FilmFanatic.org

Synopsis:
After being captured and put into a Floridian marine park, the Gill-Man (Tom Hennesy and Ricou Browning) is observed by a psychologist (John Agar) and an ichtyology student (Lori Nelson) who meanwhile are falling in love; but when the Gill-Man escapes from his chains, Nelson’s life is in immediate danger.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Jack Arnold Films
• John Agar Films
• Mutant Monsters
• Science Fiction
• Scientists

Review:
This sequel to The Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954) — the second in a trilogy — primarily succeeds in showing off some nifty underwater photography as well as the new-ish spectacle of marine parks (key portions of the film were shot at Florida’s Marineland). Poor “Gill-Man” — happily existing on his own in the Black Lagoon before his capture — is treated terribly, poked and prodded and put on display as a tourist attraction while being studied like the specimen he’s become (echoes of King Kong are once again strongly present); it’s no wonder he gets pissed off and wants more for himself. Meanwhile, the dialogue between Agar and Nelson (repeatedly objectified as that “pretty young student”) is enjoyably laughable at times:

Nelson: “You’re not at all like I expected.”
Agar (smiling): “I’m glad I disappointed you.”

Nelson: (to Agar) “You know, sometimes I wonder how I got started in all this. Science, fish, icthyology… Where will it all lead me?”

With that said, the entire affair is once again solidly directed by Jack Arnold, who knows how to build tension, especially during the final kidnap and chase sequences.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Effective cinematography (both on-land and in-water)
  
  

Must See?
No; you can skip this one unless you’re especially enamored by this series.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• Moria Review
• NY Times Original Review
• DVD Savant Review (scroll down)
• Spinning Image Review
• TCM Article

Synopsis:
A disillusioned and disabled WWI veteran (Tyrone Power), joined by his American buddy (Eddie Albert), works as a journalist in Europe, drinking at night while pining for his one true yet unattainable love (Ava Gardner) and watching her navigate romantic entanglements with an alcoholic British nobleman (Errol Flynn), a jealous boxer (Mel Ferrer), and a studly young bullfighter (Robert Evans).

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Ava Gardner Films
• Bullfighting
• Eddie Albert Films
• Errol Flynn Films
• Henry King Films
• Love Triangle
• Mel Ferrer Films
• Star-Crossed Lovers
• Tyrone Power Films
• Veterans
• Writers

Review:
Ernest Hemingway’s classic 1926 novel was finally turned into a film several decades later by director Henry King and screenwriter Peter Viertel. Unfortunately, the storyline about a “lost generation” of Americans and Brits drinking away their lives in Europe isn’t well suited for the screen, other than the inclusion of countless colorful scenes of bullfighting and the annual Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain. The most memorable character (coming across in an unintentionally humorous fashion) is Flynn’s besotted, penniless nobleman, who somehow manages to survive on the fumes of generosity. The central dilemma of Power having become impotent from war wounds — and thus unable to legitimate a relationship with his One True Love (Gardner) — is simply not enough to sustain the narrative; as DVD Savant writes in his review, “I have a feeling that if the pair really cared for each other, a short discussion of biological workarounds would suffice to give them some kind of intimate satisfaction.” Meanwhile, Savant is also spot on in his derision of a terribly miscast figure in the story, writing:

“The kiss of death is Robert Evans, who as the supposedly magnetic matador Pedro Romero projects no charm whatsoever. In most of his close-ups, Evans looks cross-eyed or mentally challenged, and his line deliveries make Ferrer look like Brando. When Gardner’s Brett tosses everything to the wind to follow Evans’ Pedro, the movie goes out the side door and doesn’t come back.”

In other words, feel free to skip this one, unless you’re a Gardner completist or in the mood for lots of drinking and bull(s).

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Fine location shooting with vibrant CinemaScope cinematography by Leo Tover
  
• An interesting sociological glimpse at bullfighting (though numerous other films also provide this) and the Running of the Bulls
  

Must See?
Nope; this one isn’t must-see.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• TCM Article
• DVD Savant (scroll down)
• NY Times Original Review (scroll down to second review)
• Bright Lights Film Journal Review

Synopsis:
A virginal aspiring actress (Maggie McNamara) accompanies an architect (William Holden) to his apartment, where she soon meets his embittered would-be girlfriend (Dawn Addams) and Addams’ playboy father (David Niven) — who, naturally, becomes interested in McNamara.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• David Niven Films
• Love Triangle
• Morality Police
• Otto Preminger Films
• Play Adaptations
• Romantic Comedy
• Strong Females
• William Holden Films

