Browsed by
Month: June 2015

Seconds (1966)

Seconds (1966)

Comments 1 comment

“Don’t think, Tony — I came here to feel, to be!”

Synopsis:
A middle-aged banker (John Randolph) emotionally estranged from his devoted wife (Frances Reid) undergoes extreme plastic surgery and emerges with a new identity as a bohemian painter (Rock Hudson) and a new love interest (Salome Jens) — but will his second chance at life be any more fulfilling than the first?

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • John Frankenheimer Films
  • Living Nightmare
  • Midlife Crisis
  • Plastic Surgery
  • Psychological Horror
  • Rock Hudson Films
  • Science Fiction

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary writes that John Frankenheimer’s Kafka-esque psychological horror film (based on a 1963 novel by David Ely) is “one of the most depressing science fiction films ever made — perhaps because its premise seems credible — and one of the most provocative”; he notes that “if you don’t detest this film, then chances are you’ll greatly admire it”. While it was once challenging to see (it received poor reviews and limited screenings until 1988), it’s long held “an enormous cult following” and remains a fascinating — if undeniably emotionally challenging — viewing experience. As Peary writes, “the acting in the film is first-rate” (Hudson gives his best-ever lead performance) and “John Frankenheimer’s direction seems appropriately audacious, if overly self-indulgent”. However, Peary rightly notes that “the ‘star’ of the film is cameraman James Wong Howe, who used black-and-white photography and assorted lenses to create the most sinister-surreal-paranoid atmosphere the genre had ever known”. Howe’s “striking contributions” included “putting a camera with a wide-angle lens on a wheeled suitcase-carrier for bizarre shots of Randolph walking through Grand Central Station” and “using a fish-eye lens for the horrifying final shot of Hudson’s last seconds”, in addition to incorporating a “segment of a real nose operation” for the opening title sequence (designed by Saul Bass).

In Peary’s Cult Movies 3, he includes an extended essay on Seconds written by Henry Blinder, who interviewed Randolph, screenwriter John Carlino, composer Jerry Goldsmith, and producer Edward Lewis. Blinder writes unequivocally that “Seconds is quite possibly the most depressing film ever made — it is a film of unrelieved despair”, and (citing Carlino) “almost too painful to watch”. Blinder refers to Seconds as “the living nightmare of a man who acts to fill his emptiness without having an idea of what to fill it with”, culminating in “one of the most harrowing murders ever filmed”. In his analysis, Blinder references other key cinematic works — noting, for instance, that the final shot in Seconds is akin to “Rosebud” in Citizen Kane (1941), and that Ely’s original novel was a precursor of sorts to Ira Levin’s novel-turned-movie The Stepford Wives (1975): “In Ely’s work, the men pay a great deal of money to alter/replace themselves; in Levin’s the men pay a great deal of money to alter/replace their wives”.

Indeed, Seconds is very clearly about males in crisis, given that the two key females — Reid as Randolph’s wife, and Jens as Hudson’s free-spirited new lover — are ultimately supporting players in his story, and the nefarious “company” is run by (white, middle-aged) men. Blinder writes that Ely’s novel “was inspired by a startling statistic: At the time, 80,000 middle-aged American men left their wives and children each year, never to return”, causing Ely to hypothesize “that big business might want to capitalize on the legion of wealthy men”. The somewhat opaque workings of “The Company” provide a chilling example of fatal coercion in marketing, given that new members are not-so-subtly “encouraged” to name another potential client for the expensive underground procedure before they’re allowed to move on to another “level”. Hudson’s ultimate refusal to “name names” is a poignant tribute to the blacklisted actors brought out of obscurity to play either supporting (Jeff Corey, Will Geer) or central (John Randolph) roles. There is much more to say and discuss about Seconds, but simply put, it remains must-see viewing: steel yourself.

Note: Seconds is often referred to as the third of Frankenheimer’s “paranoia trilogy”, following The Manchurian Candidate (1964) and Seven Days in May (1964).

