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mauricebarringer
Reviews
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1937)
The Last of Mrs.Cheyney was a major box office hit.
I appreciate all the pro and con reviews from the knowledgeable and literate film buffs. However, I want to address the reviewers who stated that the film was a financial flop.
This film cost $741,000 to produce and it made $1,800,000, which was a sizable profit back in 1937.
Backfire (1950)
A complex and well written film with brilliant cinematography
I was quite impressed with the thoughtful, knowledgeable and humorous comments written by so many classic film experts and their keen insights of such a detailed and complicated plot
Since this wonderful noir has been dissected so thoroughly I only have one item to analyze and one other comment to make.
In the beginning of this film Edmund O'Brien jumped out of a window and ran away. The police shot one bullet at him before Ed Begley told the other officer not to take any more shots and risk hitting a taxpayer.
O'Brien was ONLY a person of interest at best and a suspect at worst, but there was NO evidence of any type that he had anything to do with a murder. Why did the police take a shot at him?
P.S. Virginia Mayo did get to star in many musicals, adventure and comedy films during her career, especially from the late 1940s on but probably her 2 best known films were ones in which she played bad girls, "The Best Years of Our Lives" and "White Heat."
Daisy Kenyon (1947)
A Wonderful, complex and engrossing character study with tremendous performances, writing, music and directing
I wanted to respond to a few comments about this wonderful film (which was a strong and highly effective character study). Dana Andrews received billing over Henry Fonda because Andrews was at the peak of his career with A WALK IN THE SUN, LAURA, THE FALLEN ANGEL AND THE BEST FILM OF 1946, THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIFE. He was a superstar at that time and held on to stardom until the early 1960s but in films of lesser quality as the years went by. He was an excellent and underrated actor.
Henry Fonda, whose first starring role was in 1935, was in the middle of his long career, not in the early stages as one writer said. Fonda, after serving 3 full years in WWII, had a difficult time maintaining his stardom, was never a strong box office star but was an outstanding actor. Fonda did not make any films after 1948 until MR. ROBERTS in 1955, his comeback. He constantly did fine and critically acclaimed stage work. Peter, his son, said he was gray-listed because of his liberal political views also. Fonda worked in major films with lead roles in films and on television until his death in 1982.
Fonda was under contract and was forced to perform in this film by his studio. Andrews liked working with Otto Preminger and did so 4 times. Andrews was easy to work with and the autocratic Preminger liked Andrews because of his professionalism, easy going personality and outstanding acting ability.
I was surprised that something more was not said or done about Dana Andrews' child torturing wife. Andrew shed a tear but did not report this beast to the authorities. (She yanked on her child's ear until the ear bled and the child had a significant ear ache.) That, even in the dark ages, should have been enough to have the child removed from her care, wouldn't it?
The Barefoot Contessa (1954)
What exactly was Rossano Brazzi's sexual problem? How does an uneducated peasant woman speak as if she were an English professor?
(I want to preface my review by stating that I have posted many reviews and am a positive and fair minded critic. This is by far the most negative one I have ever written.)
(I also thoroughly appreciated the excellent commentary by John Holder on page 1 of "hated it." I have seen 2400 films in my 64 years and this is one of the top 10 worse big budget so-called A level films I have ever seen.)
This is the second time Ava Gardner has appeared in a film where her husband or lover has somehow lost his penis or else lost its use. This was the problem in the Hemmingway classic novel "The Sun Also Rises" that was made into a film in 1958 when Jake Barnes (played by Tyrone Power) either had Mr. Johnson shot off in WWI or else had it so damaged that he could not use it.
I did not understand what happened to Ava Gardner's husband (Rossano Brazzi) in "The Barefoot Contessa." Was his penis shot off? Did he have PTSD(shell shock in those days)? Did it get damaged and cause him to become impotent? Was he gay? Was he a latent homosexual who found out that Ava could not satisfy him? Talk about a hard luck dame (1950s language).
No writer has mentioned that Ava's character was an uneducated peasant woman who did not even have an elementary school education yet she spoke as if she were a college English professor. Talk about stilted language, this takes the cake.
The scene where Warren Stevens (Kirk Edwards) and Marcus Goring (the rich playboy) had their verbal confrontation was so silly that I spit up the burrito I was eating. They stood at opposite ends of the lavish mansion and in an excessively theatrical manner started hurling insults at each other. I expected them to challenge each other to a duel.