Review:
Otto Preminger’s cinematic adaptation of F. Hugh Herbert’s 1951 Broadway play was notorious for its open discussion of topics such as virginity, pregnancy, mistresses, and seduction; indeed, the entire storyline focuses on a refreshingly candid young woman (McNamara) who refuses to play romantic games, and isn’t afraid to voice exactly what she wants. While the film is very much of its era in terms of gender politics, it also plays with such notions openly — for instance, McNamara hopes to marry an older man and doesn’t mind if he already has kids, yet she’s more interested in cooking meals than living a pampered life. McNamara (who looks distractingly like Jean Simmons, though others have noted her resemblance to Debbie Reynolds) is well-cast in the lead role — and though her cadence-filled voice takes some getting used to, it’s at least distinctive. While the script is certainly no longer scandalous, the film remains an interesting historical glimpse into what once passed as controversial.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Ernest Laszlo’s cinematography
  

Must See?
No, but it’s worth a look.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review
• TCM Article
• TV Guide Review

Synopsis:
The bored wife (Tora Teje) of a professor (Anders de Wahl) flirts with a pilot (Vilhelm Bryde) and a sculptor (Lars Hanson); meanwhile, de Wahl gets cozy with his earnest niece (Karin Molander), who’s eager to make him a cabbage and mutton stew.

Genres:

• Marital Problems
• Romantic Comedy
• Scandinavian Films
• Silent Films

Review:
Sweden was a key player in early silent cinema, with its two best-known directors Victor Sjöström and Mauritz Stiller. Stiller’s most acclaimed work was Gosta Berling’s Saga (1924), but a few years earlier he released this social satire which was clearly groundbreaking for its day (it was an international hit), but now comes across as merely quaint. The “erotic” nature of the dalliances at play are primarily confined to the characters watching an extended portion of an opera in which their own dilemmas are carried out by individuals wearing decidedly less clothing.

It’s all quite forgettable, really — but hardcore film fanatics with an interest in early cinema might be curious to see an example of an early attempt at a narrative form (romantic comedy) that would come to fruition in later years.

Note: This film is one among 16 titles in Peary’s book which were released during the first two decades of the 20th century, between 1912 (Quo Vadis?) and 1920.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• A light-hearted screenplay, well-filmed for the era
  
  

Must See?
No, unless you’re an aficionado of Swedish cinema. Listed as a film with Historical Importance in the back of Peary’s book.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• Hedmark Review
• Not Coming to a Theater Near You Review

Synopsis:
An aggressive Viking king (Ernest Borgnine) sires an illegitimate British son (Tony Curtis) and a legitimate heir (Kirk Douglas), both of whom fall in love with and fight over a beautiful Welsh princess (Janet Leigh).

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Ernest Borgnine Films
• Historical Drama
• Janet Leigh Films
• Kirk Douglas Films
• Richard Fleischer Films
• Royalty and Nobility
• Slavery
• Tony Curtis Films

Review:
Kirk Douglas produced and starred in this epic Technicolor adventure tale (directed by Richard Fleischer) featuring stunning on-location footage in Norway, Fort-la-Latte, and Lim Bay. The film did well at the box office, and it’s easy to see how audiences were drawn in by the colorful costumes, historic sets, gorgeous outdoor locales, romantic entanglements, and plenty of violent scenes (including Douglas’s character having his eye picked out by a hawk). The script is serviceable, if overly focused on Leigh’s “virtue” and a tad too full of hoary language:

“Love and hate are two horns on the same goat.”
“If he wasn’t fathered by the black ram in the full of the moon, my name is not Ragnar.”
“If my soul is content to be heathen and your’s content to be Christian, let’s not question flesh for wanting to remain flesh.”

But viewers who enjoy this type of spectacle will likely be pleased, and Jack Cardiff’s gorgeous cinematography makes it easy on the eyes.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Jack Cardiff’s cinematography
  
  
• Impressive sets and historical recreations
  
  

Must See?
No, though it’s worth a one-time look for the impressive cinematography and sets.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• TCM Article
• NY Times Original Review
• TV Guide Review

Synopsis:
When a veteran (Richard Conte) returns home from WWII to find his father (Morris Carnovsky) crippled from an intentional trucking accident, he vows to seek revenge on the crime boss (Lee J. Cobb) responsible. Soon he’s collaborating with his dad’s former partner (Millard Mitchell) in driving Golden Delicious apples from California’s Central Valley to San Francisco, where he’s waylaid by a fortune teller (Valentina Cortesa) hired to distract him.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Corruption
• Jules Dassin Films
• Lee J. Cobb Films
• Revenge
• Richard Conte Films
• Truckers

Review:
A.I. Bezzerides — perhaps best known for scripting Mickey Spillane’s Kiss Me Deadly (1955) — wrote the source novel and screenplay for this powerfully gritty noir tale about deep corruption in the trucking and agricultural industries. Made just before Night and the City (1950), this was director Jules Dassin’s next-to-last American film — following on the heels of Brute Force (1947) and The Naked City (1948) — before he was branded a communist by HUAC and left for Europe, where he found renewed success. Thieves’ Highway is relentless in its skewering of deceit and manipulation at every level of blue-collar business: while Conte (highly effective in the lead role) comes home from the war bearing numerous exotic baubles and excited to marry his mercenary fiancee (Barbara Lawrence):

… his enthusiasm instantly deflates once he sees how his hard-working father has been literally hobbled by a ruthless crime boss.

The remainder of the story plays out as an elaborate revenge flick within a landscape of omni-present corruption and hustling; while various individuals ultimately reveal themselves to have higher ideals, the prevailing ethos is one of sticking it to every other person you meet as often as possible.

The storyline is refreshingly grounded in “real life” concerns (i.e., food!); it’s safe to say you’ll never eat a crisp, delicious apple with the same carefree joy after witnessing what it takes for those apples to make it from a poor Polish family’s farm onto a rickety truck (only paid for in full once Conte steps in and insists):

across treacherous highways, and into a bustling marketplace where goons like Cobb and his minions will happily extort truck-drivers through any means possible. Even lowly “fortune tellers” (Cortesa is a thinly veiled prostitute) are caught up in the racket, though it’s clear she doesn’t want to be. Cortesa — believable and sympathetic in a femme fatale-ish role — is one among many accented characters in this film, showing the multi-national nature of working class individuals trying to survive in America; a shot of Conte making a phone call back home shows men of various ethnicities in the backdrop:

While the unduly optimistic ending of Thieves’ Highway defies its prior cynicism, enough genuine grief has occurred in the meantime that we can forgive this sudden shift in tone.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Richard Conte as Nick Garcos
  
• Valentina Cortesa as Rica
  
• Lee J. Cobb as Mike Figlia
  
• Norbert Brodine’s atmospheric cinematography
  
  
• Effectively realistic sets and location shooting
  
  

Must See?
Yes, as a powerful noir classic.

Categories

• Genuine Classic

Links:

• IMDb entry
• AFI Catalog Entry
• NY Times Original Review
• DVD Savant Review
• Q Network Review

Synopsis:
An American army engineer (Montgomery Clift) in post-war Germany encounters a young Czech refugee named Karel (Ivan Jandl), who has made a panicked escape from a UN transit camp and hopes to find his mother. Meanwhile, the transit camp director (Aline McMahon) meets and works with Jandl’s despondent mother (Jarmila Novotná), not knowing she’s Karel’s mom. Will Karel and his mother eventually reunite?

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Fred Zinneman Films
• Montgomery Clift Films
• Refugees
• Search
• Soldiers
• Wendell Corey Films
• World War II Films

Review:
This Swiss-American production — directed by Fred Zinneman both on-location in Germany and in a studio in Switzerland — earned Jandl a well-deserved special juvenile Academy Award for his performance as a panicked, traumatized, yet ultimately resilient young boy living in chaotic times. In his film debut, Clift is believable and sympathetic playing a young man who tries to do the best thing for “Jim” (Karel), but encounters numerous hurdles and logistical challenges; since he doesn’t show up until one-third of the film has passed, he emerges naturally as a player in Karel’s story, rather than the other way around. If the ending is a bit strained and “Hollywoodized”, this is easily forgivable given the otherwise sobering reality we’ve seen playing out until then. It’s a gift this film was made, given its ability to show us a uniquely distressing moment in European history, when the U.S. made truly valiant efforts to help a world in chaos.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Montgomery Clift as Ralph Stevenson
  
• Ivan Jandl as Karel Malik
  
• A realistic historical depiction of post-war orphans and refugees
  

Must See?
Yes, as a well-told film about a specific slice of history.

Categories

• Good Show

Links:

• IMDb entry
• Nick’s Flick Picks Review

Synopsis:
When a group of young British students are stranded on a deserted island after a plane crash caused by an atomic blast, they quickly devolve into fighting factions: Ralph (James Aubrey) — who is eventually voted leader — pairs up with a bespectacled, chubby boy nicknamed Piggy (Hugh Edwards), while a group of choir boys are headed by a knife-carrying boy named Jack (Tom Chapin) who is obsessed with the presence of a “beast” in the jungle.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Deserted Island
• Peter Brook Films
• Survival

Review:
Peter Brook adapted William Golding’s disturbing cult classic via the low-budget strategy of using the novel as a source rather than crafting a script; he filmed for three months in Puerto Rico, and ended up with over 60 hours of footage. In a cast and crew reunion documentary entitled Time Flies (1996), Brook stated: “There was only one thing needed for the project, and that was absolute freedom… All I need[ed was] a beach, some children, and a camera”. He added that the only “100% professional film technician” he could afford to collaborate with — other than DP Tom Hollyman — was co-producer/editor David Feil, who was apparently tasked with simply turning his second camera in the direction of any details that might help advance the story or provide insight into the characters; no formal compositions were crafted. Later in the editing room with Feil, Brook viewed the emergent film as a combination of two types of shots: a) essential shots that were critical to telling the story, and b) everything else.

