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| Holiday, the first film I watched in 2022 |
Nine days into the new year and I’ve already watched fourteen films. It is a pace that I can’t won’t shouldn’t couldn’t wouldn’t mustn’t shan’t maintain. Today for example, I reckon I’ll not watch a single one.
Anyhoo, I thought that it would be a worthwhile exercise for me to write some comments on each of them and thereby create a blog post for your reading pleasure. You’re welcome!
New’s Year’s Day
Holiday (1938) Cukor. An original member of my top 100 films of all-time, it’s a favorite this time of year as it includes a scene on New Year’s Eve. I’m sure I’ve watched Holiday over a dozen times, the first occasion being in the mid-eighties in a now defunct revival theater in Berkeley. Of course co-stars Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn are luminous but I’m increasingly impressed by Lew Ayres as Hepburn’s alcoholic younger brother. He is sad and wise and one can’t help rooting for him to break away from his oppressive father and job.
The Lost Daughter (2021) Gyllenhaal. It’s a sign of what a good year in cinema we’ve just had that this fine film could only manage the seventh spot on my top ten films of the year. Olivia Colman and Jesse Buckley sparkle in the this story of a middle-aged academic (Colman) named Leda on a working holiday in Greece. Much of the movie is a flashbacks of Leda's younger days (where she is played by Buckley) and her struggles as a young mother, her affair and the dissolution of her marriage. Meanwhile there is psychological drama aplenty, much of it involving Leda and her odd relationship with fellow vacationers, one of whom is ably played by the gorgeous Dakota Johnson.
January 2
Nightmare Alley (1947) Goulding. Based on its reviews I was not interested in seeing he Guillermo Del Toro remake. I’m not enamored of his directing style, finding it indulgent and excessive. But I did decide to re-visit the original as it was enjoying a revival. It’s a fine film with Tyrone Power — somewhat limited in range — solid in the lead. But it’s not a picture that sticks with me. A lot of late forties and early fifties noir is like that for me. Diverting while watching but ultimately forgettable.
The More the Merrier (1943) Stevens. For the first two-thirds or so of it’s running time, this is a classic screwball comedy that is utterly delightful. But for me the film fades towards the end. The plot goes off the rails and takes a roundabout way to get to the inevitable conclusion. Joel McCrea and Jean Arthur are excellent as the leads and the racist Charles Coburn (member of the White Citizen’s Council) deservedly won an Oscar for his supporting role, if a racist can be deserving of awards.
January 3
The Enemy Below (1957) Powell. Robert Mitchum is the captain of a destroyer in the South Atlantic during World War II locked in a life or death battle of wits with a German U-Boat commander. Dick Powell directed and did a fine job of fitting all the action into under an hour and forty minutes. A lot of fun as seemingly most Mitchum films are.
January 4
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| The Tragedy of MacBeth |
January 5
The Big Steal (1949) Siegel. Wow, what a fun movie. Director Dan Siegel crammed an amazing amount of action into a film that somehow clocks in at seven-one minutes. Mitchum stars opposite the underrated and lovely Jane Greer in a chase picture through much of Mexico (or so it seems). Money has been stolen and there's questions about who the real good guys and bad guys are. John Qualen, who appeared in seemingly half the films made between 1930 and 1960 and on TV through the early seventies, makes a rare appearance as a someone who is definitely a bad guy.
When Women Kill (1983) Grant. Better known as an actress, Lee Grant was also a documentarian. The good folks at Criterion Channel have put up a batch of them and this was my first look at a Grant-directed movie. In it she interviews about a dozen women who serving sentences for murdering men, usually either a boyfriend or husband. The exception being Leslie Van Houten who participated in the Tate-LaBianca murders as part of the Manson Family. It's not unsurprisingly a compelling film and I often found that my sympathy was largely toward the murderesses many of whom had been horribly treated by their eventual victims.
January 6
Lifeboat (1944) Hitchcock. Like virtually all Hitchcock films, I'm quite familiar with this gem. Also like most of the great director's pictures it is a pleasure to re-visit. I was once again drawn to the luminescent Tallulah Bankhead. Ms. Bankhead was a wild lady with a penchant for sex, booze, drugs and parties, some of which inspired her to get naked. During the filming of Lifeboat she had to climb some stairs everyday. This was much appreciated by crew members as she eschewed underwear.
January 7
People Will Talk (1951) Mankiewicz. Simply put, this film stinks. I'm so disappointed that I wasted nearly two hours watching it that I don't want to waste any more time writing about it. Certainly Cary Grant's worst film. Jeanne Crain was terrible and the pacing was awful.
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| Trouble In Paradise |
January 8
Mirror (1975) Tarkovsky. A film deservedly placed among my top 100, Mirror reveals something different every time one watches it. It defies easy explanation though it is ostensibly about a dying man looking back at his life. Several cast members play two roles, seemingly disconnected scenes are placed in the middle of the story and there is footage from Russian wars and the Spanish Revolution mixed in. Mirror demands repeat viewings and I already look forward to my next one.
Witness for the Prosecution (1957) Wilder. This was the first time I watched WFTP remembering exactly how it ended. That didn't diminish my enjoyment of it one iota. Billy Wilder wrote and directed (from an Agatha Christie story) and it starred Charles Laughton, Elsa Lanchester and Marlene Dietrich -- and a scenery chewing Tyrone Power. With the exception of my wife, no woman has ever aged as well as did Dietrich who looked nowhere near her true age of fifty-six -- especially not those gams.
January 9
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) Murnau. Another member of my top 100. It really deserves a better print although given that the original negative was destroyed that's a big ask. Sunrise was one of the first films to include a soundtrack which was composed of music, street noises and other ambient sound. It is a great example for film students of framing and letting the camera tell the story. Few title cards were used, especially after the first fifteen minutes. A masterpiece.
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