SPECIAL EDITION -- ANNUAL LGBT ROUND-UP

This year is the 50th anniversary of Stonewall, what is considered the start of the modern-day Gay Rights/LGBT pride movement. I couldn't let it pass without compiling reviews of some interesting LGBT motion pictures. Not all of these are "gay" movies, as such, but they all deal with LGBT elements in one way or another. Sadly, not all of these are especially memorable, but they do have a place in cinematic and LGBT history in spite of that.  

PARTING GLANCES

John Bolger and Richard Ganoung 

PARTING GLANCES (1986). Written and directed by Bill Sherwood.

Michael: "At fifty or sixty impending death doesn't freak you out so much."

Joan: "I bet it does. I bet it's a fuckin' drag even if you're eighty."

Michael (Richard Ganoung) and Robert (John Bolger) have been a couple for some time, but now the latter decides he finds the relationship "predictable"  and has taken an assignment in Africa for two years. Michael is upset over this, and gets mixed signals from Robert, but he also has time to visit and help care for Nick (Steve Buscemi), who has AIDS. During Robert's last night in town, they have dinner with his closeted boss and his wife, and attend a party for Robert given by friend Joan (Kathy Kinney), while a cute store clerk named Peter (Adam Nathan) sets his sights on Michael. But there's an unexpected development, and Michael finds he may have to make a choice.

Steve Buscemi and Adam Nathan

Parting Glances is not the typical boy meets boy romance, but one almost wishes that it had been. The characters and their motivations are not as well-developed as they need to be, the film is slow-paced and simply meanders instead of ever becoming really dramatic, and the attempts at humor are fairly pitiful. On the plus side there are some good dialogue and performances, especially by the two leads and the ever-weird Buscemi. Kathy Kinney, who is also good, later played the obnoxious and wildly attired secretary on The Drew Carey Show. A party scene shows what purports to be a cross-section of downtown types but New Yorkers are more interesting than that! You want to like the two leads and root for their romance to work, but after awhile you just want the darn thing to be over. Buscemi and Bolger -- two straight cast members, of course -- both went on to have many credits afterward.

Verdict:  There's some good potential here but it just isn't realized. **. 

AKRON

Edmund Donovan  and Matthew Frias

AKRON (2015). Directed by Brian O'Donnell and Sasha King.

Interested in athletics and each other, college students Benny (Matthew Frias) and Christopher (Edmund Donovan) begin dating. All goes swimmingly for a while until Chris takes Benny down to Florida to hang out and meet his mother, Carol (Amy da Luz). Unfortunately, Carol feels compelled to tell Benny that she was the woman driving the car -- with a much younger Chris in the back seat -- when she accidentally hit and killed Benny's brother years ago.

Matthew Frias and Joseph Melendez

Things begin to unravel, with Benny's parents, who had liked Christopher, objecting to the relationship because Chris' presence will be a constant reminder of the tragedy. Benny, for his part, reacts in an immature fashion. But will the two boys be able to overcome what seems like an insurmountable difficulty in their relationship? Akron sets up an interesting situation, but doesn't do that much with it, coming off at times like a lightweight "after- school special." Benny's mother seems completely unforgiving of Carol, even though she was apparently neither criminally nor legally liable for what happened. Akron can at least boast some excellent performances from the two men in the leads, as well as da Luz and especially Joseph Melendez and Andrea Burns as Benny's parents. Akron is a step in the right direction, but it's too low-key and non-dramatic to make much more than a minor impression. The film's depiction of a loving family that is fully supportive of its gay son is refreshing and admirable, however.

Verdict: Nice try, but ...  **1/4. 

BREAKING THE CODE

Derek Jacobi and Julian Kerridge

BREAKING THE CODE (1996). Director: Herbert Wise.

Brilliant mathematician Alan Turing (Derek Jacobi of The King's Speech) knows his knowledge of cyphers and science can help the British war effort during WW2, and he's chosen to find a way to break the code of the German's Enigma machine. His genius also eventually brings about the creation of digital computers, but his work and worth are diminished in his later years simply because he is gay and apparently unapologetic about it. He pays a hard price for his indiscretion.

Prunella Scales and Derek Jacxobi

Breaking the Code is based on the successful and heralded 1986 play by Hugh Whitemore, and Jacobi reprises his acclaimed stage performance in this TV adaptation. Despite Jacobi's being nearly sixty at the time (Turing died at age 42), Jacobi's performance is excellent, although some may feel his frequent deliberate stuttering (not employed by Benedict Cumberbatch, who later played the same role in Imitation Game) is a bit of a distraction. There is also fine work from Prunella Scales [The Wicked Lady] as Turing's concerned mother; Richard Johnson [Zombie] as Knox, who interviews and hires him; Julian Kerridge as a man with whom Turing dallies; and Amanda Root as a colleague who falls in love with him in spite of his orientation. While Jacobi shows the feisty and slightly arrogant side to Turing's nature, he also lets his amiability and sweetness come through as well.

Verdict: Despite some technical explanations that go on a little too long, this is altogether admirable. ***.

THE IMITATION GAME

Benedict Cumberbatch

THE IMITATION GAME (2014). Director: Morten Tyldum.