The result is a fascinating portrait of organic, lethal anarchy. Left to their own devices, the boys inevitably turn on one another and devolve into madness, spurred on by the particularly paranoid Jack (Chapin). For better or for worse, Brook cast the film according to what he saw as character types in the boys, allowing them simply to enact their own selves within the skeleton of the script. (Meeting up decades later for Time Flies, Brook was curious how much the film had impacted the boys, and/or how much they still resembled their characters; while artistically sound, this was clearly a problematic choice to reveal to them after the fact.) With that said, the boys’ naturally powerful performances — as well as Hollyman’s stark cinematography, the isolated settings, and Raymond Leppard’s unique soundtrack — all contribute to the film’s success. This remains an appropriately terrifying tale about leadership (or lack thereof) run amok, one which readers and viewers should continue to revisit — especially in light of current and ongoing world events.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• James Aubrey as Ralph
  
• Tom Hollyman’s cinematography
  
  
• Fine location shooting in Puerto Rico
  
• Many frightening scenes
  
  
• Raymond Leppard’s unique score

Must See?
Yes, as a still-powerful literary adaptation.

Categories

• Good Show

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review
• DVD Savant Review
• Q Network Review
• Moria Review
• TCM Article

Synopsis:
A suspicious wife (Janis Paige) hires a singer (Doris Day) to impersonate her on a cruise to South America so she can stay behind in New York and spy on her equally suspicious husband (Don DeFore), who meanwhile has hired a private eye (Jack Carson) to spy on “his wife” (Day). When Carson falls for Day and Day’s smitten accompanist (Oscar Levant) comes on board the ship to pursue her anew, the situation gets even more complicated.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• At Sea
• Busby Berkeley Films
• Detectives and Private Eyes
• Doris Day Films
• Jack Carson Films
• Love Triangle
• Marital Problems
• Michael Curtiz Films
• Mistaken or Hidden Identities
• Musicals
• Oscar Levant Films
• Romantic Comedy
• Singers

Review:
I was pleasantly surprised to check out this debut film for Doris Day — directed by Michael Curtiz and Busby Berkeley — in which Day shows ample evidence of the charm and musical talent she would bring to so many of her later films. The storyline is a fluffy rom-com mistaken identity bedroom farce, but it’s cleverly scripted (by Julius and Philip Epstein), well-acted (it’s always nice to see Carson in a lead role), and features fine Technicolor cinematography and enjoyable costume changes at nearly every scene shift. Of particular note is Janis Paige — so memorable in Silk Stockings (1957) — whose severe outfits here match her severe attitude; this isn’t a wife to mess with!

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Doris Day as Georgia Garrett
  
• Fine supporting performances
  
  
• Several enjoyable musical numbers
  
• Fun costumes
  
• Beautiful Technicolor cinematography
  

Must See?
Yes, for Day’s notable debut performance.

Categories

• Historically Relevant
• Noteworthy Performance(s)

Links:

• IMDb entry
• TV Guide Review
• TCM Article
• NY Times Original Review

Synopsis:
A U.S. Narcotics Agent (Dick Powell) assigned to locate a ship smuggling drugs is shocked when he spies a freighter throwing dozens of chained laborers overboard. He vows to follow the drug dealers “to the ends of the Earth”, which involves travelling to Shanghai, Egypt, and Cuba, and meeting a mysterious nanny (Signe Hasso) and her ward (Maylia) along the way.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Dick Powell Films
• Drug Dealers
• Signe Hasso Films

Review:
This documentary-style narcotics trafficking adventure was bold and unusual for its time, given how openly illegal drugs are addressed (we learn how heroin is made, step by step!!). Unfortunately, the first-person narrative-heavy plot is so focused on providing insider details about how global stings operate that we fail to connect to the ostensible protagonists — who, indeed, are merely players in a much bigger scheme. With that said, I was duly impressed by the lengths to which narcos will go to protect their wares — and I’ll admit the final plot twist took me by surprise. This one remains a curio, but not must-see viewing.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Atmospheric cinematography
  
• Impressive location shooting around the globe
  

Must See?
No, unless you’re curious.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review
• TCM Article
• AFI Catalog Entry