Lonely Are the Brave.

Review #1229: Lonely Are the Brave.

Cast: 
Kirk Douglas (John W. "Jack" Burns), Gena Rowlands (Jerry Bondi), Walter Matthau (Sheriff Morey Johnson), Michael Kane (Paul Bondi), Carroll O'Connor (Truck Driver), William Schallert (Harry), George Kennedy (Gutierrez), and Karl Swenson (Rev. Hoskins) Directed by David Miller.

Review: 
Sometimes you come across a Western that is a bit different from the rest. This Western drama is adapted from Edward Abbey's 1956 novel The Brave Cowboy with a screenplay from Dalton Trumbo. The film deals with the difficulty an individual can have living within growing society, one where wires and fences loom over the open country, where one lone man stands with his principles. Douglas (who calls this his favorite film) was attracted to playing the lead after reading the novel, with him getting Universal Pictures to help fund the film with him as star, complete with cast and crew recruited from his production company Joel Productions. Filmed on a budget of two million around Albuquerque, New Mexico, Lonely Are the Brave is a stark and excellently done tragic classic, headlined by a great performance from Douglas alongside a capable supporting cast to go alongside him in a film that stands out from other Westerns of its time, both in setting and in tone. Key moments include Douglas and his fight with a one-armed man (Bill Raisch, a stand-in for Burt Lancaster on occasion best known for his appearances on The Fugitive beginning the following year), well-done cinematography by Philip H. Lathrop that shows off vast landscape shots without trouble and fine detail and an understated performance from Matthau, who was more known for his work on the stage (winning his second Tony Award the same year of this film's release, in fact). For the most part, this is a film for Douglas to grab with his performance, which is quite wonderful, running the gamut in grace as a man of the West trapped in a tragic fate of a moving world that makes this revisionist Western stand tall. Rowlands and Kane do fair with their brief time on screen, being the kind of people who could cross paths with a rogue like our lead without seeming completely in the background, trying to roll with their path in a weary world. The other members of the cast (including a young O'Connor) do just fine, including a rough Kennedy. It did not prove to be a huge hit upon initial release, in part because of disputes between Douglas and Universal over how the film should be released, with Douglas believing it should be released in art-houses and gradually build its audience and the studio preferring to release it wide without any sort of big support. Despite this, the film has its own cult following and it isn't hard to see why. It has a solid headliner with Douglas in a role he excels with, making it obvious why he would adore it still after half a century since, since it is a solid production with its own bit of thrills and distinctive voice among Westerns that make it a fair piece to recommend out of curiosity on the trail.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

The Man from Planet X.

Review #943: The Man from Planet X.

Cast:
Robert Clarke (John Lawrence), Margaret Field (Enid Elliot), Raymond Bond (Professor Elliot), William Schallert (Dr. Mears), Roy Engel (Tommy the Constable), Charles Davis (Georgie, man at dock), Gilbert Fallman (Dr. Robert Blane), and David Ormont (Inspector Porter) Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer (#797 - People on Sunday and #803 - Detour)

Review:
This film was made in just six days, while being shot on sets that had previously been used for the 1948 film version of Joan of Arc; fog machines were used not only for mood but also used in order to cover up parts of the set that weren't exactly there. This is the kind of movie where atmosphere and charm outweigh its cheaply thin nature to make a fairly decent movie. Clarke is a capable lead, carrying the movie with a good ounce of sincerity. Field and Bond are also pretty decent; Schallert is fine in an adversarial role; the film doesn't tell us what he did that apparently should've got him "twenty years", but he captures the ambitious but flawed type pretty well - even if he is also used in order to explain the plot later on. The movie runs pretty decently, lasting just 70 minutes and not seeming to waste any of its time either.

The alien is somewhat unique in that he communicates by modulated musical sounds; you never see his whole body throughout the film (due to the lighting), but his facial effects are pretty decent. One strange thing to note is the fact that there is no credit given to the actor who plays the titular character; it has been rumored to either have been Pat Goldin or dwarf actor Billy Curtis, though nothing can be confirmed (if one wants to go by Wikipedia, anyway). As stated before, the atmosphere of the film is quite nice, with nothing looks ridiculously out of place. The plot is a bit strange, with the main motivation not revealed until the last 10 minutes and the ending lines not exactly making sense. Field's character states that the creature was friendly and wondering what would have happened had Schaller's character had not "frightened him"...except that the creature was trying to get his people to invade the planet in order to survive, while they turned others in the island into zombies. No matter how the alien seemed, the fact remains that him and the planet mutually wanted to survive by invasion. In any case, this isn't a great flick, but it is at the very least a quick little film that manages to be fairly entertaining and overriding its limitations, with a good part of the credit going to the cast but also to Ulmer and his direction.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: In the Heat of the Night.

Review #544: In the Heat of the Night.

Cast
Sidney Poitier (Virgil Tibbs), Rod Steiger (Bill Gillespie), Warren Oates (Sam Wood), Lee Grant (Leslie Colbert), Larry Gates (Eric Endicott), James Patterson (Lloyd Purdy), William Schallert (Webb Schubert), Beah Richards (Mama Caleba/Mrs. Bellamy), Peter Whitney (George Courtney), Kermit Murdock (H.E. Henderson), Larry D. Mann (Watkins), Quentin Dean (Delores Purdy), and Anthony James (Ralph Henshaw) Directed by Norman Jewison (#127 - Rollerball and #273 - The Cincinnati Kid)

Review

The movie has two notable moments, a quote: "They call me MISTER Tibbs" (Which would also be used as the title for the sequel), and when Tibbs slaps Endicott back, eliciting shock. The movie has other brilliant moments as well, such as when Steiger and Poitier share a scene inside Steiger's character's house, which turns from the two drinking to them talking about loneliness, which is a poignant scene just for the two and their interactions in that and their other scenes in the movie. The actors are good, especially Poitier and Steiger. They have a good deal of tension in their performances, and the supporting cast is fitting for a film with tension like this. The last scenes may end the movie maybe too quick, but the movie still has tension, and a good deal of entertainment value to it. In the Heat of the Night is such an influential film when it all boils down to it, and this is a really slick but classic film.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: The Incredible Shrinking Man.

Review #420: The Incredible Shrinking Man.

Cast
Grant Williams (Scott Carey), Randy Stuart (Louise Carey), Paul Langton (Charlie Carey), Raymond Bailey (Dr. Thomas Silver), April Kent (Clarice), and William Schallert (Dr. Arthur Bramson) Directed by Jack Arnold.

Review
This film was based off the novel by the late Richard Matheson, who wrote the screenplay for this along with several films, novels and TV episodes such as The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), The Raven (1963), the novel I Am Legend and the 1964 version, Somewhere in Time, Duel, The Comedy Terrors, numerous Twilight Zone episodes...and Jaws 3-D. But nevertheless, The Incredible Shrinking Man benefits from a fine screenplay by Matheson, who keeps the plausibility levels high and the watchability even higher. The acting is alright, and Grant Williams is the best out of everyone in the film, we see the emotion he goes through, and it comes off as believable. The effects are the cornerstone of this film, and they look convincing, especially for the time this was made, and the scene where Williams' character is attacked by the cat is really good. This is a fine film, and I applaud Matheson for his work on this film.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.