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Thursday, October 31, 2013

The Big Sleep (released in 1978) - Starring Robert Mitchum, Sarah Miles, Candy Clark and Joan Collins

Based on the vintage noir 1946 film (having the same name), which was released in 1978, this version is directed by Michael Winner, sourced from the 1939 novel by Raymond Chandler. Unlike the previous version (which was set in LA), the 1978 film takes us to London. Many critics and viewers consider the latter film to be truer to the portrayal of Chandler’s novel, since taboo themes such as homosexuality and  pornography wouldn’t have been well received in the conservative and staid 1940's.
The character of Phillip Marlowe is assayed for the second time by Robert Mitchum, who first played Marlowe in Farewell, My Lovely. In a digression from the traditional portrayal of celluloid detectives, Marlowe does not function from a shabby office or live hand-to-mouth. He owns an expensive set of wheels and a Rolex, with snazzy suits thrown in for good measure.
The PI has a new client - a wheelchair bound millionaire General Sternwood (played by James Stewart). The General tells Marlowe that the homosexual proprietor of a local book store – Arthur Geiger (played by John Justin) - is blackmailing him. Geiger has some nude photographs of the General’s younger daughter Camilla (played by Candy Clark), intimidates Sternwood with blackmail, warning him that unless he pays Geiger a handsome sum of money, the slime all will make the pictures public. The actual reason why Sternwood isn’t just telling all this to the police instead of hiring a PI is revealed when he gives away the fact that he’s interested in the whereabouts of his son-in-law, his older daughter, Charlotte’s (played by Sarah Miles) husband - Rusty Reagan (played by David Seville). However, Mrs. Reagan also seems to have her eyes set on the elusive and brooding Phillip Marlowe!




The PI hunts Geiger down to his house - but on arrival is confronted with his corpse, shot between the eyes, an unclothed Camilla by its side. On further investigation it is revealed that the families chauffeur Owen Taylor (played by Martin Potter) had committed this crime of passion, as Camilla was his lover. Taylor, is himself later murdered by an associate of Arthur Geiger – Joe Brody (played by Edward Fox) who dumps the man’s corpse into a nearby river. It seems like Arthur has few friends as Brody had intended to steal the film all along, not unaware that his partner was already dead.
Not only does the General’s younger daughter have to hauled out of a mess, even Charlotte has a whole lot of troubles, especially with gambling debts she has piled up - earning the ire of the unsavory mobster Eddie Mars (played by Oliver Reed), also the house where Geiger lived was owned by the goon. Following close at Eddie’s heels is his sadistic, club footed sidekick ‘Brown Man’ Lash Canino (played by Richard Boone) and others from the red light district which include a lover of Arthur’s. But ultimately, it’s all about the elusive Rusty Reagan.
Marlowe sets up Charlotte, to learn if whether she’s actually grieving for her husband and is disturbed about his disappearance, or whether she was in some way responsible for his fate, his suspicions are proven right. It is she who is responsible for Rusty’s disappearance. Phillip is saddened and now he faces the task of breaking the news to the General. The audacious Camilla points a gun in his face, and Marlowe is appalled by the wickedness of both women.
It has long since been the case for debate whether it was at all necessary for doing a remake of The Big Sleep; critics and viewers look askance, torn between loyalty for greats like Bogart and Bacall and fondness for king of drawl - Mitchum. However, since the second version is more free in its treatment  of taboo issues like promiscuity and drug abuse, Winner’s version is worth a watch.

The Big Sleep (released in 1978) - Starring Robert Mitchum, Sarah Miles, Candy Clark and Joan Collins

Monday, October 28, 2013

The Amsterdam Kill (released in 1977) - Starring Robert Mitchum, Richard Edgan and Leslie Nielsen

Directed by Robert Clouse, The Amsterdam Kill was filmed on location in Hong Kong and Amsterdam. Clouse also directed "Enter the Dragon" and "Black Belt Jones." Quinlan (played by Robert Mitchum) is a dishonored former DEA agent, his service record tarnished after he stole drug money. Although he’s been ‘ignobly discharged’ - he’s still all good inside, a little more honest than the other average cop you may know - rising to the occasion if the situation (and sometimes his pocket) so demands - the lesser of the devils.
He is contacted by an aging drug baron by the name of Chun Wei (played by Keye Luke) to help him uncover who is behind the murder of heroin dealers, in both Hong Kong and Amsterdam, from where Chun operates and manages one of the largest drug cartels. Wie wants to do all this ratting for a cushy price: he wants a US passport, one way ticket to New York’s Chinatown and not surprisingly, a whole lot of dollars. Quinlan is also re-hired by the DEA who want to make use of his knowledge as an ex-agent; the Department wants him to give information regarding the drug network in Hong Kong as well as Europe. He assists Chun Wei, as well as his former boss Odums (played by Bradford Dillman) and colleague Ridgeway (played by Richard Edgan), he is especially looking forward to show down the pretentious DEA honcho Riley Knight (played by Leslie Nielsen).
With information supplied by Chun, which Quinlan promptly passes onto the DEA, a noticeable number of cartels are actually busted and put out of business. However, rogue elements within the system pass on prior information about one such raid, and reacting to the tip off, the drug dealers ambush agents and policemen in a drug laboratory. When the agents conduct a raid, two agents are lost in combat - this makes Quinlan’s credibility questionable, and he realizes it would take a lot for him to regain their trust, and that most of them do not consider him to be anything but a nuisance. Chun Wei is also tracked down by the dealers, and meets a watery end in a bathtub.




Odums, who heads the US DEA in Hong Kong, tells Quinlan to come over, in order to find out who is responsible for the leaks; the ex agent flies down from London, and is attacked on numerous occasions by unknown assailants, and has miscellaneous violent encounters while in the City. After a number of red herrings and dead leads (quite literally, as the body count increases), Quinlan stumbles upon the word Juliana, the trail leads to the Venice of the North - aka Amsterdam. An eminent, hot shot political czar is vying for all the share of the drug trafficking. However the nameless person commits suicide before he can be apprehended by the law enforcing agencies.
One thing’s for certain, the DEA guys aren’t on his side, so Quinlan seeks help from a former dealer and close friend of his - Jimmy Wong (George Cheung). They soon discover the reason why the detection dogs are unable to sniff out drugs: the flower trade involves more than just ordinary flowers - the drugs are planted inside flower pots to avoid them being discovered. Quinlan and Jimmy singlehandedly, without help from local or US authorities, are able to bust a huge stash at a greenhouse in Amsterdam. The film was rumored to have its fight sequences chalked out and enacted by none other than Bruce Lee and Sammo Hung - the reality however, remains unknown. It is also rumored that Mitchum commented he did the film for money, and wasn’t really happy with neither the treatment of his character onscreen nor the treatment he received as Hollywood guy in Hong Kong.

The Amsterdam Kill (released in 1977) - Starring Robert Mitchum, Richard Edgan and Leslie Nielsen

Sunday, October 27, 2013

The Last Tycoon (Released in 1976) - Starring Robert De Niro, Tony Curtis, Robert Mitchum and Jack Nicholson

The Love of the Last Tycoon is the unfinished final novel of the celebrated Irish-American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. It was compiled and published posthumously in 1941 as The Last Tycoon, and again in 1993 as Fitzgerald originally wanted it - The Love of the Last Tycoon. In keeping with Hollywood’s obsession with Fitzgerald, the book was adapted for celluloid and directed by Elia Kazan, this being the last film he ever directed in his lifetime, the screenplay was by Harold Pinter.
The film is a Roman à clef - it draws inspiration from the life of the famed MGM film producer Irving Thalberg. The monochrome first scene – a 1920s classic beauty in the arms of a cigar puffing mafia boss, the characteristic bloodied  shootout in the diner which leaves him dead- and an authoritative  voice stating “The end is too gory, cut out one role of the tape.” Monroe Stahr (Robert de Niro) - charismatic production chief and creative executive at one of the biggest studios in Hollywood. A hard taskmaster, he is used to having his say in every stage of the film making process. Whilst the rest of Hollywood feels fettered in the wake of the creation of the Writers Guild of America, Monroe continues to be authoritarian and controlling. His personal life spiraled downward after the death of his wife, an actress - after which he melted into self exile, isolating himself.
Pat Brady (Robert Mitchum) plays Stahr’s loyal supporter – "I love him. He’s a genius. I’ve always wanted him to get every credit... I’m the strong base upon which Monroe Stahr rests. I’m loyal to him …". However, Brady does wonder what will happen to him? He is torn between his fondness for Stahr and his desire for the realization of his personal ambition - “All I want is recognition.” Brady’s character draws inspiration from the life of studio head Louis B. Mayer.




