Wild Boys Of The Road (1933)

At the height of the Great Depression, two teens (Frankie Darro, Edwin Phillips) leave home to avoid being a burden to their impoverished parents. They become train hopping hobos and later form a trio with a young girl (Dorothy Coonan) disguised as a boy. Directed by William A. Wellman (THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY). This is a wonderful, poignant look at the hardships in the depression era and its victims struggling to survive while society views them as vagrants and turns away. I wish the film's last 4 minutes or so weren't so obviously a deus ex machina in the form of a fairy godmother judge who makes everything well. What it needed was a hard hitting last moments like I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG. But those eye rolling last minutes can be readily forgiven because of what preceded. The acting is generally good from the pinch faced Darro, the likable Coonan (who would later marry the film's director) and the exceedingly appealing Phillips who surprisingly made only one other film. Wellman's direction is tight and economical, clocking in at barely over an hour. With Rochelle Hudson, Ward Bond, Sterling Holloway and Minna Gombell.

Comanche Territory (1950)

Jim Bowie (Macdonald Carey) and an ex U.S. Senator (Will Geer) are sent by the government into Comanche territory to extend a peace treaty along with a codicil that allows the U.S. government to mine silver on the Comanche territory. But the treaty is stolen and as the expiration of the current treaty nears, settlers plan on raiding Comanche territory. Directed by the veteran George Sherman (AGAINST ALL FLAGS). This is a typical Universal "B" western. The kind of short (it runs 73 minutes) oater that squeezed into theatres to fill the need to occupy movie houses in between the major films. As such, it does its job and it's an inoffensive cowboy and Indians shoot 'em up. The vapid Macdonald Carey makes for a dreary hero but fortunately there's the gorgeous Maureen O'Hara as the feisty heroine in three strip Technicolor and the equally stunning Arizona vistas (including Sedona) beautifully shot by Maury Gertsman. The score is by Frank Skinner (WRITTEN ON THE WIND). With Charles Drake, James Best, Pedro De Cordoba and Parley Baer.

Life Stinks (1991)

A wealthy Los Angeles businessman (Mel Brooks, who also directed) enters a wager with a rival businessman (Jeffrey Tambor) that he can survive on the streets of L.A. for 30 days with no money, no home or other comforts. While the film may resemble the 1983 comedy TRADING PLACES slightly, unlike that film the priority isn't keeping laughs coming. As a comedy, LIFE STINKS is pretty much a dud. But what it does have is heart and there are several poignant moments that reflect on the plight of the homeless in a major urban city. The "happily ever after" ending is phony as all get out but there are some genuinely authentic moments among the shallow ones. Lesley Ann Warren as a bag lady who teaches Brooks the ropes of living on the streets gives a strong performance that lifts the film up a few notches. There are two wonderful sequences that stand out. The first is an Astaire & Rogers dance number danced by Brooks and Warren amid the garbage, rags and empty boxes. The second is a genuinely amusing duel between two bulldozers that parodies those Godzilla vs. Gamera (or Mothra or King Kong etc.) Japanese creature features. The score is by John Morris. With Howard Morris, Teddy Wilson, Rudy De Luca and Billy Barty.

En Effeuillant La Marguerite (aka Plucking The Daisy) (1956)

After writing a racy novel that scandalizes her father (Jacques Dumesnil), an 18 year old girl (Brigitte Bardot, still an ingenue at this stage of her career) runs off to Paris. However, once there, she needs money so she enters a striptease contest with a cash prize for the winner but she wears a mask so her family and fiance (Daniel Gelin, MURMUR OF THE HEART) won't recognize her. This rather amusing farce is vaguely reminiscent of those 1930s screwball comedies like THEODORA GOES WILD and though the cast is game, they're far from expert farceurs. Much of the time, you're thinking "Oh, this is supposed to be funny" but you're not laughing. Directed with verve by Marc Allegret, everyone plays with so much spirit that it's difficult not to give in to the nonsense. Darry Cowl as Bardot's chain smoking brother gets on one's nerves rather quickly though but the rest of the cast does fine including Luciana Paluzzi, Robert Hirsch and Yves Marie Maurin.

Angel Baby (1961)

A mute girl (Salome Jens) is taken to an evangelist (George Hamilton) and her power of speech is restored. She devotes her life to God but is ultimately exploited by those out to make a profit out of religion. Based on the novel JENNY ANGEL by Elsie Oakes Barber and directed by Paul Wendkos (THE MEPHISTO WALTZ). This film came out the year after the superior ELMER GANTRY and can't transcend its exploitation roots. It's derivative in so many ways and clumsily put together. It seems to condescend to the "white trash" believers exploiting them in the same way the evangelical hucksters did but also pandering to the "superiority" the audience is supposed to feel toward them. Jens as the Angel Baby of the title is actually very good and if the film had been better, or even a hit, it's the kind of performance and role that would have propelled her to stardom. But her performance isn't enough to save the film and she's saddled with George Hamilton's performance which is inadequate to the demands of the role. I'm ambivalent about the hysterical Mercedes McCambridge as Hamilton's bible spouting wife. She's either brilliant or godawful, I still haven't decided. Two old pros, Joan Blondell and Henry Jones, bring what they can as a boozing couple watching out for Jens but a young Burt Reynolds in his film debut is still too wet around the edges.

The Debt (2011)

In 1997 Israel, a former Mossad agent (Helen Mirren) attends a book party for her daughter's (Romi Aboulafia) just published book on her mother's heroism in tracking down and executing a Nazi war criminal (Jesper Christensen). But there's a dark, unspoken secret in her mother's past that effects the present of all involved including the daughter as we find out when the film bounces back forth between 1966 East Berlin and 1997 Israel. Based on a 2007 Israeli film, this is a complex, layered thriller that the director John Madden (SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE) keeps you on the edge of your seat. A real nail biter as it were as you never know exactly where it's going. Although top billed, the film really belongs to the wonderful Jessica Chastain who plays the young Mirren in the film's lengthy flashback. After her one two punch this year with TREE OF LIFE and THE HELP and now THE DEBT, surely she's the new actress to watch! The fine score is by Thomas Newman. The superb cast includes Tom Wilkinson as Mirren's husband with Marton Csokas as his younger self, Ciaran Hinds as the third member of the Mossad team with Sam Worthington (AVATAR) as his younger self. Highly recommended.

Tarzan's Magic Fountain (1949)

When an aviatrix (Evelyn Ankers) emerges from the jungle after being lost for 20 years, she still looks the same as if time hadn't passed due to a secret water source hidden deep in the jungle that restores youth. Two devious con men (Albert Dekker, Charles Drake) plot to discover the source and make themselves rich. But not if Tarzan (Lex Barker) has anything to say about it. The debut of Barker as Tarzan, taking over from Johnny Weismuller. The film itself is a rather silly concoction of jungle adventure and science fiction that passes the time amiably. If a little too much time is expended on the tiresome antics of Cheetah the chimp, Barker makes for a pleasantly easy going Tarzan and Brenda Joyce returning as Jane for the fifth and final time plays a more important part in the storyline than usual. Directed by Lee Sholem. With Alan Napier and Henry Brandon.

Gervaise (1956)

A laundress (Maria Schell) and her children in mid 19th century Paris are abandoned by her lover (Armand Mestral). Things look up when she remarries but after her husband (Francois Perier) has an accident after a fall from a roof, things take a turn for the worse. Based on the novel L'ASSOMMOIR by Emile Zola and directed by Rene Clement (FORBIDDEN GAMES. This Oscar nominated (best foreign) film is a dour look at the deterioration of a human soul, piece by piece until it's demolished. What keeps one from giving oneself over to the film completely is the heroine's complicity in her own victimization and ultimate destruction. One simply can't sympathize with her. Maria Schell's performance is exquisite (she won the Venice film festival best actress award) even if she is playing a human dishrag. It's a painful, joyless watch. The mise en scene is beautifully constructed and evocative by production designer Paul Bertrand. The score is by Georges Auric. With a wonderfully wicked performance by Suzy Delair as the sly Virginie who waits years for her revenge, Jacques Harden whose blacksmith remains the most likable character and little Chantal Gozzi as the cunning Nana, the daughter of Schell and Perier, who would grow up to become the heroine of Zola's next novel and several film adaptations.

