Finally, "Casablanca" (plus a Veddy Brrrittissh Murder Mystery)

Well, you can give me my diploma now, I've graduated from Movie University. Yep, I finally saw "Casablanca", and I must say it certainly lives up to it's reputation. It's a Noir, a war film and a classic romance all rolled into one, a multifaceted story that works on every level. There are very few perfect motion pictures in the world, but Casablanca is one of them. I feel a little silly writing about it because of it's iconic status, but I'll give you a plot synopsis in case you're like me and haven't seen it (but wait a minute - now I have!)   

"Rick Blaine" (Humphrey Bogart) runs the Cafe Americain in Casablanca. It's a hotbed of intrigue, as Morocco is a colony of unoccupied France but still under the thumb of the Nazis and overseen by the collaborating Vichy government. One night, Peter Lorre enters and asks for Rick's help. Lorre's got some transit letters that were stolen from German couriers. The letters are certificates that guarantee safe passage out of the country. He wants Rick to hide them because he expects to be arrested. The couriers were also murdered and Lorre's the likely suspect. He dies in a shootout with the Gestapo. Rick hides the letters as requested.

There are many Europeans in Casablanca, expatriates and others who are fleeing the Germans. Some are desperate to escape to America. The regional Gestapo chief - a "Major Strasser" (Conrad Veidt) - has put a hold on one would-be emigre, a man named "Victor Laszlo" (Paul Henried). Laszlo is the leader of the Czech underground. Strasser's in Casablanca specifically to prevent him from leaving. He tells "Captain Louis Renault" (Claude Rains) to refuse Laszlo a visa. Renault is the Prefect of French Police. He puts on a happy face for everyone and is noncommittal in his politics, but when push comes to shove he's likely to side with the Nazis, to avoid trouble.

As for Rick himself, he's just trying to run his club. He was once a freedom fighter who assisted in Ethiopia, but he got arrested and now prefers to stay neutral. "The only side I take is my own", he tells people. It might as well be his motto.

But one night Victor Laszlo does come in. On his arm is Ingrid Bergman. "Of all the gin joints in the world, she has to walk into mine", says Rick. It's just one of the many lines of dialogue in this film that have become part of the cinematic lexicon. Seeing Bergman knocks Rick off balance because they were once lovers in Paris. That was in 1940. But in rolled the Nazi juggernaut and they got split up. Now suddenly she's here, in Rick's very own cafe. But she's with another man. "Of all the gin joints" indeed.   

The crux of the plot hinges on the hidden transit letters. Rick's got 'em stashed away; Laszlo and Bergman need two, so they can leave Morocco. Legally speaking, even Major Strasser can't prevent them from flying out if they have signed transit letters in their possession. But Bogie won't give them any. He's still mad at Ingrid Bergman for ditching him in Paris. They were madly in love, but she left him at the train station. Getting her out of his heart took everything he had, and he's become cynical in the process. Bergman had a reason for leaving Paris without him (which I can't tell you) but Bogie doesn't care to hear it. "If you loved me you'd have been there", he says. She does love him though. Man what a heartbreaker. Laszlo's between them, yet he's a good man. It's gotta be the all-time romantic triangle in movies.

That's as basic a synopsis as I can give you, because there are many other characters and minor plot threads. There's always something buzzing at Rick's. There's Sidney Greenstreet, owner of a rival cafe. Greenstreet's always asking to buy Rick out. He's happy in Casablanca and knows how to play the game. As a black market specialist, he keeps a low profile. Greenstreet represents suave diplomacy as does Claude Rains. Both know how to go along and get along, and how to profit along the way. But Greenstreet doesn't have to deal much with the Nazis, unlike Rains. So he's the picture's smoothest operator.

Bogart on the other hand, is a cool cucumber but only until Bergman arrives. Then he turns cold and hard. He projects icy stoicism and resentment. She's the flame that wants to melt him. Love takes center stage for a while, but don't forget "Casablanca" is a war film. In war, which looms larger, love or duty? I can't reveal that, either (and I know you've probably seen the film a dozen times so you don't need me to!), but let's just say that "Here's lookin' at you, kid" is the most romantic line ever uttered in motion picture history, and also the most tearjerking.

You know how so many catch phrases originate from Shakespeare or the Bible? "Casablanca" is like that, in a cinematic way, beginning with "Play it, Sam" (not "play it again"), and ending with "This could be the start of a beautiful friendship". And let's not forget "Sam" (Dooley Wilson", the piano player. He maintains the mood with multiple renditions of "As Time Goes By". Paul Henreid provides the class and honor, Conrad Veidt the pervasive threat. He plays Major Strasser as a sneering, smiling Nazi boss who knows he's hated yet still remains polite. Nazis in the movies are always wanting to be liked, to not be seen as evil.

I'll leave my review there, but hey! do I get a pat on the back? I mean for finally seeing the movie after all this time. Excuse me?........what's that you're saying?...........oh yeah, well you're right : I still have yet to see "Gone With the Wind". Maybe you'd better hold off on that diploma. /////

The previous night we enjoyed a veddy Brrrittisssh murder mystery, "Account Rendered"(1957), starring Ursula Howells as "Lucille Ainsworth", the self-indulgent wife of a banking executive. She revels in luxury and lives to spend money, which is easy when you've got a rich husband. But she spends more than he brings in. Where are the extra trinkets coming from, that gold necklace for example? Is there another man in her life?

In fact there are several. They aren't all romances, but when Lucille turns up dead, each one becomes a suspect. It's a Ten Little Indians plot, tightened up to fit the 59 minute running time. The Brits don't fool around when it comes to solving murders. 

After an unpleasant dinner with a bickering married couple, the Ainsworths return home to their mansion. Later on, Lucille sneaks out thinking hubby is asleep, but he isn't. He follows her to the heath (a grassy area), where he sees her with another man. But worse, he watches as the man kills her and runs away. Terrified, he hurries back to his car but falls and bumps his head, resulting in a large bruise. This will make him the prime suspect when the police inspector comes calling, which he does in the middle of the night. "I didn't do it", says Mr. Ainsworth, but aren't those famous last words?

In addition to Ainsworth, there's another main suspect - an artist with whom the wife was having an affair. It began when she hired him to paint her portrait, which turned out gaudy and salacious. "I was bringing out the Inner You", he explained. She didn't find that amusing. Did an argument with the artist lead to her death? We don't know yet. The Inspector is still running through the clues.

There's also the bickering couple, an adversarial man and wife. He hates her because she's always complaining; she hates him because he constantly fools around, and she's sure one of his conquests was Mrs. Ainsworth. 

You can take your pick : there's also the Ainsworth's lawyer, who warned that a bankruptcy was coming. Did he kill Mrs. Ainsworth, to stop her maniacal spending and save his job? I guarantee you'll guess back and forth, like I did. One thing you'll appreciate is the English efficiency with dialogue. One fan at IMDB mentioned that it's like a radio drama; it's so well written you could listen without watching the screen and still understand what is going on. Though it uses the Ten Little Indians format, it's not as simplistic as those films often are. It's not limited to a single location, for one thing. The characters have depth because of strong acting, almost a given in British pictures. 

I give "Account Rendered" Two Big Thumbs Up. It's short (which we love) but plays like a full length crime film. And, the Youtube print is razor sharp so you can't go wrong. /////

That's all I know for tonight. Today's prog album was "Civilian" by Gentle Giant. I also snuck in Matching Mole as a bonus. I'm reading "The Little Sleep" by Paul Tremblay and waiting on the new Bill Clinton/James Patterson thriller, "The President's Daughter", which should arrive soon at the library.

