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Synopsis:
While searching for the missing brother (Roger Newman) of a young woman (Sharon Farrell), private detective Philip Marlowe (James Garner) stumbles onto a blackmailing plot involving compromising photos of a television star (Gayle Hunnicutt).

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Blackmail
• Bruce Lee Films
Detectives and Private Eyes
• James Garner Films
• Search

Review:
This updated version of Raymond Chandler’s 1949 novel The Little Sister is polished but not all that memorable. While James Garner (always a pleasure to watch) is appropriately gritty and handsome as famed detective Philip Marlowe, ultimately his performance (unlike that of, say, Humphrey Bogart as Marlowe in 1946’s The Big Sleep) fails to leave much of a lasting impression.

Meanwhile, the dense storyline — despite featuring a couple of clever plot twists at the end — is needlessly confusing, and introduces far too many supporting characters whose importance is either lost (after two viewings, I still don’t have a clue what Paul Stevens’ enigmatic Dr. Lagardie has to do with anything) or given short shrift (Carroll O’Connor as an embittered police lieutenant, Bruce Lee as a martial arts-wielding henchman, and Rita Moreno as Hunnicutt’s “old friend” all deserve better development). Ultimately, this one’s only must-see viewing for Chandler aficionados.

Note: This was Lee’s first appearance in a Hollywood movie, and his presence is noteworthy — but his second (final) scene in the film is inexplicably insulting to his talents.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Rita Moreno as Dolores
  

Must See?
No, though Chandler fans will likely be curious to check it out.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review
• Roger Ebert’s Review
• TCM Article

Synopsis:
When three women — a potter (Cher), a journalist (Michelle Pfeiffer) and a cellist (Susan Sarandon) — wish for the man of their dreams to appear, a hedonistic stranger (Jack Nicholson) suddenly arrives in town and changes their lives forever.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Black Comedy
• Catalysts
• Character Arc
• Cher Films
• Fantasy
• Feminism and Women’s Issues
• Jack Nicholson Films
• Susan Sarandon Films
• Witches, Wizards and Magicians

Review:
George Miller’s adaptation of John Updike’s bestselling 1984 novel is ultimately a disappointment. While the three female leads are clearly witches of one kind or another (as indicated by the film’s very title), the script never offers any explanation of how or why they came to possess their supernatural powers (can they only achieve magic when “working” together?), or what — if any — deeper relevance this holds for them as repressed women in a small American town. Though it’s clear that they are responsible for unintentionally invoking Nicholson’s character, his identity as (presumably) the devil incarnate makes one question the dynamics of power that emerge: who’s in control of who here? And why are these particular women granted such specific powers? Hints of feminist themes emerge every now and then — particularly during Nicholson’s seductive diatribes (“Men are such cocksuckers, aren’t they?”) — but are never sufficiently explored.

Meanwhile, the witches’ thematic counterpart — the prim wife (Veronica Cartwright) of the town’s editor (Richard Jenkins) — is provided with just as little explanatory grist. She’s a symbol rather than a three-dimensional character — and when her situation becomes gruesomely dire by the final third of the film, audiences will be utterly confused about how or why she’s forced to suffer such an unhappy fate. While the film’s pre-CGI special effects are memorable, and the actors — particularly Nicholson, Sarandon, and Cartwright — have great fun with their parts, The Witches of Eastwick ultimately hasn’t held up well enough to recommend as must-see viewing.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Jack Nicholson as Daryl Van Horne
  
• Susan Sarandon as Jane
  
• Veronica Cartwright as Felicia Alden
  

Must See?
No; while it holds some historical interest (particularly since it’s been remade as a comedic musical), it’s no longer must-see viewing.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review
• Roger Ebert’s Review
• Washington Post Review (Desson Howe)
• Washington Post Review (Rita Kempley)
• Moria Review
• Time Out Capsule Review

Synopsis:
Two clueless mousetrap salesmen (Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy) travel to Switzerland, where they are promptly relegated to working as dishwashers in a restaurant; meanwhile, Ollie (Hardy) falls for an opera diva (Della Lind) whose husband (Walter Woolf King) wants to be left alone in peace to compose.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Comedy
• Laurel and Hardy Films

Review:
This inane Laurel and Hardy flick is one of their worst outings. The paper-thin subplot (involving Lind and King) makes little sense, and while Lind (nee Grete Natzler) is mildly charismatic (she hoped to make it big in Hollywood as the next Jeanette McDonald, but this was ultimately her last film), the songs she performs are insipid at best. Laurel and Hardy themselves aren’t given much of interest to do, either: the best known sight gag in the film — Stan and Ollie are forced to move a piano across a rickety bridge spanning the Alps — is simply a retread of their classic short “The Music Box” (1932); and when a man in a gorilla suit shows up as part of the “joke”, all hope for genuine chuckles is lost. The one mildly amusing sequence — involving Stan valiantly tricking a stoic St. Bernard into giving him his keg of brandy — is hardly funny enough to recommend sitting through the rest of this tedious film.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Stan’s attempt to convince a St. Bernard to give him his flask of brandy
  

Must See?
No; there’s no reason for this clunker to be listed in Peary’s book.

Links:

• IMDb entry