Monthly Archives: April 2019

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

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Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf
Directed by Mike Nichols
Written by Ernest Lehman from a play by Edward Albee
1966/USA
Warner Bros./Chenault Productions
First viewing/Netflix rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] George: And that’s how you play “Get the Guests”.[/box]

This goes immediately on top of my Best New-to- Me Films of 2019 list. I don’t see how the play could have been adapted any better.

It is 2 AM and all concerned have been drinking since 9 PM at a party.  George (Richard Burton) is an Assoicate Professor in the History Department at a private college.  His wife Martha is the college president’s daughter.  George evidently has been a major disappointment to both his wife and her father.  Martha has invited a younger couple to their home for after party drinks.  Nick (George Segal) is the new guy in the Biology Department.  His wife Honey (Sandy) is a ditzy blonde with a weak stomach.

Even before the guests arrive, George and Martha are at each other’s throats. They declare “total war” and the barbs and insults continue in full force before their embarrassed guests.

When Martha reveals a family secret, the usually mild-mannered George goes into maximum overdrive.

I don’t generally enjoy watching people  being cruel to each other – one reason I have avoided watching this for so long.  But I do love clever, penetrating dialogue and the film is jam-packed with it. This really must be the apex of the career of both Burton and Taylor. The actors wouldn’t come to mind as exactly right for the parts, yet they carry off their roles brilliantly.    The ending got me really thinking which is always a major bonus.  Highly recommended.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? won Academy Awards in the categories of Best Actress; Best Supporting Actress; Best Cinematography, Black-and-White; Best Art Direction/Set Decoration, Black-and-Whte; and Best Costume Design, Black-and-White.  It was nominated in the categories of Best Picture; Best Director; Best Actor; Best Supporting Actor; Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium; Best Sound; Best Film Editing; Best Music, Original Movie Score.  This was the last year in which the Academy divided the technical awards between black-and-white and color films.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was the first film to require that children under 18 be accompanied by a parent.

Trailer

Liz Taylor’s awesome Bette Davis impression

 

A Report on the Party and the Guests (1966)

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A Report on the Party and the Guests (O slavnosti a hostech)
Directed by Jan Nemec
Written by Esther Krumbachova and Jan Nemec
1966/Czechoslovakia
Filmove studio Barradonov
First viewing/Criterion Channel

[box] Hostitel: So will someone tell me what happened or not? A brother shouldn’t turn against his brother. And a guest shouldn’t turn against a guest.[/box]

I liked this scathing allegory on enforced conformity in a Communist State.

A group of friends sets out to have a picnic in the woods.  They are oddly overdressed for the occasion.  Before long, some delinquents abduct and humiliate them.  They are then forced marched to the very odd birthday party of a Leader.  There they undergo further adventures.

This film has an appealing, almost Buñuelian, wit and surrealistic feeling.  I had fun watching it.

A Report on the Party and the Guests was banned in Czechoslovakia “forever” following the Soviet invasion of that country in 1968.

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Billy the Kid Versus Dracula (1966)

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Billy the Kid Versus Dracula
Directed by William Beaudine
Written by Carl K. Hittleman
1966/USA
Circle Productions Inc.
First viewing/Amazon Prime

[box] William ‘Billy the Kid’ Bonney: What’s wrong with her, Doc? What are those marks on her neck?

Dr. Henrietta Hull: Well, if I didn’t know better, I’d say it was the work of a vampire.

William ‘Billy the Kid’ Bonney: Vampire?[/box]

I just had to watch the companion piece to Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter (1966).

Billy the Kid has gone straight.  His sweetheart Elizabeth is waiting for the arrival of her Uncle James, whom she has never met.  Unbeknownst to her, a vampire (John Carradine) has assumed the identity of her uncle and has settled on Elizabeth as his undead bride.  Billy must save the day.

