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Reviews
Man from Del Rio (1956)
Unusual, unknown solid Western with Hispanic anti-hero
Harry Horner is not the kind of household director name that immediately raises your temperature. In fact, I have seen none of his work, apart from VICKI and BEWARE MY LOVELY (both good, but not exactly memorable flicks).
The script by Richard Carr is based on his own novel, and it certainly has its moments, mainly strong dialogue between Anthony Quinn and Katy Jurado, both playing Hispanic characters... and a clever ending.
Quinn, a sucker for playing characters driven by something akin to a force of nature, and having recently won his second supporting actor Oscar for playing a rather cold Gauguin in LUST FOR LIFE, is thankfully more subdued here than in ZORBA, GUNS OF NAVARONE, GUNS OF SAN SEBASTIAN, among others. He does well enough the drunkard routine but is at his best when conversing with Jurado, whose part seems a trifle small as opposed to the influence she gradually gains over Quinn.
Peter Whitney embodies the town villain who wants to profit at everyone's expense - I found him a little bit short of convincing, but perhaps I demand too much.
Effective B&W cinematography by Stanley Cortez.
American Heist (2014)
Convincing acting in unconvinving plot
Armenian-born Sarik Andreasyan directs AMERICAN HEIST with a wayward touch: it opens arrestingly enough, with Adrien Brody leaving jail and promptly getting brother Hayden Christensen involved in a robbery masterminded by Akon and Tory Kittles, with the upshot that Christensen has to torch his beloved car to eliminate evidence. Of course, he dithers about it, but Akon and Kittles make sure that it is done, with a further warning that any unsupportive response from Hayden would result in harm to brother Adrien.
Needless to say, Hayden is mightily pissed off with his sibling, about whom we learn not only served 10 years in the clinker for killing a copper - a likely sentence in Armenia but far too light in the United States - but also caused Hayden to go in for 18 months.
That ain't all, either - whilst in the slammer, Adrien blabbered no end about Hayden and his exquisite girlfriend Jordana Brewster (with legs to die for!) and Akon and Kittles include her in their target threats if Hayden fails to comply. With the initial robbery Akon and Kittles got hold of vital info for a bank heist. Suddenly, hitherto un-introduced, mask-wearing Spoonie joins the action. We know nothing about him, but he is the cleverest of the lot, in that he makes off in the waiting car which Hayden had ill-advisedly got out of after noticing that a woman had cottoned on to the robbery and was phoning police.
To say that the heist went horribly wrong is an understatement. It is also unconvincingly filmed, and the ending annoyingly open, although at least Adrien finds personal redemption by trying to save brother Hayden by making him look like a bank hostage, after beating his face to a pulp.
Best performer in the film, Brody conveys credible sleaziness, opportunism and fearful fidelity to his murdering bosses, the trigger-ready Akon and Kittles.
Christensen's character dithers a bit too much for my liking, but his acting does not compromise. Gorgeous Brewster hardly acts (I found it tough to believe that she was not a copper but worked in the local police department as a relayer of messages from police officers on the beat, and had heard but did not actually know that former boyfriend Hayden had done time).
The haphazard plot condemns AMERICAN HEIST to mediocrity. Quality acting makes it watchable but I doubt I will ever revisit this film. 6/10.
Night and the City (1950)
Over the top Widmark performance anchors cold British noir
By 1950, famous US-born Director Jules Dassin, of French parentage, had fled his country and the communist witch hunt driven by Senator McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), and sought refuge in Europe, where he shot films in the United Kingdom, France, Greece, Turkey and Italy, among others.
Shot in crisp B&W.by Max Greene, with effective editing by. Nick de Maggio and Sydney Stone, NIGHT AND THE CITY promptly introduces the central character, forever running Harry Fabian (Widmark), who keeps harrying for money to finance his fabulous pie in the sky projects and hurrying to flee those wanting their money back, or promised profits.
At this stage in his career, Widmark mostly played villains. Constantly scheming Fabian urgently and earnestly seeks success, and his promises to make others rich sound genuine, so he is an anti-hero, two-bit criminal with big dreans, somehow worthy of sympathy from the viewer. What is more, the exquisite Gene Tierney - in an oddly small leading part - truly loves him, never abandoning or betraying him as with every move he gets more and more caught in the quick sands of the London underworld.
Widmark's performance is too over the top, even hysterical at times, for my liking, but I cannot deny that he anchors and carries the film from beginning to end.
