Me And The Colonel (1958)

After fleeing the Nazis from Poland then Vienna then Czechoslovakia, a Jewish refugee (Danny Kaye) in Paris finds he must flee once again as the Nazis approach the French capital. Circumstances force him to flee accompanied by a Polish colonel (Curt Jurgens) wanted by the Nazis and who has strong anti-Semitic feelings. Based on a play by Franz Werfel (SONG OF BERNADETTE), the film is a drama laced with subtle portions of humor. It's probably the most dramatic role Kaye had and he's quite good. So restrained, in fact, that this might be the perfect film for those who dislike his usual frenetic acting. Kaye has a wonderful scene with Nicole Maurey as Jurgens' lover that's beautifully played out. His performance is in sharp contrast to the cartoonish one note performance of Curt Jurgens, normally a fine actor in his own right. The director Peter Glenville (BECKET) neatly balances the humorous aspects of the story without short changing its serious situation, the underscore by George Duning (PICNIC) is a great help in this respect. With Akim Tamiroff, Francoise Rosay, Liliane Montevecchi, Martita Hunt, Alexander Scourby and Celia Lovsky.

Short Cuts (1993)

Set in Los Angeles, the three hour film begins with a pesticide spraying over Los Angeles to kill Mediterranean fruit flies (which are infecting fruit crops) and ends with an earthquake. In between, we meet 22 characters whose lives criss cross and involve murder, suicide, molestation, adultery, alcoholism among other things. The great Robert Altman (watching this film again made me realize how much he's missed) returns to NASHVILLE territory with a superb ensemble cast (with one irritating exception) in a fascinating journey. Based on a collection of short stories by Raymond Carver which Altman changed from the Pacific Northwest to LA., he offers up a rich tapestry of human links whose experience range from the tragic to the perverse. Of the storylines, especially notable are Bruce Davison and Andie MacDowell as parents whose child's life is hanging by a thread, Matthew Modine and Julianne Moore as a doctor and his artist wife whose marriage begins to crack under suspicion of infidelity. The one awful performance is courtesy of Jack Lemmon who at this stage of his career was recycling his SAVE THE TIGER schtick. The minimalist jazz infused score by Mark Isham is perfect. If it weren't for MAGNOLIA (which is definitely influenced by Altman), I'd call this the best American film of the 1990s. The massive cast includes Robert Downey Jr., Lily Tomlin, Tim Robbins, Frances McDormand, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Peter Gallagher, Madeleine Stowe, Fred Ward, Anne Archer, Lili Taylor, Chris Penn, Lori Singer, Buck Henry, Huey Lewis, Annie Ross and Tom Waits.

Isle Of Forgotten Sins (1943)

Set in the South Pacific, two deep sea divers (John Carradine, Frank Fenton) plot to steal the treasure chest of gold from a sunken ship. Unbeknownst to them, two other men (Sidney Toler, Rick Vallin) plan to take the gold away from them once it's brought up. Throw in the madam of a brothel (Gale Sondergaard) and her working girls and an approaching hurricane and what you end up with is ..... a tedious poverty row (it was filmed in a week) imitation of John Ford's THE HURRICANE. The cult director Edgar G. Ulmer (DETOUR, THE BLACK CAT) was often able to overcome severe budget limitations, uneven screenplays and weak actors with his sharp and droll direction. This film isn't one of them. When the anticipated monsoon hits, it's pretty tacky, a mixture of unimpressive miniatures with close ups of the actors inserted in. Possibly the most notable thing about the film is the casting of character actors John Carradine and Gale Sondergaard, usually playing villains, as the romantic leads! The villain here is Sidney Toler, who was playing Charlie Chan during this time. There's also the odd casting of "B" movie tough broad Veda Ann Borg as a Dorothy Lamour native girl clone. The less said about atrocious score by Leo Erdody the better.

Battle Circus (1953)

Set during the Korean war, a young nurse (June Allyson) is assigned to a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (yes, M.A.S.H.) where she attracts the attention of the chief surgeon (Humphrey Bogart), a womanizer. He wants a non-committal relationship while she prefers a more traditional romantic liaison. But their personal problems dwindle next to the constant shelling by the North Koreans and masses of casualties they must attend to on a daily basis. On the plus side, the film is a more realistic look at MASH units during the Korean war rather than the anachronistic hippies and wacky antics of Robert Altman's 1970 film (I've never been able to sit through the TV series). On the down side, the teaming of Bogart and Allyson doesn't work. On their own, they're both appealing actors but they have an uncomfortably awkward on screen chemistry and the tepid love story seems to be always getting in the way of the more compelling situation of a mobile hospital constantly under siege. A couple of scenes stand out: a helicopter pilot (William Campbell) being guided to a safe landing during a storm and Allyson confronting a POW (Philip Ahn) holding a live grenade. Directed by Richard Brooks (ELMER GANTRY). With Keenan Wynn, Robert Keith, Steve Forrest, Jeff Richards and Sarah Selby.

Topaz (1969)

After a high ranking KGB official (Per Axel Arosenius) defects to the U.S., he provides information that there is a high ranking French government official who is leaking top secret information to the Soviets. A CIA agent (John Forsythe) asks a French diplomat (Frederick Stafford) to help ferret out the traitor. Based on the novel by Leon Uris (EXODUS), this is one of director Alfred Hitchcock's worst films. One of Hitchcock's longest films (it pushes the 2 1/2 hour mark), this spy thriller is one long dull affair. This one could have used some razor sharp editing shears but even then I'm not sure the film could have been salvaged. Reputedly, Hitchcock wasn't much interested in the source material but Universal urged it on him and he acquiesced. It shows. At the heart of the film is the wooden Stafford who's playing a not particularly likable character and the actor should be likable to make the part work. If a more appealing actor had been cast it might have helped but on the whole the acting is indifferent. Some exceptions: Philippe Noiret, Roscoe Lee Browne and Karin Dor. The headache inducing score which just won't shut up is by Maurice Jarre. With Michel Piccoli, Dany Robin, John Vernon, Claude Jade, John Van Dreelen, Carlos Rivas, Michel Subor, John Dehner and Ann Doran.

L'Animal (aka Stuntwoman) (1977)

A stunt man (Jean Paul Belmondo) is a bit of a klutz and the cause of many a disaster on a film set. When one stunt goes horribly wrong, he and his stunt woman girlfriend (Raquel Welch, looking drop dead gorgeous) end up in the hospital. This is the last straw in the relationship and she leaves him but he won't be deterred. When he doubles as a stunt man for a mincing gay actor (also played by Belmondo), he sets a plan in motion to get her back. This good natured action comedy should have been better and mostly coasts on the star power of Belmondo and Welch. There is one amusing sequence when the gay Belmondo chases the straight Belmondo who chases Welch who thinks the gay Belmondo is the straight Belmondo and attempts to seduce him. I'm not sure Belmondo's swishy gay wouldn't offend some in the gay community but I found it harmless if a stereotype. Directed by Claude Zidi with Claude Renoir (THE SPY WHO LOVED ME) in charge of the cinematography. With Claude Chabrol, Jane Birkin, Johnny Hallyday and Dany Saval.

楢山節考 (aka The Ballad Of Narayama) (1958)

In a small Japanese mountain village, it is the tradition that once a person turns 70 years of age that they are taken to the top of a mountain called Narayama and left to die. As one woman (Kinuyo Tanaka) approaches her time, she embraces it while her son (Teiji Takahasi) and new daughter in law (Yuko Mochizuki) have great difficulty with the savage tradition. Keisuke Kinoshita's film is an extremely stylized work. It is presented Kabuki style (there's even a curtain raising before the film proper begins) and the dramatic studio bound sets only emphasis the formality of the piece. This is a blessing. It's hard for the Western mind to wrap itself around the concept of abandoning its elders to the elements so a more realistic style would be extremely uncomfortable. I haven't seen the Shohei Imamura remake which apparently presents the story naturally and I don't think I want to. But this is visually a stunning film. The production design of Kisaku Ito and the art direction of Chiyoo Umeda are amazing. Even if one disliked the film, I can't imagine not taking pleasure in each ravishing wide screen composition by Hiroyuki Kusuda. With Danko Ichikawa as the ungrateful grandson, Keiko Ogasawara and Eijiro Tono.

Octaman (1971)

A group of scientists in Mexico discover a curious hybrid, a mutated baby octopus. It's only a matter of time before its father, a half man and half octopus creature comes to retrieve him. Surely a candidate for the most inept sci-fi horror film ever made. The director and writer Harry Essex wrote the screenplay to CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (as well as the undervalued noirs KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL and KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK) and this is merely a cheesy retread of that film. This was the famous make up artist Rick Baker's (THE EXORCIST) first feature film, he designed the tacky rubber Octaman costume. There's absolutely no sense of terror as the rubber Octaman flaps his rubber tentacles. The editing is appalling, a group of people set out but when they reach their destination, one of them is missing. Did he get lost? Go back to camp? We never see him again. The film might have been more cheesy fun if it wasn't so painful to see actors like Pier Angeli (SOMEBODY UP THERE LIKES ME) whose last film this was, Kerwin Mathews (7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD) and Jeff Morrow (THE ROBE), who'd all seen better days, reduced to stuff like this.

Cheri (2009)

In the Paris of 1900, an aging courtesan (Michelle Pfeiffer) embarks on a casual affair with the 19 year old son (Rupert Friend) of a another aging courtesan (Kathy Bates). But the casual affair turns into six years whereupon the boy's mother arranges a fixed marriage for the boy with the daughter (Felicity Jones) of yet another aging courtesan (Iben Hjejle). Based on two novels by Colette (it was previously done as a play with Kim Stanley and Horst Buchholz), the director Stephen Frears and the writer Christopher Hampton of DANGEROUS LIAISONS (which also starred Pfeiffer) have fashioned an elegant and witty film that somehow misses its mark. Physically, it's a very handsome film what with Alan MacDonald's exquisite production design and Consolata Boyle's gorgeous costumes and Pfeiffer gives a wonderfully textured performance. But Rupert Friend, who I liked in MRS. PALFREY AT THE CLAREMONT, is such a nonentity here that Pfeiffer seems to be acting in a vacuum. When she pines for him, you wonder why bother? Without the heat, Friend's cipher like presence capsizes what should have been a marvelous film. Still, there's more than enough that's worthwhile to recommend it. The peerless score is by Alexandre Desplat. With Anita Pallenberg and Frances Tomelty.

Royal Wedding (1951)

A brother (Fred Astaire) and sister (Jane Powell) act take their hit Broadway show to London during the preparations of the royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh. While both are career driven with little interest in a committed relationship, she finds herself falling in love with a handsome English Lord (Peter Lawford) and he finds himself attracted to a dancer (Sarah Churchill, Winston's daughter) in the show. The lightweight storyline is practically irrelevant here because most of the musical numbers are wonderful. It contains two of Astaire's most justifiably famous dances: the dance with a hat rack (Sunday Jumps) and the dance on the ceiling (You're All The World To Me). Plus there's the vigorous vaudeville number with Powell, How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Loved You When You Know I've Been A Liar All My Life in which Powell shows that she doesn't always have to trill when she sings and the exotic percussive I Left My Hat In Haiti also with Powell. Directed by Stanley Donen. With Keenan Wynn and Albert Sharpe (DARBY O'GILL AND THE LITTLE PEOPLE).

Hot Stuff (1979)

The Miami police department sets up a massive sting operation by having four cops (Dom DeLuise, Suzanne Pleshette, Jerry Reed, Luis Avalos) act as fences for stolen goods. I have an inexplicable affection for this amiable if disposable 70s comedy. The improbable plot benefits from the bright Miami setting as well as a screenplay with some grit or at least as gritty as a silly comedy can be. I suspect this is most likely the work of the co-screenwriter Donald E. Westlake whose novels spawned such films as Boorman's POINT BLANK and Godard's MADE IN U.S.A.. The film is helped immeasurably by Dom DeLuise (who also directed), who's the funniest roly poly comic since Lou Costello and makes the most inane punchline hilarious. With Ossie Davis, Marc Lawrence, Pat McCormick (who has the film's funniest line) and Richard Davalos (whose weight gain makes him almost unrecognizable as the young actor who played James Dean's brother in EAST OF EDEN).

Night Song (1947)

A wealthy San Francisco heiress (Merle Oberon) becomes interested in a blind musician (Dana Andrews) but his bitterness about his blindness puts up a wall between them. So she feigns blindness in order to break through his facade. Films about composers seemed to be all the rage in the 1940s (THE CONSTANT NYMPH, A SONG TO REMEMBER, RHAPSODY IN BLUE etc.) and this one has a mawkish romance at its soft core. The most interesting aspect of the film is that when the hero regains his sight, he develops a rather shameful attitude toward the "blind" Oberon as if he were ashamed. A better script would have focused more on this unusual angle, that of a once blind man who once he can see desires to divorce himself from his past "blind" life even if it means cutting off the girl he's was in love with. Instead, the film seems to dance around it before coming to its insipid happy ending. Oberon was always a rather affected actress and without the proper setting (like WUTHERING HEIGHTS), her acting comes across as remote as it does here. Directed by John Cromwell (THE ENCHANTED COTTAGE). With Ethel Barrymore, Hoagy Carmichael, Arthur Rubenstein, Eugene Ormandy, Jacqueline White and Donald Curtis.