Thursday, April 27, 2023

NASTY HABITS

Glenda Jackson and Sandy Dennis
NASTY HABITS (1977). Director: Michael Lindsay-Hogg. 

When the elderly abbess Hildegarde (Edith Evans) passes away, a battle ensues between two factions of nuns in Philadelphia. On one side is Sister Alexandra (Glenda Jackson), who wants to remain aloof as the Prioress Sister Walburga (Geraldine Page) and Mistress of Novices Sister Mildred (Anne Jackson) conspire with the somewhat addle-pated Sister Winifred (Sandy Dennis) to spy upon the other faction and trip them up at every turn. On the other side is the younger Sister Felicity (Susan Penhaligon) who sneaks out into the woods outside the convent for romantic rendezvous and hot sex on a regular basis. She wants all of her nuns to have a steady beau. Both groups are not above using hidden mikes and cameras to find out what the others are up to. When Felicity is excommunicated, she goes public, telling all on The Mike Douglas Show. Is this the end of this oddball Philly faction of possibly Catholic nuns? 

Jackson, Jackson and Page
Frankly, the notion of setting the whole Watergate story in a nunnery is brilliant, and while the execution may be flawed, Nasty Habits emerges as a memorable motion picture. The actors are all wonderful, but Glenda Jackson is simply superb as the quietly ferocious manipulator behind the scenes. One of her best sequences has her addressing the other nuns as to the difference between ladies and the bourgeoisie, but she is wonderful throughout. Nasty Habits may not be a laugh riot a la Night at the Opera, but it is consistently amusing. Keeping it in the family, a few of the cast members' husbands are also in the film: Rip Torn; Eli Wallach, and Jerry Stiller -- all play priests (Stiller's wife Anne Meara is a gum-chewing nun from Joisey.) Vatican scenes with Stiller and Wallach examine whether or not the Philly nuns are a true order or not, a sop to the Catholic Church, of course. Melina Mercouri is also fun as a nun who travels the world as a missionary and advises Sister Alexandra by telephone. 

Verdict: This very funny movie should have been a TV series! ***. 

PARADE On Broadway

All the Wasted Time

PARADE. Book by Alfred Uhry. Music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown.

Parade, which first debuted on Broadway in 1999, is based on the true story of Leo Frank, a Jewish man married to a Southern Jewish woman and living in Georgia. He is accused of murdering a young girl who worked in the factory where he was superindendent. Due to anti-Semitism and politics, Frank winds up being railroaded for a crime he didn't commit. (Books which examine the case pretty much make it clear that Frank was not guilty.) Parade was revived by City Center's Encore series, where it was so well-received that it moved to Broadway, where I saw it last week.

Diamond and Platt
I consider Parade to be a modern masterpiece of musical theater, with a great and eclectic score that consists of jazz, ballads, love duets (such as the beautiful All the Wasted Time) and the rousing martial The Old Red Hills of Home. There is a large and very talented cast, led by Ben Platt as Leo and Micaela Diamond as his wife, Lucille. Both of them, especially Diamond, give excellent and sensitive performances. (It may have been a fluke during the performance I saw, but Platt seemed a little perfunctory at the climax, but otherwise was fine.) The show was very well-staged and directed, with the orchestra bringing Brown's score to life with vibrant effectiveness. 

The story has been filmed several times: They Won't Forget (1937) starring Claude Rains (although his character is not revealed to be Jewish); The People vs. Leo Frank (2009), and The Murder of Mary Phagan (1988 telefilm), with Peter Gallagher as Frank and Jack Lemmon as the governor, as well as several documentaries on the case. 

Verdict: An exciting, tuneful and moving evening on Broadway. ****. 

IT STARTED IN PARADISE

Martita Hunt and Jane Hylton
IT STARTED IN PARADISE (1952). Director: Compton Bennett. 

In the years leading up to WW2, Martha Watkins (Jane Hylton of The Manster) is frustrated that her employer, fashion designer Mme. Alice (Martita Hunt), thinks her designs are far too modern. Martha takes advantage of the situation after she importunes Alice to go off for a rest cure, and makes major changes to the line and even the studio itself. With the backing of her boyfriend, Arthur (Ian Hunter), Martha rises in the world of fashion, but makes the mistake of falling for a supposedly French bounder named Edouard (Terence Morgan). Meanwhile a younger designer, Alison (Muriel Pavlow of Murder She Said) and her boyfriend, Michael (Brian Worth), may prove formidable competition to Martha. Will ruthless Martha come undone?

Paging RuPaul!
If this film had been made in the United States ten years later it might have starred Susan Hayward at her bitchiest and been a lot of fun, but this comparatively dull British flick never really catches fire. Jane Hylton is a more than competent actress but she lacks that intense and fiery presence that might have made her performance more compelling. The others in the cast are all good enough, and Kay Kendall sparkles a bit as a superficial creature who makes an arrangement with Martha to bring in customers in exchange for clothing. The movie has an absolutely hilarious climax in which Alison shows up Martha with her own showing, featuring designs based on Elizabethan clothing. While these outfits might work for a costume party -- or for some drag queens -- the ordinary 20th century female would hardly be caught dead in most of them! Compton Bennett directed much better pictures, such as Daybreak. Malcolm Arnold's score helps just a bit. 

Verdict: Dig those crazy gowns! **. 

EYES OF TEXAS

EYES OF TEXAS (1948). Director: William Witney. 

Thad Cameron (Francis Ford of Charlie Chan at the Circus), who has started a home for boys who lost their fathers in WW2, is overjoyed to discover that his long-lost nephew, Frank, has survived. Before the two are reunited, however, Thad is killed by a pack of bloodthirsty dogs. Roy Rogers, playing himself -- this time he's a Marshall and not an actor -- investigates with the help of the Sons of the Pioneers as well as Doc Cookie Bullfincher (Andy Devine) and his amorous nurse, Penny (Lynne Roberts of Dick Tracy Returns). This time Roy is up against the ruthless lawyer Hattie Waters (Nana Bryant), a tough and clever middle-aged lady, her chief gunsel Vic (Roy Barcroft) and his evil pals, and the ex-con (Danny Morton of The Royal Mounted Rides Again) who pretends to be Thad's real nephew. Then there's those deadly dogs ...    

Pure evil: Barcroft, Morton, and Bryant
Eyes of Texas is a near-perfect "modern" Roy Rogers vehicle. The performances are all on target -- Bryant and Barcroft make especially nasty and effective villains in this -- the comedy relief isn't too pervasive -- Andy Devine is far more palatable than Gabby Hayes -- serial specialist William Witney keeps things moving at a thrilling pace, and Roy even sings a couple of pleasant tunes, "The Texas Trail" and "The Padre of Old San Antone." Then there's the amazing Trigger, who participates in fist fights by kicking out at the bad guys with his hooves and other amazing equine feats! 

Verdict: A prime example of why Roger Rogers movies were so damned popular! ***. 

THE GREAT RUPERT

THE GREAT RUPERT (1950). Director: Irving Pichel. 

Now here's a weird one. A down-on-his-luck entertainer, Joe Mahoney (Jimmy Conlin), with a trained squirrel act, reluctantly lets the squirrel, Rupert, go off on his own when he finds he can't get them bookings. Louie Amendola (Jimmy Durante), another entertainer who can't find work, moves into the apartment vacated by Mahoney with his family, but is unaware that the squirrel has moved back in. When Mrs. Amendola (Queenie Smith) prays for money, it drops from the ceiling into her hands! She is unaware that the landlord, who doesn't believe in banks, stashes his loot in a hole behind his bed, from whence the squirrel promptly throws it out. Despite the title, and the pivotal role that Rupert plays in the fortunes of the Amendola family, the squirrel -- animated through stop-motion -- hasn't much to do in the movie (although he isn't entirely forgotten either), which is decidedly bizarre, utterly original, and even strangely touching. The cast, including Durante, Sara Haden (as the landlord's wife), Chick Chandler (as an agent) and Terry Moore (Durante's daughter) are all fine, although love interest Tom Drake is strangely devoid of charm. 

Verdict: Really not as bad as you might expect, but certainly not for everyone. ***.

Thursday, April 13, 2023

THE LOVE MACHINE

John Phillip Law as Robin Stone, the "Love Machine"
THE LOVE MACHINE (1971). Director: Jack Haley Jr.  

