WILD AND WOOLLY WOODY ALLEN

Two faces of Woody Allen

WILD AND WOOLLY WOODY ALLEN.

Woody Allen turns eighty-one on December 1st, 2017.

Love 'im or hate 'im, he has been an influential filmmaker for many years, and has come out with a great many movies, some wonderful, some awful, some in-between. He has had an interesting, some would say scandalous, personal life, mostly centered around his relationship with significant other Mia Farrow (who he was not married to), and her adopted daughter, Soon-Yi Previn.

Whatever one's thoughts about that bizarre triangle, this week Great Old Movies looks at a slew of Woody Allen movies, from near-masterpieces like Broadway Danny Rose and The Purple Rose of Cairo to stink bombs like Stardust Memories to the merely mediocre like Bullets Over Broadway and Zelig. We also look at a recent biography of the man.

Whatever his flaws as a man and a filmmaker, Woody Allan was rarely if ever boring.

You can read posts of Allen's films that have been reviewed on this blog in previous months by using the search bar above.

THE CULT OF ULMER

Edgar G, Ulmer

THE CULT OF ULMER: DIRECTOR EDGAR G. ULMER, KING OF THE "B'S"

I don't remember why, but years ago when I was in grade school, our teacher let us watch a movie on television. It was called The Man from Planet X and we children were enthralled. Unfortunately, we weren't able to see the ending, and decades went by before I finally got to see the movie in its entirety.

It turned out to be a not-bad B movie, and I guess it got me interested in seeing Ulmer's other movies -- at least when I'd see his name listed as director of an unfamiliar movie, I would sit up and pay attention. Ulmer seemed to specialize in genre films: horror, mystery, science fiction, which especially interested me as a kid, although he did other types of pictures as well. I enjoyed Daughter of Dr. Jekyll, which I found atmospheric and creepy, and Bluebeard with John Carradine has its moments. Murder is My Beat is a notable example of film noir. His best picture, however, may be the Zachary Scott melodrama, Ruthless.

Ulmer did more than his share of stinkers, such as Girls in Chains and the oddly-admired but perfectly awful Strange Illusion. He may have directed all of them, but the Ulmer pictures that work the best are the ones with the best scripts. One could argue that this is true of any director, of course. Ulmer's fans have argued that he was a great director who only needed better opportunities and the bigger budgets of major studios. In my opinion, Ulmer was a workmanlike director who had moments of inspiration, and who managed to helm some rather interesting pictures along the way.

Some members of what I call "the Cult of Ulmer" find genius in every frame. They wildly overpraise such movies as Strange Illusion. There has been more than one book on Ulmer, and some film scholars are taking his work very seriously. I like Ulmer -- at least many of his movies -- but I'm not necessarily convinced of his "greatness." He did come out with one certified near-classic, the fascinating Detour, the film he is most famous for.

Anyway, you can make up your own mind. His films tend to be hit or miss. This week you can read about some of these films, good or bad, as well as an excellent biography of the director.

EDGAR G. ULMER: A FILMMAKER AT THE MARGINS

EDGAR G. ULMER: A FILMMAKER AT THE MARGINS. Noah Isenberg. University of California Press; 2014.

This excellent biography of a well-known low-budget filmmaker posits the theory that Ulmer would have been one of the giants of the film industry if he had only had a chance with major studios, bigger budgets and stars, and been a more entrenched part of the Hollywood "scene" he had little use for. Born in the Czech Republic, Ulmer was raised in Vienna and had a much more cultural background than the average studio director. Ulmer was taken under the wing of Universal studio head Carl Laemmle, but was quickly thrown out of favor when he fell for the wife, Shirley, of Laemmle's nephew; Shirley and Ulmer were later married. Umer found himself persona non gratis in Hollywood. Instead of working for the more prestigious Universal or another major studio, Ulmer instead toiled for PRC, where he eventually directed the minor classic Detour, along with other less distinguished pictures. Ulmer did get to direct fading stars such as Hedy Lamarr in The Strange Woman and Victor Mature in Hannibal for other studios. Ulmer also helmed foreign productions, Jewish films, "race" (or all-Black) films, and the famous VD movie Damaged Lives as well as such notable pictures as The Black Cat, Ruthless, The Man from Planet X, Bluebeard, and others. A Filmmaker at the Margins is well-researched and well-written. Although it may not convince everyone of Ulmer's genius, it is a first-class biography.

Verdict: Does right by Ulmer. ***1/2.