Reviews

"Stray"

Nena Eskridge's riveting story of an abused woman desperate odyssey to find normality in a chaotic world is yet another echo of the dark side of past film noir classics. It is through Nena Eskridge's bold direction that this film defines itself as a "dark film" a.k.a. "film noir" through the films use of light and shadow and it's criminally inclined malevolent characters. While the film was obviously produced on a small budget, it reminds one of past classics like "Psycho" and "Identity". Nena Eskridge artistic rendering is painted with a broad brush filled with a Hitchcock cinematic type of magic that causes the viewer to wonder "What is going to happen next?" Actresses Gabrielle Stone provides a stellar performance as a confused and tormented young woman who is running from a dark past and is willing to do anything and everything to find a new life. This film is a timely reminder that "what we want, is not always what we want" and "what we get, is not always what we get". Arita Trahan turns in an amazing performance as an older woman that provides a much needed comparison as well as contrast to Gabrielle Stone's character. The cinematography provided by David Landau was excellent, and while the film was shot in color it still fulfills the necessary ingredients to be "film noir". Kudos to Nena Eskridge for the creation of her wonderful story of a woman with a mirror cracked personality who struggles to find a new life while trying to run away from a dark and disturbing past. This time around with Nena Eskridge's capable direction, the old adage "You Can't Go Home Again" takes on a whole new meaning.

"Demetrius and the Gladiators" succeeds as a worthy sequel to "The Robe". Both films are historically flawed but provide ample cinematic excitement in their religious story telling. Victor Mature, who plays the lead role in this film, appeared in three box office champion films in the 1950's; #1 "Samson and Delilah"(1950), #1 "The Robe" (1953), and #6 The Egyptian" (1954). "Demetrius and the Gladiators" was made in the same year that "The Egyptian" was made and it did not make the top ten Box Office Champion listing. The battle in the arena between Glycon (William Marshall) and Demetrius (Victor Mature) is reminiscent of the battle between Kirk Douglas and Woody Strode as gladiators in "Spartacus" six years later. The most exciting scene in the film is Demetrius battling four tigers in the arena. One can only wonder how the stunt man pulled this scene off considering the setting and the time that this film was shot as computer graphics were not available. Susan Hayward is a welcomed addition to the magnificent sets and costumes. It is my understanding that there was some film left over from "The Robe" and that is why this film was made. One scene I thought was particularly awkward when Saint Peter (Michael Rennie) has a cup of wine thrown on him by Messalina (Hayward) when he tries to convince Mature to return as a Christian. Mature then offers him some wine.... and Rennie awkwardly replies that he "already has had some." The ending when St. Peter (Rennie), Demetrius (Mature) and Glycon (Marshall) march away after Caligula's (Robinson) demise is hysterically funny. I thought the emperor according to religious history had St. Peter crucified upside down. Anyway if your not looking for historical accuracy, and are looking for some exciting entertainment .... you may find this film of some interest.

Universal pictures "The Ghost of Frankenstein" was but another link in a long chain of successful sequels that helped movie audiences forget the "horrors of the present" such as WWII. Often times these films had a stock of actors like the John Ford acting troupe playing different characters in different films. In this one veteran actor Lionel Atwell portrays the jealous Dr. Theodore Bohmer who seeks to upstage Cedric Hardwicke (Ludwig Frankenstein) and bring the Frankenstein monster back to full strength. It all seems to be one big family affair as Hardwicke plays Basil Rathbone (Wolf Frankenstein) aka the son of Frankenstein's brother. To make matters worse Atwell dies in this one but re-appears as another character (the mayor) in the sequel "House of Frankenstein". Bela Lugosi (Ygor) of "Son of Frankenstein" re-appears as Ygor and this time wants a new body for his devious brain. Evelyn Ankers who played Lon Chaney Jr. (The Wolfman) girl friend portrays Elsa Frankenstein (Hardwicke's wife). Lon Chaney Jr. sheds his Wolfman garb and appears as the Frankenstein Monster. It's all very confusing.... but somehow the cast and the writers make it all work ... and we can all kick back and forget all the horrible things that are really going on in the real world.

One Million B.C. was Victor Mature's (Louisville, Kentucky's second "Greatest") second film, and consequently launched a very successful career that encompassed the realm of "film noir" to "sand and sandal epics". His first film was a small part in "The Housekeeper's Daughter". One Million B.C. begins with a group of young people going into a cave to escape a snow storm and an Archaeologist interpreting various cave drawings that tell the story of the people that once lived there. What follows is a saga of two groups of cave people with two totally different cultures that wind up fighting one another. Eventually the two groups have to join forces to fight off several threatening dinosaurs. The special effects are a bit dated as well as disappointing. The viewer gets to watch an alligator with make-up type of fins fight a monitor lizard in one of the key scenes. One can only wonder what would have happened if the S.P.C.A. had been around at that time. Considering the fact that this film was released in 1940 and King Kong was released in 1933 the film makers would have been better served to use a Willis O'Brien type of stop action motion technique. The cave people actors in this film communicate with indistinguishably utterances and a lot of pointing with hand gestures. Lon Chaney Jr. and Victor Mature become engaged in an exciting alpha male battle that conveys the struggle of an evolving culture. The film is very entertaining even if the viewer has to remind himself from time to time that "humans were not living when the dinosaurs existed. Having said that, the film is well worth watching.

The "Garden Of Evil" like so many westerns such as "Vera Cruz", "The Violent Men", "Broken Arrow", "Naked Spur","The Tall "T", and "Apache" all share a common bond. They opening credits are highlighted in large "red" letters, and are usually supported by some of the biggest names in Hollywood as well as veteran character actors. In other words, you know from the "get go", if you are a fan of Western films, that you are in for a treat... such is the case with "Garden Of Evil". Gary Cooper (Hooker), no stranger to "buddy films", this time finds a the "so called" buddy in Richard Widmark (Fiske). Similar to Vera Cruz where he teams up with questionable buddy, Burt Lancaster, the audience here is left to sort out the issue as to whether or not the friend is really a friend as they assist a beautiful Susan Hayward (Leah Fuller) in their trek for gold. In spite of it's often times trite dialog such as "If the world was made of gold, men would die for a handful of dirt!", this film succeeds on every level due to a wonderful soundtrack by Bernard Herrmann and the remarkable talent of it's stars to make sense out of gibberish. A stellar cast that includes; Gary Cooper, Susan Hayward, Richard Widmark, Cameron Mitchell and Hugh Marlowe traveling through Indian country leaves the audience pondering the usual, "Who will survive?"

This is what I call a "procrastination movie". In other words, it is a one of those "must see" films that your friends told you to see, and you wound up "putting it off" for a long period of time for one reason or another. When you finally took the time to see it ... you wind up "kicking" yourself for waiting for so long to see it. Dumb me! I did the same thing with films like "North By Northwest" and "Glory. Vivien Leigh plays Myra, a ballerina, who meets Captain Roy Cronin, Robert Taylor on Waterloo Bridge during an air raid in London. The two are forced by fate to share several hours together. Sound familiar? Kind of like Rhett Butler's fateful situation of sleeping on a couch and running into Scarlet O'Hara after a conversation with Leslie Howard. Yep! It's Gone With The Wind all over again .... two people madly in love finding themselves surrounded by the chaos of war as they suffer the trials and tribulations of separation and reunion placed by circumstance. It is also my understanding that Vivien Leigh had to agree by contract to make this film when she signed for the role of Scarlet O'Hara in "Gone With The Wind". What a great flick this is! There is no question in my mind that this is Robert Taylor's greatest performance, and Vivien Leigh's 2nd best performance. How could she or anyone possibly top her Scarlet O'Hara? How does it end? I'll never tell ... but I wills tell you this .... Maria Ouspenskaya, who plays Leigh's Balarina Mentor, makes Bette Davis and Joan Crawford look like Girl Scouts when it comes to playing a "queen bee".

Lloyd Bridges shines as a cowardly calvary captain while actor, Vince Edwards, looks terribly miscast as an Indian in this Bryna Film Production. Bryna Productions was the company that was formed by actor, Kirk Douglas, that produced such films as "Spartacus", "Last Train From Gun Hill", "Paths of Glory", etc. I suspect this film was shot around the time that "Last Train From Gun Hill" was shot as some of the scenery where Rory Calhoun (Tate) has a confrontation with Vince Edwards (Chief Little Wolf) appears to be the same area where Earl Holliman rapes and kills Kirk Douglas wife in "Last Train From Gun Hill". What "Last Train From Gun Hill" has that this film doesn't have is a good script, a solid plot and beautiful Technicolor. "Ride Out For Revenge" is an interesting and entertaining film in so far as it points out the many wrongs that the "white man" has inflicted on the Indians as well as the hatred that has been sowed over the years through the losses of life from both sides. The plot puts Tate (Rory Calhoun) who loves an Indian princess (Joanne Gilbert) in the middle of an Indian vs "white man" confrontation. Now add the fact, that gold is found on the Indians land. Throw in a cowardly captain (Bridges) who hates Indians but would love to have their land and their gold. Sprinkle a widow (Gloria Graham) and a child (Michael Winkleman) that have both lost spouse and father by Indian massacre. Add a touch of vengeful Indian (Vince Edwards) whose father has been murdered by the town's people .... and you have all the ingredients for what is to come. The film, in my opinion, is at best a mediocre western with a very important but "preachy" message. What I found most interesting and important was the morale of the film which can be found is some of the final dialog of the film. Pretty Willow (Joanne Gilbert) says "If everything changes ... what will happen when someone comes to take the land from the "white man" and Tate (Rory Calhoun) responds "I don't know I never gave it much thought."

Actor Paul Newman once said in an interview that actor James Dean's death in an auto accident wound up making him a movie star. Prior to Dean's tragic demise, Newman's body of work was mostly television. Things seemed to take a turn for the worse when he accepted a starring role that Dean had turned down in "The Silver Chalice". The film was so bad that Newman took out an ad in "Variety" and apologized for making it. A short time after Dean was killed in his tragic September 30, 1955 car accident, Newman appeared in two films that Dean was scheduled to star in; "Somebody Up There Likes Me", the true story of World Middleweight Champion, Rocky Graziano, and "The Left Handed Gun", the true story of the legendary outlaw known as "Billy the Kid". It was because of these two films that actor Paul Newman was soon destined to become one of Hollywood's biggest stars. "The Left Handed Gun", from my point of view, shares a somewhat haunted past with several other films such as "Soloman and Sheba" and "Something's Got To Give". These films share a common bond for they are films that find themselves in the same haunting situation in which the star of the film dies and is replaced, leaving the film aficionado to speculate and search for something that could have and should have been there. Tyrone Power died on the movie set in "Solomon and Sheba" and was replaced by Yul Brynner. If you look closely at some of the scenes in that film, you can still see Tyrone Power in some of the original footage such as crowd scenes or battles at a distance. Marilyn Monroe died before she was able to complete "Something's Got To Give", and if you look at some of the hair styles and costumes and various drawings planned for the original film, it becomes obvious that they do not work on Monroe's replacement, Doris Day. "The Left Handed Gun" is a film that has James Dean's fingerprints all over it. If you try real hard, you can even see him in the film. Newman seems to make an effort to somehow mimic Dean in this this dark, moody, foreboding film. Actor Steve McQueen once said he tried to mimic James Dean in his first film "The Blob", and later admitted it was a mistake. Newman, on the other hand, pulls it off. Even the musical score for the film is somewhat reminiscent of the music in "East of Eden". Another thing I found unique about this film was something it had in common with one of Brando's films, "Viva Zapata!". In the "Left Handed Gun", Hurd Hatfield (Moultrie) is a man that seems almost intoxicated with the concept of creating a legend than becomes obsessed with the desire to destroy it. This role shares a unique similarity to the one Joseph Wiseman (Fernando Aguirre) portrayed in "Viva Zapata!". Both characters represent some kind of strange catalyst that seek some kind of cathartic release in the death of a legend. Dean's fingerprints become most noticeable during a scene in which Newman lays against an adobe wall, and anguishes for his past sins and betrayals. As Newman takes on a series of Dean like mannerisms, the evil Moultrie taunts him, "What is it? What's wrong? You all right? Your not like the books? You don't wear silver studs! You don't stand up to glory! Your not him! Your not him!" Pehaps, Moultrie is right. Maybe Newman isn't Dean, but his performance works. I give this film high marks, and recommend it for anyone who likes a great western or just wants to be entertained.

I not really sure whether or not the reason I was disappointed in this film was because it wasn't what I wanted it to be or whether it seemed to lose it's comedic value because of what seemed to be a pretentious message wrapped up in a most confusing plot. This film offered three of the stars of one of my favorite movies, "Grosse Point Blank", (John Cusack, Joan Cusack and Dan Aykroyd). Cusack once again appears as a "troubled hit-man" as he did in "Grosse Point Blank" but this time the gimmick that worked so well ... just doesn't work. When I rented this film the lady behind the counter at Blockbuster warned me "It's no "Grosse Pointe Blank". Boy was she right! What this film doesn't have is Minnie Driver and a contained plot that flows with humor that still makes some sort of outrageous sense. My take on this film was that the film makers couldn't make up their mind as to whether they wanted to make a comedy or get across their anti-war message. Nothing wrong with an anti-war message type of film ... just don't let the message interfere with the entertainment that it promises to deliver. In other words, everything seemed forced, and that is what caused this film not to work for me. I would have much rather watched a "Grosse Point Blank 2" but sometimes sequels that should have been made are not such as a "Dirty Dancing 2" that could have starred Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey.

I remember seeing this show many years ago. As I recall Cliff Arquette played his beloved character role of "Charley Weaver", and he would be visited from time to time by Dave Willock and Dennis Day. He had a huge ball of string the size of a beach ball, and supposedly lived by some railroad tracks and his entire house (a shack) would shake when the train came by breaking up a comical conversation from time to time. Cliff Arquette became quite famous on the television circuit with his appearances on the Jack Parr Show, the Dennis Day Show, and eventually his long running role on the "Hollywood Squares", not to mention the fact that he wrote a best selling book "Letters From Mt. Idy". Only a few people were aware of the fact that while all this was going on with his "acting life" that he had become somewhat of an expert as a historian on The Civil War. In fact, he became a curator of his own Civil War Museum in Gettsburg, Pa. I believe it was this short running show of "Dave and Charley" that opened his long running career. Cliffe Arquette aka "Charley Weaver" was a comic "Icon of Yesteryear" that I will always cherish.

The answer to that question is, "You can't!" I saw this film when it first came out in 1959, and I recently had the opportunity to see it again after 49 long years on Turner Classic Movies. I think the thing that makes this film so memorable to me is that the two leading actors Jeff Chandler and Jack Palance were given the opportunity to "break the mold" so to speak. Chandler who always played "the good guy" and "Palance" who always played "the bad guy" got the opportunity to switch roles. Earlier in their careers Chandler played a Roman Soldier (good guy) opposite Palance's Attila (bad guy) in "Sign of the Pagan". Chandler appears to be having a ball with the role of Karl Wirtz. His speech about how his Uncle Oscar taught him how to "look out for number ono" is reminiscent of the Burt Lancaster (Joe Erin) speech about the man who raised him (Ace Hannah) and how he double crossed him as well in "Vera Cruz". Interstingly enough, both films "Ten Seconds To Hell" and "Vera Cruz" were both directed by Robert Aldrich. The film's plot is about a German Bomb Disposal Unit working for the British after WWII which make a pact that the survivors will split the spoils of their labor after the job is finished. The texture and mood of the black and white film adds to the suspense of the film. One of both Chandler and Palance's best films.

Watch the original and don't waste you time on this flick. Wayne and Clift are perfectly cast, and while I always enjoyed James Arness as Marshall Dillon...he is not right for this movie. This movie re-make should have never been made. On a lighter note, I remember actor Victor Mature was offered the role played by John Wayne in the original film by actor Sylvester Stallone who was intending to play the Montgomery Clift role in the film. Mature's response was "I'll play his (Stallone's) mother for the right money!" Fortunately, somebody got this one right...and didn't to it. Truth is some classics are best served by just leaving them alone.