Hope you had a great day. I send you Tons of Love as always!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Glenn Ford and Gene Tierney in "The Secret of Convict Lake", plus "Secret of the Whistler" (hey, that's two "Secrets"!

Last night I watched a Western with an interesting premise. In 1871, six escaped convicts survive a harrowing climb over the Sierra Nevada mountains during a blizzard, to arrive in a small valley near Owens Lake. Night has fallen and they see the light from a community of log cabins. Their leader (Glenn Ford) suggests they play it safe by posing as miners. They're hungry and need shelter from the storm. But when they reach the cabin village, they see that only women are present. One convict (Zachary Scott, the most cunning of the bunch) tries to take advantage but finds out quickly that the ladies are handy with guns. Gene Tierny points a rifle at Scott and threatens to blow his head off.

The movie was called "The Secret of Convict Lake"(1951), and it's something of a women's picture, as the ladies in the village have to fend for themselves throughout this encounter. Their husbands are all away in the silver mines. 

During the initial standoff, Tierney notices a leg iron on one of the men. Their cover is blown and the women become even more fearful. Ethyl Barrymore, the eldest and most resolute of the ladies, joins Tierney and trains her pistol on the convicts. "I realise the weather's not conducive to traveling, so we'll let you bunk down here for the night. But it's gonna be in the empty cabin way down at the end of this row. One of us'll bring you something to eat later on. In the morning I want you out of here. If you try anything you'll find out how good we are with these guns".

Ford sizes up the situation, tells Scott to back down, and orders the group to do as they've been told. "We'll figure something out once we're alone", he mutters. But secretly, he already has a plan worked out in his head. The convicts haven't arrived at the cabins by chance. Ford led them there deliberately, without telling them he wants revenge on a man he believes lives there : the man who framed him for murder.

Now, Zach Scott has a hunch that Ford knows something he's not telling. "What about that forty thousand you've got hidden? Is it here"? Prisoners share stories, so Scott's aware of Ford's crime and conviction. In addition to murder, Ford was sentenced for a bank robbery that netted 40 Gees. "You'd better fess up", Scott tells him, "cause if I find you're holdin' out on me I'll kill ya". Scott's a loose cannon who challenges Ford for group leadership. On his side is a tough thug named "Matt" (Jack Lambert). Of course, nobody threatens Glenn Ford and gets away with it, even if they're bigger and crazier. Ford swears he knows nothing about what happened to the money. "I didn't hide it and I have no idea where it is". That turns out to be the truth. The only reason Ford's here is to get even.

The next morning, Ford questions Tierney. "Does a man named Rudy live here by any chance"?

"Why do you ask that"?, she wonders.

"I heard one of you mention it last night". That's not true; nobody mentioned it. He already knows Rudy, who helped Ford commit the bank robbery. Rudy was given immunity for testifying against Ford, and framed him for the murder he committed. Rudy is also Gene Tierney's fiance. "There's no one here by that name", she replies. Ford suspects different, and has another card to play to buy the men more time in the village. The youngest of the convicts has a fever. "He won't last long in the mountains if you throw us out today", Ford says to Ethyl Barrymore. She agrees to let them stay until the kid's fever breaks. "But the same rules apply", she advises. "As soon as he's better, you're gone".

Meanwhile, Zach Scott's getting uppity. He wants to try and take away the women's guns. He's also hot for one of them, the spinsterish Ann Dvorak. On the second night he gets her alone and pins her up against a wall, saying more or less "you know you want me". She's terrified and slaps his face. It's a sexually threatening scene that leads to what comes next. Dvorak becomes so nervous that she accidentally starts a fire in the barn. The convicts come running, to man the water buckets. They also pull the horses to safety. This wins them sympathy from Barrymore, who lightens up a little and allows them to stay for the time being.

I found that plausible, because even though the men are escaped convicts, Ford has been speaking for the gang in a quiet, respectful way for the most part. But after the barn scene, what I found difficult to believe was the abruptness of the change of heart by two of the ladies, primarily Ann Dvorak. Her character is mistrustful of men, never having had a relationship. When Zachary Scott confronts her, he uses macho charm rather than physical violence, but he's still acting as a sexual aggressor. He doesn't hurt Dvorak, but scares her nevertheless. In the 1950s-style melodramatic plot, the unspoken undercurrent is that she's "turned on" by this, and the next thing you know, a day later, she throws herself at Scott. Suddenly they're in a classic Motion Picture Makeout Clinch, an she's ready to run away with him. To me, that just didn't add up, but as I say the film's a melodrama. Less questionable but still stretching credibility is Gene Tierney's about-face on the issue of the absent Rudy. Glenn Ford may be polite, but he's still a convicted killer. Tierney knows this by now, and though Ford tells her he was framed by Rudy (and isn't aware of Tierney's engagement to him), she slowly begins to believe him. Okay fine; Ford's story sounds legit. But like Ann Dvorak with Zach Scott, suddenly Tierney falls head over heels for Glenn Ford. It's asking too much, even in a '50s drama, for us to buy into these turnarounds.

I must stress, however, that that's a minor complaint. It doesn't adversely affect the quality of the film, which features a stellar cast and great acting from everyone mentioned. Dvorak in particular is very good. Her career goes back to the Silent era. You might remember her as Paul Muni's sister in the original "Scarface", and she's excellent here in a completely different role. Gene Tierney is good as well. She was underrated as an actress, I think, because of her beauty, but here she's without makeup and playing a frontier woman. It was one of her last roles before her nervous breakdown, which ultimately led to a diagnosis of manic depression and the decline of her career. But I digress...

I won't reveal what happens with Glenn Ford and Rudy, or if Zach Scott ever finds the truth about the hidden forty thousand dollars, but "The Secret of Convict Lake" is an engrossing film with well developed characters. This is heavy drama in the guise of a Western. Interestingly enough, it's based on a true story and there really is a Convict Lake in Northern California. I give the movie Two Big Thumbs Up and highly recommend it. Barring the implausible (yet dramatically understandable) romances, it's a story of strong independent women. ////

The previous night I saw "Secret of the Whistler"(1946). This time Richard Dix is an abstract painter married to a wealthy older woman who's also his patron. The other artists in his circle attend his parties but talk behind his back. They think he's a no-talent dullard and resent that he doesn't have to struggle financially.

His wife has a heart condition and cannot leave her bed. Dix sits by her side but longs to be among the In Crowd, so after consoling her he leaves for another party. There he approaches a model (Leslie Brooks, a blonde bombshell) to ask if she'll pose for him. Brooks accepts and, over the course of the painting, finds out about his wife's poor health. She uses her charms to snake her way close to him, and Dix - thrilled by her attention - falls for it. Brooks only wants him for his money. She's banking on becoming his wife after the current one dies, knowing Dix will inherit the woman's fortune.

Hey, didn't we just review a similar plot in another Whistler or Crime Doctor? Well anyhow, the thing with Richard Dix in these movies is that, anytime chicks start playing him, they never realise that he's playing them too. And this time he's having it both ways, because he's telling his wife how much he loves her and then saying the same thing to Leslie Brooks. And the wife is getting better, because of all the love! Soon she's well enough to leave the house, and you can guess what happens next : she goes to Dix's studio saying "I just wanted to surprise you, my darling". And of course he's there with his girlfriend Leslie Brooks, who tells him "it's me or her". So Dix decides to get rid of his wife.

