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Rapito (2023)
Kidnapped
Based on a bizarre true story, this follows the tale of the young Edgardo Sala who was living quite happily with his Jewish parents and siblings in Bologna until an official arrives one evening to tell them he is to be removed from their care. Why? It appears that many years earlier when he was in his cradle, he has been baptised and so must therefore be looked after by the church. Despite their appeals and protestations, he is swiftly taken to Rome where he is enrolled in a Catholic school where his is pretty thoroughly indoctrinated into the ways of his new Church - even becoming of special interest to Pope Pius IX (Paolo Pierobon). The story really centres around the trial many year later of the Papal Officer Feletti (Fabrizio Gifuni) after the city had become part of the Italian Kingdom, and those proceedings are used to fill in some of the backstory and to test the theories of responsibility of actions done in the name of the State. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the young man grows up to become conflicted - his love of Jesus struggles with his love of family and of the Talmud that was so important to him as a child. What I didn't really understand was just why the Pope would ever been at all interested in the fate of a small Jewish lad when the Papal States were in permanent decline, but Marco Bellochio uses a solid cast and a sparing, but frequently impassioned, amount of dialogue to deliver a stylishly made intrigue that show the last vestiges of the once all-powerful Papacy and of the inconsequential hopes of a family and a small boy.
Ordinary Angels (2024)
Ordinary Angels
Hilary Swank turns in quite a strong performance here as Sharon Stevens. She's an hairdresser with a penchant for the bottle - and for denial - who just happens upon a rather sad newspaper article whilst buying her morning six-pack. The headline features the story of the young girl Michelle (Emily Mitchell) who has just lost her mother and whose father is having to come to terms with her own impending liver failure. After many years of medical treatment, the family are over $400,000 in debt and with the vultures closing in on them, she decides to raise some money to help them out. Father Ed (Alan Ritchson) is a proud man. Not stubborn, just determined that he will keep his family and his home together, so he slightly resents Sharon's self-appointment in his affairs. Luckily his mother (Nancy Travis) sees the sense in her activities and together they all work to raise the funds - and sort out the logistics - so they can secure a transplant for the youngster. Swank reminded me of Jane Fonda for much of this drama, and at times her characterisation of a woman with demons of her own is quite effectively annoying as she interferes at will. Ritchson also delivers potently and the young Mitchell evokes a combination of spiritedness and determination that provides this true story is quite a decent validation of just what can be achieved against formidable odds when driven by a can-do attitude, some human decency and an helicopter.
Teeth (2007)
Teeth
"Dawn" (Jess Wiexler) is your pure as the driven snow American girl who has sworn a vow of chastity until her wedding night. That might not happen for a few years but at the moment the prime candidate is her fellow virgin "Tobey" (Hale Appleman). With their teenage hormones raging, can they hold out? Well a trip to the lake for some swimming then a blanket-huddle in cave afterwards would suggest not - though almost immediately poor old "Tobey" wishes he'd kept his pants on and she is heading to the doctor to find out just what happened. When the doctor also ends up on the operating table we are faced with the indisputable truth. She has been landed with an ancient Egyptian or Persian or Roman curse that is going to make sex a very dangerous thing for the bloke! Rather entertainingly, though, she decides that this could actually be put to good use - and her obnoxious brother "Brad" (John Hensley) might just get a taste of her newly found medicine. Aside from watching it with your legs crossed - regardless of which sex you are - this is mildly entertaining in a squirmy sort of fashion. Weixler is clearly having some fun and it's nice to see the men doing all the hysterical screaming for a change. I doubt I'd ever bother watching it again, but I didn't hate it, and neither did the dog!
Mortal Engines (2018)
Mortal Engines
From the team that brought us everything from Middle Earth comes this great to look at, but highly derivative fantasy adventure that regurgitates a hybrid of stories and spits them out pretty unremarkably. To be fair, there is charisma between the two leads - both attractive, young, and ballsy - Hera Hilmar ("Hester)' and Robert Sheehan ("Tom") as they try to thwart the maniacal ambitions of "Thaddeus Valentine" (a suitably dramatic, "Elrond" like, Hugo Weaving) who is charged with providing an uninterruptible power source for the marauding mechanical city of London. The visual effects are super, as you might expect, and the score certainly has something of the Howard Shore about it, but the relentlessness of the out of the frying pan into the fire scenarios against impossible odds just recycle themselves once too often and the ending, though impressive to appreciate creatively, has all the jeopardy of night following day. Money has clearly been spent on this, but not on the script nor the plot. It's fine, but nothing more...
