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TheCapsuleCritic
I first started doing on air movie reviews in 1979 when I was with a public radio station in Charleston, SC. After moving to Asheville, NC in 1983, I became a classical music announcer with the local NPR affiliate. I retired in 2019 after 36 years. I also recently retired from the Southeastern Film Critics Association (SEFCA).
I taught film classes for the OLLI program at UNC Asheville from 2008-2019 and at USC Beaufort from 2019-2020. I started writing about films in 2001. The majority of my reviews concern either silent movies or B movie horror/sci-fi films. To read them visit my blog-thecapsulecritic.com-
Reviews
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916)
INTOLERANCE & D.W. Griffith In The 21st Century.
Imagine that Stephen Spielberg's career as a director is over and way in the past. Then suppose that the one film chosen to represent him is THE COLOR PURPLE. Forgotten are JAWS, E. T., SCHINDLER'S LIST, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, JURASSIC PARK not to mention the rest of his output. Would that be a fair assessment of Spielberg's career as a director? I think not.
Such an unfair assessment is the unfortunate case with pioneer movie director D. W. Griffith. Out of a 23 year career that lasted from 1908 to 1931 and encompassed 34 feature films and more than 450 one reelers (the industry standard before feature length films began to appear around 1912), Griffith today is remembered only for the still notorious BIRTH OF A NATION from 1915.
While historically important as the first major American feature length film (it runs 194 minutes and is divided into 2 parts), BIRTH was then and remains today a subject of intense controversy because of its blatant racism although It offends far more people today than it did 90 years ago. The source material was a then popular novel and later play of the day called THE CLANSMAN which was written by Shelby NC native and Wake Forest graduate Thomas F. Dixon.
It was the second of a three book set known as the "Reconstruction Trilogy". In it Dixon presents a view of the post-Civil War South that glorifies the Ku Klux Klan and denigrates African-Americans by depicting them as illiterate, lazy, and cruel. THE CLANSMAN was the original title of the film when BIRTH OF A NATION premiered in Los Angeles in 1915 but it was later changed by Dixon when the film later premiered in New York. The movie's portrayal of African-Americans helped to brand Griffith as a racist of the first order which is understandable but inaccurate when you look at Griffith's output as a whole.
Before he made BIRTH, Griffith had directed a number of short films in New York that dealt head on with many pressing social issues of the day. Some of the topics covered were greed and exploitation of the poor (THE CORNER IN WHEAT), drug addiction (FOR HIS SON), the mistreatment of Native Americans (THE RED MAN'S VIEW), and media censorship (THE REFORMERS). He even made an anti-Klan film (THE WHITE ROSE OF KENTUCKY) three years before BIRTH as well as the first gangster movie (THE MUSKETEERS OF PIG ALLEY).
By 1912 Griffith had left New York for California as had most of the fledgling movie industry to take advantage of the great weather and cheap labor. After finishing BIRTH, he began a small scale drama of contemporary social injustice entitled THE MOTHER AND THE LAW. While working on it he saw the 1914 Italian historical epic CABIRIA and then conceived the idea of expanding his film's setting into different periods of history. He would called the movie INTOLERANCE partially in response to negative criticism of BIRTH OF A NATION.
In addition to its modern story, INTOLERANCE would have stories set during Christ's crucifixion, the St Bartholomew Day's Massacre of 1572 in France, and most spectacularly of all, the downfall of Babylon in 539 B. C. Each story would focus on an example of religious or social intolerance or both. It was an ambitious undertaking to say the least. Also ambitious was Griffith's idea of not telling the four stories in sequence but switching back and forth between them with ever increasing frequency as the movie progresses.
Everything about the movie was conceived on a grand scale. It was the most expensive movie ever made at that time. Adjusting for inflation, it would cost almost a billion to make INTOLERANCE today. It literally employed a cast of thousands and featured the largest set ever built up until then - the Ancient Babylon set which is famous in photos of cinema history. Every visual trick known at the time was used - extreme close-ups, rapid-fire editing, and seemingly impossible tracking shots.
It was a film so far ahead of its time that, even today, audiences still have difficulty processing it, even after 90 years. From today's perspective, parts of INTOLERANCE seem melodramatic and naive in its message of peace and love , or way too long . It does, however, qualify as one of the most influential films ever made. Directors from Cecil B. De Mille to Abel Gance and especially Sergei Eisenstein borrowed heavily from it while later filmmakers borrowed from them.
After a successful opening and initial good box office, the Anti-War & Pro-Tolerance message of INTOLERANCE ran afoul of the U. S. entry into World War I and attendance and revenues dried up. The film lost money and Griffith was never on firm financial footing again despite being one of the founding members of United Artists and having two more runaway successes in BROKEN BLOSSOMS (1919) and WAY DOWN EAST (1920). His social concerns along with a Victorian outlook on male-female relationships did not play well with the Jazz Age audiences of the 1920s. By 1932 he was out of the movie business for good. He died a proud and bitter alcoholic in 1948 at the age of 73.
In 1953 the Directors Guild of America (DGA) honored Griffith by renaming its highest award after him. But in 1999 the DGA Board of Directors (without consulting its members) voted to take his name off the award because of the negative portrayals of African-Americans in BIRTH OF A NATION. After numerous protests, the DGA voted not to rename the award.
Despite his ill treatment from the DGA, Griffith has not been forgotten by lovers of old movies and movie history. Many of his movies are now available in quality home editions. These include INTOLERANCE, BROKEN BLOSSOMS, WAY DOWN EAST, and even BIRTH OF A NATION. Several of the important one reelers are available as well. Beware of low cost, budget editions of Griffith's movies. They utilize bad prints, are transferred at the wrong speed (too fast) and have improper musical accompaniment...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
The Blot (1921)
Lois Weber: America's First Major Woman Director.
The story of Lois Weber is one of the saddest in all of American cinema and one of the least known. One of two prominent women producer-directors to emerge the silent era(the other was the French born Alice Guy-Blache' who has a similar story), Weber was, in her time, considered to be the equal of silent film legend D. W. Griffith.
In 1916 she was the highest paid film director in the world. She earned an astonishing $5,000 a week and had total control over the content of her movies. She tackled such controversial subject matter as religious materialism (HYPOCRITES-1915), drug addiction (HOP, THE DEVIL'S BREW-1916), abortion and birth control (WHERE ARE MY CHILDREN?-1916), and capital punishment (THE PEOPLE -VS- JOHN DOE-1917).
Weber believed that movies should educate as well as entertain but knew that you can't do one without the other. Most of her films are an interesting mix of both although today's audiences will find her early films heavy-handed and her later films uneventful as they concentrate on story and character instead of action or spectacle.
By 1921 when TOO WISE WIVES and THE BLOT (one of her most highly regarded movies) were released, Weber's career was already in decline. Within a few years she would lose her studio, her husband, and the opportunity to direct. Lois Weber died in 1939 at the age of 60 and within a few years she was completely forgotten along with most of her films.
Why did this happen? The primary reason was the rise of the Hollywood studio system and the men who ran it. They were almost all Eastern European immigrants who brought an Old World patriarchal attitude with them. Woman could be stars (which made the studios big money) or writers (who could be controlled) but little else.
Another reason can be summed up in the famous quote by producer Samuel Goldwyn... "If you want to send a message, call Western Union". Jazz Age audiences of the 1920s, dealing with the social transformations in the aftermath of World War I, wanted entertainment, not enlightenment. Depression Era audiences of the 1930s wanted escapism not social realism and it has basically been the same ever since.
Only in the past few years has a proper reevaluation of Lois Weber begun to take place, as four of her feature films (HYPOCRITES, WHERE ARE MY CHILDREN?, TOO WISE WIVES, THE BLOT) are now available on home video. Seek them out and discover for yourself why she was once known as "the female D. W. Griffith". To find out more about Lois Weber, read Anthony Slide's informative biography, LOIS WEBER: THE DIRECTOR WHO LOST HER WAY IN HISTORY...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
The Thief (1952)
Silent Cinema In The Sound Era.
With all the attention that THE ARTIST has received as a silent novelty in today's cinema, it will probably come as a surprise to many people that there have been several silent films made after sound was introduced in 1928. Up until 1976 they were made right here in America, after that they come from abroad. This is the first of a two part article dealing with silent films in the sound era and it focuses on those films made in the U. S.
While there were several silent films that straddled the transition which either had dialogue scenes added or were half silent and half sound, the first movie to be deliberately made without dialogue was Charlie Chaplin's CITY LIGHTS which first appeared in 1931. In fact it was Chaplin who said "I don't need sound, I'm an artist," a quote which helped to inspire the recent Best Picture winner.
