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The Lively Set (1964)
Although it is very much locked in the 1960s, it has an excellent cast and deserves to be better remembered.
This film is very much in keeping with the tastes of the time. The year is 1964. Elvis Presley sang and acted in a genre of films that were very much his own and sometimes he was a sports car racer. Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicelo starred in feature films set on the beaches of California, full of beautiful women who shook their bodies in daring bikinis to the rhythm of the fashionable twists. Frankie also played roles as a professional car racer. And in "The Lively Set" we meet two television idols, James Darren (the future Tony Newman - The Time Tunnel) and Doug McClure (Trampas - The Virginian). Doug and James are college students and their passion is cars. But Casey Owens (Darren) wants to skip formal studies and work in the world of drag racing to develop his turbine engine with which he intends to revolutionize the automotive market. Chuck Manning (McClure) prefers to continue his formal education. Chuck's sister Eadie Manning (Pamela Tiffin) has fallen for the handsome Owens, but he's only interested in improving the performance of his racing cars. Millionaire playboy Stanford Rogers (Peter Mann) shows up and is interested in breaking the land speed record with a vehicle designed by Casey Owens. The test will take place at the legendary Bonneville Salt Flats. Owens is totally obsessed with his creation and doesn't want to listen to anyone. The drama is reaching its climax.
I think that in this era, Doug McClure could fill a lot of time in series and movies because of his charming personality. A rare combination of hero and mischievous schoolboy, he could get through any situation that required a few comedic moves. Here he plays support to the much more serious and intense James Darren who for many years maintained that image of an intelligent rebel, as he proved in the series "T. J. Hooker" twenty years later. And besides Pamela Tiffin, who is everyone's dream girlfriend, there are Joannie Sommers as the singer and girlfriend of Chuck Manning (McClure), and the senior staff, Marilyn Maxwell, Ross Elliot and Charles Drake. An excellent cast.
The Judge and Jake Wyler (1972)
If you have a weakness for nostalgia, you will greatly enjoy the performances of Bette Davis and Doug McClure.
Thanks to this digital age in which we live, we can indulge ourselves in some things that were previously impossible. When I was very young, back in 1962, a wonderful device came into our home that was like a small home cinema: the television. And it provided us with many hours of entertainment. One of the idols I remembered from that time was Doug McClure. Obviously for his role as Trampas in The Virginian. In the early 1970s, these idols from the series of the previous decade were trying out the new format of TV Movies. A story with a duration of more than 70 minutes that went directly to the home tube. Some of them were transformed into the pilot episode of a new series. In the case of "The Judge and Jake Wyler" this transition did not occur. And it is a shame. Judge Meredith was played by that legend of classic Hollywood, Bette Davis. A role that suited her very well, since she was a retired judge who suffered from agarophobia and hypochondria and was confined to her house from where she acted as the organizational brain of a detective agency. If she did not leave her house, the work outside was done through a man who had been released on parole and who depended on the evaluation of the former judge to remain free. This man was the complaining Jake Wyler, Doug McClure, who felt as if he was being blackmailed by his boss who led him into trouble in order to solve the case of the moment and who, to top it off, could not carry weapons, since that was an inexcusable condition for someone on parole.
In this excellent detective story, there are many acquaintances. The victim, millionaire Robert Dodd, is played by Kent Smith, who I always remember as the untalented architect with powerful connections in the 1948 film Fountainhead. One of the suspects, the lover of the deceased's wife, was Frank Morrison, played by Gary Conway, the young and meticulous detective who collaborated with Gene Barry in the Burke's Law series. The victim's daughter is Alice Dodd, played by Joan Van Ark, a very popular actress in the 1970s, and even has a small role as an elevator operator, Eddie Quillan. I will always remember Eddie for his role in The Bounty Mutiny in its 1935 version.
In short, a solid detective story, but especially if you have a weakness for nostalgia, you will greatly enjoy the performances of Bette Davis and Doug McClure.
The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982)
Reign of Terror and romance come together to create a unique and entertaining story.
I have always been a big fan of the 1934 version of this film starring Leslie Howard, Merle Oberon and Raymond Massey. The Reign of Terror in France is one of those times when the world seems doomed to perish without remedy because the government is a great dystopia. The transition from an absolute monarchy, voracious in terms of resources and privileges, and insensitive to the desperate misery of the French people, to a republican and fairer government was not achieved in one step. A lot of innocent blood was shed and there were many dystopian governments along the way. So I decided to try this version made in 1982 for British television and which promised to extend the length of the plot to 2 hours 22 minutes.
I confess that it was a great experience. The setting was very solid, because in the United Kingdom there is always some palace or residence from the times of the absolute monarchy available. The costumes were also luxurious and the scenes showing the work of the Guillotine were chilling but very well directed, so that no one feels nauseous due to the excessive realism.
The actor Anthony Andrews was given the responsibility of embodying Sir Percy Blakeney, the English nobleman with a French education, who risks his life and that of his associates, again and again, to save everyone he can help, mainly those families who are cruelly exterminated, condemning even underage children. Impeccable work, great diction and posture of a punctilious and almost effeminate arbiter of fashion. Excellent in the handling of the sword, too.
Jane Seymour as Margaret St Just, was very beautiful, very accurate in her expressions of despair and indignation and charming as a romantic interest.
If I had to paint a picture like Mona Lisa, I would choose her without hesitation as my model for that enigmatic smile she has. And the villain, Ian McKellen (Magneto in the X-Men) here in the role of the man whose reputation and political future is tied to the capture of the Scarlet Pimpernel, stands out as perpetually menacing behind a veneer of civility.
The Absence of Eden (2023)
The drama of the border requires breaking with the molds that degrade the supposed intelligence and compassion of the human race.
