Tirelli Reviews

40 Carats (1973)

And There Is Love... In Every Corner Of The World...

[5 June 2000]

This a breezy comedy based on a hit Broadway play and one of the few worthwhile comic tales depicting the relationship between a younger man and an older woman. While on holidays, visiting Greece, a divorced real estate agent encounters by chance a vital young man, and they have a brief romantic interlude.

She leaves him while he is sleeping and escapes back to New York. Regaining the cherrished stability she has conquered as a lady executive, she settles down on her lovely apartment where she lives with her daughter and her mother. Until - very much in the fashion of every Broadway farce there is - they receive an unexpected visitor. Peter Latham, the man our main character had an affair with while in Greece. But now, he is introduced as a friend of her daughter's.

After constant bickering, they decide to get married, but will their relationship last?

'40 Carats' is a light, entertaining and cheerful movie, filled with beautiful, rich people whose vain problems serve as the basis for an plot. The characters have social status written all over their foreheads and their reaction to the plot's major complications are clever one-liners encouraged by greek drinks and the prospect of a happy, happy ending. The film does not attempt to be deep, for it's subject is a rather delicate one - the producers were aiming for time-filling entertainment and they really did it.

But this film suffers mostly from the miscasting of Liv Ullmann, Ingmar Bergman's norwegian muse. No matter how versatile the wonderful Ms. Ullmann can be, she is a rather indelible case of typecasting - used to play such profound characters whose heartaches and emotional flaws we can relate to, she seems uncomfortable portraying a futile woman whose psyche isn't that complex, after all. The one scene in which her character really makes the transition between a woman caught in a whirlwind of happenings and a woman whose pain is overwhelmingly intense, nevertheless, is a cinematic gem. In this scene she confronts her future in laws.

Another highlight of the film is Michel Legrand's beautiful soundtrack that includes the love theme 'In Every Corner Of The World', and Gene Kelly's performance as Liv Ullmann's annoying first husband.

All in all, this is a movie whose delicate subject provokes a barrier that keeps it from being a great film, but is, nevertheless, sheer cinematic delight.

Last of the Red Hot Lovers (1972)

Character Study And Hilarious Comedy - The Neil Simon Way

[5 June 2000]

Barney Cashman, a middle-aged fish restaurant owner, is starting to contemplate the idea of dying for the first time - faithfully devoted to his wife of several years, he decides to have an affair. Something beautiful, something decent... an interlude of romance and beauty to reassure him that his by the numbers existence was in fact, worthwhile.

Well, somebody should have told him what Ellen Burstyn said to Alan Alda towards the end of 'Same Time, Next Year'... 'There Is No Such Thing, My Love.'

Instead, he arranges encounters with three different women in his mother's apartment - Sally Kellerman, a cold, callous and unemotional woman whose notions of realism clash violently with Barney's eagerness to be gentle; Paula Prentiss, a drug addict actress whose only feature film was intitled 'I Married An Ape' ( The Same Story As 'Wuthering Heights', But With Some Gorillas And Some Surf Riders... ) and Renée Taylor, a seemingly fiery woman who, in fact, suffers from a deep state of melancholia.

Like any other Neil Simon gem, this is an in-depth commentary on one main character's psyche intertwined with hilarious bits and one-liners. Being no exception, 'The Last Of The Red Hot Lovers' is about one man's quest to free himself from the drearyness of every day life. The unsuccesful attempt he makes to free himself from Barney Cashman and become 'the last of the red hot lovers'. The deconstruction of Barney Cashman comes through those three woman, whose extreme life styles make him realize how there is no such thing as a pure and decent extramarital affair.

Sounds depressing? Well, it isn't. Simon blends character study with comedy in rare fashion, and makes this as delightful as any comedy can be, and as profound as any drama can be.

Inadmissible Evidence (1968)

Uniquely Gripping, Yet, Nearly Incomprehensible.

[27 April 2000]

'Inadmissible Evidence' is a film unlike any other I have ever seen. From the moment we are introduced to the anti-heroic main character, played to perfection by Nicol Williamson, we are gripped by his every movement.

Yet, due to his strong, bewildering performance, our attention is solely directed to him, and not to the many other characters, plot twists and story. The John Osborne tale was complex enough as it was without the ordeal of confusing flashbacks and such fierce characterizations.

