Let it Be (1970)
“Yeah, okay, well — I don’t mind. I’ll play, you know, whatever you want me to play.”
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Rio Grande (1950)
“To my only rival — the United States Cavalry.”
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… under Wayne’s command set torch to O’Hara’s property in Shenandoah during the Civil War (!?). None of this quite makes sense as a reason for the couple’s long-standing challenges, especially when it’s so obvious they really love each other:
Indeed, the entire storyline feels like simply an excuse to show off some cool horsemanship moves and to regress into once again presenting Indians as faceless, alcoholic warriors ready to be killed off en masse.
The cinematography is gorgeous, though, especially in Blu-Ray. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
Must See? (Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die) Links: |
King and I, The (1956)
“There is no barbarian worse than a weak king.”
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Review: Indeed, the title characters are at the core of this film, and they richly embody their roles.
As Bosley Crowther wrote in his laudatory review for The New York Times, “The king is the heart of this story, and Mr. Brynner makes him vigorous and big. But Miss Kerr matches him boldly.” The colorful cinematography, sets, and costumes are a huge plus, too; the movie is sumptuous to look at, and of course the score is an absolute winner. The “Shall We Dance” sequence still delights instantly, thanks to a confluence of all these factors.
Much more problematic is the storyline itself, with its explicitly Orientalist and infantilizing (i.e., “I’ll help fix you and your culture”) approach to Anna’s visit. The recent Tony-winning revival of the musical apparently worked hard to overcome these inherent challenges, and succeeded — but modern-day viewers of this older adaptation will want to prepare themselves for numerous uncomfortable tensions. On the one hand, it tells a staunchly feminist tale of an independent woman boldly succeeding in a sexist patriarchy; on the other hand, Siamese culture is presented as deeply “Othered” and inherently problematic, and it’s difficult to see Anna as anything other than a “White savior” coming in to rescue this nation and its people single-handedly. With that said, should this version of The King and I still be seen? Yes, I believe so — there’s enough merit in the production itself to warrant a viewing, and modern film fanatics will hopefully be able to put its orientation (pun intended) into historical context. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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West Side Story (1961)
“When do you kids stop? You make this world lousy.”
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Indeed, the music and dancing overall in this film are its indisputable high points. I’m an obsessive fan of Bernstein’s score, and could easily listen to it on its own without visuals or lyrics — but it’s fun to combine them altogether. Speaking of Sondheim’s lyrics, they hold nothing back in revealing racist attitudes and practices, particularly during ‘America’:
and in overtly bigoted dialogue by Office Krupke (William Bramley):
Peary ends his review in Alternate Oscars by noting that “one forgets that in 1961 this film, which pleads for brotherhood, was daring to an uncomfortable degree”. He points out that “except for Tony, Maria, and the elderly Doc (Ned Glass), the characters are a pretty rotten group. They are all biased.” Actually, this aspect of the film — its no-holds-barred look at bigotry and violence — remains both startling and refreshing; its themes of racial intolerance and territorial supremacy remain as salient as ever, if not more so. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
Must See? Categories (Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die) Links: |
Georgy Girl (1966)
“If it’s the last thing I do, I’m going to get you lot organized!”
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while her parents kowtow to a creepy older “gentleman” (Mason):
… her sociopathic roommate (Rampling) admits to aborting untold previous babies before finally deciding — on a whim — to keep this one (which she consistently refers to as “it”):
… and Bates demonstrates nothing but annoyingly “whimsical” irresponsibility.
With all that said, Georgy remains an intriguing heroine: she’s someone we can’t help rooting for, especially after baby Sarah is born. It’s hard to know whether to laugh, cry, or cheer for Georgy, but she’s certainly memorable. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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Great Gatsby, The (1974)
“That’s the best thing a girl can be in this world: a beautiful little fool.”
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Both Farrow and Redford are a bit inscrutable; and while few can play an irritated husband more consistently and convincingly than Dern, there’s little to genuinely appreciate about him or any of the other leading characters. Meanwhile, the dialogue is sappily embarrassing:
Film fanatics may be curious to check this one out once for its visuals, but it’s not the classic it perhaps could have been. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
“Good and evil are so close as to be chained together at the soul.”
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Tracy — who resisted taking on this role out of deference for March’s Oscar-winning performance — isn’t awful, as some have claimed; his transformations are believable, even if the rationale for them is less well-developed here than elsewhere.
Note: More than anything, each viewing of this story reminds me of the real-life horrors of domestic abuse, with far too many individuals trapped in the clutches of monstrous partners they can’t escape from.
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Drum, The (1938)
“In our mountains, you are wise or dead. I beg you to be wise.”
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Unfortunately, his role in this flick isn’t large enough by far, and the story itself comes across as simply jingoistic imperialism. Massey is convincingly wild-eyed and obsessed:
… mouthing rhetoric that would sound familiar in modern-day tales of Jihadi fighters, while perpetuating other-izing fears: “I see a wave — a wave of men. Lean, hard, hungry free men from the hills, swooping down on the fat, soft comfortable slaves of the plains, their white throats ripe for the knife — a story as old as time… I see the mosques and domes rise again.” As Jay Carr asserts in his article for TCM, it can “hardly be regarded as anything more than dated, imperial chest-thumping, patronizing and paternal, in which Brits alone know what’s good for the rest of the world, in this case India”; meanwhile, Stuart Galbraith of DVD Talk notes that Sabu’s character is “firmly ensconced as a symbol of the contentedly colonized”. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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Samson and Delilah (1949)
“The oldest trick in the world: silk trap, baited with a woman.”
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Those in the mood for a lavish, colorful, visual feast with plenty of extras and elaborate sets may enjoy this one, but it’s not on a par with more engaging mid-century Biblical epics. Note: The most exciting sequence in this film occurs during the last few minutes, and it is indeed worth viewing. (Check Wikipedia for details about its filming; it took a year to shoot and cost $150,000.) Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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Lured (1947)
“There’s a homicidal maniac loose somewhere in the vast honeycomb of London — a man with a weakness for pretty girls.”
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Perhaps due to Ball’s irrepressible penchant for comedic delivery, I found the film’s tone a bit uneven — and the rat-a-tat roster of characters coming and going (wait, was that Boris Karloff on-screen for just 10 minutes?!):
…makes it a tad challenging to keep up with what’s what and who’s who. However, some may find this unusual film to their liking; as described by TCM’s reviewer Jay Carr:
Meanwhile, William Daniels’ cinematography is consistently engaging, as are Ball’s gowns. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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