A most beautiful word

For Scrooge McDuck, "free" was the most beautiful word. Don't know if I'd go that far, but it is a nice one, and sometimes it applies to movies. The Internet Archive, home of many things free, includes a Moving Image Archive, and its Movies section is worth perusing. The Feature Films category is most relevant for this discussion.

There's film noir, comedy, sci-fi and horror, all of it in the public domain. I went a-searchin' yesterday, and grabbed Buster Keaton's The General, pre-Code She Done Him Wrong with Mae West and Cary Grant, The Most Dangerous Game with Joel McCrea and Fay Wray, and Anthony Mann's noir T-Men as test samples.

Bright stars

Project Hitchcock goes on; tonight's film was Notorious. Bergman and Grant are very, very good, and so is the director. The story was surprisingly topical for 1946, and rather ruthless within the constraints of the Hays Code. Recommended.

What a difference a day makes

I just slated a J. Lee Thompson film in the previous post, and then I saw Cape Fear - the original one, which was the very next movie he directed. Gregory Peck starred in both, too, but that's where the similarities end. I didn't really like Scorsese's 1991 remake, but now that I finally watched the original I found it a tight, effective thriller. I'm trying to avoid quoting other writers, but here I must bow to David Thomson, who said: "I think that Robert De Niro's Max Cady is a superb master class given by a great actor, whereas Robert Mitchum's Cady is the Beast."

In the accompanying 2001 documentary the director mentions his love for Hitchcock's work, and on Cape Fear he worked with some of the master's crew. Editor George Tomasini did Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho and more, Robert Boyle was a production designer and an associate art director on Northwest and a few others, and Bernard Herrmann scored many a great film for Hitch and others (including that persistent Northwest).

Every mention of the word "rape" was removed from the script (replaced by "attack") at the insistence of censors, and the film still had a hard time getting approved. One reason cited was "there was a continuous threat of sexual assault on a child" - it must have been heavy stuff in 1962 mainstream cinema, and the Beast is still no laughing matter.

The MacLean curse

I've heard fans of Stephen King complaining that his books always get butchered in film adaptations. But it doesn't take too much effort to name half a dozen that are pretty good. Poor Alistair MacLean on the other hand was really unlucky. I've seen roughly half of his movie output, and Where Eagles Dare is the only one I can say I liked.

Case in point: The Guns of Navarone, which I watched yesterday. Even as a teenager it wasn't one of my favorites, and now it seems old-fashioned in the worst way. Too long, too plodding, poorly directed action sequences, and good actors in roles that would've needed younger men. The Germans tool around in authentic American WWII vehicles, but this was pretty much the norm in older war movies. On the plus side I count some nice Greek scenery and the fleeting appearance of a Catalina flying boat.

Theme-free day

You can surely draw a connection between High Plains Drifter and Spellbound, but it would be too loose to count for anything.

Drifter is a film where Eastwood finally plays a man with no name. In the Dollars Trilogy he actually had a name or nickname in every movie. I'm not sure if it is a great western, but it's an interesting one (you don't often see a town remade into a personal hell). The writer Ernest Tidyman also had a hand in Shaft and The French Connection - not a bad way to start your 1970s.

Spellbound is frankly implausible. But it has Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Hitch regular Leo G. Carroll (six films), a Dalí-designed dream sequence, and some clever touches by the director, so it is far from a waste of time. Both Bergman and Peck would return.

Film people on paper

In a previous post, I listed my general film books. This time it's all about people who make the movies. I guess I'll organize this according to the number of books I have on each person. It isn't a long list.

Alfred Hitchcock

I've got John Russell Taylor's Hitch: The Life and Times of Alfred Hitchcock (1978; the Finnish translation is called Hitchcock: elämä ja elokuvat), Charlotte Chandler's It's Only a Movie: Alfred Hitchcock, A Personal Biography (2005; translated as Se on vain elokuvaa: Alfred Hitchcockin elämäkerta), and one encyclopedia-style book, Howard Maxford's The A-Z of Hitchcock: The Ultimate Reference Guide (2002).

