Change Your Image
airearthfire
Reviews
Escape in the Desert (1945)
Releasing 'Escape In the Desert' Had Merit!
This 'B Picture' does seem to be an unnecessary re-make of Petrified Forest (1936), but appearing in the lead roles was an opportunity to recognize the contributions of two European Expatriates. Philip Dorn from the Netherlands had previously featured in characters roles for WWII flicks Escape (1940), Underground (1941), Reunion In France (1942), Paris After Dark (1943) & Passage to Marseille (1944), while Helmut Dantine of Vienna had previously featured in character roles for WWII flicks Edge of Darkness & Northern Pursuit (Both 1943), Passage to Marseille (1944) and Hotel Berlin (1945). Co-Star Samuel S. Hines had appeared in nearly 200 motion pictures by this point in his career, but very few films held him in a role where he was such an integral part of the plot as he is as 'Gramp'.
Armchair cynics shouldn't criticize the timing of this film's release in relation to the state of National Socialism Affairs in Europe. It's clear, the scriptwriters correctly anticipated the pending dispatch of the Nazis on May 07, 1945, but the purpose of the film was to reflect on the fact that the outcome of the on-going conflict in the Pacific had yet to be played out. At the time this film was being made prior to its release on May 01, 1945, the atomic bombs hadn't yet been used, so the time-line on when the WWII would end in the Pacific could not be determined. To paraphrase this film's patriotic message - 'Our fight is not yet over, we must be vigilant and press on against the enemy!' And to this end, Japan was forced to surrender on August 15, 1945.
Passport to Destiny (1944)
Passport to Destiny
The majority of reviews written about Passport to Destiny {formerly Dangerous Journey}(1944) are merciless, criticizing the very entertaining tongue-in-cheek qualities it has in common with the great motion pictures All Through the Night (1941), Desperate Journey (1942) and To Be Or Not To Be (1942).
Both Humphrey Bogart and Ronald Reagan used double talk gibberish as a means of escape from Nazis, while Jack Benny masqueraded as Nazi Colonel 'Concentration Camp Ehrhardt' during the fall of Poland. Why is it so much to ask us to believe the exploits of a cockney charlady scrubbing her way across war torn Europe to the Reich Chancellery!
If you want to criticize the credibility about war dramas, just take a good look at Man Hunt (1941), Escape (1940) and Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942), where you'll get to see Walter Pidgeon a big game hunter armed with a rifle within shooting distance of Adolph Hitler's residence in the German Alps, while you'll find Robert Taylor, Ginger Rogers and Cary Grant waltzing in and out of concentration camps like they were simply the county lockup.
Only a few films routinely circulate featuring the multi-talented Elsa Lanchester: Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Lassie Come Home (1943), Bishop's Wife (1947), Big Clock (1948), Witness for the Prosecution (1957) and Mary Poppins (1964). Passport to Destiny needs to be released on DVD!
I, the Jury (1953)
I, the Jury - Worth Saving, Restoration Valid!
I, the Jury (1953), the first flick to feature Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, is a substandard Film Noir, but it has a Lot of Heart with Great Dialogue, an Engrossing Plot and requisite Bevy of Beautiful Dames.
Having Biff Elliot in the starring role of Mike Hammer is its most obvious flaw. You're immediate alarmed by the character's appearance, akin to a battered punch-drunk ex-boxer. One wonders if his appearance is due to post-traumatic stress, a victim of 'Shell Shock' from exposure to the horrors & brutality of war in the South Pacific. We get an idea of the savagery when he laments at the passing of his friend Jack Williams, a guy who literally gave his right arm for a friend when he caught a Japanese Bayonet that was meant for Hammer.
The blind loyalty displayed by Margaret Sheridan's characterization of Hammer's Assistant 'Velda' can be reasoned again by what happened to him in the South Pacific, feeling indebted to him for his sacrifice.
Is it the private hell he went through the reason the chemistry between Hammer and femme fatale Psychoanalyst Charlotte Manning (Peggie Castle) doesn't ever feel right? Whatever the reason, whenever she appears on screen Hammer isn't the only one being mesmerized by her!
There's a truckload of great moments from character actors practicing their craft. While each scene is not without random flaws, it's not the fault of the actors as they endeavor to showcase their performance range.
This is particularly true of Alan Reed. As his second entry into the Noir World, he performs the role of George Kalecki aka 'Mister Big'. In his case, direction of the camera never seems to be framed properly. However, Mr. Big's Emotional Relationship with his mobster lieutenant Hal Kines (Robert Cunningham) is decades ahead of its time! Previously in 1946, Reed got the tar beaten out of him by John Garfield in The Postman Always Rings Twice. He would return to the Noir Genre again with Humphrey Bogart in 1955's Desperate Hours.
Other notable character performances include: Preston Foster - Captain Pat Chambers, Elisha Cook, Jr. – Bobo, Nestor Paiva - Bartender Manuel, John Qualen - Veterinary Doctor R.H. Vickers
The film's Cinematographer, John Alton, worked on a dozen Noir Films of varying quality during 1947 to 1955, the most celebrated are those made with acclaimed Director Anthony Mann: T-Men (1947), Raw Deal (1948), He Walked by Night (1948) & Border Incident (1949).
There's a showdown of fisticuffs where Hammer is out-numbered and out-gunned, while Velda's life is held in the balance. The scene is set on a marble staircase of the interior court inside the legendary Bradbury Building containing Hammer's Office. Renowned for its unique architecture, the Bradbury has been featured for decades in motion pictures, television and music videos from as early as 1944. Its most famous use includes the films D.O.A (1950), Marlowe (1969), Chinatown (1974), as well as the Television Series 77 Sunset Strip, City of Angels and Banyon.
