Traveling in Germany, an American student (Herbert Marshall) meets a cabaret performer (Marlene Dietrich) and they marry and live in the U.S. But they live in near poverty and when the husband gets seriously ill, she returns to work as a nightclub performer in order to get the money for him to travel to Germany where a successful cure for his illness has been found. But while the husband is away, she falls in love with a smooth talking politician (Cary Grant). Directed by Josef von Sternberg, this ode to mother love isn't his finest hour. King Vidor did it better with STELLA DALLAS (1937). But the film has a gay cult following, mostly because of the sensational Hot Voodoo performed by Dietrich who makes her entrance in a gorilla outfit which is the movie's highlight and her gender bending performing of I Couldn't Be Annoyed in a man's white tuxedo. Other than that, it's a rather mawkish tale of Dietrich's mother suffering and doing anything to keep her child from being taken away from her. It's hard to sympathize with her however. Her husband is fighting for his life in a clinic in Germany and she's screwing Cary Grant! But she's punished for it and we get our "happy" ending. With Hattie McDaniel, Sidney Toler, Sterling Holloway, Cecil Cunningham and young Dickie Moore as Dietrich's son.
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Nine disparate strangers from different walks (and class) of life find themselves lost when they come upon an imposing structure looking down far below to a city. Based on the play by J.B. Priestley and directed by Basil Dearden (KHARTOUM). This isn't a movie, it's a Marxist lecture accompanied by barely moving pictures! As if we're backward children unable to grasp the film's concept, it's verbally hammered into us. Best to watch it with a bottle of aspirin nearby. It's based on a play and outside of a newly added framing device featuring J.B. Priestley as himself, the actors wander around the massive but impressive set expounding their personal viewpoints and philosophies as if they were profound. While I'm more sympathetic than not to Priestley's ideology, as cinema this is a dry experience. While on one level, I can admire its ambitious undertaking (even though it seems like an extended TWILIGHT ZONE episode), its execution is irritatingly self important. The nine strangers are played by Googie Withers, John Clements, Raymond Huntley, Renee Gadd, A.E. Matthews, Mabel Terry Lewis, Frances Rowe, Norman Shelley and Ada Reeve.
A former WWII pilot (Richard Basehart) runs a travel agency in Hong Kong. He is approached by the U.S. government to do some espionage work which he flatly refuses. But when he hears that a friend (Burt Kwouk, A SHOT IN THE DARK) who is also a pilot has been shot down by the Red Chinese, he takes it upon himself to rescue him. Directed by Michael Carreras (CURSE OF THE MUMMY'S TOMB), this Hammer spy adventure with touches of James Bond plays out like a pilot for a projected TV series that never sold. One can easily see Basehart's reluctant soldier of fortune getting involved in a new adventure every week, even the colorful supporting characters are already there. I don't mean to sound dismissive, I enjoyed it for what it is but it's a slight slice of routine adventure. The Hong Kong and Macao exteriors are colorful (the interiors were filmed back in England) and among the cast, Lisa Gastoni makes for an intriguing femme fatale. With Athene Seyler, Eric Pohlmann and Bernard Cribbins.
Two teenage drifters (Raymond Lovelock, Ornella Muti) are traveling through Europe and selling pornography to pay for their vacation. When they run out of gas in Italy, the nearest house is a secluded mansion inhabited by a wealthy woman (Irene Papas). At first she is hostile but then she invites them into her home. It soon evolves into a cat and mouse came of who is the victim and who is the predator. Directed by Umberto Lenzi, this giallo is heavier on the sex than the violence and quite graphic sex at that. However, it's clear that body doubles were used for the sex scenes. Ornella Muti was underage (16 or 17) so the producers would have been arrested if she did her own nudity and Irene Papas flatly refused to do any nude scenes so she got a body double too. In 1971, Lovelock and Muti must have seemed like free spirited "hippies" but in 2020, they're annoying leeches. So my sympathies went to Papas' scheming murderess though I don't think that's what Lenzi intended. It was a pleasure to see the usually dour and put upon Papas in a rare glamour role. I was worried they'd botch the ending but they didn't and it elevated the film a few notches for me. If you're into these Italian sex and murder gialli, this should please you and Irene Papas gives a wonderful performance, never tipping her hand. In a genre where the acting is usually negligible, it's an impressive accomplishment.
