Monthly Archives: February 2023

All I Desire
Directed by Douglas Sirk
Written by James Gunn and Robert Blees from a novel by Carol Brink
1953/US
IMDb page
First viewing/Criterion Channel

Naomi Murdoch: We’re a big disappointment to each other, aren’t we? You’ve got a mother with no principles; I’ve got a daughter with no guts.

Stanwyck is always worth seeing but I found the story lacking. Sirk is really Hayes-Code bound on this one.

The year is 1910. Naomi Murdoch (Stanwyck) left her husband Henry (Richard Carlson) and three children to be an actress on Broadway. Her daughter Lily (Lori Nelson) is starring in the high school play and sends Naomi an invitation which she accepts.

Naomi arrives and is not exactly welcome with open arms. Lily wants to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Young son Ted (Billy Gray) wants to get to know her. Henry and daughter Joyce are still bitter over their abandonment. Sara Harper (Maureen O’Sullivan), the local high school drama teacher, has been seeing Henry but her love is unrequited.

The rest of the film involves Naomi’s efforts to get closer to her children, an unwanted advance from one of her former lovers, and an ending that did not seem prepared for to me. If you are looking for the subversive tone and style of later Sirk melodramas you won’t get it here.

The Black Stallion
Directed by Carroll Ballard
Written by Melissa Mattheson, Jean Rosenberg, and William D. Witliff from a novel by Walter Farley
1979/US
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime rental

Snoe: Hey, what happened to you?
Alec Ramsey: Everything.
Snoe: Everything? That’s a whole lot. It can’t be everything.

A beautifully mounted film about a boy and his horse that should appeal to all ages.

Young Alec Ramsey (Kelly Reno, 11) and his father are traveling by ship from Africa to Liverpool. Alec becomes fascinated by an untamed and fierce black Arabian stallion who is being ill-treated by some Arabs. Shortly after this, the ship sinks. Alec survives by holding onto the mane of the stallion as it swims to the shore of a desert island.

For 23 dialogue-free minutes, we see how Alec survives and watch him tame the black stallion, who is grateful after Alec frees him from some ropes.

Some fishermen pass by the island and rescue Alec. He refuses to leave without his horse and the fishermen oblige. Alec takes the Black home where it is not well-satisfied with a suburban backyard.

Eventually, the Black makes his way into the hands of an aging racehorse trainer (Mickey Rooney). So begins Alec’s dream of training the Black to be a racehorse. With Terry Garr as Alec’s mother and Clarence Muse as a philisophical horse and cart owner.

This movie is absolutely gorgeous in every way and one of the most baffling omissions in Oscar history was the failure of cinematographer Caleb Deschanel to earn an Oscar nomination. The other amazing features are the talent of Cass-Olé the horse and Kelly Reno who did most of the riding himself. The movie has a kind of pleasing fairy tale quality that I really enjoyed.

Studio executives delayed the release of this film for two years.  They said “What is this? An art film for children?”.  The film won a Special Achievement Oscar for Sound Editing. Mickey Rooney got a well-deserved nomination for Best Supporting Actor. The film was also nominated for film editing. I would have given it nods for the cinematography and for Carmine Coppola’s evocative score.

Pride and Prejudice
Directed by Simon Langton
Written by Andrew Davies from a novel by Jane Austen
1995/UK
British Broadcasting Corporation
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime

Mr. Bennet: For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn?

I watched Simon Langton’s “Pride and Prejudice” (1995), a six-part BBC mini-series which I regard as the definitive adaptation of Jane Austen’s masterpiece. I just finished my umpteenth re-read of the novel.

The story takes place in the English countryside (lushly photographed) in the Regency period. The Bennet family is headed by Mr. Bennett (a cynic) and Mrs. Bennet (an airhead). The two eldest daughters have grown up to be normal lovely young women while the youngest three take after their mother. Mrs. Bennet is determined to find wealthy husbands for all her daughters and goes about it in an embarrassingly ham-handed way.

Nonetheless, their rich neighbor Mr. Bingley falls for the eldest, Jane. The lively Elizabeth Bennet (Jennifer Ehle) attracts several suitors but is not enthusiastic about any of them. Mr. Bingley’s friend Mr. Darcy (Colin Firth) gets off on the wrong foot with Elizabeth by proving to be haughty and proud.

I will say no more except that the course of true love never did run smooth. There are many comic characters to enjoy on the way to one of the most satisfying endings in literature.

Colin Firth is devastatingly attractive in this film. He specializes in scowling, sending smoulderingly hot glances, and looking like a deer in the headlights when Elizabeth is around. Ehle makes the perfect Elizabeth. The supporting cast is equally good. I especially liked Anna Chancellor as Caroline Bingley this time through. She tries so hard to be snarky but just puts her foot in her mouth every time. Highly recommended to all fans of the novel.

Thunder on the Hill
Directed by Douglas Sirk
Written by Oscar Saul and Andrew Salt from a play by Charlotte Hastings
1951/US
Universal International Pictures
First viewing/Criterion Channel

A really good detective never gets married. — Raymond Chandler

This is a well-made melodrama and mystery but the story didn’t quite work for me.