Genius mathematician Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch of Star Trek Into Darkness) joins, and eventually takes over, a group of crypto-experts who are trying to crack Germany's Enigma Code. At first Turing is disliked because of his rather obnoxious, superior personality, but eventually he wins the respect of his peers, not only cracking the code but building technology that will eventually lead to the creation of modern-day computers. Unfortunately, he doesn't get his due until long after his death due to his conviction on a homosexual morals charge ...

The Imitation Game is the second film about Turing after the superior Breaking the Code (which also has the much better title with its double meaning), which came out nearly twenty years earlier. This is a splashier, longer, opened-up and bigger-budgeted version but it does not at all improve on the earlier picture. Benedict Cumberbatch gives a good enough performance, but perhaps makes his character more repellent -- especially in the earlier sequences -- than he needs to be; he almost plays it like an old-fashioned "bitchy queen." He is not as good as Derek Jacobi was in the earlier film. A bigger problem with this fictionalized biopic is that it not only tries to deal with his orientation as little as possible -- there are absolutely no sequences showing him even having conversations with other gay men -- but strips the film of true drama (his conviction, trial, etc.) and substitutes some events that I found very suspicious. Dramatic license is one thing, but Imitation just makes up sequences out of whole cloth (like the one when Turing and the others decide not to warn a convoy that is about to be bombed because then the Germans will know they've cracked the code. Sounds reasonable, until you really think about it. )

Like the earlier telefilm, this movie goes back and forth in time when a linear narrative might have been more compelling. There are some good supporting performances from Charles Dance [Victor Frankenstein] as Commander Denniston, and young Alex Lawther as Alan at school (he has a wonderful scene trying not to show how devastated he is by a loving friend's death), among others, but on the whole the picture is a big disappointment and somewhat on the dull side. Perhaps the worst thing is that this film simply accepts that Turing was a suicide when the first film, and some biographies, have suggested that he might have died by accident or even been killed off as a security risk. Who knows? The film was highly acclaimed and made a great deal of money, but since then many people have noted its glaring inaccuracies.

Verdict: Stick to Breaking the Code. **. 

THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE

Edward Judd

THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE (1961). Producer/director/co-screenplay: Val Guest.

Two nuclear bombs are detonated at the same time, and before long there are serious changes to the weather -- flooding, devastating winds, and a massive heat wave along with thick fog. London reporter Peter Stenning (Edward Judd of Island of Terror) tries to ferret out exactly what's going on with the unwitting help of a ministry employee named Jean (Janet Munro of Life for Ruth), who gets angry when Stenning's paper publishes the alarming fact that the blasts have not only shifted the tilt of the earth, but caused an 11% shift in orbit that has the earth moving closer and closer to the sun!

Edward Judd and Leo McKern

The Day the Earth Caught Fire is one of the best science fiction films of the sixties. The movie has a documentary-like feel with overlapping dialogue (a la The Thing from Another World) that makes it even more compelling. Edward Judd was "introduced" in this film but he actually had had numerous credits before this. He is excellent playing a bitter divorced man who is not especially likable or pleasant except when he's romancing Jean, well-played by an appealing Munro. Leo McKern is also notable as Stenning's associate at the paper, Bill Maguire.

McKern, Judd, Munro and Gene Anderson

One thing that especially sets Caught Fire apart from similar films is the superb widescreen cinematography of Harry Waxman [Stolen Hours], whose images of panicking city dwellers, dried up river beds, and a thick fog covering the city are always strikingly effective. The first few minutes, as well as the last few minutes, of the film are tinted sepia to illustrate the extreme heat.

Happier times: Janet Munro and Edward Judd

The Day the Earth Caught Fire also benefits from a literate and intelligent screenplay written by Wolf Mankowitz and Val Guest. The characterizations are solid and there is some well-crafted dialogue, such as when Stenning comments on the suicidal feelings engendered by the approaching disaster. I could quibble about a couple of things: perhaps the collapse of the likable copy boy who drank black market water and gets sick could have generated more pathos, and the last shot of the film is the hoariest of cliches. Other than that, this is an absorbing and very well-made motion picture. This movie was undoubtedly influential on a later and somewhat similar disaster film entitled Crack in the World.

Edward Judd was married at the time to Gene Anderson, who plays the saucy barmaid May. Tragically she died four years later.

Verdict: This is probably the best film Val Guest ever made. ***. 

RANDOM HARVEST

When will he remember? Greer Garson and Ronald Colman

RANDOM HARVEST (1942). Director: Mervyn LeRoy.

Towards the end of WWI, an amnesiac and shell-shocked soldier named "John Smith" (Ronald Colman) is institutionalized in a small British town, but he escapes during the melee when the end of the war is announced. He meets up with a sympathetic music hall entertainer named Paula (Greer Garson), and the two eventually fall in love, get married, and have a child. But when "Smithy" goes to Liverpool for a job interview, he is struck by a taxi and his memory comes back -- he is really a wealthy man named Charles Rainier. Unfortunately, he goes back to his old life with absolutely no recollection of his wife and baby. Will Paula ever be reunited with the man she loves?