Three people in different parts of the world (San Francisco, London, Paris) have confronted death which has affected them deeply: a French journalist (Cecile de France), an American psychic (Matt Damon) and a British boy (George McLaren). The American psychic and the French journalist have both survived near death experiences and the English lad's twin brother (Frankie McLaren) was killed by a truck but their bond remains connected even after death. Directed by Clint Eastwood, the film has an intriguing premise regarding the existence of an afterlife. Fortunately, he avoids any religious reading into the subject matter. The "hereafter" isn't Heaven but it remains a mystery. The film reaches its visual highpoint at the very beginning, a spectacular tsunami sequence in India and it's able to sustain itself for the first hour but then there's nowhere to go! The film doesn't so much end as collapse into a mire of slush and sentiment. The banal score was composed by Eastwood. With Bryce Dallas Howard, Derek Jacobi, Marthe Keller, Jay Mohr, Richard Kind and Jenifer Lewis.
The daughter (Edith Jehanne) of a French diplomat (Eugen Jensen) serving in Russia is in love with a Bolshevik revolutionary (Uno Henning). After her father is killed, she flees to Paris with her lover promising to follow. Based on the book by the Russian novelist Ilya Ehrenburg and directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst (PANDORA'S BOX). It's an ambitious film that profits from Pabst's fluid technique without which it's mere soap opera. Since it's Pabst's artistry that carries the film, one doesn't mind the often leisurely style and the time spent on scenes that don't drive the narrative forward (like Jehanne and and Henning walking through an open air market). Edith Jehanne is a fresh and lovely screen presence with a natural acting style. Alas, she only has about seven film credits and apparently she died only a few years after JEANNE NEY was released. With Brigitte Helm (METROPOLIS), Fritz Rasp, Vladimir Sokoloff and Adolf E. Licho.
An Italian criminology professor (Rossano Brazzi) goes to Argentina to execute a daring heist during a performance of LA TRAVIATA at the Buenos Aires opera house. Co-written, produced and directed by Rossano Brazzi (who reputedly sunk his own money into this mess). International heist capers can be fun but this comedic effort is lame. Absolutely nothing about it works. Every cliche in these heist films from RIFIFI to OCEAN'S 11 is here. There's no suspense, no laughs and some talented people are wasted especially Ann-Margret who is simply used as eye candy here. To be fair, the transfer I saw was cut by about 16 minutes and the print was pretty ragged and while those 16 minutes might have added some needed coherency, there's no doubt in my mind that they would not have made it a better movie. With Roger Smith (Mr. Ann-Margret), Barbara Nichols (apparently a victim of the missing 16 minutes) and Helene Chanel.
Set during WWI, a German spy (Constance Bennett) is sent to infiltrate the household of a British Admiral (William Holden, no not that one) to work with the household's butler (Erich von Stroheim), who is also a German spy, to obtain vital secrets about American transport ships crossing the Atlantic. Based on a 1918 play by Anthony Paul Kelly and directed by Roy Del Ruth (DUBARRY WAS A LADY). This early pre-code (although the raciest it gets is when von Stroheim fondles Bennett's undwear) talkie isn't very cinematic and its stagebound origins are quite evident. Not only in the talkiness of the film but in the broad and often stiff acting. Bennett is quite lovely but the acting honors go to von Stroheim whose Teutonic furor brings life to an often stilted film. If you've a fondness for early sound films, you should enjoy this but there's not much here for everybody else. With Anthony Bushell and William Courtenay.
