Flickers in Time

Johnny Cool
Directed by William Asher
Written by Joseph Landon from a novel by John McPartland
1963/USA
Chrislaw Productions
First viewing/YouTube

[box] Johnny Colini: In your hills you have been a glorious success, we’ll now see what you do with a mountain, America. You prove you can be the son of Colini and in a few years when I have gone, you will inherit my kingdom.[/box]

Is this the first American Cosa Nostra film?

As the movie begins, the police seem to have shot down Salvatore Giordano (Henry Silva), a Robin Hood type gangster who works in the hills of Sicily.  American mobster Johnny Colini AKA “Johnny Cool” has actually spirited Giorgano away to Rome.  In return, Johnny expects to train Giordano in the ways of America and turn him into a killing machine to do away with the men who double crossed him.

Years pass and Giordano is ready to roll.  He adopts his mentor’s moniker and cleverly and violently goes about his business.  Will bad girl Darien Guiness (Elizabeth Montgomery) be his undoing?  The film was produced by Peter Lawford and includes small parts for Rat Pack members Sammy Davis Jr. and Joey Bishop.

With a title like Johnny Cool, how could I resist!  In reality this is just OK though it was fun to see the always execellent Silva in an all too rare leading role and Elizabeth “Bewitched” Montgomery as a hussy.

Trailer

The List of Adrian Messenger
Directed by John Huston
Written by Anthony Veiller from a story by Philip MacDonald
1963/USA
Joel Productions
First viewing/YouTube

[box] Adrian Messenger: There’s nary a conspiracy. And if I’m right about this, it’s a far older sin than politics.[/box]

John Huston makes a wildly improbable mystery fun.

Adrian Messenger asks his friend retired MI-5 officer Anthony Gethryn (George C. Scott) to investigate the whereabouts of eleven people on a list.  He refuses to say what the people have in common or why he needs to know.  Gethryn agrees.  Before he can report back, Messenger has been killed in a plane crash that looks suspiciously like it was due to a planted bomb.  Eventually, Gethryn discovers that all but one of the men on the list has died in an “accident”, all of which now could be explained as murder.

It is not a spoiler to reveal that a heavily disguised man played by Kirk Douglas had a hand in all the murders.  I won’t reveal his true identity or motive.  With Dana Wynter as Messenger’s cousin, Herbert Marshall as an MI-5 man and a bunch of surprise cameos by big stars of the period.

It defies belief that a person could hope to be successful in the extremely labor-intensive mass murders committed in this film. Even without suspending my disbelief, I really enjoyed the film.  George C. Scott is excellent as usual and Huston makes the whole thing look good and move along nicely.  Recommended.

Clip – may be a spoiler but takes place early in the film

New Tale of Zatoichi (Shin Zatôichi monogatari)
Directed by Tokuzo Tanaka
Written by Minoru Inuzuka and Kan Shimozawa
1963/Japan
Daiei Studios
First viewing/FilmStruck

[box] “Death is no more than passing from one room into another. But there’s a difference for me, you know. Because in that other room I shall be able to see.” ― Helen Keller[/box]

The first color film in the Blind Ichi series maintains the high standards of the two previous films.

Series keystone Shintaro Katsu continues in the title role.  Our blind masseur/swordsman is minding his own business as usual and decides to visit his old village and the Master who taught him swordsmanship.  He is pursued by the brother of one of his former defeated attackers, who has vowed vengeance.

The Master wants his sister to marry a wealthy man she does not love.  She has fallen for Zatoichi and asks him to marry her.  He is reluctant saying he is a bad man – killer, gambler, etc.  But he loves her too and vows to turn over a new leaf.  At first things work out in his favor, but circumstances just will not leave Ichi alone.

This series is becoming like an anticipated mid-afternoon pick-me-up.  It’s something I put on knowing I will be entertained and impressed.  Two more to go in 1963!

Trailer for the Criterion 25-film box set

Dementia 13
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Written by Francis Ford Coppola and Frank Hill
1963/USA
American International Pictures
First viewing/Amazon Prime

[box] Justin Caleb: Consider your mind as a bird in your hand.[/box]

A talented newcomer gives a low-budget horror movie some class.