La migliore offerta (2013)
Deception
"Oldman" (Geoffrey Rush) is a successful, if rather fastidious, fine art auctioneer who lives his life in a meticulously planned fashion, frequently wearing gloves from his extensive collection to avoid contact with things or people. Nearing the end of his career, he is asked by the enigmatic "Miss Ibbetson" (Sylvia Hicks) to value an extensive collection from her villa. She is very reluctant to meet him in person and initially this makes him want to abandon the process, but his interest in some rusting cogs and wheels he finds on the floor and the valuable collection itself makes him persevere, hoping to gradually improve the relationship. As to the metalwork, he turns to his friend "Robert" (Jim Sturgess) and together they discover that it might be part of an early mechanical man - and worth a fortune! As the story progresses, both he and her have to face challenges to their unique, solitary, ways of living and a peculiar sort of romance ensues that could ultimately fulfil both of their lives. Then there's the twist - and it's quite a twist too. This is really a vehicle for Rush, with the occasional contribution from Strugess and from Donald Sutherland as his slightly dubious friend "Billy", and he delivers really quite well. The portrayal of his almost clinically self-controlled character morphing into that which we see towards the end is really well crafted and Giuseppe Tornatore builds the tension cleverly and disarmingly with a sting in the tail that left me feeling just a little sad.
The Revenant (2015)
The Revenant
There is something gloriously brutal about this film - not in an especially violent, nor gory manner - but just in the combination of the best and worst of human traits (resilience, determination, betrayal, desertion, lust etc.) coupled with a truly magnificent depiction of the harshness of a wild Missouri winter. Leonardo DiCaprio is "Glass", who when out hunting with his team is savagely attacked by a bear. He is then for dead by his colleagues. To stay alive, he must use his innate skills to survive the environment and the hostile natives to get back to civilisation - all fuelled by his overwhelming desire for revenge on those who abandoned him to the elements. Iñárritu directs this adventure with considerable skill; you are immersed into the struggle "Glass" has for his very life and then into his vengeful hunt for Tom Hardy "Fitzgerald" whom he blames for his predicament. It may be that the director is trying to draw parallels between man's treatment of each other and of their treatment of nature - and of how there is little difference in the consideration afforded to either; but that's tangential in my view. This is an hugely enjoyable, character-driven, gritty film that builds slowly and relentlessly to a fitting denouement and left me looking for a cardigan.
Plynace wiezowce (2013)
Floating Skyscrapers
"Kuba" (Mateusz Banasiuk) is a young man living with his girlfriend "Sylwia" (Marta Nieradkiewicz) at his mum's house. Their existence is pretty claustrophobic, but for his swimming regimen, which introduces him to some of the extra-curricular activities in the toilets. Whilst out with her one night, he gets bored at an art gallery reception where he shares a joint with the handsome "Michal" (Bartosz Gelner). He quickly becomes infatuated with him, and gradually pushes his boundaries with the young man who is, also, dealing with issues at home. Will "Kuba" make a choice, or settle for something else, safer, more familiar? It is painfully slow at times, loads of lingering photography and "Kuba" being pensive, which grate after a while. The ending is truly horrific - from just about every imaginable perspective and rendered, I felt, the preceding 90-odd minutes almost pointless. What we could have assumed we knew about the main character, and any sympathy we might have felt goes straight under the bus. A real shame, this could have delivered something more poignant and enduring - but it didn't!
