FilmFanatic.org

Synopsis:
A cynical young girl (Natalie Wood) who doesn’t believe in Santa Claus befriends an older man (Edmund Gwenn) who claims to be Kris Kringle himself.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Christmas
• Courtroom Drama
• Do-Gooders
• Edmund Gwenn Films
• Fantasy
• John Payne Films
• Maureen O’Hara Films
• Mental Illness
• Natalie Wood Films
• Thelma Ritter Films

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary lauds this heartwarming family favorite as a “marvelous adaptation of Valentine Davies’s [short story],” noting that it’s appropriate “for children and adults (who will better appreciate the social satire) — every Christmas season”. He accurately notes that the film possesses “excellent acting down to the smallest parts”, as well as “off-beat humor, sharp satire, tremendous warmth, and scenes that will have you choking up”. He argues that George Seaton’s “intelligent, skillfully plotted Oscar-winning” screenplay “zeroes in on the American character”, given that the film’s characters have “become so ambitious in their careers, [so] power-hungry, and [so] interested in money, that they have suppressed their finer values” — just in time for Kris Kringle to show up and put “life in perspective” for them.

Indeed, the film’s Christmas-time setting is apt, given that this is when the “good-versus-greedy battle within each person” is especially evident — as epitomized by the scene involving Thelma Ritter’s harried mother, whose son wishes for a certain toy she can’t find anywhere (the more things change, the more they stay the same!); it’s up to Kringle to manifest the true spirit of Christmas by breaking allegiance with Macy’s and telling her precisely where she can go to find one. Of course, one could argue that Kringle’s brilliant “marketing scheme” — co-opted immediately by all of Macy’s significant rivals — merely perpetuates the commercialism so rampant during the holidays. Yet tapping into the power of the “Christmas spirit” is also shown to signify a potentially deeper change of heart: for Maureen O’Hara (Susan’s mom, a cynical divorcee), it means opening herself up to both new romance (with suitor John Payne) and a life outside of the corporate ladder; for Wood, it means learning how to fantasize, dream, and “make-believe” for the first time in her young life.

Part of the film’s success lies in the fact that we (especially adult viewers) never really know how much of the story is fantasy versus a manifestation of Kringle’s highly creative take on reality. As a result, we’re left to wonder — is Kringle “really” Santa Claus? And if so, what does that mean, pragmatically speaking? Why would Santa be living in a halfway home in New York, rather than at the North Pole? The mere fact that we’re led to contemplate these questions, however, speaks to the strength and veracity of Seaton’s screenplay — and of the stellar performances given throughout. O’Hara and Payne are well-cast in critical supporting roles, and the entire ensemble cast provides “splendid characterizations”, with “no one play[ing] their parts tongue-in-cheek”. Gwenn, of course, is notoriously “perfect” as Santa (Peary opens his review by stating, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus and, using Edmund Gwenn’s SAG card, he gave a convincing performance as himself”). Perhaps most impressive, however, is Natalie Wood, who gives one of the single best child performances ever — watch how convincingly she portrays young Susan as alternately cynical, hopeful, playful, dejected, and overjoyed.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Natalie Wood as Susan
  
• Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle (nominated by Peary as Best Actor of the Year, rather than Best Supporting Actor, in his Alternate Oscars book)
  
• Maureen O’Hara as Susan’s mother
  
• John Payne as Fred Gailey
  
• Fine supporting performances by the entire cast
  
  
  
• George Seaton’s heartwarming script
  

Must See?
Yes, naturally, as an enduring classic. Nominated by Peary as one of the Best Pictures of the Year in his Alternate Oscars.

Categories

• Cult Movie
• Genuine Classic

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review
• Moria Review

Synopsis:
A doctor (Ray Milland) develops a serum which gives him x-ray vision, but soon finds that his new power causes him more trouble than glory.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Carnivals and Circuses
• Dick Miller Films
• Downward Spiral
• Fugitives
• Mad Doctors and Scientists
• Ray Milland Films
• Roger Corman Films
• Science Fiction
• Supernatural Powers

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary refers to this “philosophical sci-fi film, directed by Roger Corman for AIP”, as “competent”, arguing that the “story is predictable but Milland makes a good lead — a man who’s not entirely sympathetic”, and accurately noting that the “final few seconds are powerful”. I actually disagree that it’s merely “competent”, however, given that Robert Dillon and Ray Russell’s smart script effectively exploits the clever concept of what might happen to a person blessed (or cursed) with x-ray vision. The timbre of their screenplay shifts from the giddy delight experienced by Milland as he engages in pleasant voyeurism at a party:

… to the ethical dilemma he faces when he knows without a doubt that his medical colleague’s diagnosis of a patient is wrong:

… to the (perhaps) inevitable downward spiral of a man who has so clearly become a “freak” of nature (albeit a self-created one) — and by the end, it manages to argue that a man who can see “everything” may have access to universal secrets best left untapped.

With that said, in many ways the film is typically low-budget Roger Corman fare — though it should be noted that his budget and the production values are clearly higher than what he was working with for his more outrageously campy earlier sci-fi outings in the ’50s. The special effects are occasionally laughably cheap (i.e., when Milland sees through flesh to drawings of people’s innards), but at other times are remarkably chilling — most notably the final physical transformations that take place in Milland’s eyes.

And while there’s a smattering of awkwardly handled dramatic moments (c.f. the pivotal “murder” scene that drives Milland underground, or Milland’s tentative flirtations with his colleague, Diana van der Vlis), other scenes hit surprisingly hard — such as Milland’s interactions with Don Rickles as a manipulative carnival manager who recognizes Milland as a lucrative cash cow.

