What classics did you see last week ? (9Feb - 15 Feb 2020)
Feb 15, 2020 19:52:07 GMT
spiderwort, teleadm, and 5 more like this
Post by mikef6 on Feb 15, 2020 19:52:07 GMT
The Madonna’s Secret / Wilhelm Thiele (1946). Republic Pictures. Cinematography by John Alton (T-Men, Border Incident, Raw Deal). Artist’s model Helen North (Linda Stirling, Queen of the Serials) has been with painter James Corbin (Francis Lederer) as the model in several of Corbin’s most admired paintings. But when Helen turns up murdered, it is revealed that she died in the same way as Corbin’s model in Paris before the war. Corbin’s alibi keeps him from being arrested so Helen’s sister Linda (Ann Rutherford, Andy Hardy series) becomes Corbin’s model under a false name but comes to believe he is innocent. A third death lands Corbin in jail and puts Linda in danger from the killer. A neat little murder mystery with a Least Likeliest Person murderer – and all the more guessable for that. Lensed by noir legend John Alton; otherwise editing, shot set-up, and blocking are pretty straightforward.
Francis Lederer and Ann Rutherford
In A Lonely Place / Nicholas Ray (1950). Santana Pictures Corporation. Cinematography by Burnett Guffey (From Here To Eternity, Bonnie And Clyde). The formally successful screen writer Dixon Steele (Humphrey Bogart) is a hard-drinking and quick-tempered man who is likely to go out of control if angered. We see this happen twice in the movie’s first few minutes. But he can also be kind and witty when in pleasant situations with friends. When a nightclub hatcheck girl is brutally murdered, Dix becomes a suspect as the last person to see her alive. At the same time the investigation starts, he meets Laurel Gray (Gloria Grahame) who lives in the same apartment compound. They begin a relationship pleasurable to both but Dixon’s inability to manage his anger and the danger he becomes when enraged makes Laurel start to doubt his claims of innocence in the hatcheck girl’s murder. “In A Lonely Place” is at once a spellbinding film noir, the medium for two brilliant performances (Bogart and Grahame), and one of the best pictures ever made about the Hollywood film industry. Bogart had wanted to play Dixon Steele so the book by Dorothy B. Hughes was purchased for his own independent company, Santana Pictures. Two writers, Andrew Solt and Edmund H. North are credited but director Nicholas Ray added some material perhaps based on his own marriage to star Gloria Grahame which was coming apart as the movie was in production. This may have intensified the dialog and Grahame’s acting. Also with Frank Lovejoy, Jeff Donnell, Robert Warwick, and Art Smith. “In A Lonely Place” is essential viewing for all lovers of movies.
Dix’s ride is a 1949 Mercury Convertible
The Limping Man / Cy Endfield (1953). Banner Films Ltd. Cinematography by Jonah Jones. Former American G.I. Frank Prior (Lloyd Bridges) is on a plane returning to England to reunite with his lover, Pauline (Moira Lister), who he has not seen since the end of the war. As he is deboarding, a fellow passenger is shot to death long distance by a sniper. Because Frank was talking to the victim at the time, he is questioned closely by Scotland Yard detectives. After meeting up with Pauline, Frank comes to believe she is bothered by something she is keeping from him. In a parallel investigation, the detectives tie Pauline to the murdered man. Some startling revelations, a nice surprise Reveal of the killer, and a fight on the edge of a balcony which leads to the film’s last 60-seconds and an incredibly stupid ending that made me laugh instead of insulting my intelligence which it should have done. What does that say about my intelligence?
Moira Lister, Lloyd Bridges
Cavalleria Rusticana / Franco Zeffirelli (1982). Music by Pietro Mascagni. A perfect “First Opera” for anyone who has never seen a full production and thinks they wouldn’t like that musical form. It is filled with high passion and overflowing with melody. The title is always given in Italian. A literal translation is something like “rustic chivalry” but a more meaningful translation might be something like “The Sicilian Male Macho Honor Code.” It takes place on an Easter Sunday in a 19th century village in Sicily. The lead role is a mezzo-soprano named Santuzza (Elena Obraztsova). She is in love with the village Lothario, Turiddu (the now disgraced – at least in the U.S. - Placido Domingo). Turiddu had seduced and abandoned Santuzza and then fallen into an affair with Lola, the wife of a rough teamster, Alfio, who is often away from home. If Alfio finds out Turiddu has been in Lola’s bed, he must do what honor demands. The music soars, stabs, and grips the listener with its emotional directness. The music was recorded (and some scenes were filmed) at La Scala in Milan and other scenes where shot on location in Sicily. Zeffirelli had made films of other operas but this was unknown to me until I ran across it on YouTube. The U.S. YouTube copy does not come with English subtitles but plot summaries or the libretto is easy to find online – and it is pretty easy to follow even without understanding the Italian. It is in one act and the run time is a little over an hour. A beautiful film of a musical and dramatic masterpiece. Oh, BTW, this is the opera played during the last segment of “The Godfather, Part III” as Michael attends his son’s debut and his henchmen are carrying out their hits.
