Saturday, November 26, 2016

"Caged" (1950)

The Grandmamma of all women's prison pictures. And if the mention of that phrase conjures up all the tropes of the genre, just ripe for parody and played for laughs, there's always a source for those cliches and "Caged" is it. But there's no humor here. This hard-edged and soul-stripping noir is very serious stuff. Eleanor Parker gives a sensational performance (she was justifiably Oscar nominated) as a meek little wife who's sent up for armed robbery as an accessory to her husband's two bit larceny. As the main credits close, so do the bars on her entry into the tough brutal world of a woman's penitentiary. And even tho she's got a champion in the prison's sympathetic warden (a surprisingly warm Agnes Moorehead), she's got to survive this ugly world and grapple with the biggest, baddest cell block guard of them all, Faith Emerson. Nasty, conniving, vindictive...this is the Queen Bitch you don't want to cross, but Parker does, and through the course of her struggle, she transforms before your eyes into a merciless hardened creature. Parker is so stunning it's a pity Hollywood never really knew how to harness her talents later in her career (no, Baroness Schrader in "The  Sound of Music" doesn't count). Warner Brothers and underrated director John Cromwell mount a first rate production and even infuse it with some cautionary messaging about our penal system that still applies today.

Friday, November 25, 2016

"Sunset Boulevard" (1950)

One of the best movies ever made. Period. If you've never seen it, or don't know what's it's about, it begs the question, "What cultural rock have you been hiding under?" There's probably not much of value I can add here that hasn't already been said umpteen times (and probably better), about this unique film noir that breaks all the rules of the genre and, despite its being set firmly in the last mid-century still resonates for a current audience. The best films take on new and different shadings based on what life stage you view them. It's a simple story of a good looking young Hollywood screenwriter who becomes the kept man of an older, former silent movie screen star. There's much more, but that's the basic plot. As a young viewer, you see the woman (Gloria Swanson in an iconic performance for the ages), as a creepy monster clutching at the hunk (and boy, is William Holden a hunk). Years later, you realize he's the no-talent monster, preying on the generosity and fragile psyche of the lonely Swanson. And in 2016, the film plays as sad commentary on our obsessive  Culture of Youth, our fear of aging, and the societal stigma we (still) put on older woman/younger man relationships. Yes, it's takes a lot of shots at Hollywood, but that's an easy target. It's the larger themes that haunt all our minds and our "faces out there in the dark". This is cinema GOLD. Do yourself a favor, see it.

Thursday, November 24, 2016

"The Thomas Crown Affair" (1968)

An unparalleled triumph of style over substance. Some movies you watch for the deft plotting or the character development, some maybe for the crackling dialog. This movie has none of those things. What it does have is visual panache in spades. The unquestionable King of Cool in the 1960's was Steve McQueen. He attained that rare nexus that few actors achieve: men wanted to be him, women wanted to do him. Here, his aloof masculinity is put to perfect use as a millionaire financier whose hobby is masterminding perfect bank heists just for the thrill of it. He's pursued by an insurance investigator played by Faye Dunaway who was just cresting her own chic a la mode notoriety on the heels of her iconic role in "Bonnie and Clyde". Nothing really happens, the plot is just an excuse for these two beautiful specimens to traipse through a world of money, clothes, sports, cars, and architecture, it's a "Playboy" photo spread come to life. There's no better time capsule pictorial of what the American Male of the mid-century deemed desirable. And to add even more style to the proceedings, director Norman Jewison utilizes a multi-frame editorial device in key sequences to heighten the visual stimulus. Think of a Modrian painting populated with elegant eye candy pictures, all to the haunting strains of the movie's earworm love theme, "The Windmills of Your Mind". Oh, and don't forget one of the sexiest seduction scenes ever filmed where the leads do nothing but play...chess! Unforgettable sophistication.


Wednesday, November 9, 2016

"Kitty Foyle" (1940)

Gingers Rogers had some pretty stiff competition the year she won the Academy Award for best actress in this sudsy melodrama...Joan Fontaine in "Rebecca", Bette Davis in "The Letter", and Katherine Hepburn in "The Philadelphia Story"...each of them powerhouse performances, all still memorable. Rogers' ace in the hole was that her natural and likable portrayal of a working girl torn between two lovers who each propose to her on the same night, came as a complete departure from all those lighter-than-air musicals she did with Fred Astaire. She get's to really act, but it's a sincere, self effacing performance. Told completely in flashbacks, we learn how she got in this enviable fix between the good looking and charming Main Line scion (Dennis Morgan), and the good looking and charming young doctor (James Craig). You can probably figure out the denouement ahead of time,  but it's fun waiting until the last line of the picture to really find out who she chooses. Just hang on for some gut wrenching waterworks along the way (I said it was a melodrama, didn't I?) And for all you trivia lovers, this is the movie that inspired the garment industry term "Kitty Foyle dress", a dark fabric shirtwaist frock with white collar designed by costumer ReniĆ© that Rogers wears, it was mass produced for years afterward.

Monday, November 7, 2016

"The Red House" (1947)

Is it possible for a movie to be film noir and not be set in the dark alleys and shadowy streets of the city? If any movie successfully comes close to pulling it off then "The Red House" is it. Helmed by Delmer Daves (he would direct a fine noir the following year with Bogie and Bacall, "Dark Passage") this atomospheric mystery thriller takes place entirely in the bucolic world of a sleepy rural community. But with the angst and psychological feel of the noir genre. Kindly farmer Edward G. Robinson and his sister, Judith Anderson, have an adopted teenage daughter (Allene Roberts). She's got a crush on a local boy (Lon McCallister) who's the new hired hand. Trouble begins when the teens ignore the dire warnings of Robinson and start to venture off the farm and into the local woods, a place he has deemed strictly verboten because, well, there's a mysterious red house their where spooky unmentionable things once happened. Are you starting to catch all the not-so-subtle symbolism here? Forbidden places, burgeoning sexuality, coming of age, it's all here at a fever pitch. Throw another couple of naughty teens into the forrest, played by the unbelievably gorgeous Rory Calhoun and Julie London, who vie for our heroes' budding love and libidos, and you've got a steamy stew of secrets and young lust that would make Bruno Bettelheim blush. From Little Red Riding Hood to the Blair Witch, there's always a good scare to be had when you go deep into the woods. Follow this troupe and you won't be disappointed.