John Carradine was like the Energizer Bunny – he just kept going and going.  Here he plays history’s least sexy vampire.  He’s by far the best part of the movie – not to say that he’s very good.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966)

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A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Directed by Richard Lester
Written by Melvin Frank and Michael Pertwee from the book to the Broadway musical and an ancient play by Titus Maccias Plautus
1966/USA
Melvin Frank Production
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Tragedy tomorrow/Comedy tonight! – lyrics by Stephen Sondheim[/box]

Add Stephen Sondheim’s songs to some of the greatest comic actors ever and a good time will be had by all.

The story is based on an actual Roman comedy.  Pseudolus (Zero Mostel), a crafty slave, plots to gain his freedom from young master Hero (Michael Crawford) by uniting him with Philia, a beautiful virgin courtesan under the protection of a brothel owned by Marcus Lycus (Phil Silvers).  Complications arise as Philia is already promised as the bride of a blowhard Roman officer.  In addition, Hero’s own father (Michael Hordern)) lusts after the girl himself.  Appearing at intervals is Erroneus (Buster Keaton) as an old man searching for his missing children.  With Jack Gilford as a supposed eunuch.

Nobody is going to accuse this musical of being the best ever made. but it is fun, the colors are bright, and the music is good.  It was a very welcome diversion from the epics and misery fests that have been clogging 1966 lately.

But even without all that, I could not possibly leave Buster Keaton’s last film unseen.  He died during post-production.  I feel sad to be continuing this journey without him.

Violence at Noon (1966)

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Violence at Noon (Hakuchu no torima)
Directed by Nagasa Oshima
Written by Tsutomu Tomura from a novel by Taijun Takeda
1966/Japan
Sozosha
First viewing/Netflix rental

 

[box] My hatred for Japanese cinema includes absolutely all of it. – Nagasa Oshima[/box]

Director Oshima’s favorite theme is the intersection of sex, violence and death.  Despite the buckets of style applied,  this is not a junction at which I want to spend much time.

The story moves back and forth between flashback and current time at regular intervals.  The film begins with the rape of a servant girl in a wealthy home and the subsequent rape and murder of her mistress.  The fits the MO of the “High Noon Killer” and the servant girl could certainly identify him if she wanted to.  Problem is she has a complicated past with the killer and his wife.  We then learn, in flashback, about the love quadrangle that set the events in motion.  It, too, features a rape.

I have discovered that Japanese films of this era love to portray rape as something that creates some kind of emotional bond between the rapist and the victim.  I’d love to know if anyone else sees that.  At any rate, I can appreciate the inventive compositions and cinematography without liking the movie much.

Godard and Mr. Chicken(1966)

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I didn’t pay enough attention to either of these movies to write a full review.

Masculin/Feminin
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Written by Jean-Luc Godard from stories by Guy de Maupassant
1966/France/Sweden
Anouchka Films/Svensk Filmindustri/etc.
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Still don’t like Godard or his films. Sub-title is “The Children of Marx and Coca-Cola” which about sums up the conversation here.

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken
Directed by Alan Rafkin
Written by James Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum
1966/US
Universal Pictures
First viewing/Netflix rental

 

Don Knotts generally cracks me up.  Here he does his nervous schtick but it all seemed like a dated sitcom. I’ve discovered this is a beloved movie from childhood for a lot of people and your mileage may vary.

 

Young Törless (1966)

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Young Törless (Der junge Törless)
Directed by Volker Schlöndorff
Written by Herbert Asmadi and Volker Schlöndorff from a novel by Robert Musil
1966/West Germany/France
Franz Seitz Filmproduktion/Nouvelles Editions de Films
First viewing/Netflix rental

 

[box] Thomas Törless: There’s no mystery there. Things just happen. Anything’s possible. There’s not an evil world and a good world. They exist together in the same world.[/box]

I knew going in that I did not want to watch a movie about torture at a boarding school and got exactly what I deserved.

Thomas Törless (Mathieu Carriere) is a cerebral young man who is the latest arrival at a German boarding school.  He is befriended by students Beineberg and Reiting.  Another student, Basini, steals money from one to pay a debt owed to another.  Instead of reporting the incident to school authorities, the boys devise their own punishment.  This comprises escalating forms of torture and humiliation.  Basini goes along in the mistaken belief that he will eventually be let alone.  Thomas passively looks on in a futile effort to understand human behavior.  With Barbara Steele as a prostitute.

