Last night we watched an aviation disaster movie called "Fate is the Hunter"(1964), featuring Glenn Ford as "Sam McBane", a former pilot-turned-executive at Consolidated Airlines. As the movie opens he's in the main office, bantering with a co-worker about an upcoming promotion while Captain Rod Taylor prepares for takeoff in on the runway at LAX. The jet is a DC-8 with 53 passengers and crew. Five minutes into the flight, the right engine catches fire. Taylor shuts it down and prepares to return to the airport, compensating with the remaining left engine. Then all hell breaks loose. The left engine's alarm goes off. Taylor figures it's been blown out too and shuts it down. He tries to contact the control tower but the radio's gone dead. With no options left, he tells stewardess Suzanne Pleshette to alert the passengers for a crash landing.
Taylor manages to steady the unpowered jet and aims for a spot on the beach. He brings it in as smoothly as you could hope for, and it looks like they just might make it until..........until a rickety old pier comes into view in the headlights. OMG. Ka-BLAMMO! Everyone aboard is killed.
The first clue that something is up is that Rod Taylor is killed in the first ten minutes. You don't hire a star of that magnitude for such a short stint, unless it was a cameo in the middle of a movie. The second clue is the all star cast, and although most of them have yet to make an appearance, the fact that you've seen them in the credits lets you know that they're all going to play Characters That Have Their Own Stories. Which leads you to the third clue, which is that "this isn't gonna be a plane crash movie after all, but a big budget human interest story, in this case about the honor of the pilot.
I wish I could tell you it was an Epic Human Interest Disaster Flick like "The Freaking Poseidon Adventure", where Shelly Winters is so memorably afraid to swim. The problem with this flick is that it doesn't know what it is. For the first 45 minutes, it looks like an interesting procedural, where an investigation is conducted and everyone but Glenn Ford tries to pin the crash on pilot error. Rod Taylor is painted as a drunken playboy. But Ford defends Taylor, who he's known since the war, and this leads to the middle section of the film, which is 35 minutes of flashbacks. The flashbacks are about The Rod Taylor Ford Knew. He seeks out current witnesses, including ex-fiancees and girlfriends, who remember the same Taylor he did, a devil-may-care ladies man without doubt, but a pilot of great skill who would never endanger his passengers.
Um....er......does anyone remember an infamous review by Robert Hilburn of a Genesis concert in the mid-1980s? This was at the peak of their Phil Collins incarnation when they'd gone from the heights of creative prog to commercial apathy. There was a phrase in Hilburn's review that I never forgot. He said at one point the concert "ground to a halt", as if it slowly ran out of gas. Not that it stopped all at once, mind you. Just that the energy ebbed away until there was nothing left and the performance simply shut down, like a faulty airplane engine.
Apply Hilburn's phrase to the middle section of "Fate is the Hunter" and you have an apt description. The flashbacks begin as Ford ruminates on his war experiences with Taylor, who is portrayed at that time as so carefree a pilot, so sure of his skills, that he belts out off-key renditions of a song called "Blue Moon" while absent mindedly steering the military plane he and Ford are flying. He's then shown calling for a crew member to bring him an accordion so he can accompany himself on a repeat performance, this time over the onboard radio (ostensibly so he can be heard on the ground). Rod Taylor as an actor plays this part so ridiculously that it looks like he's trying for caricature. You're amazed that the director didn't rein him in.
Then we switch to the flashbacks of the former ladies in his life, as Ford makes the rounds to talk to them. First up is Dorothy Malone as his ex-fiancee. Did we mention the all star cast? Well here they come, and everyone is gonna get their "turn" in. Malone, normally a very good actress, is all glitter and glam here, in a role that's basically for nothing as she recounts her failed engagement to the libidinous Mr. Taylor. It's a part straight out of "Dynasty" fifteen plus years later. There's little reason for giving Malone such an elaborate role other than that her contract may have demanded it. Then there's Jane Russell in a prominent wartime cameo, as a USO singer who gives out "dates" as a prize for soldiers who catch a hankie at her concerts. Because she was a big star formerly promoted by Howard Hughes (who was by now wearing Kleenex box shoes), her song gets a full play which takes three minutes, an eternity when trying to maintain plot interest. By now, in addition to what has passed in the flashback diversion from the story, you're wondering "what the Hell is going on? What happened to our disaster plot"? Then comes the Nancy Kwan segement. She plays a oceanographer who was also romanced by Taylor. We've changed locations from a war setting to Marineland in Long Beach. Kwan's reminiscence of her time with Taylor is delivered so lacadasically, by the numbers and without passion that you can almost see her stepping on her duct-taped marks. Her voice lulls you into Snoozeville, and if just before her appearance you were wondering What The Hell Is Going On?, now you are about to fall asleep.....
The movie regains some traction in the third act, when Glenn Ford locates a man who is said to have been with Taylor in a bar, just hours before his fatal flight. Lawyers for the aircraft company are trying to pin the crash on pilot error, meaning Taylor, who they claim was drunk. It turns out he was indeed in the bar, but not for the reasons you think. In this sense the plot pays off, and the payoff is big, but you'll have to wade through that middle section, which feels like it's from a different movie. The fans at IMDB love this flick, and I guess I can see why. It does have the nostalgic feel that goes along with Irwin Allen disaster movies where everyone has a personal story. The problem is that is wasn't made by Irwin Allen. It also has a great early 60s look, and co-stars Suzanne Pleshette, who is inextricably linked with that era. Every boy in America had a crush on her back then, and she was also an excellent actress. Her role is key here, as Glenn Ford decides to solve the case by re-creating Taylor's flight. She was the stewardess in the cockpit when the engines failed. Maybe she'll recall some detail that could have caused it.
