The Sandpiper (1965)

Director:  Vincente Minnelli

Writers: Martin Ransohoff, Irene Kamp, Louis Kamp, Dalton Trumbo, Michael Wilson

Composer:  Johnny Mandel

Starring:  Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Eva Marie Saint, Charles Bronson, Robert Webber, James Edwards, Torin Thatcher, Tom Drake, Douglas Henderson, Morgan Mason

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  It was the right thing. It was the wrong thing. It was the only thing their hearts would allow.

Plot:  A free-spirited single mother forms a connection with the wedded headmaster of an Episcopalian boarding school in Monterey, California.

My rating:   6/10

Will I watch it again?   No.

#39 on Project: Badass Charles Bronson

BRONSON'S AGE: 44
LEVEL OF BADASSICITY (10 being the highest): 9.  He.Creates.Women!

Watch the trailer.  It's dreadfully dull and screams, "DON'T WATCH THIS!".  Now, the movie isn't nearly as bad as the trailer makes out.  It's no all that good but it is watchable and there are some things worth watching for.  Taylor is great.  She pulls some much needed life out out of that script.  The cast does a fine job.  Burton...well, he's Richard Burton which means he's brooding, dramatic and a party pooper that doesn't smile (at least I don't recall him once smiling).  You don't watch movies like this to be surprised.  You know Edward (Burton) is going to fall for Laura (Taylor) against his better judgement and you know where that's going to lead and it 'tisn't going to end well.  Despite Burton playing the character as he does, he is commanding.  That man can recite shit dialogue better than most and I'll always buy a ticket, front row seat watching him do it. 

Then there's the rest of the cast.  Eva Marie Saint's role as Claire, Edward's wife, is about what you'd expect from a character that's just there for the eventual conflict when it blows up on the screen.  Robert Webber, as Edward's friend and donation machine to the church school, Ward, is great.  I've always dug this guy's work and he goes from charming to rapist asshole at the drop of a hat.  I really dug his character's role in the big scheme of things.  His was one of the more interesting roles.  And then there's Charles Bronson!

When we first meet him, he's working on a nude wooden sculpture of Elizabeth Taylor.  Why?  Because of course he is, that's why.  He's got the maker's touch.  He can literally make women out of shit you can find lying around the beach.  Hell, he could probably do it anywhere with any material.  He's just that good!  If that's not enough, he goes toe to toe with Edward, a mouthpiece for God, and stands his own!  Take that Jesus, you glorified birthday party magician!

Here he is with more of his creations.

I know what you're saying, "Hey, why does Charles Bronson need to make women when there are billions of them on this planet alone?"  Yeah, I thought you'd say something like that.  Well, you see, it's because THAT'S NOT ENOUGH WOMEN; he needs to make more to satisfy his gargantuan lust!  And what's wrong with having them look like Liz Fucking Taylor?  Fuck me sideways, that woman was a piece of work.  What a talent!

I mentioned that the movie is predictable.  On an early meeting between Edward and Laura, she gets him to help her mend a broken wing on a young sandpiper (bird).  Right then and there you know exactly where this is going and it goes exactly there.  You see, the wounded bird represents her son which she is having to let slowly leave the comfortable nest she's made for them, and by the end of the movie she'll have to accept that he's movie on, just as the bird is ready to move on and be with other birds.  They come back to the bird a few times before the end and each time it's like getting hit on the head with the foreshadowing hammer.  It gets even worse and more ham-fisted when Edward even spells it out in dialogue near the end.  Now, I have no doubt that this included in the novel the film is based on and I get that this was now 56 years ago but for the love of Pete, this surely had to be just as obvious to audiences then almost as it is now.  OMFG it was so painful to go through.  For the most part, this was a good movie, but shit like that really takes it down a peg or two.  This is a soft recommend as there's just enough in it to be entertained but there are speed bumps along the way that will slow you down, and running over that sandpiper isn't one of them.

The Devil Is a Sissy (1936)

Directors:  W.S. Van Dyke, Rowland Brown

Writers:  John Lee Mahin, Richard Schayer, Rowland Brown

Composer:  Herbert Stothart

Starring:  Freddie Bartholomew, Jackie Cooper, Mickey Rooney, Ian Hunter, Peggy Conklin, Katharine Alexander, Gene Lockhart, Kathleen Lockhart, Jonathan Hale

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Greatest Human Drama

Plot:  A well-bred young English lad living in lower Manhattan tries to gain acceptance from his not-so-well-bred peers at school.

