The Last Detail Directed by Hal Ashby Written by Robert Towne from a novel by Darryl Poniscan 1973/US IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental
Mulhall: I don’t know what I woulda’ done without the Navy.
Buddusky: Yeah… I guess we’re just a couple of lifers.
Mulhall: Yeah.
I don’t why I waited so long to see one of Jack Nicholson’s best performances.
Eighteen-year-old raw Navy recruit Meadows (Randy Quaid) is caught trying to pilfer $40 from the donation box of the Admiral’s wife’s pet charity. For this he is sentenced to eight years in prison. Buddinsky (“Bad Ass” – Nicholson) and Mulhall (“Mule” – Otis Young) are killing time at the naval base at Norfolk, Virginia waiting for their next orders to come in. They are temporarily ordered to escort Meadows from Norfolk to the Portsmouth Naval Prison in New Hampshire. The trio will travel by bus. The trip should take two days but the sailors have been allotted a week. The escorts think of the trip as a chance to have a vacation on the Government after dropping Meadows off.
But their hearts are even bigger than their vocabulary of curse words and they feel sorry for the morose Meadows whose mood only gets worse with each passing hour. The idea that the kid will spend years in jail prior to any adult experience of life inspires the two to try to show him a good time before delivering him to prison.
As you might imagine, Buddinski is a bit of a wild man aside from being a career sailor. His enthusiasm for life ensures a good time is had by all. Meanwhile, Mulhall worries that Buddinski may have lost interest in their actual mission. With Carol Kane as a young prostitute.
I guess that the premise of this didn’t grab me when this first came out and I have overlooked it ever since. Glad that this project led me to check it out.
In the event, I absolutely loved this. Nicholson and Quaid are both fabulous in their parts. This is, I think, NIcholson nearing his peak as an actor. He is convincing both as a wild and crazy guy and as a committed career sailor and you kind of have to love him. Ashby provides his off-kilter sensibility and the script is hilarious. My favorite part is when these guys run into people trying to sell them on Nichiren Soshu Buddhism and Quaid decides to give chanting a shot. I had a brush with the movement around this time and its portrayal made me laugh and brought back old times. I also loved that the ending did not take an obvious route. Recommended.
The Academy nominated Jack Nicholson and Randy Quaid in the categories of Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor respectively. The film was also nominated for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.
Spirit of the Beehive (El espiritu de la colmena) Directed by Victor Erice Written by Angel Fernandez Santos and Victor Erice 1973/Spain IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Criterion Channel
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
Ana: If he only comes out at night, how can you talk to him?
Isabel: I told you he was a spirit. If you’re his friend, you can talk to him whenever you want. Just close your eyes and call him… It’s me, Ana… It’s me Ana…
Erice explores the vulnerabilities of children in times of crisis in this contemplative, beautiful film.
The story is set in a Spanish village in 1940 during Franco’s reprisals against Republicans following the end of the Spanish Civil War. Â Seven-year-old Ana (Ana Torrent) lives with her parents Teresa and Fernando and older sister Isabel (who is maybe nine or ten). Â Ana’s father keeps bees. Â Ana has great big brown eyes with which she surveys the world and is clearly very sensitive. Â James Whale’s Frankenstein (1931) draws a large audience when it comes to town.
Ana and Isabel attend. Â Ana is completely engrossed in the story and wants to why the little girl and the monster had to die. Â Isabel first tells her nobody died because the movie is a trick. Â Then she mischievously switches tacks and tells Ana that the monster is living as a spirit in the family’s sheep shed and only comes out at night.
Ana becomes obsessed with the sheep shed, eventually working up the courage to enter. One day she encounters a man in rags who has an injured leg hiding there. Â She adopts him as the monster and tries to help him. Â I’ll stop there.
The story takes place at that mysterious juncture between reality and imagination through the eyes of a child trying to make sense of the world around her. Â It has little dialogue and Erice seems fond of Ozu-like ellipses where key events are cut away from. Â Anyway, this is a very beautiful film painted largely in golden light. Â Ana Torrent gives one of the great child performances ever. Â It’s sad but recommended.
Theatre of Blood Directed by Douglas Hickox Written by Anthony Greville-Bell 1973/UK IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental
One of 1000 Great Horror Movies on theyshootzombies.com
George Maxwell: You… It’s you! But you’re dead!
Edward Lionheart: No. Another critical miscalculation on you part. I am well. It is you who are dead.
