The Great Race.

Review #2396: The Great Race.

Cast: 

Jack Lemmon (Professor Fate and Prince Friedrich Hapnick), Tony Curtis (Leslie Gallant III, aka The Great Leslie), Natalie Wood (Maggie DuBois), Peter Falk (Maximillian Mean), Keenan Wynn (Hezekiah Sturdy), Arthur O'Connell (Henry Goodbody), Vivian Vance (Hester Goodbody), Dorothy Provine (Lily Olay), Larry Storch (Texas Jack), Ross Martin (Baron Rolf von Stuppe), Hal Smith (the Mayor of Boracho), Denver Pyle (the Sheriff of Boracho), and Marvin Kaplan (Fisbee) Directed by Blake Edwards (#329 - The Pink Panther, #481 - The Party, #899 - A Shot in the Dark, #1461 - 10)

Review: 

Every couple of years, some folks try to do a homage to the old favorites. But when you are Blake Edwards, why the hell not? The Oklahoma native grew up with a stepfather that was the son of a silent movie director (J. Gordon Edwards). Sure, he didn't become a film production manager like him, but Edwards did jobs as an actor before serving in the United States Coast Guard before becoming a director in the television-friendly 1950s. He became a director worth watching closely with films such as Operation Petticoat (1959), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), Days of Wine and Roses (1962), and, well, The Pink Panther series, obviously. With The Great Race, it took a few years to get things rolling. Apparently, the idea for the film was conceived by Edwards in 1960 that took inspiration from the 1908 automobile race from New York City to Paris, France. Arthur A. Ross was brought in to develop a story to present that eventually saw him hired to do a more substantial script. While Maurice Richlin was recruited to polish the script, only Ross got credit for the screenplay to go with a story that was credited to Ross and Edwards. Amidst bad weather and overrun that meant a budget of $12 million, the movie was not exactly a considerable success at the time of release in July of 1965*, but at least Edwards kept busy (his next film came with What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? the following year), and he kept going with his slapstick interests with such films as The Party (1968).

The last few years brought folks to view people pop in for a potential chuckle with Around the World in 80 Days (1956) and It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963). So, we have a pretty neat Lemmon, a worthy sidekick to accompany him in Falk, and even a decent time to spend with Wood (to a point). Hell, and then there is Curtis, our hero to try and hold along a wobbly story, fine gags, and plenty of time to consider the scope of movies, I suppose. In short, Great Race is either on par with Around the World or a bit lower. Apparently, there were quite a few names considered for the role ranging from Paul Newman to Charlton Heston. Pity. For whatever reason, Curtis and his performance is akin to someone saying the lines bit-by-bit for a silent movie. Maybe his blandness is supposed to be the point, but my God, his presence is practically eaten by everyone else in the film. The clash between him and Wood that comes up every now and then does not really gel for anything other than cheap gags (get it, get it, a woman trying to stick up for herself). Apparently, Wood only did the film so she could get to play the lead for Inside Daisy Clover (1965). At least she has the grace and chops to try and have fun with the material in all of the bumps on the road for a character that might be thought of as a chore with a lesser actor (for starters, having a character try and rid us of Keenan Wynn's character for even just a bit of time is a foolhardy mistake if we're talking about comparing timing) in a movie with really just five people to see for more than a few minutes of a 160-minute movie. Falk (a regular supporting presence in movies at the time**) is wonderful of course, tagging with Lemmon for worthwhile hijinks, particularly in his expressions and only men of stone find ways to not like Wynn and his timing. The assortment of people who show up are fine for small bits (Provine gets a song while Martin gets to look from afar). The slapstick as a whole is fine, albeit in that dragging sense where you just have to have so much little gags to even get the actual race rolling (it starts with our dastardly villain popping balloons, for example). And then the movie goes into doing an imitation of The Prisoner of Zenda. Sure. The movie wanted to have a great big pie fight akin to, well, you know. It apparently was the longest pie fight sequence in terms of staging and whatever (basically, it took five days and thousands of pies). The quibble I have is that the one person who deserves to be pie'd is Curtis, and he barely gets hit at all. Keep in mind, Lemmon gets double duty with playing two characters as an acceptable ham, but the bland hero? Barely anything, god forbid. Call me a nut for picking and choosing to obsess over plot motivations, but getting from Point A to Point B in the resolution (i.e. the race doesn't end in a true finish because I guess it shows his love or whatever and it couldn't wait until five minutes later) is a bit hokey for a movie called "great race". As a whole, Lemmon and company hold the movie together in what could've just been a crash-out into just making the finish line with the best of intentions. You'll get some chuckles, some interesting visuals and a little bit of everything that could make a worthy candidate among the long-winded epics of its time, if you dare.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

*Evidently at some point in time, the movie made $25 million. The big winner at any rate would be Treg Brown, who won an Academy Award for Best Sound Effects for this film.

