Khartoum. again.

KHARTOUM, 1966. I had forgotten how good KHARTOUM is, directed by stalwart Basil Dearden, and 2nd Unit (presumably those battle scenes) by veteran Yakima Canutt (the chariot race in BEN-HUR etc). It has two towering performances - Charlton Heston, steadfast as usual, as General Gordon, in his element unpeeling the layers of Gordon's complex character,  and a mesmerising turn (in a handful of scenes, but dominating the film) by Laurence Olivier as The Madhi - 

he is almost unrecognisable, blacked up here. This was Olivier's great late period, running the National Theatre, films like TERM OF TRIAL and BUNNY LAKE IS MISSING (where he is almost ordinary) He was also playing OTHELLO to great acclaim at the time, also blacked up as the Moor, (it was also filmed, with Maggie Smith), after those iconic performances in RICHARD III, THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL, THE ENTERTAINER and SPARTACUS.
His Madhi is a stunning creation.  The film is quite topical now, showing as it does the confrontation between Western imperialism and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism - this time in the Sudan of the 19th century. Fascinating for those interested in its history and that of Egypt.
Add in Ralph Richardson on prime form as Gladstone, and familiar faces like Richard Johnson, Marne Maitland, Peter Arne, Nigel Green, Michael Hordern, Alexander Knox, Douglas Wilmer, Johnny Sekka. The story of how General Gordon (a fanatic to some) manages to hold Khartoum as the Madhi's forces attack is well told here and its totally engrossing as the beseiged city holds off the Madhi's forces., also effective is that opening sequence as the British army is led deeper and deeper into the remote Sudan as the Madhi's forces wait to attack ...

I didn't want to see it back in 1966 (when I was 20 and there were more trendy movies around), but seeing it now its marvellously done, with Heston back at what he does best, after his tepid performance in THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY the year before, where Rex Harrison had the showier role as Pope Julius (as per recent review of that). Dearden too was branching out into international films after those British classics like POOL OF LONDON, THE BLUE LAMP, SAPPHIRE, VICTIM ....

Still of the day ...

Two of our favourite blondes: Faye and Michael - Dunaway and York that is, in Richard Lester's all-star extravaganza THE FOUR MUSKETEERS, the more sombre follow-up to his jolly THREE MUSKETEERS, both filmed in 1973. Faye is a deliciously wicked Milady with the York boy as the hapless D'Artagnan .... Charlton Heston scores too as the devious Richelieu, as does Olly Reed as Athos and Christopher Lee in a different role for him. Lots of enjoyment here .... it all looks great too,

The Agony and The Ecstasy

Here indeed is a 20th Century Fox "prestige" production, from 1965, by Carol Reed, a sumptuous film of Irving Stone's bestseller. Somehow I had not seen it before.

Pope Julius is eager to leave behind works by which he will be remembered. To this end he cajoles Michelangelo into painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. When not on the battlefield uniting Italy, the Pope nags Michelangelo to speed up his painful work on the frescoes.

This is a fascinating, colourful and very-well made film that looks like an epic and is in fact an intelligent drama, with great roles for Charlton Heston as Michelangelo and Rex Harrison as the warrior pope, who seems an extension of Harrison's Caesar in CLEOPATRA. Others here from CLEO are cameraman Leon Shamroy and a music score by Alex North. Heston seems rather subdued at first - one thinks is this the man who was Moses, Judah Ben-Hur and El Cid? - but he grows into stature as we share the hardships of painting that ceiling and dealing with the wily pope. Harry Andrews and Adolfo Celi are just right in support, and Tomas Milian is the young rival painter, Raphael. 

Diane Cilento does not have much to do apart from looking decorative as a maybe romantic interest, though Michelangelo's homosexuality is not stressed either. 

