Svengali (1931)

A singing teacher (John Barrymore) with a disreputable reputation has hypnotic powers. He takes an ordinary girl (Marian Marsh) and by hypnotizing her is able to turn her into famous singer. But it devils him no end to know her heart belongs to another man (Bramwell Fletcher). Based on the 1894 novel TRILBY by George Du Maurier, this may be an uneven film (to put it mildly) but it contains one of Barrymore's best film performances. One can almost smell the stink coming off of him. He even manages to bring a a touch of pathos to his sinister maestro. As a stage actor, Barrymore was a legend but his film career is spotty and here, one can see a bit why he was considered one of the great actors of the American stage. As Trilby, Marian Marsh is lovely and charming but its Barrymore who fascinates us. As cinema, it's pretty hoary and the director Archie Mayo can't quite hold our interest when Barrymore isn't around (which fortunately isn't very often). With Donald Crisp and Luis Alberni.

Imitation Of Life (1959)

In 1947, a white mother (Lana Turner) and a black mother (Juanita Moore) join forces to raise their daughters and improve their lot in life. But the white mother sacrifices her daughter on the altar of ambition as she focuses on her rising career and leaves her daughter (Sandra Dee) to be raised by the other woman. But unlike her mother, the black daughter (Susan Kohner) refuses to accept her place in life in a racist society. Since she's fair skinned, she passes for white. Based on the novel by Fannie Hurst and directed by Douglas Sirk. One of the seminal films of the 1950s and a searing examination of both racism and mother "love". I could write paragraphs (and have) about the layers and complexities of Sirk's masterpiece but won't. Dismissed in 1959 as a glossy "woman's picture", it has more sting than other films on the subject (like Kramer's dreadful DEFIANT ONES) of the era. With its lavish trimmings (sets, costumes), Russell Metty's lush cinematography and Frank Skinner's glossy score, people tend to not look beyond the surface. Everything about it is perfect. Even Lana Turner. Her artificiality as an actress can often mar a film but when used appropriately as here where it fits her character (twice in the film she's told to "stop acting!"), the results are splendid. But if the film belongs to anyone, it's Moore and Kohner. If Moore's final goodbye to her daughter doesn't have you in tears, check your pulse! With John Gavin, Dan O'Herlihy, Troy Donahue, Robert Alda, Ann Robinson and Bess Flowers (who actually has lines!).

Angel On My Shoulder (1946)

After a gangster (Paul Muni) is killed by his partner (Hardie Albright),  he's sent to Hell. But the devil (Claude Rains) makes a deal with him to return to Earth and get revenge on his partner. But first,  he must destroy a respectable judge's reputation by inhabiting his body. Directed by Archie Mayo (THE PETRIFIED FOREST),  the plot of this movie fantasy should be familiar as it's been done several times. The most notable examples being HERE COMES MR. JORDAN (1942),  A GUY NAMED JOE (1943) and their remakes HEAVEN CAN WAIT (1978) and ALWAYS (1989). Unfortunately,  this entry is totally without charm and its humor flat. When Muni takes over the judge's body and starts acting totally out of character,  no one seems overly concerned and just humor his "eccentricities". I could have done without the sloppy platitudes the film drips on us in the movie's final minutes. To Muni's credit,  he sets aside the ham and gives a restrained (for him) performance. This was Muni's last American film for 13 years (he did an Italian film in 1952). With Anne Baxter,  Erskine Sanford and Marion Martin. 

Adventures Of Captain Fabian (1951)

In 1860 New Orleans, a Creole maid (Micheline Presle) is determined to improve her position in life no matter what it takes. She sets her sights on an aristocrat (Vincent Price) already betrothed to another woman (Zanie Campan). But be careful what you wish for. The title is a misnomer. Not only is the film not about Captain Fabian (Errol Flynn) and his adventures but Flynn is absent from the film for large chunks of time. The film is about Presle's character and her ambitions which ultimately destroy her. Flynn wrote the screenplay himself and the director is producer William Marshall who was married to Presle at the time. It looks like a Hollywood studio back lot picture but it was actually filmed in France in a studio created New Orleans. Outside of a dreadful score by Rene Cloerec and the weak ending, the film isn't bad at all. The film is a period melodrama but I suppose though it really isn't a Flynn movie but with Flynn toplined that they felt they were obligated to give the movie an action finish so we get a flaming finale that demeans what what on before it. With Victor Francen and in a rare poor performance, Agnes Moorehead in brownface.

Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977)

An Indiana lineman (Richard Dreyfuss) experiences a close encounter with a UFO while driving in the early hours of the morning. This alters his life when he becomes obsessed with the subject to the point of alienating his wife (Teri Garr). He bonds with a single mother (Melinda Dillon) whose child (Cary Guffey) has been kidnapped by a UFO. One of the greatest science fiction films ever made and a personal favorite. Steven Spielberg's second feature film is pure bliss. With the rare exception like DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, in the 1950s UFOs were portrayed as threats to humankind. Aliens wanted to invade and take over the planet. Spielberg's dreamy vision is more optimistic. There's magic in the making here and Spielberg plays on every nerd's fantasy of how we would like an actual encounter to be realized. Dreyfuss's family man is a kid who's never grown up, abandoning his family for the skies (something Spielberg has said he'd never do if making the film today). The film still retains its ability to fascinate. One of the most joyous films I've ever experienced, I can still remember the collective gasp of the audience when the mother ship was first shown in all its glory in a 70 millimeter blow up. I have to mention Melinda Dillon's Oscar nominated performance. It's amazing what she is able to do with so little to work from and John Williams' underscore gives me goosebumps. With Francois Truffaut, Bob Balaban, Roberts Blossom and Josef Sommer.  

The Last Of Sheila (1973)

A film producer (James Coburn) invites several guests to spend a week on his yacht in the South of France: a screenwriter (Richard Benjamin) and his wife (Joan Hackett), an agent (Dyan Cannon), a director (James Mason), a rising young actress (Raquel Welch) and her husband (Ian McShane). But what was supposed to be a week of fun and games turns into murder. Written by composer Stephen Sondheim and actor Anthony Perkin and directed by Herbert Ross (STEEL MAGNOLIAS). This is a corker of a whodunit, a bouquet of catnip to lovers of murder mysteries. The glamorous Mediterranean location is easy on the eye, the cast is first rate and the mystery by turns, clever, witty and diabolical. The narrative is crammed with so much that it's a genuine pleasure to revisit it a second (or third) time to appreciate how detailed and ingenious the script really is. With Yvonne Romain as Sheila.

No Escape (2015)

An American family relocates to Southeast Asia when the father (Owen Wilson) gets a job with an engineering firm. But within 24 hours of arriving in the country (probably Laos), the family finds themselves in the midst of a bloody political coup and one with an anti-American bias. On the upside, the film perfectly captures the terror of finding oneself in a foreign country during political upheaval and suddenly finding out that you're the enemy! On the downside, the family at the core of the drama is a ghastly cliche of an American family right down to its two stereotypical movie kids whose whining ("I'm scared", "I'm hungry", "I need to go potty") constantly places the family in harms way. To the film's credit, it does acknowledge the foreign imperialism that is often the cause of such revolutions in the first place. In the end, despite a few superbly done sequences (the helicopter attack on the roof), the film is a misfire. I won't even go into the revolting sappy ending. Unevenly directed by John Erick Dowdle. With Pierce Brosnan, Lake Bell and Sahajak Boonthanakit.   

Le Plus Vieux Metier Du Monde (aka The Oldest Profession) (1967)

A portmanteau film in six parts by six different directors that looks at prostitution through the ages. In the prehistoric age, a woman (Michele Mercier) exchanges a shell necklace for sex thus becoming the first prostitute. Directed by Franco Indovina. In Ancient Rome, the Empress (Elsa Martinelli) moonlights as a prostitute in a brothel. Directed by Mauro Bolognini. During the French Revolution, a money hungry prostitute (Jeanne Moreau) gets scammed. Directed by Phillipe De Broca. In the 1890s, a prostitute (Raquel Welch) pretends not to know her client (Martin Held) is wealthy. Directed by Michael Pfleghar. In contemporary Paris, two prostitutes (Nadia Gray, France Anglade) have a sex on wheels trade. Directed by Claude Autant Lara. In the future, sex trade is controlled by the government but a prostitute (Anna Karina) is about to break the rules. Directed by Jean Luc Godard. As with most omnibus films, the sketches are hit and miss. Coming off best are the Raquel Welch (although she's dubbed into French) and Karina/Godard sequences. The Godard segment (in B&W) looks like an outtake from his ALPHAVILLE. Michel Legrand composed the charming score. With Jean Claude Brialy, Marcel Dalio, Marilu Tolo, Enrico Maria Salerno, Jacques Charrier and Gabriele Tinti.   

Invitation To A Gunfighter (1964)

In 1865 New Mexico following the end of the Civil War, a Confederate soldier (George Segal) returns home to the hostile Union town which was home to him only to find that his homestead has been usurped  and sold by the banker (Pat Hingle) who owns the town. To insure the town will be rid of him, the banker hires a gunfighter (Yul Brynner) to kill him. Based on a PLAYHOUSE 90 television episode directed by Arthur Penn with Gilbert Roland and Hugh O'Brian in the Brynner and Segal roles, this potent sleeper of a western deserved a better fate than being unceremoniously dumped by its studio (United Artists) onto the market. I originally saw it as the second half of a double bill when it "opened". It's Brynner's last really good detailed performance and he brings a touching pathos to his so called cold blooded killer. It was produced by Stanley Kramer's production company with some nice cinematography by Joseph MacDonald (THE SAND PEBBLES) and an effective score by David Raksin (LAURA) so it seems it was at least intended as a major release in the beginning. Directed by Richard Wilson. With Janice Rule, Brad Dexter, Strother Martin, Gertrude Flynn and Clifford David.

Saturday Night And Sunday Morning (1960)

A working class bloke (Albert Finney) in Nottingham works as a machinist in a factory. He has a contempt for the complacent acceptance of his parents' generation and his peers who give in to such institutions as marriage. He might end up being absorbed by convention but he's going to put up a fight on his way there. This sordid (that's not meant as a put down) and bleak look at working class life is one of the best "kitchen sink" dramas to emerge from Great Britain. The very late 50s and early 60s were a great period for British cinema. Exciting new directors like Lindsay Anderson, Tony Richardson and Karel Reisz and writers like John Osborne and Harold Pinter brought a much needed fresh eye to English cinema and away from the British nobility and upper classes to focus on Britain's working class. It also brought some raw unpolished talent to the forefront like Michael Caine, Tom Courtenay, Richard Harris and here, Albert Finney. While the film may not have the impact it had in 1960, it's still a beautifully crafted piece of work. Finney is superb and in the film's other great performance, Rachel Roberts as the married woman he's having an affair with. The film's evocative B&W lensing shows why Freddie Francis was one of the best cinematographers working in England at the time. With Shirley Anne Field, Bryan Pringle, Hylda Baker and Colin Blakely.  

Novocaine (2001)

A buttoned down dentist (Steve Martin) would seem to have the ideal life. His own clinic, an adoring fiancee (Laura Dern), a nice house, plenty of money. But when an attractive drug addict (Helena Bonham Carter) scams him, instead of going to the police, he finds himself obsessed with her. But it's only the beginning of a downward spiral of sex, drugs and murder. This black comedy has so much going for it that it's a real pity that David Atkins, the director/screenwriter, didn't clean it up a lot more. It's hard to warm up to Martin's dentist when he's so foolish. He's the biggest dupe since Fred MacMurray in DOUBLE INDEMNITY. He just walks right in when all the signs are screaming "This is not a good idea!". Also the murderer, who's been very meticulous to cover their tracks, leaves a key piece of evidence in plain sight! Still, its mixture of sex and graphic violence seems at odds with a Steve Martin comedy which might explain why the film wasn't a hit. But most of the film is so good that it makes its ultimate failure frustrating. With Kevin Bacon, Scott Caan, Keith David and Lynne Thigpen. 

Dracula (1931)

Arriving in London from Transylvania, Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi) sets his sights on the two lovely women (Helen Chandler, Frances Dade) residing in the mansion adjacent to the Abbey he has rented. But Doctor Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan) suspects Dracula's true nature ..... a vampire! While Tod Browning's horror classic retains its ominous unsettling atmosphere, the film itself is rather stagnant. Since Browning's FREAKS released the following year is more fluid, I'll chalk it up to the film being based on the 1924 stage play rather than directly derived from the Bram Stoker novel. With one exception, the acting is static with poor wooden David Manners being the most egregious offender. But Lugosi's iconic performance is perhaps beyond criticism as he remains the definitive Dracula. The one exception is Dwight Frye who adds a much needed jolt as the insect eating Renfield, his hysteria and creepy laugh being both amusing and ghoulish. The atmospheric B&W cinematography is courtesy of Karl Freund. With Herbert Bunston and Joan Standing.