Niagara (1953) Review

Title: Niagara
Year: 1953
Director: Henry Hathaway
Country: US
Language: English

In the men's bathroom of the Old Spaghetti Factory in Winnipeg, MB (I have no idea if the same thing is in other Old Spaghetti restuarants) the walls are lined with classic movie posters. Stand at the urinal and you'll get a good view of Gone With the Wind. One poster, near the door, looked especially impressive. The poster was of Niagara (1953) and Marilyn Monroe & Joseph Cotton making out over the Falls. 

As two couples are visiting Niagara Falls, tensions between one wife (Marilyn Monrie) and her husband (Joseph Cotton) reach the level of murder.

Having been to Niagara Falls in September 2019, I found it even more fun to watch Niagara as I could guess if I had been where out characters go.  The scenic beauty of the falls, combined with the georgeous Marilyn Monroe, make for dozens of magnificent visuals that the producers easily capitalized on. Countless photos of Monroe looking glamorous posing in front of the falls were featured in a vast variety of marketing for this picture. 

Niagara uses its star and location effectively; Monroe gives a tremendous performance as the callous femme fatale, outperforming her usual roles. The story itself is classic noir, told with stylish visuals that scream "Classic Hollywood". Unfortunately, some of the script is a bit convoluted & the characters' actions can lack logic. It is a bit hard to side with the characters who aren't Monroe or Joseph Cotton. 

Niagara is a decent noir, but is unfortunately overshadowed by the many great noirs made at the time like Sunset Boulevard (1950) & In a Lonely Place (1950). I do think this is Monroe's best acting, but she has also made more memorable pictures. It's certainly worth watching once.

He Ran All the Way (1951) Review

Title: He Ran All the Way
Year: 1951
Director: John Berry
Country: US
Language: English

He Ran All the Way was the last motion picture John Garfield ever made. Despite no evidence that he was ever a part of the communist party, the HUAC (House of Un-American Activities Commitee) blacklisted him from Hollywood for refusing to name names. He had planned on making a comeback, but died from heart problems a year later at the young age of 39. 

In this, Nick and his partner Al stage a payroll holdup. Al is shot and Nick (John Garfield) kills a policeman. Nick hides out at a public pool, where he meets Peg Dobbs (Shelley Winters). They go back to her apartment and he forces her family to hide him from the police manhunt.

Shelley Winters movies are always fun to watch, as one doesn't know how her character will end up. In many, though not all,  of her best regarded outings, she falls in love with the antagonist and then meets an untimely end. This meta- uncertainty creates a lot of doubt and suspense for fans of her work. 

The script, by Dalton Trumbo and Hugo Butler, packs a mean punch by allowing the atmosphere of paranoia and tension to slowly rise until it engulfs the picture. Franz Waxman's music is nerve rattling; the cinematography and editing are masterful, usually such visual feasts could only be seen in Orson Welles' pictures. 

It's unfortunate that so many talented individuals who were involved in making this picture were labelled as "communist" by the HUAC. Also unfortunate that this would be Garfield's last picture as he had not yet reached his peak in terms of performing. He Ran All the Way is a fun foreboding picture that will live long in the memory of cinema. 

Shockproof (1949) Review

Title: Shockproof
Year: 1949
Director: Douglas Sirk
Country: US
Language: English

Those who have seen Douglas Sirks' Magnificent Obsession and All That Heaven Allows will find themselves amused to see one of Sirks' earlier, less melodramatic, works. Unfortunately Shockproof is nowhere near as good, esepcially considering how Sirk was disenchanted with the material. He loved the original script written by Samuel Fuller, but it was re-worked by Helen Deutsch and ultimately met a tragic fate. 

A Parole Officer (Cornel Wilde)  falls in-love with his client, a ravishing blonde  (Patricia Knight) who served time for murder, and he's determined to help her go straight despite her interfering criminal boyfriend.

Much of the film is promising; Cornel Wilde plays a Tony Curtis type who's unhealthy obsession with blondes would make Hitchcock blush. Patricia Knight is a hot Veronika Lake type who is built to be a femme fatale tour de force. Sirks' camera captures Knight's terror and Wilde's puppy love mania. Shockproof (1949) is a blend of the "women's picture" & film noir. Ultimately Knight must choose; should she accept the riches of her criminal boyfriend or fall into a more domesticated, but ethical, life? 