**Falk was an Academy Award nominated actor by then, for Murder, Inc. (1960) and Pocketful of Miracles (1961). Of course, Columbo loomed a few years later.

The Poseidon Adventure.

Review #1442: The Poseidon Adventure.

Cast: 
Gene Hackman (Reverend Frank Scott), Ernest Borgnine (Detective Lieutenant Mike Rogo), Red Buttons (James Martin), Carol Lynley (Nonnie Parry), Roddy McDowall (Acres), Stella Stevens (Linda Rogo), Shelley Winters (Belle Rosen), Jack Albertson (Manny Rosen), Pamela Sue Martin (Susan Shelby), Arthur O'Connell (Chaplain John), Eric Shea (Robin Shelby), Leslie Nielsen (Captain Harrison), and Fred Sadoff (Linarcos) Directed by Ronald Neame (#673 - Scrooge and #1204 - Meteor)

Review: 
"I suffer along with them. We have many story conferences. As a writer/director/producer, I have triple agonies. I'm bucking to be known as the most sympathetic producer in town."

Oh sure, there were plenty of films to pick from that had an independent streak with directors and stars in the 1970s, but let us not forget about the films that followed the lines of all-star casts that came from previous decades. In this case, the all-star cast format came in the disaster movie genre, one that is just as prevalent in generating spectacle as other genres. Airport (1970) was the start of a whole new era of disaster films, as it made over $100 million upon release that was followed by three sequels before the decade ended. Who better to further the genre than Irwin Allen, the "Master of Disaster"? After all, he had already mastered the hand of producing/directing in television and film with projects such as The Sea Around Us (1953, an Academy Award winning documentary), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961, which became a hit 1964-68 series), and Lost in Space (1965-68). He would produce four further disaster films (with all but one in the 1970s) with The Towering Inferno (1974, about a fire in a tower), The Swarm (1978, involving killer bees), and Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979, which involved a return to the ship to recover treasures). The director who fell right into directing this film turned out to be a good one with Ronald Neame (after Gordon Douglas stepped off). He had been a cinematographer in British films starting in the 1930s before taking a hand at producing (Cineguild, with David Lean and Anthony Havelock-Allan) in the late 1940s that moved to directing with Take My Life (1947). Although he did not find the final result to be one to be proud of, he did describe it as his favorite film in that it gave him plenty of "F.U. money".

I suppose one reason for my curiosity with this film (based on the 1969 novel of the same name by Paul Gallico) was seeing how all of these stars would match up with each other, considering there are five Oscar-winning actors here (Hackman, Borgnine, Winters, Albertson, Buttons) alongside a mish-mash of supporting actors with melodramatic turns and plenty of spectacle. The result is one of the most ridiculously enjoyable films to ever sit through, one that is soapier than Grand Hotel (1932), with actors that did a majority of their own stunts that makes one think they are watching a P.E. competition. It is like going to a restaurant and asking everyone about who they were and what they liked to do and then going back to eat something you know is overstuffed but eating it anyway because you just need that experience (or getting a kick, I suppose), regrets be darned. Hackman leads this disaster squad with plenty of unorthodox spirit and candor to go with it that makes for an fair rapport with the equally blustery Borgnine who is charmingly rough around the edges. The others fall around the lines you could see coming from their opening moments, such as the quiet haberdasher Buttons that proves resourceful when paired with a nervous Lynley, or a gloomy but game Winters (who apparently gained 30 pounds for a role that requires her to do a swimming sequence). Others like Albertson, Stevens and Shea have smaller parts to play, but they do their best in making a good time with convenience (whether that means a quick remark or not), and this also includes short trips with McDowall (switching accents as a waiter, I kid you not) and a sternly useful Nielsen (an actor with standing even before hitting it bigger with comedy). One is here to see some fiery action, and they do generally pay off well, starting with the crash that starts all the fun (complete with a massive fall onto a light in an upside down dining room, a tremendous stunt to see). It is executed well with a fine look of despair and water to keep things sinking through for 117 minutes with plenty of moments that can make your head agape for better or worse (the question one generally associates with that would be "Wait, what?" in my view). It's funny, I had heard of the song "The Morning After" a number of times before seeing this film, but I didn't actually realize that it was performed in this film first (written by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn), which was apparently written in one night. Oh sure, it's a terrible song (cheesy but annoyingly catchy), but it found a following and ended up winning an Academy Award for its songwriters. The additional Academy Award won by the film (which snagged eight nominations, mostly technical) was for its visual effects from L. B. Abbott and A. D. Flowers. A sequel followed a few years later, and there were two remakes (one for television, one theatrical), but none have really matched the sheer lasting power of this, one with plenty of silliness alongside enjoyment to go for an era like this.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Fantastic Voyage.