Edmund O'Brien, a fine actor, seemed to have overloaded on caffeine or worse. Rossano Brazzi seemed stupefied as to what motivated his ridiculous character. Humphrey Bogart spent the 1950s attempting to stretch his roles. This was a stretch that Wilt Chamberlain in his prime could not reach.
Ava Gardner was being portrayed as an innocent in the woods yet in 1950s style movie subtlety she was sleeping with her "cousin," her chauffeur, the deck hand on her husband's yacht and the gypsy to whom she threw her gambling casino winnings.
Joseph Mankiewitz won back to back double Academy Awards in 1949 and 1950 for writing and directing "A Letter to Three Wives" and "All About Eve." He was a fine writer for almost 20 years before becoming a director. This was his Waterloo.
Great Expectations (1946)
This great novel and film hooked me on books and films in 9th grade.
It is difficult to turn 400 and 500 page and even 100 and 200 page novels into films. For some reason, film makers seem to think that the audience does not have an attention span that can handle a film much longer than 2 hours.
Great Expectations, which I rate 9 stars out of 10, would have been even better and its characters more developed if the film had been 3 hours long. Gone with the Wind, Lawrence of Arabia and The Bridge on the River Kwai were real effective films of 3 hours or more, and the latter 2 were directed by Great Expectations director David Lean.
Film makers often change the content and the endings of novels turned into films. By doing so with Great Expectations, the film strayed too much from the novel. Estella was too psychologically damaged by Ms. H to simply run off into the horizon with Pip as she did in the film version. Dickens' original novel ending should have been left alone.
Pip aged from 7 to 35 in the novel, whose setting was from 1912 to 1940. During most of the film Pip was 2 ages: He was age 14 (when the young actor played him) and in his early to mid when Mills played him. Mills, an outstanding and underrated actor was actually 38 but was amazingly effective as Pip.
Jean Simmons, age 17, played the young Estella while Valerie Hobson, age 29, played the adult Estella. That means Estella went from being 3 years older than Pip as a child to being 9 years younger than Pip as an adult. (I thought I would throw in some mathematics.)
I still rate the film a 9 on a 10 point scale. It is almost impossible to do justice to a great and lengthy novel with a film of any length.
The Untouchables (1959)
"The Untouchables" was superb but "The Muppets" and "Grizzly Adams" were not wanted.
"The Untouchables" was my all-time favorite television program when I was a teenager. I ordered the 22 disc set and was surprised to find out that 14 of the episodes were either "The Muppets" or "Grizzly Adams." In addition, 8 other episodes were defective and stopped during the middle of the show.
"The Untouchables" I did see were as good as I had remembered, and I forgot how many wonderful actors participated in this trend setting television program. I do advise you to be careful if you purchase this wonderful television program that has held up so well despite being 47 to 50 years old.
You can imagine my bewilderment when "The Muppets" and "Grizzly Adams" shows popped up on the DVD instead of "The Untouchables." I have tried unsuccessfully to contact them (orders@dvdavenue.TV) 12 times. I will never order any DVDs over the internet again.
There is a website called problems with DVD avenue.TV where customers who have been cheated by this incompetent company post their grievances. I estimate about 175 people have posted their complaints.
P.S. Since I last posted I have watched 8 more episodes of "The Untouchables" and 3 of them stopped during the beginning and could not restart. At least I have not had to view anymore episodes of "The Muppets" or "Grizzly Adams."
From Hell It Came (1957)
I viewed this film 51 years ago at age 11 and never forgot it.
I saw this movie one time at a kiddie matinée at the North Park Theater in San Diego in 1959 when it was released and I was 11. It was one of three features that were shown that day.
I have not seen it since but have wanted to because I am a film buff and appreciate the terrible along with the great, good and average films.
What I remember most vividly is that the more sophisticated audience members, consisting of children between 8 and 15, howled with laughter at the tree monster.
A triple bill at a theater showing 3 adventure films is something an 11 year old does not forget, but I can't remember the names of the other 2 films. (One did star George Montgomery and David Farrar.)
UPDATE: The other 2 films in this triple bill were much better. They were "Watusi," 1959, with George Montgomery and David Farrar starring and "The Angry Red Planet," 1959, with Gerald Mohr and Naura Hayden staring. Ms. Hayden has written a couple of books on health and fitness also.