Contagion (2011)

Returning home from a business trip to Hong Kong, a woman (Gwyneth Paltrow) feels unwell but she attributes it to jet lag. But when she has a seizure and dies, she becomes Patient Zero in a pandemic of global proportions. Shot with a digital camera and directed by Steven Soderbergh (ERIN BROCKOVICH), this is a corker of a medical thriller. Terrifying all the more because Soderbergh shoots in a realistic, semi documentary style (think Kazan's PANIC IN THE STREETS but less melodramatic and more natural) rather than the more action oriented spreading virus thrillers like OUTBREAK. All the more disturbing because it's not far fetched but clinically exacting in its portrayal of a race against time for a cure as a society self destructs in chaos and fear. The percussive pulsating score which propels it all forward is by Clint Martinez. Smart, intelligent and positively riveting! Though it's not the kind of film with any stand out performances as the story is the star and no one actor is allotted much time for a detailed character, the massive cast includes Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Jude Law as a paranoid conspiracy theorist, Laurence Fishburne, Elliott Gould, Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Ehle, John Hawkes and Sanaa Lathan all giving solid performances.

My Cousin Rachel (1952)

A young man (Richard Burton) is disturbed when he gets letters from an older cousin (John Sutton), who raised him, from Italy expressing concerns that his new wife (Olivia De Havilland) is poisoning him. After his cousin dies, he's convinced the wife murdered him but when he meets her, he finds himself attracted to her and doubts occur. This Gothic romantic mystery from the pen of Daphne Du Maurier (REBECCA) is a perfect example of the genre at its finest. Not on a level with Hitchcock's film adaptation of REBECCA but a near irresistible concoction effectively directed by Henry Koster (THE ROBE). De Havilland, in particular, is quite good here in a deliberately ambivalent performance that continually keeps us guessing, "is she or isn't she?" till the very end. Despite his Oscar nomination for his performance here, Burton is overly intense, almost jumping out of his skin when less would be more. The handsome production values are first rate including the Oscar nominated art direction and costume design and a superb atmospheric score by Franz Waxman. With lovely Audrey Dalton, Ronald Squire, George Dolenz and Argentina Brunetti.

The Kite Runner (2007)

Two Afghan children, one Amir (Zekeria Ebrahimi) the son of a wealthy merchant (Homayoun Ershadi in a superb performance) and the other Hassan (Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada in a winning performance) the son of the family servant, are childhood best friends. But the merchant's son has no backbone and betrays his friend in an unforgivable act that he will have to deal with the rest of his life. Based on the best seller by Khaled Hosseini and directed by Marc Forster (MONSTER'S BALL), this is a powerful film that pulls no punches. The main problem I have with it is that the protagonist never owns up to his heinous act and while he attempts to redeem himself in the end, it doesn't or shouldn't let him off the hook though the film seems to forgive him. The film's last half hour is a wee bit disappointing in that it becomes a standard action film as the adult Amir (Khalid Abdalla, UNITED 93) returns to Afghanistan to right a wrong. But for the most part, it's an involving tale of friendship, shame and redemption. The effective score is by Alberto Iglesias and excellent cinematography by Roberto Schaefer (QUANTUM OF SOLACE) with China standing in for Afghanistan. With Atossa Leoni as Abdalla's wife.

Love Has Many Faces (1965)

When the body of a beach boy is washed ashore on an Acapulco beach, an investigation ensues to determine whether it was suicide or murder. But his death turns an ugly light to the "jet set" scene where wealthy Americans engage in what one character refers to as "nothing illegal, just immoral" games. This sudser reeks of glamour what with a poor, over tanned Lana Turner suffering in her luxurious Acapulco beach house (and what a house!) in her Edith Head wardrobe while downing cocktails while her ex-beach boy husband (Cliff Robertson) dallies with Stefanie Powers. But the film never delivers what it promises ... nothing happens. It's doubtful even a Sirk or a Minnelli could whip up a souffle out of this cheese. Most hideous is an oily, leathery Hugh O'Brian as a beach boy -senior division - who's so repugnant you cringe every time he touches Turner. It's not that he's so unattractive but so bland (it's obvious why he never became a star) that one finds it unbelievable that even the most hard up matron would cough up bucks for him. Still, Acapulco never looked so inviting under Joseph Ruttenberg's lensing. Directed by Alexander Singer with a forgettable score by the normally reliable David Raksin (LAURA), Nancy Wilson sings the theme song. With Ruth Roman and Virginia Grey as two older wealthy women on the prowl for young beach boys and Ron Husmann as the only one in the film with a conscience.