Superior supporting performances from Googie Withers as Helen, the cheating wife of rich man Nosseross, played with considerable restraint and tact by Francis L. Sullivan. Memorable shows from Stanislaus Zbyszko as former wrestler Kristo and Herbert Lom as his calculating criminal son.
Must see British noir directed by Dassin at the peak of his powers. 8/10.
The Inspector (1962)
Cast much too good for varyingly credible story
I know very little about Director Philip Dunne, though HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY warrants instant respect. Sadly, THE INSPECTOR (also known as LISA) rates nowhere near as good, even if it boasts a truly stellar cast, with supporting actors of such high quality as Hugh Griffith, Donald Pleasence, Leo McKern, Harry Andrews.
Of course, Stephen Boyd and Dolores Hart are the good looking leads who occupy the screen most of the time, both delivering quite satisfactorily - Boyd is particularly appealing as a Dutch police inspector who wants to take to Palestine a young Jewish woman who had suffered all manner of torture in German concentration camps during WWII.
It stands to reason, however, that a Dutch policeman can only have the power of the law behind him in the Netherlands, and he is warned about that by the authorities of various other countries, notably the United Kingdom's.
The couple's adventures seem more cute than real, with a dog on a barge playing an eye-catching part.
Unfortunately, I watched a rather fuzzy VHS copy but I do not think that cinematography is exceptional in any way.
Uneven script by Nelson Gidding. Ultimately a film that I feel will not stay on my memory for long. 7/10 for the great supporting cast.
Belfast (2021)
Wonderful B&W cinematography, sound direction
Pray allow me to start by baring my heart: I have never liked Kenneth Branagh as an actor, and I still cannot forgive him for cheating on Emma Thompson, to me the very embodiment of feminine intelligence in the perfect female's physique. That now out of the way, I have to admit that Branagh did two great jobs of writing the screenplay and, especially, directing BELFAST, an autobiographical narrative of his early years in the capital of Northern Ireland, and his relations with loved ones, as the "troubles" - violence between protestants and Catholics, with English forces moving in just as violently to supposedly keep law and order - were happening.
Branagh is greatly assisted by superior B&W cinematography from Haris Zambarloukos and, perhaps best of all, by superlative acting from Dame Judi Dench and Ciaran Hinds, the family's grandma and grandpa - though in real life Dench was born in 1934 and Hinds in 1953; from the exceedingly elegant, leggy Caitriona Balfe and restrained Jamie Dornan as his parents; and Jude Hill as the child through whose eyes you see the ever changing surrounding world.
Humor is spare, which helps the film's refreshing seriousness and highly personal angle. 8/10.
Grand National Night (1953)
Unassuming, credible British B film noir; superb Patrick, Hordern
I believe Bob McNaught only directed three films: GRAND NATIONAL NIGHT (aka WICKED WIFE), SEA WIFE, and THE INSPECTOR. The greater the pity, he showed considerable directorial capability in these few efforts.
GRAND NATIONAL NIGHT opens with Nigel Patrick and a number of fellow equestrian riders taking their quadrupeds back to the stables of an affluent-looking mansion, when Patrick's worse half, Moira Lister - the wicked wife of the title - comes speeding in her car, doings Ss all over the road. I thought some horse would see its life shortened by a car but - thankfully - that did not happen in the film, which pleased this animal rights supporter no end.
This B picture benefits from a credible yet twisty screenplay from Dorothy and Campbell Christie, expert B&W cinematography from Jack Asher and, most of all, great acting from Nigel Patrick as the cuckolded hubby, Gibb McLaughlin as the butler who did not do it and remains loyal to his boss, and Michael Hordern as the police investigator puzzling out a possible murder while horses ran during the night of the Grand National.
Intelligent dialogue, the occasional chuckle haul GRAND NATIONAL well above usual British B picture level. 8/10.
Smoky (1946)
Touching 20th Century Western
Louis King, a director about whose work and career I know very little, directs this unsentimental tale about a wild horse, Smoky, that refuses to be deprived of his freedom and character, and for a long time eludes the many cowboys trying to rope and domesticate him.
That is, until Fred MacMurray comes on the scene and decides that Smoky is his kind of horse and he wants it. Lovely ranch owner Anne Baxter also develops a torch for Fred and so all ducks are in a row for taming and giving a deservedly good life to beautiful wild Smoky... that is, until Bruce Cabot - reportedly the man who in real life ruined Errol Flynn and who, according to David Niven's accounts in his autobiographies THE MOON'S A BALLOON and BRING ON THE EMPTY HORSES, constantly borrowed and thieved his way through life, a real good for nothing - turns up. Up until then, MacMurray had remained cagily quiet, refusing to discuss his past. We learn that Cabot is MacMurray's brother and he thinks nothing of allowing MacMurray to do jail time when he was the actual culprit.
