PaulusLoZebra's reviews

Arthur Penn's The Chase from 1966 seems to be the archetypical melodrama ("a sensational dramatic piece with exaggerated characters and exciting events intended to appeal to the emotions"). The story is grotesque and full of odious people, but the film is overall more believable than other more successful, more manipulative, and overrated melodramas such as American Beauty and No Country for Old Men. It doesn't rely on any gimmicks or AI to create its exaggeration, only on the endless list of timeless human foibles, including infidelity, sexuality, class envy, bullying, mob violence and injustice.

This is also outstanding moviemaking, starting with a great story, screenwriter, cinematographer and cast. Perhaps the film's outstanding feature is that many of its characters demonstrate realistic moral nuances amidst the sea of dysfunction that is inevitably and predictably carrying them all towards peril. These characters include Jane Fonda's wife/girlfriend, James Fox's son/husband/lover, EG Marshall's father, Malcom Atterbury's father, and most of all Marlon Brando's sheriff. He is the film's moral compass. There are many fine performances but special kudos to Jane Finda and especially to a great, even magnificent Marlon Brando.

André De Toth's Man on a String is a well made film despite its modest budget. The story is based on a real person and is mostly believeable, except perhaps for some of the derring-do in the finale, which I doubt happened. It conveys the tense vibe of the Cold War before the Berlin Wall was erected. The careful and meticulous espionage here, and the manipulation of individuals on both sides, is convincing. The photography is excellent and I didn't mind at all the many process shots of Moscow, as filming on ___location there was not possible for this subject matter ! Ernest Borgnine gives a fine performance.

Did André de Toth read the script before shooting this film ? How could a director known for gritty realism, and who had fled the Nazis, sign on to a story that starts with a credible premise and then inflates the protagonist halfway though to fantastic proportions? Who knew that our humble English spy, a sleeper in Germany for 25 years, was Hitler's Svengali or Rasputin ? This story, which was based on a real person and real events, was distorted to completely unrealistic lengths. That is really a shame, becayse the film is very well-crafted and realistic in every other way. Jake Hawkins does Yeoman's work here as the protagonist, and the supporting cast is very good.

Nanni Moretti's Habemus Papam is a very well made film, even beautiful, that tells the story of a new pope who can't handle the responsibility. It's a clever, unusual, kind and respectful story (especially for a famous atheiest like Moretti) that alternates fluidly between drama, satire and even slapstick humor. Michael Piccoli is outstanding as a man paralyzed by the enormous new responsibility he's been given. The film's huge supporting cast is full of wonderful caharcters whose faces and simple gestures transmit their charcters beautifully. And the film's first half is mesmerizing. However, after that the film wanders, with too much time spent on Moretti himself (as a famous psychoanalyst) and his games for the cardinals, and on the wandering pope's randomly adopted theater group. The ending, which seems to have disappointed many, was fine for me, it was the middle 45 minutes that left me disappointed and keeps this film from greatness.

André de Toth and Jay Dratler's The Pitfall is a nuanced drama about real human situations, and it's as relevant today as it was in 1948. The film offers richly drawn characters, but not caricatures, and realistic dialogue to match them. It has very emotional moments, and tragedy, without descending into melodrama. And it offers no easy answers to the very human dilemmas the characters face.

There are four excellent, realistic performances here. In a secondary role executed perfectly, Jane Wyatt is the film's moral compass. She understands and accepts adult life, and approaches it with a positive attitude, yet with charm, humor, strength and intelligence, not with naiveté. Her husband Dick Powell is mostly in sync with her behavioral lead, but is more prone to ennui, and eventually succumbs to the midlife crisis that we witness unfolding in the first half of the film. Lizabeth Scott is a femme fatale, but not a deliberately manipulative one. She wants to live a normal life but possesses the double-edged sword of being irresistible to men. And Raymond Burr is a willful, lustful private detective and ex-cop whose malevolence takes the drama of these four people to a very dark place. Besides these four, Byran Barr has a small but intense performance that is key to the film.

Another reviewer has described perfectly how the two female characters, played by Wyatt and Scott, are innocent victims of the three men, played by Powell, Burr and Barr. The greatest feature of this film is that neither these victims nor their self-indulgent, destructive perpetrators are cartoon characters.

Henry Hathaway's Diplomatic Courier from 1952 is a taut, fast-moving spy thriller set in a postwar Europe of intrigue and double crosses. It's got a complex plot and many richly-drawn characters, some good ___location shots and a few nice quasi-noir cinematographic moments.

