Monday, December 21, 2020

"Mogambo" (1953)

It doesn’t feel like a John Ford movie…and that’s the good news. It’s sexier and feels more ‘adult’ than you usually get with his simplistic fare. A good solid script by John Lee Mahin decidedly helps. Clark Gable is a big game hunter in the wilds of Africa vacillating between the love of two otherworldly beautiful women who just happen to be in his neck of the veldt, lusty Ava Gardner and prim Grace Kelly. (Don’t ask, only in Hollywood, folks.) You could probably make a lot of theories about who’s really the hunter here and who’s the hunted, but why overthink the surface appeal of the gorgeous locations and three iconic leads. Gardner is especially alluring doing her patented ‘earthy’ thing, at turns funny and ravishing. And there’s some authentic wildlife footage mixed into the proceedings, especially some up-close-and-personal stuff of a family of gorillas that’s aces. 




"The Feminine Touch" (1941)

The plot is convoluted and repetitive—two couples jealously mix and mingle— but when you’ve got four leads like Don Ameche, Rosalind Russell, Kay Francis, and Van Heflin delivering the rapid fire dialog and gags with nonchalant ease it’s lighter than air delicious. Director W.S.Van Dyke, who helmed the immensely popular ‘Thin Man’ movies, keeps the laughs coming like soap bubbles that keep popping before your eyes. You admire the sheen and before you know it, POOF!, you’re onto the next funny set-up. 



"Kiss of Death" (1947)

Richard Widmark made an indelible mark on Hollywood history here with one of the most auspicious film debuts ever. His portrayal of villain Johnny Uto is at turns smarmy, funny, engrossing, and chilling…no one had ever seen a pure sociopath depicted on the screen like this. He walks away with the movie in his pocket right under the nose of the earnest lead Victor Mature. The story is solid noir fare. Mature is a two-bit convict made to turn state’s evidence by Assistant D.A. Brian Donlevy against Widmark. Revenge ensues and it makes for some nice suspense set pieces between the two leads. Credit director Henry Hathaway for that and the almost documentary feel of the whole enterprise. And let’s not forget the notorious murder scene with Widmark that’s the definition of twisted. Is is so sick it’s funny…or the other way around? Either way it’s it’s unforgettable.



"Green Fire" (1953)

One of those slick technicolor adventure romances where a bunch of white leading characters entangle with love and intrigue in an exotic locale amongst ‘lesser’ people of color reduced to mere background props. Stewart Granger is a looking for elusive emeralds in the mountains of Colombia. There he meets and woos the beautiful owner of a coffee plantation (Grace Kelly) whose land may or may not contain those green rocks. Granger’s effortless swagger salvages the picture. He’s a got a sense of humor in his delivery, the lovable cad syndrome that always works. Kelly is a little stiff but it suits her character. And boy, does the look great in a bevy of Helen Rose peasant skirts. 



"Sister Kenny" (1946

We’d all prefer our Rosalind Russell as a funny lady. Nobody was better ‘cept maybe Ms. Ball on television. But even a dramatic Roz is better than most actresses anyday. And so here we get her in a sincere if somewhat humorless biopic as the selfless Sister Kenny, an early 20th Century nurse who pioneered treatment for children’s “infant paralysis”, later defined as polio. (You can already see why there are no laughs). Nevertheless it’s quite fun to see the feminist streak running thru the tale as, time and again, the domineering nurse has to defend her theories (and herself) to countless hospital administrations filled with skeptical male doctors. How could a lowly nurse know anything about medical research? It would be nice to say such patronizing practices are a relic of the past, but in this post-feminist #metoo world it’s sad to say they’re not.



Friday, October 16, 2020

"Kings Row" (1942)