Newscaster Robin Stone (John Phillip Law of The Sergeant) attracts the attention of both Network head Greg Austin (Robert Ryan) and his lustful wife, Judith (Dyan Cannon), leading to him getting more than one promotion both on-camera and in the executive suite. Meanwhile Robin beds numerous ladies, including a model named Amanda (Jodi Wexler) and Judith, both of whom become much too possessive. Recognizing that Robin has become too big for his britches and is a threat both to his job and his power, Austin wonders if a morals clause might be one way to get rid of the threat. It's well known that Stone has had many ladies in his bed, but is he also involved with his good friend, the flamboyantly gay photographer and producer Jerry Nelson (David Hemmings of Deep Red)? Judith causes a scene at a Hollywood party that may have them all out on the street. 

Dyan Cannon and Robert Ryan
Robin Stone was originally to be played by Brian Kelly, but just before filming began he was involved in an accident which ended his acting career (although he went on to become a successful producer). John Phillip Law then took over as Stone but was given a very underwritten role to play. Law is handsome and okay in the part, but he lacks that certain charisma, that all-important X Factor, at least in this picture, and Stone remains a bit of a cypher anyway. In the Jacqueline Susann potboiler that this was based on, Stone not only gets involved with Amanda and Judith, but with an actress named Maggie. This character has been reduced to a bit, well-played by Sharon Farrell. Robert Ryan gives the movie a touch of class as Austin, and manages to maintain his dignity. Hemmings is quite good and sharp as Jerry, although he was understandably criticized for perhaps overdoing the swishiness of his performance. (Jerry is neither gay nor a photographer in the book.)  Dyan Cannon, an actress who for some reason always looks as if she should have a mustache, is also good as Judith. 

Jodi Wexler and David Hemmings
Jodi Wexler was introduced in this film, both her first and last screen credit. I did not think her performance was bad, as she was playing a sweet and naive young lady, but Love Machine was a major bomb that didn't do much good for anyone's career. Jackie Cooper makes the most of his role as Danton Miller, the network head of programming. Shecky Greene is a second-rate comedian basically playing a version of himself, and there are good turns from Maureen Arthur as a promiscuous publicity agent and William Roerick as another executive who councils both Austin and his wife. 

Jackie Cooper and David Hemmings
Both the novel and the film adaptation were utterly excoriated by the critics. The odd thing is that the movie isn't truly awful, it's entertaining and has some vivid performances and sequences. There's Judith discovering Robin in the shower with two nubile and busty twins (the Collinsons of Twins of Evil) and setting fire to the bedroom by pouring vodka all over their clothing, and a four-way fight scene between Robin, Judith, Jerry and a boyfriend, Alfie (Clinton Greyn), over a supposedly incriminating inscribed bracelet that Judith thinks will utterly ruin Robin as they all desperately scrabble to get it and slap, pummel and kick anyone who gets in their way. These scenes are deliberately amusing if not hysterical. While the knocks at the TV industry may not rise to the level of Network, the gay material is a bit tiresome, Stone is never sufficiently developed even though he's the main character, and the film just sort of ends abruptly without any major resolution, much of the picture actually plays quite well.  Law, however, was seen to better advantage in Danger:Diabolik

Verdict: If you take this in the right spirit and don't expect Citizen Kane, but the book is much better ... ***. 

DOCTORS WIVES

DOCTORS' WIVES (1971). Director: George Schaefer.

"I don't appreciate your sleeping with your wife." 

Lorrie Dellman (Dyan Cannon) announces to a group of friends, all of whom are married to doctors as she is, that she intends to sleep with all of their husbands, and has already gotten to two of them. The next day Lorrie is caught in bed with a doctor and shot to death by her husband as everyone wonders which man (who survived the shooting and is fighting for his life in the hospital) was her lover. And this is just in the first ten minutes!

WIVES: McCargo, Williams, Cannon, Rule, Roberts
Unfortunately, anyone hoping for a serious film or just a trash wallow will be disappointed, as Doctors Wives is not a very good picture and sadly isn't quite bad enough to be much fun either. Judging from this movie, doctors, nurses and interns spend almost as much of their time having affairs as they do tending to patients. The wives in the picture consist of Amy (Janice Rule of The Swimmer) who is married to Peter (Richard Crenna), who is having an affair with his head nurse Helen (Diana Sands), whose little boy has an aneurysm. Then there's Della (Rachel Roberts of When a Stranger Calls) who is married to Dave (Gene Hackman) and confesses to him that she also had sex with lusty Lorrie. Maggie (Cara Williams) is separated from Joe (Carroll O'Connor) and drinks too much, while neglected Elaine (Marian McCargo aka Marian Moses) beds an intern-stud named Mike (Anthony Costello) even as her hubby Paul (George Gaynes of One Touch of Venus) is similarly occupied elsewhere. You need a scorecard. (If this makes you want to rush out and buy the DVD, be forewarned.) 