Vincent Price, Diana Rigg and a sterling cast of British character actors ensured that I had a good time despite all the blood and gore.
Edward Lionheart (Price) is a famous or perhaps infamous Shakespearean tragedian. He is certain he is the greatest actor who ever lived had his heart set on winning a theater critics guild award as Best Actor of 1970. Why he thought he could win is unclear as the critics on the awards committee roundly panned all his performances. In the event, the award went to a newcomer leaving Lionheart humiliated. He barges into the after-party takes the award and jumps out the window several stories up. We learn that his doting daughter Edwina (Diana Rigg) has never recovered from her grief.
It turns out Lionheart is not dead after all. He is now living in a derelict theater with a bunch of hoboes who resemble the living dead. He enlists their help in his fiendish plan to kill off the critics one by one using a murder featured in each of the plays he performed that season. These murders are customized to dole out the deranged Lionheart’s idea of poetic justice. I’m not going to say any more as part of the fun is figuring what the murderer is going to do next and there is a major plot twist too (one that you will probably anticipate well before the reveal). The critics are played by Ian Hendry, Trevor Dickman, Corale Browne, Robert Cooke, Jack Hawkins, Michael Hordern, Arthur Lowe, Robert Morley, and Dennis Price. Milo O’Shea and Eric Sykes play detectives.
I thought this was clever in an extremely gruesome sort of way. The script keeps you on your toes. I especially enjoyed seeing Price reciting some of Shakespeare’s most famous lines. His no holds barred style suits the Bard very well. Rigg compliments him beautifully and the cast of character actors is rock solid. Production values are strong. I loved the somewhat romantic score though I thought it possibly would have fit better in another movie. As mentioned, there is a lot of bloody gory close-up murder to sit through. Highly recommended to fans of the genre.
Amarcord Directed by Federico Fellini Written by Federico Fellini and Tonino Guerra 1973/Italy IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
Oliva: Uncle Teo’s up a tree!
I usually say 8 1/2(1963) is my favorite Fellini film. After rewatching this one, I’m not so sure.
The title means “I Remember” in the dialect of Rimini where Fellini grew up. Fellini says the film is not autobiographical though some of the incidents come from his childhood. If Rimini was anything like this is was full of some real “characters”!
Anyway, the film covers one year in teenager Titta’s (Bruno Zanin) life, beginning and ending with puffballs signaling Spring. Titta lives in the countryside with his crazy parents, senile grandfather, and vain uncle. The parents yell at each other non-stop. In fact, this movie is full of loud, volatile Italians shouting at each other.
Mussolini is in power and this is mostly quite OK with the residents of Rimini, with the exception of Titta’s father.
Titta and his chums are all at the height of teenage horniness and much bawdy comedy is milked from this fact. The plot is highly episodic and each of the episodes are pretty wonderful. The fantasy Mussolini parade and wedding; the nympho La Volpina; the busty tobacconist, town beauty Gradisca (Magali Noël) and her friends; Uncle Teo up in the tree; the town going out to gaze at the cruise ship; snow! – all of these are small gems.
This is the warmest and funniest of the Fellini films I’ve seen by far with nary a sign of introspection or dissatisfaction. Even death is treated in a matter of fact way. The movie just makes me feel good. It’s fun to look at the world again through the eyes of a teenager. Fellini continues to prove himself a master at wrestling a great film from thousands of moving parts. Highly recommended.
Amarcord was Oscar-nominated for Best Director and Best Writing, Original Screenplay.
Lady Snowblood (Shurayukihime) Directed by Toshiya Fujita Written by Norio Osada; story by Kazuo Kamimura and Kazua Koike Japan/1973 IMDb page
First viewing/Criterion Channel
Yuki Kashima: Look at me closely. Do I look like someone you raped?
This is a well-made vengeance film with plenty of action. But it has more blood than a Herschell Gordon Lewis film and was not for me.
It is Meiji Era Japan, when the Japan began opening to the west. But the story could have taken place in any era. The story begins with the difficult birth of Yuki and the subsequent death of her mother. The mother had been gang raped and the family robbed. Yuki was conceived with the specific purpose of exacting vengeance for the wrongs done to her family. She is trained to be a strong highly skilled warrior.
When she attains adulthood, Yuki (Meiko Kaji) is a killing machine. We watch as she slays bad guys left and right. She has an unerring ability to hit several major arteries with a single stroke of her mighty steel, causing bright red blood to flow in geysers. You can only imagine what ensues when she slices the body of an enemy in half.
