Um Dia, Um Gato (Az Prijde Kocour, Vojtech Jasný)

Vidas Secas / Boca de Ouro (Nelson Pereira dos Santos)

Fugindo do Inferno (The Great Escape, John Sturges)

O Desprezo / Viver a Vida / O Pequeno Soldado (Le Mépris / Vivre Sa Vie / Le Petit Soldat, Jean-Luc Godard)

Charada (Charade, Stanley Donen)

Os Malditos / O Criado (The Damned / The Servant, Joseph Losey)

Paixões que Alucinam (Shock Corridor, Samuel Fuller)

O Chicote e o Corpo / As Três Máscaras do Terror / Olhos Diabólicos (La Frusta e il Corpo / I Tre Volti della Paura / La Ragazza che Sapeva Troppo, Mario Bava)

8½ (Federico Fellini)

A Casa é Escura (Khaneh Siah Ast, Forugh Farrokhzad)

Nota: Para manter viva esta série, agora não há mais anotações bobas, nem numeração, nem grau de importância pessoal, são só filmes que muito me apetecem por um motivo ou outro. Só não vale passar de 10.

#100!

Data
Title: The Great Escape
Year: 1963
Length: 172 minutes
Director: John Sturges
Writers: James Clavell & W.R. Burnett, based on the book by Paul Brickhill
Starring: Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, James Donald, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence, James Coburn, Hannes Messemer
Music: Elmer Bernstein
Distinctions: currently #100 on IMDb’s Top 250

My reaction
Synopsis: WWII POWs plot a massive escape attempt to distract German resources
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), yesterday
Concept: Great.
Story: Good. The plot is great, but the details start to seriously fall apart at the end.  I had to look it up online to even see if the plan worked.
Characters: Indifferent. I had no investment in any of these people. Also, after looking online, it seems that the people on which the characters are based were actually pretty interesting. But in the movie we get “I like to ride bikes.”
Dialog: Good.
Pacing: Bad.
Cinematography: Indifferent.
Special effects/design: Great.
Acting: Good. Attenborough is great. Most of the other leads are just okay.
Music: Bad. “…this land belongs to you and me!” So. Very. Obnoxious.
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent). Lots of potential, but a pretty boring movie.
Objective Rating: 6/10 (Okay).

Les Voyeurs #84 – Les Voyeurs se font la belle…ou pas

Émission diffusée le jeudi 22 octobre 2009 à 18h sur RGO et le vendredi 23 octobre à 18h sur Radio 16.
Rediffusée le samedi 24 octobre 2009 à 10h sur RGO.
En téléchargement pendant une semaine ici.
Et en écoute permanente là.

Actualité

La BA de la semaine : The Crazies, remake d’un film de Georges Romero. Sortie en 2010. Bande-annonce visible ici.
Fête de l’Animation (du 16 au 31 octobre) : Rdv le lundi 26 octobre au Sémaphore à Nîmes pour voir le film Elefteria en avant-première et rencontrer par la même occasion son réalisateur Éric Van de Godoy. Renseignements disponibles ici.
11ème Rencontres Internationales du Cinéma des Antipodes : Compte-rendu par Erik du palmarès de cette 11ème édition dont la vedette à été cette année le film Samson & Delilah de Warwick Thorton.  Le programme sur le site officiel du festival ici.
31ème Festival Cinémed de Montpellier (23oct./1ernov.) : 31ème édition du festival montpellierain qui débute le vendredi 23 octobre avec en soirée d’ouverture le film Agora du réalisateur Alejandro Amenabar, à qui une rétrospective est d’ailleurs consacrée. Le site du festival avec toutes les infos que vous cherchez ici.
Nine : le nouveau film de Rob Marshall, suite du film de Federico Fellini 8 1/2 vient d’avoir une “pré-bande annonce” pour nous mettre l’eau à la bouche.
Kate Winslet : sortie en DVD et Bluray de ses films Les Noces Rebelles (déjà dispo) et The Reader (dispo le 18 nov.).
Snoopy : sortie DVD de C’est la grosse citrouille Charlie Brown et Joyeux Thanksgiving.
Dollhouse : arrêt définitif de la nouvelle série de Joss Whedon après une nouvelle et ultime saison 2 de 13 épisodes.

Dossier de la semaine : Les Voyeurs se font la belle…ou pas

Les Voyeurs ont décidés cette semaine de s’attaquer au film d’évasion, ces films qui parlent d’endroits où l’on est pas bien et qui donnent tellement envie d’aller voir ailleurs.

Les débuts du film d’évasion :

La Grande Illusion de Jean Renoir (1937)

Fuir mais par où ?

La Grande Évasion (The Great Escape) de John Sturges (1963)
Chicken Run de Peter Lord & Nick Park (2000)
Midnight Express de Alan Parker (1978)

Séries TV d’évasion :

Le Prisonnier de Patrick McGoohan (1966/67, 1 saison, 17 épisodes)
Prison Break de Paul Scheuring (2005 à 2009, 4 saisons, 81 épisodes)
L’Âge de Cristal (Logan’s Run), un film de 1976 et une suite en série TV de 1977

Escape from John Carpenter (aaaahhhoooommm) :

New York 1997 (Escape from New York) (1981)
Los Angeles 2013 (Escape from L.A.) (1996)

La bande originale de la semaine :

Main Title Theme par Marilyn Manson.
Extrait de la bande originale du film Resident Evil (2002) de Paul W.S. Anderson.

Chronique :

Carte Postale Sétoise  – Dillinger

Musique :
Bird on a Wire par Johnny Cash

Extraits :
La Grande Illusion
Le Prisonnier
Escape from New York

Présentation : Erik Antolin, Jérôme Bauzon, Cédric Cance
Carte Postale : Jan Jouvert
Réalisation : Jérémie Adrian

La grande évasion, John Sturges, 1963

Des aviateurs prisonniers en Allemagne tentent par tous les moyens d’échapper à leurs geôliers.  L’affiche ne ment pas : un film d’aventures frivole.

Tourné par un ancien cinéaste de l’armée de l’air américaine, La grande évasion figure parmi les classiques cinématographiques du genre “film de guerre”. En plein second conflit mondial, la Luftwaffe, responsable de la gestion des aviateurs anglo-saxons prisonniers de guerre, concentre les éléments les plus décidés à s’évader dans un seul camp, construit pour l’occasion, et présumé à l’épreuve des aspirants fugitifs. La lucidité de l’armée allemande impressionne : elle concentre  en un seul lieu non seulement des éléments perturbateurs, mais aussi des modèles d’ingéniosité, déterminés à fuir par n’importe quel moyen. L’alibi de départ ainsi posé, le spectateur devine que tout l’enjeu du film sera de savoir quand et comment les détenus parviendront à fausser compagnie à leurs gardiens. L’opposition est factice. Les prisonniers parviendront à leurs fins. Comme dans le roman autobiographique de Paul Brickhill, The great escape, qui condense en une seule spectaculaire évasion les multiples tentatives des aviateurs de son stalag.

Film d’aventures, parfois tragi-comique, souvent mécanique, La grande évasion ne creuse guère son sujet. Les aviateurs, logés dans de très acceptables conditions, parviennent à se fournir en matériel et à organiser un plan démesuré sans jamais attirer l’attention du débonnaire commandant allemand. Le projet de l’organisateur de l’évasion n’est pas de s’enfuir avec quelques hommes. Non, il est de faire sortir l’intégralité des prisonniers et de causer une telle confusion que l’armée allemande sera obligée de lancer aux trousses des évadés une escouade considérable – et ainsi dégarnir ses fronts combattants. Ces beaux aviateurs, propres sur eux, bien habillés, affichent leur flegme, et correspondent à la légende magnifiée par Churchill dans ses discours aux Communes. Dans un camp aux allures de village de vacances, nul obstacle : les gardiens regardent ailleurs, l’organisation des prisonniers est parfaite, leur plan insensé mis en place sans grand péril. Ils construiront trois tunnels de plus de cent mètres sous le camp et s’enfuiront dans la forêt opportunément placée à quelques encablures de la sortie.

