Capsule Reviews: November

November 1, 2010: A group of ladies making secret stock investments become involved in murder. A shady pool man and a hypochondriacal nobleman are among the suspects in this satisfying episode. I was especially happy to see Barbara Leigh-Hunt, whom I know well from Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy (1972) (1972). Her character is as unlucky here as before. 7/10

November 1, 2010: The selling of a farm provides the backdrop for murder, while a little girl witness does some detecting for Barnaby. Entertaining episode with a not-especially-satisfying ending. The girl detective is a nice touch. 6/10

November 1, 2010: Popeye and Olive attempt to sail a ghost ship to civilization, but the ghosts plays pranks on them to prevent it. Not enough is done with the premise, but there are a few laughs: Olive is happy over her impending rescue mainly so that she can get back home and watch television. 4/10

Ironically, this was the last theatrical "Popeye" cartoon: TV helped kill off the short subject. Popeye and Olive did not return to the screen until the 1960 TV series, Popeye the Sailor (1960).

November 3, 2010: The pre-release version of this tale—in which Barbara Stanwyck sleeps her way up the corporate ladder—watered it down with a phony ending. The theatrical version (which I just watched) waters it down even further with a silly post-script. And Mr. Cragg—a follower of Nietzsche who advises her to use men—now advises her, via post-dubbing, to get ahead by being clean! Nietzsche isn't mentioned at all. Before the pre-release version was discovered, this version still would have been well worth watching; but now the older edit is the one to see.

November 4, 2010: Charles Bronson is a bleeding-heart liberal who becomes a vigilante after three thugs murder his wife and rape his daughter. Extremely effective crime thriller, although the implausibilities (especially involving the motivations and actions of the corrupt police) stack up too high in the last third. 8/10

November 4, 2010: The morose John Ireland is miscast as a freak show impresario promoting a "starving man" act. Why the public would be fascinated by a man fasting for seventy days in a sealed glass room is anyone's guess. The unconvincing carnival atmosphere adds too little to an uninteresting murder story. Yet another dull Hammer Noir. 3/10

November 4, 2010: Dane Clark stars as a risk-taking business who believes his latest risk has just ruined him. He pays a shady friend to kill him so that his wife can collect insurance. When his fortunes turn, he changes his mind—but it may be too late. Dull, tedious, implausible and predictable. Some well-lit shots are about the only virtues. 3/10

November 5, 2010: A family—husband, wife, young son and aunt—move into a mansion that seems to be out to harm them. The plot wavers between admirably restrained and irritatingly elliptical and has a predictable ending; but the familiar haunted house stuff is made very engaging on the whole, thanks to good direction and a fine cast. Bette Davis (the aunt) gives her supporting role her considerable best. Karen Black (the wife) is the one exception—her acting is distractingly self-conscious. 7/10

November 7, 2010: Tarzan learns the follies of isolationism and pacifism when Nazis invade the jungle and kidnap Boy. Tasteless and silly—but entertainingly bad—series entry (the first for RKO, picking up from MGM). Jane, visiting her sick mother, doesn't appear; Zandra (Frances Gifford), a jungle princess, provides the female flesh. Tarzan is at his most bloodthirsty: he, Boy and even Cheeta are shown gleefully killing off Nazis. 4/10

November 7, 2010: Tarzan and Boy join an American vaudeville performer (Nancy Kelly) on a quest across the desert to find a cure for jungle fever and clash with a pair of duplicitous friends of a sheik. Silly, stupid fun, enlivened by incongruous fantasy elements (which include a weird man-eating plant, giant lizards and a giant spider) but weighed down by Kelly's tedious slangy patter. 4/10

November 7, 2010: A first-rate play gets its second of two first-rate screen adaptations. 8/10

November 7, 2010: Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer are star-crossed lovers in France just before Nazi occupation; Charles Laughton (who gets too little screen time) is the Nazi torturer Boyer is determined to kill. Starts off well, but the story eventually bogs down with a number of repetitive scenes and a lot of pseudo-profound dialogue. Moody black-and-white photography and Bergman's luminous beauty are the best things about it. 6/10

November 9, 2010: Charlize Theron plays the real-life Aileen Wuornos, a prostitute who murdered seven men. Theron, with the help of makeup by Toni G., disappears into her role the way Lon Chaney and Paul Muni used to disappear into theirs. It's a great performance; and Christina Ricci, as her teen-age lover, gives excellent support. The remarkable script and direction are from Patty Jenkins, who allows us to sympathize with Wuornos and at least one of her victims. Good use is made of popular songs. 8/10

November 10, 2010: Al Pacino, in one of the great movie performances, plays a desperate New Yorker heading a bank robbery that goes comically and poignantly awry. Eventually there's a stand-off between him and the police, which becomes a live-television news event. Based on a true story; directed by Sidney Lumet. 9/10

November 11, 2010: 8/10

November 11, 2010: 8/10

November 12, 2010: 8/10

November 12, 2010: 8/10

November 13, 2010: 6/10