Reviews

Most of the comments so far have nailed this one right on the head. Viewers under "a certain age" and with IQ's of three digits should avoid "Chance of a Lifetime" like a George W.Bush appointee facing a Congressional grilling.

The cast is composed largely of veterans who know their way around a well-written script. Is the premise wildly original? No, but the movie stands out like a lighthouse at midnight in the current and non-ending glut of movies/TV geared to the most-desirable audience demographic of teenagers and "young adults"

In addition to Betty White and Leslie Neilsen in the leads, the cast also has ever-reliable veterans like Elaine Stritch and William Windom. The sharp dialog is effortlessly and effectively delivered by these pros.

"Chance of a Lifetime" is definitely not a movie for the Will Ferrell/Adam Sandler/"Saw" slasher gore-fests, "American Eye Dull," and ninety percent of the rest of the sludge ground out by Hollywood and TV.

I know I''m in the minority, but Meryl Streep's reputation continues to baffle me. "Sophie's Choice--yes. Much of her other work--HUH? Here she plays Miranda Frost as if she she is auditioning to be the hostess for "The Weakest Link." (One Anne Robinson is more than enough.) Anne Hathaway isn't bad--she looks eerily like a young Jacklyn Smith. I didn't see a great deal in Emily Blunt's performance. Stanley Tucci probably delivered the best performance. The plot was predictable--"The Best of Everything" did it much better, and it wasn't exactly the most original movie even when it appeared in the Fifties. If you blinked, you missed James Naughton's performance--I hope he was well-paid. (And I kept watching for a shot of the current Pope wearing his Prada. I will refrain from making any other comment about him and the title of the film.) The main impact of the movie was to make me want to watch Kay Thompson in "Funny Face" again.

The first time I saw "I Never Sang for My Father" was first-run in a theatre (one of the last movies I saw in a theatre). When the first frame and the offscreen voice of Gene Hackman came on screen, I started crying and cried throughout the movie: this was three generations of my family on screen. The identical scene and dialogue at the end of the movie was even more powerful. I can't help but think that many other fathers and sons will have a similar reaction. The same sensitivity that Robert Nathan showed in his magnificent screenplay for "The Nun's Story" is repeated here. His screenplay, as well as the performances of Melvyn Douglas and Gene Hackman, was nominated for an Oscar. All of them should have won--as should the movie itself. "Patton," the winner, was good--"Father"was great, a movie that has only gotten better with each repeated viewing. Everything about the movie--direction, production, writing, performances--is superb. The problem of caring for aging parents has, unfortunately, become even more prevalent in today's society. Anyone who is not tremendously moved by "I Never Sang for My Father" is advised stick to the dreck that constitutes most of today's fare. This is a movie that will always be relevant--I would give it more than ten stars!

Susan Hayward foolish? Dana Andrews a can't-get-a-date loser? No, I didn't think so either. But they are both so good in their roles that they no only make the film work, they make it a triumph. Hayward was nominated for an Oscar, as was Victor Young's glorious title-song. Both Hayward and Young should have won.

"My Foolish Heart" is essentially a "woman's film," a label that is frequently pejorative. (But then so is "Gone with the Wind.") What makes "Heart" so transcendent, besides Hayward and Andrews, is that the entire film is so well-crafted. The dialog is first rate--by turns poignant, rueful, comic, and sarcastic--from the Epstein twins of "Casablanca" fame. Mark Robson's direction is spot-on, and he has a great cast to work with. As Hayward's father, Robert Keith contributes a beautifully shaded performance. Kent Smith and Lois Wheeler are sympathetic as two who are injured bystanders. In her film debut, Jessie Royce Landis creates the first of her flighty women who are much more than they initially seem.

Victor Young's song is reprised several times during the film and was one of the first title-songs to achieve popularity. It is especially well used in the scene near the end when Hayward is waiting for Kent Smith to bring her a drink. She hits all her marks beautifully, and the song is stunningly used as background.

