The African Queen.

Review #1379: The African Queen.

Cast: 
Humphrey Bogart (Charlie Allnut), Katharine Hepburn (Rose Sayer), Robert Morley (Rev. Samuel Sayer), Peter Bull (Captain of the Königin Luise), Theodore Bikel (First Officer of the Königin Luise), Walter Gotell (Second Officer of the Königin Luise), Peter Swanwick (First Officer of Fort Shona), and Richard Marner (Second Officer of Fort Shona) Directed by John Huston (#081 - The Maltese Falcon (1941), #094 - The Misfits, #224 - Casino Royale (1967), and #419 - Key Largo)

Review: 
"The directing of a picture involves coming out of your individual loneliness and taking a controlling part in putting together a small world. A picture is made. You put a frame around it and move on. And one day you die. That is all there is to it."
"The only thing you owe the public is a good performance."

Everyone needs a good adventure now and then. Who better to make an adventure than John Huston? He had grown from a bedridden childhood to a resilient early adulthood spent doing various things such as amateur boxing, acting, honorary membership of the Mexican cavalry, and eventually writing, first through magazines before finding his way to contract writing in Hollywood. However, it wasn't until 1938 that he found his way to substantial success as a serious writer, most notably with Jezebel for Warner Brothers. In 1941, he was granted a chance to direct his first film with The Maltese Falcon (1941), an influential noir classic. He directed two further films before serving in the US Army for World War II, where he made a few short films for the Signal Corps before returning to Hollywood for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), where he won Academy Awards for directing and screenplay. In a career that lasted until his death in 1987, he directed and wrote over thirty films, notably directing his father Walter and his daughter Anjelica each to Academy Award wins for their acting in one of Huston's films. One particular actor who benefited from Huston was Humphrey Bogart. He had started his acting career in the theatre, which resulted in a few notices before trying his hand with film parts (with his debut being a short in 1928). Bogart's role in play The Petrified Forest (1935) helped in getting his foot firmly in the door for film roles when it came time for the film adaptation the following year. High Sierra (1941) was the first collaboration between Bogart and Huston (who wrote the film), and the two would collaborate in six films together as star and director.

The film was adapted from the 1935 novel of the same name by C. S. Forester, which originally had the character of Allnut as an English Cockney (which was changed to him being a Canadian) along with an ambiguous ending for its main characters with its final line. The film had a mixed production between scenes shot in Britian and the Belgian Congo, with a good deal of the cast getting sick (except for Bogart and Huston, who apparently thrived on canned food and whiskey). In any case, one can see the tremendous craftsmanship on display in terms of directing and writing (Huston, James Agee, with un-credited work by John Collier and Peter Viertel) that go along with an incredible pairing with Bogart and Hepburn that make 105 minutes seem to go by quickly. Each play off each other with tense passion that can go for humor alongside drama without becoming a parody of itself. Bogart grabs your attention as he always does with his weary charm and plenty of concentration that is to be expected from him. As such, Hepburn matches up to him just as much in terms of great free-spirited presence that equates to an interesting match that charms the audience once it gets started. There are other members of the cast (such as Morley, who is in the first few minutes), but one spends a primary amount of time with Bogart & Hepburn and finds themselves lost as if they were actually on the boat besides them, complete with Technicolor photography from Jack Cardiff. One should not be surprised to know that this was a hit with the public, with Bogart even winning an Academy Award for his work in the film (while Hepburn and Huston received nominations for acting and directing/writing, respectively), and it is not hard to see why. It is a prime adventure story to serve as the template for plenty of other romantic adventure films, one with a dynamic duo game enough to interact with each other in amusing or touching ways that gives the audience enough curiosity for more in a decade that had plenty of crowd-pleasers to sift through.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.

Dr. Strangelove.

Review #1301: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.

Cast: 
Peter Sellers (Group Captain Lionel Mandrake / President Merkin Muffley / Dr. Strangelove), George C. Scott (General Buck Turgidson), Sterling Hayden (Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper), Keenan Wynn (Colonel Bat Guano), Slim Pickens (Major T. J. "King" Kong), Peter Bull (Soviet Ambassador Alexei de Sadeski), James Earl Jones (Lieutenant Lothar Zogg), Tracy Reed (Miss Scott), and Shane Rimmer (Capt. Ace Owens) Directed and Producted by Stanley Kubrick (#044 - Full Metal Jacket, #065 - The Shining, #093 - 2001: A Space Odyssey, and #1046 - Barry Lyndon)

Review: 
When it comes to satire and black comedies, Dr. Strangelove sure comes to mind as one of the best. It should come as no surprise that it is the work of masters in terms of cast headlined by Peter Sellers and its director in Stanley Kubrick, who are each at their prime in a film that is razor-sharp in every aspect. The film was based off the novel Red Alert by Peter George, a thriller novel that treated its scenario of nuclear accident seriously. In his attempts to write a screenplay based on the book, he found that their was comedy present involving the absurd or paradoxical when it came to the balance of terror that was the arms race between the two superpowers of the world of the time, the United States and the Soviet Union. There certainly was plenty of inspiration involving Cold War tensions for Kubrick to make light of, with the Cuban Missile Crisis, the closest the two powers came to nuclear war, having occurred just two years prior. The "doomsday / mine-shaft" gaps are parodies of the missile gap, which had been popularized for political effect in the late 1950s. As such, the screenplay was credited to Kubrick, Terry Southern (an American novelist known for his dark absurdist style), and Peter George.

