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That Forsyte Woman (1949)
Flynn reveals his Depth
Greer Garson is caught between three men; her cool but tightly wound, and condescending husband Flynn, her niece Janet Lee's swain, Robert Young, and the niece's bohemian artist father, Walter Pidgeon.
For me, Young is a weak link in this Quadrangle. His Character, a young architect, becomes in this script, an opportunist and a cad. He's not worthy of either Greer or Janet's love
He loses sympathy here when he threatens to reveal his desire for Garson at the Niece's engagement party.
Garson is fine in this, so is Pidgeon. But Flynn is the revelation. As in his final features, Roots of Heaven, and Sun Also Rises, Flynn demonstrates his abilities as far beyond Swashbuckling.
The Duellists (1977)
Violent But Dazzling
Where Kubrick's Barry Lyndon was a lovely coffee table book with endless narration, The Duellist is not only beautiful to look at, and memorably played, it honors Joseph Conrad's fact based story. Kubrick merely used Thackeray to map his film.
This was Scott's first major full length film, but he assembled a marvelous cast and crew to acheive this stunninng film.
Kettle and Caradine are supported by pros such as Albert Finney, Tom Conti, Robert Stevens, Alan.
The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
A Magnificent Failure
When I first saw GSET, projected on a Cinerama screen, in 1965, I was 14 In the beginning, I thought I was witnessing a modern day religious event. But later on, even with a strong core cast, the magnificent cinematography, authentic costumes & settings , stereophonic sound, & heavenly music, I was distracted by the many scattered cameos. E.G. John Wayne as the crucifying centurion, Carol Baker as Veronica and Pat Boone as an angel etc, which upstaged the substance of Stevens' considerable efforts.
I heard later, that after so many set backs ( terrible weather, death of D.P. Bill Mellor, overrun$ on the budget) Stevens brought in the star cameos to secure extra backing. But one cannot fault the sincerity and conviction in the acting of Von Sydow as J.C. Claude Rains as Herod, David McCallum as Judus, Ferrer as Antipas, or Telly Savalas as Pilot.
Cheyenne Autumn (1964)
Monument Valley Upstages the Tragic Trek of the Cheyenne
Even as a kid of 13, when I saw this in Super Panivision 70, at Hollywood's Pantages Theater, I thought John Ford's "apology" to the native Americans, was upstaged by William Clothiers Oscar nominated cinematography of Monument Valley...Clothiers work here was on a par with Freddie Young's work on Lawrence. Only toward the end , did the WB studio use process shots for the scenes with Eddie Robinson as Carl Shurtz. Bad move. It undercut Clothiers earlier set ups.
But Ford must have also felt unsure of his audiences' reaction to the seriousness of Maria Sadoz' factual account, because he added gag scenes with James Stewart as Wyatt Earp, and Ken Curtis as a half-wit Indian hating cowpoke. Ford ruined the import of this true story, by making cartoons out of the bad white men.
Down to the Sea in Ships (1949)
Better than Captains Courageous
Pardon me, but Dean Stockwell was a far better child actor than Freddy Barthalomew. And the Sea story isn't upstaged by Spencer Tracy's attempt at being Portuguese ( I understand Spence hated having his hair tightly curled every morning before shooting) And young Dean has a great crew of character actors to keep him on coarse. Lionel Barrymore, Richard Widmark, Cecil Calloway , Harry Morgan, and John McIntire.
Vizi privati, pubbliche virtù (1976)
Habsburg Conspiracy
Some speculate Prince Rudolph of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, knew that he would be thwarted from properly ruling his vast empire. And that he would not be allowed to marry his mistress. So out of depression & frustration with his family & ministers, he offed himself & his girl. Jansco's film suggests that he was so debauched & that his girl was hermaprodite, that the Austrian police were ordered to kill him Who knows.? But Jansco found a lush villa & grounds & littered it w/ beautiful naked women and men in orgiastic mode. Easy on the eyes. for sure..
Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
Black Rock Gold
Except for some oversights in "cloud continuity"...it holds up REAL WELL .Bravos to the whole cast.
Old Gringo (1989)
Peck's Great Ambrose Bierce Buried
A truly wonderful performance by Gregory Peck as Ambrose Bierce is blurred & upstaged by the director.