Monthly Archives: December 2016

The Bridge (Die Brücke)
Directed by Bernhard Wicke
Written by Michael Mansfield and Karl-Wilhelm Vivier from a novel by Manfred Gregor
1959/West Germany
Fono Film
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] “My squad is my family, my gun is my provider, and protector, and my rule is to kill or be killed.” ― Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier[/box]

It seems the losers make the most tragic of anti-war films.

It is late April 1945 in a small German town.  We are introduced to a class of high-school juniors and watch their romances, rivalries, and domestic strife.  The Allies are coming ever closer and they hear a bomb land out near a small local bridge.  They excitedly go to investigate.

Rumors are that draft notices will soon reach them and most of the boys are enthusiastic. Adults now believe the war is futile.  The father of one of the boys, the local Nazi party leader, has sent his wife out of Dodge and prepares to flee himself.

The draft notices come.  Anxious parents are reassured that the war will end before the boys are out of boot camp.  But the very next day the decision is made to send all available men to the front, now practically on top of the town.  A teacher intervenes and convinces the commander to send the untrained boys to guard the bridge, which has no strategic value and which is scheduled for demolition, rather than into combat.  A sympathetic sergeant goes with them.  Then everything goes to hell in a hand basket.

This has much of the feel and artistry of All Quiet on the Western Front.  The story is doubly tragic because these patriotic and eventually leaderless boys fight on with vigor at a time when their seniors have succumbed to cynicism.  The movie is well-acted and looks beautiful in its 2015 Criterion release.  Recommended.

The Bridge was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Clip – opening

On the Beach
Directed by Stanley Kramer
Written by John Paxton from a novel by Neville Shute
1959/USA
Stanley Kramer Productions
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Moira Davidson: I love Americans. They’re so naive.[/box]

This is a well-made and touching story about post-apocalypse humanity waiting for the end.

The nuclear submarine USS Starfish commanded by Dwight Lionel Towers (Gregory Peck) tenetatively approaches the shore of Australia near Melbourne, takes a radiation reading, and surfaces.  Thanks to wind currents, Australia is perhaps the last place on earth fit for human habitation after a global nuclear war.  The streets of Melbourne are populated with horse-drawn carriages and people on bicycles due to a scarcity of petroleum.  Scientists estimate five months before the radiation begins to kill Austalians as well.

We move from the submarine to young Aussie naval officer Lt. Peter Holmes (Anthony Perkins) and his wife and baby.  Holmes has been assigned as liaison to the Starfish, which is about to embark on an exploratory mission to find any other pockets of life and investigate mysterious telegraph messages emanating from San Diego.  He worries about leaving his family on its own.  His wife is not approaching events as well as he is.

Two other important players in the story are good-time girl Moira Davidson (Ava Gardner) who is assigned to squire Towers around and eventually falls in love with him and hard-drinking scientist Julian Armstrong (Fred Astaire) who accompanies the Starfish on its mission.

We follow these characters and the city of Melbourne as they prepare for the worst.

I really enjoyed this movie.  Everyone was so very civilized!  In a modern movie, there would surely be pandemonium and far worse in this situation.  The performances are strong and the emotions are real, sad without straying into maudlin territory.    Recommended.

Now I want to watch the 2000 Australian made-for-TV movie based on the novel.  It’s in parts on YouTube.

On the Beach was nominated for Academy Awards in the categories of Best Film Editing and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.

Trailer

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

Credits – such a moving instrumental version of “Waltzing Matilda”

The Horse Soldiers
Directed by John Ford
Written by John Lee Mahin and Martin Racklin from a novel by Harold Sinclair
1959/USA
The Mirisch Corporation/Mahin-Racklin
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Major Kendall: Look here, colonel, I didn’t ask to be assigned to this mission…[/box]

This is an OK civil war flick with good performances from John Wayne and William Holden.  I expect something more special from John Ford, however.

Col. John Marlowe (Wayne) and his men are assigned to blow up a railroad and supply depot behind Confederate lines.  Physician Maj. Henry Kendall (Holden) accompanies them.  He and the Colonel have an instant antipathy, both because of their strong personalities and because Marlowe has a hatred of all doctors since his wife died after unnecessary surgery.