When an earthquake partially throws a spanner in the works destroying sets, Monroe, in the midst of the chaos notices Kathleen Moore (Ingrid Boulting), a beautiful woman, albeit engaged to someone else - who reminds him of his late wife. Most of his waking hours are spent trying to track down the elusive woman with the silver belt(though that wasn’t Katherine). Meanwhile Cecilia, Pat Brady’s daughter (Theresa Russell) flaunts her affection for Monroe and tries to win him over.
Brimmer (Jack Nicholson) is the thorn in Monroe’s side: a union organizer from New York. The controlling Stahr is confronted with an equally pushy Brimmer - a ‘communist’. To have a writer’s strike with sixteen pictures under production is daunting in the middle of the Depression. On the internal front, Monroe has to go head-to-head with the others regarding budgets and endings - he wants to make a meaningful picture that for once doesn’t make money - an idea that doesn’t go down well with Brady and the boys. As the film progresses, one thing is clear, love clouds Monroe’s once clear vision and finally, the life he gave to his work slips away gradually - in the end, he leaves the studio where he spent all his creative potential and life, making pictures.

The Last Tycoon (Released in 1976) - Starring Robert De Niro, Tony Curtis, Robert Mitchum and Jack Nicholson

Friday, October 25, 2013

Midway (released in 1976) - Starring Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, James Coburn and Glenn Ford

Midway or The Battle of Midway is remembered as the greatest debacles in Japanese Naval History in 350 years! It was fought in June 1942, only six months after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. The film was released by both names in the UK and the US respectively, in 1976. It is directed by Jack Smight, who has made clever use of both archived and staged footage, with faultless switches. The movie also relied on Sensurround to enhance the movie experience of the audiences. Midway/ The Battle of Midway is a fine film depicting not war heroes but men who make extraordinary decisions in times of war. The film mentions that the plot takes place after the Doolittle Raid, before the Battle of the Coral Sea. The Americans were going about the Pacific War with hammer and tongs; they had decoded a Japanese plan to mislead their aircraft carriers using decoys; the decoders were able to decipher the date and exact location of the attack, thus foiling the Japanese attempt by setting up an ambush of its own!
Robert Mitchum plays the skin-disease afflicted Vice Admiral William F. ‘Bull’ Halsey, ("some drunken correspondent," in Halsey's words, changed "Bill" Halsey to "Bull") who, or more than three fourths of the film is ‘indisposed’, as in real life, with advanced dermatitis, laid up in Hawaii. Admiral Chester Nimitz (played by Henry Fonda) is the man of the hour, in-charge of all the planning, in place of William Halsey.




At the helm of affairs for the Japanese is head strategist Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (played by Toshiro Mifune) who conceived the Midway plan. He intended to send in 4 carriers, 2 battleships, 3 cruisers, and 12 destroyers, and five thousand troops to secure the Atoll from American Marines. He was killed after the Americans decoded the Midway plan, as his plane was shot down. This incident shook up the Japanese and their morale took a beating.
Prominent in the US  Navy's cryptographic and intelligence operations, Commander Joseph Rochefort (Hal Holbrook) was the first officer to uncover the Japs plan to attack Midway Atoll, despite JN-25b being “super enciphered.” Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher (Robert Webber) was the Officer in Tactical Command, with the US carriers Enterprise and Hornet, and repairs a third Yorktown. Under his command, the three US carriers sank the enemy carriers- Akagi, Kaga, and Soryu. He was later promoted to Vice Admiral.
The film is more a docudrama, and digresses somewhat with the imaginary second thread: Captain Matt Garth (Charlton Heston) is a naval officer who is responsible for strategizing operations in the War; however, he is fighting a war on the home front as well - with his son Ensign Thomas (played by Edward Albert), who is a pilot, in love with a Japanese girl, Haruko Sakura (played by Christina Kokubo) born to immigrants. These three are fictional leads in the film along with a handful of others; the rest are all based on real characters. Captain Garth uses his influence and contacts to rescue the interned girl and her parents, a practice normal in America at the time for Japanese immigrants. The girl and her parents are freed; Haruko is by Thomas’ side when he is wounded in action. Captain Matt Garth is killed in action when his plane crashes.
With stellar performances by all actors, the movie is undeniably a classic war film. Despite the slow pick up, given the documentary style filming, the movie picks pace with almost astral dogfights, larger–than-life celluloid depiction of the operations, given their massive scale. In actual the battle resulted in 3,057 Japanese deaths, a sad fate for Japan and herculean victory for the USA.

Midway (released in 1976) - Starring Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, James Coburn and Glenn Ford

Thursday, October 24, 2013

The Yakuza (released in 1974) - Starring Robert Mitchum, Ken Takakura, Kishi Keiko and Richard Jordan

The Yakuza is part of a genre of Japanese high octane action films based on the organized crime, mafia style underworld of Japan of the same name. Written by Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver) and Robert Towne (Mission Impossible), and directed by Sidney Pollack (Tootsie, Out of Africa), the film is a result of brilliant creative collaborations and can thus be consequently stated to be a work of art. The film’s popular themes are loyalty, uprightness and fortitude in the face of difficulty as well as having a conscientious sense of responsibility. It juxtaposes Japanese and Western values which condition individual societies to function.
Harry Kilmer (played by Robert Mitchum) is a veteran Marine and one time private eye, whose friend George Tanner (Brian Keith) is in trouble - his daughter and her boyfriend are missing; Tanner is in business with the dreaded Japanese yakuza or mafia. He has been arm twisted by Tono (played by Eiji Okada) who has taken the girl and her friend captive, just so that George will go through a shady business deal involving the sale of illegal arms. Since Tanner and Kilmer have been friends for long, having served in Tokyo post the War, the former hopes that the detective’s connections in Japan will help rescue his daughter.
Years ago, Harry had fallen in love with a Japanese lady by the name of Eiko (played by Keiko Kishi), in fact he had helped keep her daughter alive by getting the child much needed penicillin. They were inseparable, even living together, until Ken, her brother who was in the Imperial army returns home. He is livid that Eiko should have an affair with the enemy, however, his principles dictate that he be indebted to Harry for having saved his niece - this would mean that at any time, then or even years later - he would be obliged to repay the debt if Kilmer decided.




Harry had proposed marriage to Eiko but she turned him down – she was not likely to bring more dishonor to her brother and family. As a parting gift, Kilmer borrows five thousand dollars and buys a bar for Eiko, which she converts to a coffeehouse. The two know each that their feelings for each other are so strong that none would find another love - and now, when Harry returns to Tokyo after years - his first stop is the coffeehouse. Meanwhile, Ken joins the feared yakuza - he has no contact with his sister now, and does not speak to her.
He once more proposes to Eiko, who, although she still loves him, also still considers the honor of her family to be a priority. Citing the debt, she tells Harry to meet Ken in Kyoto. When he travels to meet Ken along with Tanner’s bodyguard Dusty (played by Richard Jordan), Ken tells him that he is no longer with the yakuza but he knows enough to be able to be of help. The sense of obligation he has bids him to take up arms once more, and he partners with Harry to rescue George Tanner’s daughter and her friend.
In combat, Ken injures one of Tono’s underlings, and his cover is blown - because the leader sees his involvement as an unnecessary interference. Tono orders the death of both men. On the other hand, Eiko suggests that Harry speak to Goro (played by James Shigeta), to intercede on the men’s behalf; however, he refuses as he is neutral to the affairs of the yakuza. Kilmer is left with no alternative, but to plan Tono’s death. Harry sees himself as the reason for causing such grief and anguish in Eiko’s life again, and endangering Ken’s life - he is guilt ridden and decides to stay back in Tokyo, although he imhas completed the favor George Tanner had wanted of him.
The story gets a fresh twist after a failed attempt on his life, Harry discovers that money-ties are thicker than bonds of friendship, and that Tanner is the one who has sided with Tono, to kill his one time friend and confidante. Shattered, though not surprised, he begins to plan his next move. In a gun battle meant to kill him and Ken, Eiko’s daughter is shot dead, whilst Dusty is killed with a sword. Both Ken and Kilmer, and Eiko are plunged into grief.
Goro steps in to help the two men, making use of his son, who is part of Tono’s yakuza. However, he seeks the favor that his son be spared his life. The boy has a defining spider tattooed on his head. Another shocking revelation is in store for Harry, as Goro discloses to him that Ken is not Eiko’s brother, but her husband! Hanako was their only child - a stunned Harry understands the anguish his presence has caused in the lives of the two people he has come to love and respect. Kilmer hunts down Tanner and kills him, whilst Ken takes Tono’s life with a traditional katana. Goro’s son attacks them and is killed in self defense - as Ken thinks of ending his own life for not having been able to keep his word to Goro - the man stops him. As a peace offering and an apology, Ken cuts off his little finger.
Before leaving Japan, Kilmer pays a visit to Ken, and whilst the latter goes in to prepare a cup of tea for him, Harry commits yubitsume - cutting his little finger and placing it in a handkerchief for Ken. He seeks the man’s forgiveness, asking him to also forgive Eiko. The two part but not before Ken remarks “no man has a greater friend than Kilmer-san.”

