FATAL VISION

Gary Cole as Jeffrey MacDonald

FATAL VISION (1984 telefilm/mini-series). Director: David Greene. Screenplay by John Gay from Joe McGinniss' book.

"They'll never come to know the beauty and wonder of the world." -- Mildred speaking of her late grandchildren.

In 1970 the Green Beret doctor, Captain Jeffrey MacDonald, made a frantic call to police claiming that four people invaded his home and slaughtered his family -- his wife and two little girls -- and left him with minor injuries. At first his wife's parents, Freddy (Karl Malden) and Mildred (Eva Marie Saint), are supportive of Jeffrey and furious that the Army suspects him of the murders, but later they learn that his story of intruders just doesn't hold up and is indeed contradicted by forensics. Leads about the alleged intruders go nowhere. Freddy sees Jeffrey on television saying things that he knows are not true, such as how he required surgery due to his injuries that night. Eventually Freddy becomes his former son-in-law's greatest nemesis, refusing to let the matter drop and dogging prosecutors until they put MacDonald on trial. Cole is a little too boyish at times, but he gives a fine performance as MacDonald, matched by an excellent Malden and Saint. Also notable are Barry Newman as MacDonald's lawyer, Andy Griffith as a prosecutor, and Mitch Ryan as a forensic pathologist. Gripping throughout its three hour running time. There are still those who insist MacDonald is innocent.

Verdict: Memorable television on a horrific true case. ***1/2.

THE SANDPIPER

Burton and Taylor get the bird [atop Taylor's head]

                                                                              

THE SANDPIPER (1965). Director: Vincente Minelli.

"I won't seduce him. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of blaming me afterwards."

Free-spirited artist Laura Reynolds (Elizabeth Taylor), who has a young son Danny (Morgan Mason) -- who is always getting into trouble -- but no husband, is angered when Judge Thompson (Torin Thatcher) tells her the boy either goes to the Episcopal San Simeon school run by Dr. Edward Hewitt (Richard Burton) or reform school. Hewitt is married to Claire (Eve Marie Saint), but that doesn't stop him from succumbing to his sexual and romantic feelings for Laura, and she makes little effort to stop him. On one hand The Sandpiper flirts with modern ideas and liberal attitudes -- Laura's atheism, her no-guilt approach to the affair -- but the screenplay is muddled, morally confusing, and talky, talky, talky. Taylor is miscast, but she and Burton were put into the film only to capitalize on the headlines they were garnering from their well-publicized affair at the time. Patrons expecting something steamy must have been disappointed, because [despite their off-screen relationship] these two generate little real passion and the movie isn't terribly erotic. There's much talk about Hewitt's hypocrisy, but none about Laura's, who easily gets indignant yet allowed a married man to pay her way through art school -- what, this "independent" woman couldn't get a job? An unintentionally hilarious scene has Taylor referring to the isolation of one trysting spot and saying "I feel as alone as Robinson Caruso." [And yet there's no opera in the background, only the pop tune introduced in the film, "The Shadow of Your Smile."] An injured bird that Laura mends hops around on her head during one love scene [see photo], probably as bored with the pretentious dialogue and alleged symbolism as the audience. Burton has his moments, and Eva Marie Saint and young Mason are excellent; Taylor comes off like an older version of her character in Rhapsody, still petulant, now living in luxurious poverty on the coast of Big Sur. The movie is beautiful to look at, however, with sweeping scenic views throughout. Robert Webber is fine in a thankless role as a cast-off lover of Laura's, and Thatcher offers a little bit of class as the judge. Tom Drake is also good in the very small role of a teacher at the school. Young Mason was later executive producer on Sex, Lifes and Videotape.

Verdict: For real romance and a better Taylor performance, watch Rhapsody instead. **.

RAINTREE COUNTY

RAINTREE COUNTY (1957). Director: Edward Dmytryk.

John Shawnessy (Montgomery Clift) lives in a Northern county which has the legend of a mysterious, magical raintree in the swamps, which he tries to find but fails. He is loved by Nell (Eva Marie Saint) but winds up married to a neurotic Southern gal named Susanna (Elizabeth Taylor), who fears that her true mother was a Cuban black woman with whom her father supposedly had an affair. What's worse -- for essentially racist Susanna -- John is an abolitionist ... and then the Civil War breaks out. If this all sounds interesting be warned that it's stretched out to a tedious 2 hours and 48 minutes and the movie never really jells. Part of the problem is a meandering script without any major focus, but director Dmytryk isn't much help, either. Clift gives a good performance, but it was clearly affected by the shattering car accident he was in that occurred during filming. Elizabeth Taylor deserves an A for effort but she's not really up to playing a character that has so many different facets and psychological problems. Rod Taylor is good as a swaggering rival of John's, and Lee Marvin certainly scores as the charismatic Flash, with whom John has a race and who winds up in the Army with him. But the best performance is from Eva Marie Saint, who stands by John through thick and thin, and who is better than the picture deserves. DeForest Kelley shows up briefly as a rebel soldier. Fine cinematography by Robert Surtees and a good score by Johnny Green, but this is mostly a bore.

Verdict: Three hours of your life you can never get back. **.

ON THE WATERFRONT

ON THE WATERFRONT (1954). Director: Elia Kazan.

Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando), a once-promising boxer, is (somewhat) innocently involved in the death of a young man who dared to speak out against mob control of the waterfront union. Confused and guilty, he begins a relationship with the man's grieving sister, Edie (Eva Marie Saint). Wanting to do the right thing but not wanting to go up against the brother he loves (Rod Steiger), Terry struggles to decide whether or not to testify against crooked boss Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb), knowing it may destroy his brother (who in a sense destroyed Terry's life) and himself in the process. This is a trenchant study of good versus evil -- with shades of gray -- and features many excellent performances. Brando may not be to everyone's taste, but he gives an undeniably expert performance in this. Eve Marie Saint, who was introduced in this film, is lovely and affecting and totally believable as Edie. The other cast members are also very effective, especially Pat Henning as "Kayo" Dugan. Strong, unsentimental script by Budd Schulberg (one possible flaw -- we never get to know much about the man whose death precipitates the story. Also Karl Malden's priest character, while well-played, is perhaps too stereotypically saintly to be believed.) Strikingly photographed by Boris Kaufman and expertly directed by Kazan. Interesting score by Leonard Bernstein. Brando's "I coulda been a contender" speech to his brother remains one of the best sequences in the movie. Highly influential on many subsequent movies, including Raging Bull, which is nowhere near as good.

Verdict: A masterpiece. ***1/2.