Repeat Performance.

Review #2056: Repeat Performance.

Cast: 

Louis Hayward (Barney Page), Joan Leslie (Sheila Page), Richard Basehart (William Williams), Virginia Field (Paula Costello), Tom Conway (John Friday), Natalie Schafer (Eloise Shaw), Benay Venuta (Bess Michaels), and Ilka Grüning (Mattle) Directed by Alfred L. Werker #676 - Shock, #721 - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and #947 - He Walked by Night)

Review: 

Admittedly, some film directors stay anonymous when it comes to directing, even if there is some sort of promise with select film assignments. But Alfred L. Werker had a consistent career to give himself credit for, because it spanned four decades from his work as an assistant director in the silent era all the way to becoming a director by the time the 1920s ended. He even got to direct within the more noted studios such as 20th Century Fox for a time, and he was the one who directed the second of the Rathbone-Bruce series of Sherlock Holmes films in 1938. Strangely enough, his career saw him on both sides of the coin when it came to directors replacing directors without credit: he was brought into doing a re-shoot and re-editing on Erich von Stroheim's troubled Hello, Sister! (1933) and he was given credit for He Walked by Night (1949) although Anthony Mann contributed a certain amount of input as director. For this film, oddly enough, Werker was brought in by Eagle-Lion Films to do it over Jules Dassin (don't worry about Dassin, he got to direct useful efforts in that time with Brute Force (1947) and The Naked City (1948), so there's that). The film is based on the 1942 novel of the same name by William O'Farrell, with a screenplay by Walter Bullock that reversed the character traits of the lead characters (the man was the troubled shooter while the woman was an alcoholic, but the poet character was, well, a crossdresser); this change was done apparently because when they casted Leslie, they thought she would be more suited for a not-alcoholic role. It was one of the first releases from the studio of Eagle-Lion, who released a considerable number of films that year (no need for coincidences, but one of those features...was T-Men, by Mann), one that would not be a mere cheapie to be paired on package films. 

Okay, here's a film noir that could throw you for a loop: a movie that takes place over the course of 1946 where the lead character is reliving that year all over again after killing their husband on New Years Eve. It may very well be one of the first films to feature a time loop, although obviously it is certainly something to try and make an act out of one person trying to avoid destiny with twelve months to plan that happens to involve her as a stage actor. Apparently, there exists a restoration (as done in the mid-2000s, because it nearly languished in complete obscurity) of the film out there in the markets, which is possibly more intriguing than trying to search for it on the Internet, where at least one version has a "Nick at Nite" bumper at times or happens to have burned-in subtitles (TCM, if you were curious, only showed it first in 2019). The 92-minute runtime is perhaps a bit too long to truly hold up its premise, but it is a curious achievement. Hell, I suppose there are more stories and films about time loops than I thought there would be, aside from that one time you could see it on The Twilight Zone. It begs for some sort of suspense here, but instead it mostly goes about with the air of inevitability more than anything, which is only mildly involving. But one can at least see why Leslie, in the first of two films she did with Eagle-Lion (Northwest Stampede was done the following year), is a worthy presence to set the table in trying to avert a fait accompli. Try as she might in a knowing sense of vulnerability, her realization in the gut-churning countdown to December 31. Hayward is perhaps a bit overextended in trying to play this raving man of drunken bitterness, which results in a bit of hammy acting when it comes to the final setup of a guy doomed to be shot. So confident was Eagle-Lion with the audience reviews about Basehart was that they gave him better billing, which is pretty impressive for a guy going from stage work to his film debut. There is an alluring quality to him as the only one who goes with this idea of destiny, albeit as an eccentric (so yes, instead of cross-dressing, he just gets roped into the asylum because of a girl). The rest of the players do just fine in routines as the film eventually makes its way around what can and perhaps cannot be changed when it comes to thinking about looking at the past a certain way twice. As a whole, it is more curious than anything, but it makes at least some use of its premise with a few decent performances to make a useful recommendation. 

