Misery: A Review

MISERY

Long before such things as "toxic fandom" and "stans" came to prominence, Misery touched on the possessive nature of fans. Well-acted, quietly intense, but for one expected moment Misery would be brilliant.

Paul Sheldon (James Caan) is the successful author of the Misery Chastain series of novels. The romance version of Sherlock Holmes has made him rich and famous, his editor Marcia Sindell (Lauren Bacall) reminds him. However, like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Paul has grown resentful towards Misery, feeling that it keeps him from better work. With that, his eighth and newest Misery novel Misery's Child will kill off his golden goose.

Paul has finished Misery's Child in the Colorado mountains where he always writes. Caught in a snowstorm when leaving, Paul has a major car crash. He awakens in the remote cabin of Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates). Annie is not just a nurse but Sheldon's self-described "number one fan". The accident has disabled Paul to such a point that he cannot be safely moved. Moreover, the snowstorm has left the Wilkes farm isolated from the nearby community. 

Annie seems nice if a bit mercurial and excessively attached to the character of Misery. When she reads Misery's Child with Paul's blessings, Paul is terrified by her reaction. Annie is violently enraged that Misery has been killed off. She will not stand for this murder. After ordering a weak Paul to destroy his newest unpublished work based on his early years, Annie now demands that Misery be revived. This begins a battle of wits and wills between Annie and Paul. 

Paul's disappearance has alarmed Miss Sindell, who contacts the local sheriff. That sheriff, Buster (Richard Farnsworth), believes that Paul may be dead. As he begins investigating alongside his wife Virginia (Frances Sternhagen), he soon starts thinking that Paul is alive but still in danger. He also begins to delve into the Misery world, coming upon a quote from one of the novels that triggers a memory. That memory leads him to wonder if Annie Wilkes, in her isolated farm, has something to do with Paul's disappearance, as her past as a murderess comes to light. Who will live and who will die by Misery's hand?

I do not know that today, people appreciate just how popular Misery was when it was released. The expression "I'm your Number One fan" became something of a catchphrase, albeit one that signaled that the speaker was bonkers. I think that, with hindsight of thirty-five years, Misery was far ahead of its time. Misery captures the possessive manner of fans, in this case of a literary series. Today, we see many fans of works as varied as the vampire Twilight books to the long-established Star Wars franchise be at times enraged by something that the original creators do. How much of a stretch is it from an Annie Wilkes getting hung up on minutia of Sheldon's Misery universe to say Doctor Who fans who can point out inconsistencies and contradictions. Misery is a dark portrayal of deranged fandom taken to the ultimate extreme. In that, I am surprised that William Goldman's adaptation of Stephen King's novel has not been given more credit for being prescient about how unhinged some devotees can be when it comes to the object of their fandom.

Misery is exceptionally well-acted. Kathy Bates created a villainess for the ages. Bates balances an almost sweet and disarming manner to someone who is beyond dangerous. She can switch on a dime from gleeful at recounting her enthusiasm about Misery's Return (the novel Annie forced Paul to write) to psychotic about Paul making the most innocuous statements. In between the rages and the notorious foot-maiming scene, Bates also allows bits of genuine vulnerability, even sadness. Bates' performance is so strong that through it, with Goldman's script, we get a moment of levity at Annie's expense. As she criticizes Paul for trying to cheat the audience, Annie tells him that he has to change everything except naming the gravedigger after her. That, she tells him in a staccato manner, he can keep. She is oblivious to how naming the gravedigger after her is not a compliment. 

Bates' scene where she recounts her rage at a movie serial getting a detail wrong has become legendary, at times mocked. It also, thanks to Goldman's adaption, reveals a quirk in Annie's nature. As she screams about the "cock-a-doodie car", we see someone who will not swear. A major point in Annie is her refusal to use even the mildest of vulgarities. That, however, sets up a rarely commented moment in Annie and Paul's final confrontation, when she calls him a "lying c**ksucker". 

Kathy Bates may have been the one to walk off with an Oscar for Misery, but there was not a bad performance in the film. It is a surprise that James Caan did not receive a nomination as well. His performance as Paul Sheldon was nowhere near as flashy as that of Bates. However, he was still effective as the tormented, at times arrogant Paul. I personally thought that it would have been better for the character to play along with Annie versus being as combative as he was. That being said, Caan is an excellent dance partner to Bates' unhinged intensity.

The supporting performances of Richard Farnsworth and Frances Sternhagen as Buster and Virginia are the closest Misery has to "comic relief". Do not misunderstand my meaning; they were not comic characters or performances. Farnsworth, in his quiet manner, was dedicated and intelligent, following the investigation in a methodical manner to its shocking conclusion. However, he and Sternhagen brought a little bit of impish charm to this married couple that could playfully play off each other. Their scenes were nice, even funny, where we saw Buster and Virginia jokingly insult the other. They brought lightness and a sense of calm to the at times wild goings-on in the film. 

None wilder than the aforementioned foot-maiming scene. Director Rob Reiner was actually restrained in this grisly scene. Just as many people remember the Psycho shower scene as being more graphic than it actually is, the foot-maiming is not as graphic as I had remembered it. Contrary to memories, we see on-screen only one ankle twisted. The rest of the scene merely suggests the other ankle met a similarly gruesome fate. It is through Reiner's direction of the scene and his actors, along with Bates and Caan's performances, that makes that scene more intense that what is actually on screen.

In every element I think Misery excels except for when we get Annie coming back for a second smackdown. I had hoped against hope that we would not see her make a jump-scare, but I suppose that is what audiences either wanted or expected. I knocked down a point for that. 

Minus that, Misery still holds up extremely well as a suspense thriller. 

DECISION: B+

Beyond the Poseidon Adventure: A Review

BEYOND THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE

This review is part of the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon. Today's star is Shirley Jones.

Nothing succeeds like success. After The Poseidon Adventure became a massive hit, it is not a surprise that a sequel followed. Perhaps seven years was too long a wait. Perhaps that was also the first sign that Beyond the Poseidon Adventure was going to be a disaster, but not in the good way. Not exactly a remake per se, Beyond the Poseidon Adventure is neither fun nor exciting.

It is right after the Poseidon capsized on New Year's Day when the tugboat Jenny comes upon it. The Jenny's three crew, having survived the same storm that threw the Poseidon over, see that they can claim salvage rights to the Poseidon. Jenny's captain, Mike Turner (Michael Caine) is eager to find anything in the Poseidon that will get him to pay his debts and save the Jenny. His second-in-command, Wilbur (Karl Malden) is also excited on the salvage prospects. Their passenger, the ever-perky Celeste (Sally Field) goes along with this because she has no choice.

Once near the Poseidon, the Jenny crew are surprised to find another ship coming alongside the Poseidon. It is the Greek medical ship Irene, headed by Dr. Stefan Svevo (Telly Savalas). He claims to have received the Poseidon's S.O.S. and search for more survivors. Pulling their resources, the Irene and Jenny crew go into Poseidon. Here, they find more survivors. The first group is made up of nurse Gena Rowe (Shirley Jones) and passengers Frank Mazzetti (Peter Boyle) and Suzanne Constantine (Veronica Hamel).

Frank is desperate to find his daughter Theresa, and fortunately Theresa (Angela Cartwright) did survive. She is found in the purser's office, alongside hunky elevator operator Larry Simpson (Mark Harmon) and Dewey "Tex" Hopkins (Slim Pickens). Tex has a bizarre fixation for a Baune 1865 wine that he found, saying that there are only six in the world. Despite the diamonds, gold and cash around him, Tex thinks the wine is worth far more and will not let it go. Eventually, they come upon two more survivors: Harold and Hannah Meredith (Jack Warden and Shirley Knight). They seem almost resigned to die, as Harold is blind and will not leave, causing Hannah to refuse to leave him. They are talked into joining the others in a bid for life.

