THE SILENCE

THE SILENCE (aka Tystnaden/1963). Director: Ingmar Bergman.

Two women who appear to be sisters are traveling in Europe with the ten-year-old son of one of them when they stop in a rather dismal little town, Timoka, where one, Ester (Ingrid Thulin), becomes ill. As Ester becomes increasingly overwrought and fears dying alone, Anna (Gunnel Lindblom) goes out of the hotel and finds a man to have sex with, and little Johan (Jorgen Lindstrom) makes his own merriment with a friendly old man and some dwarfs. This is probably fraught with symbolism and deep meaning -- maybe -- but it comes off more as an almost comically underwritten mood piece and little else. Ester has been described as a "repressed lesbian" in several reviews, probably because of the scene where she seems to come on to her sister (similar to scenes in the later Cries and Whispers) but it comes off less as lesbianism or incest than just a kind of mock eroticism-without-a-point, thrown in because it turns Bergman on. Thanks to Sven Nykvist's photography, the film is full of a grim atmosphere, as well as arresting images and faces, as well as the usual fine acting -- if only Bergman had given the players a screenplay that was worthy of their mettle.

Verdict: Half-baked in Timoka. **.

THE LOST MOMENT

Robert Cummings and Susan Hayward

THE LOST MOMENT (1947). Director: Martin Gabel.

"It's only being with people that makes one lonely."

Publisher Lewis Venable (Robert Cummings) comes to Venice hoping to obtain letters written by the late poet Jeffrey Ashton to the now-aged Julianna Borderau (Agnes Moorehead). Lewis pretends to be an author seeking an atmospheric place to write his novel, and pays an exorbitant fee for rooms in the manor owned by Julianna, who lives with her niece, Tina (Susan Hayward). Both women seem to be keeping secrets regarding Ashton, who simply disappeared many years ago. The Lost Moment sort of uses the basic framework for Henry James' novella "The Ashton Papers," but is turned into an unconvincing psychological mystery with an expected resolution. Cummings [Saboteur] is okay, but not well-cast, and Hayward [I'll Cry Tomorrow] is better as a woman undergoing an identity crisis, while an unrecognizable Moorehead [Dark Passage] certainly scores as the crone-like Julianna. Joan Lorring, Minerva Urecal and Eduardo Ciannelli offer flavorful supporting performances.

Verdict: This dies a slow death long before the conclusion. **.

A TASTE OF EVIL

Barbara Parkins and Barbara Stanwyck

A TASTE OF EVIL (1971 telefilm). Director: John Llewellyn Moxey.

After starring in the mediocre The House that Would Not Die, Barbara Stanwyck appeared in a second ABC "Movie of the Week" for producer Aaron Spelling, and this time the results are more felicitous. Susan (Barbara Parkins) was raped as a child by an unknown assailant on the grounds of her family estate. After years of therapy in Europe she returns home to her mother, Miriam (Barbara Stanwyck), the strange handyman John (Arthur O'Connell), her uncle and now stepfather Howard (William Windom) and sympathetic Dr. Lomas (Roddy McDowall). It isn't long before her shadowy memories of the assault begin to plague her, and she also keeps seeing the corpse of Uncle Howard, whom she suspects of the rape, in various places -- the trouble is that Howard is alive. A Taste of Evil has a tricky screenplay by Jimmy Sangster (The Nanny, Hysteria, Scream of Fear etc.) that contains some surprises, and good performances from the entire cast. Without giving too much away, it is safe to say that Stanwyck offers a chilling portrait of one of the worst mothers who ever existed on celluloid. She doesn't gnash the scenery as lesser actresses would do, but wisely underplays and is that much more memorable and formidable, making this one of her better latter-day assignments. Some people see this as a remake of the Sangster-written Scream of Fear, but despite similarities the movies are quite different.

Verdict: Interesting enough on its own terms but Stanwyck really makes it worth watching. ***.