Each year the Haloran family holds a memorial service for a daughter who died in childhood.  Eldest brother John and his wife Louise are slated to attend.  He reminds her that she stands to inherit nothing if he pre-deceases her and then promptly drops dead of a heart attack.  She scrambles to conceal his death and shows up alone, saying that her husband has been called away on business.

The rest of the film covers a series of axe murders.  Each person in the family and the family doctor is a suspect.

Francis Ford Coppola was working as an assistant to Roger Corman on another film when this was made.  He was allowed to use the same cast if he could shoot around the other production.  Considering the circumstances, Coppola did a good job with a bare-bone budget.  There are many nice shots.  The story is nothing special, though.  I guessed the identity of the killer almost immediately.

Hands Over the City (Le mani sulla città)
Directed by Francesco Rosi
Written by Francesco Rosi, Raffaele La Capria, Enzo Provenzale and Enzo Forcella
1963/Italy
Galatea Film
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] “In the present case it is a little inaccurate to say I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible to any public office of trust or profit in the Republic. But I do not repine, for I am a subject of it only by force of arms.” ― H.L. Mencken[/box]

Francesco Rosi makes a powerful and maddeningly relevant drama about the collusion between city government, in this case that of Naples, and real estate developers.

Italy is rebuilding after the devastation of WWII and the money has begun to flow in Naples.  City Council member Edoardo Nottola (Rod Steiger) is in private life a major developer.  As the film starts, an old building collapses next to a new building his firm is putting up.  People die and the opposition Socialists squawk so loudly that a token investigation is begun.  It is election season and the press must be satisfied.  Although the investigation uncovers many irregularities, it seems obvious from the start that nothing will be done.

However, there is enough controversy that the ruling Rightists feel compelled to ditch Nottola.  He fights back.

This is a compelling story and stunningly shot.  The shenanigans and shouting in the Naples City Council almost make the U.S. Congress look good.  Rod Steiger gives an outstanding performance though it was odd hearing him speak in a voice not his.  I found the music grating but some people like it a lot.  Recommended if you are in the mood to be outraged.

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The Organizer (Il compagni)
Directed by Mario Monicelli
Written by Agenore Incrocci, Furio Scarpelli and Mario Monicelli
1963/Italy/France/Yugoslavia
Lux Film/Vides Cinematografia/Mediterrannee Cinema Production/Avala Film
First viewing/FilmStruck

[box] Raoul: [Referrinfg to Arro, a Sicilian] If that Ethipopian goes to work tomorrow, one by one they will go back with yours truly first in line.[/box]

A gem of a film with a very different performance from Marcello Mastroianni.

The setting is Turin, Italy at the end of the 19th Century.  The community mostly works at the local textile mill.  The shift is 14 hours long and conditions both in the homes and at the mill are squalid.  When one dog-tired employee loses his hand to a machine, the other workers vow to quit an hour early in protest.  But with no real organization, the walk-out fizzles.

Enter Professor Sinigaglia (Mastroianni), an ex-high school teacher turned union organizer who is a fugitive of justice resulting from his activities in another town.  Sigigaglia is an odd-ball kind of egghead that proves to be a surprisingly inspirational speaker.  He convinces the workers that they need a lot more than one extra hour off work and they go on strike.

The management is unshakeable and the strike stretches out beyond economic endurance.  Finally, unable to fob off the workers, the management turns on Sinigaglia. With Renato Salvatori, Fulco Lulli, and Bernard Blier on the strike committee and Annie Giradot as a prostitute.

I was preparing for a lot of violence and there was some but the ending holds out a ray of hope for the future.  There are also quite a few light-hearted moments.  Cinematographer Giuseppi Rotunno’s lighting evokes black-and-white photographs of the era.  Warmly recommended.

The Organizer was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.

Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment
Directed by Robert Drew (uncredited)
1963/USA
ABC News/Drew Associates
First viewing/FilmStruck

[box] Robert F. Kennedy – Attorney General of the United States: I’m not very much in favor of picking the governor up and moving him out of the way. I think it’d be much better if we develop some system if we had enough people to just push him aside.[/box]

Robert Drew was granted special access to President John F. Kennedy’s administration. This is one of several documentaries he made showing the inner workings of the White House.  It centers in a confrontation Alabama Governor George Wallace provoked with the Federal Government over the admission of two African-American students to the University of Alabama.  Although the federal court had ordered their admission and the university had in fact admitted them, Wallace said he would simply physically bar the door to their entry.

The documentary contains several fascinating strategy sessions in the White House along with straight-forward news style coverage of the events of the day.  As it worked out the Alabama National Guard had to be nationalized before the governor backed down.

[box] This is not a sectional issue…. Nor is this a partisan issue…. This is not even a legal or legislative issue alone. It is better to settle these matters in the courts than on the streets, and new laws are needed at every level, but law alone cannot make men see right. We are confronted primarily with a moral issue. — John F. Kennedy, Civil Rights Address, June 11, 1963[/box]

This is a now heart-wrenching look at a time when idealism prevailed in the White House. My favorite part, though, is George Wallace’s pathetic attempts at justifying his position.  He explains that segregation benefits the Negro because otherwise how would he know which cafes were for him and which were for White people!  Recommended if you are interested in the subject matter.

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The Pink Panther
Directed by Blake Edwards
Written by Maurice Richlin and Blake Edwards
1963/USA
Mirisch-GE Productions
First viewing/Amazon Instant

[box] Inspector Jacques Clouseau: Simone! Where is my Surété-Scotland-Yard-type mackintosh?[/box]

Beautiful people, beautiful dresses, beautiful scenery … and Inspector Clouseau.

The story is set in various locations in France and Italy.  The bumbling Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers) has devoted his life to finding the international jewel thief known as the Phantom.  We learn early on that this is Sir Charles Litton Lytton (David Niven) and that Clouseau’s beautiful duplicitous wife Simone (Cappucine) is in league with him.  Sir Charles, Clouseau and company are drawn to an Italian ski resort by the presence of The Pink Panther, a rare diamond owned by a Princess (Claudia Cardinale).

Clouseau’s inability to stay standing upright for many minutes at a time and the various amorous maneuverings of Lytton, Simone and Lytton’s nephew (Robert Wagner) keep things interesting.

My favorite parts of this movie are actually the sixties clothes, color and production values. The comedy fell kind of flat for me but that may have just been my mood.

Henry Mancini was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Music, Substantially Original Score.

Judex
Directed by Georges Franju
Adapted by Jacques Champreux and Francis Lacassin from a 1916 screenplay by Arthur Bernede and Louis Feuillade
1963/France/Italy
Comtoir Francais du Film Production/Filmes Cinematografia
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] I admit I’m much more sensitive to the scenic than the dynamic. When I was tiny I saw a fire for the first time, and afterwards I saw the façade with nothing behind. I’ve kept the vision of something very artificial and strange- a façade with nothing behind. And what was in front of it? Space..now haunted. — Georges Franju[/box]

Pure magic.

This is a remake of Louis Feuillade’s Judex serial of 1916 and is set in that era.  It is full of cliff-hangers and surprises that I will try not to spoil!  Banker Favraux is a thoroughly unscrupulous man.  He made his millions through blackmail and is not above murder to solve his problems.  He is marrying his daughter (Edith Scobe), a young widow, off to a man she does not love.  He is in love with her daughter’s governess.

Before his daughter’s engagement party, he receives a letter from “Judex” (“Justice”) threatening him with dire consequences if he does not move to correct his evildoing before midnight.  Favraux hires a detective to investigate the identity of the letter writer.  Judex is true to his word and …

Every once in awhile I discover a film that makes my heart sing.  This was one.  It is a beautifully satisfying battle between good and evil.  Lavish use is made of art nouveau style and there is a wonderful Maurice Jarre score.  Franju captures the old style of melodrama without once going into camp.  The use of both “real” and cinematic magic is delightful.  I might even prefer this film to the director’s Eyes Without a Face (1960), which I also love.  Highly recommended.

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