FilmFanatic.org

Synopsis:
The leader (Marilia Pera) of a Brazilian drug gang is disturbed when her dim-witted son (Richard Ulacia) falls for the girlfriend (Linda Kerridge) of her supplier (Ulrich Berr); meanwhile, tensions with a rival Latino gang continue to escalate.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Drug Dealers
• Gangs
• Grown Children
• New York City
• Paul Morrissey Films
• Rivalry

Response to Peary’s Review:
In his review of this darkly satirical gangland drama by writer/director Paul Morrissey — which he refers to as “unusual, to say the least” — Peary analyzes it as a “weird variation on The Godfather,” and conducts a point-by-point comparison of the two films. He notes, for instance, that “again we have a territorial war between crime ‘families’; again the warriors sleep on mattresses on the floor”, etc. It’s an interesting set of associations — but the obvious difference between the two films is that The Godfather endures as an iconic classic of cinema, while Mixed Blood will likely only be of interest to fans of Morrissey’s eclectic oeuvre — or those curious to see Marilia Pera (so effective as a prostitute in 1981’s Pixote) in a truly unique lead performance. Playing a “middle-aged, eccentric gypsy… who sings Carmen Miranda songs”, her presence is never anything other than intriguing; listen to her strange line delivery, for instance, as she talks about how many funerals she’s had to endure over the years.

As Peary notes, while the “extreme violence” of the film can be off-putting, the “exaggerated gore and bizarre situations” help to mediate this somewhat. Indeed, Mixed Blood is an odd mixture of time-capsule realism — one scene actually takes place in a store dedicated exclusively to Menudo memorabilia! — and satire (note the drug-dealing scene, which shows purchases being made at a the equivalent of a lemonade stand). Peary argues that while the film “doesn’t always work”, it’s “exciting and funny, in unusual ways” — a sentiment I can’t quite agree with, though I’ll agree it’s worth a one-time look for Pera alone.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Marilia Pera as Rita La Puenta
  
• Effectively seedy location shooting throughout “Alphabet City”
  
• An interesting time-capsule glimpse of 1980s New York
  

Must See?
No, though it’s worth a look simply for Pera’s performance.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review

Synopsis:
As he lies dying from a car crash, an ex-con (Jimmy Durante) tells a motley group of witnesses — Mickey Rooney, Buddy Hackett, Sid Caesar, Edie Adams, Jonathan Winters, Milton Berle, Dorothy Provine, and Ethel Merman — about a stash of money he has hidden under a “giant W”. Soon they are in a fierce competition — secretly overseen by a police detective (Spencer Tracy) — to be the first to find it.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Car Chase
• Comedy
• Detectives and Private Eyes
• Ensemble Cast
• Greed
• Hidden Treasure
• Mickey Rooney Films
• Peter Falk Films
• Spencer Tracy Films
• Stanley Kramer Films
• Zasu Pitts Films

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary is mostly enthusiastic in his GFTFF review of this all-star cult comedy — produced and directed by Stanley Kramer as a “salute to slapstick” — which was one of just five feature films shot in a single-lens version of Cinerama. He argues that the “all star cast” — most of whom are “known for their verbal skills” — “prove equal to the task”; that “there are some spectacular stunts and some imaginative plot twists”; and that while the film may “be too long”, this nonetheless “allows all the stars ample time to be in the spotlight”. He notes that while “much humor… falls flat”, there is “also a great deal of hilarity in [the] film, both visual and verbal”, with Kramer effectively demonstrating “that old, familiar slapstick bits are still funny”. Finally, he argues that Kramer miraculously “manages to maintain a frantic pace throughout” the film’s lengthy (nearly three hours — and it was originally much longer!) running time.

In his later, more detailed analysis of the film written for Cult Movies 3, however, Peary is suddenly much more critical. He claims that … Mad World “makes a mockery of humanity” given that the individuals seeking the hidden money are either “stupid, loud, vulgar, mean, corrupt, shameless, and[/or] greedy”. He points out that we never really feel much “affection” for any of the characters — other than Spencer Tracy, for a little while:

— and that “we miss a sympathetic character to root for, someone who has a noble purpose for acquiring the money”. In this review, he argues that despite its purported aim to serve as an homage to silent slapstick films, the film is “filled with superfluous dialogue” used “to camouflage… uninspired sight gags”, which in turn lack “intricate pacing” or any “build to a big-laugh payoff”. He posits that “the wrong types of comedians were cast” (he’s especially disparaging of Rooney and Hackett, who he claims “should have been replaced by… two much zanier performers”), and, in sum, refers to … Mad World as a “disappointing, wrongly conceived film” — though one which is “by no means a total disaster”.

After reading both reviews – and scratching my head plenty over how one reviewer could offer such widely divergent takes on the same film — I found myself agreeing primarily with Peary’s Cult Movies 3 review. While I find the premise and plot twists remarkably clever — and enjoyed “watching for cameos from the likes of Jerry Lewis” and others — overall there’s little here to actively engage anyone but cult followers of the film. And while it’s true, as Peary notes, that the lengthy running time allows most of the stars ample time to shine, none of them are at their comedic best. Sid Caesar, just for instance — so brilliant in his sketch comedy series (see Ten From Your Show of Shows, 1973) — is merely serviceable here playing a married man trying to blast his way out of a locked hardware store; and despite Peary’s claims that Ethel Merman was a “good sport to play such a character”, her outrageously obnoxious mother-in-law is someone you desperately hope to see obliterated within a few moments of her arrival on-screen.

Meanwhile, all the stunts and sight gags go on for about three times as long as they need to — and I’ll agree with Peary that they’re mostly uninspired. The most amusing sequences — indeed, the only ones that had me giggling out loud — involve Dick Shawn as Merman’s grown son, who’s first seen dancing groovily with his robotic girlfriend (Barrie Chase), then sobbing protectively as he races to “rescue” his mother.