Four women (Lindsay Wagner, Joanna Cassidy, Constance McCashin, Janne Mortil) accompanied by a guide (Tom Skerritt) are backpacking in the Sierra mountains when they stumble upon a white supremacist paramilitary group. As they are hunted by the terrorists, it becomes a battle to survive. Directed by the Australian director Tim Burstall (ELIZA FRASER), this plays out like a female driven DELIVERANCE with Wagner in the Jon Voight role and Skerritt in the Burt Reynolds role. It's a routine "women in peril" thriller with the novelty of the women taking on what is usually a masculine domain. Instead of man against nature, it's women against nature as they climb rocks, fall off mountains, go over waterfalls and fire machine guns. For what it is, it's serviceable although it still plays into cliches like the hysterical woman (in this case, Joanna Cassidy), who's a burden to everyone else. The wilderness of Vancouver, Canada stands in for the Sierra mountains and there's an effective score by Arthur B. Rubinstein. With Dwight McFee and J.C. Roberts.
An FBI agent (George Murphy) is assigned to discover the source of a major leak in a top secret program and find the top Communist agent (Karel Stepanek) behind the plot to steal U.S. secrets and transmit them to the Soviet Union. Inspired by an article in Readers Digest titled CRIME OF THE CENTURY and directed by Alfred L. Werker. The film was produced by Louis De Rochemont who specialized in "true" stories shot in semi-documentary style in their actual locations such as BOOMERANG and HOUSE ON 92ND STREET. This one is shot in the same style but I found it extremely dry and tedious. Maybe I've seen too many of these "red scare" docudramas recently but their portrayal of commie agents as snarling gun toting gangsters kidnapping American citizens and dragging them to Moscow is laughable. Surely real communist agents were much more cautious and discreet as to avoid discovery but the commies here are right out of 1930s Warner gangster movie. With the exception of George Murphy and Finlay Currie (as a scientist being blackmailed by the commies), the cast isn't well known and the unfamiliar faces lend some authenticity to the docu-atmosphere. With Virginia Gilmore and Louisa Horton.
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Set in the North West Frontier of India in 1850, a half caste British officer (Ronald Lewis) is thrown out of his regiment after being court martialed for cowardice in action and sentenced to ten years in prison. He breaks out of prison and joins a band of anti-British brigands led by a vicious marauder (Oliver Reed) to get his revenge. Written and directed by John Gilling (PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES), this is a sound stage India shot in a studio with footage from the 1956 film ZARAK edited in for exteriors and battle scenes. There's no one to root for which handicaps an adventure film. You can't root for the racist British as personified by the cruel British Colonel (Duncan Lamont) nor can you root for Oliver Reed's sadistic rebel leader who makes no distinction between soldier and civilians. It doesn't help that both Lamont and Reed overact terribly. It's not compelling enough to hold your attention all the way through which allows one to notice things, like how Ronald Lewis's brownface make up isn't consistent. With Yvonne Romain, Katherine Woodville and Glyn Houston.
In the process of divorcing his wife (Claude Jade), a man (Jean Pierre Leaud) pursues a new relationship with a young girl (Dorothee) who works in a record store. Directed by Francois Truffaut, this was the fifth and final entry in his films centered on the character of Antoine Doinel (Leaud), the previous four being THE 400 BLOWS, ANTOINE AND COLETTE, STOLEN KISSES and BED AND BOARD. While it's nice to have closure (though I didn't buy the happy ending), this is the least satisfying of the Doinel films. It's a patchwork film with much of the movie comprised of clips from the previous films. But the film is at least as much about Doinel's first love or should I say obsession, Colette (Marie France Pisier) as it is about Doinel, not surprising since the actress had a hand in the screenplay. For me, it proved the most satisfying aspect of the film. Of interest only if you're a fan of the previous Doinel films. With Julian Bertheau, Daniel Mesguich and Dani.
An international master criminal (Ronald Adam), who specializes in providing false documents seeks to get control of a trunk of counterfeit American dollars. But an American Army Major (Richard Denning) who is assigned to find and expose the criminal unknowing falls in love with one of the criminal's accomplices (Carole Mathews). Based on the novel REQUIEM FOR A REDHEAD by Lindsay Hardy and directed by Maclean Rogers. Retitled MILLION DOLLAR MANHUNT in the U.S., this British programmer suffers from a contrived screenplay and mediocre acting. I rather like Carole Mathews but why an English production felt the need to send away to the U.S. for a not very well known American actress to play an Austrian cabaret performer is perplexing. Surely there was no shortage of German or Austrian actresses available to them in 1956. It's the kind of crime thriller where you're always one jump ahead of the characters on the screen, so there's no tension, no surprises. With Brian Worth and Jan Holden.
A middle aged ex-con (Al Pacino) by the name of Johnny answers an ad for a short order cook at a small diner. He's hired and begins romancing an emotionally scarred waitress (Michelle Pfeiffer) called Frankie. Based on the play FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE by Terrence McNally (who adapted it for the screen) and directed by Garry Marshall (PRETTY WOMAN). McNally may have adapted his play for the screen but it's still all wrong. The play had only two characters and took place in a one bedroom apartment. The movie adds a bunch of new characters, most of them cliches like the gay best friend (Nathan Lane) and the tough broad (Kate Nelligan) with a heart of gold. But McNally's play, unlike the film, wasn't a romantic comedy. It was about two lonely middle aged people. In the original play, they were played by Kathy Bates and F. Murray Abraham, fine actors but average looking. The film gives us bona fide movie stars in the parts which throws everything off kilter. They try to diminish Pfeiffer's porcelain beauty with little success but don't even bother to tone down Pacino's sexy bad boy. So what are we left with? With Garry Marshall at the helm, we get a slick well acted piece of commercial cinema with a not very convincing storyline. They may be miscast but you can't fault Pacino and Pfeiffer's performances. I suppose if one were not familiar with the source material (I've read it but never seen it performed), it might work better. With Hector Elizondo and Jane Morris.
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After seven years of separation, an American business executive (Rock Hudson) and his Italian artist wife (Gina Lollobrigida) agree on a divorce. But when they meet again, the old passions come back and the divorce is forgotten. However, the reasons for their separation are still there. He's a conservative and she is a liberal and this continues to cause friction. Written and directed by Melvin Frank (THE COURT JESTER), this romantic comedy lacks the match that could ignite it. Time has not been kind to it. We've seen Hudson go through these paces many times before, in his pairings with Doris Day and even with Lollobrigida in the first (and better) film they did together, COME SEPTEMBER. It's just not fresh anymore. Some of the material doesn't hold up today like the smirky misunderstandings on Hudson's sexuality, i.e. thinking he's pregnant. He's even in bed with Edward Judd (playing Lollobrigida's boss) but, of course being 1965, they're both clothed in pajamas. As if sensing his romcom days were over, in the following years, Hudson concentrated on thrillers (BLINDFOLD), dramas (SECONDS), war movies (TOBRUK) and action films (ICE STATION ZEBRA). With Gig Young, Terry Thomas, Nancy Kulp, Howard St. John, Edith Atwater and Arthur Haynes.
When a trading company employee (Shinsuke Ashida) mysteriously vanishes after returning to Japan after two years in Hong Kong, the man's daughter (Kazuko Yoshiyuki) and her journalist boyfriend (Hiroyuki Nagato) search for him. But when he suddenly pops up again, he seems secretive and quick to anger. Directed by Seijun Suzuki, this gritty noir-ish thriller isn't as edgy as Suzuki's best work but makes for a perfectly enjoyable thriller. Shot in monochromatic B&W scope by Shigeyoshi Mine, Suzuki explores the loyalties and betrayals of both family and lovers. Nagato's reporter must decide if the story he is following which is detrimental to his girlfriend's father takes precedence over their relationship while the father expects his family not to question his choices even if those choices could blow up in their faces (which it literally does eventually). If you're a Suzuki fan, this is a no brainer but even if you're not, there's a lot to admire here.
When a young doctor (Hugh Reilly) is shot dead outside a hospital, a police detective (Richard Conte) goes undercover as an intern in order to break the case. It isn't long before he discovers there's something very wrong going on in the hospital. Directed by George Sherman (AGAINST ALL FLAGS), this film noir was shot entirely on location at Bellevue Hospital and on the streets of New York in a semi documentary style. It even begins with Richard Conte as himself and not the character he plays addressing the audience. It's a taut little crime thriller that holds your attention. It's not perfect, some of the unsubtle performances are pretty bad. Richard Taber and Alex Nicol can't seem to restrain themselves and carry on as if they were in an old fashioned melodrama but Sherman gives strong support to the film's fervid narrative. Frank Skinner (WRITTEN ON THE WIND) did the underscore. With Coleen Gray, John Alexander and Peggy Dow.
