Daily Archives: May 23, 2016

Pal Joey
Directed by George Sidney
Written by Dorothy Kingsley from the musical play book by John O’Hara
1957/USA
Essex Productions/George Sidney Productions
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Couldn’t sleep/ And wouldn’t sleep/ Until I could sleep where I shouldn’t sleep/ Bewitched, bothered and bewildered am I – “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered”, lyrics by Lorenz Hart[/box]

We get Rita Hayworth’s last film appearance, some great standards from
Sinatra, and Kim Novak at her most luscious all in one movie.  What’s not to like?

Joey Evans (Sinatra) is a total louse and great womanizer.  He is run out of one town for romancing the mayor’s daughter.  The train lets him off in San Francisco, a town that looks great in this movie.  He cons his way into a job as MC and singer in a mostly burlesque club in the Barbary Coast.  There he gets into the pants of most of the girls on the line, save Linda English (Novak), a good girl who wants to be a singer.  Joey ends up living next door to her and they become friends.

Joey is distracted from Linda’s charms when he sings at a gig in the home of the fabulously wealthy widow Vera Prentice-Simpson (Hayworth), who was a stripper before her marriage to the late Mr. Simpson.  Joey sets out to seduce Vera with his philosophy of women – treat a lady like a tramp and a tramp like a lady.  He misjudges Vera as the tramp type.  When he figures out she is a lady, he is much more successful.  Classic love triangle developments ensue.

Sinatra sings “There’s a Small Hotel”, “The Lady Is a Tramp” and “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was”, among other tunes, as only Sinatra can.  Plus we get “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” and “My Funny Valentine” from the singers dubbing Hayworth and Novak, respectively.  This alone would have ensured I enjoyed the movie.  I also enjoyed the acting and the story.  This isn’t as highly rated by some but I am sticking to my guns.

Pal Joey was nominated for Academy Awards in the categories of Best Art Direction-Set Decoration; Best Costume Design; Best Sound, Recording; and Best Film Editing.

The Curse of Frankenstein
Directed by Terence Fisher
Written by Jimmy Stangster based on the classic story by Mary Shelley
1957/UK
Warner Bros./Hammer Films
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Baron Frankenstein: Let’s let our friend here rest in peace… while he can.[/box]

The first color Frankenstein movie delivers an evil doctor and a different kind of monster.

As the movie begins, Victor Frankenstein is a spoiled and imperious young kid who has already inherited the title of Baron from his deceased father.  We see him help out his destitute cousin Elizabeth and her mother.  He then hires tutor Paul Kempe.

Years pass and Paul becomes more a friend and associate than a teacher.  The two start working on experiments to restore life, with the aim of reviving surgery patients.  When this is successful, Victor (Peter Cushing) snaps and becomes obsessed with the idea of creating life.  He starts robbing gallows and bribing mortuary attendants to get parts.

Elizabeth (Hazel Court) arrives to marry Victor, to whom she had been promised as a child. Paul falls in love with her but Elizabeth is resolutely loyal to her intended.  Paul eventually becomes frightened and appalled by the lengths Victor will go to to obtain parts and pulls out of the experiment.  He stays in the house for Elizabeth’s sake.

Victor eventually brings his creature (Christopher Lee) to life with the predictable consequences.

This is a very different version of the Frankenstein story from the Universal 1931 film.  Here the doctor is a cold-hearted S.O.B. who is tramples on anyone in his way and is aware of the danger his creature presents.  The creature bears no resemblance to the Karloff monster.  (Actually, Universal was threatening suit the whole time if any elements of its franchise were borrowed by the movie).  The lab setting is really creepy and cool.  I wouldn’t rank this one as highly as James Whale’s film but it’s way up there.  Recommended to fans of the genre.

Trailer

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences’ bylaws denied eligibility for Oscar nominations or consideration to artists who were blacklisted. This practice was abandoned in early 1959.  The Caribbean romance film Island in the Sun was noted as groundbreaking for its two inter-racial romances and first Hollywood inter-racial screen kiss.

RKO Radio Pictures which had suffered hard times for years under the ownership of millionaire Howard Hughes ceased production of feature films altogether in 1957. Humphrey Bogart died at the age of 57 of cancer.  Horror film director James Whale died at the age of 67 due to suicide by drowning in his own swimming pool.  US comic actor Oliver Hardy, the more corpulent half of the Laurel and Hardy team, died at the age of 65 from the effects of strokes.

Governor Orval Faubus of Arkansas called out the National Guard of the United States to prevent African-American students from enrolling in Little Rock Central High School. Thereafter, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent federal troops to Arkansas to provide safe passage into the school for the “Little Rock Nine”.

The Ford Motor Company introduced the notoriously unpopular Edsel on what the company proclaimed as “E Day”.  Wham-O Company first produced the considerably more popular Frisbee.

Time Magazine’s Man of the Year was Nikita Kruschev.  Eugene O’Neill received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for A Long Days Journey into Night.  No prize was awarded for literature.  Elvis Presley dominated the Billboard Charts, with “All Shook Up” spending eight weeks at number one.

The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth. It followed up with Sputnik 2, with the first animal to orbit the Earth (a dog named Laika) on board.  There was no technology available to return poor Laika home, a fact that greatly troubled the child protagonist of the 1985 Swedish film My Life As a Dog. The first U.S. attempt to launch a satellite failed when its Vanguard rocket blew up on the launch pad.

The Treaty of Rome (Patto di Roma) established the European Economic Community (EEC; predecessor of the European Union) between Italy, France, West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

In Indonesia, Sukarno announced the nationalization of 246 Dutch businesses and expelled all 326,000 Dutch nationals.  Mao Zedong admitted that 800,000 “class enemies” had been executed in China between 1949 and 1954.  Ghana became the first sub-saharan African nation to declare independence from European colonization.

***********************************

I have previously reviewed ; ; ; Throne of Blood; ; and  on this site.  The list of 1957 releases I will choose from is here.

Montage of the Oscar Winners

Montage of nominees for major Oscars