I'm gonna be fair and give this movie Two Solid Thumbs Up. Depending on your point of view, it could rate anywhere from Two Huge to Two Thumbs Down, or anywhere in between. Again, the fans love it. You might too, and it's recommended because it's definitely worth seeing. Just be forewarned about the flashbacks. The picture is Cinemascope and razor sharp. ////
The previous night we saw a British ghost story called "Passing Clouds"(1941). It was released under two other titles, the first being "Spellbound", which later conflicted with an Alfred Hitchcock film, so when it was sold for TV it was first changed to "The Spell of Amy Nugent", and then again to the more bland, in my opinion, "Passing Clouds" and here we are. It's the story of a young English lad named "Laurie Baxter" (Laurie being short for Laurence). He's in love with a local shop girl named Amy Nugent. Laurie's mother is well-to-do. She wants him to court the tall, beautiful "Diana Hilton" (Vera Lindsey), who seems to be a boarder at the Baxter estate, home from college. I must step in to note that it was difficult for me to make out Diana's exact relation to the Baxter family. I think she was a boarder, but the soundtrack on Youtube was rough, and the Britspeak is so thick in places that some of the dialogue was unclear. At any rate, Laurie likes Diana just fine, but he adores Amy Nugent and plans to marry her, despite his mother's protestations. "A shop girl? What are you thinking, Laurie"? He doesn't care. They're going to be wed, but then comes the awful news that Amy has taken ill. She's a fragile girl to begin with, and it looks like she won't recover.
Amy does die, and Laurie of course is heartbroken. Diana tries to comfort him, and means well, but Laurie can't get his mind off his true love. One day, a friend of his mother comes to visit. By chance she leaves behind a book on Spiritualism, which includes a section on contacting the dead. Laurie is fascinated with what he reads and tries a few of the methods himself, with minor success. The book is written by a famous English spiritualist named Cathcart whom his mother's friend happens to know. Laurie visits the woman to ask if he can meet the man. "Why yes, he's coming over for a seance tomorrow night". "Would it be okay for me to attend"?, Laurie asks. "I don't see why not". She knows he recently lost Amy and assumes that's the reason for his interest.
Laurie returns the next night for the seance but at first he isn't impressed. He wants immediate proof that Mr. Cathcart is legitimate. "Show me something concrete", he insists. In his own attempts to contact Amy, he thought he caught a glimpse, but it was too brief and vague. It did make him yearn to see more, however, and he's hounding Cathcart as soon as he arrives. "Okay, Mr. Baxter", says the Spiritualist. "I'll show you something if you'll just sit down over there". Laurie sits and Cathcart begins talking. The lady and her friend are sitting at the table as well. Finally, Cathcart asks Laurie to look at his watch. "Why do you ask that? I've been listening to you for the last five minutes". "Just look at your watch", he repeats. Laurie looks. "My God, it's eight o' clock"! Two hours have passed. "Did I fall asleep"? "Not sleep, Master Laurie. You've been in a trance". That's all the convincing Laurie needs. The seance begins shortly thereafter.
During the course of it, Amy Nugent is contacted. Mr. Cathcart talks in her voice. Laurie is spellbound (to quote the original title). She says she's fine, and happy, that she didn't die but just changed form. She asks Laurie to stop grieving because "I want you to be happy for me too". But, she adds, "I don't know if I can contact you again". This last causes Laurie great anguish. When the seance is over, he begs the Spiritualist for another try. "I'd like to actually see her, Mr. Cathcart". Cathcart hesitates. "I don't recommend materialisations for a neophyte like yourself, but if you'll stick to my rules, we can attempt one tomorrow night". Laurie agrees to his terms and awaits the second seance with bated breath.
Meanwhile, another man has entered the fray. He is "Mr. Vincent" (Fredrick Leister), a former student of Cathcart's who's turned against him in a big way. Mr. Vincent hears about Laurie's involment from a friend of his mother's. He contacts Laurie and begs him to stop. "It's evil what Cathcart is doing", Vincent says. "Not that it's fake, as many people claim, but because it's all too real! It's wrong to try and contact the deceased! Worse is materialisation! That's a certain path to Hell, Master Laurie. I beseech you not to go through with it"! But Laurie's already made up his mind.
I'll give you one final plot point. One of Mr. Cathcart's rules at the second seance is that if a materialisation of Amy is achieved, Laurie must not try to touch her. "That could lead to a break in the veil", Cathcart tells him. What he means is that an evil spirit could get through.
In contrast to the love shown for our first film by the fans at IMDB, most of the folks commenting on "Passing Clouds" seem to hate it. I think that's not so much due to the movie itself, which I found hypnotic and suspenseful (not to mention disquieting in the extreme), but because of the subject matter, which is presented as a treatise against spiritual contact. In this day and age, many people see no harm in trying to stay "in touch" with lost loved ones. Most don't practice seances (which along with Ouija boards I'd stay away from), but to just make contact in a beautiful way, by yourself or through someone like James Van Prog Rock, who seems legit, is okay as far as I'm concerned. My point is that you shouldn't pay attention to the fan reviews on that basis. Incidentally, I expected "Passing Clouds" to be more of a purely spiritualistic movie, ala "Portrait of Jennie" and focusing on the romance. As it turns out, the emphasis is on horror. It's good either way and gets Two Big Thumbs Up from me. As noted, the soundtrack is somewhat damaged in places, so listen with headphones and you'll be okay. The picture is soft, too, but good enough to be watchable. Don't miss "Passing Clouds", it's highly recommended. ////
That's all I've got for tonight and now we're all caught up. I wish you a nice evening and I send you Tons of Love as always. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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