Audrey Hepburn

There's Donald Spoto's Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn (2006) and her son Sean Hepburn Ferrer's Audrey Hepburn, An Elegant Spirit: A Son Remembers (2003).

Ingrid Bergman

Only one: another book by Mr Spoto, called Notorious: The Life of Ingrid Bergman (1997; translated as Ingrid Bergman).

Humphrey Bogart

Another translation: Bogart by A.M. Sperber and Eric Lax (1997; known as Humphrey Bogart: Elämä ja elokuvat in Finnish).

Howard Hawks

I have Joseph McBride's Hawks on Hawks (1982; translated with the same name).

Other

Today on my way home from work I came across Peter von Bagh's Tähtien kirja (2006) for a decent price, which I might as well list here since it discusses numerous film stars from the silent era to the present.

Mind: off

I went to see The Expendables with some friends. It was what I was looking for: brainless old school action with entertaining stars, although some of the action was cut too fast and close - the bane of many a modern film - and the script was uneven, certainly not on par with the best 80s action movies. Also the loudest film I've seen in a long time.

Back home I felt like some brain cells were still stirring, so I searched my TV recordings for a cure. I found Stealth, which was as dumb as they come. It had lots of CGI dogfights, lots of things blowing up, and Jessica Biel. Director Cohen is the auteur behind The Fast and the Furious, which I love dearly and which is a deep character study compared to Stealth.

All in all, a highly successful mind-numbing exercise on both counts.

A beginning and an end

On tonight's menu: Stagecoach and The Man from Laramie. Being the beginning of the long collaboration between John Ford and John Wayne, and the last western Anthony Mann and James Stewart made together, in other words.

Everyone raves about The Searchers, but I think I prefer Stagecoach. It transformed John Wayne from a B-movie actor (it was his 80th film according to the IMDb!) into a star, and his entrance is certainly iconic. When Ringo Kid appears, spinning that Winchester with the large loop lever, you can almost hear the movie switching gears. The ensemble cast is faultless and Monument Valley is, well, a monumental backdrop. It's a pity the European DVD release is so bare-bones - the Americans have two different special editions.

Stewart was an all-American hero onscreen and in real life (he was a decorated bomber pilot in World War II). But he wasn't always such a clear-cut nice guy in his post-war films. Laramie is one example of this. Will Lockhart is obsessed with revenge ("I came a thousand miles to kill you," he says) and doesn't let minor problems such as a crippling injury to stop him. The story feels like a majestic theater play which could be adapted to almost any era in history. The epic New Mexico terrain and the endless, vast sky are beautifully photographed. I have now seen two out of five Mann-Stewart westerns; the rest are waiting their turn on the shelf.

Is it already obvious that I like westerns?

Films on paper

I don't have a big library of books about movies. But I do like the ones I have.

Peter von Bagh leads the pack with three titles: Elokuvan historia (2004 edition), Rikoksen hehku (1997), and Lajien synty (2009). Agree with him or not, fully grasp everything or not, there's no denying his passion and literally encyclopedic knowledge.

Another single-author source I have is David Thomson's "Have You Seen...?": A Personal Introduction to 1,000 Films (2008). He can also be a bit highbrow, but anyone who loves Rio Bravo is okay in my book.

1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (2004 edition) is edited by Steven Jay Schneider. It's a good general reference and includes more popular movies than either of the above gentlemen.

Video-opas 95, edited by Bello Romano, was sadly never updated. It's dated now, but still a good source, especially for Finnish translations of film names (which, incidentally, was the reason I bought it when I was translating for a local TV station).

Finally there is Film Noir (2004) by Alain Silver and James Ursini - you can guess what it's about.

I have some books on individual actors and directors, but those can wait for another time.

A little western

The Duel at Silver Creek is a simple, unexceptional film which nevertheless has three interesting features: it is one of director Don Siegel's earliest works, one of Lee Marvin's first roles outside TV, and it stars Audie Murphy, the most decorated American combat soldier of World War II. At less than 80 minutes the movie feels like an episode of some old TV series. A light snack that won't trouble my mind when I go to sleep.

