THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY

THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY (1954). Director: William A. Wellman.

"The youth of man will never die unless he murders it."

NOTE: Some plot details are revealed in this review.This was a [near] disaster film made before the era of disaster films, based on a novel by the once-popular Ernest K. Gann. On a flight from Honolulu to San Francisco, various passengers share their stories, as some unspecified troubles begin, culminating in the loss of an engine and the possibility that they might not have enough fuel to make it to land --  which means they might wind up in the drink. No one can say with any certainty if the plane will float until help arrives, or break up and sink. On board we have a honeymoon couple, middle-aged couples, a woman who's in love with her boss, an aging gal, Sally (Jan Sterling), meeting her future, younger husband for the first time, and so on. One thing the plane doesn't have is any chivalrous men. When Sally explains how nervous she is about meeting her guy considering she's a bit older than the only picture he has of her, neither the pilot Sullivan (Robert Stack) or another male passenger ever tell her that she's still considerably attractive -- gee, what nice guys! When another woman, May (Claire Trevor), betrays her terror of aging -- "no one's whistled at me in years" -- her male companion offers no compliments, either, despite her own good looks. The younger women, including the pretty and efficient stewardess (Julie Bishop) and the darling Miss Chen (Joy Kim) fare a bit better. 

Sidney Blackmer of Rosemary's Baby is aboard for a little melodrama involving his wife and her alleged lover, David Brian, and there's also Paul Kelly as a disaffected scientist. Loraine Day is a wealthy woman disgusted with her husband's financial decisions, Phil Harris and Ann Doran are disappointed middle-aged tourists; all are fine. William Campbell [Dementia 13] has one of his best roles as an obnoxious younger pilot. The performances and the characterizations are actually pretty good, but The High and the Mighty is only sporadically entertaining and suspenseful, and at nearly two and half hours in length is much too long and in fact fairly tedious for long stretches. But the main problem is that the movie has no pay-off and no real climax. John Wayne -- did I forget to mention him? -- saves the day and that's that. You're happy for the characters but disappointed that there's so little life or death action. Wayne plays an older pilot who is haunted by the death of his wife and boy in a crash that he survived. When he thinks back on this event in a flashback, he furrows his brow to show that he's allegedly "haunted." He's better in scenes when he has to firmly and kindly reassure the passengers; in fact, for the most part he's not bad at all. Dimitri Tiomkin's Oscar-winning music score does most of the work in this movie, however.

Verdict: This is by no means a classic. **1/2.

CIRCUS WORLD

Rita Hayworth and John Wayne

CIRCUS WORLD (1964). Director: Henry Hathaway. 

Matt Masters (John Wayne) decides to pack up his tents and take his circus on a European tour. His associate and buddy Cap (Lloyd Nolan) suspects that Matt's real reason for going is to find Lily (Rita Hayworth), who ran off fourteen years ago and hasn't been seen since. Lily left behind a daughter, Toni (Claudia Cardinale), who was taken in by Matt, who has become her surrogate father. Matt is a bit disturbed by Toni's feelings for Steve (John Smith), who hopes to become Matt's partner and Toni's husband. But just as the troupe arrives in Paris, there's a disaster when their ship capsizes. 

Wayne with John Smith

Circus World may not be a great movie, but it's quite colorful and entertaining. Hayworth and Wayne, two very different kinds of actors, actually play quite well together, with Hayworth being handled the more difficult role and running with it. Cardinale of the whiskey voice also acquits herself nicely, although one could argue that she's more decorative than anything else. John Smith makes a decidedly positive impression as Steve, but he did much more work on television shows such as Laramie. Lloyd Nolan arguably comes off the best in his peppery and engaging performance as Cap. Richard Conte is also good in an underwritten role as Hayworth's former brother-in-law, a clown. Miles Malleson and Katherine Kath are also notable in smaller roles.

Claudia Cardinale with Wayne

Despite some terrific circus and animal acts involving horses, highwire acts, lions and tigers, the most outstanding sequence is when the boat capsizes at the dock in France. This scene is remarkably well-handled and wakes up anyone who might have been sleeping beforehand. An elaborate sequence when a tent catches fire is also notable, if not quite as impressive. Dimtri Tiomkin's theme song is pretty awful. Other major circus movies include Trapeze, Jumbo, The Big Circus, Carnival Story, and The Greatest Show on Earth, not to mention numerous films of varying genres that use the circus as a backdrop. 

Verdict: Even when Hayworth is down and out and deglamorized she is still beautiful. ***. 

THE UNFORGIVEN (1960)

Murphy, Lillian Gish, Doug McClure, Audrey Hepburn  

THE UNFORGIVEN  (1960). Director: John Huston.

A mysterious man named Abe Kelsey (Joseph Wiseman) wanders around the ranch of the Zachary family, and his presence causes consternation in old Mattilda Zachary (Lillian Gish). Apparently Abe is spreading stories that Mattilda's adopted daughter, Rachel (Audrey Hepburn), is not white but a "red injun." Members of the Kiowa tribe seem to think the stories are true, and want Rachel returned to them. Neighbor Zeb Rawlins (Charles Bickford) wants the truth, too, or there'll be no more business dealings with the Zacharys. Then one of Zeb's sons is murdered, Abe Kelsey is captured, and the whole thing comes to a boil ... The Unforgiven has a fascinating but ultimately contrived premise that doesn't make nearly enough of the situation and operates on an almost shamefully superficial level. There are some powerful scenes in the movie, but too many questions remain unanswered. It all ends in a bloodbath wherein the one-dimensional Indians are pretty much picked off like flies and a supposedly "happy" ending is tacked on. For a movie that some feel is about racial intolerance, it is staggeringly racist itself. The acting is generally good, although of the once-removed Hollywood variety, which is particularly evident in the climax. Wiseman is excellent as Abe, demented by loneliness and grief, and Gish [The Cobweb] has a tremendously good moment confronting him for what turns out to be the final time. Burt Lancaster plays Rachel's step-brother, who is secretly in love with her, this being one of the new breed of psycho-sexual westerns (while still being stubbornly old-fashioned as regards Native Americans). Doug McClure overdoes the boyish posturing a bit as Lancaster's youngest brother, but Audie Murphy is effective as his other brother, Cash. John Saxon also makes his mark as a cowboy who may be an Indian, as does Carlos Rivas [The Black Scorpion] in a nearly silent role as a tribe member who may be Rachel's true brother. Kipp Hamilton [War of the Gargantuas] is also good as Zeb's daughter, who is anxious to marry one of the Zacharys, and June Walker is excellent as her mother, Hagar. For obvious reasons, Audrey Hepburn was hardly the best casting choice for the role of Rachel. The attack on the ranch at the climax is admittedly exciting and well-staged, but in some ways unconvincing, while Franz Planer's widescreen cinematography doesn't make the most of the settings, and Dimitri Tiomkin's score, aiming for the unusual perhaps, is one of his worst, only serving to muff some sequences that could have been moving. Apparently director John Huston was hampered from really making the film he wanted to make, resulting in this rather hypocritical exercise.

Verdict: Hollywood Cowboys and Indians -- when it could have been so much more. **.   

TARZAN AND THE MERMAIDS

Gustavo Rojo as Tico

TARZAN AND THE MERMAIDS (1948). Director: Robert Florey.

Mara (Linda Christian) belongs to the race of Aquaticons, and is in love with Tico (Gustavo Rojo). Unfortunately, the high priest (George Zucco), who supposedly is the good right hand of their god Balu, has decreed that Mara must marry this masked, forbidding Balu. Mara quite sensibly dives into the ocean, and eventually makes her way to the territory where Jane (Brenda Joyce) and Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) make their home. When some of the Aquaticons forcibly carry Mara off in their canoe, Tarzan goes after her, getting involved with the island race and rescuing Mara. Tarzan and the Mermaids is the final Tarzan film to star Weissmuller -- he then moved over to the Jungle Jim series -- but he goes out on a high note. One could easily argue that the flick doesn't have the greatest plot, and that the danger and action seem reserved for the last ten minutes, but the movie is well-directed, well-paced, beautifully photographed by Jack Draper, and also boasts a flavorful score by Dimitri Tiomkin. Highlights include Tarzan's fight with a very big octopus, and a charming scene when the natives have a jousting contest with poles and boats. Linda Christian [Athena], who married Tyrone Power the following year, was "introduced" in this film, although she had had small roles in previous films. Uruguay actor Gustavo Rojo, who is still alive and still working on television in his nineties (!), later appeared in It Started with a Kiss and The Valley of Gwangi. John Laurenz plays the amiable, singing Benji, who brings mail to Tarzan and Jane from Boy, who is attending school in England. George Zucco hasn't nearly enough to do but he does it well. Director Florey invests the film with more style than the usual Tarzan feature, and it has excellent production values as well.

Verdict: A fitting farewell to Weissmuller's Ape Man. ***.

THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE

THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE (1964). Director: Anthony Mann.

A dying Marcus Aurelius (Alec Guinness), great Caesar of the Roman empire, must make a choice of who will replace him, and chooses not his son, Commodus (Christopher Plummer), but Commodus' friend, the leader of the Roman army, Livius (Stephen Boyd). Obviously this does not sit well with Commodus, and before you can say "Ben-Hur" -- this film's obvious model -- the two men are caught in a lifelong love-hate rivalry. The emperor's daughter, Lucilla (Sophia Loren), who is in love with Livius and vice versa, is also not happy that she is forced to marry another man, Sohamus (an unrecognizable Omar Sharif). Livius hopes to unite the barbarians who are ill-treated by Rome and periodically try to seize the city, while an uncaring Commodus -- who becomes emperor only due to his father's untimely death -- basically wants to turn everyone in the outlying areas into slaves. Whatever historical accuracy this movie does or does not possess, it is well-made and quite entertaining even if nearly three hours long (with an intermission). It lacks the great story of Ben-Hur, but Mann's direction is good, the pace never flags, and the performances are mostly expert, with Guinness, Boyd, and especially Plummer [Dracula 2000] at the top of their game. Loren is also fine, and there is notable work from James Mason (especially during a harrowing torture scene, although, oddly, he seems to recover from the ordeal much too quickly), Anthony Quayle, Mel Ferrer [Born to be Bad] , and others. Naturally there's a fairly well-done battle between the two major antagonists on the expected chariots, and the climactic duel between the two men in an arena is the film's highlight. There is some stunning scenic design, an excellent score by Dimitri Tiomkin, and some striking widescreen photography by Robert Krasker.

Verdict: Essentially a Roman soap opera, but quite entertaining on that level. ***.

BLOWING WILD

BLOWING WILD (1953). Director: Hugo Fregonese.

When Mexican bandits drive them off from their new well, Jeff Dawson (Gary Cooper) and Dutch Peterson (Ward Bond) look for work. They get hired to drive some nitro over bumpy roads. Before this can turn into The Wages of Fear or Violent Road, they next run into old pal Paco (Anthony Quinn), a wealthy fellow who hires them to work on his latest well. Two women get involved in the action: Paco's wife Marina (Barbara Stanwyck), who still has a hankering for her former lover, Jeff;  and stranded nice gal Sal (Ruth Roman), who develops feelings for Jeff as well. This domestic situation is not a good one, and there are still those pesky bandits to deal with. Blowing Wild has its moments -- the bandits chasing after Jeff and Dutch as they careen inside their truck with the nitro; a race between Paco in his car and Marina on her horse -- but the movie can't overcome the fact that the storyline has been done too often and is a little stale. At fifty-two Cooper looks and acts much older, and his semi-love scenes with Stanwyck are never convincing. As for Stanwyck, she really delivers in key scenes, but by and large she (surprisingly for her) just walks through her other sequences with that typical once-removed "Hollywood" acting that often afflicted other stars. Roman and Bond are okay, while Quinn almost walks off with the picture. Juan Garcia is vivid as the slimy bandit leader. Dimitri Tiomkin's score is a decided asset. Frankie Laine sings the title song in his usual over-wrought style.

Verdict: The script nearly defeats this before it begins. **1/2.

LAND OF THE PHARAOHS

The imposing pyramid-tomb

LAND OF THE PHARAOHS (1955). Producer/director: Howard Hawks.

"Strange religion to deny a future to those who failed in the past."

Pharaoh Khufu (Jack Hawkins) has one main goal, and that is to see that his tomb will be completely safe from violation so he can enjoy his treasures in the after-life. Learning that many other tombs have been broken into, Khufu has the slave and architect Vashtar (James Robertson Justice) design and build an impregnable -- and clever -- burying place for him. In the meantime foreign Princess Nellifer (Joan Collins), herself turned into a slave, manages to make herself one of Khufu's wives, and is determined to become Queen of All Egypt no matter whom she has to kill; obviously power has gone to her head. But will she achieve her goal, or succumb to a much more ironic fate ... ? Land of the Pharaohs is a very entertaining movie, with a splendid lead performance from the authoritative and commanding Jack Hawkins [Ben-Hur]. Joan Collins is also very effective, especially in her early confrontations with Hawkins -- as are Sydney Chaplin as Nellifer's lover, Treneh, the captain of the guard, and Alexis Minotis as Hamar, the Pharaoh's good right hand. There's some odd casting in this, however, with Justice (who usually plays blustery characters in such films as Doctor in Love) adequate as Vashtar and Dewey Martin [The Thing from Another World] handsome and acceptable as Vashtar's grown son, Senta. (Hawks used Martin in other movies as well.) At times the brassy musical score [Dimitri Tiomkin] reminds one of a Broadway musical, and Hawks' direction is not as assured or inspired as it might have been, although the settings are always colorful and the movie has an elaborate production. There's a scene when some who have displeased Pharaoh are thrown to the gators. Believe it or not, William Faulkner was one of the screenwriters! Great ending! Oddly, the movie was a commercial failure.

Verdict: Perhaps not as fictional as one might imagine, although this is still Hollywood. ***.

ANGEL FACE

Jean Simmons and Robert Mitchum

ANGEL FACE (1952). Producer/director: Otto Preminger.

"If you want to play with matches, that's your business, but not in gas-filled rooms."

Ambulance driver Frank Jessup (Robert Mitchum) goes out on a call to a California estate where Mrs. Tremayne (Barbara O'Neil of Stella Dallas) has had a close call with a gas jet in her room. Frank meets the woman's step-daughter, Diane (Jean Simmons), and the two begin a sort of romance, despite the fact that Frank has a steady and reliable gal in Mary (Mona Freeman). Diane loves her father (Herbert Marshall of Girls' Dormitory), a writer who is down on his luck and living off of his wife, whom Diane loathes. Then there's a horrendous accident in which two deaths occur ... how much did Diane have to do with it? Angel Face is a very entertaining melodrama with very good performances from the entire cast, which includes Leon Ames as a defense lawyer and Kenneth  Tobey as another ambulance driver with an eye for Mary. There are two incredible car crash sequences, a knock-out ending, and a fine score by Dimitri Tiomkin. For my money this is superior to Preminger's Laura. Some people find similarities in this to Leave Her to Heaven, made in 1945, and they probably aren't wrong.

Verdict: Zesty, absorbing film noir with some bite to it. ***1/2.

THE DARK MIRROR

Two Olivia De Havillands for the price of one

THE DARK MIRROR (1946). Director: Robert Siodmak.

Lt. Stevenson (Thomas Mitchell) is called in when a man is murdered and a woman named Terry Collins (Olivia de Havilland) has been identified by more than one witness as being at the victim's apartment that night. But she has an unshakable alibi -- and also an identical twin sister named Ruth. Stevenson realizes that the ladies have him over a barrel -- one probably committed murder and the other is an accessory, but which one do you put on trial for homicide? The cop enlists the aid of Dr. Scott Elliott (Lew Ayres) to find out what's up with the twins, but things get even more complicated when Elliott begins to fall for one of the women --- but which sister is it? This is an interesting cat and mouse game with good performances that is undermined a bit by some absurd dime-store psychology and Siodmak's rather routine direction. De Havilland is a bit Hollywoodish, but she has some very good moments as well. Ayres seems a trifle defeated by his role and the mumbo jumbo he has to utter. The special effects work is excellent and generally seamless. Siodmak also directed Son of Dracula and many others. Nice theme by Dimitri Tiomkin. Richard Long has a small role as Rusty. Bette Davis played twins the same year in A Stolen Life.

Verdict: Entertaining minor mystery. **1/2.

THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD

The alien advances upon the earthlings

THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (1951). Director: Christian Nyby. Produced by Howard Hawks.

"An intellectual carrot. The mind boggles."

Scientists and military men at an Arctic research station discover a spaceship buried under the ice, but when their attempts to free it only cause its destruction, they find that one of its occupants was thrown clear and is frozen. The alien accidentally defrosts and causes havoc ... The first film version of John W. Campbell's classic short story "Who Goes There?" isn't especially faithful but was very influential on science fiction films to come. Why have I never been carried away by the movie, despite the fact that it isn't half-bad and has some interesting elements? The big problem for me is that everyone is so casual -- there's no sense of fear or terror; the Army is in flippant control (even when they're not) and that's that, perhaps making this more of an action film (without that much action) than a horror flick. There are a couple of quick eerie shots of James Arness as the creepy alien monster, but the movie is never very scary. The shape-shifting alien of the story has been replaced by an interesting enough vegetable being that subsists on blood, and grows others of its kind from seeds beneath its fingernails. (The gruesome moments, such as the Thing hanging up victims in the greenhouse to use their blood to feed the seedlings, are described but never seen; too bad.)

In one of his very few leading roles, Kenneth Tobey is perfectly okay as the stalwart Captain Pat Hendry, although it's interesting that Crew Chief Bob (Dewey Martin) seems more intelligent. Margaret Sheridan is likewise okay if nothing special as "Nikki," a secretary who dallies with Pat; she had few credits. Robert Cornthwaite does the best he can with the rather silly role of Dr. Carrington, whose theories about the alien seem poorly thought out and who is the stereotype of the cold scientific moronic "intellectual," another serious flaw in the film. Douglas Spencer as "Scotty," the reporter, is simply irritating. George Fenneman and Paul Frees are cast as other scientists, and Robert Nichols is pudgy Lt. MacPherson. Dimitri Tiomkin's music is a plus, although there are times it gets a little hokey.

The movie was remade twice as The Thing (1982) and again as The Thing in 2011, which served as a prequel to the 1982 version. Both were more faithful to the original story, although not without flaws.

Verdict: Okay, but something's missing ... **1/2.

THE LONG NIGHT

THE LONG NIGHT (1947). Director: Anatole Litvak.

Ann Dvorak loves Henry Fonda who loves Barbara Bel Geddes, who is loved by Vincent Price, who is ... and all with a lot of talk, talk, talk. The film begins with a murder, and the perpetrator being cornered by police in his apartment. After what seems like an hour the flashback finally begins that tells us what led up to the murder, but there are two problems: the flashback isn't that interesting, and it keeps getting interrupted by more scenes with the fugitive and the police. Fonda is back from the war, and meets Bel Geddes, who is both fascinated and repulsed by magician Vincent Price, whom was formerly carrying on with his assistant, Dvorak. It all leads to tragedy and a lot of tedium. The Long Night is turgid, pretentious and unconvincing nearly from start to finish; the wind-up takes even longer than the opening. Fonda's performance is too controlled, Price's too phony, but Dvorak is vivid and Bel Geddes is strong and fully committed; she's excellent in a movie that doesn't deserve her. The characterizations are too thin to make any of these people really matter to us -- and all that's left is talk. And when all is said and done this is just another movie about a guy who goes nutso when he discovers his gal isn't quite as "pure" as he thought she was, giving it all a very dated air. Dimitri Tiomkin's score is interesting, but too much -- this ain't exactly Grand Opera.

Verdict: A long night indeed. *1/2.

D.O.A.

D.O.A. (1950). Director: Rudolph Mate.

Frank Bigelow (Edmond O'Brien) is on vacation in San Francisco when an unknown person slips him a drink with luminous toxin in it, giving him only a few days to live. Distraught, angry, and confused, Bigelow sets out to find out who killed him and why. This is a completely absorbing, extremely well-acted, suspenseful, twisting, and ultimately heartbreaking movie, perfect on nearly every level. Mate keeps things moving at a fast and snappy pace, but you're always aware that an essentially decent man is facing an undeserved date, as is Paula, the woman back home (Pamela Britton) who loves him and whom he finally realizes he also loves. Billed as "Beverly Campbell," Beverly Garland certainly scores as the anxious Miss Foster, as does Laurette Luez as the malicious Marla and Lynn Baggett as the Widow Philips. Neville Brand is chilling as the psychotic Chester, and the scene with him taking Frank "for a drive" is extremely tense. The film is bolstered by superior work from composer Dimitri Tiomkin and cinmatographer Ernest Laszlo. Remarkable, unusual, and uncompromising.

Verdict: Superb! ****.