If you are not as squeamish as I, there is an interesting analogy to Nazi Germany to explore here and lots of philosophical talk.

Couldn’t find anything with subtitles, so here’s this

Eye of the Devil (1966)

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Eye of the Devil
Directed by J. Lee Thompson
Written by Robin Estridge and Dennis Murphy from Estridge’s novel
1966/UK
Filmways Pictures
First viewing/Amazon Instant

 

[box] People tend to fear the ghosts in their own family. You feel these family curses and think, ‘If it happened to my father, it could happen to me.’ Christian Louboutin [/box]

 

I came for the awesome cast.  All I can say is the material let the actors down.

Marquis Philippe de Monfaucon (David Niven), his wife Catherine (Deborah Kerr), and two children live the good life.  Then Philippe is suddenly called away to the family vineyards, which are suffering the effects of a drought.  He bans Catherine and the kids from traveling with him.  She soon disobeys and joins him there.  We are introduced to two creepy siblings (David Hemmings and Sharon Tate) who appear to have supernatural powers.  Finally, we learn that the vineyard workers believe only a sacrifice of the Marquis will save their crops  More stuff happens.  With Donald Pleasance, Emlyn Williams, and Flora Robson.

A cardinal rule of the horror genre is that a long build-up must result in a big pay-off.  Dull movie ends with a wimper instead of a bang.

A Man for All Seasons (1966)

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A Man for All Seasons
Directed by Fred Zinneman
Written by Robert Bolt from his play
1966/United Kingdom
Highland Films
First viewing/Netflix rental

 

[box] Sir Thomas More: I think that when statesmen forsake their own private conscience for the sake of their public duties, they lead their country by a short route to chaos.[/box]

The word for this is “sumptuous”.  And what a cast!

The film is based on the true story of Henry VIII of England (Robert Shaw) and his sometime Chancellor Thomas More (Paul Scofield).  More is a well-respected jurist and devout Catholic.  He has no desire to be a martyr.  Nevertheless, his conscience will not allow him to publicly support Henry’s divorce from his first wife Catherine and even less Henry’s declaration of himself as the head of the Church of England.

Despite the pleading of his wife (Wendy Hiller) and daughter (Susannah York) to bend, More attempts to play a cagy game of keeping public silence on the entire matter.  This is far from enough for Henry.  With John Hurt as weasel Richard Rich, Orson Welles as Cardinal Wolsey and Vanessa Redgrave in a short scene as Anne Boleyn.

Costume dramas are hit and miss with me but I really liked this one.  The scenes on the river are spectacularly photographed.  A bunch of great actors are absolutely spot on.  My favorite supporting performance was Shaw’s.  He has only a couple of scenes but his impact is indelible.  My husband absolutely hated this movie, which he found depressing and pointless.  Different strokes for different folks I guess.

A Man for All Seasons won Academy Awards in the following categories:  Best Picture; Best Actor; Best Director; Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium; Best Cinematography, Color; and Best Costume Design, Color.  It was nominated in the categories of Best Supporting Actor (Shaw) and Best Supporting Actress (Hiller).

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Tokyo Drifter (1966)

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Tokyo Drifter (Tokyo nagaremono)
Directed by Seijun Suzuki
Written by Yasunori Kawauchi
1966/Japan
Nikkatsu
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental

 

[box] Tetsuya ‘Phoenix Tetsu’ Hondo: A drifter needs no woman.[/box]

This film is a feast for the eyes.  Not so much for the mind or heart.

Tetsuya Hondo is the right hand man to yakusa boss Kurata.  He follows Kurata in an attempt to go straight.  A rival gang tries to muscle in on Kurata’s legitimate business and Hondo decides to become a drifter to take the heat off.

Naturally, this doesn’t work and we follow the gunshots as they follow Hondo throughout Japan.

If it weren’t for IMDb I don’t know if I could have explained the plot.  This is all style and no substance.  The use of color is amazing.  Suzuki keeps the mood playful rather than pretentious so it went down easily.

I lost track of how many times this song is performed in the film.  Easily in the two figures.