The Family Jewels.

Review #2366: The Family Jewels.

Cast: 

Jerry Lewis (Willard Woodward / James Peyton / Everett Peyton / Julius Peyton / Capt. Eddie Peyton / Skylock Peyton / Bugsy Peyton), Donna Butterworth (Donna Peyton), Sebastian Cabot (Dr. Matson), Neil Hamilton (Attorney), Jay Adler (Mr. Lyman, Attorney), Anne Baxter (Actress in In-Flight Movie), Ellen Corby (Senior Citizen Airline Passenger), and Gene Baylos (Circus Clown) Directed by Jerry Lewis (#963 - The Nutty Professor [1963], #1404 - The Bellboy, #1710 - The Patsy)

Review: 

It's interesting, I had this movie on a DVD pack for several years and I can't exactly say that there were interesting reasons to get around to this movie. The Family Jewels was the sixth feature film directed by Jerry Lewis (of twelve in his career, with all but one having him as the star), which happens to be a bit of a swan song. It was the fifth (of seven) time he co-wrote the screenplay with Bill Richmond. It was the last one he directed for Paramount Pictures, as he would leave for Columbia Pictures the following year. In what might be a bit familiar for those who see enough comedies, you have our lead playing multiple characters (as evidenced by previous efforts such as The Nutty Professor and The Ladies Man), as one does when having a movie about a kid having to visit uncles and "choose" which one to live with (the uncles I suppose have no recourse to have a say), and it can't simply just be the family chaffeur. Opposite Lewis is Donna Butterworth, who starred in exactly one other film with Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966). The movie made some money and probably didn't attract as much praise or criticism as one might read from the early (or late) parts of Lewis as a director, suffice to say*.

If you're big with Lewis movies, you might or might not find a bit of enjoyment even with a second-rate effort that is found here with a movie (runtime: 99 minutes) that is hit-or-miss with its gags because of the fact that it really is just a series of vignettes with little to really show besides Lewis in a costume and Butterworth making small observations. It basically could be construed as a coin-flip of what you might like from characters that are so, so, so clear to pick out from: a sea captain with a, um, interesting facial getup and a "story", a circus clown that actually sounds like Lewis not just doing a bit (which of course isn't there long), a photographer character that looks and sounds like Buddy Kelp (get it, because now he just take photos rather than being a professor?), a bumbling pilot in a plane (Ford Trimotor) more rare than the successful gags in the sequence, a detective character that gets, well, "Sherlocky" on a pool game, and a gangster character with goofy teeth. It really is hard to say in so many words the level of varying middle-ground stuff that comes from a movie that clearly has so many characters to try and hide the fact that this probably would barely hold mustard as a TV special. It is the kind of movie where you might start lifting your hand up in the "move on already" motion, because there can only be so many chances at sight gags (so basically, swing, whiff, swing, whiff, whiff, swing, whiff). Sometimes I was wondering if the movie would've somehow been funnier if it focused on either the Sherlock character or the decidedly non-happy clown entirely, because at least those would've invited the possibility of actually having more of someone like Hamilton (pictured one year before being Commissioner Gordon on the famed Batman show) or Adler for more than five minutes**. Butterworth is fine, but she doesn't exactly have much to do besides what you might call "plucky kid stuff", because this is a movie that loves its cheap gags to observe Lewis with, such as say, in-flight entertainment being affected by the turbulence of the plane or a military parade being shifted around or a car station having hijinks. To say nothing of the sheer predictable ending. Honestly, the more I think about the movie, the less I find myself liking it, really, because it stuck less and less in my mind when trying to make this review, and I generally think that if I don't feel like watching it again, it doesn't qualify enough to be thought of as a "good" movie. With that in mind, your milage will vary with a later-stage Lewis movie that just wasn't for me because sometimes, "hit-or-miss" just isn't enough.

Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.

*Maybe this is petty, but in the opening, Lewis is seen with a Dodgers cap on a Giants jersey. Jeez, man.

**If someone actually times how long Hamilton or Adler are in this movie, you get a gold star.

O. Henry's Full House.

Review #1687: O. Henry's Full House.

