A Song Is Born (1948)

A group of musicologists find that being sheltered for years working on their musical encyclopedia has left them ignorant of contemporary music such as jazz, swing and be-bop. To this end, one of the professors (Danny Kaye) goes out into the world to study this new music. He invites a nightclub singer (Virginia Mayo) to visit the institute and assist his colleagues. She refuses but when the police are after her, she finds it's a good place to hide from the law. Howard Hawks directs this remake of his own 1941 screwball comedy BALL OF FIRE. It's pretty much a faithful remake but this time with songs and Technicolor added to the mix. Kaye and Mayo do quite well standing in for Cooper and Stanwyck but the music feels like padding out but it's still a decent effort. Fans of jazz and swing get the treat of seeing/hearing such greats as Benny Goodman (who unlike the others has a character to play rather than play himself), Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey, Lionel Hampton, Page Cavanaugh and Mel Powell. With Steve Cochran, Sidney Blackmer, Hugh Herbert, Felix Bressart, Paul Langton, Esther Dale and repeating her role from the 1941 film, Mary Field.

Investigating Sex (aka Intimate Affairs) (2002)

In 1929 Massachusetts, a researcher (Dermot Mulroney) is conducting interviews with several male subjects on male sexuality. His research being funded by a wealthy mentor (Nick Nolte), he hopes to publish his findings. But his attempts to control the dialogue isn't successful and the direction the conversation takes becomes splintered, especially when women are invited to participate. At his best, director Alan Rudolph (a protege of Robert Altman) is responsible for some of the best films of the 1980s. Movies like CHOOSE ME, SONGWRITER and TROUBLE IN MIND. But he's also directed some shameless duds like WELCOME TO L.A., REMEMBER MY NAME and ENDANGERED SPECIES. This effort falls in the dud category. Rudolph deserves some sort of prize for not only making a film about sex without a hint of eroticism but downright dull. Never mind that the film is a supposed comedy where there isn't a laugh to be had. People sit around for near two hours and talk, talk, talk about sex. This might be engrossing if the writing were any good but it's terribly written and poorly acted. But one can't blame the poor actors (well maybe Jeremy Davies) because the pretentious dialogue would defeat anybody. With Tuesday Weld, who has a few good moments as a faux Russian by way of Brooklyn, Neve Campbell, Julie Delpy, Terrence Howard, Alan Cumming, Robin Tunney and John Light.

Jamboree (1957)

Two young singers, a boy (Paul Carr) and a girl (Freda Holloway), are put together as a singing duo by their managers who were once married to each other. The two youngsters fall in love but his manipulative manager (Kay Medford, FUNNY GIRL) plots to break up the act by having him go solo much to the chagrin of her manager (Robert Pastene). This slim excuse for a plot is merely an excuse for a fifties rock 'n roll extravaganza aimed at the teen set. Over half the film is devoted to musical acts. Most of them are inconsequential but the film offers up the opportunity to see some of the best rock/blues/swing performers of that era. There's the great Fats Domino pounding the ivories to Wait And See, Jerry Lee Lewis introduces his sizzling Great Balls Of Fire for the first time, Count Basie swings the One O'Clock Jump while Joe Williams wails I Don't Like You No More. Then there's a young pre-stardom Frankie Avalon and Buddy Knox performing his top 10 novelty hit Hula Love and Carl Perkins singing Glad All Over (later recorded by The Beatles) and even though she's not in the film (she dubs Freda Holloway), a pre-stardom Connie Francis gets prominent billing as "and the voice of Connie Francis". If you're interested in the music of the era, it's worth your while but don't watch it for the simplistic plot. With Dick Clark as himself.

Gloria (2013)

Set in Santiago, Chile; a fifty-ish divorcee (Pauline Garcia, who won the best actress award at the Berlin film festival for her work here) with two grown children attempts to fill a void in her life ..... a relationship. When she meets a recently divorced man (Sergio Hernandez) at a dance bar, the two connect immediately. But unlike her, he can't seem to move on from his ex-wife and grown daughters. Armed with glowing reviews, I was looking forward to seeing this film and perhaps I expected too much but I couldn't help but feel disappointed. Certainly not disappointed in Garcia's performance which is wonderful and it was refreshing to see an honest film about middle age romance without the contrived trappings of the usual Hollywood romcom. But there was a bittersweet pall over the entire venture that depressed me. Perhaps because part of me understands Gloria's predicament all too well. But at least the film was honest and didn't give us the sugarcoated "happy" ending all too prevalent in American cinema. Worth seeking out but chances are coming out you may possibly feel melancholy instead of the exuberance the critics have ascribed to it. Directed by Sebastian Lelio.

Under Two Flags (1936)

In the turn of the century (the 20th) Algiers, a Sergeant (Ronald Colman) in the French Foreign Legion incurs the animosity of his superior (Victor McLaglen) when the Major believes the Sergeant has stolen the affection of a cabaret performer (Claudette Colbert). In actuality, the Sergeant has his sights set on a visiting English rose (Rosalind Russell). Based on a novel by Ouida which had already been filmed four times (including a silent with Theda Bara in the Colbert role) by the time director Frank Lloyd got his turn, the emphasis is on romance rather than action. Colman is all wrong for a romantic action hero but fortunately a sexy and sassy Claudette Colbert manages to convince us that he's worth slobbering over. While it's no GUNGA DIN or BEAU GESTE, it's a decent "Meet me at the oasis under the blue moon" kitschy romanticization of colonial North Africa. Palm Springs and Arizona stand in for Algeria. With Gregory Ratoff, Nigel Bruce, John Carradine and Onslow Stevens as the warring Arab chieftain.

The Ice Storm (1997)

Set in the Connecticut suburbs of Thanksgiving 1973, as the Watergate scandal blares on the TV news, two disaffected upscale families deal with the sexual revolution, changing values and alienation due to unspoken dissension. One of the best films of the 1990s, director Ang Lee beautifully captures the angst of a decade where everything was turning upside down. We could no longer trust our leaders, marriage was no longer sacrosanct (the key party sequence remains as startling now as it was then) and alcohol and drugs could no longer blunt the pain. Reportedly the novel's author Rick Moody was very pleased with Lee's film and one can see why. Not necessarily cinematic, Lee's film feels like the equivalent of reading a first rate contemporary novel, his images (beautifully shot by Frederick Elmes, BLUE VELVET) carefully approximating the details of the book's prose. Lee manages to get stellar performances right down the line, especially from its youngest cast members like Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci (never better), Elijah Wood and Adam Hann Byrd. The unobtrusively delicate score is by Mychael Danna. With Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Joan Allen, Katie Holmes, Allison Janney, Jamey Sheridan, David Krumholtz and Henry Czerny.

Ruthless (1948)

After he runs away from home, a young boy (Robert J. Anderson) is taken in by a family who treat him as one of their own. But as a young man (Zachary Scott), his ambitions lead him to use anyone who will help him in his climb up the ladder to financial success and then abandon them when they're no longer useful. His victims include his his first love (Diana Lynn), his best friend (Louis Hayward), a socialite (Martha Vickers) and a utilities magnate (Sydney Greenstreet) and his young wife (Lucille Bremer, MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS). Director Edgar G. Ulmer's reputation rests on his ability to transform low budget genre pieces that might have remained schlock in lesser hands into often vital and creative cinema. While his fame rests principally with two films, DETOUR and THE BLACK CAT, his filmography is relatively unexplored. The aptly titled RUTHLESS is an engrossing look at the rise of a callous and aggressive machine in the form of a man who's burned his bridges once too often. The most interesting aspect of the film though is not Scott's character. It's the relationship between the old tycoon (Greenstreet) who adores his young wife (Bremer) unconditionally while she resents being married to an old man and longs to break away and lead a life of her own. Bremer is surprisingly good here, good enough to suggest that perhaps Hollywood wrote her off too early. With Raymond Burr, Claire Carleton and Ann Carter (CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE).

Lost In Alaska (1952)

In 1890 San Francisco, two volunteer fireman (Bud Abbott, Lou Costello) rescue a man (Tom Ewell, SEVEN YEAR ITCH) from drowning himself. In spite of the gold mine he has in Alaska, he's despondent over being rejected by the woman (Mitzi Green) he loves. But when he receives a letter from her saying she loves him, the three return to Alaska. Except that it wasn't her who wrote the letter. This may possibly be the worst of the Abbott and Costello vehicles. I only laughed once at a gag I should have seen coming. The material feels recycled from one of the Hope and Crosby ROAD films (like THE ROAD TO UTOPIA). The only bright spots are not provided by Abbott & Costello but by former child star, Mitzi Green who sings two cute novelty numbers. The film looks like a cheap quickie, its Alaska is obviously a sound stage and I can live with that but when they meet a polar bear, it's so obviously a man in a bear suit! For the Abbott & Costello completists only. Directed by Jean Yarbrough. With Bruce Cabot and Minerva Urecal.

L'Inconnu Du Lac (aka Stranger By The Lake) (2013)

Set entirely on a lake where gay men sunbathe and cruise and have sex in the adjoining woods, a young man (Pierre De Ladonchamps) becomes obsessed with a handsome stranger (Christophe Paou) and is determined to get him. When he sees the stranger murder his most recent lover late at night by the lake, he is disturbed but his ardor is not dampened. This is a dangerous game he will see to the very end. Nominated this week for eight Cesar awards (France's Oscar) and winner of a best director award at this year's Cannes film festival, the film is as sexually explicit as BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR (15 minutes into the film, the two blue haired ladies behind me gasped and dashed out of the theater). This is a compelling yet unsettling piece of cinema. The director Alain Guiraudie is fastidious in the specificity of his narrative; nothing is wasted, not a shot, not a look, not a word. It's almost as if Hitchcock had directed a gay porn film. It's even unclear who the stranger by the lake is. It would seem to refer to the killer but the film features a wonderful performance by Patrick D'Assumcao as an overweight heterosexual man who comes to the lake to sit in the sun away from everybody and just watch. The stranger of the title could just as well refer to him. There were some audible groans as the film faded to black because its story was unresolved. Personally, I was relieved ... I didn't want to know.

Wild In The Streets (1968)

When a rock star (Christopher Jones) is approached by an opportunistic Kennedy-esque candidate (Hal Holbrook) running for the senate to headline a fund raising concert, he turns the tables on him by demanding the voting age be reduced to 14 years. Thus begins an unsettling look at a youth obsessed utopia where people over 35 are put into concentration camps and force fed LSD. American International had its pulse on the youth of America and exploited it in the late 1950s with cheapies like ROCK ALL NIGHT, DRAGSTRIP GIRL, MOTORCYCLE GANG and HIGH SCHOOL HELLCATS. They really hit the jackpot in the early 60s with their BEACH PARTY movies but when there was a shift in the youth culture in mid 60s, AI was the first to jump on the band wagon with movies like THE TRIP, PSYCH OUT and this, WILD IN THE STREETS which may be their masterpiece. Like their other exploitation films, it was a toss off (shot in 15 days) but it benefits from a witty script that taps into the paranoia of the older generation's view of the youth culture: the pot smoking, LSD taking flower children. The dialog is clever: during a protest on the Sunset Strip a journalist reports that "many surfboards were sacrificed for the occasion" and when Shelley Winters as Jones' mother is asked about her son's activities, she says "I'm sure my son has a very good reason for paralyzing the country!". Jones (whose death this Friday gave me a reason to rewatch the film) has a languid arrogance perfect for the part but the film's best performances come from Winters and Diane Varsi, hilarious as a spaced out LSD addled tambourine shaking California congresswoman. The pop/rock songs by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil are catchy. Directed by Barry Shear. With Richard Pryor, Millie Perkins, Ed Begley, Bert Freed, Dick Clark and Pamela Mason.

Krakatoa, East Of Java (1969)

In 1883, the captain (Maximilian Schell, who passed away today) of a salvage ship is looking for a sunken ship that contains a shipment of rare pearls worth a fortune. Unfortunately, the volcano on the island of Krakatoa (which is actually west of Java) is about to explode so it's a race against time to find the ship and get out of the treacherous waters before all Hell breaks loose. This rather bloated disaster film feels unnecessarily padded out. It was originally released as a prestigious "Roadshow" presentation (shot in 70 millimeter, overture and intermission etc.) so I suppose the producers felt they had to justify its status by extending its length. So we get unnecessary time wasting scenes like Barbara Werle singing and stripping for Brian Keith or nuns and children singing little ditties as the volcano makes loud ominous noises in the distance. What should have been a fun "popcorn" movie slogs along and doesn't really kick in till the film's last forty minutes. No one is at their best here and some, like Diane Baker, are at their worst and that includes Frank De Vol whose score is shameless. Directed by Bernard L. Kowalski. With Sal Mineo, Rossano Brazzi, J.D. Cannon, Marc Lawrence, John Leyton, Jaqui Chan and Geoffrey Holder and Niall MacGinnis whose parts seem to have been cut as they have no dialogue.

The House Of The Seven Hawks (1959)

The captain (Robert Taylor) of a charter boat is carrying a solitary passenger (Gerard Heinz) from England to Holland when the passenger suddenly dies. Upon his arrival in Holland, he is greeted by the police who don't buy the captain's explanation of the events especially since the passenger was murdered. But the captain isn't telling the police anything about what he found on the man's body ... and where he hid it! Based on the novel by Victor Canning, whose THE RAINBIRD PATTERN was adapted by Alfred Hitchcock into FAMILY PLOT, the film shows early signs of being an enjoyable piece of pulp. Like THE MALTESE FALCON, everyone is after what Taylor's captain has. Not only the police (represented by Donald Wolfit's police inspector), but the violence hating villain (Eric Pohlmann), the femme fatale (Linda Christian), the double crossing police informant (Philo Hauser) too. But after the initial flurry of excitement, the movie quickly fades into a muddled international thriller with lots of unlikable characters including the hero. In fact, the only likable character is the murdered man's daughter played by the lovely Nicole Maurey. In his late 40s, Taylor looks haggard and out of shape and not connected to the material. Directed by that most generic of directors, Richard Thorpe.