I'm running a little bit late again, but here's last night's blog :
Tonight's movie was an excellent adventure called "Sailor of the King", starring Jeffrey Hunter as a Canadian signalman enlisted in the British navy during WW2. He's sailing with a convoy that is tasked with locating and destroying the "Essex", a powerful German "raider" with long-range guns that has been causing havoc for the British fleet in the Pacific. This is another one of those points where I must cut in and say that I had no idea the Royal Navy ever was operating in the Pacific Ocean. Didn't a similar issue come up a few blogs ago? Well anyway, apparently they did have ships in the Pacific (WW2 extended to the far corners of the globe) and in the story, Hunter's co-star Michael Rennie is leading the convoy in one of three battleships. In their first confrontation with the Essex, one of the Royal ships is sunk. Rennie is now doubly determined to catch and sink the German behemoth, but the plot structure is unusual and it's only half his film.
Let me explain. The movie opens with a ten minute sequence that, as the film progresses, seems so out of place that it's like it was inserted from a different movie altogether. Following the opening credits, a younger Rennie boards a train, headed for home and some R&R in the middle of World War One. He's already a Navy captain, but in his compartment on the train he meets a very proper and reserved English lady (Wendy Hiller), and after she attempts to ignore him, soon they are engaged in conversation and within five minutes (in movie time) they're in love, staying at an Inn after she misses her stop. What's unusual about this segment is that it's fully developed as a dramatic sequence, so much so that - as the opening scene in the film - you are wondering if you clicked on the wrong movie. Wendy Hiller was a legendary actress (and Rennie was very good as well), and so for the first ten or twelve minutes you are watching what looks like a classic English Period Romance. Near the end of the sequence, Rennie has proposed to Hiller but she declines, saying that a sailor will always love the sea more than any woman. It's played as heartbreaking, and as the movie shifts into the main plot - that of a naval battle - you are left wondering "what was that opening sequence all about"?
And as the story shifts, so does it's main star. Jeffrey Hunter takes over, as a sailor who is determined to sabotage the Essex after he is taken aboard the German ship, as a survivor of the sunken English vessel. He is willing to give his life in the effort, because he knows the rest of the convoy is on it's way and will eventually catch up to the Essex, which is now anchored in the Galapagos Islands. This is a Grade A movie, with superb battle scenes and top notch black and white photography, including some incredible artillery footage. Jeff Hunter is a dedicated action hero, and Michael Rennie (best known as the Alien in "Day the Earth Stood Still)" is appropriately dignified and stoic as the fleet Commander. Peter van Eyck is good as always as the platinum blonde German captain, and overall this is one of the best Navy films we've seen in some time, running tight and fast at 82 minutes.
But still, you're gonna be wondering "what's the deal with that opening sequence"?
And you may just get an answer. Of course, I can't tell you if you do or not, but by all means watch "Sailor of the King". It's highly recommended and gets Two Big Thumbs Up from me. /////
I wish I could say the same for Saturday night's movie : "Tight Spot"(1955), starring Ginger Rogers as a brassy broad from Brooklyn with the proverbial Heart of Gold, who is doing time in a New York women's prison for crimes unspecified. Shortly after the movie opens, she's offered a commutation of her sentence if she will testify in Federal court against a big league Italian Mafioso (Lorne Greene) with whom she's had a fleeting acquaintance. The Feds, headed up by Edward G. Robinson, have been trying to get this crook for ages. Finally they have a charge that will stick; he's recently entered the country illegally, on a rich crony's yacht. As a model and Good Time Gal, Ginger was on that yacht. Edward G. implores her to do the right thing and testify against Greene, promising the full protection of the U.S. Federal Justice System, but she's aware that a previous witness was assassinated on his way to the Grand Jury. No wonder she's reluctant to agree to Robinson's deal, even if it means getting out of prison. Indeed, "It's the only place I feel safe", she tells him. But he pulls her out of prison anyway, just to try and convince her.