Bell Book and Candle (1958)
I wish I could have been an adult during that era (fine film)
I laughed out loud at Bill-3 (page 6) and his hilarious comments and am in agreement with him. Yes, only in Hollywood films does a beautiful 24 or 25 year old woman have to put a 50 year old man under a witches spell in order to get him to fall in love with her.
Kim Novak was a grossly under-rated actress who underplayed wonderfully in an era when that was not appreciated by an actress. Actors could do the method ala Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift or Rod Steiger, but an actress was supposed to display histrionics.
James Stewart was one of the finest actors and stars in Hollywood history and was a major star for over 35 years. Yet he was miscast in this film and I would have preferred Jack Lemmon, who was 17 years younger, in Stewart's role.
What great cinematography by James Wong Howe, and what an outstanding musical score by George Dunnning. The supporting players, especially Elsa Lanchester and the stupendous Ernie Kovacs were brilliant.
The versatile Daniel Taradish, the screenwriter, also wrote "From Here to Eternity" and won the Academy Award for best screenplay that year. In addition, he wrote "Picnic," "Golden Boy" and many other fine films during his long career.
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Maltese Falcoln set the standard for all film noirs that followed.
The "Maltese Falcon" was the 1st and one of the greatest film noirs. It set the standard and style for all of the brilliant film noirs that followed. What a tremendous cast of marvelous actors. It was the 1st film noir and therefore did not have a library of films in which to get ideas. John Huston, age 34, not 40 as indicated by another reviewer, was given his film directorial debut and turned out a classic and many other classics during his long career. A few people who have criticized this masterpiece don't seem to understand or appreciate old films, and this is unfortunate.
This film is 68 years old and the script and cinematography hold up real well. I want to commend GEOFBOB from London, England for his perceptive analysis. He found flaws in Sam Spade's character in which Spade was cruel to Miles Archer's widow...I agree...and he thought Spade was callous when he asked his secretary to remove Miles Archer's name from the window the day after Archer died....Yes, this was terribly inconsiderate. Despite these flaws Sam Spade risked his life to get justice for his partner (Archer) and nail the 3 criminals. Spade had his code of ethics and this character set the stage for the Bogart persona.
From 1933 until 1967 the Hays Code, strict censorship, was a dominant force in films. Prostitutes were called hostess' or dance hall girls. Homosexuals were called sissy's and their behavior had to be displayed in a exceptionally subtle way. (In the novel, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Elisha Cook were gay, but in the film it was only obvious that Lorre was a "sissy.") All films made during this 35 year period had to deal with this censorship.
A viewer criticized Bogart's speaking voice and thought Bogart was new to talking films. Bogart, voted number 1 when the American Film Institute counted down the top 50 actors from 1915 through 1975, had a fine stage trained speaking voice, made 35 sound films during the 1930s and was Warner Brothers top supporting actor of that decade before becoming the superstar of the ages.
Another viewer criticized the selection of Eliza Cook, a fine character actor whose career spanned 50 years, for portraying the bodyguard/killer and being too short and slight to be a menace. Cook's character was psychotic and killed 2 people without showing any remorse. A short and slight man with a gun and who is without conscience and unstable is just as dangerous as a big/muscular man. He only has to pull the trigger. After all Cook's (gunsel) tripped a helpless and drugged Bogart and then kicked him in the head when he was unconscious.
What a great cast of characters, brilliant cinematography of the old San Francisco, fine editing, especially for 1941 and well written script and fine acting. Acting styles have changed since Brando started making films in 1950 and ushered in the method system, but the performances in this classic film were outstanding across the board, including Mary Astor, who did go a bit over-the-top, but then again this was before Brando and a full decade away from method acting.......definitely a 10.
Cadillac Records (2008)
Excellent film.....needed more Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry was the greatest pioneer in Rock 'N' Roll history. He is ranked by Rolling Stone Mag as the 5th greatest performer in its history. He wrote music and lyrics that will live forever, played a tremendous guitar (Rolling Stone Mag lists his as number 6th in their top 100 guitar players list) and sang real well. I wish this film would have concentrated more on him.
I read that Beyonce' gained 15 pounds to play Etta James and weighed in at 135 pounds. Etta James at one time, believe it or not I checked this out, weighed over 400 pounds.