FEAR STRIKES OUT

FEAR STRIKES OUT (1957). Director: Robert Mulligan.

In Fear Strikes Out Anthony Perkins acts more "psycho" than in Psycho at times, but it's understandable, as he's playing a very troubled man in this drama based on a true story. Baseball player Jim Piersall (Perkins), who goes from the minors to the Boston Red Sox,  is saddled with a "sports dad" instead of a stage mother --  for his well-meaning father, John (Karl Malden), almost seems to act as if everything is happening to him. All of the stress and tension leads to neurotic episodes and a trip to a sympathetic psychiatrist (Adam Williams), although one senses Piersall's mental problems can't all be blamed on his father. Fear Strikes Out is absorbing, and Perkins gives one of his all-time best performances. Malden is also notable, as is Norma Moore as Jim's wife, Mary. Elmer Bernstein contributed a good score, although the music is somewhat overdone at times.

Verdict: Proof positive that there was more to Perkins than Psycho. ***.

NIGHTMARE (1964)

NIGHTMARE (1964). Director: Freddie Francis. Produced and written by Jimmy Sangster.

"You may have been all kinds of a gay boy before, but now you're married to me!"

Janet (Jennie Linden) is a screwed up teenager who saw her deranged mother stab her father to death. She has always been afraid that her mother's psychosis is hereditary, and she may be right. Returning home from school to the family manor, she is welcomed by her guardian, Henry Baxter (David Knight), and her companion, Grace Maddox (Moira Redmond of Doctor in Love). Janet has intense and realistic dreams in which she is tormented by a weird, scarred woman who is utterly silent and menacing. Then one afternoon she sees this same woman while awake ... The main twist of the film occurs halfway through the movie and isn't that much of a surprise [and probably wasn't meant to be], but the second half still sustains a modicum of suspense. This is another of the British thrillers made in the wake of Psycho [both post-Psycho and sub-Psycho], and it's reasonably entertaining if ultimately forgettable. There are couple of somewhat energetic stabbing sequences [neither in the shower, thank goodness]. The performances from all are quite good, with Redmond chewing the scenery in dramatic fashion [only over-acting on occasion] and Knight a bit more suave and restrained. There's an awful lot of hysterical screeching throughout. From Hammer studios.

Verdict: Like a lengthy Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode. **1/2.

BLACK SWAN

BLACK SWAN (2010). Director: Darren Aronofsky.

This psychological thriller [or whatever you want to call it] with a ballet backdrop features all the usual elements of such movies: a dancer falling for her teacher; jealous rivalries among dancers; and so on, then adds a twist in that the lead character, Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman), who is dancing the role of the swan in a new production of Swan Lake, is mentally unraveling as the date of her debut in the role rapidly approaches. She begins to have strange, sometimes sexual, and often violent hallucinations. Just as the character she portrays in the ballet has a light and dark side, so does Nina, with tragic results. Portman deservedly won an Oscar for her portrayal, and she is the glue that makes the film the riveting twaddle that it is. But despite its good points -- including the fact that it is absorbing and very well acted [Barbara Hershey, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, and Winona Ryder are also excellent in important supporting roles] -- Black Swan is a bit overwrought and occasionally silly, threatening to collapse into [literal] hysterics at any moment. A girl-on-girl sex scene seems to have been thrown in for all the wrong reasons, and does nothing to delineate character. [If the implication is that this is one more indication of Nina embracing her "dark" side, it's a bit regressive, but I suppose it could also suggest she's shedding her inhibitions. But why have a gay sex scene, even a fantasy, without real gay characters? It's like the filmmakers said, "guys won't want to take their girlfriends to a film about ballet, but when they find out it has two chicks gettin' it on...!"] Ultimately, Black Swan holds the attention but its chief appeal is Portman's and the other performances. It's undeniably arresting, but doesn't hold up under close scrutiny.

Verdict: Portman and the rest of the cast deserve kudos. ***.

POSSESSED (1947)

POSSESSED (1947). Director: Curtis Bernhart.

"We're all on the outside of other people's lives looking in."

Louise Howell (Joan Crawford) is a nurse for a sick, jealous woman (Nana Bryant) who thinks she's carrying on with her husband, Dean Graham (Raymond Massey). In truth, Louise is obsessed with an engineer named David Sutton (Van Heflin), who simply doesn't feel the same way about her. "I seldom hit a woman but if you don't leave me alone I'll wind up kicking babies," Sutton tells her. Louise marries Graham after his wife's death, but goes over the edge when the playing-with-fire Sutton starts dating her step-daughter, Carol (Geraldine Brooks). Watch out, David! Possessed can't seem to make up its mind if it's a psychological study, a thriller of a woman scorned, a story of unrequited love -- it almost turns into a ghost story at one point -- and doesn't quite succeed at any of them. Crawford's occasional over-acting could be blamed on the fact that she's playing a lady with a screw loose, but despite claims by other characters that Louise isn't legally responsible for her actions, she seems to know exactly what she's doing all right. Brooks is fine in her second film, Heflin is excellent as usual, and Raymond Massey is Raymond Massey. Many fans greatly admire Crawford's performance in this but she was, frankly, better in many other films. A big problem with Possessed is that while it holds the attention, it isn't a whole lot of fun.

Verdict: half-baked, semi-hysterical, and all over the lot. **1/2.

SHUTTER ISLAND

SHUTTER ISLAND (2010). Director: Martin Scorsese.

Widower Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his associate Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) travel to an island near Boston which has become an institution for the mentally disturbed. One of the inmates has disappeared, but before long Daniels -- who is there with Aule to find her -- is convinced that either a massive cover-up is in place, or the missing woman never even existed. Is the island the site of sinister experimentation, and is everyone who knows of it being eliminated? DiCaprio isn't bad, but Ben Kinsgley and Max von Sydow certainly add stature with their portrayals of two of the island's doctors. Pictorially striking and well-directed -- one of Scorsese's best in fact -- Shutter Island has many memorable moments, such as a cliff-side scene involving hundreds of rats, and a flashback in which Daniels learns that his young children are dead [DiCaprio nails this scene beautifully]. The film has a kind of open-ended quality, but this doesn't detract from the entertainment value of the picture; viewers can decide for themselves the "true" story behind Shutter Island. John Carroll Lynch, Ted Levine, Michelle Williams, and Jackie Earle Haley, among others in a large cast, have highly effective supporting roles. I have never cared all that much for Scorsese's thrillers/macabre films, but Shutter Island is a pleasant surprise. I liked this much, much better than The Departed and also think it's a much better film. Of course people who like gangster/cop films better than psychological suspense-dramas might tend to disagree.

Verdict: Scorsese knocks one out of the ball park. ***1/2.

THE PAGE TURNER aka LA TOURNEUSE DE PAGES

THE PAGE TURNER (aka La Tourneuse de pages/2006). Director: Denis Dercourt.

