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Synopsis:
In late 19th century British East Africa, a man (Robert Stack) in charge of a railroad building project stymied by the presence of two man-eating lions becomes obsessed with hunting them down — and the situation turns even more perilous when his wife (Barbara Britton) appears for an unexpected visit.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Africa
• Arch Oboler Films
• Robert Stack Films

Review:
This 3D adventure film by director Arch Oboler is notable for being the first feature-length film shot in color 3D, and for being the enormously popular movie watched by audience members in the classic photograph we’ve all seen for Time Magazine. Unfortunately, everything else about the film is notably undistinguished — from its so-so acting:

… to the lame special effects:

… to the “location” shooting in the Santa Monica mountains (supplemented by more authentic 2D footage Oboler caught in 1948).

Bosley Crowther got it right in his original review for the New York Times, in which he describes the film as having “little or no stimulation of a pictorial or dramatic sort.” To be honest, I was much more intrigued to read about the real-life story this movie was based on — the Tsavo man-eating lions — than watching the film itself.

Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:

• Historically innovative use of 3D filming
  

Must See?
No. This one is only worth a look for its historical significance, if you’re curious.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review
• Derek Winnert’s Review

Synopsis:
With help from his girlfriend Flo (Susan Cabot), bootlegger-turned-thief “Machine Gun” Kelly (Charles Bronson) robs banks and becomes America’s Public Enemy Number One, while alienating his former partner (Morey Amsterdam). When Kelly and Flo turn to kidnapping a young girl (Lori Martin) and her nurse (Barboura Morris), their longevity as outlaws becomes even more precarious.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Biopics
• Charles Bronson Films
• Gangsters
• Kidnapping
• Roger Corman Films

Review:
Prior to his breakthrough cinematic success in The Magnificant Seven (1960), one of Charles Bronson’s major movie roles was in this mostly-fictional “biopic” of American gangster George ‘Machine Gun’ Kelly, whose switch from bank robberies to kidnapping precipitated his downfall:

The film opens with a carefully choreographed get-away after a heist, as we’re introduced to pivotal role played by Kelly’s girlfriend “Flo” (based on his wife, Kathryn Kelly):

While Kelly may be a mean, psychopathic bastard who doesn’t hesitate to shoot his guns, throw a punch, or have an accomplice mauled by a lion:

… Flo is equally devious and duplicitous, and Cabot seems to enjoy her role:

Presumably for dramatic interest, the kidnapping that ended Kelly and Flo’s careers was shifted from that of an oil tycoon to his daughter (and her conveniently sexy nurse):

This is actually too bad, given the real-life drama inherent in what went down; click here to watch a brief video, if you’re curious.

Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:

• The creative opening credits
  
• Some memorable lines of dialogue: “When rabbits roar, it’s a bad time.”

Must See?
No, though Corman or Bronson fans will want to check it out.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• TV Guide Review (spoilers alert)
• History on Film Review

Synopsis:
After explaining to his new boss (Jack Hawkins) that a type of airplane known as the “Reindeer” will fail after a certain number of flight hours (due to metal fatigue), a widowed aeronautical engineer (Jimmy Stewart) leaves his self-sufficient daughter (Janette Scott) at home while traveling to investigate a crash. When onboard his flight, he discovers he’s on a Reindeer that is near its presumably fatal number of flying hours, and tries to convince a kind stewardess (Glynis Johns), a famous actress (Marlene Dietrich), and the captain (Niall McGinnis) that they need to ground the plane — but he struggles to get anyone to believe him.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Airplanes and Pilots
• Glynis Johns Films
• Jack Hawkins Films
• Jimmy Stewart Films
• Marlene Dietrich Films
• Niall MacGinnis Films
• “No One Will Believe Me!”
• Scientists