Girl, Interrupted (1999)
Girl, Interrupted
Winona Ryder is on great form here in this rather brutally frank look at a girl struggling with mental health issues. "Susanna" had been rushed to hospital by her worried parents after an apparent attempt at suicide. Diagnosed with a potential personality disorder, she is admitted to the "Claymoore" facility under the care of "Dr. Wick" (Vanessa Redgrave) and nurse "Valerie" (Whoopi Goldberg). As you'd expect, this place has a multitude of characters inside and she (and we) are introduced to a mixture ranging from the pathological liar to the anorexic, the sociopath to the schizophrenic. Some are friendlier to her, others ignore her altogether. It's "Lisa" (Angelina Jolie) whom she seems to relate to her best. She is a controlling character who swings between munificence and malevolence at the drop of an hat whilst giving the staff a constant stream of headaches. On the outside, her recently drafted boyfriend "Tobias" (Jared Leto) is trying to coax her to return to the outside world, but she seems to thrive on the institutionalised nature of her new life, addicted to it even. Gradually, though she begins to appreciate that "Lisa" is a toxic influence on her life - evidenced by a tragedy that really brings things home to her. The ensemble of patients - Clea Duvall, Brittany Murphy and Elizabeth Moss all work well with the sparingly appearing Goldberg and Redgrave to create a really affecting atmosphere here, but it's Jolie who delivers best with a career-defining effort as a creature that it's impossible to like but equally difficult not to feel sympathy for too. It's intensely scripted, occasionally funny and pretty perfectly paced and though not a easy watch, is certainly a powerful one.
Se7en (1995)
Se7en
Morgan Freeman is the veteran detective "Somerset" who is saddled with the newly married rookie "Mills" (Brad Pitt) and sent to investigate quite possibly the most ghastly murder scene cinema has ever produced. A man has been force-fed beans until he, quite literally, burst! A missing slither of kitchen floor lino suggests the fridge had recently been moved and behind that they find a clue - one that suggests this man had committed one of the deadly sins (gluttony) and therefore it's reasonable to assume that six more, equally heinous, killings may follow. Indeed when they start to doc just that, both detectives must hastily learn to work together - despite their contrasting approaches to police work - if they are to piece together the evidence. What makes matters worse for the pair, is that they begin to suspect that they are the metaphorical ball of wool for the killer's cat. They get closer and closer, but are always just that little bit late as this self-appointed weapon of god seems to be being wielded with every more horrific killing. David Fincher allows both actors here to develop this mystery compellingly, with a sparing but potent dialogue and an almost perfectly paced and scored progress as we all know what must come last - but never will we anticipate just how the coup de gras will be delivered. This is one of these superior crime dramas that leaves a little more to think about each time I watch it. Really good.
Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978)
Revenge of the Pink Panther
I suppose the writing was on the wall for this Sellers/Edwards production right from the start with the rearranged Henri Mancini theme tune. Thereafter, we introduce "Clouseau" (Peter Sellers) to the (more lucrative?) American market as he is targeted by the Paris branch of the New York mob. Philippe Douvier (Robbert Webber) leads the local team and is under pressure to demonstrate that he still has what it takes. They decide some proof is needed, and what better way than to beump-eouf France's most acclaimed detective. This result might also give the long-suffering "Dreyfus" (Herbert Lom) a chance to reclaim his job, sanity and the limelight. Of course, nothing goes to plan and soon the bumbling policeman is causing havoc across the city trying to find out who wanted him pushing up the daisies. It's Lom who steals the scenes for me - his sessions with his psychiatrist (Ferdy Mayne) and his increasingly nervous twitches and paranoid behaviour when even the name of his nemesis is mentioned is really all that remains that's funny now. Sellers does just enough, but the plot is thin, the writing has lost much of it's originality and it struggles to find things worthy of the usual standard of parody as even "Cato" becomes embroiled in something akin to "Mister Wong". They ought to stop now.
Doubles vies (2018)
Non-Fiction
This film starts off quite strongly with an interesting dialogue between the characters "Alain" (Guillaume Canet) and "Selena" (Juliette Binoche) on the future consumption of the written word - long/short form; digital, books, blogs etc - indeed does it have a future a all? Sadly, though, it soon descends into a rather monotonous and predictable exercise in wife swapping, middle-aged crises and never really goes anywhere new. It's wordy and rather flat for most of the last hour, and for me, the end of the rather drearily introspective story of people too obsessed with themselves didn't come a moment too soon.