I may be crazy, but I actually think that this film would benefit from a poorer cast! After all, Williamson is so fascinating, that we completely forget about the story itself, and we can't help being bewitched by his London solicitor who slowly descends into emotional bankruptcy while analyzing his own existence and the harm he has done to others - his wife, his mistresses, and the carefree young man he used to be.

About the flashbacks... I guess they were a mere device that the producers of the movie thought would be helpful, since the movie is almost a filmed play. Nevertheless, the device backfires, and only add to the utter confusion of the viewer.

Well, all in all, this is an unusual, gripping film, that features a powerhouse performance by Mr. Williamson, but whose gloomy, depressing, confusing and existentialist point of view are definitely not for the ones

who are looking for breezy entertainment.

Shanks (1974)

Gigot's Own Little Vendetta

[14 April 2000]

Maybe some of the all american readers of IMDb will be insulted by my establishing a certain degree of comparision between this gem of a horror movie and Jackie Gleason's emotionally charged melodrama 'Gigot'. Well, if so, I ask for your pardon in advance, and state that, on no account, is my intention to offend you in any ways.

Nevertheless, the way I envision, this brilliant movie, 'Shanks' is a clever - if unintentional - satire of what would Gleason's Gigot do if he was an actual human being - after all, a man that wonderfully good could not be from this foul Earth of ours.

Marcel Marceau is a deaf mute aspiring to be a puppeteer whose existence is torn to shreds by his shrewish sister and drunken brother in law. Here, the shades of Gigot appear, since Jackie Gleason's character is constantly taunted - not by family, but by acquaintances who share the same street and later on, a woman, with whom he desperately falls in love.

Marceu is invited to work with a dying scientist working on a project to reanimate the dead. When he dies, Marceau uses the techniques trusted to him by his mentor to re-animate him as well. He has a lot of fun improving his work, and controlling his every move through a small remote control. That way he actually becomes more of a puppeteer than ever - only now, his manipulating powers are aimed towards the dead.

His vengeance towards his sister and brother in law are rather obvious, but frightening, nevertheless. He murders them - and deprives them from the little decency that exists in 'dying', by manipulating them, just like they manipulated him, when living. He leads the dead bodies around with morbid pleasure, and degrades them as much as he can, therefore, satisfying his justifiable yearnings. Yet, things begin the go sour after his protegee - a young adolescent whose character bears much of the little girl in 'Gigot' - discovers that those people that are constantly walking down the streets if the small town they live in, are, in fact, dead.

The movie's punch is lost in the ending, when the evil outside Marceau's world of vengeance - represented by a group of hilariously named Hell's Angels - encroaches on the little girl's birthday party. But the ending that examines the possibilities of the entire plot being a dark fantasy that Marceau has while performing for the town's children is absolutely fascinating.

Alex North's musical score replaces the lack of dialog with thorough efficiency. The ragtime and Charleston pieces North has composed for the few scenes in which Marceau's human puppets are performing for the little girl are absolutely brilliant, yet, never do they curtail the morbidness the film bears.

Gigot's vendetta is now, a refreshing reality. Yet, through another movie, 'Shanks', a brilliant, disturbingly delicious study in irony, reality, fantasy, and revenge.

Do forgive for the comparisions. I reiterate that they were not intended to harm any of you Jackie Gleason junkies out there, in any ways... :)

The Night of the Following Day (1969)

A Lesson In Pacing

[14 April 2000]

The movie wanders through a small range of unusual characters, following the happenings that occur to them during a two days period, as fleetingly as a feather follows it's path led by the wind. This is the factor that helps 'The Night Of The Following Day' to deliver the refreshing quality that contrasts the morbid atmosphere the movie slowly builds so perfectly.

A contradictory statement? May be... yet, since the movie has such a slow pacing, the drama that surrounds it becomes much more obvious. And suspense is drama. Suspense is conflict.

A girl is kidnapped by an odd group of professional criminals - a man whose tough ways curtail his vulnerability, his stewardess girlfriend who is struggling against a serious drug addiction, her slow minded brother, and a sadistic lunatic.

During two days, we analyze through Hubert Cornfield's almost Bergmanesque eyes, each desperate character, and how they manage to bring up the worst in each other. Their emerging weaknesses manage to sabotage the plan, as the creeping tension begins to take over the viewer.