A journalist (Georges Riviere) is interviewing the author Edgar Allan Poe (Silvano Tranquilli) when a nobleman (Umberto Raho) challenges the journalist to spend the night in a castle which is supposedly haunted. The journalist accepts the wager and quickly discovers that the dead walk the night. Although credited as an adaptation of a Poe short story, it is in fact not based on any Poe work. Directed by Antonio Margheriti (SEVEN DEATHS IN A CAT'S EYE), this Gothic horror tale stars horror icon Barbara Steele but her screen time is limited. The film itself is slow to get going and only really jump starts at the halfway mark when we get the backstories on how all the ghosts met their deaths. Margheriti whips up a nice ghostly atmosphere but it's still too predictable in its execution and there are way too many stagnant scenes. But die hard fans of these Italian Gothic horrors should enjoy it. The score is by Riz Ortolani (THE YELLOW ROLLS ROYCE). With Margarete Robsahm and Arturo Dominici.
Two strangers (Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder) meet at the airport and take an instant dislike to each other. They find out they're on the same flight and both are attending the same wedding. He's the half brother of the groom and she's the groom's ex-girlfriend. Written and directed by Victor Levin. I was a bit surprised that this was an original screenplay because it feels like it's based on a play. Ryder and Reeves are the only two characters in the movie (some other characters are peripheral but they have no lines) and for 90 minutes argue and discuss with a brief interval for sex. Ryder and Reeves are likable, attractive and talented which helps but it's not enough when the romcom screenplay gives us pedestrian dialogue rather than scintillating conversation. It doesn't help that Levin's direction consists of making sure the camera is in the right place and that's about it. If you're not a fan of the two lead actors, there's a good chance you won't make it to the end of the film.
When a communist spy ring infiltrates a U.S. nuclear laboratory and steals important information, an FBI agent (Dennis O'Keefe) and a British Scotland Yard detective (Louis Hayward) joins forces to expose the traitors. Directed by Gordon Douglas (TONY ROME), this film is a good example of those "red nightmare" films prevalent in the late 1940s and early 1950s during the McCarthy era. In that sense, it's interesting from a historical point of view but as cinema, it's rather tiresome. Inexplicably, it's often referred to as film noir but instead it's a crime film with an attempt at a documentary style to make it seem more immediate (Reed Hadley's stentorian voice does the narration). The film could have used some style but Douglas's straightforward direction plods along while Hadley barks on about patriotism and the American way of life. The commies are right out of a 1930s gangster movie. With Raymond Burr, Louise Allbritton, Frank Ferguson, Art Baker, Tamara Shayne and Ray Teal.
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A documentary on city life in the Soviet Union in 1929. Directed by Dziga Vertov, this is cinema in its purest form. No plot, no actors, not even intertitles commenting on or referring to the action. Just people at work and at play, giving birth and attending funerals, getting married and getting divorced, etc. In other words, life. The closest the film has to a "character" is the cameraman who is an omniscient presence. It may sound like a dry viewing experience but it's anything but. Cinema is a visual experience and the film is a dazzling parade of images and faces accompanied by Michael Nyman's superb underscore (other transfers have different underscores but I can't imagine a more satisfying one). Vertov uses every cinematic technique available to him: editing, freeze frames, slow motion, accelerated movement, split screens, tracking shots etc. One could get drunk on the imagery. Surprisingly the film wasn't greatly admired when first released as Vertov focused on form over content. Today, it's recognized as one of cinema's greatest achievements. Poetry in motion and de rigeur to anyone remotely interested in cinema as an art form.
