The Desperate Hours.

Review #2551: The Desperate Hours.

Cast: 

Humphrey Bogart (Glenn Griffin), Fredric March (Daniel C. Hilliard), Arthur Kennedy (Deputy Sheriff Jesse Bard), Martha Scott (Ellie Hilliard), Dewey Martin (Hal Griffin), Gig Young (Chuck Wright), Mary Murphy (Cindy Hilliard), Richard Eyer (Ralphy Hilliard), Robert Middleton (Samuel Kobish), Walter Baldwin (George Patterson), Whit Bissell (FBI Agent Carson), Ray Teal (State Police Lieutenant), and Ray Collins (Sheriff Masters) Directed by William Wyler (#509 - Roman Holiday, #1022 - Jezebel, #1360 - Mrs. Miniver, #1368 - The Best Years of Our Lives)

Review:  

In 1952, there was a family in Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania that encountered three escaped convicts (Joseph and Ballard Nolen, Elmer Schuer) that held them hostage for 19 hours. The Hill family did not receive harm, and the convicts were soon apprehended (read: two of them died in a shootout in New York while the other got years in jail) after leaving the house. Influenced by the ordeal, Joseph Hayes wrote a novel in 1953 called The Desperate Hours that soon saw a theater production in 1955 (set in Indianapolis*), which saw Robert Montgomery stage it while featuring Karl Malden & Nancy Coleman as the parents opposite the convict leader played by Paul Newman. For the film, they wanted Spencer Tracy to play the second role opposite Bogart, but neither wanted to yield top billing, so you get Fredric March instead. You might say this is Bogart coming full circle, as his turn in The Petrified Forest (1934 play and 1936 film) as a gangster on the run was the one that catapulted him into public attention (of course, months before this film was released, Bogart starred in a televised production of that play); diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 1956, this was his penultimate role prior to his death the following year. This was the fourth of seven movies in the 1950s for Wyler, sandwiched between Best Picture nominee films Roman Holiday [1953] and Friendly Persuasion [1956]. Hayes wrote the screenplay for the film (various others have been listed as doing contributions, although this might not be correct). Made on a reported budget of over $2 million, the movie was not exactly a hit with audiences. In later years, it was adapted into a TV film in 1967, a film for India with 36 Ghante [1974] and a 1990 American remake with Desperate Hours that had Michael Cimino as director.

Sure, it probably doesn't hit as well as other thrillers, particularly since it strains a bit of credibility at a certain point in its housebound trappings, but you'll get a few interesting performances to make a decent time regardless with the Hilli(ard) family. It's a thriller not so much about when the cops get into the picture but instead a thriller about if that would actually turn out well for the family at all. It mainly rests on the shoulders of Bogart to make it all work with such an unsettling nature that basically sets the tension on the same level as cutting through butter, doing so with such smoothness that you can't take your eyes off him and his weary eyes, regardless of how movies like this were inevitably going to go back then. March does hold it together in a different type of intensity that wants to hold it all together for the sake of his family that is fairly palpable to where you probably can see him working fine over if it had been Tracy instead. It's a bout of men trying to assert who is the bigger man that happens to involve spectators that could get in harm's way (well, in a movie made a few decades later, probably more so for "harm", but still). Scott and others are more just ordinary, although there is a few moments of sophistication from Young* to go with piggishness from Middleton. It's a big house to set a film in, which is why there are moments spent away from the house because, well, you can only go so far with tension unless you set in the workplace (or, in one instance, the dispatching of one of the criminals). By the time it closes out its 113-minute runtime, you've closed the book on a movie that is fairly solid in lean suspense involving the threat of those with the supposed power and strength to hold you down in your place of residence before the inevitable hit of reality (for a movie at least) steps in. 

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

song of the day!

*For whatever reason, Life magazine published an article about the doubt of the Broadway show and had pictures of the actors in the house that the family lived in when they were held hostage and called the play a "reenactment". The Hills decided to sue them for violating the privacy law in New York. It eventually wound up in the Supreme Court, where Richard Nixon actually argued for the Hills. Narrowly, in 1967, the court found in favor of Time, Inc.

