Category Archives: 1963

High and Low (Tengoku to jigoku)
Directed by Akira Kurosawa
Written by Hideo Oguni, Akira Kurosawa etc. from a novel by Evan Hunter (Ed McBain)
1963/Japan
Kurosawa Production Company/Toho Co.
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Ginjirô Takeuchi, medical intern: …Besides, it’s amusing to make fortunate men taste the same misery as the unfortunate.[/box]

Repeat viewings do not lessen the pleasures of this one.

Kingo Gondo (Toshiro Mifune) is the factory manager of National Shoe Co.  He has been quietly buying up stock in order to take charge of the company.  There is a dispute between the director/stockholders who want to make stylish but cheap and profitable shoes and Gondo who wants to make a quality product.  It is clear that the other stockholders want to force Gondo out if he won’t go along.  Gondo has now mortgaged everything he owns in order to acquire the final shares that will give him a majority.

At this precise moment, a kidnapper seizes a boy that he believes to be Gondo’s son.  Gondo is only too happy to pay the ransom.  But when it turns out the kidnapper seized his chauffeur’s son by mistake, Gondo has a crisis of conscience.  The remainder of the movie is a police procedural covering advice given during the kidnapping itself and later the search for the kidnapper and the money.  With Tetsuya Nakadai as the lead detective on the case.

I’ve always loved this one.  Maybe it’s because I enjoy seeing Mifune in his more subdued roles.  I have to admit that the second act drags a bit and that the scenes in the heroin den are perhaps overdone.  Nothing that mars my enjoyment of the story though.  Recommended.

The Ghost (Lo spettro)
Directed by Riccardo Freda
Written by Oreste Biancole and Riccardo Freda
1963/Italy
Panda Societa per L’Industria Cinematografica
First viewing/Amazon Prime

[box] “Now I know what a ghost is. Unfinished business, that’s what.” ― Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses[/box]

This is a solid ghost story but not outstanding in any way.

Scientist Dr. John Hitchcock is confined to a wheelchair.  His only remaining interest is exploring the borderland between life and death through seances.  “Friend” Dr. Charles Baldwin is experimenting on the use of a poison and antidote to stimulate John’s crippled limbs.  Charles is having an affair with John’s young wife Margaret (Barbara Steele).  The two execute a plan to murder John for the treasure he has hidden.  But before long they are wondering whether John has come back from the grave to haunt them.

This is OK.  It’s always fun to watch Barbara Steele.

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

Trailer – color is much more vivid on Amazon

The Insect Woman (Nippon konchuki)
Directed by Shohei Imamura
Written by Keiji Hasebe and Shohei Imamura
1963/Japan
Nikkatsu
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] “The shared secret and the shared denial are the most horrible aspects of incest.” ― John Bradshaw, Bradshaw on the Family: A New Way of Creating Solid Self-Esteem[/box]

Shohei Imamura gives us a good-looking film but, for me, it was two hours of seeing people I didn’t like doing stuff I would rather forget. Yuck.

Tome (Sachiko Hidari) is born into extreme poverty to tenant farmers in a remote village.  Seemingly, for these people anything goes.  Young Tome is sleeping with her father (or is he her step-father?) from an early age.  Eventually the extended family forces Tome to go to a rich landowner as a maid.  She is promptly raped and gives birth to her only child Nobuko.  During the war years, Tome escapes to do war work in the city.  She enjoys some happy moments as the mistress of a mill foreman and some independence when she becomes involved with union organizing. Nobuko and Tome’s father are left destitute when the extended family appropriates the money Tome sends home.

Tome remains in the city and eventually is more or less tricked into prostitution.  When she wins a wealthy “regular” she betrays the house madam to the police.  This allows her to go into business for herself.  She treats her girls as badly as the former madam.  Finally, Nobuko comes to town seeking a 200,000 loan for her share in a communal farm.  Nobuko catches the eye of Tome’s man and it looks like things might go full circle.

