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Reviews
Men Without Honour (1939)
Slow, talkie, earnest,
This supposedly true to life story of 'sharepushers' in the 1930s has a hackneyed plot, is slow, laboured, and basically not a lot happens, but somehow the awfulness of it all is its fascination. Its currently(Jan 2011) airing on the UK movies 4 men channel. Its really just a lot of oldish men sitting around in suits and talking. A very unlikely struck off solicitor gets caught up in a share dealing scam, involving his sons girlfriends father, who happens to be a vicar. The son is possibly the worst actor(over actor?) that I've ever seen in nearly 65 years of watching movies, but his girl friend is good looking and the whole thing unravels, or plods to a conclusion in less than an hour.
Burnt Evidence (1954)
Slow, creaky, but interesting nevertheless
One of a few films made by ACT in the early 1950s to give employment to British actors and technicians. Its slow and a bit tedious, playing out like an early TV play, possibly not surprising in that Ted Willis(Dixon Of Dock Green,etc.,) is credited with the screenplay. Ted Willis would go on to greater things and so would the Peter Hunt credited as assistant editor,assuming its the Peter Hunt who went on to direct On Her Majesties Secret Service. The cast, including the usual range of good British players, handle the talkative script as best they can, but there is an underlying feeling of doom about the whole thing. I still found it interesting...not especially entertaining, but worth a look if you're interested in the lower reaches of British 50s cinema .
The Day Mars Invaded Earth (1962)
The 'Marienbad' of Sci Fi ?
The perpetrators of this confused, yet strangely effective low budget sci fi 'thriller' had obviously seen Alan Resnais' Last Year In Marienbad the night before shooting started. The interminable tracking through the estate was obviously lifted from Resnais' confuserama, one of my favourite movies, and the blandness of the acting, while probably not deliberate as it was in the classic French movie, means that you can't take your eyes off the screen, in case anything actually happens, which it very rarely does. The two movies would make a weird, but engrossing double feature. I'm very concerned now, because I LIKE both movies a lot. Strange ?
Tormented (1960)
It certainly tormented me !
I lay awake at night and was haunted by this strange vision...of a lighthouse ! In my recurring dream I kept asking myself the same question.....Was the lighthouse in Tormented the same lighthouse that was in The Monster Of Piedras Blancas ?? Tormented is truly awful and has no redeeming qualities .Its on a weird double bill DVD with Maniac(which doesn't feature a lighthouse) and Maniac is a lot more fun.Personally I would have pushed the Vi character off the lighthouse for bad acting,and Richard Carlson did right to let her die.So maybe the one redeeming feature of Tormented is that it poses an interesting moral question.The easy way out of the problem,of course,is don't have a girl friend who is a bad actress.
Bulldog Drummond Escapes (1937)
Worth catching this Bulldog !
I was very pleasantly surprised by this racy little number,available in the UK on one DVD with two other movies from the same series.A simple but effective plot and some good stand out action scenes,pretty well mounted for a 'programmer'.Bulldog Drummond was served better by these movies than Dick Barton fared in the Hammer productions that came a dozen or so years later.Well worth watching,with a nice late thirties flavour,and far superior to the later Richard Johnson attempts at the character.Maybe its time for a resurgence of interest in Bulldog Drummond !! Ray Milland is a suave hero,and Heather Angel a pert heroine.When major stardom priced Ray Milland out of the series,John Howard played the part with equal charm.
The Passion of the Christ (2004)
Difficult to take Mel seriously.......
I suppose that Mel Gibson wants audiences that view The Passion to take him seriously,and so we should at least afford him that respect.Unfortunately,however,all that he has done is make a slash/snuff movie and poorly at that.In fact this is the worst directorial performance since Michael Sarne and Myra Breckenridge.If such poor quality make up had been seen in a Freddie or Nightmare movie,it would have been laughed off the screen.Mind you,a standard horror flick with this much fake blood and brutality would have been censored to death anyway.Mel gets away with this excercise in gratuitous vilolence because of the subject matter.Any other plot and there would be no movie left after the censors scissors.This is what I find particularly offensive...this is nothing more than pseudo intellectualising and hype to achieve very real twenty first century commercial success.IF it is Mels view of the Passion,he should have kept it to himself.Unfortunately this is what happens when a rich Hollywood glamour boy surrounded by yes men is allowed his indulgences.Mel,you may think you are Roman Polanski,but you ain't !
The Last Temptation of Christ provoked more thought,and The Song Of Bernadette had more heart and emotion.
I Killed Geronimo (1950)
Almost like watching Stagecoach!
I love this film! The action never stops and the climax is great as Indians chase the stagecoach across the desert.Sound familar? It should do because this movie uses great chunks of John Fords Stagecoach as stock footage and in one scene you can spot John Wayne in this case as he unknowingly doubles for James Ellison.A brilliant piece of el cheapo film making,a competent cast,and a less than subtle reminder of a classic western !!