CITY LIGHTS is an undisputed masterpiece, probably Chaplin's best film but its success was due to his popularity and his artistry not to the fact that it was a silent film. The same was true of MODERN TIMES, Chaplin's follow-up in 1936.
Mainstream Hollywood would not attempt to make a silent film until 1952 but in early 1941 a small independent silent film was made at Northwestern University that was based on the classic play PEER GYNT by Henrik Ibsen. Several scenes from the play were set to the well known music of Edvard Grieg.
Shown in Chicago and a few Midwestern cities, PEER GYNT attracted the attention of Hollywood on account of the young college student playing the lead. He would go on to become a Hollywood icon. His name was Charlton Heston.
At the height of anti-Communist paranoia in 1952, Hollywood gambled on making a silent film that dealt with the stealing of atomic secrets. To play the lead, they chose Ray Milland who was evolving from a romantic leading man into a fine character actor.
THE THIEF was shot on location in Washington D. C. and New York City and concluded with a harrowing Alfred Hitchcock like sequence that took place on the observation deck of the Empire State Building. No title cards were used, only a musical score and everyday sounds. The film was not a success as 1950s audiences were bewildered and irritated by a film with no dialogue.
1953 saw the release of another film without dialogue or title cards but it was a low budget, outside of Hollywood production (today we would call it an "indie") that made an impression on the Art House circuit. The film was DEMENTIA and it was an expressionistic look at a young woman's mental breakdown in a large, unnamed metropolis.
Lurid settings, low-key lighting, and a modern jazz score made a vivid impression on the people that managed to see it. Two years later it showed up at the drive-ins in an edited version with narration by Ed MacMahon (yes THE Ed MacMahon of THE TONIGHT SHOW fame). That version was called DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS.
It would be more than 20 years before another silent film appeared. By this time the original silent films, especially silent comedies, were being rediscovered and Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd became the big three of silent screen comedy.
Mel Brooks one of the reigning kings of comedy in the 1970s (Woody Allen was the other), decided to make a silent comedy called SILENT MOVIE. It featured an all-star cast and was a loving, if typically heavy-handed Brooksian exercise in overkill that rode the crest of Brooks' popularity and was very successful but it prompted no follow-ups. And that was it.--until THE ARTIST. However, there have been no follow-ups to it...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
The Lone Ranger (2013)
The Lone Ranger: From Radio To Johnny Depp.
It has been 90 years since The Lone Ranger made his debut on radio. 65 years since Clayton Moore & Jay Silverheels last rode off into the sunset, and 42 years since an ill-fated attempt to the resurrect the character, THE LEGEND OF THE LONE RANGER disappeared right after hitting the local multiplex.
Then Disney has released a new version focused on Tonto as portrayed by Johnny Depp. This version shows not only how the character is viewed differently today, but how we as a society have changed since he first came on the scene.
The Lone Ranger began life as a radio show back in 1933 at the height of the Great Depression. A symbol to give the down and out some hope was needed and as there were no superheroes yet (Superman and Batman don't appear until the end of the decade), the Lone Rangerwas essentially it. The story of John Reid, sole survivor of an ambush of Texas Rangers, and Tonto, an outcast Indian (no Native Americans back in "those thrilling days of yesteryear"), made them an ideal pairing right from the start.
With his white horse, white hat, black mask, and silver bullets, the Ranger was an errant knight who had come to save the day aided by his faithful squire Tonto who was a carryover from the days of James Fennimore Cooper. Until the rise of Hollywood, the movies had mostly viewed Indians as a noble race of people who were mistreated by almost everyone. While they couldn't be heroes themselves, the White hero would have been lost without them.
The radio dramas were half hour morality plays where good always triumphed over evil. This is what was needed during the dark days of the Depression and it was what the society of the time expected and demanded. World War II would shake up the status quo for a bit but afterwards prosperity brought things back to business as usual and the 1950s were a decade where, on the surface, everything was black and white and determined to stay that way.
The TV incarnation of The Lone Ranger fit right into this mindset. Clayton Moore, a veteran of B movie serials, was perfectly cast as the Ranger. He could ride, he could express himself well when he had to, and he never killed anyone. He also looked good in his powder blue suit and his black mask. Jay Silverheels was clearly an Indian but in his full buckskin regalia and simple headband, he became a positive symbol of Native Americans for White audiences.
The TV show ran for 8 years from 1949-1957 and was the first Western specifically written for television. Moore & Silverheels also appeared in two feature length films, THE LONE RANGER (1956)and THE LONE RANGER & THE LOST CITY OF GOLD (1958). By the 1960s Westerns had outgrown the simple good-vs-evil scenarios that were the Lone Ranger's stock in trade and so after a few commercials, he and Tonto rode off into the sunset although they continued to make personal appearances.
Fast forward through the turmoil of the late 1960s and the Vietnam War into the 1970s were the Western had radically changed and the shy but heroic guy with a white hat and a code of honor was long gone having been replaced by a morally ambiguous loner typified by Clint Eastwood who became the good guy because he killed fewer people than the bad guy. The analogy between Vietnam and what the Government had done to Native Americans almost a century earlier became the subject of numerous revisionist Westerns. Notable examples were LITTLE BIG MAN and SOLDIER BLUE (both 1970) and ULZANA'S RAID (1972).
In 1979 producer Jack Wrather, who owned the rights to the Lone Ranger character, forbid Clayton Moore from wearing the mask and costume in public. He was making a new version and wanted to start from scratch. Fair enough but this move turned into a public relations disaster as Moore sued and won and resumed his personal appearances.
The negative publicity was so great that the 1981 THE LEGEND OF THE LONE RANGER sank without a trace. It's a shame because this version is not nearly as bad as its reputation would suggest. While the new Ranger, Klinton Spilsbury, had zero charisma, Tonto, as played by Michael Horse, was a liberated character whose Native American wisdom saves the day.
It's now over a generation later and no one under 40 knows who the Lone Ranger is or was. The 21st century is a universe away from the simplistic black and white outlook when he first started. Now comedy is routinely mixed with drama, figures of authority are not to be trusted, and heroes as well as villains are capable of the most unspeakable cruelties.
Enter Gore Verbinski and Johnny Depp fresh from their wildly successful PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN franchise. They wanted to do a new version of The Lone Ranger and because of PIRATES, Disney gave it the green light. This time the focus was on Tonto, played by Depp, and it was not only a different take but a cinematic salute to great Westerns of the past.
Well THE LONE RANGER, with an unbelievable budget of $250 million, opened to withering reviews and audience indifference. Those who went to see it enjoyed it but there just wren't enough of them.
It's a remarkable movie that was unfairly dismissed but, on the other hand, it's no longer about the Lone Ranger and what he originally stood for. In this age of sensory overload it's about what multi-million dollar CGI can make the character do. I wish I still had my Lone Ranger "action figure" from 1958 (yes, I had one and a school lunch box too). It was just a plastic horse and a plastic man with my imagination doing the rest...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic,
They'll Love Me When I'm Dead (2018)
Whatever Happened To Orson Welles?
May 6, 2015 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of filmmaker and larger-than-life personality Orson Welles. While there have been and will continue to be a number of tributes throughout the year, including a recent retrospective at NYC's Film Forum, it is interesting to note what has happened to Welles' reputation as filmmaker and actor since his death 30 years ago.
It has been in decline. It is not unusual for an artist's reputation to take a dip, especially if they haven't done anything in years, or were as self-aggrandizing as Welles was when he was alive. After being number one in SIGHT & SOUND' s list of top films published every 10 years since 1952, CITIZEN KANE was finally toppled in 2012 by Alfred Hitchcock's VERTIGO.
This is not only an indication of changing tastes among SIGHT & SOUND voters, but of recognition of a film that many more people are familiar with. Outside of cinema enthusiasts, CITIZEN KANE, along with the rest of Welles' movies, are films that are generally unknown to the public at large.
No one back in 1941 would have predicted that. At 25 Orson Welles was on top of the world. Three years earlier he had caused a nationwide panic with his WAR OF THE WORLDS radio broadcast, which was so real, many people believed an alien invasion was actually taking place. Before that he formed the Mercury Theatre to create low-budget, stylized productions of classic plays for the WPA.
After conquering the theatre, and then radio while still in his early 20s, movies were the next logical step for Welles. CITIZEN KANE, which was shot for a modest amount of money, revolutionized 1940s Hollywood by reminding them of many of the silent film techniques they had forgotten, such as deep focus photography and montage editing.
Unfortunately, the screenplay, which was written primarily by Herman J. Manciewicz, was a very thinly disguised attack on newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, whose papers refused to promote the film. Hollywood even offered to reimburse RKO all the money spent on the film if they would destroy the negative. Contrary to popular myth the film did not lose money, but it really didn't make any either.
