Monthly Archives: March 2018

The Americanization of Emily
Directed by Arthur Hiller
Written by Paddy Chayefsky from a novel by William Bradford Hule
1964/USA
Filmways Pictures
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Emily Barham: [speaking of the war] It’s just one big Shriner convention for you Yanks.[/box]

One of the very first sardonic takes on WWII was controversial in its time.  It seems much tamer now.

Lt. Commander Charlie Madison is a so-called “dog robber” whose role in the Navy is to keep the brass supplied with luxury goods and amiable women.  His boss Admiral William Jessup (Melvyn Douglas) appears to be suffering from a nervous breakdown starting with the death of his wife and is more interested in a good game of bridge than hanky panky. Charlie finds a suitable partner is his driver Emily (Julie Andrews), an idealistic British war widow.  Emily is sick of falling for doomed men and soon she and Charlie are in love.

During one of his more demented moments, the Admiral decides that the best way to ensure a leading role for the Navy after the War is for a sailor to be the first man to die on Omaha beach.  He assigns Charlie to head a camera crew that will film this moment. Charlie has a fail-safe scheme to avoid this duty but things don’t work out as planned … With Joyce Grenfell as Emily’s mother and Charles Coburn as Charlie’s womanizing superior.

The anti-war parts of this movie are pretty speechy and now are nothing new.  I preferred the romance.  Garner and Andrews have great chemistry.  Douglas is excellent as usual.  It the plot appeals, I’d go for it.

The Americanization of Emily was nominated for Academy Awards in the categories of Best Cinematography, Black-and-White and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White.

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Do You Know This Voice?
Directed by Frank Nesbitt
Written by Neil McCallum from a novel by Evelyn Berckman
1964/UK
British Lion Film Corporation/Columbia Pictures
First viewing/Amazon Instant

[box]You can’t make a picture without a villain . . . it pays well and you last. – Dan Duryea[/box]

An OK British thriller gives us the chance to see Dan Duryea after all these years.

John Hopta (Duryea) masterminds a kidnapping turned murder.  His wife makes the ransom call.  The only witness can provide, who was bending down when she heard it, can provide only a description of the shoes.  Nonetheless, she is in great danger herself.

I was underwhelmed by this sleeper but I never pass up a chance to see Dan Duryea, my all-time favorite heel.

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36 Hours
Directed by George Seaton
Written by George Seaton; story by Carl K. Hittleman and Luis H. Vance from a story by Roald Dahl
1964/USA
Prelberg-Seaton Productions/Cherokee Productions
First viewing/Amazon Instant

[box] Otto Schack: [to Gerber] Take my advice; don’t try to be a leader. I have discovered it’s much safer to be a follower.[/box]

This is an OK, if unbelievable, WWII thriller with some excellent performances.

It is late May 1944.  Maj. Jefferson Pike (James Garner) is working for US military intelligence out of London.  The U.S. preoccupation at this time is hiding all plans for the D-Day invasion from the Germans.  Thus far the enemy believes this will take place at Calais.  Pike regularly travels to Portugal where he feeds disinformation to a double agent at the German Embassy.

On this final trip Pike is waylaid and transported to a location in Germany near the Swiss border.

There, Maj. Walter Gerber (Rod Taylor) has set up an elaborate fake US military hospital, complete with English-speaking staff.  In this alternative universe the year is 1950.  The plan is to convince Pike that the war has been over for six years and he has been suffering amnesia the entire time.  Pike is assigned private nurse Anna Hedler (Eva Marie-Saint), to whom he is supposedly married. Presumably Pike’s guard will be down and he unwittingly discuss is role in the planning.   In the meantime, the SS is chomping at the bit to use more traditional methods.  Will the Nazis find what they are looking for?  Will Pike come out of this alive?

This is entertaining but I did not believe for one minute that the Germans could afford or pull off such a complicated plot.  The movie dies not share my reservations.  The first two acts are intriguing, the last act is an escape attempt that is nothing special.  The acting is all solid.

