H.J.

If my ship were going down, and I had that one last moment to grab a treasured something, my copy of the book, THE CRUEL SEA by Nicholas Monsarrat might well be what I choose. (That is supposing I already had my life vest on.) This book has affected my life deeply since I first came across it as a teenager. It is why I joined the US Navy. (where I ironically ended up in the submarine service.) It formed an invaluable step in teaching me what `duty' meant, and `honor.' It is therefore a bit more difficult for me to judge this motion picture than most. Were it horrid, I should still love it, I suppose. Fortunately it is not horrid. `The Cruel Sea is in fact first rate.

It is difficult to translate any full-length novel to the screen. There are too many `moments in time' to get them all in. So the adaptation of a novel by a screenwriter becomes a process of selection. Eric Ambler did his usual excellent job in writing this script, and if he left out some of the better bits, he also got the best bits in. Charles Frend directs it well within the style of the early 1950's. The special effects are above average for the time and not unacceptable by today's standards, although they are not spectacular. The film editing is clean and crisp with little to complain about. The musical score is not intrusive, but not up to the rest of the effort. It would be ten years before the art of Movie Music caught up to the rest, and here the score is no worse any other film of 1953. It is however the acting that gives this movie the push to get it far above the rest.

Jack Hawkins is marvelous in his understated competence as Captain Ericson, and the actors who play his officers (including a very young and very British Denholm Elliot) all turn in workman-like performances. It is however the overall excellence of the entire cast that is impressive. One of the major strengths of British films from the end of the Second World War through the 1970's was the incredibly fine ensemble casting that provided first-rate acting even in the smallest parts. Walter Fitzgerald in his 30 second role as the air raid warden shows true compassion when he says, `Yes, Mister Tallow, that was your house, wasn't it?'

All of the vivid, bloody color that made `Platoon' and `Saving Private Ryan' the two best combat films ever made are absent here. This was a different type of warfare, the blood, all of the color washed away by the cruel sea. The Battle of the North Atlantic was a very British battle. A five and a half year long stoic battle of endurance, of perseverance, of honor and duty. This is the side of the Second Word War that most lived, but few have ever been able to put into words. `The Cruel Sea' is much more than just a history lesson though. It is a very good movie, and it is a beautiful example of what British film could be in 1953. I highly recommend it.

In 1963 two of the most important productions in the history of movie making were released. The first was: "Tom Jones" with Albert Finney and Susannah York.. Produced for a few hundred thousand dollars and shot with rented equipment and costumes on the streets of London and in the English country side with a supporting cast of brilliant British ensemble players and extras who stood-in just to get in a film. Tom Jones is simply one of the best motion pictures of all time. The second was: "Cleopatra" with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, a cast as long as the Manhattan telephone directory and a budget bigger than the combined egos of the stars. "Cleopatra" was a total disaster. It has no redeeming quality that I know of. It is therefore important for embodying in one film, nearly everything that you can do wrong in making a movie. It is a movie that you must see if you are ever to understand what a truly good film really is.

Everything about this film is disappointing from the modernized, vastly overdone costumes to the immense crowd scenes and battle scenes where everybody simply mills about until time to collect their checks and go home. There is on life or animation to this film, just a lot of big name stars of the day posing in improbably ornate costumes. I realize that it is nearly impossible to film historical spectacles without having some moments that seem posed and stilted, and without having dialogue and situations that are hopelessly predictable or trivial. I am not asking for perfection, but too many films of spectacular proportion have been made too successfully for me to be willing to accept `Cleopatra' as anything but ego-gratification and self indulgence. Of course Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner are pompous and stylized and predictable in `The Ten Commandments,' but the movie works. It is exciting. It is spectacular. `Cleopatra is merely bloated! At least we get to see Roddy McDowall in a skirt, the mind boggles.

Rent this puppy on some rainy fall evening when your sense of the absurd is up and running and your willingness to suspend disbelief is on vacation.

When you are comparing first rate movies and trying to pick the very best of the very best, `The Hustler' must be in the running, and when you make comparisons you should remember Fast Eddie Felson's challenge, `That's right, it's my turn to shoot. When I miss, then you can shoot.' And this movie never does miss. It is one of those cosmic events where everything was in the right place at the right time on the right day. Casting, acting, direction, camera work, sets, editing, flavor and smell: all perfect.

Paul Newman is absolute perfection in the role of Fast Eddie Felson as he shows how ego and naiveté can work against each other to first destroy and rebuild character. When viewed against Jackie Gleason's Minnesota Fats he is almost touchingly vulnerable. `Pay him. I can't beat him.' is Fats' exit line. Just another hard days work for him, the consummate professional. Eddie has destroyed everything for his one moment at the top, and he knows it, and Newman makes sure that we know it, too. All of which would be just a little too heavy handed and metaphoric if it weren't for George C Scott's, Bert Gordon. Bert is the ultimate utilitarian cynic. He is pulling the strings, or thinks he is. His only flaw ends up being his inability to truly judge the inner being of someone as elusive as Fast Eddie.

My only complaint with this movie is that they should have given `Star Billing' to the poolroom. It is like no other place on earth. Not because it is physically unique. It isn't, but it is where the best come. It is not a mighty arena where great pageants are staged and tremendous throngs cheer the victors. `This is Ames', Mister.' This is where you win, not to please the crowd, but just to win. Winning has a high price for Fast Eddie, far higher than the price Minnesota Fats pays for loosing or Burt Gordon pays for backing him.

We know how the movie ends, but we don't know how the story ends, and we wonder what becomes of the characters. What is most surprising about watching this movie is realizing that we care about the characters in the end. That is a great compliment to any movie, one of the highest. This is of course the parable of an art form corrupted into a status symbol and a quest for glory, but don't let that stop you from watching it. It is also a marvelous evenings entertainment.