#101 and time for a break

I haven't felt that motivated in writing this lately, so I'll close up shop, at least for my summer holiday. Maybe I'll pick this up later, maybe I won't. I'll likely continue on GetGlue or a similar service, where someone will actually see what happens. :)

Yesterday I watched the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which I had not seen previously (only the Abel Ferrara version) and which I quite liked. There were hardly any special effects at all, something that easily dates a sci-fi film, and the basic concept is as chilling as ever.

Another fine 1959 western

They Came to Cordura isn't quite Rio Bravo, but a very good western in its own right and a rather more subdued one. It isn't that well known, despite the casting of Gary Cooper, Rita Hayworth and Van Heflin. Robert Rossen (The Hustler) proves he can direct a cavalry action sequence, but most of the film is about slow-burning conflicts and relationships between the seven main characters.

I was a little surprised how hard-edged it was. Heflin was a great bully, a big chance from his heroic western roles in Shane and 3:10 to Yuma. Cooper was a very flawed hero trying to live with his past cowardice. Hayworth's role was not just about looking sexy (which she of course did effortlessly, at 40 years) Everyone looks tired and dirty most of the time - perhaps this is one reason why the film is not better known. Another might be that it's set during the Pancho Villa Expedition of 1916, which was a military failure for the USA.

This seems to be post #99. I wonder what should be the hundredth...

I can rebuild her. I have the obsession...

I had seen Vertigo once previously. Another viewing probably helped me to appreciate it as one of Hitchcock's best and most disturbing films. James Stewart continues to tear down his All-American nice guy image after doing it in Anthony Mann's westerns. It seems he is the one possessed, not Kim Novak. Bernard Herrmann's score is one of his best and Robert Burks provides great cinematography. The story feels murkier than in any previous Hitchcock and the ending doesn't offer any relief.

Very good, then, but not my favorite Hitch.

Hitch + Hitch

The Project moves on - maybe we'll actually finish this year!

Tonight's double feature was Hitchcock's remake of his own The Man Who Knew Too Much and The Wrong Man.

The first was a solid effort but not exceptional. I wonder if the director himself thought it better than the 1934 film. The second was very interesting and not much like his other films. It's low-key and based on a true story. The photography is rather noirish: black & white, shadows & light. It lacks Hitchcock's familiar trickery. Henry Fonda is very good as the wrongfully accused man. The master's frequent collaborators Robert Burks and Bernard Herrmann worked on both films.

Next up, Vertigo, finally. It's been a long time since I last saw it.

Dangerous

Ah, Hollywood. Only there can Jean Peters be the plainer-looking woman of the two female leads in Niagara. But the other one was Marilyn, and there is something about her in this film that immediately spells "dangerous". The Niagara Falls are dangerous, too, and the ending is signposted early on but this matters not a bit. A nice noirish thriller, all in all.

Anybody can type

A Howard Hawks & Cary Grant double bill today with Only Angels Have Wings and Monkey Business. Both are among my favorite directors/actors and both are in great form here. Wings portrays one of Hawks' small groups of professionals doing a difficult job, this time airmail pilots flying a dangerous route over South American mountains. Jean Arthur was great as the female lead; I definitely need to get more of her movies.

Monkey Business has Ginger Rogers, Marilyn Monroe, and funny chimps. I was smiling pretty much all the time. Charles Coburn utters an absolute killer, deadpan line when he and Grant watch punctuation-challenged Monroe sashay (the only word that seems to fit) out of his office. The men look at each other. "Anybody can type."

No need to remake that one...

The Coen brothers tried, anyway. I haven't seen their version of The Ladykillers, but I have seen the original now and find it hard to see how it could be meaningfully improved upon. Wonderfully black English humor.

Project Hitchcock lurches back into life

After an all-too long break we managed to continue the project by watching The Trouble with Harry. It was very funny but quite different from any other Hitch movie I've seen. Shirley MacLaine featured in her first film appearance.

Half the reason for this blog's existence

Today we watched North by Northwest and Psycho, both in high definition. Northwest is probably my second most often seen film (Rio Bravo being the champion). I always find its charms impossible to resist, and it never feels as long as it actually is. It looks marvelous on Blu-ray.

I believe I'd seen Psycho only once before, and the plot's surprises had been spoiled for me even then. But it still holds great power. With the exception of the psychiatrist's explanation scene at the end, it feels quite modern, or maybe I should say timeless.

After the triple home run of these two and the immediately preceding Vertigo, I don't think Hitch ever achieved similar heights. Of course, most directors never make a single film that's this good.

Eagle-eyed readers will note that I skipped four movies in Hitchcock's filmography. This was because the studio audience had an additional member who had never seen North by Northwest and I wanted to show both BD titles in the same session. We'll get back to those missing ones later.

Grace part three

To Catch a Thief utilizes the familiar story about sending a thief to catch a thief. Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, some great dialog between the two, and beautiful Riviera - those alone would be sufficient, but you also get Hitchcock's direction. It's one of his lighter films, and highly entertaining.

Why are you looking that way, man?

Been a few years since I last saw Rear Window, and it's always a great experience. I don't know why any man whose girlfriend was Grace Kelly would spend so much time looking outside, but other than that it's basically a perfect thriller. One of Hitchcock's best, and thus one of the best, period.

Not a perfect murder

Tonight's entertainment was Dial M for Murder. It was the first film out of three in which Hitchcock cast Grace Kelly as the leading lady. Originally shot in 3D, but almost always shown flat, it's a very enjoyable suspense film even though the plot is kind of convoluted. As it often is with Hitch, it's not so much about the events of the script but rather how they are told.

And hey, Grace Kelly.

That's Montgomery Clift, honey!

Sung about by The Clash, and playing a priest in I Confess. It's not among Hitchcock's finest, but that still leaves plenty of room to be pretty good. It takes some time to get going, but towards the end there's enough suspense and twists. Clift plays the role well, even if he has better hair than any priest I've ever seen. The supporting cast is also fine.

This makes it 50 posts. I'm not bored yet, so I'll keep going... Project Hitchcock alone is good for more than a dozen entries!

Two great directors

Strangers on a Train has Hitchcock in excellent form. One more and then we get to his Grace Kelly triple.

The Deadly Companions was Sam Peckinpah's first feature film. This one I hadn't seen before and knew nothing about, except that Maureen O'Hara was in it. It's an offbeat western to be sure, with plenty of quirky characters. A promising start.

The 4th decade

Today we started on Hitchcock's fourth decade as a filmmaker with Stage Fright. Some very funny scenes, Marlene Dietrich pretty much playing herself, and a great turn by Alastair Sim as Jane Wyman's father.

Apocalypse Australia

A couple of days ago I watched two films set in Australia after a nuclear war: Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior and On the Beach. I was slightly sad to discover that either Max or I have changed since my youth, as I found that film only average, with some great stunt work. I think this BD is not a keeper.

On the Beach I had not seen but knew the basic story, not from the novel but a Finnish song. It proved to be one of the most chilling films I've seen. I wonder how it got made in 1959.

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?

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.

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.