I think we were meant to feel sorry for Tome but by the end of the movie I was hoping that she would die so she couldn’t destroy any more people.  Imamura is 0 for 2 with me.  I must say that I could at least understand the plot with this one, which is more than I can say about Pigs and Battleships.

The Householder
Directed by James Ivory
Written by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala from her novel
1963/India
Merchant Ivory Productions
First viewing/YouTube

[box] “She wondered whether all marriages started out this way. Whether this initial stress and adjustment, push and pull and tremors and shakes were common to all relationships…. She wondered why all those relatives who had sat on her head asking her to get married had never mentioned this particular phase.” ― Shweta Ganesh Kumar, A Newlywed’s Adventures in Married Land[/box]

Merchant-Ivory’s first production is a tender story about the growing pains of a newlywed couple in Delhi.

Prem Sagar works as a teacher in a Delhi college for a meager salary.  He has recently married Indu and finds she is a stranger whom he doesn’t much like.  For her part, Indu lounges around the house in a state of extreme boredom.  When she falls pregnant, things get much worse with the arrival of Prem’s domineering mother.  By this time his wife is barely talking to him.  Prem seeks advice from a number of people, including an American besotted with spiritual India and a swami.  Because or despite them things gradually begin to improve.

This film took its time growing on me.  The main problem is that the actors speak English with thick Hindi accents and I had no subtitles to help me along.  When I got used to this and into the story, I found it rather delightful.  I loved the ending!

The Cardinal
Directed by Otto Preminger
Written by Robert Dozier from a novel by Henry Morton Robinson
1963/USA
Otto Preminger Films
First viewing/Amazon Instant

[box] Cardinal Glennon: He’s a lucky man to have a son who’s not afraid of him.[/box]

This three-hour spectacle about the life of a Catholic priest was not as hard to take as I expected.

As he awaits his ordination as cardinal, Stephen Fermoyle (Tom Tryon) ponders his years as a Catholic cleric.  Fermoyle was seemingly destined from birth for the priesthood by his Irish-American parents.  Fate also seemingly destined him for great things by giving him a gift for languages and a scholastic bent.

His first years as a priest were painful, however.  Much of this was caused by his sister Mona’s (Carol Lynley) romance with a Jew. They were engaged to be married when the man decided he could neither convert nor promise to raise his children as Catholic. Fermoyle was forced by his religious principals to take a stand that caused his sister to descend into a life of “sin” and misery.  Later, he is sent by Bishop Glennon (John Huston), who thinks the scholar is too big for his britches, to serve as the assistant to the dying pastor (Burgess Meredith) of the poorest parish in his diocese.

Many things happen over the remaining two hours of this movie, including Fermoyle’s leave of absence and friendship with an adoring Austrian (Romy Schneider); the confrontation between Fermoyle and Southern bigots; and his mission to Vienna after the Anschluss to deal with a Hitler-supporting prelate.  With a cast of thousands, including Dorothy Gish in her final role.

I was hesitant going into this, expecting a three-hour melodramatic extravaganza would just not be for me.  I was right and yet it was better than I expected it to be.  The acting is solid and the settings are  beautiful, especially at the Vatican.  So many different plot points are covered that it also doesn’t seem to be quite as long as it is.

John Huston was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.  The film was also nominated in the categories of Best Director; Best Cinematography, Color; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color; Best Costume Design, Color; and Best Film Editing.

The Courtship of Eddie’s Father
Directed by Vincente Minnelli
Written by John Gay based on a novel by Mark Toby
1963/USA
Euterpe/Venice Productions
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Mrs. Livingston: Why, there’s women who would marry you this very minute for the equipment you have in this apartment.[/box]

Decent people treat each other decently in this charming romantic comedy.  I loved it.

Tom Corbett (Glenn Ford) and his son Eddie (Ronny Howard) are just returning to work and school following the death of their wife and mother.  Both are still pretty shell-shocked.   But gradually Eddie starts thinking about potential step-mothers and Tom is ready to begin dating.

