Daily Archives: September 16, 2016

The Fly
Directed by Kurt Neumann
Written by James Clavell from a story by George Langelaan
1958/USA
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
First viewing/Amazon Prime

[box] Insp. Charas: He put his head and his arm under the press. Why?

Helene Delambre: I cannot answer that question; coffee, Inspector?[/box]

This glossy technicolor horror flick is genuinely creepy.  I suppose the ick factor is affected by how one feels about flies – I don’t like ’em much.

The setting is contemporary Montreal.  As the film begins, a scientist is found crushed to death in a mechanical press.  His wife is seen fleeing the scene.  She readily admits killing her husband but refuses to reveal her reasons to either his brother (Vincent Price) or the inspector investigating the murder (Herbert Marshall).  The brother deduces that the motive has something to do with a fly Helene is obsessed with catching and finally drags the story out of her.  We segue into flash back.

Helene and Andre were blissfully married with a young, adorable son.  They are also both animal lovers.  One day Andre had a surprise for her.  He had invented a process for teleporting solid objects which he thinks can cure world hunger.  Unfortunately, his invention has a few kinks in it.  When he tries the device on the family cat, it disappears.

Andre spends weeks locked up in his lab working out the problems.  Loving animals as he does, Andre decides to experiment on teleporting himself.  When a fly lands on the teleporter at the wrong moment, the couple’s problems really begin …

The whole concept of a person trapped in the body of a fly grosses me out. This movie is graphic enough.  I’m sure I could not cope with the David Cronenberg version.

Trailer

Separate Tables
Directed by Delbert Mann
Written by Terence Rattigan and John Gay based on Rattigan’s play
1958/USA
Hill-Hecht-Lancaster Productions/Clifton Productions/Norlan Productions
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime

[box] Ann Shankland: I didn’t mean any harm.

John Malcolm: That’s when you do the most damage.[/box]

This ensemble-piece melodrama contains some excellent performances.  Unfortunately, some of the amateur psychology in the screenplay hasn’t aged very well.

No-nonsense Pat Cooper (Wendy Hiller) runs a hotel near the seaside.  The guests are largely long-term residents and one of the calling cards of the place is that guests are seated at separate tables.  Therefore, the hotel has attracted a lot of lonely people.  Pat is unofficially engaged to one of them – John Malcolm (Burt Lancaster), an alcoholic American writer with a troubled past.

The other guests include Major Angus Pollock (David Niven), a pompous veteran of seemingly every campaign in WWII, and shy spinster Sibyl Railton-Bell (Deborah Kerr) and her domineering mother (Gladys Cooper).

American socialite Ann Shankland (Rita Hayworth) drops in seeking a room for an unspecified period.  Really she is there to check up on ex-husband John Malcolm.  Ann is the cause of John’s drinking as well as a stint in prison.  Much heated conversation ensues.  At the same time, Major Pollock is caught “nudging” a woman in a darkened theater.  When this and several lies are revealed by the press, Sybil’s mother seeks to have him ostracized.  Sybil, who had been his special friend, is forced to take sides.

The acting honors were well deserved for this.  I especially admire Hiller’s performance which is beautifully subtle.  I’m not as fond of Kerr, whom I think is miscast, but then I’m not fond of her characterization by the writers either.  If you substitute homosexuality for “nudging” the plot would make more sense but then the Kerr-Nevin relationship wouldn’t work.  The Lancaster-Hayworth conflict seems too overblown to me as well.

David Niven won a Best Actor Oscar and Wendy Hiller won for Best Supporting Actress. Separate Tables was nominated in the categories of Best Picture; Best Actress (Kerr); Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium; Best Cinematography, Black-and-White; and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.

Trailer