Hustling (1975)
Lee Remick stars as an investigative reporter researching a story on prostitution in the Times Square area of New York City, aided by do-gooder policeman Alex Rocco and tough-talking hooker Jill Clayburgh. One of those landmark TV movies from the 70's that predicted grittier shows like Cagney & Lacey and Homicide: Life on the Street. Cast is excellent as is Fay Kanin's script and Joseph Sargent's direction. I like the way it includes upper-level corruption and the innate sadness of the johns. Burt Young is good in a supporting role as a sleazy but three-dimensional landlord, but I don't quite buy (so to speak) homely Melanie Mayron as a desirable tramp.
Penny Serenade (1941)
Least of the three films Cary Grant & Irene Dunne made together, this godmother of all future soap operas focuses on the deteriorating marriage of a struggling newspaperman and his barren wife, and how the highly unlikely addition of adopted children makes them whole again. Still, the star power of these two actors makes it a cut above the rest, supported ably by Edgar Buchanan as Grant's shy but wily pressman and uber-sympathetic Beulah Bondi as the adoption agency head.
Joyless Street (1926)
Greta Garbo's beauty is the main draw here in this heavily-edited tale of a greedy pensioner trying to raise two daughters in post-WWI Austria. The scuzzy print is sepia-toned and further marred by an indifferently tacked-on classical score -- the same one featured on several Hitchcock silents of the same era from the same source, Mill Creek.
Dark Mountain (1943)
Pretty good B-movie about beautiful Ellen Drew married to tough guy Regis Toomey; unbeknownst to her, he's a smuggler and a murderer soon on the lam with her in tow. Eventually they hole up in a small cabin inadvertantly provided by Drew's ex-boyfriend, a handsome forest ranger (Robert Lowery) and wait for a getaway. Eddie Quillan provides comic relief as Lowery's gotta-be-gay assistant.
Intimate Agony (1983)
Disease-of-the-week story set on a swank resort island run primarily by creepy Robert Vaughan. An assortment of beautiful people have contracted herpes via musical beds, including waitress Judith Light, tennis pro Mark Harmon, and dorky PR guy Brian Kerwin, not to mention Vaughan's cute daughter. Along comes crusading doc Anthony Geary to save the day, only Vaughan tries to cover it up so as not to turn the resort into a latter-day leper colony.
Betrayal (1974)
Tisha Sterling and Sam Groom play a couple of con-artists bilking rich old ladies out of their fortunes, she as a seemingly-loving companion, he as just another sadistic creep. Their newest mark is wealthy widow Amanda Blake, who hires Sterling to bring back some meaning to her life and subsequently charms the girl away from Groom's cruelty. That's character actress Lucille Benson as the previous victim.
The Big Show (1936)
Silly backstage country & western musical stars Gene Autry as likeable body-double to mustachioed & moronic leading man who runs away from his publicist just when he's needed to make a personal appearance in Texas. Best bits are the musical numbers and some cool Western stuntwork.
Blood and Sand (1922)
Rudolph Valentino reveals self to be a runty little toreador cum mama's boy torn between a sweet girl-next-door wife and a laughable seductress. Hard to believe that this guy was such a mega-star of the silent era, particularly in comparison to real he-men of the day like John Barrymore and Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.
Disappearance of Flight 412 (1975)
Mind-numbing tale of a group of Air Force pilots forced to retract their story of encountering UFOs by shady government outfit. Glenn Ford looks bored as their colonel and Kent Smith sleepwalks as the conflicted general in charge. Most ironic casting award goes to Ed Winter -- best known as eccentric CIA man on M*A*S*H -- as one of the interrogators.
Love Is Forever (1983)
I bet I'm not the first critic to answer 'no, it's not' to this turkey, shot on a $1.98 budget by D-movie maven Hall Bartlett. Michael Landon stars as an apparently real-life reporter who was held by Laotian authorities after trying to write an expose on their treatment of boat people. Video transfer is crummy, looking like half-assedly colorized b&w film. Leading lady Moira Chen competes with co-star Priscilla Presley as most wooden mannequin. It amazes me how a fairly popular leading man like Landon would appear in such poorly-made crap like this, despite the interesting story material.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Recent views, from best to worst:
Death of Richie (1976)
One of those based-on-truth stories that still packs a punch, helped mightily by Ben Gazarra and Eileen Brennan as the anguished parents of drug-addicted son, Robby Benson. Richie, a wimpy Mick Jagger lookalike, hangs out with three older losers (you know they're scum because one of them is Opie's no-talent brother) who apparently spend all of their lives stoned on grass and barbs. Gradually, he becomes more and more violent, leading to his tragic end. Of course this is a bit of an exaggeration since most pot-heads are pretty docile, but I had no problem with Gazarra's tough-love approach
Road To Bali (1954)
Hope & Crosby's only color Road picture has the usual combination of wacky situations (two philandering vaudevillians on the lam in Australia) and romantic interludes for Bing and Dorothy Lamour, the latter a Balinese princess dealing with an abusive suitor.