One feels one has "done" the Sistine Chapel by the end, and there is a 20 minute prologue on Michelangelo's sculptures, including that Pieta and his Moses and of course David and the tomb for Pope Julius. Heston and Harrison are well-paired and its genuinely affecting by the end. Reed went on to direct OLIVER! next, and Heston next took on Olivier in KHARTOUM, which was better than expected when I saw it a while ago - review at Heston, Olivier labels. When I met Heston at the BFI in 1971, he towered over me. He was certainly a physical presence, 

The Greatest Story Ever Told

This 1965 epic biblical is oddly fascinating now, I like it a lot, not having seen it for decades, but its getting screenings on our Sky Movies at the moment. It is of course George Stevens' retelling of the story of Jesus and it is an oddly sedate version, avoiding the flamboyance of items like KINGS OF KINGS or BARABBAS, 

The look of the film is astonishing - no biblical lands here, it was shot in the wilds of the USA, mainly in Utah and Arizona and those western landscapes look ideal. Then there is the cast - Max Von Sydow is a dignified Jesus, Charlton Heston is John The Baptist, 
the aged Claude Rains glitters with menace as Herod, Jose Ferrer is Herod Antipas, Dorothy McGuire is Mary, Sidney Poitier is Simon of Cyrene who helps Jesus with his cross, Carroll Baker is Veronica who wipes the face of Jesus. I did not even spot Shelley Winters or Angela Lansbury, while others in the vast cast, some for just seconds include Van Heflin, Sal Mineo, John Wayne as that centurion at the foot of the cross, Pat Boone as an angel, Donald Pleasance as the Satan figure. The disciples include Gary Raymond, Michael Anderson Jr, David McCallum as Judas, Roddy McDowell and Telly Savalas as Pilate. 

IMDB says that David Lean and Jean Negulesco were also uncredited directors, I wonder what input they had? In all, it is not as majestic as BEN HUR or as crowded as QUO VADIS? or as mad as Huston's THE BIBLE, it is like a dignified bible lesson, but it has great visuals and it all looks impressive, and as visually stunning as those weird sets in THE SILVER CHALICE. 

Summer re-vews: favourite Spartacus moments

Though I have the dvd and have seen it several times, it was on television again (with no commercials) so it seemed a good idea to record it and watch again -and I liked it again as much as ever. Its certainly up there with BEN HUR, EL CID, CLEOPATRA and FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE as one of the great epics of that epic era. Kubrick may not have thought much of it (Douglas hired him - they had already done PATHS OF GLORY in 1957 - to replace Anthony Mann, who at least had EL CID lined up next, and teamed up with Douglas again for his HEROES OF TELEMARK in 1964, one of those movies I just never needed to see), but it has several Kubrickian moments on themes on power corrupting. It has some great set-pieces too (I like the scenes with the Romans led by Crassus visiting Ustinov's slave school, which sets the revolt in motion) but it is that cast that delivers. Olivier as Crassus is one of his great performances of that time, Laughton and Ustinov are fascinating scene-stealers, Jean Simmons is ideal, and so is Kirk (he is 100 this December!) and Tony Curtis too as Antoninus. We get that bath scene now between Crassus and Antoninus (with Olivier voiced by Anthony Hopkins) which was considered too suggestive at the time!. Here are some favourite moments and behind the scenes shots:  Tony with Jean and wife Janet Leigh ... Olivier and Jean together again, after their HAMLET in 1948, and John Gavin showing his marvellous chest at the baths .....

Speaking of epics, word on the street has it that the new BEN-HUR is not going to be a success. It seems its just another run of the mill mainly CGI shallow blockbuster for a week or two at the multiplex, and lacks the complexity and richness of the 1959 Wyler film, still wonderful after almost 60 years. Even that TV version of a few years ago (with Ray Winstone as Quintus Arrius) is totally forgotten now. Arrius is not even in the new version (which is 90 minutes shorter than the 1959 one, no Nativity prologue either as it plays down the religious aspect...) as they make more of Sheik Ilderim - Morgan Freeman - the only big name in the cast - but can a black man be a realistic sheik back in this Roman era? Just asking ..... the supposed homoerotic tensions are also gone - Ben and Massala are almost brothers now. But the main question is how will the chariot race look now?

I saw the 1925 silent version last year too (Epics label) and it was nothing compared to the 1959 film, looks like this redundant one will not be around much longer either, another mediocre remake of a classic film. That old quip comes back: "Loved Ben, hated Hur". 

Some choice Oscar moments

Remember when the Academy Awards shows were exciting back in the 1970s as we saw the great stars presenting or collecting prizes. Before multi-channel 24 hour TV, these were treats indeed. Here are a few:

Susan Hayward's last public appearance in 1974 on the arm of old co-star Charlton Heston who was propping her up. Hayward was already fatally ill, she would die the next year, but here she is bewigged, medicated and determined to complete her last public outing in style. Watch the surprise on Ellen Burstyn's face as Glenda Jackson - not even there - wins a second Best Actress award for a comedy which I had no interest in seeing ...

