Monthly Archives: August 2017

Gigot
Directed by Gene Kelly
Written by John Patrick; original story by Jackie Gleason
1962/USA
Seven Arts Productions
First viewing/YouTube

[box] I have no use for humility. I am a fellow with an exceptional talent. — Jackie Gleason, AKA “The Great One”[/box]

Jackie Gleason, Paris, and Gene Kelly sound like a winning combination, right?  Unfortunately not for me.

Gigot (Gleason) is a mute who works as a janitor in a Paris apartment building and lives in the basement.  People believe him to be a simpleton.  Some think he should be locked up. Most use him as a source of fun.

Gigot’s life changes when he meets an ailing prostitute and her adorable daughter, who is perhaps five or six years old.  The daughter loves Gigot completely.  The mother is does not feel the same.  Gigot gets in numerous scrapes trying to keep the daughter with him.

I love Jackie Gleason, Gene Kelly, and Paris.  Many people apparently love this movie.  The problem is I do not find mocking the disabled funny and a lot of this movie turns on it. Also, for me, one of Jackie Gleason’s charms as an actor is his dignity, which he completely abandons here.  His style of comedy depends usually more on his personality than physical humor as well.  This struck me as Gleason’s attempt to throw a Chaplin-esque pity party. Your mileage may definitely vary.

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Ring of Terror
Directed by Clark L. Paylow
Written by Lewis Simeon
1962/France
Playstar Productions
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] “True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country.” ― Kurt Vonnegut Jr.[/box]

The poster gives away the only scare in this very bad movie.  It does not really matter since it is also telegraphed early in the film.

The story is framed by a dumb appearance by a cemetery custodian.  We find out all we really need to know about this movie when the first scare is created by his stepping on a cat’s tail – a scene dragged out to ridiculous lengths.  The main action concerns Lewis B. Moffat, a medical student, and hijinx at the college he attends.  His fate will be sealed by a hazing prank.

This movie fully deserves its 1.4/10 IMDb rating.  It contains much of the disconnected weird vibe of an Ed Wood movie but is much more boring.

Amazing trivia:  By the 1970’s, director Paylow managed to survive his shame and had became an assistant director and production manager, notably on Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and The Conversation (1974).

Clip – the custodian looks for his cat

Vive le tour 
Directed by Louis Malle
Written by Louis Malle
1962/France
Nouvelles Editions de Films
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Ride your bike, ride your bike, ride your bike – Fausto Coppi, when a reporter asked him what it takes to become such a great champion.[/box]

I don’t even follow the Tour de France.  I found this documentary short totally charming.

First we meet the crowd.  It seems like the entire population of France is out to view the race.  Malle gives us many great faces from a wide swathe of society.  My favorite was the nun giving a rider the thumbs up.  He goes on to the carnival aspect of the event, complete with floats.

We move on to the riders.  First, we take care of their basic necessities from food to drink to urination.  It is a different time, when riders go into bars to raid them of champagne and beer, often without paying and the crowd offers its own provisions.  We end with the grueling race itself.

I was surprised that doping was an issue even in 1962.  Then it appeared to be amphetamines, something the filmmakers inform us does not add strength but dulls pain. Several athletes are shown paying the consequences when they collapse from over-exertion.  And can you imagine a time when the crowd is allowed to physically push cyclists up hill?!

Malle makes every one of the eighteen minutes a delight.  If you have any interest at all in the Tour, I would say this is a must see. The complete film is available on YouTube and on FilmStruck.

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The Longest Day
Directed by Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton and Bernhard Wicki
Written by Cornelius Ryan et al from Ryan’s book
1962/USA
Darryl F. Zanuck Production/Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
First viewing/Netflix Instant

[box] Brigadier General Norman Cota: I don’t have to tell you the story. You all know it. Only two kinds of people are gonna stay on this beach: those that are already dead and those that are gonna die. Now get off your butts. You guys are the Fighting 29th.[/box]

Yet another 1962 movie for my “Ten Favorite New-to-Me Films of 2017” list!

The film tells the story of D-Day June 6, 1944 and the hours before the invasion of Occupied France by Allied forces.  Small personal stories and grand Cinemascope action scenes are combined.

We get the perspective of American, British, Free French, and German officers and soldiers.  There is a cast of thousands.  Prominent among them are Robert Mitchum, Eddie Albert, John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Jeffrey Hunter, Richard Burton, Red Buttons and Robert Ryan – many of these actors appear only in cameos.  Many French, German and British stars are also featured.

I don’t know how I avoided this one for so long – maybe it was the three hours length. Neither my husband nor I were bored for one second.  I absolutely loved it.  Some of the combat scenes are breathtaking.  One of my favorites is of the two remaining Luftwaffe planes strafing a beach which utilizes every bit of Cinemascope’s potential.  And Robert Mitchum saves the day!  What could be better.

My only niggle is that a lot of exposition is rather clumsily inserted into the dialogue.  On the other hand I can’t really think of a better way of telling the necessary history lesson. Highly recommended.

WARNING:  This film is famous for being the first in which various actors speak their own languages.  Subtitles were used for portions where the dialogue was not in the language of the country where it was shown.  An English-only version was also made.  It is the English-only version that is shown on Netflix Instant.  That said, I don’t know that it marred my enjoyment much.