Cast:

Charles Laughton (Soapy, segment "The Cop and the Anthem"), Dale Robertson (Barney Woods, segment "The Clarion Call"), Anne Baxter (Joanna Goodwin, segment "The Last Leaf"), Fred Allen (Samuel Brown, segment "The Ransom of Red Chief"), Jeanne Crain (Della Young, segment "The Gift of the Magi"), Marilyn Monroe (Streetwalker, segment "The Cop and the Anthem"), Richard Widmark (Johnny Kernan, segment "The Clarion Call"), Jean Peters (Susan Goodwin, segment "The Last Leaf"), Oscar Levant (William Smith, segment "The Ransom of Red Chief"), Farley Granger (Jim Young, segment "The Gift of the Magi"), David Wayne (Horace, segment "The Cop and the Anthem"), Richard Rober (Chief of Detectives, segment "The Clarion Call"), Gregory Ratoff (Behrman, segment "The Last Leaf"), Lee Aaker (J.B. Dorset, segment "The Ransom of Red Chief"), Richard Garrick (Doctor, segment "The Last Leaf"), Fred Kelsey (Mr. Schultz / Santa Claus, segment "The Gift of the Magi"), with John Steinbeck as narrator. Directed by Henry Koster (#1607 - Harvey), Henry Hathaway (#1314 - True Grit), Jean Negulesco (#1380 - Phone Call from a Stranger), Howard Hawks (#951 - The Big Sleep, #1352 - His Girl Friday, and #1399 - Rio Bravo), and Henry King.

Review: 

There have been a number of anthology movies to have come around the corner in film, whether in horror, a unified theme (such as a city like Tales of Manhattan (1942), released by 20th Century Fox), or in trying to bring short stories to the screen, and O. Henry's Full House is merely in the middle of a regular era for this kind of movie, with one early example being If I Had a Million (1932). Another example is Quartet (1948), which adapted four stories by the writer W. Somerset Maugham while having him appear from time to time to talk about them. The success of that film inspired two follow-up films in Trio (1950) and Encore (1951) and 20th Century Fox evidently wanted to play on that success with adapting short stories for one film, with O. Henry selected. Actually, they had wanted to do a film based on the writer in 1943, and a film of "The Gift of the Magi" in 1945 was thought of before fizzing out. The writer (born William Sydney Porter, who lived from 1862 to 1910) was a North Carolina native but found his success when he moved to New York (which he called "Bagdad-on-the-Subway") in 1902. He wrote over 300 stories, which generally were known for their wit and their clever endings; one of his most well-known stories was "The Caballero's Way" (1907), which was adapted by Fox for In Old Arizona (1928), and short films based on his works had been done as early as 1909. Left with needing someone to introduce the stories, Fox went to John Steinbeck (a Pulitzer Prize winner and future Nobel laureate in Literature), known for novels such as The Grapes of Wrath (1939), East of Eden (1952), and various other works - this was the first and only film appearance for Steinbeck. 

So let us recap the stories one by one in the order shown (oddly enough, bad screenings involving the Hawks-directed story led to it being removed before it was formally released), which runs at 117 minutes. The first is "The Cop and the Anthem", which was written by Lamar Trotti with direction by Henry Koster. It involves an eccentric on the streets that has plans to spend the cold winter in jail. Laughton is right at home with a role that requires a bit of quizzical timing and an astute sense of self that he plays right to what is needed for those twenty-ish minutes. Monroe is technically in the film as a star, in that she is there for a minute to exchange with Laughton (since the character believes that harassment will help his jail case), which goes fine, while Wayne tags along at times. Technically this is the story with the clearest ending seen coming (well, there is Magi, but come on), but it is a solid A-/B+ kind of story to get it all going. "The Clarion Call" was written by Richard L. Breen while directed by Henry Hathaway, involving a detective in debt to a friend-turned-murderer. It reunites Hathaway and Widmark, who worked on Kiss of Death (1947) to a tremendous debut for the latter actor; he essentially is reprising his role from that film for this one, which was reportedly inspired by the character of The Joker from the Batman comics. Strangely enough, Widmark's performance would influence Frank Gorshin when it came time to play The Riddler in Batman (1966-1968), which seems evident with the laugh uttered by Widmark when we first hear him. He seems to overshadow Robertson, who makes for a decent detective when it comes to wrapping away his guilt in a small cat-and-mouse game with the dangerously playful Widmark. Overall, it is a fairly solid B kind of segment.