Cabot is not just a badass forger, thief, and general public enemy, he is also cruel and he wants to beat the hell out of poor Smoky... problem is - always a problem, ain't it? - the quadruped is cleverer than Cabot realizes.
In the end, after a long separation, MacMurray and Smoky reunite, and Baxter seems keen to share a life with Mac, too. A happy ending to a film that tries to be honest and reflects the hardship a wild horse has to go through when it is deprived of its freedom.
Charles Clarke's cinematography has its moments, but should have put the wonderful landscapes to better use; David Raksin's score is very fitting and the songs well delivered in the warm voice of Burl Ives (I had no idea that he was a crooner before turning into an Oscar-winning thespian); and the screenplay by Lillie Hayward and Dwight Cummins certainly grabs you, though I think Baxter deserved a meatier part.
All's well that ends well. If the system permitted it, I would have rated SMOKY 7.5 but, seeing that it does not, I am rounding it up to 8, which it deserves more than a plain 7/10.
The Wanderers (1979)
Great music gives unity to rather patched plot
Though I enjoyed Philip Kaufman's THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING, by and large I do not rate his body of work that highly, and THE WANDERERS provides yet another example of a patched narrative about an Italian street gang in NY's Bronx that tries to get support from other gangs (a rather unlikely situation in any self-respecting gang nowadays, but things must have been different back in 1963).
All action turns around handsome Ken Wahl, who has it good with a couple of lovelies - Tony Kalem and the more briefly seen Karen Allen, in the wake of a poker dress removal game - and his loyalties appear to waver as gangs like the Baldies and the del Bombers get larger, and he cannot hide pangs of fear.
Interesting supporting role from Alan Rosenberg as a Wanderer who shaves his head to join the Baldies, but his motivations are immediately seen and he pays the price.
Great music throughout helps give some unity to the patchy plot. Unremarkable cinematography by Michael Chapman.
Killer Joe (2011)
How many peckers in bush, so asketh the assassin
This film opens with a breath-taking view of Gina Gersohn's lovely bush as a desperate Emile Hirsch is looking for $15,000 to pay for his drug habit, drug suppliers, or both. His very life hinges on it and Tom Haden Church, his quiet and apparently not very bright father, has never had so much as $1,000 in his life.
So the fast thinking Hirsch decides that the way to save his life is to have his mother wasted, whose large life insurance policy would take care of that debt and more. To that end, Hirsch contacts Killer Joe (Matt McConnaughey), who introduces himself as a Dallas policeman but apparently will ice the mom without a second thought. Is he really a cop? Yep, but what an oddity! What one learns for sure is that he wants $25,000 upfront before whacking the mark... and neither Hirsch nor Church have that kind of dough, and Joe Killer seems unwilling to go ahead with that plan until he sees Hirsch's underage sister, Dottie (June Temple)... who voices her support for getting rid of the policy holder - her mother, too.
Incidentally, Dottie offers the second astonishing shapely bush we see, a stiflingly steamy sequence with McConaughey.
Stimulating dialogue from Tracy Letts, expert direction from the great William Friedkin, superior cinematography, acting and dark, immoral humor make this an arresting cinematic experience.
Two stars docked for the frustrating ending, but by that point I had had my fill of enjoyment. 8/10.
Ladri di biciclette (1948)
Universal, unpretentious masterpiece
Back in the late 1950s, a jury of film directors and actors from around the globe rated LADRI DI BICICLETTE the greatest film ever made. Since then, many films have been made, some of similar merit, but still LADRI deserves a place among the best ever.
With a superb elyptically simple story written by the great Cesare Zavattini to work on, Vittorio de Sica directs with equal simplicity and honesty a film about a very human predicament: loss. In this case, loss is tragic because the bicycle that Antonio and Marie had to make such a massive financial effort to buy - to the extent of selling their bed's very sheets - is stolen and they are left with continued payment for a bike that was vital to Antonio's job of putting up publicity posters around the city. Without it, they cannot survive, let alone honor their debt.