Greer Garson 

Random Harvest is based on a novel by James Hilton, and in some ways its story is just as absurd as anything in Lost Horizon. (It's not surprising the movie was spoofed on The Carol Burnett Show. For one thing, the notion that a blow to the head can both cause and cure amnesia is utterly ludicrous.) I haven't read the novel, so I'm not going to blame Hilton for any deficiencies in the screenplay, which he didn't write, but the structure of the film had to be changed from the book. In the novel the true identity of the woman Rainier marries when his memory is restored comes as a surprise.  But before I get to that, I'll examine the film itself and what it offers the viewer.

Susan Peters and Ronald Colman

Random Harvest is essentially a well-produced (MGM) soap opera with fine photography by Joseph Rutternberg, an effective score by Herbert Stothart,  and an excellent cast. Garson is splendid throughout, and Colman, although basically too old for the part, is also first-class. They are matched by Susan Peters [The Sign of the Ram] as Kitty, a young woman who falls for Charles and nearly gets him to the altar. Peters is especially great in a sequence when she looks at Charles, realizes his mind is elsewhere, and that marrying him would be a mistake for both of them. Una O'Connor, Arthur Shields, Arthur Space. Elisabeth Risdon, Reginald Owen, Alan Napier, and Philip Dorn, among others, enrich the supporting cast.

Ronald Colman

SPOILER ALERT: Stop reading if you haven't seen the picture. Random House must be taken with a grain of salt. It works beautifully on an emotional level, and has a moving conclusion, but the fact is that it is so contrived as to be nearly comical. After "Smithy" disappears, Paula tracks him down and begins to work for him under an assumed name. Years go by. Not only does he not recognize her, but he never develops any particular feelings for her. He eventually marries Paula, more as a "merger," as he puts it, than a romantic gesture, because he needs a "good wife." Three years go by during which Paula becomes the perfect hostess and loving wife, yet Charles still doesn't recognize her and still never develops any special feelings for her. Now this begs the question: since Paula is the same person she always was and has the same qualities that drew Charles to her in the first place, why on earth doesn't he fall in love with her all over again? One can argue that it was circumstances that made the difference, but come on! It isn't until he finally remembers her that he realizes he's in love with her. Or does he? (Thank goodness they avoided the cliche of him being hit on the head again.)

Verdict: Well, if you can just suspend disbelief Random Harvest has its rewards. For romantic souls only! ***. 

UNTAMED YOUTH

Mamie Van Doren, Jeanne Carmen, Lori Nelson

UNTAMED YOUTH (1957). Director: Howard W. Koch.

Two sisters heading for Hollywood -- Penny (Mamie Van Doren of The Girl in Black Stockings) and Jane (Lori Nelson) -- are arrested for vagrancy and sent to a work farm for thirty days by Judge Steele (Lurene Tuttle). The farm is owned by Russ Tropp (John Russell), whose housekeepers are girls who offer certain services in exchange for "special privileges." Tropp orders his latest "housekeeper," Lillibet (Jeanne Carmen) back to the barracks with the other girls, resulting in a catfight. The judge sends her son, Bob (Don Burnett), to work at the farm as a regular employee -- he doesn't know that his mother and Tropp are secretly married. And the judge doesn't know about the deplorable conditions at the farm ...

Cougar? The judge (Tuttle, right) hankers for Russell

Untamed Youth is a hoot. Wayward girls, handsome guys, Mamie Van Doren, John Russell, catfights, a female judge who's a cougar -- all this and the movie is a musical, too! Yes, there are several snappy if unmemorable rock 'n' roll numbers supposedly warbled by Van Doren, who zestily shows off her impressive figure when dancing all over the place. The matronly Tuttle and hunky Russell certainly make a comically mismatched pair, Carmen is vivid as Lillibet, and Burnett [Damon and Pythias] is appealing as the sensitive Bob, who falls for Jane.

Mother and son: Don Burnett and Lurene Tuttle

And then there's Mamie, in a role best suited for her talents. In this she's a good girl, not a slut, and she resists advances by Russell. Her performance is more than adequate and she has an out-sized personality that helped her get a minor foothold in Hollywood B movies. Lurene Tuttle gives the best performance as the middle-aged woman who falls in love not at all wisely but well. Wally Brown makes his mark as the deceptively sympathetic cook, Pinky (even if he feeds the kids dog food!) and Michael Emmet [Attack of the Giant Leeches] shows up as a kindly doctor who treats one ill-fated pregnant girl, Baby (Yvonne Lime of Dragstrip Riot).

With a better script Untamed Youth might have emerged a credible melodrama instead of the somewhat campy exploitation picture it is. But on that level, the movie is fun.

Verdict: Catch Mamie doing "Slimy as a Salamander!" **1/2. 

WHEN A STRANGER CALLS (1979)

Carol Kane

WHEN A STRANGER CALLS (1979). Director/co-writer: Fred Walton.

Babysitter Jill Johnson (Carol Kane of The Mafu Cage) is terrorized by a caller who keeps asking her if she's checked on the kids. When the police manage to trace the call Jill gets an unpleasant surprise. Years later John Clifford (Charles Durning), a former cop on the case, is hired by the children's father to find Curt Duncan (Tony Beckley), the psychopath who turned his life upside down and who has escaped from an asylum. Clifford tracks Duncan down, but can he stop him permanently before he goes after the terrified babysitter, Jill, who is now a grown woman with children of her own?

Charles Durning

I believe that When a Stranger Calls was expanded from a short film, The Sitter, which comprised only the chilling opening sequence of this movie. The middle section of this film stills holds interest, as it focuses on Duncan, his interactions with barfly (but not drunken) Tracy (Colleen Dewhurst of Annie Hall), and Clifford's efforts to track down Duncan, whom he intends to murder. (A powerful scene has Clifford telling Tracy exactly how Duncan killed two innocent young children.) The final section of the film is another chilling sequence with Duncan, Jill, and her family. In fact the climax may outdo the prologue in creepiness.

Colleen Dewhurst and Tony Beckley

When a Stranger Calls manages to sustain tension via generally good direction and Dana Kaproff's simple but very effective musical score. There are also solid performances, with Beckley and Dewhurst as standouts, although there is very good work from Durning [Sisters] and a mush-mouthed Carol Kane. Rachel Roberts has one scene as a psychiatrist in the institution that Duncan escaped from, and Ron O'Neal is on the mark as a cop colleague of Clifford's. The atmospheric photography is by Don Peterson. One wishes that there was more character development, however, both of the psycho and of Tracy. What little we learn of the latter is due chiefly to Dewhurst's performance. This was busy British actor Tony Beckley's last film; he died the following year.

A very good sequel, When a Stranger Calls Back, came out in 1993. And there was a remake in 2006.

Verdict: Absorbing horror-suspense film. ***. 

HOLLYWOOD PICKS THE CLASSICS

HOLLYWOOD PICKS THE CLASSICS: A Guide for the Beginner and the Aficionado. Afton Fraser. Bulfinch; 2004.

This guide to classic film is divided into chapters such as "Must See," "Drama,"  "Suspense," "One of a Kind" performers such as Carmen Miranda and Jerry Lewis, "Screen Teams" and so on. The main asset to this book is the many, many photographs from the movies. It falls short as a work of film scholarship for two reasons: most classic movie fans will already be familiar with most of the material in the book. Also, there is no analysis of the individual films, just a brief synopsis and sidebars on the cast, Oscar wins or nominations, and factoids about the famous players. On that level, the book is still a good bet for young movie enthusiasts who might wish to learn more about films released many, many years before their births. Indeed, the author makes the case that, say, a film from the 1980's can';t really be called a "classic." The included movies are generally the ones you would expect -- no "B" movies or forgotten gems -- along with a few that have always been over-rated.

The book was written by Afton Fraser, the wife of actor Brendan Fraser [Looney Tunes: Back in Action] and mother of their three children. Sadly, four years after this book was published the couple ended their ten year marriage. Also an actor Ms. Fraser now goes by Afton Smith.

Verdict: Recommended for readers who don't know much about classic film. ***. 

THE TOY WIFE

Luise Rainer

THE TOY WIFE (1938). Director: Richard Thorpe. Screenplay by Zoe Akins.

"A woman is like a postage stamp. Once there's a black mark on her, she's no good to nobody." -- Pick.

In pre-Civil war Louisiana, two sisters live on a plantation with their slaves and their father. Gilberte, or "Frou Frou" (Luise Rainer) is the pretty and somewhat muddle-headed younger daughter, and Louise (Barbara O'Neil) is the more practical and less attractive older daughter. The young mountebank, Andre Vallaire (Robert Young), wants to propose to Frou Frou, but he is too late, as she has already decided to accept a proposal from the lawyer, George Sartoris (Melvyn Douglas). The trouble is that Frou Frou doesn't love George, but Louise does ... and Andre will not forget Frou Frou. Things come to a boil when George asks Louise to come and run the household, as Frou Frou --  a "toy wife," in his estimation -- seems incapable of doing so.

Luise Rainer and Alan Perl 

Had The Toy Wife starred, say, Bette Davis, it would probably not be a nearly forgotten film today. Luise Rainer, who is outstanding in the film, had already won back to back Best Actress Oscars (for The Great Ziegfeld and The Good Earth) before appearing in this film, but for various reasons her career faded out soon after and long-lasting major stardom never materialized. Douglas, Young and especially O'Neil are also very good in the film, along with Theresa Harris [The Flame of New Orleans] as Frou Frou's maid and companion, "Pick," Libby Taylor as the housekeeper Suzanne, and Alma Kruger [Saboteur] as Andre's disapproving mother. Little Alan Perl is a charmer as George and Frou Frou's son, Georgie.

The Toy Wife's patronizing treatment of black characters is typical of the period, unfortunately, but the film is still absorbing and has a very touching conclusion. There is first-rate cinematography from Oliver T. Marsh and a nice score by Edward Ward.

Verdict: Memorable, well-acted, and unpredictable drama. ***.

SUSAN SLEPT HERE

Dick Powell

SUSAN SLEPT HERE (1954). Director: Frank Tashlin.

Screenwriter and bachelor Mark Christopher (Dick Powell of Pitfall) finds himself with an unusual Christmas "present." Two cops of his acquaintance want him to babysit a 17-year-old girl, Susan (Debbie Reynolds), over the holiday so they won't have to actually book her for some minor offense on Christmas Day. Mark reluctantly agrees but this causes problems for his sort of fiancee Isabella (Anne Francis), and upsets his household, which consists of secretary Maude (Glenda Farrell) and his old Navy buddy, Virgil (Alvy Moore). But is the middle-aged author more drawn to lovely, very young Susan than he would care to admit?