This film stars one of the biggest Latin stars of Hollywood cinema, Zoe Saldaña. Her performance as Esmeralda Rojas, someone forced to illegally cross the border for killing an abuser, does not disappoint. I really liked the way she pronounces Spanish and her fluid transition between this language and English gives a lot of strength to her dialogues in both languages. Also very prominent and powerful is the presence of Adria Arjona, sensual and expressive in the role of the young mother Yadira, and romantic interest of the Border Police member, Garrett Hedlund (Shipp), in a role of someone who is being pushed to the limits of his endurance when facing the conflicts of opposing loyalties. Chris Coy, as Dobbins, stands out as the tough law enforcement officer who is on the verge of sadism and who is in charge of instructing his rookie partner, Shipp, in the art of ignoring the human misery of those who are exploited to enter the United States illegally and treating them with the appropriate distance and harshness.
The film was directed by Marco Perego who also shared credits with Rick Rapozza in writing the script. Excellent work for someone who wants to communicate with art a drama of our current world. I am neither American nor Mexican, I am Argentinean so I am far from this border drama. The reflection that comes to me after having seen the film is that everything seems like a game with perverse rules destined for good intentions to always fail and where human suffering never takes precedence over the role that each party must play in the development of the action. Once the drama is over, the only thing that persists are the inflexible rules of the game that wait to receive a new round of participants to crush them with their rigidity. A truly frustrating situation and very inauspicious for the supposed greatness, compassion and flexibility of the human mind.
East of Sumatra (1953)
East of Sumatra aims to be an entertaining film and it succeeds.
Although directed by Budd Boetticher, East of Sumatra is obviously not a western. It is a film of adventure, romance and violent conflict set on a small, imaginary island to the east of the known and already exploited Indonesian archipelagos. This time it was not rubber, oil, gold, or emeralds that the businessmen who traveled the world in search of riches or raw materials for the insatiable jaws of Western industries, and us, the consumers, coveted.
In this case, the mecca of the expedition led by the rough operator of the company, Duke Mullane (Fred Chandler), was the obtaining of tin, to make bronze and material for soldering electronic circuits. The island is inhabited by aborigines with whom one must negotiate to obtain labor and prevent them from starting a war against these intruders from the West. The king of the tribe is Kiang, played by Anthony Quinn, about to begin his most brilliant stage as a character actor and movie star.
Duke Mullane is saddled with a badly ended love affair with Lory Hale (Marylin Maxwell) who is at that juncture the fiancée of Mullane's chief, Daniel Catlin played by the ever menacing John Sutton. And of course, Mullane gets entangled with the future queen and fiancée of Kiang, the half-breed Myniora (Suzan Ball) who, dancing in honour of the guests, set fire to the studio that simulated the residence of the tribe of suspicious aborigines.
There are other familiar faces in the cast, the efficient veteran Jay C Flippen and the then young Earl Holliman credited as Henry Earl Holliman. And there is also Peter Graves, in a supporting role without relief but who acted efficiently, as Mullane's loyal and balanced assistant, Cowboy.
I am a fan of the Hollywood classics of the 1930 - 1960 period and it is very difficult to be objective when watching these films. There are always familiar faces, like images from a huge family photo album, and the mind finds delight in re-evoking those old films. Even if they are not perfect.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
A Victorian metaphor that can be transferred to our time.
Over time, "Mr. Hyde" migrated from appearing as an external monster that threatens the integrity of our body to being an internal enemy, a small voice inside our brain that incites us to do evil and enjoy it.
It is clearly a psychological and ethical metaphor based on a novel written by Robert Louis Stevenson that I have not yet read. Dr. Jekyll (Spencer Tracy) was obsessed with the idea of curing the criminal without redemption, the one who seems to suffer from some disease of the soul, because he only finds pleasure in tormenting another person and prolonging his suffering to extract that satisfaction that comes from being at the dominant end of the interaction. Jekyll's personal frustration in obtaining the consent of his fiancée's father to marry as soon as possible and the chance encounter with an attractive young woman with a dissipated life, who he finds provocative but who treats her with the courtesy and distance of a doctor, impel him to the temerity of experimenting on himself the potion he has prepared in his laboratory. And the result is fateful.
Dr. Jekyll's chemical preparation unleashes his inner monster. We see Spencer Tracy's noble features transformed into a satanic version of himself, irascible, malicious and elusive. He calls himself Mr. Hyde and the first thing he does is go to the cabaret in search of that young woman who provoked him when his moral inhibitions were working. And the drug is addictive, he asks again and again for Hyde's release and Jekyll sinks deeper and deeper into the degradation of abusing other people. There are other valuable versions of this film but I want to highlight this version because it was the first one I saw and it fascinated me. And what a cast: Spencer Tracy, perhaps the best classic Hollywood actor, Ingrid Bergman, beautiful, romantic and excellent dramatic actress, Lana Turner, beginning her career as queen of the seventh art.
Excellent caricatures that describe Mr. Hyde's sadistic thoughts towards the attractive women he meets as Dr. Jekyll. If we were to free him today, instead of going to the cabaret, Mr. Hyde would devote himself to the minor genre of SHIP (Super Heroines in Peril) short films where he would satisfy his thirst for sadism, watching the humiliation and torture of our beloved defenders of justice. A low point for the Internet! But we are in the Victorian era and Hyde will have to risk going out with his top hat, his tuxedo and his cape to a dance hall whistling under his breath, and with a satanic gesture, some picaresque vaudeville song.
A Stranger in My Arms (1959)
Many familiar faces in a melodrama, well written, directed and acted.
This film was based on a novel entitled "And Ride a Tiger" by Robert Wilder and starred two Hollywood stars with solid careers behind them: June Allyson, petite, with a husky voice, a singer and a dancer in some musicals and always a good choice for a melodramatic romantic role with her honest homely girl look. At her side was the strong Jeff Chandler, always with an air of an intense guy, prematurely graying hair, the look of a biblical prophet and signs of not having much patience to tolerate nonsense.
Another outstanding role was for Sandra Dee, who was at the peak of her popularity as a typical teenager of her time. Daring, mischievous, innocently sexy and a real nightmare to keep under control. But basically a good girl.