The Yakuza (released in 1974) - Starring Robert Mitchum, Ken Takakura, Kishi Keiko and Richard Jordan

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

The Friends of Eddie Coyle (released in 1973) - Starring Robert Mitchum and Peter Boyle

The film is a subtle portrayal of crime in the grim locales of Boston; it is adapted from the novel by George V. Higgins, and is directed by Peter Yates in the tradition of 1940s film noir, as well as modern day Sopranos feel. It details the lives of a group of men who are living in the fringes of the criminal underworld, aged and struggling for survival. The title does not give away the fact that Eddie Coyle’s (played by Robert Mitchum) survival is demise-dependent; most of his friends die whilst he is left to linger on. His friends are Dillon (played by Peter Boyle), a bartender who acts as a power broker, not directly involving himself in the dirty wheeling-dealing ways of other criminals; the second pal is Jackie Brown (played by Steven Keats), a young gun dealer.
Coyle’ smooth criminal act is a benchmark of sorts for aspiring criminals, he can’t really understand how Jackie’s vulgar show of strength and boasting can ever earn him a respectful place in the crime-world. His aged experience and wisdom are indispensable, he is sharp and astute - the quintessential bad guy, who started off having his fingers broken as a rookie criminal, for a job gone bad. This earned him the sobriquet Eddie ‘Fingers’ Coyle.
The audience is kept on tenterhooks as the impending doom of Coyle’s career is a tragedy waiting to happen, thus lending a sense of urgency to the plot, exaggerated by the fact that Eddie is awaiting a sentencing. He tries to contribute his bit to being  a worthy citizen by helping a detective David Foley (played by Richard Jordan), hoping for a reduction in sentencing; so he considers ratting on his gun supplier to Foley who is more interested in spate of bank heists.




The film exposes the rot in the food chain of the criminal underworld-robbers, gun suppliers, suppliers, middlemen, stool pigeons - all come together to weave the blood smeared fabric of crime. Eddie is playing by a now-extinct rule book; he is blissfully unaware that almost everyone is taking him for a ride! The law enforcement agencies aren’t any less besmirched - Foley meanwhile is being carefully watched by Dillon, who is ratting on him. Vicious circle.
The heists are being headed by Jimmy Scalise (Alex Rocco) and Artie Van(Joe Santos) at suburban banks, Coyle supplies them with guns. The masked gang always takes the bank manager’s family hostage and then ask him to empty the vault, anyone caught pressing alarm buttons is shot – like one poor sod! The gangsters in the film are portrayed as a no good, bloodletting sort - not caring a hoot whether the other person or one of them is killed, having scant regard for their lives. Finally, after all the money and gun laundering, Eddie’s worst fears come true, as he is shot dead with a .22 caliber gun by none other than Dillon and a rookie. Foley thanks Dillon and tells him he’ll understand if the latter doesn’t want to share the details of what happened to Eddie Coley. The film was adapted for stage in 2011 by Bill Doncaster. Truly Mitchum’s best.

The Friends of Eddie Coyle (released in 1973) - Starring Robert Mitchum and Peter Boyle

Monday, October 21, 2013

The Wrath of God (released in 1972) - Starring Robert Mitchum, Frank Langella, Rita Hayworth and Victor Buono

“They offered them a choice - the firing squad . . . or The Wrath of God.”
The Wrath of God, sourced from a book by Jack Higgins (under the pen name James Graham) was released in 1972; having been filmed in Mexico and was directed by Ralph Nelson. The story is about three nefarious men with a reprehensible past. Emmet Keogh (played by Ken Hutchinson) is an Irishman with a violent, bitter past. He is desperately trying to get out of the violent state in Mexico. He manages to put together enough funds to buy a train ticket out of Mexico, where revolutionaries are lined-up in the streets and gunned down with laid back reliability. Emmet meets bootlegger, gunrunner Jennings (played by Victor Buono), a big man in a white suit. Jennings asks him to bootleg Scotch Whiskey (actually guns, though Emmet doesn’t know) across the border into the US. When Keogh refuses, the ‘businessman’ has his passport and ticket stolen, arm twisting Emmet into agreeing to the task.
Father Van Horne (Robert Mitchum) is a Roman Catholic priest (or so he’d have you believe). A trigger happy man of cloth, he carries a gun in his Bible and a switchblade in a Crucifix. A fellow outlaw comments (on noticing that Horne is holding the Bible upside down) : “If that IS a Bible," he says, "read it. If that ain't a Bible, drop it." Emmet learns that the good priest was originally with the Boston dioceses, sent to Central America to raise funds. Keogh is unaware that Van Horne has been defrocked. Van Horne rescues Emmet from brigands who are angry when the latter saves a mute Native American girl, Chela (played by Paula Pritchett) from being gang raped by them.




Consequently, the three men: Van Horne, Emmet Keogh and Jennings are arrested, charged with siding up with the counter revolutionaries and taken captive - to face death by a firing squad. The man responsible for their fate is Colonel Santilla (played by John Colicos), a revolutionary with a deep feeling of hatred for the Catholic Church. The Colonel strikes a deal with them - he will free them and offer safe passage to the US – on the condition that they have to assassinate a despot from nearby – Tomas De La Plata (Frank Langella). The strongman has a personal vendetta against the Colonel, whose men put to death his father, raped his mother, and plagued his sister to commit suicide. And so, the Unholy Trinity, the father (played by Father Van Horne), the son (played by Emmett) and the Holy Ghost (played by Jennings) are to assassinate the despotic maniac.
Van Horne dons his priestly garb once more and throws open the doors of the House of God in De La Plata's village; Emmett and Jennings pretend to be business men interested in the town's mining industry – thus, the Unholy Trinity lays a trap for La Plata. Violence, extreme sometimes, tends to mar the viewing (the merciless gunning of a little boy); also, there is far too much detailing which confuses the viewer .. Notable performances are delivered by Mitchum and Hayworth. This was the latter’s last completed movie. She was constantly plagued with forgetfulness, many members of the crew thought she was downing one drink too many; they later found out that she was suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease, which was the cause of her forgetting her lines.

The Wrath of God (released in 1972) - Starring Robert Mitchum, Frank Langella, Rita Hayworth and Victor Buono

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Dead Man (Released in 1995) - Starring Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Billy Bob Thornton, Iggy Pop and Crispin Glover

“It is preferable not to travel with a dead man.” Henri Michaux. These foreboding words greet the viewer to the monochrome Dead Man, written and directed by Jim Jarmusch, the poster boy of independent cinema. The film is similar to other different western literature such as from Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy.
The clanging of the wheels on tracks and the intermittent, unmistakably Western background music set the cadence of the film, as a dapper William Blake (played by Johnny Depp), an accountant from Ohio tries hard to find inspiration in the ‘Bee Journal’, out of place in his fine suit and clean looks. That done, he pulls out a pack of cards and decides to have a go at a game, casting a cursory eye on the scenery outside -on his way to a little township  of ‘Machine’ in the West, where his services as a bookkeeper are needed.
On the train, he meets a fireman (played by Crispin Glover), who wants to know the reason why he’s traveling so far - he tells him his parents are dead, he has no wife and the woman he loved, his fiancée - changed her mind. The fireman tells him she found someone else, Blake looks horrified at the thought and denies the possibility; but the persistent stranger only says – “Yes, she did. Well, that doesn’t explain why you’ve come all the way out here. All the way out here to hell.”  William goes onto show him a letter of employment he’s received from Dickinson Metalworks, at the town of Machine.
On arriving in the Town, Blake is informed that he is a month late and that the letter was written two months ago - they already have a new accountant. When he demands to have a word with Mr. Dickinson - the men in the office laugh their heads off! On entering the supposed office - he is greeted by a macabre sight. On the table rests a human skull with a smoking cigarette placed in an ash tray. Behind the desk hang a portrait (Dickinson?) and an open vault, with bundles of cash strewn around. Lost in his thoughts as he surveys the room, a booming voice breaks into his reverie. Seated in the chair is Mr. John Dickinson (Robert Mitchum in his final role, before his death), who looks down the barrel of a sinister gun, and asks William to get out. Needless to say, he is the laughing stock of the blokes outside in the office.