Tyrone Power and Hildegard Kneff are excellent as the leads, both believeable. One slight demerit in the film is that Patrcia Neal's character is at first too-richly drawn, her immediate, aggressive sexual overtures seem excessive for 1952. It works in the overall context of the film, but it is one of the few false notes in an otherwise strong movie.

Another small annoyance is the frequent use of process shots in the background of the stars when it is clear that they had shot much of the film on ___location. Again, a minor bug.

Karl Malden leads an unbelieveable supporting cast which includes future-greats Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, EG Marshall, and Michael Ansara.

The film has good tension thoughout, realistic violence, and an economical pacing that nevertheless gets the story accross in rich detail.

Finally, for film buffs, do you hear the zither music in Trieste ? There is just a bit of it, and probably an homage to Carol Reed's The Third Man from two years earlier, but I found it interesting.

Stanley Kramer's The Pride and the Passion has a good premise, an epic sweep, beautiful filming locations, and two radiant stars, Cary Grant and Sophia Loren. It also has an impressive and (mostly) realistic treatment of the struggles of the people with this giant cannon that they must salvage and then transport across the country. Unfortunately, it also has a completely mis-cast Frank Sinatra as the third lead, and a clumsy script. Many reviewers have written about the mis-cast Sinatra, who was otherwise a fine actor. That script is as big a problem. It does not devote nearly enough time to the romantic relationships that we barely witness and are supposed to believe, and it spends too much time on the repeated and predictable physical struggles with the cannon. It seems to me that the writers, who had read the book, forgot that most movie-goers have not read the book and that they need to tell a cohesive story to keep us believing ! They failed.

I read somewhere that the studio, Fox, cut 20 minutes from Man on a Tightrope and that Elia Kazan was outraged, but powerless to stop them at that stage of his career. I would love to see the full director's cut of this film, because there are parts of the story that seem abbreviated, namely Frederic March's relationship with his young wife, his suspicions of those closest to him in the troupe, and the pressures from the secret police.

Despite that, this is a powerful movie about the repressive nature of post-war Communism in Eastern Europe after WW2, about the poverty of that period, about the "little people" just trying to get by, and about one man's dream of achieving freedom for himself and his troupe. Frederic March is outstanding, as is the cinematography and Kazan's pacing. It seemed to me that Kazan was inspired to make the film gritty and realistic, which would not be surpising since during those years Italian Neo-realism, and to a lesser extent the German version, were being celebrated all over the world.

Henry Hathaway's Legend of the Lost might have been a great film. What really works here is an ambitious and very good story, featuring deep human challenges, both physical and psychological, and monumental battles with personal flaws that could feature in a Greek tragic play. The film has amazing scenery from the Libyan desert, with great cinematograhy, shot in beautiful, vivid Technirama Technicolor. It boasts three great actors in John Wayne, Sophia Loren and Rossano Brazzi, and Loren is particularly successful here. So, what's mising ?

Two elements. Hathaway and the writers over-simplifyied their characters at the beginning of the film, and needlessly repeated several scenes in case we didn't get the messages the first time that Wayne was a drunken, luckless adventurer; Loren a lady of the night who wants another life; and Brazzi a dreamy puritan who believes in fairy tales. With more subtlety and greater trust in the audience, this could have risen to another level of cinema.

Another weakness was the transformation of Brazzi's character, which was too sudden and theatrical; a couple of minutes of slow burn would have been so much more realistic ! All that said, Wayne was solid, Loren outstanding, and the Libyan desert (and the Roman ruins) worth the watch.

The Lost Patrol is interesting for those who want perspective into John Ford's career, but suffers in two different ways. First, it's a full-blown descent into Ford's obsession with male camaraderie, yet full of cliches and caricatures. This might have been appreciated in its day, but it isn't very interesting now. Second, it's an unsubtle melodrama, a relic of a different age, with every scene overdone so that the audiences of 1935 would "get it". The photography and sound are very good for its time, but the music reinforces the exaggeration of the performances. Lots of fine actors at work here, but the material was a bit too much.

Irving Rapper's Another Man's Poison is an awful film; boring, tedious, seething with negative emotions. It's got a clumsy, complex plot made worse by overacting. None of the characters are written to deserve our interest or or sympathy; at most we feel sorry for the secretary and tolerate the annoying, creepy, veterinarian. Bette Davis and Gary Merrill play loathsome people, and let's hope that their real-life marriage was more pleasant than what they showed us in this film ! Davis plays the manipulative, nasty role she did so many times in her career. But my biggest disappointment was how the director and writer shaped Gary Merrill's character. This excellent actor is here playing a one-dimensional person, always angry, always drinking.

Peter Godfrey's The Two Mrs. Carrolls is a solid murder mystery that is well worth watching, especially for the final twenty minutes. The film starts a bit slowly but then heats up to a great climax. It has a few things in its favor. The protagonist is a truly frightening, deranged Humphrey Bogart. Barbara Stanwyck is also great, first as an effervescent woman who always sees the glass half full, and later as a helpless victim, frightened to her core. Alexis Smith doesn't have much to do, but does it well, as a sultry, statuesque and clever temptress. The rest of the supporting cast is excellent. The film also has moments of odd English humor laced throughout, usually via the maid, Anita Sharp-Bolster and sometimes through Nigel Bruce's physician, identical to his famous Dr. Watson in so many Sherlock Holmes films. Bruce's physician isn't the only thing Godfrey borrowed, the milk scene immediatley made us think about Hitchock's Suspician, which also featured Bruce. The film is an economical 99 minutes, bravo to Godfrey, but the price we paid for that is no backstory or development on any of the characters. So, we are simply asked to accept their behavior, even if we can't explain it.

Robert Wise's Executive Suite was a thinking person's film in 1954, with an important theme, very relevant then and still relevant today: the financialization of everything. We are all very lucky to benefit from companies which can produce both quality and profits, and to the great credit of the director and writers, they state clearly that both are possible, that Tredway Corporation just went a bit too far one way, and needed correcting. Lots of nuance and context in the overall message; an adult film, indeed !

This serious story is told very effectively as a melodrama, and it's brought to life by an outstanding ensemble cast, ten actors who could each carry a film by themselves if needed. Here there is only one soliloquy, and that's the story's resolution, but otherwise it's a team game for 104 dense, economical minutes, and a joy.

Sydney Pollacks's Out of Africa is a great film. The tremendous beauty of Kenya, and the film's soaring cinematography, match the ambition of the writers and director in recounting the epic and tragic 18 years that Karen Blixen spent in Africa. She is the focus of the film, and Meryl Streep has never been better, conveying her character with every twitch, every breath. I cannot imagine another actress, except possibly Katharine Hepburn, who could convey strength and independence but also immense vulnerability in the way that Streep does. That Pollack chose his favorite actor, Redford, wasn't surprising given his star power, but it was controversial, given how it deviates from the real character, a noble Englishman. I tend to think that this choice worked out well, because they spent no time at all on Redford's backstory nor culture, which meant even more focus on Streep and their romance.

The Seven Ups is an intense, realistic crime thriller set in the rough, dirty New York of the 1970s. The story is very good, and it's told in a way that respects the audience, so that we pick up on things naturally. The scenes are not dumbed-down to make sure we "get it", and the movie is a brisk, economic 103 minutes. It's shot entirely on ___location, with great sets, and transmits perfectly the tough, seedy side of New York in those years. The cinematograpgy was very good, and several scenes made me wish it were shot in black and white to use shadows and light better for more dramatic effects than the color could achieve. It has one of the best car chases ever. Roy Scheider, Tony LoBianco and Richard lynch were excellent.

Like several Hitchcock films, The Lady Vanishes works as different films in one. It's a suspenseful espionage thriller; a joyful, playful romantic comedy; and a very effective propaganda film to warn people about the rise of fascism. Hitchcock's engine is firong on all cylinders here. And as in many of his best films, he has a dynamic power couple leading us around. We are heartily rooting for Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave, even if he intoduces each to the film in slightly unflattering ways. I suppose that this is just one of the great master's many techniques in manipulating us; if we may be a bit ambivalent about these two at first, it might just encourage us to embrace them even more passionately once we realize that they represent good and are fighting evil. Lockwood and Redgrave are outstanding, delivering intelligent and witty characters. One for the ages.

I have enjoyed every Philip Marlowe film I've seen, and this one ranks right up there among the best, with a hard-to-beat combination of a great story, creative direction, and great acting. Chandler's story is outstanding; complex, suspenseful and deeply anchored to simple human weaknesses. Edward Dmytryk added layers of thrilling Film Noir vibes (probably before those vibes had a name !) plus some great camera and film editing techniques to simulate the effects of drugs, beatings and psychologucal stress. And Dick Powell was outstanding as Philip Marlowe, alternating seamlessly from languid and sceptical to manipulative to violent to vulnerable to .... you get it. Among a great supporting cast a special word for Anne Shirley, who was fresh, genine and convincing in every scene.

