Pete's Dragon (2016): A Review

PETE'S DRAGON (2016)

This review is part of the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon. Today's star is Robert Redford.

I go into Pete's Dragon not having seen the original as of this writing. As such, I think I come at this with an advantage as I have neither negative nor nostalgic feelings for the property. The 2016 version of Pete's Dragon has a curious logical flaw that I struggled with. However, I found it a decent enough family film that works separate from that. 

Young Pete Healy (Oakes Fegley) is riding along with his parents in what I presume is the Pacific Northwest. He is on "an adventure" with his parents when they are involved in a car accident. Pete is the only survivor, and he stumbles into the forest. Wolves come close to devouring him, but he is rescued by an unlikely figure. It is a large, green dragon who can turn invisible. The dragon takes a shine to this young five-year-old, who names him "Elliot".

Pete, now living as a wild boy in the woods, is not the only person to have seen what is called "the Millhaven Dragon". Conrad Meacham (Robert Redford) regales local children with his tale of his own encounter with this dragon. They delight in his stories of dubious veracity. One person who does not delight in these stories is his daughter, Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard). While she appreciates how Meacham's tales of the western woods were the impetus for her career as a park ranger, she thinks them frivolous. Grace is engaged to Jack Magary (Wes Bentley), who ironically is a logger working alongside his brother Gavin (Karl Urban). Jack is displeased, like Grace is, that Gavin keeps pushing further into the woods almost at a haphazard and rushed manner.

Attempting to mediate, Jack's daughter Natalie (Oona Laurence) spots a strange wild child. It is Pete, who has been essentially raised by Elliot. Eventually, Pete is discovered by Jack, Grace and Gavin. Elliot, however, has not. Gavin, however, is no fool and knows that something is out there.

Pete is fiercely resistant to entering the human world and wants to go back to the woods. That, however, is impossible. Grace, reluctant to turn Pete over to Child Protective Services, turns to her father after Pete tells Grace, Natalie and Jack about Elliot. Could the stories of the Millhaven Dragon be true? Gavin finds that they are and has the literal proof. However, wild dragons must be free. Will everyone live happily ever after?

What I found a bit illogical to downright nonsensical is how Pete spent those six years completely missing and raised by a dragon. Did Elliot procure food and what little clothing he had for Pete? How did no one find Pete's parents? There is mention by local Sheriff Gene Dentler (Isiah Whitlock) about Pete being part of a "missing persons" cold case. However, I never accepted that a child could be raised by a dragon and speak relatively well. I especially struggled in believing that Pete's parents were never found. Come to think of it, the thought of their rotting corpses trapped in their car for six years is rather gruesome.

Then again, I might be overthinking something like Pete's Dragon. This is supposed to be a family-friendly fantasy. Those rarely have true logic in them. One knows that Pete's Dragon is family-friendly in that Gavin and his hunting party are not shooting Elliot with bullets. As Grace, Conrad, Jack and especially Pete & Natalie watch in horror, Gavin and his men are firing at the lassoed Elliot. Gavin and I think Jack immediately shout to everyone that Elliot is being shot with tranquilizers. Therefore, any young child who fears for Elliot will see that he is merely being put to sleep and not killed. 

The film does take great care to not frighten its target audience. We see this with the aforementioned treatment of Elliot. It is threatening but never vicious. We also see it in the characters. Gavin is the de facto villain. However, I would argue that Gavin is more misguided than truly evil or heartless. He does initially rescue Pete. He also makes a daring rescue attempt of Grace and Jack when Elliot begins taking his own version of revenge towards those who threaten him and/or Pete.

The performances also show how Pete's Dragon is geared towards the younger set. Bryce Dallas Howard speaks in a soft voice. She is aiming with Grace to be that gentle, maternal figure. Even when she appears cross, Howard never carries a strong, angry tone. Instead, Grace is made to be kind and caring. Wes Bentley and Karl Urban are also not made out to be bad men because they cut down trees. Urban's Gavin is sharper about the need to skirt the edge of the forest more than Jack would like. However, they do show genuine affection for each other as brothers. In fact, a major plot point in Pete's Dragon is how Gavin feels betrayed when Jack both refuses to believe Gavin's story of seeing the dragon but will not help him in trying to capture it.

One usually does not think of Robert Redford as being part of a family-friendly ensemble film. However, in his scenes as Conrad, he had a surprise rapport with the children when he is regaling them with his dragon encounter. When Grace asks him about what really happened when he met the Millhaven Dragon (minus the embellishments), Redford delivers a surprisingly effective monologue where he talks about feeling a sense of "magic". 

The two children did well in their roles. Oona Laurence and Oakes Fegley were not precocious or cutesy. Instead, they showed themselves to be realistic in how their characters behaved and interacted with both strangers and strange new worlds. Director David Lowery (who also adapted the original film's screenplay with Toby Halbrooks) guided all his actors to good performances that kept within the family-friendly mode. He also kept things going at a steady pace.

Finally, we see that the music plays a role in how Pete's Dragon is that family-friendly fantasy. Daniel Hart's score had a strong fantasy feel that aimed high to make things magical. The film had pleasant soft songs such as the opening theme The Dragon Song. It gives us not specially the origin of Elliot but on how dragons might be real.

The visual effects were not awe-inspiring. They were serviceable and pleasant, in keeping with the overall feel the film I think was aiming for.

Pete's Dragon is a charmer of a film. I think it will appeal to young children without frightening them. It might be a touch longer than needed. That, however, is a relatively small point. It might not be logical. However, Pete's Dragon has its dragon heart in the right place.

DECISION: B-

The Velvet Touch: A Review

THE VELVET TOUCH

This review is part of the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon. Today's star is Rosalind Russell.

People may die for their art, but would they murder for it? The Velvet Touch is a surprisingly solid murder mystery despite knowing whodunit in the beginning. 

Valerie Stanton (Rosalind Russell) is the Queen of Broadway. Her newest comedy, Escapade, has been another roaring success. On this closing night, however, it is curtains for more than just the show. Val has learned to her rage that her Svengali, Gordon Dunning (Leon Ames) has no plans to let Valerie go either professionally or personally. An argument ensues between them, culminating in Val whacking Gordon on the head with a trophy. Shocked and slightly dazed by her act, Valerie manages to slip out of the theater unobserved. Unaware of anything that has happened, her fellow Escapade actress Marion Webster (Claire Trevor) finds Gordon's lifeless body and also goes into shock.

At home, she dreams in an extended flashback on how all this came to happen. Valerie had been Gordon's professional and personal muse. She starred in all the comedies that he produced. Gordon had dumped Marion Webster for Val, making the professional and personal rivals. Now, two new opportunities had come to Valerie. The first was an offer to appear in Hedda Gabler. Valerie itches for the chance to play drama versus the successful but lightweight comedies she specializes in. The second is Michael Morrell (Leo Genn). He is a dashing British architect who is enchanted by Valerie. She in turn is enchanted by Michael.

No dice, however, from Gordon. He plants a story with bitchy theater columnist Jeff Trent (Dan Tobin) that she has agreed to be in Gordon's newest comedy and not Hedda Gabler. Enraged, she demands that he retract the story. Nothing doing, and in their tussle, she accidentally murders him. Now, the story of Gordon's murder breaks. She is convinced that she will be quickly found. 

However, a twist of fate coupled with Marion Webster being found alongside the body shifts focus onto Valerie's love rival. Captain Danberry (Sydney Greenstreet) is a shadow around Valerie, but he too starts turning towards Marion Webster as the murderess. Could Valerie find herself literally getting away with murder? She does feel guilty. Marion Webster accuses her privately of murder. However, Marion Webster ends herself, leaving everyone in little doubt that she is the guilty party. Now, Valerie Stanton may at last shift from comedienne to tragedy queen. She may have a husband. Even theater-mad Captain Danberry seems satisfied that the case is closed. Is it though? Will Valerie keep her secret shame or crack?