An heiress (Fay Wray) fleeing the apartment of a photographer forcing himself on her is rescued by another photographer (Richard Arlen). But when the first photographer turns up murdered, the heiress becomes the primary suspect. Directed by Albert S. Rogell, this mixture of screwball comedy and a murder mystery should be a lot more fun that it is. The comedy is weak but the main flaw is that the murder and its solution just isn't that interesting. As if sensing this, the movie spends more time on the romantic hijinks between Wray and Arlen than on the actual murder mystery. It might have helped with more experienced farceurs in the leads, say Carole Lombard and Melvyn Douglas. But Wray and Arlen are sincere, perhaps too sincere when they should have a bit of the devil in them. Anyway, it's watchable but forgettable. With Leon Ames, Marjorie Reynolds, Marc Lawrence and Thurston Hall.
Set in 1961 England, an officer (Alan Bates) with the British counterintelligence asks a suburban couple (Ellen Burstyn, Ronald Hines) to allow him into their home and use their upstairs bedroom which looks out on a street as a surveillance post. To their horror, it appears their best friends across the street, an American couple (Teri Garr, Daniel Benzali) may be communist spies. Based on the award winning play by Hugh Whitemore and directed by Anthony Page. The play was a success in London's West End where Judi Dench played Burstyn's role and a lesser success on Broadway where Rosemary Harris played the part. It's a riveting piece of drama that asks a lot of questions. Does our "duty" to our country supersede our loyalty to our friends? In a relationship built on deceit on all sides (including the government), can we ever know what the right thing is? This isn't a political thriller (though there's quite a bit of suspense) but a human drama that has us questioning what side do we come down on. The acting is very good although Burstyn does a terrible job with her British accent. I've never seen the play it's based on or read the source material but I suspect this adaptation has been watered down somewhat. Still, what remains is thought provoking. With Sammi Davis (HOPE AND GLORY) and Clive Swift.
Two aimless young men (Claude Brasseur, Sami Frey) have romantic designs on a naive young girl (Anna Karina). They talk her into helping them rob the household she works in as a maid. Based on the novel FOOL'S GOLD by Dolores Hitchens and directed by Jean Luc Godard in a playful mood. This absurdist black comedy is a bit nutty but in a likable way. Its unfocused trio seem influenced by American gangster movies. The males act like thugs but they're pure amateurs and way over their head. As usual with Godard, he tosses in a few quirky moments as when the actors sit in silence for a minute and then spontaneously break out into dancing the Madison. Considered by many to be Godard's most accessible film and it's a good film to introduce Godard to someone who's never seen a Godard movie. With Louisa Colpeyn and Ernest Menzer.
When a wealthy American (Martin Henderson) visits India with his friend (Naveen Andrews), he clashes with a local Indian beauty (Aishwarya Rai) despite their obvious attraction to each other. Adapted from PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Jane Austen and directed by Gurinder Chadha (BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM). Taking Austen's beloved classic and turning it into a modern day Bollywood musical may sound like heresy but who cares when the result is as charming a confection as this. Filmed in India, London and Los Angeles, this is a colorful and buoyant retelling that stands on its own even if you've never read PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (or seen any of its film or TV adaptations). The wholesome all American Henderson and the exotic beauty Rai make for an attractive coupling and I can't help but think Jane Austen would approve. The large cast includes Marsha Mason, Anupam Kher, Nadira Babbar, Alexis Bledel, Nitin Ganatra and the stunning Indira Varma.
An unethical scientist (Lionel Atwill) does experiments on live humans. He puts them into a state of suspended animation with the intention of reviving them at a later date. But when one of his subjects (Hardie Albright) dies during the process, he flees the country and takes a ship to New Zealand but fate takes a hand when the ship sinks and he and five other passengers are stranded on a desert island. Directed by Joseph L. Lewis (GUN CRAZY), this economical Universal horror programmer is short enough (its running time barely over an hour) so that it doesn't have time to lose any steam and plows ahead for an entertaining B movie horror. As usual with these films, there's always someone around for comic relief and in this case, there are two of them. Fortunately, they are amusing rather than annoying. There's Una Merkel as a ditzy Aunt and Nat Pendelton as a muscle bound boxer. I enjoyed it. The rest of the cast includes Anne Nagel, Richard Davies, Claire Dodd and John Eldredge.
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