The Town / Ben Affleck (2010). Warner Bros. The titular town is Charlestown, Massachusetts, part of the Greater Boston metro area. Words on the screen before the story starts tells us that Charlestown has produced more bank robbers and armored car thieves than any other place on Earth. Ben Affleck, who was raised in neighboring Cambridge, and who co-wrote, directed, and stars in “The Town,” does not paint a pretty picture of Charlestown. Citizens should have some issues with Affleck. Indeed, all we see (with one exception) of the population are violent criminals or their enablers. The exception is an outsider, Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall), who is the manager of the bank that gets robbed in the opening scene. She is terrorized at the bank and then blindfolded and taken hostage in a van until the thieves know that they have gotten away, then they release her. The leader is Doug MacRay (Affleck). MacRay gets to know Claire and falls for her. MacRay’s best friend and robbery partner is Jem (Jeremy Renner). Jem is that tiresome cliché of the hot-headed robber who cannot be trusted to keep his head during a hold-up. So much of the movie consists of car chases and gunfights with automatic weapons. Hundreds of rounds are fired to no effect. These bullets can’t hit anybody. There is not much (if any) imagination or creativity put into all the noise and frantic activity. This is a dull movie about unlikeable people. Not recommended.
Parker / Taylor Hackford (2013). The late novelist Donald Westlake (1933-2008) is probably best known to readers as the author of the crime-comedy series featuring con man John Dortmunder. But he had a more serious, a more noir, side to him. Under the name Richard Stark, Westlake penned a hard boiled series featuring the Thief With A Personal Code, the single named Parker. The first Parker novel has been filmed twice, “Point Blank” (1967) and “Payback” (1999). The “Parker” name was changed in both of these but now the man has his own eponymous feature film from one of the later of 24 Parker novels, “Flashfire.” “Parker” does not break any new ground in the modern crime/action genre but hits all the right spots – capers, gun play, brutal fights - so will please fans of this type of story. There is an opening set-piece as a complex daylight robbery of hundreds of thousands of dollars at the Ohio State Fair is carried out by Parker (Jason Statham) with a four man crew. During the escape, his partners turn on him and leave him for dead. Well, Parker can take a serious battering, be shot and stabbed (and does, twice, in this story) but cannot be that easily killed. He comes back for vengeance, planning to rob the four men after their next caper. There is a sub-plot about a failing real estate agent named Leslie Rodgers (Jennifer Lopez) who tumbles to Parker’s disguise and demands to be let in on his plans because she can help him find his targets’ hideout. Her part is expanded to include her family life and troubles, I guess, because Lopez is a “Name” but her scenes sure slow down the story. While “Parker” is not World’s Greatest Thriller, just when you think it has ended, there is a, I dunno, about a 30-second epilogue that is just so unexpected, so great, so full of humanity and warmth that, for me, it saved the movie. That little coda is worth waiting for. It made me laugh with genuine pleasure and applaud the film.
Francis Lederer and Ann Rutherford
In A Lonely Place / Nicholas Ray (1950). Santana Pictures Corporation. Cinematography by Burnett Guffey (From Here To Eternity, Bonnie And Clyde). The formally successful screen writer Dixon Steele (Humphrey Bogart) is a hard-drinking and quick-tempered man who is likely to go out of control if angered. We see this happen twice in the movie’s first few minutes. But he can also be kind and witty when in pleasant situations with friends. When a nightclub hatcheck girl is brutally murdered, Dix becomes a suspect as the last person to see her alive. At the same time the investigation starts, he meets Laurel Gray (Gloria Grahame) who lives in the same apartment compound. They begin a relationship pleasurable to both but Dixon’s inability to manage his anger and the danger he becomes when enraged makes Laurel start to doubt his claims of innocence in the hatcheck girl’s murder. “In A Lonely Place” is at once a spellbinding film noir, the medium for two brilliant performances (Bogart and Grahame), and one of the best pictures ever made about the Hollywood film industry. Bogart had wanted to play Dixon Steele so the book by Dorothy B. Hughes was purchased for his own independent company, Santana Pictures. Two writers, Andrew Solt and Edmund H. North are credited but director Nicholas Ray added some material perhaps based on his own marriage to star Gloria Grahame which was coming apart as the movie was in production. This may have intensified the dialog and Grahame’s acting. Also with Frank Lovejoy, Jeff Donnell, Robert Warwick, and Art Smith. “In A Lonely Place” is essential viewing for all lovers of movies.
