Risque' Lingerie Scene in "WHITE ZOMBIE" (1932) Madge Bellamy, Bela Lugosi (video)

Risque' Lingerie Scene in "WHITE ZOMBIE" (1932) 
Madge Bellamy, Bela Lugosi

In "White Zombie", Madge Bellamy appears in a lingerie scene that is quite daring for 1932.

It's brief, but memorable. 


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

Risque' Lingerie Scene in "WHITE ZOMBIE" (1932) Madge Bellamy, Bela Lugosi (video)

Skelton Knaggs At His Most Endearing ("Isle Of The Dead", 1945) (video)

 

Skelton Knaggs usually played bad guys...

...and/or nutjobs, largely because of his rather unpleasant looks and creepy demeanor.

But in Val Lewton's 1945 classic "Isle of the Dead", in all-too-brief a role, Skelton gets to play a fellow so quietly endearing that you just wanna give him a hug.

 

Video by Porfle Popnecker. I neither own nor claim any rights to this material. Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!

 

Skelton Knaggs At His Most Endearing ("Isle Of The Dead", 1945) (video)

THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JOHNNY CARSON: JOHNNY AND FRIENDS FEATURING STEVE MARTIN, ROBIN WILLIAMS & EDDIE MURPHY -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 6/22/17

 

"Will you welcome..." Johnny would usually say when introducing his next guest.  Over the years there were countless "Will you welcome"s on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson", some who would remain in relative obscurity, and others who would parlay their once-in-a-lifetime chance at fame all the way to stardom.

Time-Life's 3-disc DVD collection THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JOHNNY CARSON: JOHNNY AND FRIENDS FEATURING STEVE MARTIN, ROBIN WILLIAMS & EDDIE MURPHY is about three of those who became superstars in the field of comedy--Steve Martin, Robin Williams, and Eddie Murphy--thanks in large part to their early exposure with Johnny on his classic late-night talk show which is now such an integral part of television legend. 

Johnny, of course, was no stranger to either television or comedy, having labored in both fields since the 50s as host or co-host of various comedy, variety, and game shows such as "Carson's Cellar" and "Who Do You Trust?" before finally replacing Jack Paar as host of "The Tonight Show" in 1962.

Each show began with an opening monologue, which was basically a new stand-up routine every night.  It was here that Johnny really proved himself, getting more mileage out of bad jokes than most comics do with hilarious ones. In fact, his style was to willfully tell bad jokes--even telegraph them as being bad, building audience expectation--and then mine their groaning response for humor until he had them rolling in the aisles. 

It was a totally unique comic style and sensibility that set Johnny apart from all other stand-up comics, and he excelled at it night after night.  His loyal announcer and sidekick Ed McMahon, of course, played along beautifully, adding dry asides here and there in order to invite a sarcastic response from Johnny (often a mock threat to terminate his employment).  To which Ed would respond, naturally, with his trademark belly laugh.

The show was, importantly, for everyone, regardless of their political persuasion.  Johnny did get in some topical jabs here and there, but they weren't really all that caustic and he generally kept things goodnatured, unlike the profane, rabidly partisan hacks of today's late night shows. In other words, Johnny had something called "class", a quality in short supply on TV these days.

During the nine new-to-retail episodes in this Time-Life set, Johnny gives us old viewers some of our favorite bits such as "Stump the Band" and "The Mighty Carson Art Players." (Alas, there are no visits from either Art Fern, Karnak the Magnificent, or Aunt Blabby.)  Flamboyantly-dressed bandleader Doc Severinsen and his sometime stand-in Tommy "Mr. Excitement" Newsom come in for their usual ribbing, while Johnny and Ed play off each other like the seasoned pros that they are.

Disc one features three appearances by Steve Martin, beginning in 1976 with a stand-up that lets us see young Steve in his banjo-playing, "happy feet" prime.  A 1982 show finds movie-star Steve pushing his film DEAD MEN DON'T WEAR PLAID, and in 1991 a slightly more staid, reserved Martin talks about his starring role in FATHER OF THE BRIDE.  Each appearance is loaded with plenty of comedy in his familiar style. 

Other guests include the always beloved James Stewart, a spaced-out Karen Black, Sylvester Stallone (circa ROCKY III), comic Cathy Ladman, and singer Leon Redbone.  Some of the classic commercials of the era (if you choose to watch them--the DVD gives us a choice) include "Coke Adds Life", the "NesTea Plunge", and the little guy who wants to talk to us about...diarrhea.  In a 1982 segment Johnny jokes about upcoming TV shows such as "Silver Spoons" and "Knight Rider."

 

Disc two is a trio of hit-and-run appearances by the always hyper-frenetic Robin Williams, who would blow into the studio like a gale force wind and never let up.  Whether in 1984 or in his two 1991 shows, Robin is a non-stop whirling dervish of gags, voices, and flailing physical comedy that dominates not only his time with Johnny but that of the other guests as well.  It was as though he had no "off" switch, and was always dialed up all the way to eleven. 

Even fellow kooky improv comic Jonathan Winters barely gets a word in while sitting there with Robin. Other guests don't stand a chance, including good sport Phyllis Newman, dulcet-toned Steve Lawrence, and southern-fried Park Overall.  While Johnny does manage to converse with them in minimal terms, their presence is pretty much just another excuse for Robin to go wild.  His fans will be ecstatic, of course.

Disc three finds breakout "Saturday Night Live" player Eddie Murphy on his blazing rocket to fame, with all three appearances occurring in 1982 but already plotting a quick trajectory to superstardom. 

Eddie's first shot on the show is brash but in a controlled way--his ego has yet to become overinflated, and there's still a hunger in his clearly ambitious attitude.  He's already at ease and in his element in the stand-up spots, wowing the audience with his sharp humor and confidence.  He handles his time talking with Johnny well, too, easily getting laughs and charming both host and audience without breaking a sweat.  (Not that we can see, anyway.)