Dejected and unemployed, Blake walks into a bar, hoping to buy a drink, which he swigs sitting on the stairs - just when Mili Avital (played by Thel Russell), a former harlot who now sells paper flowers; she is thrown out of the pub by a former patron, who said he liked her better when she was in her earlier profession. Blake helps her up, and offers her a drink, she in turn asks him to walk her home - she invites him inside, and he spends the night with her - almost getting shot for it by her ex Charlie (Gabriel Byrne), who ends up accidentally killing Thel, when she tries to shield Blake. In the retaliatory firing, Charlie is shot dead by William, but not before he realizes that a bullet is lodged in his chest, as well.
Fleeing on a stolen horse, he is pursued by three of John Dickinson’s (the old man is actually Charlie’s father) henchmen - who are ordered to bring him back dead or alive. Sometime during his flight, Blake must’ve lost consciousness, for when he comes to, a big American Indian called Nobody (Gary Farmer), in full regalia, is trying to tear open his chest to rid him off the bullet - he tells him he is officially “walking dead”, since the bullet is lodged very close to his heart. Mistaking the injured man for the spirit of the poet William Blake, Nobody swears to return him safely to the spirit world. Many adventures happen on their quest for this after life peace - finally, he is shot at again and as he dies, he sees Nobody is also killed before his eyes - he is taken for burial in a canoe, as he sets his last gaze on the sky, he dies.
Symbolic, since the train fireman we met at the beginning, started his monologue thus - “…remind you when you’re in the boat, and later that night you were lying, looking up at the ceiling … why is it that the landscape is moving but the boat is still?” Was William Blake just walking dead on the train? 

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Backfire (released in 1995) - A flop movie starring Kathy Ireland, Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Telly Savalas, and Mary McCormack

The movie is written and directed by A. Dean Bell, and is a spoof of the 1991 film Backdraft. Josh Mosby assays the character of Jeremy Jackson, who dreams of making it to the firefighting squad in New York City - all that sounds quite normal until you’re confronted with the fact that he would like to be the first male ‘female firefighter’. What kind of creature is that? This strange desire stems from the fact that when he was a little boy, his mother died in an accidental fire-fighting mishap; and wait till you hear the rest, the little man was responsible for it. And ever since, believes he can find divine retribution and peace of mind only if he joins the gals on the job!
For his dreams to be realized, Jeremy must first attend the fire fighting academy, he enrolls along with his sister Sarah Jackson (played by Mary McCormack) - much to her chagrin and embarrassment. Although a clumsy fellow, he is likeable and the firewomen grow fond of him gradually.
On the personal front, Jeremy’s love interest is Jessica ‘Luvintryst’ (played by Kathy Ireland); she is the Mayor’s PA, invites him to a fund-raiser, hoping to rekindle the old flame between them (the two have a blow – hot-blow-cold history, thanks to his sister Sarah). Jeremy discovers that The Mayor - Herzzonner (played by Laine Valentino) - is less than honorable, he has ties with The Most Evil Man (played by Telly Savalas) - and decides to leave Jessica, who, by the by, isn’t thrilled with his choice of career. The Mayor, getting scent of the trouble to come, manipulates and edits the videographed evidence, and cunningly implicates Jeremy in the shady business - needless to say, the unsuspecting sod is unceremoniously asked to leave the fire department.




New York City is plagued with outbreaks of ‘toilet fires’ and Fire Marshal Mark (Robert Mitchum) is called in to investigate. They unearth an evil plot - the Mayor is buying jet fuel, and piping it through the city’s water hydrants, the cause of the fires. Sarah is apprehensive when Jeremy begs her to let him join the Force, she reluctantly lets him - along with Mark, and Jeremy is able to create a ‘vacuum’, thus helping extinguish the fires and saving the city. The added bonus is of course Jessica, who is back in Jeremy’s arms.
The film has very few genuinely funny moments, most of it is slap-stick in a baaaad way! Mitchum, with his trademark deadpan delivery is no Leslie Nielsen (now there’s a guy who knows his spoofs well!). Telly Savalas’s performance is admirable, sadly it was his last, he died of throat cancer thereafter. The film has its share of memorable faces other than Robert Mitchum - there’s Shelly Winters (Lolita) and Kirsten Johnston (who was there in Third Rock from the Sun)- in albeit, short appearances. Eddie Falco (Sopranos) assays the role of none other than Jeremy’s mother, now that is funny! McCormick and Valentino, aren’t just pitted against each other in the film, even their performances seem a constant bid to outdo one another in ‘the who can be more sullen and wooden’ category.
You may like to give it a miss or see it for an example of a copied movie.

Backfire (released in 1995) - A flop movie starring Kathy Ireland, Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Telly Savalas, and Mary McCormack

Friday, October 18, 2013

Midnight Ride (released in 1990) - Thriller movie starring Mark Hamill, Michael Dudikoff, Savina Gersak, and Robert Mitchum

A rough ride, this slasher cum thriller film directed by Bob Bralver - is more of a hit and miss film - it wanted to score a hit with the audiences, but landed a miss :-). The film opens with Justin McKay (played by Mark Hamill, who also did Star Wars) at a car rental, where he is giving travel details – he’d like to rent a car to Hendersonville, when asked to fill in the rental contract form, he tells the attendant that he has no credit card, she tells him that he would then be unable to get the car – he crumples the form and throws it on her face- ‘Keep your stupid car.’
The scenes switches to a housewife, Lara (Savina Gersak), a Russian immigrant – who walks out of the house and her husband Lawson (Michael Dudikoff), her reasons are genuine, though somewhat clichéd and commonplace: he pays more attention to his job than her. “I just wanna leave, be swallowed up… ’. As she drives away, her mind a riot of emotions and thoughts - she thinks of spending the night with her friend at Santa Barbara. But there’s a bad thing waiting to happen to her: she offers a lift to Justin McKay, feeling sorry for him because he tells her he’s missed his bus home.
At a police check point, they are informed they have to take a detour, Lara tells the policeman that she and her ‘brother’ are traveling together. As they pull away, Justin remarks that she reminds him of his sister, whom he liked very much. Unbeknownst to Lara, her husband is following her, as he places his car in her way, she is taken aback and bumps into it. Getting out, she realizes its Lawson, this angers her further and she pulls away again. Lawson radios for help, meanwhile Hamill wonders why he was following them, and Lara tells him he’s her husband. When she pulls over at a motel to make a call, the lady at the desk is particularly rude and arrogant - this peeves Justin,  who says he doesn’t like her because she has a fake eye. While Lara waits her turn at the phone booth, he walks into the reception, the woman asks him what he wants - he points at her eye- ‘I want that.’




Viewers are given a macabre glimpse of  the woman’s corpse, with her eye missing. Lara is none the wiser. Justin shares with Lara the purpose of his visit to Hendersonville - ‘to meet an old professor, he makes me feel good.’ She notices he’s weaving thread or something, he tells her it’s a present for her. Suddenly, he dangles the necklace before her - the motel lady’s glass eye decorated as a pendant - Lara rams the brakes and asks Justin to get out, he tells her she doesn’t mean that - he wants her to like him! He threatens her, and she promises not to bother him or make an attempt to leave. Justin asks her who she is and why she left her husband. Meanwhile Lawson goes over to a colleague’s place to borrow his car. The trail seems to have gone cold, but he persists and is on the road to trace the car.
Leaving a trail of blood and gore, killing fourteen people, including six policemen - the duo travels on. Ultimately, Justin halts at a hospital, his intentions are insane - he  wants Dr.Hardy (played by Robert Mitchum), his psychiatrist, to administer electric shocks, not to him, but to Lara so that she likes him.
The doctor is familiar with Hamill’s history: he was witness to the terrifying butchering of his little sister by their alcoholic mother, thus the doctor knows that Mark is easily offended when he feels disrespected or let down. Hamill ignores the doctor and zaps Lara with the intention of killing her - Lawson arrives just in time and saves her. In the fighting that ensues, Justin is electrocuted and dies. All’s well that ends well- our hero reunites with his lady love and the two will hopefully live happily ever after - as for the audience, can’t say the same after eighty eight minutes of torturous viewing!