The Return of the Pink Panther (1975)
The Return of the Pink Panther
After being quite successfully stitched up for the theft of the priceless "Pink Panther" diamond four years earlier, it falls to "Insp. Clouseau" (Peter Sellers) to find out just who has stolen it again now! He reckons it must be his nemesis "Sir Charles Litton" (this time Christopher Plummer) because his trademark glove has been left behind, but we know that that former jewel thief is also just as perplexed by the thieving since he didn't leave his poolside. Curious, he decides that he, too, is going to investigate just what is going on and that provides us with the template for this amiable comedy. He goes to where the robbery took place while "Clouseau" comes to where he lives - and meets his wife "Claudine" (Catherine Schell) in Switzerland. It's here he reckons he could be on the trail of the thief! Loads of daft slapstick ensues as his increasingly frustrated boss "Dreyfus" struggles to keep him under control and "Cato" (Burt Kwouk) provides the death-defying gymnastics. It's quite watchable, but the theme is becoming a little bit threadbare now. Plummer isn't really on screen enough to make much difference and Schell looks more like she's really wondering why she's not beck in a "Bond" movie. It's fun, and Sellers still has the expert timing and delivery to raise a smile, but they are running out of steam with the characters now.
Carry on Spying (1964)
Carry On Spying
The world is at the mercy of "STENCH" - a criminal entity set up to rid the world of something or other. Scraping the bottom of his agency barrel, the chief of MI6 must depend on the hapless "Simkins" (Kenneth Williams) to retrieve the situation and so together with his triplet of inexperienced trainees, they have to thwart the evil intentions of the menacing "Dr. Crow" (think of a larger version of Rosa Klebb). As you'd expect, the rest of this parodies just about everything from the "Man from U. N. C. L. E." to "007" via "The Third Man" - we even have some zithering! Along the way, a bit of romance blossoms as "Crump" (Bernard Cribbins) falls head over heels for "Honeybutt" (a first outing for Barbara Windsor) - she has a photographic memory too! Finally, a denouement in Vienna is going to test the mettle of the team as the formula for "Hydroformulin" is about to fall into the wrong hands! It's all fairly standard "Carry On" fayre this and I thought it was refreshing not to have the phnaa phnaa humour of Sid James for a change. It's far too long, and the jokes recycle themselves once too often, but everyone has a go and look like they are having fun, so that helps too. Not the best of the franchise, but the writing is OK and it passes the time fine if forgettably.
The Happiest Days of Your Life (1950)
The Happiest Days of Your Life
"Wetherby Pond" (Alastair Sim) is the headmaster of a boy's school who really just wants a peaceable life with his miscreant pupils at "Nutbourne" school. It's the war, though, and the useless mandarins at Whitehall decide that he is going to have to share his premises with another school. Thing is, they get all caught up in their own red tape and next thing he finds the intimidating "Miss Whitchurch" on his doorstep, armed with hundreds of girls, luggage, hockey sticks - you name it. They are there and there to stay. Before he can blink, "Pond" and his staff have been outmanoeuvred and his shirts are now in the filing cabinet! A sort of truce breaks out, cemented a little more when they realise that their charges have pens and paper and stamps. Letters to the parents about sharing send shivers down their spines. They must collaborate. A sudden inspection spells disaster for both of their careers unless they can institute some facility sharing legerdemain in double quick time. Will it work? Can it? Well we spend much of the rest of this amiable comedy demonstrating a degree of precision the would have made the D-Day landings blush. Sim and Rutherford both had super comedy timing and Frank Launder and John Dighton have adapted the latter man's play to ensure they get ample opportunity to demonstrate that to us. A solid supporting cast including the always entertaining Joyce Grenfell help keep this eighty minutes of mischief and mayhem working well.
Dawn of the Mummy (1981)
Dawn of the Mummy
Having just sat through five hours of Steven Soderbergh's "Che", I thought a little light relief might be in order. OK, well maybe not quite this light. It's all about a group of bimbettes and their photographer who are filming in the Egyptian desert and discover a long lost tomb. Seeking treasures, all they find is trouble as their desecration awakens some critters who haven't had a snack since King Tut was but an apple in his mother's eye. The first ten minutes and the last ten minutes are where the action is, the rest is a shocking waste of videotape where director Frank Agrama has concluded that women screaming hysterically and a lack of stage lighting will do all that's required to convey a sense of peril. Personally, I felt sorry for the indigestion facing these mummies who really did deserve something altogether meatier after their millennia long nap. George Peck stands out as "Rick" - acting like this, well you just don't see to every day and I think it ought to be savoured. Appreciated even - for exactly what it is. Terrible. It isn't really fair to single him out, they are all just as bad as each other and in no world could I ever recommend this - even if you do, like me, like the genre. Neither Boris Karloff nor Christopher Lee have anything to worry about.
