French Cancan

An impressario (Jean Gabin) engages in romantic entanglements with his main drawing act (Maria Felix), a new discovery (Francois Arnoul) and two of her lovers while reintroducing the can-can, an outdated dance number, and opening what would come to be known as the Moulin Rouge. One of Jean Renoir's post American exile works, French Cancan is dominated by cheesy French humor and underdrawn characters, though Gabin's performance is winning and the dance numbers, the finale in particular, are spectacular.

*** out of ****

Killer's Kiss

A washed-up boxer becomes involved with a troubled neighbor, herself currently mixed-up with the older, low-rent owner of a New York dance hall. Killer’s Kiss, an early noiry crisply shot production from Stanley Kubrick, feels like an underdeveloped student project with some really good parts (including an axe fight in a mannequin factory) that don’t really add up to a satisfying whole. It also feels long at 68 minutes, contains a whole lot of filler and an ill-advised happy ending.

** ½ out of ****

Smiles of a Summer Night

An attorney (Gunnar Bjornstrand), his young, virginal wife (Ulla Jacobsson), a vulnerable son returned home from college, their slatternly maid (Harriet Andersson), a visiting actress (Eva Dahlbeck), her officer lover (Jarl Kulle), and his troublemaker wife all converge on a country estate where various affairs come to light, jealousies and anguish abound, and tempers flair. Ingmar Bergman's first, liberating mass success is sharp, provocative, light, and amusing, made with delicate cinematography, and a game cast with Bergman regulars Bjornstrand and Andersson standing out and Kulle highly memorable as a caddish officer always seeking satisfaction. For a worthy reworking see Woody Allen's A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy.

*** out of ****

Ordet

A Danish farmer who preaches an open, joyous Christianity clashes with a fundamentalist tailor who refuses his daughter to marry his youngest son. Meanwhile he contends with another far gone son who fancies himself the Christ and the eldest, a nonbeliever whose loving wife's labor complications may hold miraculous implications. Carl Theodor Dreyer's Ordet is highly involving and completely moving with a stunning, phenomenal ending. A degree of staginess is made up for by its exemplary cinematography.

**** out of ****

Rebel Without a Cause

After his latest outburst and having been uprooted and replanted by his parents in the latest suburban neighborhood, an angst ridden teen aged delinquent (James Dean) continues to drink, loiter, vandalize, and make enemies while falling in with a small clique (Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo) who experience the same feelings of alienation, the result of either aloof, over-affectionate, misunderstanding, or absent parents. It's difficult to watch Nicholas Ray's relic of a bygone era and understand the mass appeal of its time, now coming off as pretentious, phony (especially Dean), and even bizarre. Aided by some iconic sequences and its great photography.

*** out of ****

East of Eden

8/2/2010 Of the three roles James Dean starred in, East of Eden was the only one that was released during his lifetime, was one of the two he was posthumously nominated for (the other was Giant), and the film that began the questions “do we have a Brando clone or the next great actor on our hands?” East of Eden is an adaptation of the second half of the book by John Steinbeck, and plays out like a retelling of the story of Cain and Abel in the Salinas River Valley on the dawn of World War I. Cal (Dean) is always vying for the affection of his stern and upright father with his brother Aron. The depressed and seemingly wayward Cal has discovered a secret about his mother, devised an investment plan, and started to feel affections for Aron’s girlfriend, events which will lead to the recreation of the aforementioned Bible story. The film is directed, in Technicolor, by the great and controversial Elia Kazan and he mixes harsh tones with the lush colors of the area. Back to Dean, it does at first seem like he is doing a Brando impression, but he soon makes the role his own and after the film I was left wondering what the last 50 years of film would have been like had fate not taken its toll.

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

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1/1/16

Having finished Steinbeck's epic novel since my first viewing of Kazan's adaptation, I foolishly returned to the picture and wasn't quite as taken by it where, when comparing it to the book, its faults become more evident. A disappointing fact are the film's omissions which drops approximately the first three quarters of the book and sacrificing character complexity and many exquisite and probably translatable passages. Further, the film and its dialogue are dumbed down and explanations are offered for every point. Also, in reconsidering the Dean performance, it now comes off as brooding and overly whiny. That being said, the direction and production values still stand and there is an excellent handling of Jo Van Fleet's complicated character.

