The Professionals (1966).

Review #2371: The Professionals.

Cast: 

Burt Lancaster (Bill Dolworth), Lee Marvin (Henry "Rico" Fardan), Claudia Cardinale (Maria Grant), Robert Ryan (Hans Ehrengard), Woody Strode (Jake Sharp), Jack Palance (Jesus Raza), Ralph Bellamy (Joe Grant), Joe De Santis (Ortega), Rafael Bertrand (Fierro), Maria Gomez (Chiquita), and Jorge Martínez de Hoyos (Padillia) Written for the Screen and Directed by Richard Brooks (#871 - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, #1033 - Dollars, #1426 - In Cold Blood)

Review: 

Admittedly, it does help to highlight a director that likes to have it their way as writer and/or producer too, particularly one as fiery and as less covered as I would like to admit. Richard Brooks was actually a reporter before he became interested in the film industry, and it served him well to serve in the Marine Corps film unit in World War II because his debut novel (you might know it as Crossfire [1947]) got him attention in actually being sought for writing in film, most notably with uncredited work with The Killers (1946) and collaboration on Key Largo (1948). He became writer/director with Crisis (1950) at MGM and honed his talent there, culminating with Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), one of his numerous adaptations of previous material. He struck forward with other studios and won with Elmer Gantry (1960), which won him an Academy Award for his script. Two films later (Sweet Bird of Youth (1962), Lord Jim [1965]), here we are with another adaptation of previous material, in this case being the 1964 novel A Mule for the Marquesa, by Frank O'Rourke (O'Rourke was a regular writer of Western books, with The Bravados (1958) being among the first of his adapted into movies). The movie was shot in both California and Nevada (most notably with Death Valley). The result was a hit that garnered Brooks two Academy Award nominations. If any director had multiple peaks and valleys, Brooks likely reached his last peak with his next movie that arose in 1967 with In Cold Blood, as he directed six further movies in the next two decades.

Oh hell, you need to balance out the Westerns when travelling along the trail for curious entertainment, one that has two distinct halves that will hold one's attention with how much energy can be put on screen in such lean execution. Cliche as it sounds, this is clearly the work of a professional when it comes to establishing an entertaining ensemble (one that sure won't remind folks of say, The Magnificent Seven) and a locale that isn't lost among the peaks and valleys of dirt. It is a gritty and fun movie for its 117-minute run-time, suffice to say. It is a pal's kind of movie, not one where one ego just overshadows the other, but if we are being fair, Marvin fits the movie like a glove. There is something about Marvin* that inspires a smile with how one just rolls with him to lead a movie with such an understated charm that might as well have come right down from his days playing hardboiled guys that doesn't have to say much to just make one roll with things. Of course, Lancaster isn't too far behind in wise-ass charm, he just happens to be shrouded in curiosity in following along with being part of the kicking-ass nature and causing mayhem. Ryan and Strode round out the core four with their own entertaining qualities (even with both past their fifties, one can see an ass-kicker there, basically) while Cardinale and Palance fill the sides with commitment that show the actual sides to a frontier closing in on people where people will die for their commitment to a cause because of the passion they yearn to show. Bellamy is the right kind of craven outsider needed to start and end the movie. Being trapped in peaks and valleys roll well with the mayhem created in just letting things fly with relatively colorful people to hold it. By the time one gets to the ending, you might see a movie that strains to really hold it all together, but it does work out to see the culmination of making a choice on conviction rather than by simple order. In that sense, this is a neat movie, maybe not a great Western but a worthwhile ensemble movie with worthwhile people all around to make it worth your while.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

*You might want to know that would be Academy Award winning Lee Marvin, as the previous year saw the release of Cat Ballou (1965), which saw him win for Best Actor. Incidentally, Marvin and Ryan teamed up the next year for The Dirty Dozen in another movie about colorful characters and guns, guns, guns.

Posse (1993)

Review #2180: Posse.

Cast: 

Mario Van Peebles (Jesse Lee), Stephen Baldwin (Jimmy J. "Little J" Teeters), Billy Zane (Colonel Graham), Tone-Lōc (Angel), Melvin Van Peebles (Joe "Papa Joe"), Tom Lister Jr (Obobo), Big Daddy Kane ("Father Time"), Reginald VelJohnson (Preston), Blair Underwood (Sheriff Carver), Isaac Hayes (Cable), Charles Lane ("Weezie"), Robert Hooks (David "King David" Lee), Richard Jordan (Sheriff Bates), Pam Grier (Phoebe), Nipsey Russell (Snopes), Paul Bartel (Mayor Bigwood), Salli Richardson (Lana), and Woody Strode (The Storyteller) Directed by Mario Van Peebles (#1978 - New Jack City)

Review: 