My rating:   7.5/10

Will I watch it again?   Maybe.

Man, can these kids act!  All three of these guys (Bartholomew, Cooper and Rooney) were three of the top male child actors of the 30s and with good reason.  Check out Cooper's early work with the OUR GANG shorts and you'll see what I mean.  It's incredible seeing these three in the same picture together.  I'll admit it, I was bawling my eyes out at the end.  There's no shame in that, no sir-ee.  I also choked up a few times when some of the characters did nice things for other people.  I know, THAT was weird.  My emotions were running pretty high for some reason.  The acting skills of these kids fucking sold it.  What these kids were going through is akin to something I experienced way back when so maybe there was that connection.  Claude's (Bartholomew) home life seemed like a fantasy world that most kids would never be able to relate to but you take that kind of storytelling in stride.  You don't find out how much of an asshole his mother is until the end and it plays heavily on the plot.  

The story moves pretty quickly but somehow it felt like it was longer than the 92 minutes it was.  Watch out for that last act because it's a doozy and an emotional one at that.  That's in stark contrast to the overly happy and upbeat note the picture starts on.  The ending is earned.  Enough can't be said about the three lead kid actors.  They are magnificent and a stark contrast to what we see today.  I couldn't help but feel that I'd seen Bartholomew in something before until it hit me.  The very next year after this picture he starred alongside Spencer Tracy with another wonderful performance in CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS (1937).  If I remember right, that's another one that had me crying at the end.  They made some great shit back then.

Sergeant Ryker (1968)

Director:  Buzz Kulik

Writers: Seeleg Lester, William D. Gordon

Composer:  John Williams

Starring:  Lee Marvin, Bradfor Dillman, Peter Graves, Vera Miles, Lloyd Nolan, Murray Hamilton, Norman Fell, Walter Brooke, Francis De Sales, Don Marshall, Charles Aidman

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  COMMIE MAJOR...or U.S. SERGEANT? There's a bullet at one end...and a hangman's noose at the other!

Plot:  During the Korean War Sergeant Paul Ryker is accused of defecting to Communist China and then returning to his unit as a spy. He's court-martialed and sentenced to death but his attorney believes Ryker's innocent and asks for a new trial.

My rating:   8/10

Will I watch it again?   Yes.

I've never seen a Lee Marvin performance I didn't like and this is no exception.  He owns it and I don't think I've ever seen him play so humble and defeated as he does here.  Sure, he gets lots of time to shine where his anger bursts out like a rabid dog but he's also shines as a softer man who's facing the hangman's noose for treason.  

 

Original airing on KRAFT SUSPENSE THEATRE in 1963, the two-episode broadcast was later combined and released as a film in 1968 after Marvin's massive success the previous year with THE DIRTY DOZEN (1967), the role that made him an overnight worldwide superstar.  Why not, right?  He'd been a solid character actor in films for 18 years.  Anyway, he gives the solid performance you've come to expect from him.  The rest of the cast does a fine job as well.  It's neat seeing some familiar faces like Vera Miles and Peter Graves.  Norman Fell and Murray Hamilton are pitch-perfect in their roles.  Hamilton plays a brash, slimy Army Captain that gets slimier as the film progresses.  Not enough can be said about the great Lloyd Nolan.  The more I see of him, the more I love this guy.  He's such a natural at this and he makes it look as easy as breathing, as if he IS that character.  When he pops up at the end with what he's there to do, I teared-up a bit with happiness.  I'd say half the movie is courtroom drama with the other half dealing with the events that led up to the trial with some breaks between court scenes.  The story gets better and better as it unfolds and I wasn't sure how it was going to play out.  It's a very good movie and worth a watch unless you hate courtroom dramas.  It's in the public domain and free to watch online.

 

 

 

Salome (1953)

Director: William Dieterle

Writers: Harry Kleiner, Jesse Lasky Jr.