Unfortunately, Tom and Eddie have very different ideas about suitable marriage material. Eddie loves next-door-neighbor Elizabeth (Shirley Jones) while Tom’s heart has been claimed by career-girl socialite Rita (Dina Merrill).  With Stella Stevens as a ditzy red-head and Jerry Van Dyke as a horny radio host.

Unlike so many 1963 movies, this one is full of heart.  I call it a romantic comedy but more than that it is about the relationship between the man and his son.  Ron Howard is pitch-perfect as the precocious yet lovable boy.  I don’t think the movie could have been made without him.  All the ladies are divine.  I didn’t know Stevens was such a good comedienne.  Recommended.

The DVD contains an excellent commentary by Jones, Merrill and Stevens.

The Day Mars Invaded Earth 
Directed by Maury Dexter
Written by Harry Spalding
!963/USA
Associated Producers
First viewing/YouTube

[box] Dr. David Fielding: It’s not every day we make a successful landing on Mars.[/box]

This was a solid little sci-fi story but the execution could have been improved.

Dr. David Fielding is the heart of the U.S. Mars program.  It has managed to land a probe on the planet, which transmitted for only six minutes.  Amid his busy day, Spencer begins to feel and act peculiar.  He goes to California for the weekend to reunite with his wife, who is becoming estranged from him, and two children.  Things are tense at first but soon the whole family must pull together to combat similar strange attacks and eventually sightings of doppelgängers.

It’s a nifty plot, a bit reminiscent of a Twilight Zone episode, and the acting is pretty good. The ending is quite satisfying.  On the other hand, the whole thing is subject to a shaking, swaying camera.  I’m sure that at least some of this was meant to indicate the presence of aliens or something but it was very off-putting as was the jerky editing.  It was nice to see Marie Windsor – still Queen of the Bs in 1963!

Trailer – spoilers

Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell Bastards! (Kutabare akutô-domo – Tantei jimusho 23)
Directed by Seijun Suzuki
Written by Iwao Yamakazi from a book by Haruhiko Oyabu
1963/Japan
Nikkatsu
First viewing/Amazon Instant

“Why make a movie about something one understands completely? I make movies about things I do not understand, but wish to.” – Seijun Suzuki

Director Seijun Suzuki’s gonzo style of filmmaking is really beginning to grow on me.

In this one, private detective Hideo Tajima (Jo Shishido) volunteers to infiltrate a gang of black marketeers.  He must be constantly on his guard as the gang boss suspects a spy.  Tajima will need all his wits and gun power to bring the gang to justice.

How could I pass up a movie with a title like this one? Shishido, who had plastic surgery to give himself chipmunk cheeks (!), is weird and super-cool at the same time.  He also proves himself to be a fair singer and dancer in one scene where he joins an ex-girlfriend’s nightclub act to avoid detection.  The whole thing is accompanied by an infectious jazz score.  The violence felt less real to me than in previous outings and I really enjoyed the film.

Clip

Diary of a Madman
Directed by Reginald Le Borg
Written by Robert E. Kent from a story by Guy de Mauspassant
1963/USA
Robert E. Kent Productions
First viewing/YouTube

[box] Title Card: “… the vulture has eaten the pigeon; the wolf has eaten the lamb; the lion has devoured the sharp-tongued buffalo; man has killed the lion with an arrow, with spear, with gun-powder; but the *”Horla”* will make of man what man has made of the horse and of the ox; His chattel, His slave, and His food, but the mere power of His will. Woe to us!”… Guy de Maupassant[/box]

This film with its invisible Horla definitely does not live up to the hype on the poster.

Magistrate Simon Cordier (Vincent Price) is well-known for his compassion and fairness.  Unfortunately, he rejects the pleas of a prisoner, who happens to be possessed by a murderous Horla, to escape the guillotine.  The Horla leaves the prisoner’s corpse for the magistrate’s body.  The magistrate is left to be his unwilling but helpless instrument of death.

Price is always good but this horror films suffers from a distinct lack of scares.  If you were to look at it as a psychological study, which I did not, it would probably fare better.