The intent and sincerity of the director and writer was superb, but this film was somewhat flawed with inconsistencies. They had Chuck Berry singing "No Particular Place to Go" at the beginning of his stardom in the mid 1950s.
Actually he recorded this hit record in 1962. In the film Berry sang "Promised Land," a super song but a non hit that never made the top 40. Why did they not have Chuck Berry sing his great hit songs such as "roll over Beethoven," "School Days," "Sweet Little 16," "Rock 'N' Roll Music," "Back in the USA" or "Johnny B Goode"? Also, Leonard Cress never, according to famed music critic George Varga, had an affair with Etta James, and the degree to which Leonard Cress cheated and exploited his musicians was not dealt with.
Ralph Bass, who was not in the film, not Cress produced Etta James' recording sessions and Cress Record mainstays Bo Didley and John Lee Hooker were missing from the film. I do, nevertheless, highly recommend this film and would rate it a 3 on a zero to 4 star scale.
The Wild Bunch (1969)
William Holden was a major actor/star for 42 years.
I want to respond to Cosmoeticadotcom who called William Holden a second level leading man.
Holden was a second level leading man from 1939 to 1949 but with his major breakthrough and great performance in "Sunset Boulevard" in 1950 and continuing through "The Wild Bunch" in 1969 he was one of the very top box office draws and most respected actors in films. Holden was one of the top 10 box office draws for the entire decade of the 1950s.
Holden had a 42 year career as a lead. He was the lead in his first film "The Golden Boy" in 1939 and also the lead in his last film, "The S.O.B." in 1981. John Wayne and Clint Eastwood are the only actors who had lead roles for that length of time.
Changeling (2008)
Research information about the actual event
Wineville Chicken Coop Murders From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gordon NorthcottThe Wineville Chicken Coop Murders[1] (also known as the Wineville Chicken Murders[2]) were a series of kidnapping and murders, occurring in Los Angeles and Riverside County, California from 1928 through 1930. The case received nationwide attention, and events related to it exposed corruption in the Los Angeles Police Department.[2] The 2008 film Changeling is based upon events related to this case.
The murders In September 1928, the Los Angeles Police Department visited the Northcott Ranch in Wineville, Riverside County.[5] In 1926, Sanford Clark, the then-14-year-old nephew of ranch owner Gordon Stewart Northcott, had been taken by Northcott from his home in Saskatchewan, Canada. Clark was beaten and sexually abused by Northcott, before a family member informed police of the situation.[6] Police found Clark at the ranch and took him into custody. Clark claimed that Northcott had kidnapped, molested and killed several young boys with the help of Northcott's apparent motherSarah Louise Northcottand the forced participation of Clark himself.[5] The police found no complete bodies at the site, but discovered body parts, the personal effects of missing children, and blood-stained axes. Clark said quicklime was used to dispose of the remains and the bones had been dumped in the desert.[6] The Northcotts had fled to Canada, but they were arrested near Vernon, British Columbia.[2][6]
Case and trial Sarah Louise Northcott initially confessed to the murders,[6] including that of 9-year-old Walter Collins. She later retracted her statement, as did Gordon Northcott, who had confessed to killing five boys.[5] On February 8, 1929, after a 27-day trial in Riverside County, California before Judge George R. Freeman, Gordon Northcott was convicted of the murders of Lewis and Nelson Winslow (12 and 10 respectively),[7] who went missing from Pomona on May 16, 1928,[8] and an unidentified Mexican boy,[6] though it was believed the killings could have numbered as many as 20.[9] The jury heard that he kidnapped, molested, tortured, killed, and dismembered these and other boys throughout 1928. On February 13, 1929, Judge Freeman sentenced Northcott to be hanged.[10] The sentence was carried out on October 2, 1930.[2][11] Sarah Louise Northcott was convicted of Walter Collins' murder. She was sentenced to life and served her sentence at Tehachapi State Prison.[12] She was paroled after serving less than 12 years of her sentence.[13][14][14] During the trial Gordon Northcott learned that Sarah Louise, who he had thought was his mother, was actually his grandmother.[15] Sarah Louise stated that Gordon was the result of incest that her husband, Cyruss George Northcott, committed against their daughter Winifred.[16]