Perhaps because I was born into an impoverished family, I understood and empathized with the family's plight as I have very seldom done with tragedies, even great Shakespearean ones. Add to that a well observed, raw relationship between young son Bruno and his distraught father Antonio trying to recover his source of income. Antonio's nerves are shot and he is curt with his son but still love always unites them, and Bruno understands it, just as understands the need to come to his father's rescue when he is caught stealing a bike.
Antonio's reasoning is apparently reasonable: if others stole his bike, why not do the same? Why should he be punished, if the criminal who stole his bike has not been? Alas, that is the difference between stealing unseen and being caught out. That is where so called human justice kicks in... and, like life, it is not fair. Antonio and Bruno disappear into a crowd of people with their own problems and so FINE comes down on this unforgettable film.
The significance of this tale extends far beyond postwar Italy and its seemingly insurmountable problems at the time. It is a tale that could apply any time anywhere. It is universally human.
Extremely effective, deceptively simple, cinematography and editing by Montuori and Da Roma, respectively.
Superlatively naturalistic acting from then non-actors Lamberto Maggiorani as Antonio, Enzo Staiola as Bruno. Then dock worker Maggiorani would in fact suffer in real life for his decision to accept de Sica's invitation to play Antonio: his fellow workers rejected, ostracized him until he left in search of a new job and tried to play other roles, which he did with less success than in LADRI.
I can only pity those who have the arrogance to give this masterpiece 1 to 5 out of 10, for they probably have had little experience of struggling daily for survival. On the other hand, good for them: they have had good lives.
Mark of the Lash (1948)
Despite low budget, this PRC Western has its moments
When I saw the name Ray Taylor as director, I had to turn to IMDB to get an idea what his career had entailed and if he had cranked out any good movies. According to available information, he was one of Hollywood's most prolific directors of one- and two-reelers, and on a few occasions served as assistant director to the famous John Ford.
By 1948, he was contracted to Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC), a studio known its tight-fistedness, and working with Alfred 'Lash' La Rue, who gave his own name to the serial's hero... Lash La Rue, no less. Sadly, Alfred was no median actor, he was downright expressionless and his diction rather contrived, his sole saving grace being the black attire.
To add to the woes, an unbelievable script with the top villain running the town with an iron fist and disposing of land owners quicker than toilet paper. Of course, Lash and his sidekick Al St John - a cheap version of Gabby Hayes in the Hopalong Cassidy serial - win the day after some punchups and shootouts that make the film's graph highs.
Watchable. 6/10.
Red River (1948)
Superbly directed, shot, acted, scripted - top Western!
Howard Hawks deserves inclusion in the gallery of the greatest movie directors of all time with films like THE BIG SLEEP, SERGEANT YORK, RIO BRAVO, HATARI and several other memorable entries (just from a quick glance at these examples you can tell the versatility and diversity of his work in various areas).
RED RIVER deserves rating one of the greatest Westerns ever made. Besides Hawks' sublime direction, you get extraordinary cinematography and editing from Russell Harlan and Christian Nyby, respectively; a rousing score from Dimitri Tiomkin; a gritty script by Borden Chase and Charles Schnee, fleshed out by credible characters like Dunson, Matthew Garth, Groot - portrayed by in-form John Wayne, show-stealing Monty Clift, and the ever wonderful supporting actor Walter Brennan.
Add to that the stunningly beautiful Joanne Dru as the young woman who saves the day by having the courage to show love in a situation where self-preservation is parampunt and death constantly lurks around, be it from stampedes, marauding Indians, revengeful and violent persons, or any other source.
Not a dull moment in this Western linked by the handwritten pages of a diary, and featuring thousands of head of cattle, making for some truly majestic scenes against breath-taking landscapes, all to superior choir music that adds to the film's general grandeur.
I have now watched it at least five times, feel humbled by it and hope to revisit it soon. 9/10.
Man of the West (1958)
Nonsensical script ruins good acting from Coop, London
I am a big fan of Director Anthony Mann. When it comes to Westerns, he has to belong in the top directorial echelon - WINCHESTER '73, NAKED SPUR, THE MAN FROM LARAMIE, THE LAST FRONTIER, all deserve praise for their gritty realism and anti-hero approach.
MAN OF THE WEST stars Gary Cooper, often in Westerns but seldom working under Mann. I have no idea why, but Mann allows a few incongruencies to poison the script, easily the worst in any Mann movie I have seen: 1) Link Jones (Cooper) going on a train with money belonging to a village whose residents want him to bring back a schoolmarm - I find it hard to believe that a teacher would require a large sum of money to be contracted, and even harder that he would surrender that info to the inquisitive Beasley (O'Connell) who immediately finds the ideal schoolmarm (London) aboard the train. 2) Tobin (Lee J, Cobb) plays a much too loud outlaw leading men who would kill their own mother but bungle a train robbery, and look well fed enough that they must enjoy comfortable living... despite failing in their attacks on banks and trains. 3) Tobin's master plan to rob the bank in the town of Lassoo is ridiculous, seeing that it has become a ghost town ever since the local mine shut down.
To add to the need to suspend your disbelief, Tobin is supposed to be Jones' uncle, but Cobb clearly looks younger than Coop - and so he should, seeing that Cobb was born in 1911 and Coop in 1901.
Sultry beauty London tries valiantly to make the most of a rather irrelevant part. She was first and foremost a wonderful singer, and I can only lament that she did not sing a note here, even though the introductory credits announce a song composed by London's then husband Bobby Troup... but no song is heard at all.
Supporting actor O'Connell does not start off too badly as the nose poker of a passenger but then disappears for long whiles. Ultimately, his role is justified by the need to stop a bullet intended for Coop. Jack Lord looks like the most dangerous of Tobin's sidekicks but after a few threats he is just no match for Coop's fast hand.
As a curiosity, Coop underwent cosmetic facial surgery after completing this shoot, but unfortunately cancer would soon set in, so he had little time to enjoy his regained looks.
Forgettable Westerner, I doubt I will ever rewatch it. 6/10.
Black Horse Canyon (1954)
Light hearted Western with ever likable lead Joel McCrea
Whereas I know very little about Director Jesse Hibbs - TO HELL AND BACK is the only other film he directed that I recall watching - I have always liked Joel McCrea, one of the most unassuming actors I have ever had the privilege to see on the silver screen.
In line with most of his performing output, McCrea does not deliver a memorable performance as he helps Mari Blanchard find and break a tough black horse that manages to free other equestrian creatures from their pens, and is anything but welcoming of humans and of being saddled and mounted.
Blanchard does not stand out in any way, Race Gentry is quite engaging as Ti, the young man in love with her. Good time passer 7/10.
The Long Riders (1980)
Superb Peckinpah-like cinematography enlivens the death-riddled story of the James/Younger/Miller brothers gang
I am not particularly fond of Walter Hill as director, even if I like THE LONG RIDERS and especially THE WANDERERS (1979) and 48 HOURS (1982). The cinematography by Ric Waite and the editing by Freeman Davies are truly superlative, with fantastic slow motion sequences - the famously bungled robbery of the Northfield bank makes for wonderful cinema in spite of the blood and inherent violence - taking your mind off the gaps in the story of the James/Younger/Miller brothers, played by the real life siblings James and Stacy Keach; David, Keith and Robert Carradine; and Randy and Dennis Quaid, respectively.
The ending could have been better constructed. It feels abrupt - possibly purposely so, in line with the edgy relationship that criminals tend to have with the rest of society. Good acting from all. 7/10.
Sierra Stranger (1957)
Well shot, acted Western
The only thing I know - to my undying shame - about Lee Sholem is that he directed in excess of 1,300 B pictures in a 40-year span. In fact, the Hollywood industry tagged him Lee "Roll'em" Sholem because he cranked out films more often than he probably went to the toilet - but, at least on the strength of SIERRA STRANGER, quantity should not be confused with intestinal waste!
Crisp B&W cinematography by Sam Leavitt benefits from sharp editing by Leon Barsha, and the screenplay by Richard Dorso keeps you interested, even if the various characters' motivations could have done with neater clarification. For instance, I could not understand why Bert Gaines (Dick Foran) would stand as such a loyal friend to claim jumper Ed Kemmer, even as his very wife, played by Eve McVeagh, could see through his schemes, as could pretty much the rest of the town.
That said, penniless central character Jess Collins (Howard Duff) only gets some dosh and assistance at the claims department thanks to Gaines, after relieving Grover (Kemmer) from a rope pulled by the inevitably vicious Barton MacLane and sidekick Rob Foulk... who I mistook for the baddies.
Grover unfortunately disappears from the film for too long to make a credible mark as the heavy, plus his youth masks the evil in him. I do not rate deceiving the viewer a minus, but in this case it needed more polished, better built up treatment. The fact that both Collins and Grover have feelings for beautiful Meg (Gloria McGehee) adds to the tensions but they seem to have a loyal relation going and somehow their conflict left me with the impression that it amounted to little more than the proverbial teacup storm.
Worth a watch, though. 7/10.