The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!?
Directed by Ray Dennis Steckler
Written by Gene Pollock, Robert Silliphant and E.M. Kevke
1964/USA
Morgan-Steckler Productions
First viewing/YouTube

[box] Barker: We’ve got twenty beautiful girls and only ten beautiful costumes![/box]

Ray Dennis Steckler is consistent – consistently terrible!

The story is set in a carnival side show, that strangely features strippers and nightclub acts as attractions. Jerry (the director as “Cash Flagg”) is lured to the tent of fortune teller Madame Estrella and hypnotized into performing horrible murders.  No creatures or “zombies” appear until the final minutes.

This movie is about 40 minutes of lame weird nightclub acts with at most 20 minutes of uninspiring horror culminating in 3 minutes of creature action.  If not for the partial nudity I’m sure teenagers of the day were demanding their money back.  I watched the film sans riff track.

The Outrage
Directed by Martin Ritt
Written by Michael Kanin from the play by Michael and Fay Kanin and the screenplay for “Rashomon” by Akira Kurosawa based on the story by Shinobu Hashimoto
1964/USA
Martin Ritt Productions
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Preacher: Is truth the luxury of the rich?[/box]

The story worked so well for Kurosawa.  All the greatness got lost in the translation.

This is an almost exact attempt to recreate the Rashomon story in an Old West setting.  Three strangers, a prospector (Howard Da Silva), a preacher (William Shatner) and a con man (Edward G. Robinson), are stranded at a derelict train station.  The prospector and the preacher are still stunned from participating in the trial of Mexican bandit Juan Carrasco (Paul Newman) for the rape of a Woman (Claire Bloom) and murder of her Husband (Laurence Harvey).

What shocks the men so much is that three completely different versions of the events come out.  Only one could possibly be true.  Before the end of the movie we will get a fourth version.  Will it be the truth?

What worked for John Sturges in The Magnificent Seven and Sergio Leone in A Fistful of Dollars flops for Martin Ritt here.  Everything about the story rang completely false to me.  Worst of all is the performance of Paul Newman.  His depiction of a Mexican borders on caricature.  The supernatural elements of the story fall flat.  The message is way too simplistic.  Really the only outstanding thing about the film is the performance of Robinson, who never failed me yet.

Murder Most Foul
Directed by George Pollock
Written by David Pursall and Jack Seddon from a novel by Agatha Christie
1964/UK
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Lawrence P. Bachmann Productions
First viewing/Amazon Instant

[box] Justice Crosby: Madam, either you will need to cease knitting or I shall need to cease judging.[/box]

Margaret Rutherford is a jewel!

In this one, Miss Marple is the juror who deadlocks a murder trial for the death of a barmaid.  She thinks she knows better than the prosecution.  And of course she does! The facts take her to a theatrical company.  She gets hired as an actress and the death toll mounts.

The best part of this movie is Rutherford’s audition for the company which is a spirited rendition of Robert W. Service’s lurid poem “The Shooting of Dan McGrew”!  A very pleasant way to spend 90 minutes.

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

Dear Heart
Directed by Delbert Mann
Written by Tad Mosel
1964/USA
Out of Towners Productions
First viewing/FilmStruck

[box] Evie Jackson: Did you see how we just came in, Harry? Got a table right away. Isn’t life easy when there are two of you?[/box]

OK romcom about love between an ex-playboy and a wacky spinster.

The story is set at a New York City where a postmaster’s convention is being held.  Aging spinster postmistress Evie Jackson (Geraldine Page) attends these things every year.  She has been known to sow some wild oats but is looking for love at the moment.  Harry Mork (Glenn Ford) has just been promoted from traveling salesman to marketing director in the city and is staying at the hotel while he gets settled.  He has recently become engaged to Phyllis (Angela Lansbury) and looks forward to becoming domesticated.

Convention crowds and Fate keep throwing Evie and Harry together.  He tells her he is married but she doesn’t believe him.  Gradually, these opposites attract.

Having been single for the first forty years of my life,  I have problems with the characterization of spinsters in films of this era.  They are always the most pathetic creatures imaginable.  Page’s character tries way too hard.  Obviously, an actress of Page’s caliber carries it off pretty well and the story has an appealing sweetness.

Henry Mancini, Jay Livingston, and Ray Evans were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song for the title tune.