I knew James Stewart and Kim Novak had teamed again sometime in the '80s to present an award. Here it is in 1989 .

Ingrid Bergman is choice as usual as she wins Best Supporting Actress for her cameo role in MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, also 1974 - and she had wanted Valentina Cortesa to win, to the chagrin of her fellow co-nominess ...

Faye Dunaway arrives to collect her Best Actress Oscar in 1976. Some wag wrote that the goddess looked like she had been doing drugs and having sex in her limousine before arriving all tousled on stage ...

Deborah Kerr receiving her Honorary Oscar, introduced by Glenn Close, in 1994.

1958: Touch of Evil, again

The BFI have reissued that super 1958 thriller TOUCH OF EVIL, and with a new trailer:

Orson Welles' influential, magnificently sophisticated and funny take on crime and US/Mexican relations in a border town (maybe the best B-movie ever) provides a masterclass in how to create atmosphere. The camera (lensed by the great Russell Metty) swoops around like a bird of prey on acid. Henry Mancini's music sends us into a frenzy as idealistic Mexican cop Vargas (Heston) goes head to head with corrupt law enforcer Quinlan (a bloated, padded Welles) as he uncovers the seedy corruption around him as Quinlan has his own way of getting results. Cue Janet Leigh menaced in a motel again - by the craziest collection of hoods (including Mecedes McCambridge), and gangly motel guy Dennis Weaver. Orson regulars like Akim Tamiroff are also nicely sleazy here. 

Janet had her arm in a sling but you don't notice as she often has a coat over her arm. Then there's Marlene, with that great closing line .... This is a classic hepped-up '50s noir (along with KISS ME DEADLY and THE BIG COMBO) and has that great long opening sequence as we wait for the bomb in the car to go off. A perfect Abert Zugsmith production. 
Orson was initially hired to act, but who else could have directed it better? He also appeared in THE LONG HOT SUMMER and ROOTS OF HEAVEN and probably spent an hour narrating THE VIKINGS that year, 1958 was busy for them all: Chuck was also in THE BIG COUNTRY and THE BUCCANEER (before heading off for BEN-HUR), while Janet was kept busy with THE VIKINGS and that comedy I liked, THE PERFECT FURLOUGH (see Janet label). Heston & Janet teamed again for this nice shot in 1999 ....   

Final round-up of late summer repeats

That magic waterfall from UNCLE BOONMEE

A final look at some late summer/early autumn repeats from British television, before we go on to some new stuff ... there's been lots to look at again!

THE QUEEN. A  huge hit in 2006 and still great entertainment now. One just knew Helen Mirren was on course for that Oscar, while Michael Sheen and Helen McCrory are unnervingly right as Tony and Cherie Blair. The glimpses of the real Diana brings back memories of that crazy time in 1997 .....

SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, 1998. S I L is a huge hit on the stage here in London now - the film though is the one for me, stupendous cast, great costumes and sets, and that endlessly witty script by Tom Stoppard. If Elizabethan life was not like this, it should have been. I particularly like one of Judi Dench's 8 minutes as Queen Elizabeth laughing at the dog.  Its a perfect romance too ....... Joseph Fiennes is one of the most attractive guys ever here. More on him at Fiennes label, and my long review of the film.

KHARTOUM, 1966. I had forgotten how good KHARTOUM is, directed by stalwart Basil Dearden, and 2nd Unit (presumably those battle scenes) by veteran Yakima Canutt (the chariot race in BEN-HUR etc). It has two towering performances - Charlton Heston, steadfast as usual, as General Gordon, and a mesmerising turn (in a handful of scenes, but dominating the film) by Laurence Olivier as The Madhi - 

he is almost unrecognisable, blacked up here. This was Olivier's great late period, running the National Theatre, films like TERM OF TRIAL and BUNNY LAKE IS MISSING (where he is almost ordindary) He was also playing OTHELLO to great acclaim at the time, also blacked up as the Moor, (it was also filmed, with Maggie Smith). 
His Madhi is a stunning creation.  The film is quite topical now, showing as it does the confrontation between Western imperialism and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism - this time in the Sudan of the 19th century. Add in Ralph Richardson as Gladstone, and familiar faces like Richard Johnson, Marne Maitland, Peter Arne, Nigel Green, Michael Hordern, Alexander Knox, Douglas Wilmer, Johnny Sekka. The fascinating story of how General Gordon (a fanatic to some) manages to hold Khartoum as the Madhi's forces attack is well told here and its totally engrossing. 