Westbound (1958)
Not historical, despite intro on blue, gray fighting for gold
I like Budd Boetticher's work very much and, in particular his collaborations with Randolph Scott in Westerns like SEVEN MEN FROM NOW, RIDE LONESOME, COMANCHE STATION. Sadly, WESTBOUND pales by comparison with those, even though the female cast vastly outclasses any of the other Scott/Boetticher efforts in terms of beauty - and their acting is not so bad that I won't write home about it!
The script does not help - could it be because the original story was penned by one Albert Le Vino, who may well have imbibed a trifle more than recommended? After all, Boetticher also built up quite a reputation for downing pints of beer and other alcoholic beverages with alarming swiftness, often between takes.
Otherwise, not bad but hard to believe. 6/10.
The Hanging Tree (1959)
Strangely effective - yet unusual - Western; great cast
Gary Cooper is one of my favorite actors but, in all candor, I think he entered a descending quality curve after 1953, so I approached THE HANGING TREE with some reservations. The latter only heightened after I read that the film had no less than three directors, even if the latter two go uncredited: Delmer Daves, who fell ill after 28 July 1958, Karl Malden, and Vincent Sherman.
The film does feel a little bit uneven in parts, but the quality of the acting, cinematography and the spunky yet tender score by the great Max Steiner make it a highly watchable package.
With a majestic tree used for hanging in the background, frontier medic Joe 'Doc' Frail, Cooper dominates the action from the outset. His character builds piecemeal: he is fast and accurate with his Colt .45 - not the usual attributes of a medic - and we learn of a burned house, a deceased wife, and perhaps other skeletons in a past that he does not like to share with anyone.
He makes a "slave" of young Ben Piazza as Rune, who carries a bullet that would see him hanging from the aforesaid tree, if locals were to know. Which adds another dark facet to the medic's persona. Rune clearly resents his status but things change to some extent when beautiful Maria Schell comes crashing down a hill inside a stagecoach. She miraculously survives with physical injuries, temporarily blinded by overexposure to the incandescent sun, but blindness does not prevent her from sensing that there is a better side to Dr Frail than he likes to convey.
Schell's feminine presence adds to the film, in contrast with the Bible-thumping or harlot-like females that surface briefly in the film. The growth of genuine love between Schell and Cooper explains the ending, but before that we meet the evil Frenchy Plante (Karl Malden), a gold digger who lies, tries to rape Schell, and does not hide that he would like Cooper six feet under. A very young George C. Scott portrays a svengali-like figure constantly quoting from the Bible but fully intent on leading the local mob to violence.
To cut a long story short, Schell hits upon a gold glory hole, Plante decides to broadcast it and suddenly all hell breaks loose (truth to tell, I did not rate him so stupid as to announce it to the mining community before making the claim official, but that incoherence does not fatally hurt the narrative or the happy ending).
Definitely worth watching, especially knowing that by 1959 Cooper was already afflicted by the cancer that would take him on 13 May 1961. 8/10.
Operation Amsterdam (1959)
Pedestrian war flick running on love, heroism - and beautiful Bartok
OPERATION AMSTERDAM's synopsis and the iniitial voiceover narration seem to suggest a gripping film based on a real WW II operation, but very soon you realize that it is just some news item transferred to the screen with larger than life but rather wooden characters - apart from Anna, played by the gorgoeous Eva Bartok.
Director Michael McCarthy sadly died at just 42, shortly after completing OPERATION AMSTERDAM, but even earlier films - thankfully shorter - like THE TRAITOR (1957) and MYSTERY JUNCTION (1951) stew in a mire of mediocrity, so I doubt he would have reached any quality podium had he lived to 84. What is more, in this film he co-wrote the similarly stall-sputter-jump screenplay.
Pedestrian cinematography and editing by Reginald Wyer and Arthur Stevens, respectively.
OK but unremarkable acting. Finch is described by the narrator as the key man in the operation, a Dutch citizen who knows diamonds inside out and whose father is a diamond cutter, and holds a personal fortune in diamonds that the UK so badly needs to bore and drill as part of the war materiel production effort. He keeps showing unusual interest in the suitcases that Britton carries and never lets anyone touch for a second. Other than his loving relationship with his father - well portrayed by Malcolm Keen - Finch has the unenviable role of trying to seem to matter. In the end, what is best remembered from his performance as Jan Smit is that he gets the girl.