I'm All Right Jack (1959)
I'm All Right Jack
Poor old "Windrush" (Ian Carmichael) finds himself cleverly manipulated by his uncle "Tracepurcel" (Dennis Price) into taking a job at the family factory. Not in the management, you understand, but on the shop floor. After about ten seconds, his arrival has provoked the animosity of shop steward "Kite" (Peter Sellers) who can't quite decide whether he is annoyed that this man has been employed without union consultation or because he might be summarily fired because they complain to the management (Terry-Thomas). To strike or not to strike? Well that's really the gist of this entertaining satire that pokes fun at the bloody-mindedness of a union organisation that is hostile to just about everything, and at a management that cares only about lining it's own pockets. It's this latter aspect that's well played out by Price and Richard Attenborough who's character owns a rival desperate to poach a lucrative £1.5 millions contract from the esteemed "Mr. Mohammed" (Marne Maitland). A delightful ensemble of the great and the good from British cinema lights up the rest of this - Margaret Rutherford, Miles Malleson (usually entirely déshabillé), Liz Fraser and the no-nonsense Irene Handl all get in on the act and help this send up the ridiculousness of the dogmatic as well as the outdated family business practices that enabled the bosses to basically inherit their jobs! Sellers, Price and Carmichael are on great form here depicting the sublime to the ridiculousness of British industrial relations in the 1950s and it's a good example of satire that even now, almost sixty five years later, might still ring just a little bit true and certainly merits a watch.
Becky Sharp (1935)
Becky Sharp
Whilst Napoleon is conquering Europe, "Becky" (Miriam Hopkins) is doing a bit of that for herself. Determined to improve on her lot as the daughter of a family of travelling performers, she uses each gullible man she meets as a stepping stone to the next. She doesn't care about any of the collateral baggage she leaves behind - including her soldier husband "Crawley" (Alan Mowbray) but maybe she finally meets her match in the wealthy "Marquis of Steyn" (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) who has seen her game playing before, and - well he's just a lot better at it than she. It's also, just as she sees the epitome of her aspirations within her grasp, that maybe, just maybe, she realises that she does have some room for affection in her life - but is it all too late for that? The film is usually only noted for it's feats of colour photography but I think that's a little unfair on both Hopkins and Sir Cedric. The former plays the ambitious and venal creature quite compellingly - indeed, she creates quite a thoroughly detestable character whilst the latter plays the shrewd and dastardly peer with some skill that also gets under your fingernails, too. The plot itself is well trammelled and the story isn't new either, but a solid ensemble of the likes of Nigel Bruce, Frances Dee and Billy Burke keep it moving noisily along for eighty minutes.
The Others (2001)
The Others
"Grace" (Nicole Kidman) lives in her almost blacked-out stately pile on Jersey where her two children "Nicholas" (James Bentley) and "Anne" (Alakina Mann) are hyper-sensitive to light. When her staff mysteriously abscond, she has to employ a new housekeeper "Mrs. Mills" (Fionnula Flanagan), and together they must ensure that the children are always locked into a room with no access to any windows that are not shrouded by thick curtains. The suddenly she hears a noise. Maybe a voice, even? She searches in vain but these odd occurrences start to multiply. Their usually fastidious household routines start to unwind, doors are left unlocked and the children start telling their mother of people moving around the house - folks that she cannot see! Just what's going on? Are these happenings connected with "Mills" and the new staff? Great news when husband "Charles" (Christopher Eccleston) returns from the War - shellshocked and distant, or then again - does he actually return at all? "Grace" is becoming increasingly paranoid. She can't tell what's real and what's not - and her children are only fuelling her fears! Although way darker and more sinister, this actually reminded me a little of the "Amazing Mr. Blunden"! A ghostly story that uses children as a conduit between what might have been, or is, or may yet to be. The young Bentley and Mann deliver effectively here as director Alejandro Amenábar uses the dark and creaky house, extensive and frequently misty grounds and a creative sound effects mixer to create a genuine sense of menace. It's very hard to be innovate with this genre, there's just so much we have all seen before, but Kidman paces herself well here delivering a story that's not so predictable as we might have expected.
