jeffhanna3 Reviews

The Sixth Commandment (2023)

Spoiled by wavering hand-held camera

[29 January 2024]

After reading so many rave reviews of "The Sixth Commandment" I was greatly looking forward to seeing it...only to discover that it was filmed using a hand-held camera. Feeling mildly nauseous and off-center, like being aboard a ship that is rolling and lurching around, I gave up after fifteen minutes. I'm glad to see that other have no problem and watched the whole thing.

I truly can't imagine what motivated the makers of this drama to use a hand-held-camera, or why they apparently think the distracting jerkiness & rolling around enhances the film. Is the idea that it makes the story seem more "real" or natural?" In my opinion, it doesn't at all - it's just irritating. If you too don't appreciate trying to watch something made with shaky hand-held cameras, be forewarned.

Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (1955)

Wonderful music makes it worthwhile

[7/10 · 19 June 2023]

Like most movie musicals, the story of "Gentlemen Marry Brunettes" is silly & forgettable, but the wonderful Rogers & Hart score makes this film worthwhile. The upbeat vocal & orchestra arrangements, along with Jack Cole's dependably fabulous choreography ( Marilyn Monroe's favorite, he was the best in the business) ring the bell. My favorite numbers are the delightful "Have You Met Miss Jones?," the equally swinging "I've Got Five Dollars," (Jane Russell's singing is heaven) and a jazzy arrangement of "You're Drivin' Me Crazy." The blackface number is of its time. If you like this movie's kind of music, you'll find lots to enjoy here.

The Amazing Mr. X (1948)

Dreamlike, atmospheric thriller

[3/10 · 9 June 2023]

There is a beautifully clear, colorized version of this film on youtube - on the "Cult Cinema Classics" channel (as of 2023). Many dislike colorization of B&W movies, but in this case they may change their minds when seeing the crisp print and dreamlike atmosphere in color.

A few tidbits about the film: actress Carole Landis was slated to star, but committed suicide shortly before filming began & was replaced by Lynn Bari. The magnificent house on a cliff overlooking the Pacific still stands majestically above the Pacific Coast Highway north of Santa Monica. Low budget studio PRC originally was originally slated to make this film, but when PRC morphed into Eagle-Lion films around 1948, the newly generous budget allowed for glamorous set decoration, fashions, and outstanding photography.

Evidence of Revision: The Assassination of America (2006 Video)

Outstanding, Fascinating Documentary

[10/10 · 5 March 2022]

You won't find a more gripping, sobering, sometimes shocking documentary about what really went on behind the scenes of American history from the John F. Kennedy assassination to Jonestown. Superbly well-crafted and has the ring of truth. A must-see. Highly recommended. Available on youtube.

The Long Call (2021)

Dreary Slog

[3/10 · 30 October 2021]

Like many here who are fans of "Shetland" and "Broadchurch," I wanted to like this - but found it a depressing slog. Neither of the lead actors are compelling or interesting. An impressive cast, but the show just never takes off.

The Good Liar (2019)

A Gigantic Plot Implausibility

[2/10 · 30 November 2020]

A so-so thriller, partially redeemed by the performances of Mirren and Mckellan, and punctuated with a couple of scenes of ugly violence. The gigantic implausibility is that this movie is set in contemporary (2019) London and environs, Mirren appears to be in her early 70's and McKellan several years older, and yet the plot turns on these two having been 15-year-olds in 1943 Nazi Germany, which would mean they should be about 92. What?? Apparently the filmmaker assumed critics and audience would be utterly clueless (and perhaps he was too) as to how long ago 1943 was & accept that two 70- something-year-olds in today's London were teens then.

The Miniver Story (1950)

Touching, Lovely, Heartfelt Drama

[9/10 · 6 November 2019]

Like many here. I've avoided this film because of so-so reviews. What a revelation upon finally watching it. Absolutely loved it. A quietly poetic quality differentiates it it from the tense and dramatic "Mrs. Miniver." Greer Garson can't have ever given a better performance: understated, luminous, she simply towers above everyone in the good cast.. She perfectly portrays a lovely, kind-hearted English woman shadowed by a secret sadness - the cause of which I won't reveal. There are a few scenes where she has a heartbreaking faraway look and dreamy manner. I love "Mrs. Miniver," but think Garson is far more mature and subtle in this role. A great actress. Bravo, Greer!