Farrell, Moore and Reynolds

One thing this comedy has going for it is some excellent performances. Debbie Reynolds, who was actually twenty-two at the time, is simply outstanding. Powell --fifty playing thirty-five but not getting away with it -- is no slouch, either. Farrell uses all she learned about acting since the thirties to make a distinct impression, and Moore manages to emerge an almost poignant figure, although his chief function is to get more laughs. Anne Francis also scores in the thankless role of the fiancee who is treated rather badly but whom Mark apparently never took seriously to begin with. Maidie Norman [What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?] and Les Tremayne [The Monolith Monsters] are also good as, respectively, Mark's maid and lawyer.

The characters at least seem a little more dimensional than in most comedies of this type, but that may be due to the performances. The picture goes on about twenty minutes too long, and there is a very tedious dream sequence in which Susan imagines Annabella literally snaring Mark in her web. (You would think that Powell and Reynolds would actually dance together, but they never really do.) Red Skelton has a funny cameo. This was Dick Powell's last theatrical film; he appeared strictly on television thereafter.

Verdict: Strangely appealing May-December romantic comedy that shouldn't work but does. ***. 

ANYTHING GOES (1956)

Bing Crosby and Donald O'Connor clown around

ANYTHING GOES (1956). Director: Robert Lewis.

Broadway veteran Bill Benson (Bing Crosby) and hot shot TV star Ted Adams (Donald O'Connor) are teaming up to do a Broadway show. They each decide on a leading lady, unaware of what the other has done. So on a boat back to New York from Europe, they have to contend with the fact that they promised the plum role to two different women: Patsy (Mitzi Gaynor) and Gaby (Zizi Jeanmaire). Complicating matters is the realization that each man has started to fall in love, not with the woman they chose to star with but with her rival!

Mitzi Gaynor and Donald O\Connor

Twenty years earlier Crosby did a previous version of Anything Goes that co-starred Ethel Merman. This new version throws out the plot of the Broadway musical it was based on but uses some of Cole Porter's songs, along with a few new ones by Cahn and Van Heusen. (You can tell which are whose fairly easily). This is a one-gimmick plot but it does add some suspense to the proceedings, and Paramount studios manages to give the flick some of the gloss you associate with MGM, thanks to Technicolor, VistaVision, some excellent art direction, and cinematographer John F. Warren. More importantly, the performances by all are adept and enthusiastic.

Zizi Jeanmaire with chorus boys

Zizi Jeanmaire (billed in this only as "Jeanmaire") was a French dancer and actress who did most of her work in Europe. She is quite good in Anything Goes and is given one zesty number as well as a featured ballet with little boys, sailors and several lookalikes. The production numbers include the title tune choreographed by Ernest Flatt, "I Get a Kick", and the finale, "Blow, Gabriel, Blow," which features the four stars in a striking tableau.

"Blow, Gabriel, Blow." Jeanmaire, Crosby, Gaynor, O'Connor

Anything Goes, however, goes on for a little too long, and there are some dull stretches, including a nightclub bit wherein Crosby plays a mind-reading Rajah that becomes tiresome rather quickly. In spite of that, the movie is fun and colorful for the most part. Phil Harris [The Patsy] is cast as Gaynor's father, Steve, and Kurt Kasznar [Land of the Giants] as Crosby's agent, Victor Lawrence.

Verdict: Talented cast helps put this over. ***. 

AMERICAN PRINCE: A MEMOIR -- TONY CURTIS

AMERICAN PRINCE: A MEMOIR. Tony Curtis and Peter Golenbock. Harmony; 2008.

Apparently not being satisfied with the first book, this is the late Curtis' second autobiography. Never forgetting a slight, real or imagined, in this volume he settles scores. Since his first wife, Janet Leigh, had passed away by then, he feels free to dissect their marriage and highlight her alleged faults as a wife. (One can't imagine that this endeared him to his daughters by Leigh, including Jamie Lee Curtis.) One gets the impression that Curtis had no real interest in honest reflection nor in seeing things from other people's pov\s. He is the very personification of the self-absorbed movie star.

Curtis traces his early years and his bad relationship with his parents; the tragic deaths of his two brothers -- he never balances his basically successful life with the brother who was placed in a mental institution and eventually wound up homeless and beaten to death --  his determination to make it in Hollywood, and his cinematic triumphs in such as Sweet Smell of Success (arguably his greatest performance) and Some Like It Hot, among others.  Curtis doesn't shy away from detailing the years afterward, when he was forced to take virtually any role in any piece of crap just to pay the bills, including alimony and child support. He also writes about his cocaine addiction and his many marriages (at least one wife never gets mentioned at all).

Curtis never lost the chip on his shoulder. Part of this is due to the fact that he never felt he was really taken seriously. Part was also due to the fact that no matter what the role he generally came off as dead-common. This book didn't help him shake off that image.

Verdict: Not a bad read, but it leaves a sour taste. **1/2. 

EVERYBODY SING

Judy Garland

EVERYBODY SING (1938). Director: Edwin L. Marin.