Sister Mary Bonaventure (Claudette Colbert) is a nursing sister at a hospital in the English country side. She joined the convent to assuage some not very well explained guilt with regard to the suicide of her sister. She is a very competent and well-respected nurse. One of the lay nurses hates her for always being right.

As the story begins the hospital is overloaded with refugees from a major flood. Among them are Valerie Carns (Ann Blyth) and her jailers. Valerie is on the way to Norwich to be executed for murdering her brother. She is very bitter.

Sister Mary softens her up and begins to be convinced Valerie is innocent as she has claimed all along. She begins investigating despite many orders not to interfere. In my opinion, the identity of the real culprit is evident way too early in the story. With Gladys Cooper as the Mother Superior.

First you have to get over Colbert’s casting as a nun. She is quite good though, unlike Blyth who overdoes it. The dialogue also is overblown. It kept my interest though and has some good noirish cinematography by William H. Daniels.

The China Syndrome
Directed by James Bridges
Written by Mike Gray, T.S. Cook, and James Bridges
1979/US
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime rental

Barney: Jack, it just might be a feedwater leak.
Jack Godell: Which valve?
Barney: [Shakes head] Can’t really tell.

Kimberly Wells (Jane Fonda) does fluff pieces for the local TV news. She was hired solely based on her looks. Richard Adams (Michael Douglas) is her favorite cameraman. He is a major hothead.

One day, Kimberly and Richard are at a nuclear power plant doing a fluff piece for a series on energy. While there they witness engineers scramble to contain an accident that threatens a shut down or melt down of the plant. Richard films it all.

The news station refuses to use the footage and prefers that Kimberly stick with her human interest stories. But she is way smarter and more ambitious than that. That night she meets Jack Godell (Jack Lemmon), as been an operator for years. He is a loyal company man.

However, things continue to malfunction at the plant and Godell begins to believe that the plant should be shut down. This puts his life in grave danger. Kimberly continues to put together her story.

I saw this film on original release shortly after the premier. Within a week, there were a series of accidents at the nuclear plant at Three Mile Island, PA which resulted in a partial melt-down. This made the movie unforgettable to me and also made the film a blockbuster.

It’s a pretty good thriller with lots of 70’s tropes like women’s liberation, evil greedy corporations and sticking it to the man.

The film was nominated for Oscars in the categories of Best Actor (Lemmon), Best Actress (Fonda), Best Original Screenplay, and Best Art Direction -Set Decoration.

Escape from Alcatraz
Directed by Don Segal
Written by Richard Tuggle from a book by J. Campbell Bruce
1979/US
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime (free to Members)

English: Sometimes I think that’s all this place is. One… long… count. The prisoners count the hours, the bulls count the prisoners and the king bulls count the counts.

For some reason, prison escape movies are usually compelling. This is no exception.

It is 1960. Frank Morris (Clint Eastwood) has been transferred to the federal penitentiary at Alcatraz after several unsuccessful escape attempts. As the “fresh fish”, he is subjected to harassment designed to established who is top dog. In addition, he and the other men must cope with a sadistic warden who is determined to make each prisoner’s time as hard as possible. He gleefully keeps reminding them that there is no escape.

The second part of the film is devoted to the planning for and execution of a potential break-out organized by Frank and a few of the other prisoners. Danny Glover made his screen debut as a prisoner in this film.

Though I can think of several escape movies that I like better, this one was perfectly serviceable and kept me engaged.

Time After Time
Directed by Nicholas Meyer
Written by Nicholas Meyer; story by Karl Alexander and Steve Hayes
1979/US
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon rental

H.G. Wells: Every age is the same. It’s only love that makes any of them bearable

This fun thriller is a little bit science fiction, a little bit action, and a little bit romance. Also, one of the best movie portraits of my favorite City, San Francisco, a year before I lived there.

It is 1893 London. H.G. Wells (Malcom McDowell) demonstrates his time machine to his guests. The police burst into the house in search of Jack the Ripper. Unbeknownst to anyone, he is their friend John Leslie Stevenson (David Warner) and he has left evidence in his medical bag. Jack boards the time machine and takes off for 1979.

Because he does not have the “no return” key, the machine returns to 1893 and Wells boards it in pursuit of the Ripper. He finds himself in 1979 San Francisco. There is a lot to get used to and this new world is surely not the Utopia Wells dreamed of. Wells does fit in well with the 1979 fashion vibe in his Victorian clothes.

One of the first things he needs to do is change money. He goes to a bank with his gold guineas and attempts the exchange with manager Amy Robbins (Mary Steenburgen). She immediately tries to pick him up.

The same night the two become a couple. Jack, who has continued his serial killings in the City, will not rest until he extracts the “no return” key from Wells. The rest of the movie consists of the cat and mouse adventures as the two men pursue each other. This puts Amy’s life in grave peril.

This is a very solid popcorn movie which I really enjoyed. It was so much fun seeing all the San Francisco locations. You always see the bay and the hills in movies but rarely so many of the City’s other sights.

Trailer

The Missing Title Tune – OMG I love this song