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

La Strada.

Review #1386: La Strada.

Cast: 

Giulietta Masina (Gelsomina), Anthony Quinn (Zampanò), Richard Basehart (Il Matto), Aldo Silvani (Il Signor Giraffa), Marcella Rovere (La Vedova), and Livia Venturini (La Suorina) Directed by Federico Fellini.

Review: 

"There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the infinite passion of life."

Influence can come from anywhere, particularly when it comes to film. Federico Fellini is certainly a director with immense stature and influence that stood the test of time for his visual style and tone displayed over his numerous films. Born in Italy in 1920 as the son of a traveling salesman, he found interest in drawing and the circus, with his first career ambition being as a gag writer and caricaturist before finding himself working with the noted satirical Italian magazine Marc'Aurelio for a couple of years. It was his work with the radio program Cico and Pallina where he met his future wife Giulietta Masina. He soon found work in screenplays, with his help on Roberto Rossellini's Rome, Open City (1945) being a highlight of Italian neorealism cinema, earning him an Academy Award nomination (the first of eight as writer; he also received four nominations for directing). He would contribute numerous more scripts over the next few years before making his debut as a co-director with Variety Lights (1950). His first noted success was with I Vitelloni (1953), a comedy-drama that had touches of Fellini's life in terms of the pleasures and frustrations of growing up in a small town (as was the case with the other two screenwriters) that was done as Fellini had completed an early draft of La Strada, which was initially declined by producers. In total, Fellini won numerous accolades over a forty-year career, including having four of his films winning an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film (most for any director) along with a Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival for La Dolce Vita. 

One can only hope to have themselves on the road watching a film like this in their lifetime, since this proves to a road worth taking that is bittersweet but worth every moment it plays its parable (with the characters representing natural elements like water, earth, and fire) with a dynamic cast to go along with everything in motion. A haunting look (alongside the practice of the time in shooting being done without sound) contributes to the blend of fantasy and reality that strikes the heart for 104 minutes without breaking its integrity. Masina excels with innocence, a performance that strikes at the heart with curiosity with pathos in her troubles that make up the paradoxical nature of her and Quinn for most of the film. In that sense, Quinn proves just as effective with his brutish nature and pride that makes his scenes with Masina striking in what we see beneath the surface, which proves effective with the final sequence of weeping at the dark that circles the lonely. Basehart rounds the cast down with amusement as the crucial piece of the dynamically tragic trio that make this more than a simple drama for the audience, one that will inspire a thought or two on human nature and oneself. The film was produced by noted international producers Carlo Ponti and Dino De Laurentiis, with the writing being done by Fellini, Tullio Pinelli, and Ennio Flaiano (they would all collaborate to numerous scripts for Fellini over the years). It should only prove appropriate that there were numerous quirks to making the film, such as Quinn working on this film in the day while having to work on another film in the night-time (done because of production being delayed due to Masina spraining her ankle), while Fellini suffered a nervous breakdown that needed treatment before production could get closer to finishing, compounded with praise and criticism from critics in his native country (such as a Marxist critic stating the film, while not a badly directed and acted film was "wrong; its perspective is wrong", which makes me roll my eyes twice over). However, the film improved its standing over time, with its 1956 US release resulting in it winning an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film (the first given out as a general award, although honorary ones had been given out to world cinema films in eight of the previous nine ceremonies). On the whole, this is a richly interesting movie, one with plenty to portray through images within an earthy tone that made Fellini an iconic director of his time that stood as influence to directors such as David Lynch and Pedro Almodovar among others. This is an easy film to recommend for those who want to have an interesting time with something worthy of cinema in more ways than one. 

 Overall, I give it 10 out of 10 stars.

He Walked by Night.

Review #947: He Walked by Night.