Review:
Jimmy Stewart is perfectly cast as a socially awkward ‘boffin’ in Nevil Shute’s 1948 novel No Highway, which was scarily prescient in its diagnosis of metal fatigue as a potentially fatal characteristic of new aircraft. We’re kept on the edge of our seats from moment to moment as we wait to learn what will happen. Given that we’re clearly meant to sympathize with this eccentric scientist:

… we feel weirdly terrible for him when he’s treated with bemusement or scorn rather than respect. Will his predictions come true? If so, how awful… and yet, if not, then what? Dietrich nicely plays a variation on herself, and is compelling in all of her brief scenes:

It’s especially interesting seeing how her character evolves (quite substantially) over the course of the story. Equally enjoyable is Johns as a stewardess who simply emanates good will (don’t we wish all flight attendants were like her?):

There’s something inherently compelling about “no one will believe me!” tales, and this one is no exception; it’s well worth a watch.

Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:

• Jimmy Stewart as Theodore Honey
  
• Glynis Johns as Marjorie Corder
  
• Marlene Dietrich as Monica Teasdale
  
• Niall MacGinnis as Captain Samuelson
  
• Georges Perinal’s cinematography
  
  

Must See?
Yes, as a fine show.

Categories

• Good Show

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review
• TCM Article
• TV Guide Review
• DVD Savant Review
• And You Call Yourself a Scientist Review
• Reel Engineering Review

Synopsis:
With support from his preacher (Walter Brennan), his mother (Margaret Wycherly), and his sweetheart (Joan Leslie), a hard-drinking backwoods farmer becomes a devoutly faithful pacifist, refusing to join World War I until he has no other choice — but once he enters the military, he begins to understand the value of his sharpshooting skills at protecting his compatriots from harm.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Biopics
• Character Arc
• Gary Cooper Films
• Howard Hawks Films
• Joan Leslie Films
• Walter Brennan Films
• Ward Bond Films
• World War I

Review:
Gary Cooper won a Best Actor Oscar for his leading role in this biopic about one of the greatest — and perhaps most unusual — war heroes in American history. Cooper actually starred in two other major films that year — Meet John Doe (1941) and Ball of Fire (1941) — and in Alternate Oscars, Peary gives Cooper the award for the latter instead, stating that he believes he “gave a much better performance” (his personal favorite of Cooper’s career) playing bookish Professor Potts. As humble Alvin York, however, Cooper also seems perfectly cast (if perhaps typecast); it was interesting learning that Cooper had to be persuaded (by York himself, who wanted no one else to portray him!) to take the role. He convincingly holds his dialect while playing both a farmer:

… and a soldier:

Unfortunately, the film is overlong at 2 1/4 hours, and the first half+ — with its focus on saintly Brennan’s influence:

… Cooper’s intention to purchase land and marry Leslie:

… and his mother’s firm guidance (Wycherly — best known as “Ma” in White Heat — was certainly a distinctive character actor!):

… is much less compelling than the second half, when we see York’s casual yet calculated brilliance in action:

With that said, film fanatics will likely be interested to see this movie given its historical significance as a film York agreed to finally see made simply to help out the efforts of WWII; as DVD Savant describes the film:

“Howard Hawks’ advocacy movie is an outgrowth of the 30s Warners tradition of taking hard liberal attitudes toward social problems. It’s an unusually complicated example of filmmaking, restating history to make a statement about pressing contemporary problems. It’s beautifully filmed, emotionally honest and exactly right for 1941.”

Check out this podcast episode for a comparison of the movie with real life events; they’re remarkably close, actually. And this bit of trivia (courtesy of IMDb) was moving to read:

Alvin C. York himself was on the set for a few days during filming. When one of the crew members tactlessly asked him how many “Jerries” he had killed, York started sobbing so vehemently he threw up. The crew member was nearly fired, but the next day, York demanded that he keep his job.

Talk about living your beliefs.

Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:

• Fine direction and cinematography
  
  
  

Must See?
Yes, once, for its historical significance and Cooper’s Oscar win. Listed as a Sleeper in the back of Peary’s book.

