PolitiCom Reviews

The Man on the Eiffel Tower (1949)

Burgess Meredith en Rouge? Sacre Bleu!!

[17 May 2004]

Dedicated film buffs will find only three elements of interest in this

otherwise disappointing production.

1. It was shot in Anscocolor, a process originally developed in Germany

designed to compete with Technicolor which it did with some success into

the 1950's. It's use here is unintentionally amusing because in the VHS

version it has been so badly degraded that rather than full color most

of the scenes appear as sepia-toned with the exception of Burgess

Meredith's hair which is an incongruous flaming red!

Anscocolor was used successfully in a number of films during this same

era such as The Student Prince, Brigadoon, Take the High Ground (with

Richard Widmark) and The Long, Long Trailer starring Lucille Ball and

Desi Arnaz.

2. The atmosphere of post-war Paris is used to good effect and is

historically interesting, but still meager compensation for a dull,

plodding narrative.

3. While Burgess Meredith is listed as the director there were actually

two others. Irving Allen, who later went on to become a noted producer, was replaced

at the insistence of Charles Laughton who then directed the scenes in

which Meredith appeared.

If you are fan of Georges Simenon's detective novels, you will also be

annoyed by Laughton's uninspired portrayal of the iconic Inspector

Maigret.....

Woman on the Run (1950)

The Best Noir Film You've Never Seen

[7/10 · 18 January 2003]

Shown for theatrically for the first time in 40 years at the 2003 San Francisco Noir Festival, this rediscovered gem has some of

the classic elements that make the genre so appealing; here an innocent bystander to a murder is on the run with a wife who is

desperately trying to find him before the cops or the killer can get to him.

A wisecracking Ann Sheridan careens around San Francisco with reporter Dennis OÕKeefe who may or may not be an ally.

One of the delights of this film is that the city is portrayed realistically with picturesque 1950 settings in North Beach,

Chinatown, Telegraph Hill and the long gone Playland at the Beach.

One interesting bit of trivia: Norman Foster later ditched the noir formula and became a successful director of Disney hits such as Zorro and Davy Crockett and eventually went on to direct episodes of the Batman and Green Hornet television series..

Criss Cross (1949)

A Treat for Fans of the Noir Genre

[6/10 · 15 January 2003]

Considered to be one of Director Richard SiodmakÕs noir classics, this film will intrigue fans of the genre but still falls short on

the story line.

It doesnÕt make any difference. You get to see Tony Curtis in his film debut dancing to a rhumba band with Yvonne De Carlo!

Burt Lancaster, who Siodmak directed earlier in The Killers and later in The Crimson Pirate, works well as a tragic figure, and who can ignore Dan DuryeaÕs classic gangster dressed in a black shirt and white tie?

Exterior shots of post-war Los Angeles, including the Angels Flight funicular, are an extra bonus...

The Detective (1954)

An Underrated Guinness Gem

[7/10 · 14 January 2003]

This is another of the often ignored 'small' Guinness films from the early and mid-50's that rarely get the attention they deserve. While it had a brief revival last fall at Britain's National Film Theatre, it doesn't seem to show up that often in Guinness retrospectives.

A number of elements in this gently comic film that are worthy of notice: Sir AlecÕs performance is deft, subtle and delightfully wry whether he is playing the sleuth or spouting philosophy to the villain Flambeau.

An added treat is a cast that includes Peter Finch, who won an Oscar for Network, Joan Greenwood, who was Lady Balleston in Tom Jones and Bernard Lee who portrayed M in the James Bond series. Guinness, Greenwood and Cecil Parker (The Bishop) also appeared together in the Ealing Studio comedy, The Man in the White Suit.

Another interesting aspect is that a large part of the film was shot on location in Paris and rural France, apparently a rarity for the British films of that era.

Finally a bit of trivia: After his portrayal of Father Brown, Guinness converted to Catholicism

Criss Cross (1949)

Great for Fans of the Noir Genre

[6/10 · 13 January 2003]

Considered to be one of Director Richard SiodmakÕs noir classics, this film will intrigue fans of the genre but still falls short on

the story line.

It doesnÕt make any difference. You get to see Tony Curtis in his film debut dancing to a rhumba band with Yvonne De Carlo!

Burt Lancaster, who Siodmak directed earlier in The Killers and later in The Crimson Pirate, works well as a tragic figure, and who can ignore Dan DuryeaÕs classic gangster dressed in a black shirt and white tie.

Exterior shots of post-war Los Angeles, including the Angels Flight funicular, are an extra bonus...

Phantom Lady (1944)

Skip the Plot, Stay for the Music

[5/10 · 13 January 2003]

One wonders if the director Richard Siodmak was handicapped by a limited war time budget (it was produced in 1944) in making this decidedly ordinary film noir.

