THE NUN'S STORY (1959)
d: Fred Zinnemann
CAST: Audrey Hepburn; Peter Finch; Peggy Ashcroft; Edith Evans; Mildred Dunnock; Dean Jagger; Patricia Collinge; Beatrice Straight; Colleen Dewhurst
> it is a mystery to me (as it is to my movie-mates) as to why this film has such a strong personal impact - the best I can do is that it taps into my early Christian beliefs and eventual dismissal of them; Audrey's most fully-fleshed and affecting performance; support cast heaven; a long story which never becomes tiring due to its constant moving about; the final scenes show how cold and prejudiced religion really can be
Award-Worthy Performances
Audrey Hepburn; Edith Evans; Mildred Dunnock
LONE STAR (1996)
d: John Sayles
CAST: Chris Cooper; Kris Kristofferson; Matthew McConaughey; Joe Morton
> wholly engrossing murder/mystery where the build-up to the killing is a side issue to the interactions of lives revolving around it; alien (to this Aussie) cultural/social issues of Tex-Mex region are fascinating and more than a little sad; love the fluid visual transitions between time frames; good assortment of quirky and endearing side characters; the solving of the mystery is satisfying but it's the surprise (and beautifully underplayed) ending which stays with you
Award-Worthy Performances
Chris Cooper; Kris Kristofferson
THE FRINGE DWELLERS (1986)
d: Bruce Beresford
CAST: Justine Saunders; Kristina Nehm; Bob Maza; Kylie Belling
> an Australian Experience film; there was a fair amount of controversy focussed on (I think) the depiction of the Aboriginal people in this movie, but I don't see why: they are flawed but mostly positive-in-outlook people; some scenes recall The Grapes of Wrath, Cry Freedom and Ma & Pa Kettle(!); largely (then) amateur cast is terrific, but special accolades to Kristina Nehm (whatever happened to her?) as the restless, ambitious Trilby; shamefully for us, things haven't changed that much even 30 years later
Award-Worthy Performance
Kristina Nehm
YIELD TO THE NIGHT (1956)
d: J. Lee Thompson
CAST: Diana Dors; Yvonne Mitchell
> thought this was going to be another woman-who-was-wronged soap opera, but turned out to be so much more; film focusses on final two weeks of death row (UK version) inmate's life; flits between how murderess got into this situation and how she copes emotionally with her impending doom; Diana is a revelation in the lead role...who woulda thunk it?; Arty flourishes such as tilted scenes and unusual camera placement add unnecessary melodrama to the already loaded story; should be compulsory viewing in death penalty countries
Award-Worthy Performance
Diana Dors
GUILTY BY SUSPICION (1991)
d: Irwin Winkler
CAST: Robert De Niro; Annette Bening; Chris Cooper; George Wendt
> Hollywood Blacklist movie which I prefer to 1976's The Front due to its total lack of humour (Joe McCarthy was funny but what he did to people's lives was grim); avoids any type of satirical inflection by just telling a based-on-a-true story and produces a fascinating and frustratingly sad drama as a result; explains why so many people became informers and demonstrates how heroic the ones who refused to cooperate really were; an overlooked gem
Award-Worthy Performances
Robert De Niro; Annette Bening
THE WINGS OF EAGLES (1957)
d: John Ford
CAST: John Wayne; Maureen O'Hara; Dan Dailey; Ward Bond
> the trademarks of the post WWII John Ford films were drunken punch-ups, drunken Irish blarney, drunken sentimentality, and above all, doing your duty after you've sobered up; these were the things that turned me off the great man's films during this later period; all of these factors are present in TWoE but for some bizarre reason, I thoroughly enjoy them all; maybe it's because it isn't a Western; maybe it's because it's (kind of) based on a true story; it is certainly due in part to Wayne's powerhouse acting (even when he gets a cream cake in the kisser) and Dailey's comic relief; it manages to be both silly and moving
Award-Worthy Performances
John Wayne; Dan Dailey
TAKE SHELTER (2011)
d: Jeff Nichols
CAST: Michael Shannon; Jessica Chastain
> a retelling of the Noah's Ark story; ordinary man is made aware that an apocalypse is coming; builds a shelter to protect his family, facing self-doubt and public ridicule; tension comes from the question: "is he a visionary or is he a loonie?"; the build-up is the essence of slowburn and I admit that I nodded off a couple of times in the first half hour; everyone raves about Michael Shannon's performance but he seems to me to be channeling Billy Bob Thornton in Sling Blade (minus the exuberance); last fifteen minutes makes it all worthwhile
THE BEAST OF THE CITY (1932)
d: Charles Brabin (who?)