Oh sure, "revisionist Western" isn't exactly the newest thing for the 1990s, but, hey, I dig action Westerns or ones with interesting ensembles, and I had this film in mind for last February, so screw it. This was the second film directed by Mario Van Peebles, following the resounding success of New Jack City (1991), and it perhaps makes sense to make a big spectacle Western film and have yourself as the star. Hell, if Eastwood or Poitier can do it...anyway, the film was written by rookie screenwriters Sy Richardson and Dario Scardapane. The film was a modest hit with audiences at the time, at least on a reported budget of $3 million. Strode, who had previously been featured in a variety of Westerns alongside documentaries such as Black Rodeo (1972), is featured for parts in the beginning and end, which also includes a clip from Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) to go with clips from older black cowboys such as The Bronze Buckaroo (1939). Of course, like Buck and the Preacher, it never hurts to have something to jog interest in actual historical things, such as with Buffalo Soldiers, the U.S. Army regiments consisting of African Americans that served on the frontier for the latter years of the 19th century and early 20th century. In 1997, Van Peebles wrote and starred in a made-for-TV/video film called Los Locos, which was directed by Jean-Marc Vallée (director of future films such as Dallas Buyers Club), which was billed in some places as "Posse Rides Again", even though it really isn't related to this film. Van Peebles has kept busy over the years in directing (sometimes in television), whether that involves television or his latest film, which appropriately or not, is titled Outlaw Posse (2024).

It is a frantic film that seems like a tribute to the energetic Spaghetti Westerns along with blaxploitation features, which means one has a film that sometimes looks like it is going to collapse under its overwhelming nature. Is it overproduced and underdeveloped in characters? Maybe, but if you throw a bunch of likeable folks and a few cute moments together, then why not? What, one has to say they are a serious Western in order to be thought of as such? Fun indulgence when it comes to spinning a "town defense" story generally wins most of the time. This is a film with dueling narratives of "revenge and perseverance" that flashes off for start and end of 111 minutes with a bit of flabbiness in the middle. The persistent flashbacks remind me of High Plains Drifter (1973), which I can see as both interesting and slightly overproduced by the time one sees a sepia tone sequence involving folks you know are responsible again (which is where you see Hooks at any point of the film). The strong silent type works fine for Van Peebles, because in a film of generally familiar roles, he doesn't strain himself one bit, unless one finds macho posturing to be some sort of bad thing (one isn't exactly expecting a comedy Western like Blazing Saddles). Of the folks around him in the "posse", probably Baldwin does best when it comes to conniving relief, although Kane's relaxed composure is close at hand. If one accepts the array of appearances that might as well be cameos, it is fine to see folks like Hayes appear briefly (and yes, one does get a scene or so with father and son of Van Peebles, which I would expect for indulgences). Zane chomps the screen from time to time in general skullduggery that is totally in line with a fun Western outlook (complete with eyepatch and ridiculous final scene), while Jordan (in his penultimate film role prior to his death in 1993) strikes at the heart of venom and malice that is also fair to appreciate in acting. As a whole, the film is frenzied and probably a bit slipshod when it comes to doing anything particularly new with the genre, but I appreciate the attempt to make a black cowboy film on one's own terms. It was fun enough to watch once and get a few kicks out of the execution of action, and it might work out just as well for you if one is the mindset for what it is selling. 

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Once Upon a Time in the West.

Review #1429: Once Upon a Time in the West.

Cast: 
Henry Fonda (Frank), Charles Bronson ("Harmonica"), Claudia Cardinale (Jill McBain), Jason Robards (Manuel "Cheyenne" Gutiérrez), Gabriele Ferzetti (Mr. Morton), Paolo Stoppa (Sam, the Coachman), Marco Zuanelli (Wobbles), Keenan Wynn (the Sheriff of Flagstone), Frank Wolff (Brett McBain), Lionel Stander (The Barman), Woody Strode (Stony, first gunman), Jack Elam (Snaky, second gunman), and Al Mulock (Knuckles, third gunman) Directed by Sergio Leone (#015 - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, #017 - A Fistful of Dollars, and #019 - For a Few Dollars More)

Review: 
"I had never thought of making a western even as I was making it. I think that my films are westerns only in their exterior aspects. Within them are some of my truths, which happily, I see, belong to lots of parts of the world. Not just America. My discussion is one that has gone all the way from Fistful of Dollars through Once Upon a Time in America. But if you look closely at all these films, you find in them the same meanings, the same humor, the same point of view, and, also, the same pains."

Who better to make an epic Western of the last days of the gunfighter than a man well-known for making capable Westerns with their own kind of style and complexity in Sergio Leone? He was the son of a family of film (father Roberto Roberti was a silent actor and director while mother Bice Valerian was an actress), and he worked in filmmaking from an early age as an assistant to directors such as Vittorio de Sica (Bicycle Thieves) to William Wyler (Ben Hur) that were working in Italy, with his second unit work on the latter going un-credited. He also turned his hand at writing, collaborating with others for his first screenplay credit with Slave Women of Corinth (1958, one of numerous sword-and-sandal works). While working on The Last Days of Pompeii (1959), he was asked to help with direction after the director fell ill. Leone would go un-credited for this, but he would subsequently get his chance to direct with The Colossus of Rhodes (1961). It was a fair success, but his next film proved far more memorable with A Fistful of Dollars (1964), the first of a trilogy of Western films with Clint Eastwood as "The Man with No Name" known as the Dollars trilogy. The films were known for their distinctive visual and thematic style in contrast to the Westerns of the time abroad in the United States (with these three being designated as Spaghetti Westerns). Akira Kurosawa felt that it was a fine film, but that it was his film, since it had taken inspiration from his 1961 film Yojimbo. Regardless of this, Leone would be noted for his extreme close-up shots with long shots that made for a worthwhile career that was comprised of seven directed efforts from 1961 to 1984 before his death of a heart attack in 1989.

