What movie did YOU just FINISH watching?
Sept 30, 2018 20:33:41 GMT
ZolotoyRetriever, teleadm, and 2 more like this
Post by kijii on Sept 30, 2018 20:33:41 GMT
Verboten! (1959) / Samuel Fuller
Rented from Amazon Prime
Continuing on with my Samuel Fuller viewing project, these are my latest entries---
With James Best and Susan Cummings as the leading performers of this movie, it is not hard to imagine that this is one of Fuller's B movies, and it is. Fuller uses quite a bit of archival footage from concentration camps and refugee marches from bombed out Europe as Hitler pushes his way through Europe throughout WW II. And although I can't find any filming locations on the IMDb for his Globe Enterprises production, I wouldn't be surprised if he used some of the bombed out cities from post-war Germany also. As a result, the viewer seems to be constantly going back and forth between actual archival footage and set shots made by the main actors throughout the movie. It also shows some real views of the Nuremberg trial (with the real defendants) before Stanley Kramer's movie, Stanley Kramer's Judgment at Nuremberg (1961). So, in that way, one may look at this movie as a B-movie introduction to, or supplement of, the later movie.
Although the production looks cheap, the story of an American soldier falling in love with a German girl gives us a feeling of what is happening on both sides. James Best's character does fall in love with the Peggy Cummings' character without realizing that she is using him to get food and supplies that other Germans can not get due to the post-war shortages.
Added to this is the view by the Nazi Youth, represented by Cumming's younger brother, that Germany is not defeated--only occupied by--the Allies after the war. And these left-over Nazi's are still attempting to overthrow their "occupiers" through the Werewolves, the Nazi guerrilla movement.
Full TCM synopsis with SPOILERS:
House of Bamboo (1955) / Samuel Fuller
Seen on DVD

Full TCM synopsis with SPOILERS:
Rented from Amazon Prime
Continuing on with my Samuel Fuller viewing project, these are my latest entries---
With James Best and Susan Cummings as the leading performers of this movie, it is not hard to imagine that this is one of Fuller's B movies, and it is. Fuller uses quite a bit of archival footage from concentration camps and refugee marches from bombed out Europe as Hitler pushes his way through Europe throughout WW II. And although I can't find any filming locations on the IMDb for his Globe Enterprises production, I wouldn't be surprised if he used some of the bombed out cities from post-war Germany also. As a result, the viewer seems to be constantly going back and forth between actual archival footage and set shots made by the main actors throughout the movie. It also shows some real views of the Nuremberg trial (with the real defendants) before Stanley Kramer's movie, Stanley Kramer's Judgment at Nuremberg (1961). So, in that way, one may look at this movie as a B-movie introduction to, or supplement of, the later movie.
Although the production looks cheap, the story of an American soldier falling in love with a German girl gives us a feeling of what is happening on both sides. James Best's character does fall in love with the Peggy Cummings' character without realizing that she is using him to get food and supplies that other Germans can not get due to the post-war shortages.
Added to this is the view by the Nazi Youth, represented by Cumming's younger brother, that Germany is not defeated--only occupied by--the Allies after the war. And these left-over Nazi's are still attempting to overthrow their "occupiers" through the Werewolves, the Nazi guerrilla movement.
Full TCM synopsis with SPOILERS:
During World War II, three American infantrymen are looking for snipers in the small German town of Rothbach, which has largely been destroyed, when they come under fire. Two of the men are killed, but the injured survivor, Sgt. David Brent, finds his way to a house, where Helga Schiller, a young German woman, dresses his wound. Helga speaks English and explains that she is anti-Nazi but has not left as she is looking after her sick mother. Helga's fifteen-year-old brother Franz is a member of the Hitler Youth and very bitter because an American bomb severed his left arm. The next day, when incoming German troops try to secure the town against advancing American forces, Helga hides David, as she feels that she has to prove to him that there is a difference between a Nazi and a German. The American troops eventually arrive and find David, but before leaving, he writes a letter to the American authorities on Helga's behalf stating that she and her family have helped him and that she is not a Nazi. Later, while he recovers in a military hospital, David decides that he wants to stay on in Germany and intends to marry Helga, although he is officially warned about predatory "fraüleins." The war ends and David returns to Rothbach, which is now under the jurisdiction of the American Military Government. Helga is astonished by his return and worried that he may get into trouble for fraternizing with a German. David explains that he has been discharged from the Army and is now a civilian and will be working for the government as a liaison between the town's mayor and the Army. As a civilian, David can marry Helga and she happily accepts his proposal. Later, Helga assists Bruno, a returning German soldier, and has to give him the news that his parents and sweetheart have been killed. When Bruno states that Germany has not been defeated, merely occupied, Helga realizes that he is still a Nazi. During a honeymoon on a boat on the Rhine, David and Helga hear a radio broadcast about the on-going "Werwolf" activities of the Hitler Youth. The military government, for which David is working, is involved in rounding up war criminals to be tried at Nuremberg and learns that Himmler had set up a secret army of delinquents, the Werwolf, to perpetuate the war after defeat. Franz has joined the local Werwolf, which is being run by Bruno, who indoctrinates all the young men as Hitler did. They plan to kill all the Americans and are becoming successful in ambushing U.S. patrols and hijacking food supplies. They organize a hunger protest in front of the government building, and although David tells the crowd that America is sending much aid to Germany, he is beaten up when the protest turns into a riot. Capt. Harvey, David's boss, then suspends him and ultimately lets all civilian staff go. Harvey offers to arrange for David to return to America, but David intends to stay with his now pregnant wife. Bruno tells David that he is stupid to give up his country for a woman like Helga, whom he claims, told him she would have lived with any American and has referred to David as her "American goldmine." When David returns home and tells Helga that he has lost his job, but will find another locally, she tells him that the Germans will not give him work and urges him to return to America, then send for her. After David asks Helga why she married him, she admits that it was for food and protection, but that she has grown to love him. David tells her that she is lower than a streetwalker, but will support her until their child is born, whereupon he will take the child to America. When Franz tells Helga that the Werwolf are selling stolen food and medicine on the black market and are helping war criminals to escape from Germany, she feels that she must tell him about all the crimes the Nazis committed. Helga takes Franz to the War Crimes Trial at the Nuremberg Palace of Justice, and they are present when a prosecutor presents film footage detailing the rise of the Nazis. Franz realizes that Bruno has become a new Hitler and watches with mounting horror as films of the atrocities committed at concentration camps are shown. Although Franz sobs and says he did not know about the camps, Helga insists that he watch. When they return to Rothbach, Franz tells David that Helga wants him to tell Harvey that Bruno is a Werwolf leader and reveal the location of their meeting place. After David arranges for a raid on the Werwolf headquarters, he gets his job back and returns to Helga and her mother. Meanwhile, Franz attempts to steal a list of Werwolf members from its hiding place in a railway boxcar, but is discovered by Bruno. After knocking him unconscious, Franz leaves Bruno to die in an accidental fire that consumes the boxcar.