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

  • Saul Bass’s opening title sequence
  • Rock Hudson as reborn Arthur
  • John Randolph as older Arthur
  • Fine supporting performances by Will Geer and others


  • James Wong Howe’s superb cinematography



  • Jerry Goldsmith’s score

Must See?
Yes, as a cult classic.

Categories

  • Cult Movie
  • Oscar Winner or Nominee

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

Links:

Atom Age Vampire (1960)

Atom Age Vampire (1960)

Comments 1 comment

“There’s no doubt of it! Yes, she’s disfigured forever! Like a cancer that’s beyond control — like leprosy!”

Synopsis:
Distraught that her boyfriend (Sergio Fantoni) is leaving her because she won’t give up her job as a nightclub dancer, a woman (Susanne Loret) crashes her car and is facially disfigured. She is discovered by a scientist (Albert Lupo) and his loyal assistant (Franca Parisi), who are determined to utilize an experimental new skin cure on her; but when the treatment proves to be temporary, Lupo — who has fallen hopelessly in love with Loret — resorts to monstrous means to keep her looking beautiful.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Disfigured Faces
  • Horror Films
  • Mad Doctors and Scientists
  • Obsessive Love

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary writes that this “sleazy, dubbed horror film” is an “awful picture” but “fun to watch”, and points out how “perversely exciting” it was for him as a young boy to see “scarred Loret displaying her stacked body in skimpy underwear”. Naturally, my own take on this mash-up of Eyes Without a Face (1960) and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde lacks Peary’s fond memories of it as “one of the first horror films to really exploit sex”. While it is indeed sleazy, terribly dubbed, poorly acted, and somewhat schizophrenic in its many (cliched) narrative strands, I don’t agree with Peary that it’s AWFUL; it’s often creatively shot (see stills below) and reasonably suspenseful for a low-budget thriller, with plenty of campy dialogue. Most humorous of all is how gorgeous Loret — evoking Veronica Lake with her peekaboo blonde wave of hair — survives a near-fatal car crash with facial scarring conveniently on just one side of her face, and no other obvious impairments; her suicidal distress feels somewhat out of proportion.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

  • Some creative direction
  • Atmospheric cinematography

Must See?
No, though it’s worth a look simply for its cult/camp appeal. Available as a public domain video here.

Links:

White Cargo (1942)

White Cargo (1942)

Comments 1 comment

“She knows how to purr her way into your mind and scratch her way out, always taking and never giving.”

Synopsis:
A rubber plantation overseer (Walter Pidgeon) in a humid African village — just one among a handful of white men, including an alcoholic doctor (Frank Morgan) and a kind missionary (Henry O’Neill) — laments the arrival of an idealistic new co-worker (Richard Carlson) who quickly falls in love with a local “half-breed” seductress named Tondelayo (Hedy Lamarr).

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Africa
  • Femmes Fatales
  • Flashback Films
  • Frank Morgan Films
  • Hedy Lamarr Films
  • Plantations
  • Play Adaptation
  • Walter Pidgeon Films

Review:
There is so much to be offended by in this openly misogynist, racist, colonialist jungle flick — based on a hit 1923 play, which was in turn based on a novel entitled Hell’s Playground (!) — that, as many viewers have pointed out, its true value lies in its perceived camp appeal. Indeed, TCM refers to it as a “popular mixture of exotica, pulp thrills and over-the-top misogyny”, as well as “a deliciously ripe relic”. With black-faced, shiny-skinned Hedy Lamarr:

… slinking around spouting dialogue like the following to her “prey” (Carlson):

“I’m married to you for five months — and you not beat me once! Awila, please beat me… Then maybe you feel much better. Soon we make up — much love, many bangles.”

… you will simply be slack-jawed throughout. Her pidgin-like speech is peppered with the words “much” and “many” (“Him much nice man.”; “Awila give me much silk and many bangles.”), with the particularly favored phrase “much love, many bangles” repeated at least once. While Tondelayo is referred to at one point as possessing an “innate morality”, there’s really none of that on display here, as she simply evinces a “childlike” simplicity combined with seductive, sociopathic maneuvering. At least Harry Stradling’s cinematography is gorgeous, so that’s a bonus.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

  • Harry Stradling’s dramatic cinematography
  • Some clever dialogue:

    “The natives have been looking at me in a queer sort of way.”
    “Maybe they’re wondering how you can walk without a spine.”