On the side of the older ones, we find Mary Astor, a good-looking actress who as she grew older embodied characters with strong personality. And the sensational Charles Coburn. He went from serious to friendly, from stern to lascivious, from kind to incisive, with enormous fluidity. It is impossible to ignore his performance, even though it was brief.
And let's not forget Peter Graves. He really played many roles during the 1950s, some leading roles in Science Fiction, in some westerns and in the transgressive film Bayou alongside Lita Milan. But in 1959 he was still playing supporting roles and Mission Impossible was still a long way off. In "A Stranger in my Arms" he is a key character, although he is dead from the beginning. The fighter plane in which he was acting as navigator, along with pilot Jeff Chandler, had fallen into the sea and both survivors were left adrift in a rubber raft that was barely staying afloat. After many desperate days of thirst and hunger, the rescuers only found one survivor, Pike Yarnell (Chandler), who explained that his co-pilot had been torn from the raft by strong waves and that he had been unable to do anything to save him from death. The entire film revolves around this dark event and we see what happened through Chandler's "flashbacks."
The film goes by quickly, the drama is very well narrated and the conclusions seem to be taken from a psychology book, where all the conflicts and misadjustments are rationally explained and all the actors understand their mistakes and promise to do better in the future. I wish it were like that in real life.
Many familiar faces in a melodrama, well written, directed and acted.
Higher and Higher (1943)
Get on Higher and Higher and you will reach the sky.
It is very gratifying to see the dedication with which these old black and white films have been preserved in Hollywood. Higher and Higher was a small musical made by the RKO studio in the midst of World War II and intended to be distributed in places where many young Americans newly incorporated into the army were concentrated in camps controlled by a strict military discipline, ready to go into combat, both in the Pacific Ocean and in old Europe devastated by the war.
The musical focuses on a desperate plan hatched by the domestic staff of millionaire Cyrus Drake, who is out of the country and facing bankruptcy. The plan consists of one of the employees, a kitchen maid, pretending to be the daughter of this millionaire and marrying a rich man before the catastrophe occurs and in this way everyone can continue with their lives and their jobs. The head of this scam is the valet Mike O'Brien, played by the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz, Jack Hailey. The young maid, who is secretly in love with the valet, is Millie Pico, played by the French actress Michèl Morgan, a true legend of the cinema of that country, at that time trying her luck in America, far from the European battlefields. But what really gives brilliance and interest to this film is the performance of this dreamy-looking singer with deep blue eyes, who made all the teenage girls (nicknamed Bobby soxers for their socks) sigh with his manly and velvety voice. It was none other than Frank Sinatra, in a very natural role because he plays himself. Frank sings several songs, one of them "I couldn't sleep a wink last night" was nominated for an Oscar for best original song and he also sings with Marcy McGuire, dressed as Bobby Soxer, a very funny song that highlights the dangers that this young singer ran at the hands of teenagers so excited and enchanted by his singing and his image.
Two classic supporting actors like Leon Errol and Mary Wickes give solidity to the cast and also the youthful Barbara Hale in her role as a young socialite in love with the heartthrob singer, Frank Sinatra.
It is impossible to be objective with this film when you look back from the year 2024. If you love the classics and want to hear the great Frank in his beginnings as an actor, get on Higher and Higher and you will reach heaven.
Scaramouche (1952)
One of the best swashbuckling adventures to come out of pre-widescreen Hollywood.
For all of us who carry a young man in our hearts, Scaramouche offers the best that a romantic adventure of cape and sword can deliver to make us dream of those heroes who upheld those ideals of love, loyalty, bravery and always defended the weak and abused. The plot is based on a novel by the writer Rafael Sabatini that I was lucky enough to read after having seen this film. It is interesting in its own right but I must admit that in Hollywood they modified it enormously and only some ideas and the time period remained.
But, cinema is not a book. It has its own entity, its own rules of the game and sometimes, the results are different but at the same time excellent. I do not know the silent film version of this story that was filmed in 1923. But I must admit that this 1952 film is outstanding. The protagonist, Stewart Granger, that heartthrob imported from Great Britain, was at the peak of his acting career. His bearing was imposing, his diction, clear. When he had to make speeches before the National Assembly and challenge his rival who belonged to the nobles' side, he shook the walls with the power of his voice. Let us remember that this play was set in the time of the French Revolution of July 14, 1789. Sword duels were forbidden but they were frequent. Not only for political reasons, but also to defend a reputation as an expert, for rivalries at court and for love affairs.
Stewart Granger took fencing lessons and I assure you, he turned out to be an excellent disciple. Opposite him, he had Mel Ferrer who had been trained as a dancer. His role as a refined villain, almost effeminate due to his costume and makeup, was chilling when one saw how coldly he dispatched his enemies on the "field of honor" of a sword duel. He was a real butcher. I also think that it was the best role of this actor. And the ladies, who also had prominent parts even though they did not wield swords, were played by Eleonor Parker (the roguish actress) and Janet Leigh (the young noblewoman). They were at the peak of their beauty and their performances were impeccable. A special and very impressive role as Queen Marie Antoinette was played by the excellent actress Nina Foch. But there is more. In the cast was another veteran actor of these classics, Henry Wilcoxon, who played a bellicose and womanizing nobleman, and Lewis Stone, who had been the villain in Scaramouche's 1923 version, plays an important role as Granger's adoptive father. At MGM he had been Judge Hardy, the stern but loving father of Andy Hardy (Mickey Rooney). There was also Richard Anderson (Oscar Goldman in the series The Six Million Dollar Man), here youthful and tragic, and a very well-known guy, actor John Dehner, who, curiously, does not play the bad guy. Perhaps because they had shaved off his traditional moustache. Widescreen had not yet arrived for movies and Scarmouche fit very well on our home televisions. Of course, color was absent. And I had to wait for the Laser Disc and DVD to really enjoy this gem of adventure cinema. Thanks to Director George Sidney and writers Ronald Millar and George Froeschel and of course to MGM.
