When this film was released, William Howard Taft was president, the Titanic had just sunk and moving pictures were a relatively new concept. Helen Gardner made a good Cleopatra, although she probably couldn't have competed against Theda Bara or Elizabeth Taylor, both actresses having put indelible marks on the role of the Queen of the Nile after this film was made. Gardner was a teacher of pantomime, and thus used that ability in her film career. It is way overdone by today's standards, but it is not fair to judge a film made more than a century ago by today's standards of what is good cinema and what is not. Gardner put everything she had into the role, and made Cleo come to life on the screen. I believe that if Helen Gardner were alive today, she would sue Turner Classic Movies for the horrible and incomprehensible musical score accompanying this film...it is absolutely atrocious. If you come across this film on TCM, for your own enjoyment mute the sound because that is the real tragedy in this presentation.
Reviews
5 Reviews
For All Mankind
(1989)
Great archival video, but...
4 December 2023
This film was great to view, and a lot of the archival video has seldom, if ever been seen. You really felt you were on the lunar surface with those American astronauts. However, this film had some problems; there was no narration to let the viewer know exactly which Apollo mission he was seeing at any particular time. Another problem is that the film jumps around the timeline. Sometime you're seeing Apollo 8 footage, sometimes it's Apollo 11, 17, 13 or some of the other missions, with almost no way to discern between them. It should have been edited in chronological order, to give the viewer a sense of watching history in the making. The dialog between Capcom in Houston and the men on the moon is entertaining at times, showing that these were men like everyone else, in extraordinary situations and exhibiting uncommon bravery. If you're a fan of the space program, or can remember those heady times, this film, despite its shortcomings, is certainly worth viewing.
Running Against Time
(1990 TV Movie)
Did this flick inspire a novel?
15 March 2022
The plot of this 1990 made for TV offering seems to have been the inspiration for Stephen King's "11-22-63" novel. King expands on the possibility of what happens IF you actually succeed in such an alteration of history. That novel aside, this flick is very enjoyable and gripping. I wish it were available on DVD or BluRay. I'm hoping it will be before my VHS copy wears out.
Tokyo Woes
(1945)
Down with the P.C./Up with the USA
30 April 2019
Warning: Spoilers
This WWII vintage cartoon was covertly produced by Warner Brothers for the U.S. Navy. Stereotypes? Yes, of course. We were at war at the time, and the only good enemy was a...well...you get the idea. The humor is somewhat low, but very funny, and was intended to buck up the morale of U.S. service members who saw the 'toon. Tokyo Woes is an hysterical character, first seen while sitting on the john (jane?) and looking like a bowling pin while gliding over to the microphone. Then she breaks into a Brooklyn-ese laced patter that is very funny considering how she's depicted. A very "in" joke occurs when the "sad sack" character, purported to be a U.S. serviceman, but really a Japanese who stutters in a Porky Pig voice, begins to sing "Rum and Coca-Cola." Wose quickly shoves him away from the mic. This was a dig at some of the censorship in the U.S. at the time which forbade the song from radio air play because of the alcohol reference. In all, this is a very funny cartoon if you're intelligent enough to get past the P.C. nonsense, and view it in the context of a WWII piece of historical animation.
Nightfall
(1988)
Ewwwwwww!
22 November 2017
Yes, I agree with almost everyone else here. This movie is like a strong vacuum cleaner...it sucks. I only saw it once as a rental, and I thought that Asimov's story would make a tremendous movie. I am still convinced of that, but this piece of trash ain't it. I don't recall anything about the thing I rented (it doesn't deserve the name "movie" or "film") except that I hated it because it had almost no connection with Asimov's classic story.
With the total solar eclipse of August 2017 visible across the entire United States, and another due in the US in April of 2024, Hollywood could really cash in by making a faithful adaptation of this Asimov story. All copies of this version should be burned during totality of the next eclipse.
With the total solar eclipse of August 2017 visible across the entire United States, and another due in the US in April of 2024, Hollywood could really cash in by making a faithful adaptation of this Asimov story. All copies of this version should be burned during totality of the next eclipse.
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