Welles had completed his second film, THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS, and had gone to Brazil to make a documentary, IT'S ALL TRUE, for Nelson Rockefeller when his string of successes ended. Backed by Hearst and pressure from stockholders, RKO fired the studio head, cancelled Welles' contract, and cut AMBERSONS from 131 minutes to 88. It naturally tanked, and from then on Welles was labeled box office poison as a director.
Between 1944 and 1958 he would direct only four more films in Hollywood. They were THE STRANGER (1946), THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI (1947), MACBETH (1948), and TOUCH OF EVIL (1958). None were released in the versions Welles wanted, and only THE STRANGER made money.
Welles was always in demand as an actor and used money from those appearances to try and finance several independent projects in Europe. Some, like OTHELLO (1952) and CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT (1965), succeeded critically, while others like MR. ARKADIN (1955) and THE TRIAL(1962) did not. None of these films ever got major releases.
By the 1960s Welles was an expatriate whose size had grown to biblical proportion along with his reputation as the artist ruined by Philistines. This was greatly aided by Welles himself, a natural raconteur, who inflated his contributions to such films as JANE EYRE (1944) and THE THIRD MAN(1949), movies that he did not direct. He continued to appear in movies throughout the 1960s and 70s. Notable appearances included A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS (1965), I"LL NEVER FORGET WHAT'S 'IS NAME (1967), and CATCH-22 (1970).
To people of my generation, he was the overweight spokesman for Paul Masson wine ("We will sell no wine before it's time"), along with many other products. He was the man in black with the big cigar who made numerous appearances doing magic tricks on THE TONIGHT SHOW - a man who always seemed short of breath. Although occasionally honored by outfits like the American Film Institute, his cinematic achievements were largely neglected except on college campuses.
Welles died of a heart attack, brought on by a crash diet, at the age of 70 on October 10, 1985. His ashes now rest in an abandoned well in Spain. He left behind a number of incomplete projects which some of his friends and colleagues are still trying to finish. Welles loved to say that he started at the top and worked his way down.
Now that a restored version of CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT just premiered, and a new documentary called MAGICIAN is due to be released later this year, his movies may finally receive the attention that they deserve.
POSTSCRIPT: Since 2015, all of Welles' movies, American & European, have been restored including THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD which was finished by friends in 2018. This documentary, THEY'LL LOVE ME WHEN I'M DEAD, makes an ideal companion piece to MAGICIAN...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
The Extra Girl (1923)
Mabel Normand Is Finally Getting Her Due.
This year marked the 100th anniversary of the debut of a movie icon but, if it weren't for the intervention of another film comedy pioneer, his first appearance might have been his last. On February 2, 1914 Charlie Chaplin appeared in a Keystone comedy called MAKING A LIVING. He hadn't discovered the Tramp character yet and he wasn't very funny. Some of that had to do with the fact that the director cut out most of his comic bits but Keystone head Mack Sennett was ready to give him the boot.
Enter Mabel Normand. She was already, at 22, a full fledged comedy star and also happened to be Mack Sennett's significant other. She urged him not to give up on Chaplin just yet. "Let me handle him" she said, and she did. She directed Chaplin's next film MABEL'S STRANGE PREDICAMENT and gave him the time to elaborate on his classic English Music Hall character "The Inebriate." It was also the first time he wore "The Tramp" costume. The results were very funny. In his next appearance KIDS' AUTO RACES IN VENICE (California), a star was born.
Years later in his autobiography Chaplin mentions Normand's prowess as a performer but says nothing about her as a director or writer even though they appeared in several films together including the first full length comedy TILLIE'S PUNCTURED ROMANCE. Poor Mabel. Everyone acknowledged her genius as a comedienne but few knew about her skills as a writer-director or that later she even had her own studio for a brief period of time.
Mabel, like her good friend Mary Pickford (and Chaplin for that matter), came from very humble beginnings. She was born in Staten Island in 1892. Her mother was Irish and her father French-Canadian. He worked as a carpenter at a local home for elderly seaman, but Mabel, who was attractive at an early age, began modeling to bring in extra money. At 15 she was posing for famed illustrator Charles Dana Gibson and entered the fledgling movie industry a year later.
Starting at the Vitagraph studios in Flatbush, she was noticed and picked up by D. W. Griffith for the Biograph Company and made a number of shorts before meeting Mack Sennett in 1911. They set out for California in 1912 where Sennett founded Keystone Studios and American silent comedy was born.
By 1914 she was writing and directing in addition to starring in comedy shorts and this is when Chaplin enters the picture. She later struck gold in a series of comedy shorts with Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and they became the "Lucy and Ricky" of the silent era. By 1917 she and Roscoe had left Sennett and signed lucrative contracts elsewhere. Arbuckle went to Paramount while Mabel signed with Samuel Goldwyn for whom she made a number of features. Only two survive today and they're not in good shape. In 1920 she became head of her own studio.
It was at this time that Mabel became addicted to cocaine which aggravated the tuberculosis that she had contracted as a child. The big blow came in early 1922 when her friend and mentor, director William Desmond Taylor, was found murdered in his bungalow. She was the last person to see him alive. Although acquitted of any wrongdoing in his death, the negative publicity seriously damaged her career.
In 1924, insult was added to injury when her chauffeur shot and wounded a millionaire playboy. Her film from the year before, THE EXTRA GIRL, had been a success but again negative publicity ruined her comeback. By this time she was off cocaine but had turned to the bottle. She married silent film actor Lew Cody in 1926 but they lived in separate houses.
Her friends in the movie business got her work with comedy producer Hal Roach and she made a few successful two reelers but by 1927 it was too late. Her tuberculosis had worsened and she had to stop working. She died in a sanatorium in 1930 at the age of 37. Having made no sound appearances, she was quickly forgotten. This neglect would last for more than a quarter of a century.
In the late 1950s, silent comedy was rediscovered and Mabel's appearances with Chaplin and Arbuckle were seen and appreciated, but for the next 50 years only her screen appearances were recognized. Slowly but surely more information was uncovered that showed her additional contributions on the other side of the camera. In 2010 her "long lost" comedy WON IN A CLOSET that she wrote and directed was discovered in archives in New Zealand and has been restored and is now on DVD.
Hopefully more of Normand's work will be discovered and restored so that a proper revaluation can take place. Along with Alice Guy and Lois Weber she was one of the principal woman pioneers in cinema back when women were considered as capable as men before the rise of Hollywood put a stop to equality behind the camera...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
William Fox: Hollywood's Forgotten Mogul.
The next time you watch a TV show on the Fox Network, cheer or hiss a talking head on Fox News, see a movie produced by Twentieth Century Fox (or any studio for that matter), or visit the Fox Theater in Atlanta, then spare a thought for the forgotten man who made it all possible, for, without William Fox, the history of American movies would be very different.
When we hear about the classic Hollywood studio heads, Louis B. Mayer is the first name that usually is mentioned followed by Jack Warner and then Adolph Zukor. That is only natural as they were the heads of the 3 most powerful and successful studios in Hollywood (MGM, Warner Brothers, and Paramount).
Then there's Darryl F. Zanuck who started at Warners, formed Twentieth Century Pictures in 1933, and merged it with Fox Film in 1935 to create 20th Century - Fox which he ran off and on for the next 30 years. But before Zanuck there was William Fox who not only founded Fox Film and made the movies the way we know them today but he almost changed the course of movie history.
William Fox was born Wilhelm Fuchs in Hungary in 1879. After coming to New York City with his immigrant parents, he Americanized his name and worked a variety of jobs in the garment industry. In 1906 he opened his first nickelodeon and by 1912 he owned a number of movie theaters along the East coast. In order to exert quality control over what he showed and to ensure a steady product for his theaters he founded the Fox Film Company in 1915.
That same year he cast a small time stage actress named Theda Bara in a movie called A FOOL THERE WAS based on a poem by Rudyard Kipling. It cost less than $100,000 to make and grossed well over a million. Bara, who was born Theodosia Goodman the daughter of a tailor in Cincinnatti, became an overnight sensation and the word "vamp" (short for vampire because she drained her victims of their resources) entered the national lexicon. She was a dark haired, dark-eyed angel of destruction, the antithesis of Mary Pickford, who went unpunished for her misdeeds.
Fox suffered no consequences either as the success of Fool and other Bara pictures like it enabled him to produce the more artistic fare to which he was inclined such as adaptations of A TALE OF TWO CITIES (1917) and THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (1922) without having to worry whether or not they made money. The popular Westerns of cowboy star Tom Mix added to the coffers.
Fox was a hard-nosed businessman who built up an empire of movie houses (like the Fox Theater in Atlanta) which kept the profits rolling in. But, unlike the others, Fox was also a visionary who anticipated the coming of sound long before it happened and invested heavily in a sound on film process which became the soundtracks we know and still use today. Warner Brothers beat him to the punch with THE JAZZ SINGER and their sound on disc Vitaphone system, but the Fox Movietone system became the industry standard.
In 1927 Fox invited the great German filmmaker F. W. Murnau to Hollywood and gave him carte blanche to make any movie of his choosing with full artistic control. The eventual result, SUNRISE, was the first movie to feature a soundtrack and was a huge artistic if not financial success. By the end of the decade, four legendary Hollywood directors, Murnau, John Ford, Raoul Walsh, Frank Borzage, were working at Fox and producing movies that made money and were well received.
However it was also the end of the 1920s that proved to be Fox's undoing. Seeing an opportunity to acquire one of his biggest business competitors, Fox attempted to take control of Loews Inc. They had a national theater chain to rival his own and were the parent company of MGM which was headed up by Louis B. Mayer. Mayer threw as many stumbling blocks in Fox's way as he could and then Fate intervened. In the summer of 1929, Fox was badly injured in a car accident and then right after that the Stock Market crashed and he lost all his money. The following year he was ousted as head of his own company by the stockholders.
For the next several years Fox fought bankruptcy but an attempt to bribe a judge in 1941 landed him six months in jail. When he got out, he was treated in Hollywood as a pariah and never worked there again. Fortunately he owned the rights to the patents of the Fox Movietone system and he and his family were able to live in relative comfort until he died in 1952 at the age of 73. No one from Hollywood came to his funeral. He was buried in a lesser known cemetery in Brooklyn.
Although William Fox has been forgotten, his legacy and name are everywhere. Not only are there the various media outlets but several of the movie palaces, whose construction he oversaw, are still standing and operating. The same cannot be for MGM so in the end perhaps William Fox has the last laugh. It's interesting to speculate that had he been able to take over MGM back in 1929, what would Hollywood have been like?... For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
Gojira (1954)
60 Years Of GODZILLA: From Metaphor To Icon.
Who would have thought that a radioactive, fire breathing dragon, intended to be a metaphor for the fire bombing of Tokyo during World War II would have turned into a cultural icon known and loved (yes, loved!) the world over. Certainly not the Japanese but that's exactly what happened.
Who also would have guessed that the 1954 Japanese original and its Americanized counterpart would inspire over 25 sequels and/or remakes up to this point with the newest one, GODZILLA, having just opened in movie theaters all over the world? This latest installment cost 150 times what the original did and, unlike the original outside of Japan, it's receiving mostly positive reviews.
It all began when Japanese director Inoshiro Honda (no relation to the car company) saw the 1953 American sci-fi flick THE BEAT FROM 20,000 FATHOMS about a radioactive dinosaur awakened by atomic testing. Honda took this basic idea and turned it not only into a warning of the dangers of atomic testing, but also a direct allegory of the firebombing of Tokyo by the Allies with its appalling number of civilian casualties.
Honda's version featured a highly stylized creature out of Japanese mythology in the form of a dragon that not only had a devastating breath of fire but was also radioactive. Originally called GOJIRA n Japanese, Godzilla was an unparalleled destructive force with no redeeming features. He destroyed ships at sea, flattened cities and villages, and incinerated women and children.
The original's somber tone was carried over into an Americanized version that featured new footage of a pre-PERRY MASON Raymond Burr as reporter Steve Martin. This version was released two years later. Most of the carnage was left in, but references to the firebombing were removed. The creature was also renamed Godzilla for non-Japanese audiences, and his distinctive roar (made by rubbing the strings of a double bass with a leather glove and then altering the pitch) became his trademark. The movie was a worldwide hit.
In the best Hollywood tradition, the Japanese rushed a sequel into production (even though Godzilla had been thoroughly destroyed at the end of the first film) called GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN. It took 4 years to reach the U. S where it was renamed GIGANTIS THE FIRE MONSTER for copyright reasons. This is the first time that Godzilla would do battle with another giant monster which would become a cornerstone of the later sequels.
Within less than a decade Godzilla had been transformed from a fearsome symbol of man's inhumanity into the savior of Japan (and by association the rest of the Free World) by doing battle with various monsters and invaders and always emerging triumphant (except in 1962's GODZILLA-VS-KING KONG where Kong was allowed to win in the American version).
Godzilla's transformation from bad guy to good guy paralleled the rise of the Japanese economy in the 1970s and 80s and with success came formulaic repetition with the movies getting cheaper and cheaper and the character became little more than a live action cartoon with "the man in the rubber suit" origin of the character played strictly for laughs. He even uses kung fu in 1971's GODZILLA-VS-THE SMOG MONSTER.
For his 30th anniversary in 1984 an attempt was made to return the series to its serious roots. For GODZILLA 1985 he doesn't battle anything else and proceeds to destroy much of Tokyo before being lured away and falling into a live volcano. Raymond Burr was even brought in to comment on the action. The film was not a success and Godzilla disappeared from movie screens for over a decade.
After the success of JURASSIC PARK, a wholly reinvented Godzilla was launched in 1998 with Matthew Broderick in the lead and New York standing in for Tokyo. The creature looked nothing like the old one and the physical resemblance to JURASSIC PARK was quite pronounced. The story resembled THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS and fans were not pleased.
The Japanese were so offended that they quickly made their own new version GODZILLA 2000 to restore the monster's honor and integrity. While the American version bombed (primarily due to its $100 million budget) the Japanese one was a modest success but it seemed that Godzilla had roared his last roar...until now.
The new Godzilla goes back to the beginning with man's stupidity concerning nuclear power resulting in a disaster of spectacular proportions. Godzilla is now a force of nature needed to save the world (mostly San Francisco) from two rampaging, energy sucking creatures that are updates of the second great Japanese monster, Rodan.
At $150 million it's the most expensive Godzilla movie yet and certainly the most realistic looking although it was the lack of realism that made the original series what it was. Godzilla may be 60 but with an opening weekend of almost $100 million there's still plenty of life in the old boy yet.
POSTSCRIPT: Since this review first appeared in 2014, there have been. 5 new features with 2023's GODZILLA MINUS ONE marking a return to the original 1954's dead serious tone (it's in Japanese with subtitles) and garnering critical praise and audience in the process...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969)
Terence Fisher: The Poor Man's Hitchcock.
When I refer to Terence Fisher as "the poor man's Hitchcock", I do not mean it in a disparaging way. I mean it as a compliment, for while Fisher made his movies pretty much the way Hitchcock did, he never had the kind of budgets that Hitch had in America. Terence Fisher made all but one of his 50 movies in England over a period of 25 years (1947-1972). Thirty-seven of them were for the same studio.
That studio was Hammer Films and Fisher helmed their most successful movies during the late 1950s and early 1960s. These movies turned Hammer into an international phenomenon and made them very successful financially. This despite the fact (or perhaps because of it) that Fisher's movies were roundly condemned upon their release as being "violent, vulgar, and vomit inducing."
Today it's hard to imagine what all the fuss was about as movies have gone way beyond anything to be found in Fisher's work. Now they are "classics" that can be appreciated for their superb craftsmanship and for the performances of their primary stars, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.
Terence Fisher was born in 1904 and died in 1980. He began in the British film industry when Hitchcock was England's number one director. He started off in menial positions but quickly worked his way up to becoming a film editor. He made his first film in 1947 and was finally given a chance to direct something of substance in 1949.
SO LONG AT THE FAIR (1949) starring Jean Simmons and Dirk Bogarde was set during the Paris Exhibition of 1889 and it showed his flair for handling a period setting. The film impressed Hammer enough to hire him. They put him to work grinding out a series of British-style film noirs using fading, or up-and-coming American stars.
In 1953 he made his first masterpiece for Hammer, a doomed love story with a science fiction background called THE FOUR SIDED TRIANGLE about a scientist cloning the woman he loves because she loves someone else. This showed that Fisher could handle a laboratory setting which was essential for whoever would direct the planned remake of Universal's FRANKENSTEIN. Hammer had recently scored with a successful series of sci-fi thrillers which tied up their other directors so Fisher was free to helm THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN.
Viewing it from the start as a Gothic fairy tale, Fisher made sure that the film's look would be artistic as opposed to realistic. The acting was theatrical, the lighting operatic, the Technicolor vivid with a dominant use of primary colors, the camerawork fluid, and then the whole thing was tightly edited (in the camera) for maximum impact. The success was immediate and overwhelming. Shot on a budget of less than $300,000, CURSE grossed an astounding $8 million worldwide, and this was in 1957. Hammer Films was off and running.
They went to work adapting all of Universal's classic monsters and Terence Fisher directed them all. DRACULA (1958), THE MUMMY (1959), THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF (1961), and THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1962). All were very successful except for Phantom which was the first of Hammer's films to lose money. This cost Fisher his position as the number one director at Hammer. After making 31 films in 10 years for the company, he would only make 6 in the next 8, retiring for good in 1974.
A serious accident in 1968 (he was struck by a car while crossing the street after the premiere of THE DEVIL RIDES OUT certainly had its effect on him, but so did the changing times. That same year ROSEMARY'S BABY and the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD were released and Hammer Horror was now seen as tame and outdated. THE EXORCIST (1973) was the final nail in the coffin.
In order to compete, Hammer tried exchanging the pre-Raphaelite look for the PLAYBOY approach but it was too late. Fisher's last two films reflected this change. The "good shall prevail but at a cost" mantra from his earlier films was now replaced by a bleak nihilism that can be seen in FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED (1969).
Happily, he did live long enough to see his films, which had gone from being critically reviled to being considered "dull and hopelessly old-fashioned." They become regarded as prime examples of supreme craftsmanship on a modest budget and studied as examples of how to use the various tools of moviemaking to enhance the story you are telling.
Fisher may be no Hitchcock, but few have succeeded in capturing such a consistent look in their films or in consistently achieving what they set out to do...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
Why Change Your Wife? (1920)
Brothers Cecil B. DeMille & William de Mille.
WHY CHANGE YOU WIFE is another of Cecil B. DeMille's silent films to be released on DVD. It is the last of his marital trilogy and the second to be issued so far (DON"T CHANGE YOUR HUSBAND (1919) and OLD WIVES FOR NEW (1918) are the others). WIFE with Gloria Swanson and Thomas Meighan was filmed in 1920 and follows up on HUSBAND by showing the consequences of rashly discarding your mate (a rather shocking idea back then). As in HUSBAND it takes a divorce for the partners to realize that they were better off together and the rest of the film is spent trying to get back to square one. The fun comes in the transformation of Gloria Swanson from a frumpy intellectual housewife who loses her husband to another woman (Bebe Daniels) into...Gloria Swanson. Her transition occurs so suddenly that you wonder why she didn't do it while she was still married but then you'd have no film. Along the way there are several witty observations on the battle of the sexes indicating that little has changed since 1920. These are punctuated by original title cards that are as priceless for their artwork as for what they have to say. Sales of "Forbidden Fruit", the perfume featured in the film, went through the roof after WIFE's release.
The second half of this double-bill features one of the very few surviving films of Cecil's older brother William de Mille (he kept the original family spelling) who started his career as a successful Broadway playwright. One of his plays THE WARRENS OF VIRGINIA from 1907 featured Cecil as an actor and a 15 year old performer named Mary Pickford. MISS LULU BETT was based on the stage version of a then famous book which examined the lonely life of a maiden aunt and her attempts to break free from the stifling environment of her sister's family. This is a silent example of what was then called a "woman's picture" which we know today as a "chick flick". It concentrates on plot and slow development of character rather than fast pacing and lots of action. In style it is very similar to the films of Lois Weber especially THE BLOT (also reviewed by me) which came out the same year, 1921, just one year after women received the right to vote. The ensemble performances by the family are all solid with Lois Wilson a standout as the title character. Wilson was a big star for Paramount in the early 1920's later appearing in 1923's THE COVERED WAGON. Although LULU is dated by today's standards, it's fascinating to see just how dated and just how far single women have come since 1921. While I enjoyed WIFE, I have to give the nod here to brother William as I got more out of his film than I expected. Hopefully more of them will become available for us to see...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
The Last Command (1928)
THE LAST COMMAND & 2 Others.
It has been a long time in coming but at last Josef von Sternberg's three legendary silent masterpieces are coming to DVD and in a Criterion edition no less. I'm not quite sure how or why Paramount agreed to this but I'm certainly not complaining. As others have pointed out, DOCKS OF NEW YORK and THE LAST COMMAND were available on home VHS some 30 years ago. They were high quality transfers accompanied by newly recorded Gaylord Carter organ scores. UNDERWORLD has never been available in a first rate transfer of any kind so that alone makes this set extra special.
In addition, all three films will have 2 new scores to accompany them which will only enhance the viewing experience even more. Too bad the Gaylord Carter scores weren't included as they were models of their kind. Throw in the Criterion extras like the 96 page booklet and a 1968 interview with von Sternberg himself and you have something no silent movie enthusiast or film buff should be without.
For those of you unfamiliar with these films the stories are as follows. UNDERWORLD, the first of the three, can rightfully be considered the first gangster feature as it chronicles the rise and fall of crime boss Bull Weed and his associates. It also offers silent comedy fans a rare opportunity to see Larry Semon in a more serious role which was one of his last film appearances. Film number two, THE DOCKS OF NEW YORK, positively oozes atmosphere as it takes us into BLUE ANGEL territory with its vivid depiction of a lowlife bar full of smoke and fishnets and the poor souls who inhabit it.
The best of the three, THE LAST COMMAND, features Emil Jannings' greatest American performance as a Russian general traumatized by the Russian Revolution and reduced to appearing as an extra in Hollywood movies. William Powell scores as a former revolutionary who is now a movie director. If you don't want to purchase these then get your Netflix queues ready or your Amazon stream for they are absolute must for any lover of cinema...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
Kidnapped (1917)
Going To The Movies Over 100 Years Ago.
I have been a fan of silent movies for many years and am happy to be living in a time where a renewed interest in silent films is growing every day. New titles are being discovered at a remarkable rate and festivals in the U. S. and Europe are drawing larger and more enthusiastic crowds. This year several high quality restorations of a number of films have been or are going to be released. These include titles with Gloria Swanson, Douglas Fairbanks, and Mary Pickford along with a long awaited personal favorite, the 1924 OLD IRONSIDES.
Along with the Flicker Alley and the Kino releases comes this offering from newcomer Movies Silently headed up by silent film blogger Fritzi Kramer (check out her website), composer Ben Model, and Christopher Bird. They used a Kickstarter campaign with over 300 contributors to bring a complete 1917 program back to contemporary audiences via DVD/Blu-Ray. The program consists of four short films and a short feature based on Robert Louis Stevenson's KIDNAPPED. All were produced in the waning days of the Edison Studio and were released under the Conquest Pictures banner. The four shorts are FRIENDS, ROMANS & LEO - a broad comedy set in Ancient Rome, LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD - a silhouette film of the famous fairy tale, QUAINT PROVINCETOWN - an actuality about the town and the fisherman there, and MICROSCOPIC POND LIFE which has groundbreaking photography of the titular creatures.
KIDNAPPED was directed by Alan Crosland who started with the Edison Studio and who wound up directing THE JAZZ SINGER for Warner Brothers which brought about the end of the Silent Era. Crosland, who died in 1936, is a forgotten director today. He was capable of working in a variety of genres. KIDNAPPED was an early swashbuckler that takes advantage of several outdoor locations. The winter scenes were reportedly shot in Sandy Hook, Connecticut. These are contrasted with the obvious studio interiors which looked liked those of a decade earlier. The performances are old fashioned but solid, the action robust, and the pace quite decent. All in all it makes for engaging viewing especially for silent movie lovers.
So hats off to Movies Silently for bringing us this trip back in time. The 16mm prints from the Library of Congress look remarkably good thanks to tweaking from Christopher Bird and Ben Model's piano accompaniment enhances the viewing experience. I have a fondness for movies made on the East Coast before the 1920s when Hollywood took over. I have Kino's EDISON set and now this collection. Someday I hope to have a restored version of the 1910 Edison FRANKENSTEIN and speed corrected versions of the 1910 CHRISTMAS CAROL and 1905 NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS (both in Kino's CHRISTMAS PAST set). Then I will truly be a happy camper...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
The Medusa Touch (1978)
The Power Of A Destructive Mind.
I first encountered this film upon its initial release in 1978. I've always admired Richard Burton (even in disasters like BLUEBEARD) and would go to see Lee Remick in anything. The two of them along with Franco-Italian actor Lino Ventura made for some pretty strange casting yet somehow it works. The major selling point is the story from a book by Peter Van Greenaway (not the filmmaker) about a misanthropic author (Burton) who comes to realize that he possesses the power to create disasters.
Lee Remick is the psychologist treating him and Lino Ventura the international cop trying to piece the disasters together. Old pros Harry Andrews and Michael Hordern add weight to the proceedings by simply being in the film. Director Jack Gold (THE RECKONING) keeps things moving along while veteran cinematographer Arthur Ibbetson makes the most of the meager budget with his creative use of lighting. Only the Cathedral finale disappoints but you'll have to watch it to see why.
The film did not fare well upon it's original release by Avco Embassy and when that company went down so did the rights to most of their films keeping them off of home video for years. Having had fond memories of the film, I purchased it on VHS many years ago and have been waiting for its DVD debut and now here it is coupled with a Blu-Ray as well. I enjoyed the writing which is very clever (plus having that cast deliver it certainly doesn't hurt) and that was unaffected by the VHS release but unfortunately the picture quality was.
Transferred in the wrong ratio with over-saturated colors, it certainly didn't look the same as it did in the theater. That has all been corrected in this Hen's Tooth release that puts everything back the way it's supposed to be so we can sit back and enjoy the sights and take in the rich dialogue without distraction. A great film? No, but it's one of those movies that sticks with you once its done and that's a movie worth watching more than once...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
Doctor Faustus (1967)
Ripe For Rediscovery.
Back in 1967 when this film was first released, critics jumped all over it as just a Richard Burton-Elizabeth Taylor vanity project which it was but that's all they saw. Now that Dick and Liz have been supplanted by ...insert celebrity couple here...the film is ripe for rediscovery and there is much to discover here.
The beauty of Christopher Marlowe's play lies in the poetry of the lines and the philosophical and theological points the poet raises. This Oxford University production which Burton co-directed captures its stage origins but is cleverly opened up in a number of ways which turn it into a fascinating cinematic experience thanks to an imaginative use of lighting, beautiful cinematography, and a haunting musical score by Mario Nascimbene (ONE MILLION YEARS B. C.). Elizabeth Taylor has no dialogue but she embodies the spirit of classical beauty in a 1960s way..
Richard Burton's intense portrayal of the title character is a joy to behold and serves as a vivid reminder of just what a charismatic performer he was. His glorious voice speaks the Elizabethan text as if it were everyday conversation but with a power and conviction that must be heard to be believed and thanks to the optional DVD subtitles you can follow along as he speaks if you wish. The rest of the cast is made up of members of the Oxford Dramatic Society and they fulfill the other roles satisfactorily with Andreas Teuber an absolute standout as a melancholy Mephistopheles.
Burton & co-director Neville Coghill remove the comic episodes between the serious scenes which streamlines the play and makes it a more manageable length. Chances are no one will redo Marlowe's play on film anytime soon and so there is even more reason to celebrate this version which clearly shows what the play has to offer as a great precursor to Shakespeare and how to make a major film on a minor budget...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
Cleopatra (1963)
Much Maligned Epic Shines Brightly After 60 Years.
There will never be a movie quite like CLEOPATRA again when you consider when it was made. While James Cameron has given us TITANIC and AVATAR which surpassed CLEOPATRA in expense and certainly in box office and Peter Jackson has mined the works of J. R. R. Tolkein with great success, CLEOPATRA was the green light for that type of film and it's still shining brightly after 60 years. In fact the film looks better today than it did in 1963. Part of the reason for that is the fact that now we can see it in the version which is close to what writer-director Joseph L. Manciewicz (ALL ABOUT EVE) wanted us to see.
Two separate love stories contained in two 2 hour films. Part 1 - CAESAR & CLEOPATRA and Part 2 - ANTONY & CLEOPATRA. Manciewicz certainly didn't lack chutzpah for taking on George Bernard Shaw in the first film and Shakespeare in the second. With the help of a once in a lifetime cast of American and British actors, Elizabeth Taylor at her loveliest, Rex Harrison at his most regal, and Richard Burton at his most powerful, the film manages to both entertain and enthrall in equal measure.
After seeing this 50th Anniversary Edition, I was surprised at how compelling it was. Unbelievable grandeur, eye-popping costumes, magnificent widescreen photography, an effective music score, and at least a dozen memorable performances that bring the literate script to life. After CLEOPATRA's premiere at 248 minutes, Fox cut the film to 192 minutes to increase showings and a lot of important details were lost. Today a two or even three part release would have been pre-ordained (think LORD OF THE RINGS or THE HOBBIT).
This 50th Anniversary DVD (and Blu-Ray) restores the premiere version and shows Elizabeth Taylor at the top of her game. People always complain how she dragged Burton down but I think it was the other way around for she was rarely this good again and never as beautiful as she is here. If you've never seen CLEOPATRA uncut then you really need to. It comes from an age when Hollywood epics had something to say as well as something to show off. While the Blu-Ray is a knockout, the DVD is a close second and can be played on many more devices. It's also usually available at a better price and loaded with special features as well...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
The Iceman Cometh (1973)
4 Hour Adaptation Of O'Neill Play Could Use Subtitles...
...but that's highly unlikely at this point in time. Chances are this 2003 release from Kino won't get an upgrade unless they decide to put it on Blu-Ray along with the other American Film Theatre titles which, like the original series, have no commercial potential. That's really too bad for just like Shakespeare or any serious drama, subtitles are needed to help people not only get the dialogue but the subtext of that dialogue. This is especially true of O'Neill who uses lots of words to express what his characters are feeling and thinking. THE ICEMAN COMETH is loaded with dialogue that not only works as a character portrait but as a vehicle for the ideas these characters (and O'Neill) want us to think about. No other O'Neill play, not even LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT, has such heavy discussions.
This 1973 film version has become legendary for being uncut, for its performances, and for being impossible to see since the original release. Now that it's been preserved, it's something to be treasured. Much has been written about the performances of Frederic March, Robert Ryan, and especially Lee Marvin (who began his career on the stage before becoming a tough guy in the movies) but it's the supporting players who make this version really special. In addition to the young Jeff Bridges there's Moses Gunn whose "I'm a gamblin' man" speech still has the power to take your breath away. Bradford Dillman has never been better as the pathetic son of rich parents who has become a helpless alcoholic. There's Martyn Green, 34 years after his Koko in the 1939 MIKADO and last but not least Tom Pedi, the original bartender from 1946.
Director John Frankenheimer, who began his career directing plays for television in the 1950s, still knows how to film a stage play retaining it's theatricality while making it cinematic. The crisp editing combined with the inexorable close-ups allow us to see the characters' reactions as well as provide a look into the characters' souls. What seems slow and deliberate at first becomes a powerful viewing experience by the end. It's even better on subsequent viewings and it should be seen more than once in order to grasp the subtleties and complexities of the characterizations and to appreciate O'Neill's poetic dialogue. Thanks to Kino (now Kino Lorber) for issuing this classic but now it's time to upgrade to subtitles so that we can get so much more out of what O'Neill has bequeathed to us.
POSTSCRIPT: This review was originally written in 2013, 10 years after the DVD was first released. In 2019, Kino issued it on Blu-Ray which contains the much appreciated subtitles...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
Krakatoa: East of Java (1968)
Krakatoa Is Actually WEST Of Java.
This cinematic oddity from 1969 is actually interesting in many ways. It was one of the last movies to be filmed in Cinerama (a widescreen process similar to today's IMAX) and one of the first to use stereo Surroundsound. It's also a precursor to the many Irwin Allen disaster flicks of the 1970s such as THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE and WHEN TIME RAN OUT not to mention such volcano epics such as DANTE'S PEAK and VOLCANO. It is also has a script that a B movie producer would have turned his nose up at but when you get performers like Maximillian Schell, Brian Keith, Sal Mineo, and SOUTH PACIFIC's Rosanno Brazzi to appear in it along with singing Asian children, female pearl divers, and a Jules Verne style scenario...how can you resist?
There appears to be something for everyone in the overall mix within the limits of a G rating. KRAKATOA is Hollywood hokum meets new technology for the special effects were awesome for the time especially if you got to see it on a giant screen as I first did with pre-Dolby Surroundsound. If it could be refitted for today's IMAX theaters it would still be impressive. As it is on this restored MGM DVD it's still worth seeing although there will be black bars on the top and bottom as it has not been anamorphically enhanced. It will bring back memories for many while still being capable of enthralling young children if they see it before they get too exposed to newer stuff.
The time is August 1883, the setting is Krakatoa, an island in the Dutch East Indies (which was actually WEST of Java). A cargo ship named the BATAVIA QUEEN is hoping to recover a cargo of pearls from a recent shipwreck. On board are a variety of characters including the stalwart ship's captain (Schell), a laudanum addicted diver (Keith) and his female entertainer companion, a widow attracted to the captain, an Italian father (Brazzi) and his rebellious son (Mineo) along with a devious convict with plans of his own. The Jules Verne angle comes in with the use of an experimental diving bell that will allow them to go to the ocean floor to recover the pearls (remember this is 1883). Naturally things do not go smoothly as the convicts take over the ship and the celebrated volcano is getting ready to blow.
The original running time was to have been 147 minutes but it was cut to 131 minutes for the film's release. This may explain some of the choppy quality of the narrative although nothing could have saved the script which makes Cecil B. DeMille sound like Shakespeare. Still when it's time for the effects, they do not disappoint especially on today's huge flatscreens with impressive sound reproductions. Speaking of DeMille, it's the sort of movie he would have made had he still be around and that should tell you everything you need to know. Good, old fashioned fun from a different era of moviemaking...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
Java Heat (2013)
Exotic Indonesian B Movie Kept Me Engaged.
I first saw JAVA HEAT at a local action movie festival back in May of 2013. I had never heard of it and went to see it to help support the festival and raise money for a local charity. I wasn't expecting much as most of the movies in this festival had been no great shakes. All action and nothing else. This suited the fans just fine but it left me with a sprained wrist from checking my watch so often. However I came out of JAVA HEAT pleasantly surprised. Not only was I engaged throughout but I got to see lots of local Indonesian culture and more than capable performances from Indonesian actors Ario Bayu and Atiquah Hasiholan.
Mickey Rourke as the international villain (in addition to English he speaks French, Arabic & Javanese) is a delight to watch and to root against. He's clearly enjoying himself as much as Javier Bardem did in SKYFALL. While he-man Kellan Lutz is the weak link in the chain, he is more than adequate to the task at hand (resembling a cross between Christopher Reeve and a young Arnold Schwarzenegger) and he looks great in the buff. There's also a brief moment that makes fun of him having been in TWILIGHT. The film proved so popular that the theater brought it back for a one week run shortly after the festival.
JAVA HEAT is a throwback to the exotic B movie fare of yore like MACAO or SIROCCO only retooled for the 21st century with a little nudity, occasional bursts of graphic violence, and a lot of action set pieces. It has no aspirations of being anything other than what it is, an entertaining way to fill 100 minutes of your time. The use of split screen ala Brian De Palma (think CARRIE) is both retro and put to good use. The movie is technically accomplished in a no-nonsense way with crisp editing, solid photography and effective use of traditional and contemporary music.
The story is familiar but effective. A young American (Lutz) who is not what he claims to be joins forces with a local police lieutenant (Bayu) to try and solve the assassination of a female member of Indonesian royalty (Hasiholan). Things quickly get complicated with payoffs, cover-ups, and a plan to steal the royal treasury thrown into the mix and all masterminded by uber-villain Rourke. The majority of movies are made with nothing more than entertainment in mind and if you enjoy an action flick with an exotic locale and a budget well under $100 million, then JAVA HEAT will more than fill the bill.
The Blackbird (1926)
One Of Browning & Chaney's Lesser Efforts But Still Worthwhile.
I am grateful for this Warner Archive release of the Turner Classic Movies version of this rare Tod Browning film. Up until now I only had it on a VHS tape which was dubbed from a PAL released in the U. K. The picture quality was OK but the transfer was a little too fast (typical of PAL transfers) and the music score was inappropriate. Now this film and several other of Lon Chaney's MGM films are seeing the light of day giving us the opportunity to really see "The Man of a Thousand Faces" at work. As another reviewer pointed out, there is little makeup involved but Chaney's body language is extraordinary especially as the crippled missionary proprietor, The Bishop.
The story is a typical offbeat Chaney love triangle where his Limehouse criminal Dan "Blackbird" Tate is in love with French puppet performer Renee' Adoree who is in love with a sophisticated jewel thief played by Mary Pickford's first husband Owen Moore in the performance of his career. The Blackbird's alter ego is the fake cripple The Bishop which gives Chaney the opportunity to distort his body (see DVD cover). Strangely enough the criminal Chaney looks just like Albert Finney while Moore's West End Bertie could easily have been the inspiration for The Penguin in the Batman comics.
As is usually the case with Tod Browning, this film is a deft combination of striking visuals coupled with a far-fetched but strangely believable plot that is anchored in the grotesque. The black box puppet show of Rene Adoree is a classic example of this. It startles when it's first seen and once seen it's hard to forget. As is also typical of Browning, the ending is rather sudden. Nevertheless THE BLACKBIRD leaves an impression thanks to a couple of powerhouse scenes. The confrontation between The Blackbird and West End Bertie in Bertie's apartment is a classic. This release is also aided memorably by TCM's commissioned background score. While it isn't a top drawer offering, it's never less than compelling...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
The Show (1927)
Another Tod Browning Sideshow Melodrama But Without Lon Chaney.
There was a time not that long ago that when Tod Browning was remembered, it was for either directing the Bela Lugosi DRACULA (1931) - (to which all the credit was given to Lugosi) or as the man responsible for FREAKS (1932) a horror film that featured real deformed carnival performers and was a notorious failure (it virtually ended his career even though he lived another 30 years) until it was championed by photographer Diane Arbus in the early 1960s. Then, as more of his silent films were uncovered, he was remembered as the director of several bizarre Lon Chaney melodramas for which Chaney received the credit. While I am in no way downgrading Lugosi and Chaney's contributions, THE SHOW (1927) proves that there was a lot more to Browning than he is usually given credit for.
Before getting into movies as an occasional performer and assistant director to D. W. Griffith, Tod Browning had worked in several circuses as a carnival barker and side show attraction. He loved this tawdry low budget world and frequently recalled it in several of his movies. While THE UNKNOWN (also 1927) with Lon Chaney and a young Joan Crawford is much better known, THE SHOW proves that it was Browning who transformed the performers rather than the other way around. John Gilbert was MGM's biggest star at the time. He specialized in romantic leads and yet here is transformed into the highly unglamorous yet still seductive Cock Robin (how's that for a name!) who does a number of very unromantic things. He is again paired with French actress Rene Adoree (his co-star in the hugely successful THE BIG PARADE) and a younger Lionel Barrymore who strangely resembles Jared Harris here. None of the principal characters are really likeable but they engage you.
THE SHOW showcases Browning at his stylistic peak. Shadows prevail, the characters' body language is extraordinary, and the faces (especially Barrymore's) are devilish and malevolent. The camerawork is remarkable and the film is edited for maximum impact. Fortunately, after being lost for many years, the TCM print is in very good shape and the new background score is suitably appropriate. The simple story is straightforward enough. Street criminal Barrymore loves carnival performer Adoree who loves fellow performer Gilbert who loves only money. Of special interest is seeing how the carnival illusions are carried out as the story of Salome is re-enacted (take a close look at the cover) on a side show stage. It isn't his best, but THE SHOW has proven to be my favorite Tod Browning silent movie...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
The Magician (1926)
A Must See For Classic Horror Fans.
Like another reviewer, I first became familiar with Rex Ingram's THE MAGICIAN through Carlos Clarens' book AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE HORROR FILM back in the late 1960s. A few years later it was one of the films/stories selected by Peter Haining in his fascinating 1971 collection THE GHOULS which featured the source material that some classic horror films were based on. Both publications indicated that THE MAGICIAN was a lost film or at best incomplete. Unlike a number of other silent films that I successfully tracked down after the VHS/DVD explosion of the late 1980s and early 90s, I totally forgot about THE MAGICIAN assuming that it was a lost cause. Then in 2010 this Warner Archive Edition appeared out of nowhere and I finally got to see it after some 40 odd years in a good print and with a proper soundtrack . Silent film lovers owe a huge debt to Turner Classic Movies. Not only do they give a large audience a chance to experience silent movies through their SILENT SUNDAY NIGHTS program but they have made these films available to purchase on DVD-R.
It's fascinating to see how many horror films borrowed their backgrounds from this film most notably, as has been mentioned before, James Whale's original FRANKENSTEIN. This gives the viewer, especially in the film's final scenes, a strong sense of deja vu since it looks so familiar but then THE MAGICIAN got there first. Director Rex Ingram was a major visual stylist of the silent era. He moved to France to get away from Hollywood control (THE MAGICIAN was shot in France and on location) and especially Louis B. Mayer whom he despised (notice that Mayer's name is pointedly missing from the title credits). When sound arrived, Ingram's career waned. He didin't care much for sound and Mayer reportedly worked behind the scenes to keep his movies from being distributed. I find it interesting that Ingram (an Irishman) shooting in France for an American company not known for its horror films should come up with such a German looking picture as THE MAGICIAN. I suspect that star Paul Wegener, famous for playing THE GOLEM and a director as well, had a hand in the proceedings.
THE MAGICIAN was inspired by W. Somerset Maugham's 1908 novel which was inspired by the English occult practitioner, Aleister Crowley. The film is set in contemporary 1926. When sculptor Alice Terry (director Ingram's wife and a popular star of the silent era) is injured by a falling statue, she is saved by the "miracle" surgery of an American doctor. Attending the surgery is magician Oliver Haddo (Wegener) who is obsessed with a medieval formula for creating life. It requires the "heart blood of a maiden" and guess who he has in mind. After hypnotizing Terry and transforming her statue of a faun into a vision of Hell (one of the film's great set-pieces), he whisks her away to his tower/laboratory to conduct his experiments with the doctor in hot pursuit. If this sounds like high melodrama, it is but intentionally so. A title card even refers to Wegener as a character out of a melodrama. It's all style over substance and a must for fans of classic, old school horror. WARNING: Beware of public domain prints like the one currently on You Tube. It has an unrelated soundtrack and no color tints...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
The Scarlet Blade (1963)
The Arrival Of Oliver Reed.
Oliver Reed once said that "Hammer gave me my start, (Michael) Winner gave me my craft, and (Ken) Russell gave me my art." Well in 1963's THE SCARLET / CRIMSON BLADE you can see the arrival of the Oliver Reed we all know 5 years before his international success in OLIVER!. Here he crystallizes his screen trademarks. The quiet voice that can suddenly erupt, the smoldering look of rage and/or pain, and his sheer physical presence that can dominate the screen. This was Reed's penultimate film with Hammer (out of 6) and he owns the movie.
Although the nominal stars are Lionel Jeffries (usually known for comic roles in movies like CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG but quite good here) ,Jack Hedley and June Thornburn, Reed's portrayal of the adventurer Captain Tom Sylvester is clearly the focus of the film. Writer-director John Gilling, who made a number of films for Hammer including the celebrated "Cornish Double Feature" THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES and THE REPTILE, had worked with Reed before on THE PIRATES OF BLOOD RIVER showing that he could handle the actor as well as make a well mounted period action-adventure movie.
The story is set in 1648. Colonel Judd (Jeffries), once a royalist but now a follower of Cromwell, is trying to capture King Charles I to further his own career. Sylvester (Reed) is his second in command and has eyes for Judd's daughter Claire (Thornburn) who is secretly helping the local Royalists led by Edward Beverly (Hedley) aka The Scarlet Blade (the movie's original title). Claire exploits Sylvester's feelings for her while really loving Beverly. When Sylvester realizes this he is none too pleased but, rather than flying into a typical rage, Reed internalizes his anger and makes us feel his character's pain and sadness at what has happened.
The rest of the film is a solid period adventure yarn with swordfights and ambushes and an authentic look to the film despite the low budget. In fact parts of this film reminded me of Michael Reeves' WITCHFINDER GENERAL with Vincent Price made 5 years later only less brutal. This release of the American version (hence the title change) is its first appearance ever and the transfer is first rate. Not a great film by any means but a surprisingly engaging one thanks to Oliver Reed...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
The Old Dark House (1963)
Not Good, But Not As Bad As I Remember.
Whenever a classic film gets remade, there are always those who say that's it not as good as the original and that is certainly the case here. However, taking that into consideration, this reworking of James Whale's 1932 version is better than I remember it being. I had seen it years ago (in black & white) and do recall rather enjoying it but then I was in grade school at the time. I then later saw a VHS version in color and didn't much care for it that time around. Of course I had just seen the James Whale version (which had been kept out of circulation because of this film) so that's an understandable reaction. Having just watched it again, I found, much to my surprise, that I liked it more than I expected to.
Part of it is that the transfer is absolutely gorgeous. Another factor is that, aside from director William Castle, the technical team is all Hammer (the film was shot at Bray) headed up by set designer Bernard Robinson and cameraman Jack Asher. Finally there is the wonderful British cast that features Robert Morley, Peter Bull, and Mervyn Johns. I remember Tom Poston from his TV quiz show days and another William Castle comedy ZOTZ! Which was made at the same time. Years later he would play a prominent role on NEWHART. As the only American in the film, he holds his own against the ensemble British cast. The first 2/3 of the film is rather amusing (there is no hint of suspense or menace whatever) but the final third descends into 3 STOOGES slapstick.
Although the source material (J. B. Priestley's BENIGHTED) is the same, there is very little resemblance between the 1932 film and this one. The characters have the same names but what they do is a totally different matter. The material has been "Americanized" to try and sell it here in the U. S (it ends with THE STARS & STRIPES FOREVER on the soundtrack and the hoisting of the American flag). The cast does their best but Robert Dillon's screenplay is the chief culprit here. There are also some really cheap effects such as the hyena "attack" or the bump on Danny Green's head at the end. In spite of all this THE OLD DARK HOUSE manages to entertain in spite of itself. Just don't compare it to the 1932 original. The opening titles are by Charles Addams and "Thing" makes a quick appearance...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
The Ballad of Tam Lin (1970)
A Poetic Romance Not A Horror Film.
Roddy McDowall's only directorial effort, THE BALLAD OF TAM LIN, is one of the most misunderstood films of its time. Based on a ballad by Robert Burns, the story was updated to then contemporary 1970. The original story tells of a medieval knight who is seduced and held captive by a witch before being saved from her power by the love of a maiden. McDowall and screenwriter William Speier transform the witch into a fabulously wealthy older woman (Ava Gardner still looking great at 48) and the knight into a contemporary young man (Ian McShane in an early role) distracted from life by easy pleasures.
He's happy to be the head boy toy among her minions of fashionable young people (which include Joanna Lumley, Madeline Smith, and future director Bruce Robinson) until he meets the local Vicar's daughter (Stephanie Beacham at her loveliest) and then he's in a quandry. Ava doesn't take kindly to competition and plots his demise, just as she has done with several boy toys before him. However, like the others, he'll be given a slight chance to survive although so far, no one has.
The misunderstanding arises from the fact that AIP (American International Pictures) promoted it as a horror film rather than as a poetic romance even reediting the film and retitiling it THE DEVIL'S WIDOW to try and achieve this effect. As a result, no one was happy, and the film sank without a trace although I managed to catch it on a double bill with the Timothy Dalton version of WUTHERING HEIGHTS. I didn't understand it at the time but I was able to pick up on the romance angle and it was close to being the loveliest film I had ever seen.
Seeing it now, uncut, in McDowall's original version is a true delight. Yes the fashions have dated along with some of the dialogue but the music by The Pentangle and Stanley Myers is still evocative and the cinematography reflects McDowall's expert knowledge of photography. Ava gets a great final leading role and Scotland has never looked lovelier. The drugged out finale has lost some of its punch but as a bittersweet statement on growing old and the power of young love, TAM LIN still has something to say. This Olive Films transfer is absolutely gorgeous...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)
Complex, Layered, & Literary.
What do William Lawes, Smokey Robinson, Christopher Marlowe, and Dr Strangelove have in common? They are only a few of the many individuals alluded to in what is one of the most unique movies ever made. If you are familiar with the movies of Jim Jarmusch such as DEAD MAN, NIGHT ON EARTH, or MYSTERY TRAIN then you'll have some idea of what his take on a vampire picture might be but even if you do, you cannot imagine how rich and rewarding ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE can be. Of course the film is not for everyone especially those expecting a traditional vampire flick. The literary and artistic references as well as the languid pace and the total lack of action will leave many viewers (and reviewers) cold and bored to tears. This is not your father's vampire movie but a meditation on life, eternity, the undying beauty and power of art, and on man's many failings and the consequences thereof.
Imagine a vampire movie where the principal vampires are centuries old and are named Adam and Eve. From the posters it resembles THE HUNGER with Catherine Deneuve and David Bowie but it isn't. One of the characters is playwright Christopher Marlowe, also a vampire, who is 450 years old and spending his last days in Tangier. Adam & later Eve hang out in Detroit amidst the ruins of the once fine city and consume "the good stuff" - untainted blood from special containers - while coexisting with humans whom they refer to as "zombies". They possess a weltschmerz reminiscent of Klaus Kinski in NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE and yet they prevail. Imagine all the things a pair of lovers would have seen come and go and come again since the world began. That's only part of ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE. High minded and pretentious? To some it will seem so but others will find it deeply satisfying.
There's also transcendent performances from Tom Hiddleston & Tilda Swinton and a wonderful supporting role for John Hurt as Marlowe. The cinematography is hypnotic, the music appropriate, the writing sublime and the direction knowing and sensitive. There are several remarkable set pieces including the initial visit with Marlowe, evening rides in a white Jaguar through the ravaged areas of Detroit, and the havoc wreaked by Eve's little sister (Mia Wasikowska) when she comes to visit. This is such a complex and layered movie that it will take several viewings before it yields all its secrets. Too bad some of the extended and deleted scenes on the special features section weren't left in. If this sounds like something that you'd like to experience then go for it. Others who want a traditional or fashionable vampire picture need to look elsewhere. One of my Top 10 favorite movies of all time...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.