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. 

Another ship of fools ....

Based on the true story of a ship carrying German-Jewish refugees which was sent to Havana in 1939 by the Nazis but was denied permission to land anywhere. The ship was eventually obliged to return to Germany, where certain death awaited its passengers. This terrible outcome had been cynically anticipated by the Nazis when granting permission for the voyage in the first place.

The 1970s was that era of all-star disaster movies: the US studios gave us EARTHQUAKE, THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, AIRPLANE 75 and all the rest, while in England TV mogul Sir Lew Grade assembled several all star packages, some of which were amusingly awful like our favourite THE CASSANDRA CROSSING (Sophia! Ava! Ingrid Thulin! Alida Valli! Burt Lancaster! John Philip Law! and more) and others like ESCAPE TO ATHENA was just silly, but VOYAGE OF THE DAMNED in 1976 was meant to be a serious drama but it is so crammed with names that one just sits there bemused by it all - "look, there's Julie Harris talking to Wendy Hiller" - but a lot of them have nothing to do and some barely get a look in: 

James Mason, Katharine Ross as a prostitute, Orson pops in a scene or two, as does Ben Gazzara, Helmut Griem reprises his evil Nazi (a la CABARET and Visconti's THE DAMNED), Malcolm McDowell, playing nice for once, is the young steward having a romance with Lynn Frederick (the last Mrs Peter Sellers), her parents are Lee Grant (who goes over the top spectacularly as the berserk mother cutting her hair in the concentration camp style) and Sam Wanamaker. Other well known faces here are Nehemiah Persoff and Maria Schell (also barely seen), while Jonathan Pryce is one of the persecuted refugees hoping for a new life. 

Topping the bill are Faye Dunaway and Oscar Werner (his final role) - Faye as an embittered wife displays her haughty glamour and gets to wear a monacle and strut around while her husband, Werner, practically reprising his role in SHIP OF FOOLS plays an esteemed Jewish surgeon. The captain of the "St Louis" is none other than Max Von Sydow. It should be a grim drama but the all-star cast and plodding direction of Stuart Rosenberg render it interesting for all the wrong reasons. Kramer's 1965 plodder SHIP OF FOOLS, which we caught and reviewed a year or so ago (Simone Signoret label), did it all much better. 

THE SHOES OF THE FISHERMAN in 1969 was also an all-star spectacular, helmed by the reliable Michael Anderson - one of several that year (BATTLE OF BRITAIN, OH WHAT A LOVELY WAR) - from a novel about the first Russian pope and how he tackles world poverty, from a novel by Morris West - which is another long, if entertaining, plod to see now, but at least it employed Anthony Quinn as the pope, Laurence Olivier as a wily Russian official, Oscar Werner again as another doomed priest, Gielgud as another ailing pope, and many, many more. 

In the mood for summer repeats

Rapture! - In the mood for IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE again ... (as per review last year, 2000s label). 

Our heatwave seems to be finally over, as rain and cooler weather arrive,with that autumn nip in the air already! I won't have to be drinking too many cool Italian lagers or Belgian ciders then .... but we often get a good warm late summer here in the British Isles, and over on the West coast of Ireland, where I spend time too, right on the edge of Europe ...

Meanwhile, those summer repeats keep on coming. I have a stack on recent releases to watch: THE WOLF OF WALL STREET, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB, INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS, THE GREAT BUDAPEST HOTEL, CAPTAIN PHILLIPS, SAVING MR BANKS, THE GREAT BEAUTY etc. as well as been entranced by Visconti's THE LEOPARD now even more stunning on Blu-ray (see post below), as is Lean's LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, but instead its more repeats of favourites on tv: ROBIN AND MARIAN, Channing's THE EAGLE and boxsets like LOVE/HATE, HOUSE OF CARDS, WHITE COLLAR etc, as well as vintage boxsets on Lee Remick as JENNIE (Churchill) and Francesca Annis as LILLIE (Lily Langtry, which also has Peter Egan as an exquisite Oscar Wilde).. See labels here for more on all these:

ISLAND IN THE SUN was on again, from 1957. Nice to look at, thats a perfect Caribbean island, from that best-selling novel and Fox gave it the plush treatment. I love Joan Fontaine's outfit for meeting her sort of lover Harry Belafonte (Joan received hate mail for appearing in scenes with the handsome Harry, meanwhile it was the other Joan - Collins - who was getting intimate with Belafonte..) but her white gloves and pink pencil halter top dress ensures she looks great; the above is a posed shot - they never touch in the film, apart from where he helps down from the bus ! 

meanwhile starlets Joan Collins and Stephen Boyd romance in the surf and Dorothy Dandridge is marvellous with John Justin (whom I have seen quite a bit lately, in 1943's THE GENTLE SEX and those '70s Ken Russell farragos, as reported below). James Mason is also here, married to Patrica Owens, and he kills Michael Rennie in a fit of jealousy as  policeman John Williams puts two and two together ... delirious stuff, I loved that theme song as a kid.