This movie was taken from a manga comic and everything is greatly heightened from reality. The fights are flamboyant and contain some wirework. The blood is clearly faked and not realistic. Still I had to fight the urge to just stop watching several times.
This film and its sequel (which I won’t be watching) were a major influence on Quentin Tarrantino’s Kill Bill, Vol 1 and Vol 2. The film has a 7.7/10 IMDb user rating so your mileage could definitely vary.
Papillon Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner Written by Dalton Trumbo and Lorenzo Semple Jr. from a book by Henri Charriere 1973/US IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
Dega: Blame is for God and small children.
Steve McQueen is at his very best in this story of desperate men on a desperate quest to escape Devil’s Island.
The story is a semi-fictional account of Henri ‘Papillon’ Charriere’s (McQueen) time in the French Penal Colony of Guyana between 1931 and 1945. Charriere earned the nickname from the butterfly prominently tattooed on his chest. Charriere had been falsely convicted of murdering a pimp and sentenced to life at hard labor. Prior to this, he had earned a reputation as a safe-cracker. On the sea journey to the island Charriere forms what turns out to be an enduring friendship with Louis Dega (Dustin Hoffman), a timid myopic counterfeiter. The two could not be more different but with Louis’s money and Papillon’s guts they make a good team.
Life is extremely hard in French Guyana. The place is hot, disease-ridden, and filthy; the men are hardly fed; the labor is very hard; and the guards are cruel. The prisoners are treated like scum that cannot be punished severely enough. A first escape attempt is punishable by two years in solitary confinement, the second by five years. 99.9% of all escapees are caught and punished.
The story tracks a couple of different escape attempts and Papillon’s years in solitary confinement. Food is so scarce that he resorts to capturing insects to survive. In the meantime, Dega has bribed his way into a desk job. He attempts to assist by smuggling in fresh coconut. When this is discovered, Papillon is put on half-rations and nearly dies.
After his final stint in solitary, Papillon and Dega ask to be sent to the most isolated offshore island. There they cobble together houses and start farming. But Papillon is one stubborn man. With a fine cast of supporting players including Victor Jory, Anthony Zerbe, and George Colouris.
I’ve seen this a time or two over the years and must have zoned out each time since I remember almost none of it. That’s funny because I love a good prison escape movie. This time, however, it hooked me within half an hour and I was engrossed in the story throughout the film’s 2 1/2 hour running time.
I’ve always thought of McQueen as playing his own cool persona but he had to really stretch here and I thought he was pretty wonderful. Rumor has it McQueen’s Oscar snub resulted from rubbing the wrong studio executives the wrong way. Hoffman and the rest cast shine as well. Recommended.
Jerry Goldsmith was nominated for the Oscar for Best Music, Original Score.
Love and Anarchy (Film d’amore e d’anarchia, ovvero ‘stamattina alle 10 in via dei Fiori nella nota casa di tolleranza…’) Directed by Lina Wertmuller Written by Lina Wertmuller 1973/Italy IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental
Salome: Feelings are a luxury and this is war.
After my third Lina Wertmuller film, I consider myself a fan.
It is 1930’s Italy. Tunin (Giancarlo Giannini) is a simple, uneducated, timid peasant. His anarchist friend is killed by Fascists. Tunin is no anarchist but is seized by an unquenchable thirst for revenge. He volunteers to be the hit man in an anarchist plot to assassinate Mussolini. This brings him to Rome where Salome (Mariangela Melato) is the most popular whore at the most popular whorehouse in the city. Salome also appears to be the mastermind behind the plot to assassinate Mussolini. She introduces Tunin to the other girls as her cousin.
Tunin becomes increasingly melancholy and nervous as the date for the assassination approaches. He doesn’t lose his determination when he falls in love with Tripolina (Lina Polita), one of the whores, and they have a blissful two day honeymoon before D-day.
Giancarlo Giannini is one of those chameleon actors who is excellent in a wide variety of roles. After playing the clown in The Seduction of Mimi (1972), here he is lovable and tender. The ladies are equally good. Wertmuller manages to combine humanity and real emotion with broad Felliniesque comedy set-pieces. The film also contains one of Nino Rota’s better scores IMO. Recommended.
Day for Night (La nuit americaine) Directed by Francois Truffaut Written by Francois Truffaut, Jean-Louis Richard, and Suzanne Schiffman 1973/France IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
Alexandre: [about Julie’s movie star mother) She hated the way we shoot movies – in bits and pieces! I remember escorting her to the premiere of her first big Hollywood movie. A fantastic evening! When the film ended, she sat there, then turned to me and said: “I did all that? All I remember is the waiting.”
Consummate movie fan Francois Truffaut makes the ultimate movie for film buffs.
Director Ferrand (Truffaut) is making a what sounds like a pretty trite melodrama called “Meet Pamela” on location in the French Riviera. A young Frenchman (played by Alphonse – Jean-Pierre Leaud) and English beauty Pamela (played by Julie – Jacqueline Bisset) fall in love and marry in England. Several months later the husband takes Pamela home to meet the folks. Pamela falls in love with Alphonse’s 50-something father (played by Alexandre – Jean-Pierre Aumont) and runs off with him. Both Alphonse and his mother (played by Severine – Valentina Cortese) are outraged and Alphonse vows revenge. We follow the making of this movie from the first day of production to the last.
The movie begins with several takes of an extra-laden crowd scene. We observe the intricate choreography necessary to create every day reality. We gradually learn to know the principals. Alphonse is in love/lust with script-girl intern Lilian, though she is pretty clearly not as smitten with him. Severine has developed a drinking problem and finds it hard to remember her lines or follow her blocking. Julie is recovering from a recent nervous breakdown after which she married her doctor. Alexandre makes mysterious visits to the local airport everyday.
In contrast to the cast, which seems to have plenty of free time to play musical beds and indulge in tantrums, the crew works at a frantic pace to stay within budget and on schedule despite repeated off-stage gitches that threaten to scuttle the whole production. And the whole way we get an insider view on how movie magic is made.
The fun the cast and crew looked to be having making this “insider” send-up of the movie business made the movie a whole lot of fun for me as well. All the actors are great in these parts. There’s quite a lot of Antoine Donel in Leaud’s character. It’s always entertaining to see him get in one scrape after another due to his immaturity. I last saw this on original release and it has only risen in my estimation. Warmly recomended.
Day for Night won the Oscar for Best Foreign-Language Film. Valentina Cortese received a very well-deserved nomination for Best Supporting Actress. The film was also nominated for Best Director and Best Writing, Original Screenplay.
American trailer – fortunately I watched the subtitled version
Godzilla vs. Megalon (Gojira tai Megaro) Directed by Jun Fukuda Written by Jun Fukuda; story by Shinichi Sekizawa and Takeshi Kimura 1973/Japan IMDb page
First viewing/Criterion Channel
Rokuro ‘Roku-chan’ Ibuki: It’s a pity we can’t send Jet Jaguar to go and get Godzilla!
I had fun watching this ridiculous movie.
Undersea nuclear tests have disturbed the peace of Seatopia, a lost continent that developed its own oxygen supply in the sea. Seatopians decide the answer is to destroy the above-ground Earth by means of an all-metal giant flying lobster called Megalon.
Meanwhile on Earth, eager young scientists and an annoying kid brother are ready to roll out a new super-robot they have named Jet Jaguar. The Seatopians override his control mechanism and use the robot to guide Megalon on his world destruction rounds, first stop Tokyo. The scientists regain control over Jet Jaguar and send him to summon Godzilla from Monster Island. The little boy is best friends with the monster of course. The Seatopians send in reinforcements in the form of giant aluminum lizard-chicken Gaigan. The two sides will battle for the remainder of the film. No points for guessing who wins.
The first part of this movie involves a lot of talking and driving around which takes mere minutes to become tedious. But I must admit I kind of fell in love with Jet Jaguar. So any scene with him in it and the entire battle between these incredibly strange monsters is golden.
I’m interested in how Godzilla has morphed over the years from terrifying symbol of nuclear holocaust to a friend to little children and defender of the human race. It’s amazing to me. This is clearly aimed at the pre-teen set of course. I found some of the ridiculous antics these creatures are made to do laugh out loud funny.
I’ve been a classic movie fan for many years. My original mission was to see as many movies as I could get my hands on for every year from 1929 to 1970. I have completed that mission.
I then carried on with my chronological journey and and stopped midway through 1978. You can find my reviews of 1934-1978 films and “Top 10” lists for the 1929-1936 and 1944-77 films I saw here. For the past several months I have circled back to view the pre-Code films that were never reviewed here.
I’m a retired Foreign Service Officer living in Indio, California. When I’m not watching movies, I’m probably traveling, watching birds, knitting, or reading.
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nella nota casa di tolleranza…’)