Cue our pal The Whistler, who tells him he's making a big mistake.

You'll have to watch the film to see why, and it's up to the standards of previous Whistlers. I give it Two Big Thumbs Up, but man does Dix ever screw up in this one. /////

That's all I've got for the moment. My prog album for the day was "Caravan and the New Symphonia". I also found out about a second album from Arch/Matheos called "Winter Ethereal", released in 2019. Jim Matheos is the guitarist and main writer for a band called Fates Warning. I'm not a huge fan, but they made an all-time classic metal album in 1986 called "Awaken the Guardian" with John Arch on lead vocals. His voice is what grabbed me the most about the music, it's high pitched and eccentric - the way he phrases his lyrics and jumps around from pitch to pitch. Arch quit Fates in the 1990s and retired from the music business, but in 2011 he made a comeback with Jim Matheos. I have the first first album by those guys and it's pretty good, though not a classic like "Awaken the Guardian". But the new one sounds awesome, so I'm gonna order it on CD. I love me some John Arch! He's a one-of-a-kind singer, check him out on "Awaken" to see what I mean.

Have a great evening. I send you tons of love as always!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):) 

"State Fair" and "The Kiss of the Vampire"

I wanted some Americana this Fourth of July, and what could be more Red, White and Blue than "State Fair"(1945)? I've seen the movie umpteen times, going back to when I lived with Mom, so by now I break it out for tradition. But it's also great as romantic wish fulfillment, and it represents the rural American Dream we all long for. And yeah - you got me - it stars Jeanne Crain, who appears in the film at her loveliest. 

The Frakes are a farm family in Iowa. The State Fair is coming up and all of them are excited about going. Dad (Charles Winninger) is preparing to enter his hog Blue Boy in the swine competition. Mom is making mincemeat for the cook-off. Dad does a taste test. "Say, it doesn't have any brandy. You can't have mincemeat without brandy, the judges expect it".

Mom : "I don't believe in it".

Dad : "You can plan to lose, then". When Mom is out of the room, Dad grabs some  brandy from the cupboard and pours half the bottle into the mixture. Mom re-enters and considers Dad's advice. He's gone, so she pours in the rest. The double-strength mincemeat is now ready for the judges. Later on, Mom will be awarded first prize. 

The Frakes have two grown children, Margy and Wayne (Crain and Dick Haymes). Margy's looking forward to the fair just for something to do. She's at that restless age where romance preoccupies a girl's heart. If nothing else, maybe she'll meet a boy there. Whoever he might be, he'll be a lot more exciting than "Harry Ware", her supposed fiance, a science nerd who's duller than dishwater. Harry is the only guy Margy has ever known. Their "engagement" was arranged by her mother. As for Wayne, he's looking for revenge on a carny (Harry Morgan) who cheated him on the ring-toss a year earlier. He's been practicing with Mom's embroidery hoops. He's gonna get his eight bucks back, guaranteed.

Margy meets "Pat Gilbert" (Dana Andrews) by accident, when he's seated in her cabin on the Ferris Wheel. The next thing you know, he's talking her up. "Hey, whattaya say we spend the rest of the fair together? We can decide if we like each other's company, and if we don't, no harm done. We'll go our separate ways and be no worse off than we started". Gilbert is a newspaper reporter from Chicago. He's handsome, charming and seems worldly to Margy, who agrees to his proposal. But his editor is there, too, and presses him for a story. "You came here to work".  Gilbert is distracted. He and Margy separate for a while.

Meanwhile, on the midway, brother Wayne is acing the ring-toss. Harry Morgan is pulling his usual schtick, i.e. making trouble (I think it's in his contract). He doesn't wanna give Wayne his prize money. "I know you came back here to try and show me up". Wayne : "The rules say you've gotta let me keep playing". Then a pretty redhead steps forth from the crowd. "My father's the police chief in this town", she tells Morgan. "He's here tonight, so if you want to stay open you better pay this man what you owe him". Morgan reluctantly hands Wayne his winnings, grumbling "here ya go, now we're even. Don't come back ever again".

It turns out the gal is a singer at the fair, the star attraction actually, with her band. She's "Emily Edwards" (Vivian Blaine), a vivacious dame with a thousand watt smile. Her Dad's not really the police chief; she was just making that up. "I don't like that guy (Harry Morgan) and I wanted to get you your money". Like Margy and Pat, Wayne and Emily hit it off. Each sibling has a budding romance in the works.

Back in the Swine Shed, Dad is prepping Blue Boy, who suddenly lies down. It's the worst time for him to quit, the championship is about to be awarded . Luckily for Dad, another farmer brings in his hog at that moment. She's "Esmeralda", a female Hampshire. Blue Boy is back on his feet in an instant. In "State Fair", everyone wants romance. As long as Esmeralda is in the next pen, Blue Boy is raring to go. 

The fair is a backdrop for escape from everyday life, but it's also a celebration of small town simplicity. And isn't that what we yearn for nowdays in America? I mean, who gives a hoot about "progress" anymore? The only real progress is fixing what progress has led to. Well, I shant go on a tirade, but there's too many electrons coursing through every fiber of modern life. That's why State Fair has such an appeal. It could be a David Lynch movie without the DL dark side.

The romance plays out in the typical dramatic arc. Margy and Wayne find their Dream Dates, then lose them, then.........get them back? Of course I can't tell you cause that would spoil the fun, but it's interesting that both Pat the reporter and Emily the big band singer are city people. They represent an even bigger escape for the siblings. Pat wants Margy to move to Chicago and Emily asks Wayne to go on the road with her. As mentioned, Wayne is played by Dick Haymes, a top crooner in real life. He gets to show off his pipes in a song or two, but that doesn't mean he wants to leave the farm.

"State Fair" has several Rogers & Hammerstein production numbers, but I wouldn't say it qualifies as a musical. It kind of exists in it's own realm as an All American Fantasy, and in that sense it's a 10 in every way. Deserving of a mention is Donald Meek as the cook-off judge who gets hammered on Mom's mincemeat and awards her the Blue Ribbon in return. Mom, Dad and Meek provide comic relief amidst the romance (oh, and let's not forget Blue Boy and Esmeralda, too).

It's a classic in the same way as "Meet Me in St. Louis" or "Showboat", giving us an America we wish still existed. If you've never seen it, Summer is the perfect time. It's one of my favorite movies.  /////

The previous night I watched "The Kiss of the Vampire"(1963), a spooker from Hammer Studios. This sumptuous looking film turned out to be hidden classic, at least for me. I'd never even heard of it, but it's as good as anything Hammer has done. It begins with a couple driving through the English countryside in their old fashioned motorcar, just past the turn of the century. They run out of gas and the man goes to look for help. "Wait here til I return", he tells his fiance. I paused for a moment to wonder "have I seen this film before"? I was pretty sure I had, because I remembered a similar scenario. I let the movie run to make sure this was different, and it turned out that it was; I hadn't seen this film, but I checked my movie list to discover the discrepancy, and found that the movie in question - with almost the exact same scene - was "The Ghoul"(1975) starring Peter Cushing and John Hurt, which we watched about a year ago when we started doing Youtube. The folks at Hammer must've thought "running out of petrol......that's a great opening"!, and used it again for good measure.

In "Kiss", the woman's boyfriend returns with a tow truck, in the form of an ox and his driver. They tow the couple to an old hotel that appears in the middle of nowhere. It looks closed down. "You can stay here until the petrol arrives", the driver informs them. The owners, an older man and wife, aren't expecting guests, but offer a room to the travelers anyway. They act put-upon, scared of something. The wife seems close to tears. But why?