Le spectateur ne tremble guère pour les aviateurs, malgré les péripéties invraisemblables que Sturges inflige à ses personnages pour relancer son scénario bancal : la tête brûlée américaine enchaîne de dérisoires  mais divertissantes diversions – Steve McQueen, qui l’incarne, passe les trois quarts du film au trou ; le tunnelier en chef, Charles Bronson, après avoir passé des semaines dans d’étroits boyaux, mal étayés – le bois manque quelquefois – se met à souffrir de claustrophobie aigüe la veille de l’évasion ; le faussaire, après avoir passé des heures à contrôler à la loupe la réalisation de contrefaçons des principaux papiers allemands, devient soudainement aveugle. Ces contre-temps factices ne rendent pas l’évasion plus difficile. Avec une décontraction qui fait passer les acteurs d’Oceans Eleven pour d’épouvantables angoissés, les aviateurs ont trouvé du bois pour étayer leurs tunnels, du papier et des modèles pour composer les faux documents, des lampes, des vêtements de ville, etc…

L’apparente aisance avec laquelle se déroule cette première partie du film ne se trouble qu’à la découverte du premier tunnel par les très perspicaces gardiens allemands. Comme les anglais ont été prévoyants, il suffit alors de reporter les efforts des prisonniers sur un des tunnels restants : le commandement du camp continue à ne se douter de rien. Sa superbe placidité confine à la stupidité. Une évasion cinématographique n’a cependant guère d’intérêt si elle n’est pas suivie d’une course-poursuite. Et pour cela, rien de mieux qu’un tunnel trop court! Voilà des gens qui ont creusé une galerie merveilleusement étayée, éclairée, dotée d’un petit wagon pour circuler – il ne manque que la climatisation, inconnue à l’époque – et qui se trompent de vingt bons mètres : ils déboucheront tous juste devant la grille d’entrée. Les gardiens en laissent passer 76 avant de remarquer enfin l’étrange manège qui se déroule devant leurs yeux.

L’évasion stoppée, les troupes allemandes se lancent à la poursuite des fugitifs. La plupart seront repris : l’un tente de forcer la frontière suisse avec une moto allemande, un autre répond en anglais à un officier de la Gestapo qui l’interroge sans connaître son identité et le dernier emprunte un avion de la Luftwaffe, qu’il ne mène évidemment nulle part. Quelques chanceux – trois – parviendront à se sauver. De belles scènes d’action parsèment cette dernière partie du film. Pour mettre un peu de gravité, car c’est la guerre quand même, Sturgess convoque alors les vrais méchants, les SS. La Gestapo, qui a pris le relais d’une Luftwaffe incompétente, ne fera pas dans le détail avec les prisonniers repris : les camions s’arrêtent dans une prairie, les soldats ordonnent aux aviateurs de descendre, pour qu’ils “dégourdissent leurs jambes”. Les organisateurs de l’évasion échangent alors quelques aimables propos sur leur échec puis se retournent. Méchante surprise, la mitrailleuse nazie est en place. Leur route s’arrête ici.

Cette fin tragique est tempérée par une ultime et comique répétition, le retour de Steve McQueen au trou, qui clot ainsi le film comme il l’a commencé. Brickhill voulut condenser en un seul récit les dizaines de tentatives d’évasion dont il avait été témoin lors de sa détention, et Sturgess réduisit à 2h45 ce condensé. Le scénario en devint invraisemblable. Voire inepte. Pourtant, magie du cinéma, la plupart des scènes du film sont entrées dans la mémoire collective, et ont inspiré les réalisations les plus diverses – de Tarantino à Chicken Run. Ludique, mais sans épaisseur humaine, bien réalisé, mais scénaristiquement douteux, la grande évasion laisse un sentiment mitigé. L’amateur de cinéma pop-corn trouvera toutes les qualités requises à ce produit. Il s’amusera, et admirera peut-être la notable sobriété de réalisation de Sturges. Les autres regarderont pour leur culture générale et oublieront aussi vite ce film superficiel et sans âme.

Ontem a noite tive o prazer de assistir Os Sete Samurais, realmente um clássico do cinema mundial, não perde em nada para um clássico americano, o filme é muito bem feito, Akira Kurosawa mostra a quem quiser como se faz um bom filme, uma historia solida e bem contada.

O filme tem bons diálogos, personagens interessantes que você torce por eles o filme todo, alguns o fazem rir muito, outros passam valores de honra e respeito. O filme se passa no japão feudal e conta a historia de um vilarejo, cansado de ser saqueado por bandidos, resolve contratar samurais para defende-los, o problema é que eles não tem quase nada a oferecer como pagamento e os samurais são contratados em troca de comida, claro que nem todos vão por isso, alguns estão lá pela aventura ou então se sensibilizam com os lavradores.

Já viu alguma historia parecida? Claro que sim, Sete homens e um destino de John Sturges é baseado no roteiro do Kurosawa, e quem gostou desse Faroeste devo dizer, Os Sete Samurais é melhor, recomendo a todos que são fãs de cinema.

]]> http://alternativechronicle.wordpress.com/2009/08/30/bad-day-at-black-rock/ Sun, 30 Aug 2009 21:23:44 +0000 Jonathan Burrello http://alternativechronicle.wordpress.com/2009/08/30/bad-day-at-black-rock/

by Jonathan Burrello

Spencer Tracy is one of those actors who no matter what, always manages to remain consistently entertaining, real, powerful, and strangely understated. Many of his performances were quiet and earnest, yet one might always suspect that there rested a stern bite beneath the surface. His later work in such films as the phenomenal “Judgment at Nuremberg” (1961) which chronicles the trials for the Nazis’ crimes against humanity following World War II; the racially charged “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” (1967) in which his white daughter is engaged to a black man (played by Sidney Poitier); and even a wryly comic role as the straight-laced Capt. Culpepper who decides that he might be entitled to more in “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” (1963) to name a few are very memorable.

His white hair, craggy face, and gentle, thoughtful timber (in his later films anyway) added much to many films. Not terribly fond of rehearsals, Tracy would read the script once several days before shooting and not look at it again (in order to preserve the freshness). Tracy (much like Frank Sinatra) was also not fond of multiple takes.

Today I wish to highlight what can best be categorized as a “neo-western.” The Spencer Tracy vehicle, “Bad Day at Black Rock” (1955), follows many of the familiar conventions of typical cowboy/western fare, but the added touch of taking place in 1945 gives it a unique contemporary flare to it.  The film is directed by John Sturges (“The Great Escape”), and “Bad Day at Black Rock” also stars Robert Ryan (“Battle of the Bulge”), Lee Marvin (“The Dirty Dozen”), Ernest Borgnine (“Marty”), Anne Francis (“Forbidden Planet”), and Walter Brennan (“The Pride of the Yankees”).

“Bad Day at Black Rock” is set in a quiet—too quiet—western town in the middle of nowhere. There are only a few residents and the train never stops there…that is until the mild-mannered John J. Macreedy (Spencer Tracy) shows up. Macreedy, a one-armed war veteran, is greeted with hostility and suspicion by all. It seems everything the intelligent and likable Macreedy does bothers the residents of Black Rock.

Macreedy, a simple gentleman, with a streak of hopelessness since the loss of his arm, has come to Black Rock with one simple purpose: to give a medal to man who’s son saved him in the war. The catch: the man is a Japanese-American named Komoko. Macreedy learns (despite many attempts to chase him out of town) that tough guy, Reno Smith (Ryan), and his thugs are extremely racist and murdered Komoko. From then on it’s a taut suspense thriller to see if Macreedy can stay alive until the next train comes (the next day). In addition to being an older guy with one arm against a town of cowardly thugs out to get him, Macreedy also is filled with a new purpose: to avenge Komoko and bring his murderers to justice, but as the Black Rock residents close in and gradually cut off communication and transportation to the outside world the situation becomes increasingly dire. The few friends he has made in Black Rock are all too conflicted and afraid to help him so Macreedy truly is alone in the wretched desert town. It all culminates into an edge-of-your-seat final showdown (but definitely not your typical western showdown).