Review #881: Fantastic Voyage.

Cast:
Stephen Boyd (Charles Grant), Raquel Welch (Cora Peterson), Edmond O'Brien (General Carter), Donald Pleasence (Dr. Michaels), Arthur O'Connell (Colonel Donald Reid), William Redfield (Captain Bill Owens), Arthur Kennedy (Dr. Peter Duval), and Jean Del Val (Dr. Jan Benes) Directed by Richard Fleischer (#453 - Soylent Green, #460 - Doctor Dolittle, #624 - Conan the Destroyer, #829 - Red Sonja, and #870 - The Narrow Margin)

Review:
Fantastic Voyage is an entertaining movie that manages to have enough spectacle moments and a fine amount of atmosphere to overcome some structural faults. The film moves at a relatively adequate pace, trying to set up its plot with some form of legitimacy and pace, not taking too long to get to the body effects. Boyd is fairly decent as this every-man kind of role, not being too strong or dull in any one direction. Welch is interesting, though she isn't given too much screen time. Pleasence is engaging as always, giving off the right sense of clout. The effects are the showcase for the movie, and they are quite interesting for the time (1966) it was made, especially when you first see the body, giving off a sense of wonder. There are some fairly good moments, such as when they have to go through the ear drum, with silence required throughout the operating room in normal size. It takes its time while building up tension, with a fairly good culminating noise and ensuing action. The plot-holes that enter the surface around the climax derail some of the momentum, such as the fact the ship is left in the body at the end (Isaac Asimov fixed this in his novelization of the movie, which managed to be released months before the film). The saboteur revealed at the end is a bit strange, in that there really isn't too much motivation given for it besides "working for the other side". However, the film is entertaining enough that this can be somewhat forgiven. If the film wasn't as interesting, it wouldn't be easy to forgive.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: 7 Faces of Dr. Lao.

Review #430: 7 Faces of Dr. Lao.

Cast
Tony Randall (Dr. Lao, Merlin, Pan, the Serpent, Medusa, Apollonius of Tyana, and the Abominable Snowman), Arthur O'Connell (Clint Stark), Barbara Eden (Angela Benedict), John Ericson (Ed Cunningham), Kevin Tate (Mike Benedict), Noah Beery, Jr. (Sam), Royal Dano (Casey, the Brutal Henchman), John Doucette (Lucas, the Henchman's Sidekick), Lee Patrick (Mrs. Howard T. Cassan, the Stuffy Matron), Minerva Urecal (Kate Lindquist, the Shrewish Wife), John Qualen (Luther Lindquist, the Meek Husband), and Frank Cady (Mayor James Sargent)  Directed by George Pal (#247 - The Time Machine)

Review
This is a weird sort of film, it feels like a fantasy film, but it sometimes feels like it tries to be a comedic film, and it also manages to try to show a cavalcade of stop motion effects, creating a jello mold of a film in which the main actor tries to flesh out 7 different characters. But does this film work as a whole? Eh...it depends. The directing for the most part is alright, George Pal (also notable for producing The War of the Worlds in 1953) does alright, and focus doesn't get too off focus. And while Randall does okay in his performances, it is a tour de force in the makeup department by William Tuttle as he even won an honorary Oscar for the makeup. The effects are alright, and the Serpent does look good. The rest of the actors are okay, not too bad, even if they are overshadowed by the effects and Randall, though probably unintentionally. The film is dated at some points and despite some questionable aspects, this is at least okay, and while it is a weird experiment in the amount of characters one actor or actress can play, I suppose it can't be too harmful. Take this film at your own risk.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.