Change Your Image
gregory-81
Reviews
Idiot's Delight (1939)
Far from great, but it could have been a contender...
I was fascinated with this movie and kept thinking that it could have been truly wonderful. I thought that it had some of the worst 'special' effects that I have ever seen even from that era. The air raid sequences with all those bombers running one after another straight into the same mountain were far less realistic than the flying monkeys from same year's Wizard of Oz. If they had simply toned down the rhetoric, played up the obvious farce and added just a touch of brutal reality they would have had 'Casablanca' in 1939.
I think that the cast was great. Norma Shearer was SUPPOSED to be over the top and Gable was SUPPOSED to be a lousy hoofer. With a lighter touch this could have been poignant and great.
Too bad the crew spent too much time reading minds instead of Fortune telling.
The Traveling Executioner (1970)
Shows the humanity that can be brought to any profession
This movie made a huge impact when I saw it in the theater. I was a tough (or so I thought) eighteen year old young man here in Vancouver when I saw it in 1970. I think that it might have played for a week.
I loved the humanity and charm that Stacy Keach brought to the executioner's role. I remember the loving way that he would sooth the fears of the condemned as they faced the terrors to come. It was a job that had to be done, and if he was the one to do it, he demanded craftsmanship and style.
The ending caught a deep nerve and I cried as I left and walked home. (It remains the only film that I can say that about). It is amazing how a film that is almost unknown has remained so brilliant in my mind.
I suspect that I might give it a higher rating if I ever saw it again.