Could it be that there's a Vampire nearby, living in the castle on the hill? Yes indeed, and he's a suave son-of-a-bee, handsome and and well mannered. But aren't they all? Vampires, I mean. Aren't all of them courtly until they get their teeth in you? Well yes, but this one's a little different. For one thing, he's got a Liberace hairdo piled high on his head. For another, he's got a son who's a pianist. 

That evening, at the desolate hotel, the young couple receive an invitation to a dinner, being hosted by Liberace himself. "But how did you know we were staying there", asks the young man. "I see everything with my telescope", comes the answer. Lib is constantly peering down the road through his spyglass, looking for potential victims. At the dinner, the young lady is transfixed by sonny's pianism. The son is a grim sort, but fluent in Chopin and Brahms. Soon a ruse is put forth, to separate the lady from the man. Once Lib gets her locked away upstairs, he breaks out the fangs. Now she's one of his minions.

It turns out that old Liberace has a basement full of junior Vampires that he calls his "family". Really they're the daughters of neighboring townsfolk. One was taken from the hoteliers. Another from a certain Professor Zimmer. She's now deceased (you'll see how and why) and her death has turned the Professor into a Vampire Hunter.

No one does vampire movies better than Hammer Horror, and that's because they usually add satanism to the mix. Silver bullets and garlic won't do the trick on English Vamps, apparently, so in this case the Professor breaks out the full ritual : pentagrams, candles, incense and an incantation. The white robed Liberace huddles in his basement, exhorting his "children" to resist, but an army of bats are materialised. They crash the windows and swarm through the castle, draining the Vampires of their blood.

Of all the irony, right? It's an undiscovered Hammer classic. 

And in all seriousness, it's that good. On production design alone, it ranks with "The Devil Rides Out" and "Plague of the Zombies". The story's a little thinner than the ones in those films, but there's more than enough weirdness to go around (not to mention sharp teeth). "The Kiss of the Vampire" gets Two Big Thumbs Up. The Youtube print is widescreen Bluray. Don't wait til Halloween to see it. ////

That's all for the moment. Hope you had a great day. I send you tons of love as always.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):) 

"Cujo" and "The Thirteenth Hour" starring Richard Dix

What about Dog Movies? Everyone loves 'em, right? Lassie Come Home, Old Yeller, 101 Dalmatians, Benji.......The list is long and as endearing as the four-legged tail waggers who star in those films.

But what about Cujo? He's adorable too, isn't he? "Heeeeere, Cujo! C'mon, boy. Niiiiiice doggie".....

Hang on a sec - are you out of your freakin' mind? If there was ever a Hound from Hell it's Stephen King's rabid St. Bernard, big as a Grizzly and angry as a nest of murder hornets. He might be a nice boy for the first three minutes of the movie, but once he gets bitten by a bat - after sticking his head in a rabbit hole - he turns into a frothing, unstoppable death machine. Good Dog he isn't, and he may be the only canine in cinematic history to hold that distinction. Cujo belongs to "Joe Camber" (Ed Lauter), a shade tree mechanic in Castle Rock, Maine. We'll get to Joe in a moment, but first let's begin with our protagonists, "Vic" and "Donna Trenton" (Daniel Hugh Kelly and Dee Wallace). The Trentons have a son named "Tad" (Danny Pintauro). He's four and is terribly frightened of monsters, whom he's certain are lurking in every available hiding place in his bedroom.

Were you afraid of monsters as a child? I was, but not for very long. And it was really only The Boogeyman who scared me. I remember having my Dad check the closet for him when I was around Tad's age, and I slept with a night light for a while. But Tad's got a serious case of the heebie jeebies concerning monsters, so his father has created a ritual to reassure him. Every night at bedtime, Vic carries Tad on his hip, and they go around the bedroom reciting from a tract called The Monster Words, written by Vic as a spell. "Monsters stay out of this room, you have no business here"!, it begins. The Monster Words expel monsters from under the bed, from the closet, and those who look in through the window. 

But they don't cover psychological monsters like lust and infidelity, and that's really what King was getting at in his book : the rot that can develop in a marriage. Not that a little boy would understand such a thing, however.

You see, Tad's Mommy loves him too,  but she's sleeping with Steve the local handyman (Christopher Stone), who she refers to as "the town stud". He acts nonchalant around Vic and pretends to be his friend, but when Vic's at work he's in bed with his wife. Donna feels guilty but that doesn't stop her from continuing to see Steve..........for a while.

But then things begin to go downhill. Vic's an advertising agent who's created a wildly successful TV campaign with his partner. They've designed a popular series of commercials for Sharp Cereals, featuring a character known as The Professor, who eats a spoonful of whatever cereal is being promoted, then delivers the testimonial tag line : "Nope! Nothing wrong here"! But in reality there's a lot wrong. Besides Vic's yet-to-be-discovered marital trouble, the account with Sharp gets cancelled when a whole bunch of kids spit up "blood" after eating one of their products. It turns out it was only the red dye in the cereal, but the damage is done. Sharp pulls the plug and Vic's agency takes a huge hit. Then his sporty red Jaguar needs repairing, so he takes it to Joe Camber, who lives way out in the sticks. Joe's a great mechanic, but also an abusive a-hole. His marriage is in the tank too; his wife has just won the lottery and is gonna use the money to leave him, though he doesn't know it yet. On the way home from Camber's, Vic sees Donna standing out on the sidewalk with Steve the handyman, in front of his house. Right away he knows what's going on. The irony is that Donna and Steve have just had an argument. She's finally told him she can't see him anymore. "Why the hell not"?, he wants to know. "Because I've got a terrific husband and a sweet little boy", she answers.

Back home, Vic confronts his wife. She admits the affair but swears it's over. Vic tells her he needs to get away for a few days to think about the future of their marriage. "Before you go", Donna mentions, "I should tell you that the Pinto's been having engine trouble. I know that's probably not important to you right now, but while you're gone I'll need it to get to the store".

"Take it to Joe Camber", Vic tells Donna, giving her directions to Joe's place before he drives away. Donna takes Tad with her to get the old car looked at. They barely make it to Camber's place before the engine quits for good.

By now, Cujo's really sick. His eyes are dripping pus, his jowls are spilling slobber, and his fur is matted with something slimy. I'd tell you that he's "sicker than a dog" if it wouldn't get me banned from the Punner's Round Table, but yeah.......that's how rabid he's become. And that slime on his coat? I might as well tell you it's blood; you're gonna find out anyway. He's already killed two people : his master Joe Camber, and Joe's beer-swilling buddy, who was to accompany him on a trip to Las Vegas. So when Donna and Tad arrive in their now stalled-out Pinto, there's no one alive to help them. And Cujo's diseased dog brain is on fire.      

When I first saw the movie in the theater in 1983, I was slightly disappointed because I was comparing it to the book, which goes into great detail about the various dysfunctional relationships, including Joe Camber's alcoholism and abuse of his wife. As I mentioned, that's what King was really examining, using Cujo as a metaphor. But in viewing it a second time nearly 40 years later, I was much more impressed. The movie works on it's own as a horror film and is extremely intense. The scenes in the car with Dee Wallace and Danny Pintauro are excruciating.