Shell Game (1975)
Speaking of con-men, John Davidson is pretty good as a charming thief who does a good turn for charity in the person of Louise Latham, whose refugee organization has been swindled by a phony chair (Jack Kehoe). Joan Van Ark plays Davidson's likable assistant.
Dishonored Lady (1948)
Hedy Lamar plays a neurotic magazine art editor who gets mixed up with a debonair but ultimately creepy diamond merchant. She quits her job on the advice of her shrink, moves to Greenwich Village to concentrate on her fine arts career, and falls in love with an uptight scientist who lives in the same apartment house. Good supporting cast (Margaret Hamilton as her nosy landlady, William Lundigan as her social-climbing former co-worker) and Lamar's classic beauty make this watchable. Hoping TCM has a cleaner print than this version.
The Gun and the Pulpit (1974)
Knowing that the star of this flick was Marjoe Gortner (laughable in Earthquake) kept me from watching it for quite awhile, but I'm kind of glad I finally did. Gortner, plays a gunslinger in 1860's Arizona who reluctantly assumes the identity of a murdered preacher to escape a lynch mob -- the irony here of course is that Marjoe was a famous child evangelist in the 40's. What makes this comic western work is the A-list supporting cast of Estelle Parsons, Slim Pickens, and David Huddleston -- the latter two having had appeared in Blazing Saddles around that time. Huddleston plays the arrogant town boss who has had Parsons' do-gooder husband killed; look for Geoffrey Lewis as one of the boss' men who winds up in a showdown with Gortner.
Second Chorus (1941)
The only reasons for sitting through this picture are the presence of Fred Astaire in the lead and Artie Shaw as (duh) a cool bandleader. Fred dances twice, the first and best number with Paulette Goddard to the tune "Dig It". Shaw's orchestra cooks through another couple of songs. The story is irrelevant as long as you have fast-forward to mow through the stupid plot of aging college boys (Fred and Burgess Meredith) trying to stay in school to avoid actual work. A third old guy who is after Goddard is so completely unfunny, I was surprised to learn the amount of screen credits he had had before and after.
One of those based-on-truth stories that still packs a punch, helped mightily by Ben Gazarra and Eileen Brennan as the anguished parents of drug-addicted son, Robby Benson. Richie, a wimpy Mick Jagger lookalike, hangs out with three older losers (you know they're scum because one of them is Opie's no-talent brother) who apparently spend all of their lives stoned on grass and barbs. Gradually, he becomes more and more violent, leading to his tragic end. Of course this is a bit of an exaggeration since most pot-heads are pretty docile, but I had no problem with Gazarra's tough-love approach
Road To Bali (1954)
Hope & Crosby's only color Road picture has the usual combination of wacky situations (two philandering vaudevillians on the lam in Australia) and romantic interludes for Bing and Dorothy Lamour, the latter a Balinese princess dealing with an abusive suitor.
Shell Game (1975)
Speaking of con-men, John Davidson is pretty good as a charming thief who does a good turn for charity in the person of Louise Latham, whose refugee organization has been swindled by a phony chair (Jack Kehoe). Joan Van Ark plays Davidson's likable assistant.
Dishonored Lady (1948)
Hedy Lamar plays a neurotic magazine art editor who gets mixed up with a debonair but ultimately creepy diamond merchant. She quits her job on the advice of her shrink, moves to Greenwich Village to concentrate on her fine arts career, and falls in love with an uptight scientist who lives in the same apartment house. Good supporting cast (Margaret Hamilton as her nosy landlady, William Lundigan as her social-climbing former co-worker) and Lamar's classic beauty make this watchable. Hoping TCM has a cleaner print than this version.
The Gun and the Pulpit (1974)
Knowing that the star of this flick was Marjoe Gortner (laughable in Earthquake) kept me from watching it for quite awhile, but I'm kind of glad I finally did. Gortner, plays a gunslinger in 1860's Arizona who reluctantly assumes the identity of a murdered preacher to escape a lynch mob -- the irony here of course is that Marjoe was a famous child evangelist in the 40's. What makes this comic western work is the A-list supporting cast of Estelle Parsons, Slim Pickens, and David Huddleston -- the latter two having had appeared in Blazing Saddles around that time. Huddleston plays the arrogant town boss who has had Parsons' do-gooder husband killed; look for Geoffrey Lewis as one of the boss' men who winds up in a showdown with Gortner.
Second Chorus (1941)
The only reasons for sitting through this picture are the presence of Fred Astaire in the lead and Artie Shaw as (duh) a cool bandleader. Fred dances twice, the first and best number with Paulette Goddard to the tune "Dig It". Shaw's orchestra cooks through another couple of songs. The story is irrelevant as long as you have fast-forward to mow through the stupid plot of aging college boys (Fred and Burgess Meredith) trying to stay in school to avoid actual work. A third old guy who is after Goddard is so completely unfunny, I was surprised to learn the amount of screen credits he had had before and after.
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