A young French girl, Melanie, plays a piece at an competition that is extremely important to her. Unfortunately, one of the judges, a well-known concert pianist named Ariane (Catherine Frot) , gives an autograph to someone during the middle of this recital and distracts Melanie, insuring that she loses the competition. It is made clear from something that happens immediately afterward -- Melanie almost slams the piano lid down on another student's fingers -- that this is a young lady with some psychological issues. Years later Melanie, now played by Deborah Francois, winds up becoming nanny, assistant and "page turner" to Ariane herself. There is no denying that in its own quiet way The Page Turner builds up a surprising amount of suspense, as you wonder when and if Melanie will screw up one of Ariane's concerts by failing to turn a page of the piano score at the right time, giving the woman, who suffers from stage fright, some kind of nervous breakdown. A sub-plot has Melanie bringing out lesbian feelings in Ariane, although it is suggested that Melanie has no similar feelings for Ariane and is only trying to ruin her marriage. The trouble with The Page Turner, despite the fact that it's well-acted and absorbing for the most part, is that the characterizations are on the thin side, and it never quite comes to grips with some of the aspects of its storyline. A few reviewers found the movie misogynous. In its suggestion that "coming out" can "ruin" a person's life you could also say that the movie is a bit [perhaps unintentionally] homophobic as well. While this is a far cry from a gay love story, it's ridiculous to assume that Ariane's life is over because she's acknowledged her romantic and sexual feelings for another (even if woefully unworthy) woman. The ending is unsatisying on many different levels and one could argue that ultimately The Page Turner is just a French version of all those deranged evil baby sitter movies-of-the-week, when it could have been a whole lot more.

Verdict: Flawed but unusual suspenser in the quiet mode. **1/2.

DEATH AND THE MAIDEN

DEATH AND THE MAIDEN (1994). Director: Roman Polanski.

In a country that is probably meant to be Chile, a chance encounter leads a doctor (Ben Kingsley) who possibly tormented and raped a political prisoner (Sigourney Weaver) years ago to her door on the very eve of her husband (Stuart Wilson) being appointed to a commission to track down those guilty of such abuses. Unfortunately, the commission only plans to target people who actually killed their victims, so Weaver is afraid her own tormentor will never be brought to justice. To her husband's consternation, she captures Kingsley and puts him on “trial.” But could Kingsley possibly be innocent as he says? Although this is clearly based on a three-character stage play, Polanski “opens” it up as much as possible, and there are moments of suspense and tension. Unfortunately, much of the picture rests on the shoulders of heroine Weaver, who is simply not up to the challenge. Weaver can be quite effective when she's all “butch” and no-nonsense in those Alien horror films [she was probably cast in this because of the scenes wherein she has to play all tough and menacing] but in more serious movies her limitations are all too obvious. While she does have her moments, to be fair, she is nowhere on the level of the masterful Kingsley, and neither is Wilson. Still, the story is powerful and the ending – in its own quiet way – horrific. This is another illustration of the “banality of evil” and the loathsomeness that can hide behind the surface of the so-called kind and loving family man.

Verdict: Paging a more powerful actress! **1/2.

THE SECOND WOMAN

THE SECOND WOMAN (1950). Director: James V. Kern.

Ellen Foster (Betsy Drake) is visiting her Aunt Amelia (Florence Bates) when she meets and falls in love with Jeff Cohalan ( Robert Young) whose fiancee died in a car accident about a year previously. Jeff seems to have had a steady stream of bad luck ever since, especially since he's met Ellen -- his dog is poisoned, his horse breaks its leg in its stall, his house burns down -- and Ellen wonders if someone is out to get him while Amelia's doctor simply thinks Jeff is nuts and doing everything to himself. The film is well-produced, moodily photographed, and suspenseful as it proceeds to the final revelation. (More on which in a moment.) Drake is very good and makes an appealing, sympathetic heroine. Drake was married to Cary Grant for about 12 years, having met him while co-starring with him in Every Girl Should Be Married. Young is quite good at times as Jeff, even if he doesn't quite have the presence and authority of a Grant and at the climax he's painfully perfunctory when he should be passionate and dismayed. While The Second Woman is never in the league of such films as Rebecca and Suspicion, which it tries to emulate, what really sinks it is the utterly ludicrous denouement, which stretches credulity to the breaking point, asking us to believe that someone would cover up something without at the same time giving the individual a strong and believable enough motivation to do so. John Sutton and Jean Rogers add some spice as a once-married, happily divorced couple who pass in and out of the proceedings. Rogers was in several cliffhanger serials including Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars in which she played Dale Arden. The Second Woman was her final credit.

Verdict: Absorbing, but what a wacky wind-up! **.