Rififi

Following a five year prison sentence, a burglar is tempted to return to a life of crime, eventually succumbing to take part in a jewel heist where in its aftermath things inevitably head south. Jules Dassin's Rififi is a tough, pristine crime thriller headlined by a stoic performance from Jean Servais and punctuated by many unforgettable scenes including the silent burgalry sequence, the fate of the Italian safe cracker, and final death march.

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

The Apu Trilogy

In this series of films, which consist of Pather Panchali, Aparajito, and The World of Apu, life is viewed through the eyes of a young, penniless Bengalese boy who loses his sister and then moves to the big city before again suffering the loss of his father, mother, and, as an adult, his wife, all the while succeeding as a student and attempting to stake his own claim in the world. From the writings of Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, Satyaji Ray's The Apu Trilogy is a succession of gracefully made films that capture a harsh, tragic, and impoverished life while also noting the joys of childhood and maturation, often through keen and beautifully poetic observation. The films positioned Ray on the international map and are made with a unique, fluid, and seemingly effortless hand.

**** out of *****

Mr. Arkadin

The words of a dying man lead a shifty American (Robert Arden) to a peculiar European millionaire (Orson Welles) who hires him to investigate his hazy past. Like many of Welles' films, Mr. Arkadin (also know as Confidential Report) was assembled into several different versions. I elected to watch the comprehensive edition on a recent Criterion treatment, the distributor's suggested version and, despite some bad dubbing and rugged cutting, the best as far as I could tell. Arkadin also bears similarity in plotting, in large ways and small, to its auteur's other films: a flashback structure with the protagonist learning the truth about a secretive billionaire (Citizen Kane), a postwar European set black market story (The Third Man), and even the late appearance of assured Katina Paxinou reminded me of Marlene Dietrich's cameo in Touch of Evil. However, despite the similarities to these classics, Mr. Arkadin isn't plotted nearly as well and Arden is dreadful in the lead, but the film features some fine camerawork and Welles is a lot of fun in the title role.
** 1/2 out of ****

The Trouble with Harry

Several members of a scenic Vermont town stumble upon a corpse in the woods, each with different motives and suggestions for disposing of it. The Trouble with Harry is light and playful, and isn't exactly what you'd expect from an Alfred Hitchcock film. However while many of his classic offerings tap into his fears and obsessions, perhaps this work is the one most attuned to his playful, mischievous personality. It also features bucolic Vermont location shooting and fun early performances from a young Shirley MacLaine and Edmund Gwenn of Miracle on 34th Street fame. While the wrap-up is a little too neat and satisfying, there are many sincere laughs to be had throughout the rest of its duration.

Bad Day at Black Rock

Directly following the conclusion of World War II, a dead armed stranger (Spencer Tracy) gets off at Black Rock on the first train to stop there in three years. He is searching for the home of a Japanese farmer but is met with great resistance from the hostile locales who have a terrible secret to hide. Bad Day at Black Rock is a clunky John Sturges Western which has garnered high praise, possibly due to its social message hidden in a plot secret which the film goes to too great of lengths to protect. The most powerful asset of the film are its villains and this one does have three great ones in Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, and an exceptional Robert Ryan.

The Night of the Hunter

After learning of a stashed $10,000 hidden by his cellmate (Peter Graves) before his execution, a self-styled preacher (Robert Mitchum) with a "special arrangement" with God places himself in the lives of the deceased's family. After marrying then killing his flighty widow (Shelley Winters), he pursues their two young children, the only bearers of the loot's location, on a terrifying downriver journey. "The Night of the Hunter" is a distinct and horrifying visual wonder that is the result of a fortuitous and unlikely collaboration: In his only directorial effort (it was late in his career and the film was a box office flop), Charles Laughton works from a script by modern film criticism forerunner James Agee in a film that features a wonderful performance from screen pioneer Lillian Gish and ultimately, a haunting and career defining one from Mitchum. It's gothic visuals, such as shown in the scene depicting Winters' fate and the shadowy, animal-laden river sequence, only add to the strange and brooding atmosphere of this unique and chilling classic. 

Tight Spot

The D.A. pulls a tough talking blonde from the penitentiary and holes her up in a downtown hotel in an attempt to get her to testify against a mobster who has just wiped out the last person called to the task. With a young policeman guarding her, the reluctant woman finds herself coming around as numerous attempts on her life are made. "Tight Spot" is a 1950s B-picture and near miss thanks in large part to the off-putting performance of the usually magnetic Ginger Rogers, who tries to channel Judy Holliday's dumb blonde from "Born Yesterday". Edward G. Robinson is solid as usual in a limited role as the district attorney but Rogers, the focal point of the story, does not have the dramatic ability to carry the already lackluster material to the heights it needs to go.