His second appearance is much more confident, and his stand-up features a bold use of the "N" word in an innovative and borderline abrasive way that has the audience in a tizzy of laughter.  By now, Johnny's regard for him has clearly grown, and by his third show, the cocky, brash, super-confident Murphy is getting a "superstar" ovation from the audience.

Other guests on this disc include McLean Stevenson and Wayne Rogers of TV's "MASH", boxer Randall "Tex" Cobb, Albert Hague of "Fame", and singer Angela Bofill. 

Watching this 3-disc set, I can't help but be filled with that old warm glow of nostalgia for a time when we could turn on the TV and watch Johnny and company every weeknight.  THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JOHNNY CARSON: JOHNNY AND FRIENDS FEATURING STEVE MARTIN, ROBIN WILLIAMS & EDDIE MURPHY gives both old and new fans of the show a chance to relive those times, courtesy of some of Johnny's funniest and most outrageous guests, and tune in to that unique vibe all over again. 


PROGRAM INFORMATION

Format: DVD/3 Discs
Running Time: 499 minutes
Genre:  TV DVD/Comedy
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audio: Stereo
Original Commercials: On/Off

Street Date: July 4, 2017

Read our original coverage

THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JOHNNY CARSON: JOHNNY AND FRIENDS FEATURING STEVE MARTIN, ROBIN WILLIAMS & EDDIE MURPHY -- DVD Review by Porfle

MOVIOLA: THE SCARLETT O'HARA WAR -- Movie Review by Porfle



( "GONE WITH THE WIND 75TH ANNIVERSARY ULTIMATE COLLECTOR'S EDITION" from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is loaded with extras, one of which is the following film in its entirety.)

Originally posted on 10/3/14

 

Back in the crazy days of my youth when I was known to do such things, I read a book by Garson Kanin called "Moviola." It consisted of three novellas, highly fictionalized accounts of actual events in three different eras of what we know as Hollywood. In 1980, the book was turned into a mini-series which aired on NBC-TV over three nights. These three segments now exist as individual TV-movies, sometimes with the word "Moviola" in the titles, sometimes not.

The first and last segments (chronologically) are known as "Moviola: The Silent Lovers", which tells the story of Greta Garbo and her ill-fated lover John Gilbert, a silent actor with a voice unsuited for "talkies", and "Moviola: This Year's Blonde", a glitzy biography of 50s bombshell Marilyn Monroe. Between these two eras, representing a Hollywood which was in 1939 at its creative and financial peak, is perhaps the most entertaining of the three, MOVIOLA: THE SCARLETT O'HARA WAR.

Modestly mounted, relatively sedate, and much smaller in scale than the real-life events must have been, the film adequately dramatizes the details behind legendary producer David O. Selznick's most gargantuan (I so rarely have an opportunity to use that word in a sentence) undertaking, a daring screen adaptation of Margaret Mitchell's runaway bestselling Civil War novel "Gone With the Wind" which would eventually become the highest-grossing and most popular movie of all time.

Selznick's search for the perfect actress to play sought-after lead role Scarlett O'Hara is thus turned into an amusing and mildly absorbing comedy-drama-soap opera of movie moguls, actresses, and agents (and various other Hollywood types) all trying to outmaneuver each other.

The story is played mostly for grins as both seasoned pros and young, unknown starlets all vie for the plum role of Scarlett O'Hara in Selznick's impending blockbuster. Some try to charm and even sleep their way into the role while others, like Joan Crawford, wield what power and influence they may have.

But it's all for naught when, during filming of the burning of Atlanta (in which a stand-in was used as the hitherto uncast Scarlett), Selznick first lays eyes on British actress Vivien Leigh, a chance discovery made by his agent brother Myron. After that historic moment, all bets are off.

Before this, however, comes the film's centerpiece--an extended party sequence in which Selznick has gathered all the prospective Scarletts together in one place. This scenario is rich in cattiness and can probably be truly appreciated only by those already interested in the story and the people involved.

For anyone who doesn't remember or care about these former superstars of film, or the inner machinations of big-studio Hollywood filmmaking in general, I imagine that the entire sequence will just sit there like an unloved Jello mold while they wonder what the big fuss was all about. Others, however, may find themselves savoring every nuance.

A parade of low-level TV stars do their best to portray these film legends, which somehow manages to assume its own kind of charm. Edward Winter, known mainly as Colonel Flagg on TV's "MASH", tackles the role of dashing alpha male Clark Gable in amusing style, while "Cagney and Lacey" co-star Sharon Gless takes a wild shot at being his beloved and equally famous wife Carole Lombard.

I barely recognize some of the minor players filling in for the likes of Joan Crawford, Katharine Hepburn, Paulette Goddard, Jean Arthur, Miriam Hopkins, Lucille Ball, etc. but they give it the old college try. Some of the casting choices are puzzling--I don't see Charlie Chaplin in actor Clive Revill (GENTLEMEN BRONCOS) at all--while others, including Tony Curtis as an unflappable David O. Selznick and Carrie Nye as Tallulah Bankhead, are right on the mark.

Other familiar faces include Bill Macy ("Maude"), George Furth (BLAZING SADDLES), and Harold Gould as Selznick's father-in-law, MGM chief Louis B. Mayer. A brief appearance by a popular TV actress of the time, Morgan Brittany ("Dallas"), as Vivien Leigh brings the story to a pleasing albeit curiously anti-climactic ending.

Having recently watched a lot of documentary material on the subject, I found MOVIOLA: THE SCARLETT O'HARA WAR to be an unspectacular yet enjoyable "Reader's Digest" version that's easy to take. And for anyone who saw it when first broadcast almost 35 years ago, its modest appeal will be enhanced by a dash of nostalgia.

Read our review of  "Gone With the Wind" HERE.

Full coverage of the "Gone with the Wind 75th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition" can be found HERE.