“Bad Day at Black Rock” is a satisfying film with great performances and a sharp look. The suspense and feelings of isolation really boost the story into something quite special. A rather humorous and violent exchange between Borgnine and Tracy in a bar is particularly enjoyable. Macreedy’s transformation from a man whose handicap has led him to give up on himself into a man full of righteous indignation and a profound sense of purpose that awakens his will to survive is electrifying. Once again Spencer Tracy gives a very fine performance as the exceedingly polite but resolve-filled John J. Macreedy.

I strongly recommend you seek out and watch “Bad Day at Black Rock.” It’s a pleasurable little film with a lot of strong atmosphere, color, and suspense. I loved it and I think you will too.

picture references:
LIFE magazine
The Fedora Lounge

TIME FRAMES LLC (ex-French Cop LLC) Decides To Create An Operative Agreement To Invite New Members-Owners To Receive A Distributive Share.

• A part of the ownership of the company (10%) will be offered to the actress Blake Lively.

Time Frames, the new name of Hollywood, belongs to everybody but our LLC wants it to be strong and attractive enough by sharing the ownership with you.

• Party-Celebration In Hollywoodland Tuesday, Serptember 1

A Party willl be organized September 1, 2009 at the office of the Company located 6218, Rockcliff Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90068. You are invited beginning 8PM.

Agents, casting directors, producers and our community of actors will be invited and also the journalists who want to participate in this event celebrating a new turning point for our Team with more than 100,000 views of this Blog and now 3,000 views/day!

• Possible Lawsuits To Be Filed By Our LLC Beginning September

Created in2005, The LLC was waiting to break the silence of an industry victim of a conservative tradition now obsolete that created a kind of censorship not anymore efficient to prevent us to develop our products thanks to possible Lawsuits (small claims or not)that we can file beginning September.

• 10 Screenplays are waiting for the Sets to be filmed in the new Format of TIME FRAMES that cannot be copied: PANAVISION.

www.panavision.com

French Cop, German Spy, Parallel People, Past Machine and the other writings of the great Mike Fuller alias your friend Fred Vidal, PhD never succeeded to find partners until now even with the hundreds of actors met in town and connections in Los Angeles. This is a fact that explain that we must now work together for more, more solidarity in a commercial way: by making work a dream and so and so.

John Sturges, The Director of FAST COMPANY and so many other Films is for TIME FRAMES (President: Fred Vidal) the Founder of this new style we need after the sale of Hollywood to the American People.

KAGEMUSHA – SPÖKGENERALEN av Akira Kurosawa (1980)
Med Tatsuya Nakadai, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kenichi Hagiwara, Jinpachi Nezu, Hideji Otaki, Daisuke Ryu, Masayuki Yui

SPOILERVARNING

“Kungen är död. Länge leve kungen.”

I Sverige lär man i svunna tider vid en kungs frånfälle ha proklamerat dödsfallet på ovanstående sätt och med den andra meningen ha syftat på tronarvingen. En annan variant är att göra som Takedaklanen i Akira Kurosawas epos Kagemusha – spökgeneralen och helt enkelt vägra att för omvärlden medge att klanledaren Shingen har dött, skjuten av en prickskytt, och därför låta hans dubbelgångare – hans kagemusha (bokstavlig betydelse: skuggkrigare) – ta över rollen som Shingen på heltid.

Intrigen i Kagemusha – spökgeneralen löper genom ett komplicerat maktspels vindlande labyrinter – ett maktspel som drivs framåt av en hederskodex som för en västerlänning är delvis obegriplig – men filmens tema är mer omfattande än så. Akira Kurosawa utforskar även identitetsproblemet, på ett mycket japanskt vis – med allt större lojalitet, i sig obefogad, går den enkle tjuv som är Shingens dubbelgångare till slut så upp i sin roll att han även för Shingens närmaste omgivning, till och med dennes nära anhöriga, framstår som Shingen själv, som vore han tagen i besittning av krigsherrens ande. Hans identifikation med den döde klanledaren blir i det närmaste fullständig och när han slutligen fråntas uppgiften och drivs bort från Takedaklanen är den personliga katastrofen ett faktum. Sin egen identitet har han förlorat, Shingens har berövats honom. Som en spegelbild av katastrofen på individplanet går Takedaklanen, även den berövad Shingen, omgående under i de efterföljande striderna.

Kagemusha – spökgeneralen handlar också om föreställningens, om mytens makt. Att den verklige Shingen inte längre är i livet saknar strängt taget betydelse, för så länge myten om honom hålls vid liv håller myten även hans fiender i schack. Det räcker med att dubbelgångaren tillsammans med sina vasaller visar sig under ett av klanens slag, sittande på en pall bakom stridslinjen, för att fienden ska ta till flykten. Shingen behöver inte göra något och hans taktiska och strategiska geni är inte längre nödvändigt – det enda som behövs är hans uppenbarelse, hans rykte. Myten. Och så fort myten dör är undergången ett faktum.

I denna suggestiva, trovärdiga berättelse från 1500-talets Japan undersöker Akira Kurosawa (som förutom att regissera även skrev manus tillsammans med Masato Ide) mot bakgrund av palatsintriger och ständigt krigstillstånd vad identitet egentligen innebär och hur identitet kan (ny)skapas på det personliga planet (dubbelgångaren) och i det allmänna medvetandet (myten om Shingen). Men Kagemusha är även en fascinerande film om machiavellisk maktkamp. Och den är en storslagen äventyrsfilm, som kan ses för den rena underhållningens skull. Det tillhör nu en gång Akira Kurosawas enastående geni att trots djuplodande undersökningar av allmänmänskliga frågeställningar även låta sina filmer bli storslagna äventyr och det går mycket väl att se dem som enbart sådana om man skulle råka känna sig på matinéhumör.

Och i det sammanhanget är det föstås inte oväsentligt att de i stället för tvådimensionella datoranmeringar använder sig av tredimensionella statister, som väller fram i horder över slagfältet alldeles på riktigt och därför får alltsammans att se realistiskt ut.

Akira Kurosawas De sju samurajerna gav upphov till nyinspelningen The Magnificent Seven, en amerikansk västern av John Sturges där Kurosawas mycket tänkvärda tema i princip saknas men som i sig bevisar hur väl hans film fungerar även utan det.

Fast med det sagt vinner tittaren förstås på att se Kurosawas filmer med inte bara äventyrslustan utan även intellektet på högvarv, för i västerländsk filmkonst är det som bekant beklämmande ovanligt med storslagna äventyr som även bjuder på tänkvärt innehåll.

I japansk filmkonst finns den sortens filmer och Kagemusha – spökgeneralen är ett av de främsta exemplen.

Kör hårt,
Bellis

The Three Musketeers (1973)-Richard Lester

The Four Musketeers (1974)-Richard Lester

8 1/2 (1963)-Federico Fellini

The Ten Commandments (1956)-Cecil B. DeMille

12 Angry Men (1957)-Sidney Lumet

The 39 Steps (1935)-Alfred Hitchcock

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)-Stanley Kubrick

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)-Richard Fleischer

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)-Charles Barton

The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)-Lotte Reiniger

The African Queen (1951)-John Huston

Alien (1979)-Ridley Scott

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)-Lewis Milestone

All the President’s Men (1976)-Alan J. Pakula

Amadeus (1984)-Milos Forman

American Movie (1999)-Chris Smith

Amores Perros (2000)- Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

And the Fifth Horseman is Fear (1965)-Zbynek Byrnych

Andrei Rublev (1966)-Andrei Tarkovsky

Animal Crackers (1930)-Victor Heerman

Annie Hall (1977)-Woody Allen

The Apartment (1960)-Billy Wilder

Apocalypse Now (1979)-Francis Ford Coppola

Around the World in 80 Days (1956)-Michael Anderson

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)-Frank Capra

Babe (1995)-Chris Noonan

Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)-John Sturges

The Bank Dick (1940)-Edward F. Cline

The Battle of Algiers (1966)-Gillo Pontecorvo

The Battleship Potemkin (1925)-Sergei Eisenstein

Beauty and the Beast (1991)-Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise

Before Sunrise (1995)-Richard Linklater

Being There (1979)-Hal Ashby

The Bicycle Thief (1948)-Vittorio de Sica

The Birds (1963)-Alfred Hitchcock

Blade Runner (1982)-Ridley Scott

Born Into Brothels: Calcutta’s Red Light Kids (2005)-Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman

The Blues Brothers (1980)-John Landis

Brazil (1985)-Terry Gilliam

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)-George Roy Hill

The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)-James Whale

The Bridge On the River Kwai (1957)-David Lean

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)-Robert Wiene

Caddyshack (1980)-Harold Ramis

Casablanca (1942)-Michael Curtiz

Chinatown (1974)-Roman Polanski

Cinema Paradiso (1988)-Giuseppe Tornatore

Citizen Kane (1941)-Orson Welles

City Lights (1931)-Charlie Chaplin

City of God (2002)-Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)-Steven Spielberg

Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)-Woody Allen

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000)-Ang Lee

Das Boot (1981)-Wolfgang Petersen

The Deer Hunter (1978)-Michael Cimino

The Defiant Ones (1958)-Stanley Kramer

Dersu Uzala (1975)-Akira Kurosawa

The Devils (1971)-Ken Russell

Les Diaboliques (1955)-Henri-Georges Clouzot

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)-Luis Bunuel

Do the Right Thing (1989)-Spike Lee

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)-Sidney Lumet

Dracula (1931)-Tod Browning

Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)-Stanley Kubrick

Duck Soup (1933)-Leo McCarey

Dumbo (1941)-Ben Sharpsteen

Eaux d’artifice (1953)-Kenneth Anger

The Elephant Man (1980)-David Lynch

Ed Wood (1994)-Tim Burton

E. T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)-Steven Spielberg

Evil Dead II (1987)-Sam Raimi

The Exorcist (1973)-William Friedkin

Fanny and Alexander (1982)-Ingmar Bergman

Fantasia (1940)-Walt Disney (producer)

Fargo (1996)-Joel and Ethan Coen

Fiddler on the Roof (1971)-Norman Jewison

A Fish Called Wanda (1988)-Charles Crichton and John Cleese

Fitzcarraldo (1982)-Werner Herzog

Forbidden Planet (1956)-Fred M. Wilcox

Frankenstein (1931)-James Whale

Freaks (1932)-Tod Browning

The French Connection (1971)-William Friedkin

Gandhi (1982)-Sir Richard Attenborough

The General (1927)-Clyde Bruckman and Buster Keaton

Ghostbusters (1984)-Ivan Reitman

Glory (1989)-Edward Zwick

The Godfather I and II (1972)-Francis Ford Coppola

The Gold Rush (1925)-Charlie Chaplin

Gone With the Wind (1939)-Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Sam Wood

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)-Sergio Leone

Goodfellas (1990)-Martin Scorsese

The Graduate (1967)-Mike Nichols

Grave of the Fierflies (1988)-Isao Takahata

The Great Dictator (1940)-Charlie Chaplin

The Great Escape (1963)-John Sturges

The Guns of Navarone (1961)-J. Lee Thompson

A Hard Day’s Night (1964)-Richard Lester

Harold and Maude (1971)-Hal Asby

Harvey (1950)-Henry Koster

Hell in the Pacific (1968)-John Boorman

High Noon (1952)-Fred Zinnemann

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)-Chuck Jones and Ben Washam

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)-William Dieterle

The Hunt for Red October (1990)-John McTiernan

In the Heat of the Night (1967)-Norman Jewison

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)-Frank Capra

Ivan’s Childhood (1962)-Andrei Tarkovsky

Jaws (1975)-Steven Spielberg

Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)-Stanley Kramer

The Kid (1921)-Charlie Chaplin

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)-Robert Mulligan

Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)-Robert Hamer

King Kong (1933)-Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Shoedsack

Lady and the Tramp (1955)-Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and Hamilton Luske

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)-David Lean

The Lost World (1925)-Harry O. Hoyt

Patton (1970)-Franklin J. Schaffner

The Maltese Falcon (1941)-John Huston

Man With A Movie Camera (1929)-Dziga Vertov

Manchurian Candidate (1962)-John Frankenheimer

Manhattan (1979)-Woody Allen

Mary Poppins (1964)-Robert Stevenson

Memento (2000)-Christopher Nolan

Metropolis (1927)-Fritz Lang

The Miracle Worker (1962)-Arthur Penn

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)-Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)-Frank Capra

The Muppet Movie (1979)-James Frawley

The Music Man (1962)-Morton DeCosta

My Fair Lady (1964)-George Cukor

Network (1976)-Sidney Lumet

A Night at the Opera (1935)-Sam Wood

The Night of the Living Dead (1968)-George Romero

North By Northwest (1959)-Alfred Hitchcock

Nosferatu (1922)-F. W. Murnau

Oldboy (2003)-Chan-wook Park

On the Waterfront (1954)-Elia Kazan

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)-Milos Forman

Ordet (1955)-Carl Theodor Dreyer

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)-Guillermo del Toro

The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)-Carl Theodor Dreyer

Paths of Glory (1975)-Stanley Kubrick

The Phantom of the Opera (1925)-Rupert Julian

Planet of the Apes (1968)-Franklin J. Schaffner

The Princess Bride (1987)-Rob Reiner

Psycho (1960)-Alfred Hitchcock

Pulp Fiction (1994)-Quenton Tarantino

The Quiet Duel (1949)-Akira Kurosawa

The Quiet Man (1952)-John Ford

Raging Bull (1980)-Martin Scorsese

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)-Steven Spielberg

Rain Man (1988)-Barry Levinson

Ran (1985)-Akira Kurosawa

Rashomon (1950)-Akira Kurosawa

Rear Window (1954)-Alfred Hitchcock

Rocky (1976)-John G. Alvidsen

Rosemary’s Baby (1968)-Roman Polanski

Rushmore (1998)-Wes Anderson

Safety Last! (1923)-Fred C. Newmeyer and SamTaylor

The Saragossa Manuscript (1965)-Wojciech Has

Schindler’s List (1993)-Steven Spielberg

Scrooge (1951)-Brian Desmond Hurst

Serpico (1973)-Sidney Lumet

Seven Samurai (1954)-Akira Kurosawa

The Seventh Seal (1957)-Ingmar Bergman

Sherlock, Jr. (1924)-Buster Keaton

The Shining (1980)-Stanley Kubrick

Silence of the Lambs (1991)-Jonathan Demme

Singin’ in the Rain (1952)-Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly

Sleeping Beauty (1959)-Clyde Geronimi

Some Like It Hot (1959)-Billy Wilder

The Sound of Music (1965)-Robert Wise

Spartacus (1960)-Stanley Kubrick

Spirited Away (2001)-Hayao Miyazaki

Stalag 17 (1953)-Billy Wilder

Stalker (1979)-Andrei Tarkovsky

Star Wars (1977)-George Lucas

The Sting (1973)-George Roy Hill

Sunset Blvd. (1950)-Billy Wilder

Taxi Driver (1976)-Martin Scorsese

The Thief of Bagdad (1940)-Michael Powell, Ludwig Berger, Tim Whelan, Alexander Korda, Zoltan Korda, William Cameron Menzies

