wondering what weird and cool new shot would be coming next.

To be clear, I adore innovative camerawork — but watching The Ipcress File made me realize that it actually has its limits. To that end, an extended quote from Caine’s memoirs — as cited in TCM’s article — seems worth quoting here:

“Sid (Sidney Furie) … decided to shoot it as though the camera were someone else watching while hiding behind things. Thus there always seemed to be something between me and the camera, or else it would be very close and at an unusual angle, often shooting straight up my nose. Sid and [producer] Harry (Saltzman) had a lot of rows, with Harry’s temper living up to its reputation. I sometimes feared that he would have a heart attack, while the rest of the unit were hoping that he would — Sid, in particular. The climax to all these rows came one day when we were on location in Shepherd’s Bush, a rundown area of West London. The first I knew of it was when Sid came running round a street corner and knocked me flying. To my astonishment, I saw that he was crying. He stared at me for a moment and then screamed through his tears, ‘F*ck it, I’m off this picture,’ and with one bound jumped on a number 12 bus that was just pulling away from its stop, and disappeared in the direction of Oxford Circus.” Luckily, Furie was coaxed back to the set and completed the picture.

With all that said, this film is notable for giving Caine his second significant role (after Zulu), and he expertly embodies the cerebral, bespectacled protagonist with a criminal past.

This flick remains worth a look, though it’s not must-see viewing.

Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:

  • Michael Caine as Harry Palmer
  • Innovative (though perhaps overly so) cinematography and direction


Must See?
No, though it’s recommended for those who enjoy complex spy thrillers.

Links:

That Man From Rio (1964)

That Man From Rio (1964)

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“That’s no ordinary statue: it’s priceless, the relic of a lost civilization.”

Synopsis:
While visiting his girlfriend (Françoise Dorléac), a private (Jean-Paul Belmondo) on leave from the army becomes unwittingly caught up in a kidnapping tied to a deeper plot involving a professor (Jean Servais) with obsessive ties to a Maltec figurine.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • French Films
  • Jean-Paul Belmondo Films
  • Kidnapping
  • Search

Review:
Philippe De Broca directed this Bond-inspired action-adventure (with an Oscar-nominated screenplay by Jean-Paul Rappeneau, Ariane Mnouchkine, Daniel Boulanger and de Broca) that became the fifth highest earning film of the year. It’s fast-paced, colorful, and entirely innocuous thriller taking us from Paris to Brazil, with suave but goofy Belmondo performing many of his own stunts, and Dorléac perfectly cast as his carefree girlfriend.

As noted in Jeff Stafford’s article for TCM, “The James Bond film craze of the early sixties inspired an endless stream of pale imitations and parodies but occasionally a gem could be found amid the rubbish heap” — including this “tongue-in-cheek adventure tale that spoofed 007-like heroics while paying homage to everything from matinee serials like The Perils of Pauline to movie icons like Tarzan and Harold Lloyd.” The influence of Belgian cartoonist Hergé (creator of Tintin) is clear, and the final scenes — taking place in the jungles of Brasilia — evoke vibes of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Romancing the Stone (1984).

Watch for French movie icon Jean Marais in a crucial supporting role as sinister Professor Catalan, who is bound and determined to locate a specific historic figurine at any cost.

While this one isn’t must-see, it’s recommended if you’re curious to see well-crafted adventure fare from this era.

Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:

  • Jean-Paul Belmondo as Private Adrien Duforquet
  • Françoise Dorléac as Agnès
  • Numerous well-crafted gags and stunts
  • Fine use of location shooting

Must See?
No, but it’s certainly recommended if this is your cup of tea. Listed as a Personal Recommendation in the back of Peary’s book.

Links:

Marriage Italian Style (1964)

Marriage Italian Style (1964)

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“The more the world changes, the more it stays the same.”

Synopsis:
A middle-aged man (Marcello Mastroianni) about to get married reflects back on how he met his dying mistress (Sophia Loren), who was once a prostitute — but he soon learns there is more to come in the story of their life together.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Flashback Films
  • Italian Films
  • Marcello Mastroianni Films
  • Prostitutes and Gigolos
  • Romantic Comedy
  • Sophia Loren Films
  • Strong Females
  • Suffering Mothers
  • Vittorio De Sica Films

Review:
Sophia Loren’s third film for Vittorio De Sica — after Two Women (1960) and Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (1963) — was her seventh out of fourteen made with her beloved co-star Marcello Mastroianni, and earned her a second Academy Award nomination as Best Actress. Unfortunately, the storyline hasn’t aged well, coming across like a dated romantic melodrama without the much-needed dark humor or social critique of its similarly named counterpart, Pietro Germi’s Divorce, Italian Style (1961). With that said, Loren is a dominant and glowing force throughout, from her earliest moments striding down the street with confidence:

… to later sequences when she becomes a fierce Mama Bear at all costs, wanting nothing more than to provide for her kids.

Unfortunately, Mastroianni is a real pill throughout, making it hard for us to root for their relationship in any way:

… and the narrative tension in the final section regarding Loren’s kids is forced at best. This one is primarily worth a look simply for Loren’s Oscar-nominated performance.

Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:

  • Sophia Loren as Filomena
  • Roberto Gerardi’s cinematography

Must See?
No, though it’s worth a one-time look.

Links: