I Hate Los Angeles But There Are Some Great Films Set There, Here's Ten of Them

Sterling Hayden and Elliot Gould at the beach in The Long Goodbye

I do not like Los Angeles. Never have. Never will. It’s a place where people drive their cars to visit a next door neighbor. There is no charm. No downtown. Nothing but schlock and gloss and edifice. There are beautiful neighborhoods but they have no soul. It is an endless sea of people, cars, streets, freeways and parking lots. There are many malls. You can find anything you need in L.A, but nothing you’d want. So much of everything is nothing.

New York — a million times the city L.A. is — has been the setting for countless classic films and hundreds of good ones and of course quite a few mediocre and bad ones. L.A. cannot compare — even though it is where many films are made — but it has been the setting for some of American cinemas greatest films. In other words for New York I could probably list fifty great films. For other cities, five would be a stretch, for L.A. I managed a top ten. 

Here it is.

Chinatown (1974) Polanski. One of the ten greatest films of all time and the one that is the classic expression of what the L.A. area is all about: greed, corruption and water rights. L.A. between the wars was not a boomtown but a boommetropolis. Polanski, brilliant set and costume designers and a cast led by Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway made it all look luscious. L.A. was certainly more habitable then and maybe had a bit of charm. Maybe not in Chinatown though.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) Tarantino. This the L.A. of fifty areas ago. It’s  good in in depicting that time that you can’t believe it’s time-stamped 2019. The sights the sound (it’s the car radios in the background that clinch the deal) and you’d swear the smell of L.A. in 1969. A masterpiece of design and mood and of capturing a place and time.

Sunset Blvd.(195) Wilder. Here we go back to the L.A. of 1950 when the boom was cresting and Hollywood and the studio system were still riding high. The decadence is on full display via the home of aging silent star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson in almost a case of it takes one to know one), the desperate wannabe, Joe Gillis is captured perfectly by William Holden. It’s sad, creepy but magnificent. 

The Big Sleep (1946) Hawks. This is noir L.A. at its best, which can be quite entertaining though generally not comparable to noir New York or San Francisco. L.A. actually looks interesting here. Neighborhoods, cafes and that bohemian house where the initial murder takes place.

Double Indemnity (1944) Wilder. Here again L.A. looks tolerable. The Dietrichson home and neighborhood are pleasant enough. Downtown L.A. is a wonderfully noir-like as is Walter Neff’s apartment. Overall it feels less L.A. than the other films here listed. That’s a good thing.

Pulp Fiction (1994) Tarantino. Nineties L.A. Get your kahuna burger. There’s nothing pretty about this L.A. and we see plenty of it. It is the functional L.A. with places to hang your hat, eateries, clubs and — if you’re into it —drug dealers. Nobody stops to look at what’s around them. There’s too much going on for that. A great place to be famous or anonymous.

Shampoo (1975) Ashby. It was set in November 1968 and filmed in ’74-75 so it captures a bit of both eras. This is a hip L.A. with Warren Beatty playing the classic Southern Californian — totally vacuous and yet desired. Riding his chopper from one sexual assignation to the next, he’s totally oblivious to any “real world” problems. He’s all in that empty head — ya know, just like L.A. itself. That party in the hills is L.A. at its hippest.

Rebel Without a Cause (195 5) Ray. High school L.A. the Griffith observatory and some of the homes seem pleasant enough. This is L.A. as an over-populated suburb. Gum-snapping, hot rods and the sense that there’s gotta be a malt shop around the corner. It’s teen land.

Boyz N the Hood (1991) Singleton. Not the L.A. we’re used to seeing in films. This is heavily African-American and say, where have Black people been in other L.A. films? Except for the maids and valet parking attendants they’ve been tucked away. This is a very real L.A. with starkly human stories and tragedies. A rare but important glimpse into the L.A. that their police forces tried to beat into submission.

The Long Goodbye (1973) Altman. Seventies noir L.A. with an updated version of the same Philip Marlowe Bogie played in the Big Sleep. This time it's an uber cool Elliot Gould doing the honors. Altman-style L.A. is voguish noir, with naked girls next door and angry mobsters showing up unexpectedly. There’s also the big beach house and parties. Looks like fun.

A Streams Classic From 2017 Explores My Love of Films -- Lovingly

I've been working furiously on a novel lately and so haven't had much time to post on ye olde blog. I know many of legion of readers are desperate for something so I'm presenting a Streams of Unconsciousness classic. This one from May 2017. I had hoped to write something but it would have been political and I think we can all use a break right now (though there's no hiding from what's going on in this country and I'll address it eventually). Anyway, this is pretty far from political. It's a tribute to film. I hope you like it.

I Love Films and Here's Why

Ingmar Bergman  Woody Allen  Mr. Smith Goes to Washington  Humphrey Bogart  Jules quoting bible verse in Pulp Fiction  The way John Ford frames shots  Barbara Stanwyck seducing Henry Fonda in Lady Eve falling for Gary Cooper in Meet John Doe making a monkey out of Fred MacMurray in Double Indemnity  Europa switching from black and white to color and back Chaplin's Little Tramp  Jake Giddes being told it’s Chinatown  Redford and Hoffman as Woodward and Bernstein  Psycho  Joel Grey MC in Cabaret  William Holden  Denzel  Fellini  The Bicycle Thieves  The exquisite beauty of Barry Lyndon  The exquisite mystery of 2001  Happy couple in the city in Murnau’s Sunrise  Brando and Leigh in Streetcar  The tracking shots in Goodfellas

Franklin Pangborn perennial bit player in '30s and '40s  Vivre Sa Vie  Battleship Potemkin  Indiana Jones outrunning a boulder  Alec Baldwin’s pep talk in Glengarry  Michael Keaton and Edward Norton in Birdman  The shadows in The Third Man  Llewyn Davis gamely trying to become a star Faye Dunaway more than holding her own opposite Nicholson McQueen Hoffman Beatty Some Like it Hot  Finding out who Tyler Durden really is  Tarkovsky  The cinema photography in Raging Bull  The soundtrack to Midnight in Paris  The helicopter and The Doors in the opening scene of Apocalypse Now  Myna Loy and William Powell on screen banter  The ending of Melancholia  The ensemble cast of Down by Law  Anton Chigurh played by Javier Bardem Harold Lloyd  The dialogue, the humor, the story in His Girl Friday  Cary Grant opposite Irene Dunne Ann Sheridan Jean Arthur Constance Bennett Rosalind Russell Katherine Hepburn Ingrid Bergman  The Great Escape  The climactic dance scene in Footloose  Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind  Antonious Block vs. The Devil in Seventh Seal  It’s party time in Animal House Jimmy Stewart transforming Kim Novak in Vertigo  Marlene Dietrich  Hearts and Minds  Wes Anderson  Au Revoir Les Enfants Chimes at Midnight  Persona Joel McCrea and Randolph Scott in Ride the High Country  The Bride of Frankenstein  The Rug and White Russians in The Big Lebowski  The flawless career of Finland's Aki Kaurismaki  Ping ping ping in Das Boot  Taking your date to see the Sorrow and the Pity in Annie Hall  Monica Vitti   I'm funny how? in Goodfellas Umberto D  Once Upon a Time in Anatolia  Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under the Influence Polanski's gorgeous Tess starring the gorgeous Natasha Kinski   You're going to need a bigger boat   The Passion of Joan of Arc Roma: Open Citti  Rufus T Firefly Wolf T Flywheel J Cheever Loophole Otis B Driftwood Quincy Adams Wagstaff  Dr. Hackenbush S Quentin Quale Taking Omaha Beach in Saving Private Ryan  Christmas Eve in Fanny and Alexander  Angels watching over Berlin in Wings of Desire Two men drinking milk and talking in Inglourious Basterds  Ossie Davis saying 'you've got to do the right thing'  The shrinking jury room in 12 Angry Men   Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper tearing it 

up in Silver Linings Playbook   Sunset Blvd. Claudette Colbert  The brave pacifism of All Quiet on the Western Front  Bull Durham  Jules et Jim  It's A Wonderful Life a Christmas staple  The road trip in Y Tu Mama Tambien The long shots in Grapes of Wrath  A Sea of umbrellas in Foreign Correspondent  Investigation of a Citizen Beyond Suspicion The transformation of Bill Murray in Groundhog Day Cinemaphotographers: Haskell Werner Gordon Willis Gregg Toland Sven Nykvist Vittora Storaro Robert Richardson Vilmos Zsigmond Jack Cardiff Robert Burks Kazuo Miyagawa The key in NotoriousDuck Soup Isaac Davis railing about intellectuals in Manhattan Red Desert  I am Spartacus!  The car chase (of course) in Bullitt  Rosebud A woman saying goodbye to her lover going off to battle in The Big Parade The ExorcistEvery second of Heaven's Gate The Emigrants and The New Land La HaineOlivier as Hamlet and as Richard III  The dance scene in Band of OutsidersAkira Kurosawa  Holden says 'let's go' in the Wild Bunch Melville's brilliant debut Silence De Lar Mer  Bonnie & Clyde reimagines cinema  The Stunning Stefania Sandrelli in I Knew Her Well  Bogie goes mad in Treasure of the Sierra Madre Joan Blondell Rushmore The starkness of The Last Picture ShowThe best of pre code from William Wellman: Wild Boys of the Road and Heroes for Sale  The ultimate musical A Hard Day's Night Buster Keaton's The General Sullivan's Travels Jeanne Moreau walking in the rain in Elevator to the Gallows  Attica! Attica! Cate Blanchett Ice Storm Fred & Ginger dancing cheek to cheek Intertwining stories by Altman in Nashville Gosford Park and Short Cuts  Diane Keaton The doubting pastor in Winter Light  Matti Pellonpaa and Kati Outinen sharing screen time Paths of Glory Jean Harlow Max von Sydow  Zodiac: the soundtrack, the re-creation of 70s SF, the cast  Anna Magnani in anything but especially Mamma Roma Germano Maccioni a directing star on the rise Early 1900s New York in Godfather Part 2  Match Point  Wes Anderson's casts Elizabeth Taylor  The storms of Take Shelter The ending and all of Personal Shopper La Dolce Vita 

Hey! Get Out of My Country, Ten Great Films Set in Europe During the Nazi Occupation

The Train

I recently noted that among my favorite films of all time are several that take place in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II. It’s not altogether surprising as there are so many excellent films that have been made about the war starting from while it was being fought through today — some eighty years later. Nazis themselves are cinematic being ready-made villains that everyone (well, almost) can root against. Occupation by an invading force is always fodder for films. The tension, the fear, the utter outlandishness of it all are all in place. Bravery and resourcefulness will be called upon while collaborators will be ever present. Lives and the future of one's homeland are at stake. Most of the stories told are true (who needs to fictionalize such escapades?) or based on actual events. Here are my ten favorite such films.  They come from varying times with the first made in 1942 and the last in 2009. There are four French films and one each from Italy and Czechoslovakia. There are nine different directors and among them are some of filmdom's best. Three of the films are in my top 100, four others just outside of it and three more I much admire.

Army of Shadows (1969) Melville. The best and most realistic fictional cinematic look at the French resistance ever made. Grim, cold bleak days with brave men and women going about life or death tasks with all the verve of accountants. There are no romances, no dashing figures, it’s too real to play to the audience like that. Collaborators are dealt with coldly and efficiently, lives are of far less importance than the cause. It is both a difficult film to watch and utterly compelling. 

Le Silence de la Mer (1949) Melville.  This is more about the occupation of a single house as a French family must endure a German officer who is billeted in their bucolic home. The family is cold to the intruder who seems a decent sort (well, aside from being a Nazi). He is a former composer whose very essence seems at odds with the uniform he wears. It’s a fascinating look at another of the many costs of war.

The Train (1964) Frankenheimer. Burt Lancaster saves precious works of art from the Nazis. While there is action aplenty, this is many respects a somber film. Lancaster plays a resistance fighter who also happens to work for the railroad. He leads an effort to thwart Nazi plans to take some of France’s most precious works of art out of the country as the allies close in. Christopher Plummer and Jeanne Moreau co-star.

The Pianist (2002) Polanski. Adrien Brody gave an Oscar-winning performance as Władysław Szpilman, the great classical pianist who somehow survived Nazi occupation and the holocaust in the Warsaw ghetto. By turns depressing and inspiring, the Pianist drew some of its inspiration from director Roman Polanski’s own experiences in the ghetto.

Au Revoir Les Enfants (1987) Malle. For me one of the great films of all-time. Beautiful and heart-breaking. Julien is a tween student at a catholic boarding school who befriends a new student named Jean. Gradually Julien figures out that there is something different about his new friend, he’s a Jew. Indeed he is one of several hiding out in the school with the aid of the priest and headmaster. It’s a wonderful story of adolescent boys negotiating relationships; only in their case the Nazi occupiers form the backdrop to the story and ultimately bring it tragedy.

The Last Metro (1980) Truffaut. The story of a theater in the Montmartre section of Paris from early in the occupation through the end of the war. Catherine Deneuve and Gérard Depardieu star. The theater owner successfully defies the Nazis, fights censorship and shortages to maintain cultural integrity. The Last Metro was an awards season smash and deservedly so. As Vincent Canby of the New York Times wrote, “a dazzlingly subversive work.”

Inglorious Basterds

Inglorious Basterds (2009) Tarantino. Quentin Tarantino’s fantasy alternate history of Jewish-American commandos going behind enemy lines to wreak havoc among the enemy. “We in the killin' Nazi business. And cousin, business is a-boomin’” says their leader Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt). They ultimately go on a mission to kill the Nazi leadership — including Hitler — who are all in Paris. Shosanna Dreyfus owns the theater where they’ll be convening and as a Jew whose family was killed by the Nazis, she has similar inclinations. It's all makes for a magnificent movie. Christoph Waltz gives an iconic performance as the famed Jew hunter.

Closely Watched Trains (1966) Menzel. This is more the story of a young man coming of age as he embarks on a career in a cushy job as a train dispatcher. He also discovers love but finds the act of making love a challenge. Trains is perhaps the best known of the Czech New Wave. Nazis play a very small role in the film but as was the case in occupied Europe, their presence is constant and unpleasant backdrop to life. They end up being crucial to the denouement.

Rome: Open City (1945) Rossellini. The forerunner of the neorealism movement, Open City began filming only months after the Nazis fled Rome and as the war in Europe still raged. The war-ravaged streets of Rome provided the sets, which, along with the many non-actors appearing gives the film a documentary feel. This is a real, raw, heart-breaking look at the effect of Nazi occupation and the heroic individuals who defied it. Among the protagonists is the priest Don Pietro Pellegrini (played by comic actor Aldo Fabrizi in a masterstroke of casting) a real figure. His story is at the heart of Open City. The brilliant Anna Magnani also stars.

To Be or Not to Be (1942) Lubitsch. We close with lighter fare. The one comedy on the list and it’s an exceptional one. How can it miss under the direction of Ernst Lubitsch with Jack Benny and Carole Lombard starring? As one would expect there are laughs aplenty but they are somewhat muted by the reality of the setting being Nazi-occupied Warsaw. Benny and Lombard play a married couple who are part of an acting troupe. They use their dramatic skills to stymie Nazi efforts to root out the resistance movement. Amazing that it was made during the war.

Eight Suggested Double Feature, All Featuring Female Leads

Ninotchka

Regular readers of this blog (Edlerberry Winthorp of Bellow Falls, Vermont) may recall that last year I offered my second post suggesting double features for your viewing pleasure. I finally noticed that every one of those films centered around a male character or characters. I therefore determined to provide this third iteration in the series, now with movies featuring strong female leads. Enjoy.

Ninotchka (1939) Lubitsch and Silver Linings Playbook (2012) Russell — Love Against the Odds. Greta Garbo and Jennifer Lawrence fall in love with characters played by Melvyn Douglass and Bradley Cooper, respectively. But as the great bard said, “the course of true love never did run smooth.” Garbo must overcome the small matter of being a cog in the wheel of the immense Soviet bureaucracy in the 1930s while her beloved is a count living in France. As for Lawrence her intended is struggling with emotional issues — then again, so is she. For either one to be on the same page as anyone else is a struggle. For this pair to sort out their romance seems an impossibility. Spoiler alert: in both films, love prevails and in both cases it’s damn entertaining stuff. Ninotchka is the very embodiment of a classic comedy, directed by Lubitsch with a script by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett. Silver Linings deals honestly with mental illness, if with a light touch. The cast includes a bloke named Robert DeNiro.

Vivre Sa vie (1962) Godard and Nights of Cabiria (1957) Fellini — Struggles In the World’s Oldest Profession. Anna Karina and Julietta Musina are both ladies of the night who long for better days. Neither one enjoy a happy fate, but their stories make for engaging viewing and they are two of my favorite female leads of any genre. They are in their own ways wise women who are victims of deeply ingrained sexism. Their fates may seem inevitable but even with repeat viewings, we root them on. Vivre sa vie (my life to live) is my favorite Godard film and Karina is one reason why. She is stoic, she is thoughtful, she is powerless, she is powerful, she is beautiful, she is vulnerable. She contradictorily accepts her fate while challenging it. The twelve episodes that make up the film are wonderfully individual yet connected. It's remarkable that the film clocks in at under ninety minutes yet is so rich. Nights is one of several masterpieces by Fellini. Cabiria is a fun-loving woman who wants out of "the life" and to attain that end she saves her money. There is a spirit to this character that is totally engaging to audiences and she is impossible not to root for. Our heart breaks for but we also celebrate her indomitable spirit.

Little Women

Little Women (2019) Gerwig and The Suicide Virgins (1999) S. Coppola — Sisterhood is Powerful. Different times, different pressures, different circumstances. The siblings in Little Women have supportive parents and enjoy their freedom. While the girls of  Suicide Virgins, though living in the supposedly enlightened late 20th century, are victims of parental oppression. These are excellent films about the power and limits of sisterhood. Little Women is a familiar story having lived in American culture for over 150 years with numerous film adaptations. It mixes soaring ambition, family love, tragedy, success and romance. The trite phrase, timeless classic applies. The Suicide Virgins in my estimation, also deserves to be considered a classic. This was Sofia Coppola's directorial debut and she hit out of the ballpark. Here we have five siblings who, after an unsuccessful suicide attempt by one sibling, are closely monitored by their overly protective, uber religious parents. The story is told from the perspective of the male classmates who are fascinated by the sisters. It is an engaging story from beginning to the inevitable end. Kirsten Dunst steals the show.

Juno (2007) J. Reitman and Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always (2020) Hittman — Teen Pregnancy. Two movies about teenagers — both still in high school — who become pregnant. Juno has the baby then puts it up for adoption. In Never Rarely, the protagonist, who does not enjoy the loving brood that Juno does, travels to New York with a cousin for an abortion. In both cases our protagonist has the power of choice and we root her on. Juno was a main stream success starring the then Ellen Page along with Michael Cera. It is a charming story with broad appeal that deftly mixes comedy and drama. It received several Oscar nods, including one for best picture. Never, Rarely is in no way a comedy and was not widely seen, though critically acclaimed. This is a far heavier tale about the grim reality of a teenager seeking an abortion in the big city. I thought it was one of the best films of 2020.

Blonde Venus (1932) von Sternberg and Morocco (1930) von Sternberg -- Marlene Stands By Her Men. What can be better than a Marlene Dietrich double feature, with both films directed by her frequent collaborator, Joseph von Sternberg? Both films feature some of Dietrich’s signature musical numbers. In Morocco, Dietrich gives up everything for the man she loves (Gary Cooper) while in Blonde Venus, her self-sacrificing character has an affair that leads to a custody battle that leads to life on the road and eventually to reconciliation with her hubby (Herbert Marshall). Dietrich plays a night club singer in both and in both she, at least temporarily, gives up her career to be with the man she loves. In Blonde Venus she performs several numbers, most notably "Hot Voodoo" in a gorilla suit. Her signature performance in Morocco is of "What Am I Bid for this Apple?" done in a man's tuxedo.

The Lady Eve

The Lady Eve (1941) Sturges and All About Eve (1950) Mankiewicz --Scheming Eves. In the great Preston Sturges film, Eve (Barbara Stanwyck) seeks to bilk a scion Charlies Pike (Henry Fonda) out of a chunk of the family fortune but then falls in love. However Pike is told of Eve's past and breaks off their engagement. The embittered Eve seeks revenge by posing as another woman for Pike to fall in love with. Her plans go awry when, again, she falls for the poor sap. The Lady Eve is one of the great screwball comedies of all time highlighted by the Stanwyck-Fonda pairing, but immeasurably aided by a typically stellar Sturges supporting cast. In our other film the Eve in question (Anne Baxter) looks to supplant the great actress Margo Channing (Bette Davis) in the theater world. Eve maneuvers herself into Channing's inner circle, acting the innocent ingenue. But she has other plans which not only threaten Channing's career, but her relationships as well. Simply put, this Eve is a real stinker.

The Letter (1940) Wyler and Tess (1979) Polanski — Murderess, She Wrote. The Letter starts with a murder of a lover and Tess ends with one. Both women leave behind men who love them. Bette Davis in The Letter escapes legal jeopardy, but revenge is extracted and she pays the ultimate price. This is my favorite Bette Davis film, she may have been as good in others, but never better. She's not only a murderer and a cheat but a liar -- and a pretty good one at that. Natasha Kinski in Tess does not escape the long arm of the law after killing the lover she never wanted. Tess is a victim of rigid social mores in a terribly sexist society where women have no legal rights and must adhere strictly to a rigid moral code that does not apply to men. Kinski is radiant as the gorgeous, vulnerable, resilient ill-fated title character. The film is an absolute masterpiece directed by Roman Polanski.

Ida (2013) Pawlikowski and Viridiana (1961) Bunuel — To Nun or not to Nun. Two stories about young women who choose to marry god, both of whom are tempted by the secular world. One succumbs, but the other remains true to her calling. Ida is a Polish film from director Paweł Pawlikowski and Viridiana a Mexican production from the great Luis Bunuel. Ida won the Academy Award for best foreign language film, the first Polish film to do so. The title character is about to take her vows when told she must meet her aunt, a former Communist state prosecutor and only surviving relative, who tells her that her parents were Jewish. The two women embark on a road trip into the Polish countryside to learn the fate of their relatives. On the journey Ida experiences and enjoys aspects of the secular life. Viridiana is similarly set to take her vows when called away. In her case by an uncle. The uncle turns out to be a sexual predator who covets Viridiana and from his attempts to "take her" our story takes different twists and turns leaving Viridiana to choose between two lives. 

From Cats on Roofs to Chinatown and Hippies With a lot of Sharon Tate, The Nine Most Recent Films I've Watched

Shampoo

Let’s check in on the last nine films I’ve watched. You'll  notice a few themes that run through many of them such as Sharon Tate and the Manson family. Tate's husband Roman Polanski will be referenced a few times as well.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) Brooks. Watching this movie is an extremely frustrating experience. The strictures of censorship turned what could have been a great movie into a passable one. Based on the Tennessee Williams play of the same name it features a great cast in top form: Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor (as gorgeous a pair of co-stars as you’ll ever see) Burl Ives, Judith Anderson and Jack Carson. As compelling as the film is, the story was eviscerated by cutting all the play’s homosexual themes, a fact that — unsurprisingly — angered Williams. His artistic vision was ruined and what should have been a strong statement on homophobia and sexism was instead merely a vehicle for great acting. As if that weren't bad enough, studio execs altered the ending of the film to make it more palatable for audiences, something Hollywood bigwigs are want to do. Cat was a critical and commercial success and is certainly still well worth a look, but oh, what might have been.

Shampoo (1975) Ashby. With this my latest viewing of Shampoo it occurred to me that the film is  about the death of hope. The sadness of the film is masked to a great degree by watching star Warren Beatty bed-hopping with various women, namely Lee Grant, Goldie Hawn, Julie Christie and Carrie Fisher — all in a 24-hour period, mind you. Beatty co-wrote the script with Robert Towne (more on him later) about a wildly popular and lascivious hairstylist (Beatty) who wants to own his own shop. The main character is based on two real people, one of whom was Jay Sebring who was killed alongside Sharon Tate by members of the Manson Family. He seeks start-up capital from the husband (Jack Warden) of one of his lovers (Grant). Meanwhile the potential investor is himself having an affair with an ex of Beatty’s (Christie). Shampoo begins on election eve 1968 and the election and its results (a Nixon victory) are no mere window dressing. Shampoo is about the death of the Sixties and  the decadence of America’s noveau riche who partied on while the high hopes of the Sixties died. Shampoo, is a terrific multi-layered film that is not only very much of the time it was set but of the time it was made with a strong Seventies cinema sensibility. Shampoo has less of a Hal Ashby stamp to it then some of the other excellent films he made in the seventies, probably because Beatty essentially co-directed. It's also been said that the script, which had been in development for about five years, was ultimately influenced by the murderous rampage by the Manson Family, the most famous victim being Sharon Tate.

Sharon Tate

The Wrecking Crew (1968) Karlson. Watching a really bad film is only tolerably if a) you know it’s going to be bad and b) there’s a reason beyond enjoying a cinematic experience for you to watch it. I correctly anticipated the Wrecking Crew would be a stinker, although I didn’t know the stench would be quite so bad. There’s no better example than when the film’s star (Dean Martin as Matt Helm) leaps over a hedge, lands on a lawn and the ground ripples. Or when Helm and his leading lady are landing a helicopter and it is evident that the vehicle is being operated by a stunt double who bears only a vague resemblance to Helm. Wrecking Crew’s credibility is not helped by the many scenes in the hills of Denmark (Denmark has no hills) that strongly resemble the hills of Southern California. The fight scenes are boring, the dialogue seems written by a 12-year-old and the plot is beyond absurd. But I was compelled to watch the movie because of Martin’s co-star, Sharon Tate. Wrecking Crew features in Quentin Tarantino’s brilliant film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood where we see Tate (as played by Margot Robbie) enter a movie theater and gleefully watch herself in the film. I’d also been thinking a lot about Tate because of the podcast You Must Remember This which had a series on Charlie Manson’s Hollywood which naturally centered around the murder of Sharon Tate and others by members of the Manson Family. I’ve been “having to watch” Wrecking Crew ever since Once Upon a Time… came out and the podcast was the tipping point. I’m glad I’ll never have to watch it again, though I have to say that for all the film’s faults, Tate was a delight to watch.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) Sciamma. This one of the rare cases of a film I admire but don’t like. I think its a terrific movie and and understand and appreciate that it's loved by many, particularly feminists and the LGBTQ community. But it didn’t work for me. I couldn't warm up to either main character. I was not at all bothered by the subject matter and indeed thought it was a good story. Portrait was beautifully shot — well, hell, there’s nothing wrong with it, I just didn’t like it. Happens.

Daily Miller

Daisy Miller (1974) Bogdanovich. As mentioned previously on this blog I've recently listened to TCM’s The Plot Thickens podcasts in which Ben Mankiewicz interviewed Peter Bogdanovich. I have subsequently watched all of Bogdanovich’s films (almost all, I passed on a few that were very poorly received). The last of these was Daisy Miller starring Bogdanovich’s then girlfriend, Cybill Shepard in the title role. I’d never seen Daisy Miller before and was suitably impressed. For all its merits Daisy tanked at the box office. As Bogdanovich himself has said it came out at a time when the movie-going public was not interested in period pieces. Twenty years later, he has speculated, it might have been a hit. Based on an 1878 novella by Henry James, Miller is about a young, beautiful, wealthy and obnoxious American woman traveling in Europe and being pursued by various suitors, one of whom is a fellow American who has our sympathies. He is played by Barry Brown and yes, I said “who?” when I saw his name too. Brown was a strange cat who Bogdanovich said liked to read the obituaries in the morning paper. He took his own life five years after Miller, at the age of 27. More’s the pity because based on Miller he was a fine actor, this was his biggest role.

Chinatown (1974) Polanski. There’s so much going on with this film that it deserves a book and indeed there is a new one out and following my latest viewing of Chinatown I ran out (actually my wife drove me to the bookstore) and bought it. The book is called The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood and it's by Sam Wasson. After two days I’m halfway through the book and loving it. I’m not the only person who regards Chinatown as one of America’s greatest films and likewise its screenplay, by Robert Towne as virtually unparalleled in cinema history. I also think it is the quintessential 1970s American film (high praise indeed) despite the fact that there are three others I hold in slightly higher regard (Manhattan (1979), The Godfather (1972) and Taxi Driver (1975)). Previously I mentioned Shampoo is a sad film about the death of hope. Compared to Chinatown, Shampoo is Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. There is utter despair in the ending. The rich and powerful are victorious and get away -- literally -- with murder. The woman in the picture, Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) who at first seems something of a femme fatale, tries mightily to protect her daughter (her sister) from a rapacious evil that is capitalism personified in the person of Noah Cross (John Huston) the man who once owned -- literally -- water and now profits of it and directs its path like a god. The private detective J.J. Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is a cynic who revels in dirty jokes and happily takes divorce cases but comes to love Mulwray and tries to save her and her daughter (sister). Screenwriter Robert Towne had a happier ending in mind but director Roman Polanski had other better ideas. Still reeling from the murder of his wife Sharon Tate at the hands of Mason Family members, he wasn’t about to put a smiley face at the end of a story about greed, corruption and incest. But Chinatown is not the slightest bit depressing. It’s too damn good for that. It is something of a message film as it is something of a seventies noir and something or a murder mystery. It defies easy classification. What it surely is is brilliant collaboration of writer, director, producer, cast and crew to create a uniquely American expose of America itself and its worst manifestations under capitalism. Can’t wait to finish the book and to watch the film again.

Love and Mercy (2014) Pohlad. This is an excellent film  that deserved more recognition. When I initially saw it five years ago it inspired me to re-visit The Beach Boys music and gain a greater appreciation for the group's leader, Brian Wilson.The film is a showcase for actors Paul Dano and John Cusack who play Wilson at different ages. They were both excellent. (Paul Giamatti gives a masterful performance as the the psychotherapist Dr. Eugene Landy who for years cruelly controlled and manipulated Wilson). Love and Mercy is a celebration of genius which is unquestionably what Wilson is. It is also a look at mental illness which Wilson unquestionably has. (Not the first time those two have gone together.) It is also a story of how the love of another person — Wilson’s second wife Melinda (Elizabeth Banks) -- can have a curative and redeeming effect on a person. It’s a fine movie. (Side note: Beach Boy Dennis Wilson -- Brian's brother -- for a short time hosted Manson Family members in his home.)

Tess

Tess (1979) Polanski. Truly one of the most beautiful films ever made. It is an epic tragedy based on the Thomas Hardy novel of the same name. Tess is a victim. She is a victim of rape. A victim of the horribly sexist mores of Victorian society. A victim of her earnestness and of a young man’s capriciousness. Like many tragedies it is full of if-onlys. If this hadn’t happened, if she hadn’t said this or he hadn’t done that. Natasha Kinski then 17, gave a perfect performance as Tess despite not even being British. She is as stunning a screen presence as one will ever see. Tess faces everyone and everything matter of factly and accepts her fates stoically. Clearly there is bafflement at times, shock and disappointment at others but she does not break down. Indeed she keeps going, forever walking through the British countryside (though Tess was filmed in France). Misfortune and the vagaries of relationships including heartbreak do not stop her. Tess is a woman on a mission, though to or for what is not clear. There are scenes of great beauty in Tess: Tess’ suitor Angel carrying her and three companions across a flooded road; Tess’ rapist/benefactor trying to talk reason to Tess at a threshing machine; A group of girls in long pretty white dresses dancing in a field at twilight; Stonehenge at daybreak; A deer approaching a sleeping Tess in the forest; And all those country roads. Tess, of course, suffers a sad fate, one that could easily have been so different. But that’s life, isn’t it. We are at the mercy of chance and at our own decisions, ones often made in haste and in youth. Polanski dedicated the film to his late wife, Sharon Tate who first suggested he make a cinematic version of Tess.

Revolution (1968) O'Connell. For me the most amazing aspect of this film is that I’d never seen it before. Revolution is a documentary (available on YouTube) about the hippie scene in San Francisco in 1967 which was then at its apex. Revolution focuses primarily on hippies in and around Golden Gate Park and the Haight Ashbury district — the epicenter of the hippies. We meet several young hippies, as they talk about love, sex, drugs and defying societal norms. We see hippies tripping on acid (a must for all self-respecting counter culturists of the time) grooving at concerts, frolicking in the nude, engaging in rap sessions, spare-changing and romping around in the park. A few “straights” are interviewed as well to give their perspective on the burgeoning hippie revolution. It is a fascinating time capsule and for me a bit of stroll down memory lane. I was a young teen across the bay in Berkeley which at the time  — particularly around Telegraph Avenue — was also a hotbed of hippie activity. I was a bit of one myself, although at the same time I was a jock. (I was a strange kid.) There is everything hopeful about the people and scenes in Revolution. We are witnessing a clarion call for peace, love, understanding and a rejection of capitalist greed and conformity. Revolution depicts the short-lived golden age of the hippies. Soon the movement would be ruined by profiteers, criminals, drug abuse, the Manson family murders, Altamont and the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy. Still the hippie movement has had a lasting and positive impact on our culture and the documentary goes a long to show what the Hippie spirit was all about.

Peace.

Tess and Amy: A Tale of Two Women, One Fictional One Real, Who Both Lived Tragic Lives

“Never in her life – she could swear it from the bottom of her soul – had she ever intended to do wrong; yet these hard judgments had come. Whatever her sins, they were not sins of intention, but of inadvertence, and why should she have been punished so persistently?”
 -- From Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy.

Goddamn but Tess was dealt a lousy hand. She was like a female Job, but her ill fortunes did not come courtesy of a deity but from the actions of men, one in particular. Tess endures much of the kind of suffering that has been visited on women throughout history -- sexual, societal, patriarchal. Tess is beautiful, she is vulnerable, she is stubborn, she is taciturn, yet passionate. She is undone in part by her own moral code, one that demands that she be completely honest with her one true love to the point of revealing to him the ill use she suffered at the hands of another man and her consequent pregnancy (the child died as an infant). Tess could have lived happily ever after by keeping her mouth shut. Simple. Yet for her impossible.

It would be easy enough to declare Tess the culprit in her own demise. But she was the victim of an older man's aggression and it was her loving groom who could not stand the truth about her, as innocent as she may have been in the matter.

Of course Tess came from most humble beginnings and despite having a pathetic father and enabling mother, she may have gone on to happy a life, even with the added burden of being the oldest of a brood of six children. But fate intervened when her father found out he has noble blood. He sent Tess to "claim kin" with a rich woman who shared the family's original last name of d'Urbervilles (a name that her family purchased). It goes all wrong from there as instead of the woman, Tess meets her sophisticated, swarthy son, Alec.

No matter what happens to Tess she plods on. Literally. She is forever walking great distances and taking on whatever job presents itself. Tess falls for the interestingly named Angel Claire at a dairy farm and an ill fated romance ensues. Eventually abandoned by Angel (during their honeymoon) after reveling her past, Tess perseveres and initially and quite proudly rejects Alec's offers of help. But yield she does as her family's destitute state in the wake of father's death is too great a cross to bear. The price for financial salvation is giving herself body (though not soul) to Alec. When Angel finally comes to his senses and tries to reclaim his Tess the final tragedy unfolds.

It's impossible to blame Tess for anything that happens to her, however great the temptation. Yes she is stubborn and proud but these are hardly sins worth the defilement, rejection, poverty and abuse that visit the poor girl.

I recently read the Thomas Hardy novel for the first time then viewed Roman Polanski's film adaptation for the fourth time. Both are, in my estimation, masterpieces. They evoke the beauty of late 19th century England rural life, as well as the hardships and the cruelty. Both book and film are masterfully told by artists who were at the top of their respective fields. In the hands of less accomplished creators Tess the book or film could have been merely a tear jerkers, maudlin and weepy. Instead we have have a compelling story, a tragedy in the grand tradition of Shakespeare.

"If I could give it all back and walk down that street with no hassle, I would...." -- Amy Winehouse.

Among the great jazz singers, Tony Bennett ranked Amy Winehouse right up there with Billie Holliday and Ella Fitzgerald. Of course the world got far too small a sample of Winehouse’s great talent as she died at 27 from the effects of alcohol abuse, drugs and bulimia. The brilliant documentary Amy, just released last week on DVD, chronicles her amazing rise to stardom, her troubled times at the top and her predictable end.

Amy Winehouse loved music and she loved to sing and she was passionate and hugely talented. But she was overly influenced by rotten men who used and abused her. She was also an addict. While it is true that you are either an addict or not, there are degrees within the addiction community. I've heard from people who usage went beyond even mine (which is saying a lot). For some too much is never enough and for others too much is just a starting point. Amy Winehouse was clearly in the latter category, but with the right kind of guidance she could have gotten and stayed clean. While its true that a person is only successful in recovery if they want to be, it is also true that an addict can get helpful pushes and corresponding affection and support from those around her. We face our struggles with addiction both very much alone and within a community and support group of those fellow travelers and those who love us. Life is full of contradictions.

Addiction is difficult enough to conquer but when it is accompanied by a fame, well that I can't imagine. Worse still is sudden fame. From humble beginnings one is suddenly recognized and hounded everywhere. This is made clear in the documentary as we see dozens of camera flashes over and over as Amy emerges from a nightclub or hospital or car or her apartment. These flashes are accompanied by the ubiquitous shouted questions. The documentary served to redouble my hatred for the paparazzi.

Fame seems the ultimate double edged sword. Yes it confirms that one's art is appreciated worldwide and thus success has been achieved on a mass scale, but it also means a total loss of privacy. The ability to walk down a street alone is forfeited and details of a person's private life can be spread all over the tabloids, internet and TV. If, like Ms. Winehouse, there are ongoing personal struggles that are common knowledge, it would seem too great a cross to bear.

Was Amy Winehouse responsible for her own sad demise? Sure whatever happens to us is ultimately on us but the only break she ever got was enormous talent. Yes that sounds like a lot but it can't make up for not having a loving family or healthy relationships or freedom from addiction.

I did not discover Amy Winehouse's music until just after her death. I immediately bought all her albums and I've not tired of them yet. To me she is one of the greatest and most original musical artists of all time. Like three other greats, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin, she died at 27 and the world is a poorer place for their early departures.

One can only hope that the documentary and the story of Ms. Winehouse's life will serve as a cautionary tale for others, be they headed for great fame or not.

Just in Time for Halloween Polanski's Venus in Fur

It was a dark and stormy night.

After my second viewing of Roman Polanski's Venus in Fur I am convinced that what the great director has created in this film is a classic horror story. Witness the beginning of the movie where he telegraphs his intentions. It is the prototypical horror film opening. Thunder, lightening rain along with an appropriately jaunty but ominous soundtrack. The camera leads us down a Paris street and into a theater. There is but one man in the theater talking on his cell phone He has had a most frustrating day that is thankfully coming to an end. Soon he will be back home. Warm and cozy. Despite the man's frustrations it is all a perfectly ordinary experience and quite innocent. So starts many a horror film.

Enter a woman. She seems fairly normal though somewhat eccentric in speech and manner and perhaps a bit lower class. This contrasts with the man who is a sophisticate. Indeed he is the adapter and director of a play and his frustration stems from an inability to find its leading lady. The woman is there to audition though she is much too late and anyway he can see that she is quite wrong for the part. However we can quickly tell from their ongoing conversation that this is going to be one of those cinematic gambits where one character insists upon something and the other resists but you know that second character will eventually relents. Then it gets strange.

Gradually we discover certain things about the woman. For example her name is Vanda which happens to be the same as the character whose part she is reading for. Also Vanda has mysteriously gotten a hold of the entire script. The adapter/director, Thomas, is surprised by certain of Vanda's revelations but he is also taken by how well she reads for the part. Has he at last found his leading lady? Vanda has come very very well prepared not only knowing the play backwards and forwards but having brought costume changes for the audition.

Thomas and Vanda read together. Not just a scene but several. And Vanda doesn't just know Thomas' play, she has a story -- a seeming concoction -- about knowing his fiancé. There actually is no doubt she has met her, but the details of the meeting seem preposterous. This only adds to the mystery. It is a part of how their reading mixes the story of the play with the story of Thomas and the relationship he is forming with the ever more mysterious Vanda.

Just where and when they are reading the play and where and when they are taking to one another gets confused. We delight in this confusion. It is spooky great fun. Their relationship is fascinating series of twists and turns.

And what of this play? It is based on the novel by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch whose name has given us the term masochism. And in fact the play and the relationship of Thomas and Vanda are concerned with a masochistic man and the woman he loves and loves to be servile to.

The lightening and thunder continue to strike at various times always to accent the action in the theater. That all the action is between these two people in a theater does nothing to diminish how compelling a story we are watching. Venus in Fur is a masterpiece of intellectual drama. It is constant battle of wits between two people, one of whom is unarmed. Vanda holds all the aces.

Just who she is and how she comes to posses so much information is a fascinating mystery but of secondary importance to the manner in which she wraps poor Thomas and -- not so indirectly -- us, around her little finger.

I'll not spoil the ending, of course, but suffice to say it is satisfying in its consistency with the story as a whole. There are no cheap tricks here. Just mind games.

Emmanuelle Seigner is Vanda and Mathieu Amalric is Thomas and they are both up to these meaty roles. I've no doubt that Polanksi himself would have played Thomas had he made this film when he was younger but Amalric is an excellent actor who should be familiar to film goers.

Venus in Fur is a film that positively begs for repeat viewings and for me twice is not nearly enough. For one thing I haven't even begun to sort it all out although I will contine to try and won't mind failing at the effort. It will be well worth the time. Venus in Fur is now available on Netflx Instant and I can't recommend it enough particularly if you're looking for some spooky yet intellectually challenging viewing for your Halloween season.

This May Not End Well But You'll Like It - My Favorite Roman Polanski Films

BEWARE! SPOILERS FOLLOW

I only recently came off a Roman Polanski binge having watched all of his films that have gotten so much as middling reviews. Polanski is often forgotten when great directors are discussed perhaps because he has not been especially prodigious and he has thus far made but one movie that is certain to be forever remembered as a classic. Moreover he does not have a particular style or genre that he has made his own. Plus the man's name will forever be linked with a notorious multiple homicide in which his wife was a primary victim and a nasty sex scandal of which he was guilty. Oh and let's not forget that both of his parents perished in the Holocaust. But none of that should obscure the fact that Polanski is a damn good director who for 50 years has been cranking out some wonderful motion pictures.

There is a pattern to Polanski's films the discussion of which is a spoiler in and of itself so you are now fully warned. There are no happy endings, at least among the eight films that make up this list of my favorite Polanski films and the several others that I watched. The main character either doesn't live happily ever after or doesn't live period. While Polanski has taken a lot more than his fair share of knocks in life he has also been an internationally celebrated success since the early 1960s. The horrible childhood memories of living in Nazi occupied Warsaw and the murder of his pregnant wife Sharon Tate at the hands of the notorious Manson family are more than enough to make a bitter cynic out of any person. But Polanski's has never seemed angry or morose. Indeed his movies reflect a passionate artist who is meticulous and inspired. The endings may not be happy but the films are not somber or dark or even pessimistic.

Polanski succeeds as a director in large part because he uses excellent source material and often collaborates with top notch screenwriters like Robert Towne. Billy Wilder suggested that it is the screenplay that makes the film more than the auteur and Polanski's work is a strong supporting argument for that contention. He is clearly working from strong scripts.

Polanski takes on a variety of subject matters in various settings. Just these eight films alone represent such diverse times and places as Los Angeles in the 1930s, Scotland in the middle ages, Poland during WWII, England in the late 19th century, and contemporary London, Paris and New York.

Polanksi's films are not dominated by setting, character, music or atmosphere but are a blending of all these elements and more in whatever way best serves the story as a whole. While his films do not end happily for the characters they do for the audience. None are depressing and all are in some fashion or another memorable. I can't wait to see his next, Venus in Fur.

Chinatown (1974). "Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown." The hero of our story, Detective Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) lives to fight another day but evil triumphs in this '70s version of film noir that turns the genre on its head. Evil is personified by Noah Cross (John Huston) who has fathered a child with his daughter (Faye Dunaway) and wouldn't you know it he lives and its his daughter who takes a fatal bullet. Chinatown has surpassed greatness and lives in the rarefied air of classics, a status it richly deserves.

Tess (1979). It's got tragedy written all over it. You really want the title character (Natassia Kinski) to be able to settle down and experience a true they-lived-happily-ever-after denouement but you can also sense that's not happening. It's a shame. She's a nice kid and has continually gotten jacked around by men, a gender notorious for its lack of kindness toward women. Tess does not make it easier on herself suffering as she does from the dangerous flaws of honesty and pride. The ravages of fortune and the hectoring of one man gets to be too much and she finally commits murder. The film ends with her capture and the information that she was subsequently hung. Truly one of the most beautiful tragedies ever filmed.

Repulsion (1965). This is a brutally honest film about a woman who totally flips her lid and kills two people. So no one's perfect. A young woman (Catherine Deneuve) lives with her sister in a London flat. She has a good job, a suitor and is drop dead gorgeous. But she's also got serious emotional problems that spin out of control when big sister goes off on vacation with her boyfriend. Two men, including her beaux, enter the apartment at various times and neither makes it out alive. It's a brilliant examination of someone first teetering then going completely over the edge.

The Ghost Writer (2010). You talk about the bad guys winning....I'm going to trot out a tired old cliche and aver that this is a criminally underrated film that should have been showered with awards. Ewan McGregor plays a journalist who is hired to ghost write the memoirs of a Tony Blair like former British PM. He slowly begins to uncover some serious political chicanery and for planning an expose he is the victim of a rather untimely "accident."

MacBeth (1971). You may have heard of this play and its author, one William Shakespeare. You may also be aware this is one of his tragedies and tragedies do not, by definition, turn out well. One can make the case that MacBeth gets what's coming to him. This is one of the finest adaptations of a Shakespeare play I've ever seen and I can't wait to get a gander at its new Criterion edition coming soon (Hey Criterion! Send me a copy and I'll say nice things about it and you. Promise.)

Rosemary's Baby (1968). Let's put it this way: an innocent woman (Mia Farrow) gives birth to the devil's baby. Bleak enough for you? Oh but there's more. By the end of the film she seems perfectly ready to raise satan's spawn, she has given in to the forces of darkness. Rosemary's Baby is spooky. Mostly because it seems so real -- not that I believe for a second in a prince of darkness (well aside from Dick Cheney) but the tone of the movie suggests reality as horror not fantasy as horror as marked by the titular character's shout of "this is really happening!" while in a supposed slumber the seed is being planted.

The Pianist (2002). Okay well at last we have a hero who survives, is on the winning side, continues a successful career and no devil is born. Yeah that's nice but then again he did have to make it through the Holocaust so it's not like we're dancing in the aisles as the closing credits roll. Adrien Brody stars in the true story of a famous Jewish Polish pianist whose life is one of millions ripped asunder by the Nazis. All manner of horror is visited upon him and his family and friends and neighbors in Warsaw. He lives but to have gone through such horrors hardly suggests a victory.

The Tenant (1976).  Polanksi is the star as well as the director in his third film about apartment dwelling gone bad. Very bad. It follows Repulsion -- set in London -- and the New York based Rosemary's Baby. This is set in Paris and the evil villain seems to be the apartment itself which sets the tenant in the same direction as his predecessor in the apartment -- taking a swan dive out the window. It is eerie, strange, atmospheric and like most Polanksi films, brilliantly executed.