Post by mikef6 on Dec 9, 2018 6:08:12 GMT
The Dragon Murder Case / H. Bruce Humberstone (1934). Warner. The very wealthy amateur detective Philo Vance is played by Warren William, the first of two times he would play the role. Vance has a doozy of an impossible crime to solve this time around. We begin at the country home of a rich family whose various members each hate one another. One night they decide to go swimming in the pool that had been created by partially damming a river. Three me dive into the water but only two emerge. When the pool is drained the next day, there is no body to be found. Vance later finds the corpse on a hillside about a quarter of a mile away from the house. Among the suspects are Lyle Talbot and the always delightful Margaret Lindsay. Eugene Pallette is Sgt. Heath, the dumbest of the hundreds of dumb cops that populated mystery films in the ‘30s and ‘40s.
The Casino Murder Case / Edwin L. Marin (1935). MGM.
This time around the role of Philo Vance, the homicide bureau’s best friend, is taken by Hungarian born actor Paul Lucas, just eight years past since he arrived in Hollywood and another eight years in the future away from a Best Actor Oscar. We have another rich family at each other’s throats when they start dying off rather alarmingly. Sgt. Heath is played by Ted Healy, best known as the first boss of The Three Stooges before they set out on their own.
Woman On The Run / Norman Foster (1950). Fidelity Pictures. Frank Johnson is out walking his dog one night when he witnesses a mob hit. When police tell him that the victim was killed to keep him from testifying, Johnson slips away, not believing the police could keep him safe either. When Inspector Ferris (Robert Keith, father of Brian) talks to Johnson’s wife, Eleanor (Ann Sheridan), he finds out that the Johnson’s marriage was in a bad way and Eleanor doesn’t care one way or the other what happens to her husband; but when Legget (Dennis O’Keeffe), a tabloid reporter, offers her a thousand dollars if she can find her husband and get him an exclusive interview, she begins, with Legget in tow, to investigate among Frank’s friends and co-workers. While the script was produced by three named writers, future producer Ross Hunter is credited as “dialog director” so he may have been responsible for snappy repartee like this exchange between Eleanor and Legget:
Are you trying to bribe me?
Yes, and if I can’t bribe you I will try to win you.
Isn’t that a reverse of the usual procedure.
I’m a reverse kind of guy. But you are attractive, Mrs. Johnson. I may try to win you first.
I’d rather be bribed.
Amazingly, the writers took Hitchcock’s maxim of “suspense over surprise” and reveals the identity of the killer about at the half-way mark. It works. This completely shifts the tone and levels of the story. At age 35, Ann Sheridan was – by Hollywood standards – past the stage of her “The Oomph Girl” years, but her acting had deepened. Her performance as a woman who, as she looks into her estranged husband’s current life, comes to believe that they might get together again has depth. The film’s climax takes place under and on a noisy roller coaster. As Eleanor tries to warn Frank from a rocking coaster car, all her new found love and desperation comes pouring out. This is some fine work from Ann Sheridan. Others in the cast include Syd Saylor, John Qualen, and Victor Sen Yung.
First Reformed / Paul Schrader (2017). The Rev. Toller (Ethan Hawke) is pastor of the lightly attended First Reformed Church in upstate New York. The church is owned and controlled by a near-by mega church called Abundant Life. Toller has been given the post after several life changing events that have left him depressed, alcoholic, in poor health, and barely capable of getting through the day. First Reformed, however, is approaching its 250th anniversary with a big ceremony planned. This film was written and directed by Paul Schrader who gleefully appropriates plot points from Bresson’s “Diary Of A Country Priest” and Bergman’s “Winter’s Light.” He is called upon by the pregnant Mary (Amanda Seyfried) to give counsel to her husband Michael (Philip Ettinger) an environmental activist who believes that a child should not be brought into this world. Anyone who has seen the above mentioned movies knows what happens next. Michael’s message has effected Toller to the point that he plans a terrorist action against a local polluter. The ending is ambiguous and almost surreal, which may confuse and even anger some viewers. But this may be Ethan Hawke’s year, so look for him when Golden Globe and Oscar nomination come out.
