dglink
Joined May 2000
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The military men stationed at an Arctic radar base are bored, so a bright perky psychologist, a lieutenant in the U. S. Army, gets a bright idea. The men will dream up their perfect furlough and stage a raffle, the winner of which will go on the furlough, while the others enjoy it vicariously. The eager men devise "The Perfect Furlough" as three weeks in Paris with a sexy Hollywood movie star, Sandra Roca. Faced with daunting odds, one clever womanizer conspires to con his mates out of their chances and capture the prize for himself. The flimsy predictable screenplay hinges on extreme naivete and characters that do not listen to one another. A few simple questions and answers would quickly clear up the film's mildly comic complications.
Married to each other at the time, Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh star as the fast-talking conniving Corporal Paul Hodges and the lovely psychologist Lieutenant Vicki Loren. Both actors are fine in undemanding roles and are ably supported by Keenan Wynn, Elaine Stritch, and Linda Cristal. Although no one in particular stands out, Curtis does a good job playing a character he has played elsewhere both before and after this film. Not surprising in a 1950's movie, sexism runs rampant, from an army officer crawling under his desk to look at a woman's legs, to a discussion of the domestic duties for a perfect wife, to the assumption that the movie star would offer sex as part of the furlough. Eyes will roll, even when the sexism is not overtly offensive.
Directed by Blake Edwards, who went on to direct far better films, and written by Stanley Shapiro, who subsequently had more success writing for Doris Day, "The Perfect Furlough" is a pleasant time killer, depending on a viewer's tolerance for sexist situations, admiration for Curtis's pretty-boy looks, and willingness to overlook silly simplistic situations.
Married to each other at the time, Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh star as the fast-talking conniving Corporal Paul Hodges and the lovely psychologist Lieutenant Vicki Loren. Both actors are fine in undemanding roles and are ably supported by Keenan Wynn, Elaine Stritch, and Linda Cristal. Although no one in particular stands out, Curtis does a good job playing a character he has played elsewhere both before and after this film. Not surprising in a 1950's movie, sexism runs rampant, from an army officer crawling under his desk to look at a woman's legs, to a discussion of the domestic duties for a perfect wife, to the assumption that the movie star would offer sex as part of the furlough. Eyes will roll, even when the sexism is not overtly offensive.
Directed by Blake Edwards, who went on to direct far better films, and written by Stanley Shapiro, who subsequently had more success writing for Doris Day, "The Perfect Furlough" is a pleasant time killer, depending on a viewer's tolerance for sexist situations, admiration for Curtis's pretty-boy looks, and willingness to overlook silly simplistic situations.
After a career that stretched back to the silent era that included work with such directors as Alfred Hitchcock, George Stevens, and Preston Sturges, Joel McCrae turned almost exclusively to the western genre in the mid-1940's. Near the end of McCrae's prodigious output of modestly budgeted westerns, he played real life lawman, journalist, and gambler, Bat Masterson, in "The Gunfight at Dodge City." While the story treads familiar territory, McCrae and the movie will likely please most fans of the star in particular and horse-operas in general. As Masterson, a weathered Joel McCrae becomes the town sheriff after his brother, the former sheriff, is killed. Nothing new here; a kindly town doctor played by John McIntire; a lovely widowed saloon keeper, Nancy Gates; a preacher and his prim uptight daughter, James Westerfield and Julie Adams; a friendly townsman and his mentally-challenged brother, Walter Coy and Wright King; and the requisite bad guys, Richard Anderson and Don Haggerty. Besides McCrae, only John McIntire makes much of an impression among the supporting cast.
Director Joseph M. Newman mixes the cliched elements into an entertaining 82 minutes; a few gunfights, a daring rescue, a touch of romance, an attempted rape, fistfights, and the requisite standby, a showdown on the dusty main street of an old western town. "The Gunfight at Dodge City" is no classic of the genre, but rather a routine western that offers all the elements for an afternoon's entertainment, plus the opportunity to watch an iconic western star, Joel McCrae, at work doing what he loved and did exceptionally well.
Director Joseph M. Newman mixes the cliched elements into an entertaining 82 minutes; a few gunfights, a daring rescue, a touch of romance, an attempted rape, fistfights, and the requisite standby, a showdown on the dusty main street of an old western town. "The Gunfight at Dodge City" is no classic of the genre, but rather a routine western that offers all the elements for an afternoon's entertainment, plus the opportunity to watch an iconic western star, Joel McCrae, at work doing what he loved and did exceptionally well.
Passably entertaining, producer-director-star Ray Milland's film, "Lisbon," deals with big-time smugglers and petty crooks in 1950's Portugal. A beautiful redhead, trophy wife of a wealthy industrialist, who has been held prisoner behind the Iron Curtain, enlists a Greek expatriate smuggler named Mavros to help her bribe the Communists and rescue her husband. Mavros subsequently hires a part-time smuggler with a fast boat, Captain Evans, to facilitate the rescue. Unfortunately, with a screenplay full of holes, awkward direction, and unconvincing romance, the Republic Pictures production fails on several counts.
The stellar cast, however, remains an asset, especially veteran character actor Claude Rains, who plays Aristide Mavros with conviction and authority gleaned from decades of accomplished performances. Fiery Maureen O'Hara as the duplicitous wife is also quite good, despite her transparent character. Producing, directing, and starring may have been one or two roles too many for Ray Milland, however. His direction is pedestrian, and his staging of the fight scenes is clumsy at best. Besides his limitations as a director, Milland is not everyone's idea of a romantic lead, and O'Hara's and 30-year-old Yvonne Furneaux's attraction to the nearly-50-year-old Milland stretches credibility to the breaking point. While Milland's character supposedly shows interest in his female co-stars, the actor lacks any chemistry with them, and their romantic scenes together are cold and lifeless.
Another asset is Jack Marta's color cinematography. Marta lensed the film on scenic locations in and around Lisbon, which looks glorious, and the film will entice some viewers to book a flight. But, despite the city's color and beauty, watching Milland and his co-stars stroll around the tourist spots adds nothing but padding to the thin predictable plot. Beyond Lisbon's attractions, O'Hara's beauty, and Raines's acting skill, "Lisbon" has little to offer other than a lazy way to pass 90 minutes with an undemanding, uninspiring movie.
The stellar cast, however, remains an asset, especially veteran character actor Claude Rains, who plays Aristide Mavros with conviction and authority gleaned from decades of accomplished performances. Fiery Maureen O'Hara as the duplicitous wife is also quite good, despite her transparent character. Producing, directing, and starring may have been one or two roles too many for Ray Milland, however. His direction is pedestrian, and his staging of the fight scenes is clumsy at best. Besides his limitations as a director, Milland is not everyone's idea of a romantic lead, and O'Hara's and 30-year-old Yvonne Furneaux's attraction to the nearly-50-year-old Milland stretches credibility to the breaking point. While Milland's character supposedly shows interest in his female co-stars, the actor lacks any chemistry with them, and their romantic scenes together are cold and lifeless.
Another asset is Jack Marta's color cinematography. Marta lensed the film on scenic locations in and around Lisbon, which looks glorious, and the film will entice some viewers to book a flight. But, despite the city's color and beauty, watching Milland and his co-stars stroll around the tourist spots adds nothing but padding to the thin predictable plot. Beyond Lisbon's attractions, O'Hara's beauty, and Raines's acting skill, "Lisbon" has little to offer other than a lazy way to pass 90 minutes with an undemanding, uninspiring movie.