The ending is coherent. And soon after, you'll be able to see a beautiful representation of the beauty of that human being that the world had just lost. It's not a typical 'crime does not pay' ending. It's just their doomed fate - from the moment we begin to perceive those threatening hoodlums as fragile, unreasonable human beings, we know that the plan will not work.

This is a masterpiece, in every way. Music, Cinematography, Directing, Acting, and Specially, Pacing combine themselves flawlessly in order to build an allegory of desperate souls destroying themselves when face to face with an abyss.

Not for the ones who enjoy snappy paced flicks. This is for the one willing to think a tad more, and be rewarded greatly for their effort. :)

The Walking Stick (1970)

A Movie Never To Be Forgotten

[25 March 2000]

Curtailing evil, criminal intentions, a dashing young man, Leigh, seduces and persuades the dreary, moderate polio victim Deborah Dainton into falling in love with him. Deborah leads a neatly organized life, and is obligated to see it being reduced to shreds when she discovers her boyfriend is part of a gang who intends to rob the auction house in which she works in. That's when Deborah has to come to grips with the fact that Leigh may have maintained a relationship with her solely for the benefit of the heist.

This is an utterly unforgettable study on bitterness, hope and disappointment. We get to witness the magnificence of Eggar's performance as her character slowly discovers what Leigh - David Hemmings - truly had in mind when they began living together. And how Eggar manages to show that her bad leg does not stop her from being as tricky - if not trickier - than the good for nothing Leigh.

'The Walking Stick' is an emotionally-charged melodrama that does not appeal to tacky tearjerker clichés. Everything is beautifully executed in a low-key, calm and yet gut-wrenchingly real manner, with an emotionally disarming ending that will leave you sobbing.

The Hospital (1971)

"We Cure NOTHING! We Heal NOTHING!"

[8 March 2000]

A profoundly disturbing character study more than anything, this film, masterfully written by Paddy Chayefsky, manages to convey such bitterness and disgust in it's point of view, it can not even be topped by the also Chayefsky stamped 'Network'. Thinly disguised as a black comedy, this is the tale of Herbert Bock, whose family problems and working issues - the huge Manhattan hospital in which he works in is as civilized as a concentration camp - lead him to contemplate suicide. Then, beautiful Diana Rigg - thee who knows Dame Diana solely as a Bond Girl, does not know her AT ALL - steps into the dreary settings, - Barbara, the character she perfectly portrays, is there to take her mentally ill father, which just happens to be a serial, gospel-bound, murderer, out of the madness of the hospital - , and into George C. Scott's seemingly frozen heart... Events do not lead to a happy ending. Events do not lead to an ending at all... however, it exposes the never ending cycle life is reduced to. Joy, bliss... several feelings revolving one's own being, no matter what surrounds him... and all these several feelings leading you right back where you've started. It's like Chayefsky was trying to say how meaningless and plodding existing is... If you can't understand anything I just said, you will, as soon as you hear the last line... "It's like p***ing in the wind... right, Herb?"...

Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (1955)

"You're Driving Me Crazy!"

[7 March 2000]

That's the tune you'll be singing after the movie's over... and not because of it's catchy chords and great lyrics, I assure you...

This is the kind of movie that drives anyone to the brink of insanity... for it tries to cover all genres, and it flops in each and every one of them - it's not a good musical... the orchestrations are awkward, far from easy listening, and can manage to ruin even the most enchanting songs ever composed - 'My Funny Valentine', for instance, and 'Ain't Misbehaving', executed on a hilariously ludicrous 'cannibal african tribe' setting (!).

A good comedy...? No, I don't think so... the amusing lines uttered by Jeanne Crain can't solely carry a feature film... by the by, can anyone believe that those legs actually belong to darling youth, 'Margie'...? :)

A good romantic flick? Again, I doubt it... the romantic interludes are ridiculous, featuring Jane "The Girl That Can't Say No" Russell and Scott Brady, and Jeanne "Tough Gal" Crain and Alan "Filthy Rich Hiding Behind A Social Outcast Mask" Young...

A good drama? Only if your notion of drama is reduced to Scott Brady's supreme could shoulders aimed towards Jane Russell... :)

Well... all things considered, this is a plodding, mindless affair that has it's good moments, but is not to be compared to the classic 'Gentleman Prefer Blondes' in any way.

The Magus (1968)

I Dare You...

