Daily Archives: October 15, 2015

The Naked Spur (1953)

Posted on October 15, 2015 | 2 comments

The Naked Spur
Directed by Anthony Mann
Written by Sam Rolfe and Herold Jack Bloom
1953/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
#271 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Ben Vandergroat: Choosin’ a way to die? What’s the difference? Choosin’ a way to live – that’s the hard part.[/box]

I love Robert Ryan’s perfomance in this movie.  I felt like slapping him throughout.  And then we get Jimmy Stewart and the Rockies so what is not to like.

Howard Kemp (Stewart) is a man with a mission.  His sweetheart jilted him and sold off his land while he was away fighting the Civil War and he is determined to get it back.  The new owner is willing to sell.  So Howard decides to capture outlaw Ben Vandergroat (Ryan) for the reward money.  Unfortunately, Ben is a very cagey character who has eluded him for some time when the story starts.

Howard meets up with a prospector in the mountains who seems to have seen his man.  This is Jesse Tate (Millard Mitchell).  He offers Jesse money for information.  Then Roy Anderson (Ralph Meeker) shows up. Roy has been wandering around causing havoc ever since his dishonorable discharge from the Army.  However, he helps Howard finally capture Ben.  Now Howard’s two new “friends” feel entitled to  an even share of the proceeds.

Ben is captured with Lina Patch (Janet Leigh) in tow.  Lina is the daughter of a late friend of Ben’s and is under his dubious protection.  The only thing that remains is to deliver Ben to the authorities. Ben is not about to make this easy, however, and sets about to pit the other men against each other.  He is also not above dangling Lina as bait.

This is a typically first-rate Anthony Mann Western with James Stewart in tortured bad-ass mode.  Ryan may never have played a better villain.  His laid-back smirk is just perfect. My husband even remarked on Ryan’s fine acting and he usually watches movies without comment. Recommended, especially for Western lovers.

The Naked Spur was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay.

Trailer

 

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Summer with Monika (1953)

Posted on October 15, 2015 | 2 comments

Summer with Monika (Sommaren med Monika)
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Written by Pers Anderson Fogelström from his novel
1953/Sweden
Svensk Filmindustri
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
#264 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Monika Eriksson: You’re different than the others. You’re just like someone in a film.[/box]

Gunnar Fischer provides some exquisite lighting to Bergman’s tale of young love and its eventual collision with reality.

Harry Lund (Lars Ekborg) is a dreamy 19-year-old who lives with his chronically ill widowed father and works as a delivery driver.  His world is changed when he meets Monika Eriksson (Harriet Andersson).  Monika comes from a chaotic working class household headed by her alcoholic father and filed with the shouts of numerous younger brothers and sisters.  She clearly is far more experienced than Harry but loves him dearly for treating her better than the others.

Monika finally reaches the point where she cannot bear to return home and easily convinces Harry, whose father is again in the hospital, that they should run away.  So the two commandeer the father’s boat and take off for one of the islands in the Swedish Archipelago.  There follows an idyllic, blissful summer of love.  Things take a more serious turn after Monika announces that she is pregnant, the food starts to run out, and the cold winds of autumn begin to blow.

The couple return to Stockholm and marry.  Monika gives birth to little girl but has no feeling for her.  Harry works with purpose for the first time and studies for an engineering exam in his off hours.  But Monika just wants to have fun and the inevitable heartache follows.

This is a gorgeous, beautifully acted movie.  Harriet Anderrson is not a real beauty but is perhaps the most sensual of any of Bergman’s women.  Bergman and Andersson were on the verge of beginning an affair during the making of this picture and it shows in the loving exploration of her face and body.  Recommended.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-oyL2o3QXs

Clip

Original US trailer for “Monika – The Story of a Bad Girl”

 

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Posted in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, 1953

Project Moon Base (1953)

Posted on October 15, 2015 | Leave a comment

Project Moon Base
Directed by Richard Talmadge
Written by Robert A. Heinlein and Jack Seaman
1953/USA
Galaxy Pictures, Inc.
First viewing/Amazon Instant

 

[box] Gen. ‘Pappy’ Greene: [Turns and walks towards her, facing her to step back as he talks] ONE: Colonels don’t say, “No”, to Generals! TWO: You’re not a superwoman, you’re a spoiled brat! THREE: Anymore guff out of you and I’ll turn you over my knee and spank you. [/box]

1953 was a good year for bad movies.  This one hit my funny bone.

The year is 1970 and the Cold War is in full force.  As the film begins, evildoers are planning to destroy the U.S. space station.  They have trained (not extremely well as it turns out) doubles for all the U.S. aerospace scientists.  They get the chance when they learn of a mission to orbit the moon and substitute their man for the civilian Dr. Wernher who is take photographs of the dark side of the moon during the voyage.

Major Bill Moore of the U.S. Space Force has been chosen to pilot the craft.  At the last minute, however, the President demands that Colonel Briteis captain the mission.  There is bad blood between Moore and Briteis but he finally agrees to serve as co-pilot.  And a good thing too as he must subdue the false Dr. Wernher and then summon help after the craft has been forced to land on the moon.

Well, this thing is an entertaining mess.  First we have some of the most ludicrous costumes ever including, but not limited to, the skull caps and hot pants which our astronauts wear in space.  The special effects are dreadful.  My favorite part was the obsolete sexual politics, however.  The good Colonel’s name is pronounced as BRIGHT-EYES by all the men and they spend most of their time ribbing her.  And she apparently deserves most of it for incompetence.  And yet we get the reveal of a female U.S. President by the end.

I’m coming closer to my definition of what makes a bad movie “good”.  Whether from its badness or its plot, it needs to keep my interest to the end.  This certainly did that and provided a few chuckles to boot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FONTnIPCw0

Trailer

MST3K Clip

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Posted in 1953