Live and Let Die (1973)
Live and Let Die secured the future of the seemingly, at the time, worn-out James Bond series.
Warning: This review is not for Moore-haters. Television entered our home when I was about to turn 6, in 1962, and from then on I abandoned my wanderings through the neighborhood vacant lots with other adventure companions and became attached to this tube of more or less sharp images and, frankly, somewhat ghostly appearance. And I began to get hooked on all the series of that time and some earlier ones from the 1950s that filled space because local productions were, at that time, very few. Over time I established a strong connection with Roger Moore. I had seen him in Ivanhoe, The Alaskans and even in the fourth season of Maverick. But, I must admit, it was that humble English series, The Saint, that made him my favorite contemporary hero. By 1972 I was following him in The Persuaders sharing the lead role with the incredible Tony Curtis, an idol of adventures and comedies of the big screen. So, in 1973, Live and Let Die took me to the cinema; to see James Bond? No, like others glued to the TV tube we went to see our idol in this colour film. Ultimately what I want to emphasise is the very special connection that unites me to this critically panned film. For me it was excellent. Moore was cool as always, a Simon Templar who was less of a boy scout and tougher on the villains. I'd rather not tell you how poor Yaphet Kotto who played the role of Dr. Kananga ended up. The action moved from the streets of New York to the Caribbean Sea, Jamaica and a fictional island called Saint Monique and the dangerous voodoo cult that our inflated villain used to cover his drug plantations that he planned to give away on the American market to whet the appetite of addicts and then make them want to pay fortunes to avoid withdrawal. He wanted to have a monopoly on drug sales. His abused collaborator, Solitaire, was played by the very beautiful and talented newcomer Jane Seymour. The treacherous woman was played by the spectacularly sexy Gloria Hendry and Felix Leiter, the Bond's CIA contact was played by David Hedison, which was a great joy since I had not seen him since his role as Captain Lee Crane in the Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea series. At the beginning of the film, the usual supporting characters are seen, Miss Moneypenny played perfectly by Lois Maxwell and Mister M the imposing Bernard Lee. Desmond Llewellyn was missing, but he was about to get his revenge.
Cliffton James gave one of the best overacts I have ever seen as Sheriff Pepper of the Bayou, and in the end, the film flew by like the boats in the swamp and we all left the theater satisfied and smiling, a fact that was repeated 6 more times until Moore, with good judgment, said enough. Thank you, Sir Roger, for all the entertaining hours you have given me in this life full of problems and worries.
Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940)
Fred Astaire & Eleonor Powell at the summit of popular art.
Eleanor Powell was considered the best tap dancer in Hollywood and had performed in a series of blockbuster musicals for MGM. Fred Astaire, who had had a resounding success with his series of films in partnership with Ginger Rogers for RKO, was also considered the number one tap dancer in the film world. Both stars reunited in MGM's "The Broadway Melody of 1940" and they truly did not disappoint. Instead of competing to see who had the best numbers or screen time, they got down to work very seriously on their solo numbers and those in which they had to unite their talents. The artistic result was outstanding and, here I agree with what I heard Frank Sinatra say, the finale "Begine the Beguine" with all the tap and its skillful choreography is a unique piece that fortunately was recorded in the eye of the black and white camera and is now preserved in the very robust digital storage system. It is a pity that, at the time, the serious world events that started the Second World War prevented its distribution in Europe and locally, I don't know. Someone compared Eleanor Powell negatively to Ginger Rogers in the role of Astaire's love interest. Nor did they like the plot that featured a duo of vaudeville dancers, Johnny Brett (Fred Astaire) and King Shaw (George Murphy). Bob Casey (Frank Morgan) makes a blunder as is his trademark and King Shaw ends up with the role that was supposed to be given to Johnny Brett. Morgan, who was a man who dishonoured his grey hair by chasing pretty young girls with the trick of the fur coat, was supposed to have a good eye for discovering talent and he considered King Shaw good but Brett great. Many found it unpleasant that two friends who worked together were discriminated against in this way, and considered that this evaluation went beyond the limits of fiction and entered into reality. That is to say, George Murphy was very good but Fred Astaire was great. As an Argentine, I'll tell you something painful about our history of tango and country music.
Carlos Gardel and José Razzano formed a duo of national singers between 1911 and 1925 and considered themselves not only partners, but also brothers. But Razzano was only good, whereas Carlos Gardel was a genius. In the end, they became seriously estranged over artistic and economic issues and only Carlos's tragic death could heal that enormous wound.
On the other hand, in "Broadway Melody of 1940" King Shaw swallowed his pride, admitted his envy towards his partner and helped him so that it was Jonny Brett who would succeed alongside the diva Clare Bennett (Eleonor Powell). A gesture that is never seen in reality, but nice to see in fantasy. Ultimately, I regret that this was the only film that brought together these two talented stars. That's how I see it in retrospect after all these years.
Make Haste to Live (1954)
A forgotten film but worth rescuing for the acting of McGuire & McNally.
Make Haste to Live showed me once again what an inexhaustible source of good movies Classic Hollywood was. I've seen many but there's always another one and the treasure chest seems to have no bottom. This is a small film, in black and white but with a wider format than the traditional one. It was produced and directed for Republic Pictures by William Seiter based on a script by Warren Duff. It is a noir story, set in a small town in the State of New Mexico where life is peaceful and predictable. There, in the local newspaper works as an editor Crystal Benson (Dorothy McGuire) a supposed widow with her daughter Randy (Mary Murphy) of 18 years who is about to graduate from high school. But at night, she has nightmares, because the past is about to take its revenge. In reality Randy's father was a gang member named Steve (Steven McNally) who has just left prison after a long sentence for the supposed murder of his wife Zena. In reality, Zena has changed her name and is now Crystal, and when she ran away from her husband, she was pregnant and not thinking clearly. Her friend Rose (Carolyn Jones, the famous Morticia of the Addams Family) tried to explain Zena's situation but was not convincing and, faced with the doubt and the unidentified corpse that implicated Steve, the latter ended up being sentenced to 20 years in prison.