I can never resist another look at RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, now, like BODY HEAT (also scripted by Lawrence Kasdan) one of the key movies of the '80s. It all works perfectly here, from that perfect opening sequence with Alfred Molina to the high-jinks in Nepal before going on to Egypt .... This and Harrison's AIR FORCE ONE may well be my favourite popcorn movies. Amusing touches here too, like the (male) pupil with an apple for teacher .... with Denholm Elliot and Paul Freeman sterling support and Karen Allen as that very spunky heroine.

Two years ago we had a Hitchcock summer here, as the BFI showed all his films, and canonised VERTIGO as the best film of all time, in their "Sight & Sound" magazine (see details at Hitchcock label) - now our Film4 channel starts a 'frightmare' season with PSYCHO and THE BIRDS. I never tire of THE BIRDS and that marvellous interplay between the characters, its a very witty screenplay, Rod Taylor and Tippi Hedren are ideal - particularly as she dials the telephone with her pencil - and Suzanne Pleshette is ace too.

PSYCHO continues to amaze me, one notices new things - the opening titles tell us its December 12th, but the only sign of christmas is one shot showing street decorations as Janet drives out of town, and of course its the first time a toilet was flushed in a mainstream American film! Janet Leigh is simply astounding here, and should surely have been nominated for an Award.....

Our Sky Arts channel has discovered Ingmar Bergman's THE SEVENTH SEAL which they are showing frequently, maybe most people's introduction to those foreign arthouse movies. It has of course been parodied many times, but it still has the power to mesmerise us as Death plays chess with the Knight, and the family of simple folk make their escape - the unforgiving medieval world is essayed here as the young witch is burned and people flagellate themselves to hopefully avoid the Black Death ..... its still a stunning film full of indelible images, even simple shots of the sea and the waves and the rocks have a stark power of their own. On his return from the Crusades, a Swedish knight, Antonius Block (Max Von Sydow in his signature role), is accosted by Death but staves off his demise by challenging him to a game of chess. Ingmar Bergman's best known early film is not all existential gloom. Well, all right, it is, but is alleviated by the film's inventiveness and audaciousness, and Death is hilariously sardonic. Pity the doomed souls being led away at the end, dancing on the skyline .... 

THE ELEPHANT MAN, 1980.  Nothing new to say about this apart from that I was stunned and mesmerised all over again. It has to to be one of the most powerful films ever made and David Lynch’s keeper. All the elements are there: that Victorian industrial background, the stunning black and white photography capturing it all, and the superlative cast – did John Hurt and Anthony Hopkins do anything better?, with sterling support from John Gielgud and Wendy Hiller, not to mention Freddie Jones, and that perfect ending as we clear away our sobs. Its still a key 80s movie.

SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER remains deliriously over the top too, as Katharine Hepburn's Mrs Violet Venable descends in her elevator to persuade doctor Montgomery Clift to lobotomise her niece Elizabeth Taylor to remove what she saw happen to Sebastian last summer .... poor Monty seems to be sleepwalking through this as Taylor (in that white swimsuit which was "a scandal to the jaybirds") and Hepburn go head to head ...

And then a large helping of cheese: GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER .....  I tried to avoid it but looked in before the end. It seemed even worse than I remembered, but how we loved it back in 1967. I remember friends and I going to a late night show at 11pm – not so common in London then! Watching it now one can see all the glaring faults – its shot like a tv sitcom, that house full of art and the view over San Francisco are laughably opulent and fake now, and that ghastly score.

Thankfully I missed that excruciating scene at the drive-in ice cream parlour where Tracy comes across as just old and doddery and annoying. The daughter of course is an airhead, and Dr Prentice (Poitier) seems a living saint and they just have to rush to Geneva as he has to work for the World Health Organisation so both sets of parents have to give their approval right away for their union. The black servant ("part of the family") still has to serve dinner though – and don’t get me started on this wealthy liberal family who are not Catholics, with their pet priest (dear twinkly Cecil Kellaway) who is Irish and likes that whiskey !  But of course one has to see it in the context of its time:  race relations were still very problematic then and this sugar-coated pill (along with Poitier's other hits that year IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (which I loved) and TO SIR WITH LOVE) may have helped things along. At least it revitalised Katharine Hepburn’s career (while her contemporaries were mired in cheap guignol flicks, and Kate was even bigger the next year when THE LION IN WINTER was such a hit, winning her another Oscar) – there she was on the cover of LIFE magazine and standing on her head, as a whole new generation fell in love with her - she had really been off the screen since 1959's SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER, Lumet's LONG DAYS JOURNEY INTO NIGHT in 1962 was not widely seen at the time despite winning awards at Cannes, in fact I didn't see it until the dvd became available). I love her costumes and little hats in this film which she breezes through, particularly the great scene where she fires the art gallery assistant. Like all Kramer’s films of the time, it seems hopelessly overdone now.   below: Visconti's sumptuous 1963 THE LEOPARD, once again.