*The play hasn't been on Broadway since. Incidentally, Sammy Davis Jr did do a run of it for a playhouse a few times: Sammy Davis, Jr. - Theatre - “The Desperate Hours”

*This is the first time I've covered a movie with Gig Young in it. Young, a future Academy Award winner, was plagued by alcoholism in the later years of his life. In 1978, he murdered his wife and killed himself at the age of 64.

A Double Life (1947).

Review #2485: A Double Life (1947).

Cast: 

Ronald Colman (Anthony "Tony" John), Signe Hasso (Brita), Edmond O'Brien (Bill Friend), Shelley Winters (Pat Kroll), Ray Collins (Victor Donlan), Philip Loeb (Max Lasker), Millard Mitchell (Al Cooley), Joe Sawyer (Pete Bonner), Charles La Torre (Stellini), and Whit Bissell (Dr. Roland Stauffer) Directed by George Cukor (#479 - Travels with My Aunt, #974 - A Star is Born, #1355 - The Philadelphia Story, #1416 - My Fair Lady)

Review: 

Hey, you like movies about actors? You like movies that are basically noirs? You like a movie that basically ended up being a showcase for its lead star? Well, here's a movie for you. A Double Life, originally titled Imagination, was actually meant for Laurence Olivier but when he proved unavailable, it fell to asking Ronald Colman. You might recognize Colman (who moved over from England to America in the 1920s) from a wide variety of features such as Lost Horizon (1937) and Random Harvest (1942); Colman was coached by Walter Hampden in the Othello sequences. Apparently, George Cukor told a reluctant Colman (not exactly experienced in acting the works of Shakespeare) it would be the movie that might get him an Academy Award. The movie was written by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin as the first of six collaborations with Cukor as director, which included such films as Adam's Rib (1949) and Born Yesterday (1950). The film was a family affair in production, as it was produced by Michael Kanin (who in himself was known for script-writing such as Woman of the Year). First released in the holiday season of 1947 (in limited form first just to get it ready for the awards circuit), the film was a decent hit with audiences and garnered Academy Award wins for its music score and yes, an award for Colman as well. Colman spent the remaining years of his career doing a few appearances for radio & television alongside appearances in three feature films; Colman died in 1958 at the age of 67.

It is nice to have a film that can be both a showcase for a solid actor who had the voice and the timing to make a film basically work where a lesser actor could just make it feel like a strange joke (an actor getting too involved their craft does sound like it could be comedy). Sure, maybe it isn't as dark as it may wish to be to really stick its landing, and sure, it maybe has a bit of a struggle in making all of its 104-minute runtime work in making it really spooky in actual terror of losing oneself, but it is pretty neat to see anyway. Colman slips further and further into the muck of madness in a way that just seems so fascinating because of how unnerving it is to see the lines blur, and it helps that he sells the Shakespeare sequences (which are in the film quite a bit, as one expects) in the way one would hope to see in worthwhile devastation. The others in the cast are eccentric in parts when the pop in and out, most notably with Winters (eight years earlier, it was Cukor, hearing auditions for Gone with the Wind*, that told an auditioning teenaged Winters to go to acting school). She just has a certain type of spitfire charm that you could clearly see had potential to be more than just an object of curiosity, particularly since Hasso is merely just fine. O'Brien is at least dependable wherever he lurks, although again, you would think he would have a bit more to really play for tension when it comes to a movie that hangs onto a play involving a trio of tragedy, but so it goes. The film has a fascinating execution in the sights (editing, the lighting, pick one) and sounds one experiences at times involving Colman and the growing drumbeat in one's viewpoint. As a whole, A Double Life is a solid enough movie for those who like a film with a murky enough atmosphere and a solid lead to make the entire affair compelling for those who like to check out noirs every now and then.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

*Cukor was the original director in mind for the film before being replaced. By sheer coincidence, today is the 86th anniversary of its premiere in Atlanta.

The Best Years of Our Lives.