On the way to their destination, the officers are hosted at a plantation owned by Hannah Hunter (Constance Towers).  She spies while the men are discussing their strategy.  But she is spotted and taken along so she cannot report to the rebels.  She is feisty but eventually becomes a part of the team.  With Olympic tennis great Althea Gibson as Hannah’s servant and Hoot Gibson, Struther Martin, and Hank Martin doing their thing in character roles.

There are some some good set pieces in this, especially when young Confederate military cadets go off to battle as soldiers.  Overall, I found the film watchable, if not particularly memorable.

Trailer

Le Chant du Styrene 
Directed by Alain Resnais
Written by Raymond Queneau
1959/France
Les Films de la Pleiade/Pechiney
First viewing/FilmStruck

Mr. McGuire: I just want to say one word to you. Just one word.
Benjamin: Yes, sir.
Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?
Benjamin: Yes, I am.
Mr. McGuire: Plastics. – The Graduate

Resnais brings poetry to a documentary short about the production of plastics.

This follows the production process for polystyrene and a number of articles made from the material.  Part of the process is observed in reverse order.

Resnais makes the quotidian beautiful.  The narrative is fairly straight-forward this time, lacking the resonance of his documentary shorts Night and Fog and Toute la memoire du monde.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNzs6sn2QW0

Images from the film set to music from Blade Runner

All the Boys Are Called Patrick (Charlotte et Véronique, ou Tous les garçons s’appellent Patrick)
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Written by Eric Rohmer
1959/France
Les Films de Peliade
First viewing/FilmStruck

[box] Charlotte: We went to that cafe by the bus stop. I gave him a hard time. You have to be mean to men. Keeps ’em on their toes.[/box]

Screenwriter Erich Rohmer brings his characteristic charm to this early Godard short.

Close friends Charlotte and Veronique plan to meet at the park between two and three in the afternoon. Veronique arrives after Charlotte leaves.  Thus both are available to be chatted up by a persistent young ladies’ man, Patrick (Jean-Claude Brialy).  When the women finally meet up, each sings her man’s praises to the other.

This is slight and sweet.  I’m not a huge Godard fan but I do love Rohmer and his take on relationships.  There are some nice early New Wave images as well.

The complete 21-minute film is currently available on YouTube.

The Giant Behemoth (AKA Behemoth the Sea Monster)
Directed by Douglas Hickox and Eugene Lourie
Written by Eugene Lourie and Daniel James; story by Robert Abel and Allen Adler
1959/UK/USA
Artistes Alliance Ltd./Diamond Pictures Corp.
First viewing/Amazon Instant

[box] Dr. Sampson, the Paleontologist: Oh, it’s heading for the Thames. They always made for the freshwater rivers to die. [/box]

Neither good enough nor bad enough to float my boat.  Meh.

Marine biologist Steve Karnes (Gene Evans) has discovered that the fallout from atomic testing in the Pacific results in unequal distribution of radioactivity.  In particular, the intensity of the radioactivity increases as it travels up the food chain.  In the way of these things, the top of the food chain turns out to be a prehistoric sea dinosaur.  To make matters worse, the monster is also electric, like an eel.  And it’s on its way to devour London.

It takes a long time for this film to get to the monster action and when it does it is nothing really special, despite Willis O’Brien’s handiwork.

Trailer

Teenagers from Outer Space
Directed by Tom Graeff
Written by Tom Graeff
1959/USA
Tom Graeff Productions
First viewing/Amazon Prime

[box] Derek: Betty, when you learn where I’m from, well… you will not understand but, I hope it will not make any difference between us because…[/box]

The acting and dialogue bring this B baddie into Robot Monster territory.  That’s not a complaint!

A UFO lands in the desert.  It is occupied by a small cohort of young men on a mission to see whether the Gargon, an enormous crustacean that is their planet’s food source, can survive on Earth.  If the experiment is successful, millions of the creatures will be introduced and will quickly devour all living beings on Earth.

The aliens are heartless, revealed by their casual slaughter of the dog Sparky.  One of them, Derek, however, begins to soften as soon as he meets Betty Morgan.  He rents a room with Betty and her kindly grandpa and quickly discovers the benefits of family relations and the American Way.  He determines to stay on earth and to foil the UFO mission.  Alas, he is actually the son of the planet’s Leader and nothing will be easy for him.

I have not been able to find the words to describe the charmingly clunky effect conveyed by the witless dialogue and its delivery.  This made me smile and it’s going on my list of cult classics.

Trailer

Trailers from Hell