1940 - CONTRABAND, early and good Powell and Pressburger film

 A film made early in the careers of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger soon to be known as The Archers.  As was to be the case, Powell directs while Pressburger contributes the screenplay.  Contraband is a spy thriller which reminded me of the early Hitchcock films. The film does contain the usual quirky characters that The Archers would specialize and Powell even in this early part of his career is good with his camera setups.

 As a romantic lead The Archers cast of all people Conrad Veidt, a German actor who usually played villains in his English language films.  Veidt was the sorcerer Jaffar in The Thief Of Bagdad, and was memorable as Major Strasser in Casablanca. Veidt played Nazi bad guys during World War II, which is sort of amusing as he was a fervent anti Nazi German.

 Here Veidt is the Captain of a Danish ship who is in pursuit of Valerie Hobson who may or may not be a spy. Veidt is one suave leading man.  Hobson definitely has her mysterious and alluring woman thing going in this film.  Their romantic flirting is very fun to watch.  

 

In a way the film is better than a lot of Hitchcock's early films, Powell and Pressburger always payed careful attention to the characters in their films something Hitchcock would not always do if it got in the way of one of his famous suspense set pieces.  The picture is also greatly aided by the photography of F.A. Young a cinematographer who would later shoot David Lean's super epics.

The running time is a very entertaining 92 minutes

1945 - A WALK IN THE SUN, quiet war film,

 As the Second World War began to wind down, filmmakers started to tell war stories that were more accessible to the general public instead of the usual propaganda  formula that Hollywood churned out during the beginning and peak of the war.  One of these more intimate war films was Lewis Milestone's A Walk In The Sun which focuses on a platoon of soldiers during the invasion of Salerno Italy who are responsible for taking a farmhouse which contains a German machine gun nest.

 

The soldiers are a cross section of "average American Joes."  As the men march towards the farmhouse the screenplay focuses in on their personalities and at times isn't afraid to show the fear that some of the men develop worrying that they might be shot and killed.

 

The film has an excellent cast beginning with the underrated Dana Andrews as Sergent Tyne who  by default ends up leading the mission.  Norman Lloyd is a grumpy private, John Ireland is a minister's son and Sterling Hayden usually associated with comedic roles is the platoon medic.  Burgess Meredith narrates the film, and a ballad is performed throughout the film that counterpoints the action.

 

The film was made on a tight budget, but Milestone's skill still shines through.  When he was at the peak of his ability, Milestone was one of Hollywood's best directors.

The screenplay was by Robert Rossen who went on to become a distinguished director himself.  The running time is 117 minutes

2008 - COMMANCHE MOON, a big disappointment from Larry McMurtry

 The prequel to the great television series Lonesome Dove, this followup is just a complete train wreck of a film.

The film appears to cover the early lives of Larry McCurtry's characters, Captain Woodrow F. Call and Captain Augustus "Gus" McCrae and their time as Texas Rangers.  But the script gives them next to nothing to work with. 

 For a western miniseries there is surprising little action and the film spends most of it's running time on the personal lives of the two central characters.  Unfortunately their personal lives are really not very interesting.  The whole miniseries is just a serious waste of time.

 

Larry McMurtry and his writing partner Diana Ossana adapted McMurtry's book and also have producer credits on this show, so I believe they probably have to carry a lot of the blame for it's complete failure.

The running time is a very long 284 minutes.

1984 - CANNONBALL RUN II, creative disaster or brillant parody

 So shockingly bad as a film it almost had to be deliberate.  The sequel to a film probably nobody wanted and a big career killer for one time box office champ Burt Reynolds.  The film almost defies any attempt to summarize the plot or explain the strange casting that prevails throughout the film.

Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise are part of a racing team with DeLuise also playing his alter ego Captain Chaos and an Italian mobster called Don Canneloni.  Members of Don Canneloni's gang include Abe Vigoda, Alex Rocco, Henry Silva and playwright Michael V. Gazzo.  Hispanic actor Ricardo Montalban plays an Arab Shiek with Jamie Farr playing his son.  It just gets weirder.

Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. are in the film, Frank Sinatra also makes a brief appearance so this is the final bow of the notorious Las Vegas "Rat Pack".  Shirley MacLaine and Marilu Henner are nuns and Susan Anton and Catherine Bach are a couple of drivers not above using their chests to gain an advantage during the race.

 

Throw in appearances by Telly Savalas, Charles Nelson Riley, Tim Conway, Don Knotts, Jim Nabors, Jack Elam and god knows who else and you have a who's who of the 1980's Hollywood performer scene.  Did I mention there is also an orangutan involved. The film was partially financed by Golden Harvest a company that Jackie Chan was associated with so Chan ends up appearing as one of the drivers along with former James Bond villain Richard Kiel. Chan's participation guaranteed box office success in Asia.

 

The mess was directed by Hal Needham a former stuntman who was also a buddy of Burt Reynolds.  Needham was an expert in staging car stunts but not much else, he lets the actors run amok throughout the film.  

Obviously just describing the cast should give you an idea of what you are getting into.  The film was written by Harvey Miller and Hal Needham, the running time is 108 very bizarre minutes.

1962 - THE TRIAL, film version of the Kafka novel

 If you have read Kafka's The Trial or even attempted to read The Trial, one would have to admit Welles stuck very close to the novel in transcribing it's nightmare story for the screen.  

Anthony Perkins is Joseph K, a man being pursued by the authorities for a crime he may or may not have committed.  The issue seems to be that no one will tell him what exactly he has done. Orson Welles plays his lawyer, Romy Schneider is either Welles lover or servant.  Akim Tamiroff  is another of Welles's clients who had gone bankrupt in his encounters with the law.

  

The film is full of Orson Welles's famous baroque touches using light and shadow and has some amazing tracking shots to give the story a real sense of an individual caught up in a bureaucratic mess.

 

Obviously this film is not for everyone, but I would recommend it and place it as one of the more successful films in Welles's eccentric film career.

The screenplay was by Welles and the running time is 118 minutes.

2008 - BURN AFTER READING, a black comedy from the Coen Brothers

This is what I would call a typical Coen Brothers comedy.  The characters are very stupid and the humor is very black.  George Clooney plays a US Marshall who is definitely not the smartest guy in the room.  He is having an affair with the wife of a fired CIA analyst played by John Malkovich.  Malkovich's wife is played by Tilda Swinton in another one of her typically cold performances.

The plot has something to do with some trainers at a local Washington DC gym getting a hold of a computer disc which contains a tell all book about the CIA that Malkovich is writing. Hoping to make money from it the trainers peddle it around Washington DC looking for a buyer.  From there the plot gets more complicated as the actors move through the Coen Brothers complex and very cynical plot turns.

 

Since this is a Coen Brothers film, the level of film making is at their usual highly skilled level.  I believe the problem here is that every character is just incredibly unlikable.  The audience has literally no one to sympathize with.  The film kind of leaves a bad taste in your mouth after it ends.

The Burn After Reading is certainly entertaining enough.  But I think I have come to expect a little more from the Coens.

Written as usual by Joel and Ethan Coen, the running time is 96 minutes.

1974 - THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT, B movie time

Everything about this film just screams B - movie.  To begin with the film is based on a story by Edgar Rice Burroughs, who had brought the world Tarzan.

The cast is headlined by American actor Doug McClure a mainstay mostly on television in particular the TV western The Virginian.  Because it is this kind of a film  there always has to be a girl, Susan Penhaligon is the lucky actor.  The rest of the cast is made up of journeymen British actors affecting German accents.

 

This film has one crazy story line.  During World War I a German U-Boat sinks a British merchant ship,  The survivors of the ship manage to somehow take over the U-Boat and they attempt to sail to a neutral seaport.  Instead they get lost and end up on a continent called Caprona which is full of dinosaurs, volcanoes and cavemen.

 

Well there's lots of fighting and running away from dinosaurs.  The dinosaurs are some sort of special effects using some kind of puppetry, they look kind of cheesy.  To cut to the chase, this film is what it is an adventure film for 12 year boys who like lots of fighting and dinosaurs.

Written by MIchael Moorcock and James Cawthorn, running time 91 minutes.

1997 - THE SECOND CIVIL WAR, surprising still relevent film about politics

 Joe Dante's satire on American politics, the media and just about everything else is 25 years old and the film is surprisingly contemporary considering our present day political climate.

It seems the Governor of Idaho who has been having an affair with a Hispanic news reporter has decided to close his state's borders to any new immigrants.  This prompts a crisis in Washington DC as the President of the United States and his advisors decide to confront the Governor.  Meanwhile a powerful cable news network is manipulating both sides of the crisis in order to secure higher ratings.  The whole situation eventually becomes an armed conflict between the state of Idaho and the Federal government.  While all of this is going on the Governor of Idaho is trying to rekindle his affair with the Hispanic reporter.

This is one of Joe Dante's best films as he skewers both sides of the crisis.  This story allows him to really show his satirical side.  Dante also has an excellent cast in this film.  Beau Bridges is the clueless Governor, Phil Hartman is the ineffectual President.  James Coburn is an advisor to the President who doesn't seem to have much good advice.  Meanwhile at the cable news network, Dan Hedaya is the manipulative news editor.  Dennis Leary is the cynical reporter covering the story and everyone is struggling with how to prevent preempting All My Children during this crisis.

 

The Second Civil War was made for HBO but I doubt they would finance a political satire like this today. Anyway,  the film is a good black comedy.

 

The film was written by Martyn Burke, the running time is 98 minutes.

1945 - HANGOVER SQUARE, efficent film noir

The old mad killer driven insane by voices in his head is given the 20th Century Fox treatment.  Hangover Square features Laird Cregar as a composer trying to finish his concerto before he goes completely "nuts".

 Laird Cregar went on a diet for this film.  He usually played corpulent bad guys but he got himself in shape to perform love scenes with Linda Darnell who plays a conniving music hall singer exploiting Cregar for his talent.  George Sanders is his usual reliable self playing a doctor trying to figure out what is going through Cregar's head.  He's an early version of Lt Colombo I guess.

 

For a modest film Fox had a lot of behind the camera talent involved.  The excellent black and white photography was by Joseph LaShelle who had filmed Laura and Marty to name just a few.  Probably the most important contribution was from the composer Bernard Herrmann.  Herrmann wrote what is now known as the "Concerto Macabre for Piano and Orchestra".  The  Concerto is performed at the end of the film with the director John Brahm filming the scene with all the stops pulled out.

 

Written by Barré Lyndon, the running time is 78 minutes.

1923 - THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, first DeMIlle version

There are film historians who think that Cecil B. DeMille's first version of the biblical story about the Jew's exodus from Egypt,  is a lot better than his Vista Vision epic which he filmed in 1956,  the older version  certainly moves along story telling wise much better than the ponderous and very long version he remade with Charlton Heston.

DeMille and his writer Jeanie MacPherson sure keep things hopping along.  A decision to essentially split the film into two different stories allowed for DeMille to pour on the spectacle of the Bible story with large sets and impressive special effects for 1923.

 After the parting of the Red Sea in the first half of the film, the story jumps ahead to the present day and we get a tale that dramatizes the different Commandments as they apply to modern life. The modern tale is about two brothers, one who follows the Commandments and the other who doesn't and even  bad mouths God.  You know how he is going to end up.

 

Silent film brought out the best in DeMille, his staging and direction of the film is at times quite impressive.  Silent film also helped rein in the worst aspects of his film making, essentially sparing the audience from having to endure the ponderous dialog and wooden performances that usually plagued his sound films.

 

This film is an impressive achievement.  The running time is 136 minutes.