Director Lewis Teague gives us just a sketch of the deeper problems in the book to focus instead on Cujo's seige of the Pinto and it's trapped occupants. In addition to the psychotic animal, Donna and Tad have to battle the heat. Sitting in the car with the windows rolled up, they eventually become dehydrated and little Tad starts to hyperventilate. Cujo is relentless; driven crazier than he already is by a ringing telephone, he throws himself against the driver's side door of the small car. Angry at not breaking through, he does it again, and again, his messy bulk hitting the ground undaunted, each time.  

This section of the film is brutal and takes up most of it's second half. The photography by Jan de Bont is one of the picture's main strengths, along with the editing in the attack scenes. The dog himself must be given a lot of credit for creating a memorable character. Of course, they always use a number of animals in any film like this, to get the desired results (and because of long hours, attention spans, etc.) But whoever the Principal Cujo was, he was "doggone good" at creating a sense of terror. Perhaps he was a Method Actor and imagined himself with rabies, I dunno, but he deserves kudos as the film's dominant performer.

In reassessing "Cujo", I give it Two Big Thumbs Up. It helps to have read the book so that you're aware of the movie's shortcuts, but even if you haven't read it, and you just want a straight-up white knuckle fright fest, with some adulterous behavior thrown in as a backdrop, "Cujo" will do ya.

Sit, Cujo, sit!......now stay.........good boy. Niiiiiice Cujo.......   /////

Okey dokey, now let's do another Whistler. This time, Richard Dix stars as "Steve Reynolds", the owner of a trucking company in "The Thirteenth Guest"(1947). This is the final Whistler movie Dix appeared in, and one of only two that don't have it's namesake in the title. As it opens, Dix is in a roadside diner celebrating the birthday of it's proprietor, "Eileen Blair" (Karen Morley), who's also his girlfriend. Dix surprises the guests by announcing their engagement. Then he drives home in his company truck, after the party is over.

Cue the freakin' Whistler : "Ahh yes, Steve. That fateful drive. It changed your whole life, didn't it? What if you'd left five minutes earlier, or later? Then you might've missed that driver swerving on the road. Do you ever think about that? I'm sure you must. Just five minutes, one way or the other. Funny how fate's always on time".

You see, Steve's about to encounter a reckless driver who's trying to impress his girlfriend. The guy's hauling major league bootation. He crosses the yellow line then fishtails around a corner, running Steve into a ditch. His truck overturns and he's knocked unconscious. When he comes to, a cop is standing over him. He accuses Steve of drunk driving.

"But Don, I only had one drink at the party". Dix knows the officer, who was once his romantic rival. "I swear there was another car involved. It almost ran into me. The guy was driving at least 90 miles per hour".

"That's just your word", says the copper, who's got it in for Dix. "There aren't any witnesses to back up your story. I'm gonna have to take you to the station".

But then Dix remembers something : "Wait a minute. There's a passenger in my truck! I picked up a hitchhiker a few miles back. He can vouch for everything I'm saying". 

Now didn't we just say, in the last blog or so, that you should never pick up hitchhikers? Well, there's an exception to every rule, and this is it. Dix's hitcher is gonna provide him an alibi, except for one thing :

The cop opens the truck's door and he's not there.

"A hitchhiker you say"?, asks Officer Don.

"I swear he was in there! I just picked him up! He must've run off for some reason".

"Sure, Steve, sure. Or maybe you had more than one drink. Let's go. I've gotta take you in. You can tell it to the judge in the morning".

So Steve does just that. In court, he testifies to the reckless driver and his witness/hitchhiker. The judge doesn't believe him and suspends his trucking licence. But then Steve discovers an item of interest. In the wreckage of his truck is a glove.

"This must've belonged to the hitchhiker"!, he tells Eileen excitedly. The glove has an interesting property. It's owner has stuffed the thumb with a metal plug. "We need to look for a man with a missing thumb", Dix concludes. "When we find him I can get my licence back". Meanwhile, there are still routes to be run. Steve's short on drivers and is prohibited from driving himself. "My company's gonna go under", he worries. And then one night, an important shipment cannot wait. "I've gotta take it myself", he decides, "even at the risk of going to jail". He sets out to make the delivery, staying off the main highway to avoid the police. But someone has stowed away in the back of his truck - a masked gunman who suddenly climbs into the cab.

He knocks Dix out, takes over behind the wheel, and detours back to the highway, where he deliberately exceeds the speed limit to attract attention. Here comes Officer Don, signalling for Dix to pull over. He assumes it's Dix; we know it isn't. Dix is knocked out. The masked driver does as ordered and pulls to the side of the road. Then, as Officer Don is parking his motorcycle, the bandit starts the truck and throws it in reverse. He runs over the officer, killing him. Guess who's gonna take the blame for that?

Cue the freakin' Whistler.

The remainder of the plot finds Steve in and out of jail, trying to prove he didn't kill Officer Don. Motive weighs against him. It's well known that he and Don were rivals for Eileen's hand. A tipster clues Steve in on the existence of a stolen car ring, that Don may have had a hand in covering. But then Eileen makes an even bigger discovery, hidden in the glove's metal plug.

That's all I'm gonna tell ya about this very complex Whistler. It plays like a traditional Noir and doesn't have as many Sneering Observations by our host, but it's one of the best of the series. Richard Dix passed away two years later at the age of 56. He looks unhealthy in the film but gives his all. There are some great roadside locations, including Eileen's diner and an old gas station I believe is on Sierra Highway near Newhall. It's still sitting there today, abandoned for decades. 

Well, so there you have it. Two Big Thumbs Up for "The Thirteenth Hour". I hope you're enjoying your Fourth of July weekend. I love the holiday and I'll bet you do too. Have a great rest of the day.

Tons and tons (and tons) of love, as always.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)   

 

John Cassavetes in "The Night Holds Terror" and "Voice of the Whistler" with Richard Dix

How 'bout a Home Invasion movie? No, not the kind with Gangstas in the 'Hood. I'm talking about the old school type of Home In-vayzsh, where a group of White Guys Wearing Suits terrorize a middle class family. Think Bogie and his bunch in "The Desperate Hours" or Sinatra and gang in "Suddenly". We're talking hostage situations in the 1950s, when Caucasian males were on the run and lawless, but always wore white shirts with knotted ties.   

In "The Night Holds Terror"(1955), "Gene Courtier" (Jack Kelly) finds out the hard way why you should never pick up hitchhikers. On the way home from his job at Edwards Air Force Base, he stops for Vince Edwards in the desert. Vince pulls a gun on Gene and orders him into the back seat. Then two of Vince's pals pull up : David Cross and John Cassavetes. Cassavetes is the ringleader, the three are escaped convicts. He gets behind the wheel. They drive Gene out to Rosamond Dry Lake, where it's a wonder they don't get buzzed by an F-100 Super Sabre. 

There on the cracked, primordial flat, Cassavetes threatens to shoot Mr. Courtier. He's doing his trademark New York tough guy schtick. He was better at acting, in my humble opinion, than he was at directing, and was always good at playing The Reckless Hoodlum. Gene talks him out of it by offering him the pink slip to his car. "It's worth two grand, you can sell it"! This was '55, when two gees was a lot o' dough, enough to set the gang up in Mexico, or even Tahiti. The catch, though, is that they've gotta sell the car through the dealer cause Gene doesn't yet own it outright. So they drive to the dealership, back in downtown Lancaster, but the dealer doesn't have two grand on hand. He can't get the cash until morning, so...(drum roll please cause here's the setup)...the hoods force Gene to take them to his house, where they spend the night to ensure he doesn't split or call the cops. 