DOCTORS: Gaynes, Hackman, Colicos, O'Connor, Crenna
Others have noted that Doctors Wives comes off more as a racy and frank nighttime TV soap opera than a theatrical movie, and having the competent but bland, strictly small-screen Crenna in the lead doesn't help. Otherwise the cast is game with Roberts, Sands, Cannon and Williams making the best impression. And John Colicos is especially notable as the very cool, near-sociopathic wife killer who  schemes to get out of police custody when he's called to operate on Helen's son, and there are also good turns from Richard Anderson as the D.A. and Ralph Bellamy as Cannon's father. Anthony Costello also scores -- literally as well as figuratively -- as the horny and busy intern. The business with a gal named Sybil recording all of her sexual episodes is stupid, however, as is much of the movie. Several plot elements go unresolved but at least there wasn't a sequel! 

Verdict: For those anxious to see close-up shots of open heart surgery only! Some good performances but otherwise not worthwhile at all. **. 

BELLS OF ROSARITA

Roy Rogers and Dale Evans
BELLS OF ROSARITA (1945). Director: Frank McDonald. 

Sue Farnum (Dale Evans) appeals to her late father's good friend, Slim Phillips (Addison Richards), when she realizes that her father's slimy business partner, Ripley (Grant Withers) is trying to cheat her out of her circus. Slim and his daughter, Patty (Adele Mara) travel west to see what they can do. Almost immediately Slim is kidnapped! Filming nearby Sue's property, Roy Rogers, playing himself, gets involved and tries to find Slim with the help of Gabby Whittaker (Gabby Hayes) and Bob Nolan (also playing himself), head of the vocal group Sons of the Pioneers. 

Elliott, Livingstone, Sunset Carson, Allan Lane, Red Barry
Roy also comes through for Sue when he convinces her to put on a show in the nearby town and enlists the aid of the other Republic Studios western stars: Allan Lane [King of the Mounties], Sunset Carson, Wild Bill Elliot [Footsteps in the Night], Bob Livingstone and Don "Red" Barry. These fellows also help round up the ornery polecats who have kidnapped Slim. This must have been quite a thrill for Western movie fans back in the day. There's also a bunch of pleasant tunes, including Roy's "Build a Fence Around Texas" and the very talented Robert Mitchell Boy Choir. Gabby Hayes wears out his welcome rather quickly, however. 

Robert Mitchell Boy Choir
Bells of Rosarita is another "modern-day" Rogers western. The film-within-a-film that Roy is making is also entitled Bells of Rosarita and has something to do with a woman being forced to marry a man she does not love. Although there are some would-be exciting chases in the film, it can't quite escape being a little dull, although it is fun to see all of those handsome Western heroes in one movie. My mind wandered through the movie and I found myself wondering if the one black child in the choir was treated respectfully by the other white boys. It's good that he was included at all, of course. 

Verdict: A fairly typical Roy Rogers western musical with talented cast members. **1/4.    

BOULEVARD! A HOLLYWOOD STORY (2021)

BOULEVARD! A HOLLYWOOD STORY (2021). Director: Jeffrey Schwarz. 

Finding herself without too many opportunities despite her (Oscar-less) triumph in Sunset Boulevard, Gloria Swanson decided she would turn the movie into a Broadway musical. To that end she hired two young songwriters, pianist and composer Dickson Hughes and lyricist Richard Stapley, who were a romantic couple at the time, to work with her on the project. The fact that she apparently knew the two men were lovers didn't prevent Swanson from developing romantic and sexual feelings for the very handsome Stapley, but these feelings were not reciprocated. (Although Swanson was not unattractive, she had never been a great beauty, what with those teeth and chin, and probably even much younger hetero men might not have wanted to share the sheets with her!) Director Jeffrey Schwarz examines this triangle situation via archive footage (including Swanson doing a number from the show on Steve Allen), a video interview of Stapley taped by a friend, and Schwarz's audio interview with Hughes, as well as commentary from people who knew the two men (now deceased). Interspersed with these is some attractive animated footage illustrating some of the scenarios. 

Richard Stapley
Richard Stapley was an English actor who went to Hollywood in the hopes of becoming a major star. He had a good role in The Strange Door with Boris Karloff and Charles Laughton but wound up in stuff like Jungle Man-Eaters from the Jungle Jim B movie series. The documentary doesn't quite make it clear why he and Hughes broke up, but Stapley went back to England, changed his name to Richard Wyler, got married (his second wife, who seemed to have really been just a beard), became a macho motorcycle racer, and starred in several Eurospy movies as super-spy and super-stud Dick Smart. Swanson was never able to secure the rights to Sunset Boulevard -- in 1974 she starred in the amusing telefilm Killer Bees -- but Andrew Lloyd Webber had no such problem. Once Webber's show debuted in London, Hughes got to work. He couldn't do a show based on the movie, but he could do a show that depicted the attempts to make a show based on the movie. Using the songs that had already been written, and using himself, Stapley and the now-deceased Swanson as the main characters, he mounted "Swanson on Sunset" at a small venue in LA. What happened next is revealed in the documentary.

Hughes, Swanson, Stapley
The most interesting aspect of Boulevard may not be the whole business with Swanson and Sunset Boulevard, but the relationship between the two men, the cruelty of the vagaries of Hollywood, the terrible price often paid by people who relentlessly pursue stardom and deny their own true selves as they do so. Stapley did not age well, but he returned to Hollywood and kept plugging away practically until the day of his death. Hughes didn't get the major Broadway show -- and we don't learn if he had any long-term relationships after Stapley -- but he seems to have been happy enough in his life. One commentator seemed to feel that Stapley's letters to his boyfriend reveal a deep love, but we don't know how Hughes felt, possibly because he didn't want to talk about it. Was he heartbroken when Stapley walked out of his life, or did he feel "goodbye to bad rubbish." There is an implication that Stapley, like a lot of good-looking Hollywood types, could be an opportunist who thought of his career -- what there was of it -- above all else. What we hear of the songs written for the aborted show indicate that they were pleasant and adept show tunes if not quite on the level of, say, Richard Rodgers. Jeffrey Schwarz also directed the superb Vito, and many others. 

Verdict: With Swanson as a springboard, this is an interesting look at Hollywood dreams turned to dust. ***. 

3 FOR BEDROOM C

Gloria Swanson and James Warren
3 FOR BEDROOM C (aka Three for Bedroom C/1952. Director: Milton H. Bren. 

Movie star Ann Haven (Gloria Swanson), who has just won an Oscar, discovers there are no compartments available for her and her daughter, Barbara (Janine Perreau), and she must take a train to Hollywood in a hurry. She simply takes over a compartment and is lucky enough to discover that the true occupant, chemist Dr. Oliver Thrumm (James Warren), finds the two ladies charming. As other arrangements are made with the help of steward Fred (Ernest Anderson), Ann and Oliver find themselves falling for one another. But there are complications when Oliver finds out who Ann is, as well as interference from her manager, Johnny (Fred Clark of White Heat), the press agent Jack Bleck (Hans Conreid of The Twonky) and a declasse theater person, Conde Marlowe (Steve Brodie of Desperate), who is heading for Hollywood. Will the romance between Ann and Ollie run smoothly?                

Conreid, Clark, Brodie
Despite her performance in Sunset Boulevard, Gloria Swanson found herself with few movie offers (or turned them down) after her triumph in that picture. Unfortunately, her choice of this light -- very light -- comedy was not a good one. Her choice of leading man was also odd, as you have to wonder why she didn't go after someone with more box office clout. A former star of low-budget westerns, James Warren was handsome and competent enough, but he was no Cary Grant (who would certainly have turned this script down). Swanson herself is quite good, as are the supporting cast members already mentioned, and there are slightly amusing cameos from Margaret Dumont (who certainly doesn't get enough to do) and Percy Helton. 

As for Ernest Anderson, he plays the role of the intelligent, wise and educated steward with dignity. Anderson also had a good part in In This Our Life. Swanson had only two more theatrical films in her future -- a foreign comedy about Nero and Airport 1975 -- along with a host of TV show guest spots. She did her best to constantly reinvent herself and stay in the public eye. Janine Perreau, another member of the Perreau acting family, is more annoying than cute. 

Verdict: Labored comedy that is easy enough to take but never really gets off the ground. **.