Must See?
No — though of course, if this seems like your cup of tea, you should give it a try!

Links:

Letter to Three Wives, A (1949)

Letter to Three Wives, A (1949)

Comments 1 comment

“I’m fed up with Addie Ross!”

Synopsis:
Three small-town wives (Jeanne Crain, Ann Sothern, and Linda Darnell) in post-WWII America each worry that their husband (Jeffrey Lynn, Kirk Douglas, and Paul Douglas) may have run off with one of their “friends” (Celeste Holm).

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Ann Sothern Films
  • Celeste Holm Films
  • Feminism and Women’s Issues
  • Flashback Films
  • Infidelity
  • Jeanne Crain Films
  • Joseph L. Mankiewicz Films
  • Kirk Douglas Films
  • Linda Darnell Films
  • Marital Problems
  • Paul Douglas Films

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary writes that this “sharp-edged yet ultimately sentimental look at three marriages in a small American town” — co-written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz — is “stagy, almost like three one-act plays put together” but “perceptive” and possesses a “literate, Oscar-winning script” which makes us “care about the characters” (who, he argues, “would be ideal as the initial characters in a TV soap”). We’re kept in suspense from beginning to end as we wonder which of their three husbands will turn out to be the adulterer who has run away with the unseen yet seductively voiced “Addie Ross”. The film’s three flashback vignettes each provide a glimpse into unique marital challenges of the era: former-WAVE Crain is insecure about transitioning from her pre-war life on a farm to her new role as a socialite wife; Sothern worries that her work as a successful radio writer may be threatening her cultured husband’s sense of masculinity; and Darnell reflects on the seductive wiles she used to climb the social ladder and snare her boss as her husband.

As in Mankiewicz’s next two movies — All About Eve (1950) and People Will Talk (1951) — A Letter to Three Wives not only features strong female protagonists but directly addresses feminist issues (work, identity, marital insecurity) not commonly on display in other films of the era. It’s notable that while Sothern is the overworked mother of twins, we never see them; the focus is entirely on her role as a writer painfully aware of how her success is impacting her marriage. The most intriguing storyline, however, is that between Darnell and Douglas: co-screenwriters Mankiewicz and Vera Caspary pull no punches in their depiction of a beautiful woman all-too-aware of the games played between men-of-means and working-class women, and how carefully Darnell must lure Douglas into marrying her in order to bed her. Collectively the three wives’ stories tell a fascinating tale of post-war lives for (white) American women.

Note: This film is also noteworthy for providing uncredited Thelma Ritter with one of her first post-Miracle on 34th Street (1947) wisecracking sidekick roles.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

  • Linda Darnell and Paul Douglas as Lora Mae and Porter Hollingsway
  • A witty, suspenseful script
  • Creative use of sound

Must See?
Yes, as an enjoyable mid-century classic.

Categories

  • Genuine Classic

Links:

Applause (1929)

Applause (1929)

Comments 1 comment

“The kid deserves a better break. Why, this burlesque racket is no place for her!”

Synopsis:
An aging burlesque star (Helen Morgan) with a manipulative boyfriend (Fuller Mellish, Jr.) tries to prevent her daughter (Joan Peers) — who has fallen in love with a kind sailor (Henry Wadsworth) — from following in her footsteps.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Has-Beens
  • Rouben Mamoulian Films
  • Showgirls
  • Single Mothers

Review:
Rouben Mamoulian’s directorial debut remains one of the most creatively conceived early talkies; as noted in Stuart Galbraith IV’s review for DVD Talk, “Compared with the stage-bound, bolt-the-camera-to-the-floor look of nearly all the earliest sound films, Applause is downright astounding.” A glimpse at the stills below provides evidence of Mamoulian’s (and cinematographer George J. Folsey’s) visual brilliance and effective use of on-location shooting. The film is also notable for providing torch singer Helen Morgan with one of a handful of leading cinematic roles as a Stella Dallas-like mother sacrificing all for her daughter. Unfortunately, the storyline itself is pure melodrama through-and-through, with few surprises and many cliches, making this one merely recommended rather than must-see.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

  • Creative direction and cinematography



  • Fine on-location shooting

Must See?
No, though it’s certainly worth a look. Listed as a film with Historical Importance in the back of Peary’s book.