Perry Mason: The Case of the Missing Melody (1961) Season 5, Episode 3

Jazzed-up Wedding March

[3/10 · 10 November 2018]

Interesting episode featuring the always reliably hard-edged toughie Andrea King and handsome young Karl Held as David Gideon. The very unusual opening sequence of a church wedding is notable because the wonderful jazz guitarist Barney Kessel and his trio play lightly swinging versions of "Oh Promise Me," and "Here Comes the Bride." Who would've thought that such stodgy old standards could be delightfully swung by masterful jazz artists?

The Rector's Wife (1994– )

Outstanding

[10/10 · 13 September 2018]

I can't improve on Christabel's review. This production is excellent in every regard - thoughtful, sensitive, moving. A very human story. Lindsay Duncan is superb. Highly recommended.

Mystery Road (2018– )

Relentlessly Downbeat & Depressing

[3/10 · 27 August 2018]

Well-done and quite well-acted, as is to be usually expected from an Australian TV drama, but we gave up half-an-hour into the second episode because this show is so depressingly downbeat. Utterly dreary. EVERYONE is miserably unhappy or angry, 24/7...nary a single moment of lightness. They might as well all be survivors of a nuclear holocaust. This "dark, grim & hopeless" style of writing and drama has become a tiresome cliche. Count me out.

Crownies (2011)

Huge Disappointment

[4/10 · 16 February 2017]

The more recent "Janet King" miniseries featured a compelling & suspenseful storyline. "Crownies,' also called "the early episodes of Janet King' recently started on Acorn, so we expected more of the same in hour-long episodes. Wrong!

Judging by Episode 1 - and we don't care to watch anymore - this is your show if you enjoy CONSTANT, never-ending smarmy references to sex sex sex. Tiresome and juvenile. Dil**s & sex toys, oral sex, young women fondling male crotches and dressing up like sleazy hookers for a "Christmas Party," smirking young men - the writers have the mentality of precocious, horny teenagers who think all this wink-wink onslaught of crudity is terribly clever and attention-grabbing. Obviously to some people it is, but not my cup of tea. I would think Marta Dusseldorp would've been embarrassed to be involved with such silliness.

And Then There Were None (2015)

Dark, dank, utterly depressing

[6/10 · 13 October 2016]

This has an excellent cast and production values but we gave up twenty minutes because it is so relentlessly grim and dark. Dread prevails, and a non-stop dirge thrums in the background. Very heavy-handed. The old 40's classic version is fun albeit rather dated, but it had wonderful atmosphere & fascination without the sense of dreadful, suicidal depression and nightmarish creepiness hanging over all - as this new version does. I don't think that Agatha Christie would have been pleased. The current taste is for shows to be utterly dark, with an emphasis on dank despair - and this is totally in that vein. If that is what you savor, this may be just your dish. Beware.

The Broker's Man (1997–1998)

Interesting Adventures of an Insurance Investigator

[6/10 · 29 August 2015]

This show is a pleasant surprise, at least the first season. After reading the exceedingly negative first review here I wasn't expecting much. The first three episodes, which comprise season 1, are quite interesting. The casts are first rate, with familiar faces from other shows. The acting is good. Kevin Whately comes off well and is more three-dimensional than his character in "Lewis." The show is a combination of intriguing investigative mystery with some domestic drama and romantic entanglements. Admittedly, Whately is not really believable as a babe-magnet.

A noticeable drop-off in quality in the second season - some of the story lines are silly. Try season 1 and approach season 2 with caution.

Prisoners (2013)

A Dark, Ugly Nightmare

[3/10 · 26 January 2014]

Three stars for excellent acting and good photography.

If you enjoy being immersed in a relentlessly dark, depressing, ugly world of creepy, sick psychopaths and even some "decent people" who descend to extreme violence and torture to achieve their aims - then this movie is for you. Very much in the vein of "Silence of the Lambs."