[3 March 2000]

As much as I adore complex films, and philosophy, I dare you to watch this film and understand it to it's fullest - if you haven't read the novel yet, that is.

The unforgettable insights offered by John Fowles' book are completely gone, as the film turns into an empty allegory, aiming towards an arty approach, that backfires miserably. I guess the producers of 'The Magus' thought that art translated soft porn sequences, senseless dialogue chanted by awkwardly miscasted actors and poor editing.

Nevertheless, Anthony Quinn was quite good as Conchis, and Anna Karina was fair as well... if given more time, she would give a knockout of a performance ( 'Yes Or No... Yes Or No... YES OR NO!" )... at least they balanced the horrendous performances of Michael Caine ( "To Hell With Anne... ") and Candice Bergen ( "No... To Hell With Nicholas!" ) . I say that because I have recently finished an acting course, so I would understand more thoroughly acting itself, and I realize how hard it is to ACT... but anyone could do better than that!

But some good points that deserve notice are the stunning camera work, and the lovely soundtrack by John Dankworth.

Well, all things considered, this movie found me rather puzzled, yet, unmoved, and irritated. A glimpse at John Fowles' beautiful writings will make you want to smack the producers' faces even more. :)

Well... you've been warned.

One Is a Lonely Number (1972)

A Parade Of Wonderful Actors Delivering A Heartwarming Story

[18 February 2000]

Some movies present such basic, utterly simple storylines, that the only thing that can actually save them from turning into mediocre flicks is how they are executed. And that's the case of Rebecca Morris' 'One Is A Lonely Number'. It's the simple tale of a recently divorced woman, Aimee, who slowly discovers how to get along with her life, growing through pain, loss, heartache and the dealing of loneliness. If you think it's familiar, you're right. The same subject has been brought up oh so many times throughout the last three decades - mostly on campy tearjerkers - but they can't be compared with this one.

Trish Van Devere ~ Day Of The Dolphin, etc... ~ surrenders completely to her role, and gives the performance of a life time. Melvyn Douglas... well, what can I say about him?

Plus, bits from a very sarcastic, cynical Janet Leigh, fresh from such flops as 'Hello Down There'.

It's all delivered to you from a gentle, bittersweet point of view. The pacing is perfect, for it gives the film a reality touch. The music... well, four words for you... Michel Legrand... Bossa Nova.

And some scenes deserve special attention... Trish's reaction to King Lear, and sobbing on Douglas' shoulders. Trish's seduction of Monte Markham and finally... the last scene...

Have a box of Kleenex handy. Do yourself that favor... :)

Taking Off (1971)

Absolutely Delightful!

[29 December 1999]

This is one of the most curiously delightful films I have ever seen. From the first few minutes until it's very end, 'Taking Off' offers an uniquely gentle vision of the confused 70s generation, it's hopes and wishes, and their problematic relationships with their respective, old-fashioned, hypocritical parents. Larry and Lynn Tyne are the heads of a typical american family, with their respective neurosis and worries targeted to their daughter Jeannie, lovely Linnea Hancock, and her taking drugs and the company that surrounds her. As she 'takes off' from home, their parents begin to seek for her, and as the seek continues, their degree of closeness is increased, while them both become absolutely degenerate and carefree - as they judge the new generation to be.

Forman presents a simple story that smoothly develops itself into a thoughtful character study about the gap of generations, presented in a fashion never seen before, and most enjoyable, scoring once again by bringing his innovative directing style from Europe to America for the first time, and with a modest budget and unknown stars, with the honorable exception of Buck Henry, Ike and Tina Turner and a very, very young Carly Simon( Singing A Remarkable Ballad, That Goes Like This - Long Term Physical Effects Are Not Yet Known... So, I'll Just Take Another Drag, And Just Get Stoned!(...) Short Term Physical Effects Are So Groovey!)

You may glimpse a young Jessica Harper during my favorite sequence, the audition one. The characters you'll find during this are simply... unforgettable. :)

So, just enjoy this underrated gem, 'with a smile on your face and a heart to embrace', a faithful portrait of youth, hypocrisy, and seemingly contained parents.

The Shining (1980)

The Kubrick Komplex

[25 December 1999]

I read, many, well - founded critiques praising Stanley Kubrick's work on this movie, The Shining, but, I thought an opposite opinion would be welcomed, even as a novelty, perhaps. I've seen this movie with a great friend of mine, and one of the most addicted fans of both Kubrick's and Nicholson's work. She obligated me to see the movie, knowing that I hate horror films, and I'm not much of a fan of the great Kubrick - but I did made her watch Joanna with me that same day.. After seeing it, I just stumbled upon my usual opinion on Kubrick's movies. Visually striking, no context whatsoever. It seems promising, at first, and there are absolutely masterful camera angles, but, it's all part of the pretty package that surrounds this overrated piece of junk!

The movie has absolutely no story, Nicholson's performance reaches the highest camp ever seen after 'Valley Of The Dolls', Shelley Duvall's is extremely annoying as the loving, ever so comprehensive wife, that only reacts to his husband when he becomes obviously menacing to herself and their child, and no explanations of the going ons, at all! It is not the same case as Hitchcock's The Birds... on that, we have clues, little insights that makes us feel we know what happened... on The Shining, we have no clues, just tons and tons of episodic happenings, and gatherings of odd, bizarre moments. IS Nicholson posessed by the old caretaker? IS Nicholson posessed by an antique spirit that lived within the Hotel, a long time ago...? IS Nicholson going mad? Do we care...?

The only relief that we have is a solid performance by Danny Loyd, great soundtrack, and as I 'd said before, dazzling camera angles. Otherwise, confuse, contrived, arty and irritating piece of trash.

It's The Kubrick complex... visually striking, where's the story?

For A Good Early Kubrick, rent Lolita, or Paths Of Glory, Or Dr. StrangeLove. Keep away from this supposedly arty dead end of a movie.

The Deadly Affair (1967)

Absolutely Marvelous Film

[6 November 1999]

It is surprising that a film made in London during the late 60s wouldn't expose at least a part of the swinging town it was.In fact it exposes a dark, terribly somber atmosphere. Mr. Freddie Francis' wonderful photography and Lumet's masterful direction of the terrific cast makes this adaptation of the John Le Carre novel both interesting and thoughtful. It succeeds in showing, as Lumet aimed, life's disappointments... it seems that bitterness, vengeance and discontent are the motivations to all characters.

It's a simple plot that unravels with so much complexity, you will be amazed. A British Intelligence Agent tries to solve the mystery involved behind one of his colleagues' apparent suicide. Soon his wife comes along and... well, you really don't want me to tell you... :)

It also features one of the greatest soundtracks in film history, with a smooth use of Quincy Jones' bossa nova theme song, which Astrud Gilberto sings in the movie's most fierce love (?) scene.

Our Man Flint (1966)

This is Flint : You are NOT a pleasure unit...

[6 November 1999]

This is an idiotic, overbearing little spy spoof, that aims to be a surefire caper film, in the James Bond vain. James Coburn simply forgot about all his acting skills when he made this film - it's impossible to believe it's the same James Coburn responsible for the hilarious Dr. Schaefer in 'The President's Analyst'. Now there's MOVIE for you... that's a classic. This is just a really stupid time-filler.

He plays Derek Flint, an unreliable man that everybody relies on to save the world from an evil organization called GALAXY, whose general quarters are located inside an extinct volcano, that intends to dominate Earth by controlling it's weather. Gila Golan, a very unattractive little starlet plays - I believe that's the term... - the responsible one for eliminating Flint. Of course, she ends up falling in love with him, along the other four girls that are part of his own private little harem. Now, how can a woman fall in love with a man that sustains a private harem inside his groovy duplex in New York City, it's beyond imagining... as are the rest of the things in this trashy movie.

And what is the great Lee J. Cobb doing here? He seems so bored and useless as Walter Matthau in 'Goodbye, Charlie'. And the disgraceful use of samba in the theme tune is both annoying and insulting, as are the titles. Boy, I just could go on and on... So, I warn all viewers who are looking for a good film: keep away from it... and, by the way, you are not a pleasure unit...

