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Reviews
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
Drama at its most beautiful
The Pollitt family gather to celebrate the 65th birthday of Big Daddy (Burl Ives), wealthy land owner and cotton merchant. Amongst the group are Big Daddy's wife, Ida, their eldest son, Gooper (Jack Carlson), Gooper's wife Mae (Madeline Sherwood) and their five children and the Pollitt's youngest and favourite son Brick (Paul Newman) and Brick's wife Maggie (Elizabeth Taylor).
The movie opens with Brick, in a drunken stupor, attempting to recapture his lost glory days on the athletics track. Unfortunately, the only glory he gains is a broken ankle. Brick is a former star footballer who has become a miserable alcoholic. He spends his days in a deep depression, hobbling around on his crutch, grieving for the death of his best friend, Skipper, and yearning for the love of his father that he has never had. Brick is so wrapped up in feelings of disgust and sadness; he can't even bear to make love to his wife Maggie (whom he accuses of seducing and sleeping with Skipper). He lies on the couch swilling whiskey, nursing his broken ankle and wounded pride and rejecting Maggie's seductive advances as well as refusing to care about the family quarrelling downstairs.
The story really heats up towards the middle of the film. As a thunderstorm erupts outside, the gloves come off. Determined to find out the cause of Brick's alcoholism, Big Daddy battles Maggie and Brick behind closed doors. Several revelations finally come to the surface. Brick's hatred of himself over losing his best friend and 'crutch', finally bring him out of his emotionless state as he starts to talk about the events leading up to Skipper's death. His deep blue eyes slowly well with tears and his grief-ravaged face crack through his father's harshness towards him. Big Daddy realises that his son's 'very close and almost obsessive' friendship with Skipper replaced the love that had been denied by his father for so long. During the heated arguing, Brick lets it slip that to Big Daddy that he has been lied to about his illness. Stunned with the revelation that he has terminal cancer and he has been lied to, Big Daddy wanders off to be alone.
Brick searches for Big Daddy to apologise, and finds him in the basement, where they both have a deep and meaningful talk about their relationship. Father and son then realise how much they need each other. Brick doesn't care about wealth. All he wants is a father, not a boss. Both men are physically crippled Brick with his broken ankle and Big Daddy with cancer. However, they become emotional crutches for each other, which in turn ease the physical pain. With a new found respect, understanding and love for each other, father and son help each other up the stairs to face the storm brewing in the living room between the remainder of the family. This particular scene is the strongest and most emotional in the entire movie.
The family gather for a 'final confrontation' in the living room. It is uncovered that Gooper and Mae have drawn up papers to try and take Big Daddy's plantation from under him due to his terminal illness. With these revelations out in the open, Maggie cunningly takes the opportunity to give her 'birthday present' to Big Daddy. She announces that she is in fact pregnant with Brick's child. Of course Big Daddy knows that it is a lie. But he also knows now that Brick's demons have finally been laid to rest, and that his youngest son is ready to take on the responsibility of a family as well as the Pollitt property. He admires Brick for his simple want of love not money. Big Daddy then organises to have his lawyer leave his wealth to Brick.
Paul Newman captures the intense depression of Brick really well. For the first half of the movie, he is emotionless, uncaring and wrapped up in his own world of pity and sadness. Elizabeth Taylor was perfect as the desperate and beautiful Maggie the Cat. She was courageous and powerful. Her performance perfectly bounced off Newman as he expressionlessly thwarted her advances. Both Newman and Taylor are so stunningly beautiful in this movie, that they take your breath away.
Burl Ives was magnificent. What I loved most about Ives' performance, was Big Daddy's ability to be the domineering patriarch, but at the same time in his scenes with Brick, he allows himself to show that he understands his son's emotional pain, and in his facial expressions, you can see that he does hurt for the torment that Brick is going through. They are very subtle expressions of tenderness, but at the same time, they do make an impact on the viewer. Big Daddy's heart does truly break for his son, and it is clear that Brick is the favourite. Madeline Sherwood was impeccably cast as Gooper's annoying, greedy wife, Mae. Her whining, yelling and constant sneering at Brick and Maggie's infertile marriage is enough to make you wish Maggie actually did slap her into oblivion. The underrated Jack Carson is Gooper. Judith Anderson plays Big Mamma the desperate, lonely and under-appreciated wife.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof takes us back to when the performances of actors were simply enough to draw audience. The story only revolve around family domestics, but it keeps the viewer interested and thoughtful until the final scene because of the pain, torment and greed of its characters. It was a pleasure to see such wonderful and talented performers at the top of their craft, and it is a terrific salute to the way dramatic film should be made.
The Prize (1963)
Brilliant!!! One of Paul Newman's best roles!