Another forgotten '60s movie: The Kremlin Letter

The Sixties was that great era for Cold War thrillers, from the deadly serious (THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD, THE QUILLER MEMORANDUM (scripted by Pinter, it was on tv again yesterday), THE IPCRESS FILE and its sequels (though Ken Russell's BILLION DOLLAR BRAIN was rather too over the top), Hitch's TORN CURTAIN and TOPAZ, and Huston's THE KREMLIN LETTER in 1969) to the farcical - those Dean Martin Matt Helm and IN LIKE FLINT capers, to the stylish Losey MODESTY BLAISE and lesser jokey items like SEBASTIAN, OTLEY et al... (the '70s paranoia thrillers were a different matter - see Thrillers label).

One could say too that John Huston's last great era peaked in the mid''60s (after NIGHT OF THE IGUANA), he then tried various other genres: costume dramas A WALK WITH LOVE AND DEATH, SINFUL DAVY, the genial western THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JUDGE ROY BEAN (with Ava Gardner as Lily Langtry) and had a late hit with FAT CITY in 1972 (when I saw him in conversation at London's National Film Theatre) - then more films of varying quality followed until that last final THE DEAD in 1987  (reviews at Huston label) ...

I saw THE KREMLIN LETTER on general release, but it quicky vanished from sight. It is the standard espionage drama, with some suspense, as we follow that international polyglot cast around Moscow. The preposterous plot involves a network of older spies from the West who recruit a young intelligence officer with a photographic memory to accompany them on a mission inside Russia. They must recover a letter written by the CIA that promises American assistance to Russia if China gets the atomic bomb - but here the cast is the thing: 

Oh George !

Orson Welles and Micheal MacLiammoir (old pals from Orson's Irish days), Max Von Sydow and Bibi Andersson from Ingmar Bergman land; Richard Boone, Patrick O'Neal and Barbara Parkins - a job lot from America. Also involved are Italy's Raf Vallone, England's Nigel Greene, Lila Kedrova, Dean Jagger, and most astounding of all - George Sanders, in drag, as he entertains in a gay club. Huston himself puts in an appearance too. (This was the time when he was acting a lot in items as diverse as THE CARDINAL, DE SADE, MYRA BRECKINRIDGE and of course, terrific in CHINATOWN).

It is an intense study of intrigue, double-crossing, revenge, sudden deadly action, plot twists and several nasty guys, no wonder there is that atmosphere of fear as it depicts the  callousness of the spy business... the Cold War never seemed colder. Sanders as ever acquits himself well, and Parkins is lovely. Max as ever is grimly efficient - just as he was in that 1975 THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR. THE KREMLIN LETTER deserves to be better known and certainly keeps one watching. Above: George and John have fun.

'70s paranoia: Parallax, Condor, Stepford ...

A head for heights on the Seattle Space Needle ...

THE PARALLAX VIEW, a superb drama about one man's paranoia that turns out to be a total incredible fact, ranks among the best political thrillers. Warren Beatty is a news reporter who, along with seven others, witnesses the assassination of a political candidate. When the other seven die in "accidents" the newsman begins to doubt the official position: that a lone madman was responsible for the crime. He imagines a sophisticated network of highly trained murderers. But his nightmares pale against the bizarre truth he uncovers.

Joe Frady is a determined reporter who often needs to defend his work from colleagues. After the assassination of a prominent U.S. senator, Frady begins to notice that reporters present during the assassination are dying mysteriously. After getting more involved in the case, Frady begins to realize that the assassination was part of a conspiracy somehow involving the Parallax Corporation, an enigmatic training institute. He then decides to enroll for the Parallax training himself to discover the truth. 

So says the blurb of this 1974 thriller - but he does more than "imagine" a crime network - he discovers documents about it including a questionnaire and infiltrates the organisation itself, but does not realise that he .... well, we won't say any more about that part of it ....