Dix’s ride is a 1949 Mercury Convertible
The Limping Man / Cy Endfield (1953). Banner Films Ltd. Cinematography by Jonah Jones. Former American G.I. Frank Prior (Lloyd Bridges) is on a plane returning to England to reunite with his lover, Pauline (Moira Lister), who he has not seen since the end of the war. As he is deboarding, a fellow passenger is shot to death long distance by a sniper. Because Frank was talking to the victim at the time, he is questioned closely by Scotland Yard detectives. After meeting up with Pauline, Frank comes to believe she is bothered by something she is keeping from him. In a parallel investigation, the detectives tie Pauline to the murdered man. Some startling revelations, a nice surprise Reveal of the killer, and a fight on the edge of a balcony which leads to the film’s last 60-seconds and an incredibly stupid ending that made me laugh instead of insulting my intelligence which it should have done. What does that say about my intelligence?
Moira Lister, Lloyd Bridges
Cavalleria Rusticana / Franco Zeffirelli (1982). Music by Pietro Mascagni. A perfect “First Opera” for anyone who has never seen a full production and thinks they wouldn’t like that musical form. It is filled with high passion and overflowing with melody. The title is always given in Italian. A literal translation is something like “rustic chivalry” but a more meaningful translation might be something like “The Sicilian Male Macho Honor Code.” It takes place on an Easter Sunday in a 19th century village in Sicily. The lead role is a mezzo-soprano named Santuzza (Elena Obraztsova). She is in love with the village Lothario, Turiddu (the now disgraced – at least in the U.S. - Placido Domingo). Turiddu had seduced and abandoned Santuzza and then fallen into an affair with Lola, the wife of a rough teamster, Alfio, who is often away from home. If Alfio finds out Turiddu has been in Lola’s bed, he must do what honor demands. The music soars, stabs, and grips the listener with its emotional directness. The music was recorded (and some scenes were filmed) at La Scala in Milan and other scenes where shot on location in Sicily. Zeffirelli had made films of other operas but this was unknown to me until I ran across it on YouTube. The U.S. YouTube copy does not come with English subtitles but plot summaries or the libretto is easy to find online – and it is pretty easy to follow even without understanding the Italian. It is in one act and the run time is a little over an hour. A beautiful film of a musical and dramatic masterpiece. Oh, BTW, this is the opera played during the last segment of “The Godfather, Part III” as Michael attends his son’s debut and his henchmen are carrying out their hits.
The Town / Ben Affleck (2010). Warner Bros. The titular town is Charlestown, Massachusetts, part of the Greater Boston metro area. Words on the screen before the story starts tells us that Charlestown has produced more bank robbers and armored car thieves than any other place on Earth. Ben Affleck, who was raised in neighboring Cambridge, and who co-wrote, directed, and stars in “The Town,” does not paint a pretty picture of Charlestown. Citizens should have some issues with Affleck. Indeed, all we see (with one exception) of the population are violent criminals or their enablers. The exception is an outsider, Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall), who is the manager of the bank that gets robbed in the opening scene. She is terrorized at the bank and then blindfolded and taken hostage in a van until the thieves know that they have gotten away, then they release her. The leader is Doug MacRay (Affleck). MacRay gets to know Claire and falls for her. MacRay’s best friend and robbery partner is Jem (Jeremy Renner). Jem is that tiresome cliché of the hot-headed robber who cannot be trusted to keep his head during a hold-up. So much of the movie consists of car chases and gunfights with automatic weapons. Hundreds of rounds are fired to no effect. These bullets can’t hit anybody. There is not much (if any) imagination or creativity put into all the noise and frantic activity. This is a dull movie about unlikeable people. Not recommended.
Parker / Taylor Hackford (2013). The late novelist Donald Westlake (1933-2008) is probably best known to readers as the author of the crime-comedy series featuring con man John Dortmunder. But he had a more serious, a more noir, side to him. Under the name Richard Stark, Westlake penned a hard boiled series featuring the Thief With A Personal Code, the single named Parker. The first Parker novel has been filmed twice, “Point Blank” (1967) and “Payback” (1999). The “Parker” name was changed in both of these but now the man has his own eponymous feature film from one of the later of 24 Parker novels, “Flashfire.” “Parker” does not break any new ground in the modern crime/action genre but hits all the right spots – capers, gun play, brutal fights - so will please fans of this type of story. There is an opening set-piece as a complex daylight robbery of hundreds of thousands of dollars at the Ohio State Fair is carried out by Parker (Jason Statham) with a four man crew. During the escape, his partners turn on him and leave him for dead. Well, Parker can take a serious battering, be shot and stabbed (and does, twice, in this story) but cannot be that easily killed. He comes back for vengeance, planning to rob the four men after their next caper. There is a sub-plot about a failing real estate agent named Leslie Rodgers (Jennifer Lopez) who tumbles to Parker’s disguise and demands to be let in on his plans because she can help him find his targets’ hideout. Her part is expanded to include her family life and troubles, I guess, because Lopez is a “Name” but her scenes sure slow down the story. While “Parker” is not World’s Greatest Thriller, just when you think it has ended, there is a, I dunno, about a 30-second epilogue that is just so unexpected, so great, so full of humanity and warmth that, for me, it saved the movie. That little coda is worth waiting for. It made me laugh with genuine pleasure and applaud the film.