Every once in a while a movie diamond comes out from the rough. I sought out Paul Newman's 'lesser known' movies. The couple I had seen whilst good were not anything spectacular, but I then stumbled across The Prize. Whilst not expecting anything too entertaining, I was, to my delight, proved wrong. It was magnificent. One of Newman's top performances.
Despite the negativity of the cinema critics, The Prize was box office gold for MGM studios, and the movie-going public made it one of the most popular tickets during Christmas of 1963.
The opening scenes of the movie are quite clever. We are introduced to the winners of the Nobel prizes and the viewer is given an introduction to the main supporting cast. We meet the joint winners for Chemistry Dr Claude Marceau (Gerard Oury) and his wife Dr Denise Marceau (Micheline Presline). Claude and Denise are married, yet Claude shares his physical needs with his accompanying "secretary" (Jacqueline Beer). The prize for Medicine is shared by Dr John Garrett (Kevin McCarthy) who is convinced fellow winner Dr Carlo Ferrelli (Sergio Fantoni) stole his research. The Prize for Physics has been won by American physicist, Dr Max Stratman (Edward G Robinson) who has been joined by his niece, Emily Stratman (Diane Baker). One Nobel winner is missing American novelist, Andrew Craig (Paul Newman), who has won the prize for Literature.
Andrew's fondest for alcohol, womanising and his general cynicism for the Nobel Prize, prompt the Swedish Foreign Ministry to allocate him a chaperone for his stay the beautiful Inger Lisa Anderson (Elke Sommer in her first American film appearance). We meet the novelist flirting with a flight attendant arriving into Stockholm late because of a rendezvous with a young woman. Andrew is introduced to Dr Max Stratman whilst checking into the hotel. Both men agree to meet the next day for a drink, with Dr Stratman determined to give the young author some advice in accepting the Noble Prize humbly. As Andrew spends the night indulging in alcohol and the flashing his charm at every young woman in Stockholm, Dr Stratman is being abducted and an impostor put in his place to accept Stratman's Nobel Prize.
At the Nobel Prize press conference the next morning, Andrew lets the world in on a little secret he has been suffering writer's block for the last five years and as a consequence has been earning money by writing detective stories. It is Andrew's 'nose' for detecting mysterious occurrences to make him realise that something is not quite right with 'Dr Stratman' he doesn't seem to recall meeting Andrew from the night before
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As Andrew becomes caught up in trying to unravel the sinister plot to smuggle the real Dr Stratman behind the Iron Curtain, attempts are made to kill him. Naturally when he reports the situation, no one believes him, because Andrew's reputation for being an alcoholic trouble maker has indeed preceded him. He is therefore warned to stop creating problems. To make matters more complicated, Andrew and Lisa fall under each other's spell and they start a romance, and Lisa realises that Andrew is indeed telling the truth about Dr Stratman's abduction. Together they must save Dr Stratman and the Nobel ceremony, as well as trying to prevent an international incident at the same time.
It is now up to both Andrew and Lisa to save the real Max Stratman from being smuggled behind the Iron Curtain and preventing the impostor Stratman from receiving the Noble Prize and publicly denouncing his loyalties to America.
As Andrew ends up in one comedic situation after another, the other supporting actors come in to play. They are absolutely fantastic, providing for a hilarious and witty journey for all involved.
The screenplay was written by Ernest Lehman the screenwriter for Hitchcock's North by Northwest. This is where the unfair and biased comparisons start to play upon the viewer's judgement of the film. Whilst North by Northwest is a traditional Hitchcock thriller/mystery, The Prize is a delightful comedy. A word of warning for fans of North By Northwest; The Prize is not meant to be taken as a serious spy thriller. It simply invites the viewer to enjoy the frivolities and comic situations of a group of people who could not be more different.
After playing such intense and character roles such as Eddie Felson and Brick Pollitt previously, Newman was able to completely relax and enjoy playing a comedic role. He is absolutely delightful as the flirtatious and handsome young novelist. Elke Sommer is gorgeous as Andrew's chaperone and eventual romantic interest. It is wonderful to see how skilfully she helps her character develop from treating Andrew with icy distain, to falling in love with him. Micheline Praline and Diane Baker are beautiful as Denise Marceau and Emily Stratman. Both are fine actresses.
To those who admire Paul Newman's work, I urge you all to see this movie. Despite the kudos he receives for his dramatic roles, this is one of his top line movies. It is often disregarded, and to my mind, unfairly. It is absolutely wonderful and I loved it. To those who simply like a bit of a laugh and some wonderful actors hamming it up, it is the perfect way to spend a quiet Saturday Night relaxing. If you enjoy it, spread the word. They certainly don't make them like this anymore.