After watching The Velvet Touch, I was reminded of a few films that both preceded and came after it. The first is Mourning Becomes Electra. That film was meant to showcase Rosalind Russell as a dramatic actress. That lurid story did earn her a Best Actress nomination. Unfortunately, it was such a critical and commercial disaster that Loretta Young in The Farmer's Daughter ended up winning. In a curious way, The Velvet Touch seems to mirror Russell's own artistic aspirations.  Like Valerie Stanton, Russell was seen primarily as a brilliant comic actress who wanted to show that she had versatility. I think that had Russell and her team not focused so much on the lumbering Eugene O'Neill adaptation that is Mourning Becomes Electra, Russell could have legitimate earned a Best Actress nomination for The Velvet Touch. 

Here, Russell showed that she could do drama and comedy remarkably well. The Velvet Touch has nice comedic moments. Of particular note is when she is at a dinner party where her more rapid-fire delivery and eager-to-please manner brought an amusing touch. In that scene, she compliments a writer for his newest work, oblivious to his hesitancy in accepting the praise. It is not until someone tells her that she has been speaking to the book's publisher and not author that she shows a slightly manic manner reminiscent of yet another film, Auntie Mame. 

Russell could also show strong dramatic manner. We see this when she is shown performing Hedda Gabler or when confronting Marion Webster. I figure that director Jack Gage could not completely break Russell of a habit of widening her eyes when expressing drama. I, however, put that down to the intense theatrics that Mourning Becomes Electra mistook as great drama versus unintended comedy. The scene where she learns of Marion Webster's suicide is an especially strong piece of acting. It is not overdone but not restrained either.

The Leo Rosten screenplay does have some surprising moments of humor. They almost always come at Sydney Greenstreet's willing expense. He first appears to the Escapade cast and crew to start his investigation. As he slowly starts to sit, his physicality suggests that he expects that his girth will cause the chair to collapse. Later on, Danberry is hounded by reporters. "Looks like a big case," one of them says. Looking somewhat serious, Danberry snaps back, "Don't get personal!", pauses, then starts laughing. 

The other film that The Velvet Touch reminds me of is All About Eve. Both are set in the theater world. Both have divas who are looking for love. Both have secondary actresses who work against said divas. Both have a pretty bitchy theater columnist who delights in his maliciousness. Both even have a hard, shrewd theater figure. The parallel between Thelma Ritter's Birdie in All About Eve and Esther Howard's Pansy in The Velvet Touch is not an exact parallel. Pansy hangs around the stage door, giving the cast and fans the latest reviews and reports. However, one can see how these two films could fit in a metaphorical double bill.

Rosalind Russell gives a strong performance as the guilt-ridden Valerie. Despite Claire Trevor's Marion Webster's protests, I think Valerie did have a sense of guilt over murdering Gordon. She clearly did not intent to do so. However, The Velvet Touch is not about the crime itself. We know from the get-go that Valerie is the murderess. Instead, the film is about a bigger mystery: whether or not she will get away with it. Almost all the performances are strong.

The aforementioned Greenstreet brings a lightness to things. He is not a fool, able to use his powers of deduction to a proper albeit incorrect conclusion. We also see Greenstreet showing a caring side, comforting Valerie when she learns the shocking news. A surprise is seeing Leon Ames as the villainous Gordon Dunning. Ames usually played well-meaning and caring fathers. Here, he is arrogant, selfish and possessive. It is Ames that one is impressed with most. The paterfamilias of Meet Me in St. Louis showed himself a manipulative figure. You did not mind that he got done in. 

Dan Tobin also did well in his small role as the fussy Jeff Trent. I would put two performers on the lower end. The first is Claire Trevor as Marion Webster. She was not terrible. Trevor had a good moment when she meets with Gordon as part of a plan to help her now-frenemy take Michael while she gets Gordon back. However, her final scene where she is coming in and out of her hysteria when confronting Valerie might have been a bit much.

The wettest blanket was Leo Genn as Michael Morrill. Why anyone would want this man, especially with his long nose, I cannot guess at. He and his character were both bland and boring.

A particular poor element in The Velvet Touch involves Marion Webster. It is not the character herself. It is her name. One cannot be faulted for wondering why "Merriam Webster" was so important. It did not help that she was routinely called "Marion Webster". Why anyone involved in The Velvet Touch thought that the character's name might not elicit laughter or at least bemusement I also cannot guess at. Let us say that the name choice was in the long run, a curious one.

The Velvet Touch also has a surprising element in a lovely theme song. It is lush and romantic. It might be slightly at odds with the plot. However, it is a nice romantic number. 

If one wants to see Rosalind Russell show her dramatic range, it would be better to watch The Velvet Touch over Mourning Becomes Electra. We know whodunit. We watch to see if she will get caught or get away. How it turns out requires watching, which I think will be worth the time to do so. 

DECISION: B+

His Girl Friday: A Review

HIS GIRL FRIDAY

This review is part of the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon. Today's star is Cary Grant.

Screwball comedy rarely came as fast, as smooth and as funny as in His Girl Friday. Standout performances by two of the finest actors of their generation showcases the witty script and rapid-fire manner to this witty film.

Morning Post editor Walter Burns (Cary Grant) is as unscrupulous a figure as they come. He's the embodiment of the charming rogue. He gets his story no matter what. One thing that he cannot get is his ex-wife, star reporter Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell). She had endured Walter's schemes and manners for far too long. She, for example, was denied a honeymoon with Walter because he had to get her to cover a story. Now, all Hildy wants is to settle down with staid insurance agent Bruce Baldwin (Ralph Bellamy). 

Walter knows that Hildy is the best man for the job. He also knows that he is the best man for her. Walter tempts Hildy with one final major story. Earl Williams (John Qualen) is set to be executed for murdering a police officer. Williams didn't just kill a police officer. He killed a "colored" police officer. The mayor (Clarence Klob) and Sheriff Peter B. "Pinky" Hartnell (Gene Lockhart) know that Williams' death will get them the "colored" vote. Williams, however, maintains his innocence. Walter believes that Williams is being set up for political reasons. He knows that Hildy is the best man for the story. 

He also wants to keep her from marrying Bruce. Hildy, for her part, slowly starts finding her journalistic instincts harder to suppress. Walter finagles things to stop them from going to Albany where Bruce lives with his mother. If it means repeatedly getting the hapless Bruce arrested, then so be it. If it means literally abducting Mrs. Baldwin (Alma Kruger), then so be it.

One thing that Walter did not arrange was Williams busting out, thanks in part to Pinky's incompetence. He also did not arrange for Williams' reprieve. Williams, however, did not flee into the night. He is still, technically, inside the prison. Hildy, who had gotten an exclusive with him earlier, is astounded to find Williams in the prison's journalist room. Now Hildy and Walter are sitting on the biggest news story in town. Will Pinky and the mayor manage to "not" receive the reprieve in time? Will Bruce keep himself out of jail? Will Hildy find that she and Walter really are best for each other?

His Girl Friday is a remake of The Front Page with one major change. Hildy Johnson was switched from a male to a female character, with the added change of making the new Hildy into Walter's ex-wife. This gives His Girl Friday a different dynamic altogether. The film goes from a clever take on journalism and political corruption to a battle of the sexes. Charles Lederer's adaptation of the Ben Hecht/Charles MacArthur play (with uncredited work by Hecht) has many amusing moments both in situations and dialogue. The naive Bruce compliments Walter to Hildy, calling him "charming". Hildy chuckles at this assertion. "He comes by it naturally. His grandfather was a snake", she retorts. Later, Hildy suspects that Walter will try and pull a fast one on Bruce by trying to steal the certified check that Walter will give Bruce so as to not let him cash it. In a clever set of circumstances, Hildy does her own hoodwinking, conning Bruce to literally put it under (or inside) his hat.