Walter Collins (9) went missing from Los Angeles on March 10, 1928,[17] after having been given money by his mother to go to the cinema. His disappearance received nationwide attention, and the Los Angeles Police Department followed up on hundreds of leads without success.[5] The police faced negative publicity and increasing public pressure to solve the case,[18] until five months after Walter's disappearance,[5] when a boy claiming to be Walter was found in DeKalb, Illinois. Letters and photographs were exchanged, before Collins paid for the boy to be brought to Los Angeles. A public reunion was organized by police, who hoped the successful resolution would counteract the negative publicity they had received for their inability to solve this case and others. They also hoped the uplifting human interest story would deflect attention from a series of corruption scandals that had hit the department. At the reunion, Collins claimed that the boy was not Walter. She was told by the officer in charge of the case, police Captain J.J Jones, to take the boy home to "try him out for a couple of weeks". Collins agreed.[18]
Three weeks later, Collins returned to see Captain Jones and persisted in her claim that the boy was not Walter. Even though she was armed with dental records proving her case, Jones had Collins committed to the psychopathic ward at Los Angeles County Hospital under a "Code 12" internmenta term used to jail or commit someone who was deemed difficult or an inconvenience. During Collins' incarceration, Jones questioned the boy,[5] who admitted to being 12-year-old Arthur Hutchins Jr., a runaway from Illinois but who was originally from Iowa.[19][20] A diner at a roadside café in Illinois had told Hutchins of his resemblance to the missing Walter, so Hutchins came up with the plan to impersonate him. His motive was to get to Hollywood so he could meet his favorite actor, Tom Mix.[18] Collins was released ten days after Hutchins admitted that he was not her son,[21] and filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department.[5] This aspect of the case is depicted in the 2008 film Changeling.[6]
Collins went on to win her lawsuit and was awarded $10,800, which Jones never paid.[5] Five years after Northcott's execution, one of the boys that Northcott allegedly killed was found alive and well. As Walter Collins' body had not been found, Christine Collins still hoped that Walter had survived. She continued to search for him all her life unsuccessfully, until she faded into obscurity without ever knowing her son's fate.[22] The last public record of Christine Collins is from 1941, when she attempted to collect a $15,562 judgment against Capt. J.J. Jones, retired police officer, in Superior Court.[23]
Arthur J. Hutchins, Jr. later wrote in 1933 how and why he fooled the police, the real missing Walter's closest friends, and even Walter's dog and cat in 1928. Hutchins biological mother died when he was 9. He pretended to be Walter Collins to get as far away as possible from his stepmother.
Cimarron (1931)
45 reviews have come before mine and I will try to write new stuff and not bore you with repeating what others have said.
In fairness to Richard Dix's overacting, Charles Bickford, one of the great character actors ever, also overacted atrociously in "Anna Christie," which was made exactly one year earlier than "Cimarron." The majority of movies didn't go from being silent to talking until 1929 and "Cimarron" was filmed in 1930, so both these films were real early talking films and the performers had not learned to down scale their performances.
The editing and cinematography were outstanding, even revolutionary for that era. The film needs to be viewed in a historic context and not compared to current films. I do agree that "Cimarron" does not hold up as well during the march of time from 1930 to 2008 as does "Public Enemy," "Little Caesar," "Scarface" but it was a complex and ambitious film adaptation of a novel by an outstanding writer, Edna Ferber.
Richard Dix's character does stand up for and vehemently support fairness to Indians and prostitutes, which was a revolutionary idea for a movie made in 1930.
I did notice that Eugene Jackson, the young black teenager, worked for 60 years in the film business, including a recurring role in "Stanford and Son," and in "Julia." Richard Dix, a major star in silent films starting in the early 1920s, peaked around the time of "Cimarron" and by the second half of the 1930s was stuck in B films but did continue his career and stared in films until his retirement in 1947.
Irene Dunne went on to super stardom for the next 20 years and made quite a few classics (check out her film list in her biography.) It is amazing!
I want to compliment the other writers who are classic film lovers but do want to state that too many readers check the not helpful box instead of the helpful box when evaluating the reviews of others. I feel that they are being too picky. After all, we are a select group of people who appreciate old films and should have support each other more as a group, unless the review is vindictive or totally uninformed.
Smart People (2008)
grammatical errors
I want to recommend "Smart People," which was an excellent character study about a family with complex and difficult dispositions. However, I am a grammarian and was surprised that Dennis Quaid's character, who possessed a doctorate in English, and his brilliant daughter both made simple grammatical mistakes.