Review #1368: The Best Years of Our Lives.

Cast:
Myrna Loy (Milly Stephenson), Fredric March (Platoon Sergeant Al Stephenson), Dana Andrews (Captain Fred Derry), Teresa Wright (Peggy Stephenson), Virginia Mayo (Marie Derry), Cathy O'Donnell (Wilma Cameron), Hoagy Carmichael (Uncle Butch Engle), Harold Russell (Petty Officer 2nd Class Homer Parrish), Gladys George (Hortense Derry), Roman Bohnen (Pat Derry), Ray Collins (Mr. Milton), Minna Gombell (Mrs. Parrish), and Walter Baldwin (Mr. Parrish) Directed by William Wyler (#509 - Roman Holiday, #1022 - Jezebel, and #1360 - Mrs. Miniver)

Review:
The most enduring films can be the ones that strike us in their poignancy. Emotional honesty can be the best policy, particularly when it comes to a film basked in real life, about soldiers coming home from war. One prominent person returning from the war was director William Wyler. The year that he had directed Mrs. Miniver (1942) to roaring success (although he subsequently called it an "incomplete" film that only scratched the surface about war), he had volunteered to serve in the US Army Air Forces; he shot footage that was turned into two war documentaries, and there were risks to filming footage over actual bombing missions, with Wyler losing a significant part of his hearing due to exposure to loud noise. It should prove no surprise that Wyler was the director to be for a film about veterans arriving home from war, with numerous touches done by the director to make an authentic piece of grand naturalness, such as having the actors buy their own clothing and having sets constructed at life-size level (as opposed to camera-friendly larger sets). To go alongside Wyler was a producer with the capable hands in Samuel Goldwyn. He had gone from bustling garments to salesman to being in a film company partnership in 1913 with Jesse L. Lasky and others to turn plays into feature-length films. They would later merge with Paramount (alongside Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company), although Goldwyn would later resign in 1916 over disagreements, so he went on to partner with the Selwyn brothers to make the enterprise known as Goldwyn Pictures (with that leading to him changing his name to Goldwyn after being known as Goldfish that he had changed from Gelbfisz). It ran for eight years before being acquired by Marcus Loew to merge with Metro and Mayer to form Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, although Goldwyn moved on to his own production company, and the company produced films for 36 years that would distributed through various studios such as United Artists and RKO. This was written by Robert E. Sherwood (four-time Pulitzer Prize winner and head of the Office of War Information from 1943 until the end of the war) as an adaptation of the novella Glory for Me (1945) by MacKinlay Kantor, which had been inspired by an article in Time Magazine.

One finds themselves wrapped right in with a film like this from the very first minutes, and it should prove no surprise that this film manages to accomplish this through capable storytelling, having a consistent and engaging focus for each of its veteran plots that weaves magnificently for 172 minutes, where one is absorbed in where the path may go next. March commands the film with great presence, a weary and dogged man that we can go along at any point, which matches Loy and her capable patience that makes for great established chemistry. Andrews pulls off a tremendous performance as well an evolving performance built on humility, with him and March both expressing trauma in their own respective ways (which is especially striking now as it was then). Wright proves fairly charming in a film wrapped in honest realism, where naivety and sentiment are behind for most if the film, while Mayo pulls off a conniving turn in her moments on screen, with the best highlight probably being the scene between the two when they are on a double date and talking to themselves privately. an Army instructor who had lost his hands due to a defective fuse when handling TNT) had been noticed by Wyler due to an Army film named Diary of a Sergeant, which was about rehabilitating veterans. He appeared in three total films, with Wyler having told him to finish his interrupted studies at Boston University. He pulls off his story with tremendous courage in a natural manner, where one is focused on him and his trouble like we would with others with more acting experience while not thinking about his hooks. Rounding out the cast is capable edge filling from singer-turned occasional actor Carmichael and an understanding O'Donnell performance. There is plenty that one can see when it comes to following natural pursuits in this film, one that eventually finds hope in the murkiness that could accompany such a hard readjusting that war can be. It isn't overly-sentimental or cynical to the point of irritation, finding an honest middle ground that lets these characters breathe for themselves. From the deep focus shots from Gregg Toland to highlights like the aircraft boneyard sequence, one will have an interesting time to spend with people that still seem relevant now.