A water tank and a boat

No, not Titanic. Lifeboat is set in a lifeboat - reportedly the smallest set ever used for an entire movie. It's a fine technical achievement, but also works well as a film. The Hitchcock cameo is very subtle (originally he considered floating past the boat as a corpse). Tallulah Bankhead steals most scenes and John Steinbeck provided the original story.

In the name of the Project, we also watched his two World War II propaganda short films, Bon Voyage and Aventure malgache. Made in French with French actors, the idea was to show them in those areas of France where the Germans were already retreating. However, they were shelved and only shown to the public in the 90s. Both are very dull. I don't think I'll watch them again.

Best drinking couple on film?

To kick off the weekend in a relaxed manner I watched The Thin Man, which I had heard would work for the purpose. It did so beyond my expectations - the only problem was that I forgot to pour myself a drink. Maybe I'll do it now!

William Powell is Nick and Myrna Loy is Nora. They are married and they drink a lot. It's fantasy-land drinking that looks impossibly cool and has few adverse effects on anyone, which may or may not have something to do with the Prohibition having just ended when the film was made. There are also some murders to solve, but the mystery is secondary to snappy banter and some great supporting characters. It ends with a traditional "collect all suspects together" dinner and I didn't guess who the killer was. Loy and Powell are a wonderful, natural comedic pair who made many movies together - having seen this, I'd like to check out some of the others.

I think I'll have just one nightcap.

Inception

I saw Inception in a theater last Sunday and really liked it. This is as coherent an opinion as I can now express.

This post brings us up to date; my backlog from the moment I got this idea has been exhausted. I planned to watch something today, but decided to start writing this stuff instead.

Only three decades to go

A bit of backstory: last year I started Project Hitchcock with a friend of mine. Simply put, we are going to watch all of his films which I have collected in chronological order (currently that means 43 titles; I plan to get a few more). With life getting in the way, it has been slow going but now it's moving again.

Last Saturday we watched Shadow of a Doubt, which neither one had seen. Great acting by Joseph Cotten, Teresa Wright, and the supporting cast, and a nice small town setting which somehow reminded me of Twin Peaks with its immense normality and curious people.

It was released in 1943 and the finishing line Family Plot came out in 1976, so it's going to take a while yet.

Bonus trivia: we have previously watched The Lodger, The Ring, The Farmer's Wife, Champagne, The Manxman, Blackmail, Murder!, The Skin Game, Rich and Strange, The Man Who Knew Too Much, The 39 Steps, Secret Agent, Sabotage, Young and Innocent, The Lady Vanishes, Jamaica Inn, Rebecca, Foreign Correspondent, Mr and Mrs Smith, Suspicion, and Saboteur. No, I cannot be arsed to hyperlink all of them. You know where to go. If you want details about the numerous DVD releases (their quality varies), you can go to Alfred Hitchcock Wiki.

Avoid expensive imitations

I saw 3:10 to Yuma (2007) in a theater and found it rather average. It was too long and deviated pretty far from the original short story by one Elmore Leonard which I had read before I knew it was a movie too, let alone two movies. My estimation of its quality has only fallen since.

Recently I watched the 1957 original, and man, it was something else. Better written, better acted, better photographed... an actual classic. The remake is a prime example of adding needless backstory and silly action scenes where they are not needed.

Your clothes... give them to me, now

Ah, The Terminator. Good practical effects, Arnold's best role, cold and effective score, more chilling than future entries in the franchise... it's all good. We can be happy that O.J. Simpson was not selected as the T-600.

Exhausting

No theme day now, just Crank: High Voltage. Jason Statham gives his all again as Chev Chelios, who has survived the fall at the end of the first movie and gets in trouble immediately: Chinese gangsters steal his heart. Cue delirious action with hardly a pause until the credits. Also appearing are Amy Smart, Dwight Yoakam, David Carradine, Corey Haim(!), Geri Halliwell(!!), and a bunch of real-life pornstars who are on strike ("No pay, no lay"). Every ethnicity is mocked mercilessly and nasty stereotypes abound.