In the town, the sheriff is Edgar Buchanan, an actor who played countless supporting roles in westerns and other genres. And we also meet Crystal's long-suffering suitor, Josh, played by another efficient B-movie actor, John Howard, a former pilot during the Second World War and now a scholar of the labyrinthine dwellings built by the Indians who inhabited the region, the Pueblo tribe.
Things will get heated in this interesting thriller in which I will not fail to praise the exceptional performance of the two main characters, Dorothy McGuire and Stephen McNally. Every time they are together, and luckily it is a big part of the film, the level of tension and drama rises. She appears calm but is actually desperate and he is perversely threatening like a volcano about to erupt. It is worth seeing them act.
Green Fire (1954)
Love clashes with economic exploitation in this lavish 1950s romantic adventure.
Stewart Granger was a handsome leading man in many British films in the troubled 1940s, which were hampered by the Second World War. Together with another British actress, the talented and beautiful Deborah Kerr, they starred in the Hollywood blockbuster "King Solomon's Mines." Both continued their careers in sunny California with varying success.
Stewart was dogged by his reputation as a handsome, womanizing man. And the roles he received in this brilliant period of his career were not Oscar-winning, but earned him a reputation as an adventurer and swordsman.
In this film "Green Fire" he does not wield a sword, but rather a relentless determination to make a fortune by exploiting a legendary mine dug in the 17th century by the Spanish conquistadors in the mountains of Colombia. His partner Paul Douglas, a solid supporting actor, always has reservations and tries to moderate the exuberant ambition of his fellow adventurer. On the female side, this is another co-starring role for the exquisitely beautiful Grace Kelly. We know that she traded her budding fame in the movies for being a princess in real life. Also strong-willed, she does not want to lose the coffee plantation she has inherited from her family and which she tries to manage with her younger brother, John Ericson, a young man eager to make money and who has no faith in carrying on the family legacy. Also in the conflict is the local bandit, the odious Murvyn Vye with his group of misfits who claim a part of the mine in exchange for not using weapons against the legitimate owners.
Everything reaches its climax when the dilemma is definitive: the emerald mine or the coffee plantation, the existence of one excludes the other. Ambition, pride, and love come into conflict, and ultimately, "Green Fire" seemed to me to be a very good romance, action, and adventure film shot in very impressive natural settings (to enjoy this film, you have to watch it on a big screen and in the original format, which is very rectangular and provides what cinema wanted to achieve in 1954: defeating the infamous upstart TV that offered a 4:3 format and a monotonous black and white).
Ultimately, a classic of this era of color and wide formats with a well-known cast that plays their roles admirably.
Chance at Heaven (1933)
Joel McCrea and Ginger Rogers add luster to this Pre-Code film.
Obviously this little film escaped the severity of the censorship that began to operate on Hollywood productions back in 1934. I am not American and therefore the subject is doubly sensitive. If no control is exercised over the content of fantasies, they can begin to spiral out of control and go from sanctimonious to realistic, then to daring, then to deviant and from there to crime. There is a very thin line, since all crime is deviant or aberrant and everything that is deviant art may or may not be crime, depending on the legislation of each country.
Ultimately I think that censorship was severe in Hollywood, but I also think that it made its films extremely ethical, suitable for viewing by families of any nationality, even from cultures very different from the Western ones. In addition, when TV became popular, the ethical compass imparted by classic Hollywood was preserved and our house was filled with heroes who were always on the side of justice and punished the wicked. In Chance at Heaven, Joel McCrea (Blacky Gorman) and Ginger Rogers (Marje Harris) were engaged to be married. Blacky owned a gas station, and his dream was to own a chain of stations and make money so he could give Marje the home she deserved. But Blackie's path was crossed by a rich young woman from high society, Glory Franklyn, played by Marian Nixon. She was a wealthy heiress. She fell in love with the honest but humble young man. Blackie decided not to turn his back on this opportunity to touch heaven on earth. Since he had also fallen in love with Glory, he abandoned Marje in a friendly manner and married the young woman from society.
If censorship had been in effect, only the death of one of the spouses could destroy their marriage, but since it was 1933, if the marriage did not work, there was the option of divorce.
I won't tell the rest but I will just say that it was a pleasure to see Joel McRea and Ginger Rogers, both very lovable actors in this tough world of "make believe", starring in this RKO Studio film when they were both still struggling to strengthen their respective careers that, ultimately, would extend many years into the future.
The Reckoning (2020)
Charlotte Kirk is a very strong heroine in a very dark times.
To watch a film like The Reckoning you have to be prepared for an unpleasant story that emphasizes the worst feelings that haunt the human mind: fear and primal brutality. Set in England (1665-1666) during the great plague that decimated the city of London, that invisible enemy discovered by Louis Pasteur, those pathogenic germs that sickened and killed without mercy and, apparently without following any predetermined scheme, terrified people and the worst basic instincts were at their peak.
With a baby of a few months old and an honest and loving husband, everything seemed to be going well for Grace (Charlotte Kirk). But the master of the place named Pendleton (Steve Waddington) was burning with desire for her. He induces Grace's husband, Joseph (Joe Anderson), to drink from a glass contaminated with the blood of a sick person and the tragedy is underway.
Widowed and unable to pay the farm taxes, Grace is accused of witchcraft because she has not contracted the disease and is locked in a dungeon without knowing the fate of her baby.
This is the unpleasant thing about the situation. The witchcraft trials were not fair. We know, today in the 21st century, that witches never existed and that they were the product of superstitious terrors fueled by ignorance. Then, all the women accused, tortured and executed by fire or hanging were flagrant victims of injustice and human cruelty.
The judge who hunted down Satan's acolytes was called Moorcroft (Sean Pertwee), a diabolicaly righteous sort of character who, protected by his authority, acted with cruelty and delighted in his sadism, protected by his solemn bearing and his background as a firm enemy of those who make pacts with the devil. Now we know that he was wrong. At the time, it was hard to judge her sincerity, but what was evident was his delight at the prospect of torture and killing.