One may not be surprised to know that this was a hit for its year with audiences and critics. It won seven Academy Awards, with Wyler, Sherwood, March, and Russell winning in respective categories of directing, screenplay, and acting while also winning for editing and original score. The night belonged to Goldwyn and Russell, with the former being awarded both an Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award along with Best Picture (his one win in eight nominations as producer for Best Picture) for this film while the latter became the first and only actor to receive two Academy Awards for the same performance, having been awarded an Honorary Academy Award (since the Academy apparently believed his Oscar hopes were slim). In any case, it is easy to see why this endures as one of the best films of its era, where one will find themselves satisfied with going through the time to see something like this and not finding their patience tested at any real point.

Overall, I give it 10 out of 10 stars.

The Racket (1951).

Review #1008: The Racket.

Cast: 
Robert Mitchum (Captain Thomas McQuigg), Lizabeth Scott (Irene Hayes), Robert Ryan (Nick Scanlon), William Talman (Officer Bob Johnson), Ray Collins (District Attorney Mortimer X. Welch), Joyce MacKenzie (Mary McQuigg), Robert Hutton (Dave Ames), Virginia Huston (Lucy Johnson), and William Conrad (Detective Sergeant Turk) Directed by John Cromwell.

Review: 
When I reviewed the original 1928 version of The Racket (#901), I described it as an efficient film that ran at a fine pace that pushed the right buttons and served its purpose as a crime drama that had originally served as a stage play the previous year. In any case, it is interesting reviewing the remake that was made just two decades later, with the man who had starred as McQuigg in the original Broadway production serving as director. In any case, this is a movie that isn't much of an improvement on the original, though it is also a movie that is at best moderately satisfying to the standard of film noir crime drama that you might expect. The best thing about the movie is the scenes involving Mitchum and Ryan, such as their first scene together, when the latter ends up having to deal with his brother's involvement with a singer and an ensuing conversation about his care for him - along with dialogue about how the other will try to pull one over the other. There isn't much going for the film that you could already see in other gangster films (or even the original version), and the characters themselves aren't really all too interesting. Sure, Mitchum and Ryan pull off fine performances, and the rest of the cast are fairly decent, but they can't really elevate these characters to anything too special or compelling, although Conrad is certainly interesting to watch even when in the background. It seems to hint at something more with the corruption element, but it never really comes off as anything too revealing nor does it seem like it wants to say something more relevant than what you might expect. Oddly, though Cromwell is the only credited director, four other directors directed supplemental scenes in the film due to re-shoots ordered by Howard Hughes (owner of the studio that released the film, RKO Radio Pictures): Nicholas Ray (director of Rebel Without a Cause (#181) and Bigger Than Life (#928), Tay Garnett (director of films such as the 1946 version of The Postman Always Rings Twice), Sherman Todd (who also served as editor of the film) and Mel Ferrer (actor/director). Notable scenes that Ray directed include the beginning scene with the the Crime Commission, a police locker sequence, and other bits and pieces.

At 88 minutes, it's not exactly a slog of a film to go through, and it is a movie that is on a basic level entertaining, but it's really hard to recommend this film over other films (The Big Combo (#934), He Walked by Night (#947), or the 1928 original). On a grading scale, this would fall along a C level, but I can't blame someone for finding it useful to watch at least once. It's a mess, but it is a fine mess that shines in all sorts of directions for everyone, for better or for worse, being a pretty good example of a toss-up.

Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: It Happens Every Spring.

Review #562: It Happens Every Spring.