Judy Bellaire (Judy Garland of Presenting Lily Mars) belongs to a theatrical family, but she keeps getting thrown out of one school after another because she prefers swing music to classical and is therefore considered a "corrupting" influence. The rest of the household consists of her playwright father Hilary (Reginald Owen); her actress mother Diana (Billie Burke); the housekeeper Olga (Fanny Brice), who used to work in vaudeville; and the handsome cook, Ricky (Allan Jones of Reckless), who is moonlighting as a singer at a posh cafe. Judy also has a sister named Sylvia (Lynne  Carver), who is struck on Ricky and vice versa. Judy wants to help get needed money for the cash-poor family by singing at the same cafe, but has to resort to subterfuge when her parents deny her permission to do so. Meanwhile Hilary tries to mount his own show but objects to his wife's acting partner, Jerrold Hope (Reginald Gardiner).

Bus song: Garland, Carver, Jones and Gardiner

This aptly-titled MGM movie is a real charmer, thanks to the cast, some good song numbers, and an amiable disposition throughout, although Judy's attitude (as expressed in one of the song numbers) that classical music is passe is obnoxious. She gets to sing the snappy "Melody Fair," Jones warbles "The One I Love," much of the cast does an operatic pastiche -- based on Verdian melodies -- on a bus; and Fanny Brice [The Great Ziegfeld], who is wonderful, does "Dainty Me," as well as a Baby Schnooks number with Garland. Jones also reprises "Comsi Comsa" from A Night at the Opera. Monty Woolley shows up briefly as a producer and he adds to the fun as well. When they made dithery Bille Burke, they certainly broke the mold.

Verdict: Not just for Garland fans, but they will especially enjoy this. ***.

B MOVIE NIGHTMARE

Remember, my brother blog B Movie Nightmare publishes every other week, alternating with Great Old Movies. This week it's time for B Movie Nightmare -- two weeks' worth, in fact. You can also sign up there for email notifications, which is the best way to catch all that B Movie Excitement over at my other blog, LOL!

Thanks for reading! 

THE KILLING

Marie Windsor and Vince Edwards

THE KILLING (1956). Director, co-screenplay: Stanley Kubrick.

Ex-con Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) has gathered together a motley group to rob a race track: bartender Mike (Joe Sawyer); cop Randy (Ted de Corsia of The Big Combo); sniper Nicky (Timothy Carey); front man Marvin (Jay C. Flippen), muscular Maurice (professional wrestler Kola Kwariani); and track employee George (Elisha Cook, Jr.). But George, who wants to participate so he can buy things for his unfaithful wife, Sherry (Marie Windsor), is unaware that she has taken a lover, Val (Vince Edwards), and when these two learn about the robbery they cook up their own plans ...

Elisha Cook Jr. and Marie Windsor

The Killing is Kubrick's third theatrical film (aside from some documentaries), and it is one of his best. He managed to get excellent performances from the cast, with Windsor being a stand-out along with Elisha Cook, Jr., [House on Haunted Hill] who here is given one of the best roles of his career and runs with it. The other cast members are all on the mark, including Dorothy Adams as Mike's bedridden wife, Ruthie. Colleen Gray gets only a few moments as Johnny's girlfriend, but she's fine, and Carey makes a weird and effective Nicky, who literally shoots horses. Lucien Ballard's cinematography is first-class, and Gerald Fried's musical score adds to the film's taut and suspenseful atmosphere.

Sterling Hayden with Jay C. Flippen 

Jim Thompson's dialogue is occasionally forgettable ("she has a dollar sign where her heart should be"), but there's also an interesting interchange between Marvin and Johnny in which the former tells the latter that he practically thinks of him as a son, but then virtually suggests that they run away together, although the implications of this go unexplored. The film has an ironic, knock-out ending that really delivers a wallop. The movie is generally filmed in long cuts and the tension would have been increased with sharper editing. As good as this is, I would have loved to see what this would have been like had Hitchcock directed it. Another interesting Kubrick film is Eyes Wide Shut.

Verdict: One of the best caper movies ever made. ***1/2. 

PINKY

Jeanne Crain, William Lundigan

PINKY (1949). Director: Elia Kazan,

"Of course I'm in pain! Do you think I'll die in ease and ecstasy? -- Miss Em

You can't live without pride." -- Pinky

Patricia (Jeanne Crain of In the Meantime, Darling), who has been affectionately known as "Pinky" all of her life, looks like a white woman but is actually a "Negro." After being educated, getting a nursing degree, and becoming engaged to the white Dr. Adams (William Lundigan), she has returned home to see her grandmother, Dicey (Ethel Waters).

Ethel Barrymore as ailing Miss Em

Dicey is good friends with Miss Em (Ethel Barrymore), a once-wealthy woman who lives in a mansion not far from Dicey's much more humble dwelling. Pinky is resentful of Miss Em, and at first resists her grandmother's insistence that she temporarily become a nurse for the ailing old lady. But as the two women take measure of each other, they each earn the other one's respect. Pinky's fiancee shows up and learns the truth, and it all leads to a court battle over an estate that Pinky feels is rightfully hers. But will a "Negro" ever have the same rights accorded to a white person, and can Pinky and Dr. Adams have a real future together?

Ethel Waters, Frederick O'Neal, Crain

For 1949, Pinky was certainly ahead of its time. Although any other type of ending may well have been impossible given attitudes at the time toward interracial relationships, the movie takes a woman who tries to live as white and ultimately gives her true strength, pride and dignity. One could quibble about some aspects of the story and some of the negative if human black characters, but the fact that Pinky still manages to say what it does in the late forties is remarkable. There is also first-class cinematography from Joe MacDonald, and a nice score from Alfred Newman. And then there are the performances.