Cast:
Richard Basehart (Roy Martin/Roy Morgan), Scott Brady (Sgt. Marty Brennan), Roy Roberts (Captain Breen), Whit Bissell (Paul Reeves), James Cardwell (Sgt. Chuck Jones), and Jack Webb (Lee) Directed by Alfred L. Werker (#676 - Shock and #721 - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes) and Anthony Mann.

Review:
This is an interesting type of film noir in the fact that it is shot in a semi-documentary tone that is also loosely based off the crime spree of Erwin "Machine Gun" Walker, who like the character in the film was a former police employee and World War II veteran that committed thefts and burglaries with police in Los Angeles roughly three years before the film was made. In any case, this is a police procedural that does not waste much time in establishing its story along with its choices in how to film it, from the narration that occurs throughout the movie to the cinematography by John Alton (who I previously mentioned in The Big Combo - #934) to the group of police characters (and small supporting cast) that are given focus. Werker (along with an uncredited Anthony Mann) gives fine direction to the movie, delivering tension and violence without overshadowing the story.

Basehart gives the gritty kind of performance for a movie bounding itself in reality and having no sort of frills, and it works quite well in serving its purpose. Brady and Roberts are fairly decent police leads, working the movie in a serviceable way. Bissell does a fine job in making this character feel gullible but not outright annoyingly weaselly. One thing to note is that Jack Webb was inspired by a conversation with Detective Sergeant Mary Wynn (who served as police technical advisor for the movie) to create Dragnet, which is the most notable and most influential police procedural drama that had separate runs on radio and television.  Reed Hadley provides the narration in an uncredited role, and he does a capable job, doing a fair job in making the movie seem accessible. There is a consistent type of pace in this 79-minute movie, where nothing seems over-extended past a logical conclusion nor too short; one highlight is the scene where they attempt to identify the suspect via building a composite, with numerous changes before it is finally finished. The ending scene in the sewers is a riveting finale that has the right balance of sounds, shadows and lights, with Basehart's expressions and movements being quite helpful in seeing the climax to its bitter end (which is not exactly like the events in real life, but no matter). This is a fine little gem that does it by the book and succeeds.

To any readers, I am experimenting with using hyperlinks for anytime a previous review is mentioned. With any luck, this will work out without any problems. Hope you enjoy it.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: Being There.

Review #636: Being There.

Cast
Peter Sellers (Chance the Gardener/Chauncey Gardiner), Shirley MacLaine (Eve Rand), Melvyn Douglas (Ben Rand), Jack Warden (The President), Richard Dysart (Dr. Robert Allenby), Richard Basehart (US Soviet Ambassador), David Clennon (Thomas Franklin), Fran Brill (Sally Hayes), and Ruth Attaway (Louise) Directed by Hal Ashby.

Review
What we have here is a movie based around a simple man who may have secrets that even he probably doesn't know about. The best quote to describe this movie is also the quote used to end the movie: "Life is a state of mind." My thought on this is that life is merely our mood at the time, if we feel a certain emotion, then that is how life is to us at that point. It varies, like our moods. But Chance is a different case. He's a man who spent years gardening and watching television. That's all he had done, until he was kicked out. His life evolves purely out of accidents out of his control, the movie's implications are still hilarious though. This was Peter Sellers' last movie released when he was alive, and he makes the most of it with a perfect performance for a character as strange as him. His walking, his face and most of all his delivery make for a really interesting performance. The rest of the cast is also good, MacLaine works best with Sellers, and Douglas nearly steals the show from Sellers, the main three cast members all manage to be intriguing characters, yet they also manage to feel so real. The movie has its moments of drama, though it also manages to be a very good comedy. It has its subtle moments, such as the music that plays when Chance leaves the house and cross the street for the first time. The end scene is yours to interpret, much like how it's your decision to interpret exactly who Chance is. This is a movie with a great deal of quirks, the biggest one being its biggest strength, and that just happens to be Peter Sellers.

Overall, I give it 10 out of 10 stars.