Midnight Ride (released in 1990) - Thriller movie starring Mark Hamill, Michael Dudikoff, Savina Gersak, and Robert Mitchum

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Scrooged (released in 1988) - Christmas ghosts starring Bill Murray, Karen Allen, Bobcat Goldthwait, and John Forsythe

Ebenezer by another name: Frank Cross, Victorian era Britain: New York City. Directed by Richard Donner (The Omen), Scrooged was a 1988 Christmas offering for the holidays - peace, hope, love, joy and “bah! Humbug!”  The contemporization of a beloved classic, in a manner although surreal, is commendable. However, the movie is better suited to older audiences, given the contentious nature of some scenes in the film.
Frank Cross (played by Bill Murray) is a dissolute and sour television executive at IBC TV Network. He is  hell bent on resorting to any means so long as the ratings and moolah are raked in - despite the fact that he has a modestly burgeoning bank account, he’s hungry for more … and even more. He even harbors almost misanthropic views with regard to the people around him - costing him his family – his brother James(played by John Murray) and the love of his life, Claire (played by Karen Allen).
It is this strange, deeply embedded streak that leads him to get the staff at the to work through Christmas Eve - wanting them to stage a live broadcast of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. He gleefully hatches this evil plot to ensure that the Holiday is ruined and his coffers are brimming. At the receiving end of his constant derision is Grace Cooley (played by Alfre Woodward), the hardworking mother of Calvin, who is mute; much to her consternation and frustration she has to neglect the child and her family because she is so overburdened by work. A disastrous TV commercial produced by Frank causes an old lady’s death, and when his loyal sidekick Eliot Loudermilk (Bobcat Goldthwait) hesitatingly offers his opinion - he is dismissed from work on Christmas Eve.




Unfortunately for Frank, Christmas has something planned for him - a visit from the Ghosts of past Christmases. The first visitation is by Lew Hayward (played by John Forsythe), the spirit of his dead mentor,  the past, present and future- will visit him; this obviously psyches him out. Matters worsen when Cross is informed by his boss Preston Rhinelander (Robert Mitchum) that he will be assisted by a younger, dynamic assistant Brice Cummings (John Glover), an over smart yuppie clearly out to sabotage Frank’s job.
We get a glimpse of how Cross became the man he is, as the Ghost of Christmas Past (David Johansen) meets him as a New York cabbie. The two go back in time to the year 1955 when Frank was a kid and through to the moment in his life when he gets his first break at a TV station in 1969, up until the year 1971, when he chooses his career over Claire. The Ghost of Christmas Present (Carol Kane) likes to bonk Frank on the face with a toaster oven, she offers him a glimpse of the sad life Grace has and how James, (whose Christmas invite he rejected) despite his unkindness, misses him.
Angered and pained after his unfair dismissal, Eliot Loudermilk, former employee at IBC TV Network, storms Frank’s office in an attempt to kill him. The Ghost of Christmas Future - headless, caped and with a TV screen in place of its face - shows him his lonely future, when it would send right to the grave after a grilling in the crematorium - his funeral attended only by James, whilst Claire’s heart turns to stone, just like his, and poor Calvin ends up in a mental health facility. We have an idea how the film would end - and so, all’s well, eventually.

Scrooged (released by 1988) - Christmas ghosts starring Bill Murray, Karen Allen, Bobcat Goldthwait, and John Forsythe

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Ryan's Daughter (released in 1970) - Starring Robert Mitchum, Sarah Miles, John Mills, Christopher Jones, and Leo McKern

The screenplays of this movie - Ryan’s Daughter is by legendary author and screenwriter Robert Bolt, he collaborates once more with director David Lean - the duo who gave cinema classics like Lawrence of Arabia, Dr. Zhivago. Bolt pens a captivating war romance, which was the highest earning movie at the box office in 1970 despite having almost no critical acclaim; it also won two Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor (John Mills) and Best Cinematography (Freddie Young), winning nominations for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Sarah Miles, who was married to Bolt at the time) and Best Sound. The year is 1916, in Ireland. The Irish Republicans want to end British rule and launch an offensive that history would refer to as the Easter Rising, for the festive week in which it took place.
Elsewhere in an imaginary village called Kirrary (on the Dinge Peninsula, in a real part of Ireland) during WWI. Rosy Ryan is the youthful, pretty and somewhat rose-tinted daughter of the local pub owner Tom Ryan (Leo McKern); she reads Byron, is in love with the chivalrous Peter Blood and believes in happily ever after; shielded and kept eons away from the reality of the War, secluded in her part of the picturesque village, where a modest British garrison is about the only reminder of the troubled history of the times. Her father, however is an informer of the British, although he puts up an act of  regret that ‘our boys’ couldn’t hold the uprising against the suppressors.
The charming yet somewhat petulant Rosy is above the attentions of the local lads and would much rather set her eyes on someone with a ‘standing’ in society, a fact that Father Hugh Collins (Trevor Howard) is well aware of when she marries the staid, calm and much older than her school master - Charles Shaughnessy (Robert Mitchum). The elders of the village including the priest are disapproving of Rosy, yet can do precious little to change her from being a spit fire to a docile housewife!




Soon enough, Rosy is disillusioned and loses sight of the charm she associated married life with; Major Randolph Doryan, a British army officer, arrives to take charge of the garrison and as a result - with Rosy. Randolph was awarded the Victoria Cross for his contribution to the WWI, which left him crippled, and reeling from what we know today as post traumatic stress, then called ‘shell shock’ - for the helplessness soldiers felt when unprotected in the wake of shelling. His physical shortcomings seem lost to Rosy, who finds herself falling in love with the Major. What ensues is a riotous, torrid love affair, rendezvouses in the nights and hush toned sweet nothings. Although he suspects it, yet Charles decides against confrontation, even if the evidence of the affair is glaring and enormous.
All seems well, until the ubiquitous village buffoon Michael (John Mills) unintentionally discloses the secret affair to the villagers - who at once label her indiscretions with choicest epithets. Things take a turn for the worse when Rosy’s father Tom – rats on the plans of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, represented by Tim O’Leary (Barry Foster) to bully the pub owner into helping them recover a cache of  arms that belongs to the Germans. Loyalty gets the better of him as Tom immediately alerts the British. Maj. Doryan confronts the IRB comrades, a gun fight ensues leaving in its wake a wounded O’Leary.
On the family front, Charles decides to let Rosy know that he is aware of her affair, and hopes that she would ‘come to’ - that night Rosy returns to her lover the Major, only to be seen by Charles, who wanders away, hurt and dismayed. He is discovered on the beach by Father Collins. The villagers, meanwhile get a whiff of the fact that their cause has been betrayed by one of their town - and the obvious choice is Rosy, given the palpable evidence there is of her affair with the British Major. In vigilante-style justice, the mob bears down on the couple, almost killing them, whist lynching and shearing Rosy’s hair - she however realizes it’s her father who is responsible for the deception all along, but does not give his secret up - bearing all the humiliation.
Doryan is dejected and feels responsible for her misery, he is led to the cache of yet undiscovered arms on the beach, and in a fit of guilt charged hopelessness, detonates the dynamite - committing suicide. Rosy leaves the village for Dublin, with her husband, Charles, who has decided he’d leave her, although the priest asks him to reconsider. Not a very well acclaimed film by critics, yet it grossed almost $31 million - a number to reckon with in the ’70s. Audiences liked the star crossed lover - meets - patriot ism-meets a whole jumble of human emotions - perhaps more the kind that suit normal movie buffs, as opposed to intellect seeking critics!

Ryan's Daughter (released in 1970) - Starring Robert Mitchum, Sarah Miles, John Mills, Christopher Jones, and Leo McKern

Going Home (released in 1971) - A nasty movie starring Robert Mitchum, Jan-Michael Vincent and Brenda Vaccaro

A typical ‘slice-of-life’ drama, the film is directed by Herbert B. Leonard. The audience is introduced to the characters of the scene in a macabre setting - a bleeding and battered woman, obviously beaten without mercy, staggers down a flight of stairs where her young son, too shocked and horrified to react, and tries to stay out of her bloody embrace. As she dies on the floor, his father’s drunken and disheveled   silhouette shadows the doorway. He had brutally assaulted his wife with a ten-pin bowling trophy and killed his wife in a fit of drunken rage.
Thirteen remorseful years later, Harry Graham is out on parole, with nothing but a pocketful of honest intentions of eking out a living and staying out of the public eye. He heads for a trailer camp, unbeknownst to his nineteen year old son, Jimmy (Jan-Michael Vincent). Over the past many years, he has been in and out of foster homes and boys’ care homes - he now wants to rekindle the almost nonexistent relationship with his father. When he comes to know that Harry is out on parole, his search takes him to a trailer park, where his father is.
Although the young man and the older Harry try their best to get to know each other, and build a relationship over the mangled remains that are shrouded with the tragic demise of their mother and wife - life is anything but easy, add to that Harry’s new love interest - Jenny (Brenda Vaccaro) whom Jimmy isn’t too fond of. But something doesn’t seem to fit in right, for Jimmy seems too sincere about making amends, at the same time appearing to be secretive and guarded. Harry is the awkward, and mostly clueless father - he once initiates a conversation about ten-pin bowling, not really aware about the horrific memory the teenager has attached to the game.