Note: Milland gives a believably tortured performance here as the fatally obsessed title character, perhaps his best since his Oscar-winning role in The Lost Weekend (1945) nearly 20 years earlier.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Ray Milland as Dr. Xavier
  
• Don Rickles as Crane
  
• A smart, suspenseful script
  

Must See?
Yes, as a cult classic by Corman.

Categories

• Cult Movie

Links:

• IMDb entry
• Combustible Celluloid Review
• DVD Savant Review
• Q Network Review
• Time Out Capsule Review

Synopsis:
After emerging from a fatal car crash, a young woman (Candace Hilligoss) travels to her new job as a church organist in Utah, but remains haunted by the presence of a ghoulish man (Herk Harvey), and unable to emotionally connect with anyone around her.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Horror
• Living Nightmare
• Untimely Death

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary refers to this low-budget cult classic as a “sleeper that moviegoers always mention as one of their personal discoveries”. He comments on its “many clever ‘eerie’ scenes”, such as the two times when “Mary [Hilligoss] finds that she can’t hear anything and that people neither hear nor see her” (reminiscent of a “Twilight Zone” episode); the scene when she “climbs onto a bus, only to find that it is full of ghouls”; and the creepy finale at a deserted carnival pavilion. Indeed, for such a low-budget venture by a relatively novice director (this was Herk Harvey’s first and only feature-length narrative movie after a career in industrial film production), it possesses a surprising amount of atmosphere and panache, with striking b&w cinematography, creative direction, and a particularly noteworthy organ score by Gene Moore.

In his review, Peary argues that “rather than being a straight horror film, [Carnival of Souls] delivers a message similar to the one in Invasion of the Body Snatchers about how we are turning into pod people”, given that “Mary is such a passive, uninvolved (soulless) character”. (Interestingly, the Strasberg-trained Hilligoss apparently complained about this very description, and attempted to inject even more life into her protagonist.) Unfortunately, Peary’s review glibly gives away spoilers, as do other online reviews — so be duly forewarned; but chances are you’ll find yourself guessing the truth about Mary’s “situation” long before the end. Remade in 1998 by Wes Craven.

Note: According to TCM, Carnival of Souls was restored and revived in theaters in 1989, and made available on home video the following year, thus entering into mainstream moviegoers’ cultural consciousness just a few years after Peary’s GFTFF was published.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Candace Hilligoss as Mary
  
• Many genuinely frightening images
  
• Striking cinematography by Maurice Prather
  
• Effective use of pre-existing locales
  
• Creative direction and editing
  
• Gene Moore’s organ score

Must See?
Yes, as a genuine cult classic.

Categories

• Cult Movie

Links:

• IMDb entry
• Roger Ebert’s Review
• Moria Review
• Q Network Review
• TCM Articles (spoiler alert!)
• Washington Post Review
• Time Out Capsule Review

Synopsis:
Orphaned Oliver Twist (John Howard Davies) joins a gang of pickpockets led by miserly Fagin (Alec Guinness) and evil Bill Sykes (Robert Newton).

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Alec Guinness Films
• David Lean Films
• Literature Adaptation
• Orphans
• Robert Newton Films
• Thieves and Criminals

Response to Peary’s Review:
As Peary notes, David Lean’s adaptation of this classic serialized Dickens novel is “a dark, highly atmospheric, punishing film”, one which will doubtless make you “really get upset [by] watching likable eight-year-old Oliver… be pushed around the cruel world”. Indeed, as much as I genuinely admire this brilliantly crafted film, I find it challenging to sit through, especially during the traumatic second half, when Oliver is torn away from his would-be kindly benefactor (Henry Stephenson), and Bill Sykes (a “terrifying” Robert Newton) shows his true colors by beating “to death his sympathetic companion, Nancy”. Indeed, this is a no-holds-barred Dickensian universe — starting from the astonishingly dramatic opening sequence, in which Oliver’s soon-to-die mother (Josephine Stuart) staggers across the moors in labor, hoping to make it to the Parrish Workhouse in time to give birth to her son. Meanwhile, DP Guy Green’s high-contrast b&w cinematography is never anything short of stunning, and the supporting cast (including Francis L. Sullivan as Mr. Bumble) is consistently strong.

The film is perhaps “best remembered”, however, for its infamous portrayal of “the Jew”, Fagin, by a youthful Alec Guinness in heavy prosthetics. Jewish groups at the time objected strongly enough that its U.S. release was delayed for several years, and “bits with the character were deleted” (they’ve since been restored); meanwhile, modern viewers continue to be dismayed by the overt anti-Semitism evident in Guinness’s characterization. While I certainly can’t argue with these sentiments, I find myself in agreement with Peary’s concise, somewhat neutral assessment of Guinness’s performance as “mannered, effeminate, [and] creepily effective”. Ultimately, for better or for worse, Lean and Guinness remain faithful to Dickens’ original conception of Fagin — and to Cruikshank’s illustrations in the original serialised novel. Indeed, it’s this close attention to detail that marks both Oliver Twist and Great Expectations (the latter generally considered to be the superior of the two films) as enduring cinematic adaptations.

P.S. Watch for teenage Anthony Newley in his first significant role as the Artful Dodger.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• John Howard Davies as Oliver
  
• Alec Guinness as Fagin
  
• Robert Newton as Bill Sykes
  
• A fine ensemble cast of supporting players
  
• John Bryan’s set designs
  
• The powerful opening sequence
  
• Guy Green’s dramatic cinematography
  
• David Lean’s masterful direction
• Jack Harris’s smart editing

Must See?
Yes, as another literary masterpiece by David Lean.

Categories

• Genuine Classic
• Important Director

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review
• Combustible Celluloid Review
• TV Guide Review
• TCM Article
• Time Out Capsule Review