Composer: George Duning

Starring: Rita Hayworth, Stewart Granger, Charles Laughton, Judith Anderson, Cedric Hardwicke, Basil Sydney, Maurice Schwartz, Arnold Moss, Alan Badel

More info: IMDb

Plot: After her banishment from Rome, Jewish Princess Salome returns to her Roman-ruled native land of Galilee, where prophet John the Baptist preaches against Salome's parents, King Herod and Queen Herodias.

My rating:  5.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Nope.

Watching these cheesy religious epics is a mixed bag.  On one hand, you've got the beautiful costumes, lavish set dressing, big musical score and usually with a large cast loaded with big time Hollywood stars.  On the other hand, they're loaded with religious propaganda that'll make your eyes roll right out of sockets.  This non-believer watches them for the Ancient Roman spectacle and the cast and this one's at least got a decent cast.  I'll watch anything Charles Laughton did and this qualifies.  And I've been a fan of Stewart Granger since seeing him in SCARAMOUCHE (1952), one of my all time favorites.  I've seen very little of Rita Hayworth's catalog but I like what I've seen.  This flick is OK at best but it suffers from the hit-you-on-the-head propaganda that these pictures are loaded with.  What's more, nearly the entire film is shot on indoor sets.  That gets old and quick.  They're nice sets and well-lit and decorated but they're sets nonetheless and it's obvious that almost whenever they're supposed to be outdoors, they're on a soundstage; fake rocks abound!  Over-the-top melodrama abound!

Charles Laughton is mentally eye-fucking a woman, his step-daughter no less!  

Now THAT'S acting!

Give this mall all the awards!

 

I wasn't into it much until the final act when Princess Salome's (Hayworth) mother (Queen Herodias played by Judith Anderson) offers her up to  King Herod (with Charles Laughton having a good time hamming it up)!  Herodias wants John the Baptist dead for slandering her name so she convinces Salome to dance at Herod's birthday party.  It's already been established that Herod has the hots for Salome but he doesn't want John harmed.  Once Salome's dance begins, Herodias tells Herod he can have her for the price of John's head.  Herod wants a piece of that pie and quickly motions to make it happen.  FUCKING NICE!!!!!  This got dark pretty fucking fast, but then there's only a few scant minutes left and of course they have to throw in some Jesus-y bits to close out the film.  Does Herod get his pie and eat it, too?  Nope.  So, I guess you could say it ends on a down note.

I'm listening...

And one more thing, this is the movie debut of Alan Badel, playing John the Baptist.  He must come from the bug eyes school of acting...

...because he does that thing for most of his screen time.  But the payoff in the end is great!

 

 

Sorry about that bug eyes thing.

Speed Driver (1980)

Director: Stelvio Massi

Writers: Artur Brauner, Massimo De Rita, Luis Maria Delgado

Composer: Stelvio Cipriani

Starring: Fabio Testi, Orazio Orlando, Senta Berger, Francisco Rabal, Manuel Zarzo, Romano Puppo, Luis Rivera

More info: IMDb

Plot: Rudi is an illegal street racer named whose reputation in the area becomes so strong that he is hired by a drug kingpin to compete professionally on the circuit.  Mix in a dame and some drug crimes and you've got yourself a conflict.

My rating: 3/10

Will I watch it again? No.

Woof!  Four writers are credited with creating this by-the-numbers script.  I don't mind that it's so predictable but there's nothing at all interesting about this picture.  It's one cliche after another but with A LOT of racing footage that is almost entirely comprised of closeups of cars where you see the car they want you to look at with very little else inside the frame.  Most of the time I couldn't tell what was going on with who.  I knew which car was Rudy's (Testi) but you don't get a chance to see the big picture.  When someone crashes or there's some kind of an accident, you don't get to see what caused it; you just see someone spinning or trying to get off the track.  The love story is typical, none of the conflicts between Rudy and everyone else (it seems like he gets pissed off at every A level and B level character) deliver any dramatic punch, and there's just too much fat between the story and the racing footage.  That's bad enough on its own but this picture clocks in a twelve minutes shy of two hours and it's not good enough to deserve that much time.  The ending wraps up insanely fast where you find out that everything worked out for Rudy and friends like a nice bow on a package that miraculously wrapped itself up saving the filmmakers from having to show the audience any evidence of the quick exposition vomit that just came out of Napoli's (Orlando) mouth.  