SPEED. Popcorn movie time: SPEED is 20 years old now, a hit from 1994 - we loved it at the time, and I still like it now. Maybe Keanu and Sandra's best moment - well, till GRAVITY for Sandra (though I like THE PROPOSAL too). Buffed up Keanu is ideal here and De Bont's film delivers stunt after stunt on that bus, the runaway underground train, and that plunging elevator at the start. Jeff Daniels is dependable as usual and Hopper is the ideal nasty villain. As a popcorn classic its up there with Petersen's AIR FORCE ONE and the Indiana Jones movies. 

UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES, 2010. If there is one director whose work is suffused with a contemporary kind of magic, something you can't quite put your finger on, its Thai art-house sensation Apichatpong Weerasethakul. This sometimes bizarre, always enchanting, film is his most accessible, telling the last days in the life of Uncle Boonmee and the importance of caring and of being cared for, as we roam over his past and maybe future lives.  

My full review (Boonmee label) goes into it in more detail. Its a meditation on death and re-birth as we see those various apparitions of his past lives as animals, perhaps that water buffalo in the moonlight at the start - the the mysterious catfish which makes love to the princess with that waterfall in the background. I like that long scene with when Huay, Boonmee's wife who has been dead for 19 years, reappears at the dinner table and they all talk to her as though she only left yesterday. 

The Naked Jungle, another 1954 treat

THE NAKED JUNGLE was scheduled for afternoon tv, the day that Eleanor Parker, its star, had died, so naturally one had to watch it again. Its a totally enjoyable meller/programmer of that early '50s era when movies with exotic locations were popular, 1954 alone saw Charlton in THE NAKED JUNGLE and down Machu Picchu way in SECRET OF THE ANDES, Grace Kelly was also looking very tailored down in her South American plantatation where they go looking for emeralds in the programmer GREEN FIRE; 1953 saw Elizabeth Taylor replacing Vivien Leigh out in Ceylon for ELEPHANT WALK, while in 1955 Barbra Stanwyck was in ESCAPE TO BURMA. 
Most of these had second unit photography while the stars emoted at the studio blacklot, cleverly intercut with the location footage, as in Fox's '54 WHITE WITCH DOCTOR where Robert Mitchum and Susan Hayward were not actually in Africa - ditto Susie with Clark Gable in that very studio bound Hong Kong in SOLDIER OF FORTUNE in 1955.1954 and '55 too was that great era for costume pictures, biblicals, peplums and adventures - SIGN OF THE PAGAN, THE SILVER CHALICE, KING RICHARD AND THE CRUSADERS, THE BLACK SHIELD OF FALWORTH, PRINCE VALIANT, THE EGYPTIAN, THE PRODIGAL, LAND OF THE PHAROAHS  while 1955 had the the simply glorious MOONFLEET and QUENTIN DURWARD, for me the high points of the 50s cosume drama, while Cecil delivered those TEN COMMANDMENTS in '56 and King Vidor helmed an interesting WAR AND PEACE, and Burton was ALEXANDER THE GREAT.

But lets look at THE NAKED JUNGLE (see Heston label for SECRET OF THE INCAS). Here Chuck is the plantation owner in a very convincing Central American setting, who after building his plantation himself sends for a mail-order bride so he can start a family. Enter the very cool Eleanor, but she is a widow - not quite what Chuck wants. 

They antagonise each other but Eleanor is no pushover .... she plays the piano ("the best pianos are those which are played often") and cooly waits for his desire - but an army of ants are also on the move and the plantation is in their path .... can our warring couple work together and destroy the ants before they wipe out the planation? This is perfect matinee fare and an ideal afternoon movie anytime, very well done, directed by Byron Haskin and Philip Yordan had a hand in the script. Heston and Parker play it perfectly. One to enjoy then.

