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Reviews
Let's Do It Again (1953)
Not so undemanding
Watching the movie, particularly the song, "The Call of the Wild" was a bit unsettling. I understand that it is important to not put undue weight on things that seem racist today but might not have been seen as such in 1953, but . . ..... this song (which is done twice in the film) is pretty borderline, especially the version done in the nightclub. I wonder what black people, those in both America and in Africa, at the time would have thought of it. Probably many would have been offended. For the rest of the movie, yes, I agree. At one point while watching Ray Miland run through a series of sight gags I thought "Gee, that really looks like a Cary Grant move," and then when coming here and looking over the movie's history (or perhaps it was at wikipedia) I discovered that this version is a musical remake of an earlier version featuring Mr. Grant. Now I want to see that version.
The Great Dictator (1940)
a rather disappointing evening at the movies
I sat down a couple of hours ago with every intention of enjoying this Chaplin classic - one that I have not seen in about 40 years. It appeared to have everything going for it, a good cast, two handfuls of Oscar nominations and an interesting plot with a strong anti-Nazi slant. All this appealing to me. Instead of laughing and getting in the swing of the film I found myself complaining -to myself- that for 1940 the movie, the camera work, the sets, the script and dialogue, the music and the way information and emotion was presented -ie humor and pathos- were hopelessly outdated. Jack Oakie's character -who garnered an Oscar nomination ???- alternated between a Marx Brothers Italian accent and a "dem-deese-does" Brooklyn one. It appeared to me that Chaplin had not progressed in his thinking or in his technical skills at all since his silent days. It was like watching a silent movie to which sound has been added as an after thought. In the film's final speech, after which NONE of the issues set up by the plot are resolved, I was prepared for your basic emotional appeal and was not disappointed. However I did find myself wondering why a Jewish barber would be quoting the Book of Luke? And so it went. I found myself wondering if my time would have been better spent watching, "You Nazty Spy" the 3 Stooges film that came out 9 months before the Great Dictator.