Eighth Grade / Bo Burnham (2018). I have no doubt that the eighth grade has changed greatly since the early 1960s. (For those unfamiliar with the U.S. educational system, eighth graders would be 13 or 14 years old.) I didn’t particularly like public schools but I managed to breeze through the years without damage. If Bo Burnham’s vision of today’s Junior High is accurate – and reviews seem to say that it is – I’ll never wish to be young again. Kayla Day (Elsie Fisher) is our guide through insecurity, self doubt, and severe anxiety. Every class, every meeting with other people, is fraught with humiliation. Kayla has her own YouTube channel where she gives advice to people her own age like how to be confident and how to make small talk, but she is unable to do these things herself. Her concerned and loving single father (Josh Hamilton) wants to help but is as out of touch with her life as I am. I was getting Dad Feelings for her myself. I wanted to tell Kayla, “It gets better.” Young Miss Fisher, who is about 15, is quite a find, quite an accomplished actress already. She is already starting to get recognition from critics’ groups and has a Golden Globe nomination for actress in a musical or comedy (a case for both comedy or drama could be made for “Eighth Grade”) – and she deserves them all.
Widows / Steve McQueen (2018). Caper films are usually something of a light-hearted romp in which charming thieves get their own back from an even badder Bad Guy. This year’s other female lead caper, “Ocean’s 8,” fits this bill exactly and is very entertaining for it. Steve McQueen, however, working from a script he co-wrote with Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl) takes a much darker tone with a much more complex tale of human greed and betrayal. The strikingly edited opening switches back and forth between four men saying goodbye to their wives and the robbery they are involved in going wrong in every way it can – resulting in all the husbands being killed. Soon, Veronica (Viola Davis) is visited by Jamal Manning (Brian Tyree Henry) who tells her that her dead husband Harry (Liam Neeson), the crime’s leader, had robbed two million dollars from him and the money was destroyed when the escape vehicle exploded and burned. Manning, a gang leader in a predominately African-American neighborhood, is trying to go straight and is challenging Jack Mulligan (Colin Farrell) for alderman of Chicago’s 8th district. He needs his money to mount his campaign. He gives Veronica a month to raise two million to pay him back, even though she knew nothing of her husband’s plans. Following a lead, Veronica finds a notebook that Harry kept which gave detailed instructions for future crimes. Veronica finds the other widows (played by Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, and Carrie Coons) to join her in a robbery to raise the money with plenty left over for them. Coons backs out but soon they find Belle (fast rising star Cynthia Erivo) to be their driver. The stakes are high. The danger great. Each woman has to find something inside herself to get her through this experience. McQueen tightens the tension and doesn’t let loose until the end. I predict multiple Oscar nominations for acting, directing, editing, and maybe Picture.
Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo, Michelle Rodriguez, Viola Davis
The Casino Murder Case / Edwin L. Marin (1935). MGM.
This time around the role of Philo Vance, the homicide bureau’s best friend, is taken by Hungarian born actor Paul Lucas, just eight years past since he arrived in Hollywood and another eight years in the future away from a Best Actor Oscar. We have another rich family at each other’s throats when they start dying off rather alarmingly. Sgt. Heath is played by Ted Healy, best known as the first boss of The Three Stooges before they set out on their own.
Woman On The Run / Norman Foster (1950). Fidelity Pictures. Frank Johnson is out walking his dog one night when he witnesses a mob hit. When police tell him that the victim was killed to keep him from testifying, Johnson slips away, not believing the police could keep him safe either. When Inspector Ferris (Robert Keith, father of Brian) talks to Johnson’s wife, Eleanor (Ann Sheridan), he finds out that the Johnson’s marriage was in a bad way and Eleanor doesn’t care one way or the other what happens to her husband; but when Legget (Dennis O’Keeffe), a tabloid reporter, offers her a thousand dollars if she can find her husband and get him an exclusive interview, she begins, with Legget in tow, to investigate among Frank’s friends and co-workers. While the script was produced by three named writers, future producer Ross Hunter is credited as “dialog director” so he may have been responsible for snappy repartee like this exchange between Eleanor and Legget:
Are you trying to bribe me?
Yes, and if I can’t bribe you I will try to win you.
Isn’t that a reverse of the usual procedure.
I’m a reverse kind of guy. But you are attractive, Mrs. Johnson. I may try to win you first.
I’d rather be bribed.