Stream rare and hard-to-find movies and TV shows at Warner Archive Instant; purchase discs at Warner Archive Collection. Even more at www.wbshop.com or www.wbultra.com

MOVIOLA: THE SCARLETT O'HARA WAR -- Movie Review by Porfle

APPOINTMENT WITH CRIME -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 6/18/16

 

If you like those lean, tough gangster pics that guys like James Cagney and George Raft used to churn out in the 30s and 40s, then APPOINTMENT WITH CRIME (1946) should be right up your dark alley.

The scrappy, bantamweight main character Leo Martin (William Hartnell, THE MOUSE THAT ROARED) even reminds me of a cross between the two actors only with a rough veneer of British street smarts. 

The plot is a foretaste of such later films as POINT BLANK and its remake PAYBACK, with its story of a wronged criminal returning to exact merciless revenge against the underworld organization that betrayed him and using a "fast" woman as his accomplice.

Here, Leo gets double-crossed by low-level crime boss Loman (Raymond Lovell) and ends up with crushed wrists and a stiff prison sentence.  Upon his release, he goes after not only Loman but the real brains behind the outfit, a smugly sophisticated art dealer played by the young Herbert Lom (later to gain fame as Chief Inspector Dreyfus in the "Pink Panther" series among other distingished roles). 

Leo's sort of an anti-protagonist here, being that he's still a mean, ruthless little bastard even though we're pulling for him to get the best of the even badder bad guys.  The film's real hero is a Canadian detective on loan to the British police, played by Robert Beatty (who would go on to roles in such high profile films as WHERE EAGLES DARE and 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY).

Beatty's Detective Inspector Rogers is stalwart without being full of himself, and in fact has a wry sense of humor which makes his scenes with Leo punchy and rife with stinging dialogue.  Where some stories such as this make the main cop unlikable, here we're conflicted about who to root for since we're so invested in both his and Leo's concerns. 

 

Also making the most of her scenes with Hartnell is Joyce Howard as melancholy dancehall girl Carol Dane (nicknamed "Chastity Anne"), whose performance as the girl Leo uses as his alibi in murder by stringing her along with romantic promises and playing on her sympathies just gets better as the story goes along.

Two interesting things I noted while watching are (1) British films could pretty much say "damn" and "hell" to their hearts' content back in 1946, and (2) the fact that characters Gregory Lang (Herbert Lom) and his criminal associate Noel Penn (Alan Wheatley) are unabashedly gay is wonderfully obvious.

Writer-director John Harlow keeps his script zinging along with cracking dialogue and lots of hardboiled conflict between rival thugs and the short-fused Leo--who's equally tough whether slapping someone around or getting tortured for information.

 

Harlow's directing style brings all this to life with creative camera angles, editing, and montages which keep the film visually interesting.  The production itself has a lovely vintage appeal enhanced by a singularly British flavor and the no-nonsense economy of film noir.

The DVD from Olive Films is in the original 1.37:1 aspect ratio (full screen) with mono sound.  Subtitles are in English.  No extras.

Those who appreciate the beauty of old black-and-white cinema should find themselves easily drawn into this visually compelling film.  For modern audiences in general,  APPOINTMENT WITH CRIME offers good performances in a sharply-written crime story that never lets up until the end. 

Release date: June 21, 2016

APPOINTMENT WITH CRIME -- DVD Review by Porfle

THE JACKIE GLEASON SHOW IN COLOR: DELUXE EDITION -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 5/3/18

 

One of my favorite variety shows as a kid was "The Jackie Gleason Show."  It was bright, colorful, funny, and fun, one of the best of a TV genre that is pretty much obsolete now but kept whole families entertained back in the 60s. 

I'm happy to say that a fresh look at twelve episodes from the show, thanks to Time-Life's 3-disc DVD set THE JACKIE GLEASON SHOW IN COLOR: DELUXE EDITION, finds Gleason's brand of comedy just as funny and appealing today as it was then, and perhaps even moreso since it now comes with a bracing blast of pure, blissful nostalgia. 

The sets and costumes are a blast of color all by themselves (after all, more and more people at the time were buying color TVs) but it's Gleason's deliciously down-to-earth wit and breezy interplay with his guests, made up of the top names in comedy at the time, that make these shows such a delight to watch.

Each show kicks off with Gleason's crowd-pleasing catchphrase "How sweet it is!" and his jokes about bandleader Sammy Spear's outrageous attire (a bit Johnny Carson would repeat nightly with Doc Severenson), after which he entertains the live audience by bringing out each guest one at a time, trading uproarious comedy barbs with them for awhile, and then leaving them alone to perform their acts.

These guests include such names as Groucho Marx, Jack Benny, George Burns, Milton Berle, Phil Silvers, Mickey Rooney, Red Buttons, Nipsey Russell, Sid Caesar, Jackie Vernon, Alan King, Jack E. Leonard, and Jan Murray. 

Also appearing with their stand-up routines are comics such as a very young George Carlin, Slappy White, Victor Borge, and some I've never even heard of.

Musical guests aren't as frequent on the show as the comics, but the ones we do see include the likes of Tony Bennett, Florence Henderson (pre-"Brady Bunch"), Frankie Avalon, Edie Adams, Robert Goulet, and Frank Sinatra, Jr.

Best of all, Gleason's late-60s variety show was the home of the classic color episodes of "The Honeymooners", with Jackie as blue-collar bus driver Ralph Kramden, Art Carney as his sewer-worker friend Ed Norton, Jane Kean as Norton's wife Trixie, and Sheila MacRae ably taking over the role of Ralph Kramden's loyal, long-suffering wife Alice. 

This DVD set offers seven "Honeymooners" sketches which haven't been seen since first aired--"Six Months To Live", "Alice's Birthday", "Lawsuit", "Hot Tip", "The New Bowling Ball", "Norton Moves In", and "The New Manager."  Each one is a prime example of the show's great writing and acting, resulting in some truly groundbreaking comedy, tinged with heartfelt pathos, that's still amazingly good.

The picture quality is fine considering the age of the shows.  Completists may chafe at the fact that all of the numbers by the June Taylor Dancers which normally opened each show have been snipped as well as anything else that might impede the comedy and songs.  The first disc was previously released as a single-disc DVD which we reviewed HERE.