The film was an Italian-American production, with Leone being coaxed into making a Western by Paramount because they allowed him a fair budget and the one star he always wanted to direct: Henry Fonda, who was convinced to do the film by friend Eli Wallach (stating that he would have the time of his life). Shooting was mixed between Italy, Spain, and America (notably with Rome and Monument Valley), with considerable preparation made by Leone and his writers in constructing a story with ties to American Westerns of the past, such as The Iron Horse (1924) and The Searchers (1956). Leone co-wrote the screenplay with Sergio Donati, while the story was done by him, Dario Argento, and Bernardo Bertlucci (the latter two would become noted directors in their own right). The touches to other films work themselves out nicely where a lesser film would've seemed too slavish to the past with no ambition forward. The film runs at 166 minutes, although it was changed for American release by cutting twenty minutes (conversely, it was a flop here while a hit abroad). What a marvelous film this is. This is a grand Western to potentially end all Westerns for its era, one with its own vision about the Old West and a pondering nature and scope to back it up with class. Longtime collaborator and famed Italian composer and orchestrator Ennio Morricone is especially important to making this a beauty to listen to, with such distinct and devastating power that reaches for the soul like an opera. The interesting thing is that the music was actually done before shooting started, and Leone would play the music in the background for the actors on set. It takes time to set itself up with its core four of focus, but once it starts rolling down the hill with tension, it never seems to stop in making gritty poetry with somberness to make a revenge story with contemplation over the past and future of the Old West sweep through with the blaze of a railroad engine.

Fonda, generally known for appealing roles over the prevailing four decades, is exactly on point in conviction for such a ruthless lead role, with no ham or any other tricks needed; Leone liked Fonda's blue eyes to reflect his cold character (as opposed to Fonda utilizing contact lenses and a mustache), which would prove quite a shock upon his first appearance on screen with those striking eyes. It should make sense to see Bronson here in a Leone film, since he had rejected the chance to appear in the first film of the Dollars trilogy. Now, with Clint Eastwood rejecting this role for fear of typecasting, it fell to Bronson, who makes the best of it with a hardened stance that invites one in to curiosity that simmers without needing to say (or play the harmonica) much, which proves particularly true for the showdown in the end, a masterful climax to show Fonda and Bronson face each other with skill (after the latter helps the former escape betrayal from within, an interesting scene in of itself). Cardinale, a Italian Tunisian of numerous Italian, French and American productions, shows inner strength and passion that drives the film well, whether when dealing with moving the West forward or a brusque Fonda. Robards (a man of film, television and stage that could do historical roles as well as common ones) rounds the cast out with rough charm and a few zinging moments that make for a colorful rogue to the end. Ferzetti makes for a restrained but welcome presence that encircles the ranging conflicts of greed and lust. In the end, it all proves worth a viewing as a lasting achievement for the Western that utilizes a dynamic cast and music to go with somber tone and pacing for one grand adventure worth the time to view in all of its gritty glory.

Overall, I give it 10 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: Kingdom of the Spiders.

Review #462: Kingdom of the Spiders.

Cast
William Shatner (Rack Hansen), Tiffany Bolling (Diane Ashley), Woody Strode (Walter Colby), Lieux Dressler (Emma Washburn), David McLean (Gene Smith), Natasha Ryan (Linda Hansen), Altovise Davis (Birch Colby), Joe Ross (Vern Johnson), and Marcy Lafferty (Terry Hansen) Directed by John "Bud" Cardos.

Review
Most notable for its treatment of tarantulas and the ever enduring appearance of William Shatner, Kingdom of the Spiders provides many, many unintentional laughs, but isn't exactly scary. On occasion there are moments of fright, like the end result of the spiders taking over the small town, but then there's moments of a person shooting their own hand just to get rid a spider. The spiders themselves don't look like they are attacking people, they seem to just move at normal speed, but given the other option of animatronics, I doubt it could've been better. Shatner is not too bad, and the rest of the cast is okay, not too over the top, but this film runs and ends quickly, at what seems to be a cliche of a length, though having more scenes of spiders just walking away from the characters would've made the film last about 2 minutes longer, so oh well. It's a mediocre horror film made in a silly era of horror film making, with such "classics" like Frogs, Killer Bees, Grizzly (which I will get to eventually) or The Swarm, but I guess you could be scared of bees if you were allergic, frogs...no, but I highly doubt the next film I'm reviewing tomorrow will be any more "scarier" then this. What is it? Next time...

Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.