Abigail (2024)
Abigail
I don't know that I've heard Tchaikovsky ever used so menacingly before, but here his "Swan Lake" and some deadly pas seul are used to good effect! A group of kidnappers has been assembled by "Lambert" (Giancarlo Esposito) to kidnap the daughter of a wealthy man. They are to whisk her away to a remote, quite spooky, manor house where she is to be held hostage til dad stumps up $50m. Thing is, this butter-wouldn't-melt little girl has a secret even bigger than most of the rather disparate gang of folks who used their complementary skills to snatch her. These folks are led by "Frank" (Dan Stevens) and it's "Joey" (Melissa Barrera) who is left to keep an eye on the young "Abigail" (Alisha Weir). Quite quickly we realise that it's not her who is trapped in their web, but vice-versa and what now ensues sees quite a fun series of daft and gruesome encounters as their gang gradually dwindles and they have to fight for their lives! It runs out of steam a bit towards the ending - which seems to happen quite a few times, but a solid cast including the entertaining Kevin Durand and Kathryn Newton, some quickly paced direction and some pithy writing keeps most of this moving along with the diverse range of characters (and intellects) making for quite an enjoyable romp in a sort of "Cluedo" with loads of ketchup style. Who knew red onions were so versatile?
Che: Part Two (2008)
Che: Part Two
Picking up from his part in the successful installation of the Castro government in Cuba, Guevara (Benicio Del Toro) has moved around the South American continent a bit before ending up in Bolivia where he and a few faithful followers decide to mobilise the miners in the south of the country against the leadership of President Barrientos. What's clear fairly quickly here is that his forces are smaller, much less well equipped and fighting a foe far more adept at his kind of warfare. This is much more of a documentary-style presentation from Steven Soderbergh and I found it really quite a dry chronology that portrayed Guevara as a sort of serial revolutionary. A man of principal, yes, but also one who increasingly became unwilling to consider that his might not be the only way to solve a problem. Also, his antagonist in Bolivia also knew well how to engender support from the "campaniles", many of whom had elected him in the first place. There appears to be much more speculation in this, too, and I found it struggled to maintain it's momentum as at times it bordered on the look of a spaghetti western. It illustrates well the gap between rich and poor, but here his philosophy is not so clearly defined - it's as if he always needs some sort of cause, regardless of his appreciation of what these people actually wanted or needed. The acting is really neither here nor there, and the dialogue suffers from audio issues when set amidst the dense jungle environment. I think this could easily have been condensed down and added to Part One. Interesting, but not great, and it doesn't really tell us very much about the man at all.
Che: Part One (2008)
Che: Part One
This first stage of Steven Soderbergh's biopic of the life of the Argentinian revolutionary Ernest Guevara begins with his arrival on the island of Cuba and follows his increasingly effective leadership of the revolution against the government of President Batista. That old adage about one man's terrorist being another's freedom fighter is well exemplified here with us left in no doubt by the director and writer of the merits of the Guevara cause. That writing isn't actually up to very much, nor is much of the acting but the documentary style of story-building and photography does work really well illustrating the extent of the poverty in which the subsistence population survived, hand to mouth and day to day. Benicio Del Toro takes the title role and when he reunites with Fidel Castro (Demián Bichir) and brother Raúl (Rodrigo Santoro) he is soon an integral part of the command and control structure of the communist insurgency that intends to remove the pro-US government. It's Castro's increasing alignment with the Soviet Union that earns the the chagrin of their nearest neighbours and much of the drama here sees all of them crawling through the jungle wary of all they meet while their increasing number of troops and weaponry, coupled with increasing dis-satisfaction amongst the government troops, gives them a chance of success. It's history, and the fact that there's a part two doesn't leave a lot of room for jeopardy, but Soderbergh doesn't shy away from the uncertainty and brutality of the conflict and the hostility of their island environment. The location photography does work well but it sacrifices the sound mix to achieve that - there is a lot of mumbling going on here. This characterisation presents us with a man of some vision who believed in the principles of communal ownership and universal education, and is worth a watch.