1. The College professor said "NONE of you LIKE me." NONE is singular and he should have said "NONE of you LIKES me."
2. His daughter said "He leaves them LYING around." She should have said "He leaves them LAYING around." A human will be LYING around, but an object will be LAYING around.
Maurice Barringer
Criminal Minds (2005)
Outstanding show but too many grammatical errors
I am not much of a television watcher. This is the first television show I have watched in 25 years. "Criminal Minds" is a superb drama with fine writing. However, there are too many grammatical mistakes for such educated people. Here are some examples:
1. Dr. Reed uses NONE in the plural form by saying NONE ARE. NONE is singular and Dr. Reed should say NONE WAS or NONE IS.
2. J.J. uses HAS in the singular form when she should use it in the plural form. She has said a few times "There HAS been 2, 3, 4 or 5 suicides or murders." She should say "there HAVE been......"
3. Derek and some of the other characters use the word WAS when they should say WERE. For instance, Derek said "There is no case and if there WAS......" He should have said "and if there WERE........" If the situation is contrary or the subjunctive tense is used WERE is correct. (This is probably the most common grammatical blunder that even college professors commit.)
4. In a recent episode Joe Mantegna said "Myself and agent Hotch are available to you." He should have said agent Hotch and I........."
The writers for "Criminal Minds" are highly creative and it is amazing how many excellent scripts they produce when they have to write a new one weekly, but there are too many simple grammatical errors in the scripts being spoken by the FBI agents.
UPDATE 2011
"Criminal Minds" and the "Criminal Minds" spin off are the only 2 television shows I watch. I find each well acted, brilliantly directed and creatively written. However the writers need to improve the grammar of the principals, each of whom is supposed to be well educated. Last night I viewed both shows and caught 4 grammatical blunders.
In "Criminal Minds" Derek (Shemar Moore) said "HER and her friends are involved" instead of the grammatically correct SHE and her friends.
In "Criminal Minds Suspect Behavior" Beth (Janeane Garofolo) said "MYSELF and my colleagues are" instead of the grammatically correct my colleagues and I are.
The other 2 blunders involved wrong verb tenses. The characters in these outstanding shows are supposed to be highly educated. Therefore, the highly creative writers should be able to use good grammar. These blunders are ones students are taught to avoid in elementary school.
Maurice Barringer
Then She Found Me (2007)
An AAA for effort but a C+C+C+ for quality
I want to praise Helen Hunt for directing this unpretentious character study of people with real problems at a time when big budget super hero movies with all plot and no character development are the mainstream.
Unfortunately, I felt that Bette Midler and Helen Hunt were acting in 2 separate films as the mother and daughter. Midler seemed to be acting in a big budget over-the-top romantic comedy while Hunt was understated and subtle as a complicated lady in a small movie that was a fine character study. The 2 ladies didn't seem to be on the same planet.
Also I felt that the performances were stilted at times and there were too many scenes involving over-acting. An example was the fine actor Colin Firth yelling and cussing toward the end of the film after having been so contained the rest of the film.
I do want to again compliment Helen Hunt for this sincere and intelligent film but feel that it was quite uneven at times. I will give her an A grade for effort and sincerity but a C+ grade for the script and performances.
Deception (2008)
too many flaws...ridiculous ending
I want to apologize for this short review, but I am time deprived.) 1. How did Michelle Williams smuggle a gun on her flight to Spain (airplane security has never been stricter) or how did she get the gun once in Spain?
2. How did Hugh Jackman con so many people to get to his position? (Sure, there are some gullible people, but he charmed everyone.)
3. Why would Evan McGregor forgive Michelle Williams after she basically did her best to ruin his life? Also, she must have known that Hugh Jackman killed the other sex club lady as well as the janitor at McGregor's apartment yet McGregor took her back.
4. Most significantly, in Spain Jackman assumed McGregor's identity and McGregor then assumed the false name that Jackman used. McGregor also co-signed with that signature on the large withdrawal note at the Spanish bank. That would implicate him in the murder of Jackman that was committed by Michelle Williams. The Spanish police would investigate the murder and the American police would also investigate once the weekend ended and the transaction was recorded in the American bank.
McGregor and Williams would then be arrested at the airport either in Spain or in the USA. I found the over-the-top ending to be much too difficult to swallow.