Amazingly, the writers took Hitchcock’s maxim of “suspense over surprise” and reveals the identity of the killer about at the half-way mark. It works. This completely shifts the tone and levels of the story. At age 35, Ann Sheridan was – by Hollywood standards – past the stage of her “The Oomph Girl” years, but her acting had deepened. Her performance as a woman who, as she looks into her estranged husband’s current life, comes to believe that they might get together again has depth. The film’s climax takes place under and on a noisy roller coaster. As Eleanor tries to warn Frank from a rocking coaster car, all her new found love and desperation comes pouring out. This is some fine work from Ann Sheridan. Others in the cast include Syd Saylor, John Qualen, and Victor Sen Yung.
First Reformed / Paul Schrader (2017). The Rev. Toller (Ethan Hawke) is pastor of the lightly attended First Reformed Church in upstate New York. The church is owned and controlled by a near-by mega church called Abundant Life. Toller has been given the post after several life changing events that have left him depressed, alcoholic, in poor health, and barely capable of getting through the day. First Reformed, however, is approaching its 250th anniversary with a big ceremony planned. This film was written and directed by Paul Schrader who gleefully appropriates plot points from Bresson’s “Diary Of A Country Priest” and Bergman’s “Winter’s Light.” He is called upon by the pregnant Mary (Amanda Seyfried) to give counsel to her husband Michael (Philip Ettinger) an environmental activist who believes that a child should not be brought into this world. Anyone who has seen the above mentioned movies knows what happens next. Michael’s message has effected Toller to the point that he plans a terrorist action against a local polluter. The ending is ambiguous and almost surreal, which may confuse and even anger some viewers. But this may be Ethan Hawke’s year, so look for him when Golden Globe and Oscar nomination come out.
Eighth Grade / Bo Burnham (2018). I have no doubt that the eighth grade has changed greatly since the early 1960s. (For those unfamiliar with the U.S. educational system, eighth graders would be 13 or 14 years old.) I didn’t particularly like public schools but I managed to breeze through the years without damage. If Bo Burnham’s vision of today’s Junior High is accurate – and reviews seem to say that it is – I’ll never wish to be young again. Kayla Day (Elsie Fisher) is our guide through insecurity, self doubt, and severe anxiety. Every class, every meeting with other people, is fraught with humiliation. Kayla has her own YouTube channel where she gives advice to people her own age like how to be confident and how to make small talk, but she is unable to do these things herself. Her concerned and loving single father (Josh Hamilton) wants to help but is as out of touch with her life as I am. I was getting Dad Feelings for her myself. I wanted to tell Kayla, “It gets better.” Young Miss Fisher, who is about 15, is quite a find, quite an accomplished actress already. She is already starting to get recognition from critics’ groups and has a Golden Globe nomination for actress in a musical or comedy (a case for both comedy or drama could be made for “Eighth Grade”) – and she deserves them all.
Widows / Steve McQueen (2018). Caper films are usually something of a light-hearted romp in which charming thieves get their own back from an even badder Bad Guy. This year’s other female lead caper, “Ocean’s 8,” fits this bill exactly and is very entertaining for it. Steve McQueen, however, working from a script he co-wrote with Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl) takes a much darker tone with a much more complex tale of human greed and betrayal. The strikingly edited opening switches back and forth between four men saying goodbye to their wives and the robbery they are involved in going wrong in every way it can – resulting in all the husbands being killed. Soon, Veronica (Viola Davis) is visited by Jamal Manning (Brian Tyree Henry) who tells her that her dead husband Harry (Liam Neeson), the crime’s leader, had robbed two million dollars from him and the money was destroyed when the escape vehicle exploded and burned. Manning, a gang leader in a predominately African-American neighborhood, is trying to go straight and is challenging Jack Mulligan (Colin Farrell) for alderman of Chicago’s 8th district. He needs his money to mount his campaign. He gives Veronica a month to raise two million to pay him back, even though she knew nothing of her husband’s plans. Following a lead, Veronica finds a notebook that Harry kept which gave detailed instructions for future crimes. Veronica finds the other widows (played by Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, and Carrie Coons) to join her in a robbery to raise the money with plenty left over for them. Coons backs out but soon they find Belle (fast rising star Cynthia Erivo) to be their driver. The stakes are high. The danger great. Each woman has to find something inside herself to get her through this experience. McQueen tightens the tension and doesn’t let loose until the end. I predict multiple Oscar nominations for acting, directing, editing, and maybe Picture.
Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo, Michelle Rodriguez, Viola Davis