The dialogue even allows for a few inside jokes, which I figure was not common in the day. Walter seems to struggle describing what Bruce looks like to a woman Walter uses to frame him for solicitation. Walter soon comes up with the perfect answer. "He looks like that fellow in the movies...Ralph Bellamy". Later on, the corrupt mayor and dimwitted sheriff think that they have Hildy and Walter over a barrel. "Listen, the last man that said that to me was Archie Leach, just a week before he cut his throat". The joke is that "Archie Leach" was Cary Grant's real name. His Girl Friday, in short, was meta before the concept really existed. 

His Girl Friday also, I think, is the rare film where a woman is shown as the equal to a man in a male-dominated world. Hildy is treated more than just "one of the boys" by the other reporters. She is actually shown as someone who is extremely well-liked and very respected amongst her peers. The other journalists are more cynical about things than Hildy is. She is not naive or unaware of how politics and corruption work. There is a wonderful comedic bit where she is denied a chance for an interview with Williams until she "happens" to find a $20 that she "assumes" the warden dropped. However, Hildy is also more optimistic about Williams' chances. She also, as a woman, appears more sympathetic to Molly Malloy (Helen Mack), whose initial caring for Williams was misconstrued by the other reporters in print.

One of His Girl Friday's best elements is with its cast. Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant were absolute masters of wordplay. Both are able to rattle off rapid-fire dialogue and make it sound perfectly natural. His Girl Friday gives both of them many moments where they seem to speak over each but are actually in tandem. Their double-act makes their interplay a delight to watch. Of particular note is when they are desperately trying to keep poor Williams hidden in a rolltop desk. Their verbal and physical comedy is a great thing to watch.

Cary Grant is delightful rakish as Walter Burns. He is ruthless and manipulative. However, he has such a breeze, almost playful manner in his antics and schemes that you end up liking him. Yes, he might have repeatedly framed Bruce for crimes. He may have hired a kidnapper to keep Mrs. Baldwin out of things. However, Grant makes Walter not into a villain but into a sharp, quick-witted fellow who will scheme his way to get what he wants. I think the success comes from the fact that Grant plays Walter as someone who is so thoroughly convinced that he is right that he never stops to think anything he does is wrong. I never sensed that Walter was cruel or corrupt. In fact, he was very much anti-corruption, noting that Williams was being railroaded for other people's crooked schemes. 

In some ways, Grant gives Walter something of a childlike manner. He is like a big kid delighting in making mischief for others, especially if it benefits him. 

Rosalind Russell is more than able to match Cary Grant in fast-paced dialogue. Her Hildy is sharp and hard-edged while also showing genuine caring for others. Her interview with Williams is surprisingly dramatic. Here, Russell shows that she could play serious while still firmly in the madcap world of His Girl Friday. She is able to show her moral strength and courage when facing off against the desperate Williams. She is also able to have great physical comedy. One has to laugh when she literally makes a giant tackle to stop the terrified Warden Cooley (Pat West). 

Ralph Bellamy has a pretty thankless role as the naive Bruce Baldwin. He, however, makes Bruce into an ideal third wheel. Bellamy does have one moment when he does stand up for himself. As Walter and Hildy are furiously on the phone lines attempting to give their stories, Bruce berates Hildy for ignoring him and his repeated arrests. For the most part, Bellamy played the part correctly. He is slightly befuddled but totally sincere in his affection for Hildy.

His Girl Friday is a sheer delight from start to end. This is more surprising given that His Girl Friday runs a rapid-fire 92 minutes long. In that surprisingly brief runtime, the film packs in a whole set of wit, great performances and hilarious situations. Everyone should be so lucky if they had His Girl Friday in their lives.

DECISION: A+

Dad (1989): A Review (Review #2205)

DAD (1989)

This review is part of the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon. Today's star is Jack Lemmon.

It is inevitable that as an actor ages, his roles shift from son to father to grandfather. Jack Lemmon is no exception. Dad, if memory serves right, was my first exposure to Lemmon as an actor. It has been a long, long time since I have revisited this film. Dad is shamelessly hokey and sentimental. However, it is well-meaning in said hokeyness and sentimentality, so I can see why it is appealing to audiences.  

Jake Tremont (Jack Lemmon) lives a pretty sheltered and henpecked life. His wife Bette (Olympia Dukakis) is firm, rigid and pretty much the boss. Bette does love Jake, but her dominant personality is such that Jake and everyone Bette comes in contact with is rendered pretty powerless. They keep to a solid routine, which is interrupted when Bette suffers a heart attack while they are grocery shopping.

Into this health crisis steps, their son John (Ted Danson) steps in. John, a busy executive, flies back home to California from New York to look in on his parents. His sister Annie (Kathy Baker) and brother-in-law Mario (Kevin Spacey) do their best for both Jake and Bette. Bette continues to insist that all she had was bad indigestion. Jake, who has been rendered pretty much docile by Bette, now finds himself slightly out of sorts without her guidance. 

John soon starts showing Dad how to do the most basic things. Jake does not know how to do laundry. He does not appear to know how to wash dishes. He might have once been a Lockheed employee and amateur racecar driver. Today though, Jake Tremont is a sympathetic well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory. John takes an extended leave of absence to guide his dad into a new lease on life. Jake gets his driver's license back. He starts to go back to bingo. Soon, Jake and John are finding life.

Struggling to find life is John's own son Billy (Ethan Hawke). Billy is drifting through life, having left college to be a beach bum in Mexico. John does his best to guide Billy but sees that after his divorce he has not made Billy a priority.  Bette has returned and is still as chilly as ever. This runs counter to Jake's newfound joie de vivre. That joy of life, however, is short-lived. Jake is diagnosed with cancer. The mere word "cancer" so terrifies Jake that John at first insists that Jake not be told. The doctor ignores this request. The word so triggers Jake that he eventually slips into a coma. 

Eventually, with a better and more caring doctor, Jake emerges out of his catatonic state. Unfortunately, so does his fantasy life. Jake, so beaten down by Bette's unintentionally cruel manner, has created a fantasy life where he, Bette and imagined children live on a farm. Jake also starts living it up by inviting his neighbors to let them babysit and having weekly cultural dinners. Bette does her best to go along with Jake's fantasies and new life. However, it reaches a boiling point where she cannot tolerate what she thinks is total insanity. Will the Tremont family reconcile?

I remember watching Dad, as I said, in a theater. While my memories of the audience are somewhat vague, I do recall that people did respond to the story. For that, I should give credit to screenwriter/director Gary David Goldberg (who adapted William Wharton's novel). Dad is unashamed of playing with the viewer's heartstrings. 

The best example of this emotional manipulation is when John, in a rage about having his request to not use the word "cancer" used, takes Jake out of the hospital. With the late James Horner's music swelling in the foreground, we see John carrying the shivering, shaking, terrified Jake in his arms, the rest of his family following behind. If memory serves right, I think this was filmed in slow-motion.

Another good element of Dad is how the film has subtle moments that are easy enough for the casual viewer to find. Early on, we hear Jake tell John that once the word "cancer" is said, it's pretty much over. That sets us up for when we learn of Jake's diagnosis. However, a better moment is when Jake comes in wearing an old black cap. He tells John that Bette always told him not to wear it inside. He thinks it is because Bette thinks it makes him look "too tough, like Johnny Cash". At the end of Dad, we see Bette wear that cap inside the house. Nothing is said. No one mentions it. However, the message is clear.