Summer fun: Indiana and the secret of the Incas

Perfect Saturday evening fare: a re-run of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK shown uncut and in the correct ratio on primetime BBC tv - the other Indianas will run on coming Saturdays .... perfect summer fare then for kids of all ages. Not only Ford at his best (left: Indiana doll) but also Denholm Elliot, Paul Freeman, Ronald Lacey etc. That whole pre-credit sequence still sizzles and I just love those 1930s seaplanes.The ending is a doozy too, with its nod to CITIZEN KANE ...

Apple for teacher !

Lots of amusing little touches too, that I had forgot - like the (male) student with an apple for teacher! Like Kasdan's BODY HEAT, RAIDERS is another timeless classic from 1981 - incidentally if BODY HEAT is not a Heatwave Movie I don't know what is (see 1981 label) ....

Now lets go back to 1954 and that Sunday matinee staple: SECRET OF THE INCAS, which surprisingly they did seem to film in South America, at Cuzco at least, if not actually at Machu Picchu. Here we have Charlton Heston as Harry Steele, an adventurer on the search of lost Inca treasure. 
Both Spielberg and Lucas have admitted that Harry Steele here is their prototype for Indiana Jones - Indiana is even kitted out like Heston with that leather jacket and hat. It is a spirited adventure, directed by Jerry Hopper, with old reliables like Thomas Mitchell and Robert Young, as well as Nicole Maurey, and Yma Sumac who warbles a few choice Inca numbers. There is even the scene - later used in RAIDERS - where Harry places the Inca object in the cave so that it catches the light and points the way to the real gold ...

Like Heston's THE NAKED JUNGLE, also 1954, there is much to enjoy in SECRET OF THE INCAS: the wide vistas of Machu Picchu, the OTT performances of Yma Sumac, Heston's granite jawed arrogance and a whole host of excellent character actors, make this a jungle trip well worth taking.

Another Cabaret reunion ....

In 1999 the U.S. "Entertainment Weekly" magazine did a special issue (one to keep) on "The 100 Greatest Moments in Movies (1950-2000)" and among the treats included several reunions, including this one (left) on CABARET, with Michael York, Liza and Joel Gray, in September 1999..  

Now there is another CABARET reunion, in 2013, below, which has been getting some attention, to mark the movie's 40th anniversary and Blu-Ray release. The trio were re-united together with co-star Marisa Berenson both for a tv interview and a stage appearance. Good to see them together again - but again Michael York, now 70, seems to be unwell or recovering from some illness, brave of him to be appearing in public, one trusts he is well. He was fine when I met him about 6 years ago, as per a previous report (York label). CABARET though should be a success all over again .... CABARET now that I think of it was the first movie I bought on dvd.

Another reunion by the magazine, which I also featured before, was on TOUCH OF EVIL, that 1958 Orson Welles noir, with Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh, here also reunited in 1999. Both have since died but its nice seeing them together again here ....

Chuck & Janet in 1999...

A nice shot of a reunion for Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh back in Venice, California in 1999, where they shot TOUCH OF EVIL for Orson Welles back in 1958. As Chuck said it was the greatest B-movie of all time!

50 years on: El Cid still rules

I had not seen EL CID for a few years but there it was on afternoon television (thankfully with no ads) so, despite buying the recent handsome dvd edition, I sat down for another look and of course it was just as perfect as ever. It really is perhaps the most perfectly realised epic of them all, with that dense texture and realism and real crowd scenes that you just do not get these days from CGI so-called epics (ie TROY) - as Martin Scorsese highlights in his introduction to it on the new dvd.

The design and sets are also marvellous conjuring up the dark ages and Mann's love of Spain and those striking images and landscapes he conjures up, with that great score too. All the cast are just right: Vallone, Genevieve Page as the spiteful princess, the warring princes of Fraser and Raymond, and of course Heston and Loren at their most momumental, and of course Herbert Lom and Frank Thring. [When I met Heston in 1971 it felt like he towered over me, and seeing Loren up close too in '79 was astounding]. It would seem though that the Cid and Chimene had just one night together (resulting in her twin girls) as he goes off with his soldiers the next morning! Everything about this though is sheer perfection for me. The ending with "the purest knight of all" still gets to me, just as it did when we saw it as kids back in 1961! The last section with the seige of Valencia has to be cinema at its most stirring. Its certainly the equal of or better than BEN HUR (which does get bogged down in Victorian sentimentality, from the novel, after the chariot race).