Categories

• Historically Relevant
• Oscar Winner or Nominee

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

Links:

• IMDb entry
• TCM Article
• DVD Savant Review
• History on Film Article

Synopsis:
In the Philippines in 1941, a lieutenant (Robert Montgomery) commanding a fleet of U.S. Navy PT (patrol torpedo) boats orders his men to attack a Japanese cruiser, but sends a valued officer with blood poisoning (John Wayne) to recover first in a hospital, where he falls in love with an Army nurse (Donna Reed). Eventually the squadron is sent to rescue General MacArthur and his family, and to resume attacks against the Japanese. Will the men make it safely through their dangerous mission?

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Cameron Mitchell Films
• Donna Reed Films
• John Ford Films
• John Wayne Films
• Robert Montgomery Films
• Ward Bond Films
• World War II

Review:
Based on a 1942 memoir by William Lindsay White, this John Ford picture is — as Peary writes in Alternate Oscars, where he names it Best Movie of the Year — a “unique World War II film” that represents Ford’s “affectionate, respectful tribute to his war buddy Lieutenant John Bulkeley (Buckley in the film), and the sailors who manned the PT boats in the Philippines, risking their lives to buy time for an eventual American counterattack.” I’ll admit to not knowing what a “PT boat” was before watching this film, and had to do a bit of research to understand the drama in opening scenes, as Montgomery tries to convince his superiors that a PT boat — a type of motor torpedo vessel that was “small, fast, and inexpensive to build, valued for its maneuverability and speed but hampered at the beginning of the war by ineffective torpedoes, limited armament, and comparatively fragile construction” — could be a significant force for good in the war effort, and do more than simply “patrolling and delivering messages”.

Sure enough, Montgomery is allowed to demonstrate the veracity of this claim — but not without significant losses and sacrifice.

Indeed, Peary points out that this film remains “one of the most sobering, somber (though there is humor and romance), and sincerely tender World War II films,” a “picture that moves forward on an even keel, without highs and lows, without climaxes, for though the PT squadron has several impressive victories in sea skirmishes, we are well aware that each win costs the lives of men and the damage to or loss of a boat, and that overall, Americans are losing the war in the Pacific.” This is far from a feel-good film, and the characters aren’t viewed as heroes — instead, “Ford presents them as professionals, wisely scared of battle but prepared to do their duty nevertheless, confident in their decisions (there are many strategy sessions in the film):

… and their skills as soldiers, but cognizant of the dangers involved, and willing to follow all orders even if it means taking on humbling assignments.” In addition, “there is tremendous camaraderie” and a “sense of community,” with the “older, veteran soldiers watch[ing] over the baby-faced recruits (a familiar Ford theme)”:

Montgomery — an actual PT commander at Guadalcanal and Normandy — was able to draw upon his real-life experiences to give “a truly wonderful, understated performance” (Peary nominates him as one of the Best Actors of the Year in his Alternate Oscars):

… with Wayne appropriately taking the back seat (but also quite good in his role). Finally, Peary notes that the “picture has great visual beauty (especially of night scenes, including sea battles):

… propaganda value, and many poignant moments: the men talk with a brave, dying, soldier:

… Sandy (Donna Reed is breathtakingly beautiful) sits alone in a hammock at the dance, left out while Buckley and Rusty talk shop:

… [and] Sandy dines with Rusty, Buckley, and four other soldiers, giving the lonely men pleasure.”

This fine film remains a worthy addition to our cinematic understanding of how World War II played out for Americans on the front lines, and should be seen by all film fanatics.

Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:

• Robert Montgomery as Lt. Brickley
  
• Fine, understated performances by the supporting cast
  
• Joseph August’s cinematography
  
  

Must See?
Yes, as an effective film by a master director. Listed as a Sleeper and a Personal Recommendation in the back of Peary’s book.

Categories

• Historically Relevant
• Important Director

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review
• TV Guide Review
• DVD Savant Review
• TCM Articles