“I know it’s a rotten game; it’s the only one the Man left us to play.”
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Review: Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die) Links: |
“Back in the ’40s, this town was crawlin’ with dollies like you.”
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Review: Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“I want to un-mix this mix-up about the drapes.”
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Equally problematic — and common to many ensemble films, especially those adapted from dense novels — is how underdeveloped each of the characters ultimately is, with none given enough screentime to truly shine. Bacall (a nominally “central” character) is especially underserved:
while Strasberg’s admittedly minor role as an inmate is so slight she barely registers.
Some have noted that the film’s very premise — curtains — is enough to push it into the realm of enjoyable camp:
but I failed to see it this way. Ultimately, The Cobweb is only worth seeing for the lead actors, who do their best with limited material. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“My plans have changed somewhat: I have fallen in with some rough types, but it seems to be the only way to get to the West.”
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Review: At heart, Bad Company is a coming-of-age tale, with Drew (Brown) forced to confront his own values while under the influence of a charismatic leader (Bridges). What’s particularly fascinating is how readily Drew resists corruption, instead using his impressive wiles to stay autonomous despite nominally joining Bridges’ gang. To this end, the movie’s final controversial shot doesn’t quite ring true, but the entire journey until then — particularly thanks to the noteworthy performances by both Bridges and Brown, and Gordon Willis’s luminous cinematography — is well worth taking. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“We can no longer live as rats; we know too much.”
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Review: Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“He’s meddled in things men should leave alone.”
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Response to Peary’s Review: Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“I’ve wrestled with reality for 35 years, doctor, and I’m happy to state I finally won out over it.”
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Review: With that said, despite its cult status, I don’t find Harvey all that compelling as a film; considering that it’s a comedy, there aren’t nearly enough laugh-out-loud moments or lines. The central dilemma of whether or not Elwood will get committed to Chumley’s is self-evident (how can we not know the outcome ahead of time?); and the unrequited “love affair” between stodgy Dr. Sanderson (Charles Drake) and loopy Nurse Kelly (Peggy Dow) — which supplements the central story — is amusing but ultimately beside the point. It’s the performers rather than the story who make Harvey worth watching: Jimmy Stewart — who lobbied for the role, and reprised it again years later — is perfectly cast as the nonconforming, good-natured Elwood; Josephine Hull, who won an Oscar playing Elwood’s frantic sister, is appropriately ditzy (though I prefer her more subdued performance in Frank Capra’s Arsenic and Old Lace, where she’s the “crazy” one); and the remaining supporting actors — particularly Dow, Kelloway, and Horne — are all fun to watch. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“His day of reckoning must come. He is tormented by fear that someday he will make one false move, one slip that will betray him, and when he does, the lightning of justice will strike… the unsuspected.”
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Response to Peary’s Review: Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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[Note: The following review is of a non-Guide for the Film Fanatic title; click here to read more.]
“Sooner or later you’ll come back to your old teacher. You’ll realize that nothing matters except music; everything passes, except music — and me.”
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Based on Louis Verneuil’s 1928 play Jealousy, this atmospheric melodrama (directed by Irving Rapper) received negative reviews upon its release, and is generally considered to be merely an “operatic rehash” of its source material — an assessment which doesn’t do this enjoyable film justice. The three leads (who starred together in Rapper’s earlier Now, Voyager) are all wonderful, with Bette Davis perfectly cast as the duplicitous yet well-meaning Christine, and Paul Heinreid appropriately handsome and moody as Karel. Yet it’s third-billed Claude Rains who most impresses: his portrayal of the egomaniacal Hollenius contains intriguing hints of closeted homosexuality, making his obsessive “love” for Christine seem more like a desire for control than a manifestation of lust or romance. Indeed, music itself is the true love interest in this sticky triangle, with murder eventually committed in its name; and while the film’s violent denouement seems to come out of nowhere, it’s fairly easy to forgive this melodramatic plot device considering the clever script that’s come before.
P.S. Interestingly (but perhaps not surprisingly), Christine’s own musical ambitions are dropped as soon as Heinreid appears on the scene; she’s relegated to performing for guests at her own wedding celebration.
Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
Must See?
Yes, simply for Rains’s performance.
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“If I didn’t think you meant so well, I’d feel like slapping your face.”
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Review: Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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