The print I watched was a lousy fullscreen VHS quality one.  That trailer above looks better than what I watched.  IMDb doesn't list what scope this was filmed but I imagine this is a damn sight better seeing this widescreen in a theater but then it's got too many problems that would keep even that from making this good enough to recommend. 

The Pied Piper (1972)

Director: Jacques Demy

Writer: Robert Browning, Jacob Grimm, Wilhelm Grimm, Andrew Birkin, Jacques Demy, Mark Peploe

Composer: Donovan

Starring: Michael Hordern, David Leland, John Hurt, Diana Dors, Roy Kinnear, Donald Pleasence

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  Come children of the universe, let Donovan take you away, far far away.

Plot:  In 1349, while the Black Plague threatens Germany, the town of Hamelin hires a wandering pied piper (Donovan) to lure rats away with his magic pipe, but then refuses to pay for his services, causing him to lure the town's children away.

My rating:   7/10

Will I watch it again?   No.

I really need to read Grimm's fairy tales because I LOVE dark tales involving bad things happening to children largely because, for as long as I can remember, that subject is a big taboo that Hollywood doesn't dare tread (you know, killing children and such).  As I watched this I started to remember bits and pieces of the story from when I read it as a kid forty or so years ago.  This flick looks great and it's well-acted.  For a non-actor, pop music sensation Donovan does pretty well.  Naturally, this being the early 70s and written and performed by Donovan, the songs are all of their time and not sounding hundreds of years old, so hearing 70s folk tunes in a movie set in the mid-1300s is weird.  Michael Hordern kills it as local doctor/wizard-type.   I enjoy a good picture set in Europe way back when.  The Plague is near, people are on edge and bad people continue to do bad things.  I liked the last half hour the most, probably because that's when it's at its darkest.  I would've preferred a much darker ending but you can't have everything.   There are lots of known actors which are worth watching this for.  It's a good watch.

Bad Blood (1981)

Director:  Mike Newell

Writers:  Andrew Brown, Howard Willis

Composer:  Richard Hartley

Starring:  Jack Thompson, Carol Burns, Denis Lill, Donna Akersten, Martyn Sanderson, Marshall Napier, Cliff Wood, David Copeland, Ken Blackburn, John Bach, John Black, Karl Bradley, Greg Naughton, Alan Jervis Wilks

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  In 1941 Stan Graham ran amok with his guns and murdered 7 men....Sparking off one of the most bizarre manhunt's in history. The tragedy is that it really happened.

Plot:  During World War 2, a farmer in New Zealand murders seven people, and the police, along with local Maori trackers, hunt him in the bush country.

My rating:  7.5/10

Will I watch it again?   Yes.

Great performances, especially from Jack Thompson (Stan) and Carol Burns (his wife).  Burns really lights up once the shit hits the fan.  She completely sells it.  Thompson makes you feel like he lived it.  It's worth watching for those two alone.  But then you've also get to see a side of New Zealand you haven't seen, and a little slice of life there from 80 years ago.  The build-up to the killing is splendidly handled and the tension builds almost to a breaking point.  Richard Hartley's excellent score is used sparingly and with precision.  It makes you appreciate that moments with no music are just as important as those with it.  That's something that most people don't consider, particularly those who make movies. 

An hour and fifteen minutes in is when the things get ugly for everyone and it is intense.  What happens feels like you would imagine would happen when people get show with a low caliber rifle.   Not every shot is a lethal one.  It's harrowing how it goes down.  The next half hour is the aftermath and manhunt.  In reality, Stan alludes escape in the bush  for twelve days.  Here it feels like maybe two or three.  It was somewhat refreshing how the final act goes down but at the same time it was a little odd because we're not used to that as an audience.  You'll have to see it to understand.  I'd rather avoid spoilers on this one.  I don't want to say that I'm disappointed that the film's final half hour went the way it did but I would like to have spent more time with the Stan's ordeal and with the manhunt effort.  

State of Grace (1990)

Director:  Phil Joanou

Writer:  Dennis McIntyre

Composer:  Ennio Morricone

Starring:  Sean Penn, Ed Harris, Gary Oldman, Robin Wright, John Turturro, Burgess Meredith, R.D. Call, Joe Viterelli, John C. Reilly, Deirdre O'Connell, Marco St. John

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  The Irish mob in Hell's Kitchen.

