1960 - SINK THE BISMARK! - the stiff upper lip of the British Navy film

This is one of those films where navy officers, in this case the British, push little models around a table top map while the audience tries to figure out what is going on and who is doing what to whom.  Sink The Bismark is in the tradition of the British stiff upper lip school, where nobody is allowed to show any emotions and everything is very proper and dignified.

 

Kenneth More is the lead stiff upper lipper, he doesn't dare show any emotion because he thinks it's a sign of weakness.  Of course by the end of the film he is a sobbing crybaby. Dana Wynter is his hot British assistant.  The rest of the case is the usual bunch of British actors found in these types of movies. Laurence Naismith, Michael Horden, Esmond Knight etc.  

 

The film stays fairly close to the facts as the British Navy hunts down the pride of the Nazi navy,  battleship Bismark. The model and miniature work is at a very high caliber.  The director Lewis Gilbert does a good job of moving the story along.  Overall, a fairly decent war film.

 

Written by Edmund H. North, the running time is 97 minutes.

1657 - THE ADMIRABLE CRICHTON , aka PARADISE LAGOON

Kenneth More is Crichton the resourceful butler in the James Barrie play about a manservent  and the upper class people he serves.  The Barrie play speculates about what happens to class structure when situations are reversed and the masters become the servants. 

The satire and social commentary are mild for the most part.  Barrie makes his points but nothing is really taken very seriously.  This film is far from a rallying cry to overthrow the British ruling class.

The film is well done, the acting fine, this is what was called a civilized entertainment once upon a time.

 94 minutes.

1979 - MOONRAKER, Bond in space

As some critic exclaimed at the time when Star Wars made a bunch of money,  it was inevitable the Bond producers would do a James Bond in space film.  Moonraker is Outer Space Bond, it's also a remake of You Only Live Twice, The Spy Who Loved Me and pieces of scenes lifted from about every other Bond film, a disjointed sloppy mess.  

Roger Moore is really walking through this film.  Even he can't seem to work up a lot of energy in this one.  The lead Bond girl isn't really much of a girl.  Lois Chiles is hopeless as an actor but I guess she fit the bill as an attractive age appropriate love interest for Moore.  The producer brought back the character "Jaws" for this film but they had to turn him into a good guy who helps Bond this time box office demands being what they were. 

Moonraker is a film that essentially just bumbles along from one action set piece to another, a boat chase, another boat chase, a fight, another fight, another fight, battle in space a la Star War the list is kind of endless.

However, Moonraker has a few things to keep a person watching.  The amazing skydiving fight scene done with real stunt men is very cool.  Ken Adam's sets particularly towards the end of the film with the space station and the Moonraker base.  The special effects by Derek Meddings are at a very high standard.  Music by John Barry.  Overall the production has that glossy expensive look that the producer Albert Broccoli brought to all of the Bond films there was never any cheapskate sets or locations while he was producing.

For all the work that went into the film, its too bad it wasn't just a little better.

126 minutes written by Christopher Wood.

1967 - YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, on Blu Ray

You Only Live Twice is essentially a mash up of scenes from the fout previous James Bond films.  Almost every action piece had already been done in Dr No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger and Thunderball.  You Only Live Twice just made them more bombastic.  Roald Dahl a writer of semi-twisted and oddball short stories was hired to put together an original screenplay, but it appears that the the producers Saltzman and Broccoli were the primary influence on this film.  

Bigger is better in You Only Live Twice, the sets, the locations, the gadgets and the spectacular climax.  The director Lewis Gilbert probably had his hands full just setting up his shots.  The editor Peter Hunt shot the 2nd unit footage and did a major recut of the film after the first screening came in at three hours. 

Sean Connery is still fun to watch as James Bond.  He certainly had the drill down by film # 5.  However the real star of the film is the famous Ken Adam volcano set which was built full scale at Pinewood studios.  Even 46 years later it still looks very impressive.

You Only Live Twice on Blu Ray and a decent sized television screen looks pretty spectacular.  The photography by F. A. Young has the glossy look that a major production could pull together with the best technicians.  Overall the film is still very entertaining if derivative in the Sean Connery/James Bond series.

117 minutes, written by Roald Dahl of all people.

1961 - THE GREENGAGE SUMMER, aka The Loss of Innocence

Based on a novel from Runmer Godden and similar to Godden's The River which was filmed by Jean Renoir.  The Greengage Summer is a coming of age story which is unusually well done when you put it up against something like The Blue Lagoon or that sleezefest The Lovers.

The film was amusingly enough directed by Lewis Gilbert, photographed by F.A. Young and edited by Peter Hunt who all worked together on You Only Live Twice.  That this bunch could make a film about teenage girls without descending into exploitation is probably due to Godden's story which isn't afraid to make the teenagers immature and unlikable at times.

The film has a good cast with Kenneth More who usually played light comedy roles and Susannah York as the teenager way in over her head doing the little girl tease thing.

99 minutes, written by Howard Koch.