The Longest Day won Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White and Best Effects, Special Effects.  It was nominated in the categories of Best Picture; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and White; and Best Film Editing.

Trailer

The Quare Fellow
Directed by Arthur Dreifuss
Written by Arthur Dreifuss from a play by Brendan Behan
1962/UK
Liger
First viewing/Netflix renta

“Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

 

This anti-death-penalty film provided an opportunity to appreciate the young Patrick McGoohan and enjoy an hour-and-a-half of Irish brogues.

McGoohan plays Thomas Crimmen, a naive idealistic new prison guard.  He has drawn the short end of the stick and been assigned to assist a veteran guard to oversee the last hours and hanging of a condemned man (“quare fellow” in Irish dialect).

During the few hours occupied by the story McGoohan finds himself sharing a boarding house with the widow-to-be (Sylvia Syms).  A revelation leads to the possibility of a stay of execution.

McGoohan was certainly quite a looker and gave a very good performance.  I could listen to Irish people talk for hours and had ample opportunity to here.  The movie and its cast are very solid even if the story lacks basic credibility.

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Eegah
Directed by Arch Hall Sr.
Written by Bob Wehling and Arch Hall Sr.
1962/USA
Fairway International Pictures
First viewing/YouTube

[box] Robert Miller: Watch out for snakes.[/box]

Mild “horror” and mildly entertaining.

Teenagers Tom (Arch Hall Jr.) and Roxy are driving through the desert when Roxy sees a giant (Richard “Jaws” Kiel).  At a pool party that night the only person who will believe she really did see at least something is her father (Arch Hall Sr.), a novelist.  He hires a helicopter which takes him to the site.

The helicopter breaks down and Tom and Roxy go to pick him up in Tom’s dune buggy. Eventually the gigantic caveman abducts Roxy and takes her to his cave where Dad has already made friends with the man he calls Eegah.  Only problem is that the giant is the last of his race and has his eye on Roxy.  Very tame mayhem ensues.  One may be sure that there are several opportunities for Tom to entertain with his guitar and pop ballads.

This seems to have been made to get the MST3K treatment and did.  It does not have all the goofy charm of the Halls’ (1962) but there are a few smiles to be had.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQVNo0i8N3k

Trailer

Gypsy
Directed by Mervyn LeRoy
Written by Leonard Spigelglass based on the stage play book by Arthur Laurents, lyrics by Steven Sondheim and the memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee
1962/USA
Mervyn LeRoy Productions Inc.
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Rose Hovick: [singing] You’ll be swell, you’ll be great. Gonna have the whole world on a plate! Starting here, starting now. Honey, everything’s coming up roses.[/box]

I enjoyed watching this long-time favorite so much that I watched the video of a West End production immediately thereafter.

This was based on Gypsy Rose Lee’s fictionalized version of her own life.  Mama Rose (Rosalind Russell) is the stage mother supreme.  She has all her considerable hopes pinned on her youngest girl, billed as Baby June.  She keeps hoping that the elder daughter Louise will reveal a well-hidden talent.  Early on, Rose acquires management and a boyfriend in the form of Herbie (Karl Malden), who sincerely loves Rose and her family.  At first things go well.

But as the little girls age vaudeville is also breathing its last gasps.  When the act is mistakenly booked at a burlesque house, Rose may finally be ready to give up.  It is then Louise (Natalie Wood) reveals her special talent.

I love everything about this.  Rosalind Russell is the perfect actress for her part – pushy yet lovable.  The only flaw in the production is that her singing voice could be better.  The Imelda Staunton version I watched next showed what a powerhouse singer could do with the part.  I just discovered that my all-time favorite version – Bette Midler’s – is available on YouTube.  I just might watch that today instead of Dog Star Man.

Trailer

Night Creatures 
Directed by Peter Graham Scott
Written by Anthony Hinds and Barbara S. Harper
1962/UK
Hammer Films/Major Pictures
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Imogene – serving wench: Well if you’ve all done staring.

1st Sailor Jack Pott: If it’s all the same to you miss i’d like a few minutes more.[/box]

This was a different movie from what the poster promised.  Still quite OK though.

As a prologue to the story, we get the incident of a mariner who murders the wife of a pirate captain.  He is captured, has his tongue cut out, and is stranded on an island with no food or drink.

In 18th Century England, a coastal town is plagued by “marsh phantoms” that can make locals die of fright.  This does not stop the populace from going out into those same marshes to conduct a flourishing smuggling operation.   The pirate captain from the earlier incident is buried there.  Rev. Dr. Blys (Peter Cushing) provides spiritual guidance by day and an iron rule by night.  His ward is in love with the local Squire’s son (Oliver Reed)

Things get exciting when a gang of men from the King’s revenuers comes to arrest the smugglers.  Many adventures and much violence ensue.

While there are “night creatures” at a few points, this is basically a period piece and pirate film.  Oliver Reed certainly was a handsome young man at the time.  I thought this was one of Cushing’s better performances.  He switches back and forth between kindly old parson and vengeful leader of men at will.

Trailer