Jimmy is actually a disturbed boy-man, rendered impotent by his rage; he one day tricks Jenny and brutally rapes her - he was drunk, intentionally, trying to recreate the night when Harry murdered his mother. He seems to goad his father relentlessly, seeking an explanation for why he murdered his wife; all the while trying to play lord, master and protector of Jenny, for whom he feels a range of frustrating emotions - from jealousy to affection, anger to helplessness.
After he rapes Jenny, he runs off to Pennsylvania, to where the three once lived. The house is now a bar cum bordello. Guilt ridden, he calls up Harry and confesses to raping his father’s lover (an oedipal twist). Harry is livid, and he beats the pulp out of Jimmy - years of anger over why he testified against him in the open court and the horror of what a monster he’s become - this fuels his anger.
The sensitive characterization of Harry is the coup d’état in the film, overshadowing all else. In the end, the complexities of their relationship remain, tangled and without resolution; Jimmy seeks a difficult answer : why did Harry murder his mother? Finally his father answers, rather frostily that there was no reason, it was a crazed reaction borne of rage. It would seem for now that Jimmy’s search is over, as Harry drives away, leaving him all by himself.

Going Home (released in 1971) - A nasty movie starring Robert Mitchum, Jan-Michael Vincent and Brenda Vaccaro

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

The Good Guys and the Bad Guys (released in 1969) - Starring Robert Mitchum, George Kennedy and Martin Balsam

Directed by Burt Kennedy in 1969, the film is quintessential honorable cowboy meets low life adversary. Jim Flagg (Robert Mitchum) is the sheriff in the little town of Progress. He has spent the most fruitful and honest years of his youth serving on the Force. Just as he’s about to hang his boots, he is warned by his hermit-like friend Grundy (Douglas V. Fowley) that his archenemy, an outlaw by the name of  Big John McKay (George Kennedy) - believed to be dead - is back in Progress, and that he’s planning a heist with his gang.
Jim feels duty bound to warn the Mayor - Randolph Wilker (Martin Balsam), who is disbelieving, and thinks that the sheriff is causing unnecessary panic, especially since he’s hoping to get re-elected and hopes to take over the governor’s seat (the film is  apparently set in New Mexico soon after it gained statehood); instead, he thinks that Jim ought to hand over his badge and move on - this Jim does willingly. Flagg is treated like an old relic, out of place in the changing, more modern time, given the hero’s farewell, his send-off is orchestrated by Wilker who is in a tearing hurry to see him go; Peabody, a bumbling sycophant replaces him, just as Jim thinks he ought to take matters into his own hands, and leaves Progress.
Riding out to meet McKay on his own, Jim is acquainted with the new reality that McKay is no longer boss; instead he is himself a member of a gang of much younger outlaws - who incidentally, capture Flagg. The new leader is a young outlaw names Waco (David Carradine), who makes no bones of the fact that he thinks McKay’s days as boss are over, and it is he whose command must be obeyed.



Waco orders McKay to shoot Jim Flagg, despite their legendary enmity and having been on the opposite side of the law, the two men decide to stick together and McKay refuses to do Waco’s bidding. Waco and his buddies are certain that the train heist (they plan to loot cash coming for the bank in Progress) - will go wrong because Flagg will throw a spanner in the works - so, they abandon the two men, who on their own, with grudging admiration for each other - decide to save the town of Progress. This doesn’t stop them for beating each other up and coming to fists - kind hearted  Grundy tears them apart and brings them to a boarding house run by Mary (Lois Nettleton), a friend of Jim. When they witness a young, wet-behind-the-ears outlaw shooting a man in his back, the two old timers are saddened that there is no ‘honor among  thieves’. How do they stop the robbery from happening ? What can a bunch of oldies do against such a robbery group ?
The film touches upon more profound themes like the replacement of aged experience with the cocksureness of youth, the importance of principles, irrespective of which side of the law you were on and that the expediency of the young whilst dealing with anachronisms like themselves, is nothing but a myopic lack of sight on the part of the town’s mayor and elite.

The Good Guys and the Bad Guys (released in 1969) - Starring Robert Mitchum, George Kennedy and Martin Balsam

Monday, October 14, 2013

Secret Ceremony (released in 1968) - A tragic film starring Elizabeth Taylor, Mia Farrow, Robert Mitchum, and Peggy Ashcroft

'Ceremonia Secreta', the 1960 novel by Argentinean author Marco Denevi is the inspiration for the film Secret Ceremony, directed by Joseph Losey. The film opens with a blonde Elizabeth Taylor, who takes her wig off to reveal her lush black hair, as she places the hair piece on its stand; she caresses the black and white photograph of a young child - a girl, which is placed on the dresser. The character of Liz is Lenora, a prostitute, who a year ago has lost her daughter to death. As she boards a bus one day, a young girl (played by Mia Farrow) sits by her side, looking at her longingly, and whispering audibly ‘Mummy’ as Lenora alights from the bus; the girl follows her into a church - where she stands looking at Lenora from behind a pillar, as she kneels in a pew. Lenora looks slowly walks out of the church, into the cemetery, where she stops by the grave of a child, placing a bunch of blue forget-me-nots at the tomb. Lenora turns to find the girl from the bus standing behind her, when she looks into her eyes, in her mind; she sees the eyes of the child in the photograph. Shocked, she willingly lets the girl lead her away from the graveyard, to an opulent  Gothic style apartment.
Once there, Lenora sees photographs of the girl with her mother, who bears a strong resemblance to her. The man standing beside her - his face is blackened. Suddenly, the girl clutches her and cries out ‘mummy’ - stunned, Lenora pushes her away and tells her she’s not who she thinks she is. The girl just looks at her and when asked if she’d like some breakfast, she says yes, and when left alone, decides to pocket a silver coin and ermine coat - she even tucks into the breakfast hungrily. When the girl tells her that she lives all by herself - no cook, no nanny, no father - Lenora seizes the opportunity to take advantage of the child’s lapse of memory and plays along, fitting perfectly into the role of her mother. The girl reveals how Albert (apparently Lenora’s husband, and Cenci’s step-father) had behaved inappropriately - upon hearing which, Lenora slaps her - and shocked with her behavior, she apologizes to the crying girl. They both decide that she needs to take care of her - and so, Lenora settles in, making herself at home.




Once, when they are in the bath together, Cenci pretends her duck is drowning – this upsets Lenora, who asks her ‘what do you know about drowning?’ and starts to cry hysterically. In bed, Cenci says her prayers with her ‘mother’, and they settle down for an afternoon nap. When she awakens, she goes down to the kitchen, to see Cenci carrying out an animated conversation to … an empty chair. She appears to be warding off the advances of the ‘person’ in the chair - asking ‘him’ to take his hands off of her - Lenora is scared to see this crazed, psychotic banter.
Two nosy women - former sisters in law, come to pilfer on the pretext of looking up Cenci; as Lenora hides, the women get suspicious that there is someone in the house besides the girl - but who? They leave hurriedly.
In this surreal world, enter Albert (Robert Mitchum) - who may well be the reason why Cenci is a disturbed child. When she gingerly peeps through a window one morning after hearing the bell ring - she sees an almost derelict and unkempt man in the front lawns. He leaves when she doesn’t let him in. One morning, Leonora pays a visit to Cenci’s aunts who had come to the house - telling them she was a cousin of their sister-in-law Margaret. She learns a lot from them, especially that Albert and Cenci had an incestuous relationship, which probably drove the girl mad and killed Margaret with grief. The aunts, of course, think the girl’s crazy - Leonora is hurt by this observation, and tells them that if they were to visit again - she would tell the police. While she was out, Albert comes home, telling Cenci he cannot help himself, as he kisses her. Leonora goes to church and  prays for strength to go back to the house, not for the money, but for the fact that she wants to protect Cenci - she wants to be there to ‘save’ her, unlike her own child. But after being abused, Cenci orders that Leonora leave the house -killing herself by overdosing on sleeping pills, which she downs with milk.
When Leonora attends the funeral, visibly shattered, Albert tells her that Cenci was responsible for the break - up with Margaret - that the child-woman had nymphomaniacal tendencies - this is the final straw for Leonora, who lashes out at the man and tries to kill him. Macabre, disturbing and sad, the movie does play on the audience sentiment, and one feels sorrier for Leonora, for having lost two ‘children’. Serious watch.