It could be argued that Ronald Reagan's greatest performance was as the All American cowboy President, the right-leaning paragon of conservative politics saving the country from all manner of foreign and liberal  evils. His achievements as Commander in Chief didn't really add up to much, but he sure convinced most people otherwise. But what about his career in Hollywood? Most film historians usually point to his supporting role in this glossy Warner Brothers melodrama. It's adapted from a trashy bestseller by Henry Bellaman, one of those multi character page turners that uncovers all the dark secrets behind the sunny facade of SmallTown, USA. Rife with taboos like murder, incest, sadomasochism, psychomania, adultery, and closeted homosexuality it was a given that it be totally scrubbed up and whitewashed for mainstream movie audiences. And for the most part, it works. All the bad stuff is merely hinted at, but what's left still guilty pleasure fun. We watch a group of turn-of-the-century friends grow from children into young adults navigating all sorts of personal tortures and achievements. Reagan is an brash athletic ladies' man, the town stud who's so destined for success you know that a tragic downfall is all but certain. And when it comes it's a doozy, probably his finest (and famous) moment on film. The real standout though is the criminally forgotten Ann Sheridan as the warm hearted girl from the (literally) wrong side of the tracks. There's a lovely genuineness to every scene she's in. Outstanding camerawork by lensman James Wong Howe and a beloved score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold make this a must-view for anybody who loves slick Old Hollywood fare. 



"China Seas" (1935)

You really can't go wrong with a cast like this. Put Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Wallace Beery, and Rosalind Russell aboard a ship in the South China Sea and throw in a love triangle, some gun-running intrigue, a few action sequences, and some snappy dialogue and you come out a winner. This is basically the same set-up as the Gable/Harlow success "Red Dust" from a few years prior, he's the ship's captain, the mancatch torn between a prim socialite (Russell, in what she called her career's "Lady Mary" stage), and an earthier sexpot (guess who). Beery is the piece's villain, trying to pull off the weapons skullduggery under the eyes of Gable. There are no real surprises but it leaves you feeling like you got your entertainment's worth. 



Monday, February 10, 2020

"The Best of Everything" (1959)

The great film critic Pauline Kael once wrote, "Movies are so rarely great art that if we cannot appreciate great trash we have very little reason to be interested in them." This mid-century potboiler is trash of a very high caliber. It's the kind of film you know is "good bad" going in, and you know the filmmakers know you know it too, so everyone just sits back and wallows in the gooey lushness of the proceedings. It was probably a hoot to make and it's an even bigger one to watch. It uses that tried-and-true plot trope of three young women coming to the big city seeking careers and love. From "Three on a Match" to "How To Marry a Millionaire" to "Valley of the Dolls", Hollywood has mined a lot of gold (or at least gold plate) from this set-up. Here, the blonde, brunette, and redhead are Hope Lange, Diane Baker, and Suzy Parker. They're all eager gals in the typing pool of a successful Manhattan publishing company with Big Dreams of moving up the corporate ladder thru hard work...or maybe just snagging that handsome Vice President by the water cooler (here played by cleft-chinned Stephen Boyd). They have to dodge the roaming hands of the old drunken letch in the corner office (Brian Aherne) and the withering condescension of the brittle bitch boss editor, Joan Crawford. Each of the three lovelies falls for her own Mr. Wrong, so there's lots of sturm und drang about pre-marital sex, this being the buttoned down 1950's. Should she or shouldn't she? Only her screenwriter knows for sure. The whole thing plays like a long lost episode of "Mad Men" but without the incisive dialog or character development. But that's not a bad thing. One man's movie trash is another's treasure. The production has that sleek modern sheen of post-War America (the office is in the iconic Seagram Building). Men in gray flannel suits, women in Lilly Daché Juliette caps, lots of burnt orange and turquoise walls with abstract art...it's a mid-century wet dream. Add to that a syrupy score by Alfred Neuman and a title song by Johnny Mathis and it's popcorn time.


Saturday, February 8, 2020

"A Letter to Three Wives" (1949)

A year before he made the classic "All About Eve", director  Joseph L. Mankiewicz made this acerbic   examination of marriage and suburbia. It starts with a gimmicky plot device: a small town she-devil who we only hear in voice-over, sends a poison pen letter to three good friends informing them she's running off with one of their husbands that night, but not which one she's stealing. So each of the ladies (a great cast of Jeanne Crain, Ann Sothern, and Linda Darnell), woolgather into a flashback where we get a snapshot of their marriages. Crain feels socially inadequate to her society husband, Southern is going for that work/life balance in a two career family, and Darnell cunningly married for money. The dialog is snappy and funny and each of the ladies shine, especially Darnell who has a droll way with her character's world-weary pragmatism. Despite it's age the script still feels fresh, maybe it's because women still struggle with the same marital hurdles today. Look for an uncredited Thelma Ritter in one of her first film roles, she swipes the whole picture in a few choice scenes.