Oklahoma!

At the turn of the century in the title territory, robust cowboy Curly (Gordon MacRae) tussles for the love of Laurey (Shirley Jones) with her cruel and lewd farmhand Jud (Rod Steiger), while a similar scenario plays out between Curly's friend Will (Gene Nelson) and a travelling salesman (James Whitmore), although the unscrupulous hockster is more than willing to, but unable to part with the licentious Ado Annnie (Gloria Grahame). "Oklahoma!" is a booming and delightfully infectious cinematic rendering of the Broadway success, replete with joyous, toe-tapping songs by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Fred Zinnemann's opening up of the stage material to the big screen is always exciting and his cast, escpecially MacRae and Grahame, is consistently excellent (it's a special treat to watch Steiger, whom I didn't realize was in the movie, sing in his sole musical number). "Oklahoma!" is a wonderful throwback to a golden age of movie musicals.

Picnic

On the day of the Labor Day picnic, a strapping drifter appears in a small Kansas town, at first to seek work from his successful classmate. Soon, though he inflames the emotions of the town and steals the heart of his old pal's girl. "Picnic" is an overly soapy adaptation of a William Inge play by director Joshua Logan. Although stars William Holden, Kim Novak, Cliff Robertson, Rosalind Russell, and Arthur O'Connell are strong in fevered segments, I didn't care for the way they were directed overall and their performances often come through as forced and mannered. The title segment in the midsection of the film drags, but it wraps up nicely in a series of heated confrontations.

Kiss Me Deadly

Film Noir is a term coined by the French to describe a certain set of American movies following the close of World War II. These films reflected the feelings of a people thrust into the Nuclear Age and the Cold War Era, and they were films that contained conflicted and imperfect leads, femme fatales, violence, and bleak outlooks and endings. They were cold films and Kiss Me Deadly, one of the later entries in the genre, is downright frigid. From a book by Mickey Spillane, the film stars Ralph Meeker as Mike Hammer, a sleazy private high who handles divorce cases and manipulates his clients. As the film begins, he is driving along the highway when he almost hits a woman in the middle of the road. He offers her a ride and after some conversation, a stop at a gas station, and a roadblock looking for a woman escaped from an institution (guess who it is?), they are stopped and abducted. After being tortured and the girl having been killed, both Hammer and the girl's corpse are placed back in his car and hurled over a cliff, which he unlikely survives. When he comes to, he launches an investigation into what happened and all the while being warned by ominous foes to back off, it leads him to a mysterious box (referred to as a whatsit) which has nuclear implications and may have inspired Tarantino's similar prop in Pulp Fiction. In many ways. Kiss Me Deadly is a standard detective noir, but in other ways it isn't, such as its previously mentioned nuclear undertones. I was surprised how violent and how harsh the dialogue is (Hammer talks to women as if they were dogs), especially for the time it was released. The direction by Robert Aldrich is great and I loved how the camera moved, even if it was ever so slightly. The film moves fast, and the ending is spectacular. Though the film is filled with excess plot which may be unnecessary, this is a dark film worth seeking out.

The Ladykillers

A proper British professor approaches an old lady's front door and rings the doorbell so insidiously that the pet cockatoo inside begins to shudder. The professor is inquiring for a room to rent for his friends to practice their classical music, but it turns out that the professor and his boys are up to a far more devious plan. Classic black comedy from 1955 is filmed with such grace and precision in a manner that is seldom seen today in comedies. It was filmed by Alexander Mackendrick who was known for British comedies, but would go on to direct the classic and searing American film noir "The Sweet Smell of Success". This film is also populated with great character actors including Herbert Lom and a young Peter Sellers as members of the gang, and leading the group as the professor is the wonderful Sir Alec Guinness. With his goofy overbite, Guinness gets every mannerism right of the slimy, devious, yet prim and proper English gentlemen. This was remade by the Coen brothers in 2004 with Tom Hanks in the lead in what many consider to be a flop and the Coen's worst outing, but I found it to be entertaining though still flawed. And, after watching this, I did notice the touch that this original has that the remake was missing. This is an example of comedy done right, a lesson many modern comedic filmmakers could learn from.

***1/2