Whether you're looking back in fond nostalgia or just discovering these shows for the first time, THE JACKIE GLEASON SHOW IN COLOR: DELUXE EDITION is a laugh-packed jaunt down Memory Lane that you're sure to get a kick out of. 


THE JACKIE GLEASON SHOW IN COLOR: DELUXE EDITION
Type: DVD/3 Discs
Running Time: 496 mins.
Rating: N/A
Genre: TV DVD
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (4:3)
Audio: Stereo
Captions: English

THE JACKIE GLEASON SHOW IN COLOR: DELUXE EDITION -- DVD Review by Porfle

First Screen Frankenstein: Edison's 1910 "Frankenstein" (video)

Thomas Edison's film studio released the first screen adaptation of "Frankenstein" in 1910.

The Monster was played by Charles Ogle.

A young scientist named Frankenstein creates life in his laboratory.
But his "perfect being" turns out to be a hideous creature.

Frankenstein's impure thoughts are to blame.

Frankenstein rejects his creation, but it is insanely devoted to him...
...and jealous of Frankenstein's bride-to-be, Elizabeth.

Finally, Frankenstein's pure love for Elizabeth causes the Monster to fade away.

The film was lost for many years.  A rediscovered print became widely seen in the 1970s.


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

Music by Uniq

First Screen Frankenstein: Edison's 1910 "Frankenstein" (video)

DEADLINE -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 11/17/19

 

One thing 50s and 60s television did so well, and which seems to have been lost these days, was the powerful half-hour drama. This is especially true of the better written and produced anthology shows of the time, including the hardboiled, often riveting journalism drama "Deadline."

Film Chest's new 3-disc, 39-episode DVD collection DEADLINE ("When Reporters Were Heroes") contains the entire run of the show (which aired sporadically from 1959 to 1961), with each episode covering various true-life news stories and the dogged reporters who unearthed them, often putting their lives in jeopardy to do so.

Paul Stewart (CITIZEN KANE) lends the show a distinguished air as the gravel-voiced host who, while sitting in a busy newsroom amidst diligent reporters and other workers, introduces each front-page story and the journalist who broke it.

Most of the stories are crime-related, as the reporters often work alongside police detectives on cases involving murder, robbery, arson, kidnapping, extortion, prison riots, mad bombers, juvenile delinquency, shoplifting, and political corruption.

The reporters track down leads and confront bad guys like hardnosed cops, sometimes giving the show the feel of a "Dragnet" episode.  The low budget and abundance of location shooting in the heart of the city also give it a gritty, realistic look. (Listen for some familiar "Plan 9 From Outer Space" library music within the show's score.)

Some stories are particularly powerful, as when a man (actor/director Mark Rydell) is accused of planting a bomb in his mother's suitcase and killing an entire planeload of people for her insurance money.  In another, a college student's thesis on how to commit the perfect murder is tested with the cold-blooded killings of two innocent men.

In addition to these subjects are the ones more related to human interest and social justice, with the reporters often being portrayed as crusading angels and pillars of moral virtue. Indeed, the series goes to great lengths to dispel any popular notions regarding the profession which are anything but positive.

Here we witness stories of amateur spelunkers being rescued from a cave (a very young Christopher Walken is billed as "Ronnie"), a pair of Burmese nurses being saved from deportation by a reporter (Frank Sutton, "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.")  whose life they once saved in a makeshift army hospital, and another reporter going undercover to expose the exploitation of illegal immigrants on the U.S.-Mexico border.  There's even a heart-tugging Christmas episode.

The stories are lean, terse, and to the point. They're also somewhat addictive, making them good binge-watching material for those so inclined. Like many anthology shows of the time, "Deadline" was a place for writers and actors to hone their talents, often doing work that is inspired.

The film quality of these black and white episodes is generally pristine save for occasional rough spots, which I think only add to their character. According to the promo information, these films were lost and forgotten in a garage in New Jersey for over 50 years before rediscovery.

Stewart himself plays the lead in many of the episodes. Other familiar faces include Telly Savalas, Peter Falk, Simon Oakland, Malachi ("Mal") Throne, Diane Ladd, Joanne Linville, Robert Lansing, George Maharis, Sydney ("Sidney") Pollack, Bibi Osterwald, Frank Overton, Lee Bergere, Jan Miner, Bob Hastings, Walter Brooke, Dana Elcar, Lonny Chapman, Jason ("Herb") Evers, Micheal Conrad, and Alfred Ryder.

As mentioned, the show glorifies the reporter's role as a crusader for justice and defender of all that is good, vowing (also quoting the promo info) to "uphold everything that our civil society stands for."

The text material found in the enclosed episode-guide booklet stresses how tarnished the reporter's image has become in recent years, blaming this not on any failing on the part of today's mainstream media but on its being undermined by alleged "fake news" being spread by the internet and other independent sources.

I find this either willfully naive or intentionally misleading, considering the fact that, in recent years, major print and television news sources seem to have relinquished a great deal of their former integrity while much of the actual truth one is able to glean these days does, in fact, come from the internet. 

Not only that, but the booklet's text as well as a DVD interview with a noted broadcast journalism professor seem to be just as politically biased as is much of today's mainstream media.

Putting such gripes aside, however, DEADLINE is a rich source of entertainment for vintage TV lovers, and Film Chest has done a fine job of preserving and presenting these exciting episodes that are such a valuable part of television history.



BONUS FEATURES
Episode Synopses • Photo Gallery • Trailer •
Trivia • Extended Synopsis: Journalism Past and
Present Overview • Interview with Broadcast
Journalism Professor Joe Alicastro


SKU: FC-647
UPC: 874757064796
SRP: $19.98
Street Date: 11/19/2019
Pre-Book: 11/5/2019
Discs: 3
Box Lot: 30
Production: Arnold Perl
Run Time: 1,006 Mins
Format: DVD
Color/B&W: B&W
Aspect ratio: 4x3
Year Prod: 1959 - 1961
Sound: Mono
Studio: Film Chest
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Television, Crime, Drama
Actor(s): Paul Stewart (narrator), Peter Falk,
Diane Ladd, George Maharis, Robert Lansing
and many more.               
Director(s): Various

DEADLINE -- DVD Review by Porfle

THE PRIVATE AFFAIRS OF BEL AMI -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 5/20/16

 

They say that the girls always go for the bad boy, which is fortunate for Georges Duroy (George Sanders) in Guy de Maupassant's THE PRIVATE AFFAIRS OF BEL AMI (1946) since he is a bad, bad boy indeed. 

He is, in fact--in the words of one acquaintance--"an unmitigated cad", and this elegantly-told story is all about his casual betrayals of both women and men in romance, business, and various matters of basic trust and decency which he regards as mere impediments on the path to his narcissistic self-advancement.

Sanders, naturally, is perfectly cast as such a jaded, perversely attractive smoothie, not unlike his character Lord Henry Wotton in the earlier THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY (1945) which also featured director Albert Lewin and co-star Angela Lansbury.  Wotton, however, relished decadence for its own sake, while Duroy considers it a means to an end.

The affairs of "Bel Ami", the pet name given to him by Lansbury's Clotilde de Marelle, are recounted matter-of-factly with all of Duroy's methodical mendacity presented in leisurely and picturesque tableaux that are beautifully designed and refreshingly un-melodramatic. 

The restored film's black-and-white photography by Oscar-winner Russell Metty (SPARTACUS) is exquisite, as are the 1880s Parisian sets that are lovingly shot with a sort of Kubrickesque romanticism.  A single color shot is a close-up of Max Ernst's painting "Temptation of St. Anthony", commissioned for the film.

Lansbury is gorgeous as a young single mother (her daughter is played by IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE's "Zuzu", Karolyn Grimes) who first loses her heart to the duplicitous Duroy along with her self-respect. It's no wonder that she is ultimately his one regret after all is said and done.

Ann Dvorak is equally good as the sharp-witted wife of his old military friend Charles Forestier (John Carradine), both of whom secure Duroy a lucrative position as a writer for a leading newspaper.  It's through them that Duroy commits some of his most devious plays for wealth and status, using friends, enemies, and lovers alike as chess pawns.

The story seems quite a bit ahead of its time in its frank portrayal of Duroy's calculated promiscuousness with women both married and single, and in its portrayal of these women as equal players in his high-stakes game.

Much occurs between scenes--between the lines, as it were--to stimulate our imaginations and give the story an added dimension which would probably be lacking if filmed today.

The supporting cast is fine, with THE WOLF MAN's Warren William in his final role as Duroy's most bitter rival Laroche-Mathieu, Katherine Emery as scorned lover Madame Walter, and Marie Wilson ("My Friend Irma") as a "common" woman who is the butt of one of Duroy's most wicked putdowns in the very first scene. 

The DVD from Olive Films is in 1.33:1 with mono sound.  Subtitles are in English.  No extras.  The film's restoration from the highest quality picture and audio elements available is a visual delight. 

Surprisingly, a story about such a cold fish as Duroy yields a richly involving viewing experience enhanced by sharp, Oscar Wilde-level dialogue.  Emotionally distant as its protagonist at first, THE PRIVATE AFFAIRS OF BEL AMI gradually builds to a dramatic life-or-death ending which lingers in the mind.

THE PRIVATE AFFAIRS OF BEL AMI -- DVD Review by Porfle

A BUCKET OF BLOOD -- Movie Review by Porfle

 Originally posted on 3/2/16

 

A BUCKET OF BLOOD (1959) is a Roger Corman classic that I wasn't that familiar with at first since I bought the dollar DVD years ago at Wal-Mart,  watched it once, and then sold it in a garage sale.  I probably only got 50 cents for it,  maybe even a quarter, but I was glad to get it because that's the kind of year I was having.

Corman regular Dick Miller plays a guy named Walter Paisley, who's also having a bad year (how's that for a segue?)  He's an insecure milquetoast who buses tables in a coffee bar where beatniks hang out, but dreams of being a creative artist like pretentious poet Maxwell (Julian Burton) in order to impress his heartthrob Carla (THE WASP WOMAN's Barboura Morris). 

Another Corman fave, the great Antony Carbone of THE LAST WOMAN ON EARTH, CREATURE FROM THE HAUNTED SEA, and PIT AND THE PENDULUM, is Walter's overbearing boss Leonard.

When Walter accidentally kills his landlady's cat, he covers the evidence with modeling clay and then shows off the result as his own artistic creation, garnering instant fame as a brilliant new talent. 

But a hunger for greater recognition leads to murder when he whacks a gun-waving narc (future game-show host Bert Convy) over the head,  killing him, and then turns him into a highly-praised clay sculpture as well.  With more money and fame rolling in, Walter's trail of victims grows longer, eventually leading to Carla herself.

If you liked 1960's THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS you should really be interested in this amusingly morbid tale which amounts to pretty much a dry run for the later film.  Besides also being helmed by Corman,  both were penned by Charles B. Griffith, whose sense of humor seemed to play into the then-current appetite for beatnik culture and "sick" humor (the film's tagline is "You'll be sick, sick, sick--from laughing!")

 
 Both feature typical be-bop musical scores by Fred Katz and similar production values (moody black-and-white photography, modest stage-like sets, a "skid row" ambience).   Carbone's bullying boss Leonard, just like flower shop owner Gravis Mushnik, first sees dollar signs from his employee's creative efforts but grows increasingly squeamish when he discovers the truth behind them.

Walter could be a first cousin of Jonathan Haze's Seymour Krelboyne,  another mousey shlub stuck in a dead-end job with an oppressive boss, who yearns to break out of his rut by doing something creative which will lead to murder.  We almost expect him to have a clinging, overbearing mother when he shleps back to his cheap apartment, and indeed his landlady is played by Myrtle Damerel, who was Seymour's hypochondriac mom in LITTLE SHOP. 

Barboura Morris, however, grounds the film by playing her role straight, and Griffith's script for BUCKET isn't nearly as whimsically farcical as the later story.  Carbone maintains a delicious deadpan even when Leonard's dazed reactions to Walter's bloodthirsty activities threaten to incapacitate him. 

Other familiar faces include Ed Nelson as Bert Convy's undercover vice-cop partner,  Lynn Storey of LITTLE SHOP (she played "Mrs. Hortense Fishtwanger") as a curious square, and, as an art patron interested in Walter's work, the ubiquitous Bruno Ve Soto.

In the lead role that would define his career as a cult actor, Dick Miller wrings every nuance of nebbishness out of his pitifully desperate character and manages to remain likable even as his murderous tendencies spin out of control.  Corman's camera explores Miller's manic expressions with his own artistic eye and the collaboration results in a truly memorable performance. 

A BUCKET OF BLOOD itself stands as a minor classic and a model of efficient, creative low-budget filmmaking as well as simply being a real kick to watch.

Read our review of ROGER CORMAN HORROR CLASSICS VOL.1

A BUCKET OF BLOOD -- Movie Review by Porfle

DEAD END -- Movie Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 1/19/16

 

Director William Wyler's 1937 drama DEAD END opens with a beautiful model vista of the city and its tenements and then dissolves to a vast soundstage set in which most of the story will unfold.  It takes place on the edge of the East River, where (as the opening text tells us) every street in New York ends, and where the rich live in lofty apartments whose terraces overlook the poverty and hopelessness of the slum dwellers below.

These include the famed "Dead End Kids", led by Billy Halop, Leo Gorcey, and Huntz Hall when they were barely in their teens but already first-rate actors.  They would go on to various incarnations as the East Side Kids and the Bowery Boys, but here, they're just a bunch of impressionable neighborhood punks who think they want to be big-time thugs like "Baby Face" Martin (Humphrey Bogart), a former Dead-Ender on the lam who has returned to see his mother and former girlfriend. 

The kids are pretty much the main attraction here as they strut and act tough, huddled around a fire in an old barrel or swimming in the filthy water of the East River.  They come from broken homes, often bragging about their stints in reform school or the beatings they got from the old man the night before.  They're funny--especially Gorcey as "Spit" and Hall as "Dippy"--but are vicious when they prey on the pampered rich kid who must pass by them every day with his fine clothes and superior air.

Their leader, Tommy (Halop), lives with his older sister Drina (a luminous Sylvia Sidney) who struggles to support them even as she and her coworkers strike for higher wages.  Drina loves local boy Dave (Joel McCrea), a struggling architect getting by painting signs, but his eyes are drawn to the wealthy playgirl Kay (Wendy Barrie), who likes him while finding his lifestyle distasteful. 

Throughout DEAD END we see the gap between rich and poor as the rich are portrayed as pampered and privileged, the poor as downtrodden and exploited.  Even Drina sports a bruise on her forehead which she got from a cop on the picket line.  The more noble and strong-willed, like Dave (whom we know will eventually realize Drina's true worth in the end), hold on to their scruples while the weak turn to crime. 

Meanwhile, a younger Bogart, still getting "with" billing after McCrae and Sidney, hones his tough-guy persona while also managing to bring some sympathy to his character when he's coldly rejected by his despairing mother (Marjorie Main) and finds that Francey (Claire Trevor), the neighborhood girl he was always sweet on, has fallen into prostitution.  Main is light years from her "Ma Kettle" character here, while Trevor, always stunningly talented, gives a brief but heartbreaking performance.



These various factions naturally clash when forced to inhabit the same concrete jungle day after day, leading to a dramatic finale that sees Bogart and McCrae trading hot lead while Drina tries to keep her brother Tommy from being arrested after one of the gang squeals on him.  The story ends as it began, with the Dead End Kids resolving their own external and internal conflicts the only way they know how, while hopefully learning something positive from it all. 

Wyler's inventive direction explores that awesome soundstage in inventive ways while making the most of his actors' faces in tight, dramatic closeups.  Gregg Toland's lush black-and-white cinematography is shadowy and noirish, especially in the climactic scenes with Bogart and McCrae stalking each other through back alleys and across the rooftops.  The supporting cast includes Allen Jenkins as Martin's crony "Hunk" and Ward Bond as a burly doorman who doesn't get along with the gang.  

While the message may get a bit heavy-handed at times, DEAD END is a treat for lovers of classic film drama and the great actors and filmmakers of yesteryear.  And the Dead End Kids themselves have never been more fascinating, natural, and bursting with energy and talent.

DEAD END -- Movie Review by Porfle

THE MALTESE FALCON (1941) -- Movie Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 1/30/16

 

The first great "film noir", 1941's THE MALTESE FALCON, set the standard both storywise and in its impeccably exquisite visuals.  First-time director John Huston does a masterful job orchestrating his actors and crew to create a visual experience which is consistently involving and often dazzling. 

The film, shot mostly on interior sets, was brought in on budget and ahead of schedule despite Huston requesting an extra day of rehearsal for the film's climactic sequence, which takes place entirely within a single hotel room with almost all members of the main cast.  The complex character interactions and the way the tangled plot is meticulously resolved during this scene makes for some of the most breathlessly riveting cinema ever filmed.

Huston uses clever direction and camera movements to keep things from getting claustrophobic, and never once lets the pace drag.  His screenplay follows Dashiell Hammett's novel almost to the letter (the two earlier, inferior adaptations, 1931's "Dangerous Female" and the comedic "Satan Met a Lady" in 1936, didn't), and crackles with scintillating dialogue, intriguing plot twists, and relentlessly building suspense. 

Hammett's celebrated anti-hero Sam Spade is the perfect noir detective--brash, resourceful, self-assured, keenly intelligent, streetwise, tough but not infallible, and opportunistic.  He does have a moral code, one not easily compromised, and a motto that is rigidly enforced: "Never play the sap for anyone." 

The first person to try and use him is quintessential femme fatale Brigid O'Shaughnessy (exquisitely  played by Mary Astor), who hires San Francisco private detective Spade and his partner Miles Archer (Jerome Cowan) to locate her missing sister along with a mystery man named Floyd Thursby.  When both Archer and Thursby turn up dead, it appears there's more to Brigid's story than she's letting on. 

Before long Spade discovers that she's after a priceless treasure known as the Maltese Falcon, for which she's in fierce competition against  "the Fat Man" Kaspar Gutman (Sydney Greenstreet) and the wily, effeminate Joel Cairo (Peter Lorre).  Spade must spar with these conniving characters while fending off police detectives Dundy and Polhaus (Barton MacLane, Ward Bond), who suspect him in the murders although the more genial Polhaus tends to side with Sam.  All in all, these actors comprise one of the finest casts ever assembled for a film.  (Look for John Huston's father Walter in a quick cameo as a fatally wounded ship's captain.)

Huston delights in working with these masterful performers as any artist deftly employs his chosen medium.  The dialogue scenes between Bogart and Greenstreet are a verbal delight (Gutman constantly admits his glowing admiration for the crafty Spade), while the utter dishonesty underlying Spade's love affair with Brigid gives it an air of perversion. 

Lorre's Joel Cairo, both dangerously scheming and amusingly fussy, is always fun to watch.  I love the scene in which Spade disarms and manhandles Cairo, whose main concern is expressed with the heated accusation: "Look what you did to my shirt!"

Even young character actor Elisha Cook, Jr. gets to shine in the plum role of Gutman's "gunsel" Wilmer Cook, a callow trench-coated hood hiding his cowardice behind guns and tough talk.  (Dwight Frye played the part in the 1931 version.)  The ever-sharper Spade delights in yanking Wilmer's chain, and in one incredible closeup we see fat, glistening tears suspended in each of the young killer's eyes as he's overcome with burning frustration and impotent rage (another bravura touch by Huston).

But it's Bogart's show, and his performance is a pure delight.  We know Spade's a stand-up guy, yet the moment his partner's murdered he has the signs around the office changed from "Spade and Archer" to "Samuel Spade."  He's even having an affair with Archer's wife, Iva (Gladys George), but loses interest once he meets Miss O'Shaughnessy.  Yet we know he's an okay guy as long as his faithful gal Friday, Effie (Lee Patrick), still secretly loves him. 

In one delightful moment, after storming out of a tense encounter with Gutman and Wilmer in the Fat Man's swanky hotel room, Spade smiles when he realizes that his hand is shaking and his palms sweating.  Spade may be brave, but he still gets scared, a fact which both amuses and excites him.

This vintage detective yarn sizzles with suspense and excitement for viewers who are able to plug themselves into its high-voltage current.  For me, it took several viewings before I finally began to appreciate just what a finely-rendered thing of beauty it truly is.  Others (as some IMDb comments would indicate) seem to take a strange kind of pride in remaining immune to its charms, believing that such classics are revered by many simply because they're "old." 

But if it doesn't hit you right away, just keep watching and remain open to it.  Chances are that sooner or later, THE MALTESE FALCON will weave its magic spell over you.  Like the rare and unique artifact of the title, it's "the stuff dreams are made of.

Read our review of the BEST OF BOGART COLLECTION

THE MALTESE FALCON (1941) -- Movie Review by Porfle

CASABLANCA -- Movie Review by Porfle

 

 

Originally posted on 1/22/16

 

CASABLANCA (1942) is one of those films which we can now look back on as an undisputed classic in which everything seems to come together perfectly.  At the time, however, it was regarded by the studio as just another production, whose script, based on the unproduced play "Everyone Comes to Rick's", was being written on the fly and didn't even have a proper ending worked out until shortly before it was shot.

 The story takes place in 1942 in the Vichy-controlled Moroccan city of Casablanca, which overflows with refugees desperately struggling to gain passage to America and elsewhere in the free world to escape Nazi encroachment in Europe .  Exiled American (and ex-freedom fighter) Rick Blaine, played to perfection by Bogart , runs a nightclub called "Rick's Café Américain" in which many of these people meet to buy and sell the hope for freedom. 

 Also on hand is Rick's friend, Captain Louis Renault (THE INVISIBLE MAN's Claude Rains in one of his best performances), the head of the local police and an opportunist of the first order whose greatest pleasure is accepting bribes both monetary and sexual.  Renault openly admires Rick's similarly self-serving qualities and even displays a platonic crush on him ("If I were a woman, and I were not around, I should be in love with Rick," he admits). 



We wonder how Renault would react if Rick started reverting back to his old, noble self, especially in the presence of the vile German officer Major Heinrich Strasser (Conrad Veidt, THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI,  THE MAN WHO LAUGHS), newly-arrived and on the trail of famed Czech resistance leader Victor Laszlo (Paul Henried). 

 While Rick starts out as an anti-hero, he gradually and without really meaning to becomes more heroic as the story progresses.  Early on, Peter Lorre's oily Ugarte--who recently killed some German soldiers to attain two letters of transit to sell in Casablanca--begs Rick for help before he's captured ("Hide me, Rick!  Hide me!").  Rick's terse response: "I stick my neck out for nobody." 

And indeed, Rick seems grudgingly content to sit out the current world war as manager of his bustling nightclub until one night, when an old flame named Ilsa (the utterly radiant Ingrid Bergman) comes through the front door with her husband, none other than Victor Laszlo.  Rick, once an idealistic crusader himself but now cynical and disillusioned, has never forgiven Ilsa for inexplicably running out on him during the fall of Paris, at the height of their love affair--not knowing that Laszlo, whom they both thought dead, had turned up alive.

 When Rick obtains the two letters of transit from Ugarte, he has the means of whisking Ilsa back to America with him and resuming their love affair while leaving Laszlo behind to carry on alone and devastated.  But will he do something so selfish and immoral?  Or regain his soul and commit the supreme act of sacrifice for the sake not only of Ilsa and her husband but of the free world itself?