Grace is stubborn and she resists. She doesn't want to confess what she isn't. Then the days of torture will follow until she admits her guilt or succumbs to death.
The film is noir, it's hard, but I think it's well conceived. I hate everything sadistic, the act of extracting pleasure from the suffering of a person at our mercy. I detest injustice and in this narrative it is abundant. The writers of this work, made it clear who we should sympathize with and who we shouldn't. Neil Marshall gave the scenes of physical and psychological abuse the proper context of disapproval and therefore gave meaning to his film. You can like this story if you are willing to face the worst of being human and suffer a little with this fantasy. Besides, Charlotte Kirk is a stoic heroine, and I liked her work, both in front of and behind the camera.
The Canary Murder Case (1929)
Willam Powell's voice opened for him the doors to sound cinema.
The Canary Murder Case (1929) was a wonderful cinematic experience for me. It is a film of undeniable historical interest as it is one of the first of the sound films and it stars one of those outstanding stars who emerged from the film industry: William Powell.
In this film he takes on the role of detective Philo Vance and really, watching Powell's performance, I understand why he was able to make the dreaded transition from silent films to sound films without any problems. His presence was unique, a tall, elegant guy, very dark hair parted in the middle, intense blue eyes that even black and white could not hide, a very neat moustache covering a winning smile and a retracted chin. But his voice sounded great, masculine, deep, pleasant. His attitude was that of someone who seems to know something but does not want to share it with others. Ideal for a detective.
At the beginning, Powell, dressed as a dandy, is in a box with his friend Charles Spotswood (Charles Willis Lane), a banker worried because his son Jimmy (James Hall) has been caught by the star of the musical extravaganza they are attending, the "vedette" Margaret O'dell aka The Canary (Louise Brooks).
While she swings on a trapeze over the audience showing off her shapely legs and her body adorned with feathers (The Canary), several millionaires try to catch her attention discreetly so as not to be discovered by their wives. It turns out that Margaret is a real Jezebel, and she is extorting all her lovers to make a quick fortune and enjoy life.
After the performance, in her apartment, the predictable happens (the wise Philo Vance had predicted it): Margaret was strangled during the night and her career as an extortionist ended. The case is difficult, and the assistance of a crime expert like Philo Vance is needed. Sergeant Ernest Heath thinks he is more astute than Vance and tries to compete with him in the progress of the investigation. Philo knows how to deal with him and Heath ends up thinking that they both did the job together.
A fantastic supporting actor acts as Sergeant Heath, Eugene Pallette, with his voice as sharp as a motorized saw and his robust anatomy that would continue to gain weight during the 1930s. Also in a minor role we can see Jean Arthur, still very far from that queen of romantic comedy that she once was.
In short, a gift for those of us who like the classic actors of the emerging sound cinema and the first of three more films in which William Powell will play the role of Philo Vance.
Atlas (2024)
If you love JLo, you will find an entertaining and very positive film.
I like movies and TV series with strong female characters, perhaps because I was raised in a world that was still populated by all kinds of archetypal male heroes. Those specialized in rescuing determined young women who were very ill-prepared to get themselves out of the trouble they got into.
Atlas had many attractions for me. Jennifer Lopez, that actress who possesses the "triple combination" (actress + singer + dancer) who, although hated by many detractors, has remained current in the world of movies and series for her incredible tenacity, her capacity for work and her high level of performance in any of those three facets.
I was also drawn to this film by its Science Fiction genre and the fact that it dealt with that very fashionable subject that is so exploited to sell everything, from electronic devices, household appliances, computers, software, cars and even prophecies.
I will not develop the argument so as not to go on too long.
I'll just say that the two hours of the film seemed well used and always captured my interest.
I really liked Jennifer's role and how she handled it. Strong character and feminine sensitivity as opposite plates of that balance of emotions that this Bronx star usually handles so well.
The script is complicated, it gives rise to good action scenes and also, through the changing and constantly evolving interaction between Atlas Shepherd, Lopez's character and Gregory James Cohan as Smith, the artificial intelligence program that assists our heroine, in her fight to survive and fulfill her mission, it is a plus of this film.
Do we have to hate or love AI? Neither one thing nor the other. We have to learn to live with them and cooperate to make this world a better place and not a dystopia.
Kudos to director Brad Peyton and writers Leo Sardarian and Aron Eli Coleite.
Rogue River (1951)
A good film that the turbulent waters of the Rogue River sank into oblivion.
I can't help but keep thinking about Peter Graves' career after having commented on the film "Bayou" (1957). And I was drawn to the film "Rogue River" (1951). It was Peter's debut in a strong police and family drama set in a town near this river in the state of Oregon. His partner at the head of the cast, the young man already established as a capable protagonist, Rory Calhoun.
Both are cousins, but they have lived like brothers under the tutelage of the severe father of the character that Peter plays. He was the community's police chief, Joe Dandridge (Frank Fenton), a ruthless law enforcement officer because for him men are basically perverse and inclined to crime and only the fear of a strong controlling authority prevents them from committing misdeeds. Thus Ownie Rogers (Calhoun) detests the harshness of his stepfather and has become the good-for-nothing of the town. Pete Dandridge (Graves), on the other hand, studied at the university and seems to be following in the footsteps of his father, whom he admires despite not always agreeing with his way of thinking.
Then a bank robbery takes place and the robbers make off with a loot of 50,000 dollars in bags of gold dust. A posse, like in classic westerns, pursues them and the fugitives suffer a fatal accident in which two of the three robbers die. But the loot has disappeared and that is where the great family conflict between the Dandridges and Rogers begins. The possibility of obtaining the inheritance of a vagabond prospector who committed suicide in his cell makes Joe Dandridge hesitate for the first time before the possibility of having 70,000 dollars. He only has to prove that the vagabond did not obtain them as an accomplice to the bank robbery but that he earned them with the sweat of his brow, little by little sifting river water in search of the precious metal throughout his miserable life. The clash with Ownie is violent as he wants to prove the opposite in order to keep the difference of 20,000 dollars in case he has to return the rest to the Bank. All according to the perverse clauses of the old gold digger's will.