CAST: Walter Huston; Jean Harlow; Wallace Ford; Jean Hersholt
> wise-cracking, two-fisted police procedural; very talky for a supposed action film, although the powerhouse ending makes up for it; despite busy camera (jerks and all...which still beats handheld), film remains surprisingly static; great grandfather of Hill Street Blues and latter-years of The Bill; Jean Harlow perfects the onscreen version of the nasally moll; usual 30's gangster movie amusements: speedy old cars & matter-of-fact killings & hats; film contains two of the all-time cringe-causing lines: "that's mighty white of you" and "you shot one of the finest white men who ever lived" - UGH.
QUEEN OF SPADES (1949)
d: Thorold Dickinson
CAST: Anton Walbrook; Edith Evans; Yvonne Mitchell
> gently-told fairy tale / horror story set in Tsarist Russia; you know the sort of thing: gypsies & soldiers, flickering candles & secret staircases, vodka & snow; lush orchestral score scoots the old-world Europe feel along; Edith Evans (in her cinematic debut) overdoes the crotchety dowager routine; Anton Walbrook manages to be emotionally large but somehow still 'right' in the lead role as the born-to-be-doomed protagonist; outstanding direction by Thorold - all long shadows and howling winds and eerie silences; moral of the story: You Can't Always Get What You Want (And Isn't That a Bugger?)
SMILEY (1956)
d: Anthony Kimmins
CAST: Colin Petersen; Ralph Richardson; John McCallum; Chips Rafferty
> geez, I loved this film as a kid; it turned up numerous times in the sixties and seventies on the Saturday Movie Matinee on Channel 7; Huck Finn crossed with Pollyanna; a Disney-style film but with the rough edges left in (drunkenness; drugs; gambling); made in Australia by a British crew financed by American money so, therefore, it is an outsider's idealised version of what small-town Australian life was like in the 50's; the kid is terrific and must have the world's toughest feet; followed by a right-wing sequel called Smiley Gets a Gun; plans for a third film in the franchise, Smiley Joins the KKK, were wisely shelved
Worst Movie-Viewing Experiences 10/10/15 - 22/10/15
THE MOUSE THAT ROARED (1959)
d: Jack Arnold
CAST: Peter Sellers X 3; Jean Seberg; Leo McKern
> this was big box office hit in 1959 and I'll be stuffed if I can figure out why; all three of the characters Sellers portrays are bizarrely underplayed (by Peter Sellers?!?); the subplot about a Q Bomb is stupid; a totally deserted New York for a bombing drill is both impractical and a ridiculous plot contrivance; it wants to have that Passport to Pimlico social message/farce feel but fails miserably; the only thing which saves it from being a complete disaster is the cleverness of its premise: a small bankrupt nation declares war on the USA so it can be defeated and receive rehabilitation funding! A film that screams out for a remake: are you reading this Joel & Ethan?
THE ODESSA FILE (1974)
d: Ronald Neame
CAST: Jon Voight; Maximilian Schell; Derek Jacobi
> I really wanted this to be better than what it really is because the potential is all there...but I now reluctantly accept that it is a badly botched job; an espionage / conspiracy thriller with no thrills; time and again, opportunities for suspense and action are either fumbled (death by printing press) or just ignored (beaten up by neo-Nazi thugs); even the pushed-under-a-train scene is poorly staged, as if the hero merely tripped over and brushed himself off; I wonder if Maximilian ever got sick of playing old Nazi bastards?; at least Jon does a competent version of a German-Lite accent
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