The Iceman Cometh

Dead end drunks waste away their days at a New York saloon/boarding house, talking about their delusionary dreams and begging for free drinks while awaiting a visit from a travelling salesman  and fellow drunkard (Lee Marvin) to lift them out of their stupor. When he arrives however, they find a reformed and unhinged version of their former friend, now preaching to the gang to give up their "pipe dreams", much to their chagrin. John Frankenheimer's American Film Theatre production is a powerful, mournful, and comical adaptation, purportedly faithful to Eugene O'Neill's play, with great performances from old film veterans Robert Ryan, Marvin, and Frederic March surrounded by an excellent supporting cast.

*** 1/2 out of ****

Seven Days in May

Disarmament talks between Russia and an unpopular President (Fredric March) leads to rumors of a military coup led by a military demagogue (Burt Lancaster) and uncovered by his top aide (Kirk Douglas). John Frankenheimer’s Seven Days in May is a well-made, credible, and talky thriller that lacks suspense with the acting being the real attribute on display. Stars Douglas and Lancaster, though providing stalwart performances, are both relegated somewhat with supporters March and Edmund O’Brien stepping in with terrific turns.

*** out of ****

Seconds

A successful banker with a boring wife living a monotonous suburban existence is recruited into a mandatory program where he will be reconfigured as an attractive, artistic type (Rock Hudson) and placed in a California coastal community with like people. John Frankenheimer's Seconds plays like an extended version of a Twilight Zone episode, never dull but still sterilized, shocking and hard to watch. It drives home its theme well though with a solid performance by Hudson who is himself surrounded by strong supporters, and is intriguingly filmed with great camerawork and use of closeup by James Wong Howe.

*** out of ****

Birdman of Alcatraz

Convicted murderer and career criminal Robert Straud (Burt Lancaster), all but given up on life, continually broods clashes with the rigid warden (Karl Malden) from his cell at Leavenworth Penitentiary until the day he rescues a downed sparrow from the yard thus beginning an unimaginable and unmatched career in studying birds. In spite of some expected cliches, John Frankenheimer's prison expertly shot prison success story biopic is surprisingly offbeat, but unravels in the finale with an unsatisfying emotional and action culmination. Lancaster offers a typically noble, stoic, and powerful though not always convincing performance and the film is marred by unnecessary, godawful narration.

*** out of ****

The Train

With the Allies closing in to liberate France, a German colonel (Paul Scofield) decides to transport all the precious works of art  to the fatherland by way of locomotive to boost the waning war effort. In order to take up the dangerous mantle of stopping the train and reclaiming the paintings, the task falls to a French rail worker and resistance leader (Burt Lancaster), who at first does not see the purpose in risking lives for art, but eventually comes around when one of his comrades is murdered in that pursuit. "The Train" is a superior action thriller from director John Frankenheimer, that provides nail biting thrills while providing the technical workings of its featured mechanisms, i.e. the functioning of the train, the unhinging of its tracks, the specifications of C-4 dynamite. Additionally, the film also serves as a wonderful and credible argument for the importance of art. Lancaster is at his quietly powerful best and Scofield makes an absolutely, cold-hearted and sadistic Nazi. "The Train" is rousing entertainment with great thrills, character development, and even technical workings and intellectual stimulation to match the usual (and excellent) genre techniques.

The Manchurian Candidate

A hard and hated sergeant saves his troops in Korea and returns a Medal of Honor recipient being praised by his men as "the bravest, finest, most lovable man I ever met." Soon, a major he rescued has a recurring haunted dream and he soon pieces together the he and the rest of the unit were victims of brainwashing, with the Soviets pulling the strings, and all of it is entangled with the sergeant's mother and her senator husband's bid for the Vice Presidential nominations. "The Manchurian Candidate" is dark, taut, and tense exercise and one of the best psychological thrillers ever constructed. From a Richard Condon novel, John Frankenheimer directs with precision and casts a feeling of eerie dread around the entire production. The cast is uniformly excellent with Frank Sinatra giving one of his finest turns as the troubled major, Laurence Harvey pitch perfect and haunting as the major, and Angela Lansbury harrowing playing one of the great villainesses in movie history. "The Manchurian Candidate" is incredible filmmaking, that would have not only been shocking to a 1962 audience but also to today's.