It's like Grand Theft Auto on, uh, crank.

This is not a bad thing at all.

Private parts destroyed: 2

Next up was a sleazy 70s day with the triple bill of Chato's Land, Coffy, and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia.

Chato's Land is the first film where Charles Bronson and director Michael Winner worked together - later they would do Death Wish. Bronson was middle-aged before he got famous, and in this movie he was 51 but still extremely buff. It has a simple revenge plot: half-breed Chato kills in self-defense, runs from the posse, and when this posse kills his friend and rapes his woman Chato kills every motherfucker in the desert. One rapist gets his balls burned and does not survive the experience. Jack Palance plays the morally ambiguous leader of the posse.

Coffy is a blaxploitation classic. Voluptuous knockout Pam Grier is a nurse whose young sister is ruined by drugs, so it's revenge time again by any means necessary. This is the film which teaches you to hide razorblades in your afro, just in case. All sympathetic characters get hurt (not that there are many) and all bad guys are colorful stereotypes and suitably rotten. This time the genital destruction is carried out with a shotgun.

Alfredo Garcia features a tremendous performance by Warren Oates as Bennie, who goes looking for the titular head. Everything is dirty and sweaty, and occasional moments of peace are guaranteed to not last. Bennie gets truly deranged towards the film's conclusion and bad people meet bad ends. Some good people also meet bad ends. Sam Peckinpah delivers again. I don't remember any nuts getting specifically smashed, although it might have happened in one hail of bullets or another.

Good times throughout!

80s Day II: Electric Boogaloo

This time I got distracted by something or other and only managed two movies: Gremlins and The Living Daylights, both previously unseen. Both worked well.

Gremlins was funny and had groovy creature effects, and Timothy Dalton was a fine 007, kind of foreshadowing the grittier approach of Daniel Craig. It feels silly to say that Maryam d'Abo was a believable Bond girl, but I'll say it anyway. The film was fairly faithful to the short story, even though it only offered enough material for the Bratislava defection scene. This was the last Bond in the (very loose) Cold War continuity, with General Gogol making a brief appearance.

It started with a red dawn

This whole idea originated a couple of weeks ago when my summer holiday was ending and I decided to watch movies that were somehow thematically linked. The first batch was an 80s day, during which I saw Red Dawn, Highlander, Romancing the Stone, and Sixteen Candles (which I actually had never seen and enjoyed greatly).

Red Dawn had some pretty nice replica Soviet vehicles, including a T-72 that looked so good the CIA got interested. Physical effects, models, and actual moving vehicles always have more charm than CGI. And the Finnish Jatimatic SMG made an appearance; I guess it was more popular in Hollywood than in real life. Highlander had unconvincing swordfights, wooden Christopher Lambert, flamboyant Sean Connery, and Queen. Somehow it still more or less worked. Romancing the Stone was no Raiders of the Lost Ark then or now, but mostly entertaining nevertheless and Kathleen Turner was smoking hot.

As I said at the time: truly, a decade among decades!

Party like it's 1959

This blog is named after the main characters in two wonderful movies: John T. Chance in Rio Bravo and Roger O. Thornhill in North by Northwest. It exists mainly for my own amusement and its purpose is to list and possibly comment on the films I watch. Peter von Bagh I am not, nor do I attempt to be.

Hawks and Hitchcock are among my favorite directors and these two films would be on my desert island list any day of the week. In addition to being released in 1959, they share other traits. Both are fairly long but feel shorter and light-footed. Both heroes have a middle initial and are played by men in their 50s. I don't remember if the T stands for something, but Cary Grant says the O stands for nothing. Both men romance incredibly sexy women who are much younger than them, but this is hardly unique in movies. Both have been released as fine DVDs. And like I said, both are among my best-loved films, and Rio Bravo holds the (small) honor of being the movie I've seen more often than any other. I cannot remember how often anymore.