Ethel Waters and Ethel Barrymore were both nominated for a supporting actress Oscar and they deserved to be; they are both superb. Jeanne Crain was also nominated for Best Actress, but I found her performance to be uneven. She has some terrific moments, true, but in other sequences she just seems to be speaking lines with little true feeling behind them. Frederick O'Neal makes his mark as Jake, as does Nina Mae McKinney [Dark Waters] as his girlfriend, Rozelia. Evelyn Varden [Hilda Crane] is a stand-out as Melba, the nasty and racist cousin of Miss Em's, and there is notable work from Griff Barnett, Basil Ruysdael., and Kenny Washington in smaller but important roles. William Lundigan is fine in a thankless part that doesn't give him enough to do.

Pinky is a contrast to Band of Angels, which came out eight years later and also has a black heroine passing for white. Angels has an entirely different ending that is more "romantic" but also takes a giant step backwards when it comes to black pride.

Verdict: Superior drama with something to say. ***1/2. 

I PASSED FOR WHITE

James Franciscus and Sonya Wilde

I PASSED FOR WHITE (1960). Director: Fred M. Wilcox.

Bernice Lee (Sonya Wilde), who is biracial, finds herself discriminated against by both whites and blacks. She travels to New York, where she discovers that one firm won't hire her -- despite her qualifications -- simply because she's a "Negro." Lying about her race, she gets a good job and begins a romance with a handsome man, Rick (James Franciscus of The Valley of Gwangi), whom she meets on the plane. But when they fall in love, how far is Bernice -- now known as Lila Brownell -- willing to go with her deception, and can she get away with it?

Lon Ballantyne and Sonya Wilde

I Passed for White has a similar premise to the superior Pinky, which came out eleven years earlier. But while both feature interracial relationships, I Passed for White deals with its heroine in the white urban world and has her interacting with her fiance's upper crust family, who are a bit suspicious -- never dreaming she's part black but wondering why she keeps telling false stories about her family. One of the movie's best scenes has her in a nightclub with her husband and in-laws, and encountering her brother, Chuck (Lon Ballantyne), which leads to an ugly scene that clearly suggests that Rick is a racist.

James Franciscus

Sonya Wilde has her moments as Bernice, but at twenty-one she seems a bit inexperienced to completely pull off such a difficult role; she had only a few credits afterward. Many of the other actors offer somewhat obvious and stilted performances, as if they were appearing in a amateur stage play, although James Franciscus is surprisingly excellent as Rick -- it's no surprise the actor went places, however. Of the supporting cast, the most notable are the aforementioned Ballantyne, who is a nice actor, and Isabel Cooley as the sympathetic maid, Bertha. Two other cast members of note are Jimmy Lydon [Strange Illusion] as a friend of Rick's and Thomas Browne Henry [The Robe] as a doctor. Unfortunately, neither has much to do. Fred M. Wilcox had previously directed Forbidden Planet!

Verdict: No Pinky, but it does have several good sequences. **3/4. 

SMALL TOWN GIRL

Farley Granger and Jane Powell

SMALL TOWN GIRL (1953). Director: Leslie (Laszlo) Kardos.

Rich and patronizing playboy Richard Livingstone III (Farley Granger) speeds through the small town of Duck Creek, sasses Judge Kimbell (Robert Keith), and winds up thrown in jail for thirty days. Richard importunes the judge's daughter, Cindy (Jane Powell), to let him out one night for his "mother's" birthday. Richard has a jealous if unfaithful fiancee in Broadway star Lisa Bellmount (Ann Miller), but during a night in New York he and Cindy start to fall in love. How will the judge react when he is apprised of this situation?

Jane Powell

Small Town Girl is the perfect example of a well-turned out MGM musical. The players are fine and enthusiastic (Granger is much better than you might imagine); the TechniColor is vivid and beautiful; there are a couple of more than pleasant tunes ("Small Towns;" "The Fellow I Follow"); some excellent production numbers; and an essentially amiable if lightweight veneer that puts over the slight but entertaining storyline. Jane Powell [Seven Brides for Seven Brothers] again proves an adept leading lady with a lovely voice and good delivery. And besides Granger, Powell has a host of excellent supporting players and character actors to back her up.

Bobby Van 

First among these is Bobby Van [Lost Horizon], who plays Ludwig Schlemmer, the boy next door who has Broadway aspirations. Van is by no means handsome in Hollywood terms, but he is so irrepressible and talented that it doesn't matter; he has a kind of Al Jolson delight in performing. The most famous highlight of Small Town Girl is when Van literally hops his way across town in sheer spirited excitement, a well-choreographed (Busby Berkeley) sequence that was filmed with only a few cuts. When Ludwig meets Ann Miller and tells her his name, she says "Well, keep it quiet and no one will notice." Ludwig's father is played by "Cuddles" Sakall, whose character in this seems more grumpy and unpleasant than lovable.