Plot:  A New York cop is recruited to return to his hometown and infiltrate the mob run by his best friend's brother.

My rating:  7.5/10

Will I watch it again?   Probably not.

Good flick.  After maybe three viewings over the past three decades, I still have trouble remembering anything about this movie.  Maybe my brain is full.  It's a well-told story (this movie, not my lack of retention) that feels about right at two hours and fourteen minutes.  The performances are good and Joanou and cinematographer Jordan Cronenweth (on his last film - he also shot BLADE RUNNER (1982) do a wonderful job in shooting NYC.  It looks great!  Ennio Morricone's score is sombre and effective.  He's in his 90s now and still composing with over 500 score credits!!!  The movie does run a little slow at times but it works.  I was surprised that there were at least a couple of moments when I was detecting tension but I wasn't feeling it.

Second Chance (1953)

Director:  Rudolph Mate

Writers:  Oscar Millard, Sydney Boehm, D.M. Marshman Jr., Robert Presnell Sr.

Composer:  Roy Webb

Starring:  Robert Mitchum, Linda Darnell, Jack Palance, Sandro Giglio, Rodolfo Hoyos Jr., Reginald Sheffield, Margaret Brewster, Roy Roberts

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  For the First Time--3D With Important Stars!

Plot:  Mobster Vic Spalato's girlfriend Claire is in hiding in Mexico and she's willing to testify for a US Senate investigation committee, if she can make it back to the US alive.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

Don't you hate it when you think you're going to be watching a crime picture and it ends up being a drama with a little bit of crime element?  That's this one.  It's a good thing it's set in Mexico.  At least it has that going for it.  I'd swear that about half the film (it's only 78 minutes anyway) is a long-ass date between Russ (Mitchum) and Clare (Darnell).  No kidding.  The romancing gets old and it doesn't really add anything to the plot except they're falling for each other and they think about what they'd do with a second chance.  Oh, there it is, the movie's title.  The rest of it involves Cappy (Palance) trying to find Clare and keep her from getting back to the States to testify against some crime boss or something.  The best part about the film is the exciting finale that has these three and five others stranded on a cable car.  It's certain death when the cables start to snap.  Will they make it?  That was the best part.  I'm sure that idea alone was what started the rest of the story.  The rest of the movie isn't bad; it's just not all that interesting, especially when you think you're getting into a crime flick.

Melvin and Howard (1980)

Director:  Jonathan Demme

Writer:  Bo Goldman

Composer: 

Starring:  Jason Robards, Paul Le Mat, Elizabeth Cheshire, Mary Steenburgen, Michael J. Pollard, Charles Napier, Martine Beswick, John Glover, Dabney Coleman

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  Poor Melvin. All he wanted was to be Milkman of the Month. Instead, he lost his job, his truck, and his wife. Then Howard Hughes left him $156,000,000.

Plot:  The story of hard-luck Melvin E. Dummar, who claimed to have received a will naming him an heir to the fortune of Howard Hughes.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Maybe.

The performances in this thing are solid.  Everybody nails it.  Paul Le Mat's Melvin is just a down to Earth guy, Mary Steenburgen brings it (she and Bo Goldman won Oscars for Best Actress In a Supporting Role and Best Original Screenplay respectively), and Jason Robards has that mystique and curiosity needed for Howard Hughes.  And then there's Charles Napier who owns his brief moment as the mystery man who drops off the will.  It's a warm-hearted story about real people with real problems that get upended when it looks like Melvin's good deed for an old man might make him a millionaire 156 times over.  Uh, oh...Nudity Alert!

Thank you, Mary Steenburgen.  Where was I?  Oh, yeah.  Melvin's struggles with the will (and he kind of just wants to be left alone) reach an apex when he testifies his story to a prosecutor and judge (among many others) that don't believe a word of what he claims.  The judge is coldly and harshly played by the always great, Dabney Coleman.  This is probably when the movie gets the most serious and dark.  A few minutes later, it's time for the flick to wrap up and move onto the credits, but before we do, we get one more brief scene not seen from Melvin and Howard's time together.  It's the perfect bookend to an often charming film.