Cast
Ray Milland (Vernon K. Simpson/King Kelly), Jean Peters (Deborah Greenleaf), Paul Douglas (Monk Lanigan), Ed Begley (Edgar Stone), Ted de Corsia (Jimmy Dolan), Ray Collins (Prof. Greenleaf), Jessie Royce Landis (Mrs. Greenleaf), and Alan Hale Jr. (Schmidt) Directed by Lloyd Bacon

Review
It Happens Every Spring was made without the support of Major League Baseball, which is evident immediately, given that all the stadiums are referred to by city (such as Pittsburgh Stadium or Brooklyn Stadium), a practice not really done at the time (Instead, they were referred to by other names, such as Ebbets Field, Forbes Field, Shibe Park, and Sportsman Park (Used by both St. Louis teams for years), though Cleveland Stadium was an exception to the rule that I just mentioned), and all the teams in the movie are referred to by city name in both jerseys and in dialogue. I'd like to think that the team the main character plays for is the St. Louis Browns rather then the Cardinals because the though of having to see the Cardinals win the World Series again even in a movie makes me shudder. So yeah, how is the film itself? If you ignore the fact that the main character essentially cheats to help his team win the pennant and no one bothers to complain, the movie is easy to like. The actors are fine, and Paul Douglas is enjoyable to watch (Douglas also does a good performance in a baseball movie, (#433) Angels in the Outfield), and I guess the movie is alright, even though it's not exactly a great baseball movie. It's certainly a decent movie, and I can see the effort that was done for this movie. Would I recommend it? I'd recommend it along with other baseball movies, such as The Natural, Angels in the Outfield, and Field of Dreams. But oh well.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer.

Review #527: The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer.

Cast
Cary Grant (Richard Nugent), Myrna Loy (Margaret Turner), Shirley Temple (Susan Turner), Rudy Vallee (Tommy Chamberlain), Ray Collins (Dr. Matt Beemish), Harry Davenport (Thaddeus Turner), Johnny Sands (Jerry White), and Don Beddoe (Joey) Directed by Irving Reis.

Review
The title certainly got me interested in this film, trying to figure out what exactly a Bobby-Soxer was. Apparently it (according to Wikipedia) is a 1940s sociological coinage describing the often very zealous fans of Swing music, often young adults, or in this movie, Shirley Temple. If your like me, you probably didn't know Shirley Temple made films in her teenage years (that or like me you didn't watch any of her films prior to this and only know her due to commercials trying to sell her films to people watching at home), and she doesn't do a bad job, and while her character could be regarded as annoying at times, she is okay either way. Cary Grant is charming and is certainly very entertaining, and Myrna Loy works well with Grant as well. The rest of the cast do well, and there are good laughs with this film, it has a clever way with fun, and this is a film that while unusual with its pairing, is a good film.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: Citizen Kane.

Review #200: Citizen Kane.

Cast
Orson Welles (Charles Foster Kane), William Alland (Jerry Thompson), Dorothy Comingore (Susan Alexander Kane), Joseph Cotten (Jedediah Leland), George Coulouris (Walter Parks Thatcher), Everett Sloane (Mr. Bernstein), Ruth Warrick (Emily Monroe Norton Kane), Agnes Moorehead (Mary Kane), Ray Collins (Jim W. Gettys), and Paul Stewart (Raymond) Directed by Orson Welles.

Review
This film feels like a detective story, as you are invested into the life of the man known as Kane. The acting is great, with Welles being the main standout (As it should be) This was his first film that he directed, and this is his more remembered (More so then The Magnificent Ambersons) The film grows on you, it turns from seeing a young, grand Kane to the end, where he is alone, old, in his grand palace, Xanadu. The screenplay is great as well. There aren't many effects in this film, but when they are apparent, they're good. My favorite is the rise of the theater along with the shot of the many Kanes walking in his palace. The ending is just great, giving you a twist that hasn't really been done ever since. It has been 71 years since this film was released, and it is still one of, if not the greatest. For people who want to learn how to make films, it is a grand tool for that department. It may not have been respected as it is today back in 1941, but now it is respected as one of the greatest films of our time. And that ends the 200th Review. Thank you for reading, commenting, and just being there for Movie Night. There's still more to come.

Overall, I give it 10 out of 10 stars.