The 1970s of course was the great era of conspiracy thrillers following on from those '40s classic noirs and those pulpy juicy '50s thrillers like KISS ME DEADLY, THE BIG COMBO, JOE MACBETH, TOUCH OF EVIL etc, and the 60s ones like Boorman's POINT BLANK (one to re-discover and review), Godard's ALPHAVILLE and others, and I always regarded THE PARALLAX VIEW as KLUTE part 2, as Alan J. Pakula continues in the same vein, with these dark, brooding thrillers full of menace, as lensed by Gordon Willis and scored by Michael Small. You could say its a trilogy really, as Pakula had an even bigger hit with ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN in 1976 with Redford and Hoffman. Warren Beatty is perfect here as Joe Frady gradually realising the web he is getting caught in. The first murder sequence at the Seattle Space Needle is grippingly done, as we realise there are 2 assassins.  The witnesses are being killed off, including Paula Prentiss, an ex-girlfriend of Frady's who does not believe her story and her fear of being next .....

Danger in mid-air!

more tensions follows in redneck country as Frady investigates the death of another witness, and it is not safe on that boat either as a bomb goes off, and then we get that stunning sequence following another bomb in a case being put on a plane, a domestic flight, that Frady boards and then realises the man he is tailing is not on the plane but another senator is, who may be (and indeed is) another target to be eliminated by the Parallax Corporation who are willing to kill everyone on board! How he gets the plane to return to the airport is tense stuff and then we see, off-camera, the result as the bomb indeed goes off ... The Parallax's slide-show is fascinating too contrasting all those images of home and country and perceived enemies of the state, all the factors that contribute to the making of lone gunmen with chips on their shoulders.

THE PARALLAX VIEW is still one of the most intelligent, tense and effective conspiracy thrillers ever made, and the direction by the late Alan J. Pakula is just about flawless. Its one of the '70s great American films, up there with CHINATOWN, NASHVILLE, THE CONVERSATION, DELIVERANCE and THE GODFATHERS.. There are a few holes in the script, but they add to the tension and air of unease: Did Parallax realize that Frady was an investigative reporter, or was he simply hired to be a patsy that would take the fall for a killing? The look of the film too is chilly with all those dark interiors and metallic surfaces.

THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR:  similar dark hues abound in Sydney Pollack's 1975 thriller, which I had not seen since its release. Robert Redford is in his prime here - all that blonde hair and blue jeans - and again the story grips from the start.

A mild mannered CIA researcher, paid to read books, returns from lunch to find all of his co-workers assassinated. "Condor" must find out who did this and get in from the cold before the hitmen get him. 

Redford isn't an "action hero". He stays ahead of the game - just barely - by using his intelligence.  This is fascinating stuff - Redford is not a superhero but an ordindary guy "who just reads books". Seems his department reads everything published looking for plots or stories about the CIA and he discovers an outlandish plot about a "CIA within the CIA" which nobody is supposed to know about - hence the whole department is wiped out by professionals - but Redford had slipped out the back way to run to the deli for lunch ... the moment that stayed with me is when the professional assassin ice-cool Max Von Sydow (ideal casting) asks Janice - Redford's girl - to step away from the window before he shoots her. "I won't scream" she says and he replies "I know" ....  Pollack wisely allows us to share in Redford's horror and confusion upon finding his dead co-workers. We witness his scramble for protection and his shaky call to the CIA Headquarters, as he demands to be brought in. He is on the run, as after a shoot-out in the alley where he is to be picked up he knows the CIA are after him as well. 

He kidnaps Dunaway to hide out at her place but the killers are on his tail - hence that package he has to sign for with the faulty biro. We watch glamorous movie stars playing "ordindary", but Redford and Dunaway draw you in, as their relationship unfolds and she finally believes his story and helps him to contact Cliff Robertson, that mysterious CIA operative, until the final scenes when the killer Joubert (Max) after relentlessly pursuing our hero and killing his friends and lover, helps our hero out, as his contracted services are over! Its complex and gripping all the way through, and although preposterous almost believeable! One of those terrific Pollack '70s films then.  (I saw Redford giving a lecture at the London BFI in 1973, 40 years ago!, and was surprised at how ordinary and not that tall he was in the flesh). Interesting too seeing these '70s stars like Beatty, Redford, Hackman (THE CONVERSATION), Pacino (SERPICO) in their prime displaying their liberal credentials in these paranoia thrillers - and how thrillers operated in that pre-internet, pre-cellphone world with those early cumbersome computers (as in THE CASSANDRA CROSSING) .... even in '60s capers like ARABESQUE they are chasing information on a microdot - which would now be a text message rather than an email! The twin towers are in evidence here too - Cliff Robertson has his office in them, in that '70s New York!