Tony Britton plays the British major leading the operation and he certainly pulls rank several times, otherwise he just goes around with those suitcases and disappears for a long stretch. At the end we learn that the cases contained explosives to blow up the main Shell oil deposit in Amsterdam - the aim being to deprive the Germans of its use, just as with the diamonds.
Saving the best for last. Beautiful Bartok may speak English with a raw accent, and wear trenchcoat most of the time, which does not reveal her fabulous figure, but she steals the show without trying. 6/10.
Dead Man's Shoes (2004)
Best revenge: stay alive! Good acting propels odd vengeance flick
Other than he was born in 1972, when British cinema had already laid to rest the "kitchen sink" period, I do not know anything about Director Shane Meadows. That said, there is something "kitchen sink"-like about DEAD MAN'S SHOES, with its shots of impoverished quarters, and the low lives that make up the gang that brutalizes Anthony, the retarded brother of main character Richard (Paddy Considine), who happens to be no less than a former army commando.
Top baddie Sonny (Gary Stretch) leads the gang of drug adddicts and petty criminals that Richard marks for revenge. Sonny and his band of less than merry men know that Anthony has a brother able to seek retaliation but perhaps they are too confident, careless, stoned and flippant to care.
More surprisingly, in my view, Richard decides to visit them personally and confirm that he is the one propelling the proverbial fan spreading the compost. Which, given that they are six to one, should give them the edge, but they are not the sharpest lot by any estimation. On a more positive note, one of that gang appears to have more of a conscience than the rest, and Richard seems out to spare him.
The movie opens with a series of 8mm, 16mm, and VHS memories of Richard and Anthony together as children, and flashbacks keep interfering with the narrative flow until you learn what actually happened to Anthony. I think that strategy ends up muddling the plot without adding any crucial meaningfulness.
Alas, I have only two eyes and probably a narrow mind, but my abiding belief is that staying alive is anyone's crowning achievement - and certainly so if you are determined to wreak retribution... which makes DEAD MAN'S SHOES finale rather odd, and left me rather frustrated. 6/10.
L'emmerdeur (1973)
French comedy at its finest on a low budget
From what I have read and heard, the French tend to regard the 1970s as a down period for French cinema, after the universally praised Nouvelle Vague of the late 1950s and through the 1960s.
I have only seen a few Gallic films from that time and generally I have to agree with that appraisal - though L'EMMERDEUR, LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, both directed by Edouard Molinaro, stand as exceptions and would rate well above average in any decade.
Molinaro deserves plaudits for keeping L'EMMERDEUR short and tight, mixing near-claustrophobic indoor sequences with open air speed chases, all buoyed by a superlative Francis Veber script and, principally, by peerless acting by Lino Ventura and Jacques Brel, as two completely different characters - the former methodical, precise, immoral as a hired assassin -, the latter as a loser of a shirt salesman trying to commit suicide because his cheating wife has abandoned him.
Although Brel is better known for singing music that he composed - NE ME QUITTE PAS, LE MORIBOND, MARIEKE, MADELEINE, LES PRÉNOMS DE PARIS are songs that always bring unfettered pleasure to my ears - he actually plays very convincingly and even sympathetically the part of the loser getting on the nerves of the pro trying to kill a star witness for the state.
Also deserving of major plaudits is Nino Castelnuovo in the minor part of the bellhop who keeps getting tips as he battles the various problems with the hotel's shutters, flooding bathtubs, and other issues. He tries to warn Ventura to keep away from the helpless Brel, but his advice goes unheeded with comic results.
Jean-Pierre Darras, as the psychiatrist who treats Brel's wife and absconds with her, also deserves praise. The scene where he injects the wrong man with sedative is one of the funniest I remember in any movie I have ever watched.
I first saw this film 50 years ago, about a year after it had come out in France, loved it, and I have been looking for a copy ever since the VHS era, but failed to land one. Recently, a friend lent me the DVD and I wondered whether I would enjoy it as much as I had done at the age of 17.
I did. It is an intelligent film anchored by Ventura in his career-best comic performance (he is also in superior comedy form in LES TONTONS FLINGUEURS, and to a lesser degree in L'AVENTURE C'EST L'AVENTURE).
Straight forward, effective cinematography by Raoul Coutard.
As a footnote, the great movie director Billy Wilder was so impressed by L'EMMERDEUR that he reprised it as BUDDY, BUDDY starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, both Oscar winners... but by comparison it is a plodding, contrived effort.
High Treason (1951)
Early Cold War flick - well acted, shot, directed
Roy Boulting deserves remembering as one of the best British directors of the 1950s and 1960s. With films like THE MAGIC BOX, SEVEN DAYS TO NOON, THE FAMILY WAY and other outstanding credits.