In this plot, women, Pete's girlfriend (Jayne Liddel) and Owne's love interest, Judy (Ellye Marshall) play very secondary roles. Drama and tragedy are the moral and material crossroads that the Dandridges and Rogers face.
Peter Graves' debut is magnificent. A co-starring role that he played perfectly. His interaction with Rory Calhoun is of great quality, both in the relaxed dialogues and in the tough confrontations. It's hard to believe that years later, in The Yellow Tomahawk (1954), Rory continued his series of leading roles, but Peter struggled as a supporting character and starred in science fiction and some B-level westerns.
I would need to have a better copy of this film lost in the crowd, than the one I saw on a TV channel but I think that director John Rawlins and writer Louis Lantz did a good creative job.
Perhaps, despite its merits, since the film Rogue River was filmed in color, and in natural settings, it is a forgotten work. It sank in the wild current of this merciless river.
Bayou (1957)
Time has redeemed the sins of this hot-as-bayou movie.
I confess, I came to this film trying to follow the career of Peter Graves, the infallible head of the Mission Impossible team on TV series. In the 1950s, Peter alternated between westerns and science fiction films. They were generally B-grade, which is not to say that they were all of poor quality. But, in 1956 we find "Bayou", a daring social and sexual drama. Peter plays the role of an idealistic architect who only wants to be judged on the merits of his designs but to his chagrin he finds that what is more important to those who are going to hire him is his quality as a "man". The strongest, the cruelest, the one who does not hesitate to cheat to be number one. In this environment of the Mississippi Delta, a population of very denigrated white people (the White Trash People) are described to him, almost as if they were baboons in a zoo cage. The idealist Peter is outraged by the naturalization of this discriminatory and unjust situation and is attracted to Marie (played by Lita Milan, a Latin Bombshell), a simple and sensual member of this despised community. He stays with the young woman's uncle and tries to assess the knowledge that this simple man has of the swamp and how he knows how to live off the lush flora and fauna there.
The film also, almost as if anticipating the sexual exploitation of European cinema in the 1970s, contains two thorny scenes. The rape of Marie by the local thug (Timothy Carey), a very unpleasant alpha male type, and the subsequent scene of passionate and carnal love between Marie and the architect, outside the marriage bond. Very daring for the 1950s. There is also a decisive duel, and the acceptance of an honest feeling that is no longer just passion but is love.
I feel guilty because I really liked this humble and completely forgotten work of the seventh art. Time has redeemed the sins of this singular film that dealt with such delicate themes as discrimination, basic sexual passions, violence as a weapon of intimidation and extra-work pressures to prove oneself competent in a medium that only valued brute force.
In stark contrast, today, in the murky digital waters of the Internet, in a small electronic swamp of its global network, analogous to the bayou, I found the films called SHIP (SuperHeroines In Peril) that for now are outside the field of the conventional films that we review on IMDb. They are also supposed to explore the dark side of these powerful women but in reality they only graphically narrate the destruction of these heroines, who, stripped of powers, are ordinary girls, subjected to all kinds of abuse. Yes!, it is glorified gender-based violence covered under the cloak of "deviant art." Unlike "Bayou" these short films have no redemption, not now, nor will they have it in the future.
That's why I'm giving Bayou six points, which despite its thorny sexual themes knew how to always lead them down an ethical path that we still recognize as correct. My recognition to director Harold Daniels and writer Edward I. Fessler for a job well done.
Dead Sea (2024)
A well-told thriller that never deviates from its objective.
This compact thriller was written and directed by Phil Volken and I confess that watching his work was a positive surprise. Logically, one cannot expect deep philosophical musings or deep personal dramas from this film. It is assembled around a daring and risky youth adventure, but at the same time, it is irresistibly attractive to the adventurous spirit of these two couples. A trip across the open sea on powerful jet skis to a deserted island near the coast with a beautiful beach to spend a day of leisure, sun and budding romance.
But on the return trip an unfortunate accident occurs. The machines collide with each other and one of the young people dies instantly. The other Xander (Koa Tom) is seriously injured and requires medical attention. The two young women Kaya (Isabel Gravitt) and Tessa (Genneya Walton) struggle to stay afloat and assist their friend in a sea infested with sharks. Then, a miracle happens, a fishing boat appears with only one crew member on board, Rey (Alexander Wraith) and proceeds to rescue the castaways.
I won't spoil what happens on board this rickety and sinister ship. But here's what I liked about this film. Clear narrative, realistic natural images of the sea and its dangers and a desperate fight for survival that is more credible than in other stories of this genre. The cast was very well chosen and the two young girls showed promise, particularly due to the role she had in the outcome, the work of Isabel Gravitt was highlighted.
Skincare (2024)
A good film if one doesn't have false expectations.
Skincare is set to be a thriller, in which a beauty expert, Hope Goldman (Elizabeth Banks), after a hard and dedicated career has put her small company among the best for skin care in the competitive environment of Los Angeles. But everything begins to fall apart when, facing her business, a very unfriendly and arrogant young man named Angel (Luis Gerardo Mendez) opens his shop also dedicated to skin care. This is where a systematic campaign begins to ruin Hope's personal reputation and her credibility as a great cosmetologist. Her e-mail is hacked and a message is sent to all her clients declaring her financial difficulties and her vehement desire to satisfy her sexual appetite with any man willing to provide his services. Scandals follow one another and a young man who calls himself a "life coach" named Jordan (Lewis Pullman) is, apparently, her only concrete support. Hope detests her competitor Angel and is sure that he is to blame for the attacks she is suffering. The atmosphere is charged with tension and the film seems to be resolved in the style of a thriller. In particular, for me it is more valuable as a social commentary on the tensions one must face in the daily life of big cities, the isolation and fragility that comes, paradoxically, from being constantly connected to some social network, the daily interaction with people who are very socially adapted but treacherous like scorpions. Hope is under a lot of pressure, she feels pushed to professional collapse which, in her case, is also her downfall as an individual because her life is her company, and she makes bad decisions.