During their sleepover, Vince Edwards put the moves on Gene's wife. This pisses Cassavetes off. "Quit messin' around. I told ya to keep an eye on our boy here". In the wee hours of the night, a schism develops. Cassavetes and Edwards fall asleep. The third thug (David Cross) has earlier made it clear that he wants no part of any killing. "I didn't sign up for that", he complained to Cassavetes. "You said  we was just gonna rob them". But Cass had decided that they can't leave any witnesses. He's planning to rub out the entire family the next day, after getting paid for the car. But still awake in the living room, Cross hits upon an idea with Gene Courtier. "Say, are you by any chance related to the Courtier of Courtier Supermarkets"?

"Yes. That's my father".

"Then you's rich. Now listen to me : the only chance you have of gettin' you and youse family outta this thing alive, is by lettin' them guys (Cassavetes and Edwards) know about your Pa. You've gotta lead 'em on, let 'em think there's even more money in it for them. You could let 'em stage a kidnapping, with you as the hostage. Tell 'em your Dad'll pay a huge ransom. It'll at least get your wife and kids off the hook, and it might just buy you some time to get free".

"But why are you helping me? What's in it for you"?

"The first thing is I don't wanna go to The Chair. Secondly, if the kidnap plan works, I could be in for a cut of the dough myself. I may not be a killer but I ain't no saint. So whattaya think? I say it's your only chance".

In the morning, Gene takes the advice of David Cross. He does tell Cassavetes about his father, and a kidnap scenario is worked out. "But first we sell the car, as planned". Gene demands that his family be let go. "Take the kids to your mother's house", he tells his wife. Cassavetes allows it, and the film's grand finale is about to be set in motion. I won't tell you how the kidnap plays out, but it does include a very interesting segment that depicts the actual method of tracing phone calls. It appears to have been filmed inside the relay center of ATT, or whatever company was local to Lancaster, California at the time. But with all the circuitry involved, it's amazing that the employees can trace any call. They literally have to "run it down" through a series of switching boxes. That's why you've gotta keep crooks on the line for as long as you can - "Keep stalling him"! (said in whisper or body language).     

Overall, the film's a bit drawn out at 86 minutes, and would've worked better at 70 to 75, but it gets huge points for mentioning Edwards Air Force Base, and for having some awesome Lancaster locations including a vintage 1950's Thrifty Drug Store. And you get John Cassavetes and Vince Edwards mugging it up as the tough guys. It's good stuff.

Two Solid Thumbs Up for "The Night Holds Terror". The print is razor sharp. I recommend it. ///

We also watched what may be the best Whistler so far : "Voice of the Whistler"(1945). This time, Richard Dix plays a wealthy entrepreneur with a Midas touch; his every venture is a success, from auto manufacturing to banking. He even makes it though the 1929 stock market crash unscathed. but as is true of many tycoons, his devotion to business has left him a lonely man. He has no family or friends. The stress of a solitary life is beginning to cost him his health. On his way to a meeting he suffers an angina attack, and nearly passes out at the train station.

Fortunately, a Good Samaritan is standing nearby in the form of a cab driver (Rhys Willams). He takes Dix to a clinic. The doctor there runs a blood test and unfortunately the results aren't good. Dix is told he's got just a few months to live. Being a nuts and bolts realist, he accepts the diagnosis with resigned stoicism, but on his way out of the office, he meets the doctor's nurse (Lynne Merrick, who we saw in "Crime Doctor's Strangest Case").

After a date, he offers her a deal : "I'll leave you my fortune if you'll marry me. I know I'm much older and not very exciting, but think of it as a business deal. You'll inherit everything I own. I only want to experience what it feels like to have a wife, and I'm only going to live a few more months anyway". Though Merrick already has a boyfriend - a young intern from the clinic - she blows him off to marry Richard Dix. He's going by an alias now, so no one will know him. He and Merrick live in a lighthouse that's been converted into a home.

But things aren't working out to Merrick's satisfaction. For starters, several months have passed and Dix ain't dead yet. In fact, being married has revivified him. He seems to be getting better rather than worse, and it looks like Merrick might be in for the long haul. She finally breaks down and tells Dix she's had enough. "I can't take the isolation anymore! I've fulfilled my part of the bargain. I want out of our deal". Dix says no, but tries to placate her by saying he's in love with her. "And you're still gonna get all my money".

Cue the freakin' Whistler : "Ahh yes, Lynne.......you'll get all his money.........but when? One year from now? Five years, maybe ten? Or could it be longer? One thing's for certain, you aren't getting anything as long as your husband's alive. Just his love and this old lighthouse. But you didn't marry him for either of those things, did you"?

Man, that Whistler is brutal in his assessment of the situation.

What happens next is that the boyfriend shows up. It's clear that Merrick is still in love with him and vice versa. Dix sees this and engages the younger man in a game of chess, where - while they're playing - he proceeds to tell the guy how he's going to murder him and get away with it. The boyfriend tries to use this info to turn the tables on Dix and kill him first. By now, Lynne Merrick only cares about the fortune she stands to inherit. It's a case of "be careful what you wish for", as The Whistler reminds us at the end of the film, with his usual sneering glee.

'The Voice of the Whistler" gets Two Big Thumbs Up. It was directed once again by William Castle and has the feel of a suspense film in the tradition of "Inner Sanctum". ////

That's all I know for tonight. I hope you're enjoying Summer as we head toward the Fourth of July, and I send you tons of love as always.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Another Triple Play in Synopsis : Hathaway, Streep, Sparks and Uncle Joe

In order to fully catch up, we've got another triple-decker for your pleasure, presented once again in summary:

Our first movie is "The Devil Wears Prada"(2006), which Grimsley brought over last week. I've seen it before and I imagine you have too. I'm sure you love Anne Hathway; I do, she's such a girly-girl, so pretty, nice and unassuming. On the other hand, we've got Meryl Streep's character "Miranda Priestly", the so-called Devil of the title. Wait a minute : forget the "so-called". Miranda's as evil as they come, an arrogant B-Word who could (and would!) give Ol' Scratch a run for his money. Can't you just picture her, lording it over poor Satan, then dispatching him with a "that's all", her patented haughty dismissal? She's an icon of the fashion world whose sense of self-importance is exponentially greater than her value as a human being. She thinks she's All That, but her power vanishes outside her little fiefdom. If she were to walk down the street, no one would know her. Miranda as a character is so unpleasant that it's difficult to relate to her one way or the other. Streep plays her so aloof that she's generates just bored contempt, at least from me. Thank God for Stanley Tucci, providing backbone and comic relief, as "Nigel" her gay style consultant.

At any rate, Hathaway is a recent college grad from the Midwest who's seeking a job in journalism. She comes to New York and applies at "Runway" magazine, run by the much-feared Miranda. She interviews Anne, takes note of her old-fashioned clothes, and asks why she wants a job in high fashion. That's a legit question, but right away Miranda's demeanor is a red flag. She toys with Hathaway before hiring her, probably because she's smart but pliable. One her first day at work, Anne meets "Emily" (Emily Blunt), Miranda's Assistant Number One. Blunt is great in her role as the all-knowing flunky, emotionally wired to Miranda's nerve center. She blurts out specific instructions for Anne to follow if she's to survive more than a day in Miranda World. We know Emily Blunt these days mostly as an action hero, but she's got a flair for deadpan comedy.

The heart of the story is the old romantic triangle arc, played bittersweet but easygoing. Anne has a longtime boyfriend from Chicago, their hometown. He's not overjoyed by her move to New York but accepts it because it's her chance to become a writer : "I know it's what you want", he tells her. But he wonders how she's gonna jump from executive assistant to journalist, especially when she starts to settle into her job. "I can meet a lot of publishers and other writers this way", she explains, and for a while he accepts that also. But soon, one of those other writers is hitting on her every time they meet. He's "Christian Thompson" (Simon Baker), a well-known free lance reporter. Thompson is quite handsome. Hathaway tells him "sorry but I can't, I've got a boyfriend", but he keeps on pushing, until finally It Happens. It's not their tryst, however, that causes the breakup between Anne and her boyfriend. It's her complete transformation into Miranda's high styled puppet. Gone is everything lovable about the old Hathaway. She looks amazing in her new designer duds and Jimmy Choo heels, but the high-gloss persona that goes with her new look is a turn off. She's become a Miranda Mini-Me, hard charging and ambitious, but in all the ways that don't matter, at least not to her boyfriend and other pals back in Chi-town. The real Anne is hidden in there somewhere, but they can't get through to her; she answers only to Miranda.

It's a fun movie in a darkly comic way, but there really isn't much to the story, and as I said, for me Streep's performance - while brilliant - gives you nothing to hold onto with the character. She's obviously not likeable, but you can't hate her either because she doesn't seem genuine. I had to look up Miranda to see if she was based on a real person, and she was : Anna Wintour, the editor of Vogue. If the portrayal is accurate, Wintour must be one of the worst people who ever lived, not because of her actions so much as her obnoxious personality. But really she's just pathetic. The good news for the story is that true love wins in the end, after Hathaway realises what a sellout she's become and gives up her dream of the high life. 

Two Solid Thumbs Up for "The Devil Wears Prada". I'd give it Two Bigs if it weren't for Meryl's disinterested characterization.

Next we've got "The Sparks Brothers", which I saw in Woodland Hills last Friday. Twice to the theater in one week, imagine that! But I love Ron and Russell Mael; I became a Sparks fan in 1974, after seeing the band on the cover of Melody Maker, a British music weekly (long defunct). I ran out and bought "Kimono My House" and the rest is history, except for a twenty six year interlude that I'll get to in a minute.  The movie is a comprehensive overview of their career. It doesn't delve much into the brothers' personal history save a brief segment about their childhood. But it runs 140 minutes, long for a documentary, and covers the making of each of their twenty five studio albums. It features commentary from a myriad of talking heads (no not David Byrne), including Todd Rundgren, who was responsible for Sparks getting signed to their first recording contract. Also speaking about his time with the band is their first manager, John Hewlett, who before meeting the Mael Bros was in a group called John's Children. "OMG"!, I said to myself, seeing his face up on the screen. "That's the guy.......the one who asked me and Grim if we could "please fuck off' "! 

If you've not heard that story (and you probably have), a brief explanation is in order. Following their December 1975 concert at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, we waited at the Hyatt House on Sunset for Ron and Russ to show up. I'd discovered they were staying there earlier in the day, and when we got to the hotel after the show, we sat by the elevator on their floor and waited. Finally, at least an hour later, the boys emerged from the lift. With them was their manager, whom I now recognize as John Hewlett. He saw us sitting there, and without missing a beat, without even a "hello" or "excuse me", he simply said "could you please fuck off"? Ron and Russ were silent as the three of them walked past us (Ron carrying an Adam-12 lunch pail). We were so taken aback by Hewlett's statement that we didn't even respond. It was well past midnight and we were exhausted. Instead, we just went home, but we never forgot the way in which Mr. Hewlett politely told us to leave. "Please" and "Fuck Off" in the same sentence! He's much friendlier in the movie, though, as he recounts his time with Sparks during their initial period of success, which took place mostly in England. They couldn't get arrested in the States back then, and the situation's only slightly better now. But they can sell out all their shows in major cities like New York and L.A.

Have you ever noticed that we've got several great "brother bands" that hail from Los Angeles? Besides Ron, Russ and Sparks, there's Van Halen and The Beach Boys. Way to go, Bros! But back to the movie, I loved it. Only in the middle did I feel uninvested, and here's where my above disclaimer comes in. You see, I was an enormous Sparks fan when they started, and I'm an enormous fan now, but between 1977 and 2003, I wasn't a fan at all. This is because in '76, they made a terrible album called "Big Beat", and after that they changed their sound completely and went disco. A long string of albums followed in that style, and I just wasn't interested. Then astonishingly, in 2002 they made a comeback, with a genius album called "Lil' Beethoven". Every record since has been exceptional. It's been a reunion for all us estranged Sparks fans.

Again, the movie is very good. Edgar Wright did a yeoman's job of amassing and assembling a truckload of material, from old photographs of the Maels to clips and interviews of Sparks throughout their history. The first 45 minutes is the best part, where Todd and others who were there talk about the early days and their struggles. Once it settles into the long "album after album" format, it's still good but becomes a little rote. All in all though, Two Huge Thumbs Up for "The Sparks Brothers". I don't think it's gonna be of general interest, however. You've probably gotta be a Sparks fan to enjoy it.  ///// 

Our final feature for this evening is "The Wreck of the Hesperus"(1948). Willard Parker plays "John McCready", a captain who steers his ship into the rocks during a storm. He loses his commission and takes a job with a salvaging company owned by Edgar Buchanan. Now, Buchanan - though a fine actor - will always be "Uncle Joe" no matter what role he happens to be playing. Therefore, as always, he's "movin' kinda slow" at the junction between honesty and deceit. He tells McCready that shipwreck salvage is a legitimate business. Bitter at being landlocked, the former captain agrees, and in a legal sense it's true. It's not against the law to recover goods from a sunken merchant ship. It is, however, quite illegal to cause the wreck yourself, which is exactly what Uncle Joe is doing.

He's got cronies who set up lanterns on the most dangerous part of the shoreline. Sea captains assume these are beacons of safe harbor when indeed they're the opposite. Ships are lured toward the rocks and crash against them. Uncle Joe then extricates the goods, be it gold or furniture or clothing (hopefully gold). He gets rich this way, rich enough to lobby against the construction of a lighthouse that would protect against future shipwrecks. At the present time, nobody knows about his lanterns, and doggonnit, a lighthouse would render them obsolete! Then he wouldn't be able to crash ships anymore, and of all the injustice in the world......"well I never"!

With his gravelly twanged voice and deliberate, earnest manner, Joe is able to fool the townsfolk for a time, and John McCready also. But then he sinks a ship captained by McCready's brother, the "Hesperus" of the movie's title. At first, John chalks the wreck up to the usual conditions - the rocky coast and his brother's inexperience. But then he finds a lantern hidden within the rocks. The demise of Uncle Joe is in the offing.

Is there a genre for Shipwreck movies? If not, then there should be, if the spellbinding "Hesperus" is any indication. It plays like one of those "waves crashing on the beach" mysteries, be it "Portrait of Jenny" or "The Monster of Piedras Blancas". The night sea gives a haunted quality to any film, and Buchanan's salvage scheme in this movie adds a ghoulish tinge to the proceedings. It's set in 1830, an obscure time in American history, half a century past our Independence and three decades before the Civil War. 

I give it Two Big Thumbs Up and highly "wreck"-ommend it. I was waiting to use that line as I'm sure you can tell. ///

That's all for now, and I hope you had a nice day. I send you tons of love, as always.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

A Trio of Titles to Help Clear the Table

What happened was that suddenly, to paraphrase the old Schnozzola : "Everybody wanted in on the act". They wanted to watch movies with Yours Truly. Now of course, I don't know a whole heck of a lot of people, so in this case "everybody" just means my sister and Grimsley. But Vick wanted me to accompany her to the theater, and Grim kept bringing over dvds, so in addition to the old movies I like to watch (think of me as your personal TCM), I at once had a growing backlog of motion pictures to review. They piled up faster than you can say Jack Robinson. As of tomorrow we'll have six unreviewed flicks on the table, so in an effort to break the logjam we're gonna do two blogs of three each. Because several of them are modern, which isn't my specialty (and one is brand new), we're just gonna give synopses. I'll try to make them substantial, however. I hope you won't feel shortchanged.

A quick note : when I say modern films aren't my specialty I don't mean that I can't write about them effectively, it's just that I don't prefer to. For one thing, what we do here is older movies, ones folks may not have seen. The other thing is that I love the Golden Age of Cinema - the classic stars and directors - and feel at home with reviewing in that style. So when I mention a modern flick, it's usually one Grim wanted to watch. For me, since about 2002, I've been enamored with older movies. They're the ones that, to me, tell the best stories.

At any rate, let's get going.

The first film on the docket is "Cimarron", and.......wait a sec........"didn't we just watch that"?, you're asking. Well, yes we did, but this is the remake, released in 1960 and starring Glenn Ford as "Yancey Cravat", the role Richard Dix brought to life in the Oscar winning original. The newer "Cimarron" was directed by Anthony "The" Mann, who specialized in Westerns and made several classics in that genre with James Stewart in the lead, playing tough sons-of-bitches, guys that could "kick your goddamn ass" (said in Jimmay Schtooart-speak).

The framework in both Cimarrons is similar, but they're working from two different adaptations. Dix played Yancey as larger than life, like a character from a Mark Twain story. Glenn Ford brings a 1950s realism to the role and plays him down to earth, and while he's quite good he's more taciturn than Richard Dix; his Yancey loses the heroic flamboyance of the character, the freewheeling spirit Dix brought to the first film. 

The conflicts in the remake are more clearly drawn. In the first film, the root causes of dispute were only alluded to, for the most part. Prejudice was depicted, but not the brutal violence that can accompany it. In the remake, it's there on vicious display. Yancey's wife Sabra was presented as a stoic survivor in the 1931 film. in the 1960 version, she's played by Maria Schell as an emotional wreck, far more fragile and nervous.

The character of Dixie Lee, who figures strongly in the plot of both films, is played this time around by the great Anne Baxter and is given a substantial increase in screen time and story. In the first film we got just a sketch of her relationship to Yancey. In the 1960 remake we find out she's his former girlfriend, whom he left - as he always does - due to his restless nature. In the first film, Dixie's profession was only hinted at. Here, she's shown straight-up as the madame of a cathouse. Also, the court trial of the first film is entirely omitted.

So as you can see, the remake is a far different picture. The context of Yancey's ultimate fate is also changed. Please see my review of the original film (about a month ago) for details on the bulk of the story. It must be noted that the production design of the remake is absolutely gorgeous. Mann was noted for his ability to, as I call it, "put pictures on the screen", and his vision of the Old West in Oklahoma Territory is vast and beautiful (though dusty of course). The movie was filmed in widescreen Cinemascope, with color by Metrocolor (hooray!) While it's not as energetic as the 1931 original (which won the Best Picture Oscar), the 1960 "Cimarron" presents perhaps a more authentic feel. I give it Two Big Thumbs Up, accordingly. ////  

Our next fractured flicker is "A Quiet Place 2"(2021), seen in West Los Angeles with my sister (my first trip to a theater since before covid). I won't give you much with this one, because you've either just seen it yourself or are planning to. My biggest take away from "QP2" (and really both QP films) is how well constructed it was. It feels like Krasinski brainstormed his plot to come up with an original concept : blind creatures vs. deaf girl. The use of feedback (i.e.high frequency sound) as a weapon was also ingenious. The simultaneous attack scenarios were very effective, I've never seen that used before. I was also pleased by the spare use of CGI, and for a "quiet" movie, the use of soundtrack as central accompaniment was integral to the premise. Krasinski pushed his scary music to the forefront, almost as a tour guide to the horror. He cued you very loudly when a jump scare was coming, but that is in the old school tradition. I loved everything about the movie. It never spreads itself too thin. Instead, it focuses on only the most important details : the need for shelter, the search for supplies and help, the quest to find the source of the song. The pairing of the deaf girl with the coward (Cillian Murphy) is a strong dramatic coupling, and again it feels like he worked his script out to a tee. Man I wish more filmmakers would take such care. Work your screenplays, people! John Krasinsky did and he's made two Creature Classics. Two Big Thumbs Up for "A Quiet Place 2". Loved it, loved it, loved it. ////

And closing out today's trio, we have "End of Watch"(2012), which Grimsley brought over several nights ago. I've seen it before. It has a solid premise about two young LAPD officers (Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena) who patrol the toughest section of south central Los Angeles (Newton Division apparently). They get in over their heads when they uncover the storehouses of a Mexican drug cartel, and become marked for death by the Homies. An OG tips them that the cartel has put a hit on them. The officers are both reckless and heroic, goofing off much of the time but also running into burning buildings to rescue babies. As I said, the premise is quite good, and the story is well developed.

How......ever (and please refer to past blogs for instructions on the drawn out pronunciation of "however").

Howwwww..........evver,  having said all of the above, the movie is a trial to sit through. When I came to the end of "End of Watch", I let out a sigh of relief. My fear of an epileptic attack was over.

I don't know when they started seating attention deficit disorder students at the head of film school classes, but the phenomenon has taken root, and in "End of Watch" it's reached an apex. The entire movie was created by hyperkinetic head cases, including the cameraman and editor and screenwriter. Might as well include the director, too, and maybe it's all the same guy. Remember when the shaky camera in "Blair Witch" was thought excessive? Or when "Cloverfield" made it worse a decade later? Those cameramen are steady at the wheel compared to the basket case in this movie, and I know it's not his fault; the director wanted it that way. He also wanted the editor to hold no shot any longer than three seconds (no kidding, and many shots are quicker), hence my epilepsy worries, and he must've asked his screenwriter to have at least three people talking at once, whenever possible, and with at least a dozen four letter words per line of dialogue. 

The director is a guy named David Ayer. I'd have guessed he was a USC film student trying to create something new, i.e. the genre of Highly Irritating Filmmaking. But instead he's a screenwriter and former South Central resident (he's a white guy), who also wrote "Training Day", which was also over the top but at least had traditional camerawork. "End of Watch" is destroyed by it's crummy conveyance, not to mention it's use of the F word, for which you'd be a wealthy man or woman if you had a dime for every time it was uttered.

Compared to the care taken by a director/screenwriter like John Krasinski, Ayer takes the cheap and easy way out. But not only that, it's physically uncomfortable and distracting to watch his movie, so it doesn't matter if he has a good story, which he does. His execution of it is terrible, and it's a distressing trend in modern filmmaking. 

And you wonder why I don't go see many of today's movies.......holy smokes. In the end, never choose style over substance, which is what "End of Watch" amounts to. It's "Colors" on crack, and it's style is only annoying. Fuggeddabouddit. Thumbs Down. /////

So there you have it, three pictures with varying results. I'll have the other three that remain stockpiled in another synopsis blog coming soon. Have a tremendous day. I send you Tons of Love as always!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)