The Greek medical team splits from the Jenny trio, who mix their salvage search for a rescue of the Poseidon survivors. There is in truth a malevolent reason for not trusting the Greeks. Far from being rescuers, Svevo has come in search of what we eventually discover is plutonium, along with arms for smuggling. Svevo has an inside person among the survivors, but this agent will not live to reveal anything. After the inside person's body is found, the survivors fear that there is a serial killer aboard. Svevo cannot let anyone outside his circle live. Who will make it out Beyond the Poseidon Adventure?

Irwin Allen pulls double duty as both producer and director in Beyond the Poseidon Adventure. That should have been the second sign that the film was going to be wildly misguided, or perhaps misdirected. There is no sense of danger or menace to be found. Instead, you see a lot of actors floundering about (no pun intended). Allen as a director could not build up suspense or danger or interest in what was going on. So many scenes look as if not even the actors are taking things seriously. 

Savalas seems to be having a grand time being a villain. He apparently decided that it was better to make Svevo into a calm villain. Savalas never rages or rants. He is quite rational, cooly detached from things. He is a highlight of Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, as if he accepted that this was a nice paycheck. Bless Shirley Jones, who also managed to play scenes straight even while having to say idiotic things. "If Captain Turner's right and there is a homicidal maniac on board this ship and it's not Dr. Svevo then he's in as much danger as we are" she scolds I believe Mazzetti. Any actress who could get through such a line without breaking out into laughter deserves credit.

As a side note, wouldn't even homicidal maniacs be more interested in saving their own lives than in going on murderous sprees if they are trapped on a sinking ship? 

I think a major problem with Beyond the Poseidon Adventure is that, unlike the original, we get very little chance to know the characters. If anything, we are given little bits about who these people are. Blind. Perky (irritatingly so). Whiny. Loud. Bossy. Murderous. As such, there is no sense of why we should care. That may also be why more often than not, we would not mind seeing some of these people die.

That is the case with Sally Field's Celeste. Put aside for a moment that for the longest time we did not learn her name (if memory serves right, she was referred to as "Honey"). Right from the get-go, you sense that Celeste is a dimwit who would be better off being left aboard the Poseidon. How else to explain how her idea of "helping" during the storm was to smash the tugboat's window? To be fair, she did not intentionally smash it. However, why did she think that using a coatrack would help in the situation? Beyond the Poseidon Adventure wants to suggest some kind of romance will eventually evolve between Celeste and Mike. It is a strange suggestion given that Captain Mike is pretty contemptuous of Celeste and understandably so. 

The film ends with Celeste pulling out a large diamond after they have lost the rest of the treasures that they managed to salvage. Mike looks at our perky (VERY perky) heroine. "Gonna kiss me now?", she asks. "I was gonna kiss you anyway", he replies. That may be the most eye-rolling bit of dialogue from Nelson Gidding's adaptation of Paul Gallico's novel. However, other elements fail to keep us interested.

Peter Boyle was affected by being one of the one-note characters. I think that he might have been the new Rogo from The Poseidon Adventure, the one who questioned every decision and was crabby about it. However, while I think that Boyle tried, the end result was more laughable than interesting. It takes, I suppose, a lot of work to be out-acted by Mark Harmon, but there it is. Stabs at pathos, such as with Karl Malden and Slim Pickens' characters, also fall flat. Tex's true identity, along with his refusal to let go of the bottle, were more absurd than moving. To be fair, I did admire Tex's devotion to his wine.

I don't know if, unlike Boyle, Michael Caine tried to make any of this serious. Predating his open cash grab role in Jaws: The Revenge by eight years, Caine seems to have problems when in stories involving water. He barked a lot and was given a pretty thankless role, so to speak. Maybe he did the best he could with it. Or maybe he realized that Beyond the Poseidon Adventure was silly and opted to roll with it. 

All of that, I suppose, could be forgiven if Beyond the Poseidon Adventure were action-packed. There were efforts at that with shootouts and an explosion to top off the film. However, they were not exciting. They seemed to be more play than real. I am also curious about the plutonium found on the Poseidon. Again, I won't wade into the waters as to why the Poseidon was being used to smuggle arms and plutonium, especially given that this was going to be the Poseidon's final voyage. 

The Poseidon ultimately explodes due to the damage the ship has. I do not recall that Svevo's men managed to get the plutonium's container aboard the Irene before the explosion. Even if they did, I figure that the ferocity of the Poseidon's explosion would have taken the Irene out. As such, shouldn't the plutonium have also exploded? If it did, how did anyone manage to escape?

Oh well, perhaps that is thinking too much on things. Beyond the Poseidon Adventure is a misguided effort to keep things going from the first film. To misquote a lyric from West Side Story, let Beyond the Poseidon Adventure sink into the ocean.

DECISION: D+

The Detective: A Review

THE DETECTIVE

This review is part of the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon. Today's star is Frank Sinatra.

A year before the Stonewall Riots sparked the modern gay rights movement, there was a film that balanced gay stereotypes with a surprisingly positive portrayal of if not tolerance, at least lack of hostility to gays. The Detective features a strong performance from Frank Sinatra but is hampered down by a secondary story that never quite fits into things.

Detective Joe Leland (Sinatra) is brought in to investigate the murder of Teddy Leikman, the black sheep son of a prominent New York City businessman. Leikman's head has been bashed in. More grotesque is that his fingers and penis have been cut off. While the other detectives are either bemused or sickened by this sight, Leland keeps his focus squarely on the case. Unlike everyone else, Leland does not flinch at the victim's lifestyle, taking it as a matter of fact. Thanks to the information provided by Leikman's neighbor, the case eventually finds Leikman's roommate/lover, Felix Tesla (Tony Musante). Leland puts the squeeze on Tesla to admit to killing Leikman. While Tesla does confess, something about Tesla's state of mind bothers Leland. Tesla is executed and Leland gets promoted to Lieutenant. Still, he feels something is off.

That feeling extends to his marriage to Karen (Lee Remick). While she loves the no-nonsense Joe, she is also repeated unfaithful to him. Leland loves his wife but knows that her rampant infidelities will make for a poor marriage and they separate. This looks like Leland's only trouble until a seemingly unrelated case comes to him.

Colin MacIver (William Windom) has apparently committed suicide at the Garden State Racetrack. His widow Norma (Jacquline Bissett) insists that it was not suicide. She also insists that Colin's death may be related to a major land deal. Leland finds that powerful figures do not want the case investigated. However, he is an honest and dogged detective who will get to the truth. Eventually, he finds Colin's psychiatrist, Dr. Wendell Roberts (Lloyd Bochner). Dr. Roberts, in a curious turn, knows Leland because he has treated Karen. He also plays a taped confession from Colin, revealing that he is Teddy's murderer. Colin is a deeply closeted man who went to the waterfront and a gay bar where Teddy picked him up. A tryst ends with Colin both horrified and enraged at being pegged as gay, leading to Teddy's killing. 

Now, Lieutenant Joe Leland has a choice before him. Knowing that the wrong man was sent to the electric chair, will he reveal what he has discovered? Will he put his career on the line to expose the truth?

The Detective has Frank Sinatra as a major positive. His Joe Leland is direct, honest, blunt, no-nonsense. Sinatra shows a man totally dedicated to his job, who upholds his code regardless of outside influences. Leland treats everyone the same and is unfazed by things. The other detectives involved in the Leikman case fall under one of two sides. 

There are those like rookie Robbie Loughlin (Al Freeman, Jr.), who say that they are going to be sick when seeing Leikman's body. After expressing such feelings, Sinatra's Leland tells him straight-out, "No you're not. You're going to take out your notepad and take notes," or words to that effect. 

Other detectives, such as Detective Nestor (Robert Duvall) are openly homophobic. We truly do not know what Leland thinks of homosexuality or homosexuals. He does ask Leikman's neighbor, "Do you know if he had any other friends of a similar persuasion?". That, however, is as homophobic as Leland ever gets, if that. When there is a raid on the waterfront where various gay men of all ages, Nestor is openly disgusted by them. A young man fearfully asks if they will tell his parents, and Nestor starts roughing him up. Calmly but firmly, Leland orders Nestor to stop. "Take it easy, they're not murderers," he tells Nestor.

This reveals a lot about Joe Leland. He is unfazed by things and accept things as they are. There is a mutilated body in front of him. There is a gathering of gay men in front of him. There is his wife admitting that she cannot help sleeping with other men in front of him. Leland takes it all in, calmly. He is not judgmental about people. He is, however, able to berate those who go against what is right.

Loughlin, for example, humiliates a suspect by having him stripped of his clothes while questioning him. Leland does not appear to bat an eye while observing this act but makes his displeasure clear. He uses his authority to remove the suspect and tells him to put his clothes on. Once the suspect is out, Leland tells Loughlin in a firm manner that this behavior is unacceptable. 

The Detective holds your attention because of Sinatra's performance. His Joe Leland is honest and direct, able to show sympathy and more importantly, a quiet strength and acceptance of things.  

As stated, The Detective is one year prior to Stonewall. As such, the portrayal of gay life is close to seedy. As McIver strolls through the waterfront and the Circus Bar, the men look lascivious, almost menacing. Teddy (James Inman) is a bit fey in his manner versus Colin's more straight-acting manner.  We hear Windom's voiceover speak of how revolted he is. I do not know if he or Dr. Roberts said that "there is no such thing as a bisexual, only a homosexual without convictions". That, I figure will not go over well with actual bisexuals.

The performances were mostly strong. In their small roles, Freeman, Jr. and Duvall made impressions. The same goes for Jack Klugman as forensics investigator Schoenstein and Bissett as the Widow McIver. Bochner also does well as the patrician Dr. Roberts. The curious thing about Lee Remick is that while her performance is good, it feels unnecessary. 

This is where I think The Detective goes a bit wrong. This subplot of the Leland marriage, down to the many flashbacks, do not quite fit into the overall picture. It feels like a separate story that found its way here.

Minus that, Abby Mann's adaptation of Roderick Thorpe's novel works well. The film is also enhanced by Jerry Goldsmith's jazz score. The Detective is well-directed by Gordon Douglas, drawing strong performances from almost everyone. I did think that Musante as Felix was a bit bad. As for Windom, he was weak as this repressed gay man who kills when called out on his sexuality.

However, I think that McIver's final words on the recording say a lot. "You know, I felt more guilty about being a homosexual than about being a murderer". Strong words even now. The Detective on the whole is a good film. It moves well and has good performances. It is, however, held back by the marriage subplot, which sometimes intrudes on the case. Still, The Detective is worth the time and effort to seek out.  

DECISION: B+

Hud: A Review (Review #2025)

HUD

This review is part of the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon. Today's star is Patricia Neal.

Hud, the title character of the film, is a dangerous man. Dangerously attractive. Dangerously amoral. Dangerously arrogant. Yet, we are still drawn to this figure. With strong performances all about, Hud tells its story beautifully.

Hud Bannon (Paul Newman) cares nothing about no one. He lives only for himself, indulging his pleasures all over his small Texas town. His father, rancher Homer (Melvyn Douglas) is appalled at his only surviving son's amorality. He does, however, concede that Hud is shrewd about ranching matters. While Homer finds Hud rather repulsive, Homer's grandson Lonnie (Brandon de Wilde) is fascinated by his rebellious uncle. Lonnie loves and respects Homer, but Hud is magnetic.

Hud has his way with any woman he meets, even married women. One woman, however, has enough sense to admire at a distance. That is Alma Brown (Patricia Neal), the Bannon housekeeper. She is a tough, blunt broad, able to stand up against Hud. She is also the object of desire to both Hud and Lonnie. 

A crisis occurs when one of the Bannon cattle is found dead. Over Hud's fierce objections, Homer has the state veterinarian examine the dead cattle. The diagnosis is foot-and-mouth disease. The entire cattle has to be destroyed. Hud wants to sell some of the cattle before they received the eventual diagnosis. His father, upright and moral, refuses flat-out. Hud for his part continues a self-destructive path, ending in him attempting to rape Alma. She cuts out of town, but not before Hud sees her at the bus stop. He tells her that he'll always remember her as "the one that got away".

Not getting away are Homer and Lonnie. Will Lonnie ultimately turn out like his honorable grandfather or his rakish uncle?

Hud has the distinction of having the shortest Best Actress Oscar-winning performance as of this writing. Patricia Neal won for a performance totaling a little under 22 minutes of screentime in a 112 minute long film. She makes the most of her screentime as Alma. She is not unaware of things, such as Hud's magnetism. She is also aware that Hud is an amoral, selfish individual, an arrogant man behind the physique and cool eyes. Neal has a wonderful scene with Newman when she talks about her past as he attempts to woo her in her bedroom. She is cooly tolerant of Hud's philandering and his manner. Alma is also loving towards Lonnie, who does not shrink from being in bed nude when she comes in.

What makes Neal's performance so strong is that she makes Alma both vulnerable and unflappable. We see the strength in her. We also see the disillusionment that forces her to leave.

It is interesting that three of the four central cast members of Hud received Oscar nominations. Neal would be one of the film's three Oscars out of its seven nominations. Melvyn Douglas is the other acting winner as Homer. This is an atypical role for Douglas. He specialized in urban sophisticates, men. Here, he shows Homer to be a man of honor, but also a man from the past. He is not a sentimentalist. Rather, he is a man whose values have not changed even as the world has. His conflicts with his son, built on decades of mutual resentment and frustrations, carry Hud so well. Their conflicts are both literal and metaphorical. They do have different views on running the ranch. They also show the conflict between the code of the old west and the corruption and self-indulgence of the new.

I am surprised that Brandon de Wilde was left without a nomination for Hud while his three costars received nominations. Admittedly, de Wilde is extremely pretty as Lonnie. However, in terms of performance, de Wilde is more than capable of holding his own against three skilled actors like Neal, Douglas and Paul Newman. A lot of Hud is from his perspective as the young man caught between his grandfather and his uncle. The push-and-pull between Homer and Hud for Lonnie's allegiance is captured so well in de Wilde's performance. Lonnie is in turns appalled and fascinated by his uncle. He is also admiring of his grandfather's strong morality.

Hud is I think one of Paul Newman's most definitive performances. This was the third of his eventual nine nominations (with one competitive win). Hud the character is mesmerizing thanks to Newman's skill. We see the charming scoundrel that Hud is. He not only does not shrink from sleeping with married women but openly takes them around town. When Lonnie, in the opening scenes, finds his wayward uncle, it is at a married woman's house. It is clear that Hud has slept with her, but Hud does not shrink from letting his nephew take the fall when the husband arrives early. Later, when they arrive back at the ranch, Hud runs over Alma's flower bed. When she scolds him for driving over her zinnias, he is dismissive.

"Don't plant them where I park," he retorts. 

Newman makes Hud Bannon a dangerous figure. We see why Lonnie was drawn to him. We see why Homer was so utterly disappointed in him. We see why Alma was both. Hud simply does not give a damn about anything and anyone other than himself. He will, on occasion, do the right thing, but only if it is absolutely necessary. There is even a spark of honor and protectiveness within him. When the state veterinarian is ready to kill the two longhorns that Homer has hung onto, Homer asks if he could do it later. A doubtful sheriff would rather not. In this rare moment, Hud stands up for his father, angrily telling him that if his father said he would kill them, he would keep his word.

Hud's third win was for James Wong Howe's black-and-white cinematography. Hud is a beautifully filmed movie. The shadows and lights are filmed almost poetically that it makes for visual splendor. Hud also has a beautiful, sparse score by Elmer Bernstein. Major credit should go to Martin Ritt, also Oscar-nominated, for drawing great performances from his cast.

Hud is an excellent film. It has one of Paul Newman's most brilliant performances. It has excellent work from Patricia Neal, Melvyn Douglas and Brandon de Wilde (the latter gone too soon). The viewer will be drawn to this dangerous, rakish figure. Hud is a cold-blooded bastard, but we cannot help finding him almost irresistible. "Nobody gets out of life alive," Hud tells Lonnie. That could be Hud's mantra. 

DECISION: A-

Death Wish (1974): A Review (Review #2020)

 

DEATH WISH (1974)

This review is part of the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon. Today's star is Charles Bronson.

Justice is dealt out swiftly in Death Wish, the first of what I figure became an unintentional franchise. Still controversial, Death Wish moves fast and gives us a sympathetic portrait of a man pushed to fight whether he wants to or not.

Well-meaning architect Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) has a charmed life. He has a wonderful wife, Joanna (Hope Lange) and a successful career. He is concerned about crime in New York City, but he believes that crime is a result of poverty versus cruelty. His world comes undone when Joanna and their daughter Carol (Kathleen Tolan) are viciously attacked in Paul and Joanna's apartment. Carol opened the door believing that they were receiving groceries. Instead, it is three hoods who took the Kersey address from the store to at first rob them. Things go out of control when they begin beating Joanna and viciously raping Carol.

Paul is urgently contacted by his son-in-law Jack Toby (Stephen Keats) to come to the hospital. Carol survives but is left shell-shocked in a near-permanent catatonic state. Joanna does not survive. Paul is devasted and equally frustrated at the lack of movement to the investigation. He also starts considering self-defense with an improvised weapon: a sock with coins to use as a battering ram. Paul does use it when someone attempts to mug him. 

To help with his grief and move his career forward, Paul is sent to Tucson to attend to a client. Here, the client, Aimes Jainchill (Stuart Margolin) remains firm on some points. First point is on how the proposed development must not demolish the hills in the area. The second point is on how guns are just a tool, neither moral nor immoral. Aimes gives Paul a gun as a parting gift, though Paul is unaware of that until after he returns to New York.

Carol's condition has grown worse. The police are no help. Paul starts carrying the gun for his protection and eventually uses it against yet another attempted mugger. Soon, Paul becomes what the press dubs The Vigilante, a mysterious figure who is shooting criminals who either attempt to attack him or others. The NYPD is displeased by this Vigilante. Heading up the investigation is Inspector Frank Ochoa (Vincent Gardenia). Ochoa is no fool, shrewdly narrowing down potential vigilantes based on age, sex, crime victims or relatives of crime victims and even military service. Will Ochoa track down the Vigilante? Will Paul Kersey's nocturnal activities find him out or even get him killed?

I think that Death Wish, contrary to some others' perception, does not glorify either gun violence or vigilantism. Paul does not kill for blood lust. He kills only when he sees others being attacked or is himself threatened. Paul also mentions that while he served in Korea, he was a conscientious objector. In short, Paul is a man of peace, a "bleeding heart liberal" as one of his colleagues calls him. In Death Wish, we see that Paul was pushed to vigilantism due to the tragedies he suffered, not through a specific desire for revenge.

Does Death Wish glorify violence? I do not think so. I think rather that it is a reaction against the growing violence. Wendell Mayes' adaptation of Brian Garfield's novel also suggests that the general public is capable of defending itself from violent crime. Paul and his work colleagues see a news report of a Mrs. Alma Lee Brown (Helen Martin), who took on attempted muggers by using a hatpin against them. This is a somewhat amusing moment amidst the violence in Death Wish, particularly when we see the reenactment of this seemingly frail old woman chasing after the thugs who tried to rob her yet again.

This is probably the only part in Death Wish that has anything close to lightness. Actually, the Wild West show that Paul and Aimes go to can be considered lighter given the exaggerated theatrics of the reenactors. This scene is probably here to show the seeds of vigilantism planted in Paul's mind. Still, it was realistic in its theatrical manner, a credit to director Michael Winner.

Charles Bronson is a curious figure in film. He is not traditionally good looking. Death Wish did not leave me with the idea that he was a strong actor. At times, he seemed a bit stiff in his delivery, though he did make an effort when working with Lange. Still, I can see why he became a solid action star. I think it is because of both his apparent flaws. He is closer to an everyman, someone whom we can know in our daily lives versus some glamorous figure. He is also more casual in his manner. Charles Bronson was not striking poses but doing his best to be the character. He excelled when facing off against thugs. He also did well when handling a monologue about how his father's death in a hunting accident was instrumental in his aversion to guns, albeit due more to his mother's insistence than his own views.

Death Wish also has some good performances from both veterans and up-and-comers. Though her role is small, Hope Lange does make Joanna someone we do care about. One is surprised to see Jeff Goldblum in an early role as "Freak One", one of the muggers. We also see a brief appearance from future comic actor/director Christopher Guest as Officer Reilly, the rookie who has the Vigilante's gun. Olympia Dukakis and her future Moonstruck co-star Vincent Gardenia also share a scene in the New York Police Department investigation group meeting.

I think it is a strange choice to have the very Italian Gardenia play a character named Ochoa, which is a Hispanic surname. I wonder what the rationale for such a choice was. Despite that, I think that Gardenia's performance is commendable. His Inspector Ochoa was not a dumb cop nor fanatically hostile to the Vigilante. He is shown as a dogged cop, capable, who uses logic to slowly, methodically narrow down potential suspects. 

Death Wish does not shrink from being at times rather graphic. The assault on Carol in particular is disturbing to watch. In some ways, Death Wish is a B-film, where one can see that it was not a lavish production. However, it works for the film. Perhaps a good chunk of the money went to hiring jazz legend Herbie Hancock to write and perform the score. 

Director Winner also has some wonderful shots in the film. When Ochoa and Kersey finally meet near the end, Ochoa is shown to be holding Kersey's gun in a peculiar manner, almost as if threatening him himself. Ochoa also is shown seen speaking to his officers in front of a target, a clever sight gag.

Death Wish does leave the door open to a sequel. I do not know if a franchise was needed or warranted. As it stands now, Death Wish is a good film that lets one decide if it is pro-or-anti vigilante. 

DECISION: B-

Touch of Evil: A Review

TOUCH OF EVIL

This review is part of the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon. Today's star is Janet Leigh. This review is also for the 1998 restored version of the film. 

In 1958, Orson Welles had a chance to make a directorial comeback. While the maverick filmmaker had worked in Europe, he had not made an American film in years. Welles, who had been hired to merely act in Touch of Evil, now had the chance to direct, even if it was a B-picture. Trust Orson Welles to try and elevate this pulp product into something more. Trust the studio to crush those aspirations and wreck what he had so meticulously planned. Despite, or perhaps because of this interference, Touch of Evil still stands as a great film.

Along the U.S.-Mexico border, honest Mexican cop Miguel "Mike" Vargas (Charlton Heston) and his new American wife Susan (Janet Leigh) find their honeymoon interrupted by murder. A car driven by local bigwig Rudolph Linnekar has just gotten blown up, instantly killing him and his newest mistress, a stripteaser in the Mexican border town of Los Robles. Police detective Hank Quinlan (Welles), heavyset and with a game leg, is on the case. His loyal and devoted aide Pete Menzies (Joseph Calleia) is convinced that Hank can crack the case easily. Quinlan does not take kindly to the Mexican Vargas getting involved, but he may need to since the bomb came from the Mexican side.

Soon, things devolve into a mishmash of crimes. What connection to the bombing, if any, does local crime lord Uncle Joe Grandi (Akim Tamiroff) have? Uncle Joe, who detests Vargas for interfering in the family business, thinks that he can put the squeeze on Mike through Susan. Susan, though, is a tough cookie, not easily intimidated. As things go on, things start getting muddled. Susan is eventually drugged, probably raped, and even framed for murder and drugs. The investigation of the bombing leads Mike to suspect that Hank is attempting to frame Manelo Sanchez (Victor Millan), a young Mexican involved with Linnekar's daughter Marcia (Joanna Moore). Mike also suspects that Menzies may either be part of other frame-ups or served as Quinlan's dupe. 

Uncle Joe and Hank Quinlan join forces against their mutual enemy. However, Quinlan has fallen off the wagon thanks to Uncle Joe. This makes Quinlan more dangerous and erratic. Not even Quinlan's former flame, psychic Tana (Marlene Dietrich) can help Quinlan as he sinks further into crime. Will Menzies' eyes be opened to how far Quinlan has fallen? Will Susan be rescued? Will justice be visited on the guilty? Will anyone shape the plot into coherence?

As I think on Touch of Evil, I can see how Universal executives could worry that the plot would be hard to follow. Writing the summary of Touch of Evil, I was suddenly struck by how it meandered from one thing to another. The car bombing that starts off Touch of Evil in a bravura three-minute, one-take shot does not involve the Grandi crime family in any way. It is totally separate from the Grandis criminal empire. Yet they somehow managed to blend into things. The Grandi element then slips into getting poor Susan into this labyrinth of darkness. Few characters have been as abused as Susan Vargas. 

It is never overtly stated that Susan was raped, but Welles' adaptation of Whit Masterson's Badge of Evil makes that strong suggestion. Alone in the isolated hotel, she finds herself surrounded by a group of Grandi's nephews and nieces. There is a quick shot of the main nephew, whom she nicknamed "Pancho" (Valentin De Vargas) licking his lips and looking down on her. "Hold her legs", he whispers, and then the room descends into the lot of them grabbing the screaming and terrified Susan before the door closes. 

One can quibble over why one of female gang members is Mercedes McCambridge, one of the many cameos that show Welles could get major stars for something as ostensibly schlocky as Touch of Evil. 

McCambridge's request to stay, saying that she wants to watch, makes this already daring scene downright outrageous. In this film, the suggestion of rape has the added element of lesbianism, beyond subversive for the time. Still, what exactly Susan or Mike had to do with the actual crime supposedly at the heart of Touch of Evil is a bit off. 

Touch of Evil seems to almost delight in its curious logic. The actual plot blending the Linnaker and Grandi stories is already a bit odd. You also have the idea of the very Teutonic Marlene Dietrich as a Mexican or Gypsie fortune teller. Whether we are even supposed to believe that she could be Mexican or Gypsie (what would be called Romani now) is pretty much irrelevant. You just roll with it.

Touch of Evil is brilliantly directed in terms of acting. Much criticism has been thrown at Charlton Heston for playing a Mexican. I think that it was a poor decision, and Heston's makeup job is far too dark to be believable. The lack of accent is also held against him. However, some things should be taken into account. First, Heston was directed by Welles to not have an accent. Second, few people focus on how having the Mexican character as the hero would have been extremely rare for the times. People also forget that it was Heston's idea to have Welles direct the film. Touch of Evil as we have it now might not have come to pass if another director had helmed the project. 

Heston's overall performance is quite strong. He plays the heroic figure with such moral rectitude that you can believe this man was incorruptible. It was firm and solid, like the character. Janet Leigh was feisty but vulnerable as Susan, the innocent almost destroyed by the wickedness around her. In her early scenes, she was almost funny when she literally wagged her finger at the crime boss Grandi. "You know what your problem is, Mr. Grandi? You've seen too many gangster films!" she snaps at him. She also admits being afraid, but notes that her husband isn't. Leigh makes Susan's descent into terror eerily effective. 

Orson Welles makes Hank Quinlan evil but tragic. We see his arrogance and racism quickly. However, when he realizes that he has fallen off the wagon, we do feel for him. He can be terrifying, such as in his last scene with the hapless Uncle Joe. However, at the end, we end up feeling so sad for the man, done in by his own faults. 

The highlight acting-wise is Joseph Calleia as the doomed Menzies. He is loyal and loving, almost worshipful of Quinlan. Seeing him realize that Quinlan was not the man that Menzies held him to be is a slow and painful thing. Menzies loved Quinlan, so the betrayal of his idealizing is heartbreaking. 

As much grief as Charlton Heston has received for playing a Mexican, I do not get why Akim Tamiroff still does not get the same level of criticism for his Uncle Joe Grandi. Perhaps it is because he is a more comic figure, with his grandiose manner and toupee (his nephews keep telling him to put his "rug" back on). He is at times bumbling and flustered, almost naive in how he behaves around the cops. However, Tamiroff can also show Uncle Joe's calculating manner. His final scene is downright terrifying, the gruesomeness of it all shocking. 

In their smaller roles, Dennis Weaver as the hotel night watchman and Marlene Dietrich as the mysterious Tana are standouts. Weaver's eccentric, perhaps crazed watchman is kooky, scared and engrossing. He freaks out at the mention of "bed" and seems scared of his own shadow. It ran the risk of being ridiculous, but Weaver managed to keep things bizarre without going full cray-cray. Dietrich brings a sense of weariness as Tana, the woman aware of what kind of man Hank Quinlan is, was and could have been. 

Touch of Evil is, I think, less about the actual crime or crimes than it is about the ultimate fall of Hank Quinlan. At the end, a man observes that he was a good detective. "And a lousy cop," Tana adds. When asked if that's all she has to say, Tana replies, "He was some kind of man". 

Orson Welles has been highly praised for his directing in Touch of Evil. I do not think that he has been given much credit for his witty screenplay (even if the plot itself is a bit opaque). When Tana first sees Quinlan after many years, she sees how heavy Quinlan has grown. Claiming that she doesn't recognize him, Tana looks at him and says, "You better lay off the candy bars". In the same scene, he remarks that he is still fond of her chili and might come up to sample some of it. "Better be careful. Might be too hot for you," she replies. There is a double meaning there to Tana's comment about it being too hot for him.

There is less subtlety at their final meeting. Quinlan, drunk out of his mind, orders Tana to give him a reading. Scrambling the tarot cards, he tells her, "Come on, read my future for me". Tana sadly looks up at him and says, "You haven't got any". "What do you mean?", he asks in an almost childlike manner. "Your future is all used up," she tells him. It is a sad scene, well-acted by both Dietrich and Welles, with the latter directing it to perfection.

Touch of Evil is highly praised for its visual style. The film begins with a four minute and sixteen second single take shot (by my calculations). Here, we see so much going on, establishing part of the plot and keeping viewers in suspense. Unintentionally or not, Orson Welles took the advice on suspense that Alfred Hitchcock offered. An audience might be shocked by a sudden bomb explosion, but they would be in anticipation if they knew that a bomb was underneath a table. The same principle applies.

The film has a strong visual style, using techniques new for the time. There are the shifts from the Mike and Susan stories. Effective use of shadows and low camera angles. A perhaps lesser-mentioned element is Henry Mancini's score. The film uses everything from jazz to an old-time style from a pianola to create this sinister world. Mancini's score sets the mood of danger, sleaze and tragedy the film has. 

I believe Charlton Heston referred to Touch of Evil as "the greatest B-Picture ever made". I think I am inclined to agree with Heston on this assertion. There is something low grade about Touch of Evil, as if it is not prestige. However, this restored version is as close to what Welles envisioned as we will have unless his original print has somehow survived and is rediscovered. The film that we have now still holds up well. It has strong performances from even the guest stars, an involving if perhaps opaque story and is a great character study of a good bad man. 

DECISION: A+

Winter Kills: A Review

WINTER KILLS

This review is part of the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon. Today's star is Sterling Hayden.

Long before JFK, we got Winter Kills. The difference is that JFK is supposed to be serious, while Winter Kills is supposed to be a comedy. From what I saw, few people seemed to be in on the joke. I find Winter Kills to be a curious film, one that is too close to what it appears to want to spoof to be funny.

Nick Keegan (Jeff Bridges) is the half-brother of the late President of the United States who was assassinated on February 22, 1960. Later I will touch on why I focus on the date of the assassination. It has been nineteen years since Tom Keegan was gunned down in Philadelphia. To his shock, someone has come to his family's ship claiming to have been a second gunman. He confesses to being the true assassin, the official killer being essentially a patsy.

Did I mention that the official assassin was himself killed a few days later while in police custody by a small-time gangster named Joe Diamond (Eli Wallach)? 

As it stands, Nick now starts going on this wild goose chase looking for who is behind the murder. Unfortunately, everyone whom Nick finds somehow ends up dead or is already dead. Nick's father, business and political tycoon Pa Keegan (John Huston) is at first disbelieving, then apparently helpful to Nick's grand investigation. Pa sends him hither and yon, finding all sorts of clues and dead ends. Pa's frenemy Z.K. Dawson (Sterling Hayden) is more irritated that Nick has interrupted his literal war games, threatening to blow him up with his tank. Nick's current on/off mistress Yvette Malone (Belinda Bauer) wants an exclusive for her magazine. She also screams during sex like she's being murdered.

Soon, the investigation into President Tom Keegan's murder involves big business, the Mafia and Hollywood studios. According to Pa's accountant and fixer John Cerutti (Anthony Perkins), it might even involve Pa himself. Nick is not in a good place: Yvette, he discovers, was not only a fake but was murdered herself. It is time for Nick to confront Pa Keegan, leading to more deaths before the day is out.

Winter Kills is clearly based on the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The film isn't too subtle about this. You don't name the low-level hood hired to kill the alleged Presidential assassin "Joe Diamond" and not expect people to think "Jack Ruby". What I found curious in Winter Kills is that, essentially, it never fully decided if it was going to be a straightforward political thriller or a spoof of Kennedy conspiracy theories.

As a side note, while the Keegan family is meant to be the Kennedys, I don't think Nick Keegan would ever be confused for either Robert or Edward. 

You have some pretty oddball moments in Winter Kills that do play like farce. Sterling Hayden in what essentially is a cameo seems to be spoofing his Dr. Strangelove performance. Barking out his lines, if memory serves right with a cigar in his mouth, Hayden seemed more crazed here than as General Jack D. Ripper. You have an uncredited Elizabeth Taylor and her then-husband, Senator John Warner, also popping up. Why exactly was Toshiro Mifune in this film? Why was he named Keith? He too had pretty much a cameo, and odd ideas of Mifune as the Keegan Japanese houseboy pop up. At least Erin Grey as "Beautiful Woman Three" had a reason for being there.

Maybe they all thought Winter Kills was some kind of lark. The problem is that Jeff Bridges plays it pretty straight. Permanently bamboozled by what is going on, Bridges looks to make Nick someone genuinely attempting to find the truth about his half-brother's killing while everyone else seems to be playing a long joke at his expense. Just before Pa bites the dust in a way that admittedly had me laughing, I half-expected John Huston to look up at his son and yell, "PSYCH!".

You do get the chance to see Bridges constantly shirtless, so I suppose writer/director William Richert made full use of Bridges' appeal. You even had both Bridges and Bauer appear fully nude after their intense sex session. You did not, however, have an explanation why "Yvette Malone" (whom we later find out is really a Jenny O'Brien) had a French accent.

Winter Kills does have good moments, almost all of them due to John Huston. He plays this as a lark, throwing out great lines all over the place. "You abandoned my ship. I got sixty million bucks floating there, and you take off like she's Friday night's hooker," he berates Nick when he comes home. Huston is having a whale of a time camping it up to the Nth degree. Every time he is on screen, you get some rapid-fire delivery of someone not bothering to take any of this seriously. 

One would have hoped that such a thing could have rubbed off on Anthony Perkins as the mysterious Cerutti. In his final scene, he ends up moving in such a way that I thought that he was either crazy or a malfunctioning auto animatronic. It was simultaneously hilarious and bizarre.

As a side note, one of the characters in Winter Kills is named Gameboy Baker (Ralph Meeker). I could think of something else whenever I heard anything about Gameboy.

There are good things in Winter Kills. Maurice Jarre's score is much better than the film. The film does not feel slow. It does, however, seem at war with itself. It could have gone all-in on spoofing conspiracy theories. It could have taken the premise seriously. Instead, Winter Kills seems to want it both ways. I do not know if it works as well as it could have. I do at least understand why Winter Kills is something of a cult film. It's not one that I share but bless them for trying.

I mentioned why I focused on the date of the assassination: February 22, 1960. If we go by the date, I figure that President Keegan was running for reelection as 1960 would be a Presidential election year. It would also be early in the election campaign since the election would have been in November, nine months away. Given that this President Keegan would have been out of office in 1964, it doesn't seem worth the trouble to bump him off at all. I do not know why this detail stuck out to me. However, I am a reviewer that tends to get hung up on specific details, so there it is.

Finally, Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.  

DECISION: C+

El Rebozo de Soledad (Soledad's Shawl): A Review

EL REBOZO DE SOLEDAD (SOLEDAD'S SHAWL)

This review is part of the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon. Today's star is Pedro Armendariz.

I do not think that people outside of Latin America realize the beauty of Mexican cinema from their own Golden Age. If people consider Mexican films, they think of Guillermo del Toro or Alfonso Cuarón. Long before them, however, there were filmmakers like Emilio "El Indio" Fernandez and Roberto Gavaldon. His film El Rebozo de Soledad (Soledad's Shawl) is a beautiful looking film, with good performances that still impress all these decades later. 

Told mostly in flashback, Soledad's Shawl is of the experiences of Dr. Alberto Robles (Arturo de Cordova). He is an idealistic doctor who has gone to the rural town of Santa Cruz to start his medical practice. Here, he has to combat the traditional folk medicine of the curanderos. These local faith healers are nothing more than witch doctors to Dr. Robles. He finds it his mission to fight these superstitions, just as the curanderos fight him.

One person whom he does fight is Roque Suazo (Pedro Armendariz). He owns vast land around Santa Cruz, but he is no grandee. He is pretty rural in his outlook and manner. After his beloved mother passes away despite the curanderos' efforts, he leaves the area. This is the perfect opportunity for corrupt official David Acosta (Carlos Lopez Moctezuma) to sweep in take the property, which he rents out while pocketing the money.

Robles stays out of things. He also is disillusioned by the local community's fierce faith in curanderos. He decides to leave Santa Cruz over the urging of his friend, Father Juan (Domingo Soler). At the train station, he performs an impromptu tracheotomy on an infant. Now convinced that he is needed in town after, Robles stays. 

He helps save the arm of Mauro (Jaime Fernandez), the brother of local beauty Soledad (Estela Inda). Soledad is indeed solitary, but she is loyal and caring. In gratitude, she helps Dr. Robles at his clinic. It is here that Suazo returns to his lands. He is first enraged to find Soledad and Mauro squatting on his property. He softens somewhat when he finds that they were deceived about the ownership. He also finds Soledad beautiful, a feeling that is not mutual. Suazo presses but does not force anything on Soledad.

She is in love with Robles. Robles does not want to admit that he too is in love with her. Things come to a head for Robles, Soledad and Suazo when she goes to a local wedding. Will Suazo finally force himself on the virginal Soledad? Will Robles be able to save her? Will he go to Mexico City and find curing wealthy hypochondriacs is better than curing peasants? 

In perhaps a case of something getting lost in translation, the Spanish title of Soledad's Shawl may have a double meaning. El Rebozo de Soledad does indeed mean "Soledad's Shawl", the head and shoulder covering that Suazo attempts to present to her as a token of his affection. Soledad, however, can also mean "solitude". As such, the title could mean "the Shawl of Solitude". This is I think accurate as the three principal characters are alone. Robles is the most alone, as he is left to mourn his own losses romantic and idealistic. Soledad too is alone, her love for Robles mostly ignored by him. Suazo is also alone, though his actions are more brutal.

Gavaldon coadapted Javier Lopez Ferrer's novel with Jose Revueltas and with uncredited work from actress Inda. They did a masterful job of showing just enough without having to be graphic. The most effective "less is more" moment is when Suazo corners Soledad under a bridge. Here, it is clear exactly what he did to her. However, we never see anything. We see him approach the frightened Soledad. We see him take her shawl, which is clean and well-maintained. We then see it trampled underfoot. 

After that, Soledad's shawl is torn and battered. Francisco Dominguez's score, Gavaldon's direction and the performances from Armendariz and Inda all tells us what has happened without showing us. 

Another element in Soledad's Shawl is Gabriel Figueroa's cinematography. Figueroa was one of the greatest cinematographers of all time, easily ranking alongside figures like Gregg Toland, James Wong Howe and Roger Deakins. The sequence where Robles, Father Juan and Soledad are in a dilapidated church is breathtaking, enhanced by the sound design of Robles' echoes. Soledad's Shawl is a beautiful looking film.

The film is also strongly acted. Arturo de Cordova, like Pedro Armendariz, spoke English, allowing both of them to go from Mexican to American films. De Cordova's Dr. Robles is a strong performance. He is both idealistic and demoralized, strong and shattered. We see him initially as a broken man, the weight of the tragedies he has lived heavy on him. In the flashbacks, we see how he got to his position. However, we also see him revived when he calls out the quacks that he came close to joining. In his stubbornness, in his moral rectitude, de Cordova excels as Dr. Robles.

Inda too brought Soledad's integrity, innocence and devotion to her brother and Dr. Robles. She plays a traditional Mexican woman, but also one not afraid to stand up to Suazo on occasion. 

Armendariz has the most complex role in Soledad's Shawl. He is in some ways a good man. He will not allow the corrupt Acosta to bully him. He also has joie de vivre when he arrives at the wedding, bringing the gift of a gun and shawl to the groom and bride. This is a man of the soil, but also one who watches for his community. However, Suazo is also someone who had reached the end of his patience with Soledad. His actions are cruel. Despite this, one senses that he did feel something of regret, which he did not do when he whipped another squatter and then bullied him into not telling Acosta who did it.

This is a good scene. Robles is attending to the man's wounds, with Acosta badgering the victim to tell him who did it. Suazo, who is in the operating room, says nothing, but makes clear what will happen if the man squeals. Frightened, the victim insists that "the devil" did it, adding that if he says more, the devil will do worse. Perhaps the viewer does get something of a catharsis when Suazo meets justice, but there is still a twinge of regret. 

Beautifully acted and films, Soledad's Shawl is an interesting tale that manages to end with a touch of hope despite the tragedies we have seen. 

DECISION: B-

Her Husband's Trademark: A Review

HER HUSBAND'S TRADEMARK

It is unfortunate that many people think that silent film acting was overwrought and exaggerated. While there were, I figure, silent film actors that did at times go over-the-top, there were some that were quite natural on screen. One of them was Gloria Swanson. Best remembered now as the demented Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, I think more people should be aware of her pre-Sunset Boulevard career. A case in point is Her Husband's Trademark, where Swanson displays a naturalness and beauty that shows how she was one of the leading ladies of early cinema.

James Berkley (Stuart Holmes) appears to be a successful New York financier. However, his business acumen is really a front, his finances a house of cards. He manages to lure investors by using his unsuspecting wife Lois (Swanson) as his "trademark" to trade favors with. Lois knows nothing of James' financial predicaments or how she is being used as bait to charm investors. 

Into their world reenters Allyn Franklin (Richard Wayne), an old college friend to both men who once loved Lois. Allyn has recently received a grant for huge oil rights in Mexico from the government, making him a very wealthy man. James now thinks that if he can dupe Allyn into handing the rights over to his company, he can solve all his problems and have a vast fortune. Under the guise of visiting Allyn on business and seeing Old Mexico in person, he persuades Lois to join him.

Lois herself still has feelings for Allyn, though she remains faithful to her husband. Allyn, for his part, still carries a torch for our beauty. Eventually, he confesses his feelings and betrays them with a kiss. Lois, shocked, at first pushes to return to the United States, unaware that James' deal still has not gone through. She soon learns that James has been using Lois as that trademark and declares that she will leave him for Allyn. The sudden arrival of Mexican bandit and self-proclaimed General Juan Lopez (Clarence Burton) puts them all in danger. Will they manage to escape the Mexican horde storming Don Allyn's hacienda? Will they all survive? Will the gringos manage to make it across the Mexican border to safety? Will true love win out?

In Sunset Boulevard, Swanson as Desmond comments to another character, "We didn't need dialogue, we had faces", adding that perhaps with the exception of Greta Garbo there were no faces that could match Swanson/Desmond. Her Husband's Trademark proves Gloria Swanson right: she does have a face, a beautiful face that conveys much on screen. Contrary to what I think is a common misperception, silent films did not have mugging or exaggerated poses. Her Husband's Trademark at the most has one moment that can be seen as overacted. That is when the Mexican bandits are attempting to take Lois by force, with both James and Allyn defending her. You can see Swanson's body movements being a bit overdone. However, that is a total outlier to her overall performance.

Gloria Swanson is beautiful and charming as Lois. She is quite natural when working with others. Of particular note is her grace and kindness when James' parents (Charles Ogle and Edythe Chapman) unexpectedly come to visit. Holmes' James does his best to hide his displeasure at them coming when he is close to landing a big contract with Allyn. He behaves like a total jerk to his aging parents, which is perfect for the role. Swanson, on the other hand, shows Lois' charm and genuine care and concern for these two nice old people. Swanson is quite natural on screen, eluding charm, grace, beauty and elegance. 

Holmes may be the villain, and he does show in his performance how sleazy he can be. That, however, is nothing in comparison to Lucien Littlefield as the appropriately named Slithy Winters, James' right-hand man. Wayne is appropriately rugged as the true love interest, working well with Swanson.

The program for the Plaza Classic Film Festival notes that Her Husband's Trademark "contains offensive depictions of Mexican bandits". Personally, as a Mexican American, I was more amused than outraged in the images. I think some in the audience had a similar reaction, more chuckles than shock at the bandidos about to take our white woman for their own pleasures. I was neither angered nor pleased to see Burton made up as General Lopez, the Mexican bandit. I do not remember if he had heavy makeup, but I do not think it was as overdone as other times when white actors don brownface. 

As a side note, I struggle with the idea of having inoffensive depictions of Mexican bandits as they are, well, bandits. Yet I digress.

The presentation was elevated by the score specifically written for this presentation. Enrique Ponce wrote a wonderful score for Her Husband's Trademark. It was a nice chamber piece with bits of piano, guitar and trumpet performed by violinists Stephen Nordstrom and Leslee Way, violist Ray Arreola and cellist Michael Andrew Way. 

The film has wonderful location footage, lending to the thrilling climax of the daring escape to the United States. It also shows wonderful title cards that became almost characters of their own. One title card introducing Slithy has an illustration of him as either a puppet or of the puppet master. These little details show character and setting which might be overlooked. 

Her Husband's Trademark shows at least two things. The first is that silent film acting could be natural and not the cartoonish mugging that many imagine it is. The second is that Gloria Swanson was correctly seen as one of the great stars of the silent era. Beautiful and talented, I hope that more of Gloria Swanson's silent work is rediscovered. 

DECISION: B+

Run Silent, Run Deep: A Review

 

RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP

This review is part of the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon. Today's star is Clark Gable. It is also part of the Plaza Classic Film Festival.

Underwater menaces plague ships at war. Run Silent, Run Deep is a good and entertaining film about men fighting battles external and internal aboard a submarine.

In 1942, Commander P.J. Richardson (Clark Gable) lost his submarine to the Japanese vessel Akikaze in the dangerous Bungo Straits. While he manages to save his crew, Richardson's loss still haunts him. A year later, he is still assigned to a desk job when he learns that the submarine Nerka is returning to Pearl Harbor. The Nerka is in need of a new captain. Most of the crew expects Executive Officer Jim Bledsoe (Burt Lancaster) to be promoted. Bledsoe didn't count on a superior officer's need to redeem himself and get a second chance to avenge his men and his honor.

Richardson is by-the-book, not dictatorial but obsessed with drills. The crew grumbles about the endless drills. Their irritation grows when Richardson deliberately avoids a Japanese ship. Why drill so much if they are not going to engage the enemy? 

Simple. Richardson is set on going back into the Bungo Straits and take down the Akikaze. To do that, he must ignore orders for him to avoid the straits. Richardson does destroy another ship on his way to pursue the Akikaze, but at a cost. Richardson too faces health issues that may make him incapable of completing his own personal mission. As such, he must relinquish the Nerka to Bledsoe, who will sail back to Pearl Harbor. 

However, an unexpected radio message from none other than Tokyo Rose herself alerts Bledsoe on how the Japanese are having such success in sinking American ships. The Akikaze already thinks that the Nerka has been sunk, so the Americans have an advantage. Will Bledsoe end up finishing what Richardson started? Who will live to see victory, and who will end up buried at sea?

Run Silent, Run Deep is not a slice-of-life about life in a naval submarine. It is meant as a portrait of men at war and men at odds. In this situation, Run Silent, Run Deep director Robert Wise does well with his two main leads. Richardson and Bledsoe are rivals, but they are always professional. Run Silent, Run Deep does well in making clear that for all of his frustrations and dislike, Bledsoe would never contemplate a mutiny or disobey orders.

Clark Gable is appropriately commanding in his role of Richardson. The film does allow him moments of regret, even humor. Both of these are in the early sections of the film. Gable's professionalism is evident when he attempts to take down the Akikaze the first time. He shows Richardson's frustration at being behind the desk. There is a brief scene where Bledsoe first confronts Richardson in a last-ditch effort to request that he give up commanding the Nerka. This scene, while not funny and played perfectly straight, does something interesting. 

It takes place at Richardson's home. As such, we get to see a different side of him. Here, he is the gardener caring for his tree. We also see him advising his wife (Mary LaRoche) to prepare lemonade with a touch of gin. This clues us in that Richardson is fully aware of Bledsoe's resentment about losing the Nerka. It also shows Richardson to be a family man, giving the viewer an idea that he is not a lone wolf seeking validation. Instead, he is a determined man seeking justice.

Lancaster is able to match Gable in quiet intensity. Bledsoe is a serious man, but he too has a moment where he lets down his guard. Again, it is early on, when he is genuinely touched, even amused, at the gift of a jacket with "Captain" on it from the crew.

Run Silent, Run Deep does give us some bits about the type of men aboard the Nerka. It is surprising to see Don Rickles of all people pop up as a crewman. Here, he is sarcastic but with a soft edge, far removed from his Merchant of Venom persona. Jimmie Bates in his small role of naive crewman Jessie is amusing, and we end up caring about him.

The film does not shy away from showing the conflict between the men. However, it does not dwell on them, showing them to be professional and mature (except perhaps for their habit of tapping the backside of a pinup for good luck). 

While the battle scenes do look a little dated, one can roll with the overall effect. The attack on the Nerka is well-filmed and ultimately moving. The film also has an excellent musical score by Franz Waxman. For history buffs, we get some idea of what a Tokyo Rose broadcast would have been like. The film does well to have our enchanting Japanese female voice say that they call her "Tokyo Rose", since no one actually used that name on air. Still, we get to hear that mix of American swing music and attempts at downbeat propaganda.

Run Silent, Run Deep is good for people who enjoy action and war films. Some of the effects are dated. Still, it is well-acted and entertaining. Run Silent, Run Deep is worth diving into.

DECISION: B-

Murphy's Romance: A Review

MURPHY'S ROMANCE

This review is part of the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon. Today's star is James Garner.

What happens when you find Love for the Last Time? Murphy's Romance shows that in matters of the heart, wisdom can be stronger than passion.

Divorcee Emma Moriarty (Sally Field) is starting a new life in Arizona with her young son, Jake (Corey Haim). Here, she will train and house horses for the local ranchers and cattlemen in her new home. The house itself may be dilapidated, but it will be just fine for them. As she starts finding her way, metaphorically and literally, in Eunice, Arizona, she encounters idiosyncratic pharmacist Murphy Jones (James Garner). Murph both fits into Eunice and is distinct from his fellow residents. The eligible widower plays fiddle in a local honky-tonk band but also has No Nukes and Re-Forest America stickers on his prized old-style automobile. Murph insists on parking it outside his pharmacy and detests the parking meter the City imposed there, paying the parking tickets but refusing to pay the meter. Eventually, he offers the suggestion that he will not trouble the Eunice council in exchange for the City putting up a tree in place of the meter at Murph's expense.

Emma and Murphy develop a friendship and perhaps start harboring feelings for each other. However, things take an unexpected turn when Emma's ex and Jake's father Bobby Jack (Brian Kerwin) comes to call on his ex-wife. Despite her dislike for Bobby Jack, she knows that Jake loves him. She also finds that she cannot fully let go of her hunky ex-husband and lets him stay at her ranch. All this irritates Murph, who is surreptitiously helping Emma by giving Jake a part-time job and sending business to her via his friends and neighbors. Will Emma go for the older but wiser Murphy or be entangled with Bobby Jack? Fate has a few twists and turns before the Emma finds the right man.

While Sally Field is the central character in Murphy's Romance, the film gives James Garner a plum role that earned him the sole Oscar nomination of his career. One can see why he alone was singled out for his performance as Murphy Jones (the film receiving a second Oscar nomination for Cinematography). Murphy Jones is a well-rounded individual. He is a salt of the earth person who keeps to his code. I would figure that he would be a liberal politically, putting him at odds with the community at large. "You can carry a gun, but you can't get an abortion", he tells Emma on their first meeting when talking about what kind of town Eunice is.

However, Murph also reads the letters of Stonewall Jackson and will not pay the parking meter where he stations his beloved roadster out of principle. That puts him closer to a libertarian, which again is out of step with his town. Murphy is also quietly appalled at the violence that he sees in the rare movie that he is talked into going to with Emma, Jake and Billy Jack. Murphy is his own man, and James Garner makes him believable and wise. Despite their age difference (the film ends with Murphy telling Emma how old he really is, a question that he has either dodged or refused to answer), we can see how they can develop a romance. 

The scene where the four of them go to the movie perfectly captures what kind of people they are. Director Martin Ritt shows Emma, Jake, Billy Jack and Murphy in various reactions to an unseen violent scene. We see shock, confusion, enjoyment and dismay. Each actor reveals what kind of people they are in this scene. It is a well-directed and acted moment.

Sally Field gives Emma a quality of gumption, a woman who is strong despite her small stature. She expresses irritation to downright anger when told by a female bank officer that they will not give her a lone because she has no husband to cosign. Emma grows in the film while making her vulnerable. Her reaction after a car accident is both funny and endearing. It is a delightful, amusing and captivating performance.

It is a shame that Corey Haim was never able to overcome his personal demons. We see such promise from him in Murphy's Romance as Jake. He is clever, loving towards his parents but also able to play a teen who is a mix of innocent and knowing. Late in the film, he tells Murph that he is aware of the card tricks that the father he loves was pulling. Yet, Jake clearly loves Billy Jack for all his faults. 

Brian Kerwin is quite good as Billy Jack. We can believe that he can charm his way back to Emma's heart (and maybe even bed) despite her common sense. He is shown as a schemer and dreamer, but one who does not fool Murphy. The tug-of-war between them has funny moments, such as when they keep cutting in to dance with her, leaving her in a bizarre loop. It is to where we do not hate Billy Jack, but we do not think well of him either. Billy Jack is a loathsome scoundrel, which makes Kerwin's performance so good.

Harriet Frank, Jr. and Irvin Ravetch's adaptation of Max Schott's novella gives the actors strong material to work with. 

Murphy's Romance is also blessed with Carole King writing both the score and at least two songs for the film. The opening and closing songs, Running Lonely and Love for the Last Time, capture the feel of the story. It is surprising that she was not singled out for Oscar consideration for either the songs or score, which all work well and are enjoyable.

Murphy's Romance is a delight. The film flows well and makes the title believable. We end up not only liking Murphy and Emma but wanting them to get together despite their own hangups. Murphy's Romance is a lovely film that should be better-known. 

DECISION: B+