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Reviews
Return of the Seven (1966)
Poor Yul
The great Yul Brynner, who won an 'Oscar', and who has starred blockbusters such as 'The Ten Commandments' among lots of others, ended his remarkable career with cheap backlot movies such as this one, 'Sartana', and such. Regretable, indeed. One should take pity on seeing him making his very best to make this idiotic thing stand. Gone were the days when he was surrounded by Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Charles Bronson, Eli Wallach, in 'The Magnificent Seven', and walked around under the famous Elmer Bernstein soundtrack. It's difficult to make a living out of being an actor, sometimes.
Cutthroat Island (1995)
Nearly a new 'Crimson Pirate'
If Burt Lancaster's 'The Crimson Pirate'(1950) is quite probably the most entertaining pirate movie ever made - the 'serious' Erroll Flynn's movies apart - this 'Cutthroat Island' scratches, although a little bit lighter, the same level. Wonderful action and locations, vigorous, splendid soundtrack, fair acting (Geena and Langella at their best), what else do we need? It's a pity that, as we've heard, it lost money. It really deserved a better destiny, once it's so rare a pirate movie nowadays. Maybe it's a movie yet to be discovered, by future generations. Once and a while I use to play it in video, just for the kicks. I keep watching it as a delightful piece of filmaking. Chests, full action, daredevil stunts, jolly rogers, adventure, islands, deep blue sea, smell of powder. I loved it.
The Long Ships (1964)
Othelo goes Valhalla
Considering Kirk Douglas, only five years before, has made of his 'The Vikings' the definitive viking epic, not so bad we could be entertained with a lighthearted version of the norwegian warriors. Sort of a 'comic relief' after the bloody, harsh, moody Douglas unsurpassed masterpiece.
Not to be taken seriously, this one. Directed by Jack Cardiff ('The Vikings' cinematographer), it offers fun, adventure, and a semi-Monty Python approach at times. The plot is the silliest ever, acting is hammy to the best, but what the hell?
The Othelo-tailored moor, cortesy of Sidney Poitier, is straight. The nice Russ Tamblyn makes his best. Rossana Schiaffino is traffic-stopper, jawbreaker, but this is a Richard Widmark's movie from the beginning to the end, because he is the only one who clearly got the point across: he is taken nothing, absolutely nothing, too seriously! He is clearly blinking an eye to all off us viewers all the time, saying: "Relax, folks, it's only a movie! Let's have fun!"
Somewhere in this very picture a given viking sighs: 'there's no real vikings anymore, like in the old times!" Man, they stayed all in the Kirk Douglas' movie, you bet! In this one, just tongue-in-cheek slapstick. Where's my popcorn pack?
The Making of 'The Haunting' (1999)
Casper, the unfriendly ghost
Jan de Bont seem to have forgotten a well-known line in the movie industry, at least among great horror/suspense film directors: in a horror movie, it's not important what you see, but what you DON'T. All great horror situations, all possible eerieness, works better on the level of the imagination. So, it's much more a matter of creating mood than to just blow money spreading special effects all around.
The bed moves, statues moves, windows are alive, there's a wild 'féerie' of (supposedly) horror moments which turn to be not much more than a special effects showroom. In the end, the house owner's portrait is alive, and his ghost makes faces and roars throughout the place. What's that? Casper, the (un)friendly ghost?
Actors make their best to carry it on. Liam Neeson has virtually nothing to do. Upon the shoulders of Miss Taylor is the movie. Cathy Zeta-Jones embellishes things up. The blond chap tries hard to make his way out this movie, before he went out of his head (no pun intended). His headless final status is, itself, a good comment on this movie.
Bullitt (1968)
Remakers, keep away!
It's frightening to think that sooner or later any given young director would pick this movie up to a 'good' remaking. "Well, we'll just put a good pot of special effects here and there, you know, and explosions, that will be great, and a good big deal of 4-letter words! Teens and stupid audiences will swallow it down!" "Oh, yeah, go ahead!" This movie is above any remaking possibility. This is an icon, the movie of an era. There are Mustangs chasing Dodge Charges, no ooh-aahh-oohh martial-arts stunts, very few gunshots, no frenetic editing, only one explosion, remarkable classic stacatto Lalo Schiffrin's soundtrack. And, above all, there he was: Mr. Lonesome Cool himself.
Steve McQueen was in his personal apex in 1968. Alternating his screen persona between a laconic, mature, dark Bogartian type, and an easy-going, unplugged, half-crazy boy-next-door, such as in 'The Magnificent Seven' or in 'Never So Few'', Steve McQueen was the movies name of the sixties. Robert Vaughan was superb in his low-profile, subtle acting, as well as the others in the cast. Possibly with 'The Graduate' and 'Help!', this movie stands as the sixties in film form, besides being a truly landmark of the modern movie action thriller. Remakers, take good distance, or else!