Full of red herrings and plot elements that are easy to miss or don't quite add up. For just one example, the viewer is expected to very quickly spot and understand a "maze pendant" that reappears in different scenes and plays a major role in the story. I'm an average viewer and missed this both times until reading about in an online plot summary.

Not recommended.

Perry Mason: The Case of the Fan Dancer's Horse (1957) Season 1, Episode 15

Featuring Judy Tyler

[8/10 · 19 June 2011]

Yes, the plot is confusing, but this one has lots of atmospheric touches that make it fun. The highlight is the gorgeous Judy Tyler as a "fan dancer." She was loaded with confidence, energy and sex appeal - and was an excellent actress. What a shame that she was killed in a car accident not long after this was filmed.

There is another actress named Susan Cummings who, like Judy Tyler, wears streetwalker outfits beautifully and is the last word in 1950's glamour.

Also some good jazzy music, the delicious Minerva Urecal doing one of her classic "suspicious old broad/landlady" bits, and even a car crash scene involving Perry and Della in a Ford convertible, a Mexican peasant woman in an old 1940's car, and a speeding tailgater driving a gorgeous 1956 Lincoln Premier.

All Ashore (1953)

fast-moving little gem

[8/10 · 19 October 2008]

As someone else wrote, this film is surprisingly tuneful. LOTS of musical numbers, and almost every one is catchy and hummable. The only negative in the film is a tedious dream sequence of dueling knights. Fortunately, it only lasts five minutes. Interesting to see Barbara Bates, looking much more beautiful than in her famous appearance at the end of "All About Eve."

The Technicolor photography is gorgeous, and the Catalina locations are fun to see. All the people in the many crowd scenes, such as one at a big dance hall, are extremely good-looking and well-dressed. Dick Haymes had one of the all-time great voices, and there is a jazzy dance number by a surprisingly sexy Peggy Ryan (who doesn't play a sexy part in the rest of the picture), and her partner Ray McDonald, that is absolutely dynamite. Peggy was one hell of a dancer.

For those who appreciate lighthearted musicals of the early 50's, highly recommended.

Devices and Desires (1991)

Unforgettable, superb, riveting

[10/10 · 18 June 2008]

Couldn't disagree more with the sour reviewer who found this masterpiece and Roy Marsden to be disappointing. One wonders what this person's idea of a great mystery and detective is??

As a huge fan of Marsden (the PERFECT Dalgleish) and the P.D. James mysteries starring him, "Devices and Desires" is by far my favorite. I cannot believe that it is the only one which is not available on DVD. (Update: it is now available on DVD).

Everything about this production is excellent. What a cast! Full of fascinating twists, turns and bizarre subplots - not to mention a series of very creepy murders, this one is a winner. Available on VHS at many libraries.

Star Night at the Cocoanut Grove (1934)

Gary Cooper and Richard Cromwell

[8/10 · 19 January 2008]

One of the most interesting things about this Technicolor short is that Gary Cooper and Richard Cromwell, co-stars in "Lives of a Bengal Lancer," and both looking ravishingly handsome, appear to be on a date with one another. There have long been rumors that Cromwell, well-known to be gay, had a fling with Cooper at exactly the time this short was made. The two "bachelors" certainly look extremely happy while sharing a table together.

Cooper's relationship (in the late twenties) with another boyish-looking, openly-gay actor named Anderson Lawler (they shared a house and were termed "best friends" by movie columnists), is well-documented in the fascinating book "Behind the Screen - How Gays and Lesbians shaped Hollywood 1910 - 1969" by William J. Mann.

Theater of Blood (1973)

Vincent Price a hoot as campy hairdresser

[8/10 · 15 August 2007]

One of Vincent Price"s most outrageously campy portrayals in this entertaining black comedy is as the flamboyantly gay hairdresser with a giant fluffed Afro. He ties the tough-as-nails Coral Browne to her chair, then - right before preparing to pull the switch and electrocute her - tells her that the new color he has chosen for her hair is "flame, with ash highlights."