Cold Case (2003)
Tremendously creative show with a minor flaw
I do not watch much television but do want to praise "Cold Case" as being one of the most artistically creative, well written, brilliantly directed & acted and last but certainly not least superbly edited shows in television history.
However, as in most television shows and theater films, there are too many grammatical errors. An attorney on "Cold Case" recently said "ME and HER shared a wardrobe." Fourth grade students know this is improper grammatical usage. Shouldn't an attorney with 7 years of college know this? Where are the proof readers of the script. Possibly even the actors could catch such blatant errors.
All About Eve (1950)
The good, the bad and the ugly concerning "All About Eve."
I am a major film junkie and have been amused by the variety of comments and the wit of the blokes and birds reviewing "All About Eve." I do feel that this film is quite good but also over-rated. I would give it a 7.75 out of 10.
The good:
1. Outstanding performances, especially Bette Davis, George Sanders and the under-rated Celeste Holm
2. A witty and erudite screenplay
3. outstanding direction
4. A rich and in depth character study
5. An excellent blend of comedy and drama
The bad:
1. Anne Baxter gave a stilted, and affected performance
2. Eve Harrington's ability to fool these sophisticated show business people so quickly and so convincingly was unbelievable.
3. The theater crowd surrounding Margo Channing accepted Eve Harrington without any questions or reluctance immediately and without reservation.
4. The playwright and his wife seemed to have a real solid marriage. It was improbable that he would leave his wife for Eve.
5. Gary Merrill, whom I like as an actor, was about as over-the-top in his acting style as one can get in the opening scenes. He was gesturing as if he were Peter Finch's character in "Network."
6. The ending was not believable when the young actress was about to repeat the cycle using Eve this time.
The ugly * All of the smoking on screen gave me a psychosomatic asthma attack.
Follow Me Quietly (1949)
I have 2 points that no one has made yet.
How about the distance running chase scene that involved running up hundreds of stairs after the already long, long run? The "Judge" was a chain smoking out of shape middle aged man. How in the hell was he supposed to run like a world class middle distance runner? (I have been a lifelong runner and notice these things.) This chain smoking weakling couldn't have run more than a few steps without becoming exhausted.
I also disagree with the woman who said that Dorothy Patrick was not attractive. I thought she was was of the best looking naturally pretty women that I have seen in films, and I have seen close to 2000 in my 61 years.
Road House (1948)
Widmark and Lupino are phenomenal
What a tremendously under-rated film classic. The wonderful Ida Lupino was as sultry and sensual as one could get, especially in the 1940s. How about the scene at the lake when she improvised and made her own bathing suit. I would have liked to see her in a bikini. She turned a routine role as a hard luck woman singer into a great performance.
Richard Widmark is one of my all-time favorite actors. Why he has never received a Career Achievement Award from the Academy is mind boggling. No actor in film history has given so many memorable performances portraying sociopaths and psychopaths.
I will skip the fine plot as so many others have explained it but will say that this is a great film noir that holds up exceptionally well even 60 years later. Cornel Wilde and Celeste Holm were also outstanding in less flamboyant roles. Holm was superb as the good hearted woman who was in love with Wilde who thought of her only as a good friend. Wilde gave a fine naturalistic performance as the stable and hard working good guy whom Widmark turned against out of jealousy and eventually hatred.
The direction, screenplay and cinematography were also top notch, and "Again" is a classic song that has endured the march of time and is still played on jazz and oldie stations regularly.
Come on Acadamy! Give the great Widmark a Career Achievement Award.
Bug (2006)
1st half very good...2nd half unbelievable
Hello Blokes and Birds,
I have seen 2300 movies in 50 years. I am 60. I read and post reviews regularly and can say categorically that I have never in my lifetime seen a film that has such a wide array of reviews, ranging from zero stars to 10 stars.
Some reviews, though in the minority, seem to think this film was intellectually brilliant, while others thought it was a ridiculous and highly unbelievable film.
I am in the upper middle area of the pack and rate the film a 7 out of 10. The first half was compelling and downbeat in a film noir style. The second half got more and more absurd.
I pose these questions to the viewer:
1. How would even an uneducated, alcoholic and drug addicted waitress who was the dullest knife in the drawer be gullible enough to be mesmerized by this severely mentally ill man so quickly?