"The Last Leaf" was written by Ivan Goff and Ben Robers and directed by Jean Negulseco. Here, we have a story about a lady who believes she will die when the last leaf falls off a tree near her bed. Honestly, the highlight is probably Ratoff, who was actually both an actor and director in his time, and he plays the eccentric artist with fair gusto to counter the dour stuff needed by Baxter and Peters. I think the twist here works better than the ones done in the last two, but a B+ grade seems fairly warranted here in its useful pacing. "The Ransom of Red Chief" was written by Ben Hecht, Nunnally Johnson and Charles Lederer while directed by Howard Hawks (Johnson wanted his name off the script, which was re-written by Hecht and Lederer at the request of Hawks because it was originally written by Johnson with Clifton Webb and William Demarest in mind for stars). To be honest, I fail to see exactly why this was thought of as the clunker among the five, because it is quite amusing, featuring two radio mainstays with Allan and Levant, who play bumbling kidnappers of a snotty kid. It's a chuckler that one will be quite familiar with, because I'm sure most of us have seen/experienced taking care of someone who enjoys taking things into their own hands, whether with a bear or other means, which ultimately means a B- grade. "The Gift of the Magi" was written by Walter Bullock while directed by Henry King. It is likely the most famous of the five stories, and it is probably washed in sentimentality as the aforementioned Leaf story ripe for the spirit of Christmas. You've probably read this story at least once (probably in high school), and it ultimately is a decent if not completely heartwarming tale that we all see coming. Crain and Granger are a decent pair to go along with what is needed in balancing selfless nature without falling into the trap of pap. It is a solid B episode, not exactly the weakest story, and it closes the film out just fine in encapsulating the feel of what the movie yearns to show in generating interesting characters to go with plots that go with useful turns that make for a fairly solid anthology film on the whole. It serves as an interesting piece in depicting an author's work onto film, efficient in what needs to be shown for any viewer curious enough for it.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

All About Eve.

Review #750: All About Eve.

Cast
Bette Davis (Margo Channing), Anne Baxter (Eve Harrington), George Sanders (Addison DeWitt), Celeste Holm (Karen Richards), Gary Merrill (Bill Sampson), Hugh Marlowe (Lloyd Richards), Thelma Ritter (Birdie), Gregory Ratoff (Max Fabian), Marilyn Monroe (Miss Casswell), and Barbara Bates (Phoebe) Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz.

Review
Based off "The Wisdom of Eve" by Mary Orr, All About Eve is a movie that held the record for most Oscar nominations (14) until Titanic tied it over four decades later, with five actors receiving nominations, and one (Sanders) winning. In fact, Joseph L. Mankiewicz won two Oscars for the movie (Best Director and Adapted Screenplay). 65 years later, the movie is heralded as a classic. And why not? It is great. It's interesting that the big highlight in a movie all about Eve is not Eve herself, but Bette Davis and her tremendous screen presence. She is always interesting to watch and always entertaining, especially when interacting with the cast. Baxter is effective in making her character come off as innocent and helpful...for a while, anyway. Her scene with Holm in which she would will be willing to use Karen's deep friendship with Margo as leverage just to get a part shows the extent of Eve's manipulation. But while her ambition got her out of one problem along with getting her this far, it may have gotten her into another situation...but the movie ends on a different character, named Phoebe. The final scene, with her taking the award and imagining herself winning one is certainly fitting. Sanders manages to ingrain his character into the narrative. He may be snide. but his way with words is much more devastating. His scene with Baxter at the end, is especially well-done, as the movie comes full-circle. The movie begins with Eve winning an award for her performance in a play...but maybe in a way she hasn't won. She won the award, but perhaps at the cost of her heart, in a sense. One actress who also is in the movie, though brief, is Marilyn Monroe, whose character also plays a role in regards to Eve's rise. Monroe doesn't get much to do, but she is interesting to watch, especially when being guided by Sanders in his attempts to give her a career. The movie certainly looks well in both fashion and just in general, with the Costume Designers (Edith Head and Charles LeMaire) winning an Oscar for it. Bottom line, the movie is interesting to watch, especially if you love big performances and love big classical drama.

Thank you for reading this 750th Review. I hope you enjoyed it.

Overall, I give it 10 out of 10 stars.

For all of the appreciation over the past 750 reviews, I made a collage detailing from the first big landmark (and the number before it is, as customary)...all the way up to now. Thank you. Enjoy.