Links:

Picture of Dorian Gray, The (1945)

Picture of Dorian Gray, The (1945)

Comments 1 comment

“There can be something fatal about a portrait.”

Synopsis:
Goaded by a corrupt lord (George Sanders), a handsome young aristocrat (Hurd Hatfield) offers his soul to the devil if he can appear as young as he looks in a portrait painted by his friend (Lowell Gilmore). He soon finds that his misdeeds — including his cruel mistreatment of a lovely young singer (Angela Lansbury) — show up on the painting while he himself remains ageless; but he must eventually make some challenging decisions when the suitor (Peter Lawford) of Gilmore’s niece (Donna Reed) is determined to find out why Hatfield keeps one room in his house permanently locked.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Angela Lansbury Films
  • Donna Reed Films
  • George Sanders Films
  • Historical Drama
  • Hurd Hatfield Films
  • Pact With the Devil
  • Peter Lawford Films

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary writes that this “handsomely produced” MGM adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s late-19th century story is “strikingly photographed by Harry Stradling (who won an Oscar), and literately scripted by director Albert Lewin” but is ultimately “too tasteful for a film about a sinner”. He accurately points out that “miscast Hatfield’s scoundrel, who is repeatedly shown standing stiff and emotionless like a mannequin, is not active or imaginative enough to be feared”.

Indeed, Hatfield’s frustratingly flat performance — presumably (mis)guided by Lewin — brings the entire movie to a halt; with his character acting more like a “model” in a Robert Bresson film than a blue-blooded sociopath (and nearly all of his “wicked acts… kept off screen”), we’re hard-pressed to feel engaged in the scenario one way or another. Are we meant to feel sorry for Gray, who appears to have been naively corrupted by the (perfectly typecast) epigraph-spouting Sanders? And why doesn’t Sanders’ character — who “gets a charge out of Gray’s insensitivity” — show up more often in the second half of the film?

Meanwhile, the film’s biggest “reveal” is, naturally, the hideous state of the continuously morphing titular painting.

We’re given plenty of teasers — with shot after shot of a character looking in horror at the portrait we can’t see — before a flash of Technicolor finally reveals what the painting has turned into, at which point we can’t help guffawing.

While mid-20th-century audiences may have been aghast at the purulent evidence of Gray’s “moral leprosy”, the painting today comes across like an escaped artifact from A Bucket of Blood (1959) or Color Me Blood Red (1965). Thankfully, the rest of the film is aesthetically pleasing, with scrupulously staged scenes of hollow interactions occurring in cavernous halls, effectively photographed in atmospheric black-and-white:

The mid-film murder scene is particularly memorable. But on the whole, this adaptation doesn’t live up to its potential.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

  • Fine production values
  • Harry Stradling’s Oscar-winning cinematography
  • An effectively staged murder sequence

Must See?
No; this one isn’t must-see.

Links:

People Will Talk (1951)

People Will Talk (1951)

Comments 1 comment

“You’re quite a noble character, aren’t you?”

Synopsis:
A well-intentioned doctor (Cary Grant) accompanied by a stoic yet loyal assistant (Finlay Currie) marries a suicidal pregnant woman (Jeanne Crain) out of both concern and love, while being pestered by a jealous colleague (Hume Cronyn) desperate to reveal questionable elements of Grant and Currie’s mysterious pasts.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Cary Grant Films
  • Do-Gooders
  • Doctors and Nurses
  • Hume Cronyn Films
  • Jeanne Crain Films
  • Joseph L. Mankiewicz Films
  • Pregnancy
  • Romantic Comedy

Review:
This most unusual “romantic comedy” — written and directed by Joseph Mankiewicz, and based on a play by German playwright Curt Goetz — is usually referred to as a thinly veiled commentary on anti-Communist hysteria and witch hunts in 1950s America. While it doesn’t really succeed as such, it does remain a bold, often cleverly scripted antidote to most of the overly sanitized films being produced in Hollywood at the time. Cary Grant’s Dr. Praetorius represents an idealistic vision of what humanity could be like if only our actions were led by compassion and logic rather than suspicion and priggish morality.