On the surface, one might wonder humor could be found with the scenario of an accident that could lead to nuclear warfare. The answer comes out pretty quickly with a film that captures an atmosphere where such a ghastly thing could happen in eccentric hands with subtlety. This for a film with plenty of interesting to go around, such as a general who believes in a Communist plot involving water fluoridation prior that threaten one's precious bodily fluids, or a crazed scientist resisting the urge to have his hand rise to a familiar position, or even a cowboy style wearing pilot that provides the most famous image from this film for its climax involving a missile and him. Sellers is the star of the show, playing three roles with such brilliance that could only come from a comically unique actor, for which he had already showcased with his various disguises in Kubrick's previous film Lolita (1962). He just blends into his two surrounding sets and actors (one being Hayden and the other being Scott and Bull) with perfect ease, each having their own distinct mannerisms and voices without seeming like a distraction from artistic depth. Scott is just as excellent in his role, where over-the-top isn't so much a guild-line as it was a case of Kubrick utilizing takes that were thought to be warm-ups for less ridiculous takes with the actor (for which he swore to never work with Kubrick again, although he later came to appreciate his performance). One can see him give his all with unapologetic grace and bluster that is keen to the moment needed. This goes just as well for the gritting Hayden, who is absolutely the one needed for a madman general like this, needing only a cigar and some talk about the water to make him captivating to view in humor. Pickens (a rodeo performer who also appeared in Westerns), told to play the role straight, is just as fine a highlight in part because his natural cadence shines through to make for laughs without seeming inauthentic. The rest of the cast have their small moments, such as Wynn and his deadpan delivery for his last line that lands perfectly, or Bull and his expressive nature when he first comes into the war room with a small camera, or Jones (who had acted on stage for nearly a decade) with a short but capable way to make a film debut, or Reed and her one-scene show with Scott.

The film is a funny one about such serious things because it knows how to utilize its surroundings without playing everyone for complete fools while having plenty of style to go around in terms of cinematography (Gilbert Taylor, with that wonderful look) and its set design (Ken Adam, with that wonderful war room), where one can see a thriller alongside the satire without seeming like two different films. After all, a serious rendition of potential nuclear warfare through accident would be shown that same year with Fail Safe (itself based off the novel of the same name from Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler), which ended up being released ten months after this film from the same studio after Kubrick and George had sued for copyright infringement. In any case, this is a wonderfully dark comedy that plays on the fears and culture of the time with zest and prime work from its cast and crew to make this an easy winner for everyone, having a bittersweet climax that seals everything up quite nicely (changed from the original intent of having it end with a massive pie fight). It still stands true today because its basic framework of human error and the attitudes of warfare when the chips all seem to be in place for it.

Overall, I give it 10 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: Doctor Dolittle.

Review #460: Doctor Dolittle.

Cast

Rex Harrison (Doctor John Dolittle), Samantha Eggar (Emma Fairfax), Anthony Newley (Matthew Mugg), Richard Attenborough (Albert Blossom), Peter Bull (General Bellowes), Muriel Landers (Mrs. Blossom), William Dix (Tommy Stubbins), Ginny Tyler (Polynesia) and Geoffrey Holder (William Shakespeare X) Directed by Richard Fleischer.

Review

Even though this is meant to be a horror based month, I decided to add this relic, due to it fulfilling the horror part...because it certainly is horror-ible. I'd mention the book that this was adapted from, but I have never, not once ever found Doctor Dolittle on a book shelf, so that renders my mention moot. The production troubles are certainly interesting, what with a bloated budget, combined with troubles with Harrison and other various such things. Unfortunately, the film itself isn't good. The actors are okay, but the main problem is the failed attempt at making a whimsical setting. Instead of being amazed at the effects (or not), I just kept hoping the actors weren't going to sing another song, since apparently there are 14 songs in the whole film. The film drags at nearly 2 and a half hours long, and combined with the boredom of the sets, makes for a sleep-binding experience. Then...there's the Giant Pink Sea Snail. My goodness, it looks bad, and combined with my irrational hatred of snails, makes for either a truly laughable showcase or...sleep. Honestly though, if I could talk to my birds, I'd ask why they chirp so much, but I guess Dolittle has better things to do, such as...singing. But I do wonder if that remake made (obviously) in the 90's is any better, but oh well. There are films that sound better to watch than this, like the next one coming up, a little film called Carnival of Souls. Tune in next time.

Overall, I give it 3 out of 10 stars.