Those critical of this film should keep in mind that judging by the high quality of the promotional posters accompanying the film, it was being made for the lucrative Drive-In Market. It bears the similar qualities and short cuts utilized by Roger Corman during his turn at making movies for Drive-Ins during the 1950's.
To his credit, Biff Elliot does a good job at portraying the Private Investigator as brawny, physically tough with his fists and never shying away from violence. His performance displays the traits fans associate with Mickey Spillane's anti-hero: machismo, misogynist, sexist, unapologetic and politically incorrect. He's a solitary hard-boiled sleuth, who's impatient with the legal system and willing to avenge victims as Judge, Jury and Executioner.
The visual finale baring the physicality of Peggie Castle doesn't disappoint! But if you're expecting the suave sophistication of Sam Spade, you'll be sadly disappointed; instead you'll get a metaphor of a brutal garbage man who's come to take out the trash!!!
Johnny Angel (1945)
Gold From Casablanca
JOHNNY ANGEL (1945)
Much has been written about the changes of fate in the film careers of George Raft & Humphrey Bogart. The irony is Bogart made lemonade out of flicks Raft believed were lemons in furthering his career. As Bogart reached stardom performing roles associated with Adventure rather than Gangsters, George Raft, still a viable Box Office Draw, was also given roles in a couple of movies that might have just as easily been offered to Bogart.
The first opportunity for George Raft to try capturing the same success that Bogart had achieved in Casablanca & Across the Pacific (1943) was his Warner Brothers Swan Song - Background to Danger (1943) with Director Raoul Walsh, Writer William Faulkner and Co-Stars Sydney Greenstreet & Peter Lorre. The film successfully captured the Suspense and Non-Stop Thrills of a 12-Chapter Cliffhanger as the hero valiantly fights against a Nazi Fifth-Column in Neutral Turkey.
Johnny Angel is George Raft's second swing at performing as an Adventurer. This film, like Background to Danger, is written to play-up Raft's strengths in the role of a Stoic-Tough-as-Nails Ship Captain, who's bound and determine to clear the name of his late father killed while in command of another Ship on its way from Casablanca with a cargo of Gold Bullion.
This movie features several excellent Character Actors who have appeared over the years in several Humphrey Bogart's Great WWII Adventure & Film Noir Flicks. Hoagy Carmichael, who made a big impression with audiences the year before in Howard Hawks' To Have and Have Not, returns in another memorable character role as a Worldly-Wise Cabby named Celestial O'Brien. It is interesting to note a key scene where Carmichael bullies Raft into stepping-up his acting game. Playing with a funny looking Gee Haw Whirligig Carmichael deliberately ignores Raft, forcing him to break-off the stiff stoic gaze and seize the moment by breathing life into the performance. While Raft's on screen chemistry with women seems to be forever reserved for his frequent co-star Sylvia Sidney, Actress Claire Trevor (Key Largo - 1948) steps up her raw sexuality enough to smoke-up the cinema!
Lastly, the presence of Character Actors Signe Hasso (Seventh Cross - 1944), Margaret Wycherly (Crossroads - 1942 & White Heat - 1949) and Marvin Miller (Dead Reckoning - 1947) all help strengthen George Raft's performance and the film's story.
Johnny Angel would have a better status today, if it wasn't for its misleading Gangster Theme Title. The Danish Title 'Gold From Casablanca' would have been a far better marketing handle. The film's plot is well written. All three writers, who contributed to the script, are renowned for their work in Film-Noir: Frank Gruber - The Mask of Dimitrios (1944), Charles G. Booth - The House on 92nd Street (1945) & Steve Fisher - Dead Reckoning (1947). The film's Cinematographer Harry J. Wild is also well-known for his great work in the Film-Noirs Murder, My Sweet (1944) & Macao (1952). JOHNNY ANGEL is a Great 'B' that garnered 'A' returns for RKO Radio Pictures.
Ocean of Pearls (2008)
Window to Sikhs
Ocean of Pearls (2008) by Director Sarab Singh Neelam & Starring Omid Abtahi. A young Sikh surgeon, moves from Toronto to Detroit to take a position at a new transplant facility, leaving behind his family and Indian girlfriend.
Ocean of Pearls was better than I'd anticipated, time well spent!
Prior to seeing this film, my exposure to the culture of South Asians in films was limited to the James Bond Flick Octopussy (1983), The English Patient (1996) a most unpleasant movie with a Jewel of a Secondary Story in the Middle starring Juliette Binoche and Naveen Andrews and the CBC Movie Trilogy – Jinnah: On Crime (2002) featuring a Investigative Crime Beat Reporter.
While the film makers' state at the end of the film the actor cutting his hair is wearing a wig, the irony is that in a later scene we witness the actor's actual hairline is receding. This was one fact I would have preferred not knowing. I would have preferred to go on believing, albeit naively, that Sikhs don't suffer from Male Pattern Baldness. I wanted to go on believing they all had full heads of hair beneath their Turbans.
At any rate, film did cause me to look back at the History in India in order to identify the tragedy that the lead character's father endured as a child. I was already been aware of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in 1919 and the wholesale slaughter of innocent Sikhs in 1984 following the Assassination of Indira Gandhi, but I was not aware of the estimate deaths between 200,000 to 1 Million from the resulting violence during the Partitioning of India in 1947, involving the relocation of 7 Million Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs.