A BLADE IN THE DARK

Anny Papa and Andrea Occhipinti

A BLADE IN THE DARK aka La casa con la scala nel buoi/1983). Director: Lamberto Bava.

Bruno (Andrea Occhipinti) is working on a score for a horror film directed by Sandra (Anny Papa). His friend, Tony (Michele Soavi), lets him stay in a large and beautiful villa that he manages, and Bruno quickly encounters two women, Katia (Valeria Cavalli) and Angela (Fabiola Toledo), both of whom are horribly murdered on the estate. Bruno also has a girlfriend named Julia (Lara Lamberti), about whom he becomes suspicious. Investigating, Bruno discovers that their deaths may have something to do with the picture that Sandra is working on. A Blade in the Dark boasts a highly tense and suspenseful approach, although most viewers will see the ending a mile away. The murder sequences are sadistic and gruesome. The music by Guido and Maurizio De Angelis is very reminiscent-- in fact, downright imitative --  of the scores by Goblin for such Dario Argento films as Deep Red. A Blade in the Dark imitates Argento's films with its half giggling-half crying maniac and the convoluted plotline, but it's not in the same league as that director's work. Nevertheless, Bava, the son of Mario Bava, manages to hold the viewer's attention and keep him riveted during key sequences. In this picture, at least, Bava is clearly influenced by his father, Argento, and even Brian De Palma. Actor Michele Soavi also directed horror films such as Stagefright (1987).

Verdict: Real creepy movie with several very bloody sequences. ***.

ZELIG

Zelig is examined by doctors

ZELIG (1983). Written and directed by Woody Allen.

"[Freud] and I broke up over penis envy. He thought it should be limited to women. -- Zelig.

This fake documentary looks at the life of weird Leonard Zelig, who takes on not only the personality of whoever he's with but even the physical appearance, becoming fat if he's with an obese person, and turning into a "Negro" if he's with a black man, and so on. Dr. Eudora Fletcher (Mia Farrow) becomes his chief doctor and eventually begins a relationship with him, but just when he seems cured, it turns out that he's been rather busy while he was in other personalities, and the public affection for him begins to disappear ... Zelig is too long even at just 80 minutes, as we're asked to enjoy this stunt movie long after the basic premise has been sufficiently explored. The film mixes actual file footage with recreated 1920's scenes or cleverly inserts Allen into real-life newsreels. As usual, there are some funny lines and good performances, and there are those who will claim this is a masterpiece, but to me the movie is distinctly minor.

Verdict: Woody Allen's Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid. **1/2.

JAWS 3-D

Watch out for that 3-D shark!

JAWS 3-D (/aka Jaws 3/1983). Director: Joe Alves.

Mike Brody (Dennis Quaid of Far From Heaven), the son of the sheriff of the original Jaws, has designed a Sea World that includes an underwater theme park. Mike's brother, Sean (John Putch), who still has a fear of the water, arrives for the special preview week and meets Mike's girlfriend, a scientist named Kay (Bess Armstrong), and a Sea World employee named Kelly (Lea Thompson of Howard the Duck). A Great White shark is another, unwelcome visitor, but it is captured and put on exhibit -- but then its much larger, thirty-five-foot long mother comes a'callin'. Jaws 3-D has some good moments and a bit of suspense, but it's a little too routine and the special effects -- and 3-D work -- are variable. The shark looks convincing in some shots and is D.O.A. in others. Louis Gossett Jr. plays the owner of the park, and Simon MacCorkindale is a photographer who winds up as dinner. The acting is efficient enough. P. H. Morairty has some good moments as MacCorindale's assistant. Not as bad as many people believe, but not all that it could have been -- it shows definite signs of being rushed out to meet a release date. The "big" scene when the shark rushes towards the control room window and smashes through the glass is creepy but suffers from sloppy process work.

Verdict: The mother-child monster combo was more fun in Gorgo. **1/2.

THE WICKED LADY

 Faye Dunaway having a Horrible Hair Day

THE WICKED LADY (1983). Director: Michael Winner.

In this remake of The Wicked Lady, Caroline (Glynis Barber) is about to marry the wealthy Sir Ralph Skelton (Denholm Elliott), when along comes her cousin Barbara (Faye Dunaway) who steals away Skelton, marries him, and retains poor Caroline as her domestic. When Barbara loses a treasured heirloom in a card game to witchy sister-in-law Lady Kinsclere (Prunella Scales), she decides to disguise herself as a highwayman and steal the jewelry back. Barbara realizes that she finds great excitement as a robber and decides to continue her career, meeting up with the notorious Jerry Jackson (Alan Bates) ... This is not quite a black comedy version of the original, but it does border on the burlesque, especially with the portrayal of Dunaway during one part of her campaign to come off like a drag queen having a Hideous Hair Day. There is no subtlety whatsoever to Dunaway's performance, but then no one comes off that well under Michael Winner's direction, despite some of the noted players. Barber makes little impression as Caroline, and even the great John Gielgud as the pious servant Hogarth can't hold a candle to Felix Aylmer in the original. It's hard to believe that Caroline would prefer Ralph as portrayed by Elliott over Kit Locksby (Oliver Tobias). That being said, The Wicked Lady retains its great story and those who are unfamiliar with the Margaret Lockwood-James Mason version may at least find it entertaining. This is almost a scene-by-scene remake but it adds a kinky, gratuitous cat fight between Barbara and Jackson's girlfriend (Marina Sirtis), with the former taking a whip to the latter's naked breasts at a public hanging. Alan Bates [Georgy Girl] does what he can with the Jackson role, but he hasn't that perfect style of Mason. Dunaway is almost photographed as badly in this as she was in The Eyes of Laura Mars.

Verdict: Unless you like seeing bare breasts being whipped, skip this and stick with the far superior original. **1/2 out of 4.

NIGHTMARES

NIGHTMARES (1983). Director: Joseph Sargent.

This horror anthology is unusual because it has no framing sequence. "Terror in Topanga" is the old chestnut about an escaped maniac terrorizing a town. Phil (Joe Lambie of Falcon Crest) tells his wife Lisa (Cristina Raines) not to go out for cigarettes, but she doesn't listen. The ending to this segment is so utterly flat that it's a wonder anyone bothered reading past it in the screenplay. "The Bishop of Battle" is equally forgettable, a silly business about a young man, J. J. (Emilio Estevez of Mission: Impossible), who has a desperate need to reach the highest level of a video game and wishes that he hadn't. 'The Benediction" is a lower-case version of Duel and The Car, with a priest (Lance Henriksen of Damian: Omen 2) who is having a crisis of faith, being pursued on the highway by a demonic van. This is religious twaddle, but the highway scenes are not badly done. The fourth and best episode is "The Night of the Rat," in which a couple (Veronica Cartwright and Richard Masur) discover that their home has been invaded by a giant and rather intelligent "Devil Rat." Some would dismiss this segment as monster schlock, but it is undeniably creepy and suspenseful with some very effective scenes.

Verdict: "Night of the Rat" pretty much saves this otherwise lame horror pic. *** out of 4.

OCTOPUSSY

OCTOPUSSY (1983). Director: John Glen.

Ian Fleming wrote a short story featuring James Bond for Playboy magazine and gave it the provocative title of "Octopussy." The film that emerged uses only the title and little else. The renegade Russian General Orlov (Stephen Berkoff) has a diabolical plan to cause world-wide chaos by setting off a devastating bomb at a circus in Berlin. Orlov's allies include the exiled Afghan Prince Kamal (Louis Jourdan) and the woman only known as "Octopussy" (Maud Adams), who has a bevy of beautiful gals doing her bidding in both criminal and legitimate enterprises; she is unaware of the bomb plot. Then there's her ally, Magda (Kristina Weyborn), who engages with Bond (Roger Moore) over a certain suspicious Faberge egg.  Much of the movie takes place in Delhi, where we're treated to a variety of typical Indian stereotypes and cliches. There's a suspenseful climax with the circus and the bomb, and an excellent and harrowing epilogue with Bond trying to survive on the wing of a plane. Never considered the greatest of the 007 movies, Octopussy is nevertheless a very sleek and entertaining picture, extremely colorful, and with opulent settings and interesting set-pieces. Moore is fine, Jourdan is excellent, Adams is not bad as Octopussy, and Kristina Wayborn is lovely as Magda but isn't given enough screen time to really show what she can do, acting-wise, although she's a trifle stiff in her dinner scene with Bond. Vijay Amritraj scores as Vijay, an ill-fated agent, and Kabir Bedi makes an impression as Kamal's rather striking assistant, the master assassin, Gobinda. Another assassin uses a kind of buzzsaw/yo yo as a weapon. The theme song "All Time High" [Barry/Rice] is one of the best for a Bond movie, although Rita Coolidge's voice isn't quite sexy enough to do it justice.

Verdict: This seems to get better each time you see it. ***.

THE RETURN OF THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.

David McCallum and Robert Vaughn

THE RETURN OF THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.: The Fifteen Years Later Affair (1983 telefilm). Director: Ray Austin.

"THRUSH is now a nuclear power."

"Bed bugs. Bed bugs in every hotel in New York." -- Illya

Fifteen years have gone by and both Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn) and Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum) have left UNCLE. Solo now works in computers and Illya runs a fashion house called Vanya's. Alexander Waverly has passed on and been replaced by Sir John Raleigh (Patrick Macnee of The Avengers.) THRUSH is also back in business, and has acquired a nuclear device with which it can wipe out a large part of the country. Justine Seraphin (Anthony Zerbe), who is working for THRUSH, wants $350 million dollars to be delivered by Napoleon Solo -- or else. Can Solo importune Illya, who quit UNCLE after an assignment went bad and a young lady died, into coming out of retirement one last time? Both Vaughn and McCallum were in their early fifties but time was much kinder to McCallum, who still seems lithe and attractive. Vaughn, however, plays with his customary authority and panache, and both men give excellent performances. Gayle Hunnicutt is on the mark as a Russian woman who needs Solo's help, as are Simon Williams as the son of the man who built the bomb, John Harkins as the nasty Alexi Kemp, and Jan Triska as the gambling, icy Vaselievich. Zerbe and Geoffrey Lewis make acceptable villains, and Susan Woollen has a nice turn as Raleigh's gal Friday, who happens to be named Janice Friday. George Lazenby of On Her Majesty's Secret Service has a cameo playing "J.B." and even George Sanders [A Scandal in Paris], who appeared in more than one UNCLE episode, shows up briefly at the end as Hunnicutt's father. Tom Mason is effective enough as a comparatively crude UNCLE agent. [Amazing that no other operatives are in the league of Solo and Kuryakin!] The souped-up version of the theme music really sucks. This is basically a fair-to-middling longer episode of the UNCLE show with a suspenseful climax, and some well-done sequences. Stupid moments have Raleigh asking Solo to report to duty but not bothering to tell him that UNCLE HQ has moved!

Verdict: Seeing Napoleon Solo and John Steed playing together is not as much fun as you might imagine. **1/2.

FALCON CREST Season 3

FALCON CREST Season 3. 1983. CBS-TV.

This nighttime soap opera continued to be very entertaining for its third season, and netted star Jane Wyman a well-deserved Emmy for her role of ruthless, if somewhat human, Angela Channing. This season introduced two new major characters, only one of whom would prove long-lasting: Cliff Robertson was brought in to play Chase Gioberti's cousin, Michael, and Laura Johnson was cast as Maggie Gioberti's younger trouble-making sister and ex-call girl, Terry. Many scenes were devoted to the [literal] trials and tribulations of Angela's daughter, Julia (Abby Dalton), both in and out of prison, and a battle over a race track that Richard Channing (David Selby) wants to build. The sinister secret organization, the Cartel, rears its ugly head and makes trouble for Richard and his new personal assistant, Pamela (Sarah Douglas), and there's an ugly custody battle for little Joseph, the son of Cole (Billy Moses) and Melissa (Ana Alicia). Although more "moral" than his half-brother Richard, Chase (Robert Foxworth) proves to be a bit priggish  and hypocritical, and at times almost as "it's my way or the highway" in his attitude as his Aunt Angela, while both he and Maggie (Susan Sullivan) develop serious health issues [all of which are dispensed with rather quickly]. Terry and Angela's likable if odd daughter Emma (Margaret Ladd) struggle for Michael's love, but it's really no contest. In other developments Angela's lawyer Philip (Mel Ferrer) has quite a few tricks up his sleeve, and handsome sheriff Dan Robbins (Joe Lambie) gets more to do than in previous seasons, as does Chao Li-Chi as Angela's very helpful manservant. There's skulduggery regarding the late Jacqueline Perrault's (Lana Turner) will and rather hateful background, and more intrigue surrounding Chase's doctor, played by Ron Rifkin of Alias. Other guest-stars include Pat Crowley as an anesthesiologist, Ken Tobey as a family court judge, Geoffrey Lewis as a boyfriend of Julia's, and Whit Bissell as a businessman who is threatened by the loathsome Lance (Lorenzo Lamas) during the custody hearing. The most hilarious scene has the nutty Julia going to confession [talk about the blind leading the blind!] and the most tiresome storyline has to do with a kidnapping late in the season. The performances are all pretty solid, with Robertson doing a good job as Michael, but Wyman as Angela definitely rules the roost. Dalton is okay delineating the twists and turns of her weird character, but ultimately she's just not that impressive.

Verdict: This soaper continues to be much fun. ***.

TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE

A bizarre image from "Good Life"

TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE (1983). Multiple directors. Narrated by Burgess Meredith.

This big-screen adaptation of the famous TV show does not begin auspiciously with a dragged-out, unfunny framing sequence with Dan Aykroyd and Albert Brooks as ambulance men who sing theme songs from old television shows to pass the time; this builds up to a gag that is neither scary nor amusing.

The first segment of the movie is a new story entitled "Time Out," in which an embittered man (an excellent Vic Morrow) takes out his dissatisfaction with life on minorities such as Jews and Blacks, but then winds up back in Nazi Germany [as a Jew] and in the South [as a black], and so on. The tragic deaths that occurred during filming this segment and the repercussions were chronicled in the superb book Outrageous Conduct. "Time Out" is well-directed and edited, but it basically marked the end of director John Landis' big-screen career.

The original "Kick the Can" on The Twilight Zone [season 3], set in the Sunnyvale nursing home in which some of the inhabitants magically turn into children, has a good idea but is poorly developed, although it has a touching opening scene when one resident packs to go home with his son only to be told he has to stay in Sunnyvale. [The old people in the episode all seem too lively and lucid to be in a nursing home, which is also true in the movie.] The movie's adaptation is an improvement -- instead of just letting the "children" run off to go who knows where, it deals with the possible consequences of their transformation -- where would the kids go and do they really want to live life all over again? Murray Matheson and Scatman Crothers give good performances along with the rest of the cast. Directed by Steven Spielberg.

The adaptation of "It's a Good Life" is discussed in the post on Jerome Bixby's short story and the different film and TV versions of it. 

"Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" [season 5] starred a notable William Shatner as a man who'd already had one nervous breakdown on a plane, and has the misfortune of being on another plane when a gremlin or alien creature decides to poke about on the wing outside his window. This was a good episode, even if the monster looked like a hairy Harpo Marx. The creature's appearance is improved in the movie. and the sequence -- while played like a black comedy as is "It's a Good Life" -- is often intense and exciting. John Lithgow is okay as a more nervous and hysterical passenger than Shatner played. Directed by George Miller. 

Verdict: Overall, this is really just so-so. **1/2.

GOING MY OWN WAY: GARY CROSBY AND ROSS FIRESTONE

GOING MY OWN WAY Gary Crosby and Ross Firestone. Doubleday; 1983.

If you ever wanted to learn what it's like growing up in the shadow of a famous father, Going My Own Way provides a very raw and sharply observed [if highly personal] answer. Gary Crosby [A Private's Affair], who had his own comparatively minor career in show biz that was curtailed and nearly derailed by alcoholism, was the first of four sons born to crooner and movie star Bing Crosby with his first wife, Dixie Lee. [Bing had other children with his second wife, Kathryn Grant.] In this absorbing book, which isn't just a "daddy dearest," Gary writes that the home life for him and his three younger brothers wasn't the idyllic picture that his father and alcoholic mother presented to the public. Today Bing might probably be considered a kind of child abuser, although corporal punishment was fairly standard for the day. Much of the book, however fascinating, must be taken with a grain of salt, as Gary -- with the help of Ross Firestone, an excellent writer -- of course tells a very subjective story, strictly his side of things, relating how he felt when he was a child and younger man. Was Bing simply a poor father who saved his good will and pleasant nature for his fans and co-workers, or was Gary an utterly impossible child who needed more discipline than most? You can decide for yourself. The late Gary Crosby [he died of cancer at 62] spares us nothing, from how he made out with an [unknown to him] drag queen whom he later beat up, and also beat his black girlfriend up while under the influence of alcohol. Whatever you think of the book, it isn't easy being the child of a celebrity, especially one who's so busy, so popular, and so distant. Two of Gary's younger brothers committed suicide. While Mommie Dearest was mostly made-up crap, Going My Own Way has the ring of truth, albeit it's understandably one-sided. One of the first tell-all Hollywood memoirs.

Verdict: Absorbing, very well-written, and in some ways horrifying. ***1/2.

V THE ORIGINAL MINI-SERIES (1983)

V (1983 four hour two-part mini-series). Written and directed by Kenneth Johnson.

Those who enjoy the new weekly V series may be interested in looking back at the original mini-series which aired nearly thirty years ago. My advice is not to bother, as the new TV show is much, much better, and the original V is nowhere near as good as the earlier sci fi alien invasion show The Invaders. Supposedly friendly aliens land on Earth in huge spaceships asking for our help and offering their knowledge in exchange. They are actually reptiles in human guise and eat mice, rats -- and people. They conspire against earth's scientists by fabricating a supposed plot by these scientists to conspire against them. In what seems like short order the aliens create an atmosphere of fear and paranoia, basically a police state, and have pretty much taken over, while some humans become quislings and collaborators. The analogy to Nazi Germany is cemented in a memorable scene in which a Jewish man explains to his son why he has to hide a scientist neighbor and her family. Marc Singer is a photojournalist who is pursued by the aliens even as he tries to expose them, and Jane Badler is Diana, a sadistic member of the invading force. The score sounds like an inept, pallid imitation of Herrmann's music for North by Northwest. Myron Healey, Andrew Prine, Robert Englund and William Russ are also in the cast.

Verdict: Somewhat entertaining but minor-league. **1/2.

STREAMERS

STREAMERS (1983). Director: Robert Altman.

First a contemporary review of the play the film was based on:

"Streamers" is David Rabe's award-winning play set in an Army Barracks in Virginia in 1965, concerning young soldiers who are preparing to be sent to Viet Nam. If Rabe had stuck to that subject alone this might have amounted to something. Instead he decides to substitute sexual tension for by now cliched racial tension, and introduces a flip, half-out-of-the-closet gay character who is pining away for another hung-up soldier, while two blacks, one of whom is crazy and gay, look on. The problem with this is that even the homosexual situations are by now cliched, and Rabe has nothing new to say on the subject. Although one senses that neither Rabe nor his play are necessarily homophobic, in order to attain realism, most of the viewpoints expressed on the subject are negative. The gay characters are ultimately unpleasant. We keep waiting for Rabe to say something different, to approach a new area, but all he does is introduce us to two drunken older men who rhapsodize about "streamers"—men whose parachutes don't open. Even the violence that occurs at the climax does not really come out of the underlying tensions of the situation. Rabe simply opts for the bring-in-the psychopath ploy. The violence may have been set off by one man's reaction to the sex act about to be performed between the flip gay and the psycho-black, but it is clear that the black has a screw loose and probably would have been set off eventually by just about anything. The play is grim, sometimes moving, sometimes frightening, and effective as a melodrama, complete with assorted contrivances, but not the deep human drama its proponents would have us believe.

Robert Altman's film version is essentially the same as the play, not "opened up" all that much and only somewhat "cinematic." The performances, however are quite good, with Matthew Modine as the doomed Billy, Mitchell Lichtenstein as the flippant gay Richie, David Alien Grier as Roger, and Michael Wright quite vivid as crazy Carlyle. The chief thing that comes across is that -- like in a lot of modern dramas -- there is a lot of yelling to little effect, and that the film, like the play, never really confronts its various issues. It is pseudo-significant. George Dzundza gives the best performance as Sergeant Cokes. There are intimations that his feelings for the dead Rooney (Guy Boyd) are more than platonic, but this, like so much else, goes ultimately unexplored. The way that Billy, whatever his issues, is carted off like so much flotsam at the end, gives the film a certain chilling poignancy. Altman was probably not the best director for the project.

Verdict: Watch Brokeback Mountain instead. **.

NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN

NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN (1983). Director: Irvin Kershner.

This remake of Thunderball is even longer than the original, but it has its pleasures. An "aged" Sean Connery is perfectly able to go through 007's paces with aplomb, even if he could probably act the role in his sleep by now. As Blofeld, Max von Sydow goes for a grandfatherly approach that radiates absolutely no menace whatsoever. Klaus Maria Brandauer is not a bad actor and adds a few nuances to his portrayal of the rather child-like Maximilian Largo, but he doesn't have enough dynamism and presence to make a major Bond villain. As his mistress Domino, Kim Basinger is attractive but hardly the simmering European sensualist of other Bond beauties. Barbara Carerra wipes her off the screen – and nearly steals the picture – as the sexy Fatima Blush, Largo's fiendish assassin. Bernie Casey makes a solid African-American Felix Leiter, although he has little to do. James Fox isn't bad as a comparatively buffoonish “M.”

Although somehow the movie isn't as good as the original, it does have some excellent sequences. There's a rousing, splendid fight between Bond and a hulking hired killer that takes the duo from one end of Shrublands to the other, nearly wrecking the health spa in the process. There are some amazing shots when a Great White pursues Bond into an underwater wreck, shoving its toothy snout into doorways in a startling manner and trying to get a big bite out of our hero. A tabletop “Domination” game with lethal jolts of electricity for the loser replaces the milder gambling sequence between Bond and Largo in the original. The underground grotto set where Largo keeps some of the bombs is strikingly designed. In Thunderball Largo's yacht was named Disco Valenti; here it is called “Flying Saucer,” which is the English translation. Largo's estate, Palmyra, has been moved from Nassau to North Africa [although most of the story still takes place in the Bahamas]. The underwater climax follows the novel more faithfully than the first film version: Domino spears Largo as he fights with Bond. There is no hydrofoil chase and the ending is much less thrilling and satisfying than the end of Thunderball; in fact, it's rather flat.
Director Kershner keeps things moving. The title tune is a lesser Bond theme, and in general the music is mediocre, although the cinematography is superior. Lorenzo Semple Jr.'s. screenplay is occasionally campy.

Verdict: Whatever its flaws, Never Say Never Again does have plenty of entertainment value. ***.

SUPERMAN III

SUPERMAN 3. (1983). Director: Richard Lester.

In this entertaining if very silly movie the Superman series has basically been refashioned into a comedy showcase for the undeniable talents of comedian Richard Pryor. In this he plays August Gorman, who after a term of unemployment finds his niche working with computers for a company owned by Webster (Robert Vaughn) and his sister Vera (Annie Ross). (Webster also has a "psychic nutritionist" named Lorelei who acts like a bimbo but turns out to be more intelligent – relatively – than anyone supposes.) After Gorman manages to cleverly steal a large amount of money from Webster’s company, Webster has him use his "talents" to control the weather and then to try and destroy Superman himself. ("I ask you to kill Superman and you can’t do that One Simple Thing!" rants Webster.) Lois Lane has little to do in the film – appearing only at the beginning and end – with Lana Lang (Annette O’Toole) taking center stage in scenes taking place in Smallville. An imperfect recreation of Kryptonite turns Superman "evil" and sexier (he even sleeps with Lorelei, it is suggested) until he has a big battle with himself in an auto junk yard. At one point Superman uses his breath to freeze an entire lake and melt it on top of a nuclear plant that’s on fire. (It’s a question why he doesn’t use his freeze breath to lower the temperature in the reactor room.) The climax has Superman tackling a huge super-computer built to Pryor’s specifications. Christopher Reeve and O’Toole are fine in the film with Pryor getting most of the running time and running with it in fine fashion.. Vaughn is quite hilarious as Webster, and Ross nearly steals the picture as Vera. The effects are first-rate and while there are dumb moments, this is basically good-natured, likable nonsense, if little for the intellect.

Verdict: Fun if you're game. ***.

CHARLES BOYER: THE RELUCTANT LOVER

CHARLES BOYER: THE RELUCTANT LOVER. Larry Swindell. Doubleday; 1983.

This classic biography of the great French actor is an excellent study of Boyer's life and career, culminating in his tragic final days. With insight and intelligence, Swindell takes us from Boyer's early days in France, his attempts to make it in Hollywood before finally succeeding, and the ups and downs of his career as both romantic leading man and respected character actor. Swindell also illuminates the man's personality and character and analyzes his acting technique in various films. Then there is his work for the French during the war years, and his irritation at being dubbed “the great lover” when he simply saw himself as a serious actor. No, he never said “Come with me to the Casbah!” in Algiers. The tragedy of his final days and what happened to him and his family will leave many readers in tears.

Verdict: A superb biography. ****.