I doubt that any attempt at a remake would be nearly as successful as the original. They don't make 'em like his any more--no nudity, no questionable language, no violence: just top-notch acting, writing, direction, all set to a marvelous Victor Young score.

And it should be noted that Hayward, despite her Oscar and four other nominations is regrettably underrated and largely forgotten today. Andrews never was given his due when he was alive, and he had an impressive body of work-- for example, "Laura" and "The Best Years of Our Lives" (especially his scene in the moth-balled bomber)--that put him at the forefront of talented leading men of the Forties and Fifties.

There is hardly anyone in the cast that I particularly like and would normally tune in to watch. However, I recorded this and figured I could dump it if it wasn't good.

I didn't dump it.

I will say nothing about the plot--except that it will probably keep you guessing to the end. (At one point I correctly figured it out, but I soon changed my mind.) The clues are all there, so you won't feel cheated by the ending--surprised probably, but not cheated.

As for the cast, everyone is good. However, Veronica Hamel and Michele Green are not aging too well. Greene was, surprisingly, much less annoying than I usually find her; and John Ratzenberger was very likable in a totally different, for him, role.

"The Towering Inferno" is definitely one of the best of the 70's wave of disaster movies. The cast is a large and largely effective one, especially for this type of movie. Special effects are spectacular, especially when you realize that CGI technology was still on the horizon.

"Inferno" is often compared to "The Poseidon Adventure." Whereas "Poseidon" loads most of its spectacular effects at the beginning --after the wave hits and people and props smash around the ballroom-- the film turns into a tour of corridors and pipes, all of which is less than engrossing. "Inferno," on the other hand, maintains a steady diet of thrills to the end.

This appearance was Jennifer Jones' last to date. And she is incredibly beautiful--none of the other women in the cast is in Jones' league here. Moreover, her acting is quite good--less mannered than it was occasionally in other roles. She is one of those actresses--Dorothy McGuire also comes to mind--who have been largely forgotten and consequently very underrated and under-appreciated.

Fred Astaire also excels in his role. With this performance and his even-better job in "On the Beach" he shows that he was really far more than merely a song-and-dance man.

I can add little to the previous reviews. "Talking to a Stranger" is definitely a classic--Judi Dench is superb, and so is the rest of the cast. The good news for everyone who has seen "Talking to a Stranger" is that it is included in the late-March DVD release of "The Judi Dench Collection." It is one of a number of her performances for the BBC that have been previously unavailable for audiences. Interested fans are advised to check out online DVD sources. A good one is deepdiscount.com, which sells DVDs, CDs, and books. The selection is good, the prices are about as low as you'll find anywhere, and shipping is FREE. About twice a year, DVDs are ALL on sale for 20% off--and the shipping, as always, is free.

"Here Comes the Groom" is a better than usual musical. It's overriding virtue is the cast. Crosby is, as usual good. Wyman is extremely good as a musical star--after "Johnny Belinda," she here shows she can play virtually anything. Franchot Tone is also quite good.

However, the best performance comes from Alexis Smith, looking more glorious than ever and displaying a wonderfully relaxed and natural talent for comedy. Too bad she didn't really come into her own until 1971 and the legendary Broadway show "Follies."

"In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening" is the best and best-known song in the score. I wonder what Wyman could have done in a good Broadway musical.

As I recall, "Hope Floats" got terrible reviews and had poor box office. I watched the movie on TV to see Gena Rowlands--who, as always, was excellent. But so was everyone else in the cast!

This is one of those movies where nothing much happens and everything happens. Everything about the movie is spot on--the cast, the writing, the direction. I like Sandra Bullock, but I've never seen her as good as she is here--she's totally believable and willing to look like her character should look. Mae Whitman, the little girl who plays Bullock's daughter, is outstanding. As stated, Rowlands is superb. Harry Connick, Jr., is very good. In fact, that isn't a performance that doesn't ring totally true.

In the so-called Golden Age of Television, viewers could see dramas like these several times a week with remarkable actors--Grace Kelly, Geraldine Page, Kim Stanley, Paul Newman, Cliff Robertson--who had yet to become famous but were already showing the talent that would make them iconic. And they had scripts by writers like Paddy Chayevsky, Reginald Rose, and Rod Serling, as well as directors like John Frankenheimer, George Roy Hill, Franklin Shaffner, and Sidney Lumet And now, what do we have--car chases, violence, gore, needless and overdone profanity, and total pandering to audiences totally lacking in discernment and intelligence. No wonder "Hope Floats" didn't.

Maureen O'Hara was one of the most spectacular beauties in Hollywood history. When she made "The Last Dance," she was 82--and still a stunning woman. Because many of her films were action films and westerns, it's easy to forget that O'Hara was also an excellent actress. Here she plays a retired Latin teacher--yes, Latin was once taught in public schools, folks--who reconnects with a former student who is now a male nurse. The plot is reminiscent of "Good Morning, Miss Dove," with Jennifer Jones, another beauty who has aged well.

The former student keeps an eye on the teacher when she leaves the hospital, and soon his family (wife and two children) becomes involved as well. The plot is interesting, and the movie is well-written and very well-acted by the cast. What could easily slide into bathos is genuinely moving as the film gradually reveals via well-integrated flashbacks the teacher's life, past as well as present. A bus trip and a day at the beach are extremely well-done.

"The Last Dance" is one of those films that really has to be seen to be appreciated; it's very quietly done but beautifully realized. When you watch O'Hara, think about what most of the current crop of "actresses" will look like and what their performances will be like when they are in their eighties--if any of them manage to maintain a career past the age of thirty.

Dina Merrill should have had a much more successful screen career. She is a beautiful, intelligent, warm, extremely credible actress. Perhaps her very strong resemblance to Grace Kelly worked against her. In this film, "The Courtship of Eddie's Father," someone had the dumb idea to make her a brunette, probably because the lead actress, Shirley Jones, was also a blonde. For Merrill, this is a nothing role which she brings a great deal more to than it deserves. The rest of the cast is good, especially Ron(nie) Howard, although Glenn Ford is, as usual, low-key to the point of monotony; and Jerry Van Dyke proves that the same genes don't necessarily produce comic geniuses in a family.

For years I have heard that "The Cat and the Canary" was a very good movie. For some reason--rights, maybe?--I have never seen it before. Well, I finally caught up with it. As a number of previous reviews have pointed out, "The Ghost Breakers" was better--far better. Even the politically incorrect aspects of the second film worked. Hope and, especially Goddard (no wonder Chaplain was so bewitched), were much better the second time out.

I saw the Laura LaPlante silent version on Turner Classic Movies recently, so the identity of "the cat" was no surprise, although I suspect most viewers would have figured it out not too far into the movie. The best performances in the 1939 version were by Gale Sondergaard and Nydia Westman. On the other hand, John Beal and Douglass Montgomery gave confirming evidence of why they are now largely forgotten.

Still, I would rather watch Goddard and Hope in this "Cat" than the gore-fests--"Saw," anyone?--that are ground out like rancid sausages today for the mystery/thriller market.

The popularity of the original "Poseidon Adventure" has always baffled me. Almost all of the "special" effects were on screen fairly early in the film, while the rest of the movie basically focused on a diminishing number of survivors crawling through the ship's corridors and pipes. The remake at least updated things with the terrorist plot, and there were a number of other changes from the original as well. The acting in the newer version was a trade-off--at least no one gnawed the scenery as gratingly as Shelley Winters in the original. It seems to me that one version of "Poseidon" was about as mediocre as the other. As for the "wonderful" music in the original--apparently the version I saw had a different soundtrack.

For a "woman's picture," "Until They Sail" is surprisingly effective. The acting is generally first-rate, but Piper Laurie is a stand-out. This was possibly the first time she was able to overcome that silly flower-eating publicity gimmick that Universal foisted on her and then proceeded to condemn her to swashbucklers and other junk while she was under contract to them. It's too bad that she couldn't have started with a studio that would have known what to do with her and was interested in filming more than mindless fluff.

Jean Simmons was also great in a somewhat rare opportunity at a role with some depth--anyone remember most of the dreck she miraculously survived in her RKO period?

Even Joan Fontaine was less arch than she usually was in her later films (even the shark was better in "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea").

I am giving this movie a ten for several reasons. Is it a great movie? Well, actually no. But here is an example where the parts are greater than the whole.

It's time for a re-evaluation of Gene Tierney. Yes, she was one of the most beautiful women in film history. No, she wasn't one of the greatest actresses--however, she was a much better one than she is given credit for, especially when she had a good director, as she does here with John Stahl. "Leave Her to Heaven" is her only Oscar-nominated performance; and she is very, very good. The scene of her wearing dark glasses and rowing a boat is indelibly memorable if you've seen the movie. Ellen, Tierney's character, IS preposterous--but Tierney makes the whole thing work. Ellen reminds me of Mrs. Robinson in "The Graduate"; I know I'm in the minority, but Mrs. R. is the only likable character in "The Graduate." The rest of the characters are annoying--especially Benjamin; Bancroft makes Robinson the one bright bulb in the chandelier: extremely witty, bored by life and those around her, always in control (until the end). Likewise, Ellen in "Leave Her to Heaven." Although I like Jeanne Crain, she does get a bit cloying here--or at least her character Ruth does. Cornel Wilde is far too vapid to imagine Ellen going to such extremes to get him and keep him.

The color photography--which won an Oscar--is luridly beautiful as only Technicolor could be at its best. The entire movie is beautifully and lovingly filmed, especially Tierney, who is also stunning in black and white, especially in "Laura" and, in her best performance, "The Razor's Edge," another movie that works far better than it should and holds up remarkably well today.

"Funny Face" is one of the last great musicals. No one would be surprised to find MGM producing this film, but Paramount released it. All the care in casting, production, and direction is MGM-like, thanks probably to a large degree by frequent MGM director Stanley Donen and MGM jack of all trades musical Kay Thompson.

The plot is typically a piece of fluff--"drab" Audrey Hepburn (it is genetically impossible for Audrey Hepburn ever to be drab) is discovered by Fred Astaire and transformed into a high-fashion model for Kay Thompson's fashion magazine, "Quality."

Although the job of fashion model goes against all her values, Hepburn signs on as the Quality Woman to get a trip to Paris where she hopes to meet the renowned philosopher Emile Flostre, who has developed the concept of empathaticalism. If none of this makes a great deal of sense, so what? Just sit back and be beguiled by Hepburn's beauty and surprisingly excellent singing and dancing. Astaire, of course, is sublime, and Kay Thompson is hilarious as a force of nature oblivious to everything not related to "Quality" magazine. Except for two new songs, "Think Pink" and "Bonjour, Paris"--both delightful--the score is by the Gershwins.

Who could ask for anything more? Well, there is more--stylish photography, witty dialogue, clever production numbers, and delightful performances from all involved. The sight of Audrey descending a vast stairway in a stunning red Givenchy gown is classic and has been referenced frequently in other movies and countless advertisements and commercials.

They don't make'em like this anymore, and they never will. They had TALENT then! Britney as Audrey? Madonna as Kay Thompson? Justin as Fred Astaire?

Most of the previous posts were on the mark. I thought every aspect of the movie was magnificent. A great deal of thought, care, and attention went into the production and filming of "Johnny Belinda." Wyman was unforgettable. Everyone else in the cast--down to the smallest role--was superb. The black and white cinematography is stunning, and the location work (I'm assuming the film was not shot in the studio) pays off handsomely. Costuming, props, sets--there's not a false note anywhere. The acting, screenplay, and direction all meld beautifully so that one of the film's greatest achievements is that it never becomes maudlin.

Wyman's Oscar was greatly deserved, but "Johnny Belinda" should have won several more. Throw a dart at the cast and credits list--wherever the dart lands will be a worthwhile Oscar winner.

The reviewer who hailed this as a "forgotten masterpiece" nailed it perfectly. Not only do they "not make 'em like this any more," they only very rarely did before. This is a film crying out to be rediscovered.

I'd rate the film at two stars for the color photography, the beauty of Deneuve, and the two songs "I Will Wait for You" and "Watch What Happens," both of which are merely used as musical background to accompany some incredibly trite and silly dialogue. Yes, the photography is marvelous--but once you've seen one ESSO gas station in the snow, you've seen them all. The opening shots of the umbrellas are beautiful--but gone very quickly. The plot is annoyingly predictable; the "singing" of the bland dialogue is equally bland. I can't imagine French audiences taking all this seriously--seeing the subtitles was at least a very slight improvement of actually understanding what the cast was singing. I found very little that was engaging or memorable aside from Deneuve's beauty, some of the photography, and those two marvelous LeGrand songs.

Any number of Hollywood musicals are far better. Try "Funny Face" with Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire if you want great photography, a great (Gershwin) score, a witty and sophisticated screenplay, and a superbly sophisticated supporting cast, notably marvelous Kay Thompson. The scene of Hepburn descending the stairs in the red gown is worth all of "The Umbrella of Cherbourg."

"The Women" is one of the great comedies of the screen. The direction by George Cukor is superb, and he has a brilliant cast to lead. Joan Fontaine gives a preview of her characters in "Rebecca" and "Suspicion." Joan Crawford gives one of her best performances, and Rosalind Russell and Paulette Goddard are memorably hilarious.

The only quibble I have about "The Women" is Norma Shearer. As has been pointed out in previous comments, she has several "silent movie" moments, especially that "head up, arms out" closing scene. Although Shearer is quite good--especially for Shearer--the movie would have been even better with Irene Dunne as Mary Haines. The next time you watch "The Women," try to visualize Dunne in the role--she would have been perfect with her lighter-than-air delivery of dialogue.

It would be hard to botch "Inherit the Wind," especially with this cast. Lemmon is not as great as Spencer Tracy in the original movie-- but then who would be? However, George Scott Scott far surpasses Frederick March. Scott is the best Brady I have seen in numerous versions of the play/movie, and the ONLY one who managed to make Brady a sympathetic character and not merely a buffoon. Wonderful, too-frequently-seen Piper Laurie makes a great deal of the relatively thankless role of Mrs. Brady. What a terrible waste that Hollywood didn't know what to do with her. After "Until They Sail," especially "The Hustler," and various other roles leading and supporting, she should have been a major star. One can only hope that she chose to pursue a private life rather than a career.

In the political climate of today--2005--"Inherit the Wind" has a great deal to say. Is anyone listening?

The high rating is due to the cast. Van Johnson is really underrated, as is Ruth Roman. Both of them, especially in later roles, displayed a great deal of talent that was underutilized by Hollywood.

However, the true standout here is the radiant Dorothy McGuire--playing a "plain" girl. Plain? Even with a bag over her head, Miss McGuire could never be plain. In addition to her consummate and versatile acting ability, she can be summed up in four words--THAT FACE, THAT VOICE. She is one of the truly greats who can never be replicated.

The lovely score by Bronislau Kaper adds to the enjoyment of the movie; the title song, "Invitation," has become a standard. (Percy Faith recorded it memorably on one of his many albums.)

It is a comment on Hollywood and the current audiences that this film--essentially a woman's picture--is graced with such literate dialog and fine acting that is not often seen today.

"The Nun's Story" is the best movie dealing with religion that I have ever seen. The movie has what is possibly Audrey Hepburn's greatest performance;

anyone who thinks she was only a fashion model is well advised to see this film. I first saw it in a theatre, in 1959. I went in about five minutes before the end--and the theatre was completely sold out. At the end of the movie, no one moved--everyone remained seated for about thirty seconds. Then the audience got up and filed out--without a single sound. I stayed through to see the ending again. The audience behavior was the same. I have never seen an audience reaction like this.

Hepburn should have received an Oscar for this performance, as well as another for "Two for the Road," for which she wasn't even nominated. She has been sadly underrated and undervalued as an actress. Her high placement in many Best Actress Ever polls has been entirely justified and very pleasing.