The Third Man (1949)-Carol Reed

This Is Spinal Tap (1984)-Rob Reiner

Tokyo Story (1953)-Yasujiro Ozu

Tootsie (1982)-Sydney Pollack

Toy Story (1995)-John Lasseter

Trading Places (1983)-John Landis

A Trip to the Moon (1902)-Georges Melies

Ugetsu (1953)-Kenji Mizoguchi

Unforgiven (1992)-Clint Eastwood

The Verdict (1982)-Sidney Lumet

Vertigo (1958)-Alfred Hitchcock

The Virgin Spring (1960)-Ingmar Bergman

Viva Zapata! (1952)-Elia Kazan

WALL-E (2008)-Andrew Stanton

Waiting For Guffman (1996)-Christopher Guest

Watership Down (1978)-Martin Rosen

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)-Robert Zemeckis

The Wild Bunch (1969)-Sam Peckinpah

Wild Strawberries (1957)-Ingmar Bergman

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)-Mel Stuart

Wings of Desire (1985)-Wim Wenders

Witness for the Prosecution (1957)-Billy Wilder

The Wizard of Oz (1939)-Victor Fleming, Mervyn LeRoy, and King Vidor

The Wolf Man (1941)-George Waggner

The Wrestler (2008)-Darren Aronofsky

Young Frankenstein (1974)-Mel Brooks

Z (1969)-Costa Gravas

Zorba the Greek (1964)-Mihalis Kakagiannis

P. S. This list is naturally subject to be added to

Dags att damma av en gammal klassiker igen. En man steg av tåget är den svenska titeln på John Sturges Bad Day at Black Rock från 1955, som legat och väntat på min hårddiskspelare ett tag.

Mannen som kliver av tåget är ingen mindre än Spencer Tracy i rollen som John J Macreedy, en krigsveteran som anländer till en gudsförgäten liten håla nånstans ute i ingenstans. Han söker efter en man vid namn Komoko, men invånarna i den lilla staden möter honom med kompakt ovilja och misstänksamhet. Det är uppenbart att de har något att dölja, och Macreedys blotta närvaro är tillräckligt för att få Black Rock att börja knaka i fogarna.

They don’t make ‘em like this anymore, är man frestad att säga. Bad Day at Black Rock är en beundransvärt tajt och välkomponerad spänningshistoria som klockar in på bara 81 kompakta minuter. Såväl Macreedys bakgrund och avsikter som stadens hemlighet uppenbaras gradvis, och Sturges bygger skickligt spänningen mot ett par klimaktiska våldsscener. Den ena, där den enarmade Macreedy ställs mot Ernest Borgnines brutala tjockskalle, är en klassiker i egen rätt.

Bad Day at Black Rock har sin plats i historien som en av de första filmerna som tog upp interneringen av japaner i USA under andra världskriget, men teman som främlingsrädsla och okritisk patriotism gör att den känns relevant än idag. Spännande, välspelat och mycket sevärt, och Tracy är cool som få.

(Tyvärr visade det sig att den version som jag spelat in från TCM var pan-and-scannad, vilket i praktiken innebär att ungefär häften av den tjusiga Cinemascope-bilden saknas vid varje givet tillfälle. Sånt borde vara åtalbart.)

Andra bloggar om film, filmrecensioner,

Not much of an ice station…

Stars Rock Hudson, Patrick McGoohan, Jim Brown, and Ernest Borgnine. Directed by John Sturges.

Story: Nuclear sub Commander James Ferraday (Hudson) receives notice that him and his men must travel to the North Pole and escort a guy named “Jones” (McGoohan) to a civilian camp for Top Secret reasons. Seeing as the paperwork comes from so high up the command chain he would get a nosebleed, he accepts. “Jones” is a mysterious character who knows more about what’s going on than the Captain and lets him know it. On their trip North they stop and pick up Vaslov (Borgnine) a Russian defector and Marine Captain Anders (Brown). Vaslov is affable and friendly, but uncomfortably pokes around the sub to learn more about it; he’s also good friends with Jones. Captain Anders is dry, hard-nosed, and by-the-book. When prepping a torpedo tube leads to sabotage and the death of a crewmember, the Captain tries to find the saboteur. Is it Anders, Vaslov, Jones, or even one of the crewmembers themselves? When they break through the Northern ice and get to the civilian camp they find half of the people barely alive, while others were shot before being burned in the fire. The hunt is on for a secret canister of film that both sides (American and Russian) want because it contains satellite intel on every base operated by them.

First off let me praise the WB for having an extremely clean print of the film. I watched in on DVD in HD and it’s clean and clear; no grain that stood out. This film was well taken care of.

Secondly, it’s an intriguing film to watch. If you decide to watch it do yourself a favor and view the trailer before seeing the movie because it essentially has the “backstory” you may need to understand what’s going on. Just a helpful hint.

Does the movie hold up to now? Well, it’s a good story. A little dated (it was a Cold War movie) but it’s still enjoyable. The only thing that seems somewhat “stilted” is when the Russians paratroop onto the ice to close in on the base; it seemed a little “hokey” for my tastes. As well as the Russian MiG flyovers.

Why should you watch this movie? Cold War allegory beside, two reasons to watch: Patrick McGoohan and the cinematography. I enjoyed “The Prisoner” (McGoohan’s spy series) and he made this movie in the middle of doing that. If you’re a fan, ya gotta check this one out.

The cinematography was incredible and a good portion of that was because of John Stevens. Stevens was the Second Unit Director who shot the sub under the ice scenes, as well as the crashdive and aerial views. If you love camerawork and what can be/has been done in movies, the scene where the sub is under the ice is enough alone to warrant renting this one. There is a featurette on the disc called “The Man Who Made a Difference.” It talks about Stevens and how he worked on this as well as “Grand Prix” (another good movie, especially for cinematography). Do yourself a favor and check him out on IMDB to see what other Second Unit work he’s done; you’d be surprised.

The story is okay, the acting is good, the music works, and the cinematography is the cherry on top.

My grade: B (solid)

Como su nombre indica, el western, o cine del Oeste, es el género cinematográfico que relata historias relacionadas con la conquista y colonización de los territorios occidentales de Estados Unidos. Una conquista que fue llevada a término a lo largo del siglo XIX por parte de inmigrantes europeos, que llegaban en caravanas para ocuparse en los tres principales negocios que brindaba esa franja continental: la agricultura, la ganadería y la minería aurífera. Enfrentados con los pueblos indígenas y con la delincuencia organizada, esos pioneros simbolizaron sus esperanzas de progreso y prosperidad en los justicieros ocasionales, convertidos en héroes gracias al folletín y a la novela por entregas. Esta vertiente literaria, heredera de la novela caballeresca, sirvió para exaltar las virtudes de pistoleros al servicio de la ley y de militares del cuerpo de caballería, pues ambas ocupaciones eran garantía de seguridad en un momento histórico sometido a muy violentas tensiones.

Las décadas de los cuarenta y los cincuenta, animadas por la generalización en el uso del color y los grandes formatos, ofrecen un amplio número de obras maestras en lo que al cine del Oeste se refiere. En esta línea, conviene subrayar títulos como Incidente en Ox-Bow (The Ox-Bow Incident, 1943), de William A. Wellman, Sólo ante el peligro (High Noon, 1952), de Fred Zinnemann, Río de Sangre (The Big Sky, 1952), de Howard Hawks, Yuma (Run the Arrow, 1957), de Samuel Fuller, Horizontes lejanos (Bend of the River, 1952), de Anthony Mann, Raíces profundas (Shane, 1953) de George Stevens, Río Bravo (1959), de Hawks, y Los siete magníficos (The Magnificent Seven, 1960), de John Sturges.

La coyuntura socio-política de la década de los sesenta facilitó nuevas ofertas, acordes con el desencanto y el escepticismo propiciados por los acontecimientos de aquel momento histórico. Películas como Grupo salvaje (The Wild Bunch, 1969), de Sam Peckinpah, impregnadas de una violencia insólita, revisan el pasado con una amargura llena de connotaciones. Todo ello tiene que ver con un lento declive de la moda del western, convertido en un género que los directores frecuentaban en un grado decreciente.

No obstante, pese a que el cine del Oeste interesa cada vez menos al público, los creadores han insistido en la fórmula, actualizando sus tópicos y homenajeando a los artífices como Ford, Wellman y Hawks, capaces de llevar a la pantalla la épica colonizadora. De los filmes más recientes ocupados en este afán, sobresalen Forajidos de leyenda (The Long Riders,1980), de Walter Hill, Silverado (1985), de Lawrence Kasdan, Bailando con lobos (Dances With Wolves, 1990), de Kevin Costner, y Sin perdón (Unforgiven, 1992), de Clint Eastwood.

New in at Cinema Books: Escape Artist The Life and Films of John Sturges by Glenn Lovell, $26.95 paper.  New life of one of the greatest action film directors of all time.  The author had extensive interviews with Sturges, his wife and children plus Clint Eastwood, Robert Duvall and Jane Russell.  Remember these great Sturges movies: Bad Day at Black Rock, Gunfight at the OK Corral, The Magnificent Seven,  and The Great Escape?  The author critiques the films, and the themes of masculinity, machismo, amd male-bonding in the big-budget Hollywood action movie.

Mmm. Captain Trips. My favorite.

Wash your hands, cover your cough, stay inside, watch these films. And be happy. More at Retro Pop Redux…

Jeopardy is a film noir (supposedly) from 1953 that is directed by John Sturges. It doesn’t come without star power with Barbara Stanwyck, Ralph Meeker and Barry Sullivan, but it does lack just about everything else. It is considered a film noir, but I have yet to see why that is.

The writing is sub par to be generous and while the storyline in many good noirs is questionable, Jeopardy’s catalyst is about the worst. On a family vacation to an abandoned beach front, Barry Sullivan (the father) falls through a dilapidated pier and his leg is caught under a large piece of timber that originally held up that section of the pier. The wife, Barbara Stanwyck, and the young son (Lee Aaker) try to get him out before the tide comes in and drowns him.

The frustrating thing is that the piece of timber is not very large, though it breaks their car jack, and the sand underneath is soft. The film is supposed to convince you that they cannot shovel out the soft sand because there are a couple of rocks around, but it defies anyone’s common sense and their attempts to get him out from under the log are extremely minimal before it is decided that Stanwyck should make a 2 hour journey back to the only house they saw on the way in.

The story does pick up when Ralph Meeker enters, an escaped convict that doesn’t care about Stanwyck’s family and takes her as a hostage. The movie struggles mightily until he enters. Meeker does get the best lines of the film and is the only actor that seems to care about his character.

The big hook of the film is the moral quandary Stanwyck finds herself in as she tries to decide if it is worth it to give herself to Meeker in order to save her husband from certain death. Meeker wants to have his way with her and this Stanwyck’s only bargaining chip.

I would never tell anyone not to watch a film, but don’t expect much from this one. The beginning is amateurish at best and it appears as if the filmmakers didn’t even try to convince the audience that Sullivan was truly stuck under the large timber. Stanwyck is a great actress, but this may be the worst film I have seen of hers to date and it really hurts to watch her talent wasted.

Spoiler Alert

One glaring problem with this story is that the hook is not really used. Stanwyck is supposed to give herself to Meeker in order to convince him to help her husband. Whether or not sex actually happens is open to interpretation (they have a couple of violent kisses), but it was not necessary as what convinces him to help is that Meeker can have her husbands clothes, identification and car.

It may have helped this film if Stanwyck did run off with Meeker and left Sullivan to drown in front of his son. Instead, the ending was lackadaisical and predictable with the exception that you know Meeker probably gets away at least for a while longer. If Stanwyck would have been a real femme fatale, this would have at least given the film some tones of noir. Otherwise it was simply a poorly written and put together film that has little value other than to give further evidence the Ralph Meeker was an underrated actor. 

With Elmer Bernstein’s Western-style theme tune, a name like The Great Escape and those big fuck-off red titles you know where you are with this from the start.  It’s a bombastic, unsubtle, flag-waving crowd-pleaser.  There’ll be no ambiguity or equivocation here. This is a regression to childhood; the Allies are Dennis the Menace, Bart Simpson, Winker Watson and Kevin McAllister while the prison guards are their hapless parents and teachers.  And that also tells you what this isn’t, this is by no means a serious historical document.  It very well may be a dramatisation of a novelization of real events, but that’s like relying upon a blurry photograph of an artist’s impression of a bank robber to identify a suspect.  No, whatever the titles may have you think, this is a fantastical exercise. Of course, that’s not a criticism- it’s a defence.  Critics of the lack of authenticity in this film really should avoid cinema as a medium of entertainment.

What you can justifiably put the boot in about is the almost total lack of plausibility- the claustrophobic tunnel-digger, the blind forger, the American flier in chinos and a sweatshirt who got shot down clutching a baseball mit, James Coburn’s dreadful broad Orstrialiurn accent, the secret still that even the prisoners can’t find which produces enough moonshine for three hundred men… It just depends how far you’re willing to suspend your disbelief.  Me?  Well, in the right mood I’ll accept it- even if it does make being a prisoner of war look like more fun than a night out with Keith Moon.

But whether it’s any good is the most important question and, well, it’s okay.  It’s the best part of three hours long and there only a few dull passages- for example, the first half hour seems to fly by with all of the characters being introduced in turn, but the next half-hour on the complexities of hiding different coloured dirt and how to get a camera out of a prison guard drag.  What’s more the sheer volume of characters makes it a challenge for John Sturges to introduce them all- giving Cavendish a scarf and Henley a polo-neck may help us distinguish between them but that’s no use if we don’t know which is which.  And that’s the best thing about the film, the clarity of characterization.  God only knows what kind of a challenge it must be keeping such a huge cast of star egos happy with their screen time while keeping the film under five hours long.  Sturges does that really well here.  Whoever is directing The Expendables will find that out for himself soon enough.

The next best thing about the film is linked with that.  The next best thing about the film is Steve McQueen.  Okay, I’m biased, I love Steve McQueen but he is genuinely the most watchable thing on show here.  It isn’t his acting, which is competent enough, it is his charisma and sheer screen presence.  I suppose the fact that he is swaggering around in what looks like his own clothes and had the whole iconic motorbike sequence added just because he likes motorbikes helps.  John Sturges, deliberately or otherwise, just lets him stroll onset and steal the film from everyone else.  No-one remembers Charles Bronson and John Leyton rowing away at dusk in beautiful soft-focus, but everyone remembers the motorcycle jump.  I suppose that means that Sturges’s decision to humour him paid off, even at the cost of completely overbalancing the film.

Despite the best efforts of arch overactor James Garner and dear Dicky Attenborough, Donald Pleasance is the only man who comes close to McQueen when it comes to creating a memorable character.  He is thoroughly lovable, a perfect English gentleman designed for Hollywood consumption.  Splendid.

What is most usually overlooked about The Great Escape is the amount of time that is spent on largely unsuccessful post-escape events.  The Elmer Bernstein theme and the very phrase ‘great escape’ represent- in the minds of the majority- Allied supremacy over Nazi tyranny; like the Dunkirk evacuation or Custer at the Alamo or even Balboa’s first tilt at the world title, glorious failure is much more memorable than mere success in Hollywood’s estimation.

So it’s mostly crap, but enjoyable, iconic, quotable crap that everyone needs to have seen to understand the intercontextual references that appear in countless other books or films or songs or TV shows. The Great Escape is far more than just a film, it is a part of our cultural heritage.  6/10

Film #18 in the Filmspotting World War II Marathon!

Screenplay By: James Clavell & W.R. Burnett
Directed By: John Sturges

I have written in the past that the World War II setting doesn’t need to be relegated to serious fare. It can be used for comedy, action, any sort of movie you want. The Great Escape takes the action route, but it does teeter towards bottoming out because it tries to imbue over the top scenarios and jovial nature with a serious tone. When The Great Escape turns towards action, it is a good bordering on great action film, but it loses itself in its attempts at comedy and seriousness. It is uneven throughout and never seems to find its stride.

My issue with the comic nature of The Great Escape is in the portrayal of the prison camp. I realize that The Great Escape is based on true accounts from prisoners who did attempt to escape from a German POW camp during the war. The problem comes in the liberal usage of lore over truth, in the rather toned down nature of the prison camp. What made the Nazis so dangerous was that they weren’t inept, they wouldn’t stand by and watch while a group of POW’s cased out the joint. Now, this issue of mine wouldn’t be enough to have any effect on the film, if not for the fact that John Sturges tries to juxtapose a very serious tone with the highly comedic one he establishes in the early going. The Great Escape is not a film that should be serious, it should be an action suspense film with some light comedic undertone, at least it would have worked more for me if that was what I was given.

The final product of The Great Escape is still entertaining. For as uneven as it is, it does feature some well planned out action sequences, beautiful vistas and location cinematography, along with plenty of moments where it is quite fun. That fun isn’t always present, nor is the action always in the proper context, but those moments of fun and action are still there and they do work.

The question for me became whether the fun, more action oriented moments were enough to balance out the tonally out of focus moments. In the end they were and The Great Escape is a film that while needing to be tightened up and shaved of some running time, is still an action film that works in the moments when the action is focused on. I wish it could have been more of an even effort, but I was still somewhat satisfied with the final product, and that’s good enough for me in this case.

Rating:

***

Cheers,
Bill

MYSTERY STREET av John Sturges (1950)
Med Ricardo Montalban, Sally Forrest, Elsa Lanchester, Jan Sterling

Ricardo Montalban är en pinsam skådespelare. Han ingjuter ställföreträdande skamkänslor hos tittaren. Han kan knappt stå upp eller för den delen sitta ned utan att framstå som tillgjort konstlad. Men ännu värre blir det när han envetet, och uppenbarligen med regissören John Sturges (just det, John – inte Preston, tyvärr) godkännande, i Mystery Street enbart arbetar på sin image som brett tandkrämsreklamleende, tjusig filmstjärna som hela tiden ser ut som på tuggummibilderna som charmade dåtidens samlartokiga tonårsflickor.

Det blir stundtals så bisarrt att det är roligt, för det här är en historia om det brutala mordet på en ung kvinna och det är Ricardo Montalban som i egenskap av ledande utredare vid kriminalpolisen uppdagar den ena ohyggliga ledtråden och/eller skändligheten efter den andra – och varje gång inte bara ler brett utan ibland till och med följer upp med ett gapskratta förtjust och scouthurtigt fälla någon replik av slaget tala-om-vad-alla-redan-vet, varpå han genast på nytt med språng i blick eller vad det heter är på väg för att uppdaga nästan ledtråd och få le brett och kanske till och med brista ut i gapskratt igen.

Så det här är inte en film noir, vilket ihärdigt påstås av diverse självutnämnda men därmed brutalt avslöjade experter. Det är en kriminalfilm. Många gör misstaget att sätta likhetstecken mellan de båda typerna av film; stor blunder, för det är inte alls samma sak. Film noir behöver inte vara kriminalfilm; bara en minoritet av världens kriminalfilmer är film noir. Å andra sidan är några av de bästa noir-filmerna även kriminalfilmer, och den som genast dyker upp i huvudet är förstås Fritz Langs superklassiker The Big Heat med Glenn Ford i huvudrollen, som jag utan att tveka för upp på listan över de hundra bästa filmerna i historien, alla kategorier.

Fast Mystery Street kan man inte säga något ens avlägset liknande om.

De första tio minuterna är ren, outspädd, hårdkokt film noir – från den imponerande öppningsscenen från takhushöjd över en gata i Boston till det att den unga kvinnan blir mördad. Här rör vi oss i noir-filmens värld, bland dess människospillror i billiga hyreshus, på skumma barer och nattmörka gator – men sedan tar det tvärt slut och alltsammans övergår i en glättigt hurtig, kamratkäck mordutredning så full av imbecill dialog och föredrag av bokstavligt talat (!) varianten “professorn förklarar” att man förläget frestas vända bort blicken och stoppa fingrarna i öronen. Och hoppas att det ska ta slut någon gång.

Vilket det så småningom gör, med en skurkjakt som är ett alldeles fantastiskt tafatt plagiat av den suggestiva upplösningen i den ett år tidigare släppta The Third Man av Carol Reed – fast här sker jakten ovan jord, på en rangerbangård full med stillastående tåg.

Förutom den hårdkokta, ångestladdade inledningen finns det ett par riktigt bra scener, till exempel den där Elsa Lanchesters portvaktskvinna just blivit informerad om att hennes hyresgäst är mördad och samtidigt själv blivit avslöjad med att ha sålt den mördade kvinnans tillhörigheter – se på henne när hon går nedför trappan och pratar med Ricardo Montalban och se på henne när han har gått. Jag spolade tillbaka och såg om hela den scenen fyra gånger. Se det initiala, skämtsamma pladdret. Se skräcken när det går upp för henne vad det är frågan om. Och se den giriga listen. Se henne få utpressningsidén. Alltihop i naturlig följd, uttryckt enbart med ansiktet. Lysande.

Men som film betraktad är Mystery Street a) avgjort inte noir (med undantag av de första tio minuterna) och b) en utmärkt film att ha som utfyllnad på en “double bill” (vilket den är på en dvd-utgåva där lysande Act of Violence är A-feature), eftersom det ursprungligen var så att den unge mannen och den unga kvinnan som satt på drive in-biografen hade hunnit till hånglandet i bilen när den andra filmen började och därför inte längre tittade på vad som visades på duken.

Kör hårt,
Bellis

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (1960)

Crucials

Director: John Sturges

Written by: William Roberts (credited), Walter Newman (uncredited), Walter Bernstein (uncredited)

Starring: Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter, James Coburn, Horst Buchholz

Composer: Elmer Bernstein

Recommended: Yes

This film has such an interesting background in addition to what we see onscreen. First of all, for those of you who do not know this, The Magnificent Seven is essentially a Western carbon-copy of  Akira Kurosawa’s film The Seven Samurai (Shichinin no samurai). I have yet to see that film, but I have heard from numerous people that after seeing one of these two films, watching the other becomes “boring”. Somehow, I am not worried about that. During my film studies at college, I had to watch numerous retellings of certain stories, such as Nosferatu/Dracula, and I even managed to sit through all of Gus van Sant’s deplorable shot-for-shot remake of Psycho, so I think I’ll be OK when watching The Seven Samurai, if only for Kurosawa’s visual differences. Also, you might find it interesting that not only was Kurosawa heavily influenced by Westerns, but he loved The Magnificent Seven. He didn’t wish to compare it to his film; instead, he saw it as its own entity, and he enjoyed it immensely. Anyway, the basic plot is that a large group of bandits, lead by the fearful Calvera, have been terrorizing a small farming village in Mexico, forcing the people to give much of their food to the bandits and keep only what is just needed to get by for themselves. The people, tired of putting up with this abuse, go to the border to buy guns from Americans. There, they witness a man who is skilled with a gun and clearly knows where they could be acquired, so they ask him to help them buy guns. He proposes that they hire gunmen, as men are cheaper than guns. When asks how much the farmers have, they produce a small collection of items from their village–all they have– and offer them to the man in exchange for his help. He seeks to enlist the help of other skilled gunmen who are willing to work for the small wage, and thus we find ourselves with “The Magnificent Seven”.

I included the two uncredited writers because Walter Bernstein wrote the first adaptation of The Seven Samurai, which was not used (and, according to him, was closer to the original film than what was eventually used for The Magnificent Seven), and Walter Newman wrote the script that was used for the film. I know that is confusing, since he doesn’t have a credit for that. Allow me to explain. When they were filming down in Mexico, they had to cooperate with the Mexican government, who was unhappy about a recent John Wayne film shot in Mexico that depicted Mexicans in a really negative way. So, in order to not only smooth over relations between Hollywood and Mexico but get this film made in Mexico with Mexican actors, the filmmakers did what they could to accommodate the Mexican government. This included having a Mexican censor look over the script and monitor their filming. The censor immediately wanted changes made to the script, so the filmmakers tried to get Walter Newman down to Mexico to do rewrites. For whatever reason, Newman refused or could not go to Mexico, so they needed to use someone else. That person was William Roberts. The Writer’s Guild reviewed the work that Roberts did and decided that he had done enough changes to warrant a co-writing credit. Newman, infuriated by this idea, told Sturges to remove his name from the film. It’s a shame that ego got in the way of his name being immortalized in one of the most well-known Westerns.

OK, onto the film. Don’t worry, my pets, I’ll throw in some more trivia along the way.

What struck me about this film is how formulaic it seemed and how that did not bother me. I realized, of course, that the film only seems formulaic to me now because so many films have used similar constructs since The Magnificent Seven. At the time it was made, it was anything but formulaic. It was a film that marked the end of the classic Westerns, giving way to the newer style of Westerns represented largely by Clint Eastwood films. Still, The Magnificent Seven was not a typical Western film. The “heroes” of the film talk about the life of a gunman in ways that were not really done onscreen. They were not glorified. There was a melancholy overtone to their conversation as they talked about the life of a gunman in order to explain to the young hothead (Buchholz) that being a gunman came with its downfalls, as well. The older, wiser men were tired, haggard, and doing something that was out of character for them; they were fighting for what was right with little to no reward. They were not expecting to be treated as heroes by the people they were helping. And, considering the numbers they were facing on the opposition’s side, the likelihood of all seven men surviving was pretty much nonexistent. It was a very different tone for the film than that of the conventional Westerns, and I enjoyed watching a bit of the darker side of the genre.

The cast is great, though the casting definitely led to some issues on set. Steve McQueen was pretty notorious for his “hot shot” attitude and huge ego, which comes across onscreen even when his character has no lines. One might notice how Vin (McQueen’s role), will often be moving in some way while Yul Brynner’s character, Chris has lines. Our eyes are attracted to movement, especially on the big screen, and McQueen knew this. Those movements were not scripted; that was all McQueen’s attempt to upstage Brynner, who was the lead role in the film. McQueen also did not like Buchholz because he was playing the role of Chico, the studly young gun, a role which McQueen felt was more suitable for him to play (another interesting sidenote: Brynner and Buchholz were both from Eastern Europe, with Eastern European accents. Yul Brynner was playing an American, and Buccholz was playing I believe a Mexican who moved to America when he was rather young. Both are rather big roles in the film.).  I did find McQueen’s character to be annoying mostly because of McQueen’s acting. I haven’t seen him in much of anything–in fact, I think this might have been the first time I watched him in anything other than a clip– but his notorious attitude was pretty noticeable to me, and I found that to be a bit of a detriment. But I thought that Yul Brynner was fantastic. He was a dark, brooding character. Someone who wasn’t easy to read. His character, Chris, was an effective leader, and an unofficial moral compass for the lot, though I do think they all came to the same decision without needing his prompts.

It was especially nice to see James Coburn in the film. I remember him well in it, even though I believe he had about ten lines total. (Trivia alert: Robert Vaughn was cast as Lee, and the filmmakers were looking to cast the rest of the film before the actor’s strike was to start, as films that were cast before the strike were allowed to film with those actors. Vaughn attended school with James Coburn, and told Coburn that there was a part in this remake of The Seven Samurai that they were still looking to cast. Coburn, who had seen The Seven Samurai numerous times when it was in theatres, asked if it was the equivalent to the fastest swordsman role of the original film. Vaughn confirmed this, and Coburn immeditely went to meet with the director, giddy as hell because that was the part he had dreamed of playing. Sure enough, Coburn was cast, and thus accelerating his career.) I thought he portrayed his character extremely well, conveying most of what needed to be said with looks rather than words.

Eli Wallach was a surprise, especially because I mostly know him from his more recent work as an elderly man. In case you couldn’t tell by his name, Eli is a Jew, and here he was playing the leader of a team of Mexican bandits. It was a very odd choice, but somehow it worked extremely well. I could tell upon seeing Calvera, Eli’s character, that he was an American playing a Mexican, but I didn’t recognize him until later. I thought he gave a very strong performance. It’s funny to note that the men who were hired as Eli’s bandits took him under their wing. Every morning they would go riding for an hour as Eli learned how to ride a horse. Not only that, but when on set, the horse would have to be handed to one of his bandits for them to check his saddle, as well as his gun (to check the chambers and all). The bandits took their roles very seriously, which helped to cement Eli’s position as their leader.

There’s no talking abot this film without mentioning the score, which is one of the most famous film scores of all time.

That’s why I added the composer, Elmer Berstein, into the essentials in this post. His score set the pace for the film, which picks up rather quickly. Starting with the scene where Vin and Chris first meet, the beat is pretty steady. The score for the film is part of what makes it so enthralling and engaging, because it’s almost an anthem in the way it pumps us up for the big showdown. Eli Wallach talked about how he told Berstein that he wished he had heard the score before filming, because he would have “ridden a lot better” to match the score (can you tell that I am in love with Eli Wallach? He’s just too adorable!).

I was entertained and enthralled by the film, even though some scenes had me shouting “No, don’t do that because _____ is going to happen!” due to the elements of the film that are now often considered as “cliched”. None of those things actually felt cliched to me, though. It felt organic and right.

I will be watching The Seven Samurai sometime in the nearish future, and I will probably devote a part of that review to a comparison with this film, so look for that later!

Spectacular gun battles, epic-sized heroes and an all-star cast that includes Academy Award�(r) winners Yul Brynner* and James Coburn**, together with Steve McQueen, Eli Wallach and Charles Bronson, make The Magnificent Seven a legend among westerns. Spawning three sequels and a successful television series, and featuring Elmer Bernstein’s Oscar�(r)-nominated*** score, thisstunning remake of The Seven Samurai is “a hard-pounding adventure” (Newsweek) and “an enduringly popular” (Leonard Maltin) cinematic classic. Merciless Calvera (Wallach) and his band of ruthless outlaws are terrorizing a poor Mexican village, and even the bravest lawmen can’t stop them. Desperate, the locals hire Chris Adams (Brynner) and six other gunfighters to defend them. With time running out before Calvera’s next raid, the heroic seven must prepare the villagers for battle and help them find the courage to take back their town or die trying!

Akira Kurosawa’s rousing Seven Samurai was a natural for an American remake–after all, the codes and conventions of ancient Japan and the Wild West (at least the mythical movie West) are not so very far apart. Thus The Magnificent Seven effortlessly turns samurai into cowboys (the same trick worked more than once: Kurosawa’s Yojimbo became Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars). The beleaguered denizens of a Mexican village, weary of attacks by banditos, hire seven gunslingers to repel the invaders once and for all. The gunmen are cool and capable, with most of the actors playing them just on the cusp of ’60s stardom: Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn. The man who brings these warriors together is Yul Brynner, the baddest bald man in the West. There’s nothing especially stylish about the approach of veteran director John Sturges (The Great Escape), but the storytelling is clear and strong, and the charisma of the young guns fairly flies off the screen. If that isn’t enough to awaken the 12-year-old kid inside anyone, the unforgettable Elmer Bernstein music will do it: bum-bum-ba-bum, bum-ba-bum-ba-bum…. Followed by three inferior sequels, Return of the Seven, Guns of the Magnificent Seven, and The Magnificent Seven Ride! –Robert Horton

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