Secret Ceremony (released in 1968) - A tragic film starring Elizabeth Taylor, Mia Farrow, Robert Mitchum, and Peggy Ashcroft

Sunday, October 13, 2013

5 Card Stud (released in 1968) - Starring Dean Martin, Robert Mitchum and Inger Stevens

“Five card stud” is the earliest known game of card poker, so no guesses with regard to what the plot is: Cards and a few handsome men thrown in for good measure! Directed by Henry Hathaway, the story of the movie is sourced from a book by Ray Gaulden and is also a remake of a Charlton Heston debut film ‘Dark City’ (1950). In the current movie, Dean Martin plays the role that Heston assayed in the original film; Martin’s character is similar to the one he played in ‘Some Came Running’. The story of the film bears resemblance even to two works by Agatha Christie. Yet, the movie was captivating, although the story line was not unique, it was accepted and appreciated by movie going audiences of the time.
The film opens with seven men at a game of cards, in a typically western saloon, in 1880 in a town in Colorado. Van Morgan (played by Dean Martin) chooses to spend Saturday evening with the boys - his partners are Nick Evers (his girlfriend’s brother, played by Roddy McDowell), stableman Joe Hurley (played by Bill Fletcher), Mace Jones (played by Roy Jenson), storekeeper Fred Carson (played by Boyd Morgan) and Nick’s ranch hand Stoney Borough (played by George Robotham). They have a new partner, Frankie Rudd (played by Jerry Gaitlin); all’s well up until the time that Nick catches Rudd cheating, although the barkeeper – George, warns him - Frankie earns himself a cruel fate, meted out by  none other  than the men at the table - they drag him out to  stream and hang him near a bridge. "You don't hang a cheat," Morgan growls, "you kick him out of town." But the men ignore Morgan, who is knocked out cold. He is left on the boardwalk, where Mama Malone (played by Ruth Springford) finds him in the morning – she calls George who helps the weather-beaten Van to his room. Lacking courage to inform the town marshal, he leaves for Denver.




Sometime later, Morgan returns, and to his horror, learns that there have been two deaths – of the men who were at the game that night; it seems like they are revenge killings: strangulation by barbed wire, stuffed into a barrel of flour (ingenious!), each death more horrific than the other, till only he would remain alive, the others were all about to be strategically bumped off! Also, the town has acquires a gun slinging priest Jonathan Rudd (Robert Mitchum) - who, Van discovers later is none other than the murdered man Frankie’s brother. On the other hand, Nick is convinced that the killer was in some way related to the man he killed: so, it seems logical that he try and hunt him down. Who could it be - there’s a gold rush on, and with so many strangers in town, it’s hard to tell!
Although they were together that evening at the game, Nick has no love lost for Van Morgan, who happens to be dating his sister Nora (Katherine Justice). But it isn’t brotherly love or concern that he is seething with - in fact he hates Nora and his father. His angst is that if Nora were to marry, the rambling ranch and all its wealth would be inherited by his sister - leaving him out in the cold. He’d rather that Nora married someone he, Nick, chose. That way, the poor unsuspecting creature could easily be put out of the way and Nick would have no worries. A string fella like Morgan wouldn’t be that easily taken care of!
Nick chooses to play dirty, and discloses the names of the perpetrators to Jonathan, hoping he’d kill Van Morgan, making his life easier! He even beguiles Rudd by telling him a far fetched version of that night where it was Nick who tried to talk sense into the men and he who was knocked out trying to save Frankie. Is the real killer brought to justice? Is Frankie’s spirit finally at rest? Western-mystery-thriller-noir- an interesting package, worth the watch!

5 Card Stud (released in 1968) - Starring Dean Martin, Robert Mitchum and Inger Stevens

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Anzio (released in 1968) - War film starring Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan and Peter Falk

The film is based on Operation Shingle, carried out in 1944 by the Allied Troops on the port of Anzio on Italy’s west coast, in WWII. Details have been sourced from the book of the same name by former BBC War Correspondent and author Wynford Vaughn-Thomas. Directed by Edward Dmytryk and Duilio Coletti, it is an Italian-American co-production. Dick Ennis (played by Robert Mitchum) is a war weary, yet battle hardened reporter, through whose experienced eyes we see the plot unfold. The film opens with Ennis being dropped off in a jeep, uniformed with purpose-ridden strides; he climbs a flight of stairs and crosses opulent halls, the décor and ambiance reek Italian Renaissance sophistication. But out of the blue, GIs and their girls dot the scene in sizable numbers, one in a bid to defy gravity, hanging from majestic chandeliers, while others egg him on. Just then the Canadian Rangers along with Corporal Jack Rabinoff (played by Peter Falk) enter the chaotic hall, only to be welcomed by some GI-style muscle flexing.
Elsewhere, the sullen and cynical journalist Dick Ennis, enjoys a long swig out of a long necked bottle of wine, and he has for company Technical Sergeant Abe Stimmler (played by Earl Holliman) with the two of them seem wrapped in heavy discussion, as if the revelers never existed! The movie is about American's invasion of Anzio as seen through the eyes of a pacifist journalist (this was like real battle, not the movie style where things move only as the heroes want - read more about the Operation Shingle, the invasion of Anzio). The landing is unopposed, and Mitchum requisitions a jeep and, along with Falk, discover that the road to Rome, the ultimate destination, is open. Rome can be in Allied hands in a few days, if they move fast enough.




It is Ennis’s assignment to do a story about the US Rangers and their strategy to break down defenses of the enemy. Lieutenant General Carson (played by Robert Ryan) is commanding the Fifth Army, and strategizing their move behind enemy lines; news is that the Allied Troops are being hammered by the Germans at the Gustav Line, lead by the almost invincible Monte Cassino. Maj. General Jack Lesley (played by Arthur Kennedy) orders a drive inland to the Alban Hills that provide a vantage point, from where the beachhead (discovered by Ennis to be virtually trouble-free) provides direct access to Rome. However, Lesley is way off the mark since he realizes he lacks the resources needed to march and capture Rome.
The German commander Kesselring (played by Wolfgang Preiss) re-musters forces and ambushes the Allies, at the Battle of Cisterna, the Germans won hands down. Almost 400 American POWs were captured by the Germans, in real life. The movie is about Ennis’s battle to escape alive from behind enemy lines; however, most of the men are killed or captured, whilst a few escape, after a near brush with death in the guise of a minefield.
Dick Ennis questions, then, publicly the decisions taken by the higher command, to gamble away the lives of the American and Allied Troops - he questions why humans fight one another? The New York Times review remarked that Anzio was “Standard War Fare” - a fair view considering that the battle at Anzio was bloodied beyond belief, and was avoidable, the film seems to allude to the genre of usual ‘good guys beat the hell outta the bad guys’ ploy - but it fails miserably, as in reality, the good guys were outnumbered and out maneuvered.

Anzio (released in 1968) - War film starring Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan and Peter Falk

Friday, October 11, 2013

Villa Rides (released in 1968) - Starring Yul Brynner, Robert Mitchum and Charles Bronson

Francisco Villa or Pancho Villa was a famous Mexican Revolutionary general, who was active in the years between 1910 and 1919. Directed by Buzz Kulik, the film is a biographical montage of the life of José Doroteo Arango Arámbula - a famous figure in Mexican history and legend. In reality, Villa was treated contemptuously by the law, although the peasant folk, commoners and soldiers respected him for his Robinesque mentality - he would steal from the rich to fill the stomachs of the poor. The film is sourced from William Douglas Lansford’s biography titled ‘Pancho Villa’ (1965); Douglas even assisted in the early draft of the film in 1968.
The year is 1912, and the Mexican Revolutionaries are fighting battles on many fronts - including the moral; caught in this crossfire is American pilot and adventurer Lee Arnold (Robert Mitchum) - who, in true capitalist spirit, sees no harm in supplying arms and ammunition to counter-revolutionaries like Capt. Francisco Ramirez, smuggling the contraband across the border from Texas, in his WWI pursuit plane, he is paid in gold for his aid. On one such mission, as he is awaiting the repair of the landing gear of his plane, Lee is witness to the violent attack and razing of a village by the Captain and his men (because the villagers curried favor with the insurrectionist Pancho Villa).




