ARABESQUE

Sophia Loren and Gregory Peck 

ARABESQUE (1966). Produced and directed by Stanley Donen.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, my dear, but Mr. Pollock is as poor as a church mouse." -- Beshraavi

"He was rather strange, even for an American."

Professor David Pollock (Gregory Peck) is drafted by an Arab Prime Minister, Hasson Jena (Carl Duering) to enter the home of the sinister Beshraavi (Alan Badel of Salome) and decode a cipher on a piece of paper with a Hittite inscription that my reveal the man's plans. The house is apparently owned by Yasmin Azir (Sophia Loren), Beshraavi's mistress, and to Pollock's befuddlement her role keeps changing even as she seems to switch sides with the drop of a hat. Before long he and Yasmin are on the run, dodging bullets and trying to get back the cipher so they can figure out what is happening. But David is never sure if he can fully trust Yasmin. Arabesque was Stanley Donen's follow-up to the more successful Charade, but the film's first big problem is the miscasting of the two leads. Peck tries to approximate but fails to deliver the light touch of a Cary Grant, and Loren is also a bit too heavy-handed, although she tries. Arabesque has a solid plot but the script has too many silly, indeed stupid, detours, and some of the action scenes are completely muffed by Donen, who is no Hitchcock. On the other hand, there is some exciting business near the end, including an attack on the principals at a construction site, an attempt to stop an assassination, and a race across a bridge while a helicopter is firing live ammunition at the couple. Another problem is that Alan Badel looks too much like Peter Sellers impersonating an Indian (which he did more than once in his career, such as in The Millionairess, which he did with Loren) and you keep expecting -- or hoping -- he will suddenly indulge in some hilarious shtick. No such luck. Henry Mancini's score does little to help. A much better thriller for Peck was Mirage.

Verdict: So so comedy-thriller with a few good sequences, but not nearly enough. **1/2.

DAVID AND BATHSHEBA

Gregory Peck and Susan Hayward

DAVID AND BATHSHEBA (1951). Director: Henry King.

King David (Gregory Peck) of Bethlehem is married to Michal (Jayne Meadows) but spots Bathsheba (Susan Hayward) taking a shower on a rooftop across the way. As Bathsheba hoped, David spies her and asks her over, where the two reveal an immediate attraction to one another. But what to do about Uriah, the Hittite (Kieron Moore), a soldier who happens to be married to Bathsheba? It seems David will do just about anything to keep his lover from being stoned to death as an adulteress ... Gregory Peck is not bad as David, but this is an actor who has always had trouble summoning up any kind of passion, even in his scenes with Hayward; he projects strength and nobility but little else. Hayward is more effective as Bathsheba, as is Moore [Satellite in the Sky] as the unwitting Uriah. Meadows [ Enchantment] is oddly cast but okay enough as the jealous, cast-off wife. Raymond Massey [Possessed] is fine as the pious prophet, Nathan, and young Gilbert Barnett makes an impression as David's sinister son, Absolom. James Robertson Justice looks and acts as if he wandered into the movie by mistake; George Zucco makes a better impression as an Egyptian messenger from Pharaoh. The best scene in David and Bathsheba is a flashback which details the well-staged battle between a young David and the hulking Goliath. The contributions of Leon Shamroy (cinematography) and Alfred Newman (score) are also of note. Peck first refers to his lover as Bathsheba than starts calling her Bathsheba; the other characters can't seem to make up their minds as to which pronunciation is correct!

Verdict: A biblical soap opera. **1/2.

THE BIG COUNTRY

That's a mighty bigggg country, all right!

THE BIG COUNTRY (1958). Director: William Wyler. Produced by Wyler and Gregory Peck.

Easterner James McKay (Gregory Peck) goes west to meet the family of his fiancee, Patricia (Carroll Baker). There he discovers that her father, Henry Terrill (Charles Bickford), has been embroiled for years in a feud with the Hannassey family, which is led by grizzled but proud Rufus (Burl Ives). James also finds he has a rival in foreman Steve (Charlton Heston), who doesn't believe he makes a fit mate for Patricia. While Steve needs to impress Pat and flaunt his machismo on a regular basis, the more secure James wants to be loved for other reasons than his ability to fight (at which he happens to be quite good). As the feud that James wants no part of heats up, he is drawn to a lovely friend of Pat's named Julie (Jean Simmons), who owns the land where both families send their cattle for water, and who has the unwanted eye of Rufus' crude son, Buck (Chuck Connors). Eventually all the intense rivalries boil over ... Franz Planer's widescreen photography gets across the vastness and beauty of the countryside in panoramic style, and even the comparatively "petty" quarrels are set against the hugeness of the "big" country. A major fight scene between James and Steve is photographed mostly in long and medium shot, where their struggle is contrasted with the epic majesty of their impressive surroundings. Other memorable scenes include James trying to tame a spirited horse that pulls the blanket off its back with its teeth [although you sort of wish he would just let the horse retain its independent spirit]; James and Julie trying to outdo one another with gross and grisly stories of sharks and red ants; a pistol duel between two characters late in the movie; and a  moving climactic scene between Rufus and his son, Buck. Gregory Peck, although a little too cool at times, gives an excellent performance in a role that was made for him. Heston also gives one of his best performances and Baker [The Carpetbaggers] and Simmons [Angel Face] are similarly perfect. As the blustering patriarchs who hate each other Bickford and Ives nearly walk off with the movie; the latter is especially effective in his entrance scene when he comes to a party at the Terrill estate to tell off Henry in no uncertain terms. Although he's saddled with a stereotypical role, Mexican actor Alfonso Bedoya scores as the Terrill servant, Ramon. And Chuck Connors offers an outstanding turn as the nasty but somehow likable Buck, who seems as lonely as he is horny. The Big Country has a fairly predictable plot but somehow it doesn't matter, as you are anxious to see the confrontations and developments that you know are coming, and Wyler's expert direction not only adds an artistic sheen to the production but insures that you're never bored for the nearly three hour running time. [It might have been more interesting if James weren't quite so adept at fighting and everything else.] Jerome Moross' theme music is wonderful and I believe was later re-used for a western TV show. It's very strange that this movie -- considering its major stars and director -- seems to have been almost completely forgotten. It's arguably more successful than Peck's other big western, Duel in the Sun.

Verdict: Rousing, absorbing, Grand Old Western with superior direction and some fine performances. ***1/2.

GREGORY PECK: A CHARMED LIFE

GREGORY PECK: A CHARMED LIFE. Lynn Haney. Carroll and Graf; 2004.

In this excellent biography of the late actor, author Lynn Haney wisely does not try to make a case that Peck was some kind of acting genius, only that he was a talented, handsome movie star who gave some memorable and effective performances over the years. Haney is also psychologically penetrating at times, such as when she writes of his Catholic upbringing: "The pressure to be a 'good Catholic boy' ... proved to be a liability in some of the roles he played as an actor. It encouraged a self-imposed constipation, a rigidity of posture that translated into conventional heroics rather than the go-for-broke intensity we see in actors like Marlon Brando and James Cagney that really strikes a nerve." Despite this his solidity served him well in certain roles such as in The Omen. Peck's career actually benefited because he was classified 4F at a time when there was a shortage of male actors, and he resisted signing contracts that would have turned him into an indentured servant for the studios. Like a great many actors, Peck jettisoned the first wife who stood by him during the early days for a younger model, although, to be fair, there may have been other problems in his marriage. Haney covers his childhood, early years in the theater, his marriages and possible affairs, the tragic suicide of his son, and all of his movies. Peck tried challenging parts he wasn't always suited for, such as in Moby Dick and The Boys from Brazil [where he was actually quite arresting], and had the guts to risk falling on his face, even while he garnered more Oscar nominations than you might realize, winning for To Kill a Mockingbird. Peck was miscast in Hitchcock's interesting The Paradine Case but struck just the right note in Mirage. Despite his upbringing, he was not one of Hollywood's conservatives, but supported causes such as Gay Rights. Behind his classically refined features was a more complex man than one might imagine.

Verdict: Probably the last word on Peck. ***1/2.

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

Best performance: Brock Peters as Tom Robinson

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962). Director: Robert Mulligan.

Small-town Southern lawyer Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck), lives with his small daughter, "Scout" (Mary Badham of Let's Kill Uncle) and her slightly older brother, Jem (Phillip Alford), and their black part-time housekeeper, Calpurnia (Estelle Evans). The children are obsessed with a never-seen neighbor "Boo" Radley (Robert Duvall), who leaves them little trinkets in the hole of a tree and is said to be crazy. Atticus begins getting threats from the townspeople when he decides to defend a black man named Tom Robinson (Brock Peters), who has been accused of rape by the neurotic Mayella Ewell (Collin Wilcox) -- in court it becomes very clear that Robinson is innocent but racism must have its day. At the end of the film the two storylines -- Boo and Robinson -- come together when the childrens' lives are threatened and they have an unexpected savior. While it's easy to see why many people love this picture, it does have more than its share of problems and has not worn well with time. For one thing the movie, while admirably against racism, is awfully self-conscious and self-congratulatory, almost as if it were putting out a sign saying "Important, Socially-Aware Film Here. Don't You Dare Criticize!" [For the record, To Kill a Mockingbird is hardly the first film to deal with racism. In This Our Life, which was also based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and was made twenty years earlier, also had a black man -- the first non-domestic positive black character in a Hollywood film -- wrongly accused of a crime.] Elmer Bernstein's musical score does a lot of the work for this movie, and is quite good, although at times it is also positively cloying. Badham, Alford and John Megna as their friend, Dill (said to be based on novelist Harper Lee's friend, Truman Capote) are all marvelous child actors, and there are other good performances in the film. Peck won an Oscar (as did Badham) and while the role of Addicus is in his range (unlike the sexy bad boy in Duel in the Sun), he perhaps underplays too much, hardly giving the kind of impassioned speech that might have gotten through to the jurors. Admittedly Addicus (at least in the film) may be mild-mannered, but Peck almost makes him wimpy. While we're on the subject of racism, the very talented Brock Peters is superior to Peck in his brief scenes, but he never got an Oscar nod as supporting player, making the whole project seem hypocritical to say the least. [Although it could be argued that it is not the fault of the filmmakers if the Academy was behind the times.] On the plus side, Robert Mulligan's direction is generally assured, and Russell Harlan's cinematography is superb. The kids calling their father "Addicus" instead of "Dad" is never explained and becomes irritating very quickly. Since its publication in 1960 people have been debating whether Harper Lee's source novel is great literature or just a young adult novel with socially significant themes. Mulligan also directed Fear Strikes Out and many others.

Verdict: A painfully obvious message movie that was notable in its day. **1/2.

DUEL IN THE SUN

Jennifer Jones watches as horse gives Gregory Peck a kiss

DUEL IN THE SUN (1946). Director: King Vidor.

In post-Civil War Texas, the tempestuous "half-breed" Pearl (Jennifer Jones) comes to live with her aunt Laura (Lillian Gish) after the death of her father (Herbert Marshall), who was convicted of murdering her mother. Laura's husband, Senator McCanles (Lionel Barrymore) is an anti-Indian bigot who refuses to accept Pearl, and whose main occupation is keeping the railroad off of his property [leading to a tense confrontation between cowboys and train men halfway through the movie]. McCanles has two sons, the decent Jesse (Joseph Cotten) and the more unsavory Lewt (Gregory Peck). While Pearl falls in love with the kind Jesse, she can't fight her attraction to the sexy "bad boy," Lewt, creating a lot of problems, not to mention a highly perverse climax. Producer David Selznick was hoping for another Gone With the Wind when he made Duel in the Sun, but the film is almost forgotten. The acting in this entertaining "epic" is generally of the second-rate "Hollywood" variety across the board, but on that level it isn't bad. Jones [Love Letters] gives a good performance, although she looks almost ugly in some shots, and a miscast Peck [Mirage] does his best with a role he's really not suited for; neither Peck nor Jones are that good with transitions of mood, which occur frequently in their exchanges. Barrymore, Butterfly McQueen (who is great despite the patronizing attitude held toward her by both the other characters and the filmmakers), Charles Bickford (as one of Pearl's suitors), Otto Kruger, Charles Dingle as a sheriff, and Scott McKay as nasty Syd all make a favorable impression. Some beautiful cinematography from Lee Garmes and others. King Vidor also directed Beyond the Forest and the silent masterpiece The Crowd. Possibly the first of the "sex-westerns," as lust has a lot more to do with it than cow-punching.

Verdict: This could have been a lot better, but it certainly has its moments. ***.

MIRAGE

MIRAGE (1965). Director:Edward Dmytryk.

"If we can lie, cheat, steal and kill in broad daylight, but have to wait until it's dark to make love ... what does that have to say about us as a society!"

"If you're not committed to anything, you're just taking up space."

In 1951 Howard Fast published the novel "Fallen Angel" (which was reissued years later in paperback under the title "Mirage") under the pen name Walter Ericson. The book was well-written, but typical of post-WW2 fiction, in that it was grim and fatalistic and occasionally pretentious. "Fallen Angel" was the basis of two films, Mirage and Jigsaw. Mirage is by far the better of the two.

Although there are some changes made, Mirage is pretty faithful to the novel. David Stillwell (Gregory Peck) discovers that he has amnesia on the same day that a man plummets to his death in the same office building in which Stillwell works. Or so he thinks. The office has disappeared; a pretty young woman  named Shela (Diane Baker) claims to know him although to him she's a complete stranger; and worse, people are trying to kill him and demanding he turn over something -- but he has no idea what it is or what they're talking about. Stillwell hires a first-time private eye named Ted Caselle (Walter Matthau) to help him, but the man uncovers more questions than answers.

Mirage is a first-rate suspense film (although it can be argued that it succeeds due to the acting and plot more than to Dmytryck's standard if more-than-competent direction). Peck gives a very good performance, and although Baker isn't quite the femme fatale type the attractive actress nevertheless acquits herself nicely. Matthau, in his pretty much comic turn as the private eye, doesn't really seem to fit into the movie. Of the supporting cast, Robert H. Harris makes the best impression as Dr. Broden, but there are also notable turns by Jack Weston, George Kennedy, Walter Abel, Leif Ericson, Kevin McCarthy, and Anne Seymour. There's an excellent use of New York City locations, and an exciting chase sequence in Central Park. Ann Doran has a bit part as the neighbor of a murdered man who wants to keep her nose clean. Peter Stone's screenplay intelligently adapts the novel, makes things a little clearer than they are in the sometimes murky book, and has some excellent dialogue as well (see above).

Verdict: Classy suspense film with a convoluted but fascinating storyline and very good performances. ***1/2.

THE OMEN (1976)

THE OMEN (1976). Director: Richard Donner.

"She is an apostate of Hell -- she will die before permitting this."

Undoubtedly influenced by The Exorcist, which came out three years earlier, this movie was almost as influential in its own way, and also engendered several sequels and even a remake -- and is just as sub-literate [but somewhat better than The Exorcist]. An even bigger influence on the film must have been Rosemary's Baby (1968). Ambassador Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck)  is told that his baby son has died, and is importuned into accepting another child [who supposedly lost his mother in childbirth] without telling his wife, Katherine (Lee Remick), who fails to bond with the boy, Damian (Harvey Stephens). It turns out that Damian is actually the anti-Christ [Rosemary's Baby as a child?]: Satanists, in the form of nanny Mrs. Baylock (Billie Whitelaw), want to protect and nurture him, while certain Catholic priests want to murder him -- a mere child! [DIGRESSION: It never occurs to anyone that there is a possibility that being raised by normal, decent people the boy might grow up to be something other than a devil. But the real problem with the movie is that it doesn't give the audience any breathing room. Damian is the devil's son -- and that's that. How much more interesting the film might have been if the Satanists and priests were all a little nuts. In fact, the priests in this movie seem quite demented.] All that being said, it must also be said that The Omen -- on its own anti-intellectual terms -- is a rather accomplished little horror film, with some interesting sequences and set-pieces -- an eerie scene in a graveyard; some flamboyant, well-handled and gruesome death scenes --  and assured direction from Donner. The acting is also generally excellent, with an intense and authoritative Peck possibly giving the best performance of his life, his sheer solidity helping the audience go along with the absurdity of the proceedings. Lee Remick, David Warner [as a doomed photographer], and little Harvey Stephens are also excellent, and Billie Whitelaw is just superb as the nanny quite literally from Hell. Jerry Goldsmith's memorably creepy score holds all of it together splendidly.

Verdict: If you don't take it seriously this is really quite entertaining. ***.

THE PARADINE CASE

THE PARADINE CASE (1948). Director: Alfred Hitchcock. NOTE: This review contains important plot points.

The Paradine Case is essentially a film about a middle-aged barrister undergoing a mid-life crisis. He falls for his beautiful client and is so convinced of her goodness and innocence that he virtually drives an innocent man he accuses of the crime in court to suicide. When his client confesses on the witness stand, he is emotionally shattered and wants to quit the bar. Okay. The trouble with The Paradine (pronounced Para-deen) Case is that this middle-aged lawyer is played by Gregory Peck with two streaks of gray in his hair which do absolutely nothing to make him look any older than a man in his thirties, which he was at the time. Although Peck can deliver his lines with authority, he is not good at displaying emotion or vulnerability (Jimmy Stewart would be have much better, as his performance in Vertigo indicates) so that much of the power of the film is completely lost. This is truly a shame because the film boasts excellent performances by a large ensemble cast, superb Selznick production values, a wonderful score by Franz Waxman, and has many good scenes and fascinating details. (Alida) Valli, as the accused murderess Mrs. Paradine, has such an expressive face that she doesn't really have to act. Charles Laughton and Charles Coburn are excellent as the judge and Peck's law partner, respectively. Ann Todd scores in a sensitive performance as Peck's wife, trying to be brave and mature as she watches her husband falling in love with an immoral woman, and Joan Chandler, so fine in Rope, offers another expert performance as Coburn's snappy daughter. Louis Jourdan, who was “introduced” in this film along with Valli, is also excellent as the man Mrs. Paradine loves with all her passion. The Paradine Case is certainly worth a look despite the fact that it isn't the masterpiece it could have been. [Hitchcock wanted to use Laurence Olivier and Greta Garbo for the lead roles!]

Verdict: Not great but definitely under-rated by many. ***.