Nathan Fillion in the role of Brett, a host on a television talk show, is far from being the hero we all admire (Firefly, Castle and The Rookie) and has a special but brief role.
In short, perhaps because the story is based on real events, it does not have the exaggerated elements that are usually present in this genre of noir films. Elizabeth Banks is perfect in her characterization of Hope Goldman and the entire cast is very efficient. Jordan (Lewis Pullman) is Bill Pullman's son (how time flies!) and I happened to see him doing a good job in the mini-series Lessons in Chemistry starring Brie Larson. Austin Peters' direction and the team of writers were also of a good standard. A good film if one doesn't have false expectations.
Surrounded (2023)
This bold western worked for me.
A very pleasant surprise for me, who already has a lot of mileage in watching TV series and movies, was the western "Surrounded". I had really liked Letitia Wright's performance in the high-budget Black Panther movies. But when I found out she had starred in a western, I had a kind of premonition of disaster. But to hell with prejudices. The script by Andrew Pagana & Justin Thomas was very clever in that they tried to create a credible situation for this young African-American girl who finds herself freed from the plantation so as not to have a place of her own for herself and her loved ones. So she disguises herself as a man, learns to handle weapons and participates in the war as a soldier, survives the battles and receives a deed for a property in the Wild West. As a civilian, she tries not to attract attention, to lower the brim of her hat over her face and to accept with resignation the disgustingly degrading treatment of the stagecoach driver who takes her west. He has to travel in the back with the luggage and without weapons, since a "black" with a six-shooter is capable of harming himself and others. The stagecoach is held up by a gang of criminals led by Tommy Walsh, very well played by Jamie Bell. The robbery ends in a debacle and Walsh is taken prisoner and chained to a tree. The survivors set out to bring in the authorities and threaten to lynch Mo Washington, as the young woman calls herself, if he lets him escape.
I won't spoil the plot. But I will tell you that there is quality psychological drama and also violent action typical of this genre of films. As a foreigner, I will always praise this essentially American "Western" genre that crept into the cinema and then onto TV to fascinate us with stories of universal appeal, where the behavior of the characters in this wild environment, with a precarious civilized presence, always generates ethical dilemmas that cannot be resolved by justice that is weak or has not arrived and that end in the classic shootouts that put everything in its place.
By chance, I had just seen "The Yellow Tomahawk" from 1954, at the height of the mature stories for westerns and tried to review it. But this unlikely proposal "Surrounded" did not go out of place. Kudos to director Anthony Mandler and to the intense performance of the protagonist Letitia Wright.
The Yellow Tomahawk (1954)
A solid western.
The Yellow Tomahawk is a typical western from the 1950s. Perhaps it was forgotten because of the time it was released. It was 1954 and everyone was running after widescreen and colour films. This film, on the other hand, is in narrowscreen and was shot in black and white. But it has a solid cast. Rory Calhoun is the protagonist, a man who, like the western genre itself, went from film to television and always offered good portraits of those tough men who conquered the west. At his side, we have a treat for the male eye in the beautiful Peggy Castle, who loves to take baths in streams despite the threat of an imminent Indian attack. Joking aside, she is a pretty woman with a strong character who deserved better luck in her professional career. We also have Lee Van Cleef, a classic villain in both Hollywood and spaghetti westerns. Here, with a little makeup, he is the Indian who sends the soldiers the yellow tomahawk, as a warning that they are not welcome because he has to take revenge on the soldier who commands the camp, played perfectly by Warner Anderson, since he was the culprit of one of those indiscriminate massacres where the frenzy of the lowest human instincts does not respect women, children, or the elderly. Perhaps the best thing about this plot is the fatalism of the situation. There is no solution. The conflict cannot be avoided. The Indian only understands the Law of Talion, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. In a supporting role is Peter Graves. In his case he is dominated by gold fever and sells his soul for those nuggets of golden metal, therefore he is not the hero we so admire in Mission Impossible. Also, as an unlikely interracial couple, but one that is consolidated by actions rather than words, were Noah Beery, with a very long acting career in film and TV, and the young Rita Moreno, who years later would burn up the screen in The West Side Story (1962).
In short, an entertaining western, with a tough conflict between soldiers and Indians and with very well-known figures that I like to see again.
The Bikeriders (2023)
The way of the rebels
I've never ridden a motorcycle in my life and only once have I been a passenger. It was a small-capacity bike and it was driven, very carefully, by a college friend. The acceleration was very interesting, you have to hold on to the driver. I imagine that makes it very attractive to have a female passenger and force her to hold on with all her strength to avoid falling backwards. So why did I want to see this film? Because I really like Jodie Comer. I've followed her as much as I could and I was always impressed by her great ability to adapt to the character she has to play. This is no exception. Like me, Jodie's character Kathy was not supposed to be particularly interested in biker gangs and their motivations. But she met a real rebel, James Dean style, Benny (Austin Butler) who was part of the group called "Vandals" led by Johnny (Tom Hardy) and ended up marrying him. And, logically, Kathy's (Jodie Comer) desire was to reform the inveterate Vandal and turn him into a more conventional guy. The truth is that I really liked her role, because she is not only an outside observer, but she is also immersed in this truly dystopian community.
For me, who am not American, the film was very interesting because it was very documentary-like and was very well set in those years (1965-1973) when these asphalt gangs strutted around to the horror of the most conventional citizens. It also tells how things got worse with the generational change and the dishonorable murder of the group's leader. It was no longer about challenging conventional life and being rebellious, but rather it was necessary to profit from that rebellion, and the motorcyclists entered into those dirty businesses, selling drugs and prostitution.