THE STEPFORD WIVES - This 1975 Bryan Forbes thriller has certainly stood the test of time, we all know what a Stepford Wife is .... the silly remake was well just too silly for words. But the original grips nicely as we follow photographer Katharine Ross and her family to the ideal town of Stepford. She and new buddy slapdash wife Paula Prentiss are amazed at the local women, all perfect and docile and only interested in catering to their men's every needs, and what is the mystery of that mens' social club run by the mysterious  Patrick O'Neal, who used to work at Disneyland ...

Stepford Wives is about a small suburb where the women happily go about their housework - cleaning, doing laundry, and cooking gourmet meals - to please their husbands. Unfortunately, Bobbie and Joanna discover that the village's wives have been replaced with robots, and Joanna'a husband wants in on the action.

It all holds up very well as the two girls slowly realise what is going on in their ideal community. When Paula too is finally "changed", Katharine has to go it alone, after that marvellous scene when the stabbed Prentiss robot malfunctions in her perfect kitchen.  As this is a Bryan Forbes film Mrs Forbes is also on hand - Nanette Newman, delicious as ever, as she goes around repeating "I'll just die if I don't get that recipe" as she too malfunctions. Tina Louise is also another perfect wife. Ira Levin's novel (he also wrote ROSEMARY'S BABY, a recent review here) is a delicious feminist spin on INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, and the final supermarket scene is a satisfying conclusion. William Goldman's screenplay from Levin's novel finds just the right touch from director Forbes. This is one thriller one can enjoy on repeat viewings.

Next week: more Redford in a Natalie Wood double bill: LOVE WITH THE PROPER STRANGER and THIS PROPERTY IS CONDEMNED; and he is in that 1966 star-studded THE CHASE which I have been meaning to re-see, along with the all-star HURRY SUNDOWN, plus Newman and all those dames (Bacall, Harris, Leigh, Winters) in HARPER, also '66. Also 2 more Polanski nerve-shredders THE TENANT and THE PIANIST ... and for some light relief Doris & Rock's SEND ME NO FLOWERS ...

Back to 1980: Flash Gordon

In this update of the 1930s comic strip, Flash Gordon is a football hero who is skyjacked aboard Dr. Hans Zarkov's rocketship along with beautiful Dale Arden. The threesome are drawn into the influence of the planet Mongo, controlled by Ming the Merciless. Ming has been testing the Earth with unnatural disasters, and deeming it a threat to his rule, he plans to destroy it. He also intends to take Dale as his concubine. Flash must avoid the amorous attentions of Ming's daughter and unite the warring kingdoms of Mongo to rescue Dale and save our world.

Sam J.Jones is our hero and it would be unkind to diss his acting skills, he just looks right as the amiable hunk Flash, with Melody Johnson just right too as Dale Arden (with her catchphrase "Flash, I love you! But we only have fourteen hours left to save the earth!"). Topol as discredited scientist Hans Zarkov gets some scenery to chew and seems to have fun with his role. The same goes for the film’s rather distinguished supporting cast, Brian Blessed and a pre-Bond Timothy Dalton gamely give their all. Brian's King Vultan is probably his most memorable movie role, and we cheer as Prince Barin offers his hand in - no, not marriage - but friendship to Flash. Swedish acting giant Max Von Sydow enjoys himself hugely as Ming the Merciless.  As Aura, Ming’s daughter Ornella Muti looks absolutely sensational as usual, with those cat eyes of her. Her decadent princess who helps Flash ramps up the camp fun factor, particuarly when Flash is executed wearing those tight leather shorts before the Princess reactivates him ...

Flash Gordon is probably best known for its musical score performed by Queen. The famous theme song (“Flash! Aaaa-ah!”) made such a change from the scores of John Williams in all those space movies of the time. I love the look of the film too - all those reds and yellows and the fantastic costumes were by Fellini regular Danilo Donati.

FLASH GORDON remains an enjoyable treat from just as those '80s began; there is something about its humour, its failure to take itself seriously and the sight of Brian Blessed in a leather speedo and hawk wings that wins you over. Add in the camp delights of Mariangela Melato and Peter Wyngarde and even playright John Osborne ... and the terrific sequence where Dr Zarkov has his memories removed. The ending is sheer fun and left the way open for a sequel which never materialised. The film was rather a flop on release, but has grown in stature since, it will be on again at Christmas no doubt. Mike Hodges (GET CARTER) directed from a script by Lorenzo Semple Jr. We have to thank Dino De Laurentiis for this one. You can keep STAR WARS and SUPERMAN - I'll take FLASH anytime ... what a popcorn double-bill this would be with BARBARELLA!