Planet of the Apes

An astronaut (Charlton Heston) exploring the vast reaches of space crash lands on a far off planet inhabited by a superior race of speech capable apes who keep primitive humans as slaves. Captured, tortured, and set for experimentation he now must prove his supremacy to his subjugators while discovering the horrible truth of this new land. Cheesy, shoddy looking, and carelessly directed by Franklin J. Schaffner with a hammy Heston performance, Planet of the Apes is still watchable and fun at first plus it contains the justifiably famous finale. Rod Serling’s dumb dialogue in a screenplay he cowrote from a Pierre Boulle novel belongs more so to his Twilight Zone than a full-length feature film.

** ½ out of ****

Patton/The Last Days of Patton

Patton

Sent to command the undisciplined and outmatched American outfit in 1943 North Africa, General George Patton leads his troops to victory over Rommel and on into Italy where his great success was challenged by his own ego, stubbornness, and pride. George C. Scott towers over Franklin J. Schaffner's epic WWII biopic in a commanding, larger than life, and even sensitive performance, one of the greatest ever committed to celluloid. Francis Ford Coppola's Oscar winning screenplay is intelligent, humorous, and highly watchable, and Karl Malden contributes excellent support as General Omar Bradley. 

**** out of ****

The Last Days of Patton

Sixteen years following the release of Patton, Scott returned to the role for the made for TV movie which details the great General's difficulties in overseeing the reconstruction of postwar Bavaria, his relegation to a toothless, bureaucratic position, and his impending death following a road accident. The Last Days of Patton marks a continuation of Scott's iconic, still remarkable performance in a mildly engaging, overlong movie which suffers from flashback structure which details Patton's years as a young soldier.

*** out of ****

Papillon

Based on an incredible story whose veracity has been called into question, "Papillon" tells the story of Henri Charriere (Steve McQueen), a French thug convicted of murdering a pimp and sent to Devil's Island. There he befriends a shifty, resourceful inmate (Dustin Hoffman) and begins his dire efforts to become the first escapee of the notorious penal colony. Franklin J. Schaffner's film, with a screenplay by Dalton Trumbo, is overlong, but very good in parts, and demonstrates the evident star power of McQueen. Hoffman makes some irritating acting choices as his screen partner.

The Best Man

At the Democratic National Convention, two candidates have emerged as front-runners for their parties next presidential nominee: a time tested pragmatist (Henry Fonda) and a McCarthy-like tyrant (Cliff Robertson) whose thirst for the presidency knows no bounds. Soon the backroom deals for crucial endorsements and political backbiting begin, with damning oppositional evidence falling into both leading candidates hands. "The Best Man" is Gore Vidal's cynical adaptation of his satirical stage play, providing a seemingly behind closed doors account of the wicked ongoings of our electoral process. As expected, Fonda is excellent as the tried Senator and Robertson is no less his equal as his vicious rival.  The supporting cast is likewise excellent, with Lee Tracy as the current president, and Margaret Leighton and Edie Adams as the candidate's respective wives being particular standouts. Although the nastiness of today's political climate, and in particular betwixt the two lackluster nominees pandering your vote today, make the political jostling in this movie seem like a friendly round of golf, Vidal's script still demonstrates how the worst (though not in all cases) in human nature can be brought out of us through politics.