Miller struts her stuff

Then there's Ann Miller [Carolina Blues]. There may well have been better female dancers in Hollywood musicals, but in this Miller stars in a zesty production number, "Feel That Beat," wherein the members of the band are hidden behind walls and under the floor, with only their arms and instruments protruding. As for the rest of the players, Robert Keith is fine as the judge, as is an uncredited Chill Wills as the friendly sheriff, Happy. Fay Wray is the judge's wife; Billie Burke is her dithery self as Richard's society mother; William Campbell is a reporter; Marie Blake is a shop customer; and Beverly Wills, the daughter of Joan Davis, plays Ludwig's sister, Deidre. Nat King Cole also sings a number, "Burn Low." Photographed by Joseph Ruttenberg.

Verdict: Delightful MGM musical. ***.   

UNSINKABLE

UNSINKABLE: A MEMOIR. Debbie Reynolds and Dorian Hannaway. William Morrow; 2013.

In Debbie Reynolds' first autobiography, she went into her divorce from Eddie Fisher -- who ran off with Liz Taylor -- and how her second husband completely drained her bank account and left her broke. In this sequel, Reynolds writes affectingly of two major incidents since that period. The first is her marriage and divorce to her third husband who, at least as portrayed in the book, was a monstrous hustler who took his wife for everything she was worth, all the while using her money to support his long- time mistress. During one confrontation, he kept asking Debbie to step out on the 12th story balcony, which might well have been her finish. Coinciding with this is her narrative of the Debbie Reynolds Hotel and Casino, which her husband apparently managed to run into the ground.

Once she was extricated from that mess, Reynolds now had to find a home for all the items of Hollywood memorabilia that she had amassed over the decades. This section of the book also has real suspense as the lady discovers that people in Hollywood don't especially care that much about its history. With one plan after another for the museum crumbling despite her and others' best efforts, all of the items (including the dress Marilyn Monroe wore in The Seven Year Itch) finally were sold in a huge auction that netted Reynolds millions.

This is about enough for two thirds of a book, so Reynolds has a final section in which she recounts some familiar stories about her coming to Hollywood, losing Eddie Fisher to La Liz, and so on, then has an annotated list of all of her movies, what she thought of them, and interesting behind-the-scenes details. Reynolds tells of the time she had to get a drunken Donald O'Connor off the stage when he tried to join in when Fred and Adele Astaire started dancing, and reveals that David Janssen [Man-Trap] was convinced he was the son of Clark Gable and drank himself to death over it! Who knows?

For much of its length, Unsinkable is a real page-turner, and for that we can thank Reynolds' co-auhor, (Ms.) Dorian Hannaway, who does a splendid job of telling the movie star's story.

Verdict: Very readable, well-done, and entertaining memoir. ***1/2. 

BAND OF ANGELS

Clark Gable and Yvonne De Carlo

BAND OF ANGELS (1957). Director: Raoul Walsh.

In Kentucky in the 1880's, Amantha Starr (Yvonne De Carlo) discovers after her father's death that her mother was a slave, she is mulatto (although that term is never used), and she has lost everything, including her father's plantation, to his creditors. She is sold into slavery and acquired for $5000 by the wealthy Hamish Bond (Clark Gable), who treats his slaves with more kindness than others. But Rau-Ru (Sidney Poitier), whom Bond has raised like a son, feels that no amount of kindness can make up for his not being free. Rumblings from up North indicate that the so-called glory days of the South may just about be over.

Sidney Poitier and Carolle Drake

Band of Angels is based on a novel by Robert Penn Warren (All the King's Men), and it had to be much, much better than this film version, which is more along the lines of a Clark Gable Retread of Gone With the Wind than anything else. The shame of it is that there is plenty of provocative material in here, but the picture is a morally ambiguous mish mash that throws scenes at the viewer without any great coherency or momentum. One wishes that many of the characters, especially the black characters, had been better developed.

Amantha sets herself apart from her people

The treatment of racism is also comparatively trivialized and confused, to put it mildly. On the one hand, the film focuses on an interracial relationship (although both characters are played by white actors). On the other hand, Amantha spends most of the movie denying her heritage. Gable's character is also problematic, a slave trader who supposedly buys up slaves to keep them out of the hands of nastier owners out of guilt over his former actions. He mentions the real-life African King Gezo, who sold his own people, but this hardly excuses the actions of white slave traders. In Warren's book Bond comes to a much more satisfying end than he does in the movie.

Gable's performance is professional but comparatively passionless, while De Carlo is somewhat better. Notable in smaller roles are Andrea King as a supposed friend of Amamtha's, Rex Reason [This Island Earth] as a minister-turned-soldier who falls for Amantha, and Torin Thatcher [The 7th Voyage of Sinbad] as an old comrade of Bond's. Sidney Poitier gives the best performance in the film as the servant-son who becomes an understandably vengeful sergeant in the Union Army, and there is also good work from Carolle Drake as Michelle, another servant who seems to love Bond unconditionally. (Ms.) Tommie Moore plays another servant, Dolly, as if she thought she were appearing in an operetta! Robert Clarke and Ann Doran show up in bits and Patrick Knowles plays another plantation owner who nearly has a duel with Gable. Lucien Ballard's cinematography is first-rate, as usual, but Max Steiner's score can in no way be compared to his fine work on Gone With the Wind and other films.

Verdict: Patronizing and contrived, with an interesting plot pretty much muffed. **.