While I appreciate this film on multiple levels (including its historical value as a Cinerama production), it’s ultimately not one I’ll be returning to again any time soon. Click here for a fun set of comparative photos with actual locations of all major sequences revealed.

Note: Interestingly, Peary points out that this “was one of the first films since Griffith’s 1916 Intolerance to cut back and forth between several story lines”; it’s strange to think that so many years went by before this practice began to become as commonplace as it is today.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• A clever premise
  
• Fun cameos by a plethora of comedic greats
  
• Fine location shooting throughout Southern California
  

Must See?
Yes, simply as a cult favorite with historical importance.

Categories

• Cult Movie
• Historically Relevant

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review
• TCM Articles
• Time Out Capsule Review

Synopsis:
An illiterate peasant (Danny Kaye) working for a traveling medicine show man (Walter Slezak) is mistaken as the feared Inspector General by a corrupt mayor (Gene Lockhart) and his fellow town officials.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Alan Hale Films
• Comedy
• Corruption
• Danny Kaye Films
• Elsa Lanchester Films
• Historical Drama
• Mistaken Identities
• Musicals
• Play Adaptation

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary provides some interesting social context in the opening lines of his review of this “badly dated” Danny Kaye farce: he reports that Kaye (“part owner of the Seattle Mariners”) was “roundly booed” at a “game [he] attended in Yankee Stadium” a few years earlier, and notes, “How his star has fallen…”. Indeed, reading Bosley Crowther’s original review for the New York Times — in which he writes that “at this late date, there’s no necessity to describe Mr. Kaye’s comic type–a charming combination of the meek, the meticulous and the mad–or his wonderful grace and dexterity in manipulating his face and form” — supports this assertion. At any rate, Peary laments that the premise of The Inspector General (very loosely based on a play by Nikolai Gogol) “becomes as tiresome as all [of] Kaye’s songs”, but argues that Kaye — who “does some good physical comedy” — “comes off better than the silly script and better than in some of his other roles”. This may be true, but it’s not enough to recommend the film to anyone other than Danny Kaye fans. All-purpose film fanatics should stick with The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947) and The Court Jester (1956) as their two obligatory Kaye flicks.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Several amusing songs
  
• Walter Slezak — effectively menacing as Yakov the “Medicine Man”
  
• Elsa Lanchester in a too-brief performance as the mayor’s wife (who falls hard for the Inspector General)
  

Must See?
No; this one is only must-see for Danny Kaye fans.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review
• TCM Article

Synopsis:
When a mob accountant (Buck Henry) and his family are targeted for assassination, only his son (John Adames) survives, thanks to a feisty ex-gunmoll (Gena Rowlands) who reluctantly takes him under her wing.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Cat-and-Mouse
• Gangsters
• Gena Rowlands Films
• John Cassavetes Films
• Lawrence Tierney Films
• Strong Females

Response to Peary’s Review:
As Peary notes, this “unusual, tough action film” represents a “change of pace for director John Cassavetes and his actress wife, Gena Rowlands”, given that it “replaces introspective dialogue with flying bullets”. It’s primarily notable for the truly “dynamic performance” given by Rowlands, who justifiably earned an Oscar nomination; her character — a “retired former gun moll” who “proves smarter, more resourceful than the killers who chase her and, when necessary, as brutal as they are” — is indeed “unique to cinema”. As the film begins, Cassavetes sets up an almost unbearably tense scenario (reminiscent of the Godfather films), as Buck Henry’s wife (Julie Carmen) is followed back to her apartment, and we soon realize that she and her young family are going to be murdered in cold blood by vengeful mobsters. When Carmen’s flinty, child-hating neighbor (Rowlands as “Gloria Swenson”) is tasked with hiding Carmen’s young son (Adames) — and thus saving him from being killed — we’re literally on the edge of our seats, wondering what will become of this unlikely duo.

Indeed, for the first hour or so, it’s quite compelling to watch Rowlands and Adames make their way across the “gritty”, “sordid New York and New Jersey locations”, as “Gloria stands her ground and guns down some mobsters in a car” (a truly shocking sequence), and she and Phil (Adames) establish their tenuous relationship with one another (I love how Rowlands literally swats Adames off the bed in irritation when he starts asking her too many questions). But as whiny Adames is given more and more screentime (and dialogue), things quickly go downhill; as Peary notes, Adames’ “little boy [who] is supposed to constantly act like a big man will really test your nerves”. (It’s interesting to contemplate whether a different, more skilled child actor — i.e., a Jodie Foster — could have actually pulled off this very challenging role; I’m not certain.)

At any rate, I disagree with Peary that “Buck Henry, in the small part of the boy’s father, is also miscast” — his nebbishy character actually seems perfectly suited as an accountant who stupidly puts his own and his family’s lives at risk. And while Peary calls this film “underrated”, I can’t say I agree — though I’ll concede it’s must-see viewing simply for Rowlands’ iconic performance.

Note: Adames co-earned a Razzie — along with Laurence Olivier! — that year for his performance in this film, and never acted again.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Gena Rowlands as Gloria — nominated for an Alternate Oscar by Peary
  
• The truly nerve-wracking opening assassination sequence
  
• Creative direction by Cassavetes
  
• Nice use of authentic locales
  

Must See?
Yes — simply for Rowlands’ Oscar-nominated performance.

Categories

• Noteworthy Performance(s)
• Oscar Winner or Nominee

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review
• Roger Ebert’s Review
• DVD Savant Review
• Slant Magazine Review
• Time Out Capsule Review