2. How would the mentally ill man deteriorate mentally so quickly? (I do understand that once he escaped from the hospital he stopped taking his psychiatric medication), but still he went from sane to insane in about one week?
3. Why would the psychiatrist, knowing how dangerously mentally ill his client was, visit him without a military policeman at his side to protect him?
4. Why didn't Ashley Judd immediately get a restraining order against her husband. He assaulted her and that would put him back in prison for violating his parole?
I wish the film had continued the way it was in the first half instead of deteriorating into ridiculousness and absurdity.
Crossfire (1947)
I have always appreciated Sam Levene's (the victim) performances.
What a fine film! Unfortunately, being 1947, the movie script couldn't have followed the book from which it was adapted, but the murder of a homosexual would have been too hot to handle in that era.
I thought all of the performances were outstanding, as well as the script, direction, brilliant black and white cinematography, music and film noir atmosphere.
I do understand that in 1947 the film couldn't portray racism against blacks or prejudice against homosexuals. (Robert Young's account of prejudice against his grandfather who was Irish and who endured this racism 100 years ago was pretty lame, but the times dictated that the film avoid a further examination of racism.)
I do have one observation and one question to ask the viewer: 1. Did you notice that Robert Young didn't aim his gun when he shot and killed Robert Ryan who was running fast in the dark and Young shot from an upper story window into the dark without aiming? 2. If Robert Young's grandfather was killed 100 years ago in 1847 (the film was made in 1947) and Young was 40 years old, the time line would not be logical. If the grandfather had been killed 50 years ago then the time frame would be realistic.
Angel Face (1952)
I agree 100% with the preceding review. This flawed and unbelievable film is nevertheless enjoyable, especially for film noir buffs.
I can think of a great film "Double Indemnity" and a good one "The Postman Always Rings Twice" where Fred MacMurray and John Garfield were more believable patsys for Barbara Stanwyck and Lana Turner. The scripts in these 2 films were superior. Robert Mitchum was a better actor than John Garfield (good) and Fred MacMurray (adequate) but he was handicapped by an uneven script and a miscast Jean Simmons.
Why would Mitchum (1) move to Simmons' house knowing she was unstable; agree to be tried for murder with Simons knowing he was absolutely innocent and that she was guilty; (3) agree to marry Simmons to win the sympathy of the jurors; (4) go back to Simmons' house to say goodbye and to drop off her car and last but not least, (5) get in the car with Simmons knowing she had previously rigged the car and caused the death of her father and mother-in-law?
Sure, Simmons did state that her carburetor was hot (a double entente if ever there was one) and he was sexually enticed by this lovely 20 year old woman, but I would think that he would eventually drop her after seeing how mentally disturbed this sociopath was.
Another film that was superior to this one was "Body Heat" from 1981 with William Hurt and Kathleen Turner as the patsy and the psychopath. It also had a superior script that was much more believable.
Hamlet (1948)
One foolish poster called Bill Shakespeare a poor writer.
Well blow me down Olive Oil, as Popeye used to say to her in their cartoons. I was stunned and flabbergasted to the point of no return when I read that one poster criticized William Shakespeare and called him a poor writer. I was also surprised that several others thought Laurence Olivier to be an overrated actor.
The World Book encyclopedia calls Shakespeare "The greatest dramatist the world has ever known, as well as the finest poet who has written in the English language. His books have been translated into more languages than any book in the world except for the Bible." Now, I realize that "Hamlet" the film is not "Hamlet" the play but give me a break. We are all entitled to our opinion, but to attack Shakespeare's writing is asinine. I do believe that it is fair to criticize Olivier's "Hamlet," but to call him greatly overrated is foolish.
Yes, I do agree that the 1948 "Hamlet" is not treated well by mother time and that it is quite theatrical, but again one needs to consider that it was filmed 60 years ago, it was an adaptation of the play and that method acting and underplaying were still a few years away.
I thought that Norman Wooland as Horatio (Hamlet's friend) and Eileen Herlie as Queen Gert were outstanding. I thought Basil Sydney as King Claudius was wooden and Jean Simmons as Ophelia was overly theatrical despite her Academy Award nomination.
Overall, I commend Laurence Olivier for directing a complex film and portraying a multi dimensional character.
I want to end with a footnote. Desmond Llewylyn, Q, the mechanical expert from James Bond films, had a bit part in this film.