At present, she is holed up in the St. Charles Hotel with Detective Brian Keith as her protector. He's from NYPD and working under the aegis of Robinson and the Feds. To prime Ginger, they offer her carte blanche on the hotel's swanky menu. Keith also starts to fall for her and spends his own money to buy her a beautiful dress. But she's just not gonna talk. Lorne Greene and his henchmen are too deadly, and all-pervading. Heck, the police have already stopped two attempts by the bad guys to enter the hotel and do away with Miss Ginger, so who can blame her for keeping a zipped lip?
I always check IMDB before watching any movie on Youtube, just to look at it's rating number and to take a quick glance at the most prominently placed review. "Tight Spot" had a 6.6, which is pretty good considering the fickle fans of filmdom. It was described as a Noir, and the fan review posted at the bottom of the page referred to the title this way : "'Tight Spot' - an excellent position to be in". That was enough to sell me, so I pressed play, saw that the print was not only razor sharp but in widescreen, and I settled in for what I expected to be not only an exciting noir, but one with a notable cast and grade-A budget. And on all of those counts I was not disappointed.
How.....ever (and this is one of those Howevers where you have to separate the syllables, or at least the "How" and the "ever", and draw out the distance between them, because you are trying to show an Abrupt Turnaround in your opinion of the film. In short, you must make "Howwwww........evvverr" sound like a Long, Slow Pronouncement.
Did you do your "however"? Okay, good. Mine amounted to this : I went in expecting a noir, and for the first ten minutes, it looked like that was what I was gonna get. The first witness was shot dead on the courthouse steps right after the movie began. Then they cut to the prison, where Ginger Rogers was called to the Warden's office for her chance to be released.
Okay fine. But then she winds up her room at the St. Charles Hotel with Brian Keith, and for the next 70 minutes, the noir goes out the window and you are subjected to a barrage of words that even the hardiest viewer will be recoiling from.
This is another movie I hate to criticize, in this case because Rogers is the centerpiece, and if there was ever a likable actress it is Ginger Rogers, especially in her non-Astaire films where she was proving herself on her own. Her range was not wide, but in the films we've seen and reviewed, she always turned in a quality dramatic performance, playing down to earth characters with a light comedic touch.
In short, we love Ginger here at the blog, because how can you not, but it is with regret that I admit I found myself in a "Tight Spot" as well, as to whether or not I was gonna make it through the movie........
Because it wasn't really a noir, but a wordfest, set in a hotel room, and it's important to remember that the film was based on a play. Normally, when such an adaptation is written, some of the verbiage is excised and action inserted, for the purpose of maintaining cinematic energy. In plays, the audience is relying on the actors to enliven a Static Stage, and they do so by reciting reams of dialogue. But in movies, the advantages are manifold - there are sets, and locations, and a moving camera, and a soundtrack including all kinds of music and effects to color and fill out the plotline. In short, there are other ways, besides endless dialogue, to move the story along.
So Holy Smokes, why did the director in this case make this film like a play?
Even the usually stalwart Edward G. Robinson cringes under the bombardment, and at one or two points onscreen, you can watch as he pauses, not in character but as an actor in the scene, as if to show that he's overwhelmed. I want to stress that none of this is Ginger Rogers' fault. The film was clearly a star vehicle for her, but the director didn't know when to pull back or cut away from her character......and after awhile you feel you are taking a beating. I myself was on the ropes by the 30 minute mark, and I struggled to finish the film. T'was only by herculean effort that I made it.
"Tight Spot" did become a true noir in the final twenty minutes, and there is a twist and a resulting payoff, but the going is pretty rugged in getting there. I was surprised to read the reviews afterwards and see how many fans enjoyed the movie - and you might also - but despite the razor sharp print and solid production values, and good acting, I'm afraid I can't recommend it because of the sheer effort it takes to sit through. I'm still gonna give it one and a half thumbs - held sideways - because of Ginger, but that's as good as I can do. Give it a try, though, you might like it better than I did.
But make sure and watch "Sailor of the King".
That's all for the moment. Have a great afternoon. Tons and tons of love!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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