The Towering Inferno (1974)
The jewel in the disaster movie crown
The Towering Inferno was the jewel in the disaster movie crown. It is said to be the more elaborate of the Irwin Allan's disaster creations, as well as the most popular of its kind. The Towering Inferno also entered a new era of film making history. Both Warner Brothers and Twentieth Century Fox had purchased the rights to create a disaster movie based on similar novels involving large, burning buildings - The Tower and The Glass Inferno. Rather than compete for box office receipts by releasing the same type of movie, Warners and Fox joined forces in the first collaboration of two major motion picture studios. Expenses were shared, allowing for a bigger budget of $14,000,000 an amount unheard of in 1974.
The story: Architect Doug Roberts (Paul Newman) returns to San Francisco after a 2 year stay in the country. He is returning for the dedication of the glass tower he designed for property developer, James Duncan (William Holden). Having fallen in love with the country during his stay, he makes plans to relocate there after the dedication. The only problem he has is persuading his magazine editor fiancée, Susan (Faye Dunaway) to join him. A large celebration on the 135th floor of the building has been arranged by Duncan and PR man Dan Bigelow (Robert Wagner). Among the invitees are; Senator Parker (Robert Vaughan), the Mayor (Jack Collins) and his wife.
During Doug's passionate reunion with Susan (the bright orange silk bed sheets and brown shag carpet remind us which decade we are in - yuck), testing on the building's electrical system turns horribly wrong. On investigation, Doug realises that his electrical specifications have been altered. When challenging the electrical contractor, and son-in-law of James Duncan, Roger Simmons, (the delightfully sleazy Richard Chamberlain), Doug learns that budget cuts prompted Duncan to take short cuts in the quality of building materials. Little does everyone know that a small fire has broken out in a storage room on the 81st floor. By the time the fire is discovered, it has engulfed the entire room. When it starts to spread, Doug tries to convince Duncan to move the party to the lobby. Duncan initially refuses; it wouldn't be good publicity with so many important people at the dedication. By the time Duncan realises the seriousness of the situation and the danger, it is too late. The fire is out of control and there is no way to get everyone down. From there, it is a race against time. With fire safety equipment malfunctioning, it is up to Fire Chief O'Halloran (Steve McQueen) and Doug to try and stop the fire and rescue the people trapped on the 138th floor. Watch out for small cameos by Paul Newman's son, Scott, as a young fire-fighter and Dabney Coleman.
For Newman, McQueen, Holden and Dunaway, it was a case of basically sleep walking through their roles. None are at their best, but are still fantastic. I must say, however, I was disappointed with the limited amount of screen time Faye Dunaway receives her acting ability deserved so much more than the token love interest. Richard Chamberlain was wonderful as the sneaky and bitter villain. He gave the best performance of the star studded cast. The same can be said for Robert Vaughan, a severely underrated actor who doesn't receive the respect he deserves.
I won't give away who dies and who doesn't. But it is fairly obvious that McQueen, Newman and Dunaway survive. That is all I will say.
Summary: The Towering Inferno is perhaps the biggest gathering of cinema draw cards that will ever grace a single motion picture. It was also a box office phenomenon. Fierce rivals in Steve McQueen and Paul Newman coming together on the big screen for the first time was enough in itself to motivate the movie-going public to walk into cinemas in their droves. Having so many genuine superstars together in a disaster movie, is something we will most likely never see again.
The screenplay is the part of the movie that isn't all that fantastic. It is the epitome of corny and a real let down. It doesn't allow for much character development. Whilst the main attraction is the disaster itself, the screenplay didn't have to be as poorly written as it was, especially for the number of talented actors involved.
The stunt and action sequences were magnificent, and for its time, the special effects haven't aged dramatically. In fact, they are more realistic than some of today's disaster blockbusters!! Amazingly enough, Steve McQueen and Paul Newman were allowed to do their own stunt work at their insistence.
The music composition is highly underrated. The opening theme to the movie is quite magnificent. The movie opens with Doug's return helicopter flight to San Francisco from Mendocino. The mountains of Northern California were used, and the end result is incredible. The scenery is beautiful and creates an inspiring opening piece. But this is typical of a wonderful composer such as John Williams.
The Towering Inferno will remain one of the last true disaster movies that never fail to interest and thrill its audience. Even today, it is still the most popular and talked about disaster movie. This is quite an achievement with the continual technological special effects development and much larger budgets of today's movies.
The Towering Inferno is one of my favourites. In my opinion, it blows movies like Volcano, Dante's Peake etc, out of the water. It is the perfect movie to watch with mates where you can have some fun laughing at the corny décor, fashion and dialog. But most importantly, marvel at some of the big screen's most influential actors, strutting their stuff in the last genuine disaster thriller. It will forever remain a loved film icon.