The Green Cockatoo (1937)
The Green Cockatoo
This has some good ingredients to make a jolly, if not exactly, menacing murder story - but it's all just way too fluffy and talky. The doey-eyed Rene Ray is "Eileen" who arrives into London very late one night. At the station, she encounters "Dave" (Robert Newton) who offers to show her an hotel where she might pass the night. What she doesn't know, is that her good Samaritan has fallen foul of some crooks and a station fracas ensues and he is mortally injured. Before he croaks, he gives her a message to give to his brother "Jim" (John Mills) in the eponymous nightclub. She meets the brother, but a rather unlikely series of mishaps befall the pair as they are being sought by the police and the hoodlums. Aside from some singing and dancing that one wouldn't normally attribute to John Mills, the thing is entirely procedural with little by way suspense or peril; and saving a rather curious performance from Frank Atkinson as the butler "Protheroe" would be instantly forgettable.
Stowaway (1936)
Stowaway
Believe it or not, Shirley Temple has got herself a Chinese name ("Ching Ching") and lost in Shanghai. The god of luck is looking down favourably on her, though, and she happens upon "Tommy" (Robert Young). She befriends him, takes a nap in his car and next thing is the eponymous lass on a Transpacific liner heading to the USA. He is a decent cove and agrees to take her under his wing but with their destination looming, an orphanage for her beckons! Unmarried men can't adopt. Meantime, "Susan" (Alice Faye) is also on the boat and also takes a shine to the little girl - and to her minder, too! She's engaged to the rather wimpish "Richard" (Allan Lane) though and her mother (Helen Westley) wants no truck with "Tommy" - so, yep - you've guessed it - it falls to the curly-haired star to do a bit of fixing so that true love will blossom and she will hopefully be spared being in a real version of "Annie". The instantly recognisable dulcet tones of Eugenie Pallette help keep things on an even keel and Temple delivers with her usual and natural charm. On that last point, she always comes across as charismatic and never precocious, and here there's a germ of chemistry between her, Young and Faye. Messrs. Revel & Gordon have provided a few gentle numbers to allow Temple to show off some of her nimble dancing and the writing some entertainingly bilingual dexterity. It's light-hearted and characterful fun, this, and though you'll probably never remember it, it's enjoyable.
Titanic (1943)
Titanic
Right from the beginning, it's quite hard to take this too seriously. A group of investors gather only to realise that the White Star Line is quite literally running on fumes. Their stock is falling through the floor due to the extravagances of the spend on the RMS Titanic and it's chairman "Ismay" (Ernest Fritz Fürbringer) decides that they will have to find the ship's wealthiest clients and try to coax them into reversing this decline. Then to sea and the film becomes a standard series of maritime melodramas with loads of treachery, adultery and for many the impending iceberg may well have been welcome! The concluding scenes are actually quite tensely handled by Herbert Selpin but the exaggerated characterisations and clearly expressed anti-British sentiment, as well as scant attention to the known facts - even in 1943 - render the thing little better than a piece of clumsy propaganda that played a bit fast and loose with some real historical figures. The only thing that was really missing was an assertion that the iceberg was just a craftily disguised U-boat! It's worth a watch, though - at times the philosophies of venality and cowardice from some aboard might be nearer the mark than we'd care to admit.
Stanley and Livingstone (1939)
Stanley and Livingstone
Spencer Tracy is on top form in this story of the British-born American journalist Henry Stanley who is despatched by his editor into the uncharted reaches of the African interior to track down the famed explorer David Livingstone, rumours of whose death having been reported by reputable British newspapers. Armed with plenty of money and his reliable sidekick "Slocum" (Walter Brennan) they set off and with some help from the rather fever-ridden British consul in Zanzibar find themselves crossing Africa staring the most beautiful and dangerous travails head on. The screenplay is based in fact, as we all know, so there is little jeopardy in regard to the results of their trekking, but the film takes it's time to develop a bit more of a look into what motivates both men, and how these motivations evolve as their exposure to the dark content and it's peoples moulds and changes opinions and priorities. Sir Cedric Hardwicke is convincing as the missionary explorer who has an innate, if middle-class, decency about him, as is Charles Coburn (Lord Tyce), the publisher of a rival newspaper all too eager for Stanley to fall flat. Though one could never describe him as versatile, the usually charismatic Brennan delivers consistently too. The on-location filming gives us a grand scale vista of their escapades and Tracy and Hardwicke's thoughtful and considered delivery makes this well worth a watch.