 This is the dilemma which gives CASABLANCA much of its power to effect us emotionally while simmering with a growing suspense.  As a film, everything clicks-- Michael Curtiz' sharp direction, the gorgeous black-and-white photography, great performances by a stellar cast, a powerful musical score by Max Steiner, and a story that's always totally engaging. 

 Action and romance are perfectly balanced and compliment each other, while comedic touches abound, especially from the delightfully corruptible Renault,  the antics of Rick's eccentric staff (including S.Z. Sakall), and a fez-topped Sydney Greenstreet (again) as a competing club owner who wants to acquire Rick's place along with his loyal piano-playing band leader Sam (Dooley Wilson, who croons the classic "As Time Goes By").




But when Laszlo exhorts Sam and his band to strike up a stirring rendition of "La Marseillaise" in response to Strasser and his fellow German officers belting out "Die Wacht am Rhein", the move (which Rick okays with a subtle nod of his head) not only stirs the patriotic fervor of everyone else in the club but may bring the viewer to tears as well.  (Steiner uses this same anthem as a fanfare for his own musical credit during the main titles.)

The climax of the film takes place at the airport, a focal point for dreams of freedom throughout the story.  Rick now literally holds the ticket to a new life with Ilsa, who will join him if he asks her to.  Yet his newly reawakened sense of duty to humanity now fights for precedence.  Meanwhile Renault, his own duty to Strasser  putting him at odds with his friend, awaits Rick's decision. 

 When the plane fires up its engines, Steiner's music swells, and there comes a stunning, perfectly-edited series of  closeups of Bogart,  Bergman, and Henried which generate a dramatic tension few films could ever attain.  It's pure, undiluted Hollywood magic at its most sublime, and the resolution which follows couldn't be more perfect.  CASABLANCA is an intricate jigsaw puzzle of seemingly disparate pieces which fit together to form a beautiful picture.

Read our review of THE BEST OF BOGART COLLECTION

CASABLANCA -- Movie Review by Porfle

THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE -- Movie Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 1/31/16

 

With the epic outdoor action-drama THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE (1948), based on a novel by enigmatic writer B. Traven, Humphrey Bogart once again joined with director John Huston and his father Walter (after THE MALTESE FALCON) for a grueling tale of the devastating effects of greed on average men.  And during the film's arduous shoot in the wilds of Mexico, any hint of Hollywood glamour would soon become a distant memory. 

As Fred C. Dobbs, Bogart loses himself in one of his grittiest and least sympathetic roles.  Dobbs is an American stuck in a small Mexican town with no job or money, wandering the streets and begging for pesos.  (The younger Huston has a funny cameo as a well-to-do man Dobbs keeps hitting up for change.)  Dobbs will fling his glass of water in the face of a small boy (Robert Blake) pestering him to buy a lottery ticket, yet we sense a modicum of decency somewhere beneath his gruff exterior.

This early sequence of him trudging his way through life, getting bad haircuts, chasing after prostitutes, etc. lets us sit back and watch Bogart at work creating one of his finest characters.  Dobbs hooks up with a fellow American named Curtin (Tim Holt) for a job in which they're cheated out of their pay by a crooked foreman (Barton MacLane of THE MALTESE FALCON) whom they beat senseless after he attacks them in a bar.  (This well-choreographed fight scene is brutally effective.)  Then, after meeting grizzled old prospector Howard (Walter Huston) in a flophouse, they take his advice and set out with him to find gold in the mountains of the Mexican desert. 

Walter Huston enjoyed recounting the story of how he told his son John that if he ever became a filmmaker to "write me a good part."   The old gold-hunter Howard is that part, a role the elder Huston,  sans dentures, inhabits so fully that he almost manages to steal the picture right out from under Bogart.  (He would go on to win an Oscar for it.)  Howard is a goodnatured, level-headed old man, and we believe him when he warns of the evil effects gold can have on weak-willed men.
  
Dobbs blusters against such talk, thinking himself above any negative influences.  Yet without missing a beat, he will fulfill each of Howard's admonitions one by one as the lure of gold transforms him into a paranoid,  resentful,  and ultimately dangerous man.  By the time he's gone over the deep end, he's a frightening character, convinced in his mindless desperation that everyone's out to get him and that he's justified in whatever heinous act he may commit to protect himself and his newfound fortune.

When Dobbs and Curtin finally find themselves locked in a life-or-death battle of wills in the middle of the desert, the film almost takes on the eerie inevitability of a horror movie.  The only thing that undercuts it, along with much of the rest of the film, is one of Max Steiner's worst musical themes--a loping, folksy motif that I find jarringly out of place.

In addition to being a fascinating character study,  TREASURE is a terrific action-adventure.  Alfonso Bedoya is unforgettable as the ruthless Mexican bandit Gold Hat,  whose gang attacks our heroes' train during their trip into the mountains and then later stumbles upon their mining camp, leading to a blazing gunfight.  Gold Hat may be a monster, but Bedoya manages to make him funny, especially with his immortal response to Dobbs' question "If you're federales, where are your badges?"

"Badges? We ain’t got no badges...we don’t need no badges...I don’t have to show you any stinking badges!"

Tim Holt is solid in the less flashy role  of sturdy, dependable Curtin, who shares Howard's dismay at Dobbs' growing instability.  Walter Huston is a delight in a truly wonderful performance--he even gets to break the fourth wall and give us a sly look during one sequence in which he's being given the royal treatment by a tribe of Indians after doing them a good turn.  We don't even hold it against Howard when he votes along with the others to execute another man, Cody (Bruce Bennett), who tries to horn in on their find. 

But it's Bogart, as a man susceptible to bouts of pure, wild-eyed insanity, who makes the film as truly memorable as it is.  No matter how low he sinks and what horrible things he does, we always remember the relatively decent guy he was before gold changed him, and feel some remorse for what he's become.  And just like Dobbs, I'd like to think gold wouldn't make me act that way--but who knows?

Read our review of the BEST OF BOGART COLLECTION

THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE -- Movie Review by Porfle