It's a shame that the films' climax falls flat on its face, deliverig an outcome that will have you scratching your head in disbelief. The psychology and poetic nuances are built up so well, you expect an ending that isn't so cliched and insulting to the audiences' intelligence. Charater motivations become non-existent and we get a Leave it to Beaver...twist? If one can call it a "twist". 

Shockproof, up until the last 20 minutes, is not a terrible film; far from it. Sirk uses his camera well; creating an atmosphere of eerie uncertainty. One can easily see Hitchcocks' inspiration for James Stewarts' Vertigo character in this film.  If only the entire film stayed this way. 

Pat Garrett And Billy the Kid (1973) Review

Title: Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
Year: 1973
Director: Sam Pekinpah
Country: US
Language: English

Recently I had viewed The Wild Bunch (1969) and was blown away by how violent it was, especially considering it was made in the 1960's. Craig Terlson (Author of Surf City Acid Drop) informed me that Director Sam Peckinpah made an even better movie; Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Intrigued, and itching for a new western to see, I decided to give it a look.

In this Pat Garrett (James Coburn) is hired as a lawman on behalf of a group of wealthy New Mexico cattle barons to bring down his old friend Billy the Kid (Kris Kristofferson).

Like many of Sam Pekinpah's films, and Western Revisionist pictures of New Hollywood in general, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid is a somber brooding picture that paints a devastating hostile pitcture of the west. A considerable amount of characters die, morality is captured in shades of grey, and even the children seem eerily content with the amount of violence in their everyday lives. "This country's getting old, and I'm to get old with it." One can easily see the influence in films like No Country for Old Men (2007) and shows like Breaking Bad. 

Rich and haunting, Pekinpah's picture is a well-written character study of two men that are at the end of their rope in a country that is ready for a change. Many audiences will consider this better than the renowned The Wild Bunch (1969). I enjoyed Pat Garrett, but I feel the use of Bob Dylan is excessive at times. The repeated use of Knocking on Heaven's Door can take away from a dramatic moment that would have been more impactful in silence. 

Drenched in an atmosphere of dread, corruption, and violence, Pat Garrett is a remarkable experience that belongs with the best of Westerns. Kristofferson, whose look reminds me of The Doors' frontman Jim Morrison, does a tremendous job at playing Billy the Kid, as does Coburn with Garrett. I'll have to watch this again to pick up on the film's many thought provoking themes. 

The Fabulous Baron Munchausen (1962) Review

Title: Fabulous Baron Munchausen
Year: 1962
Director: Karel Zeman
Country: Czecheslovakia
Language: Czech

Born in 1910, Czecheslovakian born Karel Zeman is known as a filmmaker who could seamlessly blend live action with a variety of forms of animation (traditional, stop motion etc.), giving his pictures a timeless storybook feeling. Opposed to Disney's lavish mythmaking, Zeman gives his sets a visual look reminicent of german expressionism. He wants us to think more Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) rather than Snow White (1937).

The outrageous Baron Munchausen (Milos Kopecky) of his many adventures, from meeting the Man in the Moon (Rudolf Jelfnek) to defeating a Turkish army all by himself.

Impressively co-opting nineteenth-century graphic illustration by using it as building material, mastered out of scores of overlapping techniques, Fabulous Baron Munchausen looks like no other film, the exception being Zeman's other Jules Verne inspired pictures. His sets give a sense of nostalgia and wonder; audiences will be lost in the story while simultanoesly wondering "how was he able to create this scene!?" 

The enchanting score by Zdenek Liska adds to the yesteryear mood that the film captures you in. It's simple - yet sophisticated- soft to the ears and yet powerful. The costuming is remarkable as well, futher engulfing its audience into a fictional 1800's. The plot is mesmerizing and perfectly weird; Munchausen finds a moon man, fights fights ten thousand bashi-bazouks; he flies about on cannonballs and gets swallowed by a whale.

Fabulous Baron Munchausen is an unforgettable picture that will appeal to a wide vareity of ages. It is simple enough for a child to understand, yet also has a great charm that will appeal to adults.A fun picture; I have a feeling I'll be rewatching this for years to come.