Dad, if one thinks on it, is actually Dads. The central story is that of John dealing with Jake. A lot of time is spent showing how Jake and John interact and become friends and supportive of each other. However, Dad can also be about John and Billy. Their own fraught relationship also makes up part of the film. We see their own evolution. Goldberg did well in not have the John/Billy relationship be purely antagonistic. Instead, we see that Billy is at most ambivalent about his own father. He does not hate him. Rather, I would say that John is a shadow to Billy. He does not push John away but does not rush to embrace him. It is their mutual love of Jake that ties them together. It also is the glue that lets them mend their own relationship. 

Dad has some overall solid performances from the cast. Jack Lemmon did what he was asked to do: make Jake Tremont almost childlike in the early section of the film. His character is extremely docile with Bette. We see this again in small moments and gestures. Bette, for example, literally cuts his pancakes. Jake walks behind Bette. While he is cheerful and friendly to the grocery butcher, we see Bette ready to do battle to get the best price on the porkchops. When she has her medical emergency, Lemmon's Jake is tottering and panicking, as if unsure of what to do.

As the film goes on, we see through Lemmon's performance how Jake slowly comes out of his shell. Since the audience sees Jake as a likeable old man, we do end up wanting him to succeed. I do think that Dad infantilized Jake to an almost cartoonish level. It seems so odd that a Lockheed engineer and racecar enthusiast could now struggle to function on his own. And that was before his cancer diagnosis and growing senility. When Jake starts babbling about his imaginary life, the psychiatrist tells John that Jake is "a successful schizophrenic". That is one of the oddest statements that I have heard to describe a nice old man who created a fantasy life that is now bleeding into reality.

I do think that there were a few moments when Lemmon hammed it up. There is a moment when Jake, terrified of something, hides under his bed. John' struggle to get him out seemed to be a bit exaggerated. Overall, though, I think Dad is strong late-era Jack Lemmon.  

Just as Jack Lemmon delivered the performance that he was hired to do, I think the same about Olympia Dukakis as the domineering Bette. Dukakis does not play Bette like a villain. She does love Jake. She also is pretty curt and cutting with everyone, so she is not deliberately cruel. I would not go so far as to say that Bette is well-intentioned. She does find the Tremont men's fashion show hilarious as does her daughter Cathy. However, she is also clearly irritated and barely tolerant of both Jake's growing eccentricity and the family's coddling of it. Things come to a boil during the Japanese-themed dinner.

All Bette wants to do is eat, though one suspects that finds the dishes not to her liking. Jake has asked everyone to wear Japanese clothing, speak as much Japanese as possible and spout of information on various Japanese topics. Bette asks for the rice. Mario, almost delighting in teasing his mother-in-law, insists that she ask in Japanese. She will have none of it and grabs the rice bowl angrily, letting some rice spill over.

To be honest, I side with Bette on this one. It is clear that she is not enjoying any of this. I do not think that her family, outside of Mario, is deliberately pushing her buttons. However, one wonders why there could not be a compromise between how everyone treated Jake and Bette.

Ted Danson, I don't think, matched Lemmon or Dukakis. It was not a terrible performance by any stretch. His John was meant as the "more rational" member who has to become the caretaker. He did well, so I cannot fault him for that. The same goes for Ethan Hawke. He was a bit softer than I remember as Billy. Even when he is angry, he is not raging but quite soft and still. That, like with Danson, is not a bad thing.

The weakest part is Kevin Spacey as Mario. One wonders how he could be "Mario". Kathy Baker was underused as Annie. In a nice twist, Jack Lemmon's real-life son Chris plays Jake in his early years. This was a bit confusing in the beginning. We see the farm and bucolic life. Initially, we think this was Jake's early years. However, it turns out that this is really Jake's fantasy world that has become real to him. 

I do not blame Dad for being emotionally manipulative. I do blame it for being a bit longer than I think that it should be. Like the title character, Dad wants to please and make everyone happy. I cannot say that Dad made me happy. It did, however, please me enough to think well of it. Dad knows what it is and does not pretend to be or do otherwise. 

DECISION: C+

Smash-Up, The Story of a Woman: A Review

SMASH-UP, THE STORY OF A WOMAN

This review is part of the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon. Today's star is Susan Hayward.

Our heroine is living too much of a lush life in Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman. Strong performances and an engaging story make Smash-Up less exploitative than it could have been. 

We begin with a shocking scene: a woman, heavily bandaged and in shock. Who is she, and what led her to this precarious position? We then flash back to learn her story. 

Angelica Evans (Susan Hayward) is a chanteuse who has been steadily rising in her career. She has moved up from small clubs to chic nightclubs. Angie may need a nip of something to overcome a shyness that is criminally vulgar, but she still knows how to entertain. Angie is also devoted to Ken Conway (Lee Bowman). He is a struggling singer/songwriter who is still looking for his break big or small. Angie is fiercely devoted to Ken. 

Angie uses what influence she has to get Ken and his songwriting partner Steve Nelson (Eddie Albert) onto a local radio show. Ken's show is at 6:00 AM where he is billed as the "Melancholy Cowhand", singing cowboy ballads with Steve accompanying him. While the now-Mr. and Mrs. Conway are struggling, they are also happy. The addition of a baby girl elevates their happiness. Ken makes a bold move to sing his and Steve's new song Life Can Be Beautiful on the radio, dedicating it to his wife and daughter. 

The gamble pays off. Audiences respond wildly to both Life Can Be Beautiful and Ken Conway. His star is on the rise. Angie has turned to being a stay-at-home wife and mother. She has also started turning to the bottle for comfort. Ken's career is going from strength to strength. Her career is dead. There is no way that Angie will be a guest on Ken's new radio show, An American Sings. This is especially true given how radio station secretary Martha Gray (Marsha Hunt) has opted to take on so many responsibilities for Ken.

Now, Angie has begun to lose all her self-respect. Ken is not blind to Angie's growing alcoholism. He is also told that he is partially responsible by removing all work from Angie. It is not just her career. He pays for nannies and maids and, albeit unintentionally, gives her nothing to do except the chance to drink. Something as to give and what gives is Angelica Evans. She attacks her love rival. She skips out on her comeback. She even puts her beloved daughter in danger. Will Angie be able to make a personal comeback or is this woman too smashed up?

The subject of alcoholism in film was still relatively rare when Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman premiered. It was, I believe, rarer to have said subject from a woman's perspective. Smash-Up does a good job in showing how Angie fell into her sorry state. We do see her take a drink right before she performs for the first time. This was a good way to show the audience that the seeds were already sown. However, for most if not all of the first act, we rarely see Angie drink, let alone to excessive levels. What makes Smash-Up work well, thanks to John Howard Lawson's Oscar-nominated story, is that the descent into alcoholism is shown gradually. We see Angie turning slowly into a lush due to the mix of Ken's success and her empty life.

Smash-Up also did well to show us how Angie and Ken were prior to his success. We see that these two people genuinely loved each other. Angie rushes out of her club engagement when Ken first arrives. "What about your job?", the broke Ken asks. "You're my job at the moment", Angie cheerfully replies. Angie's transformation moves through the film at a steady pace. That allows us to both sympathize and be shocked at her downfall.

The film also has a magnificent central performance from Susan Hayward. Hayward earned the first of five eventual Best Actress nominations for Smash-Up (finally winning for I Want to Live!). She runs the gamut from the joyful, upbeat, even flirtatious Angie to the defeated shell of a woman that she became. There are some wonderful moments from Hayward in the film. Near the end, she attempts to lull her daughter to sleep with an old lullaby. Through her voice and face, Hayward communicates Angie's blend of hope, fear, despair and unawareness of just how low her condition is. There is a nice montage of how she got to that state before she meets a fiery disaster of her own making.

One of the best or perhaps most memorable moments in Smash-Up is when Angie finally confronts Martha about Ken. Earlier, we had seen Hayward's Angie stumble her way across the room, with Ken oblivious due to performing his signature song. When Angie finally faces off against Martha, Hayward goes in on it with complete abandon. As Angie pulls Martha's hair and smacks her a bit, Martha seems unable to fight back.

Personally, I was Team Angie in that catfight. I got a small thrill seeing the smug Marsha Hunt get whacked about the ears. Martha, as played by Hunt, at first seemed pleasant and professional. As Smash-Up went on, however, Martha grew more unlikeable. At one point, it is Martha who answers the phone in Ken's hotel suite. This was meant to be Angie and Ken's delayed honeymoon (albeit mixed in with some personal appearances). Again, to be fair, Angie was now too much into the booze to make the trip possible. However, hearing Martha's voice on the other end would enrage anyone.

As this is The Story of a Woman, it is the men who suffer in terms of performances. Lee Bowman was decent enough as Ken, the man who set female hearts aflame with his voice (which was dubbed by Hal Derwin). I found him a bit flat as the male lead. Bowman did have some good moments, such as when he arrives unexpectedly early and finds Angie already boozed up in the early afternoon. For the most part, Bowman played Ken as a nice guy, but one with no real fire.

As a side note, Peg La Centra dubbed Hayward in her musical numbers. 

That was better than Eddie Albert as the BFF. Though Smash-Up was made six years before Roman Holiday, Eddie Albert pretty much gave the same performance in both. I do not know if Albert was condemned to play the male lead's best friend. I do know that Albert played Steve as someone who was a bit too upbeat in almost all situations. One thing I found curious was his claim that he could talk Ken into staying with Angie despite her drinking. It makes Steve look almost clueless about the extent of her problem.

Smash-Up has been criticized for its ending. Angie states that now that she knows she's hit rock bottom, she and Ken can build up again for a brighter future. Honestly, I do not see why the film had to end on a dour note. Having seen a woman come apart slowly, why should audiences not be given a bit of hope?

Smash-Up, The Story of a Woman is a well-acted portrait of one woman in crisis. It is respectful of the subject matter. It does not sensationalize nor trivialize alcohol addiction. And it does have Susan Hayward smacking Marsha Hunt around, for those who like such things.  

DECISION: B+

The Odyssey (2026): A Review

THE ODYSSEY (2026)

When I was younger, I enjoyed mythology. One of the best books I have read about the ancient tales of Greek gods and the mortals who tangled with them was Edith Hamilton's Mythology. That is where I first encountered the tale of the Trojan War and what came before and after that doomed city's fall. The Odyssey draws from both that epic poem and The Iliad to craft its story of one man's quest to return home. The Odyssey has some qualities that make it a decent enough film. It is also too long, slightly rambling and worse of all, so dry that one feels nothing about its story or its characters. 

Told in a non-linear manner, I am opting for as straightforward a telling. Greek warrior king Odysseus (Matt Damon) attempts to recall his life to Calypso (Charlize Theron). He has flashes of men under his command and of a faraway family. Odysseus, however, struggles to recall things, even when the goddess Athena (Zendaya) appears to him.

Odysseus is the long-missing King of Ithica. He left to partake in the Trojan War, where his creation of a large horse allowed the Greeks to take the city. Greek soldier Sinon (Elliot Page) has been fooled into thinking that the horse really was a gift to Athena and is killed by the Trojans for the trouble of revealing what Sinon has been told. Once Troy fell, Odysseus and his men had many adventures. They blinded a cyclops. They were briefly turned into pigs by the sorceress Circe (Samantha Morton). They passed the tempting Sirens, maneuvered between the monster Charybdis and the whirlpool of Scylla. Odysseus was fated to be the only survivor as foretold by the dead prophet Tiresias (James Remar). Odysseus had to travel to Hades to gain the information on how to return home, but the dead of Troy were after him.

Had Odysseus not spent years drugged by the lusty Calypso, he would have perhaps rushed home sooner. His palace is overwhelmed with unruly suitors to his wife, Penelope (Anne Hathaway). Chief among those vying to take Ithica's throne is local boy Antinous (Robert Pattinson). Antinous insists that he wanted to go fight in the Trojan War, but this was untrue. He is set on taking power, and delights in mistreating Odysseus' son Telemachus (Tom Holland). Telemachus is determined to find out what happened to the father he barely remembers. For that, he travels to the court of Menelaus (Jon Berthal) in Sparta. Menelaus and his wife Helen of Troy (Lupita Nyong'o) recognize the young man and give him details of Odysseus during the war. They also give him information about Menelaus' brother Agamemnon (Bennie Safdie) and his own wife Clytemnestra (Nyong'o in a dual role). 

There are evil plans to get rid of Telemachus when he returns. Fortunately for him, Odysseus has remembered who he is and is now on his way to Ithica. Will Penelope finally be forced to submit to one of the suitors. Will Odysseus be recognized? Will Ithica be restored?

After finishing the epic The Odyssey, one word kept coming to me about the entire film. That one word is "dispassionate". There is an unrelenting, unremitting sense of moroseness throughout the almost three-hour film. No one in ancient mythical Greece, apparently, ever experienced joy or laughter. Instead, The Odyssey is filled with eternal gloom and such somber seriousness that even Ingmar Bergman might find overdone. We learn that even the Sirens' song is not some beautiful lure for men. Instead, it is a song of immense regret. "It told you what you most want is what you most can't have and that the most you can't have is what you already had and lost. It was a song of all the promises I failed to keep. And it told me that I really don't want to go home".

Far be it for me to question screenwriter/director Christopher Nolan, but that kind of song would not lure me into the ocean in a mad pursuit to join them. It would, rather, repel me. Nolan's interpretation of the Siren song would fit within his dour, morose vision of The Odyssey. It does not, however, fit within how I have experienced this epic tale. 

The Odyssey that I remember is one filled with adventure, with wit and with a contradictory hero. Odysseus as played by Matt Damon is a deeply haunted man even before he went to Troy. It is curious that The Odyssey portrays Odysseus as someone who was at most a very reluctant participant in the pillaging of Troy. He looks shellshocked, perhaps horrified, by what he sees. I was reminded of Nolan's previous film Oppenheimer while watching The Odyssey. One could even see The Odyssey as something of a companion piece to Nolan's Oscar-winning epic. Both men became Death, the Destroyer of Worlds. They both used their intelligence to bring about total destruction and now live to regret what they have wrought upon the world.

That is all well and good. However, for myself, I cannot accept that Odysseus would be guilt-stricken at all. Far from it. When Troy fell, Odysseus was in the thick of it, looting, desecrating and perhaps ravishing Trojan women. He felt no guilt or qualms about his actions. He was an arrogant leader who did eventually see the error of his way. This version, however, opted for the perpetually regretful figure.

That, again, is fine as I figure that Nolan envisioned the character as such. I just kept stumbling through my own memories of the Greek myths to fully immerse myself with The Odyssey. My memories, for example, had me think that Sinon was fully aware of the Trojan Horse deception. Sinon was no innocent but a willing participant. I figure that The Odyssey was meant as a meditation on regret and sorrow. That is fine, I suppose. I just wondered why no one could enjoy themselves. 

I also did not see Odysseus' transition. If he started out with regret at having to participate in the war, why would we care if he stayed the same when he finally returned? Nolan's directing of his cast brings to mind a longstanding complaint of mine when it comes to "serious drama". It mistakes speaking softly with seriousness. There is much whispering and stillness throughout The Odyssey. Even moments that I figure should have had more emotion such as Circe's transformation of the men into pigs are surprisingly soft and still. 

I felt that overall, The Odyssey was so remote and aloof, far from any sense of magic or adventure. It gives moroseness a bad name. 

When it comes to any controversy over The Odyssey's casting, I am of the mindset that two things can be simultaneously true. It is more than probable that performers like Zendaya, Page, Nyong'o and Hamish Patel as Eurylochus were cast to meet the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' diversity quotas for Best Picture consideration. It is also pretty much irrelevant given that these are fictional characters. This is not like when Jodie Turner-Smith was cast as Anne Boleyn despite Turner-Smith being black. That casting flies against reality. The characters of Athena, Sinon, Helen of Troy and Eurylochus, conversely, are fictional. Therefore, while the casting may be non-traditional and done out of a desire for awards recognition, it ultimately does not affect the overall story. One ultimately should judge by the performances.

I saw them as pretty much all the same. They kept to Nolan's dour, somber vision. Zendaya's Athena (the only god or goddess to appear, albeit more as a voice of conscience versus a literal deity) had one job, which was to scowl at Odysseus. Whether or not one wants to say that scowling is Zendaya's sole quality as an actress I leave to others. It is pretty much impossible for me to say that anyone in The Odyssey gave a performance since they were all the same. I am surprised at how much praise has been thrown at the film in terms of acting given that no one really showed any emotion apart from somberness. There is simply no lightness, no sense that these people are real.

Perhaps an effort can be made that Robert Pattinson was slightly better than most as Antinous. He was a quiet villain, so he got a chance to be evil. Still, at the climax when Odysseus is taking down all the loutish suitors, there did not seem to be any sense of danger or urgency. Again and again, I found so much of The Odyssey flat and painfully remote.

Matt Damon never looked overawed by some of the sights that he, a mere mortal, beheld. He looked surprisingly bored. Anne Hathaway made something of an effort, but she felt a bit forced in trying to be the strong woman in a man's world. Samantha Morton in what is basically a cameo as Circe did not display the rage or hatred for men that Circe presumably had. She seemed to treat the men that she had transformed as more bad guests than major threats. 

I did find some parts amusing, but not in a good way. Early on, Tom Holland's Telemachus wants to convince his mother Penelope that he can be in charge. "I'm a man, Mom," he tells her. I chuckled at this statement. It's hard to make the case that one is a man when you still say "Mom" in an almost apologetic manner. 

That use of current language, like Telemachus' use of "Mom" and "Dad" along with Odysseus' cry of "LET'S GO!" and his desire to get off this "f---ing beach" did not sit well with me. It felt less epic and more "dumbed down" for modern audiences. Worse was when Odysseus, I believe, told his men, "The gods help those who help themselves". I literally said to myself, "YIKES!". 

Nolan's script is a bit tin eared. The dialogue explaining "Zeus' law" is a bit too on the nose, almost explanatory.  The segment about Clytemnestra did not forward the overall plot, a curious decision given the nearly three-hour runtime. A potential assassin in Athena's temple was killed because he was literally monologuing. If he hadn't talked so much, he would have gotten around to killing both Odysseus and Telemachus.  

There were, to be fair, some good elements in The Odyssey. Hoyte van Hoytema's cinematography worked rather well, particularly when Odysseus enters Hades. The fall of Troy, while not thrilling, was also pretty well-filmed. Ludwig Goransson's score was also solid if at times keeping to the somber tone rather than emphasizing adventure or amazement.

The good news is that I stayed awake for all three hours of The Odyssey. The bad news is that I stayed awake for all three hours of The Odyssey. Overpraised by some, excessively criticized by others, I look upon The Odyssey with the same remote, aloof, distant and dispassionate manner of the film itself. This is not a terrible film. It is also not a film that I foresee myself revisiting ever again. 

DECISION: C+

The Bitter Tea of General Yen: A Review

THE BITTER TEA OF GENERAL YEN

This review is part of the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon. Today's star is Barbara Stanwyck.

For all the talk of "Capra-corn", Frank Capra was more than capable of making grand, epic films. At least that was his aim in The Bitter Tea of General Yen. A brisk runtime and some solid acting overcome the poor casting choice that still haunts this would-be epic. 

Shanghai during the Chinese Civil War is in chaos. Various warlords fight for control of post-Imperial China. Despite the dangers, there are still missionaries determined to bring salvation to the heathens. One of those is Robert Strike (Gavin Gordon). He is set on his mission. He is also set on waiting for his fiancée to arrive. 

That would be Megan Davis (Barbara Stanwyck). She arrives to find how little life is worth here in the Middle Kingdom. Her rickshaw driver was run over by a luxurious car. Outraged at the seeming lack of care, Megan is unafraid to tell the car's owner how rotten he is. Still, she must get to her own wedding on time. Unfortunately, that wedding will have to be postponed when Strike hears that his orphanage is caught in the crossfires. Determined to rescue the children, he goes to General Yen (Nils Asther). He is the only warlord capable of providing passes. General Yen, however, has barely concealed contempt for Strike and everything about him.

Everything except Megan. In the chaos of battle, Strike, Megan and the children make the train station but are separated. Megan is taken by the charming and elegant warlord, first on his train and then to his summer palace. Megan, who has been declared dead by the press, is at first appalled by how casually the General kills off opposition. She also is initially distrustful of Yen's mistress, Mah-Li (Toshia Mori). Megan won't join the General for dinner. Eventually though, she relents when she learns that there is another American among Yen's courtiers.

That is Mr. Jones (Walter Connolly), Yen's financial guru. He has helped the warlord get the money to fund his conquests. However, will Yen have another conquest in mind? Will Megan eventually find the joy of Yen? Mah-Li may be a secret danger to them both, but not out of jealousy. Her closeness with Captain Li (Richard Yoo) may now help Mah-Li kill two birds with one stone. Secret prayers lead to General Yen losing money and power. Will Megan now find her own life forfeit or will General Yen find how bitter his tea can be?

The Bitter Tea of General Yen was Frank Capra's efforts to be classy and posh. The film proves at least one thing. It shows that if he had wanted, Frank Capra could produce a lavish, visual film like his contemporaries. There are some excellent visual sequences in The Bitter Tea of General Yen. Of particular note is the chaotic opening scene. As Shanghai is hit with a major downpour, the various figures entering or fleeing the city blend in a grand style. The battle sequences too are quite good. 

The dream sequence where General Yen simultaneously threatens and tempts Marion is a bit eccentric. However, it works within a more artistic interpretation than one normally finds in a Capra film. 

The film also boasts lavish, grand sets and costumes. These are elements which Capra is not usually associated with. W. Frank Harling's vaguely Asian score also keeps to the high aspirations of The Bitter Tea of General Yen.

The screenplay by Edward Paramore (adapting Grace Zaring Stone's novel) has some insightful moments as well as some questionable ones. Early on, the bishop who will perform the ceremony states sadly that he thinks missionaries are wasted in China due to Chinese culture. I think this would reflect on the times The Bitter Tea of General Yen is set. I do not know if it veers towards a more imperialist mindset. The not-so-good general has similar views on the Occidentals he encounters. He dismisses Strike's determination to rescue the orphans. He calls the orphans "people without ancestors" and thus unworthy of rescuing. 

However, we also see that the characters are insightful about others. "He's very smart. I'm afraid of him," Mah-Li tells Marion about Mr. Jones. The twist about Mah-Li's hoodwinking of Marian is also well-crafted.

Frank Capra did a strong job in directing his cast. Barbara Stanwyck is a reliable actress and here she does wonderful work. She is strong and capable, such as when she berates General Yen for running down her rickshaw driver (though she later struggles to remember him when she is on his train). She shows vulnerability and unrewarded kindness with Toshia Mori's Mah-Li. Stanwyck also has great scenes when fighting Walter Connolly's Jones.

Connolly too brings a touch of humor as Jones. He is not exactly comic relief. He is, however, more amusing in his bluntness. Mori is given a less ideal role as curious blend of a Madame Butterfly/Dragon Lady mix. She balances the appearance of hesitancy and subservience with the duplicitous double agent. 

That bring us, sadly, to Nils Asther. To be fair, his General Yen is not a stereotypical Chinese figure with broken English. He is courteous and elegant, up to a point. That fantasy sequence does show the character closer to a "yellow peril" type figure. There is, however, the yellowface. It is creepy looking. It is off-putting. It paints the film in an uncomfortable light. It is an issue, though perhaps not as major as it might seem.

The Bitter Tea of General Yen shows that Frank Capra could, if needed, make a more elaborate film than his usual fare. It shows that Barbara Stanwyck could do so much as an actress. The yellowface is still something to be leery of. On the whole though, I doubt people will leave with much if any bitterness against the film. 

DECISION: B-

Sextette: A Review

SEXTETTE

This review is part of the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon. Today's star is George Hamilton.

If Mae West had lived today, she might have adopted LL Cool J's opening lines from Mama Said Knock You Out as her slogan. "Don't call it a comeback! I been here for years!". Come to think of it, West probably would have adopted LL Cool J himself as one of her many boytoys. West famously listed her home phone number in the telephone book, in case anyone wanted to come up and see her sometime. After an absence of twenty-seven years, West made a "comeback" in Myra Breckinridge. It took eight years after that notorious debacle for her to make another comeback with Sextette. This, her final film, is a most inglorious way to end a filmography. 

International screen siren and eternal sex goddess Marlo Manners (West) has married for the sixth time. Husband Number Six is Sir Michael Barrington (Timothy Dalton). The now-Lady Barrington is looking forward to her wedding night in the bridal suite. Marlo is the fixation of the world. Even the peace conference taking place at the same hotel where she will be deflowered again is no match for our sultry bombshell. Sir Michael would like to get it on with the lusty grand old lady of stage and screen. However, things keep popping up, and not the ones that Lady Barrington would like to see.

Her agent Dan Turner (Dom DeLuise) has her set up for a new film. He is desperate to get Marlo to do screen and costume tests. Dan also has been approached by someone at the peace conference for help. It so happens that one of the many ex-Mr. Manners is Alexie Andrea Karansky (Tony Curtis). He is representing the Soviet Union at the conference and won't budge from saying "nyet" to everything. In order to change his mind, Sexy Lexie has but one condition: time with the former wife. Marlo, Lady Barrington, will have to lay herself down for world peace.

Dan works to keep Sir Michael out of the bridal suite by forcing him to do many interviews. These interviews keep making Sir Michael sound as if he's coming out of the closet. He is befuddled as to why people think that he might be gay even after he tells a reporter on live television that he is gay. Why wouldn't he be "happy"? 

Some men are quite happy to see Marlo, like the entire U.S. track & field and gymnastics Olympic teams. Other men are less than happy. One of her ex-husbands, director Laslo Karolny (Ringo Starr) insists on having screen test in her bridal suite. Dan is not happy either, but for other reasons. Marlo has been dictating her memoirs onto tapes. Her various exploits would send shockwaves worldwide and he is determined to destroy the tapes. Finally, we have Husband Number 5: gangster Vance Norton (George Hamilton). Presumed dead, Marlo cannot remember if she divorced him or not. If she didn't, her new marriage is invalid. Will Marlo lose her knight in shining armor? Will she or Vance spill the beans that will bring down various governments? Will Sir Michael ever get the British Invasion going? 

In the Are You Being Served? episode Front Page Story, the middle-aged senior saleswoman Mrs. Slocombe (Mollie Sugden) appears in a shocking green negligee that startles everyone. The store's maintenance man, Mr. Harman, was tasked to introduce the various "Holiday Girl" contestants. So shocked was he at her brazen, garish appearance that he quipped to her, "I'm glad I haven't got your nerve in my tooth!". I had a similar thought when watching Sextette. There was a difference in that Sugden was clearly in on the joke. It is doubtful whether Mae West was.

It took eight minutes into Sextette to see the walking cadaver of Mae West amble in. One is startled at her appearance, and not in a good way. Shuffling through, Mae West looks more than her then-eighty-four years. Mae West's character may be called "Marlo Manners". However, it is clear that she is playing herself, or rather a parody of her screen persona. One sits in pretty stunned silence seeing and hearing West warble out solo musical numbers. She performs After I'm Gone to a besotted Alexie and then croons Happy Birthday Twenty-One to the Olympic teams' mascot. The latter is a reworked version of the Neil Sedaka single Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen, since the Olympic team was not going to have a sixteen-year-old on the squad in any capacity.

I think any semblance of reality left long before West and Timothy Dalton broke out into Love Will Keep Us Together. I need to walk that back a bit. West didn't actually sing this so much as she spoke some words like "Stop!" in her particularly cadence. Sextette is a weird blend of contemporary and ancient. You have the then-three-year-old Captain & Tennille hit performed in the film. On the other hand, you have Baby Face, which was well over fifty years old by the time West recites it to the delighted conference. 

In fairness, the oddest musical number did not belong to Mae West. In a surprising turn, that distinction goes to Dom DeLuise. His rendition of the Beatles' Honey Pie is flat-out bizarre and pointless. It is bad enough to be one. It is deadly when it is both. This mishmash of musical styles, from Tin Pan Alley to early disco, is one of less odd elements of Sextette.

One figures that Sextette might have worked, admittedly very dubiously, if our leading lady was maybe in her late twenties to late thirties. Seeing this very senior citizen strut around with all the men in ardent passion for her is frankly a bit creepy. I think that most of the performances played it as if it was a joke that no one could take seriously.

No one except for Mae West. Her screen persona was always a bit broad, almost an exaggeration of a woman. Here, she seemed to act as if she really was the object of naked desire to every man that she encountered. There is a montage of her past glories in her own brand of shuttle diplomacy. One newspaper headline has her posing with presumably Moshe Dayan. West's ego and/or vanity (perhaps delusions) was so great that the picture did not bother to show West in her younger days. Instead, the photos all showed her as she was at the time. Dayan may have had an eye patch, but he was nowhere near that blind.

In certain ways, Sextette seemed more like a Mae West Greatest Hits montage than a genuine film. In a fashion montage, West rattled off some of her past quips to presumably her designer (Keith Moon). It, however, does not look as if she is speaking to him. Instead, it looks more as if she was filmed somewhere else, gave her old quips, and Moon was meant to "react" to them when he had nothing and no one to react to. 

While watching Sextette, I wondered why and how Mae West never became a drag act. Not West herself literally, though I can somewhat see her become the first female drag queen before Faye Dunaway's Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest took that dubious title. Instead, I wondered why modern drag queens don't do Mae West impersonations. She seems a ready-made vehicle for such acts: the big wigs, big hair, big everything. Yet, I digress.

As stated, almost everyone played their roles big or small as if Sextette was not to be taken seriously. I figure that was director Ken Hughes' intention. Either that, or he was as nutty as anyone else in Sextette. The musicians seemed to have the most fun being ridiculous. Keith Moon from The Who was camping it up way past the Nth degree as Marlo's costume designer. The Beatles' Ringo Starr similarly had one scene as Laslo. He was surprisingly good, being so silly in his performance. Alice Cooper himself appeared as the "Singing Waiter". He really had no purpose apart from singing Next Next (that generation's version of Ariana Grande's Thank U, Next). 

The actual actors similarly took a broader manner with varying degrees of success. The best of the lot is Timothy Dalton as the perpetually frustrated Sir Michael Barrington. What makes him successful is that he does not go fully broad. He is not strictly speaking playing it straight. His declarations of passion are not exaggerated. Dalton is playing things as if Sir Michael was more a naive man than a blind idiot. He is somewhat underplaying things. That allows him to look more amusing when he inadvertently comes out by going on about how he had relationships with his all-boys school teams.

Dom DeLuise was going the opposite way and going full-on camp. Intentionally or not, his Dan Turner threw shade at our love goddess. "Now listen, you--caliptuous plants eat up a lot of oxygen. And tonight, of all nights, Miss Manners is going to need as much oxygen as she can get!". He tells this to a poor hotel worker bring in a eucalyptus plant into the bridal suite. Whether or not Herbert Baker's adaptation of West's own play Sextet meant to draw attention to how old West was is open to speculation. The twist involving Sir Michael is not bad but like a lot of Sextette, a bit odd. 

George Hamilton was somewhere between Dalton's straighter manner and DeLuise's full-on craziness. He was trying to be comically menacing when pointing out that Marlo may not have gone through with the divorce when he was reported dead. When he, for reasons unknown, meets "the godfather" in the world peace conference room, he was more exaggerated in manner. Hamilton was clearly in on the joke, even if he went a little overboard in showing it. Tony Curtis looked a bit bored with things, and I hope he got a decent paycheck out of this. 

In retrospect, I think Walter Pidgeon was the straightest player in the bunch. Like with West, Sextette would be Pidgeon's final film. Like with West, it is a sad way to end their careers. However, he did not look either crazed or delusional. 

To be fair, there were a few clever quips. Alexie misunderstood who Marlo's "Uncle Sam" was. When asked what he did, she replied he was a tax collector. At the peace conference, we see a freakish-looking Jimmy Carter lookalike. Flashing a frightening grin and eating peanuts, he looks straight into the camera and tells us, "Billy was right. These people are nuts". I think that applies to everyone involved in the film. Sextette is worth watching only if you want to complete a Mae West filmography collection or enjoy seeing freakishly awful films. 

DECISION: F

Gene Tierney: A Shattered Portrait. The Television Documentary

GENE TIERNEY: A SHATTERED PORTRAIT

This review is part of the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon. Today's star is Gene Tierney.

Gene Tierney was blessed with great beauty and cursed with great tragedy. Gene Tierney: A Shattered Portrait works as a good primer to the life and career of this enigmatic blend of alluring and wholesome. 

A Shattered Portrait is narrated by Peter Graves as part of A&E's Biography series. On this episode, the viewer gets a standard Biography presentation that covers the subject's life and career. 

Gene Tierney was the middle child of a well-to-do family. Nicknamed "Princess", Tierny's home life was fraught due to her parents' contentious marriage. Nevertheless, she was devoted to her father Howard. She was also sheltered save for a two-year education sojourn in Switzerland. Traveling to Hollywood with her family at 17, her beauty so captured Warner Brothers' executives that she was offered a film contract at $150 a week. She was made to decline it due to a mix of her parents' objections and her age & inexperience. However, a desire for an acting career began. As a compromise, she made her society debut to fulfill her family's social obligations and then was allowed to act on Broadway.

Her debut in Mrs. O'Brien Entertains was a hit even if the show was panned. Tierney continued to work on Broadway until 20th Century Fox head Darryl F. Zanuck saw her and became determined to add her to his studio's roster. She held out for a salary of $750 a week which was to be managed by her father.

Once there, Tierney was blessed with a unique ability to play both exotic women and whole all-American characters. As such, she could be cast as anything from a native girl in Son of Fury to a hillbilly in Tobacco Road. Tierney was a hard worker, forever attempting to improve. "She wanted to be a great actress, so she studied very hard", observed her first husband Oleg Cassini, one of the people interviewed for A Shattered Portrait. Tierney was disappointed in her debut film The Return of Frank James with Henry Fonda. Tierney said that she sounded like "an angry Minnie Mouse". Her work ethic was such that she would stay until sometimes one in the morning, studying scripts and watching other films to see how others acted. 

Her personal life took a turn when she met the dashing Cassini, a debonair fashion designer. Over her parents' and studio's strong objections, they married. Tierney seemed to be going from strength to strength professionally and personally. She was thrilled when she learned that she was pregnant. Tierney opted to cut back her work to prepare for her first child. She did agree to one personal appearance at the Hollywood Canteen to greet and meet servicemen and women. Here, she contracted German measles. At first, Tierney was assured that this would not affect her unborn baby.

On October 15, 1943, she found out how wrong this assurance was. Her daughter Daria was born partially blind, deaf and "severely retarded" in A Shattered Portrait's words. Shortly afterwards, she met a fan who had reminded her that they had met before. The fan informed her that she had broken quarantine to meet Tierney, her favorite actress, at the Hollywood Canteen, despite having German measles.

This was where Tierney's emotional and mental health began to unravel. The birth and fan's revelation did shatter her. As observed by film historian Jeanine Basinger if memory serves correct, Tierney carried great guilt that her fame had cost her a deep personal price. Despite this terrible setback, Tierney continued to work. She replaced Jennifer Jones as the title character to one of her best-remembered films, Laura.

On some levels, there was a split between her personal and professional life. She carried great guilt over Daria and her marriage to Cassini was frayed due to both this and his extramarital relationships. However, she also acted in some of her best work. Laura, released when she was twenty-four, was a smash hit commercially and critically. Her next film was what she felt was her best role. Her performance in Leave Her to Heaven earned her a Best Actress nomination. While she lost to Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierce, Tierney always expressed great pride in Leave Her to Heaven.

Tierney was beloved by castmates and coworkers, always working to make everyone happy. Unfortunately, she herself could not be happy. The strain of her personal life began to slowly affect her. She had a dalliance with aspiring politician John F. Kennedy. Any fantasies of marriage were dashed when Kennedy told her that he could not marry a divorced Protestant, especially with his political aspirations. She continued smoking heavily and while there was a respite with the birth of a healthy daughter, Christina, on Tierney's twenty-eight birthday, her mental health began failing.

It was not helped by her relationship with the infamous playboy, Prince Aly Khan. Their engagement was broken only due to the fierce opposition of Khan's father, the Aga Khan. Things got worse for Tierney. She had twenty-four electric shock treatments that only made her memory and fragile state worse. One horrifying moment came when Tierney stepped out onto a window ledge for twenty minutes. She was coaxed back and had no desire to kill herself. However, she knew that something had to change.

That change came with better treatment at the Menninger Clinic. She was even encouraged to work as a salesgirl at a Topeka department store to see a different life. 1960 were a curious time for her. One of her lovers, Aly Khan, was killed in a car crash. Another lover, John F. Kennedy, was elected President of the United States. Her first husband, Oleg Cassini, became the couturiere to her former lover's wife, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. Tierney knew also that her time as a star was fading, making her final film in 1964. 

By now, she had found love with a Houston businessman and proudly became Mrs. Howard Lee. She published her autobiography, Self-Portrait. She found some peace but was still occasionally disoriented, more so after she became a widow. Those five decades of smoking ultimately killed her. She died on November 6, 1991, a few weeks short of her 71st birthday.

Gene Tierney: A Shattered Portrait covers much ground in recounting Tierney's story. We see some of the great moments in her filmography. One gets a good appreciation for how many of her films have stood the test of time. We see her range as an actress. She could be that femme fatale of Laura and Leave Her to Heaven. She could also be the lovelorn widow in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. One would not be surprised to hear positive stories from her sister Pat Byrne or daughter Christina Cassini. Even her ex-husband Oleg Cassini speaks well of her. 

Some of her costars interviewed for A Shattered Portrait similarly express positive views of Tierney. Richard Widmark, who worked with her in Night and the City, remarked, "There was a quality about her, you can only say it was class". Her strong work ethic and great eagerness to see that her costars and crew were well-treated were also mentioned. "My mother left a very warm impression on, really everyone that she met. She was a beautiful person within and without", Christina observes.

Gene Tierney had those great highs and terrible lows. She bore them with difficulty but ultimately with strength to keep moving. Tierney gave the world great performances in great films. That, along with the shocking and deeply tragic elements that cost her years of mental anguish, should be remembered. Oleg Cassini at the end of Gene Tierney: A Shattered Portrait, I think summed up his ex-wife's life best.

"She was the luckiest unlucky girl in the world". 

7/10