shepardjessica

This late 1960's exploitation film is REALLY the bottom of the barrel. The main plot was a good idea for this type of flick, but the results are unbearably boring and painful to watch. The entire film is post-dubbed which is not that unusual, but the sound and picture quality are abysmal and the "performances" are not up to snuff, even with this genre of film.

The lead girl is particularly horrifying. The tormented despairing souls in this do not deserve empathy or the mind-crushing symbolism hinted at by the narration of the main guy. Set in Las Vegas, you get a few nice shots of "old" Vegas, but there's nothing to recommend this tripe. Spam-tasting monotony that wears on the nerves. Forget this one!

This B/W film about a naive young woman moving to the big city is not half-bad for this type of stuff. The main actress is boringly realistic in her quest for a more exciting life. The first flop-house she goes to has has incredible wallpaper in the lobby. The character of Mona is very good and when she's wearing her wrinkled evening gown she looks like she's about to attend an Ed Wood premiere. THe entire film is post-dubbed and almost everyone wears wrinkled clothes.

Some decent location shots and music and it's quite the morality tale with a nice closing shot. A 4 out of 10. Minor nudity with lots of bad hairstyles and big underwear. Not bad!

Kirk Douglas is well-cast in this mid-50's color drama about V. Van Gogh directed by Vincente Minelli. He looks remarkably like Vincent and has the temperament to match. Anthony Quinn is right on the money as Paul Gaugin and the film has a nice flow to it with excellent soundtrack and cinematography.

A 7 out of 10. Best performance = Kirk Douglas. Unfortunately, Kirk would never be nominated again for Oscar (Honorary Oscar in the 90's), although he was great in LONELY ARE THE BRAVE and others after this one including PATHS OF GLORY and SPARTACUS. Most Bio-Pics are pretty shmaltzy, but this plays out with heart and passion.