At Long Last Love (1975)

Breezy And Gay

[2 October 1999]

Bogdanovich's idea of reviving the long gone Thirties is a smashing hit, as he presents us a breezy, gay, overly cute comedy. Some should say it was a pretentious idea - I say not, mainly because of the chosen cast. None of the performers can really carry a tune, and, by that, Bogdanovich tried to show us how the 30s are inimitable, no matter how you try it. No matter how much glamour and glitter you add to the pairing of Shepherd and Reynolds, Rogers and Astaire they ain't! That's a fascinating - and even realistic - touch, from a movie that does not show us AN era, or it's importance, it just tries to show us how wonderful it was, and, unfortunately, how it will never come back again. The musical score is filled with obscure, yet, delicious Cole Porter tunes, sang in full - you'll never know how much lyrics 'You're The Top' really has until you see this unique, fabulous motion picture - and the gags, well, this movie just had me grinning until the very, beautiful, symbolic ending. Kahn is a riot in the 'Find Me A Primitive Man' number. She just seems to have such fun - as does the rest of the cast, and the audience...

The Out of Towners (1970)

The Type Of Film That Makes You Hate Leonard Maltin

[2 October 1999]

Obviously, Mr. Maltin has something against Mr. Neil Simon's work. He allowed us to know that by trashing every film that he ever made without the colaboration of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau - managing to find something wrong about his releases movie after movie, from the hilarious 'Barefoot In The Park' to the outstanding 'The Last Of The Red Hot Lovers'. Certainly, he has his own reasons - yet, we have nothing to do with his problems, and, through the view of the common man, this film is a contemporary gem. Mr. Simon brought us the ultimate modern man nightmare, as we behold the Kellermans suffering from moment to moment, involved in the most utterly disgraceful happenings on a dark, scary New York City. George's hopes of obtaining a good job on a plastics company is ruined as he takes a painful glance on the city's reality and the strange, corrupted characters they run into. The chemistry between both Sandy Dennis and Jack Lemmon is so successful that we can't help frowning when the movie is over... Ms. Dennis' portrait of the faithful puppy of a wife that is Gwen, is absolutely terrific, as she sighs throughout the movies misadventures, replying only to her husbands' irritating reactions with an ever so comprehensive 'Oh My Goooood'... another high point of the film is Quincy Jones' great musical score. This is a great motion picture, no matter what Leonard Maltin says about it.

Wait Until Dark (1967)

A Suspenseful Classic

[9/10 · 2 October 1999]

From the very first minute you start watching 'Wait Until Dark', you know that something is going to fail miserably. The opening shot is just fabulous, in which Samantha Jones leaves her downtown Montreal place with a dope-filled little doll, intending to smuggle it to New York. After we hear Henry Mancini's eerie title tune, and we are already in New York, we are certain that something, is indeed, going to go wrong for one of the characters. Jones sees a mean looking, scenery-chewing, cool ol' Alan Arkin watching her ... she runs to this man that she met on the airplane, and gives him the doll, bumbling some senseless excuse, and runs off to encounter her cruel destiny... That's when we meet Jones's ex-partners in crime, con-men Weston and Crenna, going to this New York apartment in St. Luke's Place, thinking they will meet her again - but they meet Arkin, instead, who is eager to find the doll and will stop at nothing to obtain it. Both are invited by Arkin to work for him, in finding the doll. They accept, only to find that that was not Samantha's place at all, that was the apartment of the man in the airplane - to whom Samantha gave the doll away - and his blind wife Audrey, and Samatha was dead inside the couple's closet! Weston and Crenna try to escape, but Arkin blackmails them into doing the job, since their finger-prints were all over the place. So, they quickly concoct a complicated plot to make Suzy give the doll away, while her husband's at Asbury Park, working. What follows is a gathering of great performances, and a series of truly frightening moments, building up to the shocking, nail-biting, right-up-the-wall driving climax. After it, you will just want to to light a cigarette, roll over and fall asleep... listening to Mancini's gentle love theme, 'Wait Until Dark'...

Joanna (1968)

Odd Period Piece

[1 October 1999]

Mr. Sarne's portrait of an era, now seems often laughable and ludicrous, not unlike many other feature films that intended to demonstrate the importance of one single period, specially such a difficult one as the 60s - they just seem to loose their punch throughout the years. Although 'Joanna' does provide enjoyable, light moments, most of them are all too heavy handed, and unconnected. The movie relies on a number of senseless episodes to show us the story of a young woman yearning to find an adult identity in London, during the late 60s. What could be a sensible, lovely little story - if properly told - is wounded by Ms. Waite's inexperience, as she sleepwalks through the movie, and can only act appalled and shocked during the major conflicts of the story, Mr. Sarne's hideously pretentious, pompous direction, and Mr. Rod McKuen's tedious soundtrack, only highlighted at the movie's ending, in which the entire cast join in a train station singing the title tune - 'you fill our hearts with hope, your smile's like Cinemascope' - while Joanna departs to have her baby, still, as imature, childish and unprepared as she was in the beginning of the movie.