HIGH TREASON is certainly a good early Cold War flick, at a time when across the Atlantic US Senator McCarthy was launching his famous House UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC) which basically suspected everyone of communist leanings, and those suspicions were only heightened in Great Britain, as part of a continent - Europe - where World War Two had begun and had remained its prime theater, with Russia embarking on expansionism after the conflict, and spies like Kim Philby and others defecting to the USSR.
HIGH TREASON examines the way British police investigate a bombing incident resulting in human and instructural losses, and link it to a spy ring headed by a British traitor. It is certainly well done, even if I have some reservations about the authenticity of the final shootout.
Convincing acting, cinematography and realistic dialogue all help, even if HIGH TREASON rates nowhere near masterpiece. 7/10.
Invitation to a Gunfighter (1964)
Strong start, subdued ending, surplus Segal, Janice rules!
Director Richard Wilson does not ring any bells with me, I think INVITATION TO A GUNFIGHTER is the sole film of his I remember watching... and, despite the strong, gripping start, it fizzles from midway on and ends on a rather subdued and unnecessarily crowded note.
Yul Brynner plays gunhand Jules aka Jewel according to the local pronunciation, a mulatto from New Orleans, hired by the town's main elder, Brewster, who made the most of the end of the Secession War to grab land, including George Segal's parents' farm, and proceedd to sell it for personal profit, thereby expanding his wealth and cementing his power.
George Segal, playing confederate soldier Matt Weaver, returns from the war to find his mother buried in a grave on his land taken by the one-armed husband of his former love, the lovely Janice Rule. That is pretty much it for Segal, who appears intermittently and rather meaninglessly until the more presential end.
Yul/Jules/Jewel dispenses justice in a hard but fair manner, getting Brewster to talk to a donkey twice about his sins (I wonder whether Director and script writer Wilson had seen AU HASARD, BALTHASAR and was at influenced by it). I heard no braying, but you don't get a better moral lesson than that. By the end, though, the second donkey confession sounds as surplus as Segal's part.
Thank God for beautiful Janice, She rules as the most balanced, sympathetic, and truly level-headed character of all. 6/10.
Bullet for a Badman (1964)
Solid cinematography, acting in Murphy vehicle
I do not know much about R G Springsteen, but I like his directorial work in BULLET FOR A BAD MAN, buoyed by excellent cinematography, breath-taking landcapes, and a cast in super form - notably leads Audie Murphy and Darren McGavin, the latter the former hubby of stunningly beautiful Beverley Owen, who now lives with Murphy. To add fuel to the fire, McGavin is the father of Owen's son, who is developing a relationship so close with Murphy as to call him "father;" and Mc Gavin robs the town's bank and everyone is looking for the dough and the reward that comes with it.
The plot cannot avoid some predictability but it is solid enough that you do not have to suspend your disbelief too much, and some of the dialogue warrants praise for its sharpness and dry humor.
No masterpiece, but you won't waste your time if you can catch it. 7/10.
Count Five and Die (1957)
The importance of the capsule in WWII
If I understood correctly from the film's dialogue, when one inserted a cyanide pill in one's mouth to escape torture and spilling the beans, one just counted to five and croaked. Alas, reality is different, it takes longer than that and, according to experts, an excrutiatingly painful death.
Of course, during WWII spies would carry those capsules as a matter of course and in this case Annemarie Duringer, the beautiful German agent who has infiltrated a joint English-American decoy unit dedicated to providing false info to the Germans about the D-Day invasion, becomes suspicious when she notices that the agents are not being issued with the capsules.
Very good acting from Nigel Patrick, always an extremely reliable thespian. Jeffrey Hunter plays the part of a US Army captain who does not trust Patrick, and makes some decisions that ultimately prove very costly, but he is not an actor of Patrick's ability. Rolf Lefebvre, as the chief spy in the German group, also delivers a top grade performance, as does Duringer.
Frankly, this film is entertaining and honest enough that I do not care whether it accurately reflects history. I also find it odd that some regard it as dated. Why? WWII ended in 1945, how could it not become dated if, since then, we have had the Cold War, the independence of many countries, the emergence of widespread terrorism, and many other developments. The clock never stops ticking and change has been the only constant in these modern times.
COUNT FIVE AND DIE rates no masterpiece but despite suffering from a low budget, it is a sight better and more faithful to history than the bulk of current movies. 7/10.