In contrast to the absence of an underlying musical score, it contains two terrifically entertaining musical sequences. The first is

a latin number performed at a Broadway theater with a cheap Carmen Miranda knock-off.

The second features Elisha Cook, Jr as a drummer hoping to get lucky with female lead Ella Read, who has disguised herself as a tasty 1940Õs trollop. As he escorts her to an underground party, he asks if she likes jazz. Read clacks her gum, laughs and says,ÓSure IÕm a hep kitten.Ó

The ensuing jazz band sequence is taut with sexual frisson as Cook pounds his drums in a mating ritual and Read pretends to respond. Poor, Elisha.....

The Walls of Malapaga (1949)

Even Aficionados of Neo-Realism WonÕt Remember It

[5/10 · 8 August 2002]

Although highly regarded at the time, it also has to be one of the most easily forgotten French films of the late 1940Õs.

This gritty, neo-realist tale set in post-war Genoa is a vehicle for the two stars, Isa Miranda and Jean Gabin , but is bereft of compelling dialogue or dramatic content.

The story line is sparse: Gabin, on the run for murdering his lover in France, disembarks at the port of Genoa seeking treatment

for a toothache. He encounters a young girl, Vera Talchi, who helps him find a dentist. After being pick pocketed, he meets, Miranda, the girlÕs mother, who serves him a meal at the trattoria where she works.

Quickly they become attracted to each other, she takes him home and they fall in love. The daughter becomes jealous of the new relationship. Meanwhile, the police began to close in on Gabin.

Rene Clement, better known for Purple Noon and is Paris Burning, scored not only the Best Director award at Cannes in 1949 but also an honorary Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1950. In addition, Isa Miranda was named Best Actress at the Cannes Festival..

Rogue Male (1976 TV Movie)

Waste of Celluloid

[2/10 · 6 July 2002]

There is a reason why this made for British TV movie only appeared at the 1977 Toronto Film Festival. It is dull, plodding and lacking in suspense.

Peter OÕTooleÕs diffident performance and the appearance of playwright Harold Pinter are the only elements of interest.

Note : Some British film fans will enjoy seeing Philip Jackson, best known for his portrayal of Inspector Japp in the Poirot television series, in one of his earliest roles....

Le fils de Gascogne (1995)

A Treat for French Film Fans

[8/10 · 23 June 2002]

The question here is why this film has taken so long to find an audience. Produced in 1995 and lightly reviewed in America, it is

only now available in video stores.

This movie works wonderfully on two levels: a whimsical caper and love story built around an attempt to pass off a young travel guide as the illegitimate son of a fictional New Wave director; and a feast of cameos and in-jokes involving figures from French cinema in the 60Õs and 70Õs.

Comedic elements at play include a touring Georgian singing group, their young Russian escort Dinara trying to understand French idioms by questioning the tour guide, and her love interest, Harvey (ÒWhat is Ônot my thing?Ó), the unscrupulous chauffeur who attempts to pass off Harvey as the illegitimate offspring of the dead director and the search for a copy of his last unseen film.

Each introduction of Harvey to various French film legends who play themselves elicits reminiscences of Gascogne by those who worked with or under him. (ÒYou know the 1960Õs? Well he invented them.Ó ) Stephane Audran is particularly delicious portraying a caricature of herself and you donÕt have to be a French cinema buff to appreciate the scene where Harvey is introduced to director Claude Chabrol dining at home alone.

New Wave references and film clips abound including a chase sequence inter-cut with shots from GodardÕs ÒBreathless.Ó There

is even a bonus bit of philosophy thrown in when Harvey listens to the charming Dinara talk about the fall of communism and the changes in Russia and opines, ÒFreedom is managing your soul without too much soul searching.Ó The soul of this film is simply fun and entertaining.

Happenstance (2000)

Un Petit Bijou et un Grand Mystery

[8/10 · 12 June 2002]

The mystery here is why this delightful, small comedy has been ignored by most critics and has failed to find the audience it deserves. Simply showcasing the budding talent of Audrey Tautou should be enough to generate greater recognition from the cognoscenti.

Lacking in pretension and relying on quirky characterizations, itÕs rumination on the interconnection of human behavior manages to be both amusing and life affirming and, unlike some of itsÕ more critically acclaimed competition in the genre, such as The Taste of Others, it actually entertains.

Scandal (1950)

A Minor Kurosawa Classic

[8/10 · 12 June 2002]

Frequently neglected in comparison with his earlier works, this 1950 film provides a naturalistic look at conditions in post-war

Japan and hits on themes that seem oddly contemporary: the price of celebrity and the debate over the responsibility of a free

press

All the right characters are here: a pop star, a prominent artist, a seedy attorney, an unscrupulous gossip magazine publisher and the obligatory angelic daughter with tuberculosis! ItÕs even topped off with a climactic courtroom scene.

While Toshiro Mifune is the marquee name,Takashi Shimura, as the conflicted attorney Hiruta, is the star of this moral melodrama. His performance may seem excessive to some but he gets the great self condemning line that resonates today, ÒA bad lawyer is the worst scum.Ó

One trivia note: While Mifune and Shimura are among the better known members of KurosawaÕs stable, Scandal marks the debut of another familiar face, Bokuzen Hidari, as a drunk in a hostess bar belting out Auld Lang Syne

L.I.E. (2001)

Critics Fawn...Audiences Spew

[2/10 · 8 June 2002]

The perfect complement to the current news stories about pedophile priests -Brian Cox as the sympathetic pederast!! Apparently, writer/director Michael Cuesta checked his moral compass at the bath house door. This story of a sexually confused youth, a cartoonishly awful father and assorted teenage dregs neither entertains or enlightens. Of course the cosmopolitan critics loved it! It's not provocative or challenging, just nauseating.

The Promoter (1952)

Another Overlooked Delight for Guinness Fans

[8/10 · 30 May 2002]

It's easy to like this charming, unpretentious film in which Alec Guinness's restrained performance hits all the right notes. His fine work during the early 50's is unfortunately overshadowed by the public's identification with him in such big budget productions as The Bridge Over the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia. It's the "small movies" like this one (The Lady Killers, The Last Holiday, The Captain's Paradise and Man in the White Suit also come to mind) where we see his real skill and genius. The Card is enhanced by the appealing characters played by Glynis Johns and Valerie Hobson. Fans will also recall Hobson in another Guinness film, Kind Hearts and Coronets. One bit of puzzling trivia: How did Eric Ambler, known mostly for his espionage novels and, later, for Topkapi, come to write the screenplay for this gentle comedy?....

The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)

The Man Who Kept Smoking: Another Mediocre Coen Brothers Effort

[5/10 · 29 May 2002]

Note to Coen Brothers: Long Pauses,vintage cars and Billy Bob Thorton looking blankly through spiraling cigarette smoke are not enough to keep viewers interested in two hours of exposed film. This pitiful paen to the films of the 40's

fails on a variety of levels - plot, suspense, characterization and payoff. Noir it's not. Among it's false notes, the driving scene

with Thornton where the winsome teenage pianist jumps completely out of character and attempts to perform oral sex. If you are a fan of faux fellatio, this is your movie

From Hell (2001)

Merchant Ivory Could Have Done It Better

[4/10 · 29 May 2002]

A major disappointment for viewers anticipating a taut, suspenseful historical mystery. Nothing in this film comes remotely close to evoking a sense of period or place. It's settings have all the atmosphere of a back lot in Burbank. Johnny Depp's opium induced hallucinations are neither mystic nor arty, just annoying. Robbie Coltrane is completely wasted in this embarrassment. If you missed the film in theaters, don't worry. It'll be on cable by next week

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nothing But a Man (1964)

An Important Work in the Development of Black Cinema

[7/10 · 26 May 2002]

Originally overlooked, this picture enjoyed a well-received revival in the early '90s. It is a beautifully crafted snapshot in time providing a human dimension to the issues driving the civil rights movement. Both the interior and location shots are characterized by fluid camera work and a remarkable naturalism. The story is unsentimental in portraying some of the negative aspects of black social pathology that persist to this day. Film buffs will delight in seeing Yaphet Kotto in one of his

early roles. Ultimately uplifting, this film deserves it's place in the history of black cinem

The Captain's Paradise (1953)

Alec Guinness Does the Bolero!

[7/10 · 14 May 2002]

One of the more modest comic efforts done during his Ealing Studios period, it features a side of Guinness that his fans have never seen. Dancing the bolero with Yvonne DeCarlo in a North African nightclub, he displays such amazing footwork that it's hard to believe that he didn't have a stunt double. He didn't. This film is a small delight for true Guinness aficianados and well worth the price of a video rental

Tokyo File 212 (1951)

A treat for afficianados of bad B-Movies

[6/10 · 14 May 2002]

A B-Movie must. The lousy dialogue is compensated for by the fact that a lot of key scenes are in Japanese - without subtitles.

Filmed entirely on location, it provides some interesting shots of post WWII Japan and the cast includes real soldiers who were part of the American occupation force. Francis Marly is great as a broadly sketched femme fatale. A trivia buff's footnote: the producer was famous San Francisco attorney Melvin Bell

The Golden Bowl (2000)

Worth slogging through the first 20 minutes

[7/10 · 11 January 2002]

The stilted dialogue at the begining is enough to turn off critics and viewers, (Who directs these people? ) but the story eventually becomes compelling and rewarding. Urma Thurman to the rescue