The Dance of Death (1969)

Sir Olivier and Ms. McEwan - A Match Made In Heaven

[13 September 1999]

Olivier awards the viewer with one of his most impressive, fiery performances ever, and playing the type of character that suited him best - a seedy, vulgar, egotistical elderly man (once a mediocre sea captain that was never able to hold the title of major) who takes enormous pleasure in destroying the lives of everyone that surrounds him, including his wife (once an also mediocre lady performer), to whom he has shared 25 five years of sheer hate and disgust. The latest victim of his fiendish intrigues is a distant cousin of hers, assigned to become head of the local Quarentene office, on the Island, somewhere in Eastern Europe, where they live, and to whom Alice - the shrewish wife - shared ( and shares ) a rather strange relationship. August Strindberg's play is captured beautifully on screen by the National Theater , with the help of strong, fiercely intense performances, by both leading lady and gentleman. The only misfire of this sadly underrated motion picture is the editing, that could be better, even though the beautiful images of the Island that are intertwined with the gloomy, dreary atmosphere of Olivier and McEwan's residence, are absolutely fascinating. Thoroughly a classic, thought-provoking, character study of both emotional and mental bankruptcy. Post - Scryptum - If you would like to see Sir Olivier do an equally repelling part, do see 'The Entertainer' as well.

The Group (1966)

Terrific Performances In One Truly Unique Motion Picture...

[1 September 1999]

One of Sidney Lumet's first directing attempts is a brilliant, powerful and undeniably courageous motion picture - not at all a sprawling frenzy of feelings strung by hammy performances and corny dialogues, this film is a rather organized , neat telling of eight graduates from Vassar-like college and their respective lives and times, that in it's own quiet way, became a masterpiece of great beauty, displaying strong, formidable performances by Pettet - as Kay Strong, a lovely young lady whose promissing future is teared to shreds as her cruel Play Writing husband ruins her life and slowly corrompts her mental sanity -, Hackett - as Dottie Renfrew, whose heart is broken by young, hip bohemian, that steels her virginity and commits herself to a futile, selfish fate - and Hartman(One Of The Most Wonderful Actresses That Ever Lived, And Whose Life Was Brought To A Horrid Ending, As She Comitted Suicide, Jumping Off Her Apartment Window) - as a pure , fragile young girl that has agonizing experiments with pregnancy and breast-feeding, as well as other cast members, like Bergen, Widdoes, fascinating Knight and Walter. This is adapted from Mary MacCarthy's brilliant novel, launched at the same time as 'Valley Of The Dolls', Jacqueline Sussan's hideous all-american best-seller - although' they both treat of feminine sagas, they are surely not to be confused.

Sebastian (1968)

The Coolest Of Them All...

[10 August 1999]

The Coolest Of Them All...

I have strong reasons to believe that is one of the best movies ever made, for it has achieved an accomplishment that was never achieved by any other so - called classics of the late 60s, like 'Blow-Up!' or even the hideously uneven 'Casino Royale'. It succeeds in exposing London's hypnotic late60s atmosphere as well as telling us, viewers, an interesting and rewarding story. It basically consists on the love story between Sebastian, a counter-intelligence agent that works on deciphering codes for England that recruits to work for him - while recruiting girls for his office, he encounters flashy, fashionable, London chick Becky Howard - played to perfection by Susannah York - who becomes one of his employees as well as his lover. She finds terribly hard to keep up with his cold, uninteresting, unappealing life-style, and of not at all being a priority to the man she loves. She leaves him - and it's his turn to find how difficult life is without her. He beguins to fail on his job, to the point of almost been killed by an enemy agent. He decides to leave his pride and go after her - only to find her living alone with a baby, who turns out to be his! He asks her to come back and events lead to a jolly happy ending.

Trust me, this is the most exciting journey into 60s popculture that ever was. The coolest of them all, only topped by the also wonderful 'The President's Analyst', featuring great performances by both leads and for co-starring seniors as Lilli Palmer and Sir John Gielgud, and a beguiling soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith - Listen closely to the tune 'Comes The Night', sung by Anita Harris. Do not, I repeat, do not, miss this one! Yours Truly - Ismar