Yul Brynner assays the role of Villa; his famous bald pate is given a miss in the film as he sports a toupee and moustache. As in real life, Villa assists General Huerta (Herbert Lom), and has a brutal sidekick in the form of Lt. Rodolfo Fierro (Charles Bronson). Ramirez and his men are defeated by Villa, and even Lee Arnold is taken captive by Fierro - who longs for nothing more than to kill him. He is sentenced for gun-running, to face a firing squad. In order to save his skin, Lee strikes a deal to aid the insurrectionists in their revolution - he would provide them with the guns, instead, fighting on their side. On one such revolutionary escapade, Lee provides air cover to the guerillas as they capture an enemy train carrying troops, and eventually as they make captive an entire town.
There are cracks in every revolution - General Huerta deeply dislikes Villa, believing him to be manipulative and success-seeking. He is furious when Villa captures the town despite the General’s orders not to - causing heavy casualties. Soon after, Huerta plots to send Villa on a doomed mission to capture Conejos, in a bid to ensure he is not around when the General overthrows the government and President Madero - however, Arnold’s aerial assistance saves the day, even though Villa loses many men. And to the General's delight - Villa is captured by him, and Lee crosses the border into El Paso, saving his skin in time!
Now clear about his boss’s intentions, Pancho escapes imprisonment and hunts down Lee, on whose support he has come to rely deeply. A reluctant Arnold agrees to help Villa once more - the Revolutionaries have a new cause: to do away with Huerta, now a self styled dictator after he has assassinated the Mexican president and seized power. Later Arnold also helps Villa raise an army against another enemy of the Mexican state - Emiliano Zapata.
Criticized for its cosmetic portrayal of the Revolution and for not really exploring the many perspectives there exist with regard to it, the film may at least be applauded for its precise portrayal of Villa, who was less a hero and more a man on the run, a hardened criminal known for his thirst for violence.

Villa Rides (released in 1968) - Starring Yul Brynner, Robert Mitchum and Charles Bronson

Thursday, October 10, 2013

The Way West (released in 1967) - Starring Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum and Sally Field

A truly epic movie directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, sourced from the novel of the same name by A.B Guthrie Jr. With stirring performances from all the actors, The Way West is a heartrending and touching story of the early Pioneers.
1843. US Senator William Tadlock (played by Kirk Douglas) is following the Oregon Trail with his family from Missouri, and to help him get there safely - is Dick Summers (played by Robert Mitchum), a scout. His son and help are also accompanying Tadlock. Although Summers advises William not  to go ‘especially if you’ve never been there’- the Senator thinks otherwise, he tells Dick he knows that he is grieving for his dead Indian wife, he asks William to leave. Tadlock, also a widower, thinks that the scout’s grief has corrupted his guts.
Meanwhile, the others accompanying William on the trail are a peasant couple from Pennsylvania, Lije Evans and Rebecca (played by Richard Widmark, Lola Albright). Becky isn’t happy about the move, though. They have a sixteen year old son Brownie (Michael McGreevy), who is funny and brimming with the joie de vivre of youth - impressing young Mercy McBee with a red fox kitten. Others include a newlywed couple, the Fairmand and the McBee family.
That day, when Summers suggests they camp for the night, William notices another wagon trail, and insists they keep moving. The trail races into the creek, and everyone puts their back into making it first. A fist fight ensues when Tadlock tells the rival trail members that his trail will cross first - considering it might rain that night. Summers breaks up the fight and points out that Tadlock knew all along that the rivals weren’t travelers, but part of a cattle train - offended, William asks him not to gall him with his ‘truthful  opinions’ - he is paid after all, to only point the way. (Cattle may drown if the rain-filled river were to overflow).
Meanwhile they welcome a stowaway - Brother Weatherbee - slave to the Holy Ghost, who has only the spirit of Christ and the shirt on his back in lieu of supplies! The others are happy with the decision, for a preacher ‘will overcome the calamities of human nature - such as weddings, babies…’ ‘…funerals…’  Dick Summers volunteers to look after him, much to Tadlock’s chagrin and consternation.




The wagon trail’s first tragedy strikes, when Tadlock in his quest for speed, forces the oldest member of the group to cross the creek - he loses his life by drowning. Things get worse when William holds the old man responsible for his end, to which Lije vehemently puts up a denial, saying it was speed that killed him. The Senator even asks McBee to hurry with the burial and not bother with a Christian funeral - a waste of time. His apathy shocks the trail. But William proves his point that greed was responsible for the tragedy - the man had a heavy belt with money tied to his waist, which prevented him from coming to the surface. He asks if anyone cares to have a share of ‘dead man’s money’ - he flings the belt back into the creek.
The Prairie gives way to the inhospitable and hot desert terrain, but the love lorn lads sing ballads for Mercy McBee - whilst Johnnie and Amanda Mack (played by Michael Witney, Katherine Justice) unsuccessfully try consummating their marriage in a crowded train. This distresses Amanda, who does not want to get pregnant on the train - and frustrates her young husband. Whilst the members cast their cares to the wind and enjoy a morning of revelry, Tadlock shows Rebecca Evans the map of a city – yet to be built in Oregon. He tells her he might’ve been president, save for the fact that he fell in love with a woman, married her, but she died. William goes onto tell her that none in the present company would understand her vision - save for Becky. Disturbed by the depth of his emotions, Rebecca leaves his tent in a hurry.
Elsewhere, young Brownie has wandered far from the train, he stands on an outcrop - carving his name and Mercy’s - when unbeknownst to him - Sioux Indians hiding beneath the rock - take him captive. Dick Summers comes to his rescue - speaking to the men in their native tongue. The Sioux escort them back to the train. Summers offers them supplies - they ask for whiskey, instead!
That night, while the Sioux are in a state of drunken partying, Mercy and Mack find an opportunity to bond- he eventually seeks solace in Mercy’s willing arms - who tells him she does not regret what has happened. He asks her to return to her parents. Hearing a rustle in the bushes, he looks up to see a wolf - without preamble, Mack shoots it down. When he inspects to see what it is - he runs.
Meanwhile, Summers and Tadlock discover that the wolf was actually a little boy - the Chief’s son. They have no clue who is responsible. The next day, Dick and Lije distract the Sioux, leading them on a wild goose chase - so that the train can move ahead smoothly, through a herd of bison. Mercy, deeply in love with Mack, is saddened by his refusal to reciprocate the same for her.
The Sioux come again to the camp - this time, bearing the dead child on horseback - hungry for the blood of the murder. Tadlock tells him that he will fulfill their wishes, if they let the train go free. William tells the people present that if the perpetrator does not give himself up - Brownie Evans will be hanged, for it was he who brought this calamity today. However, he asks all the men who own shotguns - to step up and own up. Just then Johnnie Mack confesses - his wife lies on his behalf, saying he was with her all that night. But Mack sticks to his story - and is hung. A grief stricken Mercy flings herself off of her wagon, Brownie saves her, and he asks her to marry him - she refuses at first, because she doesn’t love him, however agrees since she is pregnant.
Tadlock and Summers labor on, and one day, he loses his son in a mad stampede. He buries him in the wilderness, as wagons drive over the burial mound, so that wolves and Indians find no trace of the grave. So sad and distraught is the man, that he asks his slave to whip him. The wagon train finally reaches the periphery of Fort Hall, Oregon, where other pioneers welcome them, they stop for the night - and Brownie and Mercy get married. One last hurdle is the soldiers who try and stall them at the Fort, bribing them with money and animals - William tells them to let them go, since a woman has been infected with small pox. The colonel orders them out.
Winter falls upon them, and the travelers face many hardships. Lije Evans turns on Tadlock, wanting charge of the train. When William tries shooting Evans, the mob falls upon him - as Becky shouts out to them that he ought to be hanged like Mack. Tadlock jeers at them, saying they lack the courage to do so - meanwhile, Becky shares Tadlock’s vision, when the train hits a ravine, as Evans contemplates turning back. Summers tells them that if they cross the gorge - they’ll be closer to Oregon. And so, they devise a pulley to lower people down the gorge, with success; however, as Tadlock rappels down - Becky cuts away the rope - he falls to his death: Captain William Tadlock, who led the Oregon Liberty Company.

The Way West (released in 1967) - Starring Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum and Sally Field