House of Bamboo (1955) / Samuel Fuller
Seen on DVD

Full TCM synopsis with SPOILERS:
In 1954, a military train guarded by American soldiers and Japanese police is attacked as it travels between Kyoto and Tokyo. During the raid, which is carried out with great precision, an American sergeant is killed, and the train's cargo of guns and ammunition is stolen. The crime is investigated by Capt. Hanson, an American, and Japanese police inspector Kita, who, five weeks later, are concerned when a thief named Webber is shot with some of the stolen bullets. As Webber lies dying in a Tokyo hospital, he is questioned by Hanson and Kita, and although Webber was left for dead by his gang during a thwarted robbery, he refuses to implicate his cohorts, who presumably are responsible for the earlier crime. Webber, who is also an American, does reveal, however, that he is secretly married to a Japanese woman named Mariko. Among Webber's possessions is a letter from an American named Eddie Spanier, who wants to join Webber in Japan after his release from a U.S. prison. Three weeks later, Eddie arrives in Tokyo and finds Mariko, who is initially afraid that he is one of the men responsible for her husband's death. Eddie gains Mariko's trust with a photograph of himself and Webber, then warns her to keep quiet about her marriage so that she will not be in danger from Webber's killers. Later, Eddie goes to a pachinko parlor, in which patrons gamble on intricate machines similar to pinball machines. There, Eddie attempts to sell "protection" to the manager, but when he returns to discuss the matter again, he is beaten and warned to leave by racketeer Sandy Dawson and his henchmen, Griff, Charlie, Willy and Phil. Intrigued by Eddie's presence in Japan, Sandy arranges for him to be arrested, and Sandy's secret informer, who is connected to the police department, obtains Eddie's rap sheet. Convinced of Eddie's aptitude for crime, Sandy invites him to join his gang, which consists of former American servicmen who have been dishonorably discharged. After his acceptance into the gang, Eddie secretly meets with Kita and Hanson, for whom he is working undercover. Needing help from someone he can trust, Eddie asks Mariko to live with him as his "kimono girl," although he does not reveal his identity as a military police investigator. Hoping to discover who killed her husband, Mariko resides with Eddie despite being ostracized by her neighbors, who do not know that her relationship with the foreigner is platonic. As time passes, Sandy grows to trust Eddie, although Eddie is shocked during a robbery when a wounded gang member is killed by Griff to prevent him from talking. Eddie is also wounded, but Sandy makes an exception to his rule of killing fallen men and saves him. Eddie finally informs the worried Mariko that his real name is Sgt. Kenner, and that he is investigating Sandy. Meanwhile, Griff, Sandy's "ichiban" or "number one boy," becomes jealous of Sandy's reliance upon Eddie, and Sandy relieves the hot-headed Griff of his duties. The next day, Mariko, who has fallen in love with Eddie, notifies Kita and Hanson about a planned robbery, but Sandy's informant, reporter Ceram, warns him that the police are poised to capture him. After the robbery is aborted, Sandy kills Griff, whom he mistakenly assumes tipped off the police. Ceram informs Sandy of his mistake, and Sandy retaliates by setting Eddie up to be killed by the Japanese police during a robbery of a pearl broker. When the plan fails, Sandy is chased by the police up to a rooftop amusement park, but after an intense gunfight, Eddie succeeds in shooting and killing Sandy. Later, wearing his military uniform, Eddie walks with Mariko in a Tokyo park.