1978's The Big Sleep is a good, solid Philip Marlowe film that does justice to the novel and should definitely be seen by those who enjoy a good detective film. Robert Mitchum has a great approach to the role, he's a fine Marlowe, always in control, balancing humor and decisiveness, and exuding a languid world-weariness. It's got a twisty plot full of well developed characters, acted by some great performers; just assembling this cast of supporting actors was an achievement. There is also a constant interplay between the erotic, the bizarre and the violent, which helps drive the story. To be seen on its on merits, without reference to the great Bogart-Bacall pic.

I liked this film, especially when I think of it in the context of the many Philip Marlowe movies, all good. I've also enjoyed all the Philip Marlowe actors; maybe the stories are so good that any actor can pull it off ? Anyway, Elliott Gould and Roger Altman gave us the most unusal Marlowe in 1973's The Long Goodbye, and a bit too unusual for my taste. Garner is more like his predecessors, but with personality. He is probably the most classically handsome of the lot, so the most easily believed as the object of female desire, a constant theme in the Raymond Chamdler novels. Yet he downplays this. His Marlowe is very modest, sometimes just on the edge of bumbling. Yes, he has the Chandler / Marlowe humor, and does this very well, and like the best from Bogart and William Powell, he switches from humor to decisiveness quickly. The supporting cast is excellent, especially a fabulous Rita Moreno. The two Bruce Lee scenes are farfetched and very 1970s. It's all shot on ___location and gives a good feel for both high-life and low-life Los Angeles, but the production values do have a "1970s made for TV movie" vibe that detract a bit.

George Seaton's The Counterfeit Spy would be much better were it shorter and less melodramatic. As it is, the film takes an intrinsically interesting and believable plot, many good scenes, and some genuine suspense, and overworks these, ultimately rendering it both somewhat tedious and less believable. The supporting cast is excellent, Lilli Palmer especially. In the early stretches of the film William Holden wasn't too convincing for me - he didn't handle the ambiguity well - but he got much better as the film went on and his character's convictions grew. The ___location filming was excellent but the German scenes often seemed a bit too glossy, too much 1962 and not enough 1942.

In most movies and all espionage films, viewers must decide their appetite for unrealistic stories, plot devices and scenes when judging the film. With 36 Hours, we need to accept the basic plot, which might seem a bit farfetched to some, but not to most, and then we can sit back and enjoy a solid film with good performances. That plot was created by the gifted, creative Roald Dahl in a short story that he wrote while an RAF pilot assigned to Washington DC during WW2. He was there at a desk job after recuperating from an injury sustained in the Battle of Britain.

He imagined that the enemy had set up an elaborate ruse to get prisoners to believe they were in friendly hands and so talk freely about the war effort. This movie version takes the plot to elaborate and intersting psychological places, with James Garner as a captured spy; Rod Taylor as his physician and the desginer of the psychological games; Eva Marie Saint as a concentration camp survivor, Garner's nurse and fictional wife; and Wener Peters as a "practical" SS commander who knows how to work the bureaucracy.

It's a controlled film, part intimate drama and part espionage thriller. All four of the principle actors are excellent, with special mention to Eva Marie Saint for an excellent, subdued performance in a difficult role.

Some films have weak endings, others strong, and Robert Wise's The House on Telegraph Hill is firmly in the second category. It gets better as it moves along. The beginning of the film is fascinating because it is more of a human drama, and we want to know how Valentina Cortese's character will fare. But the movie then changes, becoming a suspense thriller even while the human drama elements are stikk present, but in the background. There are a few elements of the story that borrow shamelessly from Hoitchcock's Suspicion and Notorious, but it's a good enogh film that we don't care. Valentina Cortese and Richard Basehart are excellent, as is Wise's direction, and Lucien Ballard's cinematography is even better. A nod also to the great San Francisco locations.

The film's storyline is farfetched but clever, and it could have been made into a fine romantic comedy. But that's not what happened. Instead, we have overdrawn characters, obvious, childish dialogue and scenes with no subtlety and very little charm. Kelly MacDonald is a very talented and attractive actress, and she does the best she can with clumsy dialogue and some awkward scenes. The best part of the movie is a brief scene of a deaf elderly couple dancing. They are wonderful, and It's a fleeting moment of simplicity, grace and charm that was missing from most of the rest of the film. Heavy-handed.