Another topper is Diana Dors having what sounds like a full-out orgasm while receiving a massage from Vincent Price (while her husband rages outside the locked door)...and of course we can't forget Robert Morley and his twin "darlings" (poodles)...although what happens to them, and him, is not easy to stomach.

Hugely recommended. When it comes to sly, dark humor, the British do it best.

Cover Her Face (1985)

Outstanding on Every Level

[9/10 · 27 July 2007]

This is my second favorite of the Adam Dalgleish mysteries - the first being the superb and fascinating "Devices and Desires" (which is the only one inexplicably not on DVD). (Update: "Devices and Desires" is now available on DVD).

The story here, the acting, the settings, are all first rate. An absolutely riveting murder mystery. That the other person commenting found it laughable in parts and overly melodramatic is mystifying to me.

Roy Marsden will always be the classic Dalgleish, sorely missed in the extremely inferior stories filmed after he left the series. Phyllis Calvert and the old woman who plays the cook in this one are particularly good. The seductive and cunning young woman who insinuates herself into the family, with the help of a wastrel son, is a master of female manipulativeness.

HIGHLY recommended for those who enjoy literate British mystery.

Duchess of Idaho (1950)

great music

[1 June 2007]

Esther really shows off her flair for light comedy in this one, and for me - a lover of Esther Williams musicals - this one has the best music of them all...one great tune after another. Former band singer Connie Haines delivers two swinging songs and joins Van for another, and Lena Horne is in top form singing the hot number "Baby,Come Out Of The Clouds" in her glamorous style. Eleanor Powell tap dances to boogie woogie.

This is one of the films where we're supposed to believe that there is a huge nightclub with a giant swimming pool surrounded by chorus girls and filled with muscle men who strike poses with Esther...preposterous Hollywood fantasy, but that makes it all the more fun. A Technicolor delight.

The Brasher Doubloon (1947)

atmospheric location photography

[6/10 · 1 June 2007]

Can't add much to what has already been said, but what this film has over some of the better known Marlowe films is some real Los Angeles location photography, which gives it a special atmosphere; the eerie Pasadena mansion with huge palm trees blowing in the wind, and a rambling old Craftsman house in the Hollywood Hills on a windy afternoon.

Among other films based on Raymond Chandler stories, "The Big Sleep," in particular, all filmed on indoor sets, has no feeling of Los Angeles at all. George Montgomery in "Brasher Doubloon" is a lightweight, but the film is fun and entertaining. Surprising that it is virtually NEVER shown on TV. I only saw it because a pal owns a 35mm print.

Let's Go Steady (1945)

for fans of 40's music

[3/10 · 18 December 2005]

A cheaply made B programmer from Columbia, and probably one of the very first "teenager" movies - the only thing "Let's Go Steady" has to offer are three campy swing numbers. The first two feature the very young Mel Torme and his Meltones vocal group, and the third (and best number) is "The Baby Boogie," sung by Torme while four sensational jitterbug dancers get groovy nearby. a couple of additional musical numbers are pretty painful. Torme's co-star is June Preisser, an acrobatic dancer of meager talents, but who had the kind of peppy, cutie-pie energy to get parts in a string of high school bobbysoxer musicals until her career completely fizzled out by the late forties.

Belle of the Yukon (1944)

A very lightweight musical/western

[4/10 · 15 December 2005]

Although the plot of Belle of the Yukon is so tired that its not worth recounting (but isn't this true of most old musicals?), this gorgeously technicolored musical/western has some pleasing elements of interest for fans of 1940's nostalgia. The young, brunette Dinah Shore (with an eye-poppingly voluptuous figure) sings beautifully two lovely standards, "Like Someone in Love," and "Sleighride in July." What a warm, pleasing voice she had. One of the all-time great singers. Her blonde, blue-eyed love interest, William Marshall, is so ridiculously pretty that he looks like a vintage comic book hero come to life. Gypsy Rose Lee is relaxed and fun with her foot-high pompadours and Belle Epoque gowns by Don Loper, and a very handsome Randolph Scott is clearly enjoying himself.