The Great Escape (1963)
Cool and the Gang
This delightful movie is an actor's showroom of sort, tailor-made for the people entertainment all around. Maybe this is it's main aspect. It's not merely a matter of production values, but that this is (as much as, for instance, "The Magnificent Seven'), a quintessence among the actors-driven movies. What would 'The Great Escape' be without Steve McQueen and his gang: Coburn, Bronson, Attenborough, Garner, Pleasance, all of them people we love to see? Continuity mistakes happens one after another, and are painful for the viewer's eye, but what the heck! Taking good advantage of this cast, very rarely possible, John Sturges was wise enough to just sewing up a fair entertaining movie to the audiences all around, reality to hell! It was just a matter of presenting Cool and his Gang and let them do the show, you know the formula, don't you? So far, that even the nazis in this movie are Nice Guys too, believe it or not! The gentle, afable Kommander, the Good Old Werner, all of them nice chaps who wouldn't spoil the party, would they? Nice weather, good lodgings, drawing classes...it's quite a Summer Camp, let's have fun, folks! Let's drink some potato beer, let's have music and a funny parade with flute and drums, there are a few instruments in that closet, I guess? If only it was in 2001, we should have Internet here in the camp, why not? Is there any combo available? And guys, you must see what I did in the war with a motorcycle! Gee... you won't believe me, folks, but I tell you there was a fence every bit ready for a wonderful tongue-in-cheek jump over there - mind you! - JUST in the point where the enemy was cornering me! Hey, anybody there called me a liar?
Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)
For being remembered forever
First, Burt Lancaster was 'the new Humphrey Bogart', because of 'The Killers'. Then, he was re-launched as 'the new Errol Flynn', because of his stunning acrobatics in 'The Flame and the Arrow' and the masterpiece 'The Crimson Pirate', maybe the most entertaining movie ever made. The studios had a problem, then, on how to typecast him as this or that. But Burt was above typecasting. Aiming to establish himself as an actor, capable of difficult parts. And he accomplished it thoroughly in the years to come. Accepting parts which a less gifted (or self-assured) actor would certainly refuse, he gained respect from the public and the critic, ending his marvellous career acting under the most respected directors of the European cinema, such as Visconti, Bertolucci, Louis Malle.
So, as the time pássed, Burt showed everyone he was Bogart, AND Flynn, and...whoever else. He has proved to be terrific actor, a strong personality, and a dashing professional who dare perform very complex parts, such as this one.
Robert Stroud, the man who was imprisioned for life, turning himself, behind bars, into an authority in birds diceases, owes to Burt Lancaster that his uncanny story is still remembered, and maybe forever, thanks to this wonderful movie. Black and white photography, soundtrack, acting (Burt, Malden, Savallas, Telma Ritter), directing, all is perfect in this extremely moody piece of filmaking. Entertaining? Not quite. Deep, moving, capable of being remembered forever? Yes, indeed. No doubt about that.
Tarzan the Magnificent (1960)
Nobody does it better
Along with 'Tarzan's Greatest Adventure', I rate this one as the best Tarzan movie of all times. Both of them are quite an improvement over the black&whites from the 30's and 40's (yes, Johnny Weissmuller was a hell of a Tarzan himself, no doubt, and did great movies, but times have changed quite a bit). Tarzan is an adult character now, aiming adult audiences, in these last two Gordon Scott's appearances. He is articulate, and as straight as he can be. No Janes, no Boys, no funny chimps around. This is a bloody, violent, dark, adult movie. This is a violent, dark new Tarzan. I only regret this wonderful new bias - and the mighty, definitive, impressive Tarzan Gordon Scott was - had no continuity. Later on, we were back to the tired lightweight Tarzans, oh-hum adventures, and here are our good friends, the chimps, goofing around again. Pity.
The Vikings (1958)
Better than Spartacus
Ask Kirk Douglas which one was his best epic movie ever, both as an actor or as a producer, and he will say 'Spartacus', of course. Stars, rich budget, awards, and so. But I fully disagree. 'The Vikings' is his best contribution for the epic genre. A classic - I dare say 'a masterpiece' - yet to be discovered. It has such a panache, such a drive, very rarely found. It is moody and atmospheric as it can be, it is lighthearted when it fits - the vikings having fun on the oars, for instance. Yet, it is extremely bloody and violent for the 50's! Douglas, Curtis, Leigh, Borgnine and the excellent Frank Thring are giving their best here. Productions values are wonderful, and the action scenes are great. Einar's climbing the axes to open Aella's fortress to the last viking raid is a stunning, heart-pounding sequence rarely seen before or after this wonderful movie. Mario Nascimbene's stirring, moving score is a landmark in his whole career and one of the bests soundtracks ever in the genre. The opening sequence, explaining in animation - in Orson Welles voice - the viking reasons to raid Europe, was a novelty then, and very beautiful.
'The Vikings' is a movie to be seen again, and again. Once you see it, you won't forget it. Kirk Douglas has his masterpiece since 1958, and maybe never realized so.
Il ladro di Bagdad (1961)
A good surprise in Steve Reeves' career.
I remember how great I found this movie when I first saw it as a child. Entertaining, inviting, beautifully scored and visually exciting, it was a good surprise for me, a muscle-movies fan then.
I found Steve Reeves could show something else than his stunning muscles. He gives this time a very lighthearted performance - surprisingly, I guess, for his legions of fans - a step ahead of his habitual towering figure and dark persona. He shows, maybe for the one and only time, that he could create a character that goes beyond himself, in this case, Karim, the Thief of Bagdad. Convincingly, this is the point. In excellent, slimmer shape, smiling, it was Steve Reeves in his apex, in a delightful, colorful movie.
This is a very lovable movie, and I rate it as the best in his career, if you put the seminal 'Hercules' aside as 'hors-concours'.
King of Kings (1961)
Miklos Rozsa has saved a movie once more
Unfortunately, I'm not a pious guy of sort, not enough to praise this movie at all costs. MGM thought, at the time, that they have got a new 'Ben-Hur' on their hands, but they really hadn't. 'Ben-Hurs' aren't born in trees. Too reverent, too pious, 'King of Kings' seems today dated someway, although entertaining at times, thanks to the thundering Miklos Rozsa's deceaseds-raising score, the really great first fifteen minutes or so, the nice Brigid Bazlen's dance scene, a good Sermon of the Mount sequence. All in all, it's worth viewing, but it's a frustration to imagine what a good movie it could have been, if only William Wyler had accepted to direct an epic again.
Along the firsts 20 minutes, we really think we'll see a new 'Ben-Hur'. Along the lasts 20 minutes or so, we think we're watching a cheap movie from poverty road. The crucifixion sequence shows nothing more than a half-a-dozen sleepy followers. Miklos Rozsa has saved one more soul.
House on Haunted Hill (1959)
A hell of a weather forecast!
How can a bad movie be so good? That's the paradox we find on watching 'The House on Haunted Hill'- the first- the most frightening cheesecake ever put together. What's its secret? The screenplay itself doesn't hold too much water. For instance, how the hell Mr. Loren could foresee that that always-screaming pixie would go after him just when he's in the basement, so the murder would happen there, so he could scheme in advance all that skeleton stuff upon the sexy blonde, and the doors which close for itselves, and so, and so? He must have foreseen all the sequence of events, because the mechanics in the basement must have taken lots of time to be arranged. What kind of gadget, by the way, dims the lights in the basement and close its doors? An Acme-Do-It-Yourself ? And where the hell the blonde and busty Mrs. Loren has bought that Oscar-winning floating-with-rope-that-curls-for-itself special effect with which to scare the girl to death? " Good morning, Acme, here we are, the Lorens, what do you have for us today?" Including, of course, the thundering tempest itself, which blows just-just in time for the blonde-floating effect to start in the very moment the screaming girl would be looking outside? A hell of a weather forecast, for Ed Wood's sake!!
Oh, wonderful entertaining cheap, spiced with thunders, and lightnings, and a perfect soundtrack, and plenty of mood, and a wonderful B&W photography, and actors who chew the scenes one after another, and all - ALL! - those adorable clichés! How could William Castle make it so good? I just happen to love this movie!
The Crimson Pirate (1952)
Pure joy
'The Crimson Pirate' is pure joy. Maybe the most entertaining movie of the 50's - as far as 'pure entertainment' concept goes, and one of the greatests adventure movies ever made. Burt Lancaster was then at the apex of his powers, and shows very clearly what a good piece of Errol Flynn he could easily have been, and this was not an easy task at all, mind you. Bowing his personal idol Douglas Fairbanks, the dashing, wide-grin, elastic, self-assured Lancaster has marked a whole generation of youngsters - and adults as well - with this wonderful, colorful, funny, action-packed, greatly-soundtracked adventure-spoof, quite probably one of his bests movies ever, although even him surely never realized how good it was.
Popcorn at hand, I watched this masterpiece goggle-eyed, then, and do it very, very fondly now. Burt Lancaster was the man who thought me to love movies. My sincere thanks to him.