His “rescue” of an unwed, pregnant, suicidal woman is initially posited as a deceptive maneuver to save her life, but we soon realize he’s simply allowing powerful emotions to drive his sense of justice and righteous living (perhaps much like Jesus?). Dr. Praetorius is so superior to slimy leches like jealous Professor Elwell (Cronyn) that it’s clear he’ll win the day; the entire film basically plays out how this triumph occurs.

Unfortunately, Grant wasn’t the best choice for this most unusual of romantic male leads; it’s much easier to imagine a more nuanced actor — like Spencer Tracy — investing the character with inspired depth. Crain is fine as Grant’s loyal wife, but never really transcends what’s required of her in the role. The supporting roles are more successful: Cronyn is spot-on as weaselly Elwell:

… Currie gives a memorable performance as the mysterious lumbering “Shunderson”:

… and Margaret Hamilton is nicely typecast as a suspicious shrew brought in during the first scene to bolster Cronyn’s growing case against Grant and Currie.

Ultimately, this odd title remains a mixed bag: intriguing and different enough to be worth checking out, but not entirely successful.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

  • An often wittily acerbic script
  • Milton Krasner’s cinematography

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

Links:

Swiss Family Robinson (1960)

Swiss Family Robinson (1960)

Comments 1 comment

“What about our sons? What future is there here for them?”

Synopsis:
A Swiss family — father (John Mills), mother (Dorothy McGuire), and three sons (Tommy Kirk, James MacArthur, and Kevin Corcoran) — emigrating to New Guinea in the early 19th century is shipwrecked on a remote island, and must fight against marauding pirates while rebuilding their lives and rescuing a captured teenage girl (Janet Munro).

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Dorothy McGuire Films
  • John Mills Films
  • Pirates
  • Survival

Review:
This enormously popular adaptation of Johann David Wyss’s 1812 novel is notable as the first widescreen Disney movie filmed with Panavision lenses, and for its fabled location shooting on the island of Tobago. According to TCM’s article, filming conditions were often treacherous, with star John Mills stating in an interview:

“If a scorpion doesn’t bite me during the night I get into the car, and if it doesn’t skid off the edge of a cliff, I reach the mangrove swamp. I walk through; and if I’m not sucked in by a quick-sand, eaten alive by land crabs, or bitten by a snake, I reach the beach. I change on the beach, trying to avoid being devoured by insects, and walk into the sea. If there are no sharks or barracudas about, we get the shot — and then do the whole thing in reverse, providing, of course, we haven’t died of sunstroke in the meantime.”

Dozens of animals from around the world were shipped to the island, under the care of no less than 14 trainers. The movie cost 4.5 million dollars to make, but was (and remained) so popular it is considered one of the most profitable films of all time — and its fame lives on through reconstructions of the family’s elaborate treehouse at theme parks around the world.

Unfortunately, despite its beloved status, the film is far from a true classic. There’s plenty of adventure to be had, but it’s all so patently unbelievable — a chase between people riding zebras and ostriches?? — that only the youngest or most naive of viewers will be taken in. The two primary plot elements driving the narrative are the family’s attempts to stave off a persistent band of pirates (led by Sessue Hayakawa), and the love triangle that instantly emerges when the two older Robinson brothers conveniently stumble upon (and easily rescue) a teenage girl. Who will win her heart? How will the other boy handle his defeat? Munro is a sweet and lovely actress, but her characterization here does no favors to her gender, and is especially disappointing after her sparkling turn in Disney’s Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959) the year before. [Thankfully, she got back on track with her notable performance as a deep-throated romantic interest the following year in The